Here in the tech world us girls face a lot of weird stereotyping statements like “You don’t look like a programmer,” or, “You can do the presentations, we’ll do the code.” Those stereotypes are there partly because of the nature of the industry - there’s no denying there are way more males than females in tech - and partly because of the way we were raised, with strict-ish gender roles engrained in our little heads in ways we may not have realized. Today I’m happy to introduce an incredible initiative working hard to shift the way we teach our kids about the world, through fashion. Introducing Jill and Jack Kids, the clothes that go beyond pink and blue.
Jill and Jack Kids is something we should have seen a long time ago. Walking through the children’s sections of stores you can clearly see the divide between the “girls” and “boys” sections. “Girls” is defined by pastels, ruffles, sparkles and pink, while “Boys” is characterized by camouflage, strong colours, lots of pockets, and blue. It’s an odd thing to point out, but when you walk through the adult’s section, there is not such a strong divide. Sure, the shapes are different, but why are we teaching our kids that blue is for boys and pink is for girls? It’s an age-old question, yet no one has thought to answer it until now.
Jill and Jack Kids has launched their Kickstarter with four main shirt designs, chosen by a selected panel of interviewees that you can read about on their blog. Yessiree, I am happy to have been interviewed for this and to have had a hand in choosing these awesome designs! You can read my interview here. :) While I love the “Curious” and “I <3 #startups” shirts, my absolute favourite is “Half of the T. Rexes Were Girls”. I want one for myself! It even comes in adult sizes as well, with awesomely reversed colours so you match your mini if you have one.
All the shirts are locally made and designed specifically to fit active young bodies in the perfect way, regardless of gender. Join me in supporting this excellent initiative and saying goodbye to gender stereotypes!
Before yesterday, I never thought I’d know what “new plane” smelled like. I feel honoured and so lucky to have had the opportunity to fly on the first customer-carrying flight of Air Canada’s new Boeing 787 Dreamliner! Yesterday was a dream come true as I got to be one of the first customers to experience the brand new plane in all it’s glory. This massive sky-flyer seats nine across with spacious seats, high-tech entertainment systems and tint-changing windows, plus more than enough overhead baggage space. This Halifax-to-Toronto flight was the best one I’ve ever experienced - I didn’t want it to end! Here’s an inside look at Air Canada’s newest colossus, and what it’s like to fly on the Dreamliner!
One of the most impactful elements of a flight experience is quality of entertainment. Air Canada’s awesome Dreamliner entertainment interface packs hours of entertainment into a streamlined, intuitive user interface that feels a lot more like a personal tablet than the seat-back systems of old. FINALLY! It has been totally redesigned and the content has been updated: now not only can you watch movies and TV shows and listen to music, you can also play games, shop the in-flight boutique, and access the brand new messaging system!
The screen is so much better than the ones on any plane I’ve been on before. You don’t have to poke the screen hard anymore because it’s current sensitive, not pressure sensitive. That means that drag and drop is enabled and you can actually use sliders for volume, brightness and video navigation! The layout is like a combination of Windows 8 metro apps with a hint of the Android drop-down and iOS notification flair. The plane’s messaging system is one of the most intriguing features, especially when you consider its potential for expansion. Currently the messaging system displays messages like “Please fasten your seatbelt” and “Onboard shopping is now available” as overlaid banners on top of your entertainment. You can also tap the message icon at the bottom left of the screen to fold out the left message menu and revisit the messages that are still active. In the future, this messaging system could be expanded to allow you to message flight attendants, place food orders or even message other passengers on the same flight! Like with many big tech changes, this is the first step to something much bigger.
EnRoute has even managed to improve the video watching experience in this new iteration of their entertainment system: now you can add shows and movies to your media lists, which you can pop up over top of your current entertainment at any time to navigate between them without needing to return to the main menu and re-find them. Flight-tracking has been made easier too: at the bottom of the screen there’s a plane icon on a line that moves along to show how much progress you’ve made on the trip so far.
And not only is the new entertainment system awesome, I was really impressed by the in-seat experience even before I turned the entertainment system on. Blue tinted windows with a five-level shade control let you indulge in the beautiful view at all times, even when you want the brightness dimmed. When you recline your seat, the seat cushion slides forward to accommodate the reclining back, allowing you to recline further and more comfortably without compromising the comfort of the person seated behind you. The fabrics are natural and in beautiful neutral tones, with the occasional pop of Air Canada’s signature red.
The high-capacity outlets charged my phone twice as fast as in the old planes, and that’s a good thing too because I had packed my camera and only had my phone to shoot these photos! And I’m really pleased that they moved the audio jack to just underneath the screen, instead of keeping it on the armrest where it was before. The halogen seat lights have been upgraded to blue-white LEDs, and are controlled from the screen so you don’t have to reach up. The above head bins are wider and higher, providing a lot more standing room and space above your head while seated. As a tall girl, I really appreciate the extra room!
The seats are roomier, the windows are bigger, and the aisles are wider even though there are nine seats across - Boeing really didn’t hold back when designing this luxury ride! It’s clear that the designers had the future in mind when designing this comfort-oriented experience. I am so happy to have had the opportunity to experience Dreamliner flight first hand, especially because I saw these Dreamliners being manufactured during my trip to Seattle and my visit to Boeing headquarters! In fact, when I was there, they had just released this very 787 for Air Canada two days before. When I was looking down into the half-built planes, I could barely believe that those behemoths would take flight one day. I never thought I’d be in one so soon, just four months later! Now that I’ve experienced the future of commercial flight, I never want to go back to the old planes. I can’t wait till I can fly in a Dreamliner again!
There are a ton of ways to sell a phone, and even more ways to buy one. Anyone who’s considered selling their phone knows how hard it can be to settle on a price, especially if you’re dealing with an expert haggler. But what if your phone could tell you exactly how much it’s worth? Well iPhone users, you’re in luck: Orchard does exactly that, and gets you more money than other appraisal methods!
I’ve been wanting to sell my iPhone for a while now (I’ve got my eye on the gorgeous Nokia Lumia 1020 in white, ooh ahh), so I’m pretty jazzed about this Orchard app. And not only is it a cool concept, but it’s super intuitive to use - it only took me about five minutes to get my appraisal. Here’s how it works: the first time you launch the app, it shows you the expected value range of your device. Then you can access the menu to enter the step-by-step feature test, which verifies which hardware components still work. At each step, the app clearly tells you how well your phone is passing the tests. Check out some screenshots from my own appraisal experience on my iPhone 4s.
Orchard’s appraisals are more than fair, they actually get you more on average than selling on other platforms! The Fair Market Value of your phone is calculated according to the average of what identical phones are selling on all other markets, taking into consideration all possibilities and every element of your phone, from whether it is carrier-locked or unlocked, to the quality of the cameras, to even the scratches on your screen, that you draw out during the test. Don’t believe me about the higher pricing? Check out the stats below.
Another thing I like about Orchard is that no step is done without your approval - you are given control over the appraisal every step of the way, so you’re always aware of what the app is doing. And when you’re done all the steps, your listing is created so people can browse to it in the online shop and see all the specs. Like what you see? Download it here!
Everyone has a smartphone, but not everyone knows what details to list when listing their phone for sale. Orchard takes the thinking out of this process, making it easy, effortless and enjoyable to sell your Apples.
So what do you think? Would you use Orchard to sell your iPhone?
Growing up a through-and-through city girl, one of the things I missed out on was the beach. Sure, Toronto has Lake Ontario, but there’s nothing quite like looking out at the waves and realizing that there’s nothing else between you and another continent. Absolutely breathtaking. Now that I’m back in Halifax for my first summer by the sea, I had to take a day trip to the beach before school gets too hectic! I left my phone behind and brought my camera for this adventure, and wore my favourite new dress and summer wedges.
We stopped by this beautiful bakery on the way to the beach - Nova Scotia is filled with hidden treasures like this one, the Flying Fox Bake Shop in Shelburne. The Flying Fox has incredibly delicious treats and is just steps from the waterfront, making for the perfect summer day stop! I’m in love with their cheesecake squares and adorable sugar cookies - they’re perfect to bring to the beach!
When we finally got to the beach, the pups bolted right to the water! They’re so full of energy, especially since they snuck bites of our cookies!
One of the things that has me most excited about the coming heat is breaking out my summer wardrobe. I’m in love with flowy dresses, cute heels and retro sunglasses. This dress and these glasses are from Guess, one of my favourite shops. Their retro chic style is right up my alley, but since they don’t have one in Halifax I have to stock up when I’m back home. My white wedge sandals from my other favourite designer Michael Kors are perfect for summery days like this, and they go so well with the white details and soft colour of the Guess pieces.
The most amazing display of passion is found when an entrepreneur is explaining their business. When I spoke at NBTC, I had the pleasure of meeting LocaWoka co-founder Hussain Bandukwala, a man whose passion for his startup shines through in conversation. LocaWoka is an app by a three-man Torontonian team that simplifies and redefines the process of finding skilled laborers to help you get things done.
There are so many people in the world, and many in each industry with comparable or similar skillsets. But in a sea of similar skillsets, how do you find that one person perfect for your job? LocaWoka is the answer. Craigslist and Kijiji have similar subsections in their classifieds, but LocaWoka is much more than that. It’s a network of people with answers to the questions: “who can do this for me?” and “how can I find work?”
Despite it’s playful name, LocaWoka is a smart, very well thought-out answer to a very real problem. Not only is the app a network for people to connect, it also houses a rating system where the solicitors can rate and review the workers to provide other users a realistic assessment of the quality of work provided by the workers. This pares down the short-term hiring process, giving you back the time you would normally need to spend scouring Craigslist, sorting through miscategorised posts, and ruling out the creepers.
It’s one of those simple ideas that makes you wonder why it isn’t already widely used to employ and find employment. I think the only reason it isn’t yet is it’s very new! The startup was officially founded in late 2013, and it’s only been available for a few months. Check it out for yourself!
HEY HALIFAX! I’m baaaaaaaack! Bring on the summer classes. And the heat!
Toronto-to-Halifax isn’t a long flight (2 hours fifteen without any delays), but my goodness does it get exhausting. I used to drive an hour and a half to get to high school…and I thought THAT was a long trip! If only I’d known then it would take me a flight to get to university. :P Well, all this traveling is fun but tiring. Any frequent flyer can tell you the havoc that constant pressure change can wreak on your body. The sardine-packed economy class is not great for posture, let me tell you! And after hours of pressure changes, the feet start to get sore. Sock brand Soxxy has created a new compression sock specifically designed for traveling, and they sent me a pair of SoxxyAir socks to review - I love them! I could really feel the difference in my feet after wearing them: no more swelling and achyness. :)
Whenever I get off a flight, I can’t help but daydream of the next time I get to jet-set. Right now I’m dreaming of somewhere tropical with bright, clear waters, big, tall palm trees, and white sanded beaches that go on for miles. Who wants to come with me?
I really love the way they feel! And the cute airplane designs add to the fun. Traveling can be exhausting, so the extra boost of compression on the lower legs keeps them strong and active.
I’m tired from my flight, but it’s good to be back in my other home! Note the UNIX textbook…time to brush up!
PS did you notice my new baby? Now that I’m back in Halifax for summer classes I wanted a new, powerful machine. So I got the epically awesome Lenovo Yoga laptop/tablet convertible. Love it!
