Month: June 2014

tech

WWDC 2014: 10 Things to Know

WWDC14-10-things-to-know

Yesterday was Apple’s Keynote at WWDC. WWDC stands for Worldwide Developers Conference and it is a yearly event held by Apple filled with informational sessions dedicated to programming and developing for Mac and iOS devices! A majority of the goings on at WWDC are not newsworthy events for most of the world, but the keynote is always popular because Apple often uses the keynote as an opportunity to announce major updates to software, and in previous years, new hardware like the iPhone, which was announced at WWDC in 2007! As expected, this year’s keynote did not announce any new hardware, however, the impending OS X upgrade was certainly foreseen and to the surprise of no one, Apple announced the successor to OS X Mavericks, Yosemite! Apple also took the opportunity to announce the newest upgrade to their mobile platform with a sneak peak at iOS 8!

Now, although there were quite a few new items discussed during the keynote, for most of us, there were really only a few major changes that the average user may notice. Here is my top ten list of items I think would excite any Mac User!

  1. The new user interface (UI) of Yosemite is very similar to iOS 7 with the translucent layering and self adjusting color pallet. Apple has even integrated a “dark mode” into Yosemite for those who do not enjoy the bright UI or may do a lot of work at night.
  2. The iOS Messages App will now have some new group text options that include a Do Not Disturb mode and the ability to leave a thread when you’re no longer interested.
  3. Spotlight has new features that integrate it to the web, which include an awesome movie search function and Wikipedia results in search on both Macs and mobile devices.
  4. The Mail app is getting an upgrade called Mail Drop that allows you to email attachments up to 5GB! Mail on iOS is also getting some great gesture upgrades to make working on your mobile device a much more streamlined experience!
  5. Doc Sync in iCloud will now support Windows so you can work seamlessly with non-Mac friends, family and colleagues.
  6. Due to energy management upgrades in the software, you will get an additional 2 hours of battery life while streaming shows from Netflix in full HD in Safari!
  7. A new feature called Continuity gives you the ability to start working on one Apple device and move to another device without loosing information or having to sync projects! This same feature will also allow you to answer and make phone calls from your Mac as long as your iPhone is nearby!
  8. New predictive text upgrades, a voice messaging feature and the integration of third party touch keyboards will make typing on your iOS device a much more personalized experience.
  9. There have been some awesome upgrades to Apple’s built in Photo Editing Software!
  10. Yosemite is a FREE upgrade, so there is really no reason not to take advantage of all these great new features and more upon its release this fall!

Like I said, this isn’t everything, but these are the items I think will make the biggest impact on the user experience of the general public! If you want more information, head on over to Apple’s website to check out the Keynote as well!

What items from the WWDC 2014 Keynote are you most excited for? Let us know in the comments below!

DIY lifestyle

3 Simple Bridal Shower DIYs

Bridal-Shower-DIY

This past weekend I had the honor of hosting a bridal shower in honor of my brother and future sister-in-law. I have been to quite a few bridal showers in my day, but I have never hosted one so this was quite an experience but one I was ready to take on head first! I didn’t have quite the amount of time or money that I believe normally goes into an event of this importance, but I still wanted to make the day special and personal for those attending. So, I headed over to the bridal mecca which is Pinterest and found some great inspiration for a few DIY projects I took on for the party!

DIY #1 Initial Letter Blocks

Initials

While I was browsing around Michael’s Arts & Crafts one day, I came across an end cap of wood block letter initials and symbols. I was immediately drawn to them because I thought they were the exact sort of sentimental DIY decor that I could use for the party and that the guests of honor could then take home and have as a memory of the event. So, I picked out the letters I needed plus an ampersand, some bottles of acrylic paint that coordinated with the wedding theme, some sponge brushes and of course a pack of sand paper!

This DIY was pretty simply but turned out lovely! All I did was sanded down the letters (they had rough edges) until they were nice and smooth, and then painted the letters. I ended up doing about three coats of paint and let the letters air dry for about an hour in-between coats. I then let them dry out overnight before packing them away for the party. I ended up using them as decor on the cake table and they were a big hit!

DIY #2 Date Night Jar

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I found the inspiration for this DIY on Pinterest! Basically, the Date Night Jar is something of an activity for the shower guests and again, another sentimental take home for the couple. You take a decorated mason jar, and fill it with large popsicle sticks that guests at the shower will write date night ideas on. When the couple gets the Jar home and want an idea for date night, they pull a stick out of the jar at random. Obviously, this isn’t something the couple have to use, but I think it’s a super cute idea and it was an activity everyone enjoyed participating in.

Date-Night-Sticks-2

Assembling this DIY was super simple and I was easily able to find all the items I needed from my local craft store. For this DIY you will need a mason jar, popsicle sticks (I suggest the wider sticks that are easier to write on), embellishments (ribbon, twine, labels, etc), and then markers for the guests to write on the sticks during the party! I used a label to name the jar, wrapped yarn around the neck of the jar and added a custom little poem I made up to piece of craft paper that I then threaded through the yarn. Again, super simple, very inexpensive, but highly personalized and a fun activity for the guests!

DIY #3 Marriage Advice Box

Marriage-Advice-1

Again, I found the inspiration for this DIY on Pinterest. The idea behind this activity is to put out a pretty box where guests can leave notes filled with their marriage advice for the couple. This is pretty self-explanatory, but once the couple return home after their wedding, they now have a treasure trove of advice from their friends and family waiting for them in a lovely box!

Marriage-Advice-2

This was probably the simplest of the three projects, because I really didn’t need to do very much except arrange the elements. In the original pin online, a large trunk style box was used, but I knew that would be too large for my needs, so I picked up one of those lovely book shaped boxes from Michael’s in their home decor section.  Once I picked out the box that fit with the wedding and shower theme, I picked up a few packs of blank notecards from the dollar bins at the craft store to go inside. I found lovely monogram cards that were perfect and seemingly personalized! I then took a small journaling card and embellishment sticker from my own craft supply collection and fashioned a little sign inside the box so that people knew what it was! On the day of the shower, I displayed the book box open on an inexpensive frame stand also purchased at the craft store. I passed around the notecards and guests deposited their words of advice in the box throughout the event. Super simple, and yet super sweet!

Do you have any other simple and inexpensive DIY ideas for a bridal shower that you could share this wedding season? Let us know in the comments below!