Catholic Confessions to an iPhone?

When I got to see the “Confession: A Roman Catholic app” for real, I stopped wondering why confessions to the iPhone has been the buzz in the apps world today. The application basically helps a person examine his or her conscience in order to participate in the Rite of Penance. According to the Catholic spokesperson:

The text of this app was developed in collaboration with Rev. Thomas G. Weinandy, OFM, Executive Director of the Secretariat for Doctrine and Pastoral Practices of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, and Rev. Dan Scheidt, pastor of Queen of Peace Catholic Church in Mishawaka, IN. The app received an imprimatur from Bishop Kevin C. Rhodes of the Diocese of Fort Wayne – South Bend. It is the first known imprimatur to be given for an iPhone/iPad app.

However, this app has created some kind of a problem to people who don’t understand its real use. Some people directly give their confessions to the iPhone instead of going to a real priest to confess. Vatican was not happy about this:

It is essential to understand that the rites of penance require a personal dialogue between penitents and their confessor. It cannot be replaced by a computer application. I must stress to avoid all ambiguity; under no circumstance is it possible to "confess by iPhone."

Photo credit: Gizmodo

Google Translate for iPhone Lets You Listen to Correct Pronunciation!

Language barrier when visiting a foreign place will no longer be a problem as long as you are with your iPhone 4 or other Apple mobile devices. This new Google Translate app for iPhone will let you translate sentences and phrases in many different languages.

We all know that the Google Translate application on the web has been existing for many years now but this app has become handy since you can now translate anywhere just by using your phone. Compared with the web application, this Apple sized app is more polished and can recognize voice input for 15 languages. So you will not only know the translations but you will be able to hear the correct way to say them. This is really amazing!

This app comes with a dictionary where you can start by tapping some words and translate them. What’s good about this app is that it is very useful not only to travelers but also to everyone who wants to learn new languages and show off some “bonjours” and “arigatos” to their friends.

The Google Translate for iPhone is just one of the few free but download-worthy apps which serve its purpose very well.

Video credit: HowToiPhone via YouTube

Voice Control for iOS Lets You Open Apps with Your Voice Command

We know that the typical voice activators that we even have in our 2000’s phones are used for calls but wait till you see this new application for iOS devices. The new Voice Control from Apple is a smart feature that will let you open apps, open webpages, and even perform activations by just configuring your choice of voice commands to work with it. With this app, anyone can program his own set of commands to play music, open favorite sites, and even perform screenshots.

This reliable tweak developed by chpwn for iPhone can be used in iOS device. The VoiceActivator can be accessed in Settings where you can choose a list of assigned keywords that you can use as commands. All you have to do is to speak aloud the word and it will do the assigned task.

The VoiceActivator can be used with the iPhone4, iPod Touch 4G, iPhone 3GS, and iPod Touch 3G. The download site can be accessed now or by using your iPhone or iPod Touch now.

Video credit: Xuss149 via YouTube

House Covered with Christmas Lights is Spectacularly Costly

The feeling of joy on having colored lights this Christmas at your home can be incomparable to most people that they at least have some Christmas lights in their house. But some can get too extravagant in lighting the entire house and garden using 1 million lights just like the Faucher Family of Delaware. This has already become a tradition for them every month of December that they setup lights most importantly for 25 years now. But how much would be the electric cost to maintain these bright and beautifully arranged Christmas lights? Let’s compute.

With the help of House Logic’s estimations and calculations, they have come up with a staggering result that will make you gawk. In a month of lighting the Faucher house with 1 million lights every 4 hours a night, they have computed an electric consumption of $82,320! Now that’s a bill worth celebrating the whole Christmas season!

House Logic has estimated the cost of $686 per hour if the 1 million lights are 5 watt-C7 bulbs. Assuming that they are using it for at least 4 hours each night for 30 days, there will be a total of 120 hours for the entire month. Multiply the cost per hour to the total hours in a month, the total charge for electricity will be $82,320. On the other hand, if the family will shift to LED lights, it will only cost them $89 per hour which will give them $71,640 savings for the month.

Photo credit: House Logic via Gizmodo

Tron Movie Inspired Hotel Room is Way Too Cool!

The new version of the Tron movie hasn’t been shown yet but Tron mania has already started and this hotel room in Sweden is one example. Just by looking at the photograph, you will know that it is already Tron and you can’t help but be mystified by the environment and be nostalgic with the old version of the movie that became a blockbuster back in the 80’s. This room is actually a part of the Ice Hotel which makes me want to visit and stay for a night or two.

This room called the “legacy of the river” is inspired by the nightclub scene in the movie and was designed by Extreme Design professionals Ben Rousseau and Ian Douglas-Jones. As you can see, these two are obvious fans of the said movie and they have admitted they are. The Ice Hotel has 19 uniquely-designed rooms and this kind of style is one of them.

Superbly, the room was designed in great details and believe or not, the designers spent almost two weeks building it in a freezing (-22) degrees Celsius temperature.

Photo credit: Extreme Design via Design Boom

Share Contact Details in Seconds with My Name Is iPhone App

The My Name Is E iPhone app will let you share contact information with anyone by simply opening it with a person who also have the application on their iPhone near you. Sharing your contact is now made easier especially when you are on a hurry or if you are in a crowd. By simply downloading the app, you can just open it and then send the details to other iPhones.

Once you open the app, your name will pop up on the iPhone of anyone who has the same app with you. This will happen in just seconds where you can be ready to send or not to send your personal details.

Another good thing about this is that you can also send your contact details to people who do not have an iPhone by using the app’s email capabilities. All you have to do is to email your contact details to those people.

The My Name Is E iPhone apps is free for use and downloadable from the iTunes store.

Photo credit: iTunes via Gizmodo

This Office Exercise Chair is Extreme-Looking

Gym enthusiasts who are too busy working at the office can now do multitasking in both workout and paperwork. This chair called Gymgym is composed of 16 resistance bands that are designed to give you the chance to perform certain exercises while sitting. All you have to do is to work, relax, and does your favorite work out such as military press, bench press, and so on. This can be ideal whenever we are bored and we can think of something to do and we wish we are inside the gym to take care of our fitness. Now, this kind of new office chair becomes interesting.

At first look, we have to admit that the chairs appear scary. I just thought that it is a chair used in BDSM and other bondage and torture activities. But with 3 colors to choose from, you might want to get something that is less extreme to look at.

Photo credit: Gymgym via Gizmodo