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What can I say about Kickstarter, we have all heard of it, used it (or at least wanted to), and watched our favourite projects grow, and now it has officially passed the 1 billion dollar pledge mark. For the uninformed Kickstarter is a website that allows people and companies alike to market their product and 'crowd source/ crowd fund' their idea. According to Kickstarters statistics page, the company passed the mark mere hours ago and did so with 5.7 million backers. Was all this money for naught? Well, there have been 131,000 projects proposed on the site and 44% of them have been successfully funded and of those funded there has been less than stellar reports of full completion of projects. Despite this, however, this marks a major milestone in internet business. This company has done the impossible, be profitable and make the dreams of others come true. This service is a great sign of the internet's importance to business. Being an entrepreneur is easier than ever, a couple clicks gives you an audience of millions. Congratulations to the kickstarter team, hopefully the next billion comes quickly.

The OUYA Android powered gaming console started off as a Kickstarter exclusive, but will now be available to consumers on June 4 for $99. On Kickstarter, the OUYA was a huge success, raising over $8 million. It is basically an Android powered device that is capable of running console quality games. There has been much anticipation for the people who did not back the project on Kickstarter because no one knew that it would get this big and popular. When it hits the market, it will be sold at retailers such as Best Buy, GameStop, Target, and through OUYA's website. It will include the console, a controller and HDMI cables. I chose to use the economics tag because at just $99, this console is a steal compared to other consoles currently on the market. I believe that many people will pick this product up and OUYA may be able to compete with SONY and Microsoft in the next few years.

Are you tired of taking out your earphones and they are a tangled mess? Well now they have a "winder" that allows you to roll up earphones, usb wires, etc. Now you will not have to worry about a mess of wires under your computer, or a bunch of wires in your pocket(earphones). You can also fit cellphone earphones with the microphones on them. You can get a medium or large one for $9-10. This relates to the course because earphones plug into hardware's and it makes it more easier for everybody.   

Don't you just hate it when your cord in your pocket gets all tangled up and it takes FOREVER to untie all the knots and stuff. well now you don't need to worry because inventor David Alden designed the Recoil Winder. Just a simple device, pull the middle cord, and it rolls up. Basically a spring mechanism inspired BY TAPE MEASURES! The recoil winder comes in three sizes. Small size for iPod earbuds, medium for the charger cord for an iPhone, and large is for a USB cord. Recoil Winder is funded by Kickstarter, for 8$ you can get the small recoil winder, 9$ for medium and 10$ for large. 30$ for all three along with the rack. Shipping will be in April.

This article is introducing a new product that could possibly be put on the market soon. It is called AdTrap. You buy this device for $120 and it sits between your modem and router and blocks all kind of ads on the internet for all kind of devices. This device is in its working prototype stage and is on a crowd-funding site Kickstarter. If $150,000 worth of devices are pre-ordered by December 8th they will start shipping the device. It is like a small computer running the Linux OS and can be easily updated to black new kinds of ads. You can also have a list of websites where you do not want the ads blocked. This device is great for those who despise ads and just 10 hours after being launched they raised just over 10 percent of its goal.  This advertisement has to do with eLifestyle because this device can possibly change the way we spend time on our computers. Those who hate ads in front of videos and other side and popping up have an alternative for $120. Most people that use technology have at one point complained about advertisements and constant bombardment with these ads this is a way to protect yourself and possibly your kids from advertisements at least on the web. This also has to do with eLifestyle because if enough people buy this device and it becomes huge it can change the way websites make money or not make money because most websites rely on ads in order to be able to give people their services and posts.  If this device is shipped for those who pre-order it may be a big fail in the market because ads just may not be as annoying to some as they are to others or this can be a big success but in the long term be devastating for web sites because they will not be making money from ads anymore. I personally would not buy this device for $120 dollars because ads do not make me that mad and I have gone long enough without this device I can continue this way for a while. Also can change the websites that run because of ads and I wouldn't want that. 

This article ponders the question "Will 2013 be the year of the smartwatch?" It begins by describing some of the failed attempts by companies at wearable tech. In 2004, Microsoft created the SPOT watch which used FM radio waves to display information such as stock quotations, weather forecasts, and news. At launch this device was $800 which was a huge turnoff for many consumers, and was proven when the device died in 2008. In 2009, Samsung also had an attempt at wearable technology with their S9910 which debuted in Europe. At a 450 Euro price tag, this was also too expensive for consumers, and along with limited functionality this device was destined to be a flop. Now with more functionality possibilities and low cost production, companies like Google, Apple, Microsoft, LG, and Samsung are able to create modern, functional smartwatches. It is also encouraging that Pebble recently funded over $10 million for their smartwatch on Kickstarter. So will 2013 be the year of the smartwatch?

This article touches on a very important topic about whether technology is helping the economy and job markets more or if it is in fact hurting it. The answer is they do both. The New York Times among others write that tech companies have created relatively few jobs compared to industries such as GM. However TechCrunch argues that technology has created a lot more indirect jobs due to technology. There are in fact new jobs created such as social media marketers online. Most of these jobs are part-time because they are online and connect employers and workers with no hassle. Their conclusion is that there are millions of jobs created with a high demand but an unprepared workforce. The jobs that are needed now are more technology based than ever before and our economy is moving so fast in that direction that some skills that were needed in the past are no longer needed now. Therefore people are losing jobs not because there are not enough jobs produced but because our job market is drastically changing.  Some companies are allowing people to step into job positions with just a bit of online training or courses. Startups like General assembly are creating programs that are accessible to everyone and helps address the needs of the labor market. The final verdict is we need better training tools to quickly acquire high demanded skills and help workers adapt to the change that technology brings to the labour market. This article relates to economics and eLifestyle mostly because it has to do with how our economy is growing from the jobs created by technology but also how our workers have to respond to this change. This article deals with the changes that the labour market is going through now and how the increase in technology is now changing our lives. Some of our old jobs are being replaced by new jobs that not enough people are qualified for, so certain careers are feeling a job decline making it seem like technology is replacing workers. But in fact these new tools a