Be a Square

Have you heard of Square yet? It is a free piece of technology that reads credit cards. It can be attached to an iPhone, iPad, iTouch or an Android phone, and it runs credit cards wherever you are. I'm sure that Square readers will be all over the place very soon. In fact, it is completely free to get one. You can sign up to receive your own Square directly on the Square website. And then all you have to do is download a free app to go along with it on your phone/iPad and you are ready to go.

What's really interesting about this card reader is that it gives individuals more opportunity to accept and earn money on the go. Think babysitters, artists, musicians on tour, clothing retailers, fashion designers, food cart owners and the like will all be able to easily and quickly be paid via credit card through their phone. The device itself is just a small, plastic square that plugs into your phone or iPad -- it's that simple. The design is clean and chic and unassuming. But what is even more interesting is that the designers asked fashion designer Vivienne Tam to design a limited edition Square all her own. The black and red patterned design stands for "double happiness" and is available to buy through her website. You can also stay current with all of Square's interesting updates via their twitter.

 Since style and design are obviously important to the company, I wonder who will be designing the next limited edition version? I even wonder if, at some point, users will be able to design their own Square readers? They have done such a good job at keeping the process uncomplicated, that I bet designing other versions would be easy to do. Until then, be on the lookout for this tiny new wonder. I can't wait to see what all they will be used for, and what the next generation of readers will look like.

Braids n' Things

I ran into Kathryn Potraz last Wednesday evening, and her hair style caught my attention from across a crowded room. The hairstyle, which she calls the ‘swirly French braid,’ is a very unique style that gives off a bohemian-chic vibe. Of course, you would have to have relatively long hair to pull this style off, but either way I thought it was definitely worth sharing. Every strand of hair is used in this style that is twisted all around her head. I asked Kathryn to teach me how to replicate the look myself and here is what she said.

“To make the braid, I start with the outer rim of my hair (going counter-clockwise) and make a French braid – kind of like a headband. Then I just continue in a circle around my head until I get to the middle, where I usually run out of hair right against my scalp and just braid the leftover ponytail like a normal braid. Then I do a little bobby-pin magic, and voila!”

She told me that it only takes about five to ten minutes to complete, just as long as you have the arm strength to finish! Kathryn said that she likes to wear her hair in this style at least a couple of times a month because it keeps her long hair up off of her neck and out of her face. And, not to mention, it’s pretty cool too! I’m so glad that I got the chance to speak with Kathryn and snap a couple of photos. Hopefully I will be able to try the ‘swirly French braid’ out for myself sometime soon. Please send me photos of your attempts at trying out this great, braided up-do.