Walyou

Posted: 26 Dec 2015 11:53 PM PST

A perfect way of geeking up your house, especially for Super Mario fans, while making life better for your cat or cats, is this Super Mario Bros. Cat Tree.

The cat tree stands 7’6 feet tall, with the base functioning as storage for litter boxes or toys. The tubes are full functional, which means that instead of a predatory plant, you’ll have a funny little cat popping out during surprising moments, making funny faces.

It takes up a lot of space due to its size, but it’s well worth it knowing you feel like you have a level of the game inside your house, for your cat to play the part of the plumber, only without turtles and mushrooms to jump on. I can’t guarantee they won’t start tearing up the blocks and question marks looking for stars and other magical things.

Now this isn’t a cheap one: It costs $1500 but for those always walking around with some extra cash in your wallet and a serious need to put hollow cubes and tubes in your house for your cat to play with, it might be the perfect addition to the living room, and don’t be surprises if your cat loves it so much it never ever wants to leave.

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Aznog VoIP App Offers Free Direct Calls to Mobile and Landlines

Posted: 26 Dec 2015 12:51 PM PST

Aznog provides free calls to anyone, anywhere. (PRNewsFoto/Aznog Technologies)

VoIP apps and services have really picked up some speed in the past decade, and while all of them enable you to call mobile phones and landlines for a fee, Aznog does that for free.

Skype and WhatsApp are only two of the big names that come to mind when speaking about VoIP services, but when it gets to calling mobile phones, the other party has to run the same app on their smartphone, or the caller gets charged a fee, or at least that’s how it works in the case of Microsoft’s service. It is possible to call landlines using Skype or similar VoIP services, but only after purchasing some credits. Aznog Technologies Ltd., a London-based telecommunications company, has developed an Android app that enables its users to call anyone in 20 different countries for free. All that is required is an Internet connection, be it Wi-Fi, 3G, 4G or LTE.

“Aznog users can make unlimited calls around the world,” explained Amogh Meshram, CEO and Founder of Aznog. “By using the app, people can literally reduce their monthly phone bills to zero. This is a big gamechanger for the telecommunications industry and a big win for consumers who are tired of outrageous bills, frustrating service contracts or the hassle of having to reload minutes to their phone frequently.”

Among other permissions, the app requires access to the contacts list stored in the user’s phone, so that it can provide one-touch calls. Skype and WhatsApp tackle that in a similar way, so you shouldn’t worry about that. Another permission is access to your location, so that the app knows where you are when creating a profile. However, there’s more to that than what Aznog would like you to believe.

Since nothing is truly free in this world, the Aznog app had to use some monetization scheme. That comes in the form of ads that are served to the app users after finishing a call. To be more precise, ads will be displayed even if the other party hasn’t answered the call, so that’s something you need to get used to if you want to call mobiles and landlines without having to pay a fee. Now, it’s the nature of the ads that’s a bit disturbing. While other apps advertise mobile games and other such products, Aznog seems to have a thing for dating services. The app also needs to know your location in order to provide personalized ads, thus making you think that girls within walking distance (bearing English names, mind you!) are looking for someone like you.

While Aznog’s initiative is worth some appreciation, I wish they had served different ads to its users, as some of them are really embarrassing, especially if people decide to use the app at work and their superior glances in their direction right after finishing a call. If you’re still considering using it, head over to Google’s Play Store and install it on your Android devices.

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