Steve Jobs famously didn’t let his kids use an iPad, because he wanted them to avoid getting sucked into a netherworld of endless screens, without real-world engagement. It’s a feeling even the most tech-loving of parents likely knows — and it’s the inspiration behind a new project from MIT graduate Adam Kumpf.

I wrote about Kumpf’s clothespin iPad piano a few months back, and I’m fascinated by his concept for what he calls an iPad inventor’s kit. Essentially it’s a shoebox of easy-to-find household objects that, when paired with the right app, can help kids invent futuristic iPad gadgets — while also teaching them about the fundamental concepts of mechanical systems, physics, basic electronics, interface design and engineering.

Best of all, you can put it together yourself free of charge, thanks to Instructables.

Apple is already testing iOS 9, but in the meantime iOS 8 adoption continues to grow — although it’s starting to slow down.

According to Apple’s latest stats, 69 percent of active iOS devices are now using the latest version of the company’s mobile OS; up just 1 percent from January 5, when Apple last shared iOS 8 adoption stats. By comparison, 28 percent of users are still working on iOS 7, with a minuscule 3 percent using assorted earlier iterations.

Google’s Material Design makeover isn’t just for those running the latest version of Android; the search giant is also bringing it to its slew of popular iOS apps as well. Chrome is the latest to get the fancy redesign, and it comes with Handoff support and further improvements for iOS 8.

Holding a mobile phone while driving is an activity that is frowned upon. Texting and driving is not only a social faux pas, but could also earn you a traffic ticket in some jurisdictions or, worse, cause you to wind up in a car accident.

Get your phone out of your hands and keep your attention on the road by mounting your smartphone with the ingenious Neutron S Phone & Tablet Mount, discounted by 16% at Cult of Mac Deals for a limited time.

It’s true — Hollywood has fully exported its heroes to the newest media kid on the block, video games. It wasn’t enough for Martin Sheen to play the chain smoking Illusive Man in 2008’s Mass Effect 2 , or Kevin Spacey to turn in a star performance in Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare.

Now John Malkovich, Bill Paxton, Rose McGowan and Jon Bernthal lend their voices and likenesses to the sci-fi-tinged military shooter for the new Exo Zombie mode that comes with the new downloadable content pack “Havok,” available January 27.

Here, they’ve even made a video to show you.

Candide Thovex is having another one of those days in an aptly named new YouTube video, “One of those days 2.”

The professional skier from France has released yet another amazing point of view of his extreme skiing, and in this one, he skis through the actual mountain.

This post is brought to you by Lucid Software, creator of Lucidchart.

Does your organization have people in several remote locations who need to work on visual documents together? Now you can forget about e-mailing files, saving versions and all the related headaches: With Lucidchart, anyone can collaborate in real time to create charts in the cloud. And Mac users can get to work with Lucidchart at a fraction of the cost of Microsoft Visio.

Fans of BBC shows on Netflix have been on a bit of a ride lately.

First, there was the possibility that the licensing agreement between the two companies was going to expire January 31. And then everyone freaked out because WHAT ABOUT DOCTOR WHO? But then last week, the two sides reached a deal, so now all of the Who fans can go back to talking about how great the Doctor’s companion Rose is, even though Romana and Ace were way better, you guys.

But the sci-fi fan favorite isn’t the only program that’s getting a new lease in your streambox. Here are three other BBC shows that you should definitely check out now that you have plenty of time.

Steve Jobs shunned trips to Washington, D.C., during his tenure as Apple CEO, but Tim Cook has been a frequent visitor to Capitol Hill to personally amp up Apple’s lobbying efforts, which have more than doubled since 2009.

A new report from OpenSecrets today revealed that Apple lobbied the White House, Congress and 13 departments and agencies including the Food and Drug Administration and the Federal Trade Commission in 2014. In 2009, Apple lobbied only Congress and six agencies and only spent $1.5 million compared to the nearly $3 million it spent from January to October 2014.

Karen Koch Rasmussen navigates life just fine without sight. Developing systems to identify the tangibles in life come to her naturally, from how to stock her canned goods to labeling her music collection so she can listen to which ever genre strikes her.

She even has a strategy for when there’s a glitch in her systems, like when a canned item goes in the wrong place. If she grabs tomatoes instead of beans, she may adjust her recipe and roll with the inconvenience.

So when an iPhone app to assist the blind came into her life, thus offering a solution to those occasional challenges, Rasmussen, 26, didn’t quite know how to use a set of eyes that were easily at her disposal.

“I’ve been blind since birth so you learn to get along without seeing,” said Rasmussen, a graduate student in political science in Aarhus, Denmark. “I’m not use to having the opportunity so I would forget there is a solution.”

Apple has provided the official City of Cupertino website with a new photo, showing progress on the new, so-called “Spaceship” campus. And it’s starting to look like a thing of a beauty.

If you’re a developer, listen up: it’s time to make sure your apps can support iOS 8 and Apple’s 64-bit ARM processors. Otherwise, you won’t be able to submit them to the App Store anymore.

Cartoon Network’s Adventure Time isn’t just a popular kids’ show, it presents one of the richest and most surreal animated landscapes I can remember seeing on a TV show.

In other words, it’s perfect for sparking and unlocking young people’s imagination and creativity.

That’s the concept behind the newly-launched Adventure Time Game Wizard, which lets you use your iOS device and a few sheets of paper to draw and play your own video game levels. And much like Adventure Time itself, it’s really quite addictive.

We’ve all seen YouTube videos like the above, showing a time-lapse of a person’s changing face over time. If you’re anything like me, you’ve momentarily thought about how interesting it would be to create a similar video for yourself, just to see how much your features alter from month-to-month, or year-to-year — only to drop the idea because you realize you’ll never remember to take selfies every single day.

Well, Grzegorz Aksamit’s suitably-titled Selfie App can help you, since it will automatically trigger your MacBook’s built-in iSight camera every time you lift the notebook’s lid, or wake your iMac up from its slumber. Useful, huh?

The iPhone recently celebrated its eighth birthday, and what better way to mark the occasion than with a mesmerizing animated GIF — showing the evolution of Apple’s mobile handset from the revolutionary but (now) small and slightly bulky device Steve Jobs unveiled in 2007, to the landmark iPhone 6 which racked up more than 10 million sales in its first weekend alone?

If you’re a long-time iPhone fan, or a relatively new user, it’s an astounding glimpse at just how far we’ve come in just a handful of iPhone iterations. To paraphrase The Simpsons, it’s hypnotic… almost like watching a lava lamp.

From gorgeous new architectural concepts, to its most ambitious retail store opening plan in years, Apple certainly isn’t slacking off when it comes to its continued expansion into China: a market that Tim Cook has said will one day be Apple’s largest of anywhere in the world, including the U.S.

Ahead of opening its latest brick-and-mortar retail store at West Lake in Hangzhou this Saturday, Apple has added a new video to its Chinese webpage — showing famous calligrapher Wang Dongling creating an astonishing mural for the store.

It’s a great nod to Chinese tradition, while also managing to be quintessentially Apple in spirit.

According to industry analysts, video games account for several billions of dollars in revenue every single year. That’s an astounding number and speaks to the relative health of the gaming industry.

You could secure yourself a slice of that enormous money pie by learning game development skills with the Name Your Own Price Game Design Course Bundle, available for a limited time at Cult of Mac Deals.

From its outspoken CEO with his unabashed Apple love, to the company’s insistence on trying unorthodox strategies to hook customers, there’s plenty to like about T-Mobile. Plenty to like, that is, unless you work on the business side of things.

In a new interview, Timotheus Höttges, CEO of T-Mobile’s parent company Deutsche Telekom, says that while he loves the carrier’s “super-maverick” approach to the mobile business, it’s just not sustainable in the long term.

We still don’t have a launch date for Apple Watch, but if you can’t wait to line up at Apple Stores for Jony Ive’s timepiece, you can do the next best thing and buy a knockoff.

Earlier this morning, an eBay listing for a “prototype Apple Watch” sold in just hours for $260. The seller claims it’s an Apple prototype obtained from a cousin who works at Apple, but the sticker on the front and cheap leather band give it away as an obvious fake.

Here’s a look at the listing:

The forthcoming Apple Watch may be Apple’s first tentative steps into the wearables market, but it’s not the company’s first attempt at a timepiece — as YouTube user Jonathan Morrison shows in a new video.

You see, back in 1995, when Apple was still reeling from the damaging blow that was Windows 95, the company produced a limited collection of custom-made wristwatches to reward users who upgraded to Mac OS System 7.5. And despite its slightly Saved By The Bell appearance, it was actually pretty neat.

Check out Morrison’s video after the jump.

As promised by the web service, a glitter bomb sent to an enemy can be a real nuisance.

But the glitter that just wouldn’t go away turned out to be on the hands of the man who created shipyourenemiesglitter.com, who after a few days of viral attention and web-site crashing orders begged off.

“Hi guys I’m the founder of this website,” wrote Mathew Carpenter on Product Hunt last week. “Please stop buying this horrible glitter product — I’m sick of dealing with it. Sincerely, Mat.”

Some quick cash might be the remedy to remove the glitter off Carpenter’s hands.

His site went up for sale on flippa.com, receiving more than 300 bids and quickly exceeded the $60,000 reserve bid.

I think we can all agree that the iPhone and other smartphone cameras have been a boon for photography. For the first time in history, the vast majority of people have an incredibly powerful camera in their pockets at all time. Because of this, our age will be the most well-documented age in history. And that’s awesome. But some critics claim that because we can take as many pictures as we want now, we give a lot less thought to what they shoot, and how, than they did when they had to measure out each and every shot.

That’s why I love this new app for iOS, White Album. It basically makes a disposable camera out of your iPhone. But don’t worry, you don’t have to throw your iPhone away when you stop using the app.

If you’re looking for something to do with today’s public holiday, here’s an idea: why not seize the opportunity to buy a Google Glass headset, knowing that this could be your last chance to ever do so?

That’s right — from tomorrow, Google’s $1,500 Glass Explorer augmented reality goggles will no longer be available through Google’s Play Store. Headsets will continue to work, although users shouldn’t expect any official software updates for them.

Today is Martin Luther King Jr. Day, and to mark the occasion Apple has changed the image on its homepage to one commemorating the beloved civil rights activist and pastor.

The black-and-white image is accompanied by a line reading, “Today we reflect on the life and vision of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the work that continues in service of the broader concerns of humanity.”

Ever since Tim Cook unveiled the Apple Watch last September, it’s been one disappointment after another as far as I’m concerned. Apple’s first wearable won’t come in the minimalist form factor of the fitness bracelets I love. Worse yet, the launch version of the fashion-forward device will lack GPS, suffer from underwhelming battery life and fail to offer truly native third-party apps.

For the first time, I realized I would not be buying an Apple product when it first hit the market. “It’s not worth lining up for,” I told my dad when he asked what I thought after the Apple Watch’s big reveal.

But a funny thing happened on the way to Apple Watch’s launch day, which is coming sometime this spring. And I’m not talking about the previously unthinkable — an Apple fan calling the Microsoft Band the best smartwatch on the planet. No, I’m talking about wading through an ungodly sea of really bad smartwatches at International CES earlier this month and seeing indisputable proof of just how innovative and disruptive Apple Watch actually will be.