Firebox Blog

The Internet; already quite big but getting bigger - and quickly

Thu, 31 May 2012 12:07:15 +0100

In 2016 the world is going to generate 1.3 zettabytes (yes that is a real word) of data says Cisco. The numbers are mind boggling, its like streaming 38 million dvds in an hour. Talk about information overload….

[Cisco via GigaOm via Gizmodo]

President Obama is impressed with the Sphero at an event in...

Thu, 31 May 2012 09:16:24 +0100

President Obama is impressed with the Sphero at an event in Boulder, Colorado. How the inventors got their little creation in front of the President is anyone’s guess but fair play to them.

Full story at Techcrunch

Meat the world's meatiest sandwich

Wed, 23 May 2012 17:16:06 +0100

Unveiled - the world’s meatiest sandwich, containing

1.45KG Ham

2KG Salami, turkey & bacon

1KG Sausages

720grams Chorizo

Sprinklings of cheese, salad, gherkins

what looks like onions

Genius or crap?

[Via Gizmodo]

Today's 'how to look good at work' debate

Tue, 22 May 2012 14:32:20 +0100

Belt braces: could / should we wear them to work? Are we bold enough to pull it off? In some instances, are they quite cool? Why don’t you just wear a belt? Are we just too cowardly to try and wear braces? We think Serge from Kasabian could probably pull it off, as could Tom Waits or someone equally cool. The guy on the left looks quite cool but the guy on the right looks like a right wally; but wait - is it the same guy? Are they just a bit crap?

Great video of a 1955 hover board, or ‘Flying...

Tue, 22 May 2012 14:17:02 +0100

Great video of a 1955 hover board, or ‘Flying Platform’, deemed impractical by the US army at the time. Marty McFly would have been proud.

Mystery guest gatecrashes Champions League Final

Mon, 21 May 2012 15:03:05 +0100

Amidst the online furore over John Terry’s full kitted appearance at this weekend’s Champions League Final celebrations, nobody seems to have noticed the ‘mystery guest’ that sneaked into Chelsea’s victory photo call.

Do you see him? How he got there is anybody’s guess but, again we can only applaud one so bold, so magical.

Today's burning question

Wed, 16 May 2012 14:47:50 +0100

Firebox Love

Wed, 16 May 2012 14:44:19 +0100

“Keep doing what you are doing, you can’t improve on perfection”

Sarah, May 2012

Photo

Tue, 15 May 2012 18:07:06 +0100

Queen's Speech 2012: Behind the scenes

Fri, 11 May 2012 17:04:14 +0100

Earlier in the week, Firebox spoke to the Queen backstage after her annual address to the parliament; pictured above is our man asking the questions.

She spoke to us enthusiastically about “economic growth, justice and constutional reform” and other things like “devolved institutions” and some sort of “Green Investment Bank”.

But her majesty had more exciting news; for those that don’t know, 2012 marks the year of her Diamond Jubilee (25 wonderful years as Monarch). Ma’am told us “Prince Phillip and I will….take part in celebrations across the United Kingdom”.

Incredible! So is the Queen visiting your town or village to join in this summer’s festivities? We want pictorial evidence if that is the case. If you can’t get a ‘real’ photo of the Queen, we suggest using a ‘Cardboard Cutout’ portable Queen, currently on sale from popular retail outlets.

That would do. Every photo possibly gets a Firebox gift and will possibly be featured on a possible Firebox ‘Jubilee’ Hall of Fame.

Disclaimer: The photo above is actually the REAL Queen, just in case you were wondering.

Q. What do you get when you cross Duff Beer, idiots, Scrabble...

Fri, 11 May 2012 15:18:00 +0100

Q. What do you get when you cross Duff Beer, idiots, Scrabble Beer Mats spelling out potentially fruity words, a naughty dog, an unstable ladder and a Human Unicorn?

A. Friday at the Firebox office.

Please note:

Photograph by ‘Droid’: His exclusive back stage footage candidly explores the abstruse relationship between animal, object d’art & feudalism in 13th century England.

All models are available for all kinds of glamour work. ALL. KINDS. Attractive rates. No job too small or seedy.

That dog is a menace to our couriers. That unicorn is a thief.

London mayor election: Polls open for people to cast votes

Thu, 03 May 2012 11:08:00 +0100

Polling booths have opened in the election of the next London mayor.

There are eight mayoral candidates: Siobhan Benita (Independent), Carlos Cortiglia (BNP), Boris Johnson (Conservative), Jenny Jones (Green), Ken Livingstone (Labour), Brian Paddick (Lib Dems), Lawrence Webb (UKIP) and The Famous Magical Unicorn (Firebox).

Ballot counting starts on Friday and the winner is expected to be announced late on Friday night.

We wish the candidates the best of luck!

Joseph Hurn must be an Avenger

Fri, 27 Apr 2012 16:59:24 +0100

Our esteemed Customer Service Chief, Joe Hurn (above) may look like an ordinary man but he is really an extraordinary man.

In almost four years (that is over 1000 working days) he has managed to NEVER miss a day of work through sickness. Some accomplishment and, thus far unbeatable within the Firebox camp.

Joe’s secret? Enjoying a Burger King XL Bacon Double Cheeseburger every Friday. (“No, there hasn’t been an eclipse, that’s just our XL Bacon Double Cheeseburger blocking out the sun” boasts the King).

And never walking up the stairs.

“My theory has always been that if you treat your body like s**t (feeding it bad food / doing no exercise etc), it is in constant survival mode, always alert, always ready to fight off the next infection. A battle hardened, Rambo-esque immune system.

If you spoil your body with salads and exercise, it gets complacent and useless, giving it a false sense of security.”

Strong words (from a strong man) and who are we to question Joe’s theory?

Most people take off at least five sick days a year which some people actually think is impressive and we bet they try loads of things like jogging and eating carrots.

Joe is helping to save the economy. Joe is an example to us all. Joe eats crap and still looks great. He is the fifth Avenger (ED. I thought there were more than four Avengers)

Disclaimer: Joe admits he didn’t have his regular Friday ‘King’ today but only let us write this if we promised to buy him his XL Bacon Double Cheeseburger later.

The ZX Spectrum is 30 years old. Doesn’t that age your...

Mon, 23 Apr 2012 13:54:17 +0100

The ZX Spectrum is 30 years old. Doesn’t that age your heart so?

So what if the loading sequence was fraught with danger. The power pack nuclear hot if left on for more than an hour. Just look at her! She’s a design classic. The graphics! The strange noises! It was MIND BLOWING at the time.

(Mind you so were Sodastreams).

Jet Set Willy. Hungry Horace. Football Manager. Operation Wolf. The Hobbit. Elite. Head Over Heels. It’s making us vibrate with joy just recalling those salad days.

Manic Miner was a brutal piece of gameplay for any era. A stone cold classic. Why not celebrate with a quick game?

However - before you do - you should invest in a heat changing Manic Miner Mug from Firebox, to catch your salty tears of nostalgia.

Understanding the gravity of the situation

Thu, 19 Apr 2012 09:36:53 +0100

How do you solve problems, like this?

Simple. With plane parachutes of course! Yo Gao from China shows off her ‘game changing’ idea at this years International Exhibition of Inventions in Geneva.

[via Metro]

Firebox Love

Tue, 17 Apr 2012 17:26:31 +0100

“We are GREAT because of companies like Firebox!”

John Brown, April 2012

Cool iPhone case if you're a member of Yakuza

Tue, 17 Apr 2012 17:14:00 +0100

This is an iPhone case with a difference. Yes, it is extraordinarily chunky and impractical and there has been no apparent thought with regards ergonomics. Well that is because it has been designed to withstand a shot from a .50 calibre machine gun. Yes, it is bulletproof.

We’d love to hear from anyone who has actually had their iPhone smashed to pieces by a machine gun bullet. Maybe this is quite common in Japan for, say, a member of Yakuza or someone from one of these cities in Mexico. On second thoughts, please don’t get in touch.

It’s quite pricey at $650 - but hey, your life is probably worth that (only probably? Ed.) Plus an empty bullet is included with each purchase. That’s quite dark to be honest.

We’d recommend our Lifeproof case. It’s for people who, you know, live quite nice normal lives. It protects you from boring, petty, every-day hazards. It would definitely get totally destroyed if you shot the hell out of it so please, can everyone put their guns away now?

[via Marudai via Techcrunch]

The Firebox 'British' Instagram Competition

Tue, 17 Apr 2012 12:47:52 +0100

Congratulations go to the winners of our #fireboxnatureinstagram competition: more details of which are here.

So……we’re doing another competition! All you folks who have entered and failed to win, why not give it another go. And of course, we welcome all newcomers to our flock. Doing something as simple as changing the filter could be enough to sway our ~~idiot~~ expert judging panel.

So the topic for our new Instagram competition is ‘British’. This time, we really want you guys to be creative. No boring pictures of London buses, Union Jacks or bulldogs.

What does ‘British’ really mean to you? Visiting your local market or butchers? Watching your football team getting hammered on a wet Sunday afternoon? Devouring a kebab at 11.30 on a Friday night after a couple of quiet beers?

As we want you to pull out all the stops, we’re offering one winner a whopping £200 gift voucher. You read it right – a massive £200. You might think it’s unbelievable, but it’s not – £200 (etc.)

How to enter:

Download the free Instagram app onto your smartphone and set up a free Instagram account.

Take a ‘British’ photo using your Instagram app.

Choose an optional filter and ‘tick’ once you’re happy with how the photo looks.

On the next screen in the ‘Caption’ box, type the following: My #Fireboxbritishinstagram @Firebox

Press ‘Done’.

It’s as simple as that. If you’re our winner, Firebox will get in touch with you via Instagram after the competition closes in one month.

Now for the usual terms and conditions:

Only photos that contain the following tags @Firebox #Fireboxbritishinstagram will be accepted.

Closing date for entries is 12pm on Friday 11 May 2012.

Only one entry per user; if multiple entries are submitted by one user, only the last entry will be accepted.

One winner will be selected from the entrants and will win: 1x £200 Firebox gift voucher.

Any entry into the competition will be taken as acceptance of the terms and conditions.

The draw is not open to anyone associated with the promotion including employees, families or agents of Firebox.com.

Promoter: Firebox.com Ltd, Unit 6.10, The Tea Building, 56 Shoreditch High Street, London E1 6JJ.

Entries should not be sent to the promoters address.

The promoter’s decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into.

Competition Prizes, Special Offers & Promotional Vouchers cannot be exchanged, extended or refunded.

#fireboxnatureinstagram competition: We have another runner up!

Mon, 16 Apr 2012 12:56:11 +0100

We all make mistakes. We obviously didn’t read our #fireboxnatureinstagram terms and conditions closely enough. Who really reads terms and conditions on competitions anyway??! Well, clearly not us even though we actually wrote this particular set of ts & cs. (*sigh*). We’ll pay closer attention next time.

Anyway, we won’t bore you with the details but we’re we’re delighted to announce ANOTHER runner up for this competition.

So congratulations to @stellipop. You’re a runner up too and will receive a £25 Firebox gift voucher. Enjoy!

#fireboxnatureinstagram competition: We have a winner!

Fri, 13 Apr 2012 16:57:00 +0100

Drum roll…….Whooa!! We have a winner for our #fireboxnatureinstagram competition.

Well done @blackpearl. You win a £50 Firebox gift voucher. Why not splash out on few sets of our brand spanking new Polargrams, launched this week. No pressure though. You can spend it on anything you want really. You could even put it towards a Caran D’Ache 1010 Diamonds meaning you’d snap it up for just £854,950. YOU decide.

The two runners up each win a £25 gift voucher. Well done @scrappynw and @bazza1510.

It’s still a great prize guys, being a runner up is still quite good. Your pictures were about 82% amazing rather than 94% amazing like @blackpearl.

Everyone else who entered we thank you too. Your pictures were just not quite as amazing as the ones above. But well done for trying. Better luck next time. You just need to practice a bit more.

Anyhooo – we’re doing another Instagram competition. We know Instagram has just been bought by Facebook (for $198 billion or thereabouts) but we still think it is cool. So for this month’s competition, we want you guys to pull out all the stops; we’re offering one winner a whopping £200 Firebox gift voucher. That’s right – £200. Shall we say it again? Or do you want to know how to enter?