It’s not what you expect, but you might have some fun playing with the 3D capabilities of i3D for your iPad 2. This also works with an iPhone. The app is free, check out this video.
Wow! Can the Kindle get any cheaper? Amazon has just announced a new version of the WiFi Kindle that’s $25 cheaper. The new Kindle with Special Offers comes with a catch, your screen saver will be advertising messages. However, the electronic reader will also give you special offers like a $20 Amazon gift certificate for $10 or an MP3 album for $1. Still, the Kindle is a great value at $139 and an amazing value at the discounted price of $114. You can pre-order one now and they’ll be available May 3.
Moshi presents protection for your iPad screen. iVisor AG for iPad 2 is, what they call, “an extremely advanced screen protector that shields the gorgeous iPad touch screen without hindering its appearance or functionality.” The iVisor AG features an anti-reflective matte finish that helps reduce glare and smudging. It’s the only screen protector on the market that is removable, re-usable and 100% bubble-free. They say it can be installed in seconds with four easy steps and no added chemicals. Its also equipped with Moshi’s polymer adhesive that allows repeated cleaning and re-application. The iVisor’s multilayer construction is engineered specifically to offer excellent scratch/smudge resistance while retaining optimal touchscreen sensitivity and feedback. Black or white, pre-order here, for $30.
This time of year, our attention turns to severe storms and storm safety. Here in the Chicago area it’s easy to get complacent about severe weather and tornadoes because we don’t see a lot of big ones. In fact, we’re a bit overdue and that concerns me. It’s a problem because people forget about the power of severe storms and tornadoes. They don’t take watches and warnings seriously. Since our deadly Plainfield tornado of 1990, the suburban area has exploded in population density. I’m going to try and make it a personal mission to continue to educate about storm safety, tornado preparedness, lightning safety, rip current awareness and safety, as well as extreme heat and flash flooding. When it comes to tornado safety, have you ever considered a shelter? You can find great info here about whether or not you might want one in your area. Here’s a look at one ready-to-go design you can sink into your backyard in just a few hours, for under $6,000. For more information on tornado safety, wherever you may be when a storm strikes, take a quick look at this document from NOAA. Just because you haven’t had a close encounter in your lifetime, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be prepared. Be the safety expert in the crowd, and make the smart decision to keep everyone well!
I don’t mind buying stuff I need, but when a clerk charges me for something I didn’t ask for…that’s just wrong! I needed a couple of replacement bulbs for my car and decided to try AutoZone for the first time. I was impressed by how quickly I was greeted as I walked in the door and the guy grabbed the bulbs I needed in 10 seconds. When I got to the register he threw a tiny foil packet on the counter. “Do you know about bulb grease?” I told him I didn’t and he instructed me to to just put a tiny bit on the base of each bulb, and even a little on the socket. He said it’ll help keep the contacts dry. Wow, how helpful! I went out into the parking lot and stuck the two bulbs in, smearing a little of the magic bulb grease on the contacts.
I came home and told my wife that AutoZone may be my new place for parts….they were sooooo helpful. That help, it turns out, cost me $1.41, with tax. The little packet of grease, that sounded like, and looked like, a sample, actually cost me $1.41. I didn’t realize it until I got home and looked at the receipt. A quick call to my local AutoZone led to an explanation about how helpful bulb grease is. I told him that helpful has nothing to do with it…I wasn’t told I was being charged for it. I explained that I never, ever, used the product before and it was presented to me like it was being thrown in as a freebie. He explained, again, how good it is. I told him I was calling corporate and he asked me to hold on, while he got the number for me. What I got, instead, was the manager. He sounded surprised that nobody told me I was being charged for the bulb grease. He told me to come in and he’ll refund my money, even though I already used the product.
I did a search online (autozone bulb grease) and found a lot of people debating the qualities and necessity of bulb grease, and a number of people who complained that, like me, they didn’t know they were being charged for it at AutoZone. Upselling is fine, I guess, but McDonald’s never super sized my fries without making it very clear that I was paying for it. It also amazes me that the .14 ounce packet of this miracle substance actually works out to $74 per 8 ounces! I could buy 3/4 of a barrel of oil from OPEC for that! As for me, I know I’ll be heading over to AutoZone in the near future. No, I won’t be buying anything there, I’m just getting my slippery refund.
Just did an interview with WGN Radio’s Mike McConnell about the death of CDs in cars. Ford says no more CD changers after 2011 and it looks like single CD players will be gone from most cars in the next 5 years. This is because audio will be played off your personal device, through the car’s system, and audio will also make the move to the cloud, the Internet, and will reside in your account. You can upload existing CDs, buy tunes, store movies, and call on them when you want them. The latest service from Amazon is moving music in that direction. Amazon Cloud Drive lets you store your music for free, up to 5 gigabytes, and play it back on your computer or Android phone. Buy just one MP3 album and get 20 gigabytes of storage. Upgrades come at a buck a gig. I think the future of media is the cloud. Let someone else store it and you can call on it when you need it. It’s a bank full of your stuff and, when you need some of it, you withdraw it. But the bank stays full of your collection. Renting a car in Arizona? Use the Internet connected sound system to listen to your music, play a video for the kids in the back seat, or listen to WGN Radio. It’s what we’ve seen for years now. The trend is to get YOUR stuff, when you want it, and where you want it.
Here’s the interview with Mike McConnell, it starts at the 16:50 mark.
This week we mark the 38th anniversary of the first cell phone call. It was April 3, 1973 when Martin Cooper of Motorola called his competitor at Bell Labs just to prove he beat them to the punch. Cooper was on a New York street using a portable mobile phone. Cellular consists of towers that hand off the call as you travel. Keeping your call within those smaller zones means less power is used and your battery lasts a longer time. The first commercial cell call was made at Soldier Field in October of 1983 by the head of Ameritech Mobile. He called the grandson of Alexander Graham Bell. When I did talk radio as a youngster, around 1984, I’d get calls from people testing Motorola’s new system here in Chicago. When I interviewed Marty, I asked how long the talk time was on that early 2.5 pound phone. He said it was only 20 minutes, but that was OK, because even the strongest person couldn’t hold the phone up to their ear that long. Mike McConnell interviewed 82 year old Marty Cooper this week on WGN. You can listen to the interview here.
I bought my first cellular phone in 1986. It was a Radio Shack model that cost $1,500. Here’s a commercial for it, although it’s titled 1990.
I remember walking from WGN to the press conference for an exciting new Motorola product in 1994. Watch this commercial and tell me if the Star Tac doesn’t STILL look good for being almost 17 years old!
After bilking Best Buy, and being sentenced to 15 years in the slammer, the 3 million dollar supercar collection of a Deerfield man will be auctioned off April 19. The amazing scam story is here.
Southwest needs to take a look at how their practices may cause aircraft to age differently. Could their frequent takeoffs and landings could be a factor? They run their fleet of 737s like buses, making more stops, and that means additional wear and tear and more frequent pressurizing. They’re doing high-frequency eddy current inspections, here’s Southwest’s statement on what has been found.
It’s true! This isn’t one of those invites you get on Facebook, Verizon really is getting rid of first-generation iPads for $299. That gets you a WiFi only 16gb original iPad. There’s nothing wrong with the original, if you don’t need the extra speed, thinner profile, and the ho-hum cameras built into the iPad 2. Add a hundred bucks for a 32 gig and a hundred more for the full 64! Call Verizon and see if they still have any in stock. It’s a great deal.