Category Archives: Gnrl Bckt

Time Wars…Watch vs Cell Phone

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If you would have asked me a year ago if I thought there was a need to wear a watch, I would have told you no. More specifically, I would have told you, “why would a person purchase a watch, when it is pretty much a given that there is a cell phone in the pocket of said buyer?” I would have had a valid point.

Well, I can give you two reasons. Reason number one: fashion. Yawn. Not my style. Reason number two: cell phone might die. Yawn. My BlackBerry lasts forever.

Flash forward to right now…I wear a wedding ring and have a phone that lasts about four hours on a charge. I need a watch.

If I was to head out watch shopping right now, there is no doubt that I would buy a Invicta subaqua watch. Without a doubt, the coolest looking watch I have seen to date:

subaqua

black, silver; beautiful

In all honesty, that thing is sweet. I really dig black and silver…cite my SS as evidence. Clean, subtle, and sophisticated. Not to mention the whole sub-aqua thing. Pretty much can’t kill this thing.

So, if I am to make a move to be on time, where should I look to buy my beloved Invicta subaqua? Easy. Blue Dial. Check out this price.

bluedial

beat that

Two hundred, sixty seven…down from nearly nine hundo. Beat that, I dare you.

Hit that link, see for yourself. Great watches at greater prices…while you do that, I’m going to put my Droid 2 back on the flipping charger. It has been three hours.

Let’s Talk Toner

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Where do you buy your toner? From a brick and mortar toner store? Get with the times…

toner

wait, what?

As with pretty much anything tech-based, the only practical way to buy toner cartridges these days is to buy them online. Not only do you save yourself a trip to the store, but a little shopping around will get you a far better price than heading down to the neighbourhood Staples to grab some toner.

Toner Tips

For the best toner selection, shop online
For the best toner price, shop online
For the best toner time savings, shop online

If I would have heeded my own advice, I would not be writing toner articles to keep the lights on. But, lo and behold, I am. For the loss.

Regardless, hit that hyperlink and buy some toner. When all things are said and done, it is, in fact, far cheaper to buy this stuff online than in a store. It is the same racket as HDMI cables…fairly certain that a 8-foot HDMI doesn’t cost thirty bucks to produce. But, I digress…

Home Security Chat

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When I think security system, my brain immediately jumps to a webcam. More specifically, a webcam and a couple of servo motors. Most specifically, a webcam, a couple of servo motors, and a slick web interface with which to drive said servos and see a live stream of said webcam.

I’m getting closer to making that a reality. Bear with me.

Here is the 20,000 dollar question: what happens when I see something awry?

freeze

*~freezing~*

I could take and save footage all day, but then what? I’ll assume that everyone has seen advertisements for ADT…they have the missing piece in the puzzle I laid out. Monitored alarm system…I can throw together a system to capture, but do not have the time to do the monitoring. I think I would sleep better, having someone on the other end of the line. ADT is, without a doubt, the best to have on the other end.

I would love to spend some time with one of their systems…they have a lot going on. Pet insensitive sensors? Yep. How do they do that? Must be one hell of an algorithm that goes into that infra-red sensor. Positioning and triggering would be very cool to tear into. Wireless keypads…ditto. Not sure how they keep that secure.

I’ll wrap this up. Check into home security, for sure, and more specifically into ADT. Go with the best.

Celebrity Insurance Policies

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Did you know that Mariah Carey has a ONE BILLION DOLLAR insurance policy ON HER LEGS? Sorry to do the all-caps shout thing, but that is pretty weird to me. Mimi is not alone here…there are all sorts of celebrities with huge policies on weird things. Today, we are talking insurance. Buckle up.

insurancebot

insurancebot needs insurance

Becks is out there too. David Beckham has a seventy million dollar policy on his legs and feet. Makes you wonder what exactly those soccer players are worth. Have you ever heard of America Ferrera? I sure hadn’t, until I read that she has a ten million dollar policy on her teeth. I’m going to say that one is a little unnecessary. Angelina Jolie? You guessed it…insured body for one billion, cash. I don’t know about the cash thing, but it sure sounded good. Better than The Boss in the 1980s. Speaking of The Boss, Springsteen has a seven million dollar policy on that raspy voice of his. How about that…

Where did I read about this, you ask? I stumbled across a site with this info on it while looking for an online insurance quote. Not only did freeinsurancequotes have the car insurance quote I was looking for, but they had an article about the celebrity policies. They also had home insurance and life insurance info. Pretty slick…check it out.

In the mean time, I’ll be looking into getting my bloggin’ fingers insured. What do you think they are worth? I’d bet hundreds.

North Face Denali

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Picture this. Winter. Montana. East of the Continental Divide…let’s say…about thirty miles. Windy. Cold as balls.

You are in Bozeman. You need a North Face Jacket. Trust me.

I’m not much of a coat guy. I can’t stand swaddling up in a big puffy coat. While great for getting too the vehicle, the puffiness is not very practical once in said vehicle. You could sit there looking and feeling like the Sta-Puff Man, or you could opt for a fleece. Like this guy…I am a fan of the North Face Denali. Even creepy robot lady looks stylish in the Denali…

weird

not sure about this...

I can’t really put my finger on that one. Sort of creepy, yet sort of tantalizing. Pure weird.

Enough about that, though. Vehicle and robo-ladies aside, let’s talk about the Denali Jacket. I like North Face products in general, because they are actually made well. Quality craftsmanship is hard to come by. Check out robo-lady’s jacket…I sort of dig the vertical and horizontal pockets. Those shoulders are reinforced…cuffs are elastic bound…cinch on the bottom hem. It is sort of in the details, and the Denali pays attention to them. Fleeces are perfect for layering, so you really can’t go wrong with this jacket.

Don’t take robo-lady’s creepy word for it…hit one of those links to find out more.

Are Pajama Jeans Awesome?

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Remember Pajama Jeans? I posted about them a while back, stating that society had hit a new low, due to the sheer level of WTF of which Pajama Jeans reek. Even sexy robot lady can’t make these look less than WTF.

pj jean

creepy robot lady is still sexy, creepy

Well, I can’t tell you if people are still making these things. I too can’t tell you if people are still buying or wearing Pajama Jeans.

I can say, with 100% certainty, that people are searching the webs for these retarded things…and en masse. Check the snapshot from Google Webmaster Tools:

no way

whaaaaaa????

Un. Fricking. Believable.

Well, I do get a kick out of the fact the Pajama Jeans would-be shoppers ended up here. I have a feeling they would appreciate the last post about the junk food in my desk drawer at work.

Uses for Old Cell Phones

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I remember how excited I was when I picked up my first BlackBerry Pearl. My new, shiny, metallic, trackball-having, Brick Breaker playing, T9 is history-making-me-say, Blackberry Pearl. That bad boy had a two inch screen, if you measured it diagonally. I swear.

Actually, I have it sitting on my work bench right now. One second…

I was wrong…it is easily two and a quarter. Diagonal.

So the question at hand is quickly becoming an age-old question. What do we do with all of this tech once it hits the end of the road? For phones, this is increasingly hard…the older unit is too nice to toss, but too slow to hit paydirt on eBay. Now what?

I’d like to be coy and say something like “two words…[two words here]“…but URLs cross me up. So…here you go….check out sellcell.com. They can solve the problem of which I speak.

cool new phone

too...many....phones....

We still have a big ol’ tube TV upstairs. What do you do with a cathode ray tube? You can toss it in the trash, dropping heavy metals in the water table. You could bring it out to the sticks, and use it for target practice with a rifle. Or shotgun, equipped with slugs. Not that I would know, but that may make for a good target, albeit another way to pollute the crap out of the water run-off.

Fortunately for us (and quite unfortunately for the gun toting hillbillies) there are options when it comes to cell phones. I am proud to say that the cellular market has become pervasive enough to allow for cell phone recycling to take root. Even if you are completely over your cell phone, there are people willing to recycle it for you. They will give you far more loot for your old unit, provided it has a market value…i.e. it is not a Zach Morris phone. Or a BB Pearl. Snaps.

Well, I would say long story short, but my story was long to begin with. Long story in summation, a reputable EU company is extending their service to the US. They provide the best option out there, as far as uses for old cell phones are concerned. They are doing so well, that they can pay me to write about their launch in the States…dang.

Hit one of those links to see what is up. I’m still looking at my old BlackBerry…how pathetic does that little sucker look? Plus, nothing happens when you push on that screen…ghetto as hell.

Got Bags?

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I am not a huge fan of my gigantic Dell backpack that I was issued at work. It is way too boxy, way too uncomfortable, and way too weird looking. Long story short, I ended up online looking at Laptop Cases. There was some good stuff.

My personal favorite that I found was this guy:

swimmy swammy swanson samsonite

swimmy...swammy

Suffice to say I have been called Samsonite. A few times.

Anyhow, on the search I ran into a site called gotbags.com. I was frankly impressed by their prices…a lot better deals than I expected to find. From Laptop Bags For Women to Britto Luggage, they have fancy stuff in addition to the more basic laptop bags I was hunting for. Take a look by hitting one of those links.

Nerd Wish List

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Black Friday is right around the corner. Not to offend anyone, but going to brick and mortar stores for sales is sort of ridiculous. Getting up in the middle of the night, standing in giant lines, jockeying for position, standing in more giant lines…all for the sake of saving money on a set amount of big ticket items. The marketing is blatant…’while supplies last’ is likely to mean that there will be roughly a dozen of the cheap LED LCD TVs that look so attractive on paper. You probably got up and did all of that for nothing.

Take a note from my book: avoid the giant hassle and shop online. I popped over to my perennial favorite http://www.savings.com for a few ideas. As usual, they didn’t let me down.

I am a pretty simple nerd. I have to buy my components on a per-project basis, so my small ticket items are taken care of. I really only have three items on my list, and savings.com has screaming deals on two of three.

Item one…Android Tablet

savings nerd

tempting

For development and general coolness, I want a tab. Badly.

Item two…new Android Mobile Device

vzw

want

Read: phone. I want a new one…also for development purposes and general coolness.

Item three is the new Zelda game for Wii. I have a feeling Katie will get me that…but chances are good that she could save some loot by checking savings.com first.

Anyhow…take a look and save yourself a trip.