Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Duplex Laser Printer for less than $100

Yes, you read it correctly. The Brother Printer HL2270DW Wireless Monochrome Printer is available on Amazon for $79. Hat tip to blogger Dane Carlson for the heads up.

Thursday, February 10, 2011

Free e-Books

eBook readers such as the Amazon Kindle, Borders Kobo, Sony Reader or Barnes & Noble Nook are increasingly popular but somewhat expensive. However, the most popular e-readers have their own app that will run on mobile devices or your personal computer. Just visit any eReader website to download the free application.

With the price barrier of an eReader a non-issue, the benefits of electronic books are too great to ignore. eBooks allow you to search, bookmark, highlight and annotate pages in a way that is difficult with a conventional, handheld book. Visit these locations to try out some free eBooks and see if an electronic book could be your cup of tea

Monday, November 15, 2010

Tools for writers

Battling real life mice caused me to neglect my blogging duties but some posts on Lifehacker, one of my favorite websites were too good not to share.

These websites and tips are great for writers so save and share.

Five Best Distraction-Free Writing Tools

Top 10 Tips for Better Writing

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

A Private Hotspot for Five

My colleagues and I were sitting around debating the merits of the iPod Touch vs. an iPhone. Besides the phone service, there's not much difference beween the two and if you download a VoIP app for your iPod Touch you can pretty much even make calls with it (ask me later).

My biggest gripe is that my iPod Touch requires a WiFi connection in order to go online. There's no data plan available for it and I don't really want one. That would make it an iPhone and I already have a BlackBerry with an unlimited data plan.

My colleague mentioned that on his train ride in many of the commuters have MiFi's. I hadn't heard of this little gadget so I had to do some nosing around and I found out that Novatel Wireless launched this device only 18 months ago and it is already worldwide.

David Pogue at the NY Times explains that MiFi is a line of compact wireless routers produced by Novatel Wireless that act as mobile Wi-Fi hotspots. Wireless providers like Verizon offer the device and various data plans in order to connect to the Internet on up to five wireless devices (laptop, iPod Touch, mobile phone, etc.) within a 30 ft perimeter. The available plans can get you a MiFi wireless router for $.01 with the monthly service setting you back $39.99 for 250 MB or $59.99 for 5 GB.

The MiFi is password protected and can only be accessed if you share the password making it ideal for business travel or when you are stuck on a plane without WiFi but want to be productive or just don't want to hang out at Starbucks or the library to mooch free wireless.

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

eVoter.com - When you have to know now

It's election day in the state of Illinois and across the country. I did a quick search to see if there was a single site where I could monitor the national races (besides CNN) and ran across eVoter.com.

eVoter currently provides non-partisan election information for voters in California, Illinois, Maryland, Minnesota and Ohio with more states to follow. eVoter is owned and operated by Political Technologies LLC and has an Advisory Board that includes David Wilhelm, former Democratic National Committee Chair and Jo Ann Davidson former Republican National Committee Co-Chair.

Non-partisan is good, especially considering the mudslinging that we've endured here in Chicago. I hope eVoter grows and adds more states soon. I attended college and lived in Florida for ten years so I'm very interested in the results of the senate race there. I went to school with Kendrick Meek and would like to see him go to the senate. I lived in Georgia for seven years and would also like to see what's going on there as well.

Let’s Get Charged Up

While I remembered to grab the USB cable for my iPod touch and the AC adapter for my laptop prior to the mad dash for the airport, unfortunately I left my Blackberry charger at home. Once I reached my destination, I had to take time out of my all too brief long weekend to find a Blackberry charger with a mini-USB connector. The holidays are still a few weeks away but it’s not too early to start making a list and dropping hints about what you’d really like to find in your stocking. The following devices minimize the number of adapters you have to remember and give you more time to focus on the purpose of being away for business or pleasure.

IDAPT i4 by INOITULOS S.L., a technology consultancy based out of Barcelona, Spain claims to be the world’s first universal simultaneous charger for portable electronic devices. The IDAPT i3 model allows you to charge 3 portable devices at once and the upcoming IDAPT i4 will charge 4 portable devices. According to the website, the IDAPT i3 is compatible with over 3,500 devices including the Blackberry, iPhone, iPad, Nintendo DS, PSP, GPS systems, digital cameras, and Bluetooth products as well as popular AA/AAAA rechargeable batteries. The IDAPT features an interchangeable tip (adaptor) system which makes it customizable while eliminating unsightly cords. It has 3 charging points and an additional USB charging point requiring only a single outlet. The IDAPT i3 is currently available with six tips (adaptor) in eight different colors at the Barnes & Noble website for $49.99.

myGrid, from battery maker Duracell enable you to charge up to four mobile devices at the same time by attaching a Power Sleeve™ or Power Clip™ to each device and dropping it onto myGrid to charge. The myGrid Cell Phone Starter Kit comes with a Power Clip designed for BlackBerry®, Motorola® and Nokia® cell phones. According to the website, myGrid works with most cell phones, handheld devices and MP3 players. The Duracell myGrid Starter Charger Pad Kit for Mobile Devices is available online at theEssentials.com for $74.99.

Chargepod by Chicago based Callpod is a 6-way charging device that allows you to charge a variety of mobile devices such as phones, cameras, Mp3 players, iPods, e-readers, portable gaming, and GPS with a single power cord. The website boasts that Chargepod is compatible with more than 3,000 devices. To customize your Chargepod, select the manufacturer-specific adapters for your devices and throw away the many power cords that are cluttering your office and home. The Chargepod value pack ($59.99) includes Chargepod Base Unit, Mini-USB, Micro-USB, iPod/iPhone Adapters, AC adapter and a voucher for three additional adapters.