Book Reviews and Money Saving Tips

Midland Emergency Weather Alert Radio As I look out at the water puddling my yard, I have to wonder about the extreme weather we have been having.   Recently there was a consistent red band on the bottom of the TV warning of tornados.   I don’t live in a tornado prone area so that was troubling, troubling enough that I had difficulty sleeping that night.  I get grumpy when I can’t sleep.   I got up and found an ap for my beloved Droid X that will alert you to tornados.  It downloaded and setup just fine but it wouldn’t let me put in my location or any other location.  So it was worthless.   The next day I went to Amazon and searched for an emergency radio.   The Midland WR-120 got good reviews, it has battery backup and it was inexpensive.   The feature I liked most was that you can set it for the weather station closest to your location and filter out the other stuff.   I feel bad if they have a tornado in Harrisburg but I don’t want woken up in the middle of the night

No point in going into specs, look at them here .   Here being the Amazon product page.   Amazon knocked the competition around today with their $199.00 tablet.   That’s $199.00!!! The specs and content look good, more importantly their new browser named Silk looks very good.  They claim to have married the Kindle to Cloud computing with the “heavy lifting” being done by Amazon’s robust servers lurking in their cloud.   If their claim is valid and this actually does work, it is setting a standard that will have to be met.  Speed is the name of the game and if Silk works as advertised Amazon is going to be way out in front.   Check it out on the Amazon product page ! Amazon’s Kindle Fire-Looks Awesome!

A guest post by some blokes from down under.  They have links to their business or somebodies business but that doesn't preclude their post from being interesting.   I checked out the links and they seem harmless.  I'm not recommending them because I haven't used them.   They do write some nice posts though.    The Number One Example of How Online Marketing Makes Money Online marketing has so many avenues to the way it can make revenue. In some cases, we are even seeing ideas that have turned into revenue generating machines in their own right. LaunchRock is a website that is gaining traction and interest that grew out of the idea of launching a website without really having to do it. The pre-marketing made easy before you even invest in the time and money to launch your start-up, if you will. Other simple online apps, have turned into making money from more traditional means. Angry Birds is an excellent example, of how a simple and free app (with supported a

This saw actually seems to exceed the normal B&D build quality.   I found the saw well constructed and thoughtfully designed.   If you are planning on trimming off small branches it does a nice job on up to 2" diameter branches.   If you plan on cutting anything larger you want to have a large number of charged batteries handy. My 12" Remington electric chain saw, model LNT-2, died in the middle of a bush stump of roughly 7-8" in diameter.   My initial annoyance abated when it occurred to me that I have had the little beast for possibly 20 years so it provided service well beyond what one could expect for such an inexpensive tool.   The overheated burning smell was some catastrophic failure.  (Yes I did have plenty of oil in it.) Ironically I now have 4-12" chains, two of which are freshly sharpened and no chain saw on which to install them.  I borrowed the B&D saw from my son.   It worked fine but I again caution you that the battery life i

I just read a review on the Smart Cover in the June 2011 issue of Wired magazine.   The author states that one of the reasons Apple is so successful is the quality and thoughtfulness of their products.   He accurately describes the functionality and elegance of the Smart Cover and it’s shortcomings as a truly protective cover.   Admittedly when I saw the Smart Cover I was impressed with it and, yes, it is cool.  However I have 2 nd hand experience that you may want to recognize that it is not perfect.   A close Apple-centric relative reveled in her new iPad2 when she visited.   I, sadly, did get tablet envy but that is beside the point.   The point is that she forked out the $69.99 for the leather Smart Cover and was very happy with it.   However on returning home she was using her tablet and ill advisedly picked the iPad2 up by the Smart Cover.   Disaster struck, the magnets released and her new best friend fell screen side down on the concrete porch.   Imagine her dismay!

I tend to research tech ad nauseum.   My  venerable 3-Com switch was showing some intermittent issues.   I was getting drop off and I connected my PC directly to the cable modem and the drop off disappeared.   So I added in my 3-Com and it was back.   I tried several other old switches I had and none were seamless.   Since they were all at least five years old, I bit the bullet and bought the E1200.  The router got four or five stars on several online rating sites.   PC Mag had an article that mentioned it no less than three times as a good value.   It is not a high end switch/router but it is ranked as worthwhile.  I would have to disagree with that ranking.  I do not have any wireless N devices so that is moot.   It is quicker than the 3-Com and configuration was truly simple.  After I installed the router I turned off the cable modem, turned it back on and Viola! The internet was back.   Setting up the wireless aspect was not as simple.  First it self configures but d

Please take 4.25 minutes to watch this remembrance of September 11, 2001.   Please offer a prayer for those who died that day, their families and for all those who are sacrificing themselves for the rest of us on a daily basis; especially our cops, firemen and troops. 

This came in a tube similar to sunscreen as opposed to the aerosol can.   I have to guess that is “greener” than the can.  The gel goes a long way.  You do not need much to get a very slick feel on your skin.   I don’t know if it was the aloe but it felt good on my skin and the razor glided over it very nicely.   They claim that it is a benefit that it doesn’t foam so you can see through it to trim beards, mustaches and sideburns.   I didn’t see that as a positive or a negative but if I had a beard or a mustache, I think I, too, would see the clearness as a benefit.   This worked as well as my previous brands and had a nicer feel.   I did not have any skin reaction to it so it does appear to cater to sensitive skin.  I liked the product and would consider purchasing it.   My normal shaving cream is Nivea for sensitive skin and that seems to be considerably cheaper than the Remington.  Nivea is $5.49 for 7 oz while Remington is $13.89 for 10 oz.  which is $0.78/oz vs. $1.38/o

I feel strongly about history for several reasons, one of which is attributable to George Santayana* and the other is that history is often far more unbelievable than fictional speculation and thus is entertaining.   The problem I saw as a history teacher was that kids have been convinced that history is boring.  I have found a contemporary author who has successfully addressed that problem.   Lory Kaufman has started a great series called The World of History Camp.   I have reviewed his first two books, The Lensand the Looker and The Bronze and the Brimstone .  In addition Lory was kind enough to respond to an interview request.  Lory’s work impressed me so much that I am going to be running a six post series on the Back Story of The World of History Camp.  Lory writes a great YA action adventure story that demonstrates the value of knowing history.   Considering the inability of our political leaders to learn (historically) from past mistakes, I feel Lory