I spent yesterday looking at new companies that were looking for money. I’ll spare you the reasons for my disappointment for another day. Suffice, it’s not fun to say “No.’
Nothing tells you of Amazon’s increasing dominance than this photo of boxes which arrived by UPS at our apartment building yesterday. Twelve of 26 boxes — 46% — came from Amazon, including all the biggest ones.
All the ones with the blue tape are Amazon. Some of their boxes don’t have swooshes. There are many other direct mail companies in the U.S. But you’d never know it from this pile.
Latest health stuff: Readers caution against Azithromycin and Aspirin. Yes, all drugs (including these) cause horrible things to some people. Hence you have to be careful. Azithromycin cured my three-week long cold. I waited three weeks before taking the drug. My doctor says I shouldn’t take Aspirin because it may mess up my stomach.
In short, that’s why they invented doctors. My philosophy is to learn enough to question the experts’ opinions. I’m still alive. Sadly, my 30-year doctor recently passed away. He was much younger than I am. There’s probably a lesson here? Shit happens?
Google Maps is now available for the iPhone. Get it for free from the Apple AppStore. It really is much better and faster than the Apple version. But it is not as good as the version on the Internet which can also plot directions via public transit – which are important to a New Yorker like me, but probably not to you.
David Pogue is doing 12 Days of Gadgets. Here’s the first six, if you’re looking for a Christmas present. Here’s one I like:
This is Dave’s description:
Everyone in your gift-receiving circle probably knows the heartbreak of Dead Battery Syndrome. It’s barely dinnertime, and your iPhone, Android phone or tablet is giving you the “10 percent remaining” sign.
This white plastic brick, about the size of a deck of cards, nips that problem in the bud. There are plenty of backup battery gizmos available, of course, but this one is interesting because you can charge it from three different sources: a wall outlet, a computer’s USB jack or – get this – the sun. Yes, there’s a solar panel on the back for topping off the charge.
It’s got a huge backup battery: 6,000 milliamps, enough to recharge an iPad once or a smartphone four times. In other words, you probably don’t have to charge it up more than once a week, especially if it’s sometimes exposed to sunlight. A handy “gas gauge” on the side shows you how much charge remains in the PowerTrip.
So it’s a single replacement charger for multiple gadgets and it’s a backup battery. But it’s also a flash drive, with four, eight or 16 gigabytes of storage for use with your laptop or whatever.
It’s $139 with 16 gigabytes of memory. $109 without the memory. Click here. For David’s writeup, click here..
Harry’s favorite Christmas present. it’s a $49.99 Worx electric screwdriver.
It has several pluses: Easy changing of bits by simply pulling the top cover back and swiveling the chamber. Second, long battery life. Third perfect torgue for common household tasks, like replacing those idiot Lutron dimmers.
This is my latest theory on hearing aids. I am not deaf. Most of us are not. I have some hearing loss. Like most older people. There are times I’d like to hear better — in the theater, watching TV, in a restaurant, and there are times I can hear perfectly fine like at our family dinner table. I solve all my TV watching needs by using Sennheiser wireless headphones. They amplify what I want to hear — the movie. For planes I use Panasonic noise cancelling ear buds, which kills the plane’s engine drone and amplify the music from my iPhone or the sounds from the plane’s entertainment system. Wireless headphones from Sennheiser and noice cancellers from Panasonic don’t amplify ambient noise — the noise of a restaurant — which commercial hearing aids do.
That’s the problem with commercial hearing aids. Though many claim to amplify only the person’s voice across the table, they don’t. They amplifying everything, including the rustle of the menus and the music from the restaurant’s speakers. That’s my problem with commercial hearing aids — no matter they cost $1,000 of $8,000. No matter you buy them cheap at Costco or pricey at your local audiologist and have them custom-fitted. I’ll probably keep looking. But for now, I’m returning the latest pair.
Harry Newton, who covered his successful short on RadioShack (RSH) yesterday.
Harry, sounds like finding a start-up that wants to create “the perfect hearing aid” would end your search for “the perfect investment” 🙂
Harry, great point about hearing aids. It is also my Dad’s problem. He simply cannot process all the ambient noise and it tires him quickly, so he turns them off. Works best in a quiet one-on-one environment like around the dinner table. Noise-cancelling should be obvious. Although I have looked for that in ear buds and only found noise-reduction. Noise-cancelling seems to be for over-the-ear headphones, so maybe the technology is not as small as needed.
I hope you find what you are looking for as I know you will share it!
The Panasonic ones are ear buds and really comfortable. You can wear them at home, listening to iPod / iPad music.
Thanks! Will check them out… maybe a good gift idea!