{"id":30786,"date":"2015-05-20T10:01:57","date_gmt":"2015-05-20T14:01:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/?p=30786"},"modified":"2015-05-20T13:34:14","modified_gmt":"2015-05-20T17:34:14","slug":"hedge-your-dental-bills-heres-how","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/?p=30786","title":{"rendered":"Hedge your dental bills. Here’s how"},"content":{"rendered":"

Maybe BRKA is coming back?<\/p>\n

Big zoom cameras are great for traveling. <\/strong>Here are five small ones. Click<\/span>here.<\/strong><\/a> My personal favorite is not listed. It’s the Canon SX710 for around $330. My friend bought a big zoom camera, Leica V-LUX (Typ 114). the thing retails for $1100.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Cameras cost more if they have bigger image processors, viz.<\/p>\n

Canon SX710 — 28.07 square millimeters (big zoom)
\nCanon 616 — 41.52 square millimeters (personal favorite for everyday shooting)
\nCanon Gx7 — 116 square millimeters (pricey new small Canon with nice lens and huge processor)
\nLeica V-LUX (Typ 114) —\u00a0 122.88 square millimeters (stunning pictures and long zoom, but not pocketable)<\/p>\n

A bigger image processor lets you shoot in lower light and adds a bigger range of colors. Any of these cameras will blow away your smartphone’s camera, including the nice one in the iPhone 6 and even nicer in the iPhone 6 plus. Smartphones, sadly, don’t have optical zoom (the lens moves). This limits gargoyle shooting.<\/p>\n

Buying any of these online, here are some tips:<\/p>\n

1. Type into Google “Buy and then the name of the camera.” Google is not comprehensive. It sometimes forgets Fumfie and NewEgg. But NOT Abes of Maine.<\/p>\n

2. Watch for shipping and tax. They can eat up savings.<\/p>\n

3. Some online stores will bargain on the phone, especially if you tell them that someone has it cheaper.<\/p>\n

\u00a0A hedge against humongous dental bills (like mine).<\/strong> Buy HSIC. Henry Schein is the “world’s largest provider of health care products and services to office-based dental, animal health and medical practioners. I just received their latest annual report. It’s impressive. Their stock has done nicely. Here’s the last five years:<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\"hsic2\"<\/a><\/p>\n

A great new cell phone? From TechCrunch:
\n<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

The Light Phone is the opposite of every other phone in existence. It is thin, light, lasts 20 days on a charge, and literally does nothing but make and answer calls. It\u2019s as if the makers of the Sports Illustrated Football Phone had studied the timeless teachings of William Walker Atkinson and created a telephone that was the platonic ideal of the ultimate telecommunication device. The best thing? It costs $100.<\/p>\n

What does it do? Nothing. You put in a SIM card, press a few buttons, and make a call. There\u2019s no browser. No games. No NFC. It has quick dial, which is nice, and it doubles as a flashlight. Did I mention it lasts for 20 days on a charge?<\/p>\n

The creators, Joe Hollier and Kaiwei Tang, created the phone at Google\u2019s 30 Weeks incubator in NYC. They both came from a design background by Kaiwei has a background in building phones.<\/p>\n

For more on this phone (which won’t be available until next year), click here.<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Martha Stewart at Justin Bieber’s roast.<\/span> <\/strong>A funny video. Actually. Click here.<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Is your car’s air bag being recalled?<\/strong><\/span> Put in your car’s VIN number into the National Highway’s database. Click here. <\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Coughing, sneezing and spluttering? <\/strong>You’re not sick. You have hayfever. I have it. You have it. Everybody has it. There’s nothing you can do, except wash your face several times a day.
\n<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Will the new Asian trade pact hurt us? <\/strong>I don’t think so. It may actually benefit us, freeing up restrictions on our exports to places like protectionist Japan.<\/span><\/span> It won’t lose us more manufacturing jobs, since those that could be exported (i.e. outsourced) already have. If you’re interested, there are two pieces to read:<\/p>\n

+ The New York Times piece on “A factory’s town’s decline illustrates the perils of global free trade pacts.” Click here.<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

+ Obama’s recent speech to Nike. Click here.<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Here are five charts from the New York Times piece. They tell the story on trade and its impact on jobs:<\/p>\n

\"imports1\"<\/p>\n

\"Imports2\"<\/p>\n

\"Imports3\"<\/p>\n

\"Imports4\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Imports5\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Sources for the charts: Bureau of Labor Statistics, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, U.S. Census.<\/p>\n

More to ponder:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

+ Does the little mermaid wear an algebra?<\/p>\n

+ Why do Asians go to the dentist at 2:30?<\/p>\n

+ Do infants enjoy infancy as much as adults enjoy adultery?<\/p>\n

+ Can an atheist buy\u00a0 insurance against acts of god?<\/p>\n

+ Why do shops have signs, ‘guide dogs only’? The dogs can’t read and their owners are blind?<\/p>\n

\"HarryNewton\"<\/a>
\nHarry Newton, who owns Home Depot, but not Lowes (LOW), which has done better than HD — until last night when it misses Wall Street expectations and fell heavily after hours. I bought HD because I like shopping at their 59th Street Manhattan store. They let me take my bicycle in. Weird reason. Still, I’m up 52% on HD. This morning, of course, it’s falling.<\/p>\n