Family Meeting

When is the last time you and your family actually sat around and talked to one another? Not many families talk these days. Many families do not spend enough time talking about stuff. At dinner tables, there are not many times when the table is full and everyone is talking to everyone. It is very important to be close to your family because many times when I speak to people, they tell me stories about how families are broken apart, how parents dislike their children, and how children dislike their parents. Talking can always be a fun way to pass time quickly while the power is out and build a nice bond that was lacking for so long.

Hide and Seek!

Oh how I loved this game growing up. I remember it progressing into night Hide and Seek and all the neighborhood kids would participate. Good times, eh? Not to worry, you still can play this game old or young! I recommend playing at night so if your power goes out at night – perfect solution! All you need is a flashlight and you are ready to play hide and go seek in your house. Another fun thing to do with a flashlight is play flashlight tag. The person “it” has a flashlight and tries to find you, and then tag you.

Board Games

If you ever had the pleasure of meeting my parents and asking them if I liked board games, they would laugh and say no! I was never into board games, but I do have to admit, it can sometimes be fun with a lot of people. These days, they make them extra interactive and 21st century-esque. Many board games have been made into computer games. Can’t play those with the power out though. But don’t you miss the original games themselves? Games like Risk, Monopoly, and Clue are all great choices for you and your family to play. A way to make it more fun is to play in candle light. By the way, I dominate in Monopoly!

Read

The most easy way to pass time is to read a book. Take that book that you have been dying to read, but never had time for it. Read it by candlelight; It is so relaxing. I am not a big reader of books, but the next outage I have will give me more of a reason to finish up Stephen King’s Under The Dome.

Work

Do you have a deadline for something that needs to be done? Is it homework for school or work that your boss has told you to do? Do you need to type a paper? If so, right it by hand. Right your thoughts on a piece of paper and then when the power comes on, you will be well on your way to finishing the paper. If you need research, go to a library and research through books or through your own collection of books. That is, if anyone has an encyclopedia collection anymore.

iPod/iPhone/iPad

Though you need electricity to charge this gadgets up, they are equipped with a heck of a battery life so for me, listening to music is a must. If you have an I pod, this is a great time to listen to it. If you do not have an I pod, you can play a hand-held gaming device, PSP, Nintendo DS, or any others out there.

In the event you lose power, you will remember this post. Of course, when one is bored, we can come up with some with the craftiest solutions. We all take advantage of electricity and once we lose it, we don’t know what to do with ourselves, but if you look back at when we didn’t rely so heavily on electricity, it’ll make it easier to do without at least for a couple of hours.

What To Do When Your Power Goes Out originally appeared on The Coffee Desk on April 21, 2010.

The software basically works the same way for Macs as well. WinX DVD Ripper for Mac is an all-in-one DVD ripper designed to make 1:1 DVD copy to hard drive and rip your DVD movies on Mac OS to iTunes, MOV, MP4, FLV, etc that is playable on iPad, iPod, iPhone, Apple-TV, PSP. Also, It also supports extracting music from the DVD files and saving as MP3 format. In addition, the software enables users to rip DVDs of new generation copy protections with the fastest speed.

So what are you waiting for? Go snatch up your free code for the Mac. And if you still want a code for the Windows version, we still have some available.

WinX DVD Ripper Giveaway for Mac! originally appeared on The Coffee Desk on April 16, 2010.

I was able to get my hands on one and I must say, I was a bit perplexed at first, and you are probably wondering yourself how exactly the idea works. If you have gone into a BestBuy or Target recently, you will walk by this thing and do a double take. It is intriguing at first glance and you just have to walk over and play with it and stick your hand in the large hoop. So how does it work? The Air Multiplier uses friction in the air to push out its cool breeze. Around the rim of the circular fan is a little opening from which jets a very thin stream of air at 55 mph. That thin stream of air pulls more air into the stream thanks to the aforementioned friction. This is called entrainment – a new word I just learned.

The air that gets pushed away from the ring towards your  face creates an area of low pressure – not quite a vacuum, but the same effect – in the ring. If you stick your hand in there you can kind of feel it. That low pressure pulls in more air from behind the machine which is then in turn drawn into the air stream. That’s called inducement. I knew this word already

The engineering challenge is in keeping that stream of air flowing smoothly. When I asked an engineer on the process  he told me there were a lot of calculations involved. I’m no mathamatician so I won’t make myself look like an idiot by explaining a bunch of numbers he gave me, but I can describe a better way of thinking about it. Imagine, if you will, a water hose or a faucet. If you turn on the tap half way, then the flow out of the hose is smooth, right? It stays together in a stream when it exits the end of the pipe. If you squeeze the hose or block the faucet in some way making the exit smaller, or if you turn the tap on full,  the water sprays all over the place, right? In a fan, you want a smooth airflow (obviously) which stays aimed at whatever you point it at for without going all over the place, wasting energy in turbulence. The Air Multiplier appears to have achieved this with those complicated equations. The “multiplier” part of the name refers to how much efficiency it saves. It sends approximately 15 times more air at you thanks to taking advantage of these physical processes than it actually has to drive through its own internal spinning turbine.

There you have it! Now you can tell all your friends and family how it works. But before you run out and buy one, I want to put you a little at easy before you see the price:

• Completely unique design – this eye catching fan looks more like a giant magnifying glass than a fan. It’s simply the coolest fan you have ever seen.
• Safe (no external moving parts) so your pet or toddler can examine it with no worry of injury
• No doubt, it’s great at fanning delivering a breeze on par with most fans it’s size

The bad:

• It’s not cheap, with the 10 inch model going for $299 and the 12 inch fo $329
• It isn’t the quietest fan I’ve heard, but definitely not the loudest, so if you are looking for a silent fan, you may want to look at other alternatives.

Dyson’s Fanless Fan – How Exactly Does That Work? originally appeared on The Coffee Desk on April 13, 2010.

Photography:

Most of us love pictures, but remember having the 35mm cameras that you had to buy the film, take the pictures, take out the film and run it by your local Walgreens, CVS, or Walmart to get the film developed? Those were the days, right? Digital photography is my favorite thing, and probably yours too. Digital cameras and videocameras have made professional photographic results achievable by all of us. One way digital photography has impacted our financial increase is digital yearbooks or scrapbooks as they can be finished up just weeks before graduation as opposed to the paper yearbooks which require months of production lead time. Digital photography makes all this possible inexpensively and, most importantly these days, instantly.

No Wires

Persoanlly, I can’t stand wires. If I could get away with no wires at all – meaning wireless power as well – I would. That is a good thing though because no wires is definitely cheaper. I say go wireless! Wireless networks and cell phones have dramatically increased technology’s mobility and flexibility while at the same time dramatically cutting the costs. Wireless is ideal for most settings: cafes, classrooms, large buildings, parks  - you name it. It’s cheap and easy to install compared to traditional wired networking. You might have heard of the newest thing – Mesh networking. Essentially wireless mesh networking makes one giant hotspot which is super convenient and usually campuses have them. Check out our wireless speakers review for more on how wireless is the future for many technologies.

Online Backup

I realize just how expensive backing up a computer could be when I went out and purchased a pack of DVDs and backed up all my data then had to go and buy more, only to be very disappointed to find that they were ruined months later during a move. I could have saved so much more money if I backed up my files online. This is not to say you shouldn’t but I think you should definitely have an online backup option. If not because it is extra safe, but it is extra cheap as well. For anywhere from $10-$100 a month you can backup your data automatically on a schedule you decide or automatically. Best of all you won’t have any more backup CDs to worry about. If you would like to know more about this technology check out our online backup review.

VoIP

You have probably seen a few articles on magic Jack on this site. Another cost cutting VoIP service that we have reviewed on the coffee desk is the NetTalk Tk6000. That is one way to save money as anyone who has one can contest too. VoIP has dramatically lowered the cost of residential and institutional phone service. It makes use of your existing network and adds dozens of new features inexpensively. Some of the more traditional VoIP carriers include Vonage, Comcast, and Skype. One of the most exciting and controversial VoIP devices is set to be released by the Ymax corporation. The FemtoJack is supposed to allow users to route their cellphone calls through the Internet. The technology that makes this possible is something called femtocells which have been around for a couple years but has yet to be a cost effective alternative.

Home Tech

You may think it is ridiculous to install automated shades or blinds in your home. I remember seeing a movie which had a home with automated blinds and I was thinking to myself – why? However, I have come to realize there is actually a reason for them other than the cool factor. They save on your energy bill. The benefits of automating your shades is obvious; by programming them to open and close at certain times, you can maximize the amount of natural light and heat that comes in to your house. This also may fit in my last post on Green tech.

Thermostat

Another home tech item that would save money is controlling your temperature. Controlling your heating and cooling can have a huge impact on your bottom line costs.Programmable thermostats and remote access allow you to change your home’s temperature without much effort, and can effectively manage your home’s heating and cooling without you even being in the house. There are some thermostat technologies out there that will blow your mind, trust me.

There are quite a few more ways to save money using tech. I guess that is why better tech comes out. It saves us money in the long run and it is easier. Easier and cheaper is what we like to hear; I know I do anyway. If you have any other ways/tech you would like to share that have saved you money, then we at The Coffee Desk would love to hear them!

How to Save Money Using Technology originally appeared on The Coffee Desk on March 30, 2010.

Lights Off:

Al Gore is one of the most influential leaders of the green movement. Yet his advice sounds like something my parents used to say, usually right around bill time. “Go through your house every single day and turn off any lights you’re not using,” he states. “That’s a big way to save energy.” Two-thirds of all the electricity used in the residential sector of the United States powers lights and appliances. Considering that electricity production generates more than 1.9 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions a year, a simple flick of the switch seems as good a place to start as any, wouldn’t you agree?

Cleaning Away:

The author of “Better Basics for the Home,” became a leading advocate of natural home-care products after an exterminator visited her apartment building and landed her in the hospital with chemical poisoning. In her online newsletter she provides recipes for natural alternatives (care2.com/healthyliving). While furniture polish will set you back about $4, cleaning with 1/4 cup of distilled white vinegar and a few drops of olive oil costs mere cents. There are also some Green cleaning products on the market as well that do a great job!

Paper or Plastic:

Neither. No matter how you look at it, paper towels and plastic create waste — even if you stick to recycled brands. You use them once and throw them away. Most end up in landfills anyway! Reusable microfiber towels grip dirt and dust like a magnet and don’t let go, even when wet. I have a few of them lying around. They aren’t cheap, but there are some good deals out there! Next time you wipe your counter or clean a mirror with a reusable microfiber towel you can think of the trees you’re saving.

Materialism:

I know it is tough. We are all materialistic and get rid of one thing for the other, but it doesn’t necssarily hurt to use the same thing for different uses. Reduce, reuse, recycle. We hear this credo all the time but often limit its practice to cans, bottles, and newspapers. Do it for more than that! Many retailers, such as Radio Shack and Best Buy, provide drop-off bins for recycling cell phones, while items such as clothing, toys, and computers are things that small nonprofits, shelters, and rescue missions would love to have. I have volunteer Fridays at work and one of our locations was Salvation Army working at the Thrift Store and you would not believe the clothes and things they get that would provide amazing usages. Of course you have heard of  goodwill.com.

Grow Stuff:

Let’s face it — we all don’t have green thumbs, but try anyway and stick to it. grow a garden. We are constantly killing plants to get what we want. From the production of petroleum-based fertilizers to the cross-country distribution of seasonal fruits and vegetables, the modern food system accounts for 10 percent of U.S. energy consumption. If you take a portion of your lawn and turn it into a garden, you’ll be amazed at how much food you can get out of it.” You’ll not only save money; you’ll be eating vegetables at the peak of their nutritional value. If you live in an apartment, grow a garden inside. I am attempting to do that myself. We’ll see how that goes…

These are just a few things I recommend doing. Of course, I could go on for pages and pages on how to save the world, but we all know, we just have to start acting, right? I promise, if you start doing the little things, the big problems won’t be so bad anymore. It take something catastrophic to happen before most of us react, but I think we should react beforehand. Keeps us from having to clean up our own mess we are sure to complain about when it happens, even though it’ll be our own fault. So, take some time out of your life to do the small things and it’ll pay off. Mother Nature says so

It’s Not Easy Being Green, but You Can Try originally appeared on The Coffee Desk on March 29, 2010.

When I first popped Star Trek in the drive, each of the titles that are stored on the DVD were presented with information including the title’s playtime, the resolution and format and audio, video and subtitle information. Within the “Copy” tab, where you make a straight copy of the DVD, there are no options. Just a 1:1 copy. While I know that this done is for speed purposes, I would still like to have the ability to force the resulting output to a 4.4 GB DVD for archive purposes.

A small selection interface below the title listing can be used to change the output settings including the audio used in the output (if multiple audio tracks are stored on the DVD), subtitles, an alternative start and end time plus the output folder. The default audio and subtitle language can be changed in the program’s options so that the preferred language selected by the user will be picked by the program automatically. The lower half of the screen contains the formats that the DVD can be ripped to. This is divided into general formats like avi, mp4, mpeg or flv but also device specific formats including formats for devices such as the iPhone, iPod, Apple TV, PSP, PDA or 3GP. Selecting a different video output format can change the available configuration options at the bottom of the screen.

I decided to put ripped the movie in iPhone format since I do have an iPhone after all. You would think it would be faster at doing the conversion, however, that was not the case. It took the same amount of time if not longer to create an iPhone version. It isn’t too big of a deal, but it would have been nice it were faster. However, If you are making a straight backup of your DVD, it can take as little as five minutes. After finished, I was watching Star Trek on my phone like a pro!

But what I really like about this application is the interface. The interface is very user friendly and easy to get around in and that is something I always cherish in an application. There are a number of other improvements to the interface that could make it a bit easier to get around such as when you are in the title browse window, you can’t scroll down using the mouse wheel. You have to drag the slider bar. When you slide the bar on the video screen, it highlights the start time box, but if you enter a start time, it doesn’t change the slider bar on the video screen.

Overall, WinX DVD Ripper Platinum provides an easy, wonderful interface to an awesome product that will provide you with backup and alternate copies of your movies. If you need to make a copy of one of your DVDs, especially one of the most recent ones with Fort Knox decrypting techniques, then I highly recommend this software. There is a free version and there is the paid version which I tested. If you would like nothing more than to get your hands on a Platinum copy of WinX DVD Ripper, then I ask you to tell me the best reason why you want a copy  in the comments leaving your name and email, and I will personally send you an activation code. I only have ten codes so I look forward to hearing your thoughts as they will go quickly!

WinX DVD Ripper Platinum Gets Reviewed originally appeared on The Coffee Desk on March 25, 2010.

“BooRah is the ultimate, personalized review guide providing consumers a smarter way to find great restaurants. BooRah’s patent-pending natural language processing technology automatically summarizes a collection of online reviews from bloggers, professional critics and consumers, and allows consumers to search based on personal preferences. By capturing the community vibe and social essence of existing online groups, and comparing the results to individual search criteria, BooRah delivers unsurpassed relevance with the broadest community reach…”

Now there are plenty of restaurant review sites out there, so it is imperative to stand out from the rest. How does BooRah do it? One thing is inside the review excerpt. You will find food terms, like a particular dish, identified and linked out to a search results page displaying that same item in the same location at which you are currently looking. If I am reading a review that says a particular place’s shrimp (my favorite) is alright but isn’t the best in town – I’m one click on the word ’shrimp’ away from finding out where in town is said to have better ones. I think a few other review sites may do this also; I just do not remember them being as simple.

The site searches for reviews across many different sources, depending on the location. CitySearch,Yahoo Travel, Tripadvisor and many many more are included. In some locations, even the local newspaper is a source. Now that they have the sources, reviews also need a personal touch. Reviews can also be written on the BooRah site itself. I am sure it is extremely hard for systems that scan reviews to recognize things like sarcasm or other peculiarities of human communication, but BooRah seems to do a decent job making a review objective instead of subjective.

BooRah is an impressive database of restaurant reviews from around the US, primarily focused on the nation’s large metropolitan areas. I was able to find good reviews in my smaller town however. Your first visit to BooRah can be a little overwhelming. There is information everywhere crammed, on what seems like, one page. Of course, this can quickly be solved by narrowing your search. Once you have found the restaurant, it’ll even show where it is using Google Maps!
Other than the easily fixable quirks, I really love BooRah. It is informative, simple, and fun. Not to mention, if you direct your mobile browser to BooRah.com, you will be taken to the mobile version and able to search on the go. Pretty cool. So what are you waiting for? After looking up your local “Rahs,” go ahead and take your family out to eat making it another “Rah” in their book.

BooRah Review – Can BooRah Help You Decide On Dinner? originally appeared on The Coffee Desk on March 12, 2010.

1. Profilactic (which sounds like a medicine to me) is a recent favorite of mine and supports a number of social networks like Facebook, LinkedIn, Shelfari, with the ability to add more than one account for the same site. At its core, Profilactic does two things: it displays your personal lifestream, which consists of your social networking activity, and a group lifestream from your friends. What it does, it does well. There’s also the option to create clippings – bits and pieces of information from the web; but this option is not really connected to the rest of the features on the site.
2. GizaPage is my second favorite. This service helps consumers and brands optimize their social media outreach by aggregating and serving their many profiles side by side on one webpage and under their own domain. It is wild! They give you a clean simple site where you can input all your social networks and get a good look at what is going on. The best part is that this service will analyze the traffic on your social media hub with all sorts of cool statistics to gawk over.
3. Naymz is not so much an organizer but helps in that the service actively monitor certain sites for mention of your name. Naymz also actively promotes your profile by trying to make it more visible on Google. It also supports the usual crowd – Facebook, Myspace, etc.
4. SocialURL helps you organize your online identity and get back in touch with all of your friends and classmates. It’s a unified profile with support for photo galleries and videos, as well as a central portal with links pointing out to all your other social network profiles. It’s all spiced up with lots of additional features, like on-site email, reminders and bookmarks. Last time I checked, there were 19341 SocialURLs and counting…
5. Second Brain takes a radically different approach to aggregation than other apps on this list. You organize your data – this includes data from your social network profiles, like Flickr photos or YouTube videos – into collections. A collection is basically a bunch of links, photos, or other bits and pieces of data thrown onto a dashboard; you can create your own collections or explore what others have collected. They say “Secondbrain is a service that makes it easy to save bookmarks of articles, blog posts, videos and photos that you find online to a centralized source. Use Secondbrain to save bookmarks to your profile, share updates with your subscribers and friends, and discover new content in your network.” Try it out. it only take 10 seconds to sign up.

All of these services will help in your quest to be a little more organized in your life online and let’s face it – they all do the same thing. However, each of them have something they do differently as well. Something you may like, and something you may not like. Take a look at them all. They all strive to keep your online social life more organized and that is something many of us need these days. There are, of course, a few I am missing, so please share some that I missed and/or your favorite.

5 Social Media Organizers That Will Keep Your Computer Close and Your Friends Closer originally appeared on The Coffee Desk on March 9, 2010.

I’m pretty sure most of you have heard of the few places I am going to talk about since traffic to these sites are growing every day. “GasBuddy.com, which serves as an umbrella site for 180 regionalized sites covering some 170,000 gas stations in the U.S. and Canada, has seen more of a steady climb in traffic.” This site, and GasPriceWatcher essentially do the same thing – Find the cheapest gas prices in your vicinity. GasBuddy.com and GasPriceWatch.com, both 10-year-old sites, rely on their networks of registered members/spotters. Spotters are community members who are usually offered incentive points or a chance to win a “thank you” prize such as a discount on gas.

GasBuddy.com has one of the coolest features in what it calls its Gas Temperature Map, an interactive display of gas prices around the country, with areas color-coded according to their average price for regular unleaded gasoline. I was able to find some cheap gas this way, but that is not the only way to be alerted of cheap gas. It should be noted that new technologies have changed the way we consumers are accessing information from the gas price sites. Some are still looking at the sites on their PCs. But other gadgeteers, like me, are getting such information through in-car GPS systems, text messaging, and smartphone applications.

Make no mistake that these are not the only gas saving websites out there. There is also AAA’s Gas Price Finder, unlike the other two sites; this site uses data primarily from credit card transactions. MapQuest Gas Prices and MSN Gas Prices rely on data supplied by the Oil Price Information Service, a pricing database that collects information from 125,000 North American retail outlets.

There are many more services as well, such as:

FuelMeUp.com is a great Web service that is updated three times each day to help drivers get the best price on gas in their zip code. The site contains over 82,000 gas stations nationwide and the site boasts itself as reviewed, credible and helpful.FuelMeUp also explains the benefits of getting a gas rebate credit card to purchase your gas with; these cards provide money back when gas is purchased and sets your actual price per gallon way down.

FuelGo.com is a great service that you can use on the go! You just send a text message to gas@fuelgo.com with your current zip code in the message heading and you instantly receive a text message response with several gas stations offering the lowest fuel prices in the area. This service is free (with the exception of any text messaging charges you may have) and fuelgo.com claims fuel savings of up to 20%.

100LL.com If flying is your forte, 100LL.com is the choice for you to save money on aviation fuel. This Website provides information for pilots and is consistently updated with aviation fuel prices so you can be sure to save. I can imagine filling up a plane can be costly, so searching for the best deal on fuel is obviously a mandatory service. Pilots are able to use 100LL.com in route to their destinations and the site will give updated information on the best fuel-up spots, as well as discounted hotel reservations and airport details.

FuelEconomy.gov is an informational site that provides information on a plethora of fuel saving tips, energy efficient vehicles, vehicles that use alternative fuel, fuel cost calculator and much more. If you are an environment conscious individual, you will definitely want to read over this Website as it will help you make an environmentally friendly new car purchase and/or get the best efficiency out of the car that you are currently driving. You can compare cars side by side and you can also get MPG estimates from fellow drivers. This will save you lots of money in the long run! FuelEconomy.gov is also frequently updated and provides the 2008 MPG ratings.

eRideShare.com If you don’t like any of your coworkers then eRideShare.com is a great way to save wear and tear on your vehicle and keep money in your pocket. You are bound to find someone going your direction with eRideShare. This site makes a wonderful point, if everyone would carpooled occasionally then traffic would decrease and we would finally make it to work on time.

f you were not aware of these sites, I suggest you use them, because now a day, every little bit of savings helps. Another useful tip I heard not too long ago is if you can find a gas station that does not accept credit cards, then the gas will be considerably cheaper. Most gas stations allow to use a credit/debit card however. Enjoy saving money on gasoline!

Find Cheap Gas In My Area – Compare Gas Prices With These Tools originally appeared on The Coffee Desk on March 2, 2010.

Goober is an instant messenger developed by a team of Germans based in Delaware that’s going up against the big guys (Trillian,Adium, Digsby, etc.) with a desktop client that overflows with features. Available for Mac, Linux, Windows, and cell phones (like my handy dandy iPhone), you can practically use Goober anywhere. In addition, like many of the instant messaging apps, Goober incorporates their network, MSN, ICQ, Google Talk, and Jabber. Interestingly, AIM is not part of the protocol group which is somewhat of a deal breaker for some, but that is soon to change. For those of you with an iPhone, features include:

• Instant Chat
• Show your friends where you are and change your profile avatar directly with your iPhone
• Manage your goober galleries and enrich them with pictures right out of your iPhone. You can take pictures at a party and present them via your goober Widget directly on your profile or web page
• Have a look at the picture galleries from your friends
• Access files in your WebFolder (or those of your friends)
• You can be contacted directly from your goober Widget and chat
• Add new friends
• Change your status text while underway

The desktop application comes equipped with voIP, so making and receiving calls is a nice addition. Users can also send text messages, and MP3s. It seems like your normal application, right? Look a little closer and you’ll find that Goober differentiates itself primarily by providing a suite of widgets that can be used to communicate through the client. An email widget can be placed in the signature of messages and a “portal” widget can be placed on social network profiles and other webpages. This is rather cool because instead of the other person getting the application, they can instead go to your site, Facebook, or wherever else you placed the widget and chat with you. Both options present buttons for one-click instant messaging, VoIP calling, and file transferring with the user. An additional “classifieds” widget assists those trying to conduct business online who want to be reached through more synchronous means than email.

There is more – if you are looking to listen to a little music while you chat, so be it. Like AIM, Goober has also integrated entertainment music and video into the client. Goober scours the internet for free video channels and radio stations found on the internet and allows for the playback of them at the bottom of the client. I love this feature but unfortunately, the quality is subpar.

Overall, Goober is a pretty decent IM client. Those who regularly communicate across several protocols should check it out, especially once Goober adds AIM and Yahoo. If you are willing to test beta software like I always do, then you can experience both Yahoo and AIM, plus some additional features such as Twitter and Facebook support! Goober is not a well known program but as they start to make the software better, I am sure it’ll become a runner up in this competitive market.

Goober, The Instant Messenger, Gets Reviewed originally appeared on The Coffee Desk on February 25, 2010.