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You are out for a walk when an earthquake strikes. You are covered in rubble and there is no signal on your smartphone. what should be done?
Take out your satellite phone. Zoleo Satellite Communicator, which retails for $200, uses Iridium when no cellular or Wi-Fi connection is available. It’s about the size of a bar of soap – about 4 inches by 3 inches. It is so durable that one user said he could drop it down a mountain without damaging it. It weighs 5 ounces and has a battery that lasts more than eight days. There is a button that allows you to send a distress to the company’s emergency monitoring and dispatch partner. Press another button to let others know you’re okay, along with your GPS coordinates. Text messages can be up to 950 characters long.
After three months, the monthly cost drops to $4 if you just want to send text messages and keep a dedicated phone number and email address. Other than that, a monthly subscription starts at $20 per month for 25 messages on Iridium, and offers unlimited messages over Wi-Fi or a cellular connection. For an extra $6 a month, you can share your location every few minutes, or any amount of time you choose, like a string of breadcrumbs. Detailed plan information is available at Zoleo.com.
Alexa reminder
A friend felt bad when she forgot she was meeting me for lunch. I told her I would also forget if I didn’t use Alexa. “Will she remind you long enough in advance?” my friend asked. I hadn’t thought of that before, but the answer is yes.
“Alexa, remind me,” I told the Amazon Echo Dot. “What is a reminder?” She asked. I said, “I’m having lunch with Olga.” “When should I remind you?” she answered. I said, “July 8 at 11:45 am.” If I get it wrong, I can say, “Alexa, cancel the reminder” and start over.
mini dishwasher
When friends hand wash and dry their dishes and get so good about it, I roll my eyes. How about a small dishwasher like a personal dishwasher from Loch Electronics? Do not consume a lot of energy or water.
The company claims that the capsule cleans two dishes in 15 minutes and uses 10 times less water than a regular dishwasher. It also rinses fruits and vegetables and disinfects objects – such as a phone or keys – using ultraviolet light. You can put large dinner plates, pans, tall bottles, baking utensils, and cutting boards, which is mind-boggling, given how small this thing is. It measures 10 inches wide, 20 inches deep and 18 inches tall. Works with or without plumbing. Just put it on the counter.
The capsule is available for pre-order on Kickstarter for $357. More information at LochElectronics.com. Delivery is expected in February. If you don’t feel like waiting, there’s a portable dishwasher from Kapas for $329. It gets good reviews. Search “Portable Dishwasher” for more options.
Happy APP
Voila AI Artist, a free app for iPhone or Android, makes you look like a Disney hero or heroine. The eyes are getting bigger. Faces become smoother and more cartoonish. Women become prettier and men more handsome. You can share the results as an email to Facebook, Instagram and other places, or save it to your phone. I allowed the app to create a picture of a girlfriend by simply uploading her picture. She was happy when her husband recognized her in the cartoon image. Plan to use it on social media. The app gives you a choice between different variants, such as “Royal”, https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2021/jun/26/satellite-phone-helps-hikers-call-for-help-when/ “Renaissance” or “Child”. I like Royal best.
Privacy alert: The company behind the app saves your face photo for up to 48 hours. But that’s not something I worry about.
ZOOM TIP
Here’s a tip to prevent those awkward starts in Zoom meetings. You know what I’m talking about: those times when few people can’t figure out how to turn on their camcorder. The solution is to turn everyone’s camera on automatically. These days no one will show up in their pajamas.
To set it up, go to Zoom.us and log in. Then click “Schedule a meeting”. While scrolling down the options, find “Video”. Change “Off” to “On” where “Participant” appears. For added convenience, check the box where it says “Allow participants to join at any time”. This saved my bacon once when I forgot I was hosting a book collection. The members started the discussion without me and had a great time.
the intervenors
BringFido.com has information on hotels, restaurants, activities, dog-friendly services, and more. It even contains information about airline policies.
“Adam J. Swanson, Professional Pianist and Artist.” Look up this phrase on YouTube for some great ragtime. I especially love his tribute to Eubie Blake.
“Amazon’s Popular Book Clubs”. Search this phrase to find Unforgettable Readings, which has 40,316 members and is open to anyone. Another one is “Things That Stumble At Night: Favorite Puzzles”, with over 20,000 members. Romantic Readers has a club with over 16,000 romantics. But it is the early days of these clubs. At the moment, they only give recommendations. There is no correspondence between members yet. But you can start your own club and make it private or public.
Joy Schwabach can be reached via email at [email protected].
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Picture Credit!