Groupon -- is it going down hill?

Groupon is in the WSJ news again today, "Growing Pains" story, I would say it has always had pains, the IPO was a bit of a risk, they are still losing money.  But they used to lose $400 million a quarter, now they are "only" losing $37 million a quarter.  

They already squeeze merchants (taking maybe half what you pay for your coupon) and now they are going to ask for even more from the merchants. 

i was initially enthused with Groupon concept, but never did actually buy a coupon, and now I don't even look at the daily deal anymore. Maybe it is just me, but don't we see clones everywhere now?  I wonder how this will all play out.  Anyone have comments, or experience using the coupons ?

Canon Point And Shoot Camera S100

For photo buffs, this is a "must check out" item.  Lots of news stories about it.  Pricey $430 but look at the features :

1.  pocket sized, with decent hand grip

2. 12.1 MP very advanced sensor, super fast, low noise (good for lower lighting situations)

3.  quality is first priority  among the few Canons to use sensors made by Canon

4.  Can shoot 24 frames a second. And video.

5.  Optical ZOOM  I think 30mm to 120 mm ... extreme for a point-and-shoot pocket camera

6. In burst mode will fire off 10 shots per second -- you will get the right expression on the child's face or the running feline -- has slow motion video as well.

7. try www.dpreview.com for all digital camera reviews  -- most intense and accurate reviews on the web

There's no discounting at eBay or Amazon on this one, it is hot product. The street price of $430 is the price although there is a ficticious list price of like $599, I think, don't hold me to that one. 

I have own several digital cameras -- starting with 2.0 MP Kodak many years ago, and it was a great one, still love the photos taken with it.  It was superior for wide angle shots, but overall did a great job on most anything. Later cameras have been mostly Canon.  Other brands didn't seem to measure up. SD chips were sure a nice "revolution" over the older, larger ones called smart chip or something like that. But SD - HC chips today require a newer camera.  HC changes the software configuration.

BBC News App For I Pad

I have 5 or 6 news apps on my iPad, but some are pretty poor, overall.  My favorites like Wall Street Journal and USA Today will remain, but I might delete Fluent News, and some others.  

Yesterday I discovered, quite by accident, the BBC app.  It is so good, I just can't describe it in print.  It is good looking, easy to use, full of photos and videos, super fast loading, easy to e-mail stories to friends -- and even has a single button that will stream BBC radio news to your iPad speaker -- and it works flawlessly. If you own an iPad (or similar device) you owe it to yourself to try this one.  It has hot breaking news, and doesn't color the news with subtle opinions.  It is closer to pure reporting than some of the other services.

And, (drum roll) it is FREE !  And seems to be free of ads as well.

PS --- Finding good apps is very difficult in my opinion -- I found this one as a by product of doing something else.  Please share your favorite apps as comments to this or any other of my posts.

Phillips Light Bulb Wins Award

Back on the topic of alternate light bulbs, a publication just out shows the new Phillips Ambient 12.5 watt LED Mercury free light bulb won the US Department of Energy award for Bright Tomorrow Lighting (the prize for better lights that save energy).

1. it is dimmable, not all such bulbs are

2. it is soft white light   (puts out the equivalent of 60 watts of light from a normal bulb)

3. it will last a consumer 25,000 hours

4. if every 60 watt bulb in the USA were replaced with this, we would a decline of annual CO2 emissions of 20 million metric tons.  Not to mention less land fills needed for "used" bulbs and the power bill reductions.

The downside is, at present, the bulb is $25 (available now at Home Depot). As you might have noticed, most hotel rooms now use spiral or alternative light bulbs in rooms.  It is a trend, we might as well learn which such bulbs are the best way to go.  I am sure the ones I have seen in hotel rooms are NOT the best way to go.

CraigsList -- you don't hear as much about it anymore

In the past I have used it to sell football tickets, and it was a wake up call.  The e-mails wanting to buy flowed in faster than I could answer them.  In the end, for every post I made, I got 20 plus responses.  Sold every ticket promptly.  Usually met the buyer at a Target Store after work, something like that. 

Today I discovered the Craigslist app for the iPad.  It is a terrific app.  I think it is much better and easier to use than the website. Searches are fast, clear, and now some have color photos of the things they are selling. It deserves its high rating in the app store (and its free)

I highly recommend you download the app, if you have any thoughts about buying or selling something on Craigslist.  Today's search was for a nearly new stainless steel dishwasher to replace one that is wearing out. I didn't find what I wanted, but I only had time to look at one day's listing -- today's listings.  Have you tried it?  My daughter used it to sell a washer and dryer -- they sold the same day she listed them (when she lived in Florida). I know many landlords now use it exclusively to find renters.

It has certainly hurt the sale of newspaper classified ads.   Please leave a comment on your experience.

Wonder why it didn't go public?  or did it ?  All these hot websites seem to be having an IPO lately.

Is there an iPad coming for every corporate desk?

An article hit my desk this morning (BusinessWeek Mag, January 29 issue)  Please give it a read, here is the link

http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/it-looks-like-youre-trying-to-use-word-on-an-ipad-01192012.html

The article is about the rush to find a way to put Word, Excel, and other MS Office type programs on the iPad so the  Pad will better fit the corporate way of life.  The point is that corporations are finding their employees are getting ahead of them – the employees are using iPads at work, and more often they look up things on them, instead of the corporate issued PC.

Demand for tablet-ready corporate software is taking off.  After testing the waters in 2011, companies are expected to buy $10 billion worth of iPads this year, and $16 billion next year.  There is talk of “post-PC” productivity software business being a growth industry.

Are we leaving the PC?  The article says that, drug reps, for example, often get only 10 seconds with a doctor, they don’t want to spend that valuable time waiting for their notebook PC to boot up !   So they are buying and using iPads on sales calls. 

 Enjoy the article and post your comments.

My parting thought:  The PC is still king of the hill, but the iPad is a cute little puppy down at the bottom, and it is beginning to wag its tail.   

Someday soon, it might climb the corporate hill and challenge the aging PC.  

Apple stock keeps bouncing up around $500, from only $100 a few years ago. Apple is now the largest company in the world (based on the value of the stock X the number of outstanding shares = capitalization).  And it has the cash on hand to slay dragons. 

Some schools here in South Carolina have issued iPads to all students thinking they will replace books. Who would have thought this 5 years ago?

Is There A Spiral Light Bulb In Your Future?

The Federal Government has threatened to take away our beloved incandescent light bulbs, and I have, like a good citizen, resisted that.  My resistance, so far, has been limited to hording enough 40, 60, and 100 watt light bulbs to last me 5 plus years.  Prices on the old fashioned bulbs have fallen to an all time low :  $2.95 today for 16 each, 60 watt, Phillips brand, bulbs at Home Depot (HD).

But I am also experimenting to see if I can find a way to like the new spiral bulbs. I have purchased 4 different brands, wattage's, and so forth, and have read a good bit about them.  So far, I have found a few applications where they make sense – in hard-to-change-locations where quality of light doesn’t matter.  Such as the side door (exterior) fixture at my home.  After warming up, the 60 watt spiral in there (upside down) seems to put out very good light.

Consumer Reports, my bible for some purchasing decisions, has the resources to test many brands of the new light bulbs, and the current issue has a good bit of useful information and ratings on spiral (and other) bulbs.

Today I ventured into Home Depot to buy the second best bulb on their list, at $1.50 each , which is a 60 watt, warm white bulb, 775 lumens, by EcoSmart.  This bulb was next to the best in the ratings, and the best was by GE, priced at $40 each bulb.  However, my purchase plans were changed at the point-of-sale.

First off, EcoSmart has improved the bulb in the past few weeks, so the Consumer Reports article’s 775 lumens rating is now 900 lumens. That is even better than the GE. And it comes in 4 different wave lengths of light.  Fortunately they have a sampling box. You can stick your hand in and see what it looks like under all 4 wave lengths of light.  Very clever.  That swayed me away from ‘warm white” to what they call “bright white”.  Which is not as cutting edge as “daylight”, or as glaring as “fluorescent”.  The yellowish look of  “warm white” seemed too yellow to me. My choice of bright white was a compromise.

The semi-helpful HD salesman said “the way to know which sells best is to see how many we display – the slotting space”.  Sure enough, the “daylight” bulb had the most space, and is thus the best seller, he said.  

The bad news is, “bright white” is more expensive than “warm white”.  Go figure? “Bright white” was $2.00 a bulb.  Lasts 10,000 hours.  Uses only 14 watts to create 60 watts of light by the old 60 watt bulb standard (900 lumens). Expected life = 9 years.

Your comments and experience would be welcome here.  I will report on my satisfaction with “bright white” in a future Blog Post.

Does "Green Energy" Matter ?

Check out this good, short, article in Time Magazine (July 2011).  
http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2026474_2026675_2079618,00.html

Stockholm, Sweden, is turning a lemon into lemonade.  They were hoping to land the 2004 Summer Olympics, and lost the bid.  They decided to turn the sports village into one of the world's most successful eco-villages.  And discovered enough in so doing to create a goal for Stockholm to be a fossil-fuel-free city by 2050.

Key to much of this is a modern energy grid -- which the US has talked about, but not done much about (we have a very obsolete electrical grid here).  The result in Stockholm is that you can already fish from bridges right in downtown -- the water is that clean.

By 2020 they think their efforts will yield a yearly carbon emissions of less than 1.5 ton per person.

The US currently has carbon emissions of 20.0 tons per person.

1.5 vs. 20 ?  Consider how much that might reduce the cost of living here if we got on that band wagon?  I am assuming we are buying those extra 18.5 tons of carbon emissions, per person, at the gas pump, or the electric meter. Diverting that much of our personal income (per year) to something else might relieve many economic problems we are currently experiencing.
 

YouTube As A Learning Tool

The more I explore my i Pad, and i Touch, and related devices, the more I realize that there is excellent help on product selection, and product (and program) mastery on YouTube.  Whether it is learning how to use a new App more effectively, or just learning how to use some new technical product, you can usually find a home made video that is almost like calling in a Best-Buy-Geek-Squad helper to your home.  You see the product, how to open the box, what's inside, how to use it, and comments and tips.  Some YouTube videos are professional (well, let's just say semi-professional) and produced by the manufacturer to help sell the products (or to help customers use the product without frustration).

If you have found a good YouTube video to help you with any product, why not post a comment here so we can all benefit ?  Thanks in advance for what I know will be some great videos.

Unfortunately we will have to cut and paste in the links since it appears that Blog URL's are not "hot" like those in e-mail.

Choosing a Stylus To Use With An I-Pad

After Brian discovered a great new App  (notablity -- see below) for the I Pad, he tried several stylus's to make it easier to put notes and drawings on the screen when doing group presentations (via a projector) or just working with it on your desk.


Together we have discovered these things


1. Fingers work OK at times, but on Notability app,and NotesPlus  it probably     is best to have a stylus

2. Stylus's are not at all cheap, so selection (and not losing it) is important

3. Stylus's come with two types of tips,  rubber and a silky material that might be better for some people

4. There are a few great websites that review 7 or 8 brands of stylus (links to those below) 

5. The conclusion is, $11 to $29 is the price range,  and you have to select something more like a pencil shape, or something more like a "sharpie" shape.  All tips are reasonably blunt, for a reason,     smaller tips don't work well  (but the line quality actually drawn is controlled by App or Apple)

6. We haven't found our favorite stylus yet -- but one is definitely being returned for credit.


For those interested in quick answers, Griffin (well respected computer accessory company) has a decent stylus with a clip for pocket to help keep up with it.  Here is a link to that product


Griffin pen with pocket clip:

http://www.amazon.com/Griffin-GC16040-Stylus-iPhone-Touchscreens/dp/B0041D0K1Q/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1328243042&sr=8-1


Amazon has a house brand now, called Amazon Basics.  This is their offering under that name, it looks as if it has merit, and ships free (with $25 total order).  $10.82 and has a little wrist strap, I think.

http://www.amazon.com/AmazonBasics-Touchscreen-Including-Motorola-BlackBerry/dp/B004GCJEZU/ref=pd_cp_e_1


Acase brand, here is a video, it claims to be the best
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6c-6iLB9b1o


NotesPlus note taking App, and her choice of a stylus, not bad looking thin lines.  Nice training video here, you can see some good note taking tips
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZchijqXXqN0

Notability --- here is the App Brian and I are excited about
 http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/notability-handwriting-note/id360593530?mt=8

While I have looked at other pens and YouTube videos and read more website reviews, I will stop here and ask you to comment -- let us all know if you have found a favorite stylus and why you like it. 

Car News -- Three Items From This Week's CU

Consumer Reports has three articles in today's issue worth nothing.  A headlight restoration kit review for those of us with older cars.  A long article on the Prius V, a new and larger model. And BMW X-3 review. 

First the headlights.  I have been interested in shining "hazy headlights" for some time, and now CU presents a well researched article with recommendations.  The best they found was quite good.  Sylvania Headlight Restoration Kit.  $21  Six steps, showed the most improvement of all brands tested, and had no degradation over three months.  Hardly worth looking at the others, as some are not long lasting.  But the 3M Headlight Lens Restoration System 29008 is only $15, requires and electric drill, and was four steps with "great improvement".

The Prius V is getting good reviews in many magazines (I read several auto magazines).  Some say it drives and rides better than the smaller Prius.  Yet gets similar or better gas mileage.  A recent article (not CU) said that small cars do not get really good gas mileage as they are not very aerodynamic.  So it is a myth to buy a tiny car expecting "amazing" gas mileage. Most super-small cars get no better gas mileage than Camry, Sonata, and other, larger cars.

The new Prius V is larger in almost all dimensions and has much more room inside, yet gets 41 MPG. Powertrain is almost seamless. Ride compliant and composed. Handling sound (but not agile). Well put together, big windows. Seats are well designed and comfortable.  It is likely to be highly rated by CU as well as the other magazines.

The BMW X-3 also got a good rating and a red check mark in this issue. I think it is made in SC,. is it not ? CU rated it as the rare SUV that is fun to drive.  And rated it higher than the others in its (small) category.

I Pad Instead of Hotel TV Remote

Reports tell us that one of the least sanitary items in a hotel room is the TV remote.  Now comes a fix for that.

Why not use your I Phone, I Pad or other such device as a remote control for the Hotel TV ?  That is quite possible today with your home TV, one of my children has that their I Pad doing that.

But now, LodgeNet has created a free app for that for hotel rooms.  Who is LodgeNet ?  LodgeNet is the biggest provider of hotel room television entertainment. 

The App will work volume, channels and also allow pay TV with the bill sent to your credit card instead of the room bill.  Convenient if you got the room on a corporate charge card. 

Forty percent of users ages 18 to 34 prefer to control their TVs with a smartphone or tablet instead of a remote.  And  98 % of hotel room guests turn on their TV.