Update On The NEST Thermostat (Award Winner)

http://www.gottabemobile.com/2012/05/18/nest-learning-thermostat-review-installation-first-impressions/

On August 1^st, of 2012 I posted to this Blog something on the new Nest Labs home thermostat.  It stays in the news, they have just upgraded the design to make it thinner and even more attractive.  And it has new software.  It is a true revolution in energy conservation at home, and just one a new “best in the show” award from a major publication. 

The founders led development for the iPod and iPhone and left to form this company.  Don’t miss a chance to check this one out.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lEx2Iznm3eA

CNET ran this YouTube on the install and were a bit worried about the $250 price.  However, I have just put in a new system in a vacation home, and a normal, programmable, thermostat was also $250.  So I am not sure the price is as much a barrier as they say.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L8TkhHgkBsg

A nice little advertising video, it’s pretty cool, huh?

http://bestideastoday.blogspot.com/2012_08_01_archive.html

Check out my original Nest Blog if you don't remember this product. This post covers the earlier version of the Nest.  I couldn’t find a handy YouTube for the new-and-improved Nest. 

Copying Old VHS Tapes to DVD - Professionally

I have been looking for a reliable, high quality, and reasonably priced service to copy all my old VHS tapes to DVD for a long time. These are, like most families, tapes we made of our children when they were growing up and of important corporate events at our company. This search for the ideal transfer company has gone on for years, mostly on line, as local services haven’t seemed to be either reasonable in price, or have the super high quality equipment needed to make really good DVD’s from such sources as VHS, Hi-8, and so on. It takes more than just copying.  In the past, I have found some inexpensive sources, but they don’t take much time to fix and correct and don’t have the best technical equipment.  I am now convinced if I am going to do it, I want the best.

So, I am about ready to try this on-line source  https://archivalcompany.com/

The Archival Company.  They have been in business a good while, and seem to do government work, and have proprietary software and nice features such as

1.      an engineer will observe the run, adjust color and make it as good as possible

2.      blank spaces will be removed

3.      you can, as an option, view it on line and make edits or add titles before they burn the DVD

4.      extra copies are only $4.95, a reasonable price for a burned DVD

5.      the best part: One price fits all -- $10.95 per tape copied.  Inbound freight free.

6.      nice testimonials give me a little confidence

https://archivalcompany.com/videotape-to-dvd.asp   check out the options

They also do 35 mm slides.  For 44 cent each.  Not cheap, but 1,000 slides should do most families, and that would be $440.  Perhaps worth it. Your images will be scanned at 3600 DPI.  After scanning the originals, they crop, rotate and color correct the images as part of the service.   Your original media is returned along with a disc containing your still images in JPEG or TIFF format. You may order additional "project disc" copies, containing all of your images for family, friends or even for safe-keeping at $4.95 per extra disc.
 
As part of this service, they will keep a digital copy of your images for 1 year.  If you need a disc replacement, they can do it.   They have spent years developing their process.  They proudly stand behind their work with a quality guarantee.

So, I will start with maybe 10 VHS tapes and see how it works.  Do more if they come out good.  If anyone has a better source, please leave a comment so we can all have that information.

Do You Have Unclaimed Money?

An article in the State Paper on finding if you have some unclaimed money somewhere was interesting.  I ran my name through and all my family members, it found much money, but none of it was exactly ours.  It was similar names, and in states where I doubt our family has any unclaimed money.  But it showed me there is a lot of money out there.  It would pay you to look, including checking all your parents, living and deceased. 

Here is a tiny excerpt from one of the stories:

 http://www.stltoday.com/business/track-down-your-share-of-unclaimed-billionsarticle_579aa569-5d5a-5c29-8441-54c884cb0710.html



State treasuries alone are safeguarding 117 million instances of unclaimed money, worth about $33 billion, according to the National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators, or NAUPA. Here's what you need to know and where you should go to search for your unclaimed cash:

• Missingmoney.com is a combined database of many unclaimed property lists in the United States.

• NAUPA provides links to state unclaimed-property websites at unclaimed.org. Some state sites include lost property not listed on Missingmoney.com. More important, some big states, such as California, New York and Illinois, are not on Missingmoney.com. Check any state in which you might be owed money, said John Gabriel, president of NAUPA.

Savings bonds: Search treasuryhunt.gov for U.S. savings bonds and marketable securities, such as Treasury bills, notes and bonds. For example, you can search for matured E and EE savings bonds issued after 1974 that are no longer earning interest. And you can search for interest payments you might be entitled to from H or HH savings bonds, said Treasury spokeswoman Joyce Harris. You will have to provide a Social Security number or employer identification number to search. The site also has downloadable forms for claiming lost, stolen or destroyed bonds.

Pensions: The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. has a "missing participants" service at http://search.pbgc.gov. There, you can determine whether you are owed benefits from a corporate pension plan that was closed or taken over by the PBGC. You also can track down benefits if you are a survivor of a person who should be drawing the pension. This refers to the older type of defined-benefit pensions, not 401(k)-type plans.

• Failed banks: If you have reason to believe that you or a relative has unclaimed money from a bank failure during the end of the savings-and-loan crisis 20 years ago, check the database at the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. at http://www2.fdic.gov/funds/. It covers deposits from Jan. 1, 1989, to June 28, 1993.