Norwegian Air, Discount Flights

https://www.norwegian.com/us/

Norwegian Air has been the subject of many magazine articles, now that they fly to several cities in the USA. They are a deep discount airline, but apparently have good service, nice (nearly new or new) planes and many destination cities.  The point is, their prices from the USA to many European cities is about $600 a person round trip.

I tested a few destinations today, like Orlando to Copenhagen for a vacation trip, and the fare was $618 per person, round trip.  The catch seems to be it flies only a few days a week from Orlando, not every day.  So you would need to book and return on one of the days that it touches down there.  Much like Allegiant and other deep discount airlines.

For a whimsical get away to an Airbnb, or a Home Away, or even staying in a hotel room, this could be a super friendly way to have a European holiday for not much more than a trip to an American beach destination (in season). 

Charging Your Portable Electronics Such as Phone

I have been charging phones and iPads for years, often with off brand devices, but usually with Apple supplied chargers.  I have also tried many portable battery devices that will re-charge my phone at ball games, and such. Some are small, some are large.  All seem to work well. 

Yesterday I read about these two devices in a Popular Mechanics technology review (and recommendation).  Anker is a well know, and highly praised, company that makes charging devices and portable back-up batteries.  What I did not know until this article that Anker was  founded by Google alumni.  That says a great deal right there.  So, I looked up these devices on Amazon (links below).  Both are worth a look.  The 4 port device was highly praised by Popular Mechanics (high power, many safety features, faster charging than most chargers as well). But my real discovery was the $9 car-charger.  I loved the description of it.  And have ordered one to test it. It is fast, redesigned to be smaller, can be left plugged in when there is no device attached, it is smart enough to turn itself off if no device is plugged in.  The pilot light changes color when you insert a device.  That lets you know it is charging.  It will not over-charge your device.  And other features as well.  I have two car chargers already, but they lack some or all of these features.  Take a look. My phones are too costly to risk as less that perfect car charger. Comment if you like.  

https://www.amazon.com/Anker-Charger-PowerDrive-iPhone-Galaxy/dp/B00VH84L5E/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1487439403&sr=8-5&keywords=anker

https://www.amazon.com/Anker-4-Port-Charger-PowerPort-iPhone/dp/B00VH8G1SY/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1487439274&sr=8-1-fkmr0&keywords=anchor+powerport+4

Give A Gift of College

 

https://www.giftofcollege.com/

A sort of new website, where you can gift a child (birthday for example) some money that will be transferred to their 529 college savings account.  You can also give the child one of your existing gift cards (like for a restaurant or something) that you don’t plan to use, and it will go to the child’s 529 (minus a fee).

Lately I have discovered that 529 plans are a probably a better idea than I had originally thought.  The individual funds are merged by States that sponsor them so returns can be better than individual families might earn by picking their own investments (or not, depending) , and also there is no stress on the family to “invest” the funds.  It is done for the parents. 

Also there are fringe benefits (in my opinion) regarding how the proceeds are taxed when used to pay for college, and other things that might make it more attractive than a pure savings account.  Also, if there is some change of good fortune in the family, the funds are secure for the child’s education, much like an IRA.

https://www.leafsavings.com/

Is another option for similar gift giving. 

TracR -- A Small Device to Track Anything

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2498629,00.asp

although PC magazine sort of liked these devices, actual users didn’t .. so I guess it is not the product I thought it might be.  It doesn’t use GPS, but Bluetooth, so you have to be reasonably close to find something, I can’t think if your car was stolen you would find it with this device.

I deleted the initial post because of this review and the actual user's comments

Finally, A Mobile Passport To Speed Through US Customs.

The Wall Street Journal tech editor favorably reviewed this new app for world travelers.  Finally a way to breeze through US Customs when you arrive back home.  He said it works.  http://mobilepassport.us/   Certainly worth a look if you travel overseas.  You will still need the real passport, but this could making coming home a great deal more pleasant. 

Iowa, I think is the State, that is experimenting with driver’s licenses that will be on your smart phone – so they will never get lost (in the usual sense) and will always be with you (as most people never get more than a few feet from their smart phone).  Someday that will be normal, USA wide.  It helps make traffic stops much faster.

Someday the US Government will get up to speed on technology for things like those just mentioned, which could save much time and money.  However, improvements in hacking defense would be welcome before much more tech is deployed. 

Photo Book Printing Tips, Updated March 2016

http://www.adoramapix.com/app/home/

Was, I think, top rated among a recent test by a professional blogger of 12 different on line photo book making services.  It comes with very heavy paper, and lay-flat pages, a very expensive (normally) option.  It also nicely prints titles on the cover, and binder as well.  Print quality on the pages was superior I think.  To view all the reviews, try this link.   https://thedailydigi.com/12-different-photobook-printer-reviews   While all printing services have their good and bad points, Adormapix seems to have most of the bases well covered.  I have done photo books from many different companies, some of which have gone out of businesses (including my favorite from price and print quality point of view). All offer sales and substantial discounts from time to time.

But, for some people, printing a photo book from your iPhone or Android phone can be fun and easy.  A relative new source for this is https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/photo-books-by-simple-prints/id548773050?mt=8  Simple Prints photo book.  I have watched YouTube videos on how to do it, it seems very good and very easy. I like the pinch and enlarge feature, to make your photo look best on a page (cropping, as we used to call it).  If they have a coupon or a sale, I might try one book from them.

Bottom line, for Adoramapix and most others --- to get a good deal you need to get a coupon or first time users “discount” to get the price into the $38 range with shipping. I am talking hard bound books here, with normal page counts and photos on the cover.  But, with really good discounts you might get one for $30 now and then.  In the end, they are really nice keepsakes, and probably worth it. I love all my existing photo books.  I also make home made photo books now using 3 ring binders and acetate, archive quality, plastic pages to slip in the 8 x 11 color photos from my HP Printer (with Instant Ink contract, it is by far the least expensive way to get large color photos).

Reading Magazines? Need More In Depth?

There is an app  www.layar.com  that will work with any smart phone. If you are reading INC Magazine (and perhaps others) and see a tiny logo in the shape of a smart phone somewhere on the page (maybe the lower left corner) you can pull out your phone and photograph that page (obviously using the layar “app” 's camera fumction) and it will show you videos and other bonus content on your mobile device. For just this one page you are interested in. 

Obviously this saves the publisher printing costs and mailing costs, and adds video of the article that might be useful.  I think of this as a step towards the day when magazines will be thinner, but function as a Kiplinger's Newsletter.  That is, they will give you enough information to let you know if the story would really be of interest to you, or not.  If it is of interest, you could bury yourself deeper by photographing the page using “layer”. 

While I am still a big fan of print media, I know many have time poverty and thus are suing smart phones on public transportation to catch up with things they are interested in.  I use Flipbook app extensively, as it seems to be the best designed, shows me what I want to see by category or interest (Apple news, photography news, many other categories).  It also shows me this in the most cosmetic of ways, with bright color pictures.  I can pass over the story, or drill down very easily.  Best of all, with a few finger touches, I can email the story to a friend that might be interested.  Or post it on Facebook, or whatever. A form of information sharing (instantly) that was never available in the past.