Dark Sky weather app for iPhone

If you haven't looked at this particular weather app, I highly recommend it.  It was so popular in the Apple iTunes App Store that I hear that Apple had purchased the company that did the app and thus now "owns the app".  So I don't know if Android users have access or not.

I paid $5 for the app, but I thought Apple was going to make it free after they purchased it.  Maybe not.

Anyway, it is very specific, gives you weather expectations at the exact location where you are standing, and hour by hour predictions of temperature, rain, and wind in that spot.  It also has easy to change parameters, such as "feels like"  temperature, instead of just "the temperature".  It also has excellent forward forecasting, also hour by hour.  Very useful if you are planning an outdoor event at a specific time of day.  It would be nice to know the percent chance of precipitation or the temperature at that hour.

Enjoy.

Coping With The Virus Zoom Video and special music

If you haven’t discovered the now famous ZOOM app for your iPad, or smart phone, please take a look, it is in all the app stores.  It is, I understand, free for users if they limit it to 40 minutes.  But last Saturday Zoom gave my family extra free time for our first ever, three city, Zoom family meeting. 

It is so impressive, I like it much better than Skype or FaceTime.  It is intuitive and has great features.  I will leave some helpful links to “how to improve your use of Zoom” videos below.  But for now, enjoy some music appropriate for the Staying Inside situation.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nmUXntGlqFI   1.5 million views are not wrong.

Some Zoom help videos:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8TI43FzHd6Q

Zoom video, how to use, tips on raising the camera so the camera is not looking up your nose, for example.  Tripod might be a good idea ?  at least for a meeting.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fMUxzrgZvZQ

One other video on ways to use Zoom. 

There are many others, on YouTube, just look around.

AUDM, a new app for smart phones,a text-to-audio helper

https://lifehacker.com/audm-lets-you-listen-to-long-form-journalism-instead-of-1834727297

Audm , a new app for smart phones (they are working on a similar version for normal PC’s) is a new service.  I read, or try to, a good bit of long form articles in publications like New Yorker as they are more detailed and relevant that “what happened yesterday” sort of news stories.  They explain the background of businesses, or the arts and why they are interesting or relevant to today’s world.  Or, which are just fun to read.

I was pleased to see that NewYorker magazine and others are partnered with this start up to have professional readers read these articles in audio book format, so I can listen to them rather than read them.  That’s perfect for short trips in the car, where I like to have good content such as an audio book, or professional lecture.

It is $7 a month, or $5 a month if you pay a year in advance.  I might give it a try, just one article a month would probably be worth it for me.   

Fire Extinguisher Suggestion Worth a Look $11 Each

https://www.amazon.com/First-Alert-Extinguisher-Tundra-Fire-Extinguishing-Aerosol/dp/B002U0KGDY/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=first%2Balert%2Btundra&qid=1574531352&sr=8-2&th=1

Tundra is a less complicated solution to fire extinguishers, and less costly.  It can not be refilled, but has a nice shelf life, and then you just buy new ones.  Home Depot and many fire departments will take unused, out of date Tundra units and recycle them.  At about $11 each these are cheap solutions to a problem almost everyone has --   the more expensive extinguishers have a short shelf life (I am told) and very few people bother to have them "serviced" after the date.  And many homes are without any fire extinguishers -- that's for sure.

With 700 plus reviews, mostly 5 star, I think this is a main stream product worth consideration.  Shipping is free with $25 or more purchase on Amazon. But they are also in Wal-Mart for about $12.

Chamberlain Garage Door opener APP for smart phone

I heard about this from a very happy customer I just met in a restaurant the other night.  He said he uses this new app and device all the time.  He can open or close his garage door with his smart phone even if he is at work or in another town.  And he knows whether or not the door is up or down by just looking at his phone.  Amazon must have some deal so they can open the garage door and put your purchases inside out of the weather and safe from theft, even if you are out of town.  A great idea. 

https://www.amazon.com/Smart-Garage-Opener-Chamberlain-MYQ-G0301/dp/B075H7Z5L8/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=chamberlain+garage+door+app&qid=1562808196&s=gateway&sr=8-1

I think it might be available at Home Depot and Lowes as well as Amazon and perhaps family owned hardware stores.

Based on my friend’s rave reviews, I would suggest you take a look at it if you have an electric garage door.  He said he often can’t remember if he closed the garage door when he left for work or not, this helps him know for sure.  And he can let his maid in through the door without giving her a garage door key or code.  She just calls when she arrives and he can open the garage door for her, and make sure it is closed when she leaves. He has two garage doors, and one of these on each, I saw the app, you can see both doors up or down on the screen.  Easy to touch either to open it or close it.

Practical tip of the day

 

I had a rubber backed entry mat on a hardwood floor at my home It would slide around and I needed something to hold still at all times in the exact location I wanted it. So, years ago I had used double stick tape which made quite a mess on the floor. 

But I got a new mat last week and I wanted something that would do the same job but not damage the floor.

After researching a lot of products I decided to give command strips a try. But I needed very thin ones not the usual thick ones.  I discovered the poster strips (see photo) at the target store on sale for about $3.50.  So far they have worked perfect.

The rug is now secure and does not slide around and command strips will leave no residue on the floor when it eventually has to be replaced.

They also appear to be excellent for putting posters on the wall without damaging the wall paint.   I would imagine they’re holding power is not great but for many things you put on the wall you really don’t need a lot of holding power. 

I’m thinking of using these at the bottom of artwork that is suspended on the usual wire over a hook. Overtime these pictures get crooked. I think these tabs put on the bottom of the picture would hold it to the wall in the correct position without damaging anything.  There are quite a few strips in a single package as well.  So the net result is fairly inexpensive.   

 

A New Website To Look Up Names and Phone Numbers and Addresses

https://nuwber.com    a new website to find people, their ages, addresses and phone numbers.

Finding a phone number on line is always a bit of a struggle.  So many people have dropped their land lines, and thus the White Pages websites are not as useful as they used to be.  I have used www.whitepages.com  for years, and a few others, but most of them now require disclosures of who you are (I won’t give that) and or a monthly fee to find all the research they claim to have done and can show you.  For a fee, of course.

So, I was happy to discover https://nuwber.com   it seems to give most of the information I need but without memberships or fees or come-on propositions. 

For finding out who called me, I use not only the reverse lookup for www.whitepages.com  but also https://whocallsme.com   which logs in from volunteers many of the telemarketing calls (spam calls).  Very few of the callers I look up are “real”, 99% are spam/marketing calls.