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Who Knew? Discount on your monthly T-mobile bill with AAA!

Author Thomas | 20.02.2010 | Category Freebies

Good news for all you AAA members out there.  You can get a 12-14% discount on your monthly T-mobile bill!  I think the discount has been around for a while, but we just found out about it.  Some people have reported 12% while others 13% or 14%.

We just went down to the T-mobile store yesterday, and I believe our discount will be 14%.  You just need to bring your AAA card.  The store still had to call T-mobile to get the discount applied, but it was well worth it.  You’ll need to agree to an extension, etc., etc., but if you’re planning on sticking with T-mobile, it’s a no brainer.

I was also informed that if you have a smart phone, you can upgrade your phone each year at the discounted price.  This is a great surprise because for regular phone “upgrades” you have to wait two years.

So, two bits of good news to kick off the weekend!

Deals Listing for Black Friday and Other Holiday Deals

Author Thomas | 24.11.2009 | Category Accessories, Freebies

It’s taken only a few years for Black Friday and Cyber Monday to become a big deal. This year, perhaps more than others, it’s very big. We’ve listed below some Black Friday and Holiday Deals listings to help you out this holiday.

Amazon.com

• Amazon posts dozens and dozens of online specials, and for sure, they’ll be updated hourly on the big shopping days, below is the link to their special deals page.
• You can start now on the deals, or after Thanksgiving.  Amazon shows for how much longer or how much stock is left of the items.

Amazon Black Friday and After Thanksgiving Deals

LLG & Company

• Handstands CD/DVD Binders & Insert Pages
• Old Town Photo Albums
• Journals
• Discounts for bulk purchases
• Free shipping on orders over $25 (gift wrap available)

LLG & Company Black Friday and Deals Page

Rustic River Leather

• Refillable Leather Journals
• Gift journals
• Free shipping on orders $25 or more
• 10% off large orders (see site for details)
• Sports Logs (golf logs, hunting logs, fly fishing log journals)

Rustic River Leather Black Friday and Holiday Deals Page

REI

• Ski Equipment
• Coats, hats, etc.

REI Winter Sale & Clearance Page

Walmart

• Walmart is offering instore deals

Walmart instore deals link (enter you zip code once on the site for store deals)

• Online deals include TVs, cameras, toys, and a whole lot of other items

Walmart online deals page

NewEgg

• TV’s Laptops
• Contests

NewEgg Deal page

Target

• All sorts of home items
• Deals change on the page
• Free shipping on lots of items

Target deals page (2 day sale)

Enjoy!

Google Navigation Available on the G1

Author Thomas | 23.11.2009 | Category Uncategorized

Well, it’s almost the update we’ve been waiting for…Google Navigation on the G1.  We’ve been hoping for Android 2.0, but hey, Navigation has been the major Wow Factor, and we’ve wanted it.

Visit the Marketplace and download the update to Google Maps.  When requesting directions through Google Maps on your Android phone, simply click Navigation and Whammo!  GPS navigation just like the big boys but for free.

You can also navigate through your phone, check emails, etc. and even have the display turned off and the phone will still speak the directions to you.  Your phone may ask you to install the text to speech engine, but the steps are easy, just press “Install.”

Google Maps Navigation will Change the Way We Drive Forever

Author Thomas | 29.10.2009 | Category Freebies, Software

Talk about Totally Awesome! Google Maps Navigation just changed the whole game for GPS navigation. Garmin’s shares fell by 16.4%; TomTom’s by 20.8% when Google announce their new FREE GPS that is light years ahead of any existing GPS device.

Some of the coolest features are:

• Voice Search
• View your route by Satellite
• View your route by Street View
• Real time updates (maps are current)
• Find businesses, restaurants, with Google Powered search

If you’ve ever tried to use a regular GPS, it takes a long time to try to type in your destination, with The Google Navigator, you just say it.

I have to say that the Satellite and Street Views are awesome.  You’ll be able to see exactly where you are.

The Navigator works on Android 2.0 devices.  Let’s hope 2.0 rolls out to the rest of us in the very near future, because I need this app!

Windows 7 is Out

Author Thomas | 22.10.2009 | Category Software

I thought it was funny that an article stated pre-orders for Windows 7 have surpassed the record for pre-orders of the final Harry Potter book.  Lots of people are excited about this release.  I have to admit, being a Vista user, I’m excited too.  I just hope my programs are compatible on the upgrade.

Update: I purchased the Windows 7 upgrade the day it came out.  The upgrade went very well.  One tip though, you need to de-authorize your iTunes Account on your Computer (not the audible account, but the computer), or else Apple might think you’ve authorized a new computer when you upgrade.

Just Received Access to Google Wave – First Impressions

Author Thomas | 14.10.2009 | Category Web

After much anticipation, I received my Google Wave invitation from Google.  The service right now is in “Preview” which means some things may not work quite right until the official release.

Right from the start, I was impressed with how it works, and could see this being a game changer for the web.  Good for Google!  And good for us, since we as web users can benefit greatly from it.

I used Wave a bit but soon discovered that there’s not all that much that you can do until you have some contacts in your contact list.   I’ve started to see some of my Gmail contacts appear in the Wave contact list which means that they’re getting Wave too.  It’s great that they’re being added automatically.

I added pictures into a wave.  This feature will be very, very handy for sharing pictures.

I tested out the Yes/No/Maybe widget and it worked.  I did notice the following day that the profile images in the contacts took a while to load, but no other major irregularities so far.

Right now the extensions list has only a handful of extensions, but we hope that to grow quickly.

Google Wave will be incredible once the user base expands past the preview audience and all Gmail account have automatic access to Wave.

The trick will be how many people switch to Wave once it’s released.

Android 1.6 Donut Rollout and Features

Author Thomas | 01.10.2009 | Category Electronics, Software

Android, the operating system that powers the G1, MyTouch 3G, and other smart phones is now rolling out.  Although the update is in the beginning stages, the roll out seems to be better managed compared to the Cupcake update (delays, delays, and more delays).

This update dubbed 1.6 and inspiring owners of the Android phones to go out and purchase donuts in celebration has a lot going for it, and really helps mature the OS, and especially the Marketplace (App Store) interface.

Although tagged as a “minor” update, there are some pretty awesome features that have been added to the phone.

• Updates to the quick search box
• Camera updates
• The Android Marketplace gets a great face lift
• Virtual Private Network ability
• Indicator for battery usage
• Text-to-speech engine that will blow your mind

More highlights from the Android Dev Page.

T-mobile announcement page.

Google Wave to be Released

Author Thomas | 29.09.2009 | Category Software, Web

Google Wave is set for release tomorrow to 100,000 lucky testers.

Like 100,000 Golden Tickets awaiting to be sent to the lucky winners who will find in their email inboxes tomorrow an invitation to the revolutionary new service/product.

Google Wave will combine in-a-sense, email, instant messaging, blogging, sharing, etc.  Email will work much more like a conversation.

A ten minute demo of wave from the developer tool:

From the Developer Conference (the long video):

Hopefully, we’ll all get one of the Golden Ticket invites to start testing, exploring, and enjoying Google Wave.

Rustic River Leather Photo Album

Author Thomas | 28.09.2009 | Category Accessories

We live in a world of speed and ever evolving technology.  Obviously (as evidenced through the posts), I like technology, but I also really enjoy the classic, traditional, and old fashioned things in life.  Wouldn’t it be great to have a tract of land to farm with a large house…and high speed Internet, Google Android Phones, etc.?

Anyway, in this techno world that we live in, it’s become more and more easy to take pictures and store them.  I’ve found myself taking more and more pictures and simply storing them on my computer.  There’s really no constraint other than hard drive size, so away I snap.

More recently, I’ve begun storing pictures in photo albums.  There’s just something special (how quaint), about viewing pictures in an album.  Recently we took a horseback riding trip, and I wanted a great place to store the pictures.  The Rustic River Leather Photo Album hits the spot perfectly.

I got the Dark Brown Version (pictured is the Saddle Brown), and oddly enough, I found a spot for it on the mantel, and it looks great.  The leather is very rustic.  It’ll show marks and dings, but that’s part of the style.  However, I’m still pretty careful with it.  The album holds 100 4×6 pictures and is hand sewn.

The inside of the album is similar to a regular photo album.  It’s the outer construction that makes all the difference.  It takes a few tries to get the leather wrap knot correct.

So in our high-paced, ever changing world, it feels great to do something a little old fashioned.

Google Reader and why it’s helpful

Author Thomas | 17.09.2009 | Category Freebies, Web

Google Reader has been on the scene for a very long time; however, it’s such a handy tool, and so very few take advantage of it, it’s worth mentioning.

Google Reader can Save You Time

Think about all the websites you visit on a weekly basis (or even on a daily basis).  Once you start adding up how often you visit each site (CNN.com, Dilbert.com, etc.), the minutes start adding up.

Google reader lets you subscribe to your favorite websites, family blogs, etc. and view when an update occurs, you can generally read the whole article right within Google Reader and even view the images from the article.

Think of the time savings.  Instead of visiting dozens of different sites and poking around to see what is new or worth reading, you can at a glance view all the headlines from your favorite websites, and select the ones you wish to read.

Don’t Miss Out

Because the articles are stored in Google Reader for you stay there until you mark them as read/archive them, you don’t have to worry about missing updates while you’re away.

Save the Good Stuff

Google Reader lets you add a star to favorite articles.  You can also email an article within Reader and share it with others.

Just a favorite we thought we should share: Google Reader.