On Computers

If you want to let your cat in and out without inviting in the whole animal world, consider the “Cat Flap,” $83 on Amazon. It’s as if each cat had his or her own door key.  A reader told me about it. Thanks to the Flap, he said, the raccoons immediately stopped menacing his pet. The cat is now “the neighborhood rock star.”  Here’s the high tech part: It works with a microchip implanted in your cat or in its collar, recognizing up to 40 cats. Hopefully you don’t have that many. The Cat Flap’s opening is 5.9” (height) by 5.5” (width). I wonder if fat cats can squeeze in.  The Cat Flap is a little hard to find because […]

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Filed under: art, blogs, Google, health, Internuts, presentation, security | Comments Off on HI TECH CAT FLAP

I might have said yes to the cat my neighbor offered me if I’d had “Leo’s Loo Too,” a robotic kitty-litter cleaner from SmartyPear that ships this month. It looks like a miniature dryer. Cat pooh can be dangerous. According to a University of Chicago study, 60 million Americans have “toxoplasmosis,” a parasite you can get from touching it. It causes “intermittent explosive disorder” and increased aggression in humans, experts say. With the Loo Too litter cleaner, a rotating drum separates your fur baby’s pooh and sends it into a carbon-filtered, odor-containing waste drawer. When the drawer is full, a notification on your smart phone tells you it’s time to take out the trash, which is automatically bagged. You’re back […]

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Filed under: apps, computers, gadgets, health, how-to, Internuts, Windows | 1 Comment »

A friend of mine is furious about her paper vaccination card.  Her tour group says she can’t go to Egypt without a digital version. Too bad she didn’t get her vaccination at a place like Walgreens or Walmart. Then she could have gotten the necessary QR code. “How to Get Digital Proof of Your Vaccine Record No Matter Where You Live,” you can go to vaccinecheck.us and pay a subscription fee to have a QR code that works everywhere. I paid $50 to check it out. At first, I got nowhere. Every time I uploaded my card and hit “submit,” the uploaded file disappeared. Later, I got three emails from VaccineCheck, one of which had a link to “start the […]

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Filed under: apps, health, Internuts | Comments Off on THAT DARN CODE

Here’s something to consider when buying your next phone or tablet:  Get one that has a microSD card slot so you don’t run out of storage space. These days, a $25 micro SD card holds a whopping 128 gigabytes or more. Samsung, Sony, Motorola, LG, and Xiaomi phones all have slots for these. Alternatively, some phones, such as the Google Pixel, have dual SIM card capability. You can use a SIM card slot for a storage card. Because the iPhone and iPad don’t offer expandable internal storage, some people buy a new phone or tablet just to get more space. But that gets expensive. The iPhone 13 with 256 gigabytes is $100 more than the one with 128.   Here’s a […]

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Filed under: books, gadgets, health, Internet, Windows | Comments Off on RUNNING OUT OF SPACE

I never dreamt it would be possible to read the time and room temperature on my ceiling. Then a friend gave me a gadget for doing just that. The Ambient Weather “RC 84-27 Clearview Radio-Controlled Projection Clock,” $15 on Amazon, has a miniature radio receiver that gets the world’s most accurate time from the official U.S. atomic clock in Fort Collins, Colorado. It even turns daylight savings time off or on. The best part is the mini projector inside. That’s what beams both the time and the room temperature up high. Works great in the dark. When I’m wondering if it’s time to get up, or if it’s warm enough to get out from under the covers, I can glance […]

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Filed under: Amazon, business, gadgets, health, trends, troubleshooting | Comments Off on PROJECTING TIME AND WEATHER ON THE CEILING

I’ve never used a meat thermometer, so when I got one for review, I turned to my grilling friends for help. They love it.   Compared to the typical thermometer on Amazon, the new Thermapen One is a a bit of wizardry. It tells you the temperature in one second. That way, you’re not standing over a hot grill getting yourself cooked while waiting for a reading. It can test just about anything, including food from a microwave, oven, stovetop, deep fryer, refrigerator or freezer. Some use it to test the temperature of their bath before they step in.  My friend started off by using it to test Impossible Burgers. The directions say to cook them for two minutes per side […]

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Filed under: apps, cheap calls, gadgets, health, Internet, phones, tech support | Comments Off on FROM GRILLS TO BATHTUBS

I feel like Thidwick, the big-hearted moose, throwing freeloaders overboard. My inbox is finally uncluttered, thanks to “OnMail,” a new email service. Every time a new sender is about to put mail in my box, I hit “block” or “accept.” If I hit “block,” they’re banished permanently, unless I unblock them later. It works better than labeling something “spam” in Gmail, which tends to bounce back. Even Gmail’s filters haven’t worked as well in my tests. OnMail has many other nice features. For example, it ignores “read receipts,” those notifications senders get when you’ve read their email. That’s to protect your privacy. If businesses know you’ve opened their messages, they’ll bombard you with more. (West Elm, I’m talking about you […]

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Filed under: email, gadgets, Gmail, health, tech support | Comments Off on TAMING THE EMAIL BEAST

If I were buying a cell phone today, I might get the new Titan Pocket because of its Blackberry-style keyboard. Remember the old Blackberry phone? Its physical keyboard was much-loved. Then the iPhone swooped in with a gazillion apps, temporarily crashing the networks, which weren’t prepared for the onslaught. Google, which had been working on a clone of the Blackberry system, switched to an iPhone clone so it could also offer apps. Now you can have the best of both worlds: a physical keyboard and as many apps as your phone can hold. In the case of the Titan Pocket, what you sacrifice is screen size. Its square screen is only 3.1 inches, which may be too small for people […]

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Filed under: gadgets, graphics, health, mobile, phones | Comments Off on CUSTOMIZABLE PHONE REMINDS ME OF BLACKBERRY

​It’s hard to resist exercise tech. I’m talking about a $1,495 vibrating machine called “Power Plate.” My sister uses one with her personal trainer to help reverse her osteoporosis. It’s become my personal go-go-dancing platform and a fun way to exercise. The app offers a ton of workout videos and so does YouTube. But it’s so powerful, you’re not supposed to  use it more than three times a week.  The first time I stepped onto it, my whole body vibrated, even my head. To avoid head vibration, I now keep my knees bent. It’s a lot more powerful than the vintage vibrating belt my aunt used. Back in the day, my sister and I cracked up when the belt vibrated […]

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Filed under: apps, health, Internuts, music, security | Comments Off on POWER PLATE EXERCISE SHAKES UP ROUTINE

Getting pure water is a bear. I’ve tried everything. Recently, a company sent me a new reverse osmosis system that sits in a small space on my counter. It’s called “Aquibear.” Before Aquibear, I tried water pitchers with replaceable filters, such as Brita and ZeroWater. My new condo has an LG refrigerator with a filter built in. But none of these things were as good as Aquibear is so far. I know because I tested them. I bought a $15 “HoneForest” water-quality testing stick on Amazon. All I had to do was put the stick in each glass of water I tested and check the digital read-out. A high score means lots of pesticides, parasites, arsenic, lead, microplastics, virus nitrates, […]

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Filed under: education, games, health, Internuts | Comments Off on PURE WATER