by Jules Older, photos by Effin Older, Vermont Business Magazine When I say I test everything before I write about it, there are a few exceptions. Like theAbsorbits Phone Pouch. The company sent me a sample. So why not test it? Because, while I’d do just about anything for you, dear reader, immersing my iPhone in water isn’t one of them. And what Absorbits does — drying out wet phones — demands a wet phone to dry. So, no immersion this time. I can report that the Absorbits looks good, the tech makes sense, and I advise you to spend the bargain $10 … and dunk your own phone. I’ll keep the Absorbits handy in case mine goes in the drink.
I advise younotto take advantage of another ‘bargain’ — the Mpow V4.1 Bluetooth Headset I bought on Amazon for $25. When I had an issue with it, I discovered the company’s phone didn’t answer, their website didn’t work, and there was no way to contact them, period. I reported them to Amazon, and now, to you. Oh, and Amazon refunded my $25.
If you buy a product that doesn’t work, whether from Amazon or anywhere else, I strongly suggest you ask for your money back, too. Help drive junk and scam out of business.
Next up, another something else I have to take on faith that it works —Autowit Fresh. It’s a multi-purpose air purifier designed to get rid of dust, smoke, smells and pollen; it works in the car, bedroom or small office. I can verify that it’sa quiet, compact and smartly designed; I didn’t have dust, smoke, smells or pollen to get rid of. If you’re suffering from allergies or nasty air, it’s well worth $70 to give it a go. genhigh.com/collections/featured-products/products/autowit-fresh-multi-purpose-air-purifier-with-true-hepa
Now, two kinds of charging stations — one for the home office; the other for travel, and both made by oneadaptr. The first is theevri. With 80 watts of power, it charges everything from cell phones to computers very, very fast. It’s good for the office and, because it’s compact, for domestic travel. $75.
The second adaptor is theTwist Plus World Charging Station. Unlike the evri, it’s only for MacBooks. Also, unlike the evri, it adapts to the power plugs of more than 150 countries. That means you no longer have to buy a new adaptor for every border you cross. And despite its small size, it can charge up to five devices at the same time. A bargain at $45.
Speaking of small, those memory cards you insert in your camera have grown smaller in price while bigger — much bigger — in capacity.Kingston Technology, whose products have never failed me, now makes memory cards from 16 to 128 gigabytes. The price? Seven to 53 bucks.
You know I’m big on backup. Here’s the biggest backup yet. With20 terabytesof storage, Western Digital’sMyBook Duois a monster. Not only does it save a tremendous amount of data in a desk-size package, it can be morphed into a mirror backup, saving all data twice. To me, it’s an astonishment of the Digital Age that this much info can be stored in a box no bigger than a dictionary.
I wanted to love it. But.
But it is clearly designed for PCs, not Macs. I spent too many hours trying to get it to work reliably with my MacBook Pro. In the end, I gave up — most reluctantly. I’d recommend it for PCers, not for Macites. $800.
Here’s something else I’m big on —AutoCorrect. It comes free with your computer, and it’s designed to save you embarrassment by changing “I’m pleased to offer you’re compamy an oportunity” to “I’m pleased to offer your company an opportunity.”
It does that, and it does something more. AutoCorrect saves your wrists and elbows from the horrible pain of repetitive strain injury.
How? Like this. I want to say “Jules Older, a University of Vermont graduate, swears that Vermont Business Magazine is Vermont’s only state-wide business magazine.”
That’s what I want to say. Here’s what I actually type:jox, a uvmx graduate, swears tht vbm is vt’s only state-wide biz maga. Over the course of a year, think of how many keystrokes that saves. Use it. Your arms will thank you. (PS: I’m an editor. When using any auto spell correction app, check your work after you’re done.)
And the Earth may thank you for switching from those cans of compressed air toHurricanecanless air system.
There are no cans to clutter up the landfill — there are no cans at all. Instead, Hurricane is a rechargeable device that jets high-speed air to keyboards, shelves, hard-to-reach corners, just about everywhere that dust and dirt accumulate.
It’s claimed to be equivalent to a thousand cans of compressed air. The Hurricane costs $100 on Amazon, and while that’s a lot more than a can of compressed air, over time, it may well be cheaper. And better for the only planet we’ve got.
Living in a largely rural state conveys many blessings … and a few unblessings. One of the latter is that if you live in the country, the nearest health club, aka gym, may be miles away. OK, but the nearest staircase is probably just a few feet away.
We’ve made a minimovie on how to use your stairs as a workout center. It’s called NO GYM? GOT STAIRS? GOOD ENOUGH! It’s free on YouTube: youtu.be/Rdo1ZwezfO0
Most of the Olders’ minimovies can be seen atwww.YouTube.com/julesolder.
Jules Older writes about tech and neat stuff for the Small Office Home Office (SOHO) for Vermont Business Magazine.