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Tech News & Commentary
Dave mentioned the iPourIt Technology he encountered at the Miami-Dade County Fair. Here is a video of it at work:
The Miami-Dade County Fair
Chris in Miami Beach, Florida listens to the podcast and is calling via the App told us: “I can’t believe a troll actually called your show. I wonder if David from Delaware ever had toys as a child. I’m pretty sure you and Mark are in touch with your inner child and probably Chris and Samantha haven’t grown out of their childhood yet. Every week I learn something new on the show so thanks a lot and keep up the good work. I really enjoyed the interview with Mark Walters from the Z-Wave Alliance. I wonder if he could give me a recommendation on a good Z-Wave controlled sun screen or privacy screen for a big picture window.”
Z-Wave Alliance doesn’t exactly have sunscreens or privacy screens, what they do certify the controllers that move the parts that will open or close your privacy screens. In fact, we sent your question to Mark Walters and he called in with a response for Chris.
You could look into something like the iMotorShade Z-Wave Certified Tubular Motor, which will spin and move an existing shade or shutter into place.
There are Z-Wave Universal Motor Interfaces that you can buy for around $160, sometimes you will find cheaper ones, but without wireless capabilities, which usually defeats the purpose.
You can also look at SmartGlass options, those are the electrochromic windows that you can frost on demand, Z-Wave also certifies them. That won’t come cheap for a large window, we’ve found 8×11 samples that sold for $300, but it is probably the most impressive and techy solution.
As for trolls calling the show, I think that particular caller was quite sincere, as opposed to the typical troll who knows he or she is being silly to provoke an argument. We didn’t agree with that guy, obviously, and we had a little sport at his expense.
Hey, we gave him his entire unedited phone call and let him slam us up one side and down the other, so we felt justified in taking a few return shots ourselves. What was truly puzzling, though, is why someone who was so decidedly anti-consumer electronics would listen to this show in the first place?
That’s a little like the pacifist who watches MMA matches, or the vegan who works in the butcher shop. It doesn’t make sense. But, hey, thanks for your support. It’s callers like you who make what we do worthwhile. Seriously, thanks for listening…and participating in the discussion.
For more information tune in to Hour 1 of our podcast.
Consumer Reports Feature:
Lots of smart-phone customers suspect they could get a better deal by switching carriers — and they’re probably right, especially if they’re still on an old contract plan. But what if you want keep the phone you have when you switch, rather than upgrade? Consumer Reports’ electronics spokesman James McQueen is here with some tips.
The “Into Tomorrow” team discussed the latest apps that they have been playing with recently.
• Mark recommends: Google Calendar, FREE
- “This week, my featured app is Google Calendar. I know, I know…have I been living under a rock? No, hear me out. I’m talking about Google Calendar for iOS. Not some mobile web interface, either, but a real living and breathing app for your iPhone or iPad. I’m a dedicated Google Apps user at work, and as you know there have been some issues with events synchronized between Google’s calendar in the cloud and the Apple calendar apps, specifically time zones being set incorrectly. Google Calendar for iOS has changed all that for me. I switched off Apple’s calendar app and switched to Google Calendar. If you’re googled-up like I am, you should give it a try also. It’s free in the Apple App Store.” — Mark
• Chris recommends: ShopWell, FREE
- “ShopWell helps you eat healthier food and achieve your nutrition goals. Use ShopWell to help manage your weight and conditions like diabetes, high blood pressure, and Celiac disease. ShopWell can also help you maintain a vegan or vegetarian diet. Scan barcodes at home or in the grocery store to find out if they are a good match for your goals. The app will even suggest foods that are a better fit for your health.”
What are your favorite Apps? Let us know at 800-899-INTO and we’ll feature them in this segment!
Tune in to Hour 1 of our podcast for more details
Guest Segment:
Larry O’Connor, Founder and CEO – Other World Computing
hardware upgrades: Memory, Hard Drives, SSDs, & More.
J in Livonia, Michigan asked us: “Hi, In regards to printers, it used to be that lasers were more efficient because you often had to sit there and clear those that were inkjets. Is that still the case, so that you end up wasting a lot of ink? I don’t use my printer that much, and second of all, I am looking for one that will be able to use the old Mac 10.4/10.5– I am looking for one that does scan, fax, copy and print. Looking for your assistance on that.”
J, The inkjet printers we’ve used recently don’t have to constantly clean their cartridges like the old ones used to, and they tend to still be cheaper than their laser counterparts. Wasted ink and wasted time waiting for them to clear whatever blockage had gotten into their printing heads doesn’t seem to be an issue these days.
Your second question is much harder to answer though, in particular because you want a printer that will play nice with Mac OS 10.4, that’s Tiger, Tiger came out in 2005. To give you an idea of how old that is in computer terms, 2005 was long enough ago, that Steve Jobs may have been carrying a Motorola RAZR V3 back then. Tiger predates the iPhone.
Given that 10.4 isn’t even supported by Apple anymore, and that any computer from Apple’s Intel era could upgrade past 10.4, no manufacturers are advertising compatibility with that OS as a feature, and whatever newer printer you buy may or may not work with your OS.
10.4 was Tiger, after that came Leopard, then Snow Leopard, then Lion, then Mavericks and THEN the current version which is Yosemite, 10.4 is going pretty far back, especially when taking into consideration that lately the upgrades to newer versions have been free or close to free.
You can still find refurbished printers from 10 years ago that claimed compatibility, you may be better off looking at those in particular, otherwise most new printers probably won’t work properly with your computers, you may be able to print, but you probably won’t be able to access the rest of the features.
You can also look for printer/scanner combos without fax support and move to online faxing, that may make it easier to find a printer that still has drivers for your machines, but even that won’t be easy. An HP Deskjet 3050, for example, has support for drivers as far back as 10.5, but if you also need 10.4 support it won’t work for you, and that’s a 2010 printer, 5 years have passed since even that model was released.
For more information tune in to Hour 1 of our podcast.
This Week’s Prizes for Our Listeners
Burg: Burg 16A Smartwatch – connects with iOS and Android phones, offering handsfree calling, text and e-mail notifications and more!
Education.Com: Several “Brainzy” 12-month codes for online early-learning programs for math and reading. If you’ve got Kids … you WANT one of these!
HD Radio: “Into Tomorrow” branded Portable AM/FM/HD Radios – these are in high demand and give you more FREE radio — the way it should be!
LG: An LG ‘G’ Vista Smartphone with an extra large display and good battery life.
NanoTech: Several UltraFlix Gift Cards for 4K Content, like movies and a ton of other cool stuff. Let us know if you have a 4K Ultra HD TV!
NovaPhotos: A couple of their cool Bluetooth off-camera FLASH units for iPhone (that we featured in a recent ITTV piece). Perfect for Selfies. They have 40 LEDs!