Clear Blue Dei

Here is the latest update from Smart Car USA. The Smart Car Dealerships are due to open in January and the reserved Smart Cars will start to be delivered at that point. We know someone who has reserved and is getting a Smart Car, hopefully in January. He and his wife are very excited! I hope to get a ride in it when he gets it and I will take pictures and post them.

Also, here is an interesting article from the Associated Press (on sfgate.com) that is an interesting read in that it contains some rather negative thoughts about the Smart Car. Here is an excerpt:“Some industry analysts are skeptical about Smart’s chances in the United States, where trucks, sport utility vehicles and crossovers still command more than half the market and gas prices, while rising, still don’t approach Europe’s.

Schembri won’t say how many vehicles Smart hopes to sell in 2008, but Aaron Bragman, an analyst with Global Insight, said he doesn’t expect more than 20,000, and sales will probably fall off after that. By comparison, the Toyota Yaris — the most popular subcompact on the market — sold 73,874 units in the first 10 months of this year, according to Autodata Corp.

“I think it will be a novelty,” Bragman said. “It’s a very niche market, and I’m not very sure it has much staying power.”

Bragman said for the price, buyers could get a used car with a lot more space and practicality. Unless gas prices hit $5 to $6 a gallon, he said, it’s hard to picture Smart gaining much ground.”

I think they may be surprised at how popular the Smart Car will be. People were very surprised at how popular the Scion XB is, not only among it’s intended audience - young, hip college kids, but also with baby boomers, older people, active people and just a lot of people in general. We own one and are thrilled with it. It is a very, very practical car and I think that they underestimate how many people want a practical car.

And especially for city commuting, the Smart Car is perfect, as near as I can tell. It exactly fills that spot and does so better than any other car available. It is small, inexpensive, gas-efficient and attractive. Not everyone wants or needs a big, gas-guzzling SUV, although the industry seems to think so. Well, we’ll see.

Also, I apologize for the formatting on this, I cut and pasted it from the email newsletter I received and it didn’t come through as well as I’d like. I could edit it to make the columns a little less wide, but the white space I just couldn’t seem to get rid of. But the information is all there

Enjoy,

~Susan Mellott

Vol.11 in this issue .01>> from the smart USA team .02>> smart dealership announcements .03>> road show wrap-up .04>> enthusiast site .05>> smart merchandise

11.01>> from the smart USA team

Dear smart Enthusiast, Thank you for your continued interest in the smart brand. If this is your first e-newsletter – welcome to the smart USA family. This month we have many exciting announcements for our smart enthusiasts. The Reservation Confirmation Program is well underway. Our smart USA team is currently contacting groups of reservation holders every week. Once contacted, reservation holders will have the opportunity to change and confirm their vehicles’ model, color, and add options, as well as update personal information. Upon confirmation, your reservation will be converted into a production order. Your order will then be assigned to the dealer nearest you who will contact you once your order is actually in production. The smart USA team is creating an enthusiast site just for you! Here you will have the opportunity to chat about the smart fortwo, exchange ideas and interact with insiders across the country. This website will be ready for your participation in the new year. smart USA will also be announcing the majority of our dealership locations throughout the month of January, and as they open throughout the balance of the year. Please read below for more details. The US version of the smart fortwo made its debut at the LA Auto Show November 14-25. The smart fortwo will also be featured at the North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) in Detroit in January 2008 and the New York auto show in March 2008. Lastly, we are pleased to share with you the official technical specifications for the US smart fortwo model. We hope that this information is helpful as you await the arrival of this amazing vehicle. Again, thank you for your continued interest. Best regards, Dave Schembri President, smart USA

11.02>> smart dealership announcements

We know that many smart enthusiasts have been anticipating the formal announcement of our dealerships around the country. In addition, our Reservation Holders are patiently awaiting phone calls from their local dealer regarding formalizing their order. At this time, smart USA will begin announcing the majority of our dealerships throughout the month of January, and as they open throughout the balance of the year. This is to ensure that all national and state government requisites have been met by smart USA and the local dealers. After the announcement has been made, dealers will begin calling Reservation Holders to discuss the status of their reservations and formalize purchase agreements and delivery of confirmed orders. We are on track to open the majority of our dealerships by the end of January, and begin deliveries when dealerships doors open. Until then, we will continue to contact groups of Reservation Holders by email weekly with our Reservation Confirmation Program. smart USA appreciates your continued patience and enthusiasm for the arrival of the smart fortwo. Please continue to direct questions about your the smart fortwo or Reservations to 1.800.smart.USA or by using the “Contact Us” tab on www.smartusa.com.

11.03>> road show wrap-up

The smart USA “street smart” road show has come to an end with one final stop in the Washington D.C. area December 7-9. The road show has proven to be a major success in every city we’ve visited! The road show visited 50 cities, reaching over 75,000 people through our street team static displays, and test drives. In fact, over 50,000 people had the chance to take a test drive and experience the smart fortwo firsthand. In each city, the smart fortwo was met with overwhelming enthusiasm and excitement! Some people drove as far as three or four hours to attend a road show event. Others test drove the vehicle and were so excited that they got back in line to take another drive. We thank you for your enthusiasm and patience and apologize if you experienced a long wait. We hope you think it was worth your time. Thank you to those who attended the show, met our smart USA team, and took the time to share your questions and ideas with us. With your help, the “street smart” road show exceeded our most optimistic expectations and was a hit!

1.04>> enthusiast site

Attention Insiders: Want to be a part of something new and exciting, and exclusively for smart fortwo enthusiasts? Here is your chance! The smart USA team has created a special enthusiast website where insiders are invited to chat about their car, exchange tips, questions and ideas, and meet other insiders across the country. Before we start, we need your help to name our enthusiast site. Click here to participate in our short online poll and submit your vote for the website name! Don’t miss out on this exciting opportunity!

11.05>> smart merchandise

smart merchandise items are coming! Make the sidewalk your catwalk with a new smart tee, baseball hat, keychain, and much more. We would like to see what items best suit your style! Please click here to participate in our one minute online poll.

this message was sent by smart USA Distributor LLC 1765 S. Telegraph Rd. Bloomfield, MI 48302 1.800.smartUSA www.smartusa.com

© 2007 smart USA. All rights reserved.

All illustrations and specifications contained in this email are based on the latest product information available at the time of sending. smart USA reserves the right to make changes at any time, without notice, in colors, materials, equipment, specifications, and models. Any variations in colors shown are due to variations in monitor resolution. Illustrations may include test situations. Some vehicles may be shown with non-U.S. equipment. Some vehicles are shown with optional equipment.

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“Novel”, “Novel”ties, get it? That is my lame book humor. But these all would make excellent stocking stuffers for the people with an “oblique” sense of humor (to quote Elvis) on your list.

I wrote a post about online shopping sites you may not be familiar with and one of them was a favorite site/catalog of mine called Archie McPhee’s. They carry all sorts of unique, quirky, down-right-fun stuff that doesn’t cost much. In other words, fantastic stocking stuffers for your zany friends and family.

And after writing about it, I decided to go check out what they have since I haven’t visited there for a while. Well they had some new and really cool things! Since two things that go together really well (in a twisted sort of way) are librarians and zombies, to my surprise they had cool things for both!

The first thing I saw (and you have got to LOVE these) are The Illustrated Librarian Temporary Tattoos. They say neat things, like the heart with “Book Lust” and “Born to Read”. This is great for any librarians or book-readers on your holiday list. Be a Wild Thing (at least temporarily) and sport your oh-so-apropos tattoos.

OK, those are pretty cool, but that is not all they have! You can get your own Librarian Action Figure. Each 5″ tall, hard plastic Librarian Action Figure is modeled after Nancy Pearl, a real-life librarian in the Seattle area. Press the button on her back and her arm will move with amazing “shushing action!” Comes with a tiny plastic replica of her most recent book, Book Lust, and a stack of random literature. The card features a brief history of libraries on the back as well as a realistic check-out card in a classic library sleeve along with two bookmarks and a Nancy Pearl trading card! And if that isn’t enough Librarian for you, check out the DELUXE Librarian Action Figure. Each 5″ tall, hard vinyl figure is dressed in a stylish burgundy outfit and comes in a library diorama with a reference desk, computer, book cart, multiple book stacks and some loose books, including a tiny plastic replica of Nancy’s latest, Book Lust 2. Press the button on her back for the infamous “amazing shushing action!”. And here is a link to her “More Book Lust” book.

And while you are at it, visit Nancy Pearl’s very own website. Yes, she’s a real person and right now you can enter on her website to win a trip for two to Seattle and dinner with Nancy Pearl! Her mission according to her website is “To promote and celebrate the written word”.
Here is a little bit about her: Accomplishments: Director of Library Programming and the Washington Center for the Book at the Seattle Public Library. Nancy is best known for the, “If All Seattle Read The Same Book” project. This idea of one city reading the same book at the same time has been imitated in cities around the world. She is a book reviewer for the Seattle Times, Booklist, Library Journal, KUOW-FM Seattle, and KWGS-FM Tulsa.

And while I’m at it, here are some quotes about librarians:

What can I say? Librarians rule. - Regis Philbin

Our whole American way of life is a great war of ideas, and librarians are the arms dealers selling weapons to both sides. -James Quinn

I have always imagined that Paradise will be a kind of library. -Jorge Luis Borges

In the nonstop tsunami of global information, librarians provide us with floaties and teach us how to swim. -Linton Weeks

And did you know that Casanova was a librarian? “So famous a womanizer was the Italian-born libertine Giacomo Casanova that, a full two centuries after his death, his name remains synonymous with the art of seduction. But for years he spent in the employ of Count Waldstein of Bohemia as a librarian.” And yes, there is a Casanova Action Figure. I’m not sure what the ‘action’ part of his figure is…

OK, on to Zombies! First of all, do you have your Zombie Survival Guide: Complete Protection from the Living Dead by Max Brooks? If not, you must get this now. No person can feel truly prepared without it.

Next, here is a quick list of all the Zombie related items at Archie McPhees. And here are some highlights.

First off, the game “WWZD: What Would a Zombie Do?” Notice the lifelike (deathlike?) zombie arm spinner! And it is only $4.95. When in doubt, spin the arm and see if you should “Eat Brains”, “Moan”, “Hate the Living” and more.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And next, the Glow in the Dark, Flesh Eating Zombies Play set. “Wreak havoc on your sister’s precious diorama with this Flesh Eating Zombie Play Set! Each set includes nine 1″ to 3.25″ tall, hard vinyl zombies, complete with blank stares, gaping mouths, open wounds and missing limbs! Turn off the lights and they glow! Fantastic undead fun for the whole family!” And for more fun, you can get the Horrified B-Movie Victims and create your own dioramas. Or have hours of fun playing Zombies vs. Victims, especially after a hard day at work.

And last but not least, coming soon to Archie McPhee - The Remote Control Zombie! “Run! Hide! Barricade yourself in the basement of an abandoned farmhouse! This 7-3/4″ tall, plastic Remote Control Zombie will trudge forward and groan when you activate him by pressing the button on the 2-3/4″ long brain-shaped remote. Horrifyingly entertaining! Articulated at the neck, shoulders and hips. Requires three AAA batteries (not included).” It doesn’t have a picture or a price yet, but it sure looks fun!

Librarians and Zombies Forever!

~Susan Mellott

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It is coming on the holiday season and one gift that everyone would love is more memory for their computer. Nothing will revive an older computer better than adding memory and nothing will speed up a good computer better than more memory.

If you are like me, you have at least one computer that seems slow now, although when you bought it you thought you had gotten ample CPU size and memory. A lot of people blame their CPU when really they just need to add memory. I have a Dell Dimension 4400 desktop computer with (believe it or not) 256 meg of memory and my Dell Inspiron 8600 notebook has 512 meg. At the time I bought each of these, that was considered ample memory, but nowadays 1 gig is about the minimum you would want and if your computer can accept more, so much the better.

My desktop can only handle a maximum of 1 gig (two 512 memory modules) and my laptop can handle 2 gig (two 1 gig modules). I plan to upgrade both of them to their max and as a matter of fact, have already ordered it and we are waiting for it to come in. It is my Christmas present and I can’t think of a better present than that.

But when I asked for memory, I realized that I did not know what I needed to get. There is a lot of different kinds of memory and it is very confusing. The first thing I did since I have Dell computers is to go to the Dell website and look up each of my computers by their service tag. The service tag is on each Dell computer. If you haven’t done it yet and you own a Dell computer, sign in to the Dell website and go to My Systems and Peripherals. Then locate your service tag on your computer. If you can’t find it, there is a Find My Service Tag link right below the where you would enter it. Be aware though that it requires Internet Explorer 5.5 or greater. It doesn’t work with Netscape or what I use, Firefox.

When you enter the service tag (and a description, like “Susie’s Laptop”), you will see a wealth of information about your computer. It will give you a complete summary of the configuration of your computer when you bought it. And on the left will be a list of a whole bunch of support and documentation for your computer.

If I click on Manuals, it takes me to the manuals for my specific computer with a “Tell Me How”, “Service Manual”, “Owner’s Manual” and “Setup Diagram”. All very useful, no? In the Owner’s Manual, it has a whole section with pictures on exactly how to add memory (in this case, to my laptop). And it listed the type of memory to get in the Appendix.

It pretty much spells it out for me. Once I had this information, I could go anywhere and look for two 1 Gig 333-MHz DDR SODIMM SDRAM (PC2700) memory modules. And as it states, my laptop comes standard with 256 meg (I have 512) and can go up to 2 gig (1 gig each slot).

But what if I didn’t have a Dell?

Well, thank goodness, there is a very easy way to tell what memory you need for your computer, thanks to Crucial, makers of very fine computer memory. Crucial provides a system memory scanning tool for your computer that tells you exactly what memory you have and what you need. You do have to either be using Internet Explorer (why does everywhere require that?) or to download their system scanning tool which takes a second and pops the scan results up in your regular (in my case, Firefox) browser just like you ran it from there. It identified my exact computer type, the type of memory I needed and how much I had and what I could use. Here are the results of my scan.

Pretty easy to figure out what I need now, that is for sure. Of course, I would not necessarily recommend buying through their website, it is generally cheaper to go somewhere else. I ended up buying mine from Newegg because they were selling the 1 Gig modules for $70 with a $16 rebate for each module. They don’t have the rebate now (and the price is now $80) but looking up PC2700 on Dealcatcher, I see that now Buy.com has the same 1 gig Crucial memory for $58 with no S&H.

Crucial memory is considered very good and reliable and it guarantees that it is compatible with your computer when you run the scan to determine what kind to get. That is especially important with Dell computers since they are known to be somewhat picky.

I ended up getting Kingston memory for my desktop. They were sold out of that particular Crucial memory and the Kingston memory got good reviews. That is one thing nice about Newegg, they list reviews for each of their products. And Kingston has a list on their website of what computers their memory is compatible with and what type of memory to get. It is good for a double-check, but doesn’t actually scan your system the way the crucial website does.

Kingston also provides some Memory Installation Guides. They are pretty generic though. Better to go to the website for your particular computer and see what online manuals or help they have. Or you can always look in the manual that came with your computer I hardly even think of that, I am so used to looking it up online.

So if you are thinking about what you might want for Christmas (or holiday of your choice) or what you might get someone else, think of the gift of memory! It isn’t as hard as you think and it really will make a big difference to how well your computer will run.

~Susan Mellott

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There are many online shopping sites. Most people know about the big ones like Amazon, Overstock, Dell, Buy.com, Half.com and the online version of actual stores like Best Buy, Circuit City, Walmart and Sears. Most all of the stores you might visit in person have an online presence. And the store catalogs you get in the mail have online sites too, like Pyramid (unique new age type items), Archie McPhee (extremely hilarious and unusual novelty items) and Chadwicks (women’s clothing).

But there are other, less well known sites that offer good prices as well and are equally trustworthy.

A place I have shopped lately is NewEgg (electronics, which may also be an actual store, but we don’t have one here). We bought computer memory and printer ink at a nice discount. Another place is Deep Discount. They carry items like DVDs and video games. I’ve purchased DVDs for people for Christmas and video games for ourselves. I actually ordered Guitar Hero 3 from them a few weeks ago, but cancelled the order since we are trying to save money and didn’t really need it. But it was cheaper there than anywhere else I could find.

And while you may have heard of Cafepress for a wide variety of interesting t-shirts, mugs and related items, you may not know of Printfection. Printfection has the same sort of shirts, mugs, etc related items, but the prices are cheaper and the quality is better. If you are looking for a unique t-shirt or small gift, I definitely recommend Printfection. The ACPL used a t-shirt design for Library Genius 2.0 as part of their Learning 2.0 program and it is now online at Printfection. I think it is pretty cool

And speaking of cool t-shirts, I have one that I really like (actually a tank top) that I got from Cafepress. I do aikido and wear tank top under my gi. So I found this one that says “I’m tougher than I look” and has a cute little picture. Since I am somewhat small and non-threatening appearing, this seemed very apropos.

However, Cafepress is very annoying in that it is extremely hard to find anything. I had to go to my last order to find the store I got this from in order to find it. No other searches worked. Seems like a poor shopping website design. Unfortunately, Printfection seems to have gotten big enough that it is getting harder to search too, although if you get more specific in your search (such as “Van Gogh”), you can find items.

And then there are the “One Day, One Deal” or “One Deal at a time until its Gone” type sites. The Big Daddy of the One Day One Deal sites is Woot!. Woot offers one deal at midnight each night and sells it until it is sold out. It is such an institution that there is a whole culture around Woot! such as whenever a bluetooth technology item is sold, the podcast is about Bluetooth the Pirate. The podcasts, contests and product descriptions are well worth a look, regardless of whether or not you are interested in the item. The writers are incredibly innovative and funny. Here is the wikipedia entry about Woot!. And every so often, they have a woot-off which is one deal after another. They frequently have very, very good deals on items you very well might want. I’ve gotten all sorts of things from them such as a Dyson DC07 vacuum cleaner for $299 (the absolute best sweeper, I will never use another kind and I have 2), an Acer 22″ widescreen monitor for $199 and much, much more such as a blood pressure monitor for my mom, a couple of cool flashlights, a wireless router, a travel mug coffee maker, 2-pack wireless controllers for Playstation 2 and more. I check Woot every morning when I get up just to see what they have and if there is a woot-off on I am at my computer checking until it is over.

And for the One Deal at a Time until it is Gone type site, I like Steep and Cheap and Whiskey Militia. Both of these deal with sports/outdoors/recreational related items. Steep and Cheap seems more geared towards outdoor sports and recreation and Whiskey Militia is a little more towards the extreme sports, skateboarding younger generation. Since my husband is very active and likes all kinds of outdoor sports, these sites are great for getting good deals. Both of these are operated by BackCountry.com , an outdoor sports and recreation website. I guess they take certain items that they have overstocked or whatever and put them on their discount sites.

Here is a good site for tracking all of the DOD (deal a day) items and the like in real time. It is called the DOD Tracker.

Ebay is another good place for bargains. While you do have to be very careful on Ebay, you can greatly mitigate your risk by checking the rating and reviews of the seller. Here is a seller that I particularly like for cool, arty t-shirts called AlohaVintage. If you click on feedback profile for them you get this page. As of today, they have 5815 reviews and 99.8% positive feedback. In addition, they have had no negative feedback in the last 12 months and only 6 neutral ratings. The rest were a good ratings. You can also read the comments about them on their feedback page. So I can recommend them without any hesitation if you like interesting t-shirts and other items with an art theme. I’ve gotten very nice long sleeve and short sleeve t-shirts with overall prints by Dali, Van Gogh, Klimt and more.

Some other interesting and unusual Ebay sellers that I would recommend as having exceptional items and a good reputation are Chinese Antique Wholesalers who offer an amazing range of authentic chinese items, many of which are antiques. The chinese do not value their antiques and it is good that someone is taking care of them and that they are not just getting destroyed in the wake of “progress”. We got a large carved wooden bin with legs, an old tea caddy, a very intricately carved side of a chinese wedding bed that makes a great archway and more. I love what they have and if I had the money, I’d buy a lot more of their items.

Another ebay seller with unusual and quality items is Aristophanes Murals. When we remodeled our bathroom, I wanted a large japanese art tile mural on the tiled wall. I found Aristophanes and they had just what I wanted. Here is a list of all the japanese/asian themed murals that I had to choose from. The picture on the left is the one we settled on, although it was very, very hard to decide and again, if I had the money I would have these all over.

This picture is actually from our bathroom after we finished the remodel.

Another thing that you should consider doing whenever you make an online purchase is to do a search for the store name and “promo” or “code”. Frequently stores will have some promo code that you can enter to get a certain percentage off or some other savings. You should also check Dealcatcher whenever you are looking for something. Dealcatcher has all sorts of information about sales and coupons and specials listed by store or by item type. You can also do searches or create email alerts on particular keywords. When I was looking for a Garmin GPS, I put a deal alert for Garmin and it emailed me whenever a new deal was added that said Garmin. It also has a weekly newsletter of deals that I highly recommend. And you can also search for prices of items under their “Compare Prices” tab (that uses PriceGrabber). This includes product reviews and very helpful seller ratings and reviews. It doesn’t matter if you don’t know the online seller as long as you verify that they have good, recent ratings and reviews.

And last but not least, BizRate is a site that lets you search for good prices on items and also provides a lot of information about an online store. Here is the link to the BizRate Store Ratings. From this page you can also put the online store site (such as amazon.com) in the search box. If I am unsure about an online store, I will search here for information as well as in Dealcatcher/Pricegrabber (if available).

So that’s a little more info for you this shopping season.

Happy Shopping!

~Susan Mellott

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I’ve been thinking about how to locate various things, specifically, my luggage when I travel, especially when cruising. If you’ve ever taken a cruise, you know that they give you a tag color such as red and then you have to go to the ‘red’ section and hunt through hundreds of bags to find yours. I wanted something that I could attach to my bags that would make a loud noise so I could find them.

I also wanted something I could put on my car so that when I lost it in the parking lot, I could push a button and it would make a loud noise so I could find it. And of course, there are many other things I lose and could use help finding such as my keys, my purse/wallet, etc.

But there isn’t really any devices specifically for locating luggage so I thought that a key finder/locator would work to put in the outside pocket or on the handle.

That sounded like a great idea, but all of the key finder devices I could find had really poor reviews and/or were very expensive and many of them worked like “The Clapper” where you made a noise and they supposedly responded. But I guess in most cases, they either don’t respond at all, or they go off with every little noise.

I found something on Amazon called a Child Locator for $27.99 that I thought I could use. It says “Simply attach the Teddy Bear Receiver to your child’s shoe or belt. If you lose sight of your child press the Keychain Transmitter and the Teddy Bear chirps, alerting you of your child’s whereabouts, while drawing attention to the dangerous situation your child may be in. Both units are water and shock resistant, with long-life batteries already installed. Available in Pink or Brown.”

But I was not sure about it so I kept looking. And I found several recommendations for a device called KeyRinger. KeyRinger is $29.99 for two units. They do not require a base unit so either device will ring the other (and any other KeyRinger devices). Here is a scenario they present in which you might use the KeyRingers:

“In a typical application, you might put one KeyRinger on your key chain and attach the second KeyRinger to the TV remote using the included double-sided tape. If your keys are missing, you would use the KeyRinger attached to the TV remote to find the keys; and if the TV remote is missing, you would use the KeyRinger attached to the keys to find the remote. Or you could keep one KeyRinger handy at all times on your refrigerator using the included stick-on magnet.”

It has a flashing light and loud sound (~106 db) to help you find your missing item. The two 2032 lithium batteries last approx. 12 months and can be replaced at most hardware or electronics stores (or online through their website). It weighs 3/4 ounce. It can locate the other device up to 300 feet and is supposedly durable enough to withstand being run over by a standard-size car. Here is the KeyRinger FAQ page.

In response to the question, “Will the KeyRinger ever false alarm?”, it says:

“Yes, but extremely infrequently compared to devices that respond to whistling or clapping. The clap or whistle type devices have to accept a wide range of sounds to accommodate variations in different people’s claps or whistles. But because they have to respond to such a broad range of sounds, they respond (false alarm) to various random sounds as well. The KeyRinger, on the other hand, is listening for the precise microprocessor-controlled tone sequence generated by the another KeyRinger. Because the KeyRinger can reject all other sounds, it is far less susceptible to false alarms. When the KeyRinger does false alarm, however, it is usually as the result of a hissing type sound such as that produced by a loud exhaust or air conditioning fan, or the water running in a sink.”

The KeyRinger is $29.99 for 2 units plus $4.95 S&H. You can order it here. Interestingly enough, I also discovered another use for this. In this thread from RC Hangout (for Remote Controlled Airplanes), they were discussing how to find a downed plane and one person attached the KeyRinger to their plane. It is amazing how many things you may need to locate.

Another key/item finder is by Loc8tor. The Loc8tor system is supposed to be very good too, but it is considerably more than the KeyRinger. The Loc8tor Plus is $169.99 plus S&H. It is pretty impressive sounding though. Here is what it says:

The Loc8tor Plus is the ultimate tool that will help you keep tabs on your children, pets and possessions and is ideal for use at home, out and about or for business.

The Loc8tor Plus has two main functions; Locate and Alert mode.

Locate mode – Is for Finding. To find an item, simply select from a drop down list on your handheld which tag you want to locate. Directional audio and visual cues from the handheld will guide you to the exact location of the missing tag. It will literally take you minutes (even seconds) to find things that would normally have you hunting around for hours and maybe never found at all.

With amazing accuracy you will be guided to within an inch/2.5cm whether you are indoors or out, in complete darkness or in a noisy room.

To find your item turn around in a full circle then walk in the direction the handheld indicates has the strongest signal – It’s as easy as that!!!

Alert mode – Helps stop things getting lost. Enables an invisible boundary to be set around the Loc8tor (you) and warns the moment any tagged item goes out of your preset safety zone (Alert Alarm) with a vibration alert, audio alarm and handheld display showing which item/s wandered off or has been stolen.

Select from three present safety zones - near, medium or far each of which can be further fine tuned to help define the distance required.

The Panic Tag (when used in Alert mode) contains a Panic button enabling a child or dependant to call for help. When pressed it activates an Alert Alarm on the handheld advising which child activated the Alarm. This is ideal as a personal alarm for a child or dependent and can be used on a beach, in a park or shopping centre to name but a few.

The regular Loc8tor pack is $99.99 plus S&H. It only has the locate mode, not the alert mode (as described above).

I’m sure these are very good too, but for the price, I’m going for the KeyRinger.

Happy Shopping!

~Susan Mellott

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Are you ready for Black Friday? Black Friday is the day after Thanksgiving, traditionally the day for the biggest sales, especially the Early Bird specials. People line up at 3 or 4 in the morning, or sometimes overnight, to get the best, limited deals. Last year we got a Hitachi 51″ rear projection TV with true high-def. We could have gotten a very nice b RCA 52″ rear projection TV with true hi-def and DVI inputs for $474.00 from Wal-martut were not quick enough (and I was first in the door, but went in the wrong door and I think there were only 12 or less available). I just looked at the price on this now at Wal-Mart and it is $698 and it is one year later. This is that TV. We did get a very nice Hitachi 51″ though from Best Buy for $698 which was still good. I was able to order this online so I didn’t even have to go to the store. And shipping was free.

So anyway, Black Friday is the day to get all sorts of great deals. And many of the deals can be ordered online so you don’t even have to leave your house! You just have to figure out exactly when they go on sale online so you can quickly order them before they sell out.

And to help you with that, there are several websites that make a point of getting copies of the ads way before they are released (by hook or by crook) and posting the information so you can plan your shopping experience. They even separate them into the the deals you can get online, which is by far the easiest way to shop.

My two favorite sites are Black Friday @ GottaDeal and BF Ads. Each has things they do best and you can sign up for email updates from both of them. BF Ads lets you sort by several categories by store and by Early Bird Specials only. They also list “Better than Black Friday” deals that have come along, such as the Acer Aspire Laptop with 1 gig memory and 14.1″ screen for $279.99 after rebate at Circuit City. Currently it is selling for $599.99. You can also create and save a shopping list of items for your reference. They also have a message board to discuss online and offline Black Friday deals and more.

Black Friday @ GottaDeal lets you look at every item listed by category, such as Televisions without having to go to each store and look. You can also make a shopping list with them and they list the most wanted items based on everyone’s shopping lists. They also list the items that are available online now at Black Friday prices. The parent site GottaDeal.com has deals all the time and is a year round good site for deals. And they have very good forums that discuss the online and offline Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals.

Have you heard of Cyber Monday? This is less well known than Black Friday. It is the Monday after Thanksgiving and is the day that has online specials. Here is the wikipedia entry for Cyber Monday. And here is the official website for Cyber Monday. The term “Cyber Monday” was invented by Shop.org and was never in common use before the 2005 holiday season. According to Scott Silverman, the Executive Director of the organization, the term was coined based on research revealing that 77% of online retailers reported a significant increase in sales the Monday after Thanksgiving in 2004.

And here is a link to the Amazon Black Friday deals. And here is a link to the Amazon Black Friday sweepstakes to win a $10,000 Amazon.com shopping spree.

And here is an UPDATE: Dell has the Dell Vostro 1000 Dual Core Laptop w/ 1GB Memory and 15.4″ Widescreen Display for $399 shipped right now. For those who prefer Windows XP over Windows Vista, you can also get the Vostro 1000 w/ Windows XP for the same price by clicking here. A better than Black Friday deal.

So stuff yourself with turkey, then shop ’til you drop. It doesn’t get any better than that.

Happy Thanksgiving,

~Susan Mellott

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Before I get back to my regularly scheduled posts, more typically on Web 2.0 tools, I have one more generally useful tip/trick for you.

Yesterday, we had a refrigerator delivered by Sears and once again, I saw that they were using a really interesting system to move the fridge. They each had harnesses on and they took a strap and put it under the fridge and hooked it to their harness and moved the refrigerator very easily, even through a tight doorway where the fridge was almost as tall as the doorway.

I had seen delivery men use this before for us, the last time was when our stove was delivered and before that, our very large screen, rear projection TV. And each time, they seemed to lift and maneuver the large, bulky, heavy item with ease.

So I asked the Sears delivery guys about it and they said you can buy them for yourself from Shoulder Dolly for about $60 and that they highly recommend them. They said that it takes all the strain off their backs and that they can lift and maneuver heavy, bulky things easily up and downstairs, around corners, through tight spots, etc. They said it makes it very easy to move large items.

So I went to their website and it was very informative. Here is an overview of the Shoulder Dolly system:

“The Shoulder Dolly® is a revolutionary system of moving heavy and bulky objects that works using leverage. Rather than bending over to pick up an object from the bottom for a good hand hold, the Shoulder Dolly uses webbed harnesses that go over the large shoulder muscles. The system allows the lifters to maintain an upright posture using the large shoulder and leg muscles to lift the weight, significantly decreasing strain and risk of injury to the lower back, hands, biceps and forearms. There are two models of the Shoulder Dolly, The Heavy Duty and the Light Duty.”

It looked to me like the Sears guys were using the light duty shoulder dolly. Here is a video from their site on how to use the light duty shoulder dolly:

There are several places to get the Shoulder Dolly, including from Amazon: Shoulder Dolly #LD1000. And I see that it is marked down on Amazon to $39.99 (free S&H).

And here is a link to the Above All Company Forearm Forklift Lifting Straps, 2-Pack #L74995CN which is another moving enhancement product, although I really do not know anything about it except it seems reasonable and has gotten good reviews.

We have been very impressed each time we saw delivery men deliver our products using the Shoulder Dolly and we definitely plan to buy one.

This is not a paid endorsement. I do not know, nor have any affiliation with Shoulder Dolly, TDT Moving Systems or Tom Dent. I just think it is a good and useful product.

~Susan Mellott

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In my post of August 8, I wrote about the very cool Library Genius 2.0 t-shirts that Kay Gregg and Sean Robinson of the Allen County Public Library created for the Learning 2.0 program for the library staff that the ACPL is going to kick off on Sept 19 when Stephen Abrams, VP of Innovation at SirsiDynix comes to speak on Library 2.0 at the ACPL. By the way, this talk will be open to the public. Here is a picture of Kay modeling the t-shirt.

Well, everyone really liked the t-shirts and the icons and had been asking them where they could get one for themselves or for their own library’s learning programs. So Sean and Kay set up a store under Printfection/library2_0 where you can buy these shirts and some other styles like long-sleeve t-shirts and baseball shirts and others and also tote bags and aprons and mouse pads. They come in a ton of colors and there is a good discount for bulk purchases. They are cheapest in white, a little more in light colors and a little more than that in dark colors. You can see all the wholesale pricing options by picking style and color and then clicking on the pricing tab.

Helene Blowers, Public Services Technology Director for the Public Library of Charlotte & Mecklenburg County (PLCMC) and creator of the Learning 2.0 concept, wrote about these shirts on her blog, librarybytes.com. ACPL sent her a shirt in appreciation of her work on Learning 2.0. Here is a picture she took of the shirt and buttons.

Sean and Kay are working on creating buttons for this also and they will put them in their store on cafepress (along with some other things like messenger bags and coffee mugs) since Printfection does not have buttons as an option. They already have the bags and coffee mugs there, but need to upload the individual icons to create the buttons. If you are interested in the buttons, check back on the cafepress store because they are working on getting them created right now.

Cafepress has a lot of options of different types of items, but Printfection is less expensive and offers wholesale prices also. I’d go to Printfection unless there was a particular thing you wanted, like the messenger bag (which I really want!). Or the buttons, since that is the only place to get them. It does appear they have a way to offer the buttons in batches, like of 10, or 100.

Also, other libraries, such as the Harris County Public Library are using the icons that Kay created for their own Learning 2.0 programs which is what Sean had hoped people would do. He wanted to be able to contribute to the Learning 2.0 program. You can read about this and their other ideas, initiatives and Learning 2.0 projects in the ACPL Innovation Through Technology blog. Many people in many libraries have worked on Learning 2.0 and Library 2.0 and have shared with each other to create great things.

Cooperation, collaboration and sharing. That’s what its all about!

~Susan Mellott

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As you know, I am playing with my 2 blogs and trying widgets and code and whatnot. So I was playing around with the various page elements on my Google Blogger blog and found one called Newsreel that let me search for certain keywords in the news and display news about them.

I put in Web 2.0, Library 2.0 and Learning 2.0. Then I went to my page to see what it looked like. It is really cool! There were all sorts of interesting news bits. So I clicked on one that sounded interesting and lo and behold, it was a link to a site I’ve been reading lately - ilovelibraries.org. And it was talking about all the neat things they have in their store, like posters (nice one of Orlando Bloom and bumper stickers and all sorts of paraphenalia that anyone who loves shopping and reading (and helping libraries) would love.

This was a bumper sticker you could buy. I love it! You can buy it here. And here is a link to their store. They have posters and umbrellas and mugs and clothing lots of things, all with a really neat reading theme.

And revenue from products in the ALA Store provides direct support to the programs and initiatives of the American Library Association.

So go check it out! And look around the site too, it is very interesting and well worth a visit.

~Susie

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