Category Archives: Smart Tech Shopping
The APC 1000VA Power Saving Green Back-UPS XS – with LCD Display
A UPS is a device that you don’t know you need, until you need it. A UPS or uninterruptible power supply is an in house battery back up that provides emergency power to your computer (or anything else you plug into it) when your utilities fail. Here in Bellevue where I live, we get sudden drops in power all the time, so for years I have used small UPS units to protect my PCs. It been a great system and has worked very well.
Last Thursday we had storm roll through that caused a short power outage followed by a power surge. All the units in the house reacted correctly by closing the circuit and throwing their breaker. This protected the PCs from utter doom. For once, I was on the good side of a protective decision. I did realize however, that I had two many computers plugged into one small UPS and that an upgrade was going to be necessary. So I purchased the APC 1000VA Power Saving Green Back-UPS XS – with LCD Display with the plan of plugging 3 PCs into it for protection. I will use it to power the Window Home Server, an HP Pavilion a6244n Core 2 Duo and a Core i3 PC that I use on a daily basis.
Nintendo Rolls Netflix Software Update to the Wii – The Disc is No Longer Needed
If you own a Nintendo Wii that had been collecting dust since the second week you bought it, now it the time to put it to good use. The latest software upgrade for the Wii (did you know there are updates?) now allows you to install the Wii channel directly to the console and stream movies from Netflix just like you might have done from your XBOX 360 or PS3. It’s not a blue-ray quality picture, but it’s easier than going to the video store or even RedBox!
Go to your Wii menu, download and install the Netflix application from within the Wii Shop Channel, and follow the on screen instructions to connect your Wii to your Netflix account. It’s that simple.
Have a Wii but don’t have a Netflix account? Sign up for a free one at http://www.netflix.com and try it out. It will make a movie player out of the game console that you never use!
So You Wanna Watch More College Football? Use ESPN360 and Window Media Center to Light It Up!
In my post 20 mile run recovery, I decided to watch some College Football! Here is a screen shot from my PC.
Using ESPN360.com and Windows Media Center with a cable card, I can stream 3 football games all at once. I had UCLA v Stanford (upper left), Florida St. v Boston College (upper right) and Washington v ND (bottom left). To make matters worse, I added two laptops to the mix!
Yep, you are seeing it right. I am watching 5 games all at the same time! Besides the ones above, I added Western Michigan v Northern Illinois (left) and Florida International v Louisiana-Monroe. Not the greatest games to watch, but hey, It can be done!
Because I am using Window Media Center, I can also switch the ND game to either Penn State v Illinois (which is a regional block on ESPN360) or LSU v Georgia. It’s College Football bliss.
Remember, I search (or watch 5 games at once) so you don’t have to!
Amazon vs iTunes? For Digital Music, I Almost Always Buy Music From Amazon!
It’s all about the price, isn’t it? If you are still buying music from iTunes (and millions still are)…consider this.
Disclaimer: I purchase mostly Christian music, but the deals are good for most genres. I do not own music from or make any money from either of these two artists, even if you purchase them from Amazon.
To the left are two projects from two up and coming artists, Britt Nicole and Aaron Shust. At iTunes, together they would cost me almost $18.
Below at Amazon I can get both for just $10.
Same music, better price. It’s that simple. Oh, and to make things better, sometimes albums are just $2.99!
Both play the same on your iPod and Amazon leaves you with some gas money.
Note: Not all music is this price and sometimes you have to hunt for deals, buy hey, that’s half the fun!
Quit paying too much for music!
Remember, I search so you don’t have to!
Another Good Reason You NEVER Buy Cables In The Store!
Just picked up the Palm Pre the other week (post on that is still coming) and have been slowly purchasing adapters and cables for it. Of course, it came with one USB cable (USB micro end) and a 110v adapter for the wall plug. What I needed was the Touchstone charging kit for work and some extra cables for charging at home. I could have purchase all of it from the Sprint store, but there are always better (sometimes much better) deals online. Here is the deal.
| Item |  |  |
| Sprint Store | $19.99 | $69.99 |
| Internet | $3.25 Every Day Source (Ebay) | $51.98 Mac Mall w/Shipping |
I also purchase a Skinomi TechSkin for $9.95 on Amazon. Got to protect the screen.
Remember, I search so you don’t have to!
