Category: product endorsements

DJI OM 4 gimbal

I’m again trying a DJI gimbal, this time because I really like the magnetic phone clamp. My goal is to produce smooth, stabilized video. No more shaky hand held clips.

As I travel solo most of the time, with the OM 4 you can take a photo or start/stop video with a hand gesture. Very convenient.

Click PLAY or see highlights on YouTube.

DJI OM 4

  • 3-axis motorized gimbal
  • Weight: 390 g (gimbal)
  • Battery Life: 15 hours (Under ideal conditions)
  • Charging Time: 2.5 hrs (Measured with a 10W charger)
  • cost about US $150 or CAD $200

Click PLAY or watch my first video edit using the Om 4 on YouTube.

 

trusted News sites

Sites trusted by WikiTribune include

Reuters, Associated Press, BBC News

New York Times, Washington Post, Financial Times, Wall Street Journal, Economist, Axios, Quartz, BuzzFeed Investigations, New Yorker, Guardian, Politico, Bloomberg, Nature

I like Economist, BBC, Guardian, Axios and Politico best. CBC is pretty good too.

don’t be a #FakeNews victim

CanaDream 4 days Calgary → Vancouver CAD $618

For the first time I rented a CanaDream camper van to get me and my bike back to the left coast.

My cost for up to 4 days,  3000 km is CAD $618 (US $466) including insurance. Plus about $340 for fuel.  About $960 total.

That would be a great price for two people as flying cost over CAD $550 right now with bike. COVID prices.  I should have flown or taken the bus for about $140.

That price is cheaper than usual from CANADREAM because more people rent Vancouver to Calgary than the other way around. It’s called a relocation sale.

I departed Calgary Friday August 21. Dropped the vehicle in Vancouver Tuesday August 25th.

Did some adventuring en route.  But not as much as I had hoped.  I was behind the wheel for 2000 km.

Wild camped one night.  Stayed in inexpensive campgrounds the other three.  If you don’t plug in to electricity and water, cost is only $15 – $25 at B.C. Recreation sites.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

My iPhone SE 2020

Home button. Touch ID. Lightweight and future-proofed.

Comparatively inexpensive at US $400.

This is the iPhone for the rest of us.  🙂

My iPhone X was starting to die after 2.5 years.  Of various options, I decided to carry two phones for now:

iPhone X (no service) – photos and video

iPhone SE – phone, text, internet, audio books and podcasts, etc.

Having two should solve any end-of-day battery problems.

Rene Ritchie is my Apple guru.

Click PLAY or watch his review on YouTube.

my Quad Lock phone accessories

What’s cooler than a man wearing a HIP pack with a phone belt clip?

A man wearing a fanny pack with two phone clips!   😀

My trusty Otterbox case has served me well. And saved me many, many times. I’ve never broken a phone. The belt clip is … OK.

When I got a second phone I tried, instead, the Quad Lock belt clip.  It’s better than Otterbox, overall.  Quad Lock was rated #1 on Wirecutter.

There’s a cheaper alternative called Nite Ize Wraptor.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

I only tried that belt clip because I was looking for a way to mount my new phone on the handlebars of my touring bike.  The belt clip is compatible.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Details.

Ortlieb Back-Roller Classic Rear Panniers

In South America I saw many Europeans bikepacking with these waterproof saddle bags.

I recently bought a set for myself.

Famed for their durability, the warranty is 5 years.

On the other hand, one of the accessory shoulder straps ripped off the first time I picked up the bag loaded.

Most people don’t use the shoulder straps, anway. I won’t. Instead I’ll use the very sturdy built-in handle

They are expensive. I paid CDN $240 for a set of two.

Click PLAY or watch a review on YouTube.

Our NEW gas stove / convection oven

My brother installed the same new stove in his house and my parents house.

  • GE’s Profile series
  • stainless steel knobs
  • 5 different sized burners
  • large LED display
  • extra-large integrated reversible cast iron grill and griddle

Profile 5.6 cu. ft. Smart Slide-In Gas Range with Self-Cleaning Convection in Stainless Steel

We like it so far. It simmers at every possible temperature.

We locked the electronic screen so you can’t accidentally start or stop something.

The app — SmartHQ — is hilariously poorly done. 😀  Don’t bother.

Not many people would use an oven app, even if it worked.

Click PLAY or watch a review on YouTube.

My Spring Allergies – MEDICATIONS?

In 2020 I tried Diphenhydramine HCI 25 Mg – Kirkland Brand.

They did seem to work. It helped my Dad, as well.

My brother bought Kirkland in the States, inexpensively.  Over the counter. Pink tablets.

Some people do experience side effects.

As I couldn’t find it quickly in Canada, I ordered something that looks identical from Amazon.ca.

More expensive.

Basic Care Diphedryl Tablets,

400 Count

 

I acquired allergies later in life.  In Calgary they start about May 15th, end about July 1st.

In B.C. with a much milder climate, everything is about 2 months earlier. In 2020 I was suddenly mostly better about May 1st.  And stopped taking the pills.

Before this year I mainly treated Spring Allergies by fleeing somewhere else in the world. OR … a combination of exercise and frequent showers.

Inexpensive home delivered meals

We joined a service called Better Meals out of Vancouver, Canada.

They offer free delivery with $30.00 minimum order to my parent’s house from an extensive menu. Cost is only CAD $7.50 / meal. Unbelievably inexpensive for what you get.

Main course with two side dishes. Soup. And dessert. 

sample $7.50 meal

Everything arrives frozen in recyclable containers. You can heat in the over or microwave.

You’d need trial and error to find the dishes you like best. 

For example, my Mom liked the Turkey dinner but did not like one of the chicken dinners.

For those not going out much, Better Meals saves shopping. Cooking. And cleaning. 

You could store some of the meals in the freezer, only pulling something out when it turns out you don’t have time to cook for yourself.

I’d recommend Better Meals. It’s available to anyone.  They deliver only certain days of the week depending on where you live in B.C.

Note that the food comes without seasonings. You’d add those to taste.

BetterMeals.ca 

related – In our town you can also get hot meals for CAD $7.50 from Meals on Wheels. But you have very little choice in menu.

 

My favourite podcasts 2020

During COVID-19 many of us have more time to listen to audio. Here are some of my favourites.

Search for them by name on your preferred podcasting platform, if interested.

Online audiocasts are as old as the internet.

But we have the silly, unintuitive name podcast because Steve Jobs called the Apple device an iPod.

BBC journalist Ben Hammersley first suggested the name “Podcast” (a portmanteau, a combination of “iPod” and “broadcast“) it in early February 2004.

I try to call the audio only version “audiocasts“. Leo Laporte still uses the term “netcast” for both audio only and video podcasts.

Dave Winer is most often credited as the inventor as he decided to include new audio functionality in RSS 0.92.  Dave demonstrated it worked on January 11, 2001 by enclosing a Grateful Dead song in his Scripting News weblog.