Category: product endorsements

my new $500 progressive lens glasses

On By Rick McIn health & fitness, product endorsements6 Comments

Doctor, my eyes have seen the years / And the slow parade of fears …

… As people age, their ability to focus is lessened and many decide to use multiple-focus lenses, which can be bifocal or even trifocal, to cover all the situations in which they use their sight. Traditional multifocal lenses have two or three distinct horizontal viewing areas, each requiring a conscious effort of refocusing. Some modern multifocal lenses, such as progressive lenses (known as “no-line bifocals”), give a smooth transition between these different focal points …

Wikipedia

It was time. Time to get either Bifocals or Progressives.

Yet I knew a dozen people who couldn’t get used to progressive lenses. … They’re sitting on the shelf.

Click PLAY or see how they work on YouTube.

Happily, I’m getting used to them quite rapidly.

The worst thing I can report is that I need to have a ‘head on a stick’ (vague sports cliché) … For each focal length I need adjust my head position exactly. When I get it wrong, the world is plenty blurry.

Imagine yourself on a ship in stormy seas, drunk. … That’s what progressive lenses are like when you don’t focus.

I do find myself fatigued end of day after concentrating so much positioning my head.

Also, lens cleaner is essential with these, once or twice a day.

Leave a comment if you’ve an opinion on them.

blogging is dead … again

On By Rick McIn blogs, product endorsementsLeave a comment

The NY Times must have 6 of these posts scheduled each year – Blogs Wane as the Young Drift to Sites Like Twitter

Matt, founder of WordPress, the most popular blogging platform:

… Underneath the data in the article there’s an interesting super-trend that the Times misses: people of all ages are becoming more and more comfortable publishing online. …

… at some point you’ll have more to say than fits in 140 characters, is too important to put in Facebook …

BLOGGING DRIFT

I use Twitter. Rarely. It’s so limited.

Facebook non-stop all day. Love it. … Though ‘Facebook Pages’ are crap.

Blogs are where I put serious ideas. With a permanent address. Something I might want to refer back to one day.

Different tools for different purposes. Over time people that post things online will find the right tools for what they want to say.

The intriguing one to me, actually, is Tumblr.

Like Facebook. But more powerful. More personal.

Here’s a Tumblr to which I’ve just subscribed – Camping Links

best Mac twitter clients?

On By Rick McIn Apple, product endorsementsLeave a comment

I’ve had it with TweetDeck and Seesmic Desktop. Adobe Air and Microsoft Silverlight software sucks. The never ending updates are infuriating.

The trend in 2011 is to use the Twitter.com website. Not bad.

Or one of the new lightweight simple Twitter apps. I’m running both Twitter app (free) and Kiwi desktop (free with ads).

Both are excellent. I’d say Kiwi is slightly better. It requires the latest version of the Mac operating system, Snow Leopard.

kiwi-app.net

… That said, I think twitter is the most over-rated web service ever. It’s a waste of time for most people. (But for a few, especially bloggers, it can be valuable.)

UPDATE: There’s a very similar email client called Sparrow ($10)

Precious – the film

On By Rick McIn movies, product endorsements3 Comments

I finally saw the critically acclaimed and award winning movie.

Life is hard. Life is precious.

In 1987, obese, illiterate, 16-year-old Claireece P. “Precious” Jones (Gabourey Sidibe) lives in the ghetto of Harlem with her dysfunctional and abusive mother, Mary (Mo’Nique).

Precious

The acting is excellent, especially Mo’Nique. But everyone in the film is believable: Mariah Carey, Lenny Kravitz, Paula Patton. Everyone.

It feels more like a documentary than a film.

Click PLAY or watch the trailer on YouTube.

Recommended. But know that it’s a very harsh slice of life from a very harsh environment. I wouldn’t blame you a bit for NOT wanting to see it.

how to start a WordPress blog

On By Rick McIn blogs, product endorsementsLeave a comment

… like this one.

It’s easy. It’s free.

If you have something to say, a blog is the best place to say it. By comparison, Facebook and Twitter are far less permanent.

Click PLAY or watch it on WordPress – Get Started

Here are the next steps. Follow along from the link below.

# Get Focused
# Get Customized
# Get Published
# Get Flashy
# Get Connected
# Get Famous
# Get Mobile
# Get Heroic

WordPress.com is the leading blog platform.

Calgary cleanest city in the world

On By Rick McIn government, product endorsementsLeave a comment

According to a CNBC meaningless list:

That Calgary holds the No. 1 position on this list is even more impressive considering Calgary’s province Alberta actually leads Canada in per capita waste: 2174 pounds per person.

Facing a rapid economic and population expansion, Alberta revamped its sanitation system in the past two years with the Too Good to Waste program, which aims to decrease the amount of waste sent to landfills.

Additional efforts were being made to reduce construction and demolition waste through training, increasing recycling of materials (such as wood, asphalt, drywall, shingles and concrete), as well as financial incentive and disincentive programs.

proof – CNBC

Thanks Jenn.

LastPass pocket – encrypted passwords on USB

On By Rick McIn product endorsementsLeave a comment

I log into perhaps 40 different websites a day.

Rather than remember all those passwords, I use free software called LastPass, recommended by the Security Now blog.

But what happens when my laptop is lost or stolen?

Ah ha. I’m now carrying a backup of that encrypted data (and more) on a USB stick. I can access it by master password from any computer.

… LastPass Pocket is a stand-alone application providing storage capability and offline access of your LastPass vault. …

Pocket can be installed from the download page for Windows, Mac, or Linux and then dragged and dropped onto your USB drive. You can double-click the file to launch it from the USB drive, prompting you to login to your account. After logging in, Pocket decrypts your data and displays all of your sites and Secure Notes in a searchable interface.

LastPass.com

UP … the movie

On By Rick McIn movies, product endorsementsLeave a comment

Up is a 2009 computer-animated comedy-adventure film produced by Pixar …

The film has received overwhelmingly positive reviews, with a rating of 98% on Rotten Tomatoes (the best reviewed wide-released film of 2009 on the site), and grossed over $731 million worldwide …

This was the third time I’ve watched it, a perfect film where I cannot find a single scene or frame to delete.

Many feel this is the best scene. Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Leo Laporte in the NY Times

On By Rick McIn Apple, audiocasts, Google, product endorsementsLeave a comment

My man Leo got a nice shout out …

TWIT gets its name from Mr. Laporte’s flagship podcast, “This Week in Tech,” which is downloaded by a quarter of a million people each week. He produces 22 other technology-focused podcasts that are downloaded five million times a month. He also streams video all day long that captures his podcasting and a weekend radio show on computers, “The Tech Guy,” that reaches 500,000 more people through 140 stations. …

Talking Tech and Building an Empire From Podcasts

I’m a dedicated soldier in the TWIT army listening to perhaps 7hrs / week of his broadcasts from twit.tv.

Like almost everyone I subscribe via iTunes.

My favourite shows are This Week in Google and MacBreak Weekly.