Got a new mount for the GoPro camera. I would say a more flattering angle but I’m not sure they make such a thing. I ramble for 3 minutes about the early days of MTV. Audio level is too low so it’s gonna be video-only inside the cab of the Land Rover.
Category Archives: Gadgets & Apps
Vestaboard
A little too pricey at $1,850 but I’d love to have one.
Zelle
UPDATE: While it was easy enough on my end (sender), it was a pain in the ass for one of the people I attempted to send money to. His bank was not one of the Zelle banks so he had to download an app and blah, blah, blah. Too much trouble. Use Apple Pay.
I’ve never used Venmo but I did send a few bucks with Apple Pay Cash a couple of weeks ago. But that only works if they recipient is using Apple Pay. I had never heard of Zelle until I read this article.
Zelle is currently offered by over 30 banks, including Chase, Bank of America, and Capital One. It can also be downloaded as a standalone app, like Venmo. To use Zelle, you will need to have a US bank account. […] Transferring money with Zelle goes straight from your bank to the recipients’ bank, unlike sending money with Venmo, which is processed through the third-party app.
I opened the Ally app on my phone and, sure enough, Ally supports Zelle. Took about 10 seconds to send $20 to Barb’s account. Zelle already reaches over 85 million users, thanks to its integration with major banks.
Yard & Garden playlist
Google continues to improve the tools on YouTube (although I suppose that’s a subjective assessment). I’ve been on something of an organizing binge of late and updated a playlist of videos showing the hard work Barb has put into the yard and garden. 18 videos so you won’t want to watch them all. Click the three tiny lines/arrow in top-left corner to see all videos in the list.
Communication Budget
Let’s say I am only willing to give up one hour (daily) of my life to digital communication (iMessage, email, social media). And I have a tool (app?) that connects to each of my comm apps, tracking time spent on that app. Perhaps a little countdown clock showing remaining time.
I might set aside 20 minutes of the 60 for my wife or kids (if I had kids). But for everybody else, the clock is running. When I hit 60 minutes, I’m done. (This doesn’t apply to phone calls. Those are unlimited.) If I don’t get to all my communications within the allotted 60 minutes, they get pushed to the next day.
How might such a tool change my habits? An email from a casual acquaintance might get a quick scan of the headline and nothing more. My replies would be short and quick. (“This is important. Call me”)
I’m yanking my weenie, of course. Nobody really wants to limit this kind of communication any more than cigarette smokers want to quit. So scratch the above…
Let’s aim lower. An app that shows how many minutes/hours you’ve spent online — doing anything — since midnight. With weekly/monthly/annual reports.