Obamacare Advertising
I’d noticed a lot of ads for the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) on the radio and TV, but hadn’t really considered the cost until I got the graphic to the right from Halt the Assault… That tops what McDonald’s spends per year and they are estimated to be the biggest advertiser spending at around $2 billion per year here. And of course my google search also netted this article about McDonald’s getting an exemption on providing healthcare coverage in 2010…
Quirky
Have you ever had one of those moments of, “I wish someone would come up with a solution for ___________” Or maybe you have the solution, but just don’t know what to do with it. Quirky is a company to fill that need. The site lets you submit your idea, either fully formed or a napkin doodle, for consideration by the Quirky community. From their website, “Every Thursday, we gather a group of industry experts, friends, and community members at our Headquarters in New York. Watch live as we drink beer and debate the best ideas that have been submitted. Before we’re allowed to go home, we’ve chosen the next products that we’ll begin working on.” Even if you don’t have an idea, you can become part of the Quirky community and help hone someone else’s idea. If it’s successful and you contributed, you participate in any profits! Pretty Cool!
Cyclone spiral hotdog slicer at Quirky Shop
The site also has a shopping section where you can purchase some of the quirky products. Each product has a picture of the inventor and a little about them. Products on the site range from a spiral hotdog slicer (Cyclone) to an app controlled window air conditioner (Aros) which brings the smart wi-fi thermostat technology to your window unit.
Quirky is a fun site that might earn you some money. I think I’m going to sign up. Maybe I’ll see you around the Quirky Community!
DST makes me Grumpy
Image borrowed from www.dailypaul.com
It makes sense that Daylight Savings Time is a government program. It has one of their typical misleading names. Savings? Where are the savings???
Smartphone Key
Kevo picture borrowed from appleinsider website
Becky and I generally rely on the garage door opener to get in and out of the house. (We have a door into the house through the garage.) That also lets us give people the code to the garage door keypad if we need to let someone else have access. The Kwikset Kevo is a similar option, without the keypad. The Kevo lets you make a bluetooth connection to your smart phone to unlock the door when you approach. If you don’t have a smart phone there is a key fob option. If you need to let someone in, you can give them a temporary code for access. It’s battery operated, but you can see that there is a key backup.
The control is handled by the a smart phone app. There is an iPhone app for this, but currently Android doesn’t support the Bluetooth LE necessary… but it should be coming.
I like where this is going, but I don’t think this is there yet. The fact that it isn’t supported by Android is an issue when you want to give the code to the plumber or your brother-in-law to get in. Also, I see this needing to tie into other Smart House features rather than being a stand-alone system. It’s a great start though.
Lost Theaters, Lost Revenues…
Culver Uptown Cinema picture borrowed from www. maxinkuckee.history.pasttracker.com
There was a recent discussion on LinkedIn about the value of small town theaters. It linked to another article here. Both made some interesting points that apply to Culver and Marshall County. Culver’s theater, most recently the Uptown Cinema (Formerly the Lakeside Cinema and before that the El Rancho Theater in my lifetime.), shutdown several years ago citing costs for upgrading to digital projectors as a major factor. Around the county, the Princess (or Lido) theater in Argos closed years ago and the same for Bourbon’s Comet and Gem theaters. The Rees Theater (picture here) is no longer operational in downtown Plymouth. The Tri-Way Drive-in Theatre has cited the digital projector issue as a potential obstacle to their continued operation. (More on Tri-Way’s upgrade costs here.)
