August 29th, 2008 admin
This GPS is one of the nicest, feature-packed, and most importantly, accurate unit on the market.
With this unit, Garmin has blown TomTom out of the water. The 350/360 were slick units but arguably came up a bit short in the display department when compared to the TomTom - that’s all a distant memory now.
This is the most elegant AIO (all in one) GPS navigation solution I’ve come across to date. IMO, it represents the best compromise between size and functionality on the market today. Beyond this point, increasing the screen size enters the diminishing return territory. The SiRFstarIII chipset, while no longer the absolute best on the market, remains a reliable workhorse with rapid satellite acquisition under even less than ideal conditions. The mapping details are excellent though, as with all mapping programs, is not beyond reproach. The 660 has the most recent highly detailed City Navigator NT maps.
The voice prompts are loud, clear and timely. The ease of use is just fantastic and the visibility and quality of the display are now the gold standard in the industry with a 4.3″ WQVGA LCD screen and 480 x 272 pixels. It uses the same low reflection screen as the 360.
POI access is excellent and can be navigated to much more simply than the TomTom unit which requires additional cumbersome steps. The attachment system for the Nuvi is superb and very secure. You can access your POIs directly by name rather than having to go through a cumbersome category menu and then only getting the POIs by proximity as is the case with the TomTom 910. Garmin simply blows TomTom away in the POI functionality department.
This device is intended as an extremely simple point to point navigating AIO GPS navigation solution and is not intended to enable the use of way points or easily changing the course selected by the unit. You have essentially two options: the shortest route and the fastest route. Fortunately, the mapping program selects routs that are very acceptable. Personally, I like to look at the overall route and fiddle with it. This unit is not designed for such use. Microsoft Streets and Trips is ideal for this kind of tinkering, but terrible for point to point navigation while on the go at which the Nuvi has no peer.
Make sure and get the most recent firmware updates on the Garmin website which will fix the known bugs and further improve the functionality. Insofar as functionality goes this unit is as simple as the 350/360. Even my 85 year old father can use these things! He is, to put it kindly, technologically challenged but his 350 is so intuitive and easy to use that he’s had no problems whatsoever. He doesn’t like to be distracted while driving so he plans his trip before leaving and simply listens to the voice prompts.
The new bluetooth feature enables the use of your hands free bluetooth enabled phone. It’s a nice feature, but as with all bluetooth devices that I’ve used it’s still not as good as talking directly on the phone. I personally have not used the built in FM transmitter and so cannot comment on it. ~JSobieski
Get your future favorite GPS Navigator!
Posted in cars / automobiles, efficient, electronics, equipment | No Comments »
August 28th, 2008 admin
Leave marketing strategies to professionals because experts know best how to help you get your company’s brand noticed. Specialists like Avrett Free Ginsberg in New York helmed by Frank Ginsberg, can take an ad campaign by the horns, and get people to focus on your image, your brand and your products. What takes place afterward is obvious: your product becomes stamped on the minds of consumers creating a brand recognition effect, which will lead to more interest in your products, which ultimately leads to an increase in sales. It takes great marketers with great ideas to create a campaign that will sell your product, no matter which industry you take part in. As time goes by and competition becomes fierce, the world presents itself in a way where differentiating your company is necessary. Modern times call for innovative and evolving advertising and marketing strategies, and with the help of ad agencies, your company will quickly follow the road to success.
Posted in advertising / marketing, business, people, practical | No Comments »
August 28th, 2008 admin
The best camera maker has just come out with a new camera that is worth getting, I have no doubt about it. It not only takes beautiful photos but you can also record HD video with it. That is so cool, I think. From Nikon’s press release:
“It’s All You Need: The 12.3 Megapixel Nikon D90 D-SLR Premieres with the New 18-105mm VR Lens to Give Photographers Superb Image Quality, Live View Shooting, Nikon’s Scene Recognition System, and HD Movie Clip Recording.
Nikon Inc. today announced the D90, a digital single lens reflex (SLR) camera that redefines the creative boundaries of digital photography allowing photographers to easily create stunning still images and High Definition (HD) movie clips with sound — with the same camera. A host of Nikon core technologies were leveraged to develop the D90’s scope of versatility, calling on years of photographic and optical expertise. Whether consumers are graduating from an advanced compact digital camera or are a seasoned D-SLR enthusiast, the Nikon D90 emphasizes brilliant image quality and versatility with its exclusive advanced Scene Recognition System, intuitive creative controls, blazing fast performance and the industry-first ability to create HD movie clips at 720p in the new D-Movie mode.
Inspired by Nikon’s acclaimed flagship DX-format digital SLR camera, the D300 and building on the success of the wildly popular D80, the D90 delivers stunning image quality. The CMOS image sensor and 12.3 effective megapixels combined with Nikon’s exclusive EXPEED image processing system deliver outstanding images with fine details, smooth tones, brilliant colors and low noise across a broad ISO range.
Photographers are able to easily compose stunning images using the Live View Mode on the large 3-inch 920-k dot high-resolution LCD screen. The 11-point auto focus (AF) system utilizes Nikon’s exclusive Scene Recognition System and Face Detection to help make the best shot in a variety of environments. Matched with the new versatile AF-S NIKKOR 18-105mm Vibration Reduction (VR) image stabilization lens, and a burst rate of up to 4.5 frames per second, photographers can confidently capture fast action and precise moments as they unfold. Also helping to ensure no missed memories, the D90 offers fast handling with a power-up time of a mere 0.15ms and split-second shutter response measuring just 65ms, eliminating the frustration of pictures lost to shutter lag.
“The D90 delivers incredible imaging performance and control, setting a new standard for its class. This marriage of outstanding still image performance and HD movie clip capacity represents the dawn of a new age for D-SLR cameras. The D90’s handling characteristics and long list of features are sure to deliver the photographic experience that Nikon photographers have come to expect from Nikon engineering,” said Edward Fasano, general manager for marketing, SLR System Products at Nikon Inc. “Everyone at Nikon is especially eager to see the myriad of ways that imaginative D90 photographers will explore the world of cinematic 24fps HD video through the eyes of NIKKOR optics.”
Legendary Image Quality
For shooting in a variety of lighting conditions, the D90 has a wide sensitivity range of ISO 200 to 3200 (expandable to Lo 1 ISO 100 and Hi 1 ISO 6400) to deliver incredible low-noise images. The camera also employs an Image Sensor Cleaning function that works to free image-degrading dust particles from the sensor’s optical low-pass filter, helping to ensure spot-free images.
The new D90 companion lens, the AF-S DX Zoom-NIKKOR 18-105mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR provides a versatile focal length, and the benefits of Nikon Vibration Reduction (VR) imaging stabilization technology. Nikon VR reduces the image blurring effects of camera shake allowing photographers to shoot hand-held at as many as 3 shutter speeds slower than would otherwise be possible*, assuring dramatically sharper images, even in challenging lighting conditions.
Borrowed from Nikon’s professional line of digital cameras, the D90 is the most affordable camera to include Nikon’s Scene Recognition System and adds newly-developed advanced Face Detection technology. The intelligent Scene Recognition System interprets color and brightness information of each individual shot from the 420-pixel RGB sensor, and applies changes to AF, auto exposure and auto white balance. The D90 can also detect up to five faces using the new Face Detection system, producing flattering portraits with astounding definition and accuracy. While in playback mode, simply press the zoom button and portraits captured with Face Detection can be immediately magnified to ensure proper focus on the subject and faces are displayed on the LCD screen within brackets for easy reference and subject tracking.
The D90 benefits from Nikon’s comprehensive digital image processing engine, EXPEED, which provides smooth tones, rich colors and defined image details, as well as enhanced processing performance. Additionally, Nikon’s exclusive 3D Color Matrix Metering II helps to ensure accurate exposures, even in the most challenging lighting conditions. Evaluating each scene, input data from the system’s sensor is automatically referenced against an internal database of over 30,000 scenes derived from actual photographs to calculate correct exposure values. To push the creative boundaries even further, Variable Center-Weighted metering and Spot metering centered on the active focus area are also available, as are exposure compensation and auto exposure bracketing.
The Next Big Blockbuster
For the first time in digital SLR photography, Nikon introduces the addition of the D-Movie mode, allowing consumers to create their own HD movie clips (1280 x 720) with sound from their D-SLR camera. Photographers will appreciate the cinematic qualities that come from the 24fps frame rate, which matches theatrical film, whether producing vacation clips or creatively melding stills with video. Additionally, the large size of the D90’s DX-format sensor, combined with the optical superiority and broad selection of NIKKOR lenses, provides shooters with the ability to capture amazing perspectives not possible with typical camcorders. D-movie clips also benefit from Nikon VR image stabilization, which is automatically activated during recording to aid the low-light capability that trumps many other hybrid devices. Users can record movie clips onto an inserted SD / SDHC card, created as Motion JPEG AVI files that are easily edited with widely available video editing software. The D90 also features an HDMI terminal, allowing viewing of both pictures and movies on High Definition televisions…”
Order one now at Amazon
Posted in digital cameras, digital video cameras, electronics, fun, hobbies, practical | No Comments »
August 27th, 2008 admin
What’s better for you — whole milk, 2% milk or skim?
Is a chicken labeled “free range” good enough to reassure you of its purity? How about “grass fed” beef?
What form of soy is best for you — soy milk or tofu?
About milk: I’ll bet most of you voted for reduced or non-fat. But if you’ll turn to page 153 of “In Defense of Food,” you’ll read that processors don’t make low-fat dairy products just by removing the fat. To restore the texture — to make the drink “milky” — they must add stuff, usually powdered milk. Did you know powdered milk contains oxidized cholesterol, said to be worse for your arteries than plain old cholesterol? And that removing the fat makes it harder for your body to absorb the fat-soluble vitamins that make milk a valuable food in the first place?
About chicken and beef: Readers of Pollan’s previous book, “The Omnivore’s Dilemma“, know that “free range” refers to the chicken’s access to grass, not whether it actually ventures out of its coop. And all cattle are “grass fed” until they get to the feedlot. The magic words for delightful beef are “grass finished” or “100% grass fed”.
And about soy…but I dare to hope I have your attention by now. And that you don’t want to be among the two-thirds of Americans who are overweight and the third of our citizens who are likely to develop type 2 diabetes before 2050. And maybe, while I have your eyes, you might be mightily agitated to learn that America spends $250 billion — that’s a quarter of the costs of the Iraq war — each year in diet-related health care costs. And that our health care professionals seem far more interested in building an industry to treat diet-related diseases than they do in preventing them. And that the punch line of this story is as sick as it is simple: preventing diet-related disease is easy.
In just 200 pages (and 22 pages of notes and sources), “In Defense of Food” gives you a guided tour of 20th century food science, a history of “nutritionism” in America and a snapshot of the marriage of government and the food industry. And then it steps up to the reason most readers will buy it — and if you care for your health and the health of your loved ones, this is a no-brainer one-click — and presents a commonsense shopping-and-eating guide.
If you are up on your Pollan and your Nina Planck and your Barbara Kingsolver, you know the major points of the “real food” movement. But if you’re new to this information or are disinclined to buy or read this book, let me lay Pollan’s argument out for you:
– High-fructose corn syrup is the devil’s brew. Do yourself a favor and remove it from your diet. (If you have kids, here’s a place to start: Heinz smartly offers an “organic” ketchup, made with sugar.)
– Avoid any food product that makes health claims — they mean it’s probably not really food.
– In a supermarket, don’t shop in the center aisles. Avoid anything that can’t rot, anything with an ingredient you can’t pronounce.
– “Don’t get your fuel from the same place your car does.”
– “You are what you eat eats too.” Most cows end their days on a diet of corn, unsold candy, their pulverized brothers and sisters — yeah, you read that right — and a pharmacy’s worth of antibiotics. And they bestow that to you. Consider that the next time there’s a sale on sirloin.
– “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.” By which Pollan means: Eat natural food, the kind your grandmother served (and not because she was so wise, but because the food industry had not yet learned that the big money was in processing, not harvesting). Use meat sparingly. Eat your greens, the leafier and more varied the better.
In short: Kiss the Western diet as we know it goodbye. Look to the cultures where people eat well and live long. Ignore the faddists and experts. Trust your gut. Literally.
In all this, Pollan insists that you have to save yourself. And he makes a good case why. Our government, he says, is so overwhelmed by the lobbying and marketing power of our processed food industry that the American diet is now 50% sugar in one form or another — calories that provide “virtually nothing but energy.” Our representatives are almost uniformly terrified to take on the food industry. And as for the medical profession, the key moment, Pollan writes, is when “doctors kick the fast-food franchises out of the hospital” — don’t hold your breath.
“You want to live, follow me.” I loved it when Schwarzenegger said that in “Terminator.” It matters much more when, in so many words, Michael Pollan delivers that same message in “In Defense of Food.” [review by J.Kornbluth]
Get it now
Posted in books, dangerous foods, energy booster, food and drinks, food industry, garden, health, hobbies, safe products, truth | No Comments »
August 22nd, 2008 admin
Don’t be a cheapskate about selecting premium grade Japanese rice when making sushi. Yes, Kokuho Rose is a little bit more expensive than what you can find out there but the result you get with using it just can NOT compare to what you would use if you get something cheap. Spend a little extra and see the amazing difference. You will never go back to that crappy cheap rice ever again. If you’re a true foodie and have experience as someone who really understands quality and taste in food, you will know that I’m telling the truth here.
Get real rice now
Posted in food and drinks, good value, health | No Comments »
August 21st, 2008 admin
Pink diamonds in rose gold are very popular at the moment and beautiful choice for any year, I think. This classic journey pendant has seven round pink diamonds, graduated in size and arranged in a gentle S-shaped curve. The stones are mounted in shared prong settings of radiant 14 karat rose gold and have a total combined weight of 1/2 carat. This dainty pendant is showcased on a slender and brightly polished 18-inch box chain, also in 14 karat rose gold. With its simple, elegant styling, it will complement any outfit, casual or formal.
This makes a perfect gift for your special girlfriend or wife, and I can pretty much guarantee that you will not regret this purchase.
See a photo of it and order it now
Posted in diamonds, gifts, gold, jewelry | No Comments »
August 20th, 2008 admin
There’s an incredible sale going on right now on Ironman fitness equipment, so I thought I’d feature the awesome Ironman Elliptical Trainer. Ironman Aeros Elliptical is not just a great buy, but if you buy it soon, they will ship it for free. You couldn’t ask for a better cardio workout and you can keep in shape during the winter months, when normally that is when you start packing on the pounds. Forget that!
See photos and find out more
Posted in efficient, equipment, family, fitness, health, increase sex drive, practical, spare time | No Comments »
August 17th, 2008 admin
Coleman’s personable work draws together the experience and wisdom of his 25 years as a vegetable gardener in Maine. It includes nearly all the material in the previous edition (LJ 11/1/89), communicating a respect and feeling for “the land” and its processes. Every page is imbued with the wisdom and careful observations he and his associates have gathered; from soil structure to “mobile greenhouses” that expand the growing season, each method is thought through to its ultimate impact on the earth and on economic survival. Well-presented graphics illustrate methods and techniques. This new edition includes sidebar references and notes, new chapters on creating fertile soil (without importing items such as manure from sources that may not use organic methods), and use of existing information channels to learn of new information. Of interest for even the smallest veggie patch grower. The Dirt Doctor’s Guide to Organic Gardening presents many of the same sustainable concepts with the vehemence of its radio talk show host and news columnist author. Garrett gives tips on a broader range of home gardening, including landscaping and wildlife, and spends much effort on the abuses of past and current practice. Basics are presented briefly, with many eco-asides that help break up the dense, information-rich text. Lack of visuals makes the material harder to absorb, yet one is constantly copying out directions as they appear. These tidbits and the coverage of issues concerning Southern gardens make the title of value, though gathering the tips in an appendix or special section would have provided better access. For general collections.
There are 22 chapters, each one dealing with an important element of success such as green manures, tillage, direct seeding, transplanting, weeds, pests, harvest, marketing, season extension. In addition there are three appendices on tools, the major vegetable crops and a one-page schematic outline of biological agriculture. If you plan to buy just one book on organic growing, you will find it difficult to beat this book.
[source: amazon]
Order it now
Posted in books, efficient, food and drinks, food industry, garden, health, organic, practical, tools | No Comments »
August 15th, 2008 admin
You know, you’re never too old to have fun, and playing games can relax you and basically put a smile on your face. Nothin’ wrong with that! So, here’s a game that is insanely lots of fun. Check it out. For those of you long-time gamers, if you’ve loved Jewel Quest and Rainbow Mystery you will not just love Ancient Quest of Saqqarah, you will be GLUED to it. It is incredibly addictive and visually stunning. Descend far into the sands where you will encounter a magical underground oasis filled with puzzles, treasures and mysteries. You’ll hear voices and laugh!
Download a free demo to try it out (MAC)
Download a free demo to try it out (PC)
Posted in PC Games, energy booster, family, fun, hobbies, home entertainment, mac games | No Comments »
August 14th, 2008 admin
Your dogs are part of the family and you should and do (I know you do) love them with all your heart. So, why shouldn’t they be comfortable when they are doing their requisite amount of Zzzzzzzz’s. Dogs do sleep more than humans so they should be in soft, comfortable doggie dreamland, right? Right. You want your dogs to be happy.
This dog mattress is for larger dogs, who sometimes tend to have more joint problems. Give them the cushy coziness they deserve with this Petsafe Heated Wellness Sleeper.
See a photo of it and Get Your Big Doggie Bed here
Posted in beds, dogs, family, good value, practical, safe products | No Comments »