Sep

19

Canadians save more money ordering books through Amazon.com

Filed Under News | 4 Comments

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image courtesy cote
 courtesy cote

In , are sold at retail with two, or maybe even three prices printed on the cover; US and . Often the price is up to 20% higher.

In today’s economic world, the US dollar is almost on par with the dollar, so this pricing model is, from the consumers perspective, flawed. Why would I buy a in a retail for 20% more, when I can buy it , have it delivered to my door, and pay 20% less in the process? As well, the retailers often discount even more…so your savings may be more.

In June, when the exchange rate was 1.064 USD -> CAD, I posted “How Canadians save money when buying books through Amazon.com. Now, with the rate being close to par, and many starting to think about Christmas shopping, it seemed time to update the situation.

So, it seemed prudent to whip up another spreadsheet, this time in Google Docs, to explore the situation…below is the result. Please forgive the lame layout, I’m not a spreadsheet guru, just someone looking for answers :-)
First off, I chose 4 items that I’m somewhat interested in. Then, entered the prices and the exchange rate I recorded during the day on Sept. 18th, and then laid it out to include information about the shipping price point. No sense paying for shipping if you can get it for nothing.

So here’s the result.

Canadians save more money ordering books through Amazon.com (image: ) retailers faired quite poorly. Their minimum purchase for shipping was higher, and even once the exchange rate was factored in, their discounted retail price was higher than .com.Also interesting, if you rank the items in terms of priority (top item is must have, next down is second..etc), you’ll have to purchase two items from .com to receive shipping, and two to three items from the retailers. But, your minimum purchase price to receive shipping increases from between five to 10 dollars!Bottom line, if you’re buying more than a couple of items, and don’t need them instantly ( shipping may take a couple of weeks), .com is the way to go.

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Sep

11

Apple iPhone and iPod Touch viewers needed

Filed Under Doing | 7 Comments


Apple iPhone and iPod Touch viewers needed (image: ) I’ve just installed the and Touch compatible theme/plugin for (iWPhone) by .Robot, and have no way of it. There’s a Safari iPhone browser emulator available if you’re running a mac, but alas, I’m a PC guy.

So, hence this call for testers; Is anyone out there able to hit this site and check it with an or Touch? If so, and you have a spare moment, I’d appreciate a quick note/comment etc that you did and what your was like.

There may be one complicating factor…I’m also running Alex King’s excellent Wordpress Mobile Edition plugin (which works great for most mobile browsers), but I’m not sure if it’ll conflict, take over, or handoff nicely to the .

So please, if you’re enabled, let me know how this blog looks (or even send a screen shot, if you can)! It would be appreciated.

Or, actually, if you’re mobile enabled and have a moment, a screen shot of this site on your mobile browser too would be appreciated. I’m planning a follow-up to this post and will include shots received in it.

Sep

5

wiPod: the next big thing?

Filed Under News | 2 Comments


 If you managed to catch the today, the twitter-sphere was abuzz with it, is freshening its product line in preparation for this upcoming holiday sales season.

 wiPod: the next big thing? (image: ) As various pundits both at the event and monitoring it remotely twittered away, it seemed that Steve Jobs was at his best, once again, in front of a crowd of the converted. Gotta love live and .

What’s new in the catalogue for this season?  How about an Nano that includes .

Or, how about this thing: the iPod Touch (or as some are calling it, the wiPod): an without the .

It looks interesting; only the deluxe for me:

  • 16gb on board memory
  • 320 x 480 display
  • 802.11 b/g wi-fi
  • A bunch more stuff
  • $399.00 USD

 

wiPod: the next big thing? (image: ) For me, the wiPod isn’t that big a deal. I’m able to do most everything it can with my trusty Palm T|X. Sure, Blazer, the default browser is dated and needs updating to handle AJAX, streaming , etc. Also, an that properly syncs to Calendar would be appreciated. But to dump this and get a wiPod now is not in my cards.

But, should the battery die or the system brick, you can bet I’d be considering the  Touch as a replacement.

*** UPDATE ***

I recently went through some of the pros/cons of upgrading from a T|X to the Touch:

Downsides: Battery…replaceable by . has to be unscrewed to be opened and replaced.
No expansion cards… can take up to 2 GB. Swap and files by using more cards.
iTunes: must use it to copy and to the unit. 16GB is not enough when you have lots of and podcasts.
Price…have to buy one.

Upsides: It’s an . Stylish. . Screen is same size as . Plays more formats. New product at the beginning of it’s lifecycle, is near it’s end.
Price…own one.

 

Sep

4

Billions and billions….

Filed Under Blogging, Social Media | Comments Off


Billions and billions.... (image: action_125x125)Blog Action Day proposes to bring all the power and energy of the blogosphere together on one day, to focus on one topic; the .

On October 15th, bloggers around the will unite to put a single important issue on everyone’s mind - the . Every blogger will post about the in their own way and relating to their own topic. Our aim is to get everyone talking towards a better future.

Blog Day is about MASS participation.

So, I’m in. Now to get thinking about the post.

Sep

4

New Flight Simulator on the block…inside Google Earth?

Filed Under Doing, News | Comments Off


Yep, late last week the boffins at updated Google Earth. The flagship feature was the addition of Sky, an astronomy mapping feature.

Also included was a little-known Flight Simulator. Very !

While not technically on par with Flight Simulator X as far as actual simulation, the coolest feature is the use of ’s satellite imagery. You have to pay extra to purchase third-party add-ons to get similar terrain mapping in Flight Simulator… ’s including it for . Or is it the other way ’round…in , the flight simulator is .

Regardless, an entertaining update; be sure to check it out.

And here’s some guides (via LifeHacker):