If you're headed to the beach or any other weekend getaway, don't forget these "essential" gadgets. googletag.cmd.push(function() googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1449240174198-2'); ); Of course, no technology is truly essential. You're at the beach! Disconnect! Go swimming! Build sandcastles!Still can't leave the gadgets behind? Well, consider these:___E-BOOK READER OR TABLETYou'll want reading material. Sure you can bring real books and real magazines, but that's a lot to carry.I prefer e-readers over tablets for e-books because e-readers work better in direct sunlight and don't come with such distractions as Facebook updates. Amazon has the best readers out there. Last fall's Kindle Voyage is a premium model with a stunning, high-resolution display that makes letters resemble what's on a printed page. The main drawback: its $199 price tag (add $20 if you want a regular screensaver rather than ads).This week, Amazon is bringing that great display to its mid-tier model, the Kindle Paperwhite. It doesn't have the extra buttons that make page-turning easier like the Voyage has. Nor does it have an auto-brightness feature that adjusts for ambient light. But the Paperwhite does have a new font that's meant to be easier on the eyes; other Kindles won't get it until later this summer. (That said, I thought the old fonts were just fine for reading.)At $119 (or $139 without ads), the Paperwhite is $80 cheaper, while offering much of what the Voyage has.For digital magazines, you're better off with a tablet because e-reader screens typically lack color. I like Apple's iPad Mini for its size and shape. The full-size iPad Air is too large to carry around, and Android tablets typically have dimensions more suited for widescreen movies than for replicating printed pages. You can read e-books on the tablet, too, but e-readers offer a better, glare-free experience.___BATTERY CHARGERSYou'll probably have to crank up the brightness on your tablet and phone to overcome all that glare in direct sunlight. That will drain the battery quickly. Bring a portable power pack, which is essentially a battery for recharging the battery on your gadget.New portable packs from myCharge have both Apple and Android cords built-in, so you can leave your tangled mess of cords at home. Those powerful enough for tablets start at $100. It's useful for groups with an array of devices. You can charge one Android device and one iPhone or iPad at once, but not two Android devices or an iPhone and iPad together. It's one of each. Many people stick with one system or the other, so for most individuals, that second cord will go unused. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle []).push(); The dual-cord chargers will be overkill for many individuals. Mophie makes not just battery packs but also phone cases with extra power for leading phones. The drawback is you need a new one when you switch models, though I've found batteries tend to wear out over time anyway.There are lots of others to choose from. Some battery packs have Apple or Android cords built-in, while others have a USB port, which means more flexibility, but also cords you need to bring. A higher price tag usually means more charging capacity.___DEALING WITH BEACH TRAFFICThe Waze mapping app won't eliminate traffic, but it might shave off time by finding a quicker route. In some cases, that means getting off a congested highway an exit or two early and using local roads. Users report traffic conditions through the app to let Waze find the fastest routes.Mapping apps from Apple and Google, which owns Waze, do factor in traffic conditions, but it feels special to be getting that from fellow motorists. In the rare times that I drive, I've found Waze to be spot-on. It doesn't work well when there are few other Waze users to report traffic, but traffic-heavy destinations such as the beach should draw plenty of users and traffic data.___GETTING WET?Waterproof gadgets might be overkill unless you're a lifeguard at the beach every day. Same goes for waterproof cases and pouches, which also make gadgets more difficult to use. The only time I've found a waterproof case useful is when I've gone snorkeling with a point-and-shoot camera.Ziploc and other re-sealable plastic bags can help protect gadgets from inadvertent splashes. A small amount of liquid usually won't kill a gadget. Jumping into the ocean or pool with the phone in your pocket is another matter. Use common sense.Or leave your gadgets home. You're at the beach! 2015 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
Apple’s News app draws 90 million regular readers
Plus, a random 100 Dunkin' customers will win free coffee for a year; Goucher College receives a $1 million grant; a theatre company plans to build a 1,200-seat venue to draw cultural visitors; new businesses opening include an axe-throwing venture, a brewery and Shake Shack; President Joe Biden shared his national strategy to fight the coronavirus pandemic with Patch readers; and more in our roundup of good news stories from Maryland's Patch sites this week.
Our daily roundup of Apple news, reviews and how-tos. Plus the best Apple tweets, fun polls and inspiring Steve Jobs bon mots. Our readers say: "Love what you do" -- Christi Cardenas. "Absolutely love the content!" -- Harshita Arora.
The week's best Apple news, reviews and how-tos from Cult of Mac, every Saturday morning. Our readers say: "Thank you guys for always posting cool stuff" -- Vaughn Nevins. "Very informative" -- Kenly Xavier.
The service, which looks like TweetDeck, offers readers the chance to view articles for between $.20c and $1 a go. It already boasts over 140,000 users at home, where it has been used by almost all leading Dutch news media. 20% of Blendle readers convert to paying users.
The latest demonstration of this malfeasance is trending news due to an investigation by a Columbia math professor (link). US News has now suspended Columbia from this year's rankings. What's shocking is their one bad apple framing. As documented in Chapter 1 of Numbersense (link), fraudulent data collection pervades all rankings at all levels of education: in any jurisdiction that matters enough to merit investigation, fraud has been revealed.
Meanwhile, the Guardian achieved its ambitious break-even target of financial stability by mid-2019, as 655,000 regular monthly supporters and a 300,000 one-off contributions buoyed their balance sheets. This suggests that readers do not necessarily even expect exclusive content to pay what is effectively a subscription in all but name. Similarly, Wired has claimed success after introducing a paywall in 2018, announcing a 300% increase in the number of digital subscribers.
If you are able to spend $1,299 on the I.D. Mate from Envision America, you can do just that. The unit's wi-fi capabilities allow you to keep its multimillion-item database updated on a regular basis. If you need to attach custom bar code labels to items, you can easily record information associated with that label for later identification. Since you've got this nifty device hanging around your neck anyway, why not listen to your favorite tunes using the onboard MP3 player? 2ff7e9595c
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