The Peaky Blinders boys are always ready to go
The Best eBook Reader: The Kindle Voyage
Its expensive, but it is the best. If you are a heavy ebook reader, ask for this for the holidays! Its got a great backlight, the sharpest screen, the touch navigation works great, and the haptic buttons on the side help make turning the pages easier.
Get more details here on Amazon's site.
Serial: Great Storytelling of a Real Life Murder Mystery
The "Serial" podcast by NPR has become the water cool topic of the late fall. It is a fascinating look at a real life murder case in Baltimore in 1999. Here's the description:
Serial is a new podcast from the creators of This American Life, hosted by Sarah Koenig. Serial unfolds one story – a true story – over the course of a whole season. The show follows the plot and characters wherever they lead, through many surprising twists and turns. Sarah won't know what happens at the end of the story until she gets there, not long before you get there with her.
Here's a link to the podcast in iTunes.
And here's the first episode:
RainX: See Better When Driving in the Rain
I've been using RainX for years and only recently found out that not everyone knows about it. YOU SHOULD GET IT!
Here's the product description:
Rain‑X® Original Glass Treatment dramatically improves wet weather driving visibility. Simply apply the treatment to exterior glass and watch the raindrops fly off your windshield while driving. Rain‑X helps improve visibility by repelling rain, sleet and snow.
In tests conducted by a major university, better visibility improved driving response time up to a full second or more. At highway speeds, that’s almost four car lengths of extra stopping distance!
The video review above explains how it works and hwo to apply it.
You can get it for $7.99 on Amazon.
Great Commuter Back Pack: The North Face Surge II
I have used many backpacks over the years to carry my laptop and many other things around in my commute to work and just getting around town. The North Face Surge II is the best I've owned so far. A quick rundown of the reasons why includes:
- There are 3 main compartments (laptop, general storage in the middle, and a front area with many smaller storage areas), 2 side pockets in the front for quick access, a small pocket at the top for quick access to smaller items, and a side pocket for a water bottle.
- It is a good size. Not too big, which has been a problem in the past, but big enough where I can get my camera in the storage compartment.
- The compartment for my laptop is just the right size and offers good protection.
- There's also a sleeve for my tablet or Kindle right in there. That's great!
- The outside has durable, water repellant, rip resistant fabric. Many of the zippers are sealed and therefore water proof, but not that difficult to unzip for quick access.
- Great shoulder straps. The kind you find a bag more geared towards hiking. Nicely padded and curved.
- Hip and chest straps to better secure for long walks.
Here's more details on the bag from the North Face site.
Here's a link to it on Amazon.
BBC 1920's Crime Drama: "Peaky Blinders"
Set in the same timeframe as HBO's "Boardwalk Empire" and having many of the same themes (crime, booze, violence, a morally conflicted ring leader), the BBC/Netflix produced "Peaky Blinders" is an intense look at some Birmingham thugs working their way up the mob food chain. Cillian Murphy is as magnetic as ever and carries the show. In both seasons so far, it takes a few episodes to get going, but it really gets moving as the 6th, and final, episode is reached.
Heres' the trailer for season 1:
Drop Stop: Stop your phone falling between your car seats!
My Jetta had one thing that really drove me crazy: My phone kept falling between my front seat and the center console… and it was really hard to get out. But then I found the Drop Stop and this all went away.
You can get it at Amazon for $20.99.