There are some online frustrations however. One of them is when I get ready to check out and proceed to the final few screens. There sitting in front of me is usually one field into which I can type some information that I more than likely don’t have. It just sits there, taunting me. It’s the field that’s asking me to type in a Coupon Code. It could also be the field that’s asking me for a Gift Code. Or a Discount Code. Or some kind of code that holds the promise of even more savings. It’s like that secret fraternity handshake you never learned. Or the secret password you didn’t have that got you into the next game level. Or that wink and a nod you’d see the front door bouncer give to someone he knew and they’d get to go into the night club while you and everyone else had to wait in line. It’s that same feeling. You don’t have that coupon code? Then you’re not worthy. You don’t get our special deep discount, free shipping discount. YOU must pay the full price!

But now there’s a way to get those coupon codes. There’s a really wonderful website that actually makes them available to you and they do it for free! No special password, secret handshake required. Just surf on over to DealLocker.com and you’ll find a repository of literally thousands and thousands of online coupon codes just waiting there for you to use.

Deal Locker gets these special codes from active participants who contribute them to the website, and from the companies themselves. The Deal Locker staff is constantly verifying these codes, updating them and removing them when they are no longer active. Users report back to Deal Locker when a code is no longer valid so the accuracy is pretty good.

Companies also offer coupon codes to Deal Locker in hopes to entice shoppers to their website as well. These are what Deal Locker calls “Guaranteed Codes” and that classification speaks for itself. But even if a code doesn’t work, what do you have to lose in trying it? If it works, you’ll get a better deal, free shipping, who knows? And for the most part, the online companies really like what Deal Locker is doing because the bottom line is that they are selling more stuff because Deal Locker visitors actually find out about what companies are selling when they visit the website. If not for Deal Locker, they might neve have known about the deal.

Recently, Deal Locker has added some additional features like the Secret Amazon Discount Tool that lets you search items being offered on Amazon by the discount being offered. You pick a category such as Kitchen and Housewares, pick a minimum like 70 percent off and it will find all the items that fit. Very nice.

Another new feature is the ability to find products on sites like eBay via misspelled words. Too often, items can’t be located by potential buyers because the seller misspelled the item’s name. Their TypoBuddy finds these items and you might find yourself being the only bidder. How cool is that?

If you’ve been shopping online, check out Deal Locker. Like me, you may be a bit sad at first when you see all the online coupons you could have used during your recent shopping and discover how much money you could have saved. Don’t let that happen to you and check it out right now.

Craig Crossman is a McClatchy-Tribune newspaper columnist writing about computers and technology. He also hosts the nation’s longest running nationally syndicated radio talk show on computers and technology, Computer America, heard on both the Business TalkRadio Network® and the Lifestyle TalkRadio Network®, weeknights at 10PM Eastern time. Visit his website at http://www.computeramerica.com

At the recent Macworld convention, Apple introduced the Time Capsule. This is a hard drive that’s specifically tailored to work with Time Machine. So what makes this different than any other hard drive you could connect? The difference is that the connection is wireless.

The Time Capsule will be available in either a 500 gigabyte or a 1 terabyte capacity (That’s 1000 gigabytes). Apple has made it pretty easy to setup as well as use. According to Apple, you just set Time Capsule to be the designated backup drive for Time Machine and that’s pretty much all you have to do.

Time Capsule uses the faster 802.11n wireless standard which is pretty fast when it comes to wireless data transmissions. But it’s still a lot slower than a directly wired connection such as Ethernet gigabit. But with that in mind, you can still hook up Time Capsule with a wired connection and leave the wireless for your other Macs that may be in other nearby rooms. That’s right, the Time Capsule can provide backup for multiple Macintosh computers at the same time.

With Time Capsule, you don’t have to have a separate hard drive connected to every computer. After all, external hard drives can still be fairly costly.
Time Capsule offers an alternative, effective solution that lets you provide an automated backup system for every Mac in the house.

In addition to being a wireless hard drive, the Time Capsule is also an Airport Extreme Base Station. Using the USB port, you can set up most any printer for sharing so that any Mac and PC in the house can use it to print via Apple’s Bonjour networking technology.

Because the Time Capsule will mount as a wireless hard drive, you can also use it with Windows XP and Vista as an external hard drive but its main function is to act as a wireless backup storage device that works seamlessly with Leopard’s Time Machine.

As of this column, Apple is taking orders for Time Capsule at its online store and will be shipping them in February. The 500 GB model sells for $299, the 1 TB for $499.

Craig Crossman is a McClatchy-Tribune newspaper columnist writing about computers and technology. He also hosts the nation’s longest running nationally syndicated radio talk show on computers and technology, Computer America, heard on both the Business TalkRadio Network® and the Lifestyle TalkRadio Network®, weeknights at 10PM Eastern time. Visit his website at http://www.computeramerica.com.

The whole idea about sound that surrounds you is to give you an immersive experience to what you are observing. In the real world, even with your eyes closed, you can tell where something is related to your position as well as the direction it’s moving and how close it is to you. These audible dimensions are what movie theatres try to create even when you’re watching a two dimensional screen. Just look at the walls when you walk in to your local movie house and check out the rows of speakers on the walls all around you. That really nice television setup you recently purchased or are going to buy more than likely has the ability to surround you in some kind of digital sound and if you don’t have the right speakers set up in the proper manner, you’re really shortchanging yourself. Speakers can really make or break the overall experience. So while you’re keeping your eye on the ball, make sure you also keep your ear to the ground.

Recently unveiled at the Consumer Electronics Show, Logitech introduced what is now their top-of-the-line computer speaker system. The Z Cinema Advanced Surround Sound System offers sound that surrounds you but it does so with only the basic 2.1 configuration which consists of a left and right speaker setup along with a subwoofer for gut-vibrating bass. Incorporating SR TruSurround HD, this technology puts you literally in the middle of a large “sweet spot.” Normally you have be centrally positioned with 5 speakers surrounding your location to get the audible feeling of being immersed. But using some really sophisticated audio projection techniques via electronic controls, you really do get the feeling that what you are hearing is coming from all around you. You really have to hear it to believe it.

The Z Cinema offers 180 watts RMS of total power. And while there are other speaker systems that offer more wattage, that level is more than enough to provide a quality sound with little distortion even when you really crank up the volume. It’s enough to rattle the walls and have your neighbors calling up to complain.

The Z Cinema’s right speaker’s amber display becomes visible only when you turn it on and offers a volume graphic level, indicators to show when the surround electronics are engaged and USB and Auxiliary port usage.

The other nice feature of the Z Cinema is that you can control much of the Z Cinema’s functions as well as a Windows Media Center PC’s operations with the included wireless remote control. You can, for example, adjust the volume and mute the speakers with a single click of the remote. Most speaker systems offer only a wired remote with limited functions.

The Z Cinema sells for $299.99 and currently only supports computers running the Windows operating system.

www.logitech.com

Craig Crossman is a McClatchy-Tribune newspaper columnist writing about computers and technology. He also hosts the nation’s longest running nationally syndicated radio talk show on computers and technology, Computer America, heard on both the Business TalkRadio Network® and the Lifestyle TalkRadio Network®, weeknights at 10PM Eastern time. Visit his website at http://www.computeramerica.com.

And now that Apple released the latest 1.1.3 version of the iPhone’s operating system, there’s even more to show off such as the pseudo GPS (Global Positioning System) ability in the Google Maps application. However I’ve recently been using something that brings a whole new meaning to iPhone show off.

The reactions I’m getting to the software products from Hottrix are like nothing I’ve seen before. Basically, Hottrix has produced a series of videos that run on the iPhone and other mobile devices but they aren’t perceived to be videos by the people watching them. Before I go any further, let me dispel any concerns about what Hottrix is offering. These are not applications that could void your iPhone’s warranty. Nor are they web applications that require you to go online to run them. They are simply mpeg4 videos which run just like any other video you’d run on your iPhone. You download them and use iTunes to install the videos into the iPhone’s iPod Video library as you would any other. But these videos have been designed to fool you into thinking that you are actually looking at the iPhone’s home screen. But in fact, they are a running video of the home screen. And depending on the Hottrix video you are running, some very bizarre things are going to happen.

My favorite one so far is actually Hottrix’s latest. It’s entitled “iGoldfish” and here’s how I set it up. I’ll be using my iPhone or showing it off when I surreptitiously run the iGoldfish video. I happen to mention that just the other day, I dropped my iPhone and it fell into the water. After the horrified looks appear, I smile and say not to worry and that I’ve discovered that while the iPhone really isn’t waterproof, it still continues to work just fine. The only problem I’ve noticed is that whenever I tap on the glass a few times (I begin to tap on the iPhone’s glass that’s displaying the home screen), something begins to happen that didn’t happen before I dropped it into the water. At that very moment, you begin to hear bubbling noises and a really large goldfish swims in from edge of the display in front of the home screen image. This is not a cartoon goldfish but the video of a real goldfish! Jaws drop. I nonchalantly continue to explain that I’ve decided to keep her in my iPhone and have names her “Goldie.” I then position my pinched fingers at the top of the iPhone and pretend to drop a bit of food for her. Of course I’ve timed the video just as a bit of food appears at the top of the screen and floats down in front of Goldie where she eats it with a loud, audible crunch. Goldie then swims off to the left and you still hear the bubble noises. The observers go wild and say things tantamount to “Oh my god I’ve never seen anything like that!”

And that’s just one of the videos you can get.

My favorites include iBeer, iMilk, iWater and iChampaagne. With these, you again begin by showing the iPhone home screen. I say there’s a hidden switch I can press whenever I’m thirsty. Pressing it makes the home screen vanish and you see and hear the iPhone fill up with the beverage of choice. You shake it a bit and then hold the upper right corner to your mouth and begin drinking. As you tip the iPhone further back, the beverage looks as if it is pouring out into your mouth. For Halloween and Goths, a blood version is also available. Just a little practice and you’ll have them eating out of your hand with this one.

And speaking of eating out of your hand, there’s iMunchies. Shake your iPhone and it begins popping popcorn. With this video, you stick your index finger and thumb behind the iPhone and it looks like your finger is reaching in and grabbing a kernel. Pop it into your mouth, swallow and then pour the rest of them into your cupped hand with crunching sound effects included. Eat with gusto.

Hottrix offers a variety of other videos for the iPhone and other mobile devices such as a video that makes it look like you’re getting an important call from work complete with a frantic voice screaming something inaudible.

It’s perfect when you need an excuse to make your escape from someone.

As I said, the iPhone is a lot of fun when you’re using it seriously and just playing with it. But now there’s more to playing on your iPhone than just playing games. With the offerings coming from Hottrix, your fun is just getting started. These are a real blast and you’re going to want them all. Prices range from $1.99 to $2.99 per video.

To get some these cool toys for your phone, visit www.hottrix.com

Source: Craig Crossman’s Weekly Column

You can hear Craig Crossman each weeknight - nationwide - on Computer America - the longest running radio show dedicated to computers!

Digital cameras have eliminated the tedium of film cameras. No longer do we have to remove used film cartridges, wind in new ones and ship them off to be developed. Yet there is still one bit of digital tedium that remains; the offloading of images from the camera to the computer.

When you are ready to offload the pictures you’ve taken, you first have to physically attach the camera to your computer via the supplied USB cable.

Then unless the camera is set up to look like an attached hard drive so you can drag and drop the images from one location to another, you usually have to run some kind of application that lets you dump all of them to the computer or select the images you want to offload. After that you can once again feel creative by grouping the ones you want, adding titles, captions and generally having fun with all of them. So let’s take a closer look at that boring offloading process for a moment. What if you didn’t have to do that anymore? What if you could just point, shoot and your images would automatically be downloaded to your computer without any wires? Even better, what if you could just download them directly to the web, directly to any of those picture websites I mentioned? Or best of all, what if you could do both at the same time? Well now you can.

Introducing Eye-Fi

With Eye-Fi, you just snap the pictures and automatically have them delivered to both your computer and the website without any wires. The Eye-Fi is a 2 gigabyte SD type memory card that replaces your camera’s existing memory card. But what makes this memory card stand out in the crown is that it also has 802.11g Wi-Fi built in. But it’s more than just built-in Wi-Fi that make the whole thing work. The Eye-Fi is a well thought out system that takes you through the easy setup. Included with the little SD card is a USB memory card reader. This is used as part of the setup procedure.

To begin, you first insert the Eye-Fi SD card into the reader and plug that into your computer’s USB port. From there, the built-in application lets you set up the Eye-Fi to detect and access your wireless network, configure password entry for security, and select where and how you want the Eye-Fi to deliver your images. The Eye-Fi is pretty flexible with its options and will let you access most Wi-Fi networks with some exceptions. For example, while it will let you access most public Hot Spots, currently it won’t work at ones that require you to log in via an initial web browser splash screen.

Once you have your Eye-Fi setup and registered with the Eye-Fi service, you remove the card from the reader, insert it into your digital camera and you’re ready to go. Now all you have to do is take pictures. If you are within your Wi-Fi network’s range, your pictures will be instantly uploaded to your computer, your website or both depending on how you configured it.

Images will be sent as complete JPEG files to your computer but depending on the web service you select, images may be scaled automatically to fit the required format constraints.

The Eye-Fi works only with cameras that use the SD format memory cards, and is compatible with both Windows and Macintosh computers. For a list of all compatible cameras and services, it’s best to visit the Eye-Fi website at http://www.eye.fi. The Eye-Fi Card¹s suggested retail price is $99.99. This includes a card reader, access to the Eye-Fi Manager and unlimited uploads via the Eye-Fi Service.

If you’re struggling to find something for the technology buff this holiday, see if they have a digital camera. Make sure it uses an SD memory card or if you don’t want to tip them off, just ask what make and model they use.
Then see if it’s listed at the Eye-Fi website. The Eye-Fi is a gift that will make any digital camera owner smile and say “Cheese.”

Related Links:

• EyeFi Website

About Craig Crossman

Craig Crossman is a McClatchy-Tribune newspaper columnist writing about computers and technology. He also hosts the nation’s longest running nationally syndicated radio talk show on computers and technology, Computer America, heard on both the Business TalkRadio Network® and the Lifestyle TalkRadio Network®, weeknights at 10PM Eastern time. Visit his website at http://www.computeramerica.com

If you want to keep up to date with Craig’s column, just click on the RSS icon on the left, or just click here.

This column was released on December 10, 2007. Links have been added by TigerDirect News Editors. This column was originally released on Computer America’s Column Archives.

Think about when you last picked up the phone to call a credit card company or an airline or a bank or some other service orientated company about some pressing issue. You’re calling that company because more than likely you need to speak to someone about a problem you are having such as a questionable charge on your credit card statement or trying to make a plane reservation or you want to speak to a bank teller for clarification on some banking service. In most of these cases your time is limited and you need to get some answers quickly. You know what needs to be asked and most of the time, a simple response will get you the answer to your question. But when you call, you don’t get a person. You get a phone tree.

A phone tree is one of those automated voices that says something like “Thank you for calling the XYZ Company. Your call is VERY important to us. Please select from the following 9 options. Please make sure you listen to the entire menu because our options have recently changed.” (That last statement is there to instill doubt. They just want you to listen to the entire menu even if you recently called and know what you pressed the last time. I hate them for this.)

To continue, you finally hear the option you want and press it. You are then presented with a sub-menu of choices. “Please select one of the following 7 items.” You listen and then make another selection. You then hear “Please select from the following 6 options” and so it continues. It is somewhere around the third sub-menu that your mounting frustration makes you either give up and slam down the phone, start pressing random phone keys in hopes that you will be taken out of the phone tree and be connected to a live person that can actually help you, or when you finally do reach a live person you discover that you now have to wait because calls are taken in the order that they were received and that your estimated time to wait is around 17 minutes. It’s usually at this point you either contemplate suicide or wish the person who invented the phone tree would die a slow and agonizing death. In any case, when you do finally speak to a live person, you have to swallow your tongue least you make a comment you may regret later on. There must be a better way to quickly get to a live person on the phone and now thanks to Bringo, there is.

When you go to the Bringo website, you first find the company you want to call. Bringo lists them alphabetically or by category such as credit card, health care, etc. Bringo has a growing list of over 800 companies so far.
After you find it you enter in your phone number. This is so the Bringo website can call you back once a live person at that organization is reached. Bringo assures that this will never be given out to anyone and I believe this to be the case. After entering your number, Bringo offers an option to remember it so that the next time it will already be there for you. Now all you have to do is click on the big blue Fetch button.

The first time, Bringo will dial your number to make sure it is yours. When you answer your phone, an automated voice tells you to press the pound sign to confirm this is in fact your phone number. From then on you don’t have to go through that step ever again. This is in place for added security. On the Bringo website, you see a simple display that says “YOU” and the status of the call being made to the company. Beneath that you see the company’s name you are calling. A status display lets you know what Bringo is doing to navigate the company’s phone tree. Finally when Bringo gets a live person, it calls your phone back and a pleasant voice tells you to press the pound key to be connected to a live person at the company. Press it and you’re speaking to a live person from that company. Amazing.

I tried Bringo several times calling different companies and every time it got me through to a live person who could help me in a matter of moments. Life is good once more.

At the very end, Bringo shows a screen that asks if it worked for you and to type in any comments. This helps the good people at Bringo further fine tune the necessary navigation needed to circumvent the phone tree and get you to a live person. This effort by Bringo’s users along with a quarterly maintenance update by Bringo helps insure that the phone tree navigation is accurate since companies typically change their phone trees for one reason or another. Using Bringo is a free service and works with any computer with Internet access and a web browser.

Bringo in my humble opinion is a wonderful service and their efforts deserve the highest praise from any of us who have been subjected to the inhumane torture of having to deal with phone trees. Now you can once again reach out and touch someone.

www.nophonetrees.com

About Craig Crossman

Craig Crossman is a McClatchy-Tribune newspaper columnist writing about computers and technology. He also hosts the nation’s longest running nationally syndicated radio talk show on computers and technology, Computer America, heard on both the Business TalkRadio Network® and the Lifestyle TalkRadio Network®, weeknights at 10PM Eastern time. Visit his website at http://www.computeramerica.com

If you want to keep up to date with Craig’s column, just click on the RSS icon on the left, or just click here.

This column was released on December 3, 2007. Links have been added by TigerDirect News Editors. This column was originally released on Computer America’s Column Archives.