Home 2017 April

Amazon has outsourced their tech support to YOU

The other day I was talking to my best buddy at work and he was doing tech support for Amazon for free. I gave him one of my “whatchu talkin bout Willis?” looks and he said that he had just received an email from Amazon asking him to answer a question about a product that he had purchased from them in the past. Click the image above to read the email. 

I asked him if this was the first time that he’d received an email like this and he said no, that he’d received them before for quite awhile. I was surprised because I’ve never received an email like that… although I then realized that the types of products that I usually buy from Amazon don’t really require tech support. For example, other than the 12″ MacBook that I ordered this morning, my last several purchases were turmeric capsules, vitamin D tablets and a replacement battery for a Neato Botvac robotic vacuum.

A quick Google search helped me learn that Amazon Answers has been around for at least 3 years.

Should Amazon compensate people who help out and answer tech support questions for them? From what I can see, they don’t. Correct me if I’m wrong though.

FYI, you can opt out of receiving these types of questions by clicking on the opt-out link if you receive one of these emails.

What do you think about Amazon asking customers to help answer questions from other customers about products that they’ve purchased in the past?

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Amazon has outsourced their tech support to YOU originally appeared on on April 7, 2017 at 4:17 pm.

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Olight has opened an official eBay store and they want you to visit

I’ve become a fan of Olight products after reviewing their Olight S2R Baton flashlight last December and more recently the Olight H1R Nova LED flashlight. My favorite feature of both of these flashlights is their magnetic charging base. Of course, I really like the flashlights themselves too. They are made really well, have a bright beam that lasts a long time on a charge, and they have easy to use controls.

Olight asked me to let all of our readers know about their new eBay store, so go take a look at their flashlights and other accessories at stores.ebay.com/olightdirectofficial.

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Olight has opened an official eBay store and they want you to visit originally appeared on on April 7, 2017 at 9:47 am.

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Satechi’s new USB-C travel charger juices up your MacBook and more

If you happened to catch my gadget diary post from yesterday where I was talking about buying a laptop dedicated to travel, you may have also seen where I said it will probably be a 12″ MacBook. If this happens, I’ll want a new travel charger to go along with my travel computer and the new USB-C travel charger from Satechi looks like a perfect choice.

Satechi’s new USB-C charger has a sleek look with an aluminum shell that is currently available in silver and space gray, with a gold version being released in May.

This charger features two Type-A ports and one Type-C port. It can charge multiple devices at once, and is compatible with the new Samsung Galaxy S8, Google Pixel smartphone, MacBook 12″, MacBook Pro 13″ and more.

The silver and space grey versions of the Satechi USB-C travel charger can be purchased now for $39.99 at Satechi and even less at Amazon.

Filed in categories: Cables, Batteries and Chargers, News

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Satechi’s new USB-C travel charger juices up your MacBook and more originally appeared on on April 7, 2017 at 9:00 am.

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Julie’s gadget diary – Thinking about buying a new laptop (or tablet) for my next trip

I had to take Jeanne to the hospital this morning for surgery to have her gallbladder removed. I went back and forth last night trying to decide if I wanted to lug my 13″ MacBook Pro with me, my Samsung Galaxy S Tab 10.5 or just my phone which is currently the LG G6 which I’m reviewing.

But I knew that I wanted to do a little Gadgeteer writing while I was waiting for her surgery to finish, so I didn’t want to just rely on my phone. So the internal struggle was really just about the full sized MBP laptop and the Android tablet.

I ended up leaving the MBP at home and took the Galaxy S Tab. I really enjoy the S Tab, but that’s only when I’m playing on it. By “playing”, I mean a few games of Words with Friends, catching up on my Feedly RSS feeds, Instagram, and stuff like that.

When I tired of those tasks and decided that I wanted to dig into some email reading and writing, and Gadgeteer writing, I started getting a little frustrated with the tablet’s lack of a physical keyboard. I even complained in real time about it with Dave Rees via Google Hangouts.

If you read the chat transcript above (click for a bigger view), you can see that I had a few typos. That’s because tablet touch style keyboards are a  big pain in the… fingers! I’m a really good touch typist, but only on a physical keyboard.

It’s great to be able to share the same first world problems over and over again with Dave. Let’s just say that after years of being friends, he just gets me when it comes to gadgets. Probably because he keeps dealing with the same issues as far as the best devices for travel.

My problem is that I really want to make a tablet work for me and just can’t seem to let go of that dream. I continue to revisit this same question every year about this time. What’s so special about this time of year? It’s a few weeks before our first vacation which we always take in May. Vacations require planning. Jeanne plans where we’ll go and planning for me involves the gear that I plan to take with me.

I’ve tried the iPad Pro, a Windows Surface Pro, and a Samsung Galaxy S Tab. It’s time to FINALLY find an ultra light weight laptop with a full sized keyboard that lets me use the laptop on my lap and not just on a table.

Although I’m not a huge fan of Windows 10, I can deal with it if the solution is a better buy than Dave’s suggestion of a used 12″ MacBook.

It’s time to start researching options before I run out of time before the trip. Wish me luck!

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Julie’s gadget diary – Thinking about buying a new laptop (or tablet) for my next trip originally appeared on on April 6, 2017 at 3:56 pm.

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Carved puts a little bit of nature on your tech

We love our gadgets, but sometimes they can be a little too… blah. After you see a hundred shiny black plastic or aluminum gadgets, you’ve seen them all. If you would like to find a way to make your phone, backup battery, speakers and more look different than everyone else’s, then you need to check out these gorgeous cases and battery packs from Carved.

Carved makes cases for the iPhone (duh!), Samsung Galaxy phones (even the new S8s!), the iPad Air, the Google Pixel and even the Nexus 6P.

Their cases combine different types of wood and resin to create a one of a kind look that will turn heads.

Even their 6000mAh power banks will have people asking you where you got them.

The power banks are priced at $55 and the cases range from $24 to $59. You can find more about them and order one at carved.com

Filed in categories: Cases and Covers, Computer Gear, News

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Carved puts a little bit of nature on your tech originally appeared on on April 6, 2017 at 8:00 am.

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