Home 2019 June

Useful Tips to Reduce a PowerPoint Presentation File Size

PowerPoint presentations generally contain a large number of images, videos, gifs, charts, and other visual content. This makes the files very large and difficult to work with. Large files take up a considerable amount of disk space, and they push the limits of the data you are allowed to send via email. Even if you put your file in cloud storage, the file can be slow to respond when the recipient uses it. To get the best performance from a PowerPoint file, you need to keep the document size under control. There are many different ways you can… Read more

Tom Bihn Large Zip-Top Shop Bag review

REVIEW – I am always trying to be a bit more ‘green’ and environmentally friendly.  One way I try to do that is to bring reusable shopping bags with me to the grocery store.  I have lots of freebie bags that I use.  All of them work ok, but none of them are comfortable to carry, and several concern me about how much actual weight they can carry.  Tom Bihn has come out with a new shoulder based tote bag that seems to be ideal for the task.  Let’s see how it works out.

What is it?

The Tom Bihn Large Zip-Top Shop Bag is a bag of many uses.  You can use it for grocery shopping, a personal carry on, an all-purpose hauler, or every day carry bag.

Hardware Specs

  • It is made of 200 denier Halycon nylon/ripstop fabric or 210 ballistic nylon.  I received the bag in the Wasabi Halycon nylon.
  • External Dimensions: 15″ (w) x 13.4″ (h) x 11.8″ (d) / 380 (w) x 340 (h) x 300 (d) mm
  • Weight: 200d Halcyon: 8.8 oz / 250 grams  or  210d Ballistic: 10.9 oz / 310 grams
  • Volume: 1650 cubic inches/27 liters
  • Handle Length: 26 inches or 660 mm
  • YKK #5 Coil Zippers
  • PORON foam handles

Design and Features

This first picture above shows a closeup of one of the handles.  You can see that it has that nice PORON foam insert.

This next show shows a picture of the single double zipper that makes up the entrance to the main compartment of the bag.  Having two zippers makes the bag easy to open and close around a larger object.

This next shot is a picture of the interior of the bag.  You can see that it comes with a nice key tether that has a plastic clip to hold on to your key ring or whatever you wish to attach to it.  There are two interior side pockets to allow you to organize items.  Finally the main large interior pocket.   There is no padding of any sort on the bottom of the bag.

This shot shows a close up of the stitching of the handle to the bag and how the edges are seamed.  You can see they are quite durable.

Performance

I needed to make a grocery run, so I decided to test out the bag.   Let me state that I really, really, really detest grocery shopping.  I purchased about 17 and one-half pounds of various items and had them pack it all into the single bag.  From the picture above,  you can see the bag fully loaded.  I carried it on my shoulder across a very large parking lot.  During that whole time, I never felt any pain in my shoulder.  It was wonderful!

Above you can see a picture of the bag fully loaded.  You can see that I was able to zip the bag closed with no issues.

Finally, you can see a picture of everything that was inside the bag.  Lots of stuff to place in the bag, and I am happy to report, that nothing got crushed including the two tasty dessert items on the left!

What I’d change

I think the only thing I could change on this bag would be to see if it could be cheaper.  $65 is a lot of money to pay for a bag that you use for shopping.  If you were the kind of person to use this bag as an everyday hauler I could see spending this money.  The problem with using it as an everyday hauler is there is no padding in the bag so you would have to be careful what you placed in there.

Final thoughts

I love this bag and it will be my go-to bag for grocery shopping.  I would love to purchase a second one if the price were to drop a bit.  The fact that I can carry over 17 pounds on my should with no pain is a big plus to me.  Our grocery parking lots are huge and I always seem to pick the worse day to go shopping.

Price: $65
Where to buy: Tom Bihn
Source: The sample of this product was provided by Tom Bihn.

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Tom Bihn Large Zip-Top Shop Bag review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on June 30, 2019 at 12:00 pm.

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How to Troubleshoot Your Router

Your router is the megabrain of all Internet activity in your house. Whether you want your devices communicating with each other across your local network or with the wider Internet, you want your router to be fully functioning when going about your daily life. Here we’re going to show you how to troubleshoot your router and indeed find out whether your router is to blame for your problems. The Obvious Stuff Before getting into the nitty-gritty, there are a few basic troubleshooting tips you should check and try: Switch off your router,… Read more

Unlock your chicken safety skill with this harness

NEWS – Do you lose sleep at night worrying about the safety of chickens crossing the road? Honestly, who hasn’t? Your worries are over my friends because here is the Yesito Chicken Harness.

This breathable mesh harness is available in gender typical colors and is designed to clip around your hen or rooster’s body to provide an attachment point for a 6-foot leash. Think I’m kidding? Nope. You can get one for your favorite poultry today for $16.99 from Amazon.

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Unlock your chicken safety skill with this harness originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on June 30, 2019 at 10:57 am.

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EverSleep Sleep Tracker Review

REVIEW – I’m a tech guy, so when I can get hard data or charts, I’m a happy person. When the EverSleep review offer came along, I said to myself “Bring on the data!”.

What is it?

The EverSleep sleep tracker is a wrist-worn device that tracks many aspects of your sleep with the aim of improving how long and how well you sleep.

What’s in the box?

List contents – you can remove this heading and section if it doesn’t apply to your review.

  • EverSleep Sleep Tracker
  • Charger and Micro-USB Cord
  • Medical Tape
  • Ear Plugs
  • App instructions and Info


Design and features

The EverSleep sleep tracker is designed to help monitor your sleep. Using the data it provides it aims to help you optimize your sleep and track your progress.

It is worn basically like a watch, it includes a hospital-grade finger sensor to monitor oxygen level and pulse rate. It uses an app on your smartphone to record the results.

EverSleep advertises:

  • Identifies 5 types of insomnia
  • Continuous oxygen monitoring for breathing interruptions
  • Correlates insomnia and breathing events
  • Tracks motion events and other disruptions
  • Measures Fragmented sleep and quality sleep
  • Coaching and tips based on your sleep data

Just before the opportunity to do this review came along my doctor scheduled me for a sleep study. My wife says I probably need a CPAP machine because of my snoring and breathing patterns. When this review came along I thought it would be a great time to compare a before and after with the EverSleep device. Unfortunately, the sleep center has not processed my results yet, so I can’t compare a before and after with this unit, but when/if I do get a CPAP machine, I’ll update this review.

When you start the Eversleep app you answer some basic profile questions, then when you get ready to go to sleep, you tap “Record” and answer a few survey questions. The EverSleep app will then walk you through setting up the device for recording.





Upon completion of our night’s sleep, a report will be generated containing three sections: Overview, Details, and Coaching. The details view allows you to zoom in for finer detail on particular events and times.




The results are saved automatically for tracking trends:


The Profile portion of the app contains the “About Me”, “Doctor has diagnosed me with” and “Medications, Therapy, etc” information for the app to use to suggest coaching tips.



The Export section allows you to export a result as a PDF.


The “Learn” section provides many tips for getting better sleep.

The EverSleep sleep tracker accurately measured my sleep. In fact, I had one particular night where I tossed and turned most of the night and the EverSleep showed that I only slept for just over three hours.

On most nights it recorded that I snored 99 to 100% of the night, but I think that might have been it picking up the noisy fan in my room. This will be another good thing to compare later if I do get a CPAP machine.

I found that the strap used to hold the device on your wrist is a little difficult to put on. It’s a stretchy silicone band, I would prefer a velcro and elastic band.

The finger sensor was a little small for my slightly larger than normal fingers. It was slightly snug and annoying, but not so much as to keep me awake as long as I didn’t tape it on too snugly. I would prefer the type that I used during my sleep study that did not require tape to keep it on.

The Eversleep sleep tracker did accurately suggest that I talk to my doctor about my “mild to moderate breathing interruptions”, which also confirms what my wife was telling me.

What I like

  • Pulse and Oxygen monitoring
  • Charts and Data!

What I’d change

  • The strap needs to be easier to put on
  • The finger sensor is a bit snug

Final thoughts

Overall I feel that the EverSleep sleep tracker provides enough information about your sleep to help you identify ways to improve the quality of your sleep and track if changes you make have an effect on your sleep. If I get a CPAP machine in the next couple of weeks I’ll do some more tests and update this post.

Price: $249.99
Where to buy: EverSleep
Source: The sample of this product was provided by EverSleep.

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EverSleep Sleep Tracker Review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on June 30, 2019 at 10:00 am.

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