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Don’t panic, here are some last minute Father’s Day gift ideas

ARTICLE – Father’s Day is coming whether you’re ready or not and it happens to be just days away on Sunday, June 16. If you haven’t gone shopping for dear old dad yet, do not fear! We’ve put together this last minute Father’s Day gift guide for you so you can gift dad a cool, unique gift without having it look like you threw it together last minute (even though you did).

Authentic Agility Games

This Father’s Day give your dad the gift of your attention. Once upon a time, this wasn’t so hard to come by but with all the distraction from mobile devices, it can be rather difficult to get in some quality family time. Authentic Agility’s game, How Do You See The World, encourages families to sit together and ask really enticing questions that spur honest and thoughtful answers.

Price: $24.99
Where to Buy: Amazon

ZonLi Weighted Blanket

For the sleep-deprived dad, the ZonLi Weighted Blanket is a new sleep accessory meant to improve physical and mental well-being using natural solutions backed by science. Crafted with people with stress/insomnia and other sleep-related struggles in mind, The ZonLi is made of natural and environmental material, both glass beads and fabric, and the hypo-allergenic, non-toxic, odorless glass beads are evenly sewed into an ultra small square to make the blanket more comfortable.

Price: $69.00-$219.00
Where to Buy: Amazon

PARA’KITO Repellent

When dad’s idea of fun is to spend time outdoors, whether for a family BBQ or a deep woods adventure, the PARA’KITO collection of all-natural mosquito repellant offers a convenient and portable way to keep the bugs off. Whether it’s a clothing clip, wrist band or roll-on, the repellant is made with essential oils as opposed to strong and smelly chemicals.

Price: $19.50
Where to Buy: Amazon

Wicked Audio True Wireless Earbuds

If you want to give dad the gift of music (or blocking out his loud family) this year, look no further than a
pair of Wicked Audio true wireless earbuds. Dad can use when commuting to work while working on the
yard, or just trying to get some downtime in his man cave – the Arq are super lightweight, high-quality
sound and an affordable alternative to Airpods.

Price: $79.99
Where to Buy: Amazon
Our review: Wicked Audio ARQ True Wireless Earbuds review

Filed in categories: Articles

Tagged: Father’s Day

Don’t panic, here are some last minute Father’s Day gift ideas originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on June 13, 2019 at 3:56 pm.

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6 solar-powered gadgets that are too convenient to ignore

ARTICLE – Electricity is something we often take for granted because using it is as easy as finding the nearest electrical outlet. But that approach isn’t always possible. In that case, these six gadgets let you tap into solar power from anywhere.

1. Damaanda Solar Book Light

This streamlined, solar-powered book light ensures you can keep enjoying the pleasure of the best page-turners wherever you are. It weighs less than 2 ounces, making the light an excellent choice for stashing into a backpack during your travels. The three LED bulbs offer both a low and high-brightness setting, giving you flexibility that increases your overall reading enjoyment.

During cloudy days, you can power up the book light with the included USB charger and cable. The wide width of the clip section makes it easy to attach the light to reading material of various thicknesses.

Buy: $14.99 on Amazon

2. GoSun Chill Solar Cooler

One of the potential hassles about conventional coolers is that things get messy when the bags of ice melt. Additionally, ice can take up too much room inside and leave less space for your food and beverages. But, this Indiegogo project will make you the star of the next beach trip or tailgate party. Solar power keeps your stuff cold without ice for up to 24 hours, and you can tweak a temperature setting feature.

Besides chilling your consumables, this cooler has USB ports to charge portable electronics. When you need to charge the cooler, do so in several ways, such as getting power from solar panels or plugging the gadget into a wall outlet.

Buy: $549.00 on Indiegogo INDEMAND

3. Alpine Bluetooth-Enabled Rock Speaker

The gadgets mentioned here have limited power-generation capabilities. So, if you’re trying to get power to host a community family day in your neighborhood, you’d need to invest in a more robust option, such as a commercial-grade generator. But, if you’re on a camping trip with family or friends and want to set the scene with music, look no further than this cool Alpine speaker.

It offers a Bluetooth range of 50 feet, plus has a weather-resistant body. Since the speaker gives up to 12 hours of use on a full charge, it’s the ideal choice for any of your festivities. The rock-inspired design fits right in with the natural environment, too.

Buy: $89.99 on Amazon

4. X-DRAGON Solar Charger 15000mAh Power Bank

Consider this product your must-have power bank for gadgets like smartphones and tablets. It charges popular smartphones like the iPhone X at least three times after a full charge, making it an ideal product for a weekend getaway. This power bank lets you feel free to take a break from your usual grind while staying connected to gadgets for safety or social reasons.

Rubber caps on the USB ports keep them protected from dust, dirt, and water. An integrated LED light with multiple operating modes also serves as a handy flashlight alternative.

Buy: $25.99 on Amazon

5. SolSource Sport Solar Camping Stove

Going off the grid doesn’t require going hungry when you invest in this camping stove. The stove is compact and easy to manage due to only weighing 10 pounds. Once you get to your destination, set it up in only 3-5 minutes. The stove comes with a backpack-style carrying bag, too. This gadget functions with high-performance parabolic reflector panels that heat the bottom of your cooking containers. It starts getting hot in minutes once you aim it at the sun.

Buy: $389.00 on SolSource

6. Vollebak Solar-Charged Jacket

A list of solar-powered items isn’t complete without a piece of apparel. The most outstanding characteristic of this jacket is that it glows in the dark. Plus, you can power it up with any light source — whether the sun or your car’s headlights — and enjoy a glow that lasts for 12 hours.

And, if you want to impress your friends at a party, start drawing on the highly reactive fabric by using a flashlight like a pen. You’ll see glowing lines wherever the light hits. This waterproof and breathable jacket does an excellent job of keeping you protected from harsh winds. It’s also a fabulous purchase for adventure hikers since the packable design rolls up to fit in one hand.

Buy: $445 from Vollebak

The Sun Is Nature’s Power Source

There’s no need for pesky electrical cords when you buy any of these six gadgets. Powering them up is as easy as going outside and giving them plenty of sun exposure. Whether you’re enjoying the Great Outdoors for a weekend or dealing with an unexpected power outage, these products can help.

Lead image via Dua Chuot

Filed in categories: Articles

Tagged: Solar

6 solar-powered gadgets that are too convenient to ignore originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on June 11, 2019 at 12:00 pm.

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Bones Reds bearings earn props from skateboarders

ARTICLE – Bones Reds are well-known, popular, precision-skate bearings. It doesn’t matter if you’re a skateboard commuter, a skatepark regular or you’re working on tricks in your driveway, high-quality bearings are a must.

My teenager is a skateboarder and says that for less $20 it’s well worth upgrading your bearings —almost certainly better than just using whatever comes with your board. He says his Reds make his board ride significantly smoother, longer and faster.

What’s in the box?

Set of 8 bearings
Instructions
Sticker

Specs

Single, non-contact, removable rubber shield for easy cleaning and less friction
High-speed nylon ball retainer for greater strength and speed
Pre-lubricated with Speed Cream racing lubricant
Skate Rated clearances, tolerances, materials, and lubricant
Product Dimensions: 4 x 1.9 x 0.5 inches
Shipping Weight: 3.4 ounces

From the reviews, it’s clear why Bones Reds are so well known in the skateboarding community: An 8-pack of bearings gets 5/5 stars (377 reviews) on the Bones web site, and 4.6/5 stars on Amazon (1,333 reviews).

Price: $16-$19 for an 8-pack

Where to buy: Bones Bearings site or Amazon

Filed in categories: Articles

Tagged: skateboard, Sports

Bones Reds bearings earn props from skateboarders originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on June 4, 2019 at 11:58 am.

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How to automatically delete Google’s Web & App Activity data

ARTICLE – Google recently announced a new feature that allows users to automatically delete their web and app activity (CNET). You can choose from three options: “Keep until I delete manually”, “Keep for 18 months”, or “Keep for 3 months”. Once you go through the steps to automatically delete this data on one device, it will be set for all devices that are logged into that Google account.

Why might you want to delete this data? Because Google saves information about your searches, browsing, etc. when the Web & App Activity setting is turned on (Google support webpage):

Searches and other things you do on Google products and services, like Maps
Your location, language, IP address, referrer, and whether you use a browser or an app
Ads you click, or things you buy on an advertiser’s site
Information on your device like recent apps or contact names you searched for
Sites and apps you use
Your activity on sites and in apps that use Google services
Your Chrome browsing history
Note: Activity could be saved even when you’re offline

So, how do you delete your Web & App Activity automatically? Just follow the steps below for Android devices, PCs, and iOS devices. NOTE: all screenshots can be clicked on to view a larger image.

Android

To do this on an Android phone, you’ll need to go to your phone’s settings > “Google” > “Google Account” > “Data & personalization” tab > “Web & App Activity” > “Manage Activity” link > (shown in the screenshots above)…

…”Choose to delete automatically” > make your selection and tap on the “Next” button (your preferences will be saved) > “Confirm” button > then tap on the “Got it” button to complete the steps.

PC

On a PC you would do the following: launch Chrome > log into your Google account > click on the vertical ellipsis in the upper right corner of Chrome (overflow menu) > “Settings” > (shown in the screenshots above)…

…”Manage Google Account” > “Manage Your Data & Personalization” link >…

…”Web & App Activity” > “Manage Activity” link >…

……”Choose to delete automatically” button) > make your selection and tap on the “Next” button >…

…”Confirm” button > and tap on the “Got it” button to finish.

iOS

You can even get to Web & App Activity settings through Gmail’s settings as illustrated in the following iOS steps.

To automatically delete your web and app activity data using Gmail on an iOS device you need to do the following: open your Gmail app > “Menu” > “Settings” > tap on your account > “Manage your Google Account” > “Manage your data & personalization” >…

…”Web & App Activity” > “Manage Activity” link > “Choose to delete automatically” >…

…make your selection and tap on the “Next” button > “Confirm” button (your preferences will be saved) > tap on the “Got it” button to finish.

And if you don’t use Gmail, you can also use the Safari app on your iOS device and alter the Web & App Activity settings as shown in the following steps.

Tap on your Safari app > go to “google.com” > log into your Google account > tap on your profile picture located in the upper right corner of the screen > “Account settings” > “Data & personalization” tab >…

…”Web & App Activity” > “Manage activity” > “Choose to delete automatically” >…

…make your selection and tap on the “Next” button > “Confirm” button > and last, tap on the “Got it” button to finish.

I’m glad that Google is providing features like this so that people like me can have a little more control over their collected data!

Filed in categories: Articles

Tagged: Google

How to automatically delete Google’s Web & App Activity data originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on May 31, 2019 at 10:00 am.

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I love using Google Maps AR!

ARTICLE – On May 7, 2019, Google made available to Pixel devices the long-awaited Google Maps Augmented Reality (AR) feature. I have a Pixel 2 XL and my Google Maps AR states that it is a “Preview” of the feature.

I was on a trip to Austin, Texas – a place that was not familiar to me – and using the AR feature was awesome! It was lunch-time and I wanted to walk somewhere to get something to eat. I opened the Google Maps app on my phone, typed in Subway (the sandwich shop), I then tapped on “Directions”. Afterward, the lower part of the screen on Maps gave me the option to either tap on “Start”, “Start AR”, or “Steps & more”. After tapping on “Start AR”, Maps directed me to point my camera at buildings and streets. Initially, I was not near a street or any identifiable buildings so it did not know where I was. However, when I approached a street, it identified where I was and started guiding me towards my destination.

I chose a Subway that was really close to me, so the directions were really “straight” forward (see what I did there?).

And, for safety purposes, Maps warned me that I should keep my phone down while walking and pay attention to my surroundings so I don’t run into any hazards.

It was really cool to be able to see how close I was getting to my destination.

Getting closer…

I arrived!! I thought it was really entertaining to see the big red Maps location marker (pin) grow larger as I approached where I was going. This building housed several businesses on different floors so I had to go inside and ask exactly where the Subway was. In a couple of minutes, I found my destination, but no lunch for me! It was CLOSED!!!

Anyway, I truly love using Google Maps AR! It’s unquestionably helpful and super fun to use.

By the way, when Google first announced the AR feature, they presented an option to use a cute cartoon fox as an AR guide. He was sadly missing from my adventure. Perhaps he went to a Subway that was open.

Filed in categories: Articles

Tagged: Google, Travel Gear

I love using Google Maps AR! originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on May 29, 2019 at 3:40 pm.

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