Posted in technology, tagged ABC, AccuWeather, Acu-Rite, Ambient Weather, Android, apps, barometric trend, blank, blank screen, broadcast, burned, cable, call, Cheney Instruments, company, compare, complaints, consumer, consumer confidence, consumer fatigue, contact, customer, customer service, customers, data, demand, desktop, device, disapointment, discontinued, display, disposable gadget, e-waste, executives, failure, Flash Forward, forecast icon, gadget, Garmin, gizmo, GPS, GPS weather, home weather station, Internet, iPhone, La Crosse Technology, landfills, lineup, MagicJack, media, method, MSN Direct, new season, news, no longer works, not as reliable, Oregon Scientific, outage, POTS, press release, products, publicity, radio signal, radio-controlled, reason, recommendation, sensor, service, smartphone, solution, stock, V, VoIP, Weather Direct, weather forecast, weather service, weather stations, write on January 3, 2012 |
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I remember it well: standing in the Sharper Image store debating between a three-day Bushnell wireless weather forecaster featuring AccuWeather forecasts and an Oregon Scientific model alongside it that offered more detailed information from a competing service provider, MSN Direct. Both weather stations did something unique: They didn’t require owners to hook up outdoor sensors that generate fickle forecast icons based purely on barometric pressure as opposed to a bona fide regional weather forecast. These weather forecast alternatives, unlike the vast majority of weather gadgets on the market, receive a radio signal that automatically displays forecast data from a genuine weather service.
For a weather junkie or just about anyone who doesn’t want to watch several minutes of TV, boot up a computer or drain a battery on a smartphone merely to check the weather, having weather alerts, pollen counts, humidity and UV Index information at a single glance at no cost beyond that of the device itself seems almost too good to be true. And, in hindsight, it was too good to be true. For those of us who chose wrong, the convenience was not to last. MSN Direct, the service provider for Oregon Scientific-branded weather units, powered down its US and Canadian network of FM radio transmitters on January 1, 2012. And yet, weather watchers were not the only ones to lose. MSN Direct broadcast a variety of data including traffic information, gasoline prices, Doppler weather maps, news, stocks, local events, movie listings to a variety of devices, all of which began with the debut of Microsoft’s novel “Spot” wristwatch in 2004.
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Posted in economy, politics, tagged 80 percent, A380, accountable for, airliner, Americans spend less, baby formula, barriers, bioregionalism, car, Carnival, chain, China, Chinese spend more, CNN, consumers, contractor, cost cutting, crankcase, Credit Suisse, cruise, currency war, cut corners, defects, devaluation, doctrine, dogma, Dollar, Dong Tao, downsides, drugs, eco-friendly, economic engine, ecoregionalism, electronics, emergency, emerging power, engine, failure, fake, fakes, faulty, FDA, Federal Reserve, fire, flimsy, food, G-20, G20, globalisation, globalization, going broke, Green Revolution, grounded, hazards, imitation, improved, jet, job losses, knockoff, landing, leading economy by 2012, leveling the playing field, liberalization, lifestyle realignment, lost income, lower, manufacturers, market, medications, melamine, military gear, mineral, natural resources, news, out of luck, parts, passenger, pets, port, post-American, produce, production, productivity, protectionism, protectionist, protest, Qantas, quality assurance, quantitative easing, rebalance, recalls, recession, recession here to stay, replicas, responsibility, risk, Rolls-Royce, runs out, safety, salaries, scarcity, shady, ship, shocking, shoddy, shortage, Splendor, supplier, sustainability movement, tariffs, tensions, track record, trade liberalization, trade war, treason, treasury bills, troops, turnover, U.S., unemployment, Veteran's Day, wages, way of life, who is to blame for, workmanship, world economy on November 12, 2010 |
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Last week: A late-model Qantas A380 jet engine disintegrates mid-air, with passengers lucky to have survived the ensuing in-flight trauma. This week: A two-year-old Carnival cruise ship is towed into a San Diego, California port after an engine crankcase spontaneously splits open, erupting in fire. Passengers in this case, too, were lucky that the worst they suffered was cold food, limited electrical power and non-operable toilets. And in what would have been shocking 10 years ago, news of contaminated meat, recalled produce and unsafe drugs are now so routine that most of us shrug it off.
In such situations, the finger-pointing tends to be brand, manufacturer or supplier-specific. Indeed, it is tempting to chalk up such news to a series of unfortunate flukes. But is that the best and brightest lesson we can draw — or does our mainstream news media tend to downplay or disregard the Big Picture?
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Posted in notes on the human condition, tagged accomplishment, acheivement, answers, antidepressants, arrogant, assumptions, attitude, auras, author, bad, behavior, Bible, blame, books, cause, chaos, church, circumstances, congratulate, contentment, control, coping, creator, criticism, culture, destiny, Dr. Wayne Dyer, Eastern, effect, emotions, empowerment, failure, faith, fate, God, gods, good, gratitude, guru, happy, healing, health, humble, idea, ideology, illusion, James Van Praagh, Jesus, judge, labels, letting go, liberating, life, lifestyle, living, love, luck, medium, mental, mysteries, mythology, narcissism, negative, New Age, open doors, Oprah, order, people, perfectionism, perform, personal, personality, philosophy, pop psychology, positive, power, preconception, pressure, project, proverb, psyche, psychology, Ralph Waldo Emerson, reality, recovery, religion, sabbatoge, science, Scripture, self, self help, Serenity Prayer, social, society, spirituality, stress, success, talent, talk show, The Secret, thinking, thoughts, universe, willpower, wisdom, worldview on June 22, 2008 |
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What does talk show host Oprah Winfrey, psychologist Dr. Wayne W. Dyer, medium James Van Praagh and “The Secret” author Rhonda Byrne share in common?
A belief that what you get out of life depends on how you think about life.
It seems straightforward enough. Empowering, even. Unfortunately, it isn’t quite that simple. (more…)
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