Alice's Silver Years: Gadgets

Showing posts with label Gadgets. Show all posts

Thursday, March 9, 2017

Solar Roofs and 3-D Printed Houses

Today I've requested updates from https://www.tesla.com/solar for their solar roof. These roofs are AMAZING. They are made up of solar panels and actually power your home, AND they are to start production on them Summer 2017!! A few short months away!

Watch this!

All I can say is, "WOW" and "About time!"

Then after doing a little research about solar roofs, I contacted the 3-D Printing Company, Sunconomy, in Texas to ask them if they can print a house in the Asheville or Hendersonville, NC area and include a Tesla solar roof. I'll let you know what they say when I hear back from them.

The 3-D Printed Houses are awesome and only cost around $10,000.00 to print. You'd have to add the transportation cost of bringing the house printer and construction engineers to your area, then add the foundation, flooring, wiring, plumbing, ceilings, sheet rock, appliances, light fixtures, ceiling fans, landscaping, fencing, etc. to that price, but you'd still have an awesome home way cheaper and way quicker and way more energy efficient that sight built or modular homes.

Watch this, but know there are many designs to choose from. The video only shows the first printed. By the way, they print with cement!

So...these are my thoughts for today.

Yes. I'm thinking about where I will live after I sell my house again. It needs to be somewhere cheap and somewhere very good that will make me glad I moved.

Wish me good luck, and let me know what you think!

Thursday, March 2, 2017

Personal 3D Printers. The Future is NOW.

One of my sons is studying to be an engineer. No, not the "drive the train down the railroad" fun kind of engineer. More the "I have to know how to do crazy hard math problems and trouble-shoot difficult things" kind of engineer.

When I was visiting him recently, he looked up from one of his many notebooks filled with the kind of math that gives me a headache, and said, "Did I show you my 3D printer?"

What? A personal 3D printer??? Is that a real thing?

Turns out it is a real thing, and turns out one of my sons has one!!

Okay. He has one of the least expensive ones you can buy. It was only about the price of a regular printer, but it still prints in 3D!

I was so impressed. He printed me a little cat figurine thing to take home with me. It is awesome, and I am keeping it on my desk at work so I can brag about my son anytime anyone notices it. (NOTE: Don't say I didn't warn you. -grin-)

My son is learning how to write programs to make 3D printers print his own designs. Fascinating.

If you are ever interested in purchasing your own personal 3D printer, be careful. I've poked around the internet a little bit and discovered that some of the cheaper ones are cheap for a reason. Others, like the one my son has, are really good though. Still, right now, you have to know how to use the software to print anything useful, but if you're willing to learn something new, I think 3D printing may very well be the wave of the future!!

Here is a comparison of two 3D personal printers. There are many types, of course. These are only two of the more popular ones.

Nowadays they even have inexpensive 3D doodle pens that I had never heard of before. Check this out! I love this!

One last thing. If you are wondering why I'm so excited that one of my sons is learning how to write programs to 3D print his designs, watch the video below.

3D printers are awesome and profitable!

Seeing the incredible things they have already printed makes me have hope for the future, and that is a very powerful thing.

Enjoy!

Wednesday, July 6, 2016

Ten+ Ways to Beat the July Heat!

July is typically the hottest month of the year. If you are struggling to beat the heat, here are ten things you can try:

Dogs overheat easily too. Here are some products you might consider for your dogs but cats will like some of these too:

Last, but perhaps the most important of all, here are some ways to keep your baby cool this summer:

Remember to keep you and yours hydrated as well. Drink lots of water and enjoy your summer!

Wednesday, June 29, 2016

Arthritis Information

One out of every 5 adults and approximately 300,000 children in our country right now have some form of arthritis. If you are reading this, there is a fairly good chance that you (or someone you love) are one of them.

Normal and Arthritic Joints

I sure wish I had a magic wand to wave and fix your pain but I don't. I do, however, know of a website, that might give you some helpful information. It is the Arthritis Foundation's website, and you can access it by clicking HERE.

Did you know that arthritis sufferers can oftentimes predict the weather better than meteorologists? It is true.

Barometric pressure and suddenly lowering temperatures can cause your arthritis to act up. There is even an online tool HERE that will predict if the weather where you are right now will affect your arthritis today.

Some of you are probably saying, "Aw. This article does not apply to me. I'm too young to have arthritis." Please re-read the first paragraph above. Around 300,000 children in the US have arthritis right now. Even babies can have arthritis. It is just more common to have it as we age.

There are more than 100 different types of arthritis. I, personally, do NOT like any of them. Nothing good ever comes from arthritis. Only pain.

I only have osteoarthritis and bursitis at the moment.
(-knock on wood- NEVER let me say things like that! It tempts the fates!)

Bursitis wakes me up at night when I roll over in my sleep. It hurts, and I HATE the steroid shots I have to take every few months and all the medicine I have to take, so I've been searching for alternatives to help myself.

Here's what I've found so far (See below.). The titles are pretty self-explanatory, but you can click the links for more information or to purchase the products if you like.

All of these have such good reviews. Some are books, some are gadgets, some are supplements, some are just helpful things like scissors that are easy to use when your hands hurt. I hope you find something that helps you or someone you love!

If you use or know of any other "over the counter" things that really help arthritis, please comment below.

My motto is, "Information is useless if not shared."

Friday, June 17, 2016

A Dozen Awesome Kitchen Gadgets!

Today I'm thinking about gadgets.

When I was young the coolest gadget I'd ever heard of was a Swiss Army Knife, but nowadays inventors seem to have gone wild with gadgets. My favorites are geeky gadgets like this smart watch or this kid's smart watch, or this iFetch gadget that launches balls for your dog to fetch.

Those things are amazing, but I love to cook, so today I'm going to talk about kitchen gadgets that I really hope to be able to purchase and use after I retire. I'll have much more time for cooking then!

Hey. A girl's gotta have some cool toys in her second childhood. Right? 😗

Okay. I admit I plan to purchase some of these before then and I'm putting them on my Amazon Wish List in case my friends and family can't figure out what I want or need as a gift! 😇 My birthday's coming up very very soon! (Hint Hint 😉)

Here are the things I found interesting this morning:

Nessie Ladle
This ladle is cheap and awesome and I'm going to buy one very soon if no one else buys me one. I use ladles a LOT as I love to make homemade soups, so I know I'll use it.
PancakeBot
Whoa! This thing is super cool! It is a bit much for a retired person, but honestly I love geeky stuff like this. You'll need to buy an SD card and have a computer handy to use it, but it prints pancakes! You can go here for more information if you are curious.
Garlic Peeler
I don't like peeling garlic with my fingers, so I added this gadget for you to see. Pretty cool. Over 200 people say it works, so I might buy one eventually.
Waffle Bowl Maker
This thing just makes my mouth water. I imagine waffle bowls of ice cream on hot summer days sitting on my porch after I retire.

Yes. I do like to daydream a lot. Believe it and it will happen!
5-Way Opener
This gadget looks exactly like something I'll need for my arthritic hands in a few years.
Touchless Soap Dispenser
I've been fighting with my kitchen soap dispenser lately, so I added this touchless one. If it works, I want one!
Pineapple Corer Peeler
I've always wanted a pineapple corer peeler thingy, but I'm thinking I really need one. If you saw how I mutilate my pineapples when trying to cut a fresh one, you'd agree that I need one. I always have to make pineapple chunks because I'm no good at cutting it any other way. Slices would be nice sometimes I think.
Apple Corer Slicer
I already have an apple corer slicer very similar to this one. I actually use it all the time. It makes short work of slicing apples for pies and such. I LOVE mine, so I included it in my gadget list for you.
Veggie, Zucchini Spaghetti Pasta Noodle Maker
This gadget looked very interesting. I might like one of these for sure.
Chip Bag Resealer
This chip bag resealer is fascinating to me! I LOVE chips, but I do NOT like stale chips. If that thing works, I want one!
Electric Salt and Pepper Grinder Set
This set looks awesome. When I went to put it in my Amazon Wishlist, I discovered that it was already there! I've been thinking about buying one of these for some time, I guess.
Digital Instant Read Cooking Thermometer
Last (but not least) I looked at this thermometer. Recently a neighbor came to borrow a meat thermometer and I realized I had broken mine a very long time ago and had not replaced it. All I had was a coffee thermometer, so I loaned her that. When I do get around to replacing my meat thermometer, I think one like this one would be nice.

That's it! One dozen kitchen gadgets that might (or might not) be fun to play with in my second childhood.

Pictures of the gadgets are below. Let me know what you think!

This is my favorite!