I'm so excited to actually be in the middle of the publishing revolution – you know, the one where the legacy publishers struggle to hang on to their old business model and hope against hope that advancing technology won't make them irrevelent?

If you are interested in such things, see Joe Konrath's great article on legacy publishers, or this one by Mathew Ingram.

Even if you aren't, I bet you are interested in a great reading experience, and for a pure ebook reader, I don't think you can beat the Kindle.  My wife and daughter both have one, and my son and I read our ebooks on the Kindle app on our iphones.  I read lots of fiction, and I can't even remember the last time I read a paper book. 

Kindles don't make great web browsers in my experience, and that's because they are purpose built for a great book reading experience – E Ink is easy on your eyes, gives great battery life, and you can see it in the bright sun outdoors (unlike my iphone).  Plus you won't believe how light this thing is!

We've had several Kindles since they first came out, and really haven't seen the need for the 3G ones – since all we're doing is downloading books, wi-fi has worked fine for us.

Click here or on the picture to start your own ebook revolution today!

The people who spend all day on the phone at Conditioned Air need the best phone tools, and this is the headset we chose.  It works with lots of phones, including the Polycom VOIP phones we use with our Asterisk system.

We've had great luck with these, and there isn't much to say other than…well, they work great!

To pick one up for yourself, click here, or on the picture.

I mentioned all the benefits of pop-up notes in my last post about the dispensers.

I was running low on notes and ordered some refills last week.  I hadn't done that in a while so I took that opportunity to review what refill products are out there, and see whether I should get the Post-It® brand or generic. 

I was slightly surprised to find that the name brand was the cheapest, and that's what I got (click here or on the picture to get the same ones I'm using right now).

I will warn you about one thing – when you are doing a search like that – trying to compare different products, and brand name vs. generic, you have to pay close attention to the details such as shipping, quality, package size, etc.  This product seems particularly bad about that – I found all different kinds of packaging, size of orders, and most insideous, different size pads – I mean, some had 100 notes per pad, and some had 90!  The lesson there is that some vendors will try to trick you into buying their products because you wouldn't buy them otherwise.

I have one of these on my desk at home and one in the office.  I use "post-it" notes all the time, and I have a particular reason for liking the pop-up style: you don't need both hands!

To get a sticky note from a regular post-it note pad, you have to hold the pad in one hand and peel off a note with the other.  Even when I use a non-pop-up style holder, I still have to hold it steady with one hand while I get the note with the other.

Not so with this baby!  A nice weighted bottom keeps it in place and the alternating pop-up organization of the notes means that I reach up with one hand and come away with one note.  I just couldn't do without this simple little tool!

This is the Post-It® brand dispenser.  I've written how sometimes you can save big by buying generic (like with these labels or this toner) and sometimes you really want to buy brand name (like with this PS3 controller).  In this case, buy the brand name dispenser, and also the brand name note refills.

Click here, or on the picture to get started with one-handed post-it note use!

At Conditioned Air, we send a lot of postcards to our customers – marketing, reminding customers of upcoming maintenance, etc.  And we use a lot of labels. 

We'd previously used these Avery labels, and they were great.  But of course I wanted to see if these generic (Ace) labels were as as good…for about 30% less.  Click the picture, or the Ace link in this text to order some for yourself.

And the verdict is in – they are great.  So no offense Avery, but I think I'm going to have to buy Ace from now on.  The ones in the picture are the small "print addresses for a postcard or envelope" size.  We also bought some 1/2 page (8.5" x 5.5") size, and like them too!

viagra

As I mentioned recently in my Viewsonic monitor post, we're mostly Mac people with some PCs at Conditioned Air.  And while I don't use a PC unless I have to (sorry to everyone I just offended ), when I do have to, I like to use it with a Mac keyboard. 

The design and manufacture of these keyboards are first class – they are easy to type on and last forever.

So if you have to use a PC, this will deaden the pain somewhat (oops, sorry again!)    Click here, or on the picture to get one for yourself.

We're mostly Mac people at Conditioned Air, but we still have quite a few PCs because there are just some apps and web sites that make you use Windows.  And while it pains me no end to look at anything but an Apple monitor (if you've ever used one, you'll understand), I (and we) have to.

Monitor technology continues to improve, and perhaps more importantly manufacturing effeciencies drive costs down, down, down.  So when it's time to buy a new one, I often have to start from scratch in my research.  It feels like each time I look, I can get a 2 or 3 inch larger monitor for less money than the last time!

This is my current favorite.  We've got a couple and they look great and are going strong.

I used to buy all my monitors from Costco.com – they were always the most monitor for the money.  Every once in a while I'd check Amazon, but they just wouldn't have as good a deal as Costco.  Costco's web site made it easy to order, and the one time I had to take one back was a breeze, but they would take something like 2 weeks to ship.  Amazon's Prime – free 2-day shipping for $79/yr – has totally spoiled me against anyone who doesn't ship both *right now* and *really cheap*!  So when Amazon started having similar deals, I had to start buying monitors there.

Click the picture, or here, to get one for your home or business.

I'll let my business partner Ryan explain this one:

I bought this awesome little pedometer a few weeks back and just keep it in my pocket. I'm trying to take 4k steps a day (not counting during exercise) at least, and it's way more interesting with the steps count than just "yeah, I should go walk around a few minutes again".  What you measure…

That sounded good to me so I bought one myself.  I've only had it a week but let me tell you, it is changing my life! 

Ryan's right – when I pull this out of my pocket and check my progress, it makes me want to walk more.  Little things all day long: I take the stairs instead of an elevator, I don't worry as much about getting everything out of the car in one trip.  I find myself motivated to, well, just be more active. 

So thanks Ryan, for setting the example and showing me this great pedometer.  As for everyone else, click here or on the picture and maybe it will start you down the road to getting in better shape!

Every morning I make coffee for my wife (I know, aren't I a great husband! ), and before she leaves for work, fix some for her for the road.

We've tried several over the years, and of the ones I can find on the market now, this one is the best.

It's sturdy, keeps her coffee hot, and here's the really nice part – you can drink while driving without spilling.  As a matter of fact, it is about as spill-proof as I've seen in one of these.  I mean you can toss it over in the floorboard and it won't spill.  That's one reason it has a 4.5 star rating on Amazon (out of 789 reviews as of this posting).

You can't go wrong with this travel mug.  Click on the picture (or here) to get one for your wife (or husband!).

We’re in the process of migrating our technicians to iPhones at Conditioned Air.  And we always need car chargers.

These aren’t cheap, but they are sturdy and have given us great service.  The dual outlets are particularly handy!

Click the picture, or here to get one for yourself.

My daughter Sarah is a sophomore at Troy University and a while back there were some assaults near campus.

I bought her this portable security kit and it has served her well, giving her both real protection and piece of mind.

It includes a door stop alarm, a window alarm, and a personal alarm to carry with you.  Trust me, they are quite loud, and will get you lots of attention, which is what you need if you are being threatened!  They are also great to use in your hotel room if you travel.

Click (here) or on the picture to buy one for yourself or someone you care about!

I became addicted to “full-spectrum” lights years ago, and luckily they’ve come down in price over time.  I try to get LED or compact fluorescent bulbs when I can (and it makes sense financially), but so far I’ve not found either that will both look good in an open fixture and put out decent light.

Until I do, and as long as our (sarcasm on) wonderfully benevolent government, who clearly knows what is right for me in every part of my life (sarcasm off) allows me to, I’ll use these.

They last a decent amount of time, are reasonably priced, and give wonderful *white* light.  Spend any time around that, and you’ll loathe the sickly yellow light you used to have!

Click on the picture to try some in your home.

Journal size

These notebooks are awesome.  Super high quality paper, excellent construction, just great overall.

If you take notes (I’ve still not figured how to replace my Moleskine with Evernote on my iPad for meetings), you’ll love these notebooks.  There is something about writing in them with a nice pen that takes me back to an earlier time.

Click on the top picture to get your large “Journal” size (5.2 x 0.6 x 8.2 inches) or the bottom picture for the smaller “Diary” size (3.6 x 0.6 x 5.6 inches).

Pocket size

Paper clips are paper clips, right?  I think so.  Unless you just love some particular style, and are willing to pay for them, why pay more than you should?

When I was researching these, I noticed that some of the products were cheaper, but the description wasn’t clear, and I’m pretty sure that they are only 1 box of 100 instead of this one, which is 1,000 total clips (10 boxes of 100).  Little things like that make a big difference in your pocketbook if you don’t catch them!

Click the picture to take the easy way and buy the ones I’ve researched!

We’ve got a couple different desktop B&W laser printers at Conditioned Air, including several of the HP Laserjet P1102w (I most recently bought toner for it here).  I have a Brother HL-2170w on my desk and just bought this toner so I’ll have a spare.

We’ve use the high-priced toner, and this dirt cheap stuff, and this stuff works fine.  Your mileage may vary, but I doubt it, since the one I’m buying today is my 3rd generic (read dirt cheap) re-manufactured cartridge, and they’ve all worked fine.

Click on the picture to try this toner yourself.

These are the third type (of three) of envelopes we use at Conditioned Air (we also use #8 QB check size and #10 double-window).  These are letter size and while more expensive than ones you must moisten yourself, self-seal saves me time and effort.

Click on the picture to order your own – that link is the best deal I’ve been able to find.

Be careful when you are shopping around – there are lots of subtle differences in features and packaging, and it is easy to buy the wrong one.

I first saw these one day on woot! and bought a two-pack on a whim – I thought they'd be a good stocking-stuffer.

We have some of the Buckyballs® brand, and some of these (they are pretty much the same).

I gave them to my 12-year-old son and they sat around for a month or two not being used.  Then he picked them up one day and started playing around with them and found himself hooked.  One thing led to another, and he started bugging me to buy him more so he could create bigger things.

I picked up most of the later ones here, and we eventually wound up with 8 or 10 sets.   Here are a few things Will created:

My wife and I have one of these in our bedroom.  We went most of our lives without one, and now wonder how we lived without it!

It projects the time on the ceiling above our beds, and let me tell you – it is much easier to see the time when you wake up in the middle of the night.  No more leaning over trying to find the bedside clock!

If I could change one thing, it would be for the projected and main clock to be combined – currently they are separate and you have to set both.  Overall though, this clock is well worth the money, and I'd recommend that you get one too!

My 12-year old came to me last fall with a request for a speaker like this for a Christmas present.  It wasn’t this one, but one “as seen on TV!”

I searched for the best one and settled on this (not the brand he saw on TV, but he has been quite happy with it).  I checked with him just yesterday to see how he liked it (and whether he actually used it much) and got an enthusiastic yes on both counts.

So if you are looking for a small iPod speaker, click the picture to check it out on Amazon.  I think this one is a good deal.

I started doing more conference calls last year.  Mostly I use Skype through my MacBook Air, and I needed a good USB headset.  I searched around and found this one and am glad I did!

This headset is heavy in a good way, very solid, with twin ear pieces that makes it easier for an ADD person like me to tune out surrounding noise (I just close my office door and though there is a lot going on around me, I don’t hear it).  I has a heavy cord that ends in a USB (only) connector.

I use it several hours per week; it is comfortable, has a great mic and delivers excellent sound.  My only complaint is that it is left side only – the mic is on the left and you can’t use it on your right ear.  That has turned out to be less of an issue than I’d thought it might be (actually, I found I don’t care).

I expect this thing to last a long time (I’ve had it for about 6 months at this writing) but if I needed a replacement, I think I’d buy another just like it.  Click here or on the picture to see more details and pictures on Amazon.

I had a Mont Blanc years ago and loved it.  Then I somehow lost it.  Last year I noticed a couple of my friends had them and I started thinking about them again.  I gave my wife some heavy hints about how nice a birthday present that might make, and wow, can you believe it, I got one!  I’ve kept this one close to me and use it every day.

There were three problems though: it came with black ink and I prefer blue, it came with a fine point and I prefer medium, and while the original point was fabulous on nice paper, it wouldn’t write well at all on normal paper, receipts, etc.

I looked around for various refills and lucked out when I found this one (click on the picture to order yours) – these nice blue medium points solved all three of my problems, and I’m back to loving my pen again!  The nice blue ink writes easily and looks good on anything.  Now to do something about my penmanship!

I bought this a while back to have a Torx bit for my Macbook and I must say it has been handy for many more things than just that.  I use this thing all the time.  The bits are high quality, they are easy to insert and remove from the handle, and the case closes easily and stays closed.

For a dirt cheap multi-tip screwdriver set, I just don’t see how you can beat this!  Click on the picture to get your own.

I’ve had mixed results with off-brand ink.  I’m not an expert, so I can’t really comment on the differences between HP ink, re-manufactured, refilled, etc.  other than the obvious.

I *know* HP brand will work great, but it is danged expensive.  I’m hesitant to try the refilled stuff as I have these images of ink flowing all over my desk!  But I just checked with Paul (who I ordered these for recently) about the re-manufactured ones you see in the picture here and he says they are working great!

When you consider that (at the time of this writing) these are 1/4 the price of the new HP ones, well, what are you going to do?  I’m sold on re-manufactured toner for our laser printers, and unless something untoward happens, I’m going to keep buying this ink too.  Click the picture to try some yourself.

And remember, when you are comparing prices, don’t forget to include shipping – and that reminds me how much I love Amazon Prime!

These are the second type (of three) of envelopes we use at Conditioned Air (we also use #8 QB check size and #10 plain).  These are letter size and we like the double window because we have our system set up to print customer invoices that let the addresses show through.

Click on the picture to order your own – that link is the best deal I’ve been able to find.

Be careful when you are shopping around – there are lots of subtle differences in features and packaging, and it is easy to buy the wrong one.

We go through a lot of envelopes at Conditioned Air (though I’m looking forward to the day when I can pay everything on-line and we don’t have to mail as many checks).  We’ve experimented with different ones and have settled on this brand, bought naturally, from Amazon, because they just make it so easy to buy.

We buy several different sizes depending on the use, and we use these (#8) to mail checks that we print with QuickBooks.   We also use these #10 letter size.

Click on the picture to try some for yourself.  If you are shopping around, make sure you calculate $/envelope, including shipping, as they come in various count packages.

I’m not sure what to say about these other than they are great undershirts.  Well, I will say that I salute the person who realized that you don’t need tags on these!  I also like the V-Neck style.  Click the picture to get a pack of 5 (Crewneck) for yourself.

My wife and I’ve used this coffee maker at home for years, and I’ve given up even trying anything else.  This one just rocks.  We average two pots per day and I don’t even remember how long ago I bought the one we have – they last a long, long time.

And once I discovered this coffee, I knew I needed to get one of these for the office.  So I just bought this one today and now I’ll have one at home and the office!  Click the picture to get one from Amazon for yourself.

We’ve got a mammoth Canon C2550 centrally located in our office at Conditioned Air, and we use it a lot.  But a few of us do enough printing that we need a decent B&W laser printer on our desks.  Over the years we’ve used several and currently (models come and go) we like the HP Laserjet P1102w.

One of the things I hope you get from this site is guidance for when it is OK to buy “the cheap crap” and when it’s not.  For example, I always buy name brands for Mac power cords or PS3 controllers but not for this HP toner or these audio cables.

We’ve use the high-priced toner, and this dirt cheap stuff, and this stuff works fine.  Your mileage may vary, but I doubt it. (-:

I use these things all the time in my car to hook my iPhone to my car stereo.  And this is a good example of it being OK to “buy the cheap crap”.  These are so dirt cheap that I buy 5 at a time, and when one breaks, I just toss it and reach into the glove box for another.  They aren’t super high quality (OK, not really high quality at all) but they last a few months and then they are intermittent or just quite working entirely.  Their price also allows me to keep a couple in my wife’s car, have plenty for my daughter’s car, etc.  Click here to get some for yourself.

Update: My son’s “handling” of his iphone is such that he inevitably tears the rubber that fits around the outside.  I’ve not found a place to just get the rubber, so I just bought him another whole case.

Our plumbers and HVAC technicians use these to protect their iphones, and they put them through a lot of abuse.  But the real testimonial is that one has kept my 12 year old hyper-son Will’s iPhone 4 damage free, despite his tendency to juggle it coming down the stairs!  I’ve bought them for work and home because they are the toughest cases I can find – get yours today before you drop your phone!

My 6th grader saw this cross somewhere and liked it enough that he bought it with his own money.  When it arrived he was thrilled as it is very sturdy and looks great!  He wears it everywhere.  Click on the picture to get one for yourself.

I’ve found life much easier when I have an Apple charger already plugged in wherever I often work.  I have two at home, one at the office, and one in my car.  It beats the heck out of dragging one around everywhere I go.  Don’t be tempted by cheap knockoffs – sometimes generic products can be a great deal, but I’ve never been comfortable with what might happen if one of these overheats in the middle of the night so  I try to only buy real Apple ones (though sometimes it is hard to tell).  I got this one on Amazon.

My son Will’s PS3 controller conked out and this time I bought a Sony controller.  I’ve found some great products that were much less expensive then the name brands, but PlayStation controllers have *not* been among them!  So it’s Sony controllers for me from here on out.  Here’s the one I got.

I just ordered my latest pair, tossing my last ones after several years of faithful use.  I love these shoes because they are comfortable, last a long time, have a great price, and, oh yeah, they look great!  Buy a pair for yourself.

This was a Christmas present for my daughter Sarah, who is a sophomore at Troy University.  She’s studying journalism & marketing and wanted the right tool to get her started.  She says she loves it and has learned a ton!  Buy your own copy now.

We’ve got a couple of these at work and are quite happy with them.  According to one user, “It’s cheap, fast and super quiet.”  What else can I say – grab one now!

I’ve used a ProClip for years, and they are very high quality.  When I upgraded from my 3Gs to my new iPhone 4S, it wouldn’t fit my old mount, so I decided to try something different.  I’m using it now and am quite happy with it – it isn’t as sturdy as the ProClip, but it is much less expensive, it swivels and tilts, fits different size phones, and is easy to move to another car.  If something ever happens to this one, I’ll buy another one just like it.

I love this thing – people report I sound crystal clear, and I can barely tell it is in my ear. Watch out for the color – the black is quite a bit cheaper than the others.  Here’s where I got mine.

My buddy Randy mentioned this to me at work one day.  Said it was the least bitter coffee he’d ever had.  Nice guy that he is, he gave me a pound.  I took one sip and ordered a subscription from Amazon – a three-pack arrives every 3 months.  My wife Gail used to put a couple packets of Splenda in her Folgers; this tastes so good she drinks it black!  You get 3 one-pound packs per order.  I recommend getting the subscription from Amazon- it is cheaper and you don’t have to worry about running out.

We needed a few of these at work and I ran across these on Amazon.  Really, what can you say about an ethernet cable?  So far so good!  The ones I got are Cat6, blue, 30 ft length.