JeremyMorel.com
It’s chic to be geek.
‘Tis the season to be thrifty.
(Fa la la la la, la la la la)
Nov 14th
I’m still having trouble believing that Turkey day is just around the corner! The holidays are upon us already? Bah……Well, I’m certainly no Ebeneezer Scrooge, however, I do take issue with the fact that the stores are already blaring carols over their Muzak systems… It’s kind of an unofficial rule in my family that Christmas season doesn’t kick in until “Black Friday,” (formerly known as the day after Thanksgiving). Speaking of which, that reminds me… it’s time to perform my annual civil service and pass on my holiday wish for you: More money in your pocket.
Now before I go much further with my song-and-dance, let me say that I’m well aware that Black Friday stands in direct opposition of many folks’ beliefs of the meaning of the holiday. — I get it, and I respectfully withdraw from that argument. My take is: What better way to be a zealot for the cause than to take advantage of the generosity of your fellow man– y’know, the various merchants offering those deep, but limited-time discounts.
So with all that said, here it is — my annual list of Black Friday sites. These sites get a jump on all the upcoming sales, (albeit some are only rumors), compile them and organize them into a search-able format:
- BlackFriday.info posts sales information and online coupon codes. It also provides ad scans of Black Friday circulars weeks in advance.
- Black-Friday.net boasts up-to-date Black Friday deals and e-mail updates. Also check out the “Deals of the Day,” offered by retailers such as Amazon.com, Target and Best Buy throughout November. Caveat: Not all posted ads are confirmed, but the site is clear about which Black Friday deals “might be available.”
- BlackFriday.com provides Black Friday coupons, online offers and even free samples. Coupons are organized by categories such as grocery coupons, baby coupons and travel.
- Black Friday@GottaDeal.com posts ads and organizes sales by store. There are also a slew of pre-Black Friday bargains.
- DealTaker.com provides nearly 9,000 coupons for more than 2,000 stores. There are also “free shipping” and “free stuff” sections.
- RetailMeNot.com offers coupon codes for up to 40,000 stores — throughout the holiday shopping season and also year-round. There’s also a RetailMeNot social network to stay connected with fellow shoppers and share bargains.
- TGIBlackFriday.com posts ads from a large variety of retailers and provides its “Top 40 deals.”
- FatWallet.com provides deals and discounts, as well as a forum for shoppers to discuss the latest ways to save.
- In the market for a new laptop? BlackFridayLaptopDeals.net focuses heavily on Black Friday laptop bargains. However, the site also touches on other products, such as televisions and toys.
Here’s hoping the holiday season brings you all your heart desires… And if you’re still hankering for material goods, I wish you good luck and good sales!
Jailbreaking = Terrorism?
Aug 2nd
Apple has claimed that jailbreaking iPhones – that is, altering their software to allow the user to run applications without restrictions – could turn them into tools for deliberately bringing down cellphone networks.
The claims come in a response to a government review which takes place every three years to decide which situations should be exempted from copyright laws. The Electronic Frontier Foundation has filed a request asking that the act of modifying the iPhone’s software should be deemed legal for people who own a handset.
Because the software is licensed (whereas the handset is sold), Apple maintains that modifying the software is a breach of copyright. It rejects the argument that such behavior is covered by section 117 of the US Copyright Act which allows for situations such as installing software on a computer or making a back-up copy to protect against losing it if the computer is damaged.
The most striking note of its response, however, is the claim that jailbreaking makes it easier to access the baseband processor, the component which connects the handset to the network – in this situation, Apple warns that jailbreaking could modify the software controlling this processor and lead to GPS functions failing.
More seriously, it says jailbreaking could make phones more vulnerable to hackers. As they would be able to access the baseband processor, this could let them change the Exclusive Chip Identification (ECID), the number which identifies the handset to the nearest cellphone tower. Apple claims that this creates a risk of two phones with the same ECID connecting to a tower simultaneously, which could potentially see one user unable to make or receive calls. (PC World questions this claim, noting that iPhones have a secondary identification number built into the SIM.)
According to the filing, the consequences could be more serious than inconvenience, Apple says somebody hacking into a jailbroken phone and controlling the baseband processor software might also be able to get around limits on the amount of data the handset can send at once. At best this might allow them to evade data call charges. At worst they could deliberately overload the cellphone tower and crash its operating software
Read my blog however you’d like to…
Feb 20th
As I have said in some of my earliest posts, my blog – in addition to hopefully providing you with cool tips, tricks and thought provoking ideas — is more or less a dumping ground of cool stuff I find on the ‘net.
Occasionally, I’ll take a liberty, (or two!), to use my blog as my sounding board. (It’s my blog, and I can whine if I want to!) That said, It’s recently occured to me that sometimes people just want me to “make with the goodies.”
Enter: Categories. With each post I make, I try my best to catagorize it. That is, to say, I try to find a relative heading to discribe the topic of the post. For instance, If I’m telling you about a really cool new Mac utility and where to download it, I’m going to file it under Tech Advice and Software Downloads. If I’m going to rant and rave about something, or I’m going to sling some bias your way, I will file it under Opinion and if necessary its sub-topic Rant.
Now, when you visit my blog, you can select your desired category from my topics list. Alternatively, if you subscribe to the RSS feed, you can set your reader software to filter based on these topics.
Hopefully, this will help both of you, (tee-hee), to get the most out of all the “stuff” I have to offer.
