UPDATE Jan 2017
I STILL swear by this genuine orange-oil cleaning product and even more so as I've used it.
It even rescued me from having to get a plumber to free a blocked kitchen sink drain by using a 5:1 concentration of the oil repeatedly flushed down the drain. It released this massive big "gloop" of sludge that had formed at one of the drain bends.
Written Dec 2014
We have discovered that the genuine orange-oil cleaning products (as opposed to those which look and/or smell like citrus!) work better at de-greasing and removing oils and scum, than many "specialised" cleaners.
The problem is that most stores do not sell genuine orange-oil based cleaners.
Occasionally Aldi™ has the 500ml PowerForce™ Orange-Oil Cleaner spray-bottles.
More normally they just have the 750ml PowerForce™ Citrus cleaner, which, while still being a good cleaner, simply does not have the cutting power of the other product.
So after a bit of web research I found you can buy at-least two Australian Citrus-extract concentrates, one which is an ... "...anionic cleaner, powered by advances in surfactant technology and complemented by natural orange oil"
I have yet to determine what complimented by actually means in terms of percentile strength, but assuming that use of this product at the specified dilution rates will yield the same results as the Aldi™ products, below were my findings:
I have not verified these prices but lets assume that;
The 750ml Light Duty (LD) Citrus cleaner is $3.50 per 750ml
The 500ml Heavy Duty (HD) Orange Oil Cleaner is $4.50 per 500ml
From their website, the concentrate comes in 5 litre; 10 litre; and 20 litre containers at $176.30; $266.80 and $477.50 respectively.
This breaks down to $35.26; $26.68 and $23.88 per litre respectively so it's obviously much cheaper the more you buy
Going by their suggested dilution rates;
General Cleaning
Dilute between 1:30 and 1:100 parts water, depending on soiling.
Floors, Sinks, Toilets, Showers
Dilute to 1:30 parts water,
Degreasing Floors
Dilute to 1:10 parts water
Other Degreasing
Dilute at 1:5 parts water
For the equivalent of the LD Aldi™ cleaners, this works out at as follows if you buy the most expensive 5 litre concentrate:
At 1:30 dilution for LD cleaning, 5 liters x30 makes 150 litres. Divided by the 750ml per bottle gives the equivalent of 200 bottles and if they are $3.50 each that's $700 worth ... as opposed to the 5 litre concentrate at $176
a saving of $524 !
Even at the heaviest 1:5 dilution for HD cleaning, 5 litres x5 makes 25 litres. Divided by 500ml per bottle gives the equivalent of 50 bottles of the HD Orange Oil Cleaner which at $4.50 a bottle, would have cost $225 ... as opposed to the 5 litre concentrate at $176
even here there is a $49 saving.
Do the same sums for the 10 litre price and you find the savings are;
$1,312.50 vs $266.80 for the LD cleaning
a massive saving of $1,045 !
It should be noted that you wind up with the equivalent of 300 bottles of cleaner !... that's a good 8+ years supply for us!
and
$450 vs $266.80 for the HD cleaning
even here there is a worthwhile $183 saving.
The other product I'm also investigating with the manufacturer, appears to have similar properties but for only $80 for 5 litres ... vs the $176
Sunday 12 October 2014
Thursday 9 October 2014
Mark Ling $0 to $125,000 Webinar
Enjoyed the Mark Ling Webinar on going from $0 to $500 then $500 to $10,000 then $10,000 to over $100,000 per month using internet marketing
Nothing new, but this guy is a very ordinary Kiwi guy (Christchurch) with a very non-flashy and down-to-earth and easy-to-consume presentation.
Key elements of the webinar:
Affilorama
www.affilorama.com
$1 thirty day trial, $67 monthly, $497 for three years + upsells
Ranked: 80 out of 100
Upsell #1: AffiloBlueprint 3.0 Membership ($197, then $67 per month)
Upsell #2: AffiloJetpack Membership ($747)
Upsell #3: Affilotheme ($97)
Upsell #3: 5 Million Dollar Code ($197)
Overall: Legit, quality training, but if you take up all the offers, you will be looking at spending $747 + $67 per month for the Premium membership.
Money-back + $100 assurance so-long as you can prove you did at-least try to make his system work.
I found this page on who Mark is
This one of the birth of his son in April 2010
Nothing new, but this guy is a very ordinary Kiwi guy (Christchurch) with a very non-flashy and down-to-earth and easy-to-consume presentation.
Key elements of the webinar:
- An email list is imperative
- Being able to write good copy (adverts) is the difference between those who get stuck at 6 figures and those who make well into the 7 figures per month
- Estimates it will likely take 12weeks at 1/2hr per day, to reach $500/month
- Autoresponders such as aweber $20/month or Flutter for $10/month are required
Affilorama
www.affilorama.com
$1 thirty day trial, $67 monthly, $497 for three years + upsells
Ranked: 80 out of 100
Upsell #1: AffiloBlueprint 3.0 Membership ($197, then $67 per month)
Upsell #2: AffiloJetpack Membership ($747)
Upsell #3: Affilotheme ($97)
Upsell #3: 5 Million Dollar Code ($197)
Overall: Legit, quality training, but if you take up all the offers, you will be looking at spending $747 + $67 per month for the Premium membership.
Money-back + $100 assurance so-long as you can prove you did at-least try to make his system work.
I found this page on who Mark is
This one of the birth of his son in April 2010
Sunday 21 September 2014
Things to Do After an Accident
Once again, despite best intentions, I have not blogged for a long while ... so much has happened.
We finally bought a fully featured WIndows 8.1 tablet - with all our key requirements:
Full Windows Professional (can run all desktop apps natively)
9~11" form factor
Wireless WAN (aka 3/4G) built in
Full-hosting USB built in
Video out (min VGA pref HDMI)
At least 64GB (pref 128)
SD card if poss
Multiple docking options
... all the things I've harped-on in these previous posts
It's the Lenovo Thinkpad 10 and we loooove it
We had the Samil solar inverter replaced with an Aurora ... what a difference!
Still not making alternate-income money off internet marketing ... another overdue blog update
On the security front I've;
If any readers want to hear more about any of the above, please do comment as that will give me added incentive to prioritise blogging on the subject
But what prompted this post -
... was a car accident my daughter was involved in recently ... as a passenger.
It heightened our awareness of the lack of training around What To Do In An Accident and how often we do not have-to-hand the details we need to exchange in those times of stress.
After a very helpful discussion with RACQ we have now put together the following "kit" for each of our cars.
These kits comprise of three key items.
I'm not completely sure about the use of 000 in these situations so I'd appreciate any improvements anyone might like to offer by way of comments.
We finally bought a fully featured WIndows 8.1 tablet - with all our key requirements:
Full Windows Professional (can run all desktop apps natively)
9~11" form factor
Wireless WAN (aka 3/4G) built in
Full-hosting USB built in
Video out (min VGA pref HDMI)
At least 64GB (pref 128)
SD card if poss
Multiple docking options
... all the things I've harped-on in these previous posts
It's the Lenovo Thinkpad 10 and we loooove it
We had the Samil solar inverter replaced with an Aurora ... what a difference!
- It "just works" ... without error!.
- From my records it seems to be producing slightly higher output overall.
- I was able to get the RS485 communications and the Aurora Communicator software working with minimal pain and not a lot of extra cost.
Still not making alternate-income money off internet marketing ... another overdue blog update
On the security front I've;
- replaced older wireless security cameras with newer WansCam Fixed and PTZ cameras
- switched to another really excellent PC based CCTV management package - Blue Iris
If any readers want to hear more about any of the above, please do comment as that will give me added incentive to prioritise blogging on the subject
But what prompted this post -
... was a car accident my daughter was involved in recently ... as a passenger.
It heightened our awareness of the lack of training around What To Do In An Accident and how often we do not have-to-hand the details we need to exchange in those times of stress.
After a very helpful discussion with RACQ we have now put together the following "kit" for each of our cars.
These kits comprise of three key items.
- A concise sheet of key things to do/not-do in an accident
(shared below) - An insurance policy Certificate of Currency with details of
- the provider
- policy number
- claims hotline number
- RACQ Roadside Assist membership details and hotline
I'm not completely sure about the use of 000 in these situations so I'd appreciate any improvements anyone might like to offer by way of comments.
Things to Do After an Accident
First things first:
- Never admit liability – don’t apologise or say I’m
sorry that I did/didn’t do something
“don’t admit that you are at fault. Even though you may believe your actions caused the accident, leave that decision to the insurer ” - Don’t argue with other drivers.
The situation is already emotional and tense as it is; things don’t need to get worse - If you can safely move your car to the side
of the road, do so.
If it is not safe to move your car for whatever reason, make sure you turn your hazard lights on. - Check if anyone is injured – if so call 000 for Ambulance and Police
- If there is damage to other vehicles which might be more than a $2,500 – call the Police – apparently 131 444 will get local police in most states, otherwise 000
- Call your parents or close friend if you need moral support
In order of importance, exchange with other parties ...
- Car Registration number(s) - particularly of those who hit you or you hit or were pushed into
- Driver(s) name(s)
- Drivers License number(s)
- Insurer(s) - of those who hit you or you hit or were pushed into
- Drivers Phone number or Address
- Details of the police officer first on the scene
- Names/Contact details of anyone prepared to be witnesses
- If you have the opportunity, take photos of the accident scene before too much gets moved
Other web resources on this topic
Though not a concise list, I eventually found the RACQ do go into detail on this on their web site under the somewhat obscure title of "Unusual Motoring Situations"
Suncorp also offer their "Tips following a car accident"
#Moose has written an excellent Whirlpool wiki post on What to do when you have an accident.
It has a great list of phone numbers and covers multiple scenarios
Tuesday 17 June 2014
Comparison of recent "compact" smartphones against "the best" .. HTC One (M8)
| Sony Xperia Z1 Compact | HTC One Mini | Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Image Sensor | 1/2.3-inch CMOS, 20.7MP | 1/3-inch CMOS, 4MP | 1/3-inch CMOS, 8MP |
| Aperture | F2.0 | F2.0 | F2.6 |
| OIS | No | No | No |
| Camera Aspect Ratio | 4:3 (16:9 in 8MP mode) | 16:9 | 4:3 |
| Focal Length* | 31mm | 28mm | 31mm |
| Video | 1080p, 30fps | 1080p, 30fps | 1080p, 30fps |
| Screen | 4.3-inch, 720p | 4.3-inch, 720p | 4.3-inch, 960x540 |
| CPU | Snapdragon 800 | Snapdragon 400 | Snapdragon 400 |
| Dimensions | 127 x 64.9 x 9.5 mm 5.0 x 2.56 x 0.37 in |
132 x 63.2 x 9.3 mm 5.20 x 2.49 x 0.37 in |
124.6 x 61.3 x 8.9 mm 4.91 x 2.41 x 0.35 in |
| Weight | 137 g / 4.83 oz | 122 g / 4.30 oz | 107 g / 3.77 oz |
| Current Sim Free Street Price | USD 525 GBP 385 EUR 465 |
USD 410 GBP 220 EUR 340 |
USD 320 GBP 220 EUR 235 |
Source: DPREVIEW
HTC M8, or HTC One M8
| General | 2G Network | GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 |
|---|---|---|
| 3G Network | HSDPA 850 / 900 / 1900 / 2100 - EMEA, Asia | |
| HSDPA 850 / 1900 / 2100 - AT&T HSDPA 850 / 1700 / 1900 / 2100 - T-Mobile |
||
| 4G Network | LTE 800 / 900 / 1800 / 2600 - EMEA LTE 700 / 1700 / 2100 - T-Mobile |
|
| LTE 700 / 900 / 1800 / 2100 / 2600 - Asia LTE 700 / 850 / 1700 / 1800 / 1900 / 2100 / 2600 - AT&T |
||
| SIM | Nano-SIM | |
| Announced | 2014, March | |
| Status | Available. Released 2014, March |
| Body | Dimensions | 146.4 x 70.6 x 9.4 mm (5.76 x 2.78 x 0.37 in) |
|---|---|---|
| Weight | 160 g (5.64 oz) |
| Display | Type | Super LCD3 capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors |
|---|---|---|
| Size | 1080 x 1920 pixels, 5.0 inches (~441 ppi pixel density) | |
| Multitouch | Yes | |
| Protection | Corning Gorilla Glass 3 | |
| - HTC Sense UI v6 |
| Sound | Alert types | Vibration, MP3, WAV ringtones |
|---|---|---|
| Loudspeaker | Yes, with stereo speakers, built-in amplifiers | |
| 3.5mm jack | Yes |
| Memory | Card slot | microSD, up to 128 GB |
|---|---|---|
| Internal | 16/32 GB, 2 GB RAM |
| Data | GPRS | Yes |
|---|---|---|
| EDGE | Yes | |
| Speed | HSDPA, 42 Mbps (21 Mbps - AT&T), HSUPA, 5.76 Mbps; LTE, Cat4, 50 Mbps UL, 150 Mbps DL | |
| WLAN | Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band, Wi-Fi Direct, DLNA, Wi-Fi hotspot | |
| Bluetooth | Yes, v4.0 with A2DP | |
| NFC | Yes (market/operator dependent) | |
| Infrared port | Yes | |
| USB | Yes, microUSB v2.0 (MHL), USB On-the-go, USB Host |
| Camera | Primary | Dual 4 MP, 2688х1520 pixels, autofocus, dual-LED (dual tone) flash, check quality |
|---|---|---|
| Features | 1/3'' sensor size, 2µm pixel size, automatic simultaneous video and image recording, geo-tagging, face and smile detection, HDR, panorama | |
| Video | Yes, 1080p@60fps, 720p@120fps, HDR, stereo sound rec., video stabilization, check quality | |
| Secondary | Yes, 5 MP, 1080p@30fps, HDR |
| Features | OS | Android OS, v4.4.2 (KitKat) |
|---|---|---|
| Chipset | Qualcomm MSM8974AB Snapdragon 801 | |
| CPU | Quad-core 2.3 GHz (US/EMEA)/ 2.5 GHz (Asia, China) Krait 400 | |
| GPU | Adreno 330 | |
| Sensors | Accelerometer, gyro, proximity, compass, barometer | |
| Messaging | SMS (threaded view), MMS, Email, Push Email | |
| Browser | HTML5 | |
| Radio | Stereo FM radio with RDS | |
| GPS | Yes, with A-GPS support and GLONASS | |
| Java | Yes, via Java MIDP emulator | |
| Colors | Gunmetal Gray, Glacial Silver, Amber Gold | |
| - SNS integration - Google Drive (50 GB cloud storage) - Active noise cancellation with dedicated mic - TV-out (via MHL A/V link) - DivX/XviD/MP4/H.263/H.264/WMV player - MP3/eAAC+/WMA/WAV/FLAC player - Google Search, Maps, Gmail, YouTube, Calendar, Google Talk - Organizer - Document viewer/editor - Photo viewer/editor - Voice memo/dial/commands - Predictive text input |
| Battery | Non-removable Li-Po 2600 mAh battery | |
|---|---|---|
| Stand-by | Up to 271 h (2G) / Up to 496 h (3G) | |
| Talk time | Up to 14 h (2G) / Up to 20 h (3G) |
| Misc | SAR EU | 0.42 W/kg (head) 0.22 W/kg (body) |
|---|
Source: GSMARENA
Wine Tasting off the back of a mail survey
Not exactly "Technology" related , but we just had an in-home wine tasting promoted by Peiroth™ wines.
Many months ago I filled out a snail-mail survey on home wine usage then forgot all about it.
Out-of-the-blue I got a phone call from 07 3182 3713 from a salesperson for Peiroth™ Wines ... say who?
Oh-yes! That wine survey I filled out! The in-home tasting ... yeah, sure, why not.
A very personable salesperson fronts up and we go through quite number of wines, I didn't count but probably about a dozen, four of which I really liked ... a lot :-)
At the end of the night though with te wines ranging from about $26~$31 bottle and minimum case lots, it just wasn't in my normal "wine budget" ... though I was tempted!
If you do buy a case you automatically get their Wine club membership which is purchase-by-request only, not auto-ship every month.
Additionally all their wine comes with a three year warranty including if you decide you don't like that wine any more ... they will refund or exchange.
And 'yes' they give you a free gift for filling out their 'survey' ... we opted for the cheese board over the coffee mugs.
Overall not a bad experience.
Also see others experiences on reverseaustralia.com
(07) 3182 3712
07 3182 3712
31823712
or
(07) 3182 3713
07 3182 3713
31823713
Many months ago I filled out a snail-mail survey on home wine usage then forgot all about it.
Out-of-the-blue I got a phone call from 07 3182 3713 from a salesperson for Peiroth™ Wines ... say who?
Oh-yes! That wine survey I filled out! The in-home tasting ... yeah, sure, why not.
A very personable salesperson fronts up and we go through quite number of wines, I didn't count but probably about a dozen, four of which I really liked ... a lot :-)
At the end of the night though with te wines ranging from about $26~$31 bottle and minimum case lots, it just wasn't in my normal "wine budget" ... though I was tempted!
If you do buy a case you automatically get their Wine club membership which is purchase-by-request only, not auto-ship every month.
Additionally all their wine comes with a three year warranty including if you decide you don't like that wine any more ... they will refund or exchange.
And 'yes' they give you a free gift for filling out their 'survey' ... we opted for the cheese board over the coffee mugs.
Overall not a bad experience.
Also see others experiences on reverseaustralia.com
(07) 3182 3712
07 3182 3712
31823712
or
(07) 3182 3713
07 3182 3713
31823713
Sunday 11 May 2014
Update on fully featured WIndows tablet alternatives
3 Additional contenders
Since my last post a few days ago, there have been a couple of news worthy items in the WWAN capable Windows tablet space, plus, I realised my comparison table omitted one of the primary contenders which I had researched at that time, the HP™ ElitePad® 1000 G2. While somewhat pricey, it did at-least meet all my key requirements:- 9~11" Tablet
- Around the 6~900g
- Windows Pro (not RT)
- Inbuilt WWAN (3G/4G/LTE)
- Hosting USB (2 or better)
- Video out (min VGA pref HDMI)
- At least 64GB (pref 128)
- SD card if poss
I also realised you could not get to the links I provided in the comparison table so this time I am providing a link to the actual spreadsheet so you can access the links and the hover-text information therein.
The update table looks like this now with my TWO favorites now being
The MS Surface 4G has just been announced in the UK but this article sums it up in my view:
Windows RT remains a half-baked OS, but Surface 2 is a decent tablet
The ElitePad is out in Europe Trusted Reviews / In Aust / Notebook ItaliaAnd we are still waiting for Lenovo Thinkpad 10 / Liliputing
Lets hope they find their way to Australia WITH the WWAN capability at an affordable price
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