Category Archives: senior lifestyle

A Costco-Like Alternative In The Palm Of Your Hands

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Some people love to go museums, stage plays, the movies, restaurants, and the beach. My cousin Jeff loves to go to Costco. As a 50-year old therapist, he finds the warehouse club an adventurous playground. I have to say he returns home from his scouting trips with gems that most of us would never find.

I don’t know how he is going to feel about the next new concept in warehouse club shopping. I’m almost afraid to tell him that venture capitalists are throwing money at entrepreneurs who are starting online warehouse clubs for smartphones and tablets. The major appeal for shopping online is no crowds, no gas costs, and no big chunks of time wasted on outings. Yet, you get the same price advantages of the bricks and mortar stores.

One such new mobile warehouse club is Boxed, a startup that delivers bulk-sized products, just like from Costco and Sam’s Club, right to your front door. The app just raised a $6.5 million Series A investment from Greycroft, First Round Capital and Signia Venture Partners. Oh, one more thing. There are no typical membership fees and no shipping costs. Products are delivered in two days or less and go anywhere in the United States.

I am not sure if Boxed will be successful, but if I’m the typical customer, then this concept is going to be huge. I use my iPhone for everything including writing DigiDame. Boxed doesn’t have a website. It’s all in the app.

Sorry, cousin Jeff.

Sitting On Your Brains

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If someone says to you, “You’re sitting on your brains,” it may not be the insult you think it is. The person may be referring to the newly developed Darma smart cushion which is becoming the main topic of discussion in office environments around the country.

You are one of a few thousand to see it first. That’s a very low number considering the company hopes to sell millions later this summer. A few angel investors told me about Darma and then sure enough, I found, it on YouTube. Watch the video.

The Darma smart cushion is a fitness tracker. It’s not tied to you like a wrist, waste or headband. All you do is sit on it. Pretty nifty.

The Darma smart cushion is also built with 1mm sensors that detect your heart rate, respiratory patterns, and sitting posture. The information. Is communicated to an accompanying iOS app via Bluetooth 4.0.

Darma will also tell you to sit straight so you don’t create back problems. It will alert you when to stand up and stretch. This is the part I love the most: if Darma sees your stress levels are on the high side, it’ll advise you to take a break.

I’m going to buy Darma when it hits the shelves. I heard it is going to be around $178. Sitting on a smart cushion may be just what I need to remind me there is life after work.

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Number Sign To Me, Hashtag To You

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Illustration by Digital Relevance

My aunt Dotty used to repeatedly ask me “what does dot com mean” when we all got our first email addresses. She was well into her 80s. I used to explain dot.com to the best of my ability. Just when I thought she understood the dot.com concept, she would ask again. This proves that unless you use certain tech products or software applications repeatedly, you forget what it’s all about.

I am reliving my aunt Dotty’s questions all over again as more and more seniors hear about hashtags ###. Most folks who do not use social media are fascinated by the growing popularity of what they call the number sign. And for people who are on social media all the time, the hashtag has become one of the best ways to reach millions.

The hashtag is being used in new and different ways everyday. The one person who can really explain what hashtags are all about is Bianca Bosker, senior technology editor of Huffington Post.

If you read Bosker’s fun and simple explanation of hashtags, chances are you too will be searching for places to use them.

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A Shirt That Doubles As A Health Monitor

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I know the headline above is going to immediately grab the attention of all my fitness fanatic friends who religiously read my blog. They get a kick out of it when sedentary me tells them something new in fitness.

This is a biggie. Several fashion manufacturers are working on clothing pieces that will track health and fitness levels. I’m talking about precisely recording your heart rate, calories burned, and levels of stress. I also think this is pretty terrific for people who, from time to time, do not feel well due to overly exerting themselves. The numbers on a companion app will tell them whether they just need to relax or call for an ambulance.

The company that is getting all of the attention lately is OMsignal of Montreal. They were recently written up in Business Insider. They call their new make collection “biometric smartwear” featuring high-performance compression shirts. Female clothing is coming soon.

OMsignal currently has four different styles of male shirts including an undershirt, a sleeveless shirt, a casual t-shirt and a longsleeved shirt. Health sensors are embedded into the fabric. A little black box clips onto the shirt then transmits the data to a smartphone.

The shirts are available now for $199. Four designs are available in white, black and grey with orange or indigo stitching.

In my opinion, wearable health sensors save lives all the time. If something is out of order, it gets spotted immediately. You can’t beat that in a wellness program.

The Most Innovative Kayak You’ve Ever Seen

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I have only kayaked once. I really liked it even though Eliot did all the work. It’s a great way to get close to nature, just you and a body of water. Many of my friends in Miami kayak all the time, but they admit it’s always a schlep to tow their boats to the bay.

Tonight Oru Kayak presented a solution on Shark Tank. I couldn’t believe my eyes. Oru Kayak designs origami kayaks. They fold out of a compact case. The video above gives a great demonstration of what I am talking about. There is nothing like the Oru kayaks on the market.

The Oru Kayak is light and compact. It’s on display at the San Franscisco Museum of Modern Art. I want to buy one. The Oru website says “it’s stable enough for beginners and fast and sporty enough for expert kayakers. Oru Kayaks transform from a box to boat in just a few minutes.”

FEATURES
-Comfortable foam seat and fully-adjustable backrest
-Easy-to-close watertight seams
-2 rubber deck straps for extra gear
-Easy-to-adjust footrest
-Reinforced cockpit for easy entry
-Pair of bulkheads for extra rigidity
-Simple and intuitive strap and buckle closure system
-Fits standard spray skirts (size medium)

SPECIFICATIONS
LENGTH: 12′ [3.7 M]
WIDTH: 25″ [63 CM]
WEIGHT: 26 LBS [12 KG]
BOX LENGTH: 32″ [81 CM]
BOX WIDTH: 13″ [33 CM]
BOX HEIGHT: 29″ [73 CM]

The Oru Kayak retails at $1,195.00. Pricey but convenient. I’ll let you know if we get a pair.

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iPad App Sends Out Printed Greeting Cards

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I used to love sending greeting cards. I would look forward to going to the stationery store once a month to buy the next batch. I was always so proud of myself that I never forgot someone’s special occasion.

Then one day I went to visit a friend and spotted the card I sent him in the waste paper basket. It wasn’t even 24 hours after his birthday. I never said a word but the trips to the stationery store was never the same. I was spending 50 bucks or more a month to let loved ones know we cared and it didn’t have the impact I thought it would.

I realized my expectations were out of whack and the $50 could be spent better somewhere else. I thought I got over my desire to send out paper cards until I learned about a new app from the New York Times that would handle everything for me at better pricing,

All I have to do is download an app called Felt. It lets me send a handwritten, sealed, stamped and mailed card from my iPad. I write the message and the address. Then I pay $3.99 a card, or $2.99 each for a pack of 10. The recipient gets a paper card like the good old days.

There are other apps that do similar things, so if you know of any let us know. I may want do the monthly thing just one more time.

My Knees Are Weak Just Thinking About It

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I’m not sure if you caught this on the news last night but the John Hancock Center in Chicago just opened a new attraction 94-stories up that is a technological marvel. Having said that, the new feature, called “The Tilt” would give me a heart attack if I got close to it. “The Tilt” is a big glass box of windows that can fit up to eight people as it tilts downward 1,000 feet above Mag Mile.

If you watch the video above, you will see exactly how it works. I get the willies just thinking of myself tilting out of a building. Can’t do it. Don’t want to do it.

The video explains how a bank of glass and steel bays pivots outward and tilts downward 30 degrees for about 30 seconds.

I marvel at family and friends who have no fears and just want to enjoy the experience. What are they thinking?

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Doing What I Do Best

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Every once in a while I come across a product or a service that makes me think “why didn’t I think of that?” TaskRabbit is one of those ideas that really seems like it came from my brain. I am always fantasizing about a community where everyone chips in doing the chores they are best at. My talent would be barking orders so that everyone met their deadlines.

I would like to meet the person who developed TaskRabbit. I think the online concept is genius. It just seems very natural to me to outsource small jobs and tasks to others in their neighborhood who are more qualified, It’s all very civilized. “Needy folks name a task they want done, quotes the price they are willing to pay, and a network of pre-approved TaskRabbits bid to complete the job”

TaskRabbit was founded by Leah Busque in 2008 and reportedly received $37.5 million in funding. She came up with the idea when she needed someone else to run an errand. Busque bought the domain name RunMyErrand.com, then later changed it to TaskRabbit. She quit her job as a software engineer at IBM and launched the site in Boston, with 100 people participating. Today the company is functioning in many cities in the United States.

Let me know if you tried this service. Dying to know how well it works.

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A Video Camera That Goes Around And Around

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I’m about to show you the first video camera that creates 360-degree panoramic views with 4K resolution. If you thought the still cameras that feature 360-degrees shots were awesome, wait till you see this. You feel like you are totally in the driver’s seat.

Click here to see a video demonstration.

Called Centr, the camera was developed by a group of former iPhone camera engineers. Now they are raising money on Kickstarter to bring their invention to market.

Look how small and cute it is. It fits in the palm of your hands. It is slated to retail at $400 but you could get it for $299 on Kickstarter if you act fast.