Cool Tech Reviews

For years I had a Caller ID adjunct box attached before an older landline phone with answering machine that sits on the line for our DSL service. Aside from the small hard-to-read display, the darn thing ate batteries at a ferocious rate. I suppose I could have bought a new phone/answering machine with Caller ID (although many of those displays are hard to read too), but first I thought I would look around to see if I could find a Caller ID box with a large screen that I could plug in to the wall. After a little searching at Amazon I found the oddly named Fans-Tel Type II Large Backlite Screen (actually the Fanstel Model G99M Caller ID Adjunct Box) which fit the bill quite nicely:

The 3 line backlit LCD screen is 3 3/8″ wide by 1 1/2″ tall (viewing area 3.1″ x 1.5″ ) and the large font characters are easy to read since the backlight on the display lights when a call comes in or you are reviewing calls. Better yet it has an AC cord and a brick that I plugged into the same power strip that the phone plugs into. You can optionally insert 3 AA batteries to back-up the memory and run caller ID during power failures. As you might expect, I have not had to replace them in the 6 months I have had the unit.

More details:

• Caller ID: Receives and displays name, number and calling time
• Caller ID on Call Waiting: Receives and displays name, number and calling time of a waiting caller during a telephone conversation
• Memory Capacity: Stores calling numbers, names, and calling times of last 99 calls, answered or not
• 4 Buttons: DIAL/FLASH, DELETE, FORWARD REVIEW, and BACKWARD REVIEW
• Protocols: Supports both Bellcore and ETSI Call Waiting Caller ID interfaces
• LED Indicator for Message Waiting and New Call
• Flashing LED and LCD icon indicate message(s) waiting in your local telephone company’s voice mailbox

I do not use the call or message waiting features, but I got just what I wanted: easy to read Caller ID without the battery bill. The price is currently $24.98 at Amazon.

A perennial favorite iPad app for the younger generation around here is Pocket Zoo. There is a cartoon zoo that you can visit and see photos of the animals and hear the sounds they make. Not surprisingly, it’s a lot of fun to startle your friends and siblings with an elephant’s trumpeting.

However, the real winner is the live animal cams at zoos around the world. You mostly have to visit during daylight, of course, but the kids find it endlessly amusing to try to spot the animals, some of which are much tougher to see than others. The penguins pictured below always seem to put on a great show, but your young ones may need more patience to spot some of the larger animals. On the other hand, when they do catch a glimpse of the tiger, for instance, the reward is even greater.

Highly recommended.

I have always enjoyed turn based strategy games in general and space trading games in particular, so I was glad to find Dark Nova on the iPad. Those familiar with the space trading genre will feel right at home: you start as a struggling space captain with a small ship trying to make a buck carrying cargo from one planet to another despite the depredations of pirates, the scrutiny of the police, shifty fellow traders, and the occasional alien pest. It’s mostly all about profitable buying, selling, and passenger traffic with the occasional flyer into smuggling or piracy if you are feeling adventurous. You are free to proceed at your own pace since it is turn based and not multiplayer, and there is enough of a challenge (and multiple levels) to keep you amused for a considerable period. While I did not try it, I see there is also a Dark Nova HD specifically for the iPad which presumably has larger graphics for the larger screen, although I was quite happy with the regular version in 2x on my iPad.