10 Great Father’s Day Gifts Under $100

Father’s Day is just a few days away, and if your like me spending time with my family is the best gift of all. However if you choose to pickup some gifts for Dad, maybe my list of inexpensive ideas will spark your interest.

NES Controller Clock for the Geek Dad $24.99 @ www.GeekGearStore.com

NES CLOCK
$24.99 @ www.GeekGearStore.com

This cool retro NES controller clock is perfect for the geeky dad that has everything. Laser cut 10″ x 4 ½”  out of hard wood and wall mountable. I can almost guarantee your Dad does not have one. Perfect for Father’s Day.

 

Automobile Dashboard Camera $50 and up

KDLINKS X1 Dashboard Camera
KDLINKS X1 Dashboard Camera

There are hundreds of dash cams on the market, and I believe that they are a great investment, not only for safety but for security as well. I personally own the KDLINKS X1 Camera $170 and purchased it specifically because it is designed to take extreme heat and cold. There are other lower cost cameras starting at around $50. The average price for a decent unit is around $100. Be sure to read the reviews before you make a purchase Continue reading “10 Great Father’s Day Gifts Under $100”

Protect Your Computer From Ransomware!

Ransomware! Sounds scary doesn’t it? What exactly is ransomeware and how can we protect ourselves from being a victim?

ran·som

/ˈransəm/

a sum of money or other payment demanded or paid for the release of a prisoner.
That basically sums it up, Money paid for the release of a prisoner and in this case the prisoner is your data. You accidentally visit a shady website, or open an attachment that you maybe shouldn’t have and in an instant the ransomware virus begins encrypting your files.

How does it work?

Continue reading “Protect Your Computer From Ransomware!”

Happy Memorial Day! A Few Random Facts.

memorial banner

Thank you to all the men and women that have given the ultimate sacrifice to keep our country safe. It it wasn’t for you we probably wouldn’t be here today and enjoy life in a safe peaceful country.

A few random facts about Memorial Day you may not have know.

When did we start celebrating Memorial Day?

WarterlooIt is unclear where and when this tradition started, many different communities around the county may have began their own independent gatherings. However, in 1966 the federal government declared Waterloo, New York the official birthplace of Memorial Day!. This community first celebrated their version of Memorial day on May 5th 1866. Business closed and residents decorated the graves of soldiers with flowers and flags. Continue reading “Happy Memorial Day! A Few Random Facts.”

Top Secret Apple Products For 2017

Apple attempts to be super secretive regarding their new and upcoming products, however leaks do occur. Some of the leaks are true and others just hype.  This year is no different, and the “Apple Products” rumor mill has churned out quite a few. It will be fun looking back at this post in 2018 to see which products and predictions came true.

The Siri Home Assistant / Smart Speaker

Why let Amazon and Google have all the fun? The Amazon Echo was the first smart speaker to the market back in June of 2015, followed by The Google Home in November 2016. Apple has been catching up for almost 2 years. Will their version of the home assistant be superior to the competition? The rumors state that it will come with a screen, face recognition and emphasize sound quality.

RELATED READING: New Amazon Echo Show – Alexa With a Screen! Continue reading “Top Secret Apple Products For 2017”

Love retro gaming? This new NES console can play every game!

Do you love retro gaming? Maybe a big fan of the original Nintendo Entertainment System? (NES) This new console may interest you.

NesMiniBack in the fall around the holidays Nintendo released the NES Mini Classic Edition console with about 30 included games. The units sold out from Amazon in about 10 minutes. The demand was so high it crashed Amazon’s web servers.

Then to make matters worse, Nintendo announced that they have discontinued this wildly popular product!  If you wish to buy one they are still available on Amazon albeit at a premium price $160!

There’s a new player in town!  The Retron HD NES Console

NES2Maybe the crazy demand for a retro Nintendo was a good thing.  Amazon is now taking pre-orders for the Hyperkin RetroN 1 HD Gaming Console.  At only $40 this little retro console looks like a great performer. It has the capability to play every Nintendo NES game ever released, and is compatible with both NTSC and PAL games. Continue reading “Love retro gaming? This new NES console can play every game!”

Don’t have a HyperChiller? You might want to get one.

My wife bought me one of these HyperChiller contraptions for Christmas last year and I thought it was a neat idea. Who wouldn’t enjoy iced coffee without the ice watering it down. Too bad I don’t drink a drop of Coffee, however I am an iced tea drinker.  I decided to give it a go at making some fresh brewed tea and see how it performs.

How does this thing work?

Think of the HyperChiller as a double lined thermos that surrounds your beverage with two chambers of ice. The liquid is contained in a stainless steel cup that prevents the ice from diluting your drink, while allowing very fast heat transfer to cool down your liquid refreshment in a hurry.

Preparing the HyperChiller for use:

Continue reading “Don’t have a HyperChiller? You might want to get one.”

Don’t believe the hype – MP3 is NOT Dead!

What did we do before MP3? I remember the early years using my Dolby high speed dubbing tape decks to make copies of the tapes my friends and I used to share. Not too soon after came the Compact Disc, and I ran out to buy a Pentium 60mhz with a 2x CD-Recorder to make my mix CD’s.

I was amazed that we could “rip” huge wav files off the CD’s and play them back on the PC. But disk space was at a premium in the 90’s, due to the limited capacity of hard drives.

There had to be a better way to store music! That’s when a friend introduced me to the MP3 format. Full length songs at decent quality only 3mb – 5mb! WOW this was amazing, think of the possibilities.  There were no portable MP3 players yet, I found myself taking a laptop in the car hooked to an FM transmitter to listen to my music.

My car MP3 Player Website

I even marketed a CD on eBay for $10 that had plans for a car MP3 Player Just imagine putting a computer in a pizza box in the trunk of your car, running a PS/2 cable to a numeric keypad and mounting a 40 character display to your dash board with a parallel cable.   It was good business until the portable MP3 players began to arrive about a year later.

A BRIEF TRIP DOWN THE PORTABLE MP3 PLAYER MEMORY LANE

Continue reading “Don’t believe the hype – MP3 is NOT Dead!”

DIY Summer Project – Make your own Sun & Moon Jar Night Light

The Sun & Moon Jar night light helps set the mood in any room. Place the jar in your family room, bed room, back yard patio or even take it on your next camping trip. No matter where you place the jar, the warm glow will surely add ambiance to your surroundings.

Today I’m going to explain the steps to make your own Sun & Moon Jar.

Visit www.GeekGearStore.com for a completed version of this project!

Supplies you will need:

Tools You Can Use:

Let’s Get Building!

If you are not familiar with how LED’s work give this post a quick read.

Light Up Your Projects With (LED) Light Emitting Diodes

SUN & MOON JAR STEP 1 – Prepare The LED module

Take each LED and bend the Cathode (negative) post as shown.

I use a small needle nose to make the “L” shape.

 

Continue reading “DIY Summer Project – Make your own Sun & Moon Jar Night Light”

Weekend Project – Repairing & Emulating the Commodore 64

The Commodore 64 was not only one of my favorite computers it was my first computer. Over the life span of the C64 I broke quite a few of them due to the poor quality of early deigns. This may have been a good thing because it lead to taking them apart and attempting to repair the units insuring my life long love of computers and consumer electronics.

Sometimes I was successful at my repair endeavor and many times not so much. Repairing the Commodore 64 became as much a hobby as programming the computer.

If you still have one of these dinosaurs in your basement and want to fire it up to show the kids take a look at this great PDF file I found on the Internet. It could prove to be helpful.

Feel Free To Download The Service Manual PDF Here

The service manual is dated March 1992 and that was about the year the C64 went out of production.  It is actually very complete with lots of hand drawn schematics and theory of circuit operation. Parts numbers and chip / port pin outs are also listed. Basically everything you need to troubleshoot and fix that old computer and fire up the BASIC V2 screen we all remember so well. Continue reading “Weekend Project – Repairing & Emulating the Commodore 64”

UNIQUE GIFT FOR DAD – 16GB Mercedes Benz USB Flash Drive in the style of a Car Key!

Stumped on what to buy for the Dad that has everything this Father’s Day? This may be the answer. A very cool 16GB USB flash drive in the shape of a Mercedes Benz key fob.

Only $13.99 on Etsy

The USB drive can be customized and laser engraved with the word Dad or his  initials on the back!

Just plug into your computer and save your files in style!

Put some music on this drive and plug into Dads car USB port for some cool tunes.

 

Plus when you connect it to your computer, The Mercedes logo shows up and the drive name can be customized with your Dad’s name or initials!

 

 

 

 

 

This will  make an awesome  gift for Dad! Pick one up on Etsy for only $13.99

Exclusive for WebCommand.net readers:
Save 10% with discount code WEBCOMMAND

Thank you for reading my blog
-Joe