Cell Phones | Hole In The Donut Cultural Travel

Google iPhone Favorite Places App Free to First 40,000 to Download

Published December 7, 2009 | By Barbara Weibel

Google announced today that said it has sent window stickers with bar codes to more than 100,000 local businesses in the U.S. that are popular search terms on Google’s home page and Google Maps. Consumers will be able to receive information about these “Favorite Places on Google” by taking a photo of the bar code in the store windows with their mobile phones. In addition to reviews of the business, in some instances the information could include coupons and special offers.

Favorite Places program launched by Google

The bar codes on each store’s window decal can be scanned with an iPhone or Blackberry and Android phones using a special reader application. Google recommends that users of Android phones download the free Barcode Scanner App, while iPhone users will need QuickMark app. Normally QuickMark costs $1.99, but starting today, Google and Apple are offering the application free for the first 40,000 people to download. The bar codes can be read by Continue reading →

Posted in Travel tips |

Tagged Android, app, application, bar code, Blackbery, Cell Phones, favorite places, free, Google, iPhone, mobile devices, Mobile Phones, QL code, Travel |

17 Comments

I Don’t Fit The Mold

Published August 11, 2008 | By Barbara Weibel

Yesterday I was talking to a friend who’d recently been shopping for new bras. Because she hadn’t been professionally fitted for a number of years, she went to an upscale department store, where the saleswomen are trained to measure for the proper size and shape bra. The saleswoman told my friend that a woman’s bustline, when viewed in profile, should fall halfway between the shoulder and elbow. My immediate reaction was to turn sideways and ask her if my chest ‘hung’ in the proper place. “Nope, it falls about here,” she answered, holding her hand three-quarters of the way between my shoulder and elbow.

Later in the day this whole issue started to nag at me. Why do we insist that everyone fit some sort of mold? Not long ago, I attended a seminar put on by the New York Times that dealt with the question of whether traditional newspapers will cease to exist as more and more people get their news electronically. According to their research, baby boomers still get Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized |

Tagged Baby Boomers, BBC, Blogging, Cell Phones, CNN, Delicious, Digg, electronic news, email, Facebook, fit the mold, IM, instant messaging, iPods, LinkedIn, Millennial Generation, Mixx, New York Times, Newspapers, online banking, snail mail, social networking, Stumble Upon, texting, twitter, VIRB |

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Does Anybody Know What Time It Is?

Published July 29, 2008 | By Barbara Weibel

For many years people asked me how I could function in business without wearing a watch. Recently, it occurred to me that no one has questioned my refusal to wear a watch for quite a long time, and so I began checking out people to see how many were wearing watches. I must have looked at a hundred wrists and only spotted two or three. We simply don’t need watches anymore. When we’re driving, there’s a digital clock in the car. At home, there are digital clocks on the stove, microwave, and TV. The time is displayed our on computers and our cell phones. Even my iPod displays the time.

That made me think about other things that have been rendered obsolete due to advances in technology. Cashiers no longer count back change at the store because cash registers do the figuring for them. Hand-held calculators have virtually Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized |

Tagged Cell Phones, environment, future, hydrogen cell cars, internet, Maglev Trains, Newspapers, obsolescence, plastics, shopping malls, solar power, TV, VoIP, watches |

10 Comments

When Helping People, The Simplest Ideas Are The Best

Published July 6, 2008 | By Barbara Weibel

During the past few years, I have frequently contemplated the issue of charitable giving. Every time there is a disaster of major proportion, we are called upon to donate. I listened to these pleas following 9/11 and the tsunami. Of late, the earthquake in China, the Myanmar cyclone, and the flooding along the Mississippi have prompted organizations like the American Red Cross to redouble their efforts to raise money. Regularly, I am subject to appeals from non-profit organizations that solicit money for a plethora of causes: Jerry Lewis browbeats me on behalf of children suffering from Muscular Dystrophy, the Fraternal Order of Police demands that I purchase their light bulbs, and National Public Radio subjects me to a full day of on-air begging twice per year.

Because I rarely donate to any of these organizations, I sometimes worry that I do not do enough to help others. I wonder if I am selfish or less generous than I should be. My problem, however, is that I have a healthy suspicion of charitable organizations. Although I believe Continue reading →

Posted in Inspirational |

Tagged AIDS, Cell Phones, charitable organizations, charities, charity, donations, everyday heroes, fishermen, Grameen Bank, health care, HIV, India, Kerala, Muhammad Yunus, Operation Smile, simple, simplicity, Smile Train, SRAM Corportion, Tapan Parikh, Trek Bicycle, videos, volunteers, World Bicycle Relief, Zambia |

AT&T Online Payment Practices Result In Undisclosed Banking Fees For Debit Card Users

Published June 11, 2008 | By Barbara Weibel

During the last two months I have been trying to find out why I am being charged erroneous ATM fees by my bank. Last month my statement showed a “foreign ATM transaction fee,” which normally would result if I had withdrawn money using an ATM that was not owned by my bank. When I insisted that I had only withdrawn funds from ATM’s owned by my bank, they researched the fee and told me it was levied when I used my debit card to pay my AT&T cell phone bill online. Even though my bank graciously agreed to refund the fee, I was determined to make sure it didn’t happen again. I logged in to my online account with AT&T and read over all their policies regarding the fees they charge for various payment methods. Of the online payment options, their website states:

We accept the following forms of payment:
* ATM debit cards – STAR, Pulse, ACCEL, NYCE
* Credit/debit cards – Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Discover Network, Diners Club

There is no other distinction made between credit and debit cards and no notice that any fees will be levied if a debit card is used. I assumed it was a one-time mistake.

This month I again used my debit card to pay my AT&T cell phone bill online. Two days later, the monthly phone bill showed up on my bank statement, along with yet another “foreign ATM transaction fee.” This time I called AT&T. Since the customer service rep that I reached was unable to answer my question, she accelerated my issue to the supervisory level and then Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized |

Tagged AT&T, ATM, banking, billing, Cell Phones, credit cards, debit cards, foreign ATM transaction fee, online payment |

26 Comments

Proof Positive That Cell Phones Are Dangerous To Your Health?

Published June 4, 2008 | By Barbara Weibel

Check out this video of four friends testing the theory that their cell phones can actually be used to pop popcorn. If our phones are emitting strong enough microwaves to do this, what are they doing to our brains when we hold them up to our ear? I think I will be using either the earphones or the loudspeaker function from now on.