Cheap stuff online

Cheap stuff

2 online electronic shops
1) www.factorydirect.ca
occasionally has good reconditioned stuff.  The problem is it is a pain if you have to return stuff.  I had to do this for one cable in a box of stuff and they want the whole lot back.  They told me shipping was normally at my expense  but that they would make an exception.  This really turned me off.  The reason you shop online is not to bugger about going to shops/post offices.  The last stuff I got was scratched and a bit shabby reconditioned.

2) deal extreme  http://dx.com
In a nutshell cheap crap from China, but why not?  Same as Canadian?  Tire but MUCH cheaper.  The free shipping to Canada intrigued me, but I was in a big hurry for something so paid $25 for expedited delivery.
I realized after purchase that this is shipping from Shenzen (China) via Vancouver to Montreal.
I ordered it on the 28th and it just arrived on the 9th.  OK there was Easter but  the Chinese aren't into Easter.  On a plus the live support is good and I could track the snail paced movement of the parcel across the globe.

Because I needed it super fast I ordered same thing from http://stores.ebay.com/cenyglobal on the 30th. Shipping by regular post $10, it came from NY.

Reason I paid $25 shipping was because ebay expedited was something like $60 and I needed it super fast.

Both arrived today so 12 and 10 days each.


verdict: deal extreme OK if you take advantage of free shipping and buy a few things and are not in a hurry.

factory direct OK if you want it very quick but beware if you need to return stuff. They have good weekly fliers to take the clickwork out of finding bargains.  No import duty since canadian

ebay probably the best middle ground once you find a shop you like and trust.

I have never had to pay import duty for anything but then again I only buy little things like adaptors and cables that aren't worth much, I've never bought anything more than $20 or so from US.  I heard if it comes by post there is no or very little duty and brokerage is included but I've not run into this problem.

CommunAuto

I tried this scheme last year as a second car alternative.

I cannot recommend it. Why?  because there are no one-way journeys allowed so 99% of intended journeys are useless for this scheme.

If you don't have a car and need it to pick stuff up then great or do little day trips, knock yourself out.  Otherwise it is a waste of time.  Great idea but it needs more work.  Until then take a taxi.  It is NOT the car equivalent of a bixi which is what they misled me  to believe (OK misled is strong, but they are not overly explicit that the car has to return to start point).

I have other gripes but that is the main one.  other similar schemes in other countries can manage to redistribute the car fleet throughout the day I don't know why these lot can't.

Easy Netflix

With an Unblock US, aka usvideo.ca account you can now watch UK, US, Canadia, Scandanavian, Irish and mexican netflix with a click of a button. No foreign credit cards and messing about.

This not only gets you a wider range of content but also gives you the option to watch films in portuguese, spanish or french (via Canadian site) if you prefer this. So not only can you lazily babysit the kids but educate them too.  Plus you get UK TV...

N. American TV is so bad why would you want to watch it?  And even if the show is OK they'll only ruin it with vulgar, crass  and just embarrassing adverts so do yourself a favour and switch to something you can control the content of

It's $5 a month....

free calls & Google voice in canada

Probably worth pointing out that the technology has moved on. No need for messing about. Just get a working google voice number, see below or google how, then use acrobits softphone app (android or Apple) and set it up in there. There are quite a few others that'll do it too, talkatone, talkonaut, these two have the advantage you can text to Canada and the states for free. You can get incoming calls and dial out but be warned, quality is crap. It's good for shouting a quick message but not for long calls unless you're on very good wifi connection or 3G.

Find lost ipod

Problem with ipods you can't call them right? However if you lose them at home, and you have wireless and you lost it up to a week or so ago you maybe in luck.

Get onto your wireless router config page and find the list of devices. On Tomato there is a device list that has a quality indicator that shows how strong signal is. If you can't identify which device MAC Addres is the ipod (look for a OUI tab), and turning stuff off doesn't help, search the first 6 digits of MAC adress here (capitals, no colons or spaces.
Lynksys might be here, you need to hunt it down
1.Go to the Setup tab.
2.Scroll down to 'DHCP Server' enable it.
3.Click on the "Status" tab and then on "Local Network".
4.Click "DHCP Clients Table".

Then you need to move the wireless router switched on but not plugged to internet around your house and look at signal strength of the router configuration page. point the antennae towards where you are looking. Compare what you get with laptop or cellphone to give you a guide as to what 'hot' is. If you are getting say 8 and everywhere in the room is the same then no good, move on. Once you are up to 30 then you're warm:hot. If you can't seem to get a hotspot but you have a consistently high value in one room it is likely inside something in that room. Sudden wierd hotspots like in the middle of the room in the air means it is obscured but not completely, in between things, e.g. books and you are crossing a 'line of sight'. Good luck.

Free UK number that diverts wherever

Do you want a number that is free for people in uk to call and can get you wherever?
Do you have VoIP, sip, Internet phone? If yes read on
If you need VoIP try www.VoIP.ms
Sign up for your free 0330 number at
http://www.numbergroup.com/products-services/telephone-numbers/uk-wide-03-numbers
free to set up no fees, just divert to sip

0800 number UK

Ever need to call your bank in UK? Can't get through on 0800 or 0845 or 0870 numbers?
Here is solution
Dial this number +442002220700
then dial your 0800 number

Sure it's not free but at least you can get through.