InvisibleHand is a handy extension for Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and IE that unobtrusively notifies the user when the item they are searching for to buy is available for a lower cost on another website. The notification also gives a link to the relevant product page on the competing retailer's website.
I really enjoy the extension, as do others, but the only thing better than notifications of cheap items would be notifications of FREE items available to you.
How about an extension that notifies the user when what they are searching for is available at their local public library??
Many people who don't want to pay for movie rentals, for example, may check out movies from their local library. Generally, they would need to browse the shelves at the library or look at the library's online catalog.
The website worldcat.org helps people find items in libraries near them; why not develop a worldcat browser extension that notifies people when what they are searching for is available at their local library?
Know anyone who wants to work on this?
Showing posts with label cheapskate. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cheapskate. Show all posts
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
abandoning iTunes, finding new music sources
One day at work, our IT department told us all that we could no longer use any third party applications on our computers without explicit approval. This included iTunes. When I heard this, I panicked, I got bitter, I thought about leading a revolt, but in the end I hesitantly uninstalled my sole means of computer-work-environment survival, iTunes. As difficult as it was, uninstalling iTunes opened up a whole new world of musical discovery for me.
I used Pandora when I was lazy, Last.fm too. I fell in love with The Hype Machine, which lets people listen to the music people are blogging about. My other favorite listening method was to subscribe to a podcast´s RSS feed in Google Reader and then stream the mp3s from there. When there was a specific full-length song I was looking for, somehow YouTube was (strangely) almost always the easiest way to find it. All these ways of streaming music allowed me to continue listening to music without iTunes. And what I first looked at as a hindrance became a new channel to musical discovery.
Today I wanted to share a source I just came across, which is NPR´s podcast of free live concerts. In my opinion, this is a gold mine. Have a look at the list of concerts you can stream or download and you are sure to find an artist you like. For me, I´m going to be listening to the hour-and-a-half Neko Case concert, and watching the Rodrigo y Gabriela video, and Dan Deacon, and Radiohead, and The Avett Brothers, or Doc Watson.
UPDATE ... January 11, 2010. Pandora will not work from a Peru IP address, and the last.fm website appears to no longer be free, so I´m back to loving The Hype Machine for my music streaming.
I used Pandora when I was lazy, Last.fm too. I fell in love with The Hype Machine, which lets people listen to the music people are blogging about. My other favorite listening method was to subscribe to a podcast´s RSS feed in Google Reader and then stream the mp3s from there. When there was a specific full-length song I was looking for, somehow YouTube was (strangely) almost always the easiest way to find it. All these ways of streaming music allowed me to continue listening to music without iTunes. And what I first looked at as a hindrance became a new channel to musical discovery.
Today I wanted to share a source I just came across, which is NPR´s podcast of free live concerts. In my opinion, this is a gold mine. Have a look at the list of concerts you can stream or download and you are sure to find an artist you like. For me, I´m going to be listening to the hour-and-a-half Neko Case concert, and watching the Rodrigo y Gabriela video, and Dan Deacon, and Radiohead, and The Avett Brothers, or Doc Watson.
UPDATE ... January 11, 2010. Pandora will not work from a Peru IP address, and the last.fm website appears to no longer be free, so I´m back to loving The Hype Machine for my music streaming.
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Buying a Surfboard in Lima, Peru
UPDATE (11/29/2010): After I broke my first board, I had a new board made by a friend of a friend, Daniel Martinez. He made me an awesome custom board (6'2") and I would highly recommend him to anyone else who wants a new board. His shop is located in the south side of Lima in/near Barranco. Here is a video of him making some boards. The easiest way to contact him is probably through Facebook.
***
During my first two weeks in Lima I tried to ask as many people as I could about where I could get a decent surfboard.
Before I left, I searched on Craigslist - Lima, but found nothing surf-related. I got the impression that Craigslist is not so popular here. Later, I posted a 'wanted' listing for a surf board on Craigslist and about a week later, I got a response from Sebastian at nextsurftrip.com. He had a board, but it wasn´t the size I was looking for. He recommended I try a Derrem board, (derrem.com), made in Lima.
Piero, from my hostel in Barranco (Hostel Kaminu), who was generous to lend me his board while I searched for my own, recommended I try going to either the Wayo Whilar board shop nearby in Barranco (wayowhilar.com.pe), or to the Klimax surf shop in Miraflores (klimaxsurf.com). Both shops sell new and used boards for very reasonable prices compared to U.S. prices.
Meanwhile, I came across vendotablasperu.com. This is the craigslist of Lima surfboards. The site is clunky but the content is great. Here I found my surfboard, a 6-year old, plenty-used, 6`5`` board shaped by Peruvian Martín Jerí, for $100. I was pretty happy about it.
Some locals tell me that my find was 'mas o menos', in terms of a deal. I have some things to learn. For example, today when one visitor left the hostel where I am staying in Punta Hermosa, he left his board behind with the hostel owner in exchange for a $30 discount on his hostel bill, rather than paying $150 or so to bring his board back with him on the plane.
I don't know of any websites or boardshops where you can get a deal like that, but if you hang around surfers getting ready to fly, you're sure to get a true bargain board.
If you can recommend other ways to buy a surfboard in Peru, please leave a comment below.
***
During my first two weeks in Lima I tried to ask as many people as I could about where I could get a decent surfboard.
Before I left, I searched on Craigslist - Lima, but found nothing surf-related. I got the impression that Craigslist is not so popular here. Later, I posted a 'wanted' listing for a surf board on Craigslist and about a week later, I got a response from Sebastian at nextsurftrip.com. He had a board, but it wasn´t the size I was looking for. He recommended I try a Derrem board, (derrem.com), made in Lima.
Piero, from my hostel in Barranco (Hostel Kaminu), who was generous to lend me his board while I searched for my own, recommended I try going to either the Wayo Whilar board shop nearby in Barranco (wayowhilar.com.pe), or to the Klimax surf shop in Miraflores (klimaxsurf.com). Both shops sell new and used boards for very reasonable prices compared to U.S. prices.
Meanwhile, I came across vendotablasperu.com. This is the craigslist of Lima surfboards. The site is clunky but the content is great. Here I found my surfboard, a 6-year old, plenty-used, 6`5`` board shaped by Peruvian Martín Jerí, for $100. I was pretty happy about it.
Some locals tell me that my find was 'mas o menos', in terms of a deal. I have some things to learn. For example, today when one visitor left the hostel where I am staying in Punta Hermosa, he left his board behind with the hostel owner in exchange for a $30 discount on his hostel bill, rather than paying $150 or so to bring his board back with him on the plane.
I don't know of any websites or boardshops where you can get a deal like that, but if you hang around surfers getting ready to fly, you're sure to get a true bargain board.
If you can recommend other ways to buy a surfboard in Peru, please leave a comment below.
Friday, December 4, 2009
Getting a yellow fever vaccination in Lima, Peru
´´Anything free is worth saving up for,´´ says Grandpa Sodey in the Wisconsin/Michigan cult-classic film Escanaba in Da Moonlight. I thought that this was true, but I will now settle for ´´Anything cheap is worth saving up for.´´
After talking to many people and visiting several places around the city, the place I recommend going to obtain a yellow fever vaccination in Lima is the Hospital del Niño at 28 de Julio and Brazil in the Breña section of Lima. There, you can get the yellow fever vaccination for 65 nuevo soles, or $22.50 USD. Unless you want it for free...
Ver mapa más grande
To get a free vaccination for travel within the country of Peru, one can go to the Hospital Santa Rosa to obtain the shot and a certificate for domestic travel on Fridays between 8am and 11am. However, when I went, the vaccine was no longer available so I would have to try again in a week to get the free shot. I went to the Hospital del Niño, instead.
Also, anyone with plans to travel to in high-risk areas outside of Peru would still need to exchange their domestic-travel certificate from the free clinic for an international one at a place like the Centro de Salud San Isidro. The certificate costs 30 nuevo soles or about $12 USD.
In the United States, you can expect to pay about $225 to get a yellow fever vaccination if you are paying out of pocket. At Physicians Plus Travel Clinic in Madison, WI, most visits include a $54 counseling fee, a $146 fee for the vaccination itself, and $24 for a nurse to administer the shot, totalling $224.
In his talk, Money Saving Advice From a Cheapskate, Ryan Wanger says, ¨Being a cheapskate is all about time and money. People who have a lot of money, they don´t want to invest the time. Then there´s the reverse; people who are cheapskates, their motto is ´my time is basically worthless.´¨
$24 for a shot in Lima was small beans compared to getting the shot for $225 back home, but this time, the free shot wasn´t worth saving up for.
By the way, I´m posting this less than twelve hours after getting my shot, and I am still alive, so hopefully I can still say ´It was worth it´ 48 hours from now.
After talking to many people and visiting several places around the city, the place I recommend going to obtain a yellow fever vaccination in Lima is the Hospital del Niño at 28 de Julio and Brazil in the Breña section of Lima. There, you can get the yellow fever vaccination for 65 nuevo soles, or $22.50 USD. Unless you want it for free...
Ver mapa más grande
To get a free vaccination for travel within the country of Peru, one can go to the Hospital Santa Rosa to obtain the shot and a certificate for domestic travel on Fridays between 8am and 11am. However, when I went, the vaccine was no longer available so I would have to try again in a week to get the free shot. I went to the Hospital del Niño, instead.
Also, anyone with plans to travel to in high-risk areas outside of Peru would still need to exchange their domestic-travel certificate from the free clinic for an international one at a place like the Centro de Salud San Isidro. The certificate costs 30 nuevo soles or about $12 USD.
In the United States, you can expect to pay about $225 to get a yellow fever vaccination if you are paying out of pocket. At Physicians Plus Travel Clinic in Madison, WI, most visits include a $54 counseling fee, a $146 fee for the vaccination itself, and $24 for a nurse to administer the shot, totalling $224.
In his talk, Money Saving Advice From a Cheapskate, Ryan Wanger says, ¨Being a cheapskate is all about time and money. People who have a lot of money, they don´t want to invest the time. Then there´s the reverse; people who are cheapskates, their motto is ´my time is basically worthless.´¨
$24 for a shot in Lima was small beans compared to getting the shot for $225 back home, but this time, the free shot wasn´t worth saving up for.
By the way, I´m posting this less than twelve hours after getting my shot, and I am still alive, so hopefully I can still say ´It was worth it´ 48 hours from now.
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