热度 31
2015-6-26 18:03
1674 次阅读|
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My friend Bob, whose office is next to mine, has a sister-in-law called Ellen. Ellen lives with her father just around the corner from Bob and his wife, Gail. Every now and then, Ellen comes to visit us in the office and helps us to sort ourselves out. For example, I have a big bag of wires that I use for creating prototype Arduino projects on breadboards. Some of these are short, some are of medium length, and some are longer. Ellen helps me by sorting them into three piles and then putting them into separate bags. Unfortunately, I'm an old silly-billy, and they always seem to get mixed up again while I'm using them, so Ellen is always kind enough to re-sort them on her next visit. It was Ellen's 41st birthday earlier this week, and Gina and I were invited to the party. You should have heard Ellen's squeal of delight when she opened the present from Gina and myself -- it was the entire season two of the old CHiPs TV program (a little bird told me that Ellen has a soft spot for Erik Estrada, who plays Officer Francis). But the star of the show was the present from Bob and Gail -- an amazing "Secret Agent" type wearable cellphone called the GizmoPal , which was created by LG. Ellen at her birthday party. The GizmoPal fits securely around the wrist and is both durable and water resistant, which is a must when you consider who will be wearing it. In addition to playing fun sounds and speaking the current time, the GizmoPal allows its wearer to call two registered numbers, which you set up using a free iOS/Android app. These two registered numbers (along with an additional two approved contacts) can also call the GizmoPal. If you are worried that your child won’t answer, you can set the auto-answer feature to prevent missed calls. But the real peace of mind comes from the fact that, using the GizmoPal app on your smartphone, you can see the GizmoPal’s location on a map, via GPS. Even better, you can set the system up to update you with location notifications at scheduled times, such as when your child’s school bus typically arrives in the neighborhood. I tell you, my mother would have loved for me to have something like this when I was a kid. Personally, I think this is "the greatest thing since sliced bread," as they used to say.