We bought 15 boxes of Kleenex to blow our allergy-clogged noses. Then we got a couple of air cleaners to get rid of the allergens, and now we don't need the Kleenex.
Our first filter was a Whirlpool; our second was a Honeywell HPA 250. Why do we go into this? Because the second one we can control with an app on our smartphone.
This is the trend: the smart home.
Two or three years from now, it's likely that every appliance in your home, apartment or country cabin will be ready for remote wireless control. You won't even have to be there. You'll check in on the Internet and turn everything on or off and adjust the settings.
Now, this is not new news. But what gets to us is the price of the stuff: The wireless-controlled air cleaner was only about $20 more than the plain one. This is bound to be the minimal kind of price difference that we will find in all our future devices. Therefore, it's gonna happen.
Does it matter?
Well, other than being irradiated by more radio waves banging around the house, we will come to the stage where your refrigerator can be hacked. We know our computers can be hacked. Recent news stories have revealed that chain stores, banks and the government can be hacked. Cellphones can be hacked, which by the way we pointed out to our readers several years ago.
So now we approach the time when your Internet-connected house can be hacked. It seems silly, of course, but the reality is, if your freezer or furnace can be reached through the Internet, it may be that so can the device used to control them. Which means, as we extend this thought into total paranoia, passwords could be as vulnerable to a meltdown as a freezer.
One response: Get a second cellphone that's only used to control the house. And that phone should contain no other information.
By the way, sensors are getting more sensitive. Our cellphone-controlled air cleaner can sense whether particles are dust, pollen or volatile compounds, such as paint solvents, glues and other materials used in construction. You can personalize it for local allergies. Using an app on the phone, type in a zip code and it shows how much pollen, ragweed and mold is in the neighborhood. The device then adjusts its settings to suit.
The new world begins. And to think we used to be satisfied with Kleenex.
Google Street View
Google Maps keeps changing. Now they can take you back in time.
Go to maps.google.com and type in an address. Click on the words "Street View," and most likely, they'll show you a picture taken in 2011. If you move a slider to the left, however, you can go back to 2007 in many cities.
Along with seeing how things were back then, there's a strip of thumbnails at the bottom of the page, showing what else is around that spot. You can also click "Photo Tour" for photos of the area.
App Happy
• SnapChat became famous for photo messages that quickly disappear after they're viewed. Now they've added video messages that disappear. So you can take as many dumb pictures as you want, and at least they won't be saved.
• Remind101 -- After a high school principal reminded us of the text messaging app Group Me, a teacher wrote with another suggestion: Remind101. This is free from remind101.com and lets you send text messages to any group. They can't reply. He just wanted to notify parents and teachers of events; he didn't really want to hear back.
• MDLive for Android and iPhone lets you visit a doctor from your phone, through video chatting, phone or email. It's $10 a month and $49 per consultation, 24 hours a day, every day. The first consultation is free.
• Trakdot is a palm-size device and an app that tracks your luggage. You get an alert when it's 30 feet away. If your luggage gets on the wrong flight anywhere in the world, at least you'll know where it is. The $90 device recently won an Edison Innovation award.
No Droning In the Park
The National Park Service has banned the use of drones in Yosemite and Zion national parks. Bob wonders if they can legally do that. If even the Federal Aviation Administration hasn't decided on drone restrictions yet, what gives the Park Service the right to make laws?
You can watch videos taken by drones flying before the ban. At pcmag.com you can watch an incredibly boring video of two middle-aged guys getting their gear together, stopping for coffee and driving to Yosemite. Find it by Googling the phrase "The Yosemite Drone Footage the Park Service Doesn't Want You To See." Probably because they're afraid you'll go into a coma, fall off the couch and injure yourself. There are more of these exciting videos on YouTube.
Internuts
• Biz.yahoo.com/ipo/ -- This hard-to-find page lists the biggest gainers and losers among companies that have recently gone public. Look back over three months, six months or a year, and get links to company info. Yahoo has terrific financial information, and a search system that seems to have been developed in the Stone Age.
• "10 Lego projects that will blow your mind" -- Google that phrase to find PC Magazine's Lego slideshow. There's a full-size house, a working car and the Taj Mahal. If you want to emulate any of these, it's best to start with about a million Lego blocks.
• YouCam Perfect -- This is a free app for iPhone/Android that has been downloaded more than 600,000 times. It improves "selfies," those photos you take of yourself to post on Facebook and elsewhere, by removing wrinkles. We didn't see much difference between the before and after, but heck, it's free.
Bob and Joy can be contacted by email at bobschwab@gmail.com and joy.schwabach@gmail.com.
Monday Business on 05/19/2014