Bill Solecki

5 star safety ratings across the board

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has given the Tesla (TSLA) Model S the best safety rating of any car ever tested. Although the NHTSA doesn't publish a star rating above 5, safety ratings better than 5 are reflected in the Vehicle Safety Scores. The Model S received a combined record of 5.4 stars.

Whenever I run into an issue with some form of technology I do my best to solve it. Most of that solving comes from lots of Google searches, but this time I wasn't able to find anything helpful. I was able to resolve the issue, which is why I'm sharing this now, in case someone else comes across the issue and finds this page. Hopefully it can help.

Cost: Free
Release: Aug 25
Available for: iOS and Android

Now this is cool. I've tested augmented reality apps before but so far I haven't been super impressed. This article quickly summarizes most of the AR apps I've tried and enjoyed so far. Especially Goggles, Skymap, and Wikitude.

The use of this technology for such products is very smart. As per this article, measurements will not be necessary and the catalog app has access to over 90 different products. Apparently it will be a new app released August 25, however the functionality is already in the catalog app linked at the very bottom of this post.

It's called "Send Me to Heaven" and it challenges users to throw their phone as high in the air as they can. Naturally it was rejected by the fascist pigs at Apple, but Google has kindly accepted it to the Play Store for Android.

Owners of more heavy duty phones like the G'zOne Commando might get more use out of this kind of app. Either way I think it's hilarious.

Google Play Store

Store your gift cards, get free ones, buy new ones, gift them to friends.

This is a great app, especially if you just like getting free stuff. Not only do I store many of my gift cards in this app (simply input the card numbers into the app, plus any security codes), but I also regularly receive free gift cards to spend online. Some of them I don't care about, but I just find friends on social networks who are interested and give them away!

It makes your wallet lighter. Once your gift cards are stored in the app there is no reason to carry them with you. The app generates a barcode that can be scanned at retail stores.


TL;DR Store your gift cards & get free ones. Free.
Links: Android | iOS

Update: Clarified that this app runs over a wifi network.

The only way I'll be able to maintain a blog is if I make my posts short and concise. So that's the new plan.

This is a great remote app I've been using a lot for a few months now. I really only use it for two things - controlling movies in VLC and turning off the computer because I'm too lazy to get out of bed after the movie is over. But it can do a lot more.

It's got basic mouse/keyboard input, a remote file system manager, a general media remote (works with iTunes), task manager, and Spotify controls. And that's just the free version.

To get it working simply download and install the Remote server and run it over your WiFi network. Available for Windows for now, Mac and Linux coming soon. The app itself is available for Android and Windows Phone. Sorry iOS users.

TL;DR This is a great remote app. I highly recommend it.
Links: Official Site | Android | Windows Phone