Just heard that Pacific Sunrise, my favorite Teavana tea is being discontinued. Pacific Sunrise has a crisp coconut, tart pineapple and slightly sweet floral taste always reminds me of Hawaii. And it is a Rooibos (Red) tea that help with my Rosacea. I am sorry to see it go.

The good news is that I was able to stock up on it at 30% off. The other good news is that this means that Teavana will have new teas in the next month or so.

Shop Teavana.com

The competition in the Web browser area really heated up last week with the introduction of a new version of Opera – Version 10. Many of you are familiar with Internet Explorer and Firefox which are the two most popular browsers, and now with this version of Opera, I would like to introduce you to what may be, for you, a new Web browser. Actually, Opera is one of the oldest Web browsers. It made its public debut in 1996. While Opera has a long history, it has not garnered a very large audience. Here’s the most recent breakdown of Web browser use from Web metrics:

As you can see, Opera is at the tail end in the number of users, but this version and a little publicity might move Opera ahead. I would like to see that because although it is not well known, Opera is an excellent browser. Opera has always been innovative and feature-filled, and with this version, they have redesigned the browser as well as added some useful features.

First, Version 10 has a nice clean interface. Along with the Google Chrome browser, it is simple and uncluttered and that will appeal to many users. Opera has a feature called Speed Dial. This is something that I use every day. In the Firefox browser, Speed Dial is available as an add-on, but in Opera, it is built-in. When you open a new tab, you see a selection of websites that can be customized. They appear as large squares. It is very easy to make each of them open one of your favorite Web pages. For instance, you can have one go to your favorite news site, another to your stock portfolio, another to the local weather, etc. Internet Explorer 8 has a similar feature, but it picks your most-visited websites to put in the squares. In Opera, you get to choose your favorite sites. I like that much better.

Over the years, I’ve noticed that Opera is very eye-friendly. The Speed Dial icons are not little thumbnails. They are quite large. Opera also has another feature that is easy on the eyes. When you first use Opera, you will see the names of the websites that you have opened on the tabs just as you would in Internet Explorer or Firefox, but if you find the handle in the center of the bottom of the tabs and drag it down, Opera will display large thumbnails of the Web pages that you have open in each tab. This is not only a useful feature, but it is helpful if you struggle to see the many small things on the screen.

I have always known Opera as the browser that offers the highest amount of zoom. Now, Internet Explorer and others have caught up, but in this version, the zoom feature of Opera has been made even better. If you have aging eyes or failing eyesight, you will love this feature. The normal zoom is 100%. In Opera 10, you can zoom as high as 1,000%. Normally, when things get that big you have to scroll horizontally to read everything. A neat new Opera feature called “fit to screen” offers a solution for this problem. Just click the “fit to screen” icon at the bottom of any window and the screen is redrawn to fit horizontally. That means everything is much easier to read at large sizes.

Another striking new feature of Opera 10 is the Turbo mode. This compresses Web pages to speed up surfing on sluggish connections, including dial-up connections. Although the pictures are a little grainy in Turbo mode, if you are still on dial-up or have a slow Internet connection, this mode will noticeably speed things up.

Opera 10 also has an email application and plenty of other features. It is a free download at www.opera.com. You can try it and use it right alongside of Internet Explorer, Firefox, or any other browser. Why would you want to try Opera? First, if you are adventuresome and like to try new things. Second, if you have aging eyes or failing eyesight. Third, if you are on a slow Internet connection. Fourth, it’s free, so you have nothing to lose.

BlackBerry Tour from Verizon

BlackBerry Tour from Verizon

When Verizon sent me the new BlackBerry Tour to review, I was pretty excited. This phone has the traditional excellence of BlackBerry’s email and messaging, a QWERTY keyboard, and a sturdy build, but it is also updated. Although the changes are minor, some make a major difference. For instance, I really liked the new design — not too big and not too small, with rounded corners and a great feel in the hand.

All-in-all, it’s a capable phone. It has a really great screen and a good camera and music player. It even does a great job at playing videos, if you are able to watch them on the small screen. The biggest negatives are that the BlackBerry OS is getting a bit dated, especially when compared to newer smart phones like the iPhone and the Pre and the Tour does not have Wi-Fi. Here are my general conclusions and Pros and Cons:

Conclusions

The BlackBerry Tour is the best CDMA BlackBerry that I’ve tested. Even with an aging operating system, it is quite functional as either a personal or business smart phone. The poor browser is offset by applications like Facebook, Flick3r and MySpace that allow you to access much-used web applications without actually using the browser. Phoning, e-mailing, messaging, and other functions work well as does the visual voicemail. The Tour is an excellent choice and all of the things we found wrong with it are minor, except for the lack of Wi-Fi, which will be a deal-breaker for some.

Pros

• Excellent screen
• Good keyboard
• Very Good Design
• Great feel in hand
• Good selection of apps for social networking, instant messaging
• MicroSD Card
• Good IM and social networking applications
• Good camera and video
• Accessories include a variety of plugs and a 2 GB MicroSD card

Cons

• No Wi-Fi
• Small screen
• Aggravating nested menus
• Inconsistencies in menu choices across the platform
• Poor web browser
• Keyboard needs dedicated @ and period keys

My full review including detailed pictures is at: Hardware Secrets.

Palm Pre

Palm Pre

The Palm Pre will not kill the iPhone, but it will give it a good dose of competition. It is a solidly built cell phone with a great, written-from-the-ground-up operating system. I fell in love with webOS, Palm’s new operating system. Although it is not always intuitive, this new operating system is easy to use. I can’t believe that I am advocating an operating system that is not intuitive, but I am. Here’s the reason.

If someone hands you a Pre and tells you to use it, you will most probably be baffled as to how it actually functions. It looks like a touch screen phone and it is, but it also has a slide out keyboard. In fact, it has three different input and control areas: the screen itself, the keyboard, and the small area below the screen which is called the Gesture area.

It this combination is what make the Pre so functional, but you may not be able to use it without any knowledge of how it works. However, that said, just have someone show you a few things or check out the Quick Start guide, and it won’t take you more than five or ten minutes to get going.

If you like to multi-task, this is the phone for you. It lets you fully  and easily control which applications are open and which you want to close. To give you an example of what I call “non-intuitive, but easy”, to close an application, you simply take your finger and swipe it in an upward motion to throw it off the screen. You might not be able to figure that out at first, but once you get it, it is very easy. As a matter of fact, it is also fun. The Pre has the same functionality as the iPhone with similar ways to expand and contract text, a screen that can be viewed either vertically or horizontally, but for some reason, it seems like more fun to use.

The Pre is easy to set up and uses an online system called Palm Profile to sync information, so you will spend less time with it tethered to your computer. It handles email beautifully and has all the other normal options like a camera, sms, mms, and cut & paste. It even has turn-by-turn navigation.

The Pre is perfect for information junkies and busy people. It has an excellent universal search. It also has a system called Synergy that congregates information from various areas and puts it all together for you. So if you have a contact in Facebook, and the same contact in Gmail and in your POP email, you won’t see him or her three times on your Pre. The Pre is smart enough to put all the info that you have on that person on one contact screen.

In fact, the Pre is one smart cookie. Although I think the keyboard needs improvement, this is still one to look at.

Here are my pros and cons:

Pros

• Excellent crisp and responsive touch screen
• Excellent webOS operating system
• Handles multitasking applications beautifully
• Synergy consolidates information very well
• Very good universal search
• Excellent email support
• Slide-out keyboard
• iTunes sync
• Palm Profile for online backups

Cons

• Keyboard slightly cramped and plasticy
• Difficult to navigate through the Apps
• Lack of Apps and App Store
• Apps do not readily show their price

Right now the Pre is available only from Sprint, but Verizon will also carry it in a few months. My full review with pictures is at HardwareSecrets.com.

For years I have been struggling to lose a few pounds. For some reason, diets don’t seem to work for me. In the past, my husband and I would go on a diet together and within a week or two, he would announce that he lost six or seven pounds, while I hadn’t even lost six or seven ounces. The disappoint would lead me right back to the ice cream bowl!

Recently we went on the South Beach diet together. I had tried this diet before with poor results.This time, however, was different. I really researched the diet and found that it is not the low fat or low carbs that make the diet work. It is the adherence to food that is low on the glycemic index. If you can stick to these foods, your blood glucose levels stay constant and you don’t feel as hungry. That was it! If you don’t feel hungry, you don’t eat as much and you lose weight. Not only was it logical, but it worked. In about two months I have lost the 12 pound that I wanted to lose. For me, that is close to miraculous. You have to stay away from sugar and things like white bread, potatoes, doughnuts and pretzels, but that really wasn’t too hard to do. And certainly that makes for better, more nutritious eating, anyway.

Being a tea drinker, I also looked to tea for some diet help. I found that Oolong teas are often called weight loss teas because they help burn fat built up in the body. So I turned to Teavana.com, my favorite online tea emporium. They have a tea blend specially made for dieting. It is called Family Diet Tea Blend and can be found under Tea Blends. It’s based on Oolong tea but also has strawberry, lemon, and blueberry tea that makes it taste great.

Right now, I am feeling great. I know it will last because I have changed my eating habits.

If any of you decide to try my two diet tricks, low glycemic index foods and oolong tea, let me know.

FujiFilm Z30

FujiFilm Z30

The Fujifilm’s FinePix Z30 is a pretty point-and-shoot camera with a somewhat unique design. It comes in a shocking  pink, an intense bright orange, and a vibrant purple. That plus its rounded corners certainly set it off from the crowd.

I love bright colors, but unfortunately, the bright metallic look of this camera make it look a bit toy-like.  Also the designers didn’t take functionality seriously enough. The camera has no place to comfortably place your fingers to hold it when you take a picture. Although the two rows of rubberized buttons on the back look good, every time you want to press one, you have to put on your glasses to find just the one you want. Oh, and you have to open the battery door to plug in the USB cable.

The Z30 is a 10-megapixel camera with a 3x optical lens and a nice-sized CCD. Although the pictures were good, I found that many of the flash pictures had unevenly distributed lighting.

Have I said enough?? Take a pass on this camera. What is amazing to me is that the A150, a similarly priced and sized camera from the same manufacturer (Fujifilm), was one that I really liked. The A150 had impeccable design and took great pictures. (Check out my review of the A150).So take a pass on this camera and check out the A150 for a good entry-level digital camera.  The Z30 retails for $149. The A150 goes for $129. So a higher price is not necessarily a better camera.

Here are my pros and cons fro the Z30:

Pros:

• Compact size
• Good manual on CD
• Numerous continuous shooting, self-timer and flash modes

Cons:

• Poor lens placement
• Body feels flimsy
• Control buttons too small and close together
• Poorly placed USB port
• No place to grip
• 4-way directional control which is on the buttons, is difficult to use
• Not many manual controls
• Nested menus that can be difficult to navigate

My full review with pictures, specs and more details is at Hardware Secrets.

Check out the prices: Best Buy Digital Cameras

I woke up to find that my Vista computer had restarted due to a Windows Update. I didn’t think that was a big deal until I tried to use my Word 2007 program. While everything looked normal. It did not act normal. I could not use the mouse to highlight anything. In fact, I could not use the mouse to move around in any document. I could not change the options in Word — even using the keyboard.

I tried deleting the Normal.docm file. No luck. I scanned for viruses. None found. So that brought me back to the Windows Update. I went to System Restore (Programs – Accessories – System Restore). Since Windows had just updated, Vista was nice enough to give me the option of going back to just before the Windows update. I performed the System Restore. Voila!! Everything in Word is now working again.

This was a weird one. Luckily the solution was easy. If you use Vista and Word 2007 and your computer just updated. Check out your Word program and make sure that it is working properly.

Are entry-level digital cameras worthwhile? Well, I guess the answer to that question depends a lot on the camera itself, but with this Fujifilm FinePix A150 digital camera, the answer is yes. With a retail price of $129 and street prices even lower, you get a lot for your money. It’s a 10 megapixel camera with a 3x optical zoom and a large 3″ display. It uses AA batteries so as long as there is a store nearby, you will never be out of power.

The A150 takes very good photos. The color representation is good and the low light photos are excellent. You also get a lot of extras. The camera has face detection technology that tracks a face and adjusts the setting for the best picture. It also has picture stabilization, continuous shooting, a self-timer, and macro mode. It has 14 different scene positions, and can even take movies.

If you want a simple camera to have on hand for a quick picture or to slip in your pocket to have available anytime, this is a good choice.

Here are my pros and cons:

Pros

• Sturdy, attractive build
• Large, clear screen
• Much added functionality
• The ability to shoot videos with sound
• Easy to use controls
• Excellent documentation including owner’s manual on disk
• Inexpensive

Cons

• Tripod mount poorly placed
• No viewfinder
• Screen fades out in bright sunlight

My full review with pictures is at HardwareSecrets.com.

Click the link below to see the current price for this and/or similar cameras at Best Buy:

FUJIFILM FinePix 100-Megapixel Digital Camera – Black

Kindle DX

Kindle DX

Bigger is not always better. Although Amazon has added some new features to it’s over-sized Kindle, I found several things that I didn’t like about it. Most noticeably is the fact that it is not as easy to handle as the smaller Kindle 2. Second (which may be first to many), it is very expensive. Third, it has a really crummy keyboard that’s difficult to use and even harder to see the letters on. Here’s a chart that compares the Kindle DX to the Kindle 2.

Everything that was great about the Kindle 2 is still great in the Kindle DX. The device is sleek, thin, and attractive. The Amazon’s Whispernet service allows you to download books (and browse the Internet) over the Sprint cellular network without any monthly fee. The screen is bright, clear, and easy-to-read. It has excellent battery life. You can make the text larger or smaller. There is a speech-to-text option that can read the text to you. You can play music while you read. There are over 300,000 books and periodicals available in the Kindle Store.

Although the larger screen is great and it requires less page turning, the device itself must be held with two hands and is a bit heavy for extended reading. Where the Kindle 2 could be handled and read like a paperback book, I found the DX gave a whole different feel.

The DX does have native support for PDFs and you can turn it to read the text horizontally as well as vertically. Yet the auto-turn mechanism is a bit too touchy and it often turns when you don’t want it to.

Amazon has lowered the price of the smaller Kindle 2 to $299 while the DX is $489. Even $299 is expensive for an ebook device. I can buy a whole netbook computer for that price. As you know, I am usually the first one to fall in love with a new device, but if I were to purchase a Kindle right now, I would go for the Kindle 2 rather than the pricer DX. Here are my pros and cons of the Kindle DX:

Pros

• Excellent design
• Large screen
• Less page turning necessary
• Good  battery life
• No monthly fees for wireless
• Excellent text quality
• Large library of content
• Good in bright light
• Easy to buy books, magazines and newspapers
• Speakers and headphone jack for audio
• Compatible with PCs and Macs
• Can be used without a computer
• Native support for PDFs
• Useful text-to-speech feature

Cons

• Very expensive
• Not as portable as the Kindle 2 with 6” screen
• Very poor keyboard
• Grayscale only. No color.
• You cannot change the size of the type in the Kindle Store
• Stiff scroll button
• Somewhat heavy and slightly awkward for lengthy reading
• No zoom for PDFs

You can read my detailed review of the Kindle DX with pictures on HardwareSecrets.com.

The BlackBerry Storm is BlackBerry’s answer to the iPhone — a touch screen smart phone. Although it is a viable option for business users, anyone who has had a previous BlackBerry will miss the keypad. This phone has some called SurePress. When you press a key or icon on the Storm’s screen you feel an actual sensation. There is a subtle click as if you were actually pressing a key. This gives you a reassuring confirmation that your input has been received, but I found it too much like typing on an old typewriter. It seemed to take a little more effort than typing on an iPhone.

The Storm has good call quality, cut & paste, excellent email functionality, an adequate media player, and a nice 3.2 megapixel camera with zoom, flash, and stabilizer. It can also take videos. It actually has a lot of great features, but over all, I’ll take a BlackBerry with a keypad or the touch screen on the iPhone. Here are my pros and cons:

Pros:

• Excellent call quality
• Good navigation
• Enterprise email access
• Good pictures and camera features
• Included 8 GB memory card
• Replaceable battery
• Good battery life
• Voice dialing
• Set up wizards and online tutorials

Cons:

• Text input somewhat difficult
• Poor auto correction
• Commands often too close together to press
• No Wi-Fi
• Slow camera focus
• Browser not as good as some others

You can read my more detailed review with pictures at HardwareSecrets.com.