ij solutions - products worth buying

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2011-11-11T11:11:00.000-08:00

Need an advice?
Looking for anything particular?
Deciding between this and that?

We can help!

At ij solutions our goal is to serve your needs through our high quality advising service. You can request a review or ask for a recommendation about a particular product by adding a comment to this post, and we will do our best to provide you with the crucial information to speed up your buy / no buy decision!

Welcome to ij solutions!

Shoe cleaning products - Atsko Sno Seal

2010-11-25T14:05:00.000-08:00

You've got a great pair of boots, but how do you make them last long? If you don't want your brand new Wolverines or Bates to get worn off within a season, you need to take a good care of them.

As you might know, I recently purchased these wonderful boots from amazon.com Men's Bates M-6 Gore-Tex. The quality is amazing: they sit well, appear very breathable and easy to use. Very easy to get in / out due to the side zip. Vibram outsole provides excellent traction and is very sturdy. Finally, the leather upper, supported by surrounding Gore-Tex inside, is very beautiful, healthy, shiny and strong.

Having paid $128.00 + $5.00 shipping dee for this must-have equipment, the question I'm asking myself is - how do I keep them new for the years to come?

And the answer is, suggested by my girlfriend, suggested her by her uncle shoe-expert, is - Atsko Sno Seal wax.

Of course, you can buy it on Amazon, but the website by Atsko.com is very interesting too. Here is the description of this wax from their official webpage:

Sno-Seal Original Beeswax Waterproofing protects leather from rain, sun, snow, and salt. The beeswax formula dries to a solid wax that "stays put" in the surface of the leather so it lasts longer.
Our competitors' greases, oil, and animal products are able to migrate through the leather till they clog all the pores. These waterproofing products fill the natural spaces that are supposed to absorb perspiration and insulate.
In addition, animal fats weaken and rot leather. The tannery worked hard to remove the fats and preserve the leather, so it's hard to imagine why you'd put it back on.
Sno-Seal will help you feel more comfortable in Gore-Tex® fabric lined boots because it allows the Gore-Tex®-absorbed perspiration to escape out of the leather.
And not only will Sno-Seal keep you warm and dry, it'll also help you from getting tired. A typical leather boot can soak up to a pound of water. That means you lift an additional 2,212 lbs. to walk one mile. Sno-Seal keeps the whole boot dry, warm and light.

As you can see this wax is especially good for the Gore-Tex fabric, which is another advantage to buy it together with the Bates boots.

Enjoy!

Convert .dmg to .iso on Mac

2010-11-23T10:17:00.000-08:00

I found this interesting post which explains how easy it is to convert Macintosh *.dmg files into something readable by Windows, like *.iso. Here it is: http://hints.macworld.com/article.php?story=20040121135301830

Basically, you run your Mac OS terminal (find it with spotlight) and type:

hdiutil convert path/source.dmg -format UDTO -o path/destination.iso

Aircrafts gone mad?

2010-11-22T07:36:00.000-08:00

What's going all with all those F22 crash in Alaska, and now three Delta airlines aircrafts either were delayed or had to perform emergency landing? Luckily no victims there. It looks like Delta airlines aren't doing so well - they charge for luggage, have old planes... Also this is funny: they sent me a credit card special offer, saying to reply by November 21, because this was a super great offer. And what do you think? On their website there are a LOT of these, with no application time limit attached... so gross. Tell you one thing, Delta: Fly United!

By the way, there is a great TV show on National Geographic, called "Air Crash Investigations". I recommend it very much.

Thanksgiving week deals

2010-11-22T07:32:00.000-08:00

Just saw Home Depot will have some and an idea enlightened me - maybe Best Buy will also make some great deals on electronics? They do have great delas on Fridays usually, and the question is - what will be the discount on Canon T2i (D550)? Oh... I think you should try it ;)

Live streaming

2010-11-21T20:11:00.000-08:00

What are you using to watch your favorite TV shows?

There is a great website, called hulu.com where you can catch up with the recent 5 or so episodes from your favorite TV shows or series premeres: Burn Notice, Lie to me, The Office, Cops, Saturday Night Live, Most Wanted, The Good Guys, What would you do, LOST etc...

The problem is hulu has growing advertisement breaks and they don't broadcast outside of the US...

What are the options for our friends overseas?

Veoh? They had good full time movies there. What about the watch-movies-online.net? It was first called so, then they changed to watch-movies-online.com, then watch-movies.net, then some more other changes and now, I believe, it is watch-movies-net.in. They have links on weird websites though, and not always you can get a movie with high quality.

What about Netflix? Is it worth it? Let me work it...

Philadelphia marathon

2010-11-19T10:24:00.000-08:00

A good friend of mine is doing it. He has a bet with our common friend, that if he wins - that other guy will treat him for anything worth $500. If he can't make the marathon though, he should do everything possible to graduate in 2011. This is very very tough :)

Truly, Philadelphia marathon changes lives...

Good luck to everybody!

Thanksgiving is coming!

2010-11-19T10:09:00.000-08:00

What are the best thanksgiving ideas? Food? Any nice recipes with turkey? Thanksgiving games? Fun for friends / family? What do you do in your country? Is it popular? Anything similar? Do you travel? I know many people go south to visit relatives in Florida. I did it once, and it is really a gorgeous time of year there around Thanksgiving. The air is magnificent and magic. It has like this beautiful blueish color, and calming, enriching ozone smell. Not too hot, not too cool - the truly best time of year. Highly recommend to do it once at least if you have chance!

It is funny - yesterday I met a couple of friends while shopping in the local organic grocery store, and we were discussing the travel opportunities - it seems the best deals you can get for flights during thanksgiving weekend is those which depart on Thursday evening (when everybody is eating) and which return on Saturday day time (when everybody is having fun)... The fares otherwise are like $500+ from Boston to California! It's totally crazy.

Amazon.com has some great thanksgiving deals, as I heard from Landy:

Question of the day:
Q: Do they celebrate Thanksgiving in Turkey?

facebook, myspace, twitter

2010-11-19T10:04:00.000-08:00

So it looks like there are these three mainstream social websites. Which are you using and why? What are the advantages and disadvantages of each of them?

I heard many people complaining about facebook privacy settings, but actually, I've never had problems with them. You just go to privacy settings and control who can see your profile and how. For example, I have a list of friends, who can see everything about me. Friends of friends can see some limited information, while everybody else can see nothing! Literally nothing. Non, zip, zero, nada. Also I have a list called "invisibility". Why? Did you ever get a friend request from someone who you don't know? Well, I don't refuse these requests, but I put all these people into this invisibility list. What can they see about me? Literally nothing. Non, zip, zero, nada. What can I see about them? Everything!

I personally don't like twitter, and I heard youg people saying about our generation: "why would they invent twitter? It's so stupid!"...

myspace - never used it... it looks like everyone can register. On facebook it is good that you can enter the network of your school or work onl if oyu have the corresponding email address. But now much more people can join too - and this leads to fraud, spam and quality loss. But it looks like they're working hard to fix these...

Also good network is linkedin - but that one is purely professional. Do you know of any hires which were initiated on linkedin?

Harry Potter

2010-11-19T09:45:00.000-08:00

Wanted to find such a dictionary / review for a long time:
http://moviesblog.mtv.com/2010/11/19/harry-potter-dictionary-terms-deathly-hallows/

Do you like Harry Potter? I'd love to see it in the cinema. Bring on the ticket deals!

Call of Duty Black Ops

2010-11-18T18:55:00.000-08:00

Who played this game?

(video from official container, http://www.covershut.com/covers/Call-Of-Duty-7-Black-Ops-Front-Cover-37060.jpg)

I remember Call of Duty Modern Warfare was a BLAST! And they had Black Ops as separate standalone missions. This new game offers to be a new blockbuster. Will wait for a Mac OS X version though... don't want to play on Dell laptop PC. Always very slow and loose controls.

First impressions?

Tropicana Rewards

2010-11-18T09:38:00.000-08:00

Bought my favorite Tropicana juice today, and found out about their rewards program - looks very interesting: www.tropicana.com. A lot of discounts and free shipping on various merchandise from participating retailers.

Startup and business opportunities...

2010-11-17T22:04:00.000-08:00

... in movie industry:

IJAS - winter tires

2010-11-17T21:58:00.000-08:00

Winter Tires
ij advising service series

Landy asks:
Hey! I am looking for a new tires to put-on my car for coming winter season. What do you have on this?

The selection of winter tires is a tough process. In many U.S. states the Department of Motor Vehicles requires you to switch to the winter tires during winter season. Amazon.com has a wide selection of winter tires for your automobile. Since different brands have different characteristics and aesthetic attractiveness we highly recommend to explore the entire collection before you make a decision:
Search Amazon.com for winter tires

Remember - safety first. Make a wise choice!

Winter waterproof hiking boots

2010-11-17T18:45:00.000-08:00

Tired from spending $50 every month on low-quality footwear? It's better to invest once and then be happy and warm for the next few years.

The best boots are those which combine Vibram soles with Gore-Tex powered full leather cover. The best candidate is therefore Wolverine Branson:

The price is too high though... An alternative is Bates footwear: they don't have single slice leather cover, but have a nice zipper for quick access instead:

See the piece of material on the side? My previous Bates (desert version) started to leak severely after 1.5 years use in the points where two different materials merge. But Bates M-6 has Gore-Tex layer which will hopefully keep the feet dry and the boots breathable.

More affordable price-wise as well.

Question of the day:
Q: How much better is Gore-Tex compared to the nearest competitor technologies?

Giovanni Tea Tree Shampoo

2010-11-16T23:17:00.000-08:00

Great treat for your hair - wakening up in the morning, refreshing at night.
Tea tree + peppermint + eucalyptus

15% off and free delivery when you use subscribe & save!

Headphones for iPhone

2010-11-16T12:52:00.000-08:00

There are a lot of headphones out there, but if you are a true fan of high quality music and like to be in control of your sounds - you want the headphones to be durable enough to withstand everyday use, powerful enough to deliver undistorted sound and have that little volume control and answer buttons right there on the wire for quick and easy access.

Luckily for us, there are such headphones: iPhone / iPod headphones by apple with remote & microphone

The problem with these headphones, however is the short length of the cable and mediocre durability: the original pair I bought (for $29 back then) was broken after soem time, and the pair that came with the iPhone, didn't last long either, despite the care I took of it (well, basically I tortured them too much, but still - they should withstand everyday tortures, eh?)

So I suggest that you have a look at this piece by Phillips:

Theн offer amazing sound quality and come with built in microphone and remote control which works both with your Mac and iDevice. The cable is long enough and they are pretty durable. Also they have a benefit of not canceling outside noises, which is a great safety feature for walking / jogging in busy places.

Question of the day:
Q: Should one invest once in high quality headset ($500+) or use cheap versions (~$1) changing them once they break every week?

Canon EOS Rebel T2i

2010-11-15T21:27:00.001-08:00

This is the greatest camera ever hitting the market. It offers 18 megapixel CMOS sensor capable of capturing up to 3.7 frames per second. Add to it the ability to ramp ISO from 100 up to 6400 - you can get out with stunning pictures from nearly any low-light situation. To finish up the wow-shock and leave you craving for the product, Canon has added live view support and the stunning ability to record High Definition videos. But be careful - the producer inside you will eat up your camera memory in no time. Luckily, there is support for SDXC memory cards that will bring you to the top of the film industry.

Buy it now on amazon:

the kit version: Canon EOS Rebel T2i 18 MP CMOS APS-C Digital SLR Camera with 3.0-Inch LCD and EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS Lens

or, the body only version:

Canon EOS Rebel T2i 18 MP CMOS APS-C Digital SLR Camera with 3.0-Inch LCD (Body Only)

which you can finish up with an amazing Canon EF 50 mm f/1.4 lens, which fits your budget and gives your photos unbelievable look (great for videos, where you can selectively focus on a specific targets, and also performs amazingly well in low light situations):

Canon EF 50mm f1.4 USM Standard & Medium Telephoto Lens for Canon SLR Cameras

Question of the day
Q: should Canon make further efforts to increase the resolution of the cameras, or concentrate on noise reduction, keeping low MP?