Author Archives: pbravin

Shopping for the Holidays? Tips from Dr. Z !

More and more people are shopping online these days.

Stores like Best Buy and Target sometimes lose customers due to “showrooming.” Showrooming means people go to stores, write the price down and go home and order via Amazon or other sites that offer lower prices.

Dr. Z went to Best Buy yesterday to buy a printer after his 7-year old printer decided to rest. Best Buy offered this printer for $149.99. But Best Buy has a price match policy that they match anything that is lower on the internet. Amazon happened to offer the same printer for $120.00 and Dr. Z was able to get the same printer on the spot from Best Buy! This is because Best Buy has a price match policy.

As far as Dr. Z knows, the following retailers have a price match policy:

– Target
– Best Buy
– Staples
– Toys R US

Be aware that there are some exceptions–such as Black Friday which do not apply to price matching. They suggest that you go to the customer service desk to do this.

Walmart does not match online (internet) prices, only by advertisements from other stores, but not online prices.

When you compare–keep the following in mind:

– shipping costs
– sales tax (some online shipping does not add sales tax)

Dr. Z cares about your budget. Happy Shopping!

So easy so simple!

By the way, if you need video communication (VP or VRS), why not try Z5, you will like it! Click here to get it! (See if you qualify to get a FREE tablet with a stand!)

Dr. Z is proud to be part of the team that understands and listens to the needs of the deaf and hard of hearing community!

Dr. Z cares about your communication access.

Disclosure: Dr. Z (Philip W. Bravin) is associated with CSDVRS, currently its Vice-President of Business Development

Check Your Pulse? There’s an app for that! Cardiograph!

The iPad and iPhone are so versatile. Some apps are becoming creative. One is Cardiograph which takes your pulse! You just start the app by pressing a button then put your index finger over the camera and in a few seconds your pulse reading comes up. It works pretty good but has to be in a bright room. The app is not free–it costs $1.99 (Dr. Z gets no commission for referring you to such apps.) There are similar apps out there but Dr. Z cannot vouch for them.

The link for Cardiograph in the iTunes store is as follows: Cardiograph Link

There are now apps that work with other monitors such as blood pressure, taking your weight, etc.

Remember those apps do not take place of your doctor! Dr. Z is a “doctor” only for VRS and video related applications.

Dr. Z cares about your health.

So easy so simple!

By the way, if you need video communication (VP or VRS), why not try Z5, you will like it! Click here to get it! (See if you qualify to get a FREE tablet with a stand!)

Dr. Z is proud to be part of the team that understands and listens to the needs of the deaf and hard of hearing community!

Dr. Z cares about your communication access.

Disclosure: Dr. Z (Philip W. Bravin) is associated with CSDVRS, currently its Vice-President of Business Development

Back to School Season: Simplenote..the simplest note app!

It’s Back to School time! And Back to Fall, Winter, etc…

Simplenote is a simple app. It allows you to take notes, that’s all–but it does something different. If you take notes on your iPad, the same note will show up on your Simplenote iPhone app, the same note will show up on your Simplenote Android app, the same note will show up on your Simplenote web site on your computer. If you make changes to your note on any of those devices, all the changes will appear on all other devices, simple as that! You can “share” the note with anyone you want and they can make changes to it and the changes will show up on all your devices with Simplenote on it!

Here are the links:

iPhone/iPad: Simplenote for iPhone/iPad
Android: Simplenote for Android
Web: Simplenote for Web

So easy so simple!

By the way, if you need video communication (VP or VRS), why not try Z5, you will like it! Click here to get it! (See if you qualify to get a FREE tablet with a stand!)

Dr. Z is proud to be part of the team that understands and listens to the needs of the deaf and hard of hearing community!

Dr. Z cares about your communication access.

Disclosure: Dr. Z (Philip W. Bravin) is associated with CSDVRS, currently its Vice-President of Business Development

A Text Stop for Your Device? What’s That? What’s Next?

The other day Dr. Z and his wife were driving home and we saw a sign that is a “sign of the times.” A text stop, in addition to a rest stop. What about a video stop? But come to think of it…it is a safety move–a text stop takes you off the road to send a text message. A video stop will do the same.

Word of support and thought from Dr. Z: “DON’T TEXT OR VIDEO WHILE DRIVING”

DR. Z CARES ABOUT YOUR SAFETY.

By the way, if you need video communication (VP or VRS), why not try Z5, you will like it! Click here to get it! (See if you qualify to get a FREE tablet with a stand!)

Dr. Z is proud to be part of the team that understands and listens to the needs of the deaf and hard of hearing community!

Dr. Z cares about your communication access.

Disclosure: Dr. Z (Philip W. Bravin) is associated with CSDVRS, currently its Vice-President of Business Development

WiFi on the Plane! Does it Work?

Dr. Z is writing this blog post while he is on a plane from Vermont to California.

He is trying to prove that it can be done while you are connected to the internet 35,000 feet in the air.

He is flying Southwest today. It costs $8 to have wifi on your iPad or iPhone while you are in the air. It is good for one day and only one device. This means if you use your iPad and your iPhone, you have to pay $8 each for both of them.

The rest of the domestic airlines use a service known as “Gogo.” Gogo usually charges $14.95 for a day or $39.95/$49.95 a month. Sometimes the airlines offer a special for a limited period of time. Sometimes, if you buy before you fly, it could be cheaper than if you buy while you are airborne.

Is wifi in the air as good as the wifi at your home or office? From my experience, the answer is NO! I use it only when I have some urgent work or matters to attend to. But if I had a choice, I would pass on that until the airlines get better with this. It is still not good enough for video communication in the air. The connection can be described as “sputtering.” Sometimes it works great then it sputters. Knowing how technology progresses, Dr. Z is of the opinion it will get better with time.

For a link to “Gogo”, click this: Gogo Link

By the way, if you need video communication (VP or VRS), why not try Z5, you will like it! Click here to get it! (See if you qualify to get a FREE tablet with a stand!)

Dr. Z is proud to be part of the team that understands and listens to the needs of the deaf and hard of hearing community!

Dr. Z cares about your communication access.

Disclosure: Dr. Z (Philip W. Bravin) is associated with CSDVRS, currently its Vice-President of Business Development

Which App is Best for Reading While Waiting in Line, or in the Car? Flipboard!

Dr. Z has a great app for you. Sometimes when you are waiting in line at the supermarket because a product does not have a bar code on it and people are running to get more info on it, or while in the car riding on a interstate in the middle of nowhere with no scenery, you want to lazily read some news and some nice stuff…the best app for this is called “Flipboard”

Dr. Z uses it while he is waiting to board a plane, or while in the plane before it leaves the gate. It is a perfect app to get info quickly without having to think or use a browser.

Try it, you will like it!

The link to Flipboard on the iTunes store is as follows: link.

By the way, if you need video communication (VP or VRS), why not try Z5, you will like it! Click here to get it! (See if you qualify to get a FREE tablet with a stand!)

Dr. Z is proud to be part of the team that understands and listens to the needs of the deaf and hard of hearing community!

Dr. Z cares about your communication access.

Disclosure: Dr. Z (Philip W. Bravin) is associated with CSDVRS, currently its Vice-President of Business Development

Government Shutdown-Is ZVRS Affected? No!

People have been asking Dr. Z and ZVRS if the government shutdown is affecting VRS in general.

We checked around and the answer is NO! We are running full blast 24 hours a day/7 days a week at our centers across the country.

Our headquarters is monitoring the situation and as of now, everything is “business as usual.”

VRS is a lifeline for many of us and that will be one of the last things that would be cut.

If you are using other providers and need to use ZVRS, dial 888-888-1116 and we will be ready to relay your call.

By the way, if you need video communication (VP or VRS), why not try Z5, you will like it! Click here to get it! (See if you qualify to get a FREE tablet with a stand!)

Dr. Z is proud to be part of the team that understands and listens to the needs of the deaf and hard of hearing community!

Dr. Z cares about your communication access.

Disclosure: Dr. Z (Philip W. Bravin) is associated with CSDVRS, currently its Vice-President of Business Development

iOS 7-Wow! Have You Tried the Panorama Mode in the Camera App?

A picture is worth 1,000 words, but if you do creative things, it can be worth 10,000 words!

Dr. Z has been playing with iOS 7 on his iPad and iPhone.

One of the coolest new things that comes with iOS 7 in the Camera app is the panorama mode.

Sometimes when you take a picture, you are stuck with what you can take because you are too close to the subject or not wide enough.

The panorama feature allows you to move the camera from left to right or even around you to show what your eye can see!

Like the picture above, it was taken with panorama feature (Dr. Z did not take that picture, he copied it from another website. Thanks to that website.)

There are many other cool features with iOS 7–Dr. Z will write about this from time to time.

By the way, if you need video communication (VP or VRS), why not try Z5, you will like it! Click here to get it! (See if you qualify to get a FREE tablet with a stand!)

Dr. Z is proud to be part of the team that understands and listens to the needs of the deaf and hard of hearing community!

Dr. Z cares about your communication access.

Disclosure: Dr. Z (Philip W. Bravin) is associated with CSDVRS, currently its Vice-President of Business Development

iOS 7-iPhone 5s-iPhone 5c–What is what?

Apple has made a big announcement last week and a lot of new things are in it..Dr. Z will try to break this down.

First of all..lts break things down a bit…

We have the hardware–which is the iPad and the iPhone.

Then we have the operating system which controls everything on the iPad and the iPhone–its called iOS 7.

Then we have apps which run different things on the iPad and the iPhone.

The hardware cannot run without the operating system.

The apps won’t work without the operating system.

We need 3 things to make everything work on the iPad and iPhone–hardware, operating system and apps.

Apple announced two new models of the iPhone-iPhone 5S and iPhone 5c which is the hardware. Apple did not announce any new models of the iPad

Apple also announced a new version of the operating system called iOS 7. It runs on the iPad and the iPhone–it makes everything look a bit different and prettier. Some functions have changed.

Because iOS 7 looks a bit different, some apps have changed to make it look like iOS 7.

When you upgrade to iOS 7, be sure to back up everything on the iCloud before you back up because sometimes some things can go wrong.

The upgrade to iOS 7 takes about 90 minutes to 2 hours.

iOS 7 works on older versions of the iPhone and iPad. Some of the nice things in iOS 7 may not work on the older versions, but overall it will run just fine.

Dr. Z likes iOS 7–it’s a cool operating system and much cleaner and easier to read.

By the way, if you need video communication (VP or VRS), why not try Z5, you will like it! Click here to get it! (See if you qualify to get a FREE tablet with a stand!)

Dr. Z is proud to be part of the team that understands and listens to the needs of the deaf and hard of hearing community!

Dr. Z cares about your communication access.

Disclosure: Dr. Z (Philip W. Bravin) is associated with CSDVRS, currently its Vice-President of Business Development

Back to School Season: Weather?! Which is the Best Weather App?

It’s Back to School time! And Back to Fall, Winter, etc…

When you try to find a weather app, there are hundreds of them. Dr. Z happens to be a weather fanatic and because he lives in a remote area in Vermont, knowing about the weather is an important part of your life when you live in a remote area.

Dr. Z has fallen in love with a weather app called “Weatherbug”. It has all the info you need to check on the weather, a narrative summary, a daily summary (with dew point) and a radar map of the weather in your area. The map is very accurate and it can tell you how soon and how long you will have a storm in your area. It is not limited to your area, you can add weather locations of where your friends or relative are, or also weather info of a place you plan to travel in the near future. And its FREE!

It will also decide how to dress your kids for school the next day, even if they plead to have shorts on a snowy day! And it will help you to pack for a trip!

The link to this app on the iTunes store is as follows: link.

By the way, if you need video communication (VP or VRS), why not try Z5, you will like it! Click here to get it! (See if you qualify to get a FREE tablet with a stand!)

Dr. Z is proud to be part of the team that understands and listens to the needs of the deaf and hard of hearing community!

Dr. Z cares about your communication access.

Disclosure: Dr. Z (Philip W. Bravin) is associated with CSDVRS, currently its Vice-President of Business Development