Aaron Ewer
Aaron Ewers thoughts about everything

In my search for new electronic gadgets, I came across a great site full of bargains for the new gadget hunters like me. The site is called Dealtime and it is for tech-savvy shoppers who want to save money but get the good stuff, like Dell computers. The search function lets you hunt by brand, by price range, and by category.

When I searched the site for a new laptop it came up with over 11,000 items. The brands listed include Dell, Sony, HP, Toshiba, and others that you will recognize but why should I list them all here when you can go to the site and see for yourself?

Dealtime has categories that include DVDs, video games, appliances, jewelry and lots more. All of the popular gaming systems are featured, with hundreds of games at discount prices. There are product reviews if you need more information and I really liked the like about new releases called “Product News.” If you can’t find a bargain here, then you aren’t looking!

I love Chicago. It’s my favorite “big city” to go for business or for pleasure. I’m booking our flight and getting tickets from a ticket broker so we can go watch the Cubs vs the Cardinals this summer.

There’s so much to do and see in the Windy City - and hundreds of good places to eat all kinds of food, especially steaks and chops. One of my favorite restaurants in Chicago is the Chicago Chop House. It is a classic Chicago bar and restaurant and a must do for anyone who loves steak with lots of atmosphere. Anything on the menu is guaranteed to be great, and the wine list is spectacular.

In the summer you can charter a sail on one of the tall ships out on the Lake. Put that on your “bucket list.” And if you can’t fit that in on your first trip, at least take a river and lake boat tour - it’s great fun and you learn a few things about the city, too.

I read the Chicago Tribune for news you can’t get in the other daily papers. If nothing else, read the great weekly column by Garrison Keillor, humorist, author, and perhaps best known as the radio host of “A Prairie Home Companion.”

The wife has a huge artistic talent, of which I’ve always been very proud. Her paintings have impressed a lot of people and she does occasionally take on commission work, usually portraits. I don’t see how she can draw people’s faces so accurately - it amazes me.

She wants to convert the basement into a small studio and start giving lessons, which I think is a great idea but the money to build out the basement into a studio and buy the supplies to teach small classes or individuals that want private lessons is just not in our budget.

She’s fired up about this art class idea though, so I set her loose on the internet to find a small business loan and see if she will qualify for an unsecured loan. Sure enough, she called me with the news that she has indeed found a website called EZ Unsecured that has an easy application process - right there on their website or a toll free number to call - and promises fast funding.

They offer several types of loans, but the wife is looking particularly for Small Business Loans and this is one of the categories on their website, so she is chomping at the bit to see if this might come through for her and help her launch her dream of her own artist’s studio. The website says you don’t need collateral and that they can process loan requests for up to $350,000. Although we don’t need near as much as that, this type of loan would be perfect for our needs. She could even apply for a small business credit card from the same site and have the security of extra funds available to help her through the first few months if she needs it.

Found a new electronic gadget that looks perfect for the kids, a mini laptop.

If all you need is something to get online using a home wireless connection or a free public Wi-Fi spot like most coffeeshops and many restaurant chains, libraries and other public buildings this should do the job. You do not need to buy any other cards or pay a monthly fee to use the free public Wi-Fi spots.

The mini does not come with Windows although you can install Windows if you must have it. Instead, they have the open source operating system called Linux.

You do not need Windows to access the internet.

The mini does not have Windows Internet Explorer - which is no great loss to me. It comes with the Firefox browser already installed, which is my browser of choice, so you should be able to plug it in and go without having to install anything or learn anything new.

If you want a basic word processing program you do not need Windows. This comes with Open Office, which is very similar to MS Word and MS Excel. It also has Adobe Reader already installed so you can open and read internet downloads and email attachments.

Looks like a great deal at only $300.

If you have an iPhone have you noticed how easily it gets scratched? Both the case and the display seem to scratch easily, even though I am careful with it and try to treat it well.

My wife found an interesting new cover for the iPhone and it’s not as much as a holster or a carrying case as it is a clear plastic film that fits over the iPhone. The film is called invisibleSHIELD and on their website they tell how it was originally invented to protect helicopter blades from the sand and dust but now they found a good commercial use for the product in protecting cell phones and PDAs.

The invisibleSHIELD is like a second skin that slips over your iPhone or other device and protects it from dirt, dust and scratches. If you’ve been thinking about getting or looking at iphone cases, be sure to check out the invisibleSHIELD web site and let me know what you think.