Garmin Montana 680 Review

The GARMIN MONTANA 680 proved to be our most powerful device, featuring a large screen, mounting options, easy to use interface, and 8 MP camera with the best reception of all units tested. It was also the heaviest and largest

Reception

Of the all units, the Montana 680 had the best reception. Utilizing a high sensitivity receiver, the Montana 680 picks up both GLONASS and GPS networks with WAAS compatibility. When testing in deep canyons, high mountains, and covered areas, we discovered it was the second fastest to lock on a location. It maintains a recorded accuracy within eight feet in both open and covered areas. In our tests we set a way point and tried to navigate back to it. On average, the Montana put us within 40 inches of the initial way points while Garmin GPS MAP 64s put us within 73 inches. We also double checked our hypothesis by walking an area of 7000 square feet. Using the area calculator function, the Montana calculated the area to be 7080 square feet. The rest of the units calculated square footage to be between 7309 - 7769. What does this tell us? This unit is pretty darn accurate.

Display Quality

The dual orientation color display features the largest screen (3.5 inches) of all tested. Due to its size, it's perfect to use as a navigation system for automobiles, motorcycles, and ATVs. No other unit was as easy to use while driving. 

Even though the screen size is great, we found it produced more glare than smaller units with similar quality screen (such as the Garmin eTrex 20x). That said, its screen quality was much better than units with plastic screens like the Magellan eXplorist 510.

Ease of Use

The interface of this unit is similar to any other Garmin handheld. There is only one push button on the side for power, while the rest is completely touchscreen. While the unit features these touchscreen capabilities, it's not as easy to use as the Garmin Oregon 600t. You can only use one finger to control the screen (versus two).
Similar to all other touchscreen devices, you must use the touchscreen as a keypad to enter waypoints and other information. We did like the big display and easy-to-use menu format that some of our novice users thought was pretty simple. In comparison to the rest, we thought this was the second easiest unit to use for the complete beginner. 

Speed

Earning top marks in this category, the Montana 680 was the fastest of all units tested. Even though the Oregon 600t was a little more sensitive to touch, we found the Montana 680 was a hair faster. Instead of waiting for short pauses when redrawing maps, the unit was flawless and took no time to respond. When comparing the electronic compass on all units with this feature, we noticed the Montana's compass did not stick or lag. We could follow our tracks from one place to another very easily. 

Weight and Size

Losing some serious points here, our testers were not thrilled about the weight and size of this handheld GPS. Still able to fit into only LARGE pockets, this unit is bulky and heavy. 

Home solar panels: a beginner's guide to saving electricity

MANILA, Philippines – A month ago, we finally took the plunge. After years of hemming and hawing we finally agreed to have our heretofore bare roof be adorned with 12 solar panels. Each can generate 250 watts per hour from the rays of the sun for a combined total of 3 kw per hour. Every day, we get at least 4 hours of sunshine, effectively harvesting 12 kw each day.

What does this mean? It means during the day our household appliances are directly powered by electricity generated by these solar panels ( for example: GOAL ZERO SHERPA 100 KIT )

 It means our once idle roof becomes a quiet mini power plant for half the day while the sun is out. It lets us get off the Meralco grid for a few hours each day. Which of course, translates to savings when your monthly electric bill arrives. And on the average we are looking at a 40% "discounted" rate on our bill.

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This is the experience of Edgardo T. Valenzuela, an adjunct professor at the Ateneo School of Government and a homeowner in Alta Vista in Quezon City. Before installing two-kw solar panels on his 200-sqm property, his electric bill came in at P6,000 for a monthly electric consumption of 5 kwh.

“But now, with the solar panels. I only pay P3,500-P4,000. My savings from the solar panel amount to at least 40% of my original bill,” he says.

This discounted rate already includes credit from excess energy that he "gives back" to Meralco via net metering. The model installed in his house, as in ours, is what industry people call a "grid tied system."

His home is still connected to Meralco. His nighttime energy needs are still provided by Meralco. When the power company has a blackout, he experiences it as well. Net metering, on the other hand, is the process whereby unused and excess energy are fed back into the grid, which is then bought by Meralco at half the price. It is usually reflected as credit on his bill.

40% is a considerable rebate by any means. Why then are people not jumping on the chance to have a go at this kind of savings? The answer is affordability. Installing solar panels is not an easy decision to make.

In 2014, when Valenzuela decided to build his very own eco-house, the option to install solar panels came at a whopping cost of P320,000 for his two-kw installation (or P160,000 per one kw). He and his wife had to think really long and hard before they finally decided to do it, having had to withdraw a part of their pension plan to pay for their solar plans.

In contrast, 2017 prices are a little more friendly with one-kw costing P120,000. That’s a drop of 25% in installation costs. But even at this rate, prices are still daunting. It’s a commitment. Then again, maybe it’s our perspective that needs to change. Maybe, instead of looking at it as an expense, we should view it as an investment.

Based on its August 2017 news release, Meralco sells at P8.39 per kilowatt. The typical return on investment rate is usually pegged at 6-7 years. “After that, it’s pure savings,” says Valenzuela, who is halfway through his investment period.

Take heart though, there is an easier way for a homeowner who wants to go solar. Rappler asked if Solar Solutions is open to a modular system of installing these panels to make them a bit more affordable. The answer is yes.

For example, if after an ocular inspection, your house is assessed as needing 3kw (12 panels), you don’t have to shell out the whole amount right away. If you only have enough for 1 kw (4 panels), they can do that for you. And if the following year, you are able to add another kilowatt, that’s also doable and so on and so forth, until you are able to reach your goal.

Science in your mittens: The chemistry of hand warmers

Tis the season for cold fingers. If you’re stuck out in the cold for a few hours, your mittens can only do so much. You may need to bring is some chemical reinforcements.

There are two types of chemical hand warmers that I’m going to look at here. The first are the more common disposable variety. Like a little pouch filled with something powdery. You shake it up and it starts to warm, and later on as it wears down, more shaking will squeeze out more heat. Let’s find out what’s going on inside the pouch.

The heat is generated from plain old iron that plain old rusts. That’s right. If you could fit grandpa’s Plymouth in your mittens, that would do the trick. As iron rusts (the fancy word being oxidizes) it generates heat. That’s exothermic, daddio! So inside the pouch there is a lot of iron powder. When you remove that pouch from its air-tight plastic wrapper, the oxygen begins the oxidization process and it begins putting out heat. SUNJACK HEAT BANK is hand warmer and power bank together. it is really portable and useful gadget.

The rest of the ingredients in the pouch serve to control the oxygen-iron reaction. Some things get the reaction started quickly for instant heat, while others work to keep the heat lasting as long as possible. Carbon is in there to help spread the heat evenly, just the same as in a barbeque. When you shake the pouch after a while, it exposes new iron to oxygen to give the rusting another boost.

Now the second kind of hand warmer is more nifty because you can see it happening. It’s a clear plastic sealed pouch filled with a liquid. Floating around inside is a little metal disc about the size of a nickle. When you bend that disc, the liquid instantly “freezes” and begins generating heat. Once the heat is done you can boil the pouch to reverse the reaction and be ready to warm another day.

So let’s examine that cool “freezing” part. What’s going on there?

The clear liquid in the pouch is sodium acetate.That’s sodium salt dissolved in acetic acid. It’s critical that this is a super-saturated solution, meaning there is more sodium than the acid can actually hold. Plus, it’s a super-cooled solution at room temperature. It should be “frozen” (crystallized), but it’s not. The crystals have nothing to grow on. (you know, like how every snowflake is formed around a speck of dust) Until you snap that metal disc.

With a snap, you create a small bit of solid sodium acetate trihydrate that lets those first crystals form. Then further crystals grow from there, and so forth across the entire pouch in a second. The change from liquid to crystal releases heat energy. That’s exothermic, dude!

After 20 minutes the heat will be done, but by putting the pouch in warm water, the crystals dissolve. In fact, the sodium acetate is soaking up heat energy that it will store until the next crystallization.

Fun bonus fact: You’ve probably eaten sodium acetate, as it is used to make “salt and vinegar flavoured” potato chips.

Most expensive vintage watch sold in Dubai

The most expensive watch sold in Dubai went for $500,000 at an auction this week.

Christie’s March auctions, which realised a total of $13,437,688 (AED49,343,190) in sales, sold a Girards vintage watch for a little less than $500,000, making it the most expensive vintage watch sold at auction in the Middle East.

The top lot of the sales was Mahmoud Saïd’s Assouan – ile et dunes oil painting, accompanied by its preparatory oil sketch, selling for $685,500 (AED2,517,156), tripling its pre-sale estimate.

Christies said the Dubai auction attracted interest from collectors in 22 countries around the world, and the top lots from the picture sale were bought by clients from Lebanon, Canada, UAE and UK.

The Modern and Contemporary Middle Eastern Art sale included works from Marwan Sahmarani (Lebanese, b. 1970), Nazir Nabaa (Syrian, 1941-2016), Mahmoud Sabri (Iraqi, 1927-2012) and Koorosh Shishegaran (Iranian, b. 1945).

“Christie's reinforced its position as market leader in the region for the 12th consecutive year,” Michael Jeha, Managing Director Christie’s Middle East.

“The demand for top quality art remains extremely strong and the buyer base for Middle Eastern art continues to deepen and internationalise. There was fierce bidding in the room for the most established artists, with eighteen new auction records being set in the process.

“The appetite for watches in the region goes from strength to strength and it was particularly pleasing to see the watches auction deliver not only the most expensive watch ever sold at auction in Dubai, but also the highest ever sold total. The scale and depth of bidding in the sale, not only in the room, but on the phones and online was particularly impressive.”

The shift in media’s business model played a critical role in Trump's victory

Like many populist leaders, Donald Trump skillfully exploited the media obsession for immediacy and page views.

In French journalism, especially in radio and TV, we have an expression that says it all: “He (or she) is a bon client”. Literally, a good customer, an endless provider of soundbites and juicy quotes that will jump to the top of the news cycle. The most spectacular, the semantically simplest wins the prize. The “good customer” delivers strong, punchy lines. These can be superficial and even untrue, but only the tune matters, not the lyrics. That has been the case for countless populist leaders, from the French alt-right Marine LePen, to Filipino president Rodrigo Duterte and, of course, Donald Trump.

Across the board, the media love such fodder. Including mainstream, legacy news outlets. Years ago, draping themselves in the sanctity of journalism, these news organizations kept deriding the clickbait news machines that arose from the internet. “We are not in the same business, they are craving for clicks, we do serious journalism”.

Is It Time to Press ‘Reset’ on the Streaming Business Model?

say last week wasn’t particularly good for Guvera might be an understatement. The Australian streaming service announced it would seek an $80 million (AUD) IPO, and the response from other Aussie tech bigwigs was swift. That response, unfortunately, came in the form of comments generally associated with horror films or mass catastrophes — one venture capitalist dubbed it “horrifying,” while another claimed it left him “terrified.” The only response Guvera’s CEO could muster was to basically call them haters, which works if you’re a rapper or Taylor Swift but isn’t so great if you’re the head of a major company.

In all fairness to Guvera, they’re not the only streaming service that’s struggling right now. Deezer called off an IPO last year, and Spotify has yet to pull the trigger despite multiple rumors of an offering. Spotify also came under fire during a panel at music business conference MIDEM, where a prominent VC pointed out the despite being the biggest player in the space, they still lost a couple hundred million dollars last year. She went on to explain that this was why VCs tend to avoid the music space.

And while more users have been adopting streaming technology, the numbers don’t suggest the massive uptick that these services might need to survive. There’s a decent possibility we could be left with streaming services that are all part of much larger companies that essentially subsidize them as loss-leaders for other products or services. Add to this a growing backlash from many artists who feel they’re not being paid enough, and it looks like dark days for streaming up ahead.

The beta version of a new business model for news

In the era of newspapers, people never really paid for news.

News have always spread freely among people, thanks to radio and television, word-of-mouth, small talks at bars, phone calls: “Did you hear what just happened?”.

What people paid for, for years, were essentially two things: the work of research, curation and fact-checking conducted by journalists, and the physical support on which they were distributed. That is, paper.

The former is still valid, while less noticeable: if the role of filtering and monitoring of news by news organizations is getting more and more disrupted –in an era where information overload grows at a rate of millions of bits per hour– the role of reporters is still crucial to guarantee accuracy and truth, to debunk hoaxes and verify the reliability of the sources. In this sense, nothing has changed. What has changed is the way this process happens; the techniques have changed, the available tools have changed, the platforms have changed (Reported.ly, anyone?). But even in this radically transformed scenario, the role of journalists has stayed the same. They should provide reliable information: it is a service. And people, I think, are still willing to pay for it.