Product reveiw: DBTech Digital LED Clock with Circling LED second indicator

This an attractive black clock with a red read out (it also comes in blue and green LEDs). It shows seconds by lighting up dots in a circular pattern around the face of the clock. The clock is rather eye catching. I put in my basement and it added a decorative touch that was a nice bonus to the practical need of telling the time. The size of the unit is 9 7/8" square and 1.5" wide. The time readout is 1 3/4" by 1 2/3". It is easy to see even for people with imperfect vision like mine. This clock runs on AC power and comes with the cord that is 118 inches long (almost 10 feet).


The clock has three settings of brightness. I am attaching a collage of 3 photos to demonstrate various aspects of the clock. 



The first two photos show the dial of the clock a about 20 seconds apart so you can see how the display changes with time.



The third photo shows the back of the clock. You can also see the AC plug that powers the clock. On the bottom left you see the three buttons that control changing time and brightness. The controls are pretty easy. To change time you use two buttons and then hit the third to save the new time. And you can toggle the middle button to toggle between three levels of brightness. On the brightest setting I selected I can read the time even with the sun hits the clock.


The clock has a built-in back-up battery. When you disconnect the clock or if you lose power it keeps time (but not does not display to save energy). The clock arrived showing correct time and I tested this feature by disconnecting the clock for several hours.


The clock can either be hung on the wall or can stand on its base, as shown in my photos #1 and #2. Since the controls to change time and brightness are located on the back, you would need to remove the clock from the wall if you had to make changes. The fact that the clock runs on AC power the cord somewhat limits where you can place it, but I was able to find a perfect spot within 10 feet of the outlet. The cord, of course, can be extended with an extension cord if needed. The clock's cord has a non-polarized plug.


To summarize: I like how it looks and that is is easy for me to see from a long distance. Finding a perfect spot within 10 feet of the outlet was a bit of a challenge but worked out very well.


I received an evaluation unit for testing and unbiased review, and I described the pluses and minuses of my experience with this clock.


I am really enjoying this clock and would recommend it.







You can find it on Amazon by following this link.

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AshopZones review ★★★★★

DBTech Big Oversized Digital Red LED Calendar Clock with Day Date and Temperature (12" / Blue LED) DBTech Big Oversized Digital Red LED Calendar Clock with Day Date and Temperature

This is a good looking, large LED clock. The size of the unit is 15.875" by 7.5" by 1.5" thick. The time numbers are 2 1/4" in height and 1 3/8" wide. The day of the week and month are in slightly smaller font, the letters are 1 1/2" high on the second line. This clock is AC powered and its cord is 71".



The clock has three settings of brightness. I am attaching a collage of 5 photos that can be located by following 'customer photos' link under the main photo.

The first photo shows the clock on my night table, here you can see the relative size of the clock - it is quite large and easy to see. The second photo shows the back of the clock. On the bottom left you see the three buttons that control changing time and brightness. The controls are pretty easy. You can also see the AC plug - this clock runs on AC power. The clock has three levels of brightness, and pictures 3,4,5 show the three settings. Photo#3 has the lowest brightness, Photo#5 has the highest brightness. Note that my camera displayed brighter settings in lighter color, and in real life the font looks deep blue in all three settings just brighter and brighter. I keep the clock on the lowest setting as I placed it in the bedroom. During the night the clock added some light in the room, but we found it not to be too bright.



The clock has a built-in back-up battery. When you disconnect the clock or if you lose power it keeps time (but not does not display to save energy).



The clock can either be hung on the wall (it came with a mounting hardware) or can stand on its base, as shown in my photo #1. Since the controls to change time and brightness are located on the back, you would need to remove the clock from the wall if you had to make changes. The fact that the clock runs on AC power and the cord somewhat limits where you can place it. As I mentioned earlier the cord is 71" and that was too short to reach where we wanted to place it, so we are running it using an extension cord. The clock has a non-polarized plug.



I am really enjoying the clock - I find it very handy to have both the time and the calendar information displayed. The thermometer seems to run 2 degrees lower than the whether station we also have in the bedroom. I brought in a third thermometer to arbitrate and it showed the temperature in the middle of the two numbers.



To summarize: I liked the look of the clock, display is great to see, love the blue color, nice to have three brightness levels, helpful that it keeps the time even when disconnected.

The things that were somewhat inconvenient - controls on the back that require to take the clock off the wall to adjust, short cord, thermometer is not totally accurate.



I received an evaluation unit for testing and unbiased review, and I described the pluses and minuses of my experience with this clock.



The negatives are very minor and I mention them just to be thorough and complete in my review. I am really enjoying this clock.



You can find it on Amazon by following this link.







AshopZones review ★★★★★

Hipe 15+5 LED Emergency Power failure Light / Flashlight / Automatic Motion-sensing Night light

Hipe Motion Sensor light consists of a charger and a light which doubles as a flashlight and as night light. The lights has 15 LED lights on one of the sides (they serve as a lights of the night light) and  5 LED lights on one of the ends (which work as a flash light).  I am attaching a video which demonstrates the function of the light. The video was shot in the dusk, not it the total duckness so you would be able to see the operation of the buttons. I am also attaching a photo which shows the brightness of the light in total darkness. 



The night light is light and motion sensitive.  It does not turn on during the day. In the dark it does not turn on unless there is motion very close to it.  The light goes off in 20 seconds if does not detect any motion.  Because of the fairly shallow range of motion detection this light works well in the bedroom. It goes on when someone walk by it, but does not go on if there is motion in the bed 3 feet away from it.  It works very well as an emergency light: it is being constantly recharged so it is always ready, it is easy to find as it is in a specific location and turns on when you get close to it.



Recharger fits into one of the outlets of the double outlets, the second outlet is free to be used by something else. The lenght of the light is 6 inches, it is 2" wider at its widest point.

  



I received a sample unit for testing and review. I have been using this light for over a week and I am very satisfied with how it functions.





You can find it on Amazon by following this link.









AshopZones review ★★★★★

i-Ecko High-Tech Laptop Sleeve. 15.6"

This is a neoprene sleeve for laptops with size up to 15.6 inches.

Photo #1 shows the laptop sleeve on the gridded mat and ruler for size reference. It is 15.5" wide, 11.5" high (from the bottom to the zipper), the bottom is 1" but the sides expand to accommodate somewhat thicker laptops. The front has a pocket which sized 8" by 10", the side to the right of the zipper is 9". It comes with a detachable shoulder strap.



The sleeve is made out of one layer of thick neoprene. The zippers are heavy duty and operate smoothly. The handles have an extra layer of neoprene and Velcro on the inside so they form a comfortable thick handle.



The sleeve fit my laptop as a glove. Photo #2 show the laptop in the open sleeve, and Photo #3 shows the sleeve half zipped. The sleeve had enough room for me to put in all the cords.



The sleeve formed a very neat snug package, giving protection without taking up any extra room. Because of it size it nicely fits into my backpack. When I travel with a laptop during business trips I can keep it in the backpack and then easily pull out at the airport for the security check. This saves me from carrying a laptop case as an extra piece of luggage.



I received a sample laptop case for evaluation and review.





You can find it on Amazon by following this link.

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AshopZones review ★★★★★

Book Review: BrandingPays: The Five-Step System to Reinvent Your Personal Brand by Karen Kang

The author of the book has a very impressive background as she worked for Regis McKenna who did brand positioning for Apple. And who has done a better job branding than Apple? Karen Kang transfers what she learned about branding companies to the idea of personal branding. Branding yourself.



Ms. Kang uses a phrase "a cake with icing" when she talks about personal branding. The cake is your expertise, your knowledge, your experience. The icing is your personality, your image, your smile. Icing make people like you and trust you. Without the cake the person has no substance, only fluff. Both the cake and the icing are needed to do well in whatever you undertake if you want to be very successful.



The author explains why just having the core qualifications are not enough. The key to success is to let people know the qualification you have. She recommends that each person thinks of themselves as a product. And how you position "the product" is not constant, it varies depending on three key factors: target audience, your strength, and competition.



Suppose your goal is to get a promotion. To determine your target audience you would examine who can influence your promotion: obviously your direct boss, but there might be other players. Then determine the problem/opportunity that is important to the influential people and what strength you have to address that problem. As your work on addressing this issue, keep them in the loop. If you do not have all the information about the decision makers you need to do homework. For example, if you are going for an interview learn who you are interviewing with, look them up on Linked in, Google search them, learn about the company. When you describe your strength highlight those that are more relevant to that specific company or person. It is a lot more effective than having a generic pitch about yourself. Each company gets a lot of qualified candidates. Try to find something unique about your skills relevant to that specific company that will make you stand out from the competition. If you have little experience, stress you have a fresh point of view. If you are older, stress your long record of achievement. If you know foreign languages and you are interviewing with multinational company stress that skill even if it may not be immediately applicable to your job. Prove your expertise by using specific examples from the past. If you don't have enough experience build it up by volunteering, teaching, finding a way to increase experience even if you don't get paid for it. After explaining the general approach the author gives several specific examples.



An interesting concept in "Messaging" chapter is what the author calls "The elevator pitch". The elevator pitch is a set of talking points that succinctly answers "What do you do?" or "Tell me about yourself". You never know when the opportunity will arise to tell someone about yourself, and you want to think through what you would say to take advantage of this opportunity in the best possible way. The author provides a template of key points to cover in this message for 5 seconds, 30 seconds, and 60 seconds option of the pitch. Sample pitches for people with different backgrounds help to put this lesson in context. What else can you do with your Elevator pitch? Use it in your LinkedIn profile.



Speaking of LinkedIn, Ms. Kang has a whole long chapter on Social Media and branding. It contains a lot of nice tips from what should be included in your profile to why you should not change your profile photo often.



Through her book Ms. Kang stresses again and again that to help you reach your goals it helps to have influential supporters. The authors spends quite a bit of time of talking how to identify and form relationships with individuals who can advocate on behalf of your brand.



To summarize the gist of the book is that people will not take you seriously if you only have social skills, but everyone is a lot more helpful to the people they like. Ms. Kang recommends not to just focus on growing your core skills, but spending time on relating to people and cultivating relationships especially with career influencers. Her book will help you to form a plan of action.



You can find it on Amazon by following this link.





I receive a review copy of this book for an honest and unbiased review.



AshopZones review ★★★★★



Table of content:



Introduction



The Importance of Reinventing Your Personal Brand

What's Inside BrandingPays

My Story



Chapter 1



Take Charge of Your Personal Brand

Branding a Political Candidate

What Is Personal Branding?

Personal Branding Myths

What are the Benefits of Personal Branding?

Rebranding Throughout Life

Your Goal for Branding

The Branding Journey

Every Brand Needs Cake and Icing

Personal Branding Assessment Questionnaire

BrandingPays System: Five Steps to Your Cake and Icing



Chapter 2

Step 1: Positioning

Position Yourself for Opportunities

What Is Positioning and Why Do It?

What Is Your Goal?

Positioning Triangulation

Positioning Statement

Who Is Your Target Audience?

Problem or Opportunity Statement: What do they need?

Value Proposition: How can you provide the solution?

Differentiation: Why are you the best one to provide it?

Evidence: How can you prove it?

Sample Positioning Statements

Chart Your Position

Iterate to Hone Your Positioning

Chapter 2 Summary

Chapter 2 Action List



Chapter 3



Step 2: Messaging

Message for Clarity and Impact

The Elevator Pitch and Your Evidence

Sample Elevator Pitches

Different Value Messages for Different Audiences

Back Your Positioning Claims with Evidence Messages

How the Positioning Statement Can Feed Your Linkedin Profile

What Is Your Tagline?

Chapter 3 Summary

Chapter 3 Action List



Chapter 4



Step 3: Brand Strategy

How to Develop Your Brand Strategy

Brand Strategy Platform

Key Brand Descriptors

Sample Brand Strategy Platforms

Chapter 4 Summary

Chapter 4 Action List



Chapter 5



Step 4: Ecosystem

Ecosystem: Leverage Influencers to Establish Brand

Taking It to the People

What Is the Brand Ecosystem?

The 90/10 Rule

The Brand Ecosystem Model

Take Time for Relationship Building

Four Keys for Strong Ecosystem Relationships

Identifying Influencers

Managing Your Ecosystem Relationships

A Word About Networking

Chapter 5 Summary

Chapter 5 Action List



Chapter 6



Step 5: Action Plan

Build Your Brand Action Plan

A36o-Degree Brand

Brand Improvement

Brand Communication

Four Phases of Brand Communication Using the Ecosystem Model

Brand Action Example

Lessons from Rebranding an Entrepreneurial Company

A Word of Advice for Entrepreneurs

Chapter 6 Summary

Chapter 6 Action List



Chapter 7



360-Degree Branding: Vision, Symbols, Words and Dei

The Care2 Story: Rebranding from the Inside Out

Vision or Thought Leadership Branding

Your Look, Your Image: The Basics

Branding in Multimedia

Chapter 7 Summary

Chapter 7 Action List



Chapter 8



Portable Branding and Social Media: Getting Started

Why You Need to Be in Social Media

Choose Your Social Networks

Own Your Online Real Estate

Your Google Search Results

Your Avatar

To Blog or Not to Blog

Should You Promote Your Personal Brand or Your Business Brand Online?

Online Reputation Management

Do a Few Things Well

Chapter 8 Summary

Chapter 8 Action List



Conclusion



Reinvent Your Brand for New Opportunities

Four Stories on Overcoming Diversity Challenges in Personal

Branding and Life

Pillowpacker Pillows Pillowcases

Pillowpacker pillow cases are designed to fit Pillowpacker pillows. Each Pillowpacker pillow is 19" by 14" (slightly smaller than a regular size pillows which are typically 24" x 19").



I am attaching a collage of 3 photos.

Photo #1 and Photo #3 shows the Pillowpacker pillow case construction. This is a european-type pillow cases which fold over rather than have one open end. I prefer this style of pillow cases to the ones with one open side for their neat appearance. The pillow cases are made out of 100% percale cotton. They comes in 5 different colors. In the photos I attached you see red one and blue one.



Photo #2 shows Pillowpacker pillow next to a regular size pillow for a relative size comparison.



I hand washed both pillow cases in hot water to test for color fastness. On the initial wash there was a tiny amount of color bleed. I repeated the wash three times, by the third time there was no color bleed at all. There pillow cases did not shrink.



I received sample pillow cases from the manufacturer for an evaluation and unbiased review. These are high quality pillow cases and the fit is perfect since they are specifically made for these pillows.





You can find it on Amazon by following this link.







AshopZones review ★★★★★

Pillowpacker Pillows Down Pillow Set / Microfiber Pillow Set

I had a couple of back surgeries, so finding a comfortable position in bed is always a bit of a challenge especially when I travel. At home I use a pillow with more loft for my head, and a flatter pillow under my knees to keep my spine in a position that does not hurt.  When I travel I often find hotel pillows uncomfortable.  They are usually either too fat to feel comfortable under my knees or too flat to be comfortable under my head.

This is where Pillowpacker Pillows come in.  The unique feature of this travel pillow is its construction.  It is shaped as a regular bedroom pillow (but somewhat smaller), but inside it has multiple layers: the out layer is either duck down or microfiber, and inside layer is an inflatable pillow.  You can control the thickness of the pillow by how much you inflate the inflatable pillow.  The softness of the duck down or microfiber makes you feel like you are sleeping on a regular pillow.  By changing the inflation of the pillow I could make it fit both of my needs thicker under the head, and flatter under the knees.



Photo #1 shows a fully inflated pillow (blue) and minimally inflated pillow (red).  The valve used to inflate the pillows is very easy to use. It is hard plastic screw valve. Blowing air into it is very easy, it takes only a few blows to inflate it (much easier than other inflatable pillows that have a silicone plug). 



Photo #2 shows the Pillowpacker pillow next to my regular size pillow. My regular pillow is 24" x 19", the Pillowpacker pillow is 19" by 14".



Photo #3 shows the construction of the pillow: dark blue is the pillow case, light blue is the sleeve that contains goose feathers, white is the inflatable pillow between the two layers of goose filling.



Photo #4 shows the Pillowpacker pillow case. This is a European-type pillow case which folds over rather than have one open end.  I much prefer this style of pillow cases for their neat appearance. It is made out of 100% cotton.



I prefer duck down pillows in general, my husband prefers microfiber, so I got one of each. In the photos above I used the blue pillow case for down pillow, and the red pillow case for the microfiber one. When I inflated both pillows I was able to get the same thickness on both of the pillows, they both weigh 5 oz. They both compacted similar well when I rolled them up for packing.  They do feel slightly different in a squeeze test. By squeezing each I can tell the difference between down and microfiber as microfiber has a bit more spongy feel to it. The down pillow is very soft, you cannot feel any quills, this pillow is made with top quality duck down.



Originally I thought I would use these pillows only when I travel, but I found the ability to adjust the pillow loft for my back problems so useful that I began using them as my "under the knees" pillow every day.  I found that being able to change the inflation really helps my back, as some days the back feels better with knees slightly higher and some days with knees slightly lower. 



Whether you want more custom comfort when you travel, or you use pillows to adjust leg position when you sleep this pillow can be customized to fit your needs. I recommend it.





You can find the Pillowpacker down pillow on Amazon by following this link.





You can find the Pillowpacker micro fiber pillow on Amazon by following this link.





You can find it on Amazon by following this link.





AshopZones review ★★★★★