Most photographers have several sets of rechargeable batteries; typically at least two sets for each of their portable flashes (or other gadgets or cameras that use AA or AAA batteries). This becomes a management issue because they bang around inside the bottom of the camera bag and it’s difficult to know which batteries are charged and which ones are dead.

I have an easy two-part solution:

1. Organize Your Batteries in Sets: These clear plastic cases for AA batteries are perfect for keeping rechargeable batteries organized into sets. At less than $2 each they are very inexpensive, and since most electronic devices use batteries in sets of 2 or 4, they hold just the right number of cells. They are also available for AAA batteries and in larger sizes in case you want to hold more than 4 batteries.
2. Carefully Arrange the Batteries in the Case: Most devices that use AA or AAA batteries must be loaded so that the orientation of the positive and negative terminals for adjacent cells alternate. If you always load your cases with freshly charged batteries so that all 4 cells are oriented in the same direction, and load cases with dead batteries alternating, you can tell with a quick glance whether each case holds fresh or dead batteries.

Apple’s iTunes media player makes it very easy to sync your media content from your computer to your iPod or your Apple TV. It also allows you access to the iTunes online store to access additional content that you can buy or download for free, including TV Shows, Movies, Music, and iPod Apps. The software isn’t perfect, but it works pretty well most of the time and it is a very convenient way to manage your media library between your various devices.

Apple has instituted some pretty unfortunate policies with iTunes (it only works with Apple Devices for one) including a requirement that you “Authorize” each computer you use the software with if you want to access or play content purchased from the iTunes Store using your Apple Account. This is a form of DRM (Digital Rights Management) and it is required even if you access only free content.

One potential issue users face with this policy is that Apple will only allow you to authorize up to 5 computers at any given time. If your computer dies, you sell it, or you make major changes to it, then you would have to use up an additional 1 of your 5 allowable authorizations on a new or upgraded computer.

You can “Deauthorize” an individual computer, or once in any 12 month time period you can “Deauthorize All” of your computers at once. You must be able to access iTunes from one of your previously authorized computers, so be sure to do this prior making any major changes to it, having it serviced, or before you sell it or give it away.

To Deauthorize iTunes from ONE of your computers:

1. Open iTunes.
2. Choose Store > Deauthorize Computer (In earlier versions of iTunes, access this option from the Advanced menu).
3. Select “Deauthorize Computer for Apple Account” and enter your Apple ID and password and Click OK.
4. A message should appear saying that “This computer has been successfully deauthorized.”

Note that in some cases one computer may be taking up more than one of your Authorizations. If you suspect this to be the case, simply repeat the above steps until you see a message saying that “This computer was not authorized. To authorize this computer, play a song or video you have purchased using this account.”

To Deauthorize iTunes from ALL of your computers:

1. Open iTunes.
2. Click iTunes Store in the menu on the left side of iTunes.
3. If you’re not signed in to the store, click the Account button, then enter your account name and password.
4. Click the Account button again (your ID appears on the button), enter your password, and then click View Account.
5. In the Account Information window, click Deauthorize All.

You are now free to Authorize additional computers to work with the iTunes Store!

Remember that you can only “Deauthorize All” once in any 12 month period, so use this feature carefully. You would be better to Deauthorize individual computers rather than blowing away them all at once.

Reactions from the mainstream media went from surprise, to shock, to outrage when Amazon recently opened up the Kindle for shipping to a large list of countries, that did not include Canada. The Kindle is a “Wireless Reading Device” (commonly known as an eBook reader) that includes free global wireless coverage and doesn’t require a computer to access new content from the Kindle Store.

I personally don’t really understand what the hype is about this class of device. I much prefer reading my books in paper form, or to have all the other features of a mini computer that are built into my iPod Touch. But there are many people out there who rave about these things, and they love the convenience of having nearly instant access to hundreds of thousands of books, newspapers, magazines, and blogs on a device with a screen that “Reads like real paper without glare, even in bright sunlight”. I’d love to give one a try, if only to see what the hype is all about.

For any of my fellow Canadians that have been waiting to get their hands on one, your time is now. For only $259 US you can order one now and have it with plenty of time to spare before Christmas!

The Kindle Store: More Than 360,000 Books
At Amazon, we’ve always been obsessed with having every book ever printed, and we know that even the best book reader is useless without the books you want to read. We are fortunate that we have tens of millions of book customers at Amazon, and as a result, we know the books customers want to read and we prioritize getting those titles. Today, the Kindle Store has more than 360,000 books available, including 101 of 112 New York Times® Best Sellers, plus top newspapers, magazines, and blogs. Our vision for Kindle is to have every book ever printed, in any language, all available in under 60 seconds.

NOTE – this is a rather CANADA specific entry, but that’s because the retailer in question (NCIX.com) is a Canadian company that offers a service unlike anything I’ve ever seen from another online store. I plan to expand or followup to this article if I find that there are other retailers offering similar services.

PriceCanada is an online price comparison service. They have a similar business model to PriceGrabber, BizRate, NexTag, or any of dozens of other online price comparison tools. The difference that makes them stand out for me is that their pricing is all in Canadian Dollars.

NCIX is a fairly typical online retailer of computers, components, and other high tech electronic gadgets. They have a similar business model to Newegg, Buy.com, Best Buy, or any of dozens of other online retailers. The difference that makes them stand out for me is that they are locate in Canada, they sell using Canadian Dollars, and (most importantly) they have an extremely easy to use price matching service built into their shopping cart system. I recently saved more than 30% on my total order by utilizing this service!

NOTE – NCIX has a USA based store as well (NCIXUS.com); however, at present they don’t allow price matching.

If you are only ordering a single item then you might as well just order it from the lowest price retailer (or from a store that offers free shipping), but if you are buying multiple items then this is definitely a really easy way to get a great price on all of your purchases!

Price matching with NCIX couldn’t be any easier:

1. Find the items you want to purchase at PriceCanada and determine the lowest price.
2. Ensure that the retailer with the lowest price is actually in Canada and has the item in stock. Save the URL to that product page.
3. Find the identical items at NCIX and add them to the shopping cart.
4. When you are finished adding items to the cart, scroll down to the bottom of the shopping cart page and click on the big red “Start a Price Match” button.



5. For each item in the shopping cart enter the lowest competitor price and the URL to the competitor product page.  You can get both of these from PriceCanada.



6. Checkout.

That’s it.  NCIX will verify the prices for each item you are purchasing and, as long as you did your homework correctly, they will send an email reply when they have confirmed the price match.  This process could add a day or two to your order process, especially at busy times of the year like Christmas.

This is easy peasy!  I’ve never seen another online retailer that does this.  Lots of bricks and mortar stores offer price matching, but it’s usually a whole lot harder and much more time consuming.

If you know of any other online retailers that do it please let me know and I will start to maintain a list…