Headphones for Portable DVD Players

On our recent trip, I brought along a shiny new portable DVD player for the kids on the plane. The bonus feature for me was that there were TWO audio output jacks for headphones so that each of my little tykes could have their own earphones and not bother the other passengers nor each other! The key was finding 2 pairs of headphones that weren't bulky and easy to pack.

I thought I struck gold at first when I originally got this pair of folding Lightweight Stereo Headphones for my 2 year old, thinking that the back-of-the-head/neck design would not bother him at all and just sit on his ears providing quality audio entertainment -- and the fact that the headset was collapsible was awesome.

But much to my chagrin, that wasn't the problem. The problem was that either his head was too small or the headphones were too big (you're choice is assessing the problem), and it kept falling off his head/ears. Luckily I had an extra pair of earbuds in my bag, so that worked. And now my wife has a decent pair of headphones for herself.

So back at home, I'm now looking for better quality earbuds that we can pack with the portable dvd player. I found some Sennheiser MX-400 earbuds that are actually free after rebate (search for "36825995" at ecost) and should work just fine.

Now, it's all about loading up on appropriate video content on a couple of DVD's and we're set to jet-set anywhere!

Unlimited VoIP $100/year for 2 years with SunRocket

Previously, we discussed how to make really cheap international calls utilizing a VoIP Broadband Internet Phone service like SunRocket -- which gives unlimited domestic calling for $199/year and really great international calling rates.

If you're serious about adding a VoIP line this year, you should do it on MARCH 27th! Why? Because SunRocket will be having a 1-day sale basically giving away a 1 year extension free. So you pay for the 1 year service $199 and you get a 2nd year free, making it $199 for 2 YEARS. This promotional offer is only available on March 27, 2007, so bookmark this page NOW.

WOW.

4-Eyes Underwater: Prescription Goggles for Swimming

We're off to our spring vacation in a week and it's going to be somewhere warm south of the border for sure with lots and lots of pools in the resort. Since I wear glasses, swimming has been a pain in the neck because I either had to swim basically blind underwater or I wore my glasses while wading around and would put them on the side of the pool whenever I wanted to swim a lap or two. The problem was that I was always worried that someone would STEP on them or kick them in the pool by accident and I'd be blind for the rest of the day...or week...until I got a replacement set of eyeglasses.

But last summer, I found out that there are prescription swimming googles that are pre-manufactuered with different prescription strengths. Basically, like the "reading glasses" that you see on sale at CVS that come in pre-manufactured strengths, but this time, they're goggles! Awesome.

So I just picked-up a pair of Speedo corrective lens goggles on Amazon for our trip. My previous pair of Body Glove ones were ok -- the where black and had the corrective lenses which were great. But the downside was that they were NOT anti-fog lenses. While they cost the same as the new ones I just ordered on Amazon.com, they used to fog up all the time.

I'm soooo looking forward to swimming with the Speedo goggles to arrive.

I also learned something about prescriptions. In order to figure out what DIOPETER I had to order (strength), I found a quick formula to calculate it based on my regular glasses prescriptions:

SPHERE + (0.5 x Cylinder) = DIOPETER for goggles

i.e. -3.25 + (1/2 -2.5) = -4.5

Although my left I is weaker, I'm ordering the strength for the lesser strength needed of the two eyes to minimize strain on the eyes. Some companies recommend that you buy one pair of prescription goggles for each eye and put one lens from each together to make a "custom" pair that is closer to what your eyes really need. You'd have to check the actual model to see if they come apart easily (the straps of course come off easily usually, it's the middle plastic connector that you have to be worried about). But from my experience last year with the BodyGlove swimming goggles, I don't need to mix and match.