5 great gifts under $10
Plus: Save money with Chrome's new feature (or use what I consider an even better one)
DISCLAIMER: Some of the links included herein are affiliate links (usually those in bold type), meaning if you make a purchase via one of them, I may get a small commission. I promise you, now and forever, that I won’t choose deals based on whether there’s an affiliate option available.
Howdy-doo, fellow cheapskates! Quick poll: On Black Friday I sent out a bonus newsletter with just a single deal. Would you like to see other quick-hit sends like that when there’s a particularly good or time-sensitive deal? Or would you rather I leave your inbox alone and stick with once per week?
Google Chrome adds one-click price tracking… but there’s a better option
Over the years I’ve tried loads of Chrome plug-ins that track prices, alerting you when a particular item goes on sale. Google just cut out the, er, middleplug — the Chrome desktop browser now has its own price-tracker built in.
Assuming you have the latest version installed, head to a product page at just about any store (I tried it at Amazon, Best Buy, Staples, and Zappos) and look for the little bell icon in the browser address bar. Click it and you’re done; you’ll get an e-mail whenever there’s a price drop.
For now this is fairly rudimentary; you can’t, for example, specify how big a drop should trigger an alert, and you can’t turn off tracking without navigating back to that same product page. What’s more, on some Amazon pages the price-tracker bell didn’t appear, for reasons I can’t explain.
So although Google’s tool is undeniably quick and easy, requiring no third-party plug-in, I’m sticking with The Camelizer for now. It lets me set a price-drop threshold and shows me price histories, which are invaluable. Works with multiple browsers, too.
5 great gifts under $10
Need something for a gift exchange? Stocking-stuffer? Latter half of Hanukkah? I’ve got you: These five items are all priced at $10 or less (or were at this time of this writing; you know the drill).
Vibelite Extendable Magnetic Flashlight A no-brainer addition to every toolbox/junk drawer, this penlight can extend to 22 inches and has a bendable magnetic head — all so you can reach that screw that fell behind the dryer. Get it for $9.60 with promo code 52B921Z1.
Ankaka 6-in-1 Tactical Pen Mightier than all other pens (to say nothing of swords), this one is not only a ballpoint, but also a flashlight, wrench, screwdriver, bottle opener and self-defense/glass-shattering tungsten tip. It’s on sale for $10.43, so just a hair over (unless you’re rounding down, which I am, because my newsletter my rules).
Lamicall Foldable Adjustable Phone Stand What, are you supposed to hold your phone while flipping through TikTok videos over breakfast? Nah… use this stand instead. It offers two heights and can fold flat (ish) for easier travel. And it’s just $7 (though the price often fluctuates a buck or two, FYI).
PingTag Lost-and-Found Vinyl Labels (10-pack, $7.99) Know someone who’s always losing their stuff? Give them a pack of PingTags, which can help a good Samaritan return found items. Each sticker has a QR code that, when scanned, will connect the finder with the owner. I wrote about these back in September if you want to learn more.
Silicone Kitchen Tongs 3-pack I don’t know how I functioned so long in my kitchen without these; they’re insanely useful, and this pack includes three different sizes (in three different colors). They’re on sale right now for just $8.28, though if you see a different price, just keep searching — you should be able to find something similar for $10 or less.
Other Substacks I’m enjoying that you might as well:
Insightful TV and movie reviews from a former Entertainment Weekly writer. Veteran tech journalist (and radio/podcast host) Molly Wood writes about tech, natch, but also climate solutions -- two subjects near and dear to my heart.Are cheap smart-home devices a greater threat to your privacy?
Rant incoming…
Following last week’s story on Eufy’s new $20 lost-item-finder, a few readers shared indignant have-you-seen-this reports about Eufy’s video doorbells. Apparently some of them were recently discovered to be uploading users’ videos to the cloud without permission — and in direct contrast to Eufy’s promise to only store video locally, never in the cloud.
This sounds bad — but is it, really? And does it somehow mean the new trackers are also part of Eufy’s Evil Master Plan to Destroy Your Privacy (TM)?
Let’s all pause for a moment to remember that “the cloud” is not inherently evil or unsafe, and your usage of said cloud doesn’t mean Chinese operatives are just one click away from destroying everything you know and love. (Admit it: You were thinking it.)
Here’s how I know this: I’ve used the internet since the beginning. I’m all up in that cloud. I’ve got lots of smart-home gear. Video cameras (they’re watching!), smart speakers (they’re listening!), a thermostat (they’re temperature-controlling!), the works. In all these years, even with all this connected gear, not once has my privacy been “violated.”
Software is complicated, my friends. (See: self-driving cars.) When a camera mistakenly uploads videos to the cloud, what’s more likely: Malicious intent or a coding error? If you said the former, intent to do what, exactly? “Spy on us”? Guess what: Apple and Facebook and Google and TikTok are already doing way more of that than a fractional number of doorbells pointed at sidewalks.
Is it good that security researchers discover these kinds of issues? Yes, of course. Does a glitch like this mean a company is “no longer trustworthy” and you shouldn’t buy its products? That’s for you to decide, of course, but I rank this kind of thing pretty low on the scale of things to worry about.
/rant
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It's not the glitch that makes the company untrustworthy, though that is a major factor. If your technical review let's something like this through, then yeah, that does make the company untrustworthy from a technical standpoint. How can you trust that they fixed it if they can't major major issues like this and the glitches aren't complex technical problems but pretty much laziness?
But into what makes it really untrustworthy is how they responded. They claim to not upload to the cloud and that the data transfer was encrypted. Both of these turned out to be untrue. The cloud itself is not bad, you're right. But doubling down when this was found until the fervor got to be too much? Bad. And untrustworthy.