It’s cold, you’re broke and if the weather hasn’t left you depressed, those 10 extra pounds you haven’t been able to shed since the holidays have. Biz and tech editor Brad Whitehouse offers a few gadgets to help get you through until spring.
Cold weather tends to eat up battery life, leaving you shivering outside the club at 2 a.m.— unable to text your friends that you were kicked out for excessive intoxication. This charger, available for $20 at Thinkgeek.com, plugs into your USB port and can hold a charge for up to 3 months. It has adapters to fit a variety of phones, including a BlackBerry, and while it might not have enough juice to get you through the whole day, it’ll give your mobile enough muster to call for a cab ride home.
No, this isn’t an mp3 player. We’re not that far behind. In fact, it’s a happy machine. This gizmo, from Finnish company Valkee, claims to help sufferers combat seasonal depression. It shines LED light through your ears, which it’s creators say boost serotonin levels when worn for 8-12 minutes a day. Other less portable LED lamps are widely available and might be a viable option since this product’s $240 price could leave you feeling blue all the same.
Sometimes you just need a goddamn cigarette. But as commercials for products to help you quit show, taking a puff in the winter is a bitch. These mittens are designed to keep your smoke hand strong, with a metal grommet between the index and middle finger to stick your cancer sticks. The $30 mitts are sold out Suck.uk.com, but those on a student budget can beg their friends in fashion to punch an eyelet through their favourite pair.
Apps to help you survive the winter
Ryerson Mobile
At the bookstore? Wondering if you could just borrow the same book from the library? This app lets students know if they can save some cash. The app scans the book’s barcode and tells you if the Ryerson library has what you’re looking for. After winning an award for technological innovation, this one might be worthwhile for students to check out. Use the money you saved to pay for your heating bill.
TTC
This app will keep you from quaking in your Sorel boots. It lets you look up TTC schedules, so you’re not left out in the cold squinting to see if you can spot the rocket. It also remembers your most viewed routes, which means less time spent gloveless looking up your stop. It also offers #ttcu tweets for status updates and links to the 680 News traffic report.
Date Radar
There’s nothing to get you through the cold of winter like sharing body heat with another. You can tell Date Radar whether you are looking for a guy or
gal, along with what age range you’re interested in, and it will search your area for other
eligible singles using the app. You don’t need to upload a photo, which also means you don’t know who you’re meeting. But Canada tends get dark early in the winter anyway.
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