hOrchids made easy in newly published book

hOrchids made easy in newly published book
Even as orchids grow in popularity, many people still fear that the plants are fussy and difficult to manage.
William Cullina takes the angst out of orchids with "Understanding Orchids: An Uncomplicated Guide to Growing the World's Most Exotic Plants."
True to the book's subtitle, Cullina makes the information easy to digest. He's written the book for orchid lovers of all levels of expertise, from beginner on up.
Cullina introduces readers to the basics of choosing and growing orchids, then moves on to more advanced topics such as hand-pollination, hybridization and showing orchids. A generous section of the book is devoted to an encyclopedia of more than 75 genera of orchids, which provides a description of each, care information and a skill rating to help readers decide whether they're ready to take on a particular orchid.
"Understanding Orchids" is published by Houghton Mifflin and is priced at $40 in hardcover.
Novelty confetti comeswith faces printed
Picture this: confetti adorned with your smiling face, spilling out of your holiday cards or swirling down on your guests as they ring in the new year.
Confoti, a company in San Jose, Calif., makes photo confetti that you can customize with as many as 30 of your own photos. It's the same confetti that rained down on delegates at the Republican National Convention, bearing pictures of President and Laura Bush and Vice President and Lynne Cheney.
Custom-made Confoti confetti sells for $19.95 for a 2.5-ounce bag containing about 800 double-sided photo pieces and 2,400 pieces in accent colors. That's enough to decorate two 10-foot tables or fill 30 greeting cards, the company says. Confoti also comes in premade designs for holidays and special occasions.
It can be ordered online at www.confoti.com.
Honeywell markets advanced thermostat
Honeywell has introduced Vision, a touch-screen programmable thermostat designed to eliminate the challenges of programming a thermostat. Its touch-screen technology is similar to that used in ATMs.
The company says nearly 70 percent of homeowners with programmable thermostats don't program them, thus losing out on energy-saving benefits.
Vision has separate programming for each day of the week, four periods a day. It works with conventional and heat-pump systems. It has a large, backlit display that shows room temperature, set temperature, and current time all at once.
The program is retained in memory in the event of a power outage. It includes change-reminders for filters and low batteries.
Price is $179 for the seven-day programmable thermostat. For more information visit www.honeywell.com.
Health device voices patient's information
A Massachusetts company has come up with MyVoice ID, a device that allows a person to record audio medical information on a pager-sized recorder that can be accessible to emergency-response personnel at the push of a button.
The device records the voice dictating vital information such as name, address, emergency contact names and phone numbers, blood types, medical conditions, and allergies. It has a 60- to 80-word capacity and includes a medical card for printed health-background information and emergency contact data. It can be clipped to a belt, pocketbook or backpack.
Price is $40.
For more information visit www.myvoiceid.org or call (866) 667-5768.