Zhiyun Smooth 5 Smartphone Gimbal – What You Need to Know

Zhiyun Smooth 5 Smartphone Gimbal – First Impression Highlights

My previous AOCHUAN smartphone gimbal broke into pieces after only 8 months. I did some research before buying a new gimbal and the Zhiyun Smooth 5 Smartphone Gimbal seems to be the best gimbal on the market now, at least for what matters to me.

Today, I will share my initial thoughts after using the Zhiyun Smooth 5 for 2 weeks.

- I don’t like the fact that Zhiyun is forcing us to install the app to activate the Gimbal. I think Zhiyun is doing this to rack up downloads on Google and the Apple pay store.

- Half of the buttons on the Zhiyun Smooth 5 won’t work if you don’t use their app. This is another sneaky business model to force people to use their app.

- The Zhiyun Smooth 5 is well made and feels sturdy. The material and craftmanship don’t feel cheap and are of high quality.

- The stabilization quality is very good. I tested the Zhiyun Smooth 5 in 50 to 70 km/h wind and -20°C temperature without issues. One time, the strong wind flipped my phone from the gimbal, but it happened only once and the wind at that time had hit 70 km/h.

- Various modes (like all follow, lock, vortex, etc.) can be controlled by pressing the mode button on the gimbal, but the problem is that the mode indicator lights are so small that they are very difficult to see outdoors.

- Surprisingly, the Zhiyun Smooth 5 works perfectly with the GoPro 10 action camera, although Zhiyun doesn’t mention this anywhere. I have a full video on this.

I am sharing my Zhiyun Smooth 5 experiences and tips in this video playlist: Zhiyun Smooth 5 Smartphone Gimbal 101- Tips, Tricks, & the Basics

Everything You Need to Know About Tim Hortons Rewards Program

Tim Rewards Program – What You Need to Know

Tim Hortons is a popular Canadian coffee retailer that has revamped its rewards program. Today, we will look at what you need to know about Tim’s Rewards.

Tim Rewards Program – The Basics

-          10 points per transaction - $0.50 minimum, no maximum

-          30 minutes interval – buying again within 30 minutes won’t generate points

-          Points expire after 12 months

-          20K maximum points limit

-          Free Birthday gift

-          Weekly deals on app (always check before heading to the Tim Hortons)

Tim Rewards Program – How to Collect

-          Install app from your phone’s play/app store

-          Scan app whenever you buy

-          If you have a physical card, it has to be linked

-          You can’t redeem physical card if it’s not linked

-          I recommend not using a physical card

Tim Rewards Program – How to Redeem

-          4 categories & 13 levels to choose from

-          Auto redemption applies if you don’t change it on app

-          70 points for a beverage – default auto redemption level

-          Stop auto redemption or change to other level on app

Tim Rewards Program – How to Get the Best Value Out of Tim’s Rewards

-          Default 70 points for a beverage provides great value

-          Better Values - These items provide better values and try to redeem for these: Hash Brown, Specialty Donuts, Baked Goods, Tea, Coffee

-          Not So Great Values - These items provide so-so values and try not to redeem for these: Specialty Drinks, Soup, Sandwiches, Donuts, Timbits

-          By far, Hash Brown provides the best value

Visit the link below to watch my Tim Hortons Rewards Video:

Tims Rewards Program - What You Need to Know

My COVID-19 Vaccine Booster Shot Experience

24 Hours After COVID-19 Vaccine Third Dose

I took my 2nd COVID-19 Vaccine in July, 2021. So, my booster shot was long overdue. I delayed it a bit to schedule it on the long Canada Family Day weekend, so I would have enough time to recover should I feel sick from the after effects.

Both my 1st and 2nd dose were administered at the Toronto City-run Metro Toronto Convention Centre immunization clinic. My 3rd experience was also seamless and I was done within 15 minutes, just like the previous ones. 

I felt nothing for the first 3-4 hours, but then started feeling the pain in my left arm. I took one 500 mg Tylenol as recommended by the nurse.

I woke up fine the next morning, except my left arm felt heavier and little bit sore, but it was not a big pain or sore muscle. The rest of the day felt fine and I kept myself busy doing my usual chores.

What I noticed around 23-24 hours after is that I started feeling weak and sick. I rested in bed for 20 minutes and then got up to go outside for a walk. Then my nephew showed up and we had coffee at Tim Hortons and headed to Ikea to browse some stuff.

I think keeping myself busy outside helped me to handle feeling sick better. After coming home, I took a cold shower and I felt a lot better. This was around 30 hours after the shot.

I planned to take another Tylenol before going to bed, but my arm soreness and pain was almost gone and I felt so much better that I decided not to take any more pain killers.

Some people had severe reactions after their 3rd dose and some people had none. Mine felt less severe than the 1st and 2nd dose and I think tomorrow I will feel even better than today. 

Best Personal Small Space Heater? Amazon Basics Small Space Personal Heater

Amazon Basics 500-Watt Ceramic Small Space Personal Mini Heater

I was looking for a way to cut electricity costs by reducing running my central heater. At night when it’s time to sleep, a small space room heater in the bedroom should be good enough to keep warm without running the full heater in the unit.

I was searching for the best portable small space heater for winter and found the Amazon Basics 500-Watt Ceramic Small Space heater.

It’s a basic heater with just an on and off switch. There is no thermostat, so it will keep running continuously as long as you do not shut it off. It’s only 6.3" (16 cm) in size, draws 500W electricity, and it works fairly well for its $26 CAD cheap price.

I was able to run only this small heater in my bedroom (turning off central heating) and had no issues being cold at night while sleeping. It kept running all night to keep me warm.

It has its noise, as it runs continuously, but it’s tolerable and doesn’t interfere with sleep or feel too noisy. I was surprised at the amount of heat it generates, being so small and portable.

Overall, I am happy with the product. If I had to, I could complain about it not having a thermostat and timer switch, but those would increase the cost as well.

I have made a video review of the Amazon Basics 500-Watt Small Space Mini Heater, which you can visit by following the link below:

Tiny Heater Gives Tons of Heat | Amazon Basics 500-Watt Ceramic Small Space Personal Mini Heater

Why I Bought My Surface 4 Intel Core i7 - 32GB Memory - 1TB SSD

Buying My New Laptop Microsoft Surface 4

I have been using my current laptop, an ASUS ZenBook Flip S UX370UA, for over 4 years. It still works and runs perfectly, but got notoriously slow for video editing. After researching a few other brands, I decided to go with Microsoft’s Surface Laptop 4.

Other brands that came close on my list are Lenovo and Dell, but I found it hard to pick one that offered 32 Gig RAM with an i7 processor and 1 TB space. Lenovo had one that came very close, but it was bulky and the price was not reasonable.

I was thinking of bumping up my RAM power to 32GB RAM from my old Asus Zenbook’s 16GB RAM. I chose 32GB RAM and a 15-inch screen, so it's slightly bigger than my Asus Zenbook’s 13.5 inch.

32GB of RAM costs $2849.99 (SALE saves CAD $300) before taxes. 16GB of RAM costs $2149.99 (SALE saves CAD $200) before taxes. These are Intel Core i7 processors. So, I paid $700 more just to get higher RAM and in the world of video editing this can make a big difference.

So far, everything has been going smooth with my new Surface 4. This is a sleek, skinny laptop that shows it is high end and performance-wise I can feel the difference in extra RAM power. I converted to Windows 11 from Windows 10 and it runs even better now.

My expectation is that my Surface 4 will serve me at least 5 years and anything beyond that is a bonus. What I have noticed is that these days computer and phone manufacturers make products in such a way that they don’t break but get so slow that it’s no longer usable – forcing consumers to buy new ones.

I am sharing my Surface 4 experience on my YouTube Channel here:

Microsoft Surface Laptop 4 | Tips, Tricks, & The Basics