I use my own type of sunshine meter! I keep several lawn chairs out in the side lawn, near a pine tree. When the sun is shining, i set in that chair, and when the sunshine gets too hot, i move it into the shade. that is how i know if the sunshine is too hot, or too cold! If i can't see my shadow, out in the open lawn, that tells me the sun is not out,or it is after dark, or it is a cloudy day. Simple-huh? Not me--my way of testing! ;

I had considered buying one a year ago and ended up going with the roku instead. I wish I had gone with the apple tv. Any of the streaming devices will allow you to stream netflix, hulu plus and a number of other services to your tv. They vary in watch additional services they stream. Apple has its own library too-- last I knew, the library was very limited and the cost to rent was high. This may very well have changed. What apple tv offers that the others don't is Airplay which gives you the ability to throw what's on your other apple devices (ipad, iphone, macbook, mac air, etc) onto the tv screen. This includes games, movies, videos, whatever. I talked myself out of this .. "how often would I use it?" Well, I've wanted it more often than I thought. I use Amazon Instant Video more than Netflix or any other service and it isnt currently part of the Apple TV services, however, I can run Amazon movies on the ipad-- and then use Airplay to watch on the tv (with larger picture and surround sound). If I had it to do over again, I'd absolutely go with Apple TV. If you don't have any other apple devices, then I'd save the money and go with Roku.

Horti - Sure, I'm happy to elaborate. Yes, moisture meters do work in gritty/porous mixes, but maybe not in the way you would expect. All of them essentially rely on sensor contact area, which can vary depending exactly how the probe went in. The instantaneous number is not helpful alone, unless you know the moisture trend for that particular location and sensor. Ability for plants to absorb water roughly follows a decaying exponential curve, which is very predictable. So if you want to use a moisture meter, I recommend sticking it in one spot and monitoring it for several weeks. Even if you don't have a logger, you can build a correlation between when your plant needs water (by observing its leaves) and the moisture value given. Once you get a feel for the numbers, then you can get into the habit of "watering the day before it's required". With this knowledge, you can better maximize your plant's growth potential. That is, you can anticipate your plant's need before it has to display drought response. It works the other way around as well. Things have been too busy and I know I am now 2 days past due for watering: 1 day past will result in slightly shriveled leaves, lost growth opportunity. 2 days past will result in leaves being absorbed beyond point of recovery (lost leaf for many plants). 3 days past will result formation of air roots. My Crassulas, Haworthia, and some Mesembs are most notably suffering, so tonight I HAVE to water. I know I will lose one leaf from my Haworthia 'Tenac', which makes me quite sad: Weight to determine when to water is pretty effective. A couple of my pots are in natural light only and I am not monitoring their moisture. Handling those pots is the easiest way to check moisture levels, along with plant response. Those plant are not as important to me, so I am not so picky in making them flourish. I believe the Parrot Flower Power uses dielectric constant/capacitance for EC measurements. This is because the device requires several full waterings before reporting EC levels. My assumption is that it is performing a calibration on the soil medium during that time (which is the preferred method). For my succulents, the soil EC meter is not so useful because my target is around 0.06mS/cm. It's hard to read anything below 0.1mS/cm with the soil EC meter. Therefore, I am occasionally checking my substrate EC with the Pour Thru method and a liquid EC meter. I fertilize every other watering, which helps smooth out the available nutrients in my soil mix. Otherwise it's a larger swing between nutrients provided and leeching out by watering. This is measurable with my soil EC meter and my liquid EC meter. This fluctuation is shown in a graph in my second post of this thread: Succulents Before and After 6 Months For my outdoor garden plants my target was around 2mS/cm and the soil EC meter was very helpful because for that I use water-soluble powder that fluctuates greatly after big storms/heavy rains. Wish I could say more definitively how the moisture/soil EC sensor works in my device, but the algorithms/sensors seems proprietary. The different sensor technologies measurement units, and significance of them are not so straightforward and not many people are discussing them online (probably due to cost). Hopefully that helps answer some of your questions and you didn't get too bored reading my response. =)

For a non-Alzheimer's person, my mom, we have GreatCall. It has an option and an app where you can track a person anywhere on your phone. It's a one button system, like a cell phone or med alert system, to a dispatch center, but is active anywhere they wander. You can also have it detect falls. The biggest complaints are size and battery life. If charging is going to be an issue, it may not be an answer.