I have several old typewriters in my collection and the question I always found myself asking was, “How old is it?” Fortunately, there are many websites that can help narrow it down or even give you the exact year.  This site is my favorite for quick checks of typewriter manufacture dates.  Just find your particular model on the list and, voilà, you can see what year it was made.

Oliver No. 3 typewriter (1898) This is my second Oliver. It has much better graphics than the first Oliver I bought, and even has the original wood base and metal cover (not pictured). Olivers have rounded typebars that stick up on both sides, giving it the appearance of having wings. The typebars fly down in a "down strike" motion. These unusual machines have been spotted in many movies. The Oliver 9 is featured in The King's Speech.

The best site for typewriter collectors and enthusiasts is The Classic Typewriter Page.  If you don’t find what you’re looking for there, you’re just not looking.  This site has it all.  But fair warning, going to this website will make you want to buy an old typewriter on eBay.  There are tons for sale, and if you don’t mind forking out $20-$30 to have one of these “boat anchors” shipped to your house, it’s a great way to acquire a vintage machine.

This early 1900s Royal typewriter sits on a file cabinet beside my desk at work.

The above typewriter was given to me by a News 4 viewer who read on the station’s website that I’m a typewriter buff.  She didn’t have room for it and wanted to make sure it went to someone who would cherish it.  (I love it when people donate their typewriters to me.)  The sheet of paper in the platen tells the story of how this machine was used by her father at bank in Georgia in the 40s and 50s.  Knowing the history makes its that much better.

So let’s get collecting, shall we?

Okay, the title of this post is misleading.  At least two of these apps have nothing to do with news gathering. Still, in a world of more than 300,000 iPhone apps, these are the four that I find myself using over and over.

Flipboard

This is the coolest iPhone app ever.  It’s especially helpful to the reporter who shows up at a morning editorial meeting without story ideas and needs quick “inspiration.”  Flipboard is the ultimate news delivery system (if you set it up that way).  “Pitchable” stories at the swipe of a finger.   Each full-page headline, piped in from any source that you choose, uses a photo from the original article to form the background with the headline splashed over in clear and understandable font.  It’s pleasing to the eye. Easy to absorb. And it takes only a millisecond to swipe to the next article using your index finger.  Like the article?  Tap it.   The content is served up immediately.  Is it a really cool article you’d like others to know about?  Tweet it.  Flipboard is all about piping articles to social media.  It’s no wonder this app was named Apple’s iPad app of the year (it’s for iPhone, too) and one of Time Magazine’s Top 50 innovations.

Evernote

This app sounds nerdy when you describe it people, but Evernote is truly awesome.  Simply put, it opens a line of communication between all your devices which, in my case, are an iPhone 4S and laptop.  By downloading Evernote to both, I am able to share notes I’ve created between the two. The notes can be anything: reminders to yourself, a “to do” list or a saved email. You can even add photos, videos, Word documents and PDFs to any note you create, giving you access to those files no matter where you are.  Like I said, it sounds nerdy, but being able to access important information quickly has made me a believer in Evernote.

Instagram 

These are the photos you see in the picture window to the right, photos that would have just sat on my iPhone, if not for a fun little app called Instagram.  This app allows you to take those photos and turn them into something really cool.  Several filters, including Earlybird, Sierra,, Toaster and Walden, give the image an artistic look.  When finished, you share the photos with your Instagram peeps (yes, Instagram is a social networking site), who may choose to “like” your photo or even comment on it.  You can also send your Instagram photos to Facebook, Twitter and email contacts.  I have truly enjoyed this app!

Instagram photo

Redbox

Download this app if you want to feel superior to all those poor schmucks in line at a Redbox DVD rental location.  You know the drill:  You wait forever for the guy in front of you to choose a movie.  Then when it’s your turn, you feel pressured to make a selection because there are people waiting behind you.  With the Redbox app, you reserve your movie before you arrive from the comfort of your home (or wherever).  Want to watch the movie trailer?  You can with this app.  Want to be the first to know about new releases?  Yup.  Do you want to see which Rebox locations in your area actually have the movie you want to rent?  This app show you where to drive so you don’t waste gas and time.  Once you arrive, just swipe your debit card and out pops the movie you reserved in advance.  No fuss, no muss.  And the customers around you will be amazed by how quickly you complete your transaction.  This is the best app ever.

Larry and Jane Conklin examine the camera found in their luggage

I’ll save the nuts & bolts of this story for WYFF4.com.   In short, the Conklins found a mystery camera in their luggage after returning from a trip.   After excellent sleuth work, they traced it to a man in Winston-Salem, North Carolina who is none other than former USC basketball star Danny Traylor.

Conklin found Traylor with help from a television station in Winston-Salem that agreed to broadcast his picture.  A local viewer identified the “7 foot tall” man as his daughter’s school teacher.

News 4 Chief Photographer Don Jackson gets the shot

I’d love to do more stories just like this one.

Larry & Jane Conklin and Tim Waller

Yes.  No.  Maybe.  Hard to say.  You see, demand for Putney’s locally-produced eggs is already high.   Just ask Whole Foods Market on Woodruff Road, where Putney’s eggs are proudly sold.

Donna Putney of Honea Path

The fun part was watching News 4 photojournalist Johnny Bates trying to get shots of hens sitting on their eggs.  “The girls,” as Putney calls them, were quite nervous.  I guess they don’t like having their pictures taken.

JB zooms in for the shot!

We left Putney’s home with a new appreciation for her “free range” chickens that produce eggs of different colors.   She even gave us an awesome new coffee mug that says, Upstate Locally Grown Market.

Thanks Donna!

Tim Waller and Donna Putney