friends with benefits...

No, not those kind of benefits - get your mind out of the gutter!

I have a friend who has a "if I tell you I'd have to kill you" connection to some Carolina Panthers tickets. I'm hoping my boys and I can snag some Panthers vs. Cowboys or Seahawks tickets; it really doesn't matter to me (or them) who the opponent is as long as we get to see an NFL game. It'd be cool to see the Panthers play the Cowboys since it's right before Christmas and we're off work that week anyway, but I'll take whatever I, or he, can get...

fyi: topix news search

The other day, I was looking for a local news article about a high school football game, but couldn't find the game details I was looking for - all I could find was the score. Our local newspaper doesn't offer online article viewing unless you're a subscriber. After searching several other local news sites online and having no luck with their archives, I found a site called Topix.net which has indexed a vast amount of news stories from all over the web.

Topix.net allows you to search news relevant to your area by entering the topic, city, state or postal code. The site pointed me directly to the article I was looking for and may help you as well. There's also a local forum for discussion and comments about news articles and you can list a free classified ad there, too!

boo!

Halloween is right around the corner and it's time for me to dig around in the attic to find my costume. I've never been on of those chics to strut my stuff in one of those sexy costumes like a french maid or beer wench, but I love to dress up for Halloween. I usually dress up with stuffed overalls, plaid flannel shirt, really old wrinkled man mask, and camo ball cap. It's really funny to have a smoke in this getup - cracks everyone up.

I think it would be cool to have everyone here dress up and act like characters from The Office. Now, that would be funny...

snag it - i'm impressed

Tuesday night, I stayed up way too late trying to figure out how to capture flash video that wasn't contained on a page with a URL. I needed to capture a flash video that I made with JibJab's new Starring You applet for a project I was working on. I downloaded two programs, Replay Media Catcher and FLV Recorder, but neither would capture the video with our faces instead of the JibJab actors.

The reason I stayed up so late was because I knew there was a way to do it because I saw some of these videos on YouTube. It really drives me nuts when I know there's a way to do something and I can't figure it out. So, I left a comment on one of the YouTube videos to ask what program they were able to capture the video with then went to bed.

The next morning, I checked my email and had a reply to my comment; the guy used a shareware program called Snag It. I anxiously downloaded the program which is about 13 MB and ran it. It has a GUI user-friendly interface and did exactly what I needed. I was able to window in on the region I wanted to record and the quality of the AVI video output was much better than I expected it to be.

I was really impressed with the program - it's simple to use and simple to save your capture. The program also offers an editing feature which I haven't yet tried, but probably will in the future. The software offers a free 30-day trial and from what I could tell, you get to use the program without limitations. It's only $39.95 to buy and register, so it's affordable as well. I'm goin to play around some more with Snag It during my 30-day free trial; especially the capture editing features, and plan to buy the software after my trial ends.

it's a jungle out there!

My daughter's room is like walking into a jungle. It's decorated in leopard and zebra prints with a soft colored earth tone paint on the walls that reminds me of desert sand. There are prints of exotic animals on the walls and several jungle themed pieces of decor. Her comforter set is a brown and black leopard print and there are throw pillows to match.

I was looking around online for some other jungle themed decor and found The Jungle Store that offers all sorts of items from animal inflatables to jungle themed party gifts. I wish I'd known about this site when I gave her room the jungle makeover. If you're looking for anything to create your own personal jungle, then take a walk on the wild side at The Jungle Store.

mapquest vs. google maps

A while back, MapQuest added a new feature to their driving directions applet which allowed the user to add up to 10 destinations to make a route with directions to each stop. Instead of just getting directions from point A to point B, the user could get directions from point A to point B then from point B to point C and so on. This was a very helpful tool for me since I do field inspections and it's not uncommon for me to drive to 10 different locations on my lunch hour.

Now, Google Maps has a similar, but more powerful, feature in its driving directions applet which allows the user to add destinations to make a route as well. There are some big differences between the two applications which makes Google Maps superior in my opinion - especially when creating a route.

First, Google Maps allows more than 10 destinations to be added where MapQuest only allows 10 with the starting and ending locations taking up 2 of those 10. I'm not sure how many more stops you can add to a route with Google Maps because I haven't ever built a route with more than 15 stops. You can also email a link to a route you built with Google Maps for later reference which is nice if you travel the same or similar routes. Last I checked, MapQuest only allows you to print your route. Both applications allow you to save destinations and see aerial views of the map, but Google Maps offers a slick virtual tour of select cities with it's new street view feature.

Second, the maps used for the route builder at MapQuest are not interactive and draggable like the ones at Google Maps. The new MapQuest beta uses the interactive map interface to map a location but not the current route builder. The ability to interact with the map is one of the major advantages of Google Maps because it allows me to zoom in and out and drag the map in different directions quickly.

Lastly, in my experience with MapQuest and Google Maps, the exact destination or address you're looking for doesn't come up in the right location, or sometimes doesn't come up at all for whatever reason; maybe it's a new road name, a different spelling, or outdated street address numbers. This is where Google Maps way outshines MapQuest because the Google Maps route builder allows you to click and drag a destination point on your route so that you can reposition it where it needs to be. Google Maps has also extended their click and drag interactivity to the route line itself allowing you to drag your route to go a different way like a quicker back road you know or choosing a more scenic route. This is especially useful in a big city to avoid heavy traffic areas, construction zones and the like. You can also rearrange stops on your route by dragging and dropping the listed stops in the sidebar.

Google also takes the interactivity of the draggable driving directions a step further allowing users to check live traffic, find places nearby like dining, shopping, entertainment and attractions - without opening a new window putting all the information on the same map. You would think that MapQuest, being dedicated to providing users with mapping and directions over the web, would have developed all this and be miles ahead of the competition, no pun intended, but once again, Google proves to be far superior in it's creativity, user-friendliness, and interactivity.

Here's the tour of draggable driving directions from Google's YouTube Channel...


Now, get your route on the map and go somewhere!

b.a.d. symptoms - do you have it?

Over at the easy chair, I wrote a post about B.A.D. and if you even know what that is, then you probably already have it. I've listed a few symptoms of the disorder within the post and need to know what symptoms you have. There are as many as 50 million affected with this disorder and it's growing by tens of thousands per day. We need to put the word out about B.A.D., so start commenting away!

i'm king of the world!

My husband and I went to Branson Missouri after we got married; I know it’s mostly considered a place for retirees, but we had a great time there. The Ozark Mountains are beautiful and I remember everything there being really lush and green. I happened across this neat attraction today and thought I’d share; this wasn’t yet built when we were there years ago…

There’s replica of the Titanic located on Branson's famous “76 Strip” in which visitors are treated to a spectacular and breathtaking building that’s built to a faithful 1/2 scale reproduction of the original vessel. When you enter the Titanic Museum, you get a Boarding Pass, with the name of one of the original 2200 crew and passengers who were onboard for the Titanic's fateful maiden voyage. You can see photos taken on the ship that are priceless and cannot be seen anywhere else. There’s also a collection of 400 artifacts and personal items are featured in the twenty-room tour, each of which was taken off the ship by surviving passengers, each of which has its own story. Then you’ll come to the ice wall where you can stretch and experience touching an iceberg.

As you walk up the magnificent Grand Staircase images flow through your mind of the staircase filled with beaus and belles in their best dress making their way to the dining room or climbing to their first-class rooms. As you exit the tour, reflect on the name on your boarding pass and pause to remember all those who boarded the ship; all their names are etched into the Memorial Wall.

time to reboot...

I had a pretty late night last night, especially considering I came into work this morning at 5 AM. After work, I had to do some field inspections which took about an hour-and-a-half of road time. I got home around 7:30 and couldn't connect to the Internet to transmit my orders.

I was so tired and so flippin' aggravated.

After rebooting my cable modem, router, pc, laptop and the table lamp I finally got connected. Yes, I was so tired and frustrated, I just switched off the entire power strip, so yes, the lamp rebooted, too. I finished up with transmitting the inspections I completed, then it was on to making a photo slide show DVD for a client. That little project went smoothly and only took about an hour-and-a-half from scanning to burning. When all the work was finally done, I wasn't sleepy at all, so I tuned in to Survivor and almost made it through The Office, but then I realized it was 1 AM and my behind had to be in this office in a few short hours; I powered down and called it a night before it was time for me to reboot...

BestBuy pulls the plug...

BestBuy announced today that it will be pulling the plug and taking analog TV's off life support as of October 1st. They've instructed all stores to pull analog TV's off the shelves and will no longer sell the soon to be dinosaur televisions. They will be dealing in only digital TV's now - plasmas, LCD's and the like.

It's becoming much more attractive everyday it seems to be the proud new owner of an HDTV. The prices are coming down and I've heard that Thanksgiving and the upcoming holiday shopping season will be one of the best times to buy if you're thinking about taking the plunge into the crystal clear waters of high definition TV before the end of the year...

kickin' the habit...

If you want to kick the habit of smoking, sure, you could stick on a patch, chew some gum, get hypnotized, become a pin-cushion with Acupuncture sessions, puff on a pretend cigarette that looks kind of like a tampon, or finance some of those expensive Chantix pills. Sometimes these programs work, sometimes they don't.

If you've tried everything, and are still itching to light up, there's a new program you might not know about...

Your Cell Phone.

Yes, technology now will deliver - via your cell phone - a conscience like that of a close friend; a virtual quit buddy that will be by your side, or on your hip, to help you through those rough times of anxiety and withdrawal. What will they think of next?

"Immediacy is one of the most critical parts of the program," said Jodi Kopke, media director at Colorado's State Tobacco Education and Prevention Partnership (STEPP). "For someone to say they smoke at 7 a.m., 12 p.m. and 3 p.m. and then to get a message right as they are about to get up and light up, that is so powerful."

Colorado's STEPP and Denver-based ad agency Cactus developed a message system on cell phones with an Internet quit program. Initially aimed at high school students in Colorado, the state hopes to soon share its fledgling FixNixer program as a technique for all age groups and geographies.

~ Michele Gershberg NEW YORK (Reuters)

tracking progress...

I cannot believe it's already October - this year has gone by so fast and they seem to go by faster year by year. During September, I set a goal for myself to help our financial situation by earning some extra bucks. Usually, I have to cook the books and rob Peter to pay Paul just to make ends meet, but last month, I decided to bear down and put my nose to the grindstone; now, things are looking up. I made a spreadsheet, set my goal, worked hard and met and exceeded my goal. I made the spreadsheet because I find that if I track my progress, I become more focused; it keeps me honest. Being a quality engineer, I'm all about continuous improvement. So, this month, I'm setting my goal a bit higher and although it's early in the month, I'm right on target...