I'm a WATTM (Work All the Time Mom) and this is my blog about computers, tech and my interests in business and real estate investing. Just some bits of this and bytes of that. enjoy!
Christmas is right around the corner, and I like nothing better than shopping online at stores like Target! Shopping online is great because of the convenience of making online purchases and having them shipped right to your door or your gift recipient's door. You don't have the hassle of driving in traffic to the mall, you don't have to search for a parking spot and there aren't any lines!
What more could you ask for?
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Not really oldies, but all the songs make me sweat.
Yes, I have joined the Dance, Dance Revolution as part of my fitness program. My son heard about a really good deal on a PlayStation 2 console and I snatched it up. I got the PS2 system, 6 games, 2 controllers and 2 memory cards for $60, then I bought the DDR game and mat.
I knew I would enjoy getting in a little exercise this way since I've always loved video games. I am part of the Atari generation and the first 'computer' I had was hooked up to a 1978 Sears Solid State 13" color TV for a monitor. I digress.
Getting back to the game. I love it! It gets my heart rate up and there are so many levels and songs, my routine can increase in difficulty as I get better at the game. DDR has a workout mode, too which provides many user-configured options like how many calories to burn based on your height and weight, or you can specify a workout duration.
Now, the only problem I have is keeping my PS2 hooked up where I have plenty of floor space. My son sold his XBOX 360 and keeps moving my PS2 to his room to keep from going into withdrawals...
Have you seen the latest in blogger networking? I've seen on various blogs where the bloggers are handing out custom printed business cards to promote their blogs outside of the confines of cyberspace.
Ooprint offers a unique card specially designed for bloggers in its Business Card 2.0. Ooprint's blogger cards are different because they offer a unique tag cloud to showcase key words defining you and your blog. Use them to attract new readers or network with other bloggers at trade shows. Right now, you can get 100 FREE business cards including the Business Card 2.0 design at Ooprint.com. All you do is pick a template, design the card to your liking and pay the shipping. The design interface is very easy to use and allows you to create and customize your business card in minutes.
What are you waiting for? Go get your free business cards!
Wow, were there some great black friday deals this year or what? I didn't get up before the chickens to go shopping (you kinda need some serious money for that), but I did manage to get a jump on my list by picking up some a couple of digital cameras for Christmas gifts.
We decided to go to Wal-Mart Friday morning about 9AM; I figured everything that I was interested in buying and could afford would be gone by then, but they still had the Sony Cybershot DSC-S650 7.2 megapixel cameras for under $80. We picked up 2 of those for my daughters as well as a Mighty Tonka dump truck for $10 and a radio controlled 'big truck' for $20 for our grandson. I really wanted to grab a few of those 2 GB Memory Sticks and SD cards for $12, but they were already gone. Great deal on the cameras though. I took one out of the package to check it out and love, love, love it.
Anyone else out there get any sweet deals this past weekend? Leave me a comment so I can salivate over the deals you got!
Who doesn't get tired of all those "pass it on" and "a miracle will happen" emails. Don't get me wrong, I need all the help I can get. Some of the messages are uplifting - those are the ones I sometimes pass along. But before I do, I remove the part that says something like, "in order to receive you miracle [or wish, blessing, etc] you must send this to at least 10 [or 15, 20, etc] people."
Some of those emails are just annoying; especially the "Pass this on, or else!" ones...
I thought this was cute...
I did what you told me... I sent the email to 10 people like you said.
With the recent slowdown of real estate sales affected by the burst of the housing bubble, the market has shifted to a buyer's market. Just the other day, I was talking with a co-worker whose also interested in real estate, and he was telling me about a firm at the coast that used to have 50+ agents working in 3 offices and since the shift, there are only 2 agents working out of 1 office.
Now is the time to take advantage of lower prices because the market should take off again. It may take a while, but this type of correction was bound to happen; the same as the stock market has done over the years. I'd prefer picking up one of the oceanside condos for sale and rent it out enough to pay the mortgage but still be able to stay in it a few times a year. They say to "strike while the iron's hot, and I believe the buyer's market is heating up...
A couple of weeks ago, I posted up a video of the Scotland vs. Richmond football game on YouTube. I just put together some of the pictures I took along with a few video clips from the game for nostalgia's sake. My main goal with the video was putting something out there for those who went to Scotland High and have since moved away so they could reminisce on their high school days. Ever since I added it, the views grow more each day and right now it's received over 600 views and is, by far, the most popular video I've ever posted. I may delve into putting more local blog fodder on my blogs just to see what happens...
Last week was a rough one. I woke up Monday all swollen and puffy and I knew something wasn't right. Tuesday, I felt horrible and by Wednesday, I felt like I'd have to get better to die. I finally made it to the doctor last Thursday and found out that I have a really bad sinus infection. I was relieved to know that's what it was and that I didn't really need to make sure my life insurance policy was up to date.
I've never had a sinus infection this bad before and even though I feel much better, I still have a runny nose, a bit of a cough and some congestion, but I have learned something interesting throughout this ordeal. If you have a cough - especially one like I have at night that's just a dry hack, try rubbing some Vick's Vapor Rub or Mentholatum on the bottoms of your feet. Yes, on the bottoms of you feet, then put your socks on. I did this. It works. I didn't cough at all through the night and rested easy till morning. Just make sure you wash the medicine off before going outside the next morning.
Vick's will be a staple in my medicine cabinet from now on. Best thing is, you can use this remedy on kids to avoid giving them strong prescription cough medicine - it can't hurt, right?
I've had my Canon A520 Digital Camera for about 2 years now and its been a good, solid camera. I mainly use it for my property inspection job, but I also take photos of fishing trips, grandkids, and various potential blog fodder.
Sometimes when doing property inspections, I only am requested to drive by the property to perform a visual inspection and am not to make any contact. But often, even though I'm not to make contact, the order is 'photo required'. Now, you tell me, if you were sitting outside and saw someone drive by your house, slow down or stop and take a picture, wouldn't you be wondering, what the hell-o? I would.
So, I was playing with the settings in action mode which has decent speed when the flash is off and found that this setting will allow you to use the burst mode or continuous feature. Here's the setup menu screen:
Under Drive Mode, switch from the 1 rectangular box icon to the 3 stacked rectangular boxes icon and you're in burst or continuous mode. Note that this feature does not work in Auto mode. This helps me since I can shoot several shots of the property while I'm driving by without stopping. I've been using this setup this week and haven't had any trouble with the aggravating shutter lag of the A520.
I love my new Dell 19" widescreen flat panel LCD that came with my upgrade here at work. It's especially great having the additional screen real estate when working with spreadsheets and database tables. The graphics are sharp and the resolution is perfect. The first few people that got upgraded didn't get the Dell monitor and I noticed that their icons and other screen graphics appeared stretched. Perhaps the IT guy just didn't properly set the screen resolution. I know I'd have to fix it because stuff like that drives me absolutely nuts...
I am a huge fan of the whole TiVo concept - it works. I tried out a DVR from my local cable company - Time Warner - and after using a TiVo for years, there was no comparison between the two. The TiVo DVR works like it should and the service is not only user-friendly, but affordable as well.
And, with TiVo, you get so many extras. I know I'm behind on this bit of info, but I haven't had the time to watch what TV I've recorded, much less time to look into some of the new features of the service like Amazon Unbox. I was looking through the menus the other day and found that I can subscribe and have TV shows from sites like GeekBrief.tv, Break.com, theOnion.com and cNet.com just to name a few. Here's a programming list you can check out and here's more information on TiVoCast.
The best part is, this new service from TiVo doesn't cost a dime - it's included in your monthly service - cool!
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...
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!
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...
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.
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.
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...
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!
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.
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...
