Always Useful

The Grass Isn’t Always Greener

2009-03-25T14:59:00.001-04:00

One of the regular mailings I get is the “Motivational Quote of the Day” from Nightingale-Conant. In today’s political and economic climate, truer words have never been spoken:

"Look to the present. The great disease of 'I will be happy
when ...' is sweeping the world. You know the symptoms.
You start thinking: I'll be happy when I get that ... BMW ...
promotion ... status ... money. The only way to cure the
disease is to find happiness and meaning now."
— Marshall Goldsmith: a world authority in management

K-B Toys Gift Cards Expire Sunday 1/11/09

2009-01-10T16:17:00.001-05:00

If you have given or received any K-B Toys gift cards, you better move fast and use them because after tomorrow you won’t be able to and they will literally be worthless.

(WXIA) -- K-B Toys, who announced late last year that they were liquidating their stores, will stop accepting gift cards after Sunday, Jan. 11.
The Massachusetts-based retailer has informed state officials in Washington and Oregon that they had planned to stop taking the cards.

Use Your K-B Toys Gift Card By Sunday -- Or Else - 11Alive.com | WXIA | Atlanta, GA

Blog This in Windows Live Writer :: Firefox Add-ons

2008-12-14T10:55:00.002-05:00

If you’re a blogger, there’s a good chance that you’re using Microsoft’s very excellent Windows Live Writer for writing your posts. If you aren’t and you haven’t given it a try (and you’re using Windows) you really should check it out. It’s an offline blog composer that has really made a difference in my ability to blog, especially since I have some blogs on different platforms and I can use the same tool to write those entries.

Likewise with Firefox, the open source browser by Mozilla. It’s an outstanding alternative to Internet Explorer, and unlike Google Chrome and Apple Safari, it’s mature and stable*. And don’t get me started on Opera. Also, Firefox has thousands of add-ons to customize your browsing experience.

So if you’re using Live Writer and Firefox, you’ll be glad to know that Microsoft has finally updated their Blog This extension to work with Firefox 3:

Adds a button to Firefox which starts a new Windows Live Writer blog post prepopulated with content and title from the current web page. Blog the whole page, or just selected snippets. Interacts with other registered plugins to parse and structure web content where appropriate. Blog quickly when you find something of interest on the web.

It’s still listed as “experimental” because it’s so new, but it’s from Microsoft and it’s stable. You just need to create a Mozilla account and log-in to download it. Once they have a certain number of downloads and reviews they’ll be able to promote to regular status and remove the old one. So make sure after you’ve tried it out that you rate it and review it. As a matter of fact, this post was created using that very extension.

Way to go Microsoft!

Blog This in Windows Live Writer :: Firefox Add-ons

* Safari isn’t stable enough on the Windows platform, in my opinion. This is my blog and you Apple zealots are free to disagree. :)

Google Gets Its Act Together

2008-12-03T10:21:00.001-05:00

Finally! After at least 6 different attempts, Blogger finally listened to me and realized that this is not a "spam blog".

So, I'll probably be resurrecting this very soon.

Go us!

Where there is a will, there's a way - Protect yourself

2008-05-12T10:12:00.002-04:00

I realize that I'm not offering any concrete advice aside from "be careful" but it's still useful to know that a false sense of security is just that. Be careful with your debit cards, folks!

You think your personal information is priceless. But everything has a price, even your stolen bank account information.

McAfee Avert Labs has discovered a price list that criminals use to buy and sell credit card numbers, bank account log-ins, and other consumer data that have been filched from unsuspecting Web surfers.

For example, a Washington Mutual Bank account in the U.S. with an available balance of $14,400 is priced at 600 euros ($924), while a Citibank UK account with an available balance of 10,044 pounds is priced at 850 euros ($1,310).

There's even a guarantee that if the buyer is unable to log into the account within 24 hours, maybe because the owner of the data canceled the account, the buyer can get a replacement stolen account to use.

What is your stolen data worth? | Tech news blog - CNET News.com

Do Not Call is Now Permanent

2008-02-25T22:09:00.002-05:00

A while back, I did a post telling everyone that they needed to renew their entry on the federal government's Do Not Call Registry.

NO MORE!

The list is now permanent (as it should have been in the first place) and you don't ever have to renew it.

If you're not familiar with the Registry it's a list that telemarketers are mandated by law to check (after you've been on it for 3 months) and they have fines if they call someone on that list they get a nasty fine. Unfortunately, there are exemptions for fund-raising and surveys (which includes politics and charities). Regardless, it can't hurt and you really should have your number on it.

Federal Do Not Call Registry

Hiatus

2007-11-07T13:15:00.002-05:00

I've decided to take a hiatus from this blog for a couple of reasons.

When I first started this, it was out of a generalized passion for things that are useful. I would see something and say, "wow, that's great!" as well as have ideas for things that aren't typically written about. Hence, Always Useful. It's grown, but I've always been dissatisfied with it. The problem is that it's TOO general and I don't want that. Like the ADHD individual I am, the blog lacks an essential focus. As much as I'd like to, I don't think "Whatever shiny penny I see" is a niche.

I enjoy this blog quite a bit, but for me to grow it, I'd have to do something that I don't want to do and that's become a blog that has 99% of its content pasted from somewhere else (like Lifehacker does, and I'm not going to link to them) and essentially that's what Always Useful has become.

I need a niche, I need a focus. I have to find out what my writing passions are and I can tell you "Jack of all trades, master of none" isn't it. So basically, Always Useful is probably going to be finished. I just don't see a place for it. I'll probably start a couple of more blogs on much more focused subject. If you're interested, keep watching this space. Until then, thanks for reading.

Music Review: Carrie Underwood's Carnival Ride

2007-11-01T14:31:00.002-04:00

The new CD called Carnival Ride by Carrie Underwood is the country singer's second album since she won American Idol. While I don't think Carnival Ride will be as successful as Some Hearts, musically it is stronger and more mature. Gone are such corny tracks as Jesus Take the Wheel and Inside Your Heaven as well as the "I'm a small town girl in this big, big world" songs like I Ain't In Checotah Anymore" and Don't Forget to Remember Me. Carnival Ride finally succeeds in leveraging Underwood's greatest asset, which is her strong, clear voice.

Like any recording, there are tracks that can't seem to measure up to the rest, but that's to be expected. I'm not particularly fond of Feet Flat on the Floor and Twisted, but the rest are much better. I was pleasantly surprised to listen to her cover of Randy Travis' hit I Told You So and found it to be faithful to the original without trying to "make it her own" (i.e. ruin it).

The best tracks are All American Girl, So Small and I Know You Won't. They are good vocally and lyrically and showcase her vocal strength, especially I Know You Won't.

The album even has a few funny "hooks" in Last Name and The More Boys I meet.

All in all, it's a very good album and is definitely worth buying.

10 Dos and Don'ts of Trick or Treating

2007-10-31T12:25:00.002-04:00

Halloween as it's celebrated here in the States (as opposed to the pagan celebration of Samhain from which Halloween has its roots) is a fun time for kids (and some adults) do dress up in cute or scary costumes and go door-to-door to extort candy from willing neighbors. I say "extort" because when you think about it, that's what they're doing when they say "Trick or Treat" they are in effect telling you that if you don't give them something as a treat, they will play a trick on you, typically hitting your house with an egg, as the "tradition" often goes. But I digress. Trick or Treat is a fun time in a child's life but it also has the potential for danger, disappointment, or injury. Here are some things you should know before going with the kiddies tonight.

Things to do

Go with your children. "With" doesn't mean park the car on a corner and then pick them up after they've gone through the neighborhood. They are your pride and joy and nothing is more important than their safety.
Make sure you can see them at all times. I know, that might mean getting out of the car or walking up a driveway with them, but not everyone is nice and things can happen, regardless of how unlikely that may be. If they disappear for a few seconds (like walking behind a shrub) make sure that they come right out the other side.
Go to the door with your child if he is scared. He'll appreciate the company and know that you're going to protect him.
Take along bigger sacks in addition to the small ones they carry. Have them periodically empty their candy into the sacks. This has a number of benefits:
1. Their little arms won't get tired, because they carry the candy in front of them like the little beggars they are that night.
2. If some big kid comes by and snatches the candy bag and runs off, she won't be out that much since you'll have most of it with you (such as in the car).
3. It will appear as though the children have just started or are having a poor night of candy collecting. Some people will actually give more because they feel sorry for him. If it were any other night, I'd say that's dishonest, but it's Halloween so go for it! He's already wearing a mask.
Make sure that they are all dressed warmly. I'm not saying that they should necessarily wear coats over their costumes. I remember when I was a kid and my mom made me do that once. It was awful. You can dress her in layers though, usually under the costume or make them wear a coat when they're not actually going up to a door. Regardless, there's no reason they can't wear gloves.
Inspect the candy when you get home and inspect it well. Unless you know absolutely for certain where it came from and trust the person that gave it, you should throw out anything that's homemade or unwrapped. This includes the occasional brownie, cookies, fruit, or fudge. The chances are very slim that anyone would do anything, but it only takes once and you don't want it to be your child. Some people get their thrills by randomly hurting people.
Look for punctures, cuts, or any evidence that candy's been tampered with. If you even suspect slightly that it might have been messed with, throw it out.
Take a little personal first-aid kit with you. There is a lot of potential for scrapes and bumps and a bandage or antiseptic could come in handy. Also, make sure you have water bottles with you. The little guys can get dehydrated.
Keep on the lookout for people walking around without kids or how someone looks at your children. Predators exist and they may even be someone you know. A child molester or kidnapper will look as normal as you do.
Make sure the children say thank you at every house. There are enough people who are ungrateful in this world and Halloween is a good time to teach gratitude.

Things not to do

Don't let your kids split up or get two far ahead of you. There is more safety in numbers as well as making it easier to keep an eye on them.
Avoid houses that don't have a porch light turned on, which is the universal signal for "come beg candy from me" :)
Don't let the children walk through lawns. It's not just that you're showing respect by using the sidewalk, there are very practical reasons. Dogs poop on lawns. Do you want her to step in some or even worse, slip and fall from it? There are also sprinklers in the ground that they can trip on or hurt themselves with. It's always just safer to use the walk.
Don't have a fit about masks. There are some namby-pamby killjoys and wet blankets who tell people with an urgency that is bordering on hysteria that they should never let kids wear masks on Halloween. They give reasons like "they can't see as well when crossing the street" or that they might trip. If you're doing your job as a parent, you'll be there to help them cross the street anyway. Besides, kids are clumsy to begin with. They're going to trip even if they don't have masks. Heck, I've got one that can trip over an ant on the sidewalk. :)
Don't bother with police or hospitals that have the special x-rays set up to inspect candy. I know, it seems like I should be suggesting the opposite, huh? Well, the fact is that it takes time out of your evening to go to one of these places and then you have to take the time to have them inspected, and the only thing it can tell you is if there is something metal in the candy. It gives a false sense of security because you still need to inspect it visually. No metal detector or X-ray machine will detect drugged or poisoned food.
Don't stay out too late. Many towns and cities have times they recommend people to use for trick or treating. Try to follow those, but remember they aren't laws. If the city says it ends at 7:00, don't stress if you're not done until 8:00. Ideally, you should be done no later than 8:00 or so. If it gets to 9:00, pack it in and go home. There's never a good reason to be bothering people after 9:00. At my house, the porch light goes off at 8:30 at the latest and we don't answer the door past that.
Don't forget to have your cell phone, if you own one. You never know if it'll come in useful while you're out.
Don't let your kids have free reign over their candy. That much sugar is not good for them, especially all at once, and especially before bed. They will be seriously hyper and you'll never get them to sleep. You can also give them a stomach ache.
Don't keep the candy more than a week. I know that the children will want to dig into it 6 months later, but let's be serious. Candy doesn't last that long and still taste good (much less not be hard as a rock)
Don't forget to have fun yourself. I completely understand that your'e tired from your day, but to a child this is one of the best times ever. Even if you can't have fun with it directly, find joy in their fun and use this as an opportunity to bond with them.

The most important thing though is to just be aware and pay attention. That applies to just about anything you'll be doing tonight.

5 Things I like about Windows Vista

2007-10-26T09:13:00.002-04:00

Search - In Vista, almost every dialog box where you can select a program or a file, you can just type what you're looking for in the search box and Vista will find it for you. You get very used to that feature very quickly and will miss it if you have to go back to XP or 2000.
Aero - Dismiss it all you want with "it's just eye candy" but it doesn't change the fact that it simply looks better and makes for a more enjoyable experience.
Start/Program Menu - Clicking on a folder doesn't open up an entirely new menu, it merely opens the folder where you clicked and you can move down to what you are looking for.
DirectX 10 - It's not required for games, but if you've got the hardware to support it and a game that uses it, the subtle changes that DX10 makes (in games like Bioshock) can be very striking.
Parental Controls - Yes, they have a long way to go but they're still an improvement. I like being able to do something simply like restrict my kids' times on the computer or block certain programs or websites. Is it foolproof? Of course not, but it's useful and that is why we are here.

Windows Vista: The Missing Manual
by David Pogue

Read more about this title...

Teach Yourself VISUALLY Windows Vista
by Paul McFedries

Read more about this title...

You probably shouldn't use high-octane and here's why

2007-10-25T08:24:00.002-04:00

A long time ago I was listening to Car Talk on NPR and got an education on high-octane gasoline and when you should and shouldn't use it. The bottom line is that the vast majority of people don't need high-octane gas in their vehicles. I've tried telling this to everyone I know who buys so-called "premium" gasoline and now DoItYourself.com explains it better than I do. Here's a small snippet:

The only time you might need to switch to a higher octane level is if your car engine knocks when you use the recommended fuel. This happens to a small percentage of cars.

The bottom line is that your owner's manual will tell you what gasoline to use. And it will tell you other things. My next post will be on something most people don't realize about car maintenance and how we've been scammed by certain companies. Until then, see why you probably shouldn't get the "good gas" because it's not necessarily good:

The Low-Down on High Octane Gasoline | DoItYourself.com

Photoshop: Make your brush look like what it's drawing

2007-10-18T13:26:00.002-04:00

I've used Photoshop since version 4.0 years ago. On and off, I've had this annoying phantom + sign as the cursor. When I click a round brush, I want the cursor to look like it!

Lucky for me, I know why it does that and so can you. It's a simple setting.

Head on over to BittBox to find out.

Photoshop 101: The Annoying Phantom Brush | BittBox

5 Do's and 5 Don'ts When Pulled Over by Police

2007-10-17T13:33:00.002-04:00

If you've driven a car for any amount of time, you've probably been pulled over for one reason or another. I know I have. I also grew up with a police veteran so I regularly got to hear the other side of the stories as well as get some clues on what you should and shouldn't do if you get stopped.

Do

Acknowledge that you see the officer when you first see the overhead lights. Usually, this is done by putting on your turn signal immediately and getting to a safe place to pull over on the right side of the road as soon as safely possible.
Put the car in park, shut off the engine (and if necessary the headlights) and take your foot off the brake (or engage the parking brake if you're in a car with a manual transmission. This signals to the officer that you're complying and have no intention of running or resisting.
Stay in the vehicle and wait for the officer to come up to you. It may be a good idea to put your hands on the steering wheel, but at the minimum keep them in plain view for when he's coming up.
Put down your window when he is approaching the vehicle and try to be as pleasant as possible. I know getting stopped isn't always a pleasant experience, but he's just doing his job and the sooner you cooperate the sooner you will be gone.
Be polite and follow his instructions. If he tells you to get out of the car, do so as quickly as you can. Remember, the officer does not have to explain to you his instructions at that time, nor do you have to agree with them. Resisting his instructions will only make things worse.

Don't

It's a very bad idea to start looking for things in your glove box or under the seat. That will only make him suspicious.
Don't ever say anything that may incriminate you. For that matter, don't give anything other than basic information. You can always refuse to talk to him about anything without a lawyer. Driving on the street is legal 24 hours a day and as long as you aren't driving up and down the same street (cruising) then you're doing nothing wrong.
Don't ever agree to let an officer search your car. If he can legally search your car, he doesn't need your permission. If he says he can get a warrant or a K-9 unit, let him. Even if you have nothing to hide, it's never a good idea to surrender your rights.
Don't tell him how to do his job, what the law is, or that you pay his salary. Don't tell him that you're important, that you know someone important, or ask him for his badge number. Don't lose your cool, don't threaten, cry, beg, plead, bribe, show him your breasts, or anything else for that matter. Just keep your mouth shut and answer the questions that seem pertinent.
Don't make any odd movements. He can see more than you realize. Any movement where you could be believed to hide something or get something out (like a weapon) will cause him to want to search the vehicle. This includes putting your seat belt on if you didn't have it on. Unfortunately, you have to be careful about not moving at all. Police are a suspicious bunch (try having one for a dad!) and they will see you being too stiff as suspicious as well.

The cardinal rule when dealing with cops is this: They only want things to be easier on them, not you. If a cop says, "if you tell me then it will be easier.." he's lying. It will be easier on him not you. I'm not suggesting that you ever resist, but if a police officer is asking you to volunteer anything, it's because it will make his case easier, probably against you. If a police officer is asking your permission for anything, then he either doesn't have probable cause, wants you to make his case stronger by incriminating yourself (such as a roadside sobriety test), or he wants his time to go smoother and with less work.

Additional Resources

Nolo Press Website

Free or Almost-Free Tylenol

2007-10-12T09:17:00.002-04:00

This one is short and sweet. Head on over to Tylenol.com and select "Download Coupon" and you can get a $5 off coupon for Tylenol, Immodium, Motrin, etc. Unfortunately, they use special software to print it so you literally can only print one (unless you delete find a way to fool the coupon printing program). The bright side is that since most of these items are under $5 anyway, it will end up being free.

Tylenol.com — News About Children’s Cold Medicines

Additional Resources

Google Updates Street View with 5 New Cities

2007-10-10T11:26:00.002-04:00

Google is the undisputed King of Internet Maps. I could go on and on about how many different ways they blow away the competition (Microsoft's Bird's Eye View being the only exception), but their actions speak louder than any of my words. The uber-cool Street View has just been updated with 5 new cities. While it irks me that none of these cities are Atlanta (and the same goes for Google Transit, hint hint), every new city is a welcome addition.

Now, how is this useful? Oh, that's an easy one.

We are generally visual creatures. Unfortunately, your typical map gives you a very spartan top-down view of where you're going. An intersection at a shopping center may look the same as the intersection of a residential street. Unless you've got a good GPS, you simply can't rely on your memory of that map to help you know when you're where you want to be. Google (and many others) have satellite imagery integrated with maps, and that's just great. But try looking at the satellite view sometime of a business area and see if one building generally looks like another. It's better, but it's still not useful enough.

Now comes Street View. If you're heading somewhere that has Street View, you can see it as though you were a pedestrian. Without realizing it, you're brain will treat it as though you've been there and when you show up at your destination, it will have that familiarity that you can't really get any other way.

And don't forget to use it for its nostalgia value. Revisit places you've been and relive some old times.

Now you can check out 360-degree views of Chicago, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Portland and Tucson. As an added bonus, the images in Phoenix, Tucson and parts of Chicago are all in high resolution.
But wait! There's more. Ever wish you could pan up to the very top of a 50-story skyscraper using Street View? Well, prepare yourself for some serious sightseeing; we've introduced the ability to pan up in most new cities.

Google LatLong: More Street View cities to explore

Additional Resources

UPDATE: Modified link to Google Transit. Come on Google! Is it really that hard to make it transit.google.com like one would think it should be?

Coupons!

2007-10-09T14:05:00.002-04:00

Yeah, I hate using coupons too. But believe it or not, they really do save you money. There have been literally hundreds of dollars saved with coupons I've found online. And where do I find them?

I go to dealnews.com. I could give you the ubiquitous list of "30+ coupon sites" but those are less useful than none at all because it takes so much of your time! So I'm just going to give you the one I use and the one I like. Otherwise you spend more time than it's worth to save, only to find things that are also on the other 29+ websites.

I like Dealnews because the interface is clean and it's very searchable. You can can subscribe to feeds if you want to go that route as well. Either way, check out Dealnews and some of the really big savings you can get with online coupons before dismissing it out of hand.

Coupons and promotional codes from Amazon.com, Staples.com, Buy.com, Overstock.com, updated daily - dealnews.com

Additional Resources

Breast Cancer Awareness Month

2007-10-04T10:08:00.002-04:00

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month and as one who lost his grandmother to the disease, I feel that more people still need to be made aware of this disease of epidemic proportions. AIDS gets a lot of attention and so do a lot of other diseases and issues, but breast cancer kills more women (and some men) than any other natural cause except for heart disease.

In order to do my part to bring more attention to breast cancer causes, I've added a button to the left where if you click it, sponsors will actually contribute for people to get free mammograms. I make no money or benefit from this link either by clicks or how many times it's seen. As it says, click it every day. It certainly can't hurt.

I've also changed a few of the colors on this blog to pink, the official color of Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

If you're a woman, do self-examinations and get mammograms when you are of the appropriate age. And men, if you feel a lump, it genuinely could be breast cancer for you too. It doesn't mean you're feminine, gay, or any other such thing. It's just an equal opportunity disease.

I encourage all to check out the Susan G. Komen site for breast cancer. You will find a wealth of information including how-to videos and guides for self-examination. The information could truly save your life or the life of someone you know.

Free Web Stream Recorder (Expired)

2007-10-02T09:36:00.001-04:00

Our friends at Giveaway of the Day appears to have returned to offering programs that are useful and worth having. Let's hope that all the screen savers and time wasting gamelets are history.

The web Stream Recorder Pro only records streams that are played on the internet. It doesn't mean you can record something from your soundcard or other input. Fortunately, most people have no need to record that.

I know from my own experience there have been many times when I wanted to have my own recording (for my own personal use) of something I'm watching or listening to online. Thanks to this software, now I can!

Web Stream Recorder Pro is capable of capturing Windows Media Audio/Video streams (ASF, WMA, WMV, WMX, NSC, WAX), Shoutcast/IceCast streams (MP3 files), GoogleVideo, YouTube and others.

Giveaway of the Day - free licensed software daily. Web Stream Recorder Pro 2.0 - Web Stream Recorder Pro is a program that allows you to save multimedia data streams coming from the Internet or LAN to your computer.

National Do Not Call Registry is Expiring

2007-09-24T12:52:00.002-04:00

It's been five years since the national "Do Not Call Registry" went into effect. Not coincidentally, when you put your number in the registry, it only lasts for 5 years.

What does this mean to you? Simply put, it means that if you are one of those who entered your number 5 years ago and you don't re-enter your number at www.donotcall.gov, you will soon return to the bad-old-days of telemarketers interrupting your dinner to sell you vinyl siding and replacement windows.

And if you haven't added your number, by all means, do so. It's quick, easy and it's free.

Note to wireless/cell phone owners: Your mobile phone does not need to be added to the list. They are still protected by law from normal telemarketing practices. If you're getting calls from a telemarketer on your mobile phone, they probably got it from your carrier or other company and you unwittingly gave them permission to call by forgetting to remove the obscure little checkbox at the bottom. :)

New York Times to Stop Charging

2007-09-18T11:50:00.002-04:00

The New York Times will stop charging for access to parts of its Web site, effective at midnight Tuesday night.

The move comes two years to the day after The Times began the subscription program, TimesSelect, which has charged $49.95 a year, or $7.95 a month, for online access to the work of its columnists and to the newspaper’s archives. TimesSelect has been free to print subscribers to The Times and to some students and educators.
In addition to opening the entire site to all readers, The Times will also make available its archives from 1987 to the present without charge, as well as those from 1851 to 1922, which are in the public domain. There will be charges for some material from the period 1923 to 1986, and some will be free.

If you do research or know anyone who does, you know he annoyance of finding exactly what you want but only to have it be hidden behind the Times' pay site. Now that is no longer a problem.

Let your searching begin!

Times to Stop Charging for Parts of Its Web Site - New York Times

Blogger Play. Like it or lump it!

2007-09-17T11:48:00.002-04:00

Google/Blogger recently introduced a mashup called "Blogger Play" which basically takes photos that people have uploaded to their blogs and displays them completely out of context in a slide show (like it was Flickr or something)

There are a many who like uploading photos to their blogs, but they want to present them in some sort of context, perhaps for artistic reasons. Are you one of those people? Let's see what Google has to say from their FAQ:

I don't want my images to appear in Blogger Play. How can I opt-out?

If you don't want your images to appear in Blogger Play, you can remove your blog from our listings.

If you're not following what they're saying, allow me to translate their response:

You accepted a user agreement that pretty much lets us do what we want with the photos you've uploaded. Have a problem with that? 'sucks to be you, doesn't it? Because if you remove your blog from our listings, you're going to be a lot harder to find in our indexes.

If you're one of those people, there are still alternatives. For one, you can do what I do and that's upload your pictures to your own webhost and still use Blogger for the blog itself. You can also upload them to sites like PhotoBucket and link them. Remember, your photos are your photos, regardless of what Google wants to do with them. You don't want them on Blogger Play, there are ways to do that without punishing yourself like Google would prefer.

Blogger Help : Blogger Play FAQ

Get those six-pack abs

2007-08-31T13:24:00.002-04:00

I have a 16-year old son who's decided that he wants to look "buff". Unfortunately, he gets his weight loss and conditioning tips from his friends. They include such ideas as spitting all of the time, not drinking water, sweat-suits in 95 degree weather, and so on. You may have noticed that the common theme is "whatever I can remove from my body is something that doesn't get weighed." Is it healthy? Of course it isn't. And will he listen to his dad? I'm not even going to answer that one.

As a result, I've been looking around the net for some uncomplicated ways to condition that also won't put you in the hospital for dehydration. g333k has such a plan.

Their steps are both basic and common sense, but it's the basic things that work. There are no quick fixes to losing weight or conditioning, it's all about doing things consistently and following a plan for long-term change. Here are some of their tips:

Increase cardio exercises
Sleep longer
Drink a lot of water & green tea (though we don't drink tea, there are other antioxidants that would help)
Reduce carbs
Reduce meal size

These are just the highlights. There is a lot more over at g333k and you should read them thoroughly and decide for yourself if it'll work for you. As always, consult a doctor if you have health issues or concerns.

g333k » Blog Archive » Tips to get a lovely 6 pack

Customized Kleenex

2007-08-31T10:21:00.002-04:00

Yes, you read that correctly. Kimberly-Clark has come up with a rather, um, interesting gift idea. For just $4.99 + shipping, you can have a customized box of Kleenex sent to whomever you want. As the photo shows, you can use backgrounds, colors, and photos in a variety of ways.

If you're searching for something to get the person who has everything, I'm pretty sure they don't have this.

MyKleenexTissue.com

Clean Your House as You Go (with an added burst)

2007-08-30T16:10:00.002-04:00

I have 9 kids, with 5 still at home. I know a little something about how difficult it is to keep your home (reasonably) clean with all that is going on. We've tried systems, lists, cards, you name it. I recently came upon a more simple, yet elegant way of going about it. Some is obvious, some is not.

Instead, make housework simple. Simplify your housework with two easy cleaning systems:

Clean as you go. This is merely the habit of putting things where they belong, instead of leaving them somewhere to be cleaned later, as well as cleaning any little messes quickly, instead of letting the messes build up. More on this below.
Burst cleaning. In my house, we call this a 30-minute cleanup, and it’s something we do on a Saturday when we don’t have much time for cleaning (which is almost every Saturday). The concept is to do a quick clean, in addition to the little cleaning you’ve done throughout the week, leaving your house (fairly) spic and span.

Cleaning as you go is always a good idea. It's something that bears repeating and should be the basis of any cleaning system (and if you have as much chaos in a home, you need a system.

The second part is what gets me thinking. I read that and I had a V8 moment (slapped my forehead and everything). Because of the short time, even the younger kids (those that are old enough to help) can pitch in and get a lot done before the whining sets in. It also has the added benefit of establishing routine which is helpful for managing any household.

There is a lot more over on zen habits. I encourage you to read the entire article.

Simple Systems: Clean Your House as You Go (with an added burst) | zen habits

Get $100 in Free Money from Citibank!

2007-08-27T14:53:00.002-04:00

This looks like one of those scams, doesn't it? It's not. I've done it myself and it's easy. If you've never had a deposit account with Citicorp (or one of its predecessor banks), then you can do it too, if you act fast.

Go to www.citibank.com
Open an Ultimate Savings Account
Put the offer code "CSLN" in where they have an offer code already. After you click "Continue" there will be a link on the left that shows the promotion terms if you click it.

That's really all there is to it. Fill out the information and so forth and open the account. Within 3-6 months you will get $100. No catch. No Lie. No hidden print.

As I said, there are a few restrictions:

You can't have ever had a deposit account with Citi before. You can have a credit card (I did) because that's not a deposit account.
You must do this by 8/31/07.

There may be some other restrictions, but those would be very minor like "must be in the US" and "Must be 18" and so forth.

Lastly, I'll add that there are no minimum deposits and it's not a fee account. Seriously, check it out. I did.

Disclaimer: I make no money or get any other benefit from this. I get no referral fees, credits, or anything.