Send some greetings in style

Greeting cards certainly have an electronic equivalent -- those cheesy looking things with cheap sounding MIDI music that always takes forever to turn off. No thanks! Why not send real greeting cards with some nice, free address labels when you really want to say thanks or send some holiday cheer someone's way? Getting a nice card from someone is still a treat and the cards that come with unique address labels always get my attention in a good way, not like those electronic cards that show up in your email and make you wonder why the person bothered. Probably because they didn't have any nice unique address labels to use on their card. I'll bet that was it.

MacHeist warming up

The MacHeist has started, not long after My Dream App finished up. So far, they just have a nice graphic and a site with a discussion board, but more info is coming out on November 8th, which is the day after lots of Republicans will be looking for work after they've been voted out of office. Good for them, because MacHeist says:

But, frankly, it's the best Mac software bundle that's ever been put together, and if you participate in the weekly heists, you'll be able to grab it for a rather ridiculous price.

For the My Dream App competition, if you voted, you got a free application each time, which was a nice deal. I picked up a couple of useful programs that way.

Can you remember your own address?

I do most of my correspondence and bill paying online, but there always a few things which have to be mailed from time to time. I like my envelopes to look nice, so using nice return address labels is a great way to dress up stuff like greeting cards or thank you notes. Those return address labels really come in handy when you are in a rush, and like many office supplies, it's good to keep them in a place where you can find them. The address labels are great when it's 4:45 and the mail has to be in by 5:00. Just grab a label, stick it on the envelope and you're done. No time wasted writing out your whole address. Now if they could just make something like that for letters and thank you's I would be excited to use it.

End of Soccer season - not all bad

We had our final two games today. Our first team tied, 4-4 after coming back from 4-2 down. After 9 consecutive losses, that was a moral victory if there is such a thing. Not quite a win, but it felt like one. Everone went home happy with that outcome.

Our second game was a 2-1 loss, but we played the 2nd place team which had only one loss and hadn't allowed many goals all season. We had some really close misses on goal which could have left the game as a tie or win for us, but it was one of those days. The game ended when one of our shots rolled toward an open goal, with another one of our players arriving just a second too late to tap it into the goal as the ball rolled out of bounds about a foot wide of the post.

Think before you lose your shirt on the next Raiders game

Gambling on sports is one of those things where you can easily get yourself in some trouble if you don't know what you are doing. Sure, anyone can watch a game and pick a winner, but even the hosts of the football shows on television are wrong pretty often. It takes time to collect and analyze information related to the games in order to be right enough to earn money doing it, and most people don't have the time for that. However, JimFeist.com is a sports handicapping website where other people have done the work for you. The site has been around for a while and has a big team of handicappers who provide picks and full game analysis for all the big games in any major sport like  football, basketball, baseball, hockey and others. Each day, there are also free picks on the site, so you can get a feel for a particular handicapper's talents. If you have a favorite sport, they've got a whole bunch of help available for you. For example, if you are interested in basketball betting, jimfeist.com has a whole section devoted to the NBA. You can check out injury reports, standings, scores and odds before you lay your money down. Or check out the picks in whatever sport you like. Football Picks are popular as NFL football is the most popular sport in the US.

Last Saturday of soccer

We have our last two soccer games today. Neither team will make the playoffs, so this is it. I have a new 8 GB Compact Flash card which would let me take about 1500 pictures. I have some concerns about even taking one picture with it because it was difficult to get my camera to format the card. I don't want to get stuck with no pictures...

You need some vitamins

If you exercise or are active in sports, the right vitamins can help you recover from your workouts more quickly and avoid muscle soreness. I take vitamins every day and along with enough rest and regular exercise, I know that helps me avoid colds and other minor illnesses which can make your life miserable for a week or so at a time. The Vitamins and supplements available at CheapVitamins.com are high quality and available at good prices. They have a big selection of vitamins and supplements, so whatever you need should be available.

Wikipedia in LA Times sports section

Lots of people are still debating the accuracy of Wikipedia, but it sure seems to be mentioned more and more. In today's LA Times, Chris Dufrense has a profile of Cal lineman Erick Robertson. The article emphasizes that Robertson is scary to other people, but he's really a nice guy.

He is Cal's "Illustrated (Line) Man," a heavy dude who is into heavy music. His favorite band is Killswitch Engage, described by Wikipedia as being influenced by the "melodic death metal" scene. Robertson plays bass guitar, as if anyone was going to stop him.

Robertson has Killswitch lyrics etched on his tattoo-saturated left arm: "When darkness falls we are reborn."

What will he do with that tattoo when he inevitably changes his musical taste to smooth jazz when he gets older?

Posterino

Making one of those life posters -- like a big collection of thumbnails -- is fun, but it takes some work to actually get things the way you want them. Posterino is a Mac app which makes it much easier. It's a beta version right now and it definitely has some rough edges. However, it is a time saver and produces nice output. I need to send in some suggestions and bug reports, but overall I'm pleased with the output and the time savings.

Get a discount with the Chief

Coupon Chief is one of those websites you need to have bookmarked if you do any online shopping. They have lots of deals and the deals change frequently. Coupons for just about anything you might be looking for -- check out the site, get a coupon codes and then save on your purchase or get free shipping at no cost to you. One easy way to find a coupon is to check by merchant. For example, today there are 7 coupons on the Target page, including one for free shipping with no restrictions. Shopping for toys, books, electronics? Check out the Buy.com coupons. How about fixing up your home with some discounts from Home Depot? Check out CouponChief the next time you're thinking about shopping online.

Crossword Forge

We used to create a lot of crossword puzzles for school work. Discovery Channel has a free crossword generator which is not the easiest to use, but it's free and gets the job done. MacZot has a deal on Crossword Forge today at $24.97, which is half off. I have always liked the program but always thought it was way overpriced at $49. Too much for what it does. Half price is tempting though. I may need to get it.

The Magic Bullet is worth a shot

The Magic Bullet Blender is a very cool appliance. I've had one for more than a year -- I got it as a gift. We used it every day for about the first two months to make smoothies, hummus, gazpacho and some other stuff. It's much easier to use than a regular blender and you can serve what you make right in the cup you made it in. It's my favorite kitchen appliance. You can watch the infomercial on tv and it looks great, but unlike some of the other stuff you see on television, this thing is actually well made and durable. I have had no problems with it at all and continue to use it every week.

MacZot Trick or Treat bundle

I spent the $6.95 on MacZot's trick or treat mystery bundle valued at $57. It turned out to be Direct Mail, Audiobook Builder, and Platypus (a game). Not too exciting. I might use the Audiobook Builder, but the other two are probably not going to get much use. I might need to be a little less eager to spend my PayPal money next time. $6.95 isn't bad, but if you don't get anything useful, it's not much fun.

Outdoor Garden Sink

And you thought the automatic hose reel was the only thing that Hydro-Industries made! Nope, they have a new product, the Outdoor Garden Sink, which combines a hose reel and sink into something that saves space and gives you some great functionality for working in your yard. The sink has a faucet, so it's easy to use as a clean up spot for whatever you are working on.

About this Particular Mac

The November edition of About this Particular Mac is out and there is another Ted Goranson column on Writing Environments plus two new outliners. He covers 14 writing applications for the Mac! as well as nine other outliner/note-taking/writing programs. The new outliners are Opal and Eagle Filer. I've used Opal and like it, but I need to compare with OmniOutliner with some more testing. Ted Goranson's writing on outliners is outstanding. I'm surprised he is not writing for a big time print publication, but anything related to Mac outlining has been thoroughly covered by him.

Lakers handle Suns

I really like the way the Suns play basketball. Everyone gets the ball and takes the open shot and they keep it moving. The Lakers played a similar style last night, although not to the same extent since Lamar Odom handled the ball quite a bit and they don't move it around as fast as the Suns. When Kobe Bryant gets back in, I hope don't resort to a situation where one guy has the ball most of the time and takes most of the shots. That just won't work in the long run.

Lemons Suck

I have been fortunate the few times I've bought a new car. No lemons and really, no problems at all. It helps that the only kind of car I've ever bought is a Honda, but I bet there have been some Honda lemons. Just not mine. My mother, however, is less discriminating when she buys a car and sometimes has failed to do any research and just made a spur of the moment decision. In one case, she bought a Peugot which certainly qualified as a lemon. It had one problem after another, requiring trip after trip to the dealer. It never ran very well and stuff on it just didn't work. Eventually she gave up and sold it. She might have been better off getting a lemon lawyer. If you buy a lemon, get some help. Find local lemon law code and law firms here at LemonLawFirms.org. You can search by zip code if you need a lawyer.

iTunes in French

I read this morning about the new Latino Music area on the iTunes music store. I went to the store to look for it and never did find it, but like some other people, I did find something strange. The entire site was in French. Prices were in French francs and French music was on the store's home page. You can fix the problem by choosing your country at the bottom of the screen.

Inappropriate comments takes football announcer off the air

Football is known for homophobia and macho attitudes, but there is no way a professional announcer uses "gay" to describe how someone is playing and expects to keep his or her job. I guess we will find out, as ESPN college football announcer Brian Kinchen is testing the waters in this area. The comment is bad enough, but did cnnsi have to describe him as a "former tight end"? It sounds like a bad joke.

During the game Saturday, Kinchen was explaining the need for receivers to make catches with their hands because they are "tender" and can "caress" the ball. He then paused and said, "that's kind of gay, but hey ..."

Kinchen's future as a commentator with ESPNU, the cable network's college football channel, is still under review, Krulewitz said.

Kinchen, a former tight end who played in the NFL from 1988-00, apologized for his remarks.

"They were completely inappropriate and not at all a reflection of who I am or the way I perform my work," Kinchen said in a statement issued by ESPN. "I have learned from my mistake and look forward to continuing my broadcasting career."

Zopa's not just in Europa

Peer to peer sharing has gotten a bad name with all the concerns about trading music and movies. Zopa is an online investment site with a slightly different twist -- no banks involved. Zopa is a peer to peer lending site where members of the network loan or borrow money with other members. Check out Zopa's page on how the process works -- it's  not too different from traditional lending and it's safe and legal. You don't even have to be Bill Gates to participate. Zopa is in the UK right now but is working on a U.S. version. Their website is easy to navigate and nicely set up with graphics and colors which make it easy to read. Zopa says lending on their site cuts out the middle man and pairs up borrowers and lenders directly.

Digital Photography School -- How to Choose a DSLR

The stuff I've seen from The Digital Photography School has generally been pretty good. They have new items often and they go into enough depth to make it worthwhile for a wide range of readers. The How to Choose a DSLR article is a good introduction and presents some good reasons for moving from a point and shoot camera to a DSLR. My only gripe is that the title should have been How to Choose a Canon DSLR. The author mentions Nikon, but with no specifics and although he does admit that he is a Canon user, I think it would be nice to cover a little bit more or get someone else to chime in about Nikon or another brand. There aren't really too many other brands with much market share, but I own a Konica/Minolta which has turned into Sony, and there are some other choices. But maybe that's what the comments are for.

Give me a Newgie

There are many options for getting your news now -- television, the websites of news agencies like CNN and NYTimes, Yahoo, RSS feeds, email, MySpace and so on. Some people still read newspapers! A new way to get news is to use Newgie.com which figures out which are the important news stories by monitoring page views, recommendations and favorites to assemble the news. They do this for hundreds of categories of news, so you'll be able to find what you want and customize things based on what you want to read. Newgie has Categories -- things like Sports, Entertainment and so on, Communities - created by users of the site and Feeds which come from news organizations like CNN, CNET, Yahoo, etc. to organize your news. You've got three good options there to find relevant news quickly.

I like the idea of ranking the news based on interest and I think this will work well if there are a large group of users, particularly in the Communities category. If you have some people with expertise, it could be a nice way to get the important stories in a particular area. If you get lots of people with a single minded view of things, it might not offer a broad enough selection, but the idea is that a larger group will mitigate against narrowcasting.

The site is easy to use and not too complicated. I'm glad they don't use terms likeRSS and instead call things Feeds, which won't scare off people who aren't as technically savvy. Overall, the site looks interesting and I will give it a try myself.

Disappearing Neighbors

I am not sure what happened with my next door neighbors. They seem to have moved out slowly, but they left their dog behind and they still have a satellite dish on their roof and some furniture in their backyard. There was a for sale sign on the house until Sunday. Now that's gone and so are the neighbors. I don't know if they were forced to sell to one of these companies who will buy your house for your or if they actually found a buyer who will be moving in. The house was for sale on and off for the past year but never got too many visitors. I didn't see much action lately, so I don't think it was sold to someone who is moving in.

Binoculars for the holidays

Do you like to see the players when you go to a sporting event, pay $75 for your seat and end up so far away from the field that you can't tell which team you are rooting for? Or maybe you like to look for birds in a local park, or just spy on your neighbors from the privacy of your bedroom. Binoculars get your closer to the action, and binoculars are easy to carry and use. Optics Planet has a nice selection of regular binoculars as well as digital camera binoculars and night vision binoculars. They carry top brands like Nikon, Leupold, Steiner and Bushnell and offer free UPS shipping on orders over $19.95. If you aren't sure which binoculars to buy, check out their buying guide for answers to your questions. Binoculars make a great gift for someone on your shopping list or maybe you should get a pair for yourself. There are even specialized binoculars for marine use, for the military and for astronomy. With one of the digital camera binoculars, you can grab a picture of what you see and save it for later. Some of the digital camera binoculars have up to a 3 megapixels camera built in, so you should get some nice images.

Buying money in Runescape

One of my sons wanted to pad his account on Runescape by buying some Runescape dollars. They come pretty cheaply -- less than US$9 for a million in Runescape. It seemed pretty straightforward. Pay the charge with PayPal and they load the money into your account. It didn't turn out that way. We paid on Friday afternoon and the 15 minute to 24 hour waiting period went by with no contact or Runescape money. I emailed the company over the weekend but got no reply. This morning we went on their website and found a notice that they needed to confirm some information before they could complete the transaction. We also discovered that the company is located in Singapore. To complete the transaction, we started up a live chat. "Tina" entered the chat. She asked what we needed and then said she would be right back. 20 minutes later she came back and asked for the same information we had provided at the start of the chat. Things were not going well. She asked some questions then said she would need to call me on the phone to confirm. The phone rang and sure enough she asked my address which I'm sure was a little confusing, but we resolved it all and got back into the chat room. She gave directions on where to go in Runescape to get the money and said we needed to trade something to get it. My son went to the bank where we were going to meet Tina. A woman approached him and asked if he needed a girlfriend. I thought this might be the secret code to get the money, but it wasn't. The potential girlfriend kept pestering him. We went back to the chat and asked Tina what the name of her character was. Finally she showed up, traded the money and we were almost done except for closing out the chat. All in all, to buy a million Runescape dollars took 4 days and an hour of real time interaction. And who knows how long it took them to earn the million dollars or even how that was done.

Fix up your bathroom

For many people, their bathrooms can be a great place to do some upgrading and renovation. I need to replace the vanity and flooring in one of my bathrooms and I would also like to upgrade the shower. It's a small room, but it is a room that gets a lot of use and a bad looking bathroom leaves a lasting impression on anyone who might go in there. On the other hand, a nice bathroom makes the experience more enjoyable. Mybathroomguide.com has information about bathroom vanities and bathroom lighting and lots more bathroom related items.

Free Culture Scout Badge

With the RIAA working to create a copyright merit badge for Boy Scouts, it's only fitting that someone would come up with an alternative. Liz Losh has a description of the hypothetical Free Culture Badge and even a mock-up of the badget itself. I think trying to get past her first item could be tough for anyone, even a Boy Scout with a law degree:

Appear at the door of a major studio, dressed in your full scout uniform, and try to talk them into allowing educational use of historical films commonly shown in public schools (Amistad, Schindler's List, etc.)

Wait until the last minute with bidnapper

One of the unique things about selling stuff on eBay is watching the price skyrocket during the last couple of minutes of your auction. It can be very exciting as people come in at the last minute and bid for your item. As a buyer however, there is nothing less exciting than losing out on an item because some other character got in 10 seconds before the auction ended with a bid just few dollars higher than yours. Bidnapper is an auction sniper, a tool to help you get the final bid on an eBay auction. Sniping is legal, and although many people don't like it, it's part of the culture of eBay. Bidnapper can keep the final price down by waiting until the last minute to enter your bid. That way, people aren't bidding up the price throughout the auction. Bidnapper also makes it easy for you to change or delete your bid without going through the eBay interface -- do it all from Bidnapper. Bidnapper also protects your username from your competitors. They won't be able to search for you because they won't know who you are! Bidnapper is both software and a service, so if you are a big time eBay users, check out their rates. They may be able to save you time and money.

Blogger.com continues to be a problem

Can you see this? I can't. I can't post anything here. It's been like this for 4 days now. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. What's going on with Google/Blogger? I don't know why this continues to happen, but it's a time waster.

Dress up in the UK

Tomorrow is Halloween here in the U.S. and it's one time of year when lots of people of all ages think about fancy costumes. In the UK, they like fancy costumes and dressing up in strange outfits too, so Escapade.co.uk is a good place to visit if you are looking for Fancy Dress. They've got lots of costumes like pirates, ghouls, clowns and more for men, women and children. They also carry make up, wigs, party goods and even animal costumes. If you are looking to take on an alternate identity in the UK for an evening, Escapade.co.uk is a good place to find the outfit you need whether you want to scare someone or make them laugh.

Political ads

I don't watch much tv and what I do watch isn't local channels very often, but I happened to have the tv on an LA station for about 5 minutes this morning. There were 4 political ads, none of which really said anything other than here I am vote for me. The strangest one is the Cruz Bustamante ad where he says "I was fat. I promised my family I would lose 70 pounds. I promise to lower your insurance rates." I get the whole idea of the promise but not the connection between losing weight and lowering insurance rates. I don't think I'm voting for him.

Keep track of your finances with PiggyBob

PiggyBob isn't the nickname of one of the contestants in the Nathan's hot dog eating contest, it's the name of a personal finance software application. Kind of like the Piggy bank many people have when they are children. PiggyBob will keep track of your expenses and your income to help you see where you are spending your money. PiggyBob can generate graphs and charts breaking down the source of your income and expenses on a monthly or yearly basis. The program also has a built in calendar, so you can track money related events or create alerts like "pick up check" or "bill client".

You can check out PiggyBob free for 30 days or buy it for $19.95. The program runs on most versions of Windows -- from Windows 95 through Vista. One good thing about it is you won't have to break it to get to your money.

Raiders win, gain 98 yards

Even though the Raiders beat the Steelers today, I don't think it's time to get excited about them. They have won 2 in a row, but they won today with almost no offense. 98 total yards of offense is pathetic. Without the two interception returns, they wouldn't have won. They can't move the ball down the field consistently. Their defense isn't bad when they play smart and don't get too many penalties, but I don't see the Raiders winning too many more games unless something happens with the offense.

Find other online poker players for live games

Poker is popular face to face and online. With new laws restricting online gambling in the U.S., there are fewer options for online gaming and more people are seeking out poker players in their area for live games. PokerDIY - Connecting Poker Player for Live Games is a free service which connects poker players with each other for live games. Set one up at your house or find a local tournament or even start your own league. They've also got forums where you can chat about strategy, rules and listen to other people talk about how they blew their paycheck or cleaned up the last time they played. Check out PokerDIY's YouTube video.

8 GB Compact Flash

I think my first Compact Flash card was 16 megabytes. I just ordered an 8 GB card which is about 600 times bigger than that first one for $135 at Newegg.com. With the new card I will be able to switch over to RAW for my sports photography and not have to worry about running out of space. In fact, maybe I should start saving for the Sony Alpha 10 megabyte camera to use all of that space. 8 GB is also 16 times the amount of hard drive space that came on the Mac I bought about 12 years ago. I can hold around 400 images on my 2 GB card, so the 8 GB card should handle 1600 or more. I'm not sure I can take that many pictures in one day without overdoing it and just holding down the button.

Tickle Me Elmo Ten

I remember when the first Tickle Me Elmo came out. We bought one as a present for one of our kids and it was fun to play with. We probably still have it in the garage although I haven't heard him laugh out there in some time. This year, Tickle Me Elmo X (TMX Elmo) has come along and will certainly be a popular toy for Christmas. In fact, I heard on the radio that people are lining up at Wal Mart at 1 AM just to get one. Before it gets too hard to find and the prices start going up, www.tmx-elmo.org has all the info you need about TMX Elmo just visit their site and learn more about Elmo and where you can buy one this year. They've even got a history of the Elmo toy in pictures.

Lynne Cheney Wolf Blitzer interview

I saw a little of the Lynne Cheney interview with Wolf Blitzer. I don't agree with too much of what Lynne Cheney has to say and even less of what her husband has to say, but I enjoyed the fact that she tried to take control of the interview. On the other hand, I thought she was a little bit ridiculous with her effort to deflect every question he asked about her writing or what Dick Cheney said or didn't say about water torture. She also went on a little rant about CNN's Broken Government series, claiming that it was slanted and sounded like it was written by the Democrats. I guess she hasn't listened to what most people think about the Iraq War and the Bush administration.

The Carpetbagger Report has a good analysis of it with a transcription.

Stay warm outdoors

I have an upstairs and downstairs deck and spend very little time on either one. It's a little cold out there in the evening most of the year. In the past I had an outdoor heater which made it very comfortable and usable, but it stopped working and I haven't replaced it. If I had one of the outdoor fireplaces or firepits they list at the Outdoor Heating Guide, I think I'd spend more time on my deck. They've got heaters, firepits and fireplaces for outdoor use as well as other stuff like chimineas which would be perfect for my deck. I'd like one of the chimineas in red.

LCD TV set up and running

I have my LCD TV set up. It wasn't much work and it weighed less than the old TV. The picture isn't very good because we don't have any HD programming. The on screen text looks pixellated and the colors are a little dark. It will take some adjustment. The next hurdle will be getting and HD receiver from Dish. I hope the customer experience this time is a little better than the terrible one I had when I signed up with them. I also want to hook up a PC so I can actually watch some HD content now.

IMac getting slower and slower

I have an Intel iMac and it was really fast when I got it. In the past couple of months it's gotten slower and slower. At times, it's so slow that it is painful to use. Two things which could be causing the slowdown are not enough disk space and the fact that I don't restart the computer very often, but even when I make sure I've got plenty of free space and I reboot, it does not seem to make much of a difference. The biggest virtual memory and CPU hog is Safari, so maybe if I switch to Firefox that might improve things.