Bet on sports with no risk...

Everybody's heard of fantasy football leagues, where people choose players and get points based on their performance each week. Fantasy football is a very popular hobby that millions of people participate in during the football season. WannaMakeABet.com is a fantasy wagering website where you can bet on sports without losing money! That sounds like a deal. If you check out WannaMakeABet.com and Join Today, you get 50,000 units for signing up and you can start betting on games and winning prizes. You can probably do at least as good with your bets as some of the sports commentators on television who struggle to get half the games right.

Navigation system getting irritating

The navigation system we have had in our car for a few weeks performed pretty well on our trip this week, at least as far as providing directions to known destinations. It's not very good when you are looking for a particular kind of store, as entering text is slow and it presents you with all local stores first and you have to scroll through several screens to get to the point where you can expand your search. It doesn't seem to have a search function, so you can't look for "Del Taco" or something like that. Maybe you can and I just can't find it.

One thing I am tiring of is the warning message that shows up every time the thing starts up. Don't try to calculate your position while driving... I got it the first 10 times and now it's just an irritation. Maybe it can be turned off.

Put someone's face on your next purse

So many people have digital cameras now that all kinds of services have sprung up to help you do interesting things with the pictures you take. Lots of places will host your images or print them in varying sizes or make posters or keychaings, but Bagettes.com has a unique service for Photo Purses as well as other kinds of bags. They can put photos on a coin purse, an eyeglass case, cosmetic bag and more. The prices are reasonable, and the custom look you get is great. It's simple to do -- upload your image, check a few menu items and you are done. A photo purse would make a great one of a kind gift for someone's birthday or any special day.

IKEA Winter sale commercial

I don't watch too much television, so I don't see lots of commercials, but I did notice the IKEA Winter sale commercial this evening during the Lakers game. At one point, almost every piece of furniture in our house larger than a desk lamp came from IKEA, and the closest store was 350 miles away in Burbank! Eventually I got tired of the text free directions they provided and the time it took to assemble some of the furniture, plus we had very little room left for anything else, but I have never gotten tired of browsing the store or the catalog. In fact, we went to the IKEA in Tustin yesterday. Once I visited 4 IKEA stores in one day and rented a car to take everything home.

Anyway, the unique thing about the IKEA commercial is that in the process of making the point that sofas and families come in many different varieties (I think they use another term, but I can't remember what it was), the commercial ends with a shot of a couple sitting on the floor in front of a sofa with their child. I don't know if this is a first for television in the US, but the couple in the shot are two men, something I don't think I've seen before in a TV commercial. I don't know if this is an LA only commerical or if they show it everywhere there's an IKEA store nearby.

Get some doubleverified borrowers from DoublePositive with no DoubleTalk

Lots of people will click on things on websites and fill out forms, sometimes with incorrect information. For people who get their business through online forms, this can lead to lots of wasted time dealing with people and tracking down dead end leads. For big money items like home mortgages, bad leads cost time and money. DoublePositive is a service which provides qualified consumers who are actively looking for a mortgage -- mortgage leads. However, these consumers have been double-verified and contacted by DoublePositive, so the chances that they will actually sign up for a mortgage are much higher than with the unknown Joe or Jane who fills out an online form. Leads start at $39 each for all 50 states and go up to $99 for leads from premium states -- Florida, Maryland, Arizona, Nevada and California. If you are looking for pre-screened potential borrowers, check out DoublePositive.

Time Goes By

I'm starting to think about resources for a one day class on blogging that I'll be teaching in February. The course is open to anyone, but should have a good number of "older" people because it's being offered at a location which has a number of programs targeted at people over 50. I'm not sure that over 50 is really old any more, but that's what it is.

One resource I think is a good one for this class is Ronni Bennett's blog, Time Goes By. She talks about aging and ageism at work and in the media, among other topics.

Gobble up some web templates at the OSCommerce Cafe

Lots of people create websites. Many of them are unreadable, with bad color schemes which make it nearly impossible to use the sites. Not everyone can afford to pay someone else to design their site, so using a template built by a designer can save some time and effort and you can still end up with something that looks good. That's one of the great things about the Internet -- you can easily find a good template to use. One place to find one is at the OSCommerce Cafe, an online store where you can download osCommerce Templates for your site. The site works on a membership system, with three months costing $89. During that time you can download as many of the templates as you like. Right now there are 70 on the site, so it's a bargain compared with other sites where you might pay more than the three month membership fee just for one template. This site is aimed at web designers, so the templates are fairly complex in terms of what they offer. Templates are organized by category, with hobbies, fashion, jewelry and sports among the selections you can choose from. The site also offers a button generator to help you customize the template for your site.

There are also a number of tutorials available to help you administer your site, customize the templates, and set up and manage osCommerce, which is the speciality of the developer of the site, Myles O'Reilly, author of The Programmer's Guide to osCommerce. The site is about 9 months old and is still growing, so your membership will get you access to current and future materials.

Even for web designers, starting with a template instead of with nothing is a time saver. Modifying a template can be challenging at times, but with the site's tutorials in that area, you will have a useful guide to work with. If you have questions or run into trouble, you can always get help on the support page or check out the FAQ.

MacAppADay seems to have run out

MacAppADay shut down for about 5 days and they seem to really be creating a problem for themselves by promising certain things and then not delivering on them. Today's free app isn't an app at all. It's a 3 month trial membership to beta test a new site for creating web pages. Since the site hosts your content, it seems like you won't have access to it after 3 months unless you pay, which makes this one a little different than all the other freebies which were actually applications you could use.

PPP Postie Patrol in Chicago

These PayPerPost postie patrol videos are pretty crazy. They show up at a PPP blogger's home and give them a chance to win some money by doing some crazy stuff. I'm sure they must arrange it ahead of time, but it's still pretty good to watch. In the latest episode, Ted Murphy, PPP Ceo, shows up with Robyn wearing his Postie Patrol shirt. Ted gives Robyn a shopping list while they are in a cab somewhere in downtown Chicago and she has to go out and get the stuff on the list, as well as take pictures and video of various things. It looks like she had fun doing it and of course we know Ted had fun. The whole thing was sponsored by HP, which supplied the equipment. If you like to take picutres, check out HP's Digital Photography Tips. They've got some great ideas that will help you avoid some of the common mistakes people make with their cameras. One thing I didn't like so much about the video was the part where Robyn had to have "I heart HP" written on her forehead with a marker, although I guess she didn't mind so much.

I really like the part of the video where Robyn gets the guy to sing a song and do other stuff with her. It sure looked cold! But the best part was seeing her get the HP gear and the money! Nice job Robyn!

This post bought to you by HP.

Mostly bad customer service, with one exception

On our short trip to Long Beach, we had various encounters with bad customer service. Restuarants, Costco, the Aquarium. I don't have time to go into detail as I'm still on the road, but there was one exception. The Hyatt really surprised me with their response to a problem. I'll write it up later.

Performancing bought by PayPerPost

PayPerPost is moving up in the world! They are in the process of acquiring Performancing.com, Performancing Metrics and Performancing Exchange. This should be a good thing for PayPerPost because Performancing is a pretty well established network for bloggers and blog advertising. I have used the Performancing editor a little and found it useful but slightly intrusive and the auto insert of a link to Performancing was a minor pain to deal with each time. The other tools look better -- the metrics tool seems like it would be a great thing for PayPerPost. It might allow for better targeting of blogs by advertisers using the statistics provided by the software. And maybe with the PayPerPost programmers working on it, the Performancing Metrics tool will finally make it out of beta. However, I think the bigger benefit to PayPerPost will be the advertisers and bloggers who have been using Performancing. The ideas incorporated into Performancing Exchange should expand the possibilities for PayPerPost bloggers and give them a little more control. I like the idea of being able to pitch your own ideas to advertisers as well as having a little more interactivity between bloggers and advertisers. This is one area where PayPerPost could be improved. Overall, I think this is a good move for PayPerPost and for bloggers looking to make money from blogging. PayPerPost has been going great but this should expand the network of advertisers available and the kinds of writing for pay that bloggers can choose from. I hope some of the things from Performancing are incorporated soon.

Disclosure problem for bloggers

and it's not related to PayPerPost! Microsoft gave a bunch of bloggers laptops with Windows Vista on them, presumably to write a review. At least one blogger didn't point out that the laptop was a gift and that got him into some trouble, at least in the comments on his site. Then MS decided the laptops weren't gifts after all, and everyone has to give them back! Sounds like a PR disaster all around.

We visited the Aquarium of the Pacific

I guess I was spoiled by the last Aquarium I went to -- the Monterey Aquarium. The Aquarium of the Pacific isn't bad, but it was smaller than I figured and was pretty busy today. It was a little bit of an adventure just getting the tickets. Costco advertises discount tickets, but they didn't have any at our local Costco, so we drove to Long Beach and stopped at the Costco there. Turns out they only sell the tickets in the summer. Plan B was to go to the hotel and order the tickets online at the hotel and then pick them up across the street at the Aquarium. I would save about $16 that way. Well, the Hyatt doesn't have any free Internet access. I could have sworn that when I upgraded to a nicer room it said "high speed wireless Internet". Actually, it did, but they left out the $9.99 per day fee. They do have one free access station in the special room for people who pay more money for their rooms. Since I did that this time, I was able to get in that room and buy the tickets. We walked over in very strong winds and I went to the kiosk to pick up the tickets. They expect you to bring along the confirmation code -- 15 digits -- even though when you purchase the tickets online they do not say that you need the code to pick them up. It just says swipe your credit card. Anyway, I got the tickets and we joined the crowd inside.

Beat Chronic Fatigue with Revivol

Chronic Fatigue syndrome used to be something that was not a real thing, from what I remember. People would claim to have it but doctors didn't believe them. Times have changed and now lots of people get run down and tired all the time. Revivol can stop chronic fatigue and fibromyalgia in just a few days. It's an all natural remedy which has proven to be effective in 99% of all cases of CFS and fibromyalgia. It can eliminate both conditions if used over a long period -- 3 to 6 months. It's nice to be able to address health problems without using drugs, but it's also a good idea to check with a doctor rather than self-diagnose and self-medicate. You may think you have one thing when it could be something else.

Aquarium of the Pacific

We are making a trip to the Aquarium of the Pacific tomorrow. It should be interesting. I haven't spent much time in Long Beach since I lived there about 13 years ago and it has changed quite a bit. I think the area around the Aquarium has been developed. The Hyatt hotel was being used to shoot a movie with Arnold Schwarzenneger when I lived there. They build some kind of device on the outside of the building for a particular shot which seemed to take weeks. I don't remember the movie, but I don't think it was very good.

MaternityCard can help with having a baby

Having a baby is a complicated matter. I didn't realize how much went into it and how expensive the Cost of Having a Baby could get until we had our first child. We went through some training classes and got a tour of the hospital where our son would be born and learned what to do when the time came. I remember looking at the intensive care unit and assuming I would never have to deal with that, but our son had some serious complications which kept him in the hospital for 8 days after he was born, and he spent some of that time in one of those isolation rooms. It was very stressful and it would have been even more stressful if we didn't have a good medical plan covering the expenses.

I think anyone who is having a baby would benefit from the kind of services provided by MaternityCard. For a monthly fee, they offer a comprehensive maternity service package which includes everything you need related to have a baby. They guarantee their services will pay for themselves or you will be refunded the difference plus $200, which is a nice deal.

MaternityCard works with with a very large network of doctors, obstetricians, hospitals and medical facilities to make sure women who are expecting a baby receive the best care available at the very best rates. Their services extend to the first two years after your child is born and will cover checkups, immunizations and any other medical costs. It's good to have that kind of coverage just in case you need it because you never know what may come up.

Christmas gift

I didn't buy any hi tech stuff this Christmas, at least not for myself. I got 4 of those stick people animated cubes for my sons, but I'm not sure those are going to get a lot of use. I'm saving my money for the Apple streaming device which may or may not show up at Macworld. I hope it will be worth the wait.

Don't get overwhelmed with debt, get Debthelp

Holiday shopping can be a time of excess. Too much spending on stuff you don't really need -- just ask my wife! The result can be that you start the new year in a financial hole and have to spend several months digging yourself out. If your credit card debt is out of control, check out DebtHelp.com. DebtHelp.com offers consumers solutions to their financial problems at no charge, which is a nice deal, especially if you just blew your paycheck on a PS3 bundle. There are a number of ways you can get into debt, and DebtHelp.com can help with most of them. They'll help you deal with mortgage refinancing, debt management, student loan consolidation, tax debt relief and credit reporting. The site has financial professionals ready to assist you with your specific problems.

Jeff Garcia fan

I always liked Jeff Garcia when he was with the 49ers. We lived in San Jose at the time and he did too, plus he was from San Jose and his dad was his coach. I felt bad for him when the 49ers let him go and also when he had to endure some of the stupid comments made by Terrell Owens. Glad to see that Jeff Garcia is doing well and it was quite a contrast to watch the post game comments he made compared with Terrell Owens, who only complained about not getting the ball. Garcia is a team guy and he shows that in the way he plays. Owens has always been a me-first player who disrupts the team whenever things aren't going his way. I don't expect him to be back with the Cowboys next year and maybe other teams will wise up and see that as good as he can be on the field, his other antics make him not worth the effort.

Shopping online doesn't end with Christmas

I have two birthdays to worry about in the next week, and I'm going to be doing some shopping online. A good place to stop before you visit an online store is Coupon Chief. Pick up some coupon codes so you can save a few dollars on shipping or get a nice discount on your purchase. Target has good prices already, but when you throw in a coupon, you can really get a nice deal. A good thing for last minute shoppers is the book and magazine section where you can also get some bargains. Coupon Chief should be on your shopping list every time if you want to get a good deal.

MacSanta ended at 9 PM EST

I got my answer on that one as the coupon failed to work on the last application I tried to buy, CSSEdit. I can get it later for full price if necessary. It probably would have been a good idea to indicate the expiration time on the MacSanta site, as there was really no way to know which time zone they were using. One other minor gripe -- Rogue Ameoba was behind the site, but they didn't offer the discount on their Fission & Audio Hijack Pro bundle. You could either take the bundle discount or the MacSanta discount, but not both. Other vendors did allow the use of the MacSanta coupon with their bundles.

I went back and checked and at least on some of the sites, the coupon was still working, so maybe there was something wrong with the CSSEdit site to begin with, although the MacSanta site does say the deal is over.

Lean and mean on PayPerPost

I am running low on open opportunities on PayPerPost. It's Christmas and things have been slow for a while, but there are a few remaining opportunities that I haven't done. Not many, but a few. Some of them are in the list 2 or 3 times and I don't think it looks good to have the same one every day. I think at this point there are only 3 that I could do. I was all set to finally break down and do that old one about moving to Scottsdale, Arizona -- 10 words for $2.50 but it disappeared! Finally... Let's hope things pick up again soon, although for the sake of the PayPerPost staff, they should probably have the rest of the week off.

Looking for a hotel room?

I am. It's my wife's birthday very soon and she would like to stay in a hotel someplace, anyplace other than in our home, for one night this week. She has to work on her birthday and the 2 days before it, so our options are limited. It can be some work to hunt the web for the best deals on hotel rooms. You can always try the hotel's site and sometimes you get a deal there, but another way to go is with the Hotel Reservation at HotelReservations.com. They guarantee the lowest rate available for a particular place and will match any rate you can find. Plus, if you reserve for 3 or more nights through them (one stay), you can get a rebate up to $100. You need to stay 12 nights on a reservation to get the $100 rebate, but if you are going on a vacation somewhere or even on a business trip, that is possible. I once stayed 21 days in the Hilton hotel in Kingston, Jamaica in one month.

Using HotelReservations.com is simple. Put in the location and dates and they will give you back a list of options with prices and ratings from one to five stars. They include hotels in the area, so if you are searching a location that might not have what you want, but you are willing to drive a little, or use some other method of transportation, you might save a few bucks. Hotelreservations.com covers the U.S., and they also book cruises and hotels in other parts of the world. Check it out, you may find what you are looking for.

MacSanta closing up shop

I am not sure if MacSanta ends at midnight Pacific Time or some other midnight, but I'm trying to get all my purchases done by 12 EST. One thing that is frustrating is that for a number of the apps there is not a clear way to use the discount. It doesn't always work in the coupon field and sometimes I've had to go through the process 3 times to get it right. Not to mention that not everyone takes PayPal and that sometimes if you use PayPal you can't use the coupon. Strange.

Cruise with a beach cruiser

One of the items I considered buying this Christmas was a new bike for one of my sons. His current bike is too small and he's getting pretty big, so he can't really ride that one any longer. He needs a full size bike, but I ended up not getting one. His birthday is in 6 weeks, so that may be another opportunity to get a bike. One type of bike that I am considering is a beach cruiser bicycle. These bikes are nice to ride and they come in a bunch of nice colors, plus the price is reasonable. Some of the mountain bikes are incredibly expensive and complicated to work on. The beach cruiser is simpler and although it may not be a speed demon, you will get where you are going in style. I like the blue and yellow model which has a stylish look.

Check out the color chocies at xyz bikes and let them know what you would like. They've got a nicely set up website which showcases their beach cruisers. They also have an active blog which will keep you informed about what they are doing and what kind of bikes are popular. Riding a bike is a great way to get outside and get some exercise, and even though beach cruisers are meant for level ground, you can still handle a small hill or two and get your heart rate up.

Chargers win

The Chargers didn't look too good against the Seahawks today in the second half, which was when I was watching. They did manage to pull it out at the end, so they have the best record in the NFL now. I think if they can avoid playing games in bad weather they should make it to the Super Bowl as long as Philip Rivers can limit his mistakes. He didn't have a good game today but he made the big play when it counted.

One thing that bugged me watching the game was hearing Dick Enberg and Randy Cross keep saying that guys were dropping balls and Rivers had a poor completion percentage and they never once mentioned the fact that it was raining the entire game. Gee, I wonder if that had anything to do with it.

Check out the Pictari chatrooms

Social networking is one of the big things on the Internet. Chatting with people in a chat room or sending instant messages are popular ways of staying in touch with friends and family. I like to talk online, but only when I'm not in one of those free for all chatrooms where there are too many people and no set topics and you can't get a word in. Most of my experience with chat rooms is with online learning, so there is a moderator and a focus to the discussion. I remember some of the AOL chatrooms where things just flew past and it seemed impossible to have a conversation with anyone.

This is a paid post.

MacAppADay takes 3 days off

MacAppADay is off until the 27th, when presumably they will finish off the week with a few more free apps for the Mac with something special on January 1. The special might be a bundle for purchase. Fine by me. Although MacAppADay is taking a break, there is no holiday among the commenters who keep finding more things to dislike about a site which is giving stuff away for free. The complaints range from not liking the fact that the free applications aren't upgradeable to the site's claim that they would give away an application each day in December and haven't lived up to that. Maybe those people should find other stuff to gripe about. Sure, you don't get the same rights with the software that you would get if you bought it, but who can give away 5000 copies of their software for free and stay in business? Many of these applications are things I had never heard of before, so I can't imagine that they have a huge customer base. It's been a good way to learn about new applications, along with MacZot and MacSanta.