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.

The Old Gift Shop is online

The Old Gift Shop isn't actually that old -- they've been around for ten years -- but the stuff they sell has lots of appeal for history buffs and people with an interest in learning about the past. They sell Old World Gifts and Collectibles which include things like Crystal Palace miniatures, museum quality tall ship models, nautical steins, and old west figurines. In other words, wquality pieces which you might like to put on your mantle or in a display case or use as gifts for the history buff in your family. The store is unique and they offer great prices and a wide range of great products. If you like ships and navigation, check out their sextants. They've also got sundials, ships lanterns and all kinds of boats.

USC finally loses

USC made it close too many times this year and their luck finally ran out today against Oregon State. They did make a great comeback, but couldn't convert on the two point conversion and that was it. Since I'm a Cal fan, USC's loss puts Cal in position for their first Pac 10 football title since 1959 or maybe it was 1958. Anyway, a long time ago. Cal will still need to play USC, but I think they are a better team and can handle them.

Free Printer Ink Cartridges

The ink is often the most expensive part of many inkjet printers. I have a couple of photo printers where the cost of two sets of manufacturer's ink costs more than the printer did. Printcountry.com sells lots of ink cartridges and to get some of your business, they are giving away black ink for free and ink cartridge packs for below cost. There is a shipping charge in both cases. Check out their Free Printer Ink Cartridge Samples. They have a huge selection from many manufacturers and you can get the free ink and try them out.

What happened to blogger

I thought Blogger.com was working fine, but I seem to be missing a post. Where did it go? I don't like it when my stuff disappears like that.

The post showed up but I'm still getting errors when I "republish" my blog. That is one thing about Blogger.com that I still do not understand. I publish my new item, but I need to republish my whole blog for it to actually be published. Why is that necessary? Maybe it will go away in the next version of Blogger. Imagine how many times a day that has to be done by the millions of bloggers on Blogger.com.

Online Safe Deposit Box

I haven't been inside a bank or my credit union's office in more than five years. I have no idea if they even offer a safe deposit box or if they have any available, but even if they did, their offices are so far away, I wouldn't use the service. I could open a local account with another lender, but that seems to serve no good purpose. An Online Safe Deposit Box is a different way to solve this problem. Keepyousafe.com offers a free safe deposit box for a year. It's a digital lock box which you control. You can access your documents from anyplace and they will survive a natural disaster like a flood, hurricane or other catastrophic event. They use 256 bit encryption to keep your stuff away from hackers, so it's very secure.

Blogger.com back working again

Blogger.com was not working right earlier today, but it seems to be back to normal now. I don't know if this is related to the Blogger Beta or not, but it seemed to be a pretty widespread problem. I don't know which is more troubling -- when a site over which you have no control goes down or when your own site does and you have to fix it. I think I prefer the latter case.

Flat Screen TV

We purchased a flat screen TV at Costco yesterday. I'm not sure I did enough research before buying, but I think it will be fine. It's a little confusing between DLP, Plasma and LCD and then the resolutions and black levels. The set comes with almost no cables, so you have to spend more money on an HDMI cable, but I'm not paying $150 for one. I'll buy mine online for $15. Maybe we can set it up today and see how it looks.

Liven up your site with some sound from RAZZ

Many websites would benefit from a little more media. Just text all the time gets a little old and it's pretty easy to add images to your site, but audio is another story. RAZZ makes it easy to add sound with the RAZZ Mixer. It lets you record and add sounds quickly and easily to your site.

Perfect for MySpace or your weblog or any site where sound makes sense. Greet your friends or leave a message for someone with your own voice. Liven up your site with music or scary sounds for Halloween. The RAZZ mixer is easy to use and the results can be easily copied and pasted to your blog or website. Try the RAZZ Mixer Yourself

Here's a sample sound made with RAZZ:

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Make your own Razz!

Cardinals win, Jeff Weaver stars

It just goes to show that you really never know in sports. I would not have picked either the Tigers or the Cardinals to get past the first round of the playoffs. They both stunk at the end of the season and then somehow got hot in the playoffs when they had all their players back. I think the Tigers suffered from the long layoff. The Cardinals just kept going. I'm glad to see David Eckstein get some credit. The Angels should never have let him go. It serves them right. He's a tough guy who never quits and always hustles. A great role model. And Jeff Weaver made an amazing turnaround to pitch well in the playoffs. Also let go by the Angels. So was Jim Edmonds several years ago. It was fun to watch.

Esperanza fire update

The winds have shifted here in Temecula and the smoke from the fire is much less noticeable and the air is cleaner. This morning we could not even see the mountains to the south, but now they are clearly visible and the air in that direction is clean. However, if you look northeast, the air is still very dirty and visibility is very limited.

According to the news report I heard, the actual fire has gotten much worse and there is more smoke in that area. I can't imagine how bad it must be considering that the air is so bad here that there were almost no people outside until early this afternoon. All local football games have been cancelled for tonight because of the bad air. The Temecula Valley HS game may be played tomorrow or Monday depending on the air quality. The bad air has stretched all the way to Orange County due to the high winds.

PE.com has up to date coverage of the fire and many photos and videos.

Get some healthy stuff for free

You can find all kinds of free stuff online, but it's not always stuff you want or can use, and it's not always particularly good for you. As a member of HealthyFreeStuff.com you can get Free Product Samples from a variety of companies with an emphasis on things that are actually good for you. They try to set you up with free samples from America's top brands -- companies like Dove, Nature Made, Pfizer, Oral-B, Kleenex and more. It's all free once you become a member, which is also free. Just send along your email address.

Vitamins, minerals and over the counter drugs are one category you can get free stuff from as long as you are over 18. Other categories of free products include Women's Health and Pregnancy, Diet and Weight Management, and Natural and Alternative Health Supplements. The companies involved want you to try their products and they are willing to supply you with them for free so you'll see what they've got and if you like them, you'll become a paying customer. As the saying goes, "there's no such thing as a free lunch," but there are free samples and they can help you try out various products before you buy them.

Coach goes from pain in the neck to rat in the salad

I once had a live grasshopper in my salad in Jamaica, but Dallas Cowboys coach Todd Haley and his wife and babysitter bought a salad with a dead rat in it at McDonald's in June and are now suing over it. This is the same guy who Terrell Owens said he wouldn't speak to after a shouting match during a game. He's having a rough year, but what is he doing eating at McDonald's anyway? When my salad had the grasshopper, the head chef came out and apologized and said that sometimes things like that happen and made sure I wasn't really upset about it. I guess McDonald's could have had the teenager who presses the buttons to cook the fries apologize for the salad rat, but they didn't. It's always the poor customer service after the problem that gets the company in trouble.

Take your vitamins, please

Nutritional supplements can be an essential part of your everday routine. I take several vitamins and minerals every day and have done that for years. Not everyone's diet is perfect and many of us live with polluted air and not enough exercise. Supplements can help. N101 Nutrition is an online source for supplements and natural beauty products from top brands like Avalon Organics, Nature's Way and Twinlab. You'll get a discount price and a great selection. They carry everything from protein power to pet products. Keep your body strong and your pet smelling good! N101 places a high priority on customer service, so you'll get treated well throughout your shopping experience with them and if you sign up for their Rewards Program, you'll earn points on everything you buy which you can use for free stuff and discounts.

Fire gets much worse, bad air all around

The fire near Palm Springs really got bad during the day. As I drove to work the smoke was very thick most of the way there as the winds had blown so much of it towards Temecula and through the Hemet area. This evening on the way home, things were very dark and the smoke got worse and worse as I got closer to Temecula. Soccer practice was cancelled and even with all the windows in the car rolled up and the air conditioner set to recycle air and not take in any from outside, the smell was strong.

It's unimaginable that someone would go out and set a fire like this. Four firefighters have died already and 10,000 acres have burned. It will not surprise me if the air is even worse tomorrow and children have to stay inside at school all day. It's not healthy to be outside.

Fantasy Football all year long isn't a fantasy

Fantasy Football may not be as popular as NASCAR, but it's close. Millions of people play it and some even make money doing it. Fantasy Football all year long has a slightly different twist. They've got computer simulations, so you can play your own games year round. Sounds perfect for the video game generation as well as anyone who feels deprived when it's not football season. Check it out.

Fire in area

We have a huge amount of smoke in the air. It looks like it's a couple of miles away, but the fire is actually more like 50 miles away, near Cabazon. There are very high winds today also, so that's bad for the fire and also probably the reason why the smoke is all the way over here in Temecula. It doesn't smell, but it looks bad.

Down with Down

Buying Down doesn't mean moving from a house to a small condominium, it's all about How To Buy Down Bedding . Down is known for being soft and comfortable and warm, but it can be confusing when you start shopping for down products. Down is a renewable resource as long as there are enough ducks and geese around, and a down comforter can help you save money on your heating bill. The site will help you choose the right down bedding, understand quality standards, and they even have an FAQ with info about allergies, sizes and cleaning and drying your down.

Dell/AMD laptop under $500

The Dell/AMD laptop, at 15.4 inches and less than $500, which I guess means $499 before any discounts that Dell is known for, would be a good deal. Unless of course, it has a small hard drive, 256 MB of RAM and integrated graphics. It's coming out next month, so it will be interesting to see what they can do. I'm not sure I'm in the market for one of these, but it might drive prices down on other models.

Worst job interview

Job interviewing techniques can be helpful when you prepare for a job interview, and if you are good at organizing yourself in the office, that can be a helpful skill to mention during the interview. Now that so much work is done online, working on the Internet can also be good to know. I thought I did a good job preparing for my interview, but I wasn't ready for the way things went. I had 30 minutes to write a response to a question using a PC, then I was taken to another room where there were a group of people sitting around a table. They said their names, then read the questions from a piece of paper. Ten questions in all. At the end, I asked if I could ask a couple of questions, but they said no, you don't get to ask any questions. I left the interview not knowing anything more about working at that place than I read on their website. It wasn't a good format for me to learn about the place.

Saturn's hybrid Vue not so green

Dan Neil in the LA Times says that the new Saturn VUE takes a low budget approach to the hybrid vehicle that isn't very satisfying. He says the car feels cheap and the gas mileage improvements are pretty minimal compared to other manufacturers like Toyota.

The salient advantage of the Vue hybrid system, says Saturn, is its low cost — under $2,000 (the vehicle MSRP is $22,995). This is key to calculating the endlessly chewed-over hybrid premium equation, which is the additional cost of the system weighed against the potential fuel cost savings. According to Saturn, the Vue's two-grand system rewards drivers with a 20% improvement in fuel economy. (Not to be pedantic, but by my calculations, the 2.2-liter Vue has a combined EPA of 24.5 mpg, so the improvement is numerically 17%, not 20%.)

I looked at the Vue about 3 years ago, but ended up buying a Honda CRV which was bigger, got better mileage and cost less.

Moving to Atlanta?

Moving to Atlanta? Lots of people have and many more are probably thinking about it. Good home prices, nice weather, the Atlanta Hawks! Okay, maybe the Hawks are not a reason to move to Atlanta and we won't even mention that goofy circular freeway system, but Atlanta is a nice place to live. I have relatives there and have been there a number of times. Atlanta Georgia Real Estate can help you find a place or sell a place in Atlanta and you know that a good real estate agent can really save you some time and money. They know the area and can give you guidance you won't get on your own. Their site is easy to use and packed with useful information about the Atlanta real estate market. Check it out and search for the home you need.

Workout at your computer

I get up at 5:30 every day to do some exercise because I spend most of my day sitting at a computer. Not exactly a healthy thing, but many other people do it too. It's nice to get out for a walk or to just take the stairs. I do that whenever I can, but WikiHow has some tips for exercising at your computer which might be a good alternative. Avoid the stiff necks and wrists and shoulders by taking breaks and doing some of the exercises they suggest. Your body will thank you.

Kiki James

Although it sounds like the name of that woman who sang a song with Elton John a few years ago, Kiki James is actually a luxury gift provider. They specialize in leather and deliver anywhere. If you are shopping for me, I'd like one of the Tuscan Wrap Photo Albums. Very classy. They've also got a number of very nice journals. You can see the prices in British pounds, US dollars and Euros, so if you are confused by converting, they make it easy.

Merriman appeals suspension

Shawne Merriman appealed his steriods suspension and will get to play 2 or 3 more games while the appeal is heard. That's good for the Chargers who have lost 3 other defensive players and can't afford to lose too many more games if they are going to do anything in the playoffs. Their edefense is what keeps them in games, and Merriman is a key part of the defense, so if they do end up losing him, I think their Super Bowl chances are diminished without him in the lineup for a month.

Visit the Crystal Palace in minature

Have you ever felt like the world was an intimidating and overwhelming place, full of large buildings and just a little too much to deal with sometimes? Me too! The Crystal Palace Landmarks are a miniature landmark collection which brings the world down to size. You can find small scale replicas of places like the US White House, the Sydney Opera House in Australia, and the Petronas Twin Towers in Malaysia. Those towers are huge in real life, but the model is a little easier to deal with and much more affordable. Crystal Palace Landmarks have Elegant gifts and collectibles that you'll find appealing and which will look great on your shelves or in your cabinets. Just don't mar their appeal by putting them next to a bobble head doll or Aunt Lucy's collection of miniature schnauzers.

Kenny Rogers' hand mud

I don't think I've ever seen mud that made your hand look yellow. I don't buy the Kenny Rogers ball rubbing explanation. I think he had something on there to gain an advantage and I'm surprised that nobody bothered to check it out. You can bet he won't be doing that next game because every camera will be on him.

Let's talk nicely about NASCAR

NASCAR is an extremely popular sport, and not just among the guys who wear baseball caps all the time and drive trucks. It's the greatest spectator sport in the United States and many of the drivers are celebrities like Dale Earnhart, Jr. and Jeff Gordon, although it seems like a lot of people don't like Jeff Gordon so much because he's originally from Northern California, which has a reputation for being pretty liberal and not exactly the place where you find a lot of NASCAR people. Whatever your feelings are about NASCAR, you can express them in the NASCAR Forum on NASCAR Space.

GTD Podcast - Getting things done with your team

Merlin Mann has the latest episode in his conversation with GTD guru David Allen. This one is called Getting things done with your team. I don't have a team, but I'm going to listen to it anyway. You can pick it up at 43folders. 4th in the series and this one is 8 minutes and 46 seconds long.

The hidden power of keyloggers

Computers and the Internet have opened up a whole new world of mischief for children and teenagers. In addition to those online predators lurking in chat rooms, there are many other ways kids can get into trouble online. Meeting unsavory characters in online role playing games, getting bullied via email, or having profanity laced IM sessions with the kid across the street are just some of the ways kids can run afoul of the family rules. Most parents have trouble checking the browser history, so it can be challenging to keep tabs on what your kids are doing online and who they are doing it with. That's where a keylogger comes in. A Keylogger is a program which captures all the keystrokes surreptitiously and saves them to a file. You check back later and look through the file for any suspicious activity. If you find it, you dole out the consequences for your child, empowered by your new found mastery of technology. And your kid thought you were clueless when it came to the family PC! Spector Pro by SpectorSoft is a keylogger that even records MySpace activity, and we all know what goes on there. Keep your child safe online by using a keylogger and stepping in when they step over the line.

Another Parent vs. Coach story

Last week I emailed one of my sons' coaches to ask what he needed to do to get more playing time. He got more playing time but not because of my email. He was working harder. I felt a little funny about doing it but everything was fine. I didn't make any demands. But how about this one:

PHILADELPHIA -- A father pulled a gun on a youth football coach because his son wasn't getting enough playing time, police said.

Wayne Derkotch, 40, was arguing with the coach Sunday during a game of 6- and 7-year-olds when he drew the weapon, police said. No shots were fired.

Find your voice at voices.com

If you've ever done a video or multimedia project with sound, you know how important the audio portion of those projects can be. If your project has narration, it's essential to have someone who speaks clearly and knows how to talk so that others can understand and maintain interest.Voices.com should be your first stop for voice overs. They have professionals ready to narrate your podcast, video game, educational video, jingle -- anything that needs a narrator, they have you covered. When you need a real voice, try Voices.com.

 

Stanford School of Medicine research on Internet addiction

Lots of people are spending too much time on the Internet to the point where it becomes unhealthy. Is it a medical problem? The Stanford University School of Medicine have started studying the issue:

In a first-of-its-kind, telephone-based study, the researchers found that more than one out of eight Americans exhibited at least one possible sign of problematic Internet use. The findings follow results from previous, less rigorous studies that found a significant number of the population could be suffering from some form of Internet addiction.

...

According to preliminary research, the typical affected individual is a single, college-educated, white male in his 30s, who spends approximately 30 hours a week on non-essential computer use. While some may hear this profile and assume that a person’s Internet “addiction” might actually be an extreme fondness for pornography, Aboujaoude stressed that pornography sites are just one part of the problem.

“Not surprisingly, online pornography and, to some degree, online gambling, have received the most attention—but users are as likely to use other sites, including chat rooms, shopping venues and special-interest Web sites,” he said. “Our survey did not track what specific Internet venues were the most frequented by respondents, but other studies, and our clinical experience, indicate that pornography is just one area of excessive Internet use.”

A summary of the study is available online and the full article appears in the October issue of CNS Spectrums: The International Journal of Neuropsychiatric Medicine, which is probably not on your local newstand but might be accessible through a university library.

All Inclusive Holidays with On the Beach

I had never heard of an all inclusive holiday until about four years ago when I was involved in a workshop which was held at at an all inclusive resort. My family came along and had a great time while I worked all day long! They took advantage of the food, the pools, the beach, activities, game rooms -- pretty much everything the place had to offer. They never left the resort. I worked all day. Although the idea of an all-inclusive holiday didn't appeal to me before then, I can see the benefits and understand why many people like the concept. Since then, I've been to at least 5 other all inclusive resorts, always for workshops, and I've tried to find a way to take advantage of some of the many activities and services which are offered.

All Inclusive Holidays are the specialty of On The Beach, a travel agent specializing in all-inclusive holidays in Egypt, Greece, Spain, Turkey and Tenerife starting from the UK. As the term all-inclusive implies, you pay one price for everything and once you get there, you can do as you like, enjoying the food, drink and activities all day and all night. Make sure you use sunblock! On the Beach has everything covered, from getting to the airport, enjoying your holiday and then getting back home safely.

Bad news for Chargers

I figured the Chargers had a shot at making the Super Bowl this year with their great defense and the excellent offensive players on their team. They still have to overcome their coach's tendency to get conservative when they get a lead, but it looked like things were different this year. But today they lost to the Chiefs on a last second field goal, and now Shawne Merriman is suspended for 4 games for using steroids. Not a good combination.

Actually, a four game suspension seems like a mild penalty. Chris Andersen of the New Orleans Hornets, is sitting out for two years for a positive drug test and the drugs he was taking weren't helping his performance.

eJabberd IM server

Do you need to run an instant messaging server which uses the XMPP/Jabber protocol? Check out ejabberd from Process One. Ejabberd is an open source, high-performance, robust Jabber-based instant messaging server developed and supported by Process-one. Using the Ejabberd server, you can build Instant Messaging services for a service providers or set up your own Instant messaging services. The server is probably the most scalable and the most robust Jabber server around but it is still not largely known. The server is written in Erlang, and is distributed under the GNU General Public License version 2. The latest version, 1.1.2, was released on September 27th. Ejabberd is also cross-platform, distributed, fault-tolerant, and based on open standards for real-time communication. It can be suitable for small or large deployments on Linux, Mac OS X and Windows.

Process One can customize your ejbabberd server with extensions or entire applications to fit your specific needs. They also offer consulting services, support and training. They even have an Erlang support team who can help your system administrators manage your ejabberd application.

If you are interested in the current and future development of ejabberd, check out the Road Map which covers plans for ejabberd 2.0. There is also an active online community for ejabberd where you can find out what's going on and ask any questions you have about ejabberd and erlang.

LA Library photo website

The LA Times has an interesting story about photos made available on the LA Public Library website. 70,000 photos are already online and more are put on each week as staffing permits. There are some by Ansel Adams and other photos of celebrities and local sights.

Although library officials say they don't track which photos are being viewed, what people are ordering says a lot about Los Angeles' appetite for its own history.

True-crime images, especially those involving the Black Dahlia murder, Robert F. Kennedy's assassination, the Hillside Strangler case and the Manson family, are "cyclically popular," said Matthew Mattson, photo imaging consultant for the library. "Every year, on the anniversaries, we get a lot of requests."

Other kinds of photos are perennially popular, Mattson said: The Hollywood sign, especially when it was "Hollywoodland." Shots of downtown, notably from the 1930s and '40s. Airplanes. Trains.

The library charges a nominal fee for printing images or distributing digital copies; commercial ventures are also charged a usage fee.

Although Cole encourages people to take the pictures from the website for personal use, she said the L.A. city attorney stands ready to defend the library when bloggers and others take the library's images for their own sites without permission.

But she also understands the intricate push and pull of the Web. Van der Leun, for example, did not draw legal action for placing the Adams photos online. His actions, said Cole, "called attention to our archives. And the conversation is a literate one."

Hmm, I wonder if I can put one of their photos here to point to their site...it's not clear from the article. They charge for almost every use -- even educational use costs $25. Also, although I'm sure the collection has some great stuff, to find things, there is no way to browse. The only point of entry to the collection I could find is the option to search by either keyword or by photographer. Since I don't know too many photographers from that time period, I'm in the dark there, beyond just searching for Ansel Adams.

Here's a photo direct from the site. It's the Tower Records on Sunset Strip, which like all other Tower Records stores, is in the process of closing down (if it's still there). Photo taken 1980 by Roy Hankey.

Take back the Capitol

If you think it's time for a change in government in Washington D.C., specifically the White House, Senate and House of Representatives, you should enjoy Take Back the Capitol! It's a short video with some commentary about current issues and the Republican's control of the White House, Senate and House of Representatives over the past 6 years.

Personally, I've had enough of the Republicans, their scandals, and the Karl Rove style co-opting of political language to paint anything other than the Republican party line as evil.  Although I'm not sure there is a huge difference between Republican politicians and Democrat politicians, I do thing it's time to get some new people and new ideas in there.

Look for the "stay the course" segment, which President Bush is now in the process of disassociating himself from by saying that's not what he really meant. Of course not.

Dropping into sixth, passed by a green woman

I had a pretty secure hold on 5th place all week in the PayPerPost standings, but this afternoon I dropped down to 5th when Stefanie jumped ahead of me. She got $200 for painting herself green and walking around a mall with 3 PayPerPost signs. $200 would be nice, but this is one opportunity I won't be taking. Now, if I could paint my sons green and have them walk around with the signs, I might do that.

Restoring Vail Ranch

Vail Ranch is the historical center of Temecula's history. It was the hub way back when Temecula was known for pig farms and cattle ranches. Vail Ranch once encompassed most of what is now Temecula. The biggest irony is that it now sits on land surrounded by a shopping center and nothing has been done to restore the site or make it accessible since the shopping center was built a few years ago. The Press Enterprise says a group is ready to do that at a cost of $7 million.

Arteco's preservation plan calls for the restored buildings to be used for commercial uses that could include restaurants, coffee shops, an ice cream parlor or retail stores. A two-story building would be constructed on the site. It would be designed to blend in with the existing historical structures, two of which would likely be adapted to meet the operational needs of the eventual commercial tenants.
The Vail Ranch preservation group plans to use part of a previously moved and restored barn for a museum and periodically hold special events at the site. Farnbach said the preservation group has already acquired two stagecoaches, a hay wagon, a vintage tractor, a Model T automobile and other historical items for use and display.
A water tower that once anchored another section of the sprawling ranch will also eventually be moved to the site, he said.
"I think the community is silently waiting," he said.

Google Analytics plugin for WordPress

I came across Joe Tan's WordPress plugin which will help you manage your Google Analytics and Feedburner data. It's easy to install and set up and will give you lots of information. More info than I was getting by going to the Google Analytics page. It's free although donations are accepted and it's very nicely done.

Steve Lyons and Insulting Latino baseball players

Gustavo Arellano has a great opinion piece in the LA Times today about the Steve Lyons things and how there has been a long history of insulting Latino ballplayers in different ways.

It seems no one can possibly gain anything from this mess. Not Lyons, who lost his network job (though not his part-time Dodgers gig). Not Piniella, whose lame Spanglish deserved mocking — Sweet Lou described an Oakland A's player as being en fuego (geez, Lou: I didn't know that cliche translated into español, también). Not Fox Sports, which now must answer to accusations of political correctness from its frothing news division. And not even the nation's alphabet soup of Latino advocacy groups — MALDEF, LULAC, NALEO, MEChA — can use the incident to thunder about the plight of their wards before a rapt, donation-ready audience, because the remarks were so mild.

...

Insulting Latinos — the nation's largest minority, with billions in spending power, blah, blah, blah — is a cherished tradition among baseball writers and analysts.

The best part of his essay is the last paragraph which recalls an incident from a couple of years ago that I had forgotten about:

Besides, Psycho got it all wrong. All real baseball fans know Latinos steal Derek Jeter's glove, not wallets. Just ask Ruben Rivera.

I think the whole thing was ridiculous, and as Arellano points out, not too much was made of Arnold Schwarzennegger's comments about Latinos recently which was way over the line. That issue came and went pretty fast, but this Lyons story was less important and is still around

Empty post

Something used to be here but is not here any longer. If you were looking for it, you got here a little too late. If you don't know what it was, you are better off not knowing. If you think this is a strange entry, you are right.

Convert to PDF

With Mac OS X, PDF became the default file format and there is a built in print to PDF function, so every application can generate PDFs. Great for saving things for distribution later. On Windows, you can do the same with Adobe Acrobat, but that costs some money. I was looking for a free alternative and came across PrimoPDF. It allows you to print to PDF from any application and it is totally free. Can't beat that.

SEO'Brien

If you are interested in online search, advertising and marketing, you should be reading Paul O'Brien's Search Engine optimization and online marketing tips and lessons at SEO'Brien. His blog covers all kinds of interesting things like How to get readers to your blog, where to get links, and shopping and searching online. Paul has experience with everything related to online advertising, so you are sure to pick up a few valuable tips by checking out his site. He keeps it updated frequently and many entries point to tools you can use right away. Part one of his ongoing ten part series on search engine optimization provides some practical ideas for web designers to make sure their sites are accessible to search engines -- things like organizing and optimizing your URLs, including a sitemap, and making sure the user experience is the best it can be.

Virtual Dashboard

Macupdate stole the whole idea of one piece of software on sale for a day only from MacZot, but a little competition means more choices. Today's deal is Virtual Dashboard, which lets you group widgets together in sets. At $5.99 it's 40% off today only. If that's not for you, they'll have something new on Monday -- they don't have any offers on the weekend, although MacZot does.

Color Schemer

MacZot is offering Color Schemer Studio today for $29, a $20 savings. It helps you match up colors. I guess it's mostly for web pages, but I wonder if you could use it to paint and decorate your house. I have to try it out before I decide if it's worth the $29 but it looks like it could be useful.

Bob Knight signs contract extension

Bob Knight, coach of Texas Tech men's basketball, is going to sign a contract extension through 2006. I think he's about 65 years old, so it's nice to see that the university has confidence that he will still be able to do the job past 70. I hope to get that old someday and still have the option to work. The strange thing about it is that his son Pat, signed a deal last year which makes him the head coach when his dad retires. I wonder if the idea of waiting another 6 years to take over is what he had in mind. I think Donn Nelson signed a deal like that with the Dallas Mavericks to take over from his dad, Don Nelson, and then never did.

Let's go Mets!

The Mets game starts in a few minutes. I'm going to miss the first few innings, but since this is game 7, I'm rooting for the Mets to win and get in the World Series for the first time in a long time. No Cleon Jones or Bud Harrelson this time, but I think this group can do it and win it all. If they get Orlando Hernandez back for a couple of games, they will be in good shape.

Free Halloween sounds

I like to hook up my iPod to a speaker on my front porch on Halloween and play creepy sounds. It can be hard to find the right kind of sound to scare people away, but Adam Pash at About.com has done that for everyone this year. He's got several links to scary Halloween sounds. Best thing -- all are free! Check it out and get ready for Halloween.

Peer to peer lending at Utopialoans.com

Utopialoans -- www.utopialoans.com -- is a unique source of funding -- a peer to peer loan service which works a little bit like eBay. Borrowers and lenders list and bid on loans in an auction style system. The site has been operating for four months and has set up more than 150 loans for almost a million dollars so far. There is also a public element to the site where your late payments are available for lenders and others to see on a kind of outcasts page. They call the site Utopia because their aim is to help everyone get what they need without discrimination. If you are a borrower or a lender, UtopiaLoans is  worth checking out.

Mets win, looking good for game 7

I think you have to like the Mets' chances tomorrow night after their win tonight. They've got the home field advantage, a little bit of momentum, and much more offense than the Cardinals. As always, it will come down to pitching and both teams are a little shaky with the starters. St. Louis may have the edge with Jeff Suppan, but the Cardinals have not done well against left handed pitchers and the Mets are starting a lefty, Oliver Perez.

Give a VoiceQuilt to preserve some memories

About ten years ago I bought a talking photo in Las Vegas. My wife and I recorded our voices and it was stored in a little metal thing which was embedded in the frame around the photo. A novelty, but nothing great. VoiceQuilt takes that idea to a whole new level.

You and your friends can call in over the phone to record a greeting a story, whatever you like. You choose a keepsake to deliver the sounds and the recipient gets that along with a playlist. You can also choose electronic delivery. I can think of many ways this could be used, but since my new boss of 1 week is retiring next week, something like this would be nice to record some memories for a retirement gift. Some of his co-workers could record favorite stories about him and he would have that to remember his years at the job. Pretty unique.

Mets need to do something different

I thought the Mets had the advantage last night with Tom Glavine going against Jeff Weaver. Weaver does not have a good record under pressure and although Glavine also has a less impressive postseason record than his regular season work, I figured he would do well against the Cardinals. It was a close game, but again the Cardinals won. Jayson Stark seems to think it's a huge upset if the Cardinals win, but the remaining games are in New York and I think the Mets still have a pretty good chance to win it. However, I don't think either team will beat the Tigers who will be well rested and have a much better pitching staff than either the Mets or the Cardinals.

Get MS Project training face to face in the UK

I work for an organization which does much of its business providing IT training to all kinds of people. Almost all of it is done face to face and live, which seems to be much more effective for most people and would be my personal preference in most cases, assuming the instructor is engaging and knows her stuff. Online training has some significant benefits, but it works better for people who have the motivation to keep going on their own. Often, that is not everyone. Face to face training allows you to interact with an instructor on the spot to resolve any problems or confusion you have, and it seems to take less time to learn this way. If you need to learn Microsoft Project and you are in the UK, Best Training offers management microsoft project training in London and elsewhere. MS Project training will help you get going with a fairly complex piece of software, but one which is widely used to manage people and projects. Courses are offered frequently and can even be customized to meet your organization's needs. You can even sign up online. If you need to learn MS Project and you want to maximize your time, check out Best Training's courses in the UK.

University of Phoenix stadium

Although it is the largest private university in the United States, I don't think the University of Phoenix has any sports teams. It's not that kind of university -- the students are primarily working adults and many of the courses are online. So it seemed strange during the Arizona Cardinals game tonight when the announcer kept saying "University of Phoenix" stadium. It turns out that the U. of Phoenix bought the naming rights last month to the stadium for 20 years, just like Fedex Orange Bowl and PacBell/AT&T Park.

Bidwill said, "When you look at University of Phoenix, that's what they're really about: They're about technology and improving people's lives. It's a very good, wholesome product, and we're proud to be associated with it."

The school's founder, John Sperling, is considered a pioneer in for-profit education and online education, although the school does have its share of critics, especially among traditional educators. Apollo also has had its share of challenges the past two years, the most recent of which is an investigation into its stock-option grants.

The naming rights cost $7.7 million a year for each of the 20 years of the deal.

Painkillers can be addictive

Painkillers are sometimes really important for people to recover from surgery or other health issues, but in many cases, they generate a new problem. I've known several people who ran into problems with painkillers, including one who broke into a neighbor's house to steal his pain medicine when he was out of work for back problems. Not a pretty situation.

If you know someone who has become addicted to painkillers, you know it can be an expensive habit to break. Rehab can be costly and it takes a month. A new option is the Meditox Method which uses 1 on 1 work with the client plus drug detox using a new medicine called Suboxone. This method allows you to deal with the problem at home, which can be preferable for many people. Check out some of their success stories. They have centers in Palm Beach, Florida, Dallas, and Beverly Hills. The Meditox Method may be just the way to help someone get rid of their addiction to painkillers.

Peter King

I watched the Monday night football game between the Chicago Bears and the Arizona Cardinals and it was a very strange game with a bizarre ending. Peter King of Sports Illustrated calls it one of the biggest choke jobs in sports history. I think Peter King is an excellent writer and I enjoy his column, but he may be jumping the gun a little bit with this one. The Cardinals are not a particularly good team, and the Bears were 5-0 entering the game, so even though it was a huge collapse, I'm not sure it's up there with the Yankees letting the Red Sox come back from a 3-0 deficit, or Mike Tyson losing to Buster Douglas, or the U. of Virginia men's basketball team losing to Chaminade. Those were real choke jobs. Yes, the Bears had six turnovers and no offensive touchdowns and won the game, but I think Peter may have had a little too much coffee before he wrote that column.

Mystery

The former post has recently been removed to eliminate any confusion which might exist regarding what it was about and who it was intended for and why I wrote it and actually if I even wrote it and whether or not I might have written it twice, using almost the same words, but in a slightly different order to mask the fact that I hadn't written it twice but only once and borrowed from it the second time despite the fact that it had been suggested that it would be in my best interest not to employ any of the same words the second time and to just drop the whole thing after the first incident so that I would not be harmed in the process. That's all.

Center for Citizen Media

Dan Gillmor at the Center for Citizen Media had an entry about PayPerPost last week called PayPerPost: A Cancer on the Blogosphere, or Merely Semi-Sleazy? What comes up in just about every one of these kinds of articles/blog entries is the idea that some people feel that other people being paid to write about products on their weblogs is okay as long as they explicitly disclose that fact. In many of these cases, the people complaining the loudest about PayPerPost don't follow their own advice and let everyone know that when they are writing about a particular product that they may have been given it for free or may have some connection to the company they are writing about. To me, some of this seems like endorsements of products made by radio hosts. For example, Leo Laporte "endorses" a variety of products on his KFI radio show each weekend. (By the way, why do radio stations have some of the ugliest websites around, with all kinds of stuff flashing and huge graphics and too many items on their home page?) He may or may not use these products or even believe they are good, but an advertiser is paying him to say some nice things about the product. He doesn't say that he really uses all the products (he does say that he uses some of them), but it's clear that the advertisers are paying for his voice to be associated with their product whether or not he actually uses it. This seems to be very close to what PayPerPost does. If I write about something, the 2 or 3 people who read my weblog can see by the tags that it's a PayPerPost entry, so they should be clear that it's something like an advertisement. I'm obviously not Leo Laporte, so it's still not clear to me whether there is a real benefit from my endorsement, but that's the way the system works.

Pushchair guide

A pushchair is British for stroller and the Pushchair Guide is a website which will tell you all you need to know about all kinds of pushchairs. The site has a great, child-friendly color scheme, although most children in pushchairs won't be reading it. Their parents, however, will find all the info they need - models, brands, and user reviews. A good stroller makes a big difference when you are setting up and putting it away several times a day, so it's an important purchase when you need to move your young children around in comfort. Much better than carrying them on your back! Check out the strollers and buggies at Pushchair Guide.

Beach Cruisers

Just about anyone likes to ride a bicycle, and nothing is easier to ride than one of those Beach cruisers. You do see them at the beach, but they are easy to ride and can go anywhere. Maybe not ideal for going up a steep hill, but they are great for around town and casual bike riding.

XYZ bikes sells beach cruisers at good prices. They've also got a weblog with news about bikes and related things.

Digital Storytelling in 10 steps

J.D. Lasica of OurMedia has a 10 step program for digital storytellers at TechSoup. It looks good and it starts with the story, not the media...

Comparison shopping for Healthcare

Don't you wish there was something like Froogle for healthcare? Doctors and hospital stays can get pretty expensive and if you don't have good health insurance, it can be a choice between your mortgage and your healthcare sometimes. Vimo will help you find the best deals on healthcare -- surgery, dentists and doctors, and even health savings accounts. Vimo was started by some of the people behind WebMD and I think it really fills a need. Even if you've got health care, there can be huge differences in pricing between hospitals and other service providers. Check out Vimo and you may be able to save some big money on your healthcare.

Temecula weather has gotten colder

It is much colder now in the evenings here and we will soon need to turn on the heat. It's funny how quickly it can change from extremely hot to much cooler, but just about every year, there will be some strange hot period in the fall, so it may not be cold for too long. It's also dark so early that soccer practice has to end by 6:30 now unless there are lights on the field.

Testing with MarsEdit

Checking to see if I can post with MarsEdit to a Blogger site.

A's dump Ken Macha

You never know what's going on behind the scenes and considering that the A's got to the American League championship series this year, it seemed like things were going well. However, this SFGate story paints a troubling picture of A's manager Ken Macha. He comes across as a guy who doesn't get too close to his players and doesn't have much empathy for anyone.

Get more done with templates

Creating a nice looking website is a lot of work, especially if you do everything from scratch. Knowing how to manipulate HTML, DHTML, CSS and how to use a web editor like DreamWeaver takes a lot of time and if you don't do it frequently, it's tough to keep your skills current. I like to use templates for my web sites because they allow me to get my work done much faster than if I started over every time and designed a site from the ground up. The templates can easily be modified for particular needs and they save you lots of work. Just add your own logo, photos, graphics and other content, and you have your own unique site in a fraction of the time it would take to do from scratch. Here's a solution for your web site design needs -- The osCommerce cafe is a subscription based web template site for web designers. You can join for three months, six months or a year and during that time you can download as many osCommerce templates as you like (there are currently 70 available, with more being added all the time). The templates are organized by category -- Pets and Animals, Art and Photography, Flowers, Sports and more, and they are visually appealing and complete, so you will be up and running very quickly. Tutorials will help you use the site, so it's easy to get going right away. They've also got an online button generator to help you customize your site easily. The FAQ will tell you everything you need to know about how the site and the membership works. You can even modify and re-sell the templates if you want to start your own customization site, but if you are in need of some web designs and you don't want to do all of the work yourself, starting with a template from the osCommerce cafe is a great way to start.

Tags: PayPerPost

Dell 20 inch monitor

The new Dell 20 inch monitor looks like a bargain. It might be time to start keeping an eye open for those famous Dell coupons which cut the price down.

Analyze your firewall with AlgoSec

A firewall is like the security system in your home. Without it, you could be at risk for intruders. Keeping your doors locked is one thing, but knowing that you are safe is a valuable thing. The same is true for your network. Without a good firewall, there are all kinds of unscrupulous characters out there who will try to attack your computers and your network. You need to know that your sites are secure before something bad happens.

AlgoSec will do the dirty work for you -- checking your firewall and analyzing it to point out potential problems you didn't even know about, before something bad happens. You could pay a high priced consultant to do this work for you, or you could run the Algo Sec Firewall Analyzer which will audit your system for you, in five areas:

1. Change Management
2. Risk Management
3. Automated Audits
4. Advanced Management
5. Policy Optimization

If you are interested in protecting your firewall, check with AlgoSec for a price quote. It runs on a Windows PC or Linux machine. Also, check out some of the customer testimonials to see how other organizations are keeping their firewalls doing what they need to do using AlgoSec's software. AlgoSec guarantees your satisfaction and offers a 30 day money back guarantee.

Tracking Shot

There seem to be lots of these online video and image editing sites cropping up lately. Tracking shot lets you combine photos and music with zooming and panning and some montage elements to create a nice slide show in Flash. Looks pretty good. http://trackingshot.com

Putting Wikipedia on your iPod

Matt Swann has a Perl script which lets  you put all or part of Wikipedia on an iPod, without the graphics. I think I'd like it better if I could pick specific articles, but I need to give it a try.

HDTV info

Tags: PayPerPostOne thing I'd like to purchase with my PayPerPost money is a new television. One of those flat screen HDTV models would be nice, but it's very confusing figuring out what to buy. LCD, Plasma and Rear Projection are the types of televisions I see in stores and online, but I'm still not clear on the advantages of each one. I've looked at Consumer Reports, BestBuy and Circuit City for information and on other sites for customer comments. The TVNinja site has some good information about HDTV televisions and related products like remote controls, projectors and mobile devices. It's a weblog, so it's easy to read and each entry is illustrated witha  photo. I don't think I'll be able to afford the 60 inch Pioneer Plasma TV they mention, but there are some other items which look to be within my budget.

Support problems

I went with Vizaweb because Leo Laporte used and recommended it. When Vizaweb had all kinds of problems about 2 months ago, I noticed that Leo was no longer using them and of course he wasn't endorsing them. They probably got too big too fast because of Leo's recommendation.

I see that Leo's site, TWiT.tv had problems on Friday. He described the poor support he got from his current provider, The Planet and has already switched over to Softlayer. I'm still using Vizaweb, but I think I'm going to have to switch. They haven't responded to either of the problems I sent them yesterday. Even though the problems seem to have been resolved, it would be nice to know that they actually cared about them enough to acknowledge them.

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A's lose -- season over

No fun watching the A's get swept by the Tigers. I figured the A's pitching was as good as Detroit's but the A's were dominated. Not much offense other than Milton Bradley. I don't think Frank Thomas got one hit in the series. The A's suffered from some missing players, but that wouldn't have made up the difference. Detroit managed to come back from their end of the season nosedive and they have really played well. I think they have to be the favorite in the World Series considering the very poor pitching staffs of the Mets and Cardinals.

Steve Lyons fired by Fox

Steve Lyons was fired by Fox for remarks he made during Friday's playoff game. I was wondering what happened to him yesterday.

In the second inning, broadcast partner Lou Piniella was talking about Oakland's Marco Scutaro and the success the usually light-hitting shortstop had at the plate during the previous series against Minnesota.

Piniella compared it to finding a "wallet on Friday" and hoping it happened next week.

Piniella also said the A's needed Frank Thomas to get "en fuego" — Spanish for on fire — and that he was currently "frio" — cold.

Play-by-play announcer Thom Brennaman said, "The bilingual Lou Piniella."

Lyons then said, "Lou is habla- ing some Español there, and I'm still looking for my wallet. I don't understand him, and I don't want to sit close to him now."

The three announcers laughed.

But after the game, Ed Goren, president of Fox Sports, informed Lyons he was being suspended for a game. Lyons flew home Saturday, and after arriving at LAX he called his girlfriend, who told him there were reports he had been fired.

I met Steve Lyons once, near the men's room at a Macy's in San Diego. I like him as a commentator and I think Fox overreacted here. I hope Steve doesn't lose his job with the Dodgers. I think Lou Pinella has some trouble with the English language, so trying to speak Spanish was a little bit of a reach. I'm not sure how what Steve said was offensive, but who knows.