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Newsletter 1-27-2008
This week is all about tools and thing that will help around the house, garage, etc. We all have project that need to get done and any little help to do them better or easier is always appreciated by me. So read on about some stuff I have found from many different blogs, web sites, surfing, etc.
This site has some really useful fasteners for cardboard, or similar material. Use these to make cardboard trains, cars, stuff for kids, custom boxes for putting stuff in, and just plain fastenings soft material. At this site you can buy kits if you can’t think of an idea to use these little guys.
http://www.mrmcgroovys.com/
Have you heard about the Stirling engine? It is an engine that has been around for quite some time looking for an idea to make it practical. Go ahead and do a Google search and read all about it. Now that you know what it is, the following is a great use of the Stirling engine.
“The Heat Wave Wood Stove Fan quietly and efficiently circulates warm air from your wood stove into your room. This fan will dramatically increase the effectiveness of your heating appliance and improve your comfort level. You can instantly gain up to 35% more efficiency from your wood stove with this amazing fan. Even more impressive is no electricity is required! The Heat Wave uses a Stirling-Cycle Powerplant to power the fan. Ok, it is a little pricey, but check it out.
http://www.northlineexpress.com/detail~PRODUCT_ID~5HW-HEATWAVE.asp
Raytek make a little device for checking the temperature of anything without actually touching the device y our checking. This is a good thing because you don’t have to burn the temperature checker. I have always wanted one of these but can’t really justify buying it except it would be cool to walk around pointing this at all kinds of things to see what the temperature is. You may have a great use for this, if so let me know.
http://www.raytek.com/Raytek/en-r0/ProductsAndAccessories/PortableThermometers/PortableThermometersSeries/Default.htm
OK guys, do you have a leak somewhere that need fixing like a gas tank, old bucket, pin hole is glass, or anything that is leaking a fluid or air that need to be fixed? I know there are all kinds of stuff out there to fix leaks but this is the best I have found period. It is called ‘Seal-all Adhesive and Sealant’ and its available from Amazon or your local hardware store. This stuff will even stop a brake fluid from leaking. The best part is that you doing have to do any prep work like sanding, cleaning, etc.
http://www.eclecticproducts.com/sealall.htm
I have a cute little dog that likes to roam around bushes and occasionally he finds things he shouldn’t like ticks. There are all kind of ways to remove a tick the has started embedding itself in an animal or human. This little tools is great for removing a tick. It is called ‘Trix Tick Remover’.
http://www.tickremover.com/?s=start&l=en
Hey all you ladies out there, do you need to sew things and find out that common thread is just now strong enough? Try using Kevlar thread. It is very strong and a good replacement for common thread. You can get the stuff at Amazon, or from many other sites.
Ok, guys a tip for you. Need a vice but don’t have one handy? Try using rubber bands around the pliers you are using. Add more or less depending on how much strength you need.
“Income from charging high interest rates will end up in the pocket of someone who is kind to the poor.”
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Newsletter 1-20-2008
Things change in the high tech world so fast it is impossible to keep up with little things like bookmarked sites.I used a web site that let you send free SMS text message to any phone and it worked quite well. I haven’t used the service for about a month now and went to the web site I had bookmarked, because I planned to put it in this week’s newsletter, and the site is gone. No home page, nothing. So I wondered how many other sites I have bookmarked don’t exist now. There were many.Just a note to let everyone know if you bookmark lots of sites, it pays to check from time to time to see if they still exist.
TV has produced some to the most interesting commercials and some of the most hilarious commercial too. The following web site had me laughing for quite a while watching some very funny ads that aired worldwide. I especially liked the add that where the guy removed the snow off the wrong car. A word of caution there are some ads that are very racy.
http://veryfunnyads.com/
January brings the time to look for a new calendar. I decided this year to make my own. If you use Microsoft Office, the office web site has many calendar templates you can use. I picked a few and then made so minor modification to suite me and then printed them out. Give the guys at MS some credit giving away some templates. Oh, there are many more templates at the office site so search or take a look around and make use of their work so you don’t have to work.
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/templates/FX100595491033.aspx
This web site is FLASH based and the following is a screen capture of what it is all about. See what kind of music you can make. Mind didn’t sound to good so I gave up. The idea is cool.
http://www.ampledesign.co.uk/va/index.htm
Do you have a digital camera? Have you ever deleted a picture by mistake? I have and this site has a free utility that will restore pictures deleted from a memory card. It could save you a lot of regrets buy getting the great shot back.
http://www.pcinspector.de/Sites/smart_recovery/info.htm?language=1
Ares Tube is a Windows program simple and easy to use which allows downloading music, films, videos, music videos and more from the most important sites (YouTube, DailyMotion, Metacafe, etc) and use them right from your desk. In this way, this program will convert to MPEG (it can be played on any PC) or MP4 (it can be played on iPods) and it can also be saved. AresTube can additionally import the file to iTunes so that you have it on your iPod Video on your on your next synchronization. There web site says it all. Download like below.
http://www.benjaminstrahs.com/
One of my major complaints is people that forward email that was forwarded to them by someone else and it has all those >> in the email or indented many times, etc. I know you have received those and I hope you didn’t forward them on without cleaning up the garbage. This little free utility will do the job. PLEASE download it and have mercy on all your friends that you send forwarded emails. This links will auto download the software.
http://ecleaner.tripod.com/clean202.zip
Would you like to run Vista Sidebar on XP ?
The Windows Vista Sidebar is an integrated feature of Vista and not available as a separate product, thoosje.com has released a similar sidebar for Windows XP that looks and works just like the Vista Sidebar. The sidebar is also part of the “Vista Transformation Pack” that you can use to totally customize your XP to look like Vista.
http://www.thoosje.com/index.html
This site has a fantastic piece of software that I feel is better the iTunes for video, audio, etc.
‘Quite simply, Miro is a free application for channels of internet video (also known as ‘video podcasts and video rss). Miro is designed to be easy to use and to give you an elegant fullscreen viewing experience. There are thousands of free internet video channels that you can watch. You’ll be able to download all the videos that each channel offers and when new ones are released, Miro will grab them automatically. Unlike tiny videos on websites like YouTube, Miro videos are usually very high quality and look great when watched full screen. Since Miro downloads videos completely before you watch, your videos will never skip or stutter while they are playing. ‘
http://www.getmiro.com/
Check out this ‘pictures’ by artist Mark Jenkins. Actually they are more like sculptures.
http://www.xmarkjenkinsx.com/outside.html
“As iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend”
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Newsletter 01-13-2008
I lost a big portion of my subscriber list that was posted on the list server I used on the Internet. If you are reading this via email and not on my blog, then you know I managed to save your email address. Pass the word on to others that you know that receive my newsletter and tell them to look at this issue on my blog http://seniorgeek.wordpress.com and have them to be sure to send me an email so I can get them back on the list server. Oh, if you know of anyone else that might like to receive this newsletter let me know or have them read it on the blog.
Identity Theft is a crime in which an impostor obtains key pieces of personal identifying information (PII) such as Social Security numbers and driver’s license numbers and uses them for their own personal gain. This is called ID Theft. It can start with lost or stolen wallets, pilfered mail, a data breach, computer virus, phishing, a scam, or paper documents thrown out by you or a business (dumpster diving). This crime varies widely, and can include check fraud, credit card fraud, financial identity theft, criminal identity theft, governmental identity theft, and identity fraud. If this ever happened to you, it will be your worst nightmare. To help prevent this or to find out what to do if you think this has happed visit the following web site.
http://www.idtheftcenter.org/
Music, like any subject, has its own terminology. At first the many terms that musicians use to describe music can seem daunting. But there is nothing mysterious about these terms; they merely use words to describe something we can all hear with a little bit of practice. This web site will introduce you to the terms used most often to talk about music. All the terms are clearly defined and linked to other related terms. In many cases you will be able to listen to an example chosen to illustrate the term. This site plays it samples via real player which I despise, so you at your own risk or get VLC player http://www.videolan.org/vlc/ instead.
http://www.essentialsofmusic.com/ and then click on glossary.
“StumbleUpon helps you channel surf the internet and discover great websites, videos, pictures, blogs and more – all according to your interests. As you Stumble and rate the sites you visit (using a thumbs up/down), StumbleUpon learns what you like and is able to deliver you better recommendations.” I have found this to work very well and use it all the time so I decided to pass it on.
http://www.stumbleupon.com/
Do you ever try to repair an appliance yourself? How about wanting to repair it but don’t know how or where to get reasonable parts? I found this great site that has very good direction on how to diagnose any appliance problem. It include pictures, helpful hints, links to just about any part for any appliance, and it is on my favorites site. Check it out, it will save you a lot of time and money.
http://www.repairclinic.com/0001.asp
2008 is an election year and the new is full of politics and will be until the end of November before it winds now. I found an interesting site that covers the election in a very interesting way.
2008 Central seeks to become the single most comprehensive source for information about the upcoming 2008 U.S. Presidential Election. John and Angelo are both graduates of Fordham University. Here is what they say about themselves. “we are calling ourselves gurus, because that’s what we are. We do presidential politics; it’s what we love. Not just the present and recent past, but all past U.S. presidential politics. Bringing a broader sense of history to campaign coverage enables us to frame our analysis in a context that may be different from other election sites, not necessarily better, but different and certainly valuable. Secondly, we’re both former national and international debaters. Our combined 16 years of debating has left us with unparalleled analytical skills. Skills that we are now using to de-code the politics of electioneering.”
http://2008central.net/
Google is a great search engine, but it’s also more than that. Google has tons of hidden features, some of which are quite fun and most of which are extremely useful— if you know about them. Informit.com has a good article on how to use these hidden features. You have to go through many pages to get to them. Just bypass all the commercials.
http://www.informit.com/articles/article.aspx?p=675528&seqNum=1&rl=1
“Just as Death and Destruction are never satisfied, so human desire is never satisfied.”
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Newsletter 01-06-2008
Welcome to 2008 and my first newsletter of the year. The last few week have been very busy with completing the remodel of our house along with the usual holiday festivities. This is a very quiet time at the beach so I will have some more time to devote to providing everyone with great links and articles. Enough of that and on to the newsletter.
One of the food groups that I enjoy year round is chocolate. Since I just had some…
A recent BBC News article emphasized the connection between dark chocolate and low blood pressure. Citing a study by The University of L’Aquila (L’Aquila, Italy), they also concluded that milk chocolate offers similar benefits to dark. A separate report by WCVB News (Boston) echoed these findings, giving the credit to an ingredient known as Flavonoids – found in all dark chocolate. In fact, the WCVB article also reported that chocolate can contribute to a healthy heart. Dark Chocolate has certainly received a lot of good press recently, but is it really a breakthrough discovery? Are we the first generation of chocolate consumers to uncover this great secret? The answer is “No.” In fact, the health benefits of dark chocolate were discovered centuries ago by the Aztecs, a Mexican empire that thrived in the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries.
Chocolate is a favorite of mine. Things like Chocolate bars, chocolate fudge, chocolate cake, chocolate chip cookies, chocolate ice cream, chocolate milk, chocolate cereal, hot chocolate, chocolate sauce… There is something special about this substance — so special that the average person in the United States eats 10 pounds (4.5 kg) of chocolate every year! Have you ever wondered where chocolate comes from? Follow the link below to find out.
http://recipes.howstuffworks.com/chocolate.htm
The Hershey Company (NYSE: HSY) is the largest North American manufacturer of quality chocolate and sugar confectionery products. The Hershey Company markets such iconic brands as Hershey’s, Reese’s, Hershey’s Kisses, and Ice Breakers. To read more about Hersey Chocolate, follow the link.
http://www.hersheys.com/index.asp
Things are beginning to get better now.
The Mars company has been making good eats sing 1911 so they qualify for a chocolate link too. The link below is about the history of the mars company. Did you know that Snickers was first sold in 1930? More interesting chocolate facts at the link.
http://www.mars.com/global/Who+We+Are/History.htm
Now let’s get to some serious chocolate brewing. These guys really know how to make chocolate taste incredible.
Ghirardelli signature SQUARES™ chocolates deliver the perfect balance of intense, slow-melting Ghirardelli chocolate and rich ingredients in a variety of delectable flavors.
60% Cacao SQUARES™ Dark Chocolate delivers the perfect balance of intense Ghirardelli chocolate and rich ingredients such as real cocoa butter and natural vanilla. The award-winning flavor is created by a proprietary blend of deep-roasted cocoa beans, a recipe perfected over 150 years. I really don’t care how long it took, just give me some.
http://www.ghirardelli.com/products/squares.aspx
Since Chocolate and Coffee both have caffeine…
Around 90 percent of Americans consume caffeine in one form or another every single day. More than half of all American adults consume more than 300 milligrams of caffeine every day, making it America’s most popular drug by far. The caffeine comes in from things like coffee, tea, cola, chocolate, etc. Have you ever wondered what it is that makes caffeine so popular? What does this drug do that causes its use to be so widespread?
http://www.howstuffworks.com/caffeine.htm
Now that we all have a sugar/caffeine rush, we can move on to other items.
I commute 106 miles a day and am really tired of paying the high cost of gas. I would like to get an all electric car.
The most promising one to come along is featured in the following video at the Popular Mechanics Magazine web site. Watch the video to see what I am excited about.
http://www.popularmechanics.com/automotive/new_cars/4237853.html
Ok, it might be a while before I get that electric car so I need to conserve fuel. Opentravelinfo.com has a list of 29 ways to save fuel costs. I guess I should read them all but…
http://www.opentravelinfo.com/travel-guide/uncategorized/how-to-save-money-on-gas-29-tips.html
Most of you know that I enjoy a friendly tennis match or even a cutthroat match. So what do you do will all the balls after the match that are beat because you pounded them for 2 hours? You could just through them in the trash or go to diylife.com and read their 29 things to do with old tennis balls.
http://www.diylife.com/2007/07/09/diy-tennis-balls-little-yellow-useful/
“A prudent person foresees danger and takes precautions. The simpleton goes blindly on and suffers the consequences.”
