Posted by seniorgeek | 2 Comments
Newsletter 4/19/2009
I sent this link out a couple of years ago but it is worth repeating because I had to use in a few days ago because I got tired of the automated response I received trying to reach a representative of a financial company (see failed banks below). If have finally given up trying to get a human on the phone of a large corporation, check out the link below to get through the hassle and straight to a human on the phone.
http://gethuman.com/
The FDIC is often appointed as receiver for failed banks. The following site has useful information for the customers and vendors of these banks. This includes information on the acquiring bank (if applicable), how your accounts and loans are affected, and how vendors can file claims against the receivership. It also tell you many other interesting facts about the failed banks such as how to get you money, what about payments, etc. Look at the dates of the failed banks. You will notice that 90% are in 2009.
http://www.fdic.gov/bank/individual/failed/banklist.html
I am always following new tech and high tech on the automobile scene and I just read an article on the results of the Shell Eco-Marathon. This is a contest to for schools and universities to build a concept vehicle to get the ultimate in gas mileage and they do. There were 44 teams from across the Americas. The team from Mater Dei High School (Evansville, Ind.) took the grand prize in the new “UrbanConcept” by achieving 433.3 mpg. Simply amazing but not totally practical. Check out the link below for all the info on the contest.
http://www.shell.us/home/content/usa/responsible_energy/ecomarathon_americas/eco_marathon_americas.htm
Another interesting article is at the Wired Science web site. It compares the former President Roosevelt’s “New Deal” with what is need now to combat the recession/depression we are experiencing right now. Worth the short read at the following link.
http://blog.wired.com/wiredscience/2009/02/newdealfornow.html
Save Time and Money! Search and Compare travel fares for flights, hotels, car rentals, cruise and vacations from more than 70 travel websites, Get travel deals from more than 170 travel websites and shop more than 20,000 travel products. The following site indexes information from more than 210 travel websites and 80 shopping websites all over the world and they give you a probably tell you the best price and travels deals going.
http://www.etravelpal.com/shop.php
Want to watch the best videos on the web? Yeah you say I know about Youtube.com, but this site has links to videos Youtube.com can only dream about having. Great search engine to find videos others can’t find and categorize correctly. If you need subject based video search, this is the site to visit.
http://www.mattchannel.com
While we are talking about alternative sites to the main stream. Instead of using Yahoo or Google on you next search try Kosmix. Instead of telling you all about the results this site give and how it organizes all the info for your viewing pleasure, just check it out for yourself.
http://www.kosmix.com
I am shopping for a new car as my car of 16 years is finally showing signs of wear and needs to be replaced. The following is my short list of cars I am looking at. Based upon the following list, tell me which one you would buy and why. You can just leave a note with the name of the car that is you pick.
The short list:
Mazda Mazdaspeed 3
Subaru Impreza WRX
Volkswagen GTI
Hyundai Genesis Coupe 2.0T
Mini Cooper Clubman S
Posted by seniorgeek | 0 Comments
Newsletter 4/12/2009
The dreaded time of the year is here. Tax time for all of us. I hope you have filed your taxes and you received some money back but if you haven’t done this task. You might want to check out the following site. Here you can find the FAQ and a lot more stuff that is necessary this time of the year.
http://www.irs.gov/faqs
From their home page…
“The National Archives and Records Administration is the nation’s record keeper. Of all documents and materials created in the course of business conducted by the United States Federal government, only 1%-3% are so important for legal or historical reasons that they are kept by us forever. Those valuable records are preserved and are available to you, whether you want to see if they contain clues about your family’s history, need to prove a veteran’s military service, or are researching an historical topic that interests you.”
http://www.archives.gov
After checking out these sites you may need a little humor. I know I did. So I made a little side trip to the PBS site that has many cute videos.
The Funny Business of America section of this PBS site has many video worth watching just for the relaxing content and all the funny stuff. Be sure the watch “Teh Internets”
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/makeemlaugh
Time magazine has been around for as long as I can remember. Over the years Time has captured many pictures that have won a tremendous amount of awards. Time magazine has a section on their web site called ‘pictures of the week’. I spent a few minutes, ah, well actually a lot of time there looking at the pictures and reading about the event that was happening when the picture was taken. I bookmarked this site immediately because I will return to look at pictures for the past years that are archived here.
http://www.time.com/time/potw
Since we are looking at photographs, we must include the web site that has accumulated more quality pictures that any other place in the world. I want to emphasize the word quality. We all know Flickr.com has more total pictures than any other site, but what about the best of the best? What periodical has been taking pictures since before you were born? What magazine has published more pictures than any other in history? You probably have guessed by now so I will not keep the rest of you in suspense. National Geographic has an archive of quality pictures that others just dream about. Just click the link and spend a few hours looking at some of the pictures featured on their web site.
http://photography.nationalgeographic.com/photography
While you are at the above site, take a look at the section called ‘visions-of-earth’. More fabulous pictures of current events and happenings from around the world. Another hug time waster but the pictures are breathtaking.
http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/visions-of-earth/visions-earth-2008
Did you know that each king in a deck of playing cards represents a great king from history?
Spades – King David
Hearts – Charlemagne
Clubs -Alexander, the Great
Diamonds – Julius Caesar
