Archive for December, 2007

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Currency Trading

Friday, December 21st, 2007

Lots of people play the markets, be it the stock exchange, currency trading or real estate. Some manage to make a profit and others fail miserably. Those who succeed know that research is very important and that the information they get is only good if it is current. That’s why the Internet is such a vital part of any investor’s strategy. Information on the internet is usually as current as it gets. There are many web sites that offer ways to do research and get information quickly but they usually seem to be set up just for professionals who already know all the ins and outs of the business. I’ve only ever heard of one that allows you to practice with virtual money against real life information and even to enter contests once you start making real-time exchanges. eToro is a currency exchange site that makes learning how to work in a Forex trading platform much easier even for the novice. They have an easy to understand interface and offer online help and forums where you can ask other users questions and exchange information. You can use virtual money in practice sessions designed to help you improve your skills before you go ‘live’. If you like the idea of getting into currency exchange (and if you’ve seen how everything seems to be going up against the dollar) you should check out eToro.


Posted in Money | 1 Comment »

Rainy Day

Friday, December 21st, 2007

As I was taking my kid to school today, I saw patchy clouds and since I live in the desert I told him there would be no rain.  Of course, now it is raining.  This weather thing is really making me out to be a liar.  Last January I told him it would never snow at our house because it’s always to warm for that even on the coldest day.  Then it snowed.  I tried to end the drought here by saying that Arizona can never have a hurricane but that hasn’t worked yet.

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Marketing lists

Thursday, December 20th, 2007

In days gone past the marketing strategy was to build a client list from your neighborhood. Salespeople generally got to know everyone in the area and also made up a majority of the salesperson’s clientèle. By knowing every person in the area, a salesperson could select which clients would be the best potential customers. On the other end of the spectrum was the traveling salesman. This intrepid nomad used a different strategy of casting a wide net and sometimes even going door to door with his wares.

The information age has allowed salespeople to take advantage of both of these sales strategies. Data from numerous sources is constantly being gathered into consumer mailing lists by all sorts of companies. It falls to groups like Guaranteed Lists to gather the  information together in a usable format and provide it to salespeople to increase business. These mailing lists provide detailed information like the neighborhood salesman who knew each of his customers and a wide variety of potential customers that even the most ambitious traveling salesman could never hope to meet.

The data provided by Guaranteed Lists is gathered from around the world on all sorts of different people and companies. The lists provide information such as the potential customer’s location, age, income range, and the length of time they’ve lived in their present home. Even more obscure pieces of data can be included such as whether they have a pet and what sorts of hobbies they’re interested in.

Probably the most impressive feature that Guaranteed Lists includes with its products is the guarantee. Go figure, a company called Guaranteed Lists featuring a guarantee. Their site claims that if their accurate, quality lists fail to deliver then another list is provided free of charge. This alleviates the risk that could come from shelling out money for a list from another company that might not produce any leads.

Investigate everything for yourself and good luck with sales in this upcoming new year.

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Christmas shopping

Thursday, December 20th, 2007

I’ve never been the most timely of gift shoppers. My wife’s birthday is on the first of a month, and I’m always waiting until the last minute to buy her gifts because “her birthday’s next month.”

Christmas is a problem too. Yesterday it seemed like I had plenty of time to finish all my shopping, but today, the 20th, it seems like I’m way behind.

So I’ll hit the shops this weekend and emerge victorious after hunting down the last of the gifts.

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Ford heater core

Wednesday, December 19th, 2007

Last week my old Ford Escort started having some problems, and I’ll probably need some replacement auto parts. The interior started to smell like antifreeze and I kept having to refill the radiator. Some research led me to investigate the heater core.

Now that I’ve isolated the problem, I need to order some ford auto parts. Drivewire has the car parts that I need and in stock.

Hopefully I can put everything back together after I take it apart.

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A D&D Christmas

Wednesday, December 19th, 2007

Well this is a pleasant little surprise just in time for the holiday season. A look into the possibility of LARPers acting in a nativity scene.

O, the horror.

Start with the peaceful scene of the Holy Family. Mix in D&D fanatics dressed as their characters. Animate it like a Japanese action anime.

It’s a wonder nobody’s thought of this particular mix of themes before!

Posted in Board Games, Geekery, Web | Comments Off

The Spock for Search

Wednesday, December 19th, 2007

No, I didn’t get that title backwards. Instead of the normal search engine searches for words in a website, Spock.com finds people. With just a few bits of information (like someone’s name and where they live) you can find lost of info about people, including their myspace page, their favorites bands and movies, and their website (if they have one).

So, boldly go where no search engine has gone before… on The Spock for Search.

By the way, searching for Spock will get you Leonard Nimoy as the number one result, but Dr. Spock is number three.

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Garlic Meatballs

Wednesday, December 19th, 2007

Over the last two months or so I have fallen back in love with spaghetti and meatballs. I found a good recipe online, adapted it for my house, and have been cooking up meatballs every Tuesday for the past month or so.  Let me know what you think.

1 1/4 lb. ground beef
2 eggs
1/4 cup romano cheese (or parmesan)
3/8 cup Italian bread crumbs
1 ts. salt
1/8 cup chopped garlic (fresh)

Form into meatballs. Sear them in a pan. Add 1 jar of your favorite spaghetti sauce. Reduce heat to med/low and cover. Cook for 45-50 min. while turning the meatballs frequently.

Enjoy.

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Web Video

Wednesday, December 19th, 2007

I must be a neophyte. I assumed YouTube was just about the only video site out there, but I should have known better — there’s not just one of anything on the internet. There’s a place called MetaCafe that also lets you browse video and Mohamad Zein's Channel is one that has a bunch of funny videos. My favorite is the 3D pictures one that he put together. I’d seen some drawings like that before, but it’s still fun to look at and messes with my perceptions (in a good way).

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Holiday Treats

Wednesday, December 19th, 2007

Have you ever tried Halvah?  My dad was a fan of out of the ordinary sweets, so I grew up having Halvah and other uncommon treats for dessert and holidays.  Apparently halvah is an acquired taste because no one outside my family seems to like it.  I guess it wouldn’t be on the market if that was really true, but I can say I don’t know anyone outside my family who likes it.  It’s basically made of sesame, sugar, eggs and chocolate.  I’ve never had sesame alone so I don’t know if it tastes good or bad by itself, but anything can be improved (in my opinion) by adding sugar to it.  If you’re daring, give it a taste sometime.  And while you’re at it try chocolate covered orange peel too.

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Photography Contest

Wednesday, December 19th, 2007

Contest time! The PhotographyCorner.com 2007 Photograph of the Year contest is starting so it’s time to get those pictures off your camera and enter one in this contest to see if you’re good enough at your hobby to win a prize. They’ve got over $20,000 in prizes to give away to the 1st through 10th place winners. These prizes range from camera equipment from Lensbabies and Lowepro to gift cards from ScanCafe and SmugMug to software from OnOne Software. Winning a prize in this contest could help you turn your photography hobby into a photography business. Or if you already have a business, it could help you grow it with all the added assets you’ll have. Why not enter? Good Luck!

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Smart Car in the USA

Wednesday, December 19th, 2007

Have you seen the new Smart Car?  It’s made by Daimler and they’re going to start selling it in the US in 2008 but have already started taking reservations.  I recently read that the EPA has rated it as getting 37 mi/gal but that Daimler asked for a retest because they were expecting a 50mi/gal rating.  Apparently the European version gets 60mi/gal.  They’ve had a reservation program set up for a while now and are expecting greater demand than supply at least in the first year.  From the looks of it, it’ll be easy to park in the smallest of spaces at the mall.

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New (Old Fashioned) Bikes

Tuesday, December 18th, 2007

I wish I had a bike. I used to have one that was 3 speeds, but the chain kept falling off. Then I used my brother’s bike (a 10 speed) but I had to keep it in the same gear all the time or it would go into super hard mode and I couldn’t pedal. Then that one got stolen and he got another 10 speed but once again the chain kept falling off. What frustration! My sister had a bike that she loved. Just one speed and everyone in the family wanted a seat like hers. She could actually sit on it for long rides and not walk away saddle sore like I used to with my ‘banana seat’ bike. Guess what kind of bike she had – a beach cruiser. Cruiser bikes have been around a long time and have a retro feel to them but recently I’ve seen them tricked out and being used by the most unlikely of people. Apparently, if you can’t take your Harley where you want to go, a beach cruiser built like one is perfectly a acceptable substitute. These bikes are also affordable. Where some bikes with shocks and 24 speeds can cost hundreds of dollars, you can get a beach cruiser for less than $100. Add some decals to personalize it. Add a basket and make it your new way of getting groceries from the store. You get exercise and, with the price of gas, save a couple dollars each time you go to the store. You can get yours in either a men’s or a women’s style and there are tons of colors to choose from. I know these are traditionally used on the boardwalk, but we never had that around here so I don’t know much about that. I can tell you that when riding across a dirt lot, that seat is your best friend.


Posted in Health, Shopping, Travel | Comments Off

Pepperoni and Tomato

Tuesday, December 18th, 2007

Have you ever gotten a craving for something?  I had a craving for pepperoni and tomatoes together a while back and pizza wasn’t going to cut the mustard.  I went online to see if I could find something that sounded tasty and found this recipe.  My kids don’t like it so now we call it Mom’s Favorite Salad.  I highly recommend trying it.

Combine for salad:    1 bag cooked penne pasta
                                    2 med tomatoes (diced)
                                    1 bell pepper (sliced)
                                    2 sticks of pepperoni (sliced thick and halved)
                                    1 bunch green onions (sliced)

Combine for dressing: ½ cup olive oil
                                    ½ cup red wine vinegar
                                    1 tsp sugar
                                    ½ tsp salt
                                    1 tsp basil
                                    2 tsp minced garlic
                                    ¼ tsp pepper

Pour the dressing over the mixed up salad and turn to coat.  Serve immediately or chill.

In my case it serves just one, but others could probably stretch it to serve 6 or8.

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International Calling

Tuesday, December 18th, 2007

I know that when my husband called home from Kentucky a couple months ago it cost $30 and I’ve always assumed that international calling rates had to be super expensive. I found out that actually you can call internationally at a reasonable cost if you plan ahead and really find out what your options are. And it helps to have a cell phone.

For my next (and first) trip to Mexico (see video below) I am definitely going to make sure that everybody that calls me is using MobileTalk by Packet8. It’s a super cheap way to make international calls from the United States on your cell phone. Everyone I know has a cell phone if not two, so when I want to talk to them from vacation in Mexico, I’ll have them give me a call at the hotel.

I know a lot of people now that don’t even have a land line. Their only phone service is their cell phone. They carry it everywhere they go so that plan works for them. Most of them have great plans for calling nationwide long distance for free. Now there’s also a plan to extend the great rates of a cell phone to international calls.

And if you like my video you can vote for it at http://bix.yahoo.com/contest/33995. Vote early and often! Wink!

Posted in Shopping, Travel | Comments Off

Christmas Shopping Complete

Tuesday, December 18th, 2007

I DID IT!  I finally finished shopping for Christmas and I’ve got a week to spare.  I might actually finish wrapping before Christmas Eve (I dare not hope).  I covered the folks, the kids, the husband and the various Christmas drawings; had time to pick up something for the adopt-a-family and the kid’s teacher; shopped early for the nephews and the new nie—— wait.

Woops – I missed someone.   Oh well, I’ve still got time.

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Real Estate Investing

Monday, December 17th, 2007

With the housing market in an almost free fall downward spiral (at least it seems that way from the inside), there seem to be less and less real estate investors out there looking to make a profit. Come on people, housing prices are down. Now is the time when you should be looking to get Investor Loans and buying a house, not when the market is in an out of control upswing.

Mountaintop Loan Services offer all sorts of loan products for every type of investor in the market. Look at what they have to offer, especially if you don’t know where to start.

Posted in Business, Real Estate, Web | Comments Off

Earmark taxes for schools

Monday, December 17th, 2007

If you live in Arizona, you need to look into the state tax credits for education. We are the only state in the union, that I know of, where you can specifically earmark the taxes you pay for a specific school. Up to a thousand dollars for a married couple can be donated to any school, even private, parochial, or charter schools, and that money is given as a dollar for dollar tax break come April 15th.

Look into it, desert-dwellers, especially the CTODP

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Wall heaters

Monday, December 17th, 2007

This is finally the time of year where we start thinking about keeping the place warm. Life down in the desert Southwest is usually spent trying to cool off. Yet each winter the desert gets cold as the sun drops below the horizon. We have a room that was added on to the house years ago. It is connected to the central heating and cooling system, but the room still tends to be closer to the outside temperature. We already have a wall cooling unit there. This time of year I wish we had a wall heating unit too, maybe one of those gas infrared heaters. Those units look like just the thing to heat our cold room.

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I Am Legend review

Monday, December 17th, 2007

Let’s face it. Most books are better than the movies that eventually get made based on those books. It’s been true for a long time. There are a few notable exceptions when the movie achieves an equal status as the book, and a still rarer group of movies that surpass their source material.

Will Smith’s new adaptation of the classic Richard Matheson tale “I Am Legend” is a very good movie based solely on its own merits. Smith does a very good job portraying the loneliness and pain that comes with being the only person alive.

However, this is a very different story than that told by Matheson. The original novella tells the tale of an everyman trying to stay sane in a lonely world where vampires come to his house every night. His wife and child were not killed in a tragic helicopter crash but were victims to the plague. And most importantly, Matheson’s character hunts the vampires during the day and kills as many as he can. This plays a pivotal role in the ending of the book and in its very title.

I understand how and why books need to be changed to fit on the movie screen. The different mediums lend themselves to very different types of storytelling. However, an adaptation should try very hard to stick to the point of the book. Change everything else, but make sure to keep the point.

Posted in Books, Movies | Comments Off

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