Archive for June, 2007
Wednesday, June 20th, 2007
When I work at home, I usually sit at the computer in silence. The TV might be on in the other room, but generally, there is nothing going on. Every so often, I remember to click a few music files that I have on computer.
Last year some time, I ripped about 50 CDs onto my computer. When I play the music while working, it really lightens the mood. My head turns to so many other things besides just work.
Last night, Laura was watching the movie “Great Expectations” in the living room. It has a pretty good soundtrack. I was just doing some site upgrades which requires a lot of uploading and downloading, which can get boring. I decided to listen to some “Steve Perry” from his greatest hits album.
Every time I listen to this album, I start off with the song, “It Won’t Be You.” It’s pretty laid back and relaxed. Steve Perry is a very talented artist…if you are a “Journey” fan, you know what I am talking about. It’s the kind of music that you close your eyes to. It brings you somewhere else. I remember a few times while I was living in Atlanta with my friend Rob, I would lay on the floor with my headphones on listening to something good. One time, Rob came home from work and had to step over me. He told me later on that he knew I was in the zone, so he didn’t want to interrupt me.
Music changes people’s lives…it’s a wonder that I don’t listen to it more. After listening to a few songs last night, I was so inspired to write about it right then and there. I was way too tired, so I decided to wait until this morning.
One of my most memorable times ever listening to Journey was the ride from Ocean City, MD. I was around 18 years old and had finally talked my friend, Craig, into taking the trip with me. It was about 9PM when we got in thte car to drive South. We stayed in Ocean City for a day or two and then drove straight out of town North on Rt.1. This is a really nice drive by itself, but the conditions of this drive made it even better. Craig was in the passenger seat, just looking out the window at the ocean to the right. I was looking out the other window to the fields on the left. It was around 7PM. There was a huge rain cloud directly over us making things wet, but to the left, you could see the line where the clouds stopped and where the sun started. The best part of the trip was Craig’s “Journey - Greatest Hits” CD. We listened to all the greats…”Who’s Crying Now,” “Don’t Stop Believin’” and everyone’s favorite, “Wheel in the Sky.” It was nice to drive with no talking while listening to the best music out there. It really made the trip.
We made it up to Lewes to take the Cape May-Lewes Ferry to Cape May, NJ. This is a really cool ferry that cuts a lot of time out of your trip, if you want to stay on the coast. You get to drive your car on it. At the time, I was driving a 1985 Honda Prelude with some decent sound. Since the ride takes about an hour, I opened the doors and let everyone else listen to a little Journey as well, even if they didn’t want to. That was one of the greatest trips of my life and the music played a big part of making it so great.
Related posts
Posted in Entertainment | 1 Comment »
Tuesday, June 19th, 2007
As you may know, I like to plant things and admire the things I plant. I even like Planters Peanuts. I take it personally when things droop or die.
You may also know that the success of any new plant depends on many things, but one of them is the amount of water they receive. So many people sit there and watch the trees and shrubs that they just planted a few days ago die. I would think that many of them scratch their heads in wonder.
If you ask any of my neighbors what I do in the evening, they would probably tell you that I like to walk down the road and back as well as water the gardens. I do water a lot. I always knew that my hose and sprinkler method was not the most efficient way to do things, but that’s what I have to work with.
Laura came home the other night with a new shipment of plants she got from her friend. We planted them with some success. Some are taking off and some are half dead. Since such new plants require a lot of water and a lot of attention, I decided to get some of those soaker hoses I have heard about in the past. They are much more efficient than regular watering methods and are partially made with recycled tires. It’s all good.
If you are interested in water conservation via soaker hoses, you can check out these resources…
- Saving Water Partnership
- Fiskars Bulk Soaker Hose
- Garden and Soaker Hoses (EPA)
I have to say, these hoses are pretty cool. When you turn them on, you just watch them get wet. I did this last night and wondered if they were actually doing anything. Then, I dug my hand under the mulch to see that they were.
Save some water, give ‘em a shot.
Related posts
Posted in Environment, Gardening, Landscaping, Trees & Shrubs | No Comments »
Tuesday, June 19th, 2007
Please take a look at this photo and let me know if you see anything that shouldn’t be there. If you can’t find what you are looking for, just take a look at the second photo. I’ll give you a hint…it’s not the pasta sauce, the sugar or the baking soda.
Ok, here’s the answer…
That’s Simon the cat. I was making coffee the other morning and somehow he slipped in there. I saw him wandering around outside the cabinet, but he waited for me to turn around to make his move.
Related posts
Posted in Animals | 6 Comments »
Tuesday, June 19th, 2007
Want something more substantive than YouTube? Here’s how to find it…
While YouTube has captured a great deal of attention and traffic for its vast collection of mostly goofy videos, a growing number of sites are providing more-cerebral alternatives: documentaries, speeches, panel discussions, research reports and more.
Nations who have not yet adopted the metric system (pic - this is awesome)
How many could there be?
No More Google Video! Long Live Google Video!
Google Video, the web-based service that provided almost the same functions as the popular YouTube, is not an online video sharing solution anymore. The parent company Google upgraded the product and made it a search technology that allows users to find clips on the entire Internet. At this time, the official page of the service is exactly the same
MacGyver Tip: Dry out your soaked gadgets in rice
A Washington Post reporter who accidentally dropped his Blackberry in the toilet was able to retrieve it and dry it out to working order again: by leaving it turned off in a bowl of uncooked rice.
Is your boss a crazy boss? Take the quiz and find out!
Stanley Bing has a quiz that will give you the answer. via business pundit
Related posts
Posted in Current Events | No Comments »
Sunday, June 17th, 2007
How To Keep Widgets From Slowing Down Sites
“The whole world is going to widgets. This overused, overhyped term refers to third-party code one places on their website or blog in order to display such things as Flickr photos, Twitter status, or iTunes playlists…”
Dutch police arrest 111 over suspected Internet fraud
Police in Amsterdam arrested more than 100 West Africans Saturday as part of a seven month long investigation into Internet fraud, they said.
Google Street View Fight
Watch a fight happen step by step thanks to Google Street View
YouTube Remixer: Edit Videos Online At YouTube
YouTube has officially launched YouTube Remixer, a new service that allows users to edit their videos from within YouTube itself.
Alien Arena 2007 - v6.05 released, absolutely FREE!
Those of you looking for a free game (c’mon, don’t pretend that you’re not) - look no further than Alien Arena 2007. v6.05 of the free full game has just been released, for Windows and - in a move sure to impress some of you, for Linux as well. You can also grab the Accessories Pack, if you’re into that sort of thing. But what is Alien Arena 2007?
Related posts
Posted in Current Events | No Comments »
Saturday, June 16th, 2007
I picked up this great tip a few days ago.
If you have a website with Google AdSense ads being displayed on it (and if you are active with their colors and layout), you may notice a spike in earnings whenever you change things up a bit, only to see a steady decline in earnings as time goes on. Then, you change things up again…same thing.
The reason for this phenomenon may be what is called “Ad Blindness.” It’s what happens on websites that have repeat visitors that get used to your ad colors and layout. There are so many discussions on this topic all over the place, but I thought this one was particularly good.
Anyway, what to do? I am going to give you a teensy bit of information to use really quickly. Then, you can go do your own research from people much smarter than me.
To rotate your ad colors, you can change the regular old "FFFFFF"; (or just plain old white) to something that will rotate between white and black, such as ["FFFFFF","000000"];. Do you see where I’m going with this?
Ok, so you know what your Google AdSense code looks like already. Here is a sample of the color portion of that code, with the text color randomly rotating between white and black…
google_color_border = "FFFFFF";
google_color_bg = "FFFFFF";
google_color_link = "000000";
google_color_text = ["FFFFFF","000000"];
google_color_url = “666666″;
See? That’s easy. You can rotate colors for any color attribute. Give it a try and enjoy…
Related posts
Posted in Internet, Websites | No Comments »
Saturday, June 16th, 2007
I would first like to say that this post is sponsored by ArticleHub.US and Article Leeg.
Anyway, I found the grand pappy of all article directory lists. Right now, there are 590 article submission websites listed on this page, with more being added every day. When I was looking last week for these types of websites, I found a bunch, but none as eloquently laid out like this. Many of them had multiple pages and all that. What a pain in the butt.
Ok, I’m outty.
Related posts
Posted in Websites | No Comments »
Saturday, June 16th, 2007
25 Alternative Uses for Olive Oil
Olive oil also has plenty of uses around your home, outside of the saut é pan. There’s no need to waste your expensive Greek or Spanish Extra Virgin for these tasks, just grab a bottle of inexpensive, domestic olive oil for around-the-house use and start using it to shave, lubricate, and stop snoring.
U.S. bird population cut in half in last 40 years
Twenty common birds — including the northern bobwhite, the field sparrow and the boreal chickadee — have lost more than half their populations in the past 40 years, according to the Audobon’s society’s research. “The focus isn’t really on what’s happening to these 20 birds, but what’s happening to their environment,” said Greg Butcher, the societ…
11 Little Known Killer AdSense Tips You Wish You Knew Earlier
1 Place ads following the F (golden triangle, top-left) pattern, 2 Blend the links with your site, 3 Use a rectangle in top-left, with one paragraph over it, and a link block in the footer, 4 Use two blocks (not more) to get expensive ads, 5 Use alternative color switcher (special AdSense color code) to prevent ad blindness, 6 Read the post.
Are you Lazy? How to Make Laziness Work for You!
You’re feeling lazy right now, and reading blogs instead of doing what you ’re supposed to be doing. That’s OK — we all do that. But let’s look at how to make that laziness work for us, and how to turn lazy into productive.
[PHOTO] Stunning 360 Degree View from the top of Mount Everest
What would it be like to stand atop the tallest mountain on Earth? To see a full panoramic vista from there, scroll right. Visible are snow peaked mountains, tremendous cliffs, distant plateaus, the tops of clouds, and a dark blue sky. Mt. Everest stands 8.85 kilometers above sea level. Locals call it “Sagarmatha” meaning “forehead of the sky”.
Related posts
Posted in Current Events | No Comments »
Saturday, June 16th, 2007
I wasn’t expecting much from this flower when it started to sprout out of the ground early this Spring. I really had no idea what it even was. It looked kind of like on of those Spider Plants I used to have inside when I was a kid.
The plant started blooming the other day and Laura mentioned that it was a Daylily. I think it looks pretty good.
Here is a little background on the Daylily from the Wikipedia…
“Daylilies can be grown in USDA plant hardiness zones 1 through 11, making them some of the most adaptable landscape plants. Most of the cultivars have been developed within the last 100 years. The large-flowered clear yellow ‘Hyperion’, introduced in the 1920s, heralded a return to gardens of the once-dismissed daylily, and is still widely available.
Daylily breeding has been a specialty in the United States, where their heat- and drought-resistance made them garden standbys during the later 20th century. New cultivars have sold for thousands of dollars; but sturdy and prolific introductions soon reach reasonable prices.”
Related posts
Posted in Gardening, Landscaping | No Comments »
Saturday, June 16th, 2007
I took this photo this morning. It’s our pink rose bush with some pretty neat water droplets hanging off the edges of the leaves. I don’t know if the droplets are from the morning dew or are actually coming out of each leaf. Oh, well, but take a look, it’s a pretty cool picture…
Related posts
Posted in Gardening, Landscaping | No Comments »
