Digital Photos -- Back Them Up

Like most Americans today, we have the last 6 or 7 years worth of our photos in digital format. It is great to be able to send them to people, print them, add them to digital albums, etc...

Something we all take for granted, though, is that computer hardware does fail. Whether or not we have planned for it, drives go bad (or worse, things get stolen). We have a network attached hard drive that contains 80 GB of photos, videos, and documents. The drive is getting old; we've been looking at an upgrade for close to 8 or 9 months. In the meantime, I have copies of some stuff stashed in other spots.

During my search for the right hardware to upgrade to, I came across Mozy. Mozy offers up to 2 GB of free online storage (no credit card required). If you have more to store -- and most of us do -- you can go with the unlimited storage package for $4.95/month. Even with the economy in the tank and people tightening spending, we'd all feel heart stricken if we lost our photo libraries. $60 is a cheap insurance policy...

I think that will be our interim solution. The service basically mirrors your files. So, if you accidentally delete something, you can get it back for up to 30 days. Beyond that, you're out of luck. It works on both Windows and Macs, and will back up any attached (Windows) or mounted (Mac) drive.

Our long term solution will include local backup software and dual (mirrored) drives. Hopefully we'll get to that in the next few months.

Have a happy day!

What Is Love? Cute Kitty Remix

I ran across this while going through my reader items this morning. It made me laugh, so that makes it worth posting (embedded video below).



Have a great day, and, stay awake!!

New in Town, Follow-up

I blogged last week about New in Town, the movie we planned to see on Monday night. We did go see it, so I will give you my review!

Our free tickets were for a 7 pm show. Mike forewarned me that tons of people go to these things and we should arrive early. We were shooting for 6:15-6:30... Dinner went faster than expected and we arrived at 6:05 after some dilly-dallying. It was a good thing! The line was absolutely out of control. By the time we got in the theater, the only rows with two seats together were in the back. The first three rows of stadium seating were reserved for the press, so that narrowed the seating choices.

We took our seats and settled in. The ushers began moving folks around (eliminating empty seats) so more people could view. The theater filled up with people still waiting for seats by 6:30. The theater opened one of the press rows for seating, so more people could come in, so the theater was packed.

The movie started and there was only one preview, which was great. I enjoyed the movie from the get-go and laughed through-out. The only mishap was when the filmed slipped off the projector, allowing us to see only the top half of the scenes for about 5 minutes.

If you want a laugh, this is a good movie to see. Mike enjoyed it, too, so it can't be that much of a chick flick!!! We are planning it for our next Girls Night Out, though!

Have a happy day!

Carnival Ride

A couple of weeks ago when Deb, Helen, and I were having dinner at Texas Roadhouse, Carrie Underwood's Last Name (the link takes you to a page where you click on the song and listen to it) started playing. The girls' attention snapped to the song and how much they love it. I just sat there looking stupid. I hadn't heard of the song. I had no idea what they were talking about.

So, as no to surprise to many of you, I had to download the album. Wow, do I love it!!! I like every song on the album, including Last Name. If you haven't heard the song, it's worth a trip over to her website to hear it.

I was thinking about my broad taste in music as I was listening to the album. I have listened to about every kind of music at one time or another. Now I listen to everything except metal and rap (Mel -- remember all those hours listening to Metallica and Too Short in high school -- what were we thinking?). I like the variety and listen to different things depending on my mood.

Now, as I am writing this post, I've run across a website I think is pretty cool. MyPlay is a Sony/BMG online music player. Both Sony and BMG are huge record companys, so the variety of artists you can listen to is really amazing. This is definitely a site worth bookmarking! I'll listen to music before I buy it while expanding my musical horizons. Cool!!!

Have a happy day!

White Chili

We were reading letters to the Playboy Advisor this weekend and ran across a chili recipe (I know, strange). It sounded pretty good, and I thought, "We'll have to try this." I modified the original recipe -- mostly because I forgot the exact ingredients when shopping then decided to modify as I was cooking. It turned out yummy!

The Original Recipe
4 chicken breasts, sliced into strips
1 bunch green onions
1 red pepper
1 large jar Great Northern beans
1 to 1 1/2 cups salsa (to taste)
1 brick pepper jack cheese, sliced

Cook chicken breasts and sliced green onions and red pepper in oil until done. Add beans, salsa, and cheese until heated through. Serves 4

My Modified Recipe
2 chicken breasts, sliced into strips
1 green pepper
1 can cannellini beans (drained)
Somewhere between 1 1/2 and 2 cups salsa (I didn't measure)
about 3/4 brick pepper jack cheese

Cook chicken breasts and chopped green pepper until done.  Add beans, salsa, and cheese until heated through. Serves 2

I don't like red peppers (they upset my tummy sometimes), so I used green instead and didn't even remember about the onions, which would have been good. I also used a different kind of bean (didn't remember which white bean was called for). I don't know if I was supposed to drain them, but I did. Any opinions on that? Next time I would do things a little different. I'd add a little yellow onion, do 1/2 pepper jack and 1/2 Monterey jack (to turn down the heat for Mike), and maybe add a tablespoon or two of water.

Smiles!

Great Day at Mount Snow

We started our day bright and early yesterday -- 4 am. The reason? We were off for a day of skiing at Mount Snow (West Dover, VT). We were on the road by 5:25. It was 37 degrees. About an hour into our drive north the snow began. We knew that the temps were due to drop, but didn't know about the snow.




The road was a little slick, so we slowed down a bit. Then we got behind two trucks pulling snowmobile trailers. We were stuck behind them for the rest of the trip...

We arrived at Mount Snow around 7:55 am -- 20 minutes later than we expected -- and the temp was 19 degrees.




We were out on the mountain by 8:25. It was beautiful! Though the temps were cold, the snow was great and there weren't huge crowds.







The views are so incredible that I had to stop to take a picture. This was taken from the North Face around 10 am. You see Mike, very small, in the lower part of the picture.




Summit temp had to have been in the single digits by the time we stopped skiing around 3 pm. The base temp was 11 degrees and pretty crisp. All in all, a super day!

Smiles

Randomness

I have not written much this week. I'm not sure why, I guess I didn't think i had anything to say.

This morning I was contemplating what my post would be, and go figure! I have tons of random thoughts!


Facebook

I am so excited that so many of our friends and family are Facebook now!!! It is so fun to be able to catch up with people in the "virtual" world, and easier in some ways than e-mail. Welcome to you all! Only two people that regularly follow this blog haven't joined (you know who you are, though you don't know who each other is)... You're missing out!!!

We started and are co-administrators of the TNS Group , too. There are currently 88 members. Once membership reaches 100, Mike and I are giving away a guidebook to a randomly selected member. We're so close! Don't be afraid to join groups! You can easily protect your privacy by:

1. Choose Groups from the right sidebar of your FB page or the bottom of the page




2. Hold your mouse over Settings (but do not click), then choose Group Settings




3. Choose the radio button "Never publish any stories from Groups" on the Wall tab

a>

4. Click the Profile tab and choose which (if any) Friends List can see your Groups




5. Click Okay when finished.

Easy!

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iPhone Stuff

NuevaSync

I know that not everyone has an iPhone, but if you do and you use Gmail calendars, NuevaSync is a must-have. It allows you to sync your Google Calendars to your iPhone using push technology (read it syncs automatically rather than manually). I even have my work calendar linked in.






The service is free, and no iPhone app involved. Just go the the website to sign up and set up your device.

Thanks for the heads-up, John!!!

Facebook App

I love the free Facebook app. I can access my account from anywhere and the format is clean and easy to navigate. It does not have all the features of the web version, but it is very fast.




Screenshots

One of the super cool things I learned how to do today was to take screenshots of my phone. It is as easy as pressing the Home button, then the Lock button and releasing both. The shot is taken as a PNG and stored to your camera roll. I used this functionality for all of the photos in today's blog. Awesome!!!

---

Weekend Plans

We've been a bit discombobulated this winter. The house is a mess, we're not keeping up on chores, we haven't even been skiing. So, we'll address one of those deficiencies by hitting the slopes tomorrow. I hope to get some photos so I can share them next week.

Have a wonderful happy Friday and weekend!

The White House Gets a Blog

This just in from Lifehacker... If you read blogs as much as I do, this is SWEET!

The White House Gets a Blog [Inauguration]

via Lifehacker by Adam Pash on 1/20/09

President Barack Obama's campaign embraced technology on the campaign trail like none before, so it's no surprise that the new face of the White House on the web comes complete with a brand new White House blog. If you want to keep up with the latest from the Oval Office blog, just drop the WhiteHouse.gov blog feed into your newsreader.

Happy Inauguration Day!

We are so excited about today's Presidential Inauguration! Below are some facts gathered by Fox News:

FOX News takes a look back at the history of presidential inaugurations as the country prepares for the inauguration Tuesday of Barack Obama.

Overview

* This will be the 56th quadrennial presidential inauguration.
* Obama will be sworn in as the 44th president of the United States.
* The presidential inauguration has been in existence since George Washington's first swearing-in on April 30, 1789.
* The event was elevated to federal holiday status when President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the congressional bill into law on January 11, 1957.

General History

* The President and Vice President were inaugurated on March 4 of the year after their election from 1789 to 1933
* The 20th Amendment, ratified in 1933 and effective in 1937, changed the commencement date of the presidential term of office to January 20.
* The forefathers had chosen the date of March 4 because it took weeks to collect and count the votes, and then weeks by coach or horse for the president-elect to get to the capital.
* In a tradition dating to the 19th century, Presidents are not publicly inaugurated on Sundays.
* When January 20 falls on that day, a brief private inauguration is held, usually in the East Room of the White House, with a public ceremony the next day.
* President Reagan was privately installed for his second term on Sunday, January 20, 1985 and publicly inaugurated on Monday, January 21.

Inaugural Address

* The custom of delivering an address on Inauguration Day started with the very first Inauguration — George Washington's — on April 30, 1789.
* Every President since Washington has delivered an Inaugural address.
* While many of the early Presidents read their addresses before taking the oath, current custom dictates that the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court administer the oath first, followed by the President's speech.
* William Henry Harrison delivered the longest Inaugural address, at 8,445 words, on March 4, 1841 — a bitterly cold, wet day. He died one month later of pneumonia, believed to have been brought on by prolonged exposure to the elements on his Inauguration Day.
* In 1921, Warren G. Harding became the first President to take his oath and deliver his Inaugural address through loud speakers.
* In 1925, Calvin Coolidge's Inaugural address was the first to be broadcast nationally by radio.
* And in 1949, Harry S. Truman became the first President to deliver his Inaugural address over television airwaves.

Weather

* Ronald Reagan's 1981 inauguration took place in 55-degree temperatures, while his 1985 swearing-in was moved into the Capitol when the temperature dipped to seven degrees.
* Franklin D. Roosevelt's 1937 inauguration was marked by record rain.
* Eight inches of snow fell the night before John Kennedy's 1961 inauguration.
* Both incoming President William Henry Harrison and outgoing First Lady Abigail Filmore developed pneumonia and died within a month of the 1841 inauguration, which was held on a cold, windswept day. It didn't help that Harrison gave a 100-minute Inaugural Address.
* The worst inaugural weather was probably in 1909 when 10 inches of snow fell in Washington. Streets were clogged and trains stalled — and that was in March.
* No matter how awful the weather may be this year, the Secret Service isn't allowing spectators to bring umbrellas to the swearing-ceremony on the Capitol's West Front or onto the parade along Pennsylvania Avenue.

Inaugural Balls

* Americans threw a party to honor George Washington one week after his inauguration on May 7, 1789.
* The tradition of a ball began in 1809 when James Madison was inaugurated in Washington.
* Dolley Madison, the first lady, hosted the party for which 400 tickets were sold at $4 apiece.
* Organizers for Dwight D. Eisenhower's 1953 Inaugural ball added a second event due to the great demand for tickets. Four years later, Eisenhower's second Inauguration featured four balls.
* Kennedy attended five in 1961.
* President Carter attempted to strip the balls of their glitz and glamour in 1977, calling them parties and charging no more than $25 each
* In 1989, when George H. Bush became President, the number of balls reached eleven.
* Fourteen balls capped the day's activities for the Clinton's in 1997.
* George W. Bush's inaugural in 2001 saw the number of official balls decline to eight, and his 2nd inaugural in 2005 was celebrated with nine official balls.

Inauguration Firsts

* In 1789, George Washington pronounced the words, "So help me God" after taking the oath; other presidents have followed this example.
* In 1793, George Washington gave the shortest inaugural address: 135 words.
* James Buchanan's 1857 inaugural was the first inaugural known to have been photographed.
* William McKinley's 1897 inaugural was the first to be recorded by movie camera.
* Warren G. Harding, in 1921, was the first president to ride to and from his inaugural in an automobile.
* Calvin Coolidge's 1925 inaugural was the first to be broadcast nationally by radio.
* Franklin D. Roosevelt, in 1937, was the first president to be inaugurated on the January 20th date.
* Harry S. Truman's 1949 inauguration was the first inauguration to be televised.
* In 1961, John F. Kennedy was the last president to wear traditional stovepipe hat to the inauguration.
* In 1977, Jimmy Carter walked from the Capitol to the White House with his family after ceremony.
* Ronald Reagan's 1981 inaugural was the first to be held on the West Terrace of the Capitol.
* In 1985, Reagan's swearing-in ceremony was moved to the Capitol Rotunda due to freezing weather
* Clinton's 1997 inauguration was the first ceremony to be broadcast live on the Internet.
* In 2001, George W. Bush inauguration was interrupted by two naked protesters.

Compiled by the FOX News Brainroom.

Have a historical day!

Snowy Holiday

Mike and I spent MLK day doing a few errands and, well, shoveling. Guess that's the beauty of New England... Mattie just hates the snow. He belongs in Florida (Mike would agree to that!)...

Here are today's highlights.



Have a warm day!

New In Town

We got a flyer for a new movie when we were at the Hip Hostess event on Thursday night. It's called New In Town. I hadn't heard of it (that doesn't mean much), so I checked out the trailer (embedded below).



Looks cute :) I want to see it!

Facebook and Privacy: Learn How to Adjust Your Settings

I recently posted about Facebook and how fun it is. Since then, many of you have signed up and are getting a feel for what social networking has to offer. The more I play with FB myself, the more I want to know. A primary concern I have dealt with is privacy. How can I control who sees what?

I did some research last week or the week before and thought it would pertinent to share it here.


Friends Lists
This is really good and will facilitate easy management of your friends. I have several lists: Family, Friends, Caution (and others). The benefit of having a friends list is that not only can you do mass messaging to say, your family group, but you can also set permissions based on a list. If you have added a someone as a friend but don't want to give them full access to you on FB you can add them to a flagged list (like my Caution) as well as other applicable lists.

1. First, if you click "Friends" in the blue bar.
2. Click Create List.
3. Enter a name.
4. Start adding people to the list by typing their names or choosing multiple people.

Privacy Settings
Once you have established lists, you can adjust your privacy settings.

1. Go to the blue Facebook bar at the top and hover (hold you mouse over but don't click) over Settings, then click on Privacy Settings. This will list lots of settings you can change.
2. Click on Profile.

The profile privacy settings let you determine who sees what. For example, if you take a look at each of the subheadings, you can adjust if just your friends, or your network, or whatever, sees which part of your profile. As you explore, notice that for any setting you can also block a list of friends. So, you may want to block access to your "Caution" list from seeing your friends list, photos tagged of you, whatever... Be sure to save the changes (bottom of the page with all the options) as you go along.

As you make changes to your privacy settings, you can see how other people will view your pages (wall, etc..) by typing in their name near the top next to "See how a friends sees your profile". You can see how different lists of friends see you on FB.

News Feed and Wall Settings
Another thing to change are the News Feed and Wall settings (back up in Settings-Privacy Settings). You can also block people or restrict to certain lists here. I think that may be less important overall.

Group Settings
If you are a member of a group you can change settings in those areas, too.
1. Just navigate to the group, then at the top, hover over Settings.
2. Choose Groups Settings in the drop-down now.

You can restrict if group stories are published to your wall, what friends list can actually see them, and what lists are blocked.

Photo Privacy
Finally, you can edit who sees your photos.
1. Go to Profile.
2. Click on the Photos tab.
3. Then click on Album Privacy on that page.



Other Fun Stuff

Facebook released a new feature that can remind you of upcoming birthdays via an email notification. If you opt in, you will receive an email on the weekend summarizing the upcoming birthdays of your friends for the next week. Here is how to enable it:
1. Hover over Settings and choose Account Settings.
2. Click the Notifications heading.
3. Under the "Facebook" section, click "Show More".
4. Turn on "Has a birthday coming up".



I hope this helps! Have a fun, safe, time on Facebook!

Fun Hip Hostess Event

Last night Mike and I attended a Hip Hostess event at the Nine Zero hotel in Boston.

Hosted in the restaurant KO Prime, the first session of the event was attended by 200-250 people. In attendance were many ladies from the Boston Women's Network , a co-sponsor of the event. We couldn't believe how packed the place was!

We started out with free Chambord drinks (I had French Martinis) and were offered many of the plentiful hors d'ouevres. We checked out the table displays set up by hip hostess Jennifer Sbranti. The displays were just so cute, and so affordable... I love her website. The ideas are easy, inexpensive, and fun (what more could you want for a party?!) and the event was very nice.

Jennifer gave a nice talk about entertaining on a budget and included some really fantastic ideas. Her favorite shop is a scrapbooking shop, even though she does not scrapbook, just for the fun papers and ribbons that you can use as placemats, candle wraps, and lively decor. She was followed by Tim Laird, Chambord's Chief Cocktail Officer (yup, that is the real title). He did a nice demo on drink mixing. The camp crowd would have gone wild!!! He demonstrated opening a champagne bottle for Kir Royale and made a Boston Cream Pie drink...

We were each presented with a gift bag at the end of the event. It contained a little Chambord, a Chambord shot glass, nail polish, and a pocket-guide for Hostess with the Mostess.







What a fun night!!!

Happy Bunny

Inside of my box of Christmas gifts from my father and John were two cute little packages meant especially for me. Happy Bunny candy.

Do you know Happy Bunny? She's this cute little bunny that has a smarty pants side. Apparently, she dislikes everyone and makes little snipes that crack me up. Ok, not all of them crack me up. Some of them are mean. But some are cute. Look at the candy boxes I got below:

Happy Bunny candies

Now that's cute. I want to note that even though the wrappers are off the boxes, I have NOT eaten this candy. Nope. Not me. DON'T look inside. Really, I didn't eat them, all alone in my office, without any witnesses.

I did take this Happy Bunny quiz . Guess I am this phrase:

What "Happy Bunny" phrase are you? you suck and that's sad You are a very compassionate and sympathetic person. You use your divine sense of humor to cheer up a situation.

Click Here to Take This Quiz Brought to you by YouThink.com quizzes and personality tests.

Have a Happy Day!

The Six Degrees of Separation between Me and a Bear Poacher

The coming about of this post is a little strange and nebulous. Below are step-by-step details of how things unfolded and how far I ended -- emotionally -- from where I began.

Last week I blogged on Facebook (FB, from here on out) and my experience with its social networking. I was on FB this weekend for quite some time. At some point, Michael's cousin Kerry was tagged in a photo posted by Laurence Van Atten.

[FB members can tag their friends in photos as another part of social networking. The tagged person's photos appear on their wall, then on the wall of their friends. So, in this case, Laurence posted a photo that contained her friend, Mike's cousin Kerry. It appeared on Kerry's wall, and in turn on mine, since we are friends.]

The photo of Kerry was cute, but what really stood out to me was the name of the poster, Laurence Van Atten. It was familiar. I recognized the name -- but do not know the person -- from some posts on the Yahoo group for Second Chance for Animal Welfare group (for which I used to volunteer). I said to Mike, "Oh, that person is a cat person." I recognized the name because some people posted about Laurence having been away and she later made some posts. I had the impression Laurence was a female, instead of a male as the name implies.

Two days passed. I recalled the photo today, and decided to verify that the Laurence person was part of the Yahoo group. Check, seemed to be the same person. Next I wanted to know who Laurence was. I Googled her. It turns out that Laurence is very big in the Animal Rescue movement. I mean, quite respected and well regarded. She runs the US office of the International Animal Rescue (IAR). She spent 3 months in India at the Agra bear facility working with blind "dancing" sloth bears who were in rehabilitation. She currently organizes lectures and fundraising events for the IAR.

So, what the heck are "dancing" bears, and why do they need to be rescued? I went to Laurence's You Tube page, and the videos I saw there were a huge punch in the stomach. Sloth bears are a breed in India that are quite recognizable and very highly abused. They are stolen -- poached -- from their mothers as young cubs, as early as 6 weeks into their lives. If the mother tries to protect them, they are shot on the spot. The young cubs are castrated live without anesthesia, then jabbed through the nose with a red hot poker. A rope is strung through the hole. Most times the bear's teeth are also clubbed out of their mouths. The roped bears are taken to the streets of India to make money for the impoverished owners by dancing. The owner pulls the rope attached to the bear's nose. It hurts so badly that the bear sways and moves trying to avoid the pain. The animals are chained and starved their entire lives.

Though this cruelty against sloth bears was officially outlawed in the early 1970s, it continued to thrive. Since 2002, IAR and Wildlife SOS have worked together to rescue 500 dancing bears and treat them in their 17 acre sanctuary in Agra. It is believed that only 130 dancing bears remain in captivity. IAR hopes to free them by the end of this year. Ultimately, the goal is to release the bears back into the wild.

I watched several of IAR's videos on Laurence's YouTube site. They chilled me to the bone, and shook me terribly. The terror and misery these animals are subjected to was difficult to watch, and even more difficult to turn away from. I had to watch, because I needed to understand both how this could happen and how these animals have healed.

I was very upset after watching just 3 of the 5 videos. I think it was then that my internal balancing act began. I thought, oh, wow, this is like that 6 degrees of separation thing...
Person A (Me)
  Degree 1 - Me to Michael
  Degree 2 - Michael to Kerry
  Degree 3 - Kerry to Laurence
  Degree 4 - Laurence to IAR
  Degree 5 - IAR to dancing bear
  Degree 6 - Dancing bear to poacher
Person B (Poacher)

The realization, and my internal attempt to rebalance things and regain my perspective worked in a funny way. I have never, ever, played that 7 degrees of Kevin Bacon game. I have never even given the theory (follow the link above to find out why some call it 6 and some call it 7) any thought. Then, it popped into my head out of the blue was I was distressed.

Strange, huh?

If you would like to know more about IAR's involvement with the dancing bears, I recommend watching this short video . It gives a good overview, and is much less upsetting than the more in depth 7-9 minute clips.

Don't forget, as big as our world is, we are only six "steps" away from each person on Earth.

Weekend Project

A few weeks ago Mike mentioned that he would like to change the flooring on the stage. I said, "Sure" and we continued whatever we were doing. We finally got around to getting materials last weekend. We assembed the new flooring this weekend. What a project!

We got a new subfloor so we can switch between flooring anytime we want. We choose a laminate wood look for the new surface. We originally wanted actual hard wood, but opted for the laminate instead for durability. The planks had pre-attached padding that we removed for better adhesion. After careful planning and deliberate assembly, we got it all done!





The total cost of the project was $95. Of that, about $25 was spent on tools (drill bits and router bits) and the rest went to materials.

Have a happy day!

Dalmation Gives Birth to 18 Puppies

This is amazing... (embedded video below)

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

A Petition for Diabetes Treatment

I received this petition signature request today. Please sign it if you want to help effect a change.

Heal The FDA

via dLife Today by dlife on 1/9/09

The diabetes community is trying to get the attention of the FDA, and this is your chance to help! There is currently a petition to the FDA for a Diabetes Advisory Council. According to the petition:

"We urge the new FDA leadership to recognize the urgent need for more safe and effective treatment options for diabetes and to reduce barriers to innovation. More treatment options will benefit patients. The disease is progressive. Delays in the availability of new treatments will only result in tremendous cost to public health and the economy. Our recommendation can benefit patients without sacrificing their safety."

If you would like to lend your support to this effort, get involved! Sign the petition!

For more information, visit HealTheFDA.com.

So Funny

I was just looking at Lolcats and found this:






Mattie isn't the only Christmas village terrorizer!

These made me crack up, too.












Have a happy day!

Oooh...

One book on the Kindle and I am already spoiled. I finished Death Angel last night and switched to a standard hardback to read today. Boy I miss that Kindle. I keep thinking, "Hmm... I could just send this hardback on to the next bookswap person and buy the book for the Kindle..." It isn't going to happen (because I am too cheap) but the thought has crossed my mind. More than once.

On another topic, I don't know why I love these photos so much (they are pretty boring, actually), but I just think he's such a cutie...

Mattie snoozin' on the couch

He's so content

The only way he let me get away with taking his picture -- he usually runs to me when I get the camera out and try to take his photo -- is that I used my phone. He thought I was surfing the web, I guess.

Happy Day!

Google Street View helps find kidnapped Mass. child

Just off my reader, this is amazing!!!

Google Street View helps find kidnapped Mass. child

by elaine

[Cross-posted with the Public Policy Blog]

An interesting first (at least as far as we're aware): Google's Street View imagery was used by police officers to help successfully locate a kidnapped child in rural Virginia.  Nine year old Natalie Maltais, from Athol, Massachusetts, was found safely at a motel on Tuesday.  You can read more in the Worcester Telegram & Gazette.

View Larger Map

Posted by Pablo Chavez, Senior Policy Counsel

Not on Facebook?

Back in October 2007 there was a nationwide news article about the growing popularity of Facebook. Of course we had heard of it but we were not signed up at the time. We decided if social networking was a growing movement we should get onboard. We signed up on October 26, 2007. Our interest in and activity on Facebook has waxed and waned. Currently we're on an upswing. We've been spending a lot of time catching up with friends and sharing what is going on in our lives.

But, there are still a good number of people (even of those who read this blog from time to time) that are not signed up on Facebook yet. Given that fact, I thought it would be fun to share some info about the social networking site.

Facebook was established in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg, a Harvard University student. Initially membership was restricted to Harvard students, then students from other Ivy League schools, then any college student, then high school students, and finally to anyone over 13. According to statistics on Facebook , the site had more than 140 million 150 million active users today . That is a little less than half the estimated US population. At least 38 languages are supported.

The company has grown from a few students to 700 employees, headquartered in Palo Alto, California and Dublin, Ireland. It makes revenue from banner ads, apparently quite successfully. Annual revenue in 2008 was  estimated at $300 million (with a 2007 estimated net income of $47 million).

Now that you know the cut and dried numbers and history, I want to tell you about the fun and cool parts of Facebook. First, only registered users can get into the site. You can't just pop in and take a look around just to see what's going on. I like that.

You have the opportunity to enter a lot of background information when you set up your account -- education, employment, interests -- that all aid in the social networking down the line. You can find people you know on Facebook using that background information. For example, I can click on my high school name (which includes my graduation date) and see the 230+ people in my graduating class that are on Facebook. I may or may not see their profile picture, but I cannot see their profile, pictures, or other personal information until I send them a friend request. Once they confirm my friend request, I can see their wall (updates to their status, photos, groups, etc...) and send them personal messages. It is a great way to catch up with people who you've lost touch with.

You can also have Facebook scan your email contacts (for a variety of mail clients, on a one-time basis) for email addresses that Facebook accounts. I did it during setup and have done it several times subsequently since people join the site every day. After the scan you are presented with a list of registered members and can selectively decide who to send friend requests to.

Another way to connect with people you know is to look at your friends' friends. If you find someone in common, you can send a friend request and connect. Finally, there is a search tool you can use to search for anyone by name.

That is just the tip of the social networking iceberg. You can post personal photos (I recommend carefully checking your privacy settings each and every time to limit who sees them -- only friends can see mine) and tag your Facebook friends in them. When you post a photo or tag a friend in a photo, all your friends will get notifications on their wall (a virtual graffiti-type wall that keeps you abreast of other people's happenings). Other people can also tag your face in their photos and you'll get notified. What a cool way to keep in touch!

You can join groups of people with common interests -- skiing, canoeing, reading, whatever -- and make new friends, too. The possibilities are endless.

Facebook offers applications that they offer and that third parties offer. There are thousands to choose from (with a rate of 100+ being added a day) and share with your friends. I throw snowballs, share endangered fish, send flowers -- all for free. A fun and nice way to stay in touch. You can also get apps that charge for things, which is a boon to their revenue string.

Getting comfortable with the website and efficiently navigating through all the options can take some time. But it is fun and rewarding. The way I see it, if I can connect with one or two people I've lost touch with, I come out a winner.

Have a happy day!

What I'm Reading (December)

Oops! January 7 already and I have not posted last month's books... Here you go!

	Say Goodbye by Lisa Gardner Kimberly Quinn is an FBI agent who loves her job. Her husband Mac is also an agent, for the GBI. As Kimberly gets involved in a case with a man who kidnaps and murders prostitutes and young boys. I had a difficult time getting through this book. The content (sexual abuse of young boys) deeply disturbed me. It was ok.
	A Cedar Cove Christmas by Debbie Macomber This is a holiday installment in the Cedar Cove series. Mary Jo Wyse is pregnant by David Rhoades (son of Ben and Charlotte). After inital support of the pregnancy, David stops communicating with Mary Jo. On Christmas Eve, just two weeks before her due date, Mary Jo ventures to Cedar Cove so she can try to speak with David -- or at least tell his family about the baby. This heartwarming book is perfect for Christmas and a nice, quick read.
	A Wallflower Christmas by Lisa Kleypas Hannah Anderson is the cousin and helpmaid to Lady Natalie Anderson. Lady Natalie is to marry American rake Rafe Bowman. That is, until true love is found in other places. This was a lovely story, timed perfectly for the Christmas season.
	Divine Justice by David Baldacci From Publisher's Weekly: Near the start of bestseller Baldacci's less than compelling fourth Camel Club thriller (after Stone Cold), former CIA assassin Oliver Stone (aka John Carr) boards a New Orleans–bound train at Washington's Union Station after shooting to death a well-known U.S. senator and the nation's intelligence chief, the two men responsible for his wife's murder. Ever the Good Samaritan, Stone intervenes in a fight on the train, but when the Amtrak conductor asks to see his ID, he gets off at the next station, knowing his fake ID won't withstand scrutiny. So much for Stone's vaunted ability as a resourceful planner. This sudden detour takes Stone to Divine, Va., a mining town where he becomes enmeshed in corruption and intrigue—and falls, in just one of several clichéd situations, for an attractive if beleaguered widow.
	Fast Track by Fern Michaels description
	Shooting Star: A Martha's Vineyard Mystery  by Cynthia Riggs From Booklist: "This lightly plotted mystery is full of the flora, fauna, and aroma of Martha's Vineyard. The owlish Victoria Trumbull, poet, police deputy, and playwright at age 92, is horrified when her version of Frankenstein, written for the local community theater, turns from social commentary to farce--and cast members keep dying. Everyone is depicted in colorful broad strokes--drunken director, amiable local police, bright-eyed teens--and Victoria manages to feed and house most of them as well as solve mayhem and heartbreak. A lot about the joys of community theater is tucked in among the soup, rescued puppies, and ugly divorces." A nice easy read. Victoria is a bit unbelievable, but how you'd like your grandmother to be.
	The Bodies Left Behind  by Jeffery Deaver From Amazon: "An off-duty cop who investigates an aborted 911 call from a secluded vacation home and ends up on the run. From the opening scene (that'll keep even the bravest of you at home with the doors locked and the shades drawn), Deaver delivers a clever page-turner that reads like one of his tightly plotted and fast-paced short stories (fans should check out Twisted). Endlessly surprising (there is more than one jaw-dropping plot twist) and supremely gripping (two hours after cracking this stand-alone thriller, I came up for air and took a moment to shake the cramp out of my fingers), The Bodies Left Behind is one of the most entertaining thrillers of the year. --Daphne Durham" I thought this was ok. The story could have been developed better and the end was very disappointing.

Happy Reading!

Kindle Lovin', Part 2

I'm a little shocked at myself and a little embarrassed to admit... How much I really LOVE the Kindle. Yes, I know I just posted about it this morning.

Here's the thing. I've been doing my book swap for 3 1/2 years . I love to read and have sent/received 570 books in that period of time. You all know how hooked I am at saving money.

But... This Kindle thing... It is really great to use. I swear to God I am reading way faster than I do on paper (strange, huh?). I am [more than] willing to actually start paying for books again.

Does that mean I'll give up PBS? No. Absolutely not. I love it, and I love getting books for $2.50 or so (the cost of shipping). It does mean that books I am really excited to read -- new releases -- that I am low on the list for at PBS will become purchases. I'll also lean way more heavily on Kindle books for travel than a traditional book.

There are lots of possibilities for how it will work. Right now, I am going back to my love fest!

I LOVE my Kindle!!!

Mike's mom got me a Kindle for Christmas. She heard about it on the Oprah Show and thought I would love it. I had heard of it, but had not really looked into it. Anyway, once I started reading about it I got really excited.

I purchased my first Kindle book, Death Angel by Linda Howard , yesterday. I am sooo hooked.

My Kindle

So, here's my review, both the good and the bad, of the Kindle after using it for 5 days.

The Good

• Free sample chapters. This did not seem like such a big deal to me at first. I know who I like to read. I figured it would be good for exploring new authors or if reviews of a book were mixed. Wow, did I get that wrong. I downloaded a sample from an author that I have read in the past and liked. Within the first few pages I knew that this was not the book I wanted to read now. Further, if I did read it, I'd get it through Paperback Swap (PBS) instead of paying $9.99 for it. I downloaded another sample (for the book I am reading now). I wasn't really sure I would like it, thought it was on my PBS list. Lucky for me, the free sample saved the day again. Not only did I like the beginning of the book, I loved it and couldn't wait to read more. I can't tell you enough how valuable the free samples are.
• Quick downloads. When I got to the end of my sample for Death Angel I had the option to "Buy Now" or Continue (or something similar). I chose to buy and Amazon did 1-Click ordering using the primary card associated with my Amazon account. The book was downloaded in less than a minute. The entire book!
• Ease of Use. Flipping through the pages is easy and straightforward. You don't have to be a computer geek to use the Kindle. Page navigation buttons appear on the left (Prev Page, Next Page) and the right (Next Page, Back) of the device. There is a slight delay as the page draws that is reminiscent of turning a page in a paper book.
• Readability. Kindle uses E-ink that is designed to be as crisp and clear as real ink on real paper. It is great. You can also adjust font size if you need/want to.
• Portability. The dimensions of the Kindle are 7.5" x 5.3" x 0.7" -- somewhere between a trade paperback and hardback -- and it weighs 10.3 ounces. But this device can hold up to 200 books. The weight and size don't change, but you get your whole library (or a fair portion of it) in 28 cubic inches. 200 books not enough? Add a 4GB or 8GB sD card. The possibilities are almost limitless.
• Whispernet. The Kindle is a wireless device. But it isn't like a notebook computer, it is more like and iPhone or Blackberry. Communication occurs over a cellular network (Sprint EVDO, I believe) and works just like a cell phone. There are no fees, no passwords, no nothing. You don't have to think about how the content is transferred to your Kindle, it just gets there. The coverage is good for urban areas , but if you are in a rural area, you may need to get content by connecting to your computer's USB port and downloading through your local internet connection .
• Other Goodies I have not needed yet, but know I'll use. You can search you entire kindle for a word or phrase. There have been so many times I wanted to flip to another section of a book, but can't find it; no problem with the Kindle. Ability to bookmark and annotate pages. A built in dictionary. Let's be honest, this has happened to all of us. You are reading along and encounter an unfamiliar word. Kindle makes it easy to look it up on the spot!
• Basic Web Functionality. I list this last because it is what it is called -- basic. Since the Kindle has a wireless data signal you can check email and do basic web surfing. I have bookmarked my Gmail in case I am in a pinch, but I'd rather use my iPhone.

The Bad

Let me preface these items by saying, if this is the worst of it, no one should complain.

• No backlight. This is intentional. Kindle is meant to give you the same reading experience as a written book. A backlight would turn the nice screen into a more computer like device, which is harder on the eyes. Solution: buy a clip on book light. I just ordered mine.
• No page numbers. There is a progress indicator, but no traditional page numbers. I can live with this.

Kindle books vary in price. Amazon says (in loose terms) that prices go up to $9.99. I paid $12.60 for the book I am reading now, but it is worth every penny.

Smiles!

Sledding Fun

We had a great time sledding with Connor and Fiona yesterday. They got all bundled up and we went down the hill behind Mike's parents' house. Deirdre took a lot of great photos, but I tried to narrow it down to a few favorites.

Uncle Michael getting ready to launch Connor down the hill.

Uncle and Fiona are having a great time!

Connor all bundled up.

Let's Go!

Getting ready for the next trip down the hill.

A sleigh ride through the woods.

We're having a great time!

Exhausted!

We all had a great time and were very tired afterwards...

Have a happy day!

Cute Video

It is a quiet day for me (something about getting only 4 hours sleep)... Thought you would like this.



Have a happy day!

Great Video

One of our friends posted this to her Facebook page. I love it!!!

"Prop 8 - The Musical" starring Jack Black, John C. Reilly, and many more... by Jack Black

2009 is the Year of the Travel Deal

Good news for all of us!

 

2009 is the Year of the Travel Deal

via yapta by Jeff Pecor on 1/2/09

If you like to travel on the cheap, you're apparently going to love the new year.  A number of media outlets (including NBC Travel Editor, Peter Greenberg) have already dubbed 2009 the "Year of the Travel Deal" as they predict that many airlines will soon be offering discounted airfares. The Denver Travel Examiner (a.k.a. Diana Rowe) reports that, "after the holidays, travelers focus on winter vacations, spring and summer break.  Airlines know this, so the first few weeks of January airlines will sweeten the deal with discounted prices when booking early."

Obviously, this is great news if you're already tracking vacation flights on Yapta.com. It means that you'll likely be receiving an email alert from Yapta very soon indicating that the flight you're interested in taking has just dropped in price. And if you've already booked a flight directly with an airline, you may be able to recover some savings. (Remember, Yapta can alert you even when your booked flights have come down in price and when you're eligible for a travel credit.)

So, if you're going to travel this year, it only makes sense to track the price of your flights BEFORE and AFTER you buy. You'll be happy you did.

Top Five Pet Pics of 2008

This was so cute I had to share.

Happy New Years!

Top Five Pet Pics of 2008

via Amazon Daily on 12/31/08

While it seems longer, it has only been six months since we launched Wag Reflex. On behalf of all our hard-working bloggers I'd like to thank all our pet-loving readers. We look forward to cranking out more entertaining and informing posts for you in 2009.

In the meantime, here's a look back at our top five pet pics of 2008.

5. The amazing Chihuahua fetus composite image from National Geographic.

4. Best buds.

3. An abused puppy.

2. The rare seal dog.

1. A peanut butter-loving Corgi.

--Spanno

New Year's Day Christmas

We were fortunate to celebrate a third Christmas yesterday! They just kept coming and coming this year!

We exchanged gifts with Michael's family (we only took little things down to Amelia Island) and enjoyed a lovely Christmas dinner. Connor and Fiona enjoyed unwrapping gifts and exploring their new toys. We got them a puppet theater and puppets and are looking forward to a show when they are back in their house here in Massachusetts.

Pat got me a Kindle and I am really excited to get my first book on it. I am trying to decide what it should be... Anyone have ideas?

Have a happy day!