Ron "Ronnie" K.'s Profile

Cardpool offers the simplest way to save money by buying and selling gift cards.
What is Cardpool?

Cardpool is a service that lets you buy gift cards for up to 30% off or sell unwanted gift cards for cash. All orders and transactions include FREE SHIPPING and are covered by our extensive Purchase Guarantee Program.
How does this work?

Cardpool connects the millions of gift card holders around the world to create a marketplace where customers can buy, sell, or trade their gift cards safely and securely. By gathering all the buyers and sellers in one place, Cardpool helps everyone get exactly what they want, whether its a discounted gift card or simply cash.
Who am I buying from or selling to?

You are always buying directly from us and selling directly to us. Because our customers may live many thousands of miles away from each other, Cardpool actually buys the gift cards directly from customers, verifies the authenticity and balance of each gift card, and holds on to them until a buyer is found. Even though we may never find a buyer for a given gift card, we pay sellers within 24 hours of receiving their gift card.

Why should I use Cardpool?

Cardpool offers the simplest, safest, and fastest way of buying or selling gift cards and we exclusively carry hassle-free gift cards that have NO FEES and NO EXPIRATION. We securely process every gift card transaction with the highest level of encryption commercially available, validate the value of every gift card by hand, and offer an unprecedented and industry leading Purchase Guarantee Program to give our customers the ultimate peace of mind.

We are so confident you'll enjoy our services that if you are unsatisfied for any reason, even if it's because the gift card's merchant leaves your home area, stops accepting gift cards, or goes bankrupt, we will be happy to refund your purchase.

Learn more about our Purchase Guarantee Program

http://img4me.com/18cc20574e4484f9888dd95e01ed6f8015297ff1.png

Despite the ton of spam everybody gets in their mailbox, it is sometimes vital to post your email address online in blogs or forums. An excellent way to prevent spammers from getting your email address is to turn email address into IMAGE so the bots cannot detect it, and you don't get ripped off..

Img4Me is an internet tool that can help you with that.

Img4Me lets you convert any text into an image. Simply type in the text, select the background and text color you want and click on generate. You can also customize the font and font size you desire in the generated image. Once the image is generated, you are provided a direct URL for the image as well as HTML and BB code to embed it on websites or blogs. You can generate the image as a png, gif or jpg format.

At the top is a URL to a hosted version of my E-mail address.

Wallbase is the most comprehensive archive of wallapers for your desktop.

THe inteface is attarctive and fairly simple. Plug-in keywords (designate resolution and other parameters if you chose) and hit search. If your looking for widecreen 1900 x 1200, that's all you'll be shown. Laptops can indicate size and results will selected for that type of screen.

Search is very sensitive to search terms, so keywords must be chosen wisely to obtain best selection.

Have fun with this.

Very interesting and potential valuable tool.

A free online service searches for originality (or lack of it) using a few phrases taken from different parts of a document. The phrases needn't be contained within search operators (like quotation marks as the plagiarism checker does it on its own through its code). Content checking is optional with either Google or Yahoo.

There's bound to be a time when this tool becomes invaluable at the office, or when there is a question of doubt!

"Information on how to delete your account from all of the major social networking, blogging, shopping, etc. sites and services across the web.

Feeling a little regret? We can show you how to get it back, too! (If possible)."

Need some legal assistance ? Now you can answers to legal questions at CivilAnswers.com. It’s a free service where users can ask all kind of legal questions to a large network of professional experts and attorneys. No-registration required, though you still need to give-in your email address.

Looks like a fantastic tool to keep handy. Could this drastically reduce number of trips downtown to visit your attorney?

This is a great tool for high school and college students. It walks one through the essential steps on how to 'ace' a research paper. It's very friendly, does not talk-down to anyone, and helps coalesce the concept of creating such a document - makes it less threatening.

ipl2 is the result of a merger of the Internet Public Library (IPL) and the Librarians' Internet Index (LII).

Do your high school OR college student a favor, and pass this web site along!

Happy research.

Fleshmap is not a porn site (sorry - smile), rather a fascinating web site that allows one to explore, in great detail, the areas on the male, and female body, that desire "touch" the most. It's not as simple as one might imagine. Any area is broken down into dozens of smaller details, to fine-tune where the skin is most 'needy'.

From The web site:
"Fleshmap is an inquiry into human desire, its collective shape and individual expressions. In a series of studies, we explore the relationship between the body and its visual and verbal representation.

Touch investigates the collective perception of erogenous zones. We asked hundreds of people to rank how good it would feel to touch or be touched by a lover in different points of the body. The resulting images reveal a map of sensual desire with multiple focal points and islands of excitement. Read more about our method.

While Touch examines collective patterns, Look explores individuality and the hidden surprises that each body reveals when bared. Through a process of abstraction, the piece reveals the multiplicity of formal possibilities contained in a single body part. Contours from different individuals are presented in collections that expose both familiar and oft-overlooked patterns, confronting prototypical notions of ourselves. Read more about our method.

Listen investigates the relationship between language and the body. Verbal manifestations of human physicality in music, poetry, and religion are distilled to their basic elements. In a play with language, the "body rebus" emerges as a visual representation of cultural expressions of the physical in us. Read more about our method."

If you're a skin aficionado, there's a lot to explore here.

I'm very sensitive to 'words'. People often get a "gut-hunch" of who we are based on what we say, and how. Business correspondence is an obvious application, but I feel it spills over to how we affect friends, colleagues, and even lovers.

With that in mind, I found "After The Deadline", a great, free, site that can help you correct your grammatical errors, but syntactical issues, and more.

Here's what the site says in "about":
"We use artificial intelligence and natural language processing technology to find your writing errors and offer smart suggestions". Even when I think I've created the flawless document, a cut&paste into "After The Deadline", reveals more 'over-talk' than I realised.

A highly recommended tool for finishing/sharpening important writing!

Interesting Federal Governmental site offering information and tips on a variety of every-day life issues - online safeguards as well. The proper URL, for online and computer related issues is: http://www.pueblo.gsa.gov/specpubs.htm.

Hope there's a bit of help here.

The web site I've provided is simply a link to PC Magazine article on how terribly passwords are selected. The most common password revealed, from a hacked web site, was "123456", literally. The exact URL for the article is:
"http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2358273,00.asp" (without the quotations).

I have a suggestion for creating a very secure 'universal password', easily remembered, and assuredly a safer password that what most use - perhaps yourself.

The best passwords have no pattern, are alpha-numeric, and the longer (12-15 characters) the better. However the prospect of deciding on such a phrase, easily recalled - but so difficult to crack, can be daunting.

Try this: Take a piece of information (perhaps an old address that you won't forget) I'll make one up as example: "1584westanywherestreetsandiegocalifornia". Read that carefully and you'll see it's an address. First, that's a nice "long" series of characters. Secondarily it's alpha-numeric, the safest type of password. Here's a trick to make that address harder to crack.

By selecting (or un-selecting - the OPPOSITE of your default keyboard setup - play with this to be sure!) the "Num-Lock" key (one tap), the above address becomes: "1584westanywherestreetsand5eg6ca35f6rn5a". Note the changes in the latter part of that address.That information has been sufficiently "garbled" to be a much more secure password, certainly than what most people use.

Take some time with a text doc., or a Word document, and play with different unforgettable strings of information. Once you've decided on a long string, but a memorable string, play with the Num Lock key and see how it changes the data.

After a bit of fine tuning, you should have an near worry-free password, very hard to crack, created simply by hitting "num-Lock" before typing it.

If you're curious what the Num Lock key does, how it works on different keyboards and computers, you can Google that and get answers. Right now, it's sufficient to jump into a safer universal password you can stop worrying about.

Find all online public information about you (and other people)
and get your "PeopleRank": or Your "visibility" score on the web.

You'll love this search tool. Look yourself up, might be surprised.

This seems to be an excellent place to report fraudulent Internet business. It's a web site that pulls the FBI, the bureau of White Collar Crime, and the Bureau Of Justice Assistance together for the soul purpose of handling malicious business activity on the Internet (called IC3).

Interestingly, it has no single focus (i.e. banking, commercial, individual, etc.) rather, is a in place for any consumer(s) that feel they've been victimized by Internet ("cyber") fraud. The web site introduces itself with this 'intent:

_"IC3's mission is to serve as a vehicle to receive, develop, and refer criminal complaints regarding the rapidly expanding arena of cyber crime. The IC3 gives the victims of cyber crime a convenient and easy-to-use reporting mechanism that alerts authorities of suspected criminal or civil violations. For law enforcement and regulatory agencies at the federal, state, local and international level, IC3 provides a central referral mechanism for complaints involving Internet related crimes".

The IC3 site explains in simple terms how a claim is created, asks for basic personal information, and then provides a large, Red link reading, "FILE A COMPLAINT". Easy to navigate.

IC3 is not bogged-down with legalese, and the complaint process is thankfully quick.

I'd include this web site high on my list of "reporting" mechanisms. RIPOFFREPORT.com has it's place, but this is rather like calling the Internet's version of the Federal Trade Commission!

Best Of Luck!

Smarmy web site business robbing the poor. Stay Clear!

Wendy of Lewiston, ID December 16, 2009

"I checked into this bank card empire and learned about this "home business". I told the gentleman I had just lost my job and had very little money, but he assured me that for $199 and $19.99/mth ,I would have a website and training to sell merchant services.

They waited about a week for more funds to appear in my account before I became a member. I got a packet from them with two CD's that didn't explain exactly what I was selling or for how much. It also said that my website address was on the top of the form which it was not. I was told by the man who I signed-up with that I could do this business by simply talking to local business owners that I knew and then I could advertise as I started making money.

Over the next couple months, I received 7 or 8 more phone calls from different people. I always asked them for my website address, but was told I would be called back with that information (which never happened). With each call, I was asked how much was in my bank account and if I had any credit cards or people to loan me money. The final phone call a man just told me straight out that I couldn't do this business without $10,000 to give them for an email blaster program.

I was told to "call back when I have money". I was treated rudely and abusively on the phonein three different calls.

They took funds out of my account every month and I received nothing.

BUYER BEWARE!

Another web site seemingly unscrupulously taking advantage of consumers. AVOID these people. In a consumer's own words:

Luis of Belvidere, IL August 31, 2009

"On Aug 30, 2009 I had found a charge on my credit card I did not authorized. When I visited the website it said-"FREE TUBE VIDEO ARCHIVE - 100% Free Of Charge". It asked for my credit card number to identify my legal age and according to their advertisement the business would charge my card.

I have found out that his business "FREE TUBE VIDEO ARCHIVE" is a scam. It charged my card $37.88. It minds of well have been a million dollars to me. I do not have money to be thrown about.

I had to order a new card that cost me $5.00 + 37.88 + fax to rebut a $10+the threat of ID theft= no amount of money could replace the time, money, and a phone calls i had to make. But put it bluntly it cost me at least $300.00".

BUYER BEWARE!

Here's a Legal site you clearly want to avoid. There are several responsible legal web sites that provide what's promised at really reasonable rates (zoom.com being one). What follows is a report from someone who used this site and found them thieves:

Doug of Worcester, MA December 8, 2009

"I was looking to incorporate a company, and thought it would be helpful to have a little legal help in doing that, but that it would require much. So I found Standard Legal. They claimed to have a 'software that would allow me to file in any state.'

Well, what they provided for $34.95 was the 2-page PDF document that you can find on the state website for free, or you can submit your filing electronically directly with the state (and the filing costs less). Plus Standard Legal provided a bunch of other documents so I couldn't actually figure out the document I needed. The PDF I did download could not be filled out electronically.

I called trying to explain my concerns and dissatisfaction, but the woman cut me off every time. There was not software to help fill anything out. So she just made me out as stupid and unreasonable. She also claimed that they were prepared (implying by their own lawyers.) She called it 'legal form software'. Just because it's electronic does not make is software. Totally bogus".

Buyer Beware!

It is an all in one media player solution and lets you play audio & video files, cut them according to your needs or transcode them to other formats. In addition you get a photo cutter, resizer and much more. In short, it’s as complete a media package as you’re likely to get. It is called Media Cope.

I've reviewed plenty of audio/video tools in the past, from mp3 joiner to video trans-coding tools. If you are an avid user of such tools, you will have a nice, albeit a little lengthy, collection in your start menu. Well here is one tool that can make that list a little shorter.

The tag line doesn’t overstate Media Cope’s capabilities, when it says: “It is all you need“. Media Cope combines the best open source software in the business to give you a killer application. It has mplayer for playing media files and uses ffmpeg for all the transcoding heavy lifting.

Let us take a deeper look on what Media Cope offers.
Media Cope supports all the major media file formats. It lets you play file formats mp3, avi, divx, mov, mkv, flac, rmvb, flv, vob, wma and mp4 to mention a few. In addition it also offers other mplayer functionality like speed change, ratio change, audio delay , framestep and screenshots etc.

_An Audio/Video Cutter

Hop over to the next tab and you can now trim audio & video files to your liking. All the formats listed above and many more are supported. Open the file, you can use the slider to go the exact location you want to start the video clip from, click “Select Start” and the starting point will be set to the current slider position. You can choose the end point in similar fashion. Now choose the output file format and you are ready to save the trimmed file as an audio/video clip.

_An Audio/Video Converter

The next two tabs let you trans-code your media files into a format of your choice. Queuing, output quality and trans-coding to and from all major formats are supported. I missed default presets or the ability to create and save your presets. Such an option is extremely useful if you trans-code files for playback on an iPod or any other device.

_Photo Cutter/Resizer/Converter

Media Cope lets you do common photo tasks like resizing and converting to different dimensions and formats. The photo tools do a fairly good job and are great for batch processing. That said, I would stick with image editors for such needs mainly because of the interface and greater control and visual feedback they offer.

_Slide Show

Media Cope also lets view your photos as a slide show. You can specify a background music and basic slide show configuration options. There is no option to export your slide show as a video file which makes it seem as misfit as a mere photo-browser amongst other tools.

_Internet Tools

You can also use Media Cope when browsing the Internet. Media Cope offers text to speech functionality in Internet Explorer and Firefox web browsers. You have to explicitly enable Internet tools from Media Cope’s settings.

Media Cope offers a number of tools to meet all your media needs. There are some glitches and the user interface could use some touch up. Even then the media player, cutter and trans-coders are straightforward and easy to use. MPlayer and FFMPEG form a deadly combo and it would be interesting to see Media Cope develop further and iron out some of the shortcomings.

Enjoy it, I do!
Thanks to MUO.com

I have followed ConsumerAffairs for several years. They have excellent writers, do intensive research, and in every newsletter I receive, there's some information I have to pass-along to family & friends.HIGHLY RECOMMENDED for "serious consumers".

"Who We Are: ConsumerAffairs.com is a private, non-governmental entity that empowers consumers by providing a forum for their complaints and a means for them to be contacted by lawyers if their complaints have legal merit. Your complaints and comments may be published, shared with the news media and reviewed by attorneys at no cost to you. See the FAQ for more information.

HAD A BAD TIME, OR A GOOD ONE?
Report Your Experience!
If you've had a bad experience -- or a good one -- with a consumer product or service, we'd like to hear about it. All complaints are reviewed by class action attorneys and are considered for publication on our site. Knowledge is power! Help spread the word. File your consumer report now.
Share:
* consumer
* shopping
* reviews
* reference
* consumer_affairs
* news
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* complaints
* activism
* information
* recalls

Here's an idea of the basics you'll find in the CA's newsletter:
* Does It Really Pay To Go Shopping On Black Friday?
* New Home Sales Rise As Mortgage Rates Fall
* Toyota Announces Recall to Fix Runaway Acceleration
* Consumers May Soon See Fewer Scam Ads
* Recall of Drop-Side Cribs Continues 2009 Pattern
* Microsoft May Face Class Action Over Xbox Live Ban
* FDA Seeks Permanent Injunction Against Sharkco Seafood
* Nearly One In Four Homeowners Under Water
* Deadline For Chinese Drywall Claims Looms
* More News ...

SAFETY RECALLS
* Toyota, Lexus Models Recalled to Fix Runaway Acceleration
* Toyota Recalling 110,000 Tundra Pickups
* Electrolux ICON, Kenmore 30 PRO Gas Ranges
* Stork Craft, Fisher-Price Cribs Recalled
* 2010 Volvo XC60
* Evenflo First Choice Car Seats
* Cost Plus World Stainless Steel Cookware
* Bobby Chupete Pacifiers
* Perfect Flame Gas Grills
* Century 21 Hooded Sweats
* Gorilla EXO-Tech Safety Harness
* Three Sisters Baby Hammocks

And so very much more!

Please Browse to: "http://tinyurl.com/2l5r2o".

Looking for a place to find some good deals or bargain discounts while shopping online for electronics, clothing, accessories, etc? Well, there are a good number of sites out there other than Fatwallet, which (possibly?) everyone in the world knows about. I’m going to list a number of "good deal-finding" shopping sites. Check them out and see what you think!

dealighted.com A very cool site that’s a mashup of deals from other sites like Slickdeals.com, Fatwallet.com, Gottadeal.com and lots more. Mostly tech-related stuff, but there are other things as well.

passwird.com is a web site created by a University of California student that lists bunch of excellent deals on everything from tech to shoes daily. This site is very simple and is addictive.

bensbargains.net. The nice thing about this site (and others) is that you can subscribe to the RSS feed to quickly find deals. Also, pictures of the items are included in the feed. This site also gives you info on rebates and coupons in addition to just deals.

dealdump.com. DealDump is an aggregate of multiple deal sites, covering everything from Woot.com to DealOverFlow. There are a lot of sites on here I had never even heard of before, so you might find something great.

dealnews.com. Find the hottest deals on gadgets, computers, electronics, cameras, and lots more. The cool thing about this site is that you can subscribe to an RSS feed for the specific item you’re looking for.

dealsplus.com. Takes the same concept of Digg.com and does it for deals. Users vote for the best deals and the ones with the most votes get on to the front page. Also once you join you can enter to win free stuff, etc.

techdeals.net. As you can probably tell from the name of the site, Techdeals.net is all about tech stuff likes games, MP3 players, digital cameras, computers and more. It’s updated daily and has a good number of items.

cybuys.com. An online service that helps shoppers find coupons and hot deals for tons of online stores. It has a very clean interface and is one of the best sites for just finding coupons! Definitely check it out.

jellyfish.com. Not your normal deal-finding site! This site is basically a social shopping deals site, complete with a game show host and a good number of great products. You’ll have to check it out yourself to find out.

dealitem.com. DealItem is another deal site for mostly tech stuff. It works best when you’re searching for something by model # or by make and features. If you know what you’re looking for, check out DealItem.

dealigg.com. A social bargain hunting site that changes frequently during the day, so you’re looking at new stuff all the time. Again, its based on a peer voting system that brings the best deals to the front page.

slickdeals.net. SlickDeals is one of the better known deal sites and includes everything from tech gadgets to men’s shirts. They also have over 800 coupons that you can use at your favorite stores. Very clean interface and easy to use web site.

gottadeal.com. Finally, GottaDeal.com is very popular site for finding deals and coupons online. Has a bunch of categories and brings in deals from many of the major retailers such as Apple, AT&T, and CompUSA.

So that’s about 13 deal sites that I've run across that seem to be gaining in popularity. I hope shopping any of these sites brings some measure of savings and a good deal to boot.

Thanks to Aseem Kishore

Jaycut is not just an ordinary flash-based “upload-edit-share” tool since it has the core features that you will find in simple video editing software like Windows Movie Maker. You can upload clips from your camera, mobile phone or webcam then compile them into a nice video by adding captions and music.

_Jaycut has a two-track time-line interface called “Mix It” where users can drag and rearrange their uploaded clips and time the transition between clips. Jaycut’s editing interface is fairly powerful for casual users who want to stitch-up clips while experimenting with its growing library of transition effects.


When you are done with the mix, you can embed the videos or you can download them to your PC/PMP.

Very handy.

Point Your Browser HERE: http://stereopsis.com/flux/

_You must be familiar with modern LCD screens, right? If you look carefully, most of them have a button to automatically change the attributes of the screen to adjust for the types of media which is being viewed: one specially tweaked for movies, another for photos, a separate one for text and there’s one we’re particularly interested about — night.

_You see, working in front of a computer screen at night raises a particular concern. The fact that you’re staring at a bright screen late at night when your body is supposed to be turning in, disrupts your circadian rhythm.

_A bit of medical jargon coming your way — during nighttime, darkness permits the production of melatonin by the pineal gland. Melatonin causes drowsiness and in tandem with the central nervous system, controls the circadian rhythm. In layman’s term, all this means is the bright light from the LCD screen screws up your sleep-wake cycle.

_That’s why there’s a customized “Night” setting on your LCD. Furthermore, there are several apps that will reduce the brightness of your screen while working at night; Shades is one example of a Mac app that will do just that. I don’t know if you’ve noticed the LCD’s reflection off a person’s face at night — it’s mostly bluish white. Technically, the specific colour temperature is 6500K; also known as daylight. That’s right. If you find it hard to fall asleep after using your computer, this is why.

_F.lux addresses this issue but it does it slightly differently. Instead of reducing brightness per se, it actually warms the colours you see on your screen and imitates the lighting in the room during nighttime. It’s quite hard to wrap your head around until you actually use it but I’ll do my best to try and explain it:

THE LOW-DOWN: After downloading and launching the app, it will ask you for your location and the type of lighting that’s in the room — tungsten, halogen, fluorescent or daylight. Based on the information, it calculates exactly when the sun sets in your area and adjusts the colour temperature of your screen to mimic the lighting in the room. Note that the Mac version’s interface isn’t as refined as its Windows counterpart — but it doesn’t matter very much because all of the time, the app is absolutely unobtrusive. There are no pop-ups and you won’t notice it running.

I have found the "night mode" so much more relaxing on my eyes, and I "think" a calming effect on my body.

Try IT!

(Thanks to MakeUseOf.com for description)

If you are a bargain hunter, but don’t like to compromise on quality, then Cheapism is a website you should bookmark. What it does is simple – it searches for best quality products among the cheapest ones.

The site features budget product reviews in various categories like home & garden, kitchen utilities, computers, electronics, sports, travel and many more.

Have fun with this.

Thanks to MakeUseOf.com.

Exact Site: http://krilome.com/aprod/index-cse.html.

This is just a clever, savvy, fun and "must have" utility, rolled into one.

It's a very good idea to never feel so certain your private documents will always be "safe". That's simply playing with fire.

What could be a more 'benign' safety repository than Windows Calculator? Doesn't attract attention, and probably one of the last places (if ever) anyone would look for personal data. Add the fact that this safe is password protected AND data encrypted, it should look after your need for confidentiality perfectly.

The calculator is fully functional. Move your IDs, passwords, other sensitive data without fear of consequences in case of loss or theft.

After entering your PIN, Calc.EXE will encrypt and "swallow" the file(s) you've selected for hiding. You can browse your root drive for the files to be "eyes only", and simple, easily understood directions show how the files are stored, resurrected and even executed from this devastatingly clever program.

This is one of the cool "gadget" utilities that I always keep an eye out for, and generally have a price attached. This one is FREEWARE.

One thing I’ve noticed about most “hate” websites is they try hard to present a scholarly 'feel', educated, professional and savvy. It’s rather that they believe sounded erudite about hate will make you buy-in and join-up.

I think most, regardless of religion or ethnicity, are offended by sites like this one.

It's not just any particular group either. Some people just love to hate. Take
"www.hatebook.org". These folks simply have a good deal of fun hating. In a world as tossed with paranoia, fear, and misunderstanding as we have, the last thing we need to do is preach hate.

There is something YOU CAN DO! One excellent place to report HATE SITES would be to: "www.ic3.gov/default.aspx". This connects to a JOINT INITIATIVE between the FBI, and The Bureau Of Justice Assistance (BJA).

At the bottom of the above sight, there is in bright, red letters a banner saying, "FILE A COMPLAINT". You can do so and it does not take long. The point the FBI makes, quite simply the more a particular site gets reported, the more likely they are to "investigate", likely close them up. The squeaky wheel get's greased.

So there IS something we can all do. The next time you spot a site like:
www.88tube.net, a notorious white supremacy gang, if you are revolted, you now have a place to report your ire. The more we do, the less we potentially will see of them.

Thanks to "Ryan Dube" at "MakeUseOf.com" for use of his thoughts!

Deal and job hunting - out of the box. Best "DEAL" and "JOB hunt" search in a long time.

Tink-O-Matic utilizes Craigslist, eBay, and several other search engines to help you find the classified ad that's been eluding you. Whatever you might imagine you'd care to search for, Tink-O-Matic will give you our best shot.

You can select which search engines you want to use, and with time will learn which combinations provide best results for what you seek.

Simple and intuitive, you'll be amazed, as was/am I how well this site will work for you.

Point your browser here: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/symptom-checker/DS00671 - for "Symptom Checker" page.

The Mayo Clinic has for a long time established itself as one of the most trusted names, and facilities, for medial care.

This Mayo Clinic web site, allows one to single-out parts of the body and begin to answer questions that help pinpoint POTENTIAL problems.

This kind of "diagnostic" medical tool can be handy in providing insight into areas for further research, and Q&A with your doctor.

CAUTION: I do hope NO ONE will use this diagnostic research tool to SELF DIAGNOSE, and become panicked assured they are dying.

Hope you find this interesting, and that it aids in generalizing avenues for further study.

Good health to you.

This is a long one, sorry, but one I've been meaning to vent about this for some time. Unless you're really into computer maintenance and Fix-It programs, you might want to sit this review out.

Let me start by framing the point that my "opinions" are based on my experiences, thoughts/ideas shared by friends, and a good deal of research. This review focuses on Glary Utilities, but is, in fact, my opinion of all "Fix-It-All" programs available. So no personal attack Glary?

Glary Utilities is a software 'utility', bundling perhaps ten, or more, individual 'fix-it's' to improve your computer's performance - make it run like new! It will "Optimize And Improve", fix your "Privacy And Security", attend to your "Files And Folders", get your "System Tools" in order, and finally "Clean Up And Repair". Each of these "fixes" has several more sub-options and "fixes". There is a "Lite" or free version (which is perhaps missing some key attractions), and of course for a charge the "Pro" or full version.

The problem I have with Glary, and most all others of its kind, is (A.) the efficacy of all these "fixers", and (B.) putting tools, so very invasive, in the hands of those who really don't have much experience. Many savvy techs will advise you to leave your computer's registry, ALONE. The registry is rather like your computer's 'central filing cabinet’ or 'brain' if you will. It controls the main settings for what your computer is instructed to do, and how. If you jiggle the registry the wrong way, and change, or remove, key registry commands, you could truly cripple your system, or lose it. The only fix then is a reinstall of your OS.

So riddle me this: how safe/smart is it to give a trusting, but unfamiliar user, a terribly invasive program designed to DELETE "unnecessary" registry entries? The stories I could tell (including my own DISASTER tales of registry fixers).

OK, so much for the registry. But the same dynamic of RISK applies to all the other 'jobs' the utility is ready to do for you. What WILL it do to your security, and along with optimization, what will it "Improve? Files And Folders, "corrects the errors in your start menu and desktop shortcuts". Do you know which shortcuts you want to keep, and which, if any, are OK to delete? So how does Glary?

So what is safe? Ask lot of good questions of smart computer people. Trouble is they're not always handy and generally cost a good deal to hire.

I turn to the web sites I can trust for feedback. Trust - takes time to build trust. Here's a starter for you. Lifehackers.com is a well known resource with techs and smart computer people. They have a long history of good advice and fixes that have been around a while, work, and don't break anything. You'll learn a good deal there and also find resources for freeware fixes and options you can trust.

There are more web sites you can turn to but the process is not a quick one. Before a wizened user does a thing, they'll drop into forums and ask the "elders", "any thoughts"? Mostly the feedback will be usable and safe. Unfortunately PATIENCE is the best "fix" you can use.

Almost done. Here's a freeware program you can start with and get to know well. Ccleaner.com (originally known as Crap Cleaner) is one of the handiest tools around. It will clear out all your temp, garbage files (but you STILL have to know WHICH areas to tell it to clean), disable unnecessary items from start-up, even uninstall stubborn unwanted programs. It's also one of the few intelligent registry fixers - period. You can scan your registry without changes, backup existing registry before any cleaning (if you screw-up - UNDO the clean), and for some reasons I'm unaware of, makes better decisions about your registry than most other progs.

There. I've had my say. Be careful of promises that seem, "to good to be true", they generally are. Research and patience will keep your computer running longer, better, with a lot less grief.

ColorJive's own INTRO:

"Paint your home without paint!

You don’t even have to pick up a brush. Paint virtually with Colorjive. We’ve got thousands of colors to choose from.

If you’re wondering whether it’s a good idea to paint your kitchen red, you can test it with Colorjive. It just takes a few clicks. Click here to try it.

You can test-drive Colorjive right away without an account, no questions asked. If you want to save a picture, you’ll need a free account. Signing up only takes a minute."

_This site was actually intended to be an 'add-on' to my report on www.easy2diy.com, where dimensions will AUTOMATICALLY calculate the amount of paint needed. ColorJive is the application that allows you to actually see your living space in any colors you select.Hope this helps!
Ron.

http://tinyurl.com/pp8z9

This particular feature (on www.easy2diy.com) impressed the heck out of me. If your planning on jumping in on some home improvement, and tackling a painting job, this can make things easier.

Point your browser to the "tiny" URL above. You'll find a template which asks room dimensions, number of doors and windows, and will translate that into how many gallons of paint you need.

If that's not handy enough, it will let you compare various color schemes to decide what colors will look best together and on the room.

If you're going to paint, check this out!

I'm not one for online gaming. Most simply don't hold my attention. Submarine 6:the edge" is different. It's a strategy game that tests memory, eye for details, and in my case became addictive.

There are many games you'll find available. I just wanted to point out Sub6 and the web site for FLASH gaming online.
Have FUN!

Per VZOchat.com:

_"CRISP VIDEO QUALITY! With our patented Visicron video codec, we have achieved superior video quality, minimal processor and bandwidth usage in our free VZOchat video chat.

_SAFETY AND PRIVACY. Video chat VZOchat contains no harmful code, no hidden adds, no modules for tracking users. You have total control over the personal data that you share with other video chat users.

_COMMUNITY: Tell the world about yourself and make new friends. Use the blogs and photo albums on our site. Look for people with similar interests. Communicate your preferred way and JOIN our video chat VZOchat community!

_INTEGRATION WITH OTHER WEBSITES: Insert our video chat VZOchat web client into your homepage or blog and stay in touch with your friends!

_STABLE CONNECTION, EVEN THROUGH PROXY AND FIREWALLs.
Special technology allows video chat VZOchat clients to work through any HTTPS/SOCKS proxy, and does not require additional firewall settings for a stable and reliable connection.

And finally: Video chat with up to 120 of your friends in VZOchat!"

I've tried VZOchat and found, for my simple purposes, audio, video and size reproduction rival Skype. That's quite a compliment.

Here's how the site describes itself:

_"How do community members receive information about criminal activity in their neighborhoods? Community members can visit www.CrimeReports.com any time to view crime incident reports for any participating jurisdiction. Based on the type of data the agency chooses to make available, community members can also sign up to receive daily, weekly or monthly email alerts regarding criminal activity and police dispatch calls for service in their neighborhoods. The majority of crime and call incident records are available indefinitely on CrimeReports.com".

_This very handy. I often wonder how my neighborhood 's safety compares to others, especially after a shot of the evening news. Simply sign-up, select the particular 'crimes' you're interested in being alerted to (i.e. theft, assault, quality-of-life threats, etc.), enter your zip code, the activity within a particular radius, and your done.

_You can select a weekly, or daily update so this will not become overwhelming. You can also opt to become part of an active community of those who keep an eye on their neighborhoods if you wish.

The service to citizens is FREE.

"Welcome to Pissed Consumer! Bookmark and Share. The best consumer product reviews and complaints site. Write Review and share opinions about products or services."

It's that simple. A large and very popular (probably second to RipOffReport.com), CONSUMER REPORTING SITE. Register free, write your report detailing your bad-business experience, add photos to support your claim and POST.

Posts appear within an hour (generally less). Another great way to let businesses that practice BAD business you're letting the Internet know!

This is a "user created" database of phone numbers associated with people/businesses that manage to piss-off more than just yourself.

Each time someone has a bad experience with a company, found them RUDE, UNRESPONSIVE, TERRIBLE CUSTOMER SERVICE etc., he/she goes to WhoCallsMe.com,checks the company's phone number to see if others have had similar bad luck. If nothing cames back from your search, you may be the first to comment which might help the next who checks in.

Rather like a BBB by phone number. I ran a couple numbers of businesses I'd had trouble with and two searches came back with others who had upsetting things to report. This will hopefully give you some idea of who you're doing business with - or to check a business BEFORE you use their product/service.

If you miss a call and are curious about who placed it - zap - search the number and see what you find.

If you can’t access your favorite sites at work or college because of a restricted network, make sure to add MailMyWeb to your bookmark arsenal.

Using this online app you can open blocked sites though your email. Once registered, simply send an email to robot@mailmyweb.com with a URL of the site you want to access. Few seconds later you will receive an email with requested page. Read more: MailMyWeb – Open Blocked Sites Using Email!

In short, GetHuman.com is a web site compiling phone numbers (so that you can actually Speak to a PERSON regarding your concern) that are typically hard to find.

It does become an extremely handy repository of numbers you might need to use or might want to at some point (eBay, AT&T, Verizon, Facebook, Apple, Ticketmaster, etc.).

If YOU have a "hard-to-find" phone contact, submit it to the data base so someone else can benefit from your nightmarish search.

UPDATE: Sorry I left a period out of URL in Title. SHOULD BE:
www.gethuman.com.

This isn't going to find you a dating service or the best singles bar. What Goby will do is hunt down anything from the best bed & breakfast, best assortment of family fun, pubs and bars, restaurants, and you name it from there - all in your zip code.

You input three pieces of information on a very simple attractive interface:
1. WHAT you want to do, 2. WHERE (name a city & state or a zip code), and
3. WHEN you'd like to get going.

Each category has a drop-down box to offer most obvious recommendations, but you can certainly type-in your particular interest.

Once you hit 'search', a text frame flashes by as Goby considers your interest and request. It then displays results with name, address, phone, and a thumbnail of each item.

I think you'll be surprised at how well this web site hunts down your interest, and the scope of it's offerings. Check Goby out and see if you don't find it a keeper for finding stuff to do!

www.codealchemists.com/jdarkroom/#features
_______________________________________

Quoting web site, "JDarkRoom is a popular, simple full-screen text file editor with none of the usual bells and whistles that might distract you from the job in hand. If you are writing a speech, novel, essay, thesis or just need to be able to concentrate on your writing, then JDarkRoom may help you.

Features:

* Change your colour preferences, font and font size - via the settings screen
* JDarkRoom remembers the file that you were working on last time
* Support for central-European character sets
* JDarkRoom notifies you if you might have forgotten to save your changes
* Word/line/character count (Ctrl-L)
* Specify a file on the command-line for JDarkRoom to open it at startup
* Text anti-aliasing (where possible)
* Mouse-wheel scrolling
* Adjustable margins to fit any screen resolution (F9 to reset)
* Auto-save backups - so you never lose your work again
* Text search (F7 / Ctrl-F)
* A command-reminder strip can be displayed at the bottom of the screen
* Export to HTML using Markdown".

With a screen recalling the time of DOS, the black screen, and soft green (or choose another color) text, offers a pleasant - non-distracting - environment to concentrate and create.

Dropbox is an useful app for moving files between computers, or keeping a copy of your most important files in the cloud. However, that isn’t all Dropbox is great for; it is also great for helping students keep their files as mobile as they are. There are a myriad of reasons why every student should have Dropbox in their arsenal of study tools.

Switch Between Computers With Ease

Portability is one of the reasons students need a laptop at school. With Dropbox, he/sshe can be stuck at ANY computer, still able to access work from anywhere.

This holds true for those in business and could ease some of the schlepp knowing you can access your files from the "cloud" from your system at home.

I love clouding tools. The program on your system is far lighter (much of it is resting on servers 'somewhere in the world'), and the data is again 'off' your system.

Should your system implode, back-ups and all, one can simply access the data from another system and RESTORE or utilize as need dictates.