Send Season’s Greetings

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So. You have survived Black Friday and you have your Christmas decorations hung. Now it’s time to tackle the Christmas card list. Are you going to continue the quaint custom of sending a real, touchable card that gets a stamp and is sent through the postal service, or are you going to send greetings via email? This week’s column addresses both choices.

I found some links through one of my cyber research sources (Streamings) that showcases all sorts of unusual, clever, or tacky mailbox conversions. If mail carriers passed these every day, no doubt their jobs would be more fun. I can imagine these whimsical mailboxes filled with dozens of Christmas cards. And yet, the snail mail version of seasonal card exchanges appears to be an endangered species. Anyway, enjoy browsing through the links to unusual mailboxes.

I usually receive at least one Christmas card—I’m talking the animated email version—each holiday season. I checked over at About.com and found a list of many, many email card sites devoted to the Christmas season. I reviewed several of them, many I had not known about, and list them for your convenience. Most, but not all of these email card sites have a “free” section of cards, but the idea is to subscribe for a fee to use the service’s best cards. The artists who create the animated or otherwise painterly e-cards deserve to be compensated for their skills. My guess is that many of these artists will see an increase in business as more and more people choose the e-card route to sending season’s greetings to friends and family.

Ugly Mailboxes (http://uglymailbox.com). Blogger Linda takes pictures of intriguing mailboxes and then posts them on her blog. She calls them “ugly,” and true, some are. Others, in my opinion, are very clever works of art. By the way, I like this blog’s banner title, and I’m glad someone has taken the initiative to post a phenomenon that may be extinct fifty years from now.

Sam’s Mailbox Picture Collection (http://sblom.com/mailbox). More fun mailboxes to view.

There I Fixed It (http://thereifixedit.com/tag/mailbox/). You might think this has to do with hardware and tools, but you will be surprised.

Care To Cards (www.care2.com/ecards). Send an e-card and help a nonprofit in the process. Lots of choices of free cards here. (Thanks to Tian for alerting me to this site).

Jacquie Lawson Cards (www.jacquielawson.com). Count yourself lucky if you have received one of her animated e-cards. They are delightful. You can subscribe and send any of your choice for a $12 annual fee. You can send your chosen card to as many people as you want, too.

Spirit Cards (ww.spiritcardcenter.com). Lovely, peaceful, and free. Thanks again to Tian for telling me about this site.

Job Hunting Online

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

For many, finding a job has become one of this year’s biggest challenges. Not being an authority on the subject, I can’t really say how important having access to a computer is to a successful job search. I only can guess, and my guesstimate would be high. Career counselors talk about the importance of preparation for an interview. That includes researching the company, researching current salaries, and so much more. Here is where the internet becomes such an important resource.

Just a few clicks and one can find encyclopedic amounts of information about prepping for an interview. Same goes for the actual job hunt. A handful of job search sites can spew out dozens and dozens of job listings. Surely you’ve noticed that your favorite daily newspaper’s Sunday classifieds have shrunk. That is where access to a computer and internet connection come in. Most libraries have internet access, with the added plus of a reference librarian who can direct you to books (yes, books) that can help, too.

Meanwhile, I’ve attempted to screen a half-dozen or more job websites to help job seekers save time. Here are some alternatives to the biggest names in online searches: Monster, Career Builder, and Hot Jobs.

Simply Hired (www.simplyhired.com). You can search thousands of job boards in one place, thanks to this website. I liked what I saw very much. It gives company descriptions, trends, salaries, and when each job was posted. It also has statistics that can be helpful for those who are broadening their search outside their regional area. Find out what cities are noted for the highest job growth, or lowest unemployment rate, or highest average income. Learn also where the lowest average home costs are, currently. PC Magazine ranked Simply Hired among the Top 100 Job Sites and I can see why. It has the world’s largest job search engine and has data for fifteen countries outside the U.S. Put this among your top five sites. It’s worth checking out.

Indeed (www.indeed.com). Plug in your “what” and “where” and be prepared for a fast response. Try it.

Hound (www.hound.com). Stay away from this website. I say that based on what my Web of Trust (WOT) application from Firefox told me. Hound is supposed to have a poor reputation. Just remember that there are plenty of other job search sites that are more reliable.

Career Journal (www.careerjournal.com). This is the Wall Street Journal’s contribution to an online job search and information site. It is very well done, and chock-full of helpful advice.

Freshjobs (www.freshjobs.com).Its postings are no older than one week old, and that is good to know. However, when I plugged in “Education” in “Indiana” the search came up with zero results. That did not give me much confidence in this site.

Job Search Shortcut (www.jobsearchshortcut.com). Mark this one as a keeper and must-see. It gives you direct links to 720 thousand company job listing pages in 41 metro areas. It saves time going directly to the business’ web site, and you are assured that you have not ended up on some renegade site.

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Ooops! No posting

Sorry, readers. There was no CyberScribbles column in the November 19 Beacher. My fault.

Internet Addiction

Image by Gauravonomics via Flickr

I had been away from my computer for more than a week and I did not miss it. I consider that a good sign. However, I had to find a computer to use to print out my airline boarding pass while I was on vacation. All the fuss made me think about the current state of internet addiction in the United States. I did a little research, and I unearthed the following information.

Winston Ross’ Homeless Brother (www.newsweek.com/id/216911). Ross, who is a reporter for a West Coast newspaper, wrote an article for Newsweek about his brother’s internet addiction. It is an interesting read, and anyone who might be wondering if they—or someone close to them—might be addicted to their computer might want to read the article. Ross’ unemployed, homeless brother lives in a tent. He has use of computers available to him at a nearby university, where he spends ten or more hours a day. In the Newsweek article, Ross stated that China and South Korea have declared internet additiction as their number one public health threat. Can the U.S., among other countries, be far behind? Ross listed intervention resources in his article that can be found on the internet. I checked them out, so read on.

PC Moderator (www.pcmoderator.com). This is an online timer that oversees the amount of time one spends online. It is not available for Apple computers, however. The PC Moderator would come in handy for those who are disciplined enough to log off after setting it to the maximum time for online activities.

Center for Internet & Technology Addiction (www.virtual-addiction.com). Dr. Dave Greenfield, based in West Hartford, CT, has information, including a quiz, to help determine if your online habits create a problem for you. He offers several types of counseling.

Center for Internet Addiction (www.netaddiction.com). This spot has been around since 1995. I liked the abundance of information available here. In addition to a list of signs and symptoms of internet addiction, you will find a number of self tests. They include the IAT (Internet Addiction Test), a quiz for obsessive online gaming, cybersex addiction, compulsive online gambling, online auction addiction, plus a partners addiction test and a parent-child addiction test. The Center for Internet Addiction asserts that one American in eight suffers from problematic internet use.

ReSTART (www.netaddictionrecovery.com/). ReSTART is the first U.S. Rehab facility for internet addiction. This is a 45-day program where clients live in natural surroundings in the Pacific Northwest—coincidentally not too far from Microsoft headquarters. The website gives an overview of the program and views of the grounds, and also provides another addiction survey. The rehab facility, named Heavensfield, has not filled to capacity yet. Maybe they should open a wing for compulsive text messagers and cell phone users.

Identity Fraud (www.myidscore.com). Unrelated to internet addiction, this website is a service of a security company. Answer a few questions and you will receive instantly your id fraud vulnerability score. Scores are from 1 through 999, with the higher numbers showing that one is more susceptible to identity fraud. When you have found your score, you can click on several links for additional information.

The Sixties

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I was watching an informercial featuring Sixties music when the idea came to me to look up websites devoted to that tumultuous decade. I thought it would be easy. It wasn’t until I changed my search to “60’s memories” before anything interesting showed up. Here is what I came up with for the bell-bottomed, tie-dyed, Beatles-loving Make Love Not War generation. It’s nice to know that not all of us tripped out at Woodstock, because we were too busy raising children or engaged with our first jobs, or were sending care packages to relatives and friends in the military.

 

A Sixties Jukebox (http://moreoldfortyfives.com/TakeMeBackToTheSixties.). A big thank you to my friend, Charlotte, who sent me this link. If you don’t want to pay for the set of c.d.’s advertised on television, this might be the next best thing. Listen to Donovan, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, the Beatles (of course), and dozens more of your favorite groups from decades past. If you have sufficient memory on your computer, you can leave the jukebox playing as you surf over to other Sixties websites.

 

60’s Museum (www.60smuseum.org/). Someone from McHenry, IL started this website, but I am not sure if the project is still alive or not. The objective was to have a bricks-and-mortar place somewhere in the Northwest burbs. Despite its lack of updating, this website shows care and quality. It is worth a look.

 

Sixties City (www.sixtiescity.com). This is a British version of the 60’s nostalgia phenomenon. It has less relevance to us stateside because many of the references, outside of the Beatles, are unfamiliar.

 

Woodstock Story (www.woodstockstory.com). There has been a lot of talk about Woodstock this year because 2009 marks the 40^th anniversary of the iconic event. This site is also promoting West Fest (October 25) in San Francisco. Once again, we midwesterners get pushed out of the loop. East coast, West coast, and then there is Willie Nelson’s Farm Aid. I guess that’s the midwest’s nod to the big, big concerts.

 

The Old Hippie’s Groovy Site (http://members.aye.net/~hippie). This site proves that old Hippies never die, they just adjust to new social conditions and take up new causes that need to be addressed. This site is full of rants.

 

Hippydom (http://hippy.com/hippiedom.). This offers a fairly thorough look at Hippie culture, including a large section devoted to the Merry Pranksters—Ken Kesey’s band of tripsters.

 

Jeffs60s (www.jeffs60s.com). Jeff is an ordinary guy who happens to be a writer and graphic artist who has put together a visually interesting look at the day-to-day life of a sixties school child. His collection of memories are fun to read by those of us who lived those years. It answers a lot of those “remember when?” questions.

Halloween

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It happens every year at this time. I go through each calendar month without mentioning anything relevant about it until we get to Halloween. Then, for some reason, I find myself scouring Halloween sites to tell you about. I like to find new ones, when possible, and often the websites I may have cited last year disappear into the land of the lost. My list is not very long this year, so I expanded to include November 1st’s Day of the Dead.

Virtual Carve a Pumpkin (http://carveapumpkin.bhg.com/). Say you want to get into the spirit of Halloween without making a lot of fuss, or mess. Here is your chance to “carve” a pumpkin and show it to the world. You will be given a half-dozen choices each for pumpkin color, eyes, nose, and mouth, and you can combine them in any number of ways. The only downside is that you will have no pumpkin seeds to roast when you’re done.

Extreme Pumpkins (www.extremepumpkins.com). Browse the photo gallery of some amazing, orig carvings here. I have come to dislike those stencil-cut jack-o-lanterns, but these extreme pumpkins are definitely worth taking time to see. There are how-to’s in case you want to tackle a carving project. Good luck.

Pumpkin Gutter (www.pumpkingutter.com). Scott Cummins creates interesting dimensional carvings, plus he provides peculiar and fascinating facts about the orange fruit.

Costume by the Stars (http://astrodispatch.com). Here’s a twist on how to decide what to wear on Halloween. Find out what planet rules your ascendant, and then dress according to that planet. For example, if it’s Mars, you could dress as a warrior. My planet is Neptune, so I might choose some fantasy figure, or just drape myself in yards and yards of a glittery fabric.

Unique Costume Ideas (http://crafts.suite101.com/). Look for a link to “101 Halloween Idieas” and you’ll be all set. You could dress up as a cloudy sky, and all it takes is some cotton balls and a few other items. There are dozens of links to very interesting Halloween websites, so this is a great jumping off point. I found myself on a page describing Halloween coffins, and yes, you can buy several varieties of them for your yard, or party. And if you want more links to pumpkin carving sites, you will find them here.

Day of the Dead (www.inside-mexico.com/featuredead). This site provides a nice description of the celebration that takes place across Mexico. There is a nice folk art gallery, too. You will want to learn more about those sugary confections made to honor relatives and friends who have passed away. Most importantly, you’ll learn that there is nothing macabre about this day of remembrance.

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Links I Like

o here I am, revealing the sources for the many, many wild, weird, interesting and usually dispensible websites I have mentioned over the past few years. Yep. I’m revealing my sources—well, most of them. I can guarantee that you will find at least one of these sites you will want on your list of bookmarks. I am not adding much commentary to the list this week. I hope you will be curious enough to follow the links and discover whole new avenues to explore. Note that many on the list originate as blogs from blogspot.com.

Streamings (http://streamingthings.blogspot.com). Tasteful, refreshing, and new. It just entered the world of the Internet in July. But it has caught my eye and I keep checking back.

Urlesque (www.urlesque.com). What a contrast to Streamings! This site’s main focus is highlighting viral videos and top trends.

Linkfilter (http://linkfilter.net). The site’s administrator wants original posts (from contributors), not something everyone on the ‘net has already seem. Very useful, and intelligent.

Information Nation (http://informationnation.blogspot.com).Graphics make it pretty. Captnkurt, the blogger, does much hasty scribbling, too.

The Daily What (http://thedw.us/). Heavy on video clips, and liberal use of inappropriate language. Not a favorite.

Pop Urls (http://popurls.com). This is an aggregator of Digg, Delicious, Reddit, Flickr, Youtube, Metafilter, and more. The headlines have to grab you in order to get you to click on a link. Over all, the site provides an overview of hot topics running through the online world.

TYWKIWDBI (http://tywkiwdbi.blogspot.com). It’s pronounced “tai-wiki-widbee. Why the strange name? That’s anyone’s guess. The subtitle is “things you wouldn’t know if we didn’t blog incessantly.” The blog owner says that he tries to be the cyberequivalent of a Victorian cabinet of curiosities.

Bifurcated Rivets (http://catless.nd.ac.uk/). The format here confounds me. It’s hit or miss, clicking on links described only as “hah” or “interesting” or “hmmm.” That’s about as descriptive as the commentary gets. But when you bear with it awhile, you can strike gold.

Blog on a Toothpick (http://steveisbored.blogspot.com). Visually very pretty.

Blogadilla (www.blogadilla.com). Love the background wallpaper! This is where I recently found many references to Kanye West’s “imagonnaletyou…”

Buzzfeed (www.buzzfeed.com). This is another big, shiny site. It is the first stop for those who need to know the absolute latest viral web phenomena. If you read it here, chances are you will later see it on the television news.

Bits and Pieces (http://bitsandpieces.us/). Chock full of interesting stuff and a banner that changes daily.

Small Bits and Pieces (http://smallbitsandpieces.blogspot.com). The focus is more on the oddball and bizarre.

There you have it. This is your chance to break away from the mundane and into worlds that can send you deeper and deeper into cyberspace. Get ready to get lost.

A Sea of Trivia

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Once again, I was swallowed up in a sea of trivia as I accessed the “buzz” across the ever-expanding Internet. The term “vast wasteland” came to mind. Then I realized that I needed to hunker down and take responsibility for the time wasters that end up in this column. The places I use as jumping off points to what used to be interesting nooks and crannies will be mentioned here next week. Then, I will be doing some digging to find new jumping off points that lead to some stuff with more depth. I am open to suggestions as to where to begin. Write me with your ideas.

Ima Let You Finish (http://imaletyoufinish.com/). The lesson here is to not find yourself in the position of Kanye West, whose rudeness at the music awards has spawned this global running joke. Sooner or later the site will cease to be popular, as new gaffes by different celebrities will capture the world’s attention. But, you did wonder where the phrase “[he'll] never live it down” came from, right? That was before the Internet and the power of going viral. Some of the examples here are gifts of sharp wit, and others and downright disgusting in their own right. I am not sure what will be happening by the time you read this, but right now the game is to keep coming up with fresh comedic fodder for “Ima let you finish.”

Sexy People Blog (www.sexypeople-blog.com). My first reaction was that the site’s goal was to be mean and snarky. I try to avoid those kinds of sites. But then I realized that the subtitle of the site, “a celebration of the perfect portrait,” was more a commentary on the skills of certain commercial portrait photographers. There is an irony in the naming of this web blog, and as you explore it, you will be paying more attention to backdrops, poses, clothing and timing (usually bad) of the clicking of the lens. These people paid good money for their portraits. They did not get their money’s worth.

Gary Duschl, Gum Wrapper Champ (www.gumwrapper.com). Gary holds the Guinness World Record for the longest gum wrapper chain in existence. Gary is shown on the site semi-wrapped in his creation, which, by the way, consists only of Wrigley gum wrappers. His chain is over 58,000 feet long. To put that in perspective, the chain would cover the length of 194 football fields. Gary began his chain in 1965. He has put in some twenty two thousand hours of work on it, and is not finished. I say that because he welcomes contributions of wrappers (Wrigley only), which he will mark with the donor’s name and make it easy for the donor to locate on the length of the chain. Okay, so you are wondering how much money Gary has spent on gum since beginning this enterprise. Would the figure $90,000 blow you away? It is close to that.

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2012–teaser trailer

2012

Three years and three months from now, people around the globe will be waiting in expectation or dread about the meaning of the Mayan calendar’s completion, for lack of a better word. I first learned a decade ago about the 2012 prophecy from a friend who had been studying Mayan culture for years. I decided to see what the Internet had, information-wise, about 2012, and of course, there is plenty to choose from. My guess is that the number of websites devoted to the targeted 12/21/12 will double as we proceed closer to that date. There are sites worth visiting, and sites worth avoiding on this topic. For those of you who at this point may not have heard anything about the 2012 prophecy, consider these sites an introduction. Everyone on the planet connected to the Internet or to other news sources will have heard of it by the end of the year. The 2012 phenomenon has become a meme, or buzzword. As it grows,you can decide for yourself if the doomsday predictions resonate to your thinking or if you agree with many scientists, who debunk the prophecies.

2012 Predictions (www.2012predictions.net). This web address is somewhat of a misnomer, because there is much more to it than that. I would recommend starting your reading here, since it is a very big directory of links to prophecies and predictions related to that “big year,” and it covers everything from the serious to spoofs. I believe that it offers a really good balance. You may not have to go anywhere else to consume all the information you please. Start with “Meditating on the Mayan Calendar” in the right hand column. That will keep you busy for quite a while.

2012—the Movie (www.cyberscribbles.wordpress.com). Go to my blog –it’s one of several ways to see the trailer—or do a search at YouTube to watch this preview of the movie, which is to be released this November. And, I suppose it was inevitable that Hollywood would exploit this getting-ever-more-famous doomsday prophecy. Here’s how I see Hollywood and others figuring out what sort of entertainment the public wants to consume: do a search (in this case, for 2012, etc.) and see how many pages the engine returns. Also, how many hits have the more prominent sites garnered? The more references and the more hits, the better are the odds for success.

Robert Gleason 2012 (www.robertgleason2012.com/). Was it coincidence, or was some guiding power leading me to this website, which happens to be under the ownership of former Michigan City resident and IU grad Robert Gleason? Actually, friend Charlotte V. shared this link with me. Gleason co-authored Apocalypse 2012 with the late Gary Jennings. The MC native was interviewed recently for a documentary on 2012 that will air on the History Channel later this year. Check your cable programming for date and time..