Academic Earth to Zooborns (A-Z)

I did not want to do a lot of reading this past week, so most of the websites I visited were of the visual kind. It is no problem finding websites with lots of pictures and very little commentary, and they appear to be the most popular, whether x-rated or for general audiences. Call it the dumbing down of Internet users. Despite the visual appeal of the sites I mention this week, some might even raise your I.Q a point or two.

Academic Earth (www.academic earth.org). The website is in its trial run (beta), making a catalog of video lectures from the world’s top scholars. These videos are free for the watching. The goal of this website is “to give everyone on earth access to a world class education.” The cynical side of me says that there will be few takers among the majority of surfers. But I applaud the objectives of Academic Earth and it sure is nice to know that no child or adult need be left behind thanks to this site’s efforts. The lecturers on the videos discuss anything from physics to English literature and they teach at such hallowed institutions as Princeton, Stanford, Berkeley, Harvard, Yale and MIT. Now there is no excuse for not learning something new.

Zooborns (www.zooborns.com). I am almost embarrassed to be typing this web address after the regal website I just mentioned above. Zooborns brings viewers the “newest and cutest exotic animal babies from zoos and aquariums around the world.” No deep thinking is involved, just looking and maybe saying, ‘aw shucks, isn’t he cute?’ My faves are the baby giraffe and baby camel. There is a newborn hippo also, which zoo staff named Paula. Hmmm. But it is cute.

Photojojo (http://photojojo.com). You can get more out of your digital camera when you sign up for the Photojojo newsletter or log onto this site. It offers plenty of free tips for using the scads of photos you take. Make your own presents and save money, too. Worth a look.

Style Substance Soul (www.stylesubstancesoul.com). This spot in internet land is reserved for women. I found myself clicking links and liking most of what I saw. Especially nice is the link to click-a-day charity sites, all on one page to make it easy to contribute. Also nice was a link to www.yellowpagesgogreen.org, where you can opt out of receiving those unsolicited telephone books. Look around, ladies. This just might be the kind of place you have been searching for.

Still Tasty (www.stilltasty.com). Imagine a website devoted to telling you how long your favorite foods will stay fresh and safe after you’ve bought them. This is a handy reference with additional tips on how to prolong certain food’s shelf life.

Secret Fun Spot (www.secretfunspot.com). Here’s an invitation to travel back in time and indulge in nostalgia. From cereal prizes to “Krazy ad characters,” the images will make you remember the good old days. I found the link bringing me to the Secret Fun Spot from another goofball site, http://theimaginaryworld.com/. Be prepared to waste too much time around either of these places. Then you will become one of those slackers I referred to in my blurb about Academic Earth (above). Unless you consider browsing through the secret fun spot as part of a world class education.

Smash Plates, Spring Clean, and Tweet About It

I had a recent Twitter experience. The currently fashionable twitter.com added me to its legions of followers. Not on its own, but here I admit that I opened an account there after reading a favorable review in the New York Times online. I wanted to be “with it.” My first post was something like, “testing this out for now,” or something close to that. I made one additional post and then shifted my attention to other places on the Web. And I’ve not been back. Seems I lost my login and password information. Plus, I have nothing else to say to add to those Twitter posts. I don’t see how others get things done in the real world if all they are doing is twittering or tweeting or whatever they call it. I have accepted being “out of the Twitter loop.” I’d rather spend my time roaming freely around the internet and telling you about some of my latest finds. Here is this week’s list:

Sarah’s Smash Shack (www.smashshack.com). If you need a dose of anger management after thinking about AIG’s bailout or something just as irritating, head to the smash shack and break something. This is a bricks-and-mortar place located around San Diego. I would not be surprised if the concept became a franchise operation. For a fee, you can purchase wine glasses, plates, vases, glass ashtrays and much more to hurl at a specially-constructed wall. You’ll be wearing a safetly helmet and if you remembered to bring your Ipod, you can turn up the volume while you watch glass shatter within the smash room. It might be more fun to participate with like-minded friends. You could ring up quite a bill purchasing the available breakable items, or you are allowed to bring your own breakables from home (a list of exclusions is on site). I would love to try this out and will wait for someone to pay my way to San Diego to test the Smash Shack concept and report back to readers. By the way, Sarah and her partner give group discounts for police, firemen, persons in the military, and for senior citizens.

How to Clean Stuff (www.howtoclearnstuff.net). On the heels of Sarah’s smashing operation, we have a website that helps readers learn to clean old photos, leather purses, and get rid of fruit flies. I was disappointed with this website because it did not have very many tips. I was hoping to bring you a list of a whole bunch of cleaning sites since we are officially welcoming spring, but it was too nice outside and I got distracted. I figured you would get distracted, too.

Satinbox (www.satinbox.com). If you are a regular reader of this column, you know that I just finished a two-week series on coupons and frugal living. Satin Box is the other side of the coin. Its tagline is “Live in Style, Give in Style.” In other words, spend plenty on stuff that you or someone else could most likely live without. Starting with toilet paper in shades of turquoise, orange, red, or black. Or, how about a set of three gingerbread men cookie cutters, “Already been Chewed.” The set includes one headless, one armless, and one legless gingerbread man for $9. Here’s an idea: call me up when you’ve finished baking your ordinary gingerbread men and I will come over and chew up the heads, arms and legs for a bargain rate or for gas money, whichever is more. Now that’s a deal!

Another Twitter enrollee

Yep. You can find me on twitter. I don’t know what I’m doing there, and so far, you won’t find many updates. Stay here and read, because if you follow this link you will be bored.

This is the temp i.d. for twitter that did not upload.

Back to Dis-Order

Just when you think I’ve spoiled you by presenting four weeks’ worth of websites in actual categories, I’ve reverted to my old trick of previewing sites that have no discernable connection between them, except for me visiting them. I hope you find something interesting and enjoyable to scroll through as you consider this week’s lisitings.

Lovely Listing (www.lovelylisting.com). We’re talking real estate when we read, “It’s Lovely, I’ll Take It.” Except that the real estate listed for sale has a major handicap (or two). The photos that accompany the property for sale will make a prospective buyer run away. Some of the pictures posted here are hilarious. How about a dwelling with ready-made gang graffitti gracing the kitchen cabinets? Or a gigantic mural of a bikini-clad sunbather on a bedroom wall? The sample pictures from French real estate postings shown here all have people posing for the picture. You can access random weird photo listings or pick a state or country to browse through its “lovely listings.” This is a fun way to waste time, and for folks working in real estate, a lesson in how not to advertise a listing. Don’t worry, though. The real estate people who provide the Beacher with listing photos know how to do things the right way.

The Quilt Index (www.quiltindex.org).Our area is home to many serious quilters, and they may or may not know about this website. For anyone who admires, aspires, or already engages in the art of quiltmaking, you owe it to yourself to check out the collections here. The website, developed by the Alliance for American Quilters, lets you search its index in several ways: by quilt style, by region, by quiltmakers, and more. The quilts on display here come from several museums. The time periods for the quilts and their makers go back centuries and also feature contemporary works. The Quilt Index is a work in progress, and it will have demos, templates, and online instructions at some point.

Write Rhymes (www.writerhymes.com). Forget the rhyming dictionary. Just access this site and type in a line of words. Double click on the word you want to rhyme and the site will generate a list of one-, two-, and sometimes even three-syllable words for you. Pretty nifty, and certainly a terrific resource for poets and rappers (notice that I put them in separate categories). The word, “word” gave me bunches of choices. And try as I might, I could not get any answers for “orange.” What’s also nice is that you have save, copy and print options for your finished poem.

Criminal Searches (www.criminalsearches.com). Still in beta, this site gives you the potential to do your own criminal background checks free of charge. From the feedback of users, the results are hit or miss, so I would not rely on anything you find here 100%. Better to do some additional research if you want to know more about a potential babysitter or caregiver, a locksmith or hedge fund manager.

Small Bits & Pieces (http://smallbitsandpieces.blogspot.com). Just another place to waste a little time or gather fodder for some water cooler conversation. This is a photo-rich blog of “strange and unusual” news.

Staying Smart About $$

The last two week’s columns featured websites that provide coupons, freebies, rebates and the like. This week we explore personal finance sites. But before we do that, I want to spread the word about two events you might be interested in. First, the Michiana Area Computer Society (MACS) has a meeting coming up on March 16 at 7pm at Ivy Tech on Franklin. The computer club is open to all enthusiasts of any level and serves to offer helpful information to computer users. The group usually meets monthly. The second bit of news is about our town’s very own City’s Pure Ice. Bud Lies and his crew have been up in Fairbanks, Alaska participating in Ice Alaska’s World Ice Art Championships. The competition began in mid-February and runs through March 22, and much of the action can be viewed online at www.icealaska.com. Find Bud and crew’s entry under the “multiblock class.” The website has still photos from current and past years, plus webcams of the participants. You can see Bud and his teamates Alfred Arroyo, Stan Horn and John Crumpacker on their entry, “Vision” at site 21. They are the only entries representing Indiana. They are competing against teams from China, Russia, France, Alaska, Pennsylvania, and other places. Have a look.

Wise Bread (www.wisebread.com). I found this to be a good place to launch my review of various blogs filled with advice about personal finance. The links are very good, but then the site is also good for learning all manner of what I will call money-handling strategies. The categories are broken down into Frugal Living, Career & Income, Life Hacks, Deals and Coupons, and Personal Finance.

Bargaineering (www.bargaineering.com). It did not take long for me to become immerserd in some of the articles archived here. I’m guessing this blogger is college age or thereabouts, because he mentions how dumpster diving in the dorm lead to a profitable side income. Another article was about the Fine Art of Line Drying Laundry. I am an expert at that one, and live where no one tells me I cannot hang laundry outdoors. Been doing it for years and have no intention to stop. Anyway, I liked the ease of reading this blog.

Credit Karma (www.creditkarma.com).Advice I learned from one of the blogs mentioned above led me to this site, which purportedly gives you your credit score free of charge. I did not plug in my info to check it out, but I understand that the score you receive is not quite the same as FICO—just close enough. For your credit report, use www.annualcreditreport.com and scroll and read carefully. They tell you that you can obtain it online with just the last four digits of your social security number, but it did not work for me. You have other options—including writing for it or phoning online. Make sure you are ordering the free ones, unless you want to take them up on other offers that will cost you a little. Do not use freecreditreport.com unless you are prepared to pay, because the website’s name and url is misleading.

Thrifty Tips from Bloggers

It’s nice to know that the Internet provides us with helpful people willing to share their methods of saving money by using coupons, watching for rebates, scouring the ‘Net for freebies, and letting us in on their secrets. It is far from gauche to use coupons these days. In fact, I’ve listened to people brag about their thrifty new habits. Dozens of bloggers have chosen to write about how to save a buck. Many of these people are what I consider real pros—they know when and where the deals are and know how to play the coupon game. You could spend a whole day checking out various blogs, but I’ve done that for you. You will be amazed at what these savers have learned, and are willing to share.

If you are serious about saving money at the grocery, at other brick-and-mortar stores as well as online, you need to set up a new email account dedicated to coupon offers and freebies and such. You can get a free account at yahoo or hotmail. That way, your regular email account will not be bombarded with spam. The second tip is to get a VOIP phone number, free online. One such place is www.k7.net. Several bloggers discuss how to avoid email spammers and unwanted phone calls by setting up these kinds of accounts. Look for links from some of the sites I mention this week.

Tips from a Mom of 3 (http://tipsfromamomof3.blogspot.com). I am starting with this blogger because she provides a glossary of abbreviations necessary to understand the coupon culture’s lingo. It took me awhile to discover Tips from a Mom before I could figure out what BOGO means (buy one get one free). And many other confusing terms. So start here, browse around, then follow the links to other blogs. Another nice feature of this blog is the list of birthday freebies.

Smart Source (www.coupons.smartsource.com). Anyone who subsribes to a Sunday newspaper is probably familiar with this name. It is an insert with lots of coupons and other offers. Those of you who do not subscribe or purchase a Sunday paper, but want to collect coupons can get them online at this site. The coupon bloggers’ shorthand for Smart Source is ss. It’s a no-brainer once you learn the lingo.

Bargain Briana (http://bargainbriana.com). What I like is that Briana lists the week’s upcoming sales (at stores such as K Mart, Walgreens, CVS, etc) and tells you which current coupons to use to score big savings. In other words, she does a lot of the work for you. She tells you which coupons come from newspaper inserts and others available online, usually with a direct link to that coupon. I found this blog extremely helpful.

Cashbaq (www.cashbaq.com). If you are an altruistic giver who uses an online service that gives a certain percentage of its sales to a charity of your choice( eg.: egive.com), then pat yourself on the back and read no further. If you are a shopper who is interested in getting some money back, rebate style, this is the place for you! Sign up and receive anywhere from 2% on up for stuff you buy.

Oh, my. I see that I am running over again this week. I’ll save the remainder of my finds for next week’s column. Meanwhile, start clipping those coupons!