Wonderling

I tried to resist

I've been a blackberry user for the last year and a half and I can't say that I ever wanted an iphone. The blackberry is just too wonderful. But now that almost everyone I know has an ipod I've seen some applications that are absolutely amazing and blackberry just doesn't have anything like them. However.....I don't think I need anymore technilogical gadgetry to push me further and further into hermitdom, so I'll resist a bit longer. 

If I DID get an iphone I'd want these apps...

Fourtrack recorder:

By Sonoma Wire Works

QuickBank

By Ractor

Trapster

Available for free at the App Store

How to get free stuff (and other money saving ideas)

It seems that free stuff is always too good to be true. That there's a catch. You have to sign up for something and call in 30 days to cancel or they charge your credit card, you have to visit 12 sponsor sites, your email inbox turns into spam central, etc. Well, I've spent the morning checking out some websites that are all about free stuff and here's what I found.

The good:

gogoshopper.com: freebies listed by category. The links usually take you right to the free sample page and none of the sites required you to enter credit card info. The only downside is that a lot of the offers had expired.

justfreestuff.com: a lot of the same deals as gogoshopper, but with occasional commentary about the link. Also broken down by category and also a lot of expired offers.

Walmart: yes, we are supposed to dispise walmart, but I think we can suspend our hatred just long enough to get some free samples every so often. These offers are current and ever changing. They are also extremely easy to get. All you have to do is enter your mailing info into the walmart site (not into all the different vendors sites)to get your samples.

mygrocerydeals.com: this was my favorite of all the sites I checked out today. I'm putting myself on a strict food budget and this will help immensely. You enter your email address and zip code, then pick your favorite grocery stores. When you log in the site displays all of the sale items from your "preferred" store with sale end dates and even the option to add items to a printable grocery list! It will also tell you if a coupon is needed to get the sale price.

gutenberg.org: project gutenberg is a website devoted to online books, as in whole, complete books. Not just snippits or sections, but the whole thing. There aren't a lot of new books in the database, but there are plenty of great not-new books to read. There are also audio books and even sheet music!

opensourcefood.com: if you haven't been to this site, you are missing out. It's full of amazing recipes that all have photos! I have a hard time wanting to try recipes that I can't see first (I'm a visual person!). You can browse other user submitted recipes or submit your own. Not only that but the website is really user-friendly and the recipes are fantastic!

The not-so-good:

startsampling.com: there were a few coupons. not anything I would have wanted to buy anyway and only one actual free sample of powdered lemon juice.

myfree.com: a lot of links to free stuff that you could find for free on your own very easily (recipes, "ideas", jokes, health and fitness tips). also sweepstakes notices....I'm really not a fan of online sweepstakes.

freebiesgalaxy.com: the freebies that I would have liked were all linked to "try 2 of these silver offers" websites.

There are endless "freebie" websites online. These are just the few that I took the time to try this morning. I have a "junk mail" email address that I used to register with the sites and I highly reccommend having one if you're going to delve into the world of online free stuff.

Digi-TV

The other day I checked my mail, expecting a book I ordered from Amazon to be there, but no! Instead there was my long-awaited digital converter box coupon!! I honestly thought it would never come...that it was all a sham. So I called Circuit City to see if they even had any (I haven't heard of anyone getting one yet) and they said they'd just gotten a shipment in that morning. I raced down there, flashed my coupon and 19.99 dollars later I was walking out with my new converter box.

I had no idea what it was going to do. I thought I would just get the same channels that I got before, but a couple more PBS stations. To my surprise there were many more channels than expected (most stations have at least two...the christian station has 5, which is a bit much I think...please. who watches that?!). My favorite channel is PBS "create". seriously, all my favorite PBS shows on all the time?! fantastic.  And to top it all off you get a menu, display (info about the show you're watching) and all these customization options...almost as if you have cable, but for free!

I know it's sad to be gushing about TV, but the whole thing seemed to be such a myth, a tale, a fantasy that I really didn't think it would happen and certainly didn't think it would be as nice as it is.

kill two birds with one stone

This wi-fi umbrella from The Sharp Edge not only takes pictures, but stores them on flikr so you can watch your photostream as you walk in the rain. via popgadget

Is this going too far?

I'm usually the first one to applaud technological advances and I have no problem with research using animals (this may be because I work in a department that does animal testing and I see not only the results, but also the strict policies that must be followed). However, when I saw this my stomach started churning.

This is a blood powered tattoo. Yes, blood powered. I have to admit as gross as that particular aspect sounds, it's not what bothers me about this (in fact I think it's really amazing that our blood can power electronic things). The part that bothers me most is the whole 'touchpad on your arm'. I mean...just think about typing in someone's cellphone on your forearm. ew. via trendinsiders

Noodles and Cords

I've been swamped at work and the internet at my house has decided that it will work with all the computers except for mine, which is why there was no post yesterday and why today's post is rather lame-ish.

One project I'm itching to get started on is cooking Ramen. Yes, Ramen. At the Ramen home page you will find all sorts of recipes that feature Ramen. I was skeptical at first, but they all sound really good!(thanks Adam)

So in the 10 seconds that I've had to look at my favorite blogs I found this. I've seen the whole "toilet paper roll/cord organizer" before, but what a wonderful idea to cover it with pretty paper/fabric! via CRAFT

Just not my day

Saturday I finally got out to Molalla to buy the blue panasonic bike that was calling to me. Sunday I bought lights and reflectors and I am now officially ready to join the masses of bikers in Portland. I have to admit, riding the bike was a bit scary at first. It was a lot wobblier than the horrid mountain bike I was riding and the wheels are larger so turning tight corners (which I am not good at as it is!) is a bit harder. But, the ride is much easier and the gears actually shift when you want them to!

So with my exciting weekend behind me this is how my day has gone so far:

This morning I was ready early and had plenty of time to catch the early bus to work. Unfortunately, the early bus never came. It was swallowed into a black hole somewhere, hopefully with no passengers on it. I had wanted to get to work early to leave earlier, but it wasn't going to happen today.

Once I got to work I sat down, turned on my computer and.....black screen with a cursor flashing. hum. I decided it was time for coffee. I figured out that the boot order had been changed and the computer was trying to boot from the CD drive. While explaining this to the IT guy he discovered that my OS was out of date. 2 hours later I was upgraded and running smoothly. 10 minutes later I was staring back at the black screen with that blinking curser mocking me.

I had to move to a different computer where I am not able to freely roam the web, so this will be my posting for the day. I know it's lame and not exciting, but it's all I've got.

'spaghetti incident' problem resolved

That mess of cords, usually at your feet, that consist of computer cables, chargers, usb gadgets and what have you. That is what we call the "spaghetti incident". There are plenty of crafty ways to deal with this issue, but I have yet to see one so small and so sleek! I want one. via gizmodo

exactly what I needed this morning

So now you can order your grande-double-mocha-soy-latte from your iphone ahead of time. Skipping that horrific line all together. It was only a matter of time wasn't it? via bookofjoe

start the morning right

This HAS to be the most ridiculous thing I've ever seen, but I know several people who will be elated to know of it's existence. Soda on the bottom, nuggets in the top. The lazy man's way to eating unhealthy! via Gizmodo