Connecting Blog

Where do you go to find out about something? Is there a certain place you check to read about history or the latest breaking news? Do you have a laptop you keep handy or using one of the cool new netbooks to stay informed? Do you rely on others to keep you posted on the latest current events in the world? What exactly would you call your number 1 source to the outside world? Is it the cell phone that’s your most prized possession and the thing that gives you the most information?

Information in the 21st century is very important. Just look at Google and the empire they have created. The Google company hasn’t invented anything new; nor have they cured any diseases or figured out a way to turn water into wine. All Google does is provide people with information and it’s made them a multi billion dollar company. Who would have thought that could happened 100 years ago or even 25 years ago. We have came a long ways and a big reason why is the amount of information that is at our fingertips. If we can stay informed about key things like the weather, then it helps us to plan our days better. Everything we need to know is out there, it’s just a matter of stream lining it to ourselves.

Can anyone remember when a cashier would check a sticker price on a item you was buying and then ring it in to the cash register? I think most of the younger generation doesn’t remember these days. We now have barcodes on most products we see in a store. The codes get scanned by barcode scanners and this feeds a lot of useful information into the cash register. The most obvious piece of information we see from our side of the counter is the price for that product. The store can use this to determine their inventory levels and how many items are left in the store. The stores could also retrieve other valuable information that may come in handy. When new items get shipped into the store, they are scanned in. It first registers as a product in stock. Once a consumer buys the product, it is then scanned out and the item is no longer listed in stock. It’s the small things like this in technology, that has decreased the amount of time we spend in a supermarket. I just wish more stores would offer more scan checkers throughout the store, so customers could check the prices before they buy it, if they are not sure about the cost.

Yahoo’s Top 10 Searches for Today

1. Port-au-Prince

2. John Travolta

3. Edgar Allan Poe

4. The Tonight Show

5. Taylor Swift

6. Massachusetts Senate

7. Jay-Z

8. Robert B. Barker

9. U.S. Figure Skating

10. Chrysler Recall

No big surprise to see Haiti still in the news. Today is the 1 week anniversary of the awful 7.0 earthquake that struck off their coast last Tuesday. A massive rescue and clean up effort is still underway and people are still struggling in Port-au-Prince and in other areas of Haiti. We will probably continue to hear about Haiti and their earthquake for the remainder of the 2010 year. John Travolta that appears 2nd on the list at Yahoo keywords for today is also Haiti related. John Travolta and other stars are trying to put their footprint on the relief efforts in Haiti.

The other big news story for today is in Massachusetts. A huge turn out for the voting in that state as they try to replace the late Ted Kennedy and his seat in the Senate. The reason this political race has become so popular is due to the healthcare bill that President Obama is trying to get passed. It’s not a good bill and hopefully the residents of Massachusetts will vote Republican, so they can stop this bogus healthcare bill the Government is trying to force down our throats. Scott Brown is the man we need to win and if he can defeat Martha Coaxley in this heated senate race in Massachusetts, we can take one step closer to putting a stop to this health care bill. Today’s election in Massachusetts is not about democrats or republicans, it’s a battle for the American people and forcing more fees and taxes on us. We need to fight for a smaller government and not a larger one.

The Tonight Show is on Yahoo for the debate between Conan and Jay Leno for the Tonight Show’s time slot. Some signs are coming out today that NBC might be planning to return Jay Leno back to his regular spot. This would not be a good choice for NBC and they will pay if they remove Conan O’Brien from the slot he has worked for and the one Jay Leno didn’t want 5 years ago. No one wanted to see Leno in prime time and they certainly don’t want to watch Jay Leno at bedtime.

If you’re experiencing a cold winter right now; then you’re not alone. There are a lot of people with temperatures at or below the freezing mark, as Mother Nature gives us her best winter impersonation. All of this cold weather really isn’t good for our automobiles. Cranking a car in below freezing temperatures is not good on the engine parts or the car’s battery either. If you don’t have to go out or drive; then avoid cranking your car in this current cold spell. If you come home and plan to make a trip back out in a few hours; then try to crank your car every 30 to 45 minutes, so you can keep the car warm until you have to go back out. This will help to save the life on our battery and the other auto parts that get affected by cold weather starts. Ferrari parts and luxury car parts are not cheap. The owners of expensive cars will want to avoid driving as less as possible. Try to keep your trips to a minimum right now and if you have to go out, make sure to only make 1 trip a day. If we can make a few small sacrifices now, we will still have a healthy car to drive, when the temperatures do go back up again. Stay safe while driving and please stay warm and don’t forget to keep a cold weather emergency kit in your cars, in case you do break down this winter season.

It’s no big surprise that Americans watch more TV than any other country in the world. Our lifestyles and the fact that most U.S. homes have a television is probably the reason we are at the top of the charts. I know I like to watch TV and probably spend 40 hours at least each week watching television. I have to see my sports and I can’t afford to buy tickets and see them play in person. TV makes it affordable for sports fans like me to follow their favorite professional or college teams. If my local high school played their football and basketball games on TV; then I would be watching them too.

Movies is another reason that causes so many Americans to build up time in front of the tube. Since Hollywood is the leading place in the world to make movies, it’s only reasonable to think they would be producing movies that U.S. citizens wanted to see. I would have never guessed the 2nd leading country when it comes to viewing TV. It seems the people living in Turkey like to watch their TV sets almost as much as we do in the USA. The next countries, after the USA and Turkey, in order from greatest to least would be Italy, Belgium, Japan, Spain, Portugal, and Australia. It’s interesting to see that the UK, Canada, or China are not listed high on this list. I would have guessed these countries. Perhaps they have other entertainment or longer work hours is the reason they don’t view TV as much as the rest of us do.

If you think about it, we do watch a lot of television each day. A typical person might watch 30 minutes of the news before and after work for 1 hour. They will probably watch a 1 hour prime time show or a couple of 30 minute sitcoms to add another hour on to their total. If the typical person watches a movie or a sporting event that same day; then that would be at least 2 more hours you could chalk up each day. This would be about 4 hours for the average person and if you leave the TV on as you go to sleep, you start to get near that 5 hours a day mark. 5 hours each day in a 7 day week is 35 hours of TV viewing per week. Most will hit that 40 hour mark and beyond when the weekend comes and they lay around the house watching TV on Saturday or Sunday. I think it’s a safe guess that most Americans watch 40 hours of TV each week and I might actually be over the 50 hour amount in my TV viewing habits.

How much TV do you think you watch each week? Please give me a daily or weekly amount and also state what country you’re from? Let’s see if the USA and Turkey are the two leading countries when it comes to the most watched television.

There is something new in technology that deals with anitvirus and antispyware programs and this is long over due. Finally someone developed a protection plan that is effective and doesn’t take up a lot of memory. Most of the things out now take up a great deal of resources on your computer and can cause your computer to run much slower; even though it is “protecting your computer“. Sunbelt Software has figured it all out and they have produced a new antivirus software that protects your PC from viruses, spyware, and even has an advanced anti-rootkit that helps to protect your computer too. You get all of this protection and more without compromising any memory, storage, or resources that might cause your computer to run slower. One affordable price for a anti-spyware and anti-virus program that works in a way no other products can. PC users will be getting maximum protection without the maximum costs.

This latest software from Sunbelt Software is also good for those email threats. There is a lot of bad stuff that gets transferred from our emails to our computer systems and some sort of email protection is a must these days. You will get that protection with this latest software. It’s also going to protect your computer from malware and this is another thing your computer needs protection from in the 21st century. The list goes on and on for all the bad things that can infect your computer systems. The guys from Sunbelt Software believe they can protect you from most of these threats (if not all); when you order and install their Vipre Antivirus and Antispyware program. All of this protection; while your computer speed will stay the same or perhaps improve when you get rid of some of this junk that is currently on your computer system. You probably have a antivirus, antispyware, and a root kit remover on your PC now. You can get rid of these programs and take advantage of the new technology that has emerged for virus protection.

As long as people remain up to no good, there will be a need for programs that remove spyware, hijackers, trojans, viruses, and all the other things we try to avoid while surfing on the World Wide Web. Computer protection is a big industry these days and we need for it to be. It’s important that someone is always willing to stay one step ahead of the bad guys online. It looks like the folks from Sunbelt Software is our knight in shinning armour and they have the awards to prove it. If you do decide to try this antivirus and antispyware program for your computer, you don’t have to worry about those yearly automatic credit card charges. You just pay when you need the protection and Sunbelt Software will provide you with that protection!

There are a lot of us that have some pretty important things stored on our computer systems. We would be lost without some of these files or pictures and replacing them might be impossible. If you have files, pictures, or other types of information like this stored on your computer, you may want to back them up. If you use an online backup service, you will be prepared for accidental deletions and other accidents that can occur to this valuable information. I have learned my lessons in the past and now I make sure I have a back up or some way of retrieving the information; if it gets lost on my computer or gets erased. I have seen sudden power outages erase everything on a computer before. I think things have changed a bit since then and it’s not as easy for these types of accidents to happen. However, there are a million and one other ways that precious information can get gone and this is why everyone should use some form of a online backup company.

After all, it was humans that created the GPS systems and there is bound to be a lose screw or flaw here and there.

Your TV or lcd monitor is something that can collect a lot of dust and dirt. Keeping them clean is important and knowing how to clean them too. They give us such a sharp and crisp picture and if you want to continue getting that great picture, we need to keep them clean. Using a dish rag is not the best way to clean a television screen or your computer monitor. This can cause you to scratch your monitor’s sensitive surface. A scratch or a little dirt can be an eye soar for the person that has to look at that monitor or TV screen. You can find things that are specially designed to clean these fragile surfaces. It’s a real soft cloth that won’t scratch your monitor and this is the best way to clean it. Make sure to not use any soap or cleaning products on the soft cloth. You may need to add a little water to get rid of the really tough dirt or stains that have collected on your screens. Make sure it’s just a little water and you only need to dampen your soft cloth. Make sure no water is dripping from the cloth when you do go to clean your TV or computer screens. Doing this once a week is a good way to keep your monitors clean and keeping users from having to look through a dust-filled screen.

Do you keep up with the latest tech gadgets coming out each day? Which new gadgets in technology do you use the most these days? An Imprinted jump drive or something else for our computers can help improve our experiences online or the way we use our computers. Many people use their computers to conduct business or manage their finances on. The computer is one of the greatest technologies we have seen over the last couple of decades and it’s hard to imagine life without them now.

A good web hosting company these days will provide a solid server on their end and allow their members to use a good supply of bandwidth. I’m dumb when it comes to a lot of these hosting issues. I’m not sure how a server manufacture like rackmount might be better than other companies in this industry. I don’t always follow the bandwidth numbers on my websites and if I might be wasting any each month. My current hosting company does provide me with a lot of bandwidth each month and I never come close to using it all up. I don’t think it works like cell phone minutes and this unused bandwidth will roll over like it does with your cell phone company. I wish it would work that way, so if my traffic does start soaring through the roof, I will have the extra bandwidth needed. No webmaster wants to see their website go down and especially when it’s due to the server being over loaded or you just ran short on bandwidth. If you’re currently working with a website that is gaining popularity on the World Wide Web; then you may want to consider changing over to a new server. It may be a little bit of a hassle now to do that, but it will be a lot worse if you wait too long. You could lose loyal followers or customers to your website, if they ever see it go offline for any period of time. Just be sure to email or send a message to your member base; if you do have that option available with your website. I have been lucky to avoid these server and bandwidth issues to this point (knock on wood).

How do you currently watch television at home? Do you have a cable TV setup at your house or do you use one of the satellite TV companies? We use to have cable at our house, but then I seen how you could get more channels with satellite television and for a cheaper price, so we made the switch to a satellite dish. More channels for a cheaper price is one of the big advantages to having a satellite dish.

They are some downsides to satellite TV, but I think they are minor compared to the money you save each month. If a bad storm comes into your area, you can lose a signal for a short time and this isn’t fun when you’re watching a good movie or a big sporting event on TV. We always turn off our televisions anyway when it is lightning real bad outside, so this really isn’t that big of a deal to us. If you don’t mind losing your television for short periods of time during bad storms; then you can watch a lot more channels with satellite TV compared to the channels cable TV offers.

I’m not sure how the cable service runs in your area or what channels they do provide. I know in my area you can get about 80 channels on a basic cable subscription and this will run you about $75 a month. That same 75 dollars could get you 3 times the amount of channels on satellite television. Granted that a lot of those channels are in Spanish or infomercial channels, but you still get double the quality channels with satellite TV. We have 250 channels with our current satellite package we get each month. We have the highest package you can get with satellite without getting the paid movie channels. Now we do get some movie channels with our current package. We get 8 Encore Channels that show good movies and two versions of The Movie Channel. We get IFC and the FOX Movie Channel too and these are about a dozen really good channels for seeing good movies on. We get ESPN, ESPN 2, ESPN News, ESPN U along with FOX and SportSouth as our sports channels. Some basic cable packages don’t offer the Hallmark Channel or the Lifetime Movie Channel (different from the regular Lifetime channel) and we get both of these channels with our current satellite package.

Now you can save money and choose a lesser satellite TV package and go for one that has 100 channels. This route still gets you about 10 or 20 channels more for viewing and you would probably save 20 to 30 dollars each month; compared to those that spend $75 a month for a basic cable package. I think the few minor setbacks you have with satellite far out weigh the durability you can find with cable. This is my opinion and I”m glad I have 250+ channels for the less than $80 we spend each month on television. I know prices will vary from one area to another, but if you’re still watching TV with a cable connection, you might want to see what the 2 major satellite companies are offering in your area. We also get a DVR on two of our televisions and this works great for pausing live TV or recording programs to watch later on. Please feel free to let me know why cable TV is better than satellite; if you are indeed a cable TV fan.

The modern horror movies do have some nice technology these days, but the human mind still can’t be beat. The people that create these Saw movies are certainly using their brains to show us some things in horror movies we have never seen before. Have you had a chance to watch any of the Saw movies yet? These are thrillers and will probably have you closing your eyes from time to time as you see some of these gruesome scenes.

I think the first Saw movie was great and wasn’t that impressed with the 2 that followed it. I have recently watched Saw IV or Saw 4 and thought it was a really good movie. I haven’t watched Saw 5 yet, but now I am hearing that Saw 6 is coming to theaters soon. How soon, you ask? Well the latest Saw movie is part 6 and it will start in theaters on October 23 of 2009. The late October release for Saw VI is perfect timing for the Halloween holiday that is fast approaching. I’m sure Saw VI will do real well at the movies on October 23rd and that weekend; since this is the time of the year we like to get scared.

How many Saw movies have you seen? They are 5 Saw movies that are already out and you can catch up on them now; while you wait for Saw 6 to come out. People either love or hate these Saw movies, but they are certainly different from your typical horror movies. It can sometimes be a bit trivial, but it is awesome to see how they create some of these death scenes.

The pattern of the Saw movies has been duplicated by other movie directors. I have seen two other movies that were very similiar to the Saw formula for dealing with their victims. It does get old sometimes, seeing how some Hollywood movies get their ideas from other movies. More original thoughts are needed in Hollywood and we need to see unique movie ideas more on the big screen. If you have ever seen a Saw movie before, then you know what I am talking about; when it comes to originality. I’m sure Saw 6 will follow the patterns of the first 5 Saw movies, but this is fine for a movie series that has different installments. I don’t plan to go see this newest Saw movie in theaters, but I certainly will set the DVR to record it, when it comes out on satellite television. I will have to keep an eye out for Sav V and watch that Saw movie first, before I see the 6th part to Saw.

SEO or search engine optimization is all about finding those popular keywords or is it? Actually you have a tougher time with the competition for the really popular words in search engine results. You can add longer keywords in your links and this will help get more first page listings at Yahoo or any other search engine.

Now the top searches at Yahoo can be found on their homepage. These are usually 10 keywords that involve current events and it’s the current events that dictate a lot of the activity each day in the search engines. Some keywords are popular everyday, but the most popular ones usually have something to do with the date, anniversary, or some big event that is currently taking place. A good tip is to establish your links in before they become popular. We know Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas are all 3 coming soon. You can do things in early October to start positioning yourself around keywords that would involve these holidays. You know a few people in November will be searching for “how to cook a turkey” or “dressing recipes”. Use these keywords on your website or blog and try to find a way to link them to relative things that will help you get more traffic or attention to your online interests.

Top Yahoo Searches Today

1. Pet Costumes

2. Yankees

3. Malin Akerman

4. Presidents Cup

5. National Coming Out Day

6. Fantasy Football

7. Danica Patrick

8. Pepsi 500

9. Scenic Drives

10. Edgar Allan Poe

Those are some interesting searches. I never knew there was so many racing fans out there. Seems a lot of these searches revolve around racing or driving cars. Sports are popular online and no big surprise the Yankees are listed in the top 10 with their team in the post season right now. Also fantasy football is being searched at Yahoo and I have to admit that Yahoo does offer some of the best, free fantasy sports online. You can play fantasy football, fantasy basketball, fantasy hockey, or fantasy baseball at Yahoo.

Now it’s no big surprise to see costumes topping the list at Yahoo for searches, but pet costumes? I figured Halloween costumes were popular right now, but I am surprised to see pet costumes being so heavily searched. Perhaps the new trend is for animals to wear costumes too; while they travel with the kids door to door trick or treating. I will continue to follow the top searches at Yahoo and see if I can pick up any good keyword trends, so maybe we can choose our words better in describing our websites or while making blog posts.

The technology in sunglasses is getting more advanced each day. It’s amazing at all the technology that gets put into a simple pair of sunglasses. I have recently learned that wearing sunglasses can help us keep our eye sight longer. Long exposure to the sun is not good for the eyes. We know that long term exposure to the skin is not good. People that stay out in the sun a lot will need a good anti wrinkle cream or moisturizer if they continue to expose their skin to the sun’s rays. The ones not wearing sunglasses are at risk for eye problems in the future. Everyone should own a good pair of sunglasses that can reduce your exposure to the sun. Even the kids need to wear sunglasses when they are going to be outside for long periods of time. You don’t have to go out and buy the latest high tech sunglasses that might cost you $100 or more. Just a simple pair of shades you can wear while outside or driving your car will help prevent eye damage during the daytime hours.

An old story from World War II is just now beginning to be told and it’s a very fascinating one. You may be someone that has heard a lot of stories from this time period, that is now more than 50 years in our past, but I bet you never heard a story like this one. Even the people that study and keep up with all of the events from World War II hasn’t heard this story, that the British are just now starting to talk about. The center of this story revolves around the world’s most popular board game called Monopoly. There aren’t too many people out there that hasn’t played Monopoly before and especially for the older generations. Board games in general are now taking a back seat to video games and the kids of today are not as familiar with Monopoly as Mom and Dad are. It’s a good thing British Commanders knew the game and a lot of British POW’s are thankful that they did.

The British Military wasn’t sitting down with the Germans and beating them at a game of Monopoly. They were beating them in World War II with the help of the popular Monopoly board game. During WWII many American and British soldiers were caught and held hostage by Adolph Hitler and his German Army. Soldiers that were caught and held hostage during war time was considered to be a POW or Prisoner of War. They are some great POW stories from WWII and Hollywood made one POW story very popular by doing a movie on it. The movie was called The Great Escape and it featured Steve McQueen. It is a fact based story from the war and how these brave soldiers planned out a great escape. In order to escape a German prison camp, you had to have a few things, so you could be successful after you got beyond the fence. The commanders in the British army were doing just that and they used Monopoly to help carry out their brilliant plans.

The British was taking Monopoly games and sneaking a few extra things into them. The German prison guards would check all of the supplies, rations, and mail that were allowed to be sent in by the British. When they came across the Monopoly board game, they just viewed it as a harmless item and let the British POW’s have it. Once it got in the hands of the captured soldiers, they could just look at the “FREE PARKING” space that makes up one square, on the opposite corner of the “GO” corner, on the game board. It’s the same corner that features the red car and if that corner had a red dot on it; then that meant the game was loaded with escape supplies.

The British soldiers would find files and a compass inside these special Monopoly games. Also, there were maps that were placed within the game board itself. The game board is real thin and is pretty much just cardboard. These paper maps were stuck inside the cardboard and the POW’s could go inside the game board and have access to the maps. These maps were the most important thing and it would help the soldiers find a safe route; when they did manage to escape beyond the enclosed fencing. This escape plan that was hatched by the British worked great and there were many POW’s that did manage to escape and reach safety, thanks to the Monopoly game.

I think this story ranks up there with all of the fantastic escapes that took place on German controlled territories. They may just have to call up Steve McQueen again and do a new movie. They can call this one “The Great Escape Part 2″. You know all of the great movies have a sequel and one of the best World War II movies of all time is The Great Escape.

Somebody’s Watching Me was a great song in the early 80’s that was performed by Rockwell. I always liked this song and it was very popular back in the 1980’s. There is even a company today that uses this song in their TV commercials. It was almost like this song was telling us what the future would be like and especially the future in technology. The video surveillance equipment that people and governments can buy today is amazing. Anything and everything can be turned into a small mini-camera that can take pictures or videos these days. I think once we got our first glimpse of an ink pen being the host for a video camera, that we knew any other item was possible too. A lot of Hollywood movies has showcased some of these very small video surveillance cameras, that always seems to play a crucial scene in the movie. The way modern technology is going right now, there will be no escape from getting your mug taken on somebody’s camera. I think Rockwell knew what we was headed for as a society and we all should be feeling like somebody’s watching us. These new cameras of today are great for security purposes, but not so sure it’s a positive for privacy issues. I have a feeling that some of these high tech cameras and equipment will be sending a few folks to jail.

I know high school football has already started in my area and tonight will be our first home game of the year. My nephew is a junior this year and he starts for the varsity high school team. I have went to a lot of his sporting events like football and baseball over the years. I like to shoot video of him playing sports or take pictures with one of my digital cameras. It’s fun to go back and look at all the videos and pictures we have took of him over the years. I highly recommend that all parents take pictures when their kids are playing sports. These good memories don’t last for very long and recording them with pictures or on video is a great way to stop time and relive those memories some day.

Now Friday night football is big in the South. Lots of high school teams work really hard to win games, so their community will be proud of them. All local towns should support their school systems and you don’t have to ask people from the South twice to support their Friday night high school football teams. Supporting the local football team just comes natural down here and it does make fall a special time of the year. The bright lights, lots of people, the heavy smell of food in the air, and the band doing their thing is what Friday night football is all about. You don’t have to have a child or nephew playing on the football team to go out and watch them play. Everyone in your local area should just show up for the home games and root for the home team. It’s cheap fun and all the money goes for the school. Just don’t forget to bring a camera so you can shoot a few pictures of the fans and players!

Online security has improved over the years but so has the bad guys that want to harm our computer systems too. It seems like this war will go on forever and hopefully the good guys can remain one step ahead. Protecting your files and pictures is important and if not done properly; then you do run the risk of losing them forever. The simple solution is to have an online backup source, that you can quickly retrieve anything that does go missing. Sometimes we might accidently let a virus or spyware remover delete our files or we may just delete them ourselves. It really doesn’t matter how it happens, the fact that you can get them back is the most important part. Storing those precious files or pictures in an online backup system is the best and easiest way to keep them protected forever. If you don’t currently have a storage place for these types of items on your computer; then you really should stop what you’re doing and back those files up today!

It wasn’t that long ago when a television in a restaurant was a big deal and not something you would see everyday. Now any sports bar or pub in America has a TV set on the wall and in many cases they have more than one. New technologies like the Slingbox is making it that much easier to watch television no matter where you may be. Some satellite companies even have ways of setting your TV at home to record through your cell phones, so you can watch a certain program when you return home. I’m amazed at the features cell phones have now and I guess it just makes sense they would play a part in our television viewing efforts.

The VCR was really the first thing we had to help us watch a show on television when we couldn’t be home to see it, when it originally aired. Now a VCR is out-dated in many ways and a DVR (digital video recorder) is the way most people set programs to record. I love my DVR and highly recommend this tech gadget to anyone that hates to miss their favorite TV shows or a sporting event. I will record most things I watch, so I can fast forward through the commercials when I do decide to watch it. The new technologies that are available for televisions are saving us time and allowing us to carry on with our normal routines. We no longer have to miss out on events or social gatherings because we want to watch something on the tube. I just wonder where we go from here and how many more channels will be added to the hundreds we have available now.