Kid's Videos that don't annoy me...

My kids watch these videos at least once a week. Here is a few that I don't mind watching over and over and over again.

Blues Clue's wonderful songs with a great message of "Don't Give Up" or "I Can Be Anything That I Want To Be." There is even the late great musician Ray Charles lend his voice to one of the characters. I'm sure even a grown-up with no kids would enjoy this.
A Quick List of Blue's Clues DVD's from Amazon.com

I love the way they talk on Kim Possible. They use creative words when they talk like I did when I was in school. Kid's always seem to create their own language. This Kim Possible movie is funny.
A Quick List of Kim Possible DVD's on Amazon.com

New Additions

I've created a new series of web pages to showcase the videos I've found on the net. You can find them here.
Thanks,
Airin

Ringfo

Ringfo - Call for Amazon Catalog Data

If you are in the US, pick up your phone and dial 888-937-4462, enter an ISBN or UPC code, and Ringfo will tell you all about the product. If you need an example ISBN, try "1-4116-2551-X" (use the # key to represent the X).

Search Engine Calculator

Did you know you could type in a math problem in a search engine box and get the answer. Almost everyone has a seach box somewhere close by. Try typing in "20% of 150" and see what the answer is...
I've tried it at Google and Yahoo. There is more info about Google's calculator here.
Search boxes are more useful than ever. Check out what all you can type into these little boxes. From UPC codes to airport codes, math problems to patents.
Google Help
Yahoo Help

The IVR Cheat Sheet™ by Paul English

The IVR Cheat Sheet™ by Paul English
Paul English is a blogger who made headlines recently by publishing a "cheat sheet" on how to skip the automated voice controlled operators that many big companies have nowdays.
What a wonderfull use of the internet, sharing useful information to make our lives easier. Bookmark that page, use it the next time you need to talk with a real human in customer service. Thanks Paul...

McAffee virus scan secret

I'm not sure if it's truly a secret or not, but McAfee.com has a free virus scanner on their webpage. It's not easy to find, but it's extremely effective in killing over 50 hidden virus, trojans and other parasites that can effect your computers health.
I had a computer that was acting strangly. Unfamilular errors would keep popping up. Everything was running slowly. I decided to search for a virus program. I was reading about a particular virus on the McAfee website. The solution recommended buying the full program. But they also listed a free virus scanner if you were in an emergency. Well, I wasn't in an emergency but I tried their free program anyway. WOW!!! It scanned and deleted 15 or more virus and trojans from my computer.
I rebooted and my computer ran much faster and with no more errors. I've never had a better "free" program. Of course it's no replacement for a full virus protection program. This free program only hunts down and kills 52 viruses. There are still thousands out there. But for "free" I can't complain.
After freeing my computer of all the evil, I decided to buy the full McAfee program. If a company is willing to give a great product away for free, I'd like to reward that by buying their program... Thanks McAfee!!!
The name of the program is called Stinger.exe.... They've changed the name a few times because hackers tried to attack it. First go to McAfee.com. Type in Stinger in the search box or go here: http://vil.nai.com/vil/stinger/
Download and run the Stinger.exe program. Not only will this free program find the virus, it will delete it from your computer too... That should get you back up and running smoothly. Get it while it's still free. Then go out and buy the full version or download it online too...

"The Human Calculator"

This is guy is wonderfull. Where was he when I was in 5th grade math class. I want to learn this for myself so I can help my kids learn these techniques.
Scott Flansburg has these books.
Some of the techniques are so easy, I wonder why they didn't teach this stuff in school. Video clip of "The Human Calculator" in action here.
You can order his videos from his website here.

The Internet Archive

One of the many "futures" of the internet will be to have a clearer look back into time. Here at The Internet Archive you have full access to the past. You can go back in time through the audio, video and files of the past.
The main webpage of the The Internet Archive has a heading that is broken up in to category pages; Web | Moving Images | Texts | Audio | Software | Education |
In the 'Web' section, you can find old outdated webpages. In the 'Moving Images' pages, you can watch an old movie, as old as the 1930's (I watched a movie on Abe Lincoln. In the 'Texts' pages you can view an a speech or read a book. In the 'Audio" pages, you can listen to a Presidential speech, or a influential person speak or even listen to an old 78rpm record newly digitized. In the 'Software' pages, you can download an old video game you played many years ago (remember Leisure Suit Larry?). In the 'Education' pages, you can watch a lecture or read a textbook.
Look into the past atThe Internet Archive. It will prepare you for the future.

Send a free e-Card to a friend...

Amazon.com now has free e-Cards.
Surprise a friend or family member with a birthday e-Card, to which you may attach a gift certificate if you like.

Creative T-shirts and more...

Do you love those great T-shirts everyone is wearing these days?
Get them here at CafePress.com.
They've got cute baby clothes, bibs and toddler t-shirts too.
Witty bumper stickers.
Are you a Pet Lover?
Find a shirt that reflects something about you...
Create your own merchandise.

Urban Legends

Have you got an email from a friend telling you about something that sounds so outrageous it couldn't be true? Check the story out here first before you forward it to more friends...
Type in a few keywords from the outrageous email into the Snopes.com search box. An explanation of the origin of the story will be given and a rating will be given at the end. A green button will indicate the story is true and verified. A red button will indicate the story is false.
Have you heard about what Coca-Cola will do to your body? Find out here if it's true...

Cup Stacking

Emily Fox the world record holder for Speed Stacking at 7.43 seconds!!! WOW...
My friend's son won a bronze medal at his school this weekend. Under ten seconds... Not bad for a 6 year old. Great job Ervin!!!

Teletubbies

What's the deal with Teletubbies. I popped a tape in the VCR for my 1 year old daughter, immediately she sat silent watching Po, La-la, Dipsy, and Tinky-Winky. It's like a sedative to my kids. I'm not sure what the facination is. I guess they like the simple sounds and images. There isn't the typical MTV-like editing which flips from one scene to the next every three seconds.
Teletubbies show a colorful scene with nice calm music on screen for much longer. They also use calming sounds and music, no loud or drastic sound changes. Everything about the teletubbies is calming. I guess that's why they have a calming effect on the kids. Gotta love those Teletubbies.

The "Wish List"

Create a Wish List for a birthday, an anniversary, or a holiday - or just because - and then share it with your family and friends.

Find an item you'd like to include on your Wish List.

Select the "Add to Wish List" button.

The item will be added to your Wish List. Then you're on your way!

I had a friend suprise me once by sending me a gift in the mail once. She looked up my Wish Listby searching using my email address. She purchase the item and it arrived a few days later. Wow, I was supprised. A lovely way to buy a gift that you know that special someone wanted...
Give it a try...

Baby on my hip

Hip Hammock - Basic-Black by Playtex.
What a relief it is to have both hands free while walking with an infant. My little girl loves this. She can sit facing forward so she can see or facing me so she can sleep.
The Playtex Hip Hammock is ergonomically designed for parent's with babies 15 - 35 pounds! It lets you use your hip to carry baby and spare your back!

I just bought this digital camera

Canon Powershot A520 4MP Digital Camera with 4x Optical ZoomCanon's new compact 4.0-megapixel PowerShot A520 digital camera.
Right out of the box, I could get great pictures and movies made.
I was smart to buy a 512mb SD card with the camera. I recorded a 2 minute movie and it created a 40meg file. I need to read the manual, maybe I can lower the resolution to reduce the file size.

Without reading the manual I was able to snap pictures and make .avi movies with sound.
I noticed a few things that might anoy someone. It takes a a couple seconds to review the picture.
And I'm not sure how to zoom while recording in movie mode.
I might find the answers in the manual if I would ever take the time to read.... However I'm amazed how much I could do without referring to the manual.

The movie mode is a special bonus. I didn't relise it could do this when I bought it. I thought it was only a digital camera. It's also a digital video recorder. Of course it won't record six hours live my camcorder. It will however record to an .avi file which I could include on a web page. Try that with a camcorder. My first project will be to film my kids and make the video availble to my parents to watch online... A short video clip of each grandchild online, That would be neat.
And here it is... Kids_climbing video (it's a large 4meg file so wait for it to load...)

I finally figured out how to compress it. Here is the instructions. Windows MovieMaker is just too easy. In ten minutes, I had the movie edited and saved. Wow!

Pick up Amazon orders at your local Borders store.

Save on shipping costs.
Amazon.com has teamed up with Borders, Inc., to make thousands of books, DVDs, and CDs available for pickup at hundreds of stores nationwide. Items eligible for in-store pickup feature a box on their product detail pages in which you can enter your ZIP Code to find the stores in your area.
Simply browse from here, select a product with the in-store pickup option, and place your order. As soon as you receive the confirmation e-mail from the merchant saying your order is ready, you can pick it up at your local store. It's that easy. (In-store pickup prices may vary based on availability.)
Click here to find out more.

Here are the 16 rules I try to live by: (created by Bob Parsons)

From Bob Parsons, founder and president of GoDaddy.com;

Throughout all of these life events, I came to accumulate a number of rules that I look to in various situations. Some of them I learned the hard way. Others I learned from the study of history. I know they work because I have applied them in both my business and personal life.
-Bob Parsons
"Robert, they can’t eat you!" My rules for survival.
"The above (or following) article (or rules for survival) is included with the permission of Bob Parsons (http://www.bobparsons.com) and is Copyright 2005 by Bob Parsons. All rights reserved."

Is your child learning the alphabet?

Leapster Videos

My son was learning the letters and the sounds after watching only a few times. Kids love to watch movies over and over, it might as well be a learning movie they are watching. This Leap Frog series is a great learning aid and its fun to watch too.
Another one of those items I don't know I could live without while he is learning.
My son likes to watch it in the car with the portable DVD player. He sings along to "The Letter Factory" songs; "the 'S' says Sssss..., the 'B' says Baaahhh... and so on... The catchy tunes keep him interested and entertained.