#51: Holiday and Cooking and Recipes, Oh My!

Be it the holidays or just a casual evening that you'd like to dine in there are different places you can find recipes easily.

Not only that but let's say you were thinking about making food for you and your significant other when your family shows up unannounced. No need to panic let's just multiply the serving size to how many people you are going to feed. It uses a little math if you're up to it yourself but if you're in a hurry and just need figures to be spit out you can hop on the website:

http://www.thatsmyhome.com/recipes/converter.htm

You can also hop on www.foodnetwork.com or http://www.bonappetit.com/

It's a conversion chart that simplifies subtracting or adding serving size to your recipe.

The recipe I'm going to use today is the Easy Lemon Pasta with Chicken. The usual serving size is 3-5 but let's say those services are just for one person (like me who eats alot). I want to make this meal for 12 (equals to 96 servings) people that have just crashed our apartment.

So to make the conversion I just multiply everything by 12 basically.

So here is the original recipe measurements:

• 1 pound dried penne
• 2 chicken cutlets, cut into fingers
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 3 cloves garlic, sliced
• 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 3 tablespoons roughly chopped fresh parsley, for garnish
• 2 lemons, juiced
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan

Using the conversion chart it'll be:

• 12 pound dried penne
• 24 chicken cutlets, cut into fingers
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 36 cloves garlic, sliced
• 1 Tablespoon red pepper flakes
• 2 1/4 cups olive oil
• 2 1/4 cups roughly chopped fresh parsley, for garnish
• 24 lemons, juiced
• 6 cup grated Parmesan

Give the recipe a try at:
Click Me for Pasta Recipe

#50: Global Nation

We all plan vacations but sometimes the logistics of it can be overwhelming. Others can just say "Hey lets go to New York City" and when they get there it's a free for all in terms of sight seeing.

But what about the road trip? This used to be an American past time when gas was cheap and the freeways/highways connected all of us together. You would pack some clothes, ready snacks, pile into the station wagon and be on your way.

You would visit different monuments or landmarks along the way to your final destination. It wasn't how fast you got to where you were going it's how you got there. Did you take the scenic route through the mountains? Take the highway through the desert or drive through a country road where you could see all the farms.

There is a great website called Simpatigo that's a great help in planning different places to visit on your way to final destination.

You basically type in your address and type in end address. This will draw out a map for you of the fastest way to get there. Of course you don't need to take this route but when you zoom in on any routes to the end address it will show you interesting landmarks, dineries, locations for you to visit on your way over there.

So you don't need to know the locals to find a great place you can just use Simpatigo to plan the different stops easily.

Our beginning destination is going to be Houston, TX of course. Our ending destination will be the Grand Canyon in Arizona. In between we are going to stop at Denver, Colorado to visit friends and family.

Before we get to Denver we are going to stop at Dallas and checkout the Japanese Tranquility Garden with a beautiful assortment of Japanese plants. Then after hit up the Brooklyn Jazz Cafe for some live Jazz music. We'll be staying there for the night but after refueling we'll head out to Oklahoma City and stay there and stay the night. We're going to try out the "Go for the Steak" restaurant as we drive up north for lunch which I think should hold us over until the next state. Then it's a long drive to Denver Colorado which we'll be staying there for 2-3 days. Our family friends are going to take us out to some great spots in Denver and in Boulder. After that it's straight for the Grand Canyon which of course is what we've been wanting to see.

It's a great program that allows you to make a different route depending on what you want to see in each state and city. Try it out for your next vacation.

#49: Love of Languages

Learning languages is something here in America leave behind usually after high school. Americans usually settle in to their lives and jobs and people are fairly comfortable with just English here in the states.

I personally regretted the fact that I did not join one of these classes to learn a different language. I was very interested in French and also in Japanese and sometimes I think "Where will I find the chance again to learn these languages for free?". Well in the age of information there is always a chance to learn through library systems or even online. At first online courses would charge you a fee to go through their modules. Now it's a different age where you can receive classes for free by learning through audio, visual and typing.

The website www.livemocha.com is a great website that definitely fits my needs. I find it easy to use and easy to pick up. Usually in classes you have a time frame and a finish date. Here you yourself are your own teacher. I've learned Italian to the intermediate level and have been adding friends to speak to them in Italian while they send me English messages to practice it.

Right now I'm going to keep learning Italian and hope to visit Italy to visit some of their beautiful architecture and monuments. I'm sure I can use Italian at work as we have a couple of Italian customers that come in. They do know English but it would be great to communicate with them and maybe even learn a couple things in Italian.

#45: Making a Video

Making a video shouldn't be anything new. But what about making a video out of all those digital pictures that you have? Yes that's nothing new either...Myspace has a feature that lets you view pictures as a slideshow. But what it doesn't have is a pretty cool set of features as Animoto has. You can upload several pictures at once 12-15 to make a short 30 second slideshow video with music.

Animoto.com makes it easy for you to do this with it's beginner's video and also step by step instructions. You pick the song you want and then let the Animoto do the rest with it's mash up engine.

Checkout my video that I made that only took me 10-15 minutes top. The only reason it took so long was that it took me forever to find the pictures I wanted to use. Animoto took only 5 minutes to create the video.

#26: Making Music Together

The web is filled with music. From people making their own music to people splicing together music with their favorite anime or tv show.

There are different ways for you to make your own music. One of my favorite programs is called Fruity Loops. It's a program alot of music producers use to make beats and sound. One perfect example of people who use this program to its full advantage is Timberland or Pharrell. They exclusive use this program to create loops and beats and somehow come up with very catchy tunes.

The basic program can cost from $49 all the way up to $400 for the most expensive and full featured version.

But there are free options on the internet you can use to make your own music. One of these websites is called Jam Studio:

http://www.jamstudio.com/Studio/index.htm

You can use this website to use a simplistic but very intuitive display for making your own music. It has different instruments and beats and a music page to make your music. I found it rather easy to make a very simple catchy beat that loops. After I started adding more instruments that's where I found myself spending too much time trying to tweak the song to get everything right. As you can see it will suck you in once you start and it's fun to boot.

#25: Am I a music pirate? It's hard to know...

Ah! I remember the early days of Napster. It was around 2000 and I remember going to visit a friend on campus at Rice University. Now I've played also with the early edition of Winamp but what I saw was that he was listening streaming MP3's. It literally blew my mind.

Here we had the MP3 player that now played streamed MP3's through the internet. Anyone with a computer and a nice music list could become a DJ and there where several genres you could listen too.

But now what if you didn't have alot of CD's you could rip to your computer? What if you didn't have money to pay for all these new CD's when you only wanted one popular song on it.

Well que in Napster. You'd download this program and install it, configure it to your bandwidth speed, locate the music folder you wanted to share and voila free music. You can download pretty much any song you could think off....for free! Basically people would rip their CD collections and the more music you'd share the more people would share with you. If you didn't share a music folder or enough music you'd be limited to really slow download speeds and limited search functions.

But those days are over after Lars Ulrich and Metallica took Napster to court. After that trial free music and any software that allowed you to trade any music online where chased down by the RIAA and laywers.

Burning a song is pretty simple using the instructions provided by iHCPL. I opened up Windows Media Player, inserted a blank CD, followed the simple instructions and was able to burn the free music I downloaded from music.download.com.

This should be pretty straight unless you have DRM that will not allow you to do this.

Sharing music on a grand scale could leave artists out in the cold but with DRM it seems we're force fed this software that is unwanted. Usually artist like Radiohead that are at the frontier of fighting DRM and also offering free downloads really show that giving an option people will usually pay for a song. Downloading I do think is illegal but the punishment is too harsh. I think of these people that download music as customers that are not being served correctly.

Think of China and their illegal digital distribution. It is illegal to buy copied movies from a street vendor but this is a customer that has not been served correctly. What they are doing now is offering free movies or movies online for very cheap and cutting the middle man out. This brings in money and helps cut piracy alot.

This should be done with music and DRM should really go away. It's as if I buy music, I pay for it but I cannot listen to it on a different device of copy it for backup.

#24: The Sound of Music!

Seeing some of the different websites that offer music interested me on their pricing for individual songs.

I've used iTunes before and usually per song it's 99 cents. Which is just a buck and doesn't seem bad at all. But then you run into things like DRM, transferring your bought song to another device, enconding quality and so on.

Also depending on where you went it seems that some places where you can buy music (like iTunes) have way more songs than some other websites (Raphsody).

Also their song download services varies in price.
Raphody = $12.99 a month for unlimited downloads or 129.99 for an annual fee.
Napster = $12.99 a month for unlimited downloads
iTunes = 99 cents per song cheaper when you buy the whole album.

Downloading music was easy with simple with music.downloads.com. You register and then search any of their free music. Click on the song you want, aim it at the folder you want it downloaded to and just wait a minute while the song downloads.

KRBE has an online radio station. You click on their website and click on their streaming link which opens up your default music player. Then you can listen to live music through the internet.

I usually don't use KRBE or any of the other radio stations in Houston. It seems that alot of these radio stations only have Top 40 music and nothing new. So you I usually listen to www.di.fm which has plenty of live radio and genres in case you one day you want to listen to alternative and switch up to classic rap.

#44: How To & Make

Sometimes when you want to learn how to make something obscure it can be hard getting any resources from the library or bookstore.

Or for example you wanted to start a project but did not know where to start. What do you do?
Well you're in luck as there are plenty of "how to" websites on the internet.

There are plenty of website you can visit to go for help. One of my favorite sights is http://www.videojug.com/ . It has an immense library of video help that you can follow step by step. There are plenty of other sites that are great and educational when you need help. How Stuff Works is a great website that basically gives you in laymen terms how stuff works, lol.

eHow and wikkihow are also great website for starting projects or just to have a plain goofy project (marshmallow blow gun) to do.

One of my favorite things to do is Sushi. Sometimes I may forget how to do sushi rice and I have to hop on videojug to remind me the rice vinegar/salt/sugar mix. Or how to roll sushi and it makes it so easy to learn visually by going to videojug and using one of their lessons to succesfully accomplish this.

Sushi rice link:
http://www.videojug.com/film/how-to-make-sushi-rice

#43: Buying & Selling Online

The internet has a special place in my heart. From peoples crazy antics, buying and selling online, web content and even down to those annoying banner ads.

If you've never tried to buy anything online you should give it a go. Alot of first time buyers are wary that they can be easily ripped off because of horror stories. The unknown is always feared and when you can't see who you are selling to then it makes it harder for a first time buyer.

This is why there are several reputable online retailers that you can shop at. Ebay is one of the biggest "auction" website you can shop at. Items are sold by online auction sellers and even reputable brick and mortar stores. You "search" from anything to video games systems to "Alaskan real moose poop earrings".

Then you can further refine your results by the time left and amount. Then you can bid on a item and if you have the highest bid for the item when time runs out then you've won. Then it's the matter of having to pay for it. It's pretty easy and selling is also as easy.

Sellers are rated on a system when you can pick a favorable or unfavorable feedback that goes to his lifetime feedback percentage. The higher the percentage the better and less unhappy customers he's had. A seller with a really low percentage is one to be avoided since you may or may not get the item in working condition. Also buying from a seller that hasn't sold or has sold only a few items is also a risk. He may have a real good percentage but he's not established and can still be a risk to you if you do buy from him.

When eBay works it's quite an easy place to buy items.

Now that you've picked an item to buy on ebay how do you pay. Again beign a first time buyer on the internet you may not want to give out your credit card information to faceless people on the internet. Well no fear there is a program called Paypal. It's basically the middle man between you and the seller online.

You register an online account and type in either a credit card of bank account information. They don't give out any of your information and they're also a place where you can complain and have action taken on a sellers account in case the seller doesn't want to help you.

It's pretty safe but like anything online you always have to be carefule. In case you receive any e-mail that your account will be suspended in case you don't visit the link they send you go directly to the website. Meaning type it in because the linked website may be a phished webpage. It's a look alike that gathers your information and may ask you information as a pin number or even social security number. Make sure you report this to the paypal fraud team and they can help bring the webpage down.

Usually by being safe and knowing what you're doing you can find old nostalgic items to a really cheap pair of shoes.

#42: Staying Well

So you've been exercising, been eating right and have had thorough doctor visits. But you're starting to developing symptoms of something you don't recognize. It scares you but at this you can stay calm because there are alot of medical websites out there that help identify the problem.

By hoping on the Mayo Clinic I typed in systems that I had when younger. I was a very active kid from 12-14 as any boy is. Running around causing parents problems, playing football, basketball and baseball. I started to develop pain around my knee areas and after playing my knees would really hurt and sometimes swell a bit. I added all of these inputs and it came out with Osgood Schlatter disease which is spot on.

Basically it happens in 1 to 5 kids. More in boys than girls and usually at a young age. I still have pieces of bone that slightly stick out on my knee area and the doctors at the time. It goes away usually by the time they hit 15 and if they don't stress the knee area.

It's a great website to find an answer to your symptoms.

Using the Medline Plus website:

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/golocal/index.html

You can usually find resources for any condition that you have. From arthritis to the common cold. Because I have Hyperthyroidism I looked up the Texas area then choose Harris County from the list. I found that there are several different Endocronologist centers 10 miles from me and also Endocronologists Doctors.

This is another useful website to keep track of your health as you can find hundreds of doctors and facilities at your disposal.

Finally making a genealogy tree was a bit hard. Being as my family is from Honduras and we're the only one's here in Texas it's hard to get any medical information from them. I can only go as far my my father and mother.

Wellness #41: Going green part 2

Living part two! Yes we are back with the living green. Yes as in living like Kermit the Frog he did say "It wasn't easy being green". That statement has never been more true.

Sometimes when thinking green you think solar panels or wind energy. But there are alot of different ways to live green. From driving slower to changing out unefficient light bulbs with energy saver lightbulbs.

Some changes are harder than others but any small change can add up over the years by saving our enviroment.

Checkout this website:
http://www.greenerchoices.org/globalwarmingathome.cfm

I see a couple of easy changes that can be done readily and without problems.

1. Changing out lightbulbs out with fluorescent light bulbs throughout the house. Not only does it save a year in in your electricity bills but you also save the enviroment.
2. Putting a computer to sleep is also easy and won't cost you anything unless you run the pc of course :). Usually PC's have an option to make the monitor fall asleep and after the computer thus saving electricity and your wallet.

Some of the other items I may have a hard time doing. For example here in Houston we feel the heat. If it was a dry Arizona heat it wouldn't be problem but no, we get instead the insane mix of humidity and heat. Not keeping the A/C running makes me and my computer sad. I can't live without it being on and my computer being so hot can't either. But I think having the air condition at 78c can be done and can save alot of electricty. I will have to install a ceiling fan to compensate but it'll be all worth it.

Wellness #41: Going Green part 1

Lets talk about world wellness today. We've already talked about body wellness and how eating healthy and regular exercise was great for your body. Imagine if we put that same perspective in our little green planet called Earth.

We live on this beautiful planet and use it's resources to provide heat, homes, papers to share ideas and computers to connect globally. Just about anything you can imagine has come from some mineral or substance from Earth. But resources are not infinite and not all resources are able to be replenished.

We have to take care of our planet as we take care of our body and the returns will be not only for us but for future generations.

After calculating my personal emissions calculator I find that we are using an average amount of electricity/natural gas/oil. By driving around in a huge van that only averages 20 mpg I think that buying a new car that is smaller and receives at least 30 mpg would save so much on emissions.

Eating green is also a way to save on the global carbon footprint. By eating green and also buying locally you can not only receive fresher produce but also there is not need to drive far to deliver these fruits and vegetables.

Not only does it save gas and reduce the carbon foot print buying locally and organic means less insecticides polluting our planet.

If you've never been to the Farmer's Market here in Houston I suggest you go. They have some of the freshest produce you can buy in Houston. Depending on the season they offer different fruits and vegetables. I especially love going when nectars, tangerines and apples are in season as those are some of the best fruits you can buy fresh. Especially the smells and aroma coming off what has been harvested has never been funner.

#39 Nutrion

Everyone I know eats. And without eating you'd die of starvation. Now we're a pretty complex race with what vitamins, minerals, liquids and solids we need to survive. Of course you can eat bread and cheese for awhile but you would suffer from iron deficiency.

Or for example sailors in our golden age of pirates. They would die from Scurvy which was a disease where your gums would bleed and teeth fall out. This could of been easily solved if they carried dried oranges for the Vitamin C.

Nutrition is a big part of our lives. From obesity to cholesterol your well being very important.

For information on what you eat and it's nutritional value check out this website:

http://www.nutritiondata.com/

For example looking up what you eat at the breakfast table to the midnight snack you'll realize that you may not be eating right. I found that alot of my foods that have a very high sodium/salt amount that can lead to high blood pressure.

While the apple dippers from Mcdonalds are relative healthy for you even with the low fat caramel sauce. Some other foods for example Kellog's Cereal with real bananas is surprisingly moderately high in inflammatory. I always thought that this was one of the healthiest things to eat other than oatmeal.

Also http://recipes.sparkpeople.com/recipe-calculator.asp is a great place to go to find information on your favorite recipes. It'll show you how to cut back or replace certain ingredients to lower any unecessary calories and cholesterol.

Here's one of my favorite recipes. Filet Mignon cooked on a iron fillet with Fetuccini Alfredo:

Nutrition Facts User Entered Recipe Filet Mignon w/ Fetuccini Alfredo:
1 Serving
Amount Per Serving
Calories		1,354.6
Total Fat		84.1 g
	Saturated Fat	32.7 g
	Polyunsaturated Fat	8.5 g
	Monounsaturated Fat	32.6 g
Cholesterol		217.1 mg
Sodium		3,490.9 mg
Potassium		617.2 mg
Total Carbohydrate		54.9 g
	Dietary Fiber	4.0 g
	Sugars	7.0 g
Protein		85.5 g

By replace a normal piece of bacon with Canadian Bacon and using a Ragu Classic Alfredo Sauce we see a huge difference in Calories and a big difference in Potassium.

Nutrition Facts User Entered Recipe
1 Serving
Amount Per Serving
Calories		751.3
Total Fat		29.9 g
	Saturated Fat	12.4 g
	Polyunsaturated Fat	1.0 g
	Monounsaturated Fat	1.5 g
Cholesterol		133.8 mg
Sodium		1,118.8 mg
Potassium		429.7 mg
Total Carbohydrate		50.0 g
	Dietary Fiber	4.0 g
	Sugars	8.0 g
Protein		56.6 g

#40 Wellness

Houston is considered the one of the "fat" cities around. Because of our hot and humid weather, bad air quality and lack of outdoor recreation we Houstonians have packed on the pounds.

We as people seemed to have changed from working hard labor (tending fields, farming, living off the wilderness) to white collar jobs. This has affected our health as we are not as active as we used to be. Sitting in front of a computer all day is different than working on farm. And so we are not as active as our body would like.

Fortunately there are different ways to burn those calories whether you're stuck at a desk or riding along in a truck. Here is a website that will teach you how to do "Deskercise" so you can make your body feel great even when working at a desk job.

Clicky for Healthy:
http://www.webmd.com/fitness-exercise/features/exercise-at-your-desk

Figuring out my Body Mass Index was fun. Hop on this website to figure yours out:
http://www.exrx.net/Calculators/BMI.html

Here was my information:
Age:28
Height: 72 Inches (6 feet)
Weight: 175lbs

Here where my results:
BMI: 23.8
Population Average: 25.9
Classification: Healthy

That's a real good sign but I'm also moderately active. I'll go out and play basketball with friends or just throw a frisbee around for good measure.

Also for your estimated Calorie Count checkout this other website:
http://www.exrx.net/Calculators/CalRequire.html

After inputting some of my information here are some results:
BMR (Calories): 1886
Activity (Calories): 1179
Total Calories: 3065

Which is surprising because I did not know that I would need 3000+ calories to meet my needs. I usually eat up to 2500 calories give or take.

Also here is a questionnaire in case you'd like to know your life expectancy.

Click:
http://www.exrx.net/Calculators/HealthAge.html

After answering some questions I find that my life expectancy is 85.1 years. Which isn't half bad but I think by eating healthier and doing frequent checkups with my doctor we can extend that age by the least 2-3 years. I'm even thinking that we can get that number up to 90 years but by then I hope they'll have easily replaceable cyborg hips.

It was all very enlightening learning learning all this information and how a bit of exercise and healthy eating can make your so much healthier.

#38 Console Gaming

For those of you who visit the libraries you'll find a different environment than several years ago.

When you walk in you may hear the same boisterous kids that where playing outside now inside the library. This is because the dynamics of libraries have changed and now accommodate teens as future patrons. The library isn't the same boring place you used to go when in middle or high school. Now video games systems are being added, tables with chess, beans bags for kids to connect their Nintendo DS Lites, Go boards to play and other table top board games.

Teen time has expanded exponentially into something as a force to be reckoned in. Back in the late 70's and 80's the only place you could meet up to play games with friends where an arcade. Friends from school would go to meet you up and try to beat that high score someone posted. You would have to bring rolls of quarters and patience to succeed.

Playing on the Arcade Retro website brought back memories. I remember being 6 and going with my older cousin to the local arcade. I'm sure he didn't think it was cool to bring his younger cousin as he was 12 to the local arcade but when we would visit he had no choice.

Fortunately my parents would always give me at least $5.00 in quarters and that was enough for my cousin to bring me along. Cousin tax was $2.50 worth of my quarters but it was worth being in those local arcades.

The smell the, the darkness, the glare off a video game screen it was a magical place to me. My favorite game was Space Invaders. I would watch this guy play for almost an hour to beat the game then I'd hop on and ask him to teach me. He gave me plenty of pointers but of course helped me alot in the latter stages (or gave up the controller). I also though that blasting those aliens was a mandate for any human being. I don't think without that game my hand and eye coordination would be as great as it is today.

Fast forward into the 21st century and times have surely changed. Arcades have all but died out here in the U.S. So where does a kid go for his fix?

Well now you have the internet. That magical wire that lets you join other people half way across the globe to exchange ideas, information and a good butt whooping.

Yes people can buy video game consoles and join other people online for some good competitive play.

We have a Nintendo Wii here at the library that suits what we need here perfectly. Most other console games may have connections for more than two controllers but most games on the Xbox 360 or Playstation 3 are either made for 1 to 2 players in mind.

The Nintendo Wii and the consoles before it have always been known as the "party" game system. 4 players all playing Super Smash Brothers: Brawl at once is a sight to see. These kids sitting on the edge of their seat as someone goes flying off the screen to lose. Not only does it elicit laughs and cries of denial but smiles from parents. They see their child socializing and know this is a setting where they can loosen up.

It also has a Wi-Fi card already installed so we can do cross library matches through our wireless system. Imagine tournaments where there is a grand prize where all the kids in the libraries play for.

It's an awesome experience that can be better experienced than being told.

Games and Gaming #37 Get your Game on at the Library

Hey if you guys get bored and want to check out some free online library games you can check out the Carnegie Mellon Online Library games.

They're pretty funny but I found the first one hard when I ran out of time. Since I've always known Dewey decimal going to the Library of Congress type of book identification was a bit harder for me.

After trying it again it took me half the time to find out how to shelve the items correctly.

It's a fun way of figuring out how the Library of Congress works.

Now let's talk about the evolution of gaming in the library. Here's an article you should read for the naysayers and for the people who are on the fence:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/22/books/22games.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

After reading you can see for libraries this is a natural progression. At our branch we do the Nintendo Wii game time and not only are those games fun and interactive (4 players) but also allow for a social enviroment teens can be comfortable in. They may not be social in school and the library can be a place where like minds can come and leave all inhibitions behind.

The Internet is a place where you can find any and most information on any matter but the library can be a place that we can put all this information easily in front of you.

Wether it be games and socializing with people have across the globe to your local libraries where kids can meet up with other like minded people.

There can be Lan parties and more of a lounge feel for the kids. This is only the tip of the iceberg as the more kids we bring in the more parents, siblings and people in the neighborhood to interact with us.

Games and Gaming #36

There are alot of other games we slightly talked about in the last blog post. When talking about online games one of the hugest games is World of Warcraft Online. This game bolsters 10 millions subscribers at $15 a month. Yeah, you do the math.

Now World of Warcraft online is a type of MMO or Massively Multiplayer Online. Games that are called this are usually games that have some type of fantasy setting and the world is persistent. If you log off people are still playing, buying, killing, crafting and grouping.

Before World of Warcraft came along you had Everquest which was coined Evercrack for it's addicting gameplay.

There are also other type of online games. Alot of First Person Shooters like Quake 3, Call of Duty 4, Unreal Tournament 3, Rainbow Six: Las Vegas 2 are free to pay online with no subscription.

If you would like try a free online MMO there is a big community out there for you in Runescape.

I've never tried Runescape until today but I find it is easy to get into and the requirements are what really sets the game apart. You don't need a $1,500 computer to run the game a 3 yeard old computer can run it impressively fast on the low setting. But it's the dialog and missions that matter in this game not graphics. You can make clans and traverse the country side looking for monsters and gold. You can go into caves with molten lava or a frozen tundra.

The tutorial is the easiest part. It may take a bit to remember everything but once you do everything else becomes second nature. I had fun with my character mag3c purge and her becoming a low level mage. I'm sure if I had extra free time I'd see how far I can take her.

Here's her happy jig dancing picture:

Try it out for yourself:

www.runescape.com

.

#35 Games? In the Library?

Games in the library!? Surprise, surprise games have not just permeated our buying expenditures for Christmas but it has also permeated our beloved libraries!

Surprisingly public libraries have always been a place to get information. Whether it be books, romance, sci-fi, VHS, DVD's and games the library have been a place to give their patrons the information they want.

Libraries fought the onslaught of consumers buying DVD's once they cheap and the hardware was wider attainable. As the idea was pitched to the libraries to also allow patrons to check out movies some of the baby boomers voiced their opinions and loudly. They mentioned that the library was a place of learning and that where not a blockbuster. Well as blockbuster passed us up the library had to play catch up for years before we allowed DVD's to be checked out.

Now that we offer computers we are now playing catch up to computer online games. There are many free games offered online that are geared to adults down the little kids.

I decided to play some free online soduku. Hit the link for the website:

http://www.websudoku.com/

Learning the game took just a couple of minutes and on easy you were up and running easily. This definitely helps with number association and helps your mind keep sharp.

There are plenty of games also geared towards kids. Learning games, math games, counting games.

Try the PBS Kids website for you children.

Hit the link:

http://pbskids.org/games/

Look around and you can find first person shooters online, free mmo's, Super Mario Bros and several other games.

#34: Geocoding and Geocaching

Alright we've been doing pretty good so far using the google maps. Now let's talk about Geocoding and Geocaching both can be found using google maps. What is Geocoding? Well you now how people say Longitude by Latitude with a number following each well that's basically what it amounts to.

Finding the Longitude by Latitude is what we need first. Hop on the website http://www.gpsvisualizer.com/geocode and type in a public address. Afterward at the bottom you'll get either the Decimal Degrees (top number) or the Degrees in Minutes (bottom number). Copy either.

Now open maps.google.com and paste the coordinates in the search bar. Now search for the coordinates and it should find the exact place where the business or public area is.

The public area I'm doing is the Baldwin Boettcher Library found off of Aldine Westfield and 1960.

Here are the coordinates in Decimal Degrees:

30.037481, -95.381284

Now copy that and paste it into google maps.

You'll see that it will pull the exact location for the library.

Seems like a novelty item to use the directions in google maps. But there is much more than you can do with this coordinates it's called Geocaching.

Geocaching is basically a type of scavenger hunt. What people do is find a well hidden spot and bury an item. And you basically go out and use the longitude and latitude to find the buried item.

It's a fun way to use what we've learned and put it to use.

This seems to a fun geocache to find and it's by the airport. Seems it has great GPS coordinates to find it easier but it shouldn't be too hard.

Geocaching seems to be a fun way to use the coordinates in google maps. Some of the things I can see that may be dangerous are parking in the airport having security question you on what you are doing. Especially if it has to be dug up.

But I would love to try this out and dig something up by the Arboretum where the trails could hide something well.

Maps #33 Relocating with online maps

Ok following our my last post on what else can google maps be used for we're going to continue the conversation today. Now also continuing on topic from our Alcatraz prison photo let's say you're a young strapping man that has just be "rehabilated" and the state deems you ok. Now what's next on the list other than being left on a pier. Well you're going to have to reconstruct your life!

So to do that we're going to have to find you an apartment. And guess what website we're using today for that? No no not www.hamsterdance.com it's maps.google.com.

Ok for myself I'm going to look for a apartment around $600-800 tops for a one bedroom that's animal friendly.

Going to Apartments.com you can search your city and decide to live inside the loop, outside the loops, north, south, east or west. After you go from there I'll click through the different options to refine your search. I click on "Large Animal" in case I want to raise a Great Dane. After choosing your different search result click on "Continue" and it will pull up results for you to click through.

I find that there are different photos that are available. Comparing apartments the interior photos are great and also the pool and clubhouse photos. If there are any arial views or street views even better. They show you if the apartment is next to a airport, hospital, train tracks etc.

After finding the Preserve at Kingwood I found that it's very clean and has alot of amenities. While comparing the clubhouse you can really see a difference between other apartments.

Now we aren't done yet. If you click on the "Map" tab you can view the google map provided and what businesses, schools, diners are around. This could make or break a deal.

Food Marts close to the apartment complex would be:
1. Wal-Mart
2. Randall's
3. King's Mart

For Schools:
1. Kingwood Middle
2. Kingwood High
3. Foster Elementary

Restaraunts close:
1. Outback
2. Papa's
3. Burger King
4. Denny's

Apartments.com really made it easy to view everything you needed before making a decision. Remember this is a year of your life. Enjoy! :D

Maps #32 Current Events

Now that we are done doing our own maps we're done. *Dusts off hands* Alright lets move o...Wait there's more? Of course there is! You don't think I'd let you off that easy now would you. ;)

Now what else can we do with google maps? Well alot! Think of how you made your own map with your special places of interest. Now think about what other people can do with just a little more elbow grease. You still don't understand what I'm talking about well then here's a question. Have you ever wanted to see the 7 wonders of the world? You can and can do it interactively with google maps.

Here's a webpage to show exactly that:

http://coolmaps.7wonders.googlepages.com/ancientwonders.html

Or have you ever wondered how it would be to take a little trip as a package? You can follow a package that you've sent or by a online retailer to you as long as you have a tracking number. It will show you a map through google and show you the different destinations the package travels as it travels.

Here is that website (Registration Required):

http://www.packagemapping.com/

Also here an image I liked and so decided to post on it. It's Alcatraz a prison over water.:

http://www.terraserver.com/view.asp?cx=550746&cy=4186756&proj=32610&mpp=1&pic=img&prov=gx19&stac=2743&ovrl=-1&drwl=-1



A couple of things I didn't know about Alcatraz:

• There were no female correctional officers or inmates in Alcatraz
• Prisoners remained on Alcatraz until they were no longer considered to be disruptive or incorrigible - an average of 8 to 10 years.
• There were no executions on Alcatraz, although there were five suicide and eight murders.

Have map, Will Travel

Have map, Will Travel! Love that line except when the gas prices are your 1 gallon for your firstborn. America loves to travel since the creation of the first car to sputter off the assembly line.

Now back then they may of not have the tools we use for traveling. For example: Run Flat Tires. Yes run flats may not be a necessity but imagine back when you had to replace a wagon size wheel on a model T. And the most embarrassing part about it is they didn't have wrecker's back then to pull your car. You had to get it pulled by horse and carriage, ah the irony of it all.

On top of that maps were not as easy to use as they are today. We have key maps, maps to your street, maps to your bathroom, maps of space, maps, maps maps. And as a species without maps we'd have to rely on only our surrounding areas.

Now here's the secret. You can create your own map with way points all using google maps.

Say for example that you have places of interest you may want to share with someone. Theaters, Restaurants, A Cow you say painted funny. You can share with many other people. And making one is the most fun part.

Go to maps.google.com. Go ahead and register yourself for a gmail.google.com account but it's not necessary. At maps.google.com you'll see an option for "My Maps" click on that. After just search for different restaurants and when you see one click on it and add it to your "My Maps".

Easy as that. So we can share it with each other here's mine:


View Larger Map

Spring Cleaning

Back once again for the ATTACK OF THE KILLER BLOG!

Alright this blog may not kill you or even attack you it's more of a roll over and play dead blog but who's counting.

Today we shall talk about SPRING CLEANING your files. Yes SPRING CLEANING your files. Why am I screaming? Well it's really simple, you scream and people listen, simple enough.

What we are all doing is a little cleaning of our network hard drives. So let's see what I have on these drives....

La la...HOLY. That's alot of files and they're just all staring at me like I've abandoned them. Well I have since I don't use all of these files alot...matter of fact I don't use alot of these files at all!

So let's see.. The oldest file I have on the P: drive is... one from 05/12/07. Alright this puppy is going to get deleted. Click....hit delete...click yes and now empty the recycle bin, voila! No more squatting files on the P drive. Now that's an old file to be sitting there for that long. Well knowing that all this space costs money and the more they have to upgrade to keep up with our junk files. So it's best to delete the files that we don't use anymore and free up space for everyone else. This cause less clutter and is more efficient for the drives.

Organizationally it's not bad as I thought. Most of my files are in one folder and most of the files are easily viewed or accessible. So like a great street said "Chim Chiminey Chim Chem Che roo" and here I go sweeping the old files off.

GTD or "Getting Things Done"

The information that Allen provides is useful in many aspects of life. From work to your normal home life, the different steps from having a set in stone workflow aspect to the different level of focus can impact our lives in many ways.

I've always walked around with set of instructions in my mind that I need to do. Most people do also have these set instructions. I'm sure most of us have a morning routine. Wake up, take a shower, brush our teeth, eat breakfast and then it diversifies from there. This is in our mind of things needed to be done for us to feel good when going to work or for doing hobbies.

We can use these aspects in our organizational skills at work.

I've gone online and looked over google's calendar system. From reading Allen's tickler file system I've gone ahead and implemented that aspect into my life. I've had trouble keeping a notebook planner because it get's pushed to the side when I do any work or when I'd get home.

With it being online I can access it easier and be more redundant with my information. I can always have the notebook planner with the same information in it in case the internet goes down. It's what I've been needing to keep me from forgetting the different tasks needed to be done throughout the month.

I can use all these steps for my college classes also and will definitely be using the calendar to keep myself organized at all times.

I'm really grateful into reading the system as it has put alot of my flaws in the open (organization) and made it simply easy to fix.