Pragma Systems

The corporations of today are faced with the fact that they need to provide secure and reliable access, control, and management capabilities across there network and computing infrastructure.

Pragma System is a service that can help with that. They say that the Pragma Systems SSH client provides the most secure, fast, scalable, and reliable solutions for your telnet and ssh connectivity needs.

The website is cool blue, simple and solidly designed with information to hand so they are definitely worth checking out if this is what you need.

Jobs

Recommended:
With an online education, you can get these teaching jobs and save money on your schooling with education grants too.

I'm thinking about changing my job but have no real idea what exactly I should do.

The risky side of me wants to give up on the day to day routine and become a total freelance, mostly working with my blogging projects.

However I used to be a Graphic Designer so the sensible side of me is saying 'get back into that'.

Hopefully I will figure myself out sometime soon!

Thinking about a holiday!

We all dream about going to fancy destinations and taking time away from day to day boredom. Well I know I do. I would love to be snowboarding or laying on a beach etc etc etc....

Well if you are planning a holiday the Vacation Rentals may be worth checking out. They are a owner operated listings site that will enable to you to find anything from a Florida Vacation Home to a Vermont Swedish style log cabin.

The site is simple and straightforward, looking like most listings sites. It gives you easy access and no playing around so the simplicity is an asset.

Pagerank update

I just realized that my page rank has been updated.

After all the commotion last time I was really surprised to see that this site gained a PR of 4. At the time this was my personal page so it wasn't used completely for review posts. I was very happy with the decision.

Sadly I have sropped to PR3 but I am not so upset right now. Just have to keep working away and hope that mighty Google does not strip me of all ranking.

It's a no brainer

No Brainer Blinds are an online blind store that try and offer a simple and friendly approach for customers to buy blinds online.

They guarantee that they can sell you brand named custom blinds at the absolute lowest price and as they say 'it's in writing'.

The site gives you very simple instructions on how to measure your area for blinds and the how to install them once you have received them.

If you need to get your blinds at a great price and you are confident with a tape measure then they may be worth checking out.

Hello in many languages.

The word Hello has a translation in pretty much every language. I wanted to find out 100 ways of saying hello but actually stumbled upon 800 ways at Elite Net.

Here is a sample from the A languages:

Abenaki (Maine USA, Montreal Canada)         Kwai
Abenaki (Maine USA, Montreal Canada)         Kwai kwai
Acateco (San Miguel Acatán Guatemala)        Hanik'
Aceh (Sumatra)                               Saleum
Aceh (Sumatra)                               Assalamoe aleikoem
Achareta (South Asia)                        'O
Achareta (South Asia)                        'E
Achí (Baja Verapaz Guatemala) [to man]       Xla, ta
Achí (Baja Verapaz Guatemalal) [to woman]    Xla, nan
[Achinese, see Aceh]
Acholi (Uganda, Sudan)                       Moreme
Acholi (Uganda, Sudan)                       Morembe
Achuar (Peru)                                Wiña jai
Achuar (Peru, Ecuador)                       Wiñamek
Achuar (Ecuador)                             Pujamik?
Acjachemem (San Juan Capistrano Calif. USA)  Mija
Acjachemem (San Juan Capistrano Calif. USA)  Miiya
[Adare, see Harari]
[Adnyamathanha, see Yura Ngawarla]
Adyghe (Middle East)                         Fasapshi
Adyghe (NW Caucasus)                         Fesapshi
Adyghe (NW Caucasus)                         Wimafa shoo
Afar (Ethiopia, Eritrea, Djibouti)           Mahisse
Afrikaans (Southern Africa)                  Goeie dag
Afrikaans (Southern Africa)                  Hallo
Aguacateco (Huehuetenango Guatemala)[to man] Tzu ta'
Aguacateco (Huehueten. Guatemala) [to woman] Tzu na'
Aguaruna (Peru)                              Ayú
Aguaruna (Peru)[to a person who is arriving] Minámek?
Aguaruna (Peru)[answer by a person arriving] Minájai
Ainu [Chitose dialect](Japan)[after absense] [person's name]...he
Ainu [Saru dialect] (Japan)                  Irankarapte
Ainu (Japan)                                 Irankaratte
[Akan, see Asante and Fante]
Akha (China, Southeast Asia)                 U du tah ma
Akha (China, Southeast Asia) [answer]        U du tah ma de
Aklanon (Philippines)                        Kumasta
[Akwa'ala, see Paipai]
Alabamu (Texas USA)                          Chíkmàa
Alabamu (Texas USA)                          Chisáhmín
Alabamu (Texas USA) [response]               Chisáhmina
Alabamu (Texas USA) [response]               Chakáanobi
Alabamu (Texas USA) [old]                    Boso
Albanian (Albania, Yugoslavia)               Tungjatjeta
Albanian (Albania, Yugoslavia)               Allo

I want a big big TV.... or maybe a projector!

When I was a kid I really did fantasize about having a huge big projector screen when I could afford it. I never did do it but I was drooling over the projectors in the store just two days ago.

If you are actually looking for a projector then Presentationmart.com would be a great place to visit. They deal in LCD and DLP business projectors, projector replacement lamps, projector cases, projector mounts, or any other projector accessories. They have a vast assortment of presentation products.

There website is very friendly and is packed with their views and helps which suggests they pride themselves on customer service and I can see their pricing is great.

If you visit their page on LCD projector bulb life tips then you will see a small sample of some of the helpful pages contained here.

back to the gym

Finally I have been back at the Gym.

It's still hard to find the motivation and time but once I get there I find it not too bad.

I'm going to the YMCA in Westmount, Montreal and it's pretty well kitted out with clean showers and all the machines I need.

I'll let you know how well I ma getting along in a few weeks.

Is it time to look into affiliate marketing?

For some reason I have been avoiding the whole affiliate marketing thing but as a growing blogger I have started to wonder why I have not at least looked into it a little sooner.

Well... Pepper Jam Network is a new Affiliate Marketing company who seem to have a fresh approach offering a fantastic array of services to publishers and advertisers, and all this for FREE.

If you are interested then have a read of their press release:

Pepperjam Announces Launch of Next Generation Affiliate Marketing Network

Pepperjam, a two-time Inc. Magazine fastest growing company and industry leading full-service internet marketing agency, today announced the launch of Pepperjam Network, a proprietary next generation affiliate marketing network.

If you are an advertiser or affiliate and would like to sign-up for Pepperjam Network please visit www.pepperjamnetwork.com.

“Pepperjam Network represents an evolution in affiliate marketing. The creation of Pepperjam Network represents eight years of research and development and the combined ideas, feedback, and intelligence of hundreds of affiliate marketers and advertisers. Pepperjam Network will forever change the face of affiliate marketing by putting power back in the hands of affiliates and advertisers to build long-term, profitable partnerships through better communication tools and transparency,” said Kristopher B. Jones, President & CEO of Pepperjam.

Among a variety of affiliate marketing enhancements, Pepperjam Network addresses the two primary shortcomings of other existing affiliate networks, namely (1) poor, unreliable communication tools and (2) lack of affiliate transparency. With Pepperjam Network, affiliates and advertisers can communicate in real-time via Pepperjam Chat™, thereby providing a reliable communication system to build stronger, more profitable partnerships. Pepperjam Network also provides advertisers with an unprecedented measure of affiliate transparency, which helps to establish trust, protect brand integrity, and lays the groundwork for open, long-term, profitable relationships.

Pepperjam Network also introduces pepperjamADS, which is a first-ever affiliate marketing widget that affiliates can use to serve customized contextual ads from one or multiple Pepperjam Network advertisers at the same time.

Pepperjam Network was designed to make the experience of affiliate marketing profitable and educational, with the goal of allowing affiliates and advertisers to truly understand and maximize the critical affiliate marketing channel.

Unlike the traditional networks, Pepperjam Network uses Web 2.0 technology to provide affiliates and advertisers with an easy-to-use, cutting-edge interface designed to facilitate and optimize the affiliate marketing process. For instance, Pepperjam Network offers industry leading source-level tracking and reporting - this robust technology is especially beneficial to search marketing and sophisticated super affiliates that want to take advantage of the most up-to-date technology available to track commissions at the keyword level.

Here is just a sample of what many industry experts are saying about Pepperjam Network:

“Even after all these years using Commission Junction on the merchant and affiliate side, I still find it terribly clumsy to find what I want. With Pepperjam Network it is quick and easy. Pepperjam Network is what an affiliate network would look like if it were built from a wish list from both the affiliate and merchant perspective,” said Shawn Collins, Cofounder of Affiliate Summit.

“As both an advertiser and a affiliate, I am on the lookout for affiliate marketing systems that meet all our company’s needs. Pepperjam Network is without a doubt the most comprehensive, practical and useful affiliate marketing system I have seen to date. Pepperjam Network demonstrates that it is possible to combine style with substance in a network that provides site owners and advertisers with tools and resources to increase their bottom line,” said Joel Comm, New York Times Best-Selling author and CEO, InfoMedia, Inc.

About Pepperjam:

Pepperjam is an industry leading full-service internet marketing agency offering marketing services and advanced technology in the areas of pay-per-click, search-engine optimization, affiliate marketing, and online media planning and buying. The company was founded in 1999 by internet marketing expert, accomplished speaker, and published author Kristopher B. Jones. Pepperjam has received numerous awards and achievements, including recognition by Inc. Magazine for two consecutive years as one of the fastest growing privately-held businesses in the United States. Learn more at www.pepperjam.com.

They may be just what you are looking for.

Dubya, ending on a high note!

Just thought I would help promote what is sadly a very funny site called Dubya Speak.

It is full of all the best stupidity as you can see from some of the quotes here.

You know, women are now very active in the Kuwaiti parliament.

At the time of this statement, no woman had yet served in the Kuwaiti parliament. Women in Kuwait were granted the right to vote only in 2005, and have stood in elections once, in 2006. (All of them lost.) Kuwait City, Kuwait, Jan. 12, 2008

He's asking me about the checkpoints I drove through and my impression about what it was like to drive through checkpoints. I can understand why the Palestinians are frustrated driving through checkpoints. I can also understand that until confidence is gained on both sides, why the Israelis would want there to be a sense of security. In other words, they don't want a state on their border from which attacks would be launched. I can understand that. Any reasonable person can understand that.

What Dubya doesn't understand is that the checkpoints are not locations that every Palestinian can drive through. Travel is restricted. If all Palestinians were permitted to drive through the checkpoints, there probably wouldn't be the frustration that Dubya claims to understand. Ramallah, West Bank, Jan. 10, 2008

Mr. Prime Minister, thank you. I view this as an historic moment. It's a historic opportunity, Mr. Prime Minister, first of all, to work together to deal with the security of Israel and the Palestinian people — matter of fact, the security of people who just simply want to live in peace. We're in conflict with radicals and extremists who are willing to murder innocent people to achieve a dark vision. And this is an historic opportunity for the world to fight that — to fight those terrorists. It's an historic opportunity to spread freedom as a great alternative to their ideology, as a society based upon human rights and human dignity, a society in which every man, woman and child is free. And it's a historic opportunity to work for peace.

Dubya emphasizes the "historic" angle, Jerusalem, Israel, Jan. 9, 2008

I can't wait for him to be gone.

Shopping Cart software

Ashop Commerce is a leading supplier of shopping cart software. They offer a great looking hosted service idea for ecommerce. Merchants can easily set up their shopping carts and the website is easy to navigate so maintaining should be easy.

When I visited their site I also noticed a free 10 day trial so if shopping cart software is what you are looking for then you cannot go wrong by trying them out.

Their website is nicely designed using green and orange in a manor in which they actually compliment each other. This to me shows that they have thought about their appearance and public image so in many cases suggests a good amount of professionalism and seriousness about their product. Navigation is very easy with a standard navbar at the top and access to their offers is placed in easy spaces so that you should have no trouble finding the info that you need.

More about Franti

I recently did a post showing some music from Michael Franti and Spearhead.

I wanted to say a little more about this guy and his band.

They are amazing devoted to peace and don't like current world situations one little bit. The music speaks for itself and if you go to the website www.spearheadvibrations.com you will be able to access a lot of media, understand their message and subscribe to keep up with current news.

I suggest you go there now.....

Need media supplies?

Supermediastore.com are an online media supplies company formed in 2002 in Southern California.

They offer a ton of media supplies from cheap HP toners, cheap blank media, memory and Ipod related things.

There prices are very competitive with blank DVD-R's as low as $0.27 shipped and 2gb SD cards at $12.99 shipped.

The website is reasonably plain but well laid out and the navigation system makes it easy to find what you are looking for. Like I mentioned before the prices are great and delivery is included in pricing so you can't go wrong.

It's absolutely unbelievable, the prices that you can buy blank media for now. If you have any promos needed or give aways these deals make your campaigns amazingly affordable.

Holidaying in Quebec

As I now live in Montreal the holiday feeling is wearing off. I do however feel foreign here and it's beauty is very different from the English countryside.

Just North of here Mont Tremblant Canada rises offering excellent snowboarding, which is something that I have to make use of. I have never lived anywhere with that kind of opportunity.

Blueberry Lake resort is a beautiful looking area just 25 minutes north of Mont Tremblant so could be a great place to go and stay if visiting. They say:

25 minutes north of Mont Tremblant resort, tucked away in one of nature's most beautiful landscapes, Blueberry Lake awaits you. A true country experience in a well-appointed Quebec-style log home, with first class client services.
Whether your stay is short or long, the sense of peace that overtakes you from the moment you arrive will delight you, ensuring that from now on, this will be your first choice for summer or winter vacations. The charms of each season complemented by a wide choice of activities make Blueberry Lake the ideal place to spend wonderful times with family, friends or groups, or to inspire excellent results from corporate events and meetings.

Going to their well laid out website you can see some fantastic photos and it really does seem like it must be a million miles away from me right now. Maybe I should just hop on a bus and go there now!

Chicken Tikka Masala

I remember hearing that the new national dish or rather the most eaten dish in the UK was now Chicken Tikka Masala.

A lot of people were surprised when this news was announced as Fish and Chips were always seen as traditional and favourite.

There are many myths about the origin of this dish but my favourite goes something like this....

Sometime in the 70's a British man ordered a dish called Chicken Tikka from an indian restaurant in Birmingham.

When he received his expected curry it turned out it was a dry dish. Obviously not being familiar with indian cooking the man complained that there was no sauce.

So the chef took it back and poured tomato sauce over and added some spices.

And there the great British dish was born.

Online Backup

I have been thinking about getting my personal files stored onto some kind of online backup system for a while now so that I can easily access them anywhere in the world.

If you are a small business then something like this can be essential. IBackup provide online storage that is aimed at and seems perfect for small business.

your online data is available to view like a drive or folder on your computer. They offer sub-accounts so that many users can share and much more.

The IBackup's desktop applications give you easy drag-n-drop and an easy explorer style interface to work with your data. The also claim to be the only provider to provide a inteface that works fully with explorer.

They say that the desktop applications outperform the others by at least 30-50%. and their applications utilize advanced compression and delta-transfer technologies.

Obviously with good service like this productivity could rise if the service is made good use of.

Spearhead - Time to go Home

Michael Franti and Spearhead are a band that I respect very much.

This is one of their most poignant songs.



I also think that the lyrics are awesome:

Those who start wars, never fight them
And those who fight wars, they never like them
And those who write laws, can recite them
And those who fight laws, they live and die by them

But I know its time
Yes I know its time
It's time to go home
It's time to go home
It's time to go home
It's time to go home

Don't take our boys away
Don't take our girls away
Don't take our boys away
Don't take our girls away

Those who build walls are pretending
That forever they can defend them
Those who dam streams can build fountains
Those of us who just let them run free
Can move mountains

But I know its time
Yes I know its time
It's time to go home
It's time to go home
It's time to go home
It's time to go home

And I say, you whoooo
you whoooo who who who, you whoooo who who who

Doves fly by in the morning light
Leaves fall down on a passer by
Phone call comes and a mamma cries
Tears stream down from a daddy's eyes(X2)

But I know its time
Yes I know its time
It's time to go home
It's time to go home
It's time to go home
It's time to go home

I also had the fortune to see them live and I would recommend them to anyone.

On your skates

When I first saw the Inline Planet URL I thought it was a typical sales site but when I visited I realized that it was actually a huge skating resource.

With tons of news, an event calendar and not too much advertising, Inline Planet is a the best inline skates news, reviews and resource site that I have seen.

Also in the forums you an find plenty of other people with the same interests.

Personally I can't skate but I am looking forward to attempting to ice skate again in the next few weeks. Who knows, if the experience is good then maybe inline sjating will become the perfect summer sport for me.

Kids Jokes

Check out these other activities for kids, like these kids crafts to engage their online learning skills. Visit us today for all your kid's needs!

Kids jokes are the worst but occasional funny!

Anyway here are some from kids.yahoo.com/jokes

What Colour is a Burp?
Burple

Why did Tigger look inside the toilet?
He was looking for Pooh

What happened when the cat ate a ball of yarn?
It had mittens

What kind of phone does the ocean have?
A shell phone

Hilarious, aren't they?

Designer Fabrics

Design Diva is an online discount fabric store featuring prints from all over the world including discount Kravet fabric, Scalamandre, velvet, faux fur, and brocade fabric for your upholstery, curtain drapery.

The website is nicely designed and uses a simple gallery system so that you can pick and order your fabric with ease.

Looking through the fabrics I found some really classy fantastic fabrics. I wish I knew how to make stuff as I would attempt to make some trousers from this:



Or even better, an entire suit! I would be the envy of all my friends, ha ha!

Have you ever used fabrics to create any monstrosities? Or even better, anything that was actually nice?

Snowing again

Montreal just cannot seem to make it's mind up what season it is deciding to be in.

Before Christmas it was freezing and the snow was hammering the streets with a few feet by the new year.

Then the temperature just zoomed up and it went way into the plus realms of heat, melting all the snow, bring ice and rain.

So I wake again this morning and it's snowing again!

I don't mind too much, just confusing me. Maybe this is all linked to global warming?

Is it a bird? is it a plane? No it's an Air Ambulance

I remember walking past my local green space as a child of 14 or so and seeing a huge commotion. Suddenly everyone started shifting out of the way and an almighty noise came roaring closer.

It was an air ambulance coming down to pick up a guy who had sadly cracked his head open in a ad fall.

Like everyone else I stood there in amazement as the idea was something that I had heard of but never seen.

Aerocare provide air ambulance services worldwide and say that they provide a highly personal service at the most affordable rates.

Their webiste looks proesional and friendly at the same time so if you are looking for this kind of service then they are probably worth checking out.

I hope I never need this kind of service but I guess you never know!

Rain rain go away

Montreal has been in a very strange weather rut recently.

After a huge pre-Christmas snowfall the temperatures have shot up and filled the streets with icy slip patches and grey mush..

Then on top of all that the rain has come and created more slushy mush.

I thought that my days of moaning about rain were past when I left the UK. Oh well, I guess the world is the same and different all at the same time.

I want the snow back!

New winter hiking boots

I was stuck just before Christmas with water absorbing shows and a couple of feet of snow all around!

I dealt with it for a few weeks but it really wasn't worth continuing to deal with shriveled and cold feet so I had to get some new ones asap.

I ended up spending half a day frantically trying on shoes from various stores before finally settling on a great pair of Columbia waterproof (the single most important aspect) above ankle walking boots.

Metboots are an online store that offer Hiking Boots and many others. They have a great selection at good prices and boast exceptional customer service aswell as free delivery on all orders over $100.

I guess shopping online would have saved me the miserable journey that cold day!

Lee Evans

Anyone remember the monkish English man from There's Something about Mary?

Well he was alright in that film and ok in Mouse Hunt too but he is a really funny comedian.

Here are some quotes from one of his great Wembley shows. (Beware of strong language!).

Why do we always have the wrong number? You might have the wrong f*cking house!

I said to my wife 'If I ever get like that ya know mumbling to myself and sh*tting my pants shoot me' she said 'f*cking run monkey boy'

My phone will ring at two in the morning, and my wife'll look at me and go, "Who's that calling at this time?" I don't f*cking know! If I knew that we wouldn't need the bloody phone!

The Great British seagulls, they are f*cking huge! You see 'em with feathers rolled up, f*cking tattoos. There's always one with a gammy leg. They're on mobile's now. It's like, "Chips, chips, two o' clock." They come up to you and are like, "Oy! Monkey Boy! Giz a fuckin' chip!"

Lee Evans: At school they made you do stuff, like swim in your pajamas, what the hell point was that? You'll be asleep. Someone comes up to you and goes, "Somebody's drowning!". You'll be like, "I don't give a f*ck. I was havin' a lovely dream."

I actually spent four days in my hotel room 'cause I closed the door and there was a sign on the door saying "Do Not Disturb" and I thought, "Fuck I can't get out!"... In my cupboard was a blanket and a pillow, that was the worst night's sleep I've ever fucking had... and the Corby trouser press, don't it hurt your legs!

I tried water polo and my horse drowned... that was a nightmare.

[on doctors] And they say, they always say the same thing. They say, "Your appointment is at four," and it's never at four! You go down there at four and you have to wait in that waiting room with all the coughers for another bloody hour. You know when that doctor comes out at five and he'll say, "I'll see you now." "No you bloody won't! I've got a few more posters to read yet! Sit the f*ck down!"

Lee Evans: I had a long sleep, f*ck it I deserve a nap

I strongly suggest you look him up on Youtube.

A crushing blow to uninsured drivers!

This is an old story but I have only been alerted to it by doing this sponsored post.

Apparently UK police are undertaking an initiative whereby they will seize and crush your car if you are caught without insurance.

This article from the bbc says that:

Insurers reckon that for every fatal road traffic collision involving an uninsured driver, the taxpayer foots a bill of about £1.6m dealing with the aftermath

I guess this initiative is good news all round, especially for the insurance companies! Maybe with all the increased insurance applications the rates will go down, ha ha!

I am only being vindictive because I know that being of a young age car insurance always seems unfairly prices. A lot of this is due to the fact that us young'uns are more often than not the most irresponsible of the insurance groupings. Over 50s Car Insurance however is another story due to the fact that they tend to be more responsible and less likely to be driving flashy over the top vehicles.

I can't drive so right now it's not an issue I need to deal with!

Harveys, alternate to McDonalds

It's an odd thing for me to think about but while sitting here in a coffee shop thinking healthy thoughts my brain wandered over to the subject of burgers.

Here in Canada there is a chain called Harvey's who seem to be much less of a multi national than the others.

I don't actually know anything about the company but as dast food places go I do sing their praises.

I can go there and order a great tasting vege burger and then they ask you what you want to have in it and build the thing there in front of you.

I'll just have to keep the thought in my head for a while longer as I am curently off of that kind of food.... well maybe I can treat myself a little soon!

Loans in general

I have had various loans over the years and it has been a love/hate relationship.

Many times people, including myself, make bad decisions about getting loans and rush into it but I do think that they can serve a purpose. I think loans for business or to increase the value of your home, or even a mortgages to buy a home can always be a good idea but do not really agree that they should be used to go on holiday or fund a break from work.

I have debts from loans that I need to pay off so I also think that you really need to make sure that you do not let yourself get in the trap of having too much to pay. You always need to be sensible about these things.

There are comparison websites if you are in the market for secured loans and I would always suggest using one to find the best deals.

My last tip is...... always read the small print.

Random Stumbles for the Weekend (Part 3 of 3)

And now for the final part of todays stumbles.

Themes Fonts for FREE
Type Now offers a great selection of free fonts and ths page has the fonts from Airwolf, Goldeneye, 28 days Later and many more.

Best Movie Mistakes
Great movie mistakes ranked and easy to read. A quick and fun thing to read through with easy links to mistkaes from games and books and many more.

Essentials of Buddism
Budism is cool, right! Well this blog teaches you the essentials and gives you an electronic way of helping clense your soul and live side by side with nature.

I hope you enjoyed these stumbles and I may well do this again sometime soon.

Abt Electronics

Abt Electronics have been going since 1936 so I would imagine they have a solid history and know what they are talking about.

Their website is pretty well laid out with a pleasing blue and white header and 3 column layout with help, promotions and product search easily available.

Some example pricing from the USB card section are as follows:

• Sony 1 GB Memory Stick PRO Duo Media - $ 34.00
• Transcend 2GB Compact Flash Card - $ 47.00
• Olympus xD M2GB 2GB xD-Picture Card - $ 37.00
• Transcend 2GB Secure Digital (SD) Card - $ 19.00

And these also all come with free shipping so it's pretty competitive.

Their search is easy to use, customer service is easy to find and they seem to stock electronics of most types from digital camera technology to cell phones.

Random Stumbles for the Weekend (Part 2 of 3)

Continuing with the Random Stumbles....

Sketch Swap
The idea is very basic but pretty fun. Basically it seems that you draw and crap drawing, press swap and get made to feel really useuse and untalented when a great drawing is given back to you :)

Bear on a bridge
Sonny Radio present this amazing rescue story in pictures and audio. Basically this big dumb animal got itself caight up pretty damn high on a bridge and some people rescues it.

The Ultimate Rejection Letter
This is just funny. It would be great if the world really did work like this!

Always be safe with your Gas Cylinders

When I was a kid I always used to enjoy using camp cookers. If we ever went camping then it was always a highlight for me.

I remember one time when my family were getting ready for a camping trip and my dad was testing out the camp cooker. He was in a rush so he quickly attached the Propane cylinder and proceeded to run around to find matches and hurriedly turn the control nob and light the thing.

Suddenly a flame shot up up his arm and the awful smell of burnt hair filled the room.

Gas can be dangerous but if my father had taken the time to properly attach the thing then it would not have been at all troublesome. In fact these days he uses gas cylinders every day for his cooking and I believe for his heating. Thankfully he has not caused anymore incident (to my knowledge) and it is a very efficient and cheap way for him to cook and heat.



I also like the fact that once you have finished with the metal holding container you can take it back to a store and have it sent back for refilling and pick up a new one. It is a very important thing that with the energy we use that we try and make sure we recycle and reuse as much as possible.

Random Stumbles for the Weekend (Part 1 of 3)

I don't use Stumbleupon nearly as much as I should but I decided for the post today that I would list some Random Stumbles and give you a quick review of the sites.

I hope that you enjoy some of them

Guaranteed Smile Makers
Animal Talk presents this series of funny animal photos. The Monkey and the Kittie looking like best buddies is the best thing here... well that's what I think.

The Farmer and the Donkey
Strange flash story with an interesting moral at the end. Don't stay too long on each page as the sound effects can be a little annoying.

Christmas Shopping

Finally it's all over and out of the way! But in a small way I wish I could do it all again.

I only purchased stuff for my girlfriend this year and although I spent a fair amount, I didn't get the right gifts, in retrospect. So I would love to go back and fight the crowds for a second shot but that's for next year now.

I also found it hard to avoid buying myself stuff, especially in the book shop and especially in the queue where they line up enticing items.

I am sure this year will see many people short of money from over spending at Christmas and applying for secured loans and credit cards. Personally I am going to try and stay away from getting anymore as I already have some to settle. Hence the wish to continue making money with blogging. Maybe this year will be the year I pay a huge chunk of my outstanding debts?

New Year, New Reminder

If you are here first time this year then you may be wondering what's up!

Well basically I moved my personal blog to a new address www.therandomforest.com so if you are a subscriber then please stop by and if you like what you see there then add my new feed.

It's still in it's infancy and the design / writing direction and general feel needs work but I think it is a positive step. Feedback from anyone would be much appreciated, good or bad!

So this site is now, as you see, a review center and will be where I can post without fear of turning off my regular readers. Hopefully traffic here will eventually be mostly from search engines. I will however still be posting the odd personal thought here and there so please so stop by every now and then.

Lawsuit Cash Advances

I have never been involved in anything that has required me to hire and pay for a lawyer but I would imagine it is ridiculously expensive and stressful.

Lawmax are a US based firm that offer Settlement Funding so that you can pay for your case through a loan from them.

I guess this could be great if you make sure that it is right for you. The best thing about it seems that you don't have to pay them back if you lose your case and they give you an answer on the loan within two days.

Hopefully I will not be in a situation where I need someone like them anytime soon.

Yummy Sandwich

If you want and idea for a quick lunch sandwich then please do read on.

Ingredients:
2 slices pumpernickel bread
2 thin slices of your favorite cheese
Mustard
Handful of baby spinach leaves

Instructions:
I almost don't need to give these but.... for the sake of making this in standard recipe format I will.
Apply a thin layer of mustard to both slices of bread.
Lay the cheese slices on 1 side and top with spinach.
Close sandwich, cut as desired and scoff it down as quick as possible.

In an effort to avoid eating out I took one of these yummy sandwiches out with me today and just recently finished eating it. I want another one.

What's the price for Freemium?

Chris Anderson, Editor-in-Chief of Wired has written a new book about his idea called the 'freemium' model.

In his interview over at 123-reg blog he explains how he believes the model works and what it means for the future of free services, software and sites on the internet. He also discusses his thoughts on where social networking comes into play and what role he believes it will begin to play.

The idea is pretty straightforward and on the surface very beneficial for us. Basically in the good old days a company would give away 1% of it's products in order to promote and sell the other 99%. Freemium works by giving away 99% of products in order to sell 1%....... remind you of Google?

The customer, that's us, gets so much free stuff these days that a lot of premium competition will find it harder and harder to survice. Only problem is in many cases we have to give up our private data or deal with a herd of adverts.

Still I am all for Freemium. Hopefully he has indicated that his book will be free online too, so go and read the review and see what it's all about.

The Bloggers Message Board

I just wanted to try and get a few more people over and joining in at the Bloggers Message Board which was set up by Garry Conn late last year.

It reminds me a little of Digital Point Forums but much more personal and with so many great Bloggers including Garry Conn and Cyber Coder regularly giving out opinions and advice it is a great place to pick up tips and info.

Sadly I have seen the subscribers list sitting still and the core members are not really growing as quickly as this place deserves.

I hope this plug at very least makes you vist. Hope to see you there.

This post has also been posted over at my main blog site www.therandomforest.com

Pro 360

I am not a huge gambler but do occasionally go online to play poker. I deposited about $30 a year or so ago and have never needed anymore as I tend to keep a reasonably even win/lose ratio.

I am registered with 888.com which is one of the most well known online casino sites but there are tons more and Pro360.com is a review site that can help you determine which ones may be worth signing up with.

Pro360 has a very straight forward design and immediately you are presented with a list of online gambling sites with an editor and reader rating with the easy option to read the full review. These reviews seem pretty well done and honest also showing screen shots so you can check out the graphical style.

Alot of the stuff on this site seems to be helping US players find ways to gamble online and although I don't know if this is a positive thing I suppose it provides a service for those seeking such info.

I don't think gambling is something for everyone and I hate it when it is abused but this site could certainly prove useful for the casual player looking for a reliable place to sign up.