Spectra-tacular

I have come across a couple of cool new things from MSNBC. No it isn't Keith Olbermann and Rachel Maddow, though they both kick some serious bootay. It is Spectra and NewsSkimmer.

Spectra mashes news headlines with almost as many colors as a Crayola 64 box holds. Under each main headline box are sub categories. For example under Health, that is shaded a sky blue, are subjects such as, Women's Health, Men's Health, and Sexual Health. And for each subject you pick, you get the top 10 stories of the day. As you pick the news categories you are interested in, 10 seperate colored boxes fly into middle of the screen, and begin to slowly rotate, like debris caughty up in a fat, florid tornado.

If I am not careful I can end up picking almost every topic and sub-topic. In which case it can take me an hour or more to scan through and pick out the stories I want to read. Of course all the stories are found at MSNBC's web site.

NewsSkimmer is a screen saver that "saturates your idling computer with news-filled color." And saturate it does. The screen is filled with a undulating wave of color and news. You can pick what ever news topics strike your fancy and when your computer goes to screen sve mode your news headlines come a popping out of the vibrant multicolored wave.

This screen saver seems like a good idea, however when my computer goes into screen save mode I am not usually there to see it. So even though I have downloaded this app to my laptop, I haven't actually seen much of it. Maybe others will find it more useful.

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Hostel.com is the place to find cheap sleeps on the road

I love to travel. And for me one of the essentials for traveling is getting a decent, cheap place to lay my head. I don't need a 3 or 5 star place to hold up in. I just need a place to sleep for 8 hours, take a shower and maybe catch a nap, if the caffeine wears off. If I spend more than 11 hours a day in my room I am doing something wrong. So when I found Hostels.com, I knew I had stumbled upon a little slice of traveler's Heaven.

At Hostels.com one can search for hostels and other cheap places to stay, around the world. The front page claims they list more than 26,000 places to book. All that is required is for you to pick which country and city(ies) you plan to travel to and when and helpful booking app on the front page does all the work. After a few moments it spits out a list of available hostels and other cheap places. It lists what kind of rooms are open and how much the rooms cost. You can book the rooms right then and only pay a 10% fee of the total cost. The balance is due when you check in.

CAUTION:Each place has terms and conditions, so you would be wise to read them. For example, one of the two hostels I booked in Washington D.C. does not take cash, and I must confirm my reservation 24 hours in advance, or I lose the room. Also check here for check-in times.

For each of the hostels I booked I was given clear directions on how to get to them, either by train, plane, bus or Metro. Also included where photos of the place, of staff and former guests. More importantly there was a section where former guests rated the hostel. Most seemed to like the hostels I booked, but it seemed almost every bad review was from a fellow American. I am not sure what to make of that. There was also a star-rating system for such things as Character, Security, Location, Staff and Cleanliness. For me the most important consideration is security. There is nothing worse than a fellow traveler who steals. 9 times out of 10 if some asks I would be happy to buy them a meal, or lend them a couple of bucks for beer, or a ticket to their next destination. But that is neither here nor there.

So if you are planning a trip here in the good ole US of A, or Asia, or Europe, or Africa, or South America, Hostels.com is the place to find a decent, cheap place to lay one's head.

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Cathay Pacific Spreads the Love to Economy Class

In welcomed travel news Cathay Pacific has made considerable changes to economy class on its flights serving San Fran, The Big Apple and L.A. According to Sean O'Neal at the Travel Tips section on msnbc.com Cathay Pacific has installed new seats which "have a hard-back shell and slide forward as they recline . . . and the entertainment library for . . . coach as expanded to include more than 100 movies, 350 TV shows, and 900 music CDs."

Now that is CHANGE I can believe in.

These improvements should take off the edge from what can often be rather bumpy flights, to and from Asia, at least in my experience. Cathay also offers a virtual tour of not only economy class, but first class and business class.

If only the other airlines would spread the love to economy class that would make life traveling a little better

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FURBY OR MOGWAI?

Scientists in Indonesia have rediscovered Furbys Pygmy Tarsiers. They are cute little things
as shown here. But I can't help to be a little weary.

The pygmy tarsier looks very similar to this small lovable creature:

A creature who turns into this not so lovable creature if the Three Rules are not obeyed.


I am sure most of us remember what befell Kingston Falls when the THREE RULES were not obeyed. So until scientists are sure this is not a mogwai, I say feeding time ends at 8pm.

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If You Are a Procrastinating Writer this may help

Dr. Wicked has come up with an app to help writers who would rather do anything else but write. There are several modes available to encourage writers to stop wishing and start doing. I tried out Normal and Kamikaze modes. I purposefully didn't write my goal of 10 words. After waiting for the time goal to count down the 10 minutes I so generously allotted myself, nothing happened. There were claims of being subjected to the "evil sounds" of Rick Ashley and Hanson. Or if I did not type my 10 words the app would "unwrite" any work that was completed. I waited to experience this new form of Rick-Rolling. In the end I was left disappointed. I was not Rick-Rolled nor was I unwritten.

However I liked the app. It helped me to get some writing done. I was able to separate the act of writing from the act of editing. I often have trouble doing this. Plus I was able to concentrate on writing, instead of finding any and all distractions to deal with.

If you use Dr. Wicked's Write or Die web app I would suggest opening up OpenOffice Writer, or whatever software you use to write, first. This way you can cut and paste whatever you have written and not lose any of it. However, if you forget to do this, the app does ask if you want to save to your clip board when you try to close it.

So if you are like me and procastinate on the writing front, or you just want to get Rick-Rolled in a new way, then check out Write or Die.

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Will the increase incidence of 'Cougar' attacks be far behind?

Scientists in the U.S., Canada, Australia, and Briton have just finished a 2 year study of testosterone patches on post-menopausal women. The Scientists "found that a high dose of male hormone gives post-menopausal women a modest, but meaningful boost in the sex lives after a year." (emphasis mine)

Maybe this Cougar enhancing patch can be sent to Mexico City to help deal with the pill popping Grandpas. Perhaps the wife of Mexico City's mayor can encourage him to pass out the patches, for free, to the more mature ladies of Mexico City. And maybe the entire country will be in line for blue pills and libido patches if he wins the presidency. If only we could get a program like this here in the States.

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Ladies Beware of Mexico City after December 1st

Starting December 1st Mexico City will be giving away free 'little blue pills' to men 70 or older. According to Mayor Marcelo Ebrard the city is doing this "because sexuality "has a lot to do with quality of life and our happiness."" I take it the mayor is over 70 and his health insurance plan doesn't cover the little blue pill of love. Therefore, why shouldn't he use his power for good and shower the hundreds of thousands of Mexico City's 70+ year old men with boner pills?

I am not saying there will be trouble with this scheme, but blue, pill popin', boner-sportin' grandpas running through the streets can't be good.

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Bartering: The New 'In' Thing?

With times getting tough around the good old US of A, one solution making the rounds is bartering. It has been around since before money. In fact, before currencies "bartering was the most accepted form of commerce." Most bartering today seems to be between companies or small business owners looking to save dinero or move old product on down the road. NOTE: Had trouble embedding the video so linked to it instead.

Tradefirst.com operates in Ohio, Florida, and Michigan, while imsbarter.com seems to be open to most anyone-businesswise and operates everywhere.

I can see bartering extending to personal use in the near future. If the economic difficulties are prolonged, bartering could help alleviate hardship for some people. I could see families using bartering to exchange baby sitting duties, or haircuts. Perhaps some people will exchange lawn work or minor repair jobs for groceries, or rent.

The only draw back? If you guessed IRS paper work you are either a MENSA genius or a cynical bastard. Of course the IRS is the biggest pimp in the game, so they always gotta get theirs, any time you're trying to get yours.

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