J Marcus Daily
OfficeMax.Com - Weekly Specials
This is one deal that sticks out in the crowd of Sunday circulars. $99.97 for an 8X Internal DVD+RW Drive plus 2 50-pack DVD+R spindles. This is an off brand burner but at this price it almost doesn't matter. Officemax still offers an inexpensive product replacement plan if you're not sure if this thing will last very long. The media itself is worth the $100. This is one deal worth checking out.
The deal will be gone before I've had a chance to review this product but I'll still be including a review in two weeks. If anyone has an experience with this one feel free to contact me so we can get the word out.
J Marcus DVD and Movie reviews
Movies have become an integral part of modern day entertainment. Americans love to go to the theater to see the latest summer blockbuster, and scarf down a gallon of soda and a barrel of
buttered popcorn. There is nothing quite like the feeling as when the lights begin to dim and after watching 15 minutes of commercials and trailers, the
THX bass reverberates through the seats. In an effort to bring a little bit of that excitement to our houses, home theater has exploded in popularity in the last few years. With surround sound, big screen TV’s and DVD’s everyone is at least on some level trying to keep up with the Joneses.
For the last two years, I’ve been reviewing theatrical releases and DVD movies for a number of publications. Now, I’ve decided to bring a bit of my experience and a lot of opinion to my blogger audience. These will be shorter, more informal versions of my other reviews. There will be more in-depth versions archived on my regular site for those looking for a little bit more.
Still, I’m excited to have another forum on which to share my love of movies. Unlike many reviewers, I look forward to the dialog from readers. The best thing about reviewing movies is that it is so subjective. But if I can save someone from spending $10 on a truly bad movie, then I’ve done a good days work.
I’ve posted my first review on the site already. This last weekend I saw Dodgeball: A TRUE underdog story with a couple of friends. I was not excited to see this movie. We came back from camping for the weekend and they ribbed up going to see this one. I decided to tag along. At least it wasn’t as bad as I was expecting it to be.
Although I’m not sure if it is a good sign that this one turns out to be the inaugural review for this new blog.
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Post-its have become a staple in the modern office. Those simple yellow notes pads are so useful we even look to them on our computers. Microsoft Outlook has a notes function remarkably similar to Post-its without any of the functionality. They are only useful while in Outlook, almost killing their simple usefulness.
Search Google for
"computer post it notes" and you'll get 4,260,000 results. Since
Post-its are a brand name, most of the initial searches deal with nothing but 3M products. For 14.95 you can purchase the standard edition allowing much of what you'ld imagine digital post-it notes to do. Th alarm function is a nice touch as well as the ability to include pictures and graphics in your note.
There are a host of other knock offs doing pretty much the same thing but without the trademark name. All ranging in price from $9.99 to $42.99. While doing a little research I was stumped as to what the $40 product did better than the $10 product. Then I found the perfect little program.
Perfect. I don't throw around that word lightly. But it does everything a yellow sticky note program should do, and for the all inclusive price of FREE. Yes, that is probably what moved this well made little gem into the perfect category. Although it is lacking literaly the bells and whistles, it can do everything except act as an alarm. That will cost you extra.
After two weeks of use I have no complaints. It has worked without any glitches or bugs. Give it a try before you fork over a single cent to any of the other Sticky-Postit note products out there. At the very least you'll know for sure if you really do need a virtual post it pad on your desktop.
XIMETA, Inc.
With the advent of wireless home networking users have the opportunity to have their computers connected like never before. Many home network users have their laptop and PC, not to mention a handheld of some sort to sync. Running multiple copies of the same information on a variety of sources can be a bit of a logistical
nightmare.
As a writer I have tried a host of different syncing programs for backing up and synchronizing the different instances of an article with which I'm working. Finally, I've found what may well be the solution to problems. NetDisk, a networked hard drive that connects directly through an Ethernet port, like those found on the back of most wireless routers.
After running the simple interface on each of the computers I want to be able to connect to the NetDisk, the hard drive is ready to access. Now when I'm on my laptop in bed, in my office or working on
my PDA, the hard drive gives me access to everything I'm working on no matter which device I’m using.
Where has this thing been? Personally, this is the best $200 I've spent. With a plethora of technology devices around my house and office, this has to be my favorite. The simplest things seem to be the most life changing, and the NetDisk is just such a device.
There is room for improvement though. The device seems to run very hot, almost too hot to touch. And when the
laptop drops the network connection the application has to reinitialize the hard drive. This isn't too complicated, with a right click on the toolbar icon select Enable hard drive. However, it is one of those little annoyances. Otherwise, the device has worked smoothly and the interface time is only slightly slower than standard internal drives.
Overall, I'd recommend this to anyone who has a
wireless internet connectionand uses multiple computers frequently.
PhotoSite - Share photos and create online photo albums for free - includes photo software
Digital Camera's have taken the world of electronics by storm. Consumers have quickly adopted this relatively new technology. The idea of having a photo lab in your own home is appealing to a great many photo enthusiasts. Even Grandma and Grandpa America have taken to digital photos in both the taking and the receiving.
With the increase in resolution of cameras quickly moving from the early days of 1 Mega pixel cameras to more than 8 Mega pixels, the file size of the average picture has grown considerably. Some E-mail services limit bandwidth and file sizes. Download times can reach into the hours on a dial up connection.
The solution, for many is off site photo hosting. This isn't a new concept. Kodak has been offering this since they first started making digital disks for consumers to take home. The idea is simple. Download your photos to a website, setup how you'd like them to be laid out, and send the address to your friends and relatives. No more clogged e-mail boxes. No more attachments that for security reasons should never be opened anyway. Those interested can visit the site at their leisure, download the pictures they like, and in most cases print them out for their own albums.
There are numerous services available both as pay sites and free. The terms of use are different with each of them: limiting bandwidth, storage space, unique webpage layout, personalized web addresses, and a host of other services.
Homestead, the point and click website hosting company has ventured into photo hosting with their new site, photosite.com. A free service that is simple to use and offers speedy uploads. They provide custom URL's, flexible album creation, privacy controls and camera photo connectivity. There are also thousands of styles to choose from when selecting album layout, frame and color schemes to allow for endless personalization. There is a simple editing tool function built in for cropping, brightening, or to tint and correct redeye. Add captions to the photos with customizable fonts and best of all Photosite claims upload speeds 10X faster than e-mail. And did I mention it is free.
Eventually, the free basic service will move to $4.99 a month after the trial period. As a Homestead customer I under a trial period but it isn't clear how long this will last. Still, I recommend checking this one out at least for the free period to see if this is actually for you.
There is a pay version for professionals and power users allowing for unlimited photos, ad-free web pages, and a personal domain call photosite deluxe. This service is $7.99/Month or $69.99/Year.
Here is an example of what you can do. I created this page in less than five minutes with pictures from out latest
Disneyland trip.
I've also included a handful of the other photo hosting sites on the web currently.
PixStorage
PicRack
Free-Image-Hosting.org
Uploadyourimages
Fotoheap
SaveFile
ImageMotel
ImageWaiter
VibrahostIzabel
Bestselling Author J Marcus Ross
This Blog thing has really evolved for me over the last few months. I haven't really taken it as seriously as Simon says I should. There are all kinds of people getting fame, recognition and book deals from the attention received from their blogs. However, I haven't been able to bring myself to commit to writing here everyday. Especially about any one particular topic.
Instead I spend most of my writing time on articles for magazines and my current manuscript. Then something happened two days ago that changed the way I will look at blogging forever.
Someone wrote me on my website saying they had seen my blog and wanted to learn more about me. After learning I'd written a book this person went out and ordered it from their local bookstore. Today, the same bookstore called because they were interested in perhaps doing a book signing. It seems this blog reader had read loved the book so much he went in and raved about it to the owner.
Amazing.
Now, I'm not new to the power of the Internet. The main reason
Darkness Within was ever published was because of the strong reader response to its release on the Internet. But blogging had nothing to do with it and I never considered myself a blogger. There have been so many different new ways for people to connect on the Internet I've become a little jaded about some of these fads. And I have to admit, blogging seemed like exactly one of those flash in the pan fads that would soon die out. I'm not ashamed to admit that I was wrong.
For those of you saying: Great, now you’re convinced just because one guy read your book, all I can say is --yeah. It's worth it to me if just one person discovers something I've written. I've never been in this for the big bucks but I do love hearing what readers have to say. If I was into just being the next bestselling author and make a million then I would've made a lot of different decisions in my life. I'd write the boring cliché books that seem to get gobbled up by every bookstore. Instead I'm doing it my way.
So, there now I'm a convert blogger. I'm hoping that I won't just rant and rave and waste people’s time. That's why I've recently added a couple of different blogs so I can include some of my short technology reviews or travel articles. This way I can have a bit more rambling here on my main blog. It'll be an evolution I'm sure I'm hoping you'll all be patient with me. If your not, then move along and go read more about
Julia Roberts pregnancy or what the
Friends cast members are doing now.
FitDay - Online Diet & Fitness Manager
Trying to lose weight? Aren't we all? There are so many plans to choose from when considering weight loss. While I can't be sure which one will work for you, I'm certain you have to monitor your daily eating and exercise habits. That first step seems to be the most crucial no matter what plan you chose for yourself.
Fitday.com is a free online service that has made tracking your weight loss program simple. As a web based program it can be updated from anywhere, as long as you have an internet connection. The interface is simple and well laid out. It allows you to track your weight loss, calorie intake, and activity level in order to monitor where you are in relation to your personal goals.
Don't spend a fortune on something that is free and convenient. Go to Fitday and give it a try. I've found it useful and hopefully you will as well.
MSNBC - Private rocket ship breaks space barrier
For most this headline will only give a moment of conversation at America's water cooler. Many have grown bored with the notion of space travel since the landing on the Moon in July of 1969. In the wake of the Space Shuttle accidents more American’s than ever are questioning continued funding of NASA. The promises of science fiction have been slow to pay off. A payoff, I must remind which is difficult to judge within only one lifetime.
With the successful flight of SpaceShipOne into what is internationally recognized as outer space the trumpets of progress have sounded yet again. This may well be the first step toward a private sector exploration of that which exists beyond our own atmosphere. Some believe it may be another 50-100 years before we see average tourists on daily flights to space. This may be a good guess or pragmatic in the face of all the failed promises over the last 50 years. If the interest is there and the average tourist is indeed willing to pay to take a ride into orbit, it could be much sooner. Money greases the wheels of progress more than almost any factor in our culture. If the desire is there then innovation will indeed win the day and one day my kids may be vacationing in a hotel on the Moon.
In the next few days, this headline will be buried again. We’ll go back to conversations about who is to be the next president, the war on terrorism and what the fall TV lineup looks like. I for one will continue to watch as this story unfolds. SpaceShipOne still has some work to do before it can win the coveted Xprize. And after that who knows, only the future can tell. However, I’m proud to be one of the few who is still excited about the space program and I salute everyone who contributes to this grand endeavor.
