Ways to Spend New Year's Eve

Hi All,

Welcome to the last blog post for 2011. 2012 is just about 32 hours away so I need to get started on this post...

So, how do you spend your New Year's Eve? Well, that's the topic for today's post.

The first entry comes to you care of About.com - from their Long Island, New York section. Click on this link to visit the page where the information comes from.

Some ideas they mention include the Garden City Hotel's New Year's Even Dinner at Rein and Gurney's Inn Annual New Year's Eve Party.

From a website called Activerain.com come these suggestions: Lily Flanagan's Annual New Year's Even Extravagana or New Year's Eve 2012 at the Long Island Huntington Hilton.

From a website called Opentable.com (where you an make restaurant reservations online instantly - and get confirmations of the reservation) comes suggestions from dozens of restaurants in New York City, in Nassau and Suffolk counties'. The site lets you make the reservation in real time and get a confirmation. Information about the restaurant is included - as well as the type of cuisine (American, Cuban, French, Italian, etc...) the restaurant serves.

For a more local perspective, click on this link from the FarmingdalePatch site. This link goes to the patch link for the search 'New Year's Eve'. Some suggestions that appear include Caracara Mexican Grill, Melting Pot, Library Cafe, New Year's Eve Party at Croxley Ales, and an event at the Farmingdale Knights of Columbus.

By the way, did you notice how all the links on the Farmingdale Patch page are local venues? That's because of the local nature of the FarmingdalePatch site - a good site to visit for local information any time of the year!!!

Finally, click on this link for local taxi services (Farmingdale, Massapequa, Bethpage and Plainedge) that you can call in the even that you've had so much to drink that you can't drive.

So, with that all said - have a happy and safe New Year's Eve. And have a great 2012!

Enjoy the links!

Stu

L is for...

Hi All,

Back again for one of 2011's last blog entries'...

We are almost halfway done with the alphabet now - one letter left to get to the mid-point. Which means we are up to the letter 'L'. Lots of great websites begin with the letter 'L'!!!

Long Island Railroad - great link - easy to navigate and figure out - for train schedules and to find out what train fares are for the LIRR. Also has link to MTA, service changes, maps and branches with various stops included. Not to be missed for the traveler!

LinkedIn - the website says it all...'over 135 million professionals use LinkedIn to exchange information, ideas and opportunities'. Excellent social networking site for the busy business professional.

Lord and Taylor - premier retailer of shoes, handbaags, jewelry and accessories, beauty and fragrance products, men's clothing and kid's clothing as well as women's apparel. Has a store locator and promotional advertisements on the site. Can buy merchandise online.

Louis Vuitton - luxury retailer of men's and women's watches, leather goods, handbags, shoes and much more. Also has a store locator.

Land's End - clothing for men, women, boys and girls. School uniforms, luggage and outerware can also be bought on the site. Can buy merchandise online.

Lowe's - national retailer of appliances, home decor goods, kitchen renovation materials, electrical supplies, plumbing supplies, bath, flooring, paint, lighting/fans, lawn/garden supplies
and storage/organization systems. Store locator available on the site. Promotional discounts on site also. Ideas for projects, home idea projects and more is available on the site.

One interesting note - many of the sites above are retailers. I wonder what it is that makes the letter 'L' so popular for retailers...hmmmm

Enjoy the sites!

Stu

It's About Time - History and Timelines

Hi All,

We are in the final days of 2011! Where on earth did the year go? The year went so fast - but individually, each day kind of goes slow. But before you know it, another week has gone by.

Sigh, and then another month has gone by -and boom, the half year mark has been reached. And then it is all down hill from there...anyway, here are some websites to find out what happened on a particular day in history. Kind of similar, but different.

The AP has a website that includes events from this day in history. Click here for the site.

The venerable New York Times also has a this day in history section - again, click here for the site. One thing that is different on this site is that you can actually choose a date - using some drop down menus - to find a particular day in history. Then you'll find the specific events on that date. Neat stuff.

Now, I'm sure you could go to the History Channel website or other history websites and get the same information...but I didn't want to just keep listing more of the same old websites.

So, I did a Google search using the phrase 'timelines'. One interesting site that came up in the results was 'Timelines of History: World Timelines, Current and Historical'. Users who visit the site can pick and choose a time span and then the events appear when you click on the link. Interesting - but the interface - ie the website - is a bit dated and somewhat static. You'll see. But it is still a useful site.

Another timeline site comes from FactMonster.com - it is a bit more 'child' oriented with a few differences. Users can click on a drop down menu that has categories like 'world', 'disasters', 'history', 'biography', 'sports', 'entertainment', 'society and culture', and 'health and science'.

Note that users can break down World history and US history into further categories like time periods and but subject. Very helpful and the site is definitely colorful and easy to navigate.

Finally, click onthis link from TimelineIndex.com. What is interesting about this site, you ask? Indeed, good question. You might remember back in elementary school one your teachers mentioned the 5 questions that all newspaper reports ask? (The question are 'who, what when, where and why..')

Well, Timelineindex.com organizes itself based on these 5 questions. For example, under the 'Who' category, users can find information about 'People, Personalities, Heroes....'. Under the 'What' category, users can find information about 'Events, Subjects, Issues...' And so on...
Categories can be linked by clicking on each of these words:

Who - covers people, personalities, heroes
What - covers events, subjects and issues
When - covers periods, ages, and episodes
Where - covers places, countries, continents
Which - covers objects, things, creations

Enjoy the sites and I hope this entry makes history!!! :)
Stu

The #4

Hi All,

Four - a nice, even number. A multiple of 2, a divisor of 8 and 16...it has lots of significance - with respect to sports, mathematics, computers and in many other subjects. I'll talk about these various meanings in this blog entry...

Four...
'four balls' and you get a walk - you get a free pass to first base...

4 Line in New York City's subway system - click on this link to the MTA

4shared - free online storage, upload, access, share your music, video and photos

4Kids.org - latest tech knowledge for kids on the web - links to games, videos; has a Kid Quest and links to Cool Spots. Has back issues.

4Teachers.org - teacher tools

Apple - iPhone 4 - specifications and more

BBC Radio 4 - listen to radio 4 programmes from the BBC in the UK

Foursquare - helps users meet up with friends nearby, keep up with friends around the world, and share experiences through photos and comments - great for figuring out what and where friends are...

NBC 4 - television station in the New York City metro area (Long Island, New York City, parts of New Jersey and Connecticut)

Wikipedia entry for the number 4 - the entry has the meaning for the number four in science (astronomy, biology, chemistry and physics), logic/philosophy, technology, transportation, music and has external links.

Who would have thought there is so much symbolism and meaning to the number four? Go figure!

Regards,
Stu

How to Wrap a Holiday Gift or Present?

Hi All,

Holidays are right around the corner and I just thought of a great topic: how to wrap gifts and presents.

First some facts: how much wrapping paper is used each year during the holidays? Click here for a link to Ask.com for the answer. Click on this link that help you figure out how much wrapping paper you need for all your holiday presents!

Click on this very intuitive and interesting link that will help you estimate how much wrapping paper to use for a single present - cool site!

Okay, now that you've figure out how much wrapping paper you need, click on this link that is basically a 'tutorial' on what you need to know about wrapping paper.

Did you know that you can recycle wrapping paper? Yep - you can! Click on this link that will help you start recycling your leftover wrapping paper after the holiday season!

Now you get to the fun part - how to wrap the present!

Here are x links to videos from various sources that show you how to wrap a gift!
1. Wikihow video - how to wrap a gift
2. eHow.com - not a video - just written instructions on how to wrap a gift.
3. RealSimple.com - how to wrap a gift
4. YouTube.com - how to wrap a gift professionally

You can also do a search on Youtube for the phrase 'wrapping gifts' and you'll find many, many other videos on how to wrap gifts.

Hope this makes your holidays a bit easier! Happy wrapping!
Stu

Fruits with the Letter E...

Hi All,

Wow, if you thought finding the name of a fruit that began with the letter D was difficult (think 'dates'), than you are in for quite a surprise with the letter D...

Here are some fruits that begin with the letter E: egg fruit, eggplant, elderberry, elephant apple, emblic, emu apple, entawak, and etrog...quite the limited list, eh?

Being that many of these fruits are relatively obscure, I'm going to talk about eggplant in today's blog entry. Just for kicks, click on this link for the source where I got this list of fruit that begin with the letter E.

So - what are the health effects of eggplant? Click here for a link from Self.com - the charts and tables regarding eggplant are very helpful! And guess what - eggplant is really, really healthy and nutritious.

Click on this link for the Wikipedia article on eggplant. The entry includes a history of eggplant, cooking information about it, health properties, varieties, synonyms for eggplant and a gallery of them! Wow - that's a comprehensive entry!

Regular readers probably already realize that I am a big fan of About.com. Well, it seems that they have a really good page for quick information about eggplant.

Now for the fun part - click here for a link to Allrecipes.com - this link goes to - obviously - eggplant recipes. This link goes to the just plain and simple eggplant recipes. Examples of recipes from this page include: Spicy Eggplant, Eggplant Rollatini, Eggplants with Pesto, Eggplant Pizzas and Eggplant Bake.

Click on this link from Tablespoon.com - it has delectable recipes for eggplant related meals including Eggplant Parmesan, Eggplant and Basil Sandwiches, Steamed Chinese Vegetables with Brown Rice, Rataouille Appetizer Pizza and Spicy Split Peas with Vegetables...yum yum!

So there you have it - a bunch of recipes sites that discuss eggplant meals; and other sites that give the reader some background about eggplants!

Enjoy - and I hope your eggplant recipes come out great!
Stu

Sleeping - What a Pleasure!!!

Hi All,

Did you know that the Mayo Clinic recommends 7 to 9 hours of sleep for healthy adults? Did you know that school age children should be getting 10 to 11 hours of sleep and that toddlers should be getting 12 to 14 hours of sleep? And the little ones - infants - should be getting 14-15 hours of sleep per day?

Here is some information about sleep deprivation. Included are statistics and various facts that come from the CDC (Centers For Disease Control and Prevention).

This link goes to a page entitled 'Insufficient Sleep is a Public Health Epidemic'. The article links to an excellent website by the name of 'National Sleep Foundation'. Click here to visit the NSF site. Like many other sites, the NSF has sections on Sleep Facts and Information, Finding a Sleep Professional, Linking to an Online Community, and much, much more.

Did you also know that millions of American adults are sleep deprived? Click on this link from the American Psychological Association that explains why sleep is important and what happens when you don't get enough sleep (think irritability, sluggishness, susceptibility to colds in addition to falling asleep at work).


Click on this link from the National Institute of Health - the site is from a Teacher's Guide regarding 'Information About Sleep'. Issues such as NREM, REM sleep and more are discussed in the article. Charts and diagrams are also included.

American Sleep Association - this is an excellent link that has tabs on sleep related topics like 'Sleep Information', 'Forums', 'Newsletter', 'Chat Rooms', 'Sleep Lab Directory' and a whole area (toward the bottom of the homepage) on popular sleep related topics like: Sleep Apnea, Restless Leg Syndrome, Narcolepsy, Insomnia Information and Ask the Sleep Doctor.

Click on this link about Sleep Apnea (SA) - the information comes from the American Association of Sleep Apnea. There are links to Learning About SA, Diagnosing and Treating SA, Support of SA Patients and a link to SA Resources

So there you have it - a whole host of sleep related websites and resources! Hopefully the links and information will help you get some good sleep and good shut eye!

Regards,
Stu

Marriage Quotes

Hi All,

Trying to come up with an idea for a blog entry today was somewhat difficult this morning. My thought process went something like this...

Checked online version of Newsday for some local news or tidbit to write about. Nothing of interest really appeared. I did see the Obits byline at the top of the page though. I thought about an entry talking about obituaries - that's too easy. Just go to the Social Security Death Index page from Rootsweb.

Besides a blog entry about obituaries is too depressing for this time of the year. I wanted something more upbeat and a bit less depressing. So...I looked for sites that had birth announcements...no such luck and what I did find were sites that actually sold the birth announcment itself. Not what I was looking for.

What about marriages? Hmmmm...I felt like I was getting a bit closer to a good idea for a blog post. What about marriage announcements? Okay - click on this link from the New York Times to see some fancy marriage announcements in and around New York City.

More to the point, I was looking for a whole bunch of quotes about what marriage does to a man and a woman; and to the relationship. Lots of the quotes talk about change and what happens after the honeymoon is over. There is a bit of truth in each and everyone of these quotes related to marriage. You'll see. And some of them are very, very clever - all of them are, in one way or another true.


This next set of married related quotes comes from QuoteGarden - an interesting quote related website. Note that if you want to find a particular word on the page, just click on the Edit option at the top left side of the page. When the drop down menu appears, click on the Find option and a dialog box will appear where you can type in the word you are looking for. Upon hitting the enter key the first appearance of the word will be shown. Hitting enter again will show the next appearance of the word you are looking for.

Finally, click on this link from Poemslovers.com for yet more quotes on the worlds oldest institution: marriage.

Enjoy the links and the quotes!
Stu

#3

Hi All,

Get ready, get set...go.

We are up to #3 in our ongoing search for interesting, useful, playful, educational topics...

There is a lot of history behind the number 3. For example:

#3: Babe Ruth - of baseball fame. Not only possibly the best baseball player ever - possibly the most influential and charismatic. Click here for a link to all his stats via Baseball-Reference.com (#3 was his uniform number!)

Britney Spears had a song by the name of '3'. Click here to watch the video on YouTube.com

3 Blind Mice - click here for the origin and history of the old nursery rhyme. Also, click here for Wikipedia entry entitled 'Three Blind Mice'. The entry has lyrics, origins, meaning and variations of the nursery rhyme. Interesting stuff.

3 Wise Men - in the traditional version of the Christmas story, the (3) wise men (magi) are Gaspar, Melchior and Balthasar...click here for some information about them from About.com's section on Ancient/Classical History.

Triple Play - in baseball this is a rare play in which 3 outs are made during the same continuous play. Wikipedia has an interesting entry about this. Note that types of plays are very, very rare.

3 (Holy Trinity) - the central doctrine of the Christian religion - represents the truth that in the unity of the Godhead there are three Persons: The Father, The Son, and the Holy Spirit...click here for a link from the Catholic Encyclopedia for more information.

Hat Trick (3 Goals in one game) - From WiseGeek.com comes this answer of 'what is a hat trick in hockey'?

The first nuclear explosion was called Trinity. Click here for the site that discusses the history and importance of this event. Also, click on this link - from the Nuclear Weapons Archive. It talks about the Trinity nuclear explosion in even more detail.

Finally, from a site called Spiritual Numerology comes this site that discusses the numerological meanings of the number 3. Interesting stuff for sure.

Enjoy!
Stu

Modern Shopping - Easier, Faster and You Save Money

Hi All,

I was just reading an article from the New York Times titled, 'A New Secret Weapon For Electronics Shoppers'.

It was an interesting and timely article - especially since we are in the middle of the holiday shopping season.

Essentially the article discusses the fact that when purchasing various items (think cars, camera's smartphones and other electronic equipment) shoppers are at a disadvantage when shopping. Retailers and manufacturers know about you and the potential purchases you might make...so they can send out advertisements for sales and for coupons.

The playing field has been leveled the article goes on to say with websites like Pricegrabber.com and Bizrate.com and NexTag.com (historical price information). Finally a site like FreePriceAlerts.com has been very helpful in that it notifies customers via email when the price of a particular item drops. Cool stuff, eh?

Now a new site by the name of Decide.com has gone live. Decide.com collects and mines billions of transactions to determine what the best price is and whether there will be an even better price in the near future. Wow! Think of the computing power necessary to generate this data!
The unique aspect of the site is the predictive power of it...now we have a website that essentially suggests whether or not buyers should hold off making a purchase (because the price of the item might drop in the future) or whether they should make the purchase now (because the price of the item might increase in the future). Cool stuff!

Enjoy your purchases!
Stu

K is For...

Hi All,

Who would have thought that the letter K has so many different services and organizations and companies associated with it?

K is For...

Keurig - manufacturer of the K-cup - single cups of coffee. Can buy the coffee and/or the machine via the website. Oh, and it is very, very tasty coffee - trust me, a family member has a Keurig coffee maker. Yum!

K-Mart - national retailer of clothing, toys, electronics, home goods and more - can buy online or in the store...

Kayak - great online travel site - similar to Expedia but different. Can make flights, rent hotel rooms and cars and schedule whole vacations. Very helpful site.

Kohl's - another national retailer - Kohl's specializes in bedding, clothing for men and women, kids and babies, and has toys, jewelry, watches and more. Can buy online or in the store. Expect great things :)

Kate Spade - luxury retailer of handbags, wallets, clothing, shoes, jewelry and more...can also buy online or in the store.

Kindle Fire - Amazon.com's e-reader that enables users to also surf the web, watch movies on the web, plays games, read and download apps to the device.

Enjoy the sites.

Stu

PS: (I didn't realize that there are so many retailers that begin with the letter K!)

Declutter Your House!

Hi All,

You've got stuff - lots of stuff. We buy stuff a lot: food to eat, books, tv's, clothing, toys for kids, bicycles, clothing for kids and well, more...amazing how we have all this stuff. And manage to keep it in our houses' or apartments' or attic's or basements or wherever.

So, we've all got a lot of stuff - now what do we do with all of it?

Click on this link from a website called Unclutter.com - the tips are really, really excellent - and very easy to implement. I like the caveats at the end of the article that discuss when to 'stop decluttering' - the advice makes sense and is simple! Double high five for the author! (Note that readers can double click on the picture at the right - the site goes to Declutteryourhomeinfo.com)

From Zenhabits.com comes this article titled, '15 Great Decluttering Tips'. Take note of tip number 1, 2, and 3...really. Interesting stuff!

I bet your house is your number one clutter zone - that's not uncommon! Click here for a link that'll get you started decluttering your house.

Some of the advice they give you is very obvious - but still helpful. For example, the article suggests that you should start deluttering slowly; but do it in a steady, consistent manner. Common sense for sure, but how about this advice to schedule regular declutter sessions. Now th'at's something I would not have thought about. This link - again, from Organizedhome.com - is helpful. For example, the four box method is very clever: gather three boxes and a large trash can. Label the boxes 'Put Away', 'Give Away/Sell', and 'Storage', garbage pail is obvious. Pick up each item and ask yourself the question, 'Do I want to put this away in another place, donate it (or sell it at a yard sale), store it, or throw it away?' Voila - you'll declutter in no time!

Click on this link to find out how to stay clutter free in the future! Simply put the article talks about how all your 'stuff' (everything from jackets, to toys, to books, to newspapers, hats, dishes, etc) needs to have its proper place in the house. Makes sense and it is intuitive. Check out the articles' take on 'clutter preserves' - its pretty funny; clever and helpful!

Finally, we have a bunch of books on how to declutter. Click on this link for books that we have in the library on the topic of decluttering.

So there you have it - a lot of good ideas on how to stay clutter free and how to declutter your home, office and anywhere else you spend a lot of time - good stuff.

Enjoy and get to work! :)

Stu

Chase's Calendar of Events

Hi All,

What are the special events that various towns, organizations, states, celebrate each day of the year? Trying to find information like this on the web would take a long, long time! But Chase's Calendar of Events comes to the rescue. (The prior link sends you to the Farmingdale PL card catalog; where you can find the location of Chase's Calendar of Events in the library.)

What the heck is Chase's Calendar of Events? It is a day by day account of specials days, weeks and months that are celebrated or notable by local organizations, cities, states, and other groups. Birthdates, anniversaries, celebrations and more are included in this reference book.

The book is organized in the most logical way for the topic - by date. And....at the end of each day is a list of birthdays. For example, on December 1st the following people are celebrating birthdays: Wood Allen (filmmaker) , Bette Midler (singer, actress, entertainer) , Carol Alt (model) and Treat Williams (actor).

The book is very, very easy to use - just open to the date that you are interested in learning about and the information is at your fingertips! Voila - done!

So, for example, you can find out that on December 1st the city of Demopolis, Alabama is celebrating 'Christmas on the River' (event actually runs from December 1st - December 4th). A description of the event follows: 'Fun with arts and crafts, childre's parade, Alabama State Barbecue Cookoff and a riverboat parade'. Cool stuff. Contact information is also given - in this case there is a phone number, an email address and the Demopolis, Alabama website for those interested in finding out more about the event.

Users can also go to the Chase's website and see what specific events are occurring or notable on a specific day. Click here to visit the Chase's website.

So...what other specials events can be followed, shared or noted on December 1st? Today is....

Basketball Created: December 1, 1891
Bingo's Birthday Month: December 1-December 31
Cookie Cutter Week: December 1 - December 7
Day With(out) Art: December 1
National Write Your Business Plan Month: December 1-December 31
Lou Rawls birthday: December 1, 1940
Rosa Parks Day: Anniversary of Arrest - December 1, 1955
Safe Toys and Gifts Month: December 1 - December 31
Christmas on the River: December 1 - December 4
Operation Santa Paws: December 1 - December 24
Spiritual Literacy Month: December 1 - December 31
A Colonial Christmas: December 1 - December 31

Note that the blue links above are links - users can click on the title of the event and you'll be directed to the website.

Enjoy the sites!
Regards,
Stu