New Years' Eve 2014!!!

Hi All,

Well, its that time of year again.  Another year has gone by and we're at the end of December...Its New Years' Eve time.  So get ready for the parties, the Champagne; and get ready for the countdown, and the ball dropping in Times Square...and of course the actual New Year!

So, without further ado...here are a bunch of things that you can on New Years' Eve on Long Island...

If you are into posh parties and elegance, you might want to visit the Garden City Hotel...click here for the link.  For 'just' $175 you ge an open premium bar, live DJ, a 'hangover breakfast bar' and more.

For another gorgeous venue, try out Villa Lombardi's New Year's Eve Candelight Ball in Holbrook.
What's included at Villa Lombardi's you ask?  For $135 you get Live DJ Entertainment, a live simulcast from Times Square New York City,  a premium  five hour open bar, champagne and a really, really excellent menu with options galore for dinner.  Click here for the menu.

Other places that are offering New Year's Eve events include Maxwell's in Islip, Gurney's Inn in Montauk and others.  Click here for a list that will link you to some other fun New Years' Eve parties.

So...how can you pick a Champagne for New Year's Eve that you'll like?  Click on this link from Kitchen Daily which explains 'How to Pick the Perfect Champagne?'   For an alternative take on how how to pick a great Champagne for New Year's Eve, click on this link from the Huffington Post for the article entitled, 'A Guide to Champagne and Sparkling Wine: Choosing a Bottle for New Year's Eve'.

Finally, if you are hosting a New Year's Eve party, click on the following links - the suggestions might make the party even more fun - and take the stress out from hosting the shindig.

From the  Albuquerque Journal comes this blog entry entitled, 'Have a Family-Friendly New Year's Eve Party'.   From the ever popular HGTV website comes this entry entitled 'Hosting a Sparkling New Year's Eve Party'.  Finally, click on this last link - from Money Crashers.com - entitled '11 Fun New Year's Eve Party Ideas For Food, Games & Decorations'.

So there you have it...how to host a great New Year's Eve party, how to pick the Champagne, and how to have fun at the party!  What more do you need for a great New Year's Eve/

Enjoy the links - and of course, Happy New Year!

Regards,
Stu

Identity Theft

Hi All,

Well, now that the holidays are in full swing, you might want to learn a bit more about identity theft.  What is identity theft you ask?  Click here for an article from Wikipedia about identity theft.

Click on this link for the article that I read that got me thinking about identity theft as a possible topic for this blog.  Interesting article - entitled, '5 Ways Identity Thieves Are Targeting You', courtesy of CNNMoney - a very useful financial related website. 

As you probably know, Target has reported a breach that resulted in over 40 million credit cards have been compromised by hackers.  Click on this link to learn more about how this credit card breach affects you and your credit card.

For a quick peak at what individuals can do to try to stop identity theft, click on this link.

And now...for a whole host of links about identity theft and fraud, click on the following links from various governmental, university and 'think tank' agencies.

FTC - Identity Theft - what to do right away when you find that you're identity has been compromised.
President's Task For on Identity Theft - Report identity theft and victims' rights.
Open Directory Project - DMOZ - link to Identity Theft - all about fake identification and phishing
Carnegie Mellon University - all about identity theft - protective measures, legal issues and more links.
FTC Consumer Information -  privacy and identity links
Dateline from MSNBC - 'To Catch an ID Thief' - video from an episode about hunting for id thieves
Free Credit Report.com - official site to request a free credit report

Hope the links are helpful - especially the last one (Free Credit Report.com).

Regards and Happy holidays,
Stu

Save Your Sanity During the Holidays

Hi All,

The last minute rush is getting here. Get ready, get set...go.  There is officially less than a week to go before Christmas Day 2013.  And it is probably getting a bit hectic in your life right about now.

So this is the perfect time to offer up a quick and easy blog entry about 'Saving Your Sanity During the Holidays'. As a matter of fact, that is the title of the first link I'm going to share with you this morning.  Click on this link to connect to the article. Note that the article comes from the Farmingdale Patch - a local, Farmingdale based, newspaper.

This next link comes from a law firm - no, I am not advertising for the firm. I'm just connecting to an article from Panish, Shea & Boyle, entitled 'Exercise Patience and Common Sense During Holiday Shopping'. The article talks about shopping mall safety, credit card safety and long check out lines.

The holiday season brings with it its own set of stresses and strains. Families get together and there is a limited amount of time to get a lot accomplished (shopping, wrapping presents, buying presents, cleaning the house, coordinating plans with family members, possible flights in airplanes and possible pickups at airports...and more.)

Hence the appropriate topic of this last article - which comes from the Mayo Clinic website.  Entitled, 'Stress, Depression and the Holidays: Tips For Coping', the article is timely, well-written, and unbiased.  It also gives a lot of information to the reader on how to de-stress from the holidays.

Here's to a stress-free, entertaining, pleasant holiday season.  Enjoy the sites.

Regards,
Stu

What is in Store For Technology in the Next Five Years?

Hi All,

I just came across this very, very interesting article from a website called VentureBeat.com.  (VentureBeat - as they explain in their 'About' section on the website - provides news about innovation for forward-thinking executives. It covers a range of technology trends, from social media to mobile, clean technology, games and chips. We try to explain what these trends mean for business leaders, executives and other thought leaders in the industry.)

That all said, you can understand why VentureBeat would post an article entitled,'IBM reveals its top five innovation predictions for the next five years'.  Click on the prior link to find the full text of the article. 

So, just exactly what are the five innovations predicted in the next five years?
1. The classroom will learn you.
2. Buying local will beat online.
3. Doctors will use your DNA to keep you well.
4. A digital guardian will protect you online.
5. The city will help you live in it.

Simply put it means that the computers are going to get smarter, faster and their will be more appropriate safeguards for privacy and security...  "As computers get smarter and more compact, they will be built into more devices that help us do things when we need them done. IBM believes that these breakthroughs in computing will amplify our human abilities."

For computer enthusiasts (read: geeks and technologically savvy folks) there are many, many websites that can help you learn about these trends in real-time websites.  Some of the better technology websites available include:

www.PCWorld.com

www.PCMag.com

www.Cnet.com

www.Extremetech.com

www.Techcrunch.com

www.thenextweb.com

www.wired.com (future web trends and at one time a print magazine)

www.digitaltrends.com

www.techradar.com

All of these sites have are current, reliable, and focus on technological news related to computer, tablet computers, privacy, networking, the internet, software, hardware, and basically anything related to computers or technology.   Go forth and enjoy the many, many links and articles from the sites.  

Regards, 

Stu

Oh My Aching Back!

Hi All,

You know how it is....grocery shopping and you pick up 20lb grocery bags. Or, if you are going to Home Depot or Lowes this weekend and you pick up bushes and pots of plants...those darn things are heavy also.  And lets not forget picking up baby.  I suspect you realize that a 2 year old toddler can way anywhere up to 25lbs or so.  Don't forget all the daily bending, reaching and stretching for all the ordinary day-to-day things that we do (reaching for glasses in a cupboard, putting on shoes, wearing shoes, standing in line...) And all of this 'stuff' is hard on your back.

And therein lies the topic of todays' blog entry.  Back pain...and how to minimize it (and possibly even reduce it).  Ack...my back hurts just thinking about it.

So...click on this link (from the New York Times) which got me thinking about the whole back pain topic.  Click on this graphic to see how to lift things easily and without causing back pain.

From WebMD comes this list of the 'Top Causes of Chronic Low Back Pain' - and there is a section on prevention at the end of the article.   Note that degenerative disks and herniated discs are big, big culprits of lower back pain.   
Straight from the NIAMSD (also known as the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases) comes this article entitled 'Fast Facts: An Easy-to-Read Series of Publications for the Public'.  Topics in the article include, 'Who Gets Back Pain?', 'What Are the Causes of Back Pain?', 'Can Back Pain Be Prevented?', 'When Should I See a Doctor For Pain?', 'How is Back Pain Diagnosed?', 'What is the Difference Between Acute and Chronic Pain?', 'How is Back Pain Treated?' and 'What Kind of Research is Being Done?'

From Prevention.com comes an article entitled, 'Habits that Cause Back Pain'.  Warning - if you do any of these activities, you might want to stop immediately so you don't get back pain.  And, if you already have back pain, you might want to stop so that you don't make it worse!!!

To get a very, very comprehensive view of back pain, click on this link from the National Institute of Health website called MedlinePlus.org. On the right side of the page is a link entitled, 'Back Pain - When You See the Doctor.'  This might be the most important link in the blog entry.

Finally, click on this link to find a whole bunch of 'Exercises for Lower Back Pain'.

But...before jumping in and starting some exercises, you might want to consult with your physician so you can learn more about the condition that you are suffering from. 

For those of you who like to read a bit about a condition before you see the doctor, click on this link.  It is a subject search (for back pain) for books that the Farmingdale Public Library owns in its circulation collection.  In other words, this link will take you to the card catalog and you'll find a list of books on back pain that you can take out.

Hope the links are what you are looking for - because back problems can be devastating - and you deserve to live life back pain free!

Regards,
Stu

Friday the 13th - Boo!

Hi All,

Today is Friday.  It is also the 13th day of December.  That means it is Friday the 13th. I hope I didn't scare you.   This makes for a very, very easy blog post today.  Yep - you guessed it. I'm going to write about Friday the 13th - and movies, and its history and black cats.

So, how did Friday the 13th come into being?  Great question and here is an interesting answer - brought to you by Wikipedia. 

Readers might also want to click on this link from Urban Legends. It also discusses the history of Friday the 13th and puts it in perspective. Also, click here for the Snopes.com version of what Friday the 13th is all about.  Cool stuff.

Is the origin of Friday the 13th a combination of two unlucky superstitions? (Friday being an unlucky day and the unlucky number 13?)  Read on....for an answer.

Click on this link - again from Wikipedia - to see a list of notable people who died on Friday the 13th - some examples....Gioachino Rossini,  Hubert Humphrey, Benny Goodman, Tim Russert and Tupac Shakur.

Click on this clever website that has 13 Years of Friday the 13th. 

Like horror and slasher movies?  Well, we've got a load of them on Friday the 13th. In particular the whole series (aptly titled) 'Friday the 13th' can be found at the prior link.  Users can learn all about the movies and there is a link for fans, an archive and a place where visitors can buy 'all things related to F13' (aka, movies, apparel, books, figures, posters and more).  If you want some reviews for various 'Friday the 13th' movies, click on this link - courtesy of Rotten Tomatoes.


And if you want to try to 'ward off the fears of Friday the 13th', click on this link, care of NPR (National Public Radio).

Finally, click on this link to get the low-down on black cats and Friday the 13th - trust me, you won't want to let this pass you on by. :)

Lest we end on a scary note, click on this link from Youtube for a cute little spoof on Friday the 13th.  Really, its quite harmless - and pretty cute! 

Enjoy the links and hopefully you won't have an unlucky day!


Regards,
Stu

Happiness and Holiday Cheer - Season's Greetings!

Hi All,

It's that time of year again! You know what I'm talking about, right?  It's holiday time - a time of year when seasons greetings meet you at every turn.  Where dreams come true and snow falls at just the right time to make the Christmas lights glow and cast shadows on beautiful snow drifts in your backyard. 

It can also be a time of great happiness and entertainment!  And why am I waxing so nostalgic over this season of giving?  Well, click on this link from the New York Times for an article entitled, 'Denmark, Where Joy Is Always in Season'.  What an article - what a county! I want to visit!  Now you see why I'm writing this blog entry!

Click on this link - which goes to the Farmingdale library card catalog - which will send you to a link for travel books about Denmark in the Farmingdale PL.  Based on the New York Times article, I suspect quite a few readers will now want to visit Scandinavia.  With that thought in mind...

click on this link from Wikipedia about 'Scandinavia' - which commonly describes the three countries of 'Denmark, Sweden, and Norway'.

So just exactly why am I writing about Scandinavia?  Because of a survey called the 'Satisfaction with Life Index'.  Learn more about this by clicking on this link from Wikipedia.

Top 10 countries on the Satisfaction with Life Index are: 
1. Denmark
2. Switzerland
3. Austria
4. Iceland
5. Bahamas
6. Finland
7. Sweden
8. Bhutan
9. Brunei
10. Canada

and for perspective...here is a very, very partial list of where other well-known countries stand on this list....
11. Ireland
23. United States
31. Saudi Arabia
35. Germany
41. United Kingdom
42. Dominican Republic
46. Spain
50. Italy
51. Mexico
58. Israel
62. France
63. Hong Kong

81. Brazil
82. China
83. Cuba
90. Japan
96. Iran
133. Turkey
142. Syria
151. Egypt
166. Pakistan
167. Russia
174. Ukraine
178. Burundi

Finally, click on these links to find out how to make the holiday season count:
Chicago Tribune - Procrastinator's Guide to Making Holidays' Count
Berkeley Beacon - Health Matters: Making the Holidays Count
Forbes - How to Make Your Holiday Giving Count

Enjoy the links and the holidays!  Promise, there will be more holiday related blog entries in the near future!

Regards,
Stu

Productivity, Efficiency - Getting Things Done!

Hi All,

There is a way for folks to become more productive and efficient at work. Its an important skill to master in these busy times and it might just make your work life less stressful. It make just also make your job easier. Wouldn't that be helpful?

So...follow this link to find an article entitled '6 Things Really Productive People Do'.  Simply put the 6 things are:
1. Picking Your Priorities
2. Becoming More Efficient
3. Integrating Your Activities
4. Actively Managing Time Wasters
5. Being an Active Learner
6. Lighten Up!

Readers of this blog know by now that I like to plug the libraries' resources.  This subject matter - productivity and efficiency and getting things done at work - is no different.  The library has a large and continually growing collection of management, job efficiency, and productivity related titles.  One of the most well known titles is 'The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People: Restoring the Character Ethic'.   Of which, we have a copy of this bestselling title.  Click on this link to find out whether or not the book is in the library or if someone has taken it out.

First written in 1989, the book is quite possibly one of the most well known self-help, personal growth, job/career productivity books ever written.  With chapters that deal with topics like:
1. Being Proactive
2. Focusing at the Beginning With the End in Mind
3. Practically Fulfilling habits 1 and 2.
4. Six Paradigms of Interaction
5. Effective Communication
6. Combing Habits 1-5 and Creating Synergy
7. Recognizing and Amplifying the Greatest Asset You Have: Yourself.  Renewing Your Physical, Emotional, Mental and Social Nature....

I suspect that if you were to read this book it will start you on a lifelong journey of self-exploration, personal growth and quite possibly a more successful life than if you hadn't read the book.

Enjoy the title!  I hope the entry helps you become more effective and efficient in life and in your job!

Regards,
Stu

Oddly Enough! (The Lighter Side Entry...)

Hi All,

Oddly enough.  It sounds interesting and by gosh it is interesting.  What are we talking about?

Many news and news-related websites have various sections for users to pick and choose from while viewing their website.

But....did you realize that many of these website have interesting parts?  Didn't think so.  Generally the 'fun' part of the website is called 'Oddly Enough' or 'Funstuff' or names something like that.

For example, Yahoo!'s section is called 'Odd News', while Reuters' section is called 'Weird News, Odd News'.  Lots of sites have this type of section....click on the various links below for a whole bunch of interesting, weird, fascinating, unique, rare and just plain fun news!  Google Spotlight, Huffington Post, and MakeUseof, and Happy News!

Enjoy the sites - hope it makes you day a bit brighter and more fun!

Regards,
Stu

Getting Ready For the Holidays

Hi All,

It is that time of year again...we are between Thanksgiving and the Christmas/New Year's Holidays - and that means parties, holiday gift giving, shopping, invitations to mail out, wrapping, cards to send and much, much more...

How is a person supposed to make head or tail from all the anxiety that this season begets?  Easy, click on the following links and you'll be well on your way to holiday season bliss.

Click on this link that will relieve you of the stress any time you have guests coming over during the holiday season.    For another perspective on simplifying the holidays, you can click on this link so that you can be organized this holiday season - and celebrate the season to boot!

From Styleathome.com comes this article entitled, '99 Ways To Get Ready For the Holidays'.  Yes, this is a long article, and yes it is an actual list - from 1-99 - on how to prepare for the holidays.  Cool stuff!  Especially number 12, 46 (who would have thought!) and 85.

Well, if you are having guests over, you will probably have to vacuum, or at least get rid of some of the clutter.  Click here to learn just how to do that....one room at at time.

Finally, click on this link - from MyWell-Being.com - which will, like the other links above, help you get ready for the holidays. 

Enjoy the holidays - hopefully they'll be stress-free, relaxing and filled with classic family get-togethers.

Regards,
Stu

American Presidency Project

Hi All,

The President of the United States is commonly thought of as being 'the Leader of the Free World'.  As such, leaders of the free world should have their own website filled with data, documents, election material and more.  One site that fills this need admirably is the 'American Presidency Project' - which I'll talk about in todays blog entry.

Hosted by the University of California at Santa Barbara, the site has a wealth of primary material for students, researchers and the just-plain interested folks in the various US presidents.  Click on this link for access to the site - which is free and very well organized. 

The American Presidency Project was established in 1999 and the archives contains over 104,400 documents related to the study of the Presidency.  The scope of the archives is vast - so if you are interested in 'anything Presidential' expect to spend a lot of time on the site.

For example, the APP (American Presidency Project hereafter) is the only online resource that has consolidated, coded, and organized the material into a single searchable database.  Click on this link to search the APP archives. When you visit this link, on the lift side of the page you'll find a box with the 'Ten Most Viewed Documents' - which by itself is darn interesting.

From the main page, users have access to:
- Presidential data - examples of categories include, 'Presidential Popularity', 'Public Appearances' and 'State of the Union and Inaugural Address Charts' and more.
- Presidential documents - includes 'Messages and Papers of the Presidents', 'Public Papers of the Presidents', 'News Conferences', 'Executive Orders' and much, much more.
- Presidential election information - includes Presidential Elections data in a very, very digestible and understandable manner.  Sorted by Presidential Election year, each link has state by state talley's for the candidates. Links to the Federal Election Commission are included as well!
- Presidential links is where users can connect to the various Presidential Libraries that exist.  Simple table - easy interface to use.

Click on this link for the Media Archive which contains audio and videos of the various Presidents.

So there you have it. A wonderfully well organized, accurate, unbiased, easily accessible website for 'all things Presidential'.

Enjoy the links and the information.
Regards,
Stu

Thanksgiving 2013

Hi All,

Today is the day that I post my annual 'Thanksgiving' entry.  It's an interesting one.  Here goes...

What makes a great Thanksgiving dinner? Great question - glad you asked.  Click on this link from NJ.com entitled, 'Poll: What's your favorite Thanksgiving food?'  Well, it seems like Turkey (big surprise) is the winner - along with sides like stuffing, sweet potatoes, macaroni and cheese, mashed potatoes and green bean casserole.  Yum!  I'm getting hungry! Click on any of the links above for recipe related information - trust me, you'll really, really like it. And you'll find other recipes that are just as good with a simple click of the mouse!  Click on this link for a short course on the history of Thanksgiving foods. (from the Buffalo - New York - News)

Okay, so now that you have the recipes for Thanksgiving 2013, how are you going to cook and bake and serve all that food?  Indeed, click on this link from ivillage and your Thanksgiving Day will, in all likelihood, run smoother and give you less stress.

Oh, and if it seems like you spent a bit less this year on Thanksgiving Dinner, you probably did.  Click here for the lowdown on the lower prices of Turkey Day!

Click here for some images of Thanksgiving Dinner courtesy of Bing Images - notice I'm not using Google Images this time?  Yep - I wanted to mix it up and doing something a bit different.  Notice how juicy and tender the turkeys look? Scrumptious! Absolutely delectable!

So...football is a tradition on Thanksgiving as well.  Click here to find a list of the games being played (and the times) on Thanksgiving Day 2013.  Wow - that's a full schedule!  My faves...Packers, Raiders and Steelers (go Big Ben).  Games start at 12:30pm, 4:30pm and 8:30pm on FOX, CBS, and NBC.

And if you have a whole passel of toddlers (or just a few), you might want to keep them busy during the game - and dinner.  How in the world can you do that, you ask?  Easy...click on this link from Bing.  I did a search for 'easy Thanksgiving Crafts'.  Hey, at least you tried to keep the little tykes busy! Okay, okay, here's another link to keep the young ones busy with some crafts!

Finally, click on this link to get the full story about the first Thanksgiving - courtesy of Wikipedia the link is very, very interesting. Here's another link that discusses Thanksgiving - courtesy of Plimouth.org; which is a Smithsonian Institution Affiliations program.  Heck, you might just learn something new about one of the most American of holidays!

Enjoy the holiday and drive safely!

Regards,
Stu

The 400th Post!!! OMG!

Hi All,

Yep - this is the 400th post on the Reference Blog.  Quite an achievement in this world of turnover and instant change and communication and video-on-demand!

400!  Imagine that!  That's one post per day for over 13 months in a row!

So, what am I going to write about on my 400th blog entry?  That's easy!

I'm going to write about the number 400 - which, evidently, is a very notable number according to numerologists, Wikipedia (search for the number 400), and the Google (search for the number 400).

So, what does the number 400 represent in other fields?
1. The Four Hundred (oligarchy) of ancient Athens. 
2. The HTTP status code on the internet....'The request cannot be fulfilled due to bad syntax'.
3.  The 400 Club - a phrase meaning the wealthiest, most famous, or most powerful social group - leading to a list like the Forbes 400...very cool to see who is on the list.  Talk about 'Masters of the Universe!'.
4.  Atari 400 home computer...let's go back in time to about 1979 to 1992!!!!
5. 400 - Lebanese card game. 

6. Silly and insignificant, but it was the yard number of the RMS Olympic - the RMS Titantic's sister ship.
7.  In baseball - if you can ever, ever, every bat .400, you'll probably go to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown.  Only a handful of players have ever hit .400 over the course of a full major league season. The last one to bat .400 was Ted Williams in 1941!
8.  The Sun is about 400 times the size of the Moon and is approximately 400 times further away - which creates a temporary illusion in which the Sun and the Moon in the Earth's sky appear to be the similar size...interesting effect!
9. Forum 400 - similar to entry #3 - which discusses the Forbes 400 - but a bit different.  The Forum400 is an elite group of the top life insurance producers in the country which helps them get 'better'.  The organization bills itself as 'Where Leaders and Legends Converge'.   Go figure. It kind of sounds like they are trying to glom off the 'Forbes 400' list...

So there you have it - 9 very interesting uses of the number 400 in all areas of human endeavor!  Enjou the post - the links and here's to another 400 interesting, fact-filled, uplifting, educational, entertaining and just plain fun blog posts!

Regards,
Stu

What To Do This Weekend?

Hi All,

Just found this interesting article from the Farmingdale Patch.  The article is called 'The Weekender' and is a regular section in the Farmingdale Patch. Click here for the link.

Some of the things to do this weekend include: Farmingdale Chamber Annual Holiday Parade, Massapequa Park Turkey Trot, and Families Feeding Families.

On another note, you might consider going to the website, 'VolunteerMatch.org'. The site bills itself as 'Finding a cause that lights you up. Get in touch with a nonprofit that needs you.

Users can find volunteer opportunities in categories like 'Animals', 'Children and Youth', 'Education and Literacy', 'Environment', and 'Homeless and Housing'.  Users  can sort results by 'Distance', 'Event Date', and 'Date Posted'. 

When a particular volunteer opportunity is found information is included.  The opportunity title is included as is a brief summary of the volunteer opportunity.  Location is included, but more importantly, a 'Learn More' button is available.  When users click on this button you go to a new page which includes volunteer reviews of the opportunity, a map so you can get to the location and 3 special sections.  These sections are called 'Skills', 'Good Match For' and 'Requirement & Commitment'. Essentially these categories help the users decide whether or not this is a good volunteer opportunity. 

Users can narrow their search by using the search box at the left side of the page - basically this is just a keyword search.  In addition users can search by 'Cause Areas' and look for volunteering opportunities in areas like 'Arts & Culture', 'Children & Youth', 'Community', 'Education & Literacy', 'health & Medicine', 'Seniors' and more....

Finally, there are other ways to search - and ways to limit your search.  Ways to limit your search include 'Opportunities just for Kids', 'Opportunities just for People 55+', 'Opportunities for Teens', and more. 

So...as you can see, there are plenty of things to do this weekend - both in terms of entertainment and with respect to volunteering opportunities.

Enjoy the volunteering! Its a great experience.

Regards,
Stu

HeatingHelp.com – Hot, Local Website That Made Good - From Bethpage!

Hi All,

Driving through the town of Bethpage one day recently, I saw a sign on a shop window that had a ‘.com’ attached to it.  The website was ‘heatinghelp.com’ and I couldn’t get the site out of my head.

Which, of course, meant that it was ripe for a bit of research.  And it also meant that if the site was interesting enough, it might make for a good blog entry.

And so here we are!

So, what is HeatingHelp.com?  Great question, glad you asked.  Heatinghelp.com has a tagline of ‘Answers in an hour’. Basically, readers can submit questions and professional heating contractors, plumbers and others have the choice to answer your heating and heat related questions.  Note that there is no soliciting on the site, so heating professionals are offering there advice free-of-charge. 

The site bills itself as being ‘loaded with information about heating systems, both new and old…we have a bulletin board called ‘The Wall’ which is the place where you can post questions and comments about any sort of heating system.  Heating professionals offer free advice and opinions'…one caveat, in order to ask a question, readers need to open account – which, again, is free.

Users who are looking for heating professionals to do work would be well-advised to visit the ‘Find a Professional’ section.  Users can search for professionals by zip code and by distance.  When a search is done, users will find a brief introduction to the company, an example of how a completed job was done, contact information (name, address, phone number and/or email address), and the organizations’ heating specialty.

Another part of the site that is noteworthy is the section under ‘System’s.  This menu includes options like ‘Central Heatings’s Forerunner’, Geothermal, Heat Pumps, Hot Water, Solar, Steam and Warm Air. Click any of the links above to go to that particular page on HeatingHelp.com.

There is also a search box at the top right side of the homepage where users can just type in a search term. Note that search terms can be anything from a heat related topic, to the name of a manufacturer of a boiler to a general heating term.   For example, when I entered the manufacturer name of ‘Burnham’, about 9 results came back. That is an eminently readable number of results to go through.  In addition, within the results the full-text Owner Manuals were included!

Note that this could be a very helpful resource if a homeowner purchased a house in which the prior owner didn’t leave the owner manual for the boiler.   How cool is that?

But wait.  There’s more!  Buried somewhat deep in the website is a very, very helpful resource called, ‘The Library’.  The library contains pdf scans of old heating books and antique trade magazines that the owner of HeatingHelp.com has collected for 40 years.  The library contains pdf scans of much of that material as well as material submitted by friends.  Very cool.  Where else can you find the Beacon Boiler Reference Book from 1959-1972? (Click here for that link by the way.)

There are also videos on the site!  Users can search for videos on topics as varied as biomass, district heating, heat pumps, hot water heating, passive houses, solar heating, storm heating, warm air heating, water heating and more!  Videos can be searched by manufacturer and by topic!  Wow.

There is a tab across the top of every screen and one of the options is ‘Resources’.  Click on this link to see what the choices are….  Specifically though there are options for ‘Professionals’, ‘Homeowners’, ‘Dan’s Archives’ (he’s the owner of the site), ‘Virtual Tradeshow’, and ‘The Library’ (described above).  What an amazing amount of information the site has!  For example – yet again – under the option ‘Homeowners’, users can find articles like ‘ Advantages of An Electric Floor Heating System’, ‘Air Filters’, ‘Best Insulation tips for 2012’, ‘Find a Contractor’, ‘General Guidelines for Flood Cleanup’ and much more….

So there you have it.  Virtually a whole world of heating related information available at your fingertips – all from HeatingHelp.com.

Enjoy the site and the advice!

Regards,

Stu

Tech Websites Galore!

Hi All,

I've listed a whole bunch of tech friendly, tech related websites.  Why?  I'm preparing for a CHIP Chat class that I'm hosting on Monday, December 2nd and Thursday, December 12th at the library.  BTW, CHIP is an acronym which stands for Computer Help In Person....get it?  Computer Help In Person - CHIP is the first letter of each of the words...

Anyway, in preparing for this presentation I've put together a fairly comprehensive list of tech and tech related websites.

Click on any of the links and you'll go directly to that particular website.  Wow - there's a lot of tech information available on the web -as one would expect!

My faves...PCWorld, Cnet, ExtremeTech and Technorati!

Enjoy the techie links!
Stu

http://www.microsoft.com (Microsoft’s website)

http://www.PCWorld.com

http://www.PCMag.com

http://www.Cnet.com

http://www.Extremetech.com

http://www.Techcrunch.com

http://www.thenextweb.com

http://www.wired.com (future web trends and at one time a print magazine)

http://www.tech2.com

http://www.gizmodo.com (gadget lovers)

http:/www.mashable.com

http://www.theverge.com

http://www.digitaltrends.com

http://www.techradar.com

http://www.technorati.com (tech blogs and more)

And here are a bunch of App-related websites to boot!

http://www.play.google.com (Google Play Store)

http://www.Amazon.com

http://www.appsites.com

http://www.appbrain.com

http://www.androidfreeware.net

http://www.freewarelovers.com/android

http://www.appsaga.com

Best of Long Island - BOLI

Hi All,

It's official...the Best of Long Island voting has started and you can vote for your favorite services in areas like: Arts and Entertainment, Automotive, Clothing, Education, Food & Drink, Health/Wellness/Beauty, Home & Garden, Nightlife & Spirits, Pets, Restaurants, Shopping, Services, Sports and Weddings.

Note that readers can click on any of the links above and you'll go directly to that part of the Long Island Press website where you can actually vote for the various service.  Voting ends on December 15th, 2013 at 11:59pm. Click on this link to visit the Long Island Press main page for the BOLI awards - you'll learn a lot about how the results are tabulated!

Click on this link for last years winners (2013).  Just in the 'Services' category alone users can find poll results for 'Accounting Firms, Dating Services, Dry Cleaners, Pawn Shops, Photography Studio's, Social Media Agencies, Travel Agencies and much, much more.

What a great way to find local businesses, services or organizations to help you with a project or job that you need to finish. And you'll be getting a winning company or organization so that, more than likely, the job or service will be finished correctly!

Enjoy the site and the voting!

Regards,
Stu

Eight-Thousander - The Mountain Post - and Mountaineering

Hi All,

We have a tall order for today's post....I recently found that there are very, very few mountains that are over 8,000 meters. Finding this out got me thinking that this might be an interesting topic for this reference blog! As a matter of fact, there are only 14 of them on the planet.  Click on this link to see the names of the 14 mountains. 

Interestingly enough,  there are very, very few people who have climbed each of these 8,000 meter peaks.  Click here for a list of them as well - courtesy of Wikipedia.

For more information on one of the worlds most famous moutaineers, click on this link to learn more about Reinhold Messner - an Italian who people have called the greatest mountain climber in history. 

For some of the most amazing mountaineering pictures, click on this link - from Bing Images. Imagine how these pictures would look on your computer desktop!

Finally, we have lots of  books on mountain climbing at the library.  Witness some of the more interesting titles like, 'No Way down: Life and Death on K2', 'Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Fight Terrorism and Build Nations - One School at a Time', 'Top of the World: Climbing Mount Everest' and 'A Mountain Too Far: a Father's Search for Meaning in the Climbing Death of His Son'.

And while this isn't the same thing as mountain climbing, readers can click on this link - which will take you to the Nassau Hiking and Outdoor Club.  It might start you on the long climb to mountain climbing - and perhaps to an even greater appreciation of nature!

Enjoy the mountain climbing links!

Regards,
Stu

Customer Service - Getting What You Want...

Hi All,

Now that the holiday season is fast approaching, customer service is something that consumers might want to think about - a bit at least.  This blog entry will discuss ways to get better customer service - and it might help you save time and money during the upcoming holiday season....

We've all been there...you purchase something at a retailer and for whatever reason, you need to return it. However, for any number of reasons (perhaps you lost the receipt, you are returning the item after the specified period of time you had to return the item, a surly cashier doesn't know how to process the return or the line is too long and the retailer won't let you return the item or....you get the idea) the retailer won't let you return said item.

What recourse do you have?

Indeed, great question.  Click on this link and you'll connect to an article from Yahoo! Finance's section on 'Financially Fit'.  Entitled '3 Ways to Get Your Customer Service Complaint Resolved' the article emphasizes that customers 'Shouldn't go all social media on your prey just yet'.  Which essentially means don't post on your Facebook page or Twitter stream your tale of retail woe. 

Next up is some good advice in most any situation, 'Always keep your anger in check'.  Good advice, especially since there is always a time and place to 'emphatically voice your opinion' at a future date....

Finally, the third piece of advice the article posits is 'Flattery will get you everywhere'.  In this section, terms like polite, nice, empathy are liberally sprinkled throughout the article.  Great advice...and intelligent, and easy to try.

For an article that supports the Yahoo! Finance article discussed above, click on this link.  Entitled 'How To Get Better Customer Service' the article from WikiHow - To Do Anything (which, in itself is a very helpful website) discusses ways to, well, get better customers service. 

Some of the advice is common sense - treating retail and customer service employees is common sense, as is not saying 'the customer is always right'.  Other things like calling employees stupid or incompetent are not helpful either - and of course, refrain from striking employees. 

Some of the less obvious pieces of advice include 'not telling the employee how to do their job', and trying to have the money ready before you reach the checkout counter. 

Lest you think that all customer service is going to the dogs, click on this article that is entitled, 'Could It Be? Customer Service is Supposedly Getting Better'.  The article comes from the December 11th, 2012 issue of time Magazine and is an interesting read. Hopefully you won't have to use any of the tactics discussed in the other two article in order to get stellar customer service during this upcoming holiday season.

Regards, and here's to a customer friendly, return-free, holiday season.
Stu