Ranker - Vote On Everything

Hi All,

A few days ago I came across a website called Ranker.  The site bills itself as a place for people to 'vote on everything'. 

What exactly is Ranker you ask? Good question, it is a leading digital media company for opinion-based, crowdsourced rankings on just about everything. They advertise that about 50 million people have generated over 300 million votes.

Okay..that all said here's the meat of the site.  They have dozens of lists (ranks) on topics like 'people', 'entertainment', 'sports', 'culture', 'channels' and 'videos'..

Typing in a phrase in the search box at the top right of the screen results in a list of results related to the search.  Lists with the most number of votes are ranked at the top of the screen.

For example, a search for 'puppies' and a list of 'The Cutest Mixed Dog Breeds' appears.   Other lists included 'Cutest Black Lab Pictures' and 'Cutest Boy Puppy Names'.  Pictures appear in each list and a brief narrative is included as well.

The number of votes that the pictures received is listed as well. 

Check out the site for some very entertaining and enlightening lists!

Enjoy the site!

Regards,
Stu










Users have the option of signing in to the site for free.

Finding Government Websites

Hi All,  

Just what you wanted to wake up to on a Monday morning!  Government websites!  How cool is that?

Welcome back to the week - and to start out we have an interesting site titled, 'GovEngine.com'. 

Basically the site is a directory of United States federal, state and local government websites. Also included are links to official executive, legislative and judicial branches of government.

The homepage has links to Federal Courts, State Government, State Courts, Local Government and other state and federal government resources. 

The site is easy to navigate, simple to use and has a nice interface.  

Regards, 
Stu

Hi All,

Do you need to enhance your academic and workforce skills?  Are you looking for a better job or looking to get a better education?

Then LIEOC might be for you.  LIEOC is an acronym for 'Long Island Eucational Opportunity Center'.  The LIEOC offers free academic and workforce development .  They provide these services to elegible members of the community.

Specifically, LIEOC is sponsored by the the State University of New York and Farmingdale State College.  It helps eligible members of the community enhance the academic and workforce development skills they need to become self-sufficient, empowered and committed to excellent. LIEOC provides a range of programs and services adapted to the needs of adult learners and the demands of the private and public sectors.  

There are three LIEOC units on Long Island - Brentwood, Farmingdale and Hempstead.   LIEOC offers free Microsoft certification classes at the Brentwood and Hempstead locations. 

Hope the site is useful and helpful.

Regards,
Stu

IRS Assistance For Your Taxes

Hi All,

A new year has started -heck, we're one month into it already!  Which means...no, not that the SuperBowl is almost upon us.  No, it doesn't mean that March Madness (college basketball tournament) is upon us either...

It means that taxes are due in a few months - April 15th to be exact.  And that is just about 77 days away - that's 11 weeks.  So it is about time to get started on those tax returns.  But we have help for you today in the form of a few IRS links!

Click on this link to access the IRS Publication 17 from their website. Specifically Publication 17 covers the general rules for filing a federal income tax return. It explains the tax law to make sure someone pays only the tax they owe and no more.

Another helpful link the IRS has generated is the ITA - which stands for Interactive Tax Assistant.  Click here to use the ITA.

So just exactly what is the ITA?  Basically it provides answers to several tax law questions. The ITA includes question-and-answer session for a variety of topics. Users simply respond to basic questions to find the answers they need. Topics include:

• Do I Need to File a Tax Return?
• Who Can I Claim as a Dependent?
• How Much Is My Standard Deduction?
• What Is My Filing Status?
• Am I Eligible to Claim an Education Credit?

Finally, the IRS has created a link for taxpayers to find out where their refund is.  Click on this link to find out where your refund is!

So there you have it - three very, very useful IRS link to assist you with your taxes.

Hope this helps with your 2017 tax return!

Regards,
Stu

Local Farmingdale News - At Your Fingertips

Hi All,

Farmingdale is known for many things: Grumman, Republic Aviation, the Farmingdale Public Library, Farmingdale State College (remember the Aggie school?), Mile-a-Minute Murphy, Bethpage State Park and much more. 

Which, of course, means there is plenty of history and news relating to Farmingdale.

For a timely, unbiased, current, interesting and well written site that covers the ins-and-outs of Farmingdale...check out the Farmingdale Patch.  Click on this link to learn a bit more about Patch.com - basically its the Patch FAQ. 

The Farmingdale Patch has a wide variety of sections relating to Farmingdale: including a section on Arts and Entertainment,  Business, Community Corner, Health and Fitness, Home/Garden, Jobs, Kids/Family, Politics/Government, Schools, Sports and Weather.

As you can see and read; the Farmingdale Patch has Farmingdale very well covered.

Enjoy the site and the news!

Regards,
Stu

Fact Checking Websites For News

 Hi All,

Just a quickie email to get you all caught up on various sites to help you fact check your news, current events and websites. 

Media Bias/Fact Check bills itself as the most comprehensive media bias resource.  This article has a list of the 10 best fact checking sites. 

Sites that they cover include Politifact, Fact Check, Open Secrets, Snopes, Sunlight Foundation, Poynter Institute, Flack Check, Truth or Fiction, Hoax Slayer and Fact Checker by the Washington Post.

Click here for a very timely, interesting and useful article from Wikipedia discussing the phrase 'fact checking'.

Enjoy the links and the sites!

Regards,
Stu

Internet Archive/Wayback Machine

Hi All,

Welcome to the past!  Or, the past is prologue. Whatever the case is, readers might want to visit a site called the Internet Archive.  It is a non-profit library of millions of free books, movies, software, music, websites and more.  Or at least that's what the 'official' Internet Archive' blurb says it does. 

The Internet Archive/Wayback Machine indexes over 310 billion (yes, billion) webpages over time!!!

Users can use a particular part of the site called the 'Wayback Machine' to see what a particular website looked like at a specific date in time.  Type in a website address and up comes a timeline of the specific dates which you can see what the site looked like.  Check out some of the popular sites like Yahoo, Google or Newsday from one year ago, 5 years ago and then, if available, 10 years ago. 

It'll be absolutely clear to you that sites change and are made more user friendly over time!

The Internet Archive basically works using a spider to index a site in the past. The Internet Archive then saves the site so users can view it using the Wayback Machine.  Links on the original site do sometimes work - but the link does not go to current links.   Remember, this is just a snapshot in time of a  particular website.  Also, finding images on a page like Yahoo News can be hit or miss...

For more information on how the site actually indexes webpages, click on this Archive.org FAQ. 

For more information about the Internet Archive in general, click on this link to the FAQ.

Enjoy the links and the site and the 'older' internet!

Regards,
Stu

New 'Things' In 2018

 Hi All,

We are ten days in to the new year and there are plenty of new things going on in the world! 

In business, technology, fashion, sports, personal growth, culturally and more!  So, in instead of listing these new 'things',  a list of 'new' 'stuff follows.

Enjoy the links!

Regards,
Stu

CNN World - 18 Things To Look Forward to in 2018

New York Post - 18 Crazy Things That Will Happen in 2018

Insider -  20 Things We're Looking Forward to in 2018

Elitedaily - 7 New Things to Try in 2018 So You Have the Best Year Ever 

Business Insider - The Most Important Things That Will Happen in Tech in 2018

USAToday - Five Coolest Things We've Seen So Far at CES 2018 

USWeekly -  Things We're Excited For in 2018

New York Times - How to Do Things Better in 2018

Forbes -  Top 10 Trends For Digital Transformation in 2018

Curbed New York - 18 Things New Yorkers Can Look Forward to in 2018

Daily Record - In 2018 We Should Embrace the New, Try Things That Challenge Us, and Good Things May Well Follow

New Year's Resolutions

Hi All,

New Year's Eve (NYE) is coming up this Sunday.  Which, of course, means that New Year's Day is right around the corner - or, more accurately - a day later...

So, what about all those NYE resolutions that you've made in the past?  Have they stuck throughout the whole of the next year? Or, have you made it through a few weeks of dieting or not smoking only to go back to that habit a few weeks or a few months later?

Read on for some quick and easy tips on how to make New Year's Eve resolutions stick with you throughout the rest of the year!  The 11 sites below should help motivate you to making your 2018 resolutions stick and become habits - on your own terms!  

Forbes.com -  A Psychologist's Secrets to Making New Year's Resolutions Stick

American Psychological Association - Making Your New Year's Resolution Stick

NPR -  How to Make Your New Year's Resolutions Stick

WikiHow - How to Accomplish Your New Year's Resolutions 

Nebraska Department of Health/Human Services - Tips For Keeping Your New Year's Resolutions

EverydayHealth.com - 10 Tricks For Setting - and Sticking To - Your Healthy New Year's Resolution

LifeHack - 7 Steps For Making a New Year's Resolution and Keeping It 

Entrepreneur - 5 Keys to Making Your New Year's Financial Resolutions Stick  

Newsweek - Achieve Your New Year's Resolutions in 2018 - Strategies To Make This Year Different

Psychology Today- 10 Steps to a Winning New Year's Resolution 

Doctors of Osteopathic Medicine - How to Make Your New Year's Resolutions Stick 

Happy New Year - and thanks for reading this blog over the last year!  See you in 2018!


Regards,
Stu

New Year's Eve is Almost Here!

Hi All,

New Year's Eve is approaching quickly.  What better time to plan a party than now?  So...how do you create a great New Year's Eve celebration for you and your friends and family?  Read on and learn how to create the party of all parties this year!

WikiHow - How to Throw a New Year's Eve Party

Real Simple - How to Throw the Easiest New Year's Eve Party Ever

UK Mirror - New Year's Eve Party Ideas - Decorate, Eat, Drink and Games

MoneyTalksNews - 10 Tips For Throwing a Great, Cheap New Year's Eve Party

Pinterest - New Year's Eve Party Ideas (with lots of pictures)

Money Crashers - 11 Fun New Year's Eve Party Ideas for Food, Games and Decorations

Penny Hoarder - Step-by-Step Guide to Throwing a Rockin' New Year's Eve Party on the Cheap

Food Network - How to Throw a Family Friendly New Year's Eve Party

HGTV - Host a Sparkling New Year's Eve Party

Delish.com -  29 Crazy Delish Cocktails to Make With Champagne


So there you have it - a start to help you make this New Year's Eve a night you won't soon forget!

Regards,
Stu

Enjoying the Holiday Season

Hi All,

So I wanted to write a blog entry about the holidays but I didn't want to write about how to shop on Amazon or how to get the best deals at WalMart or how to get the most for your money at the end of the holiday shopping season...no.  I wanted something a bit different than the same old, same old holiday post.

So, without further ado...how to enjoy the holiday season and not stress over presents, parties, feeling that you left somebody out on your list or any of the myriad of other ways people are stressed during the holiday season.

 Urbanest - How to Relax at Christmas and Start the New Year with Energy

WikiHow - How to Cop with Post Holiday Syndrome 

WikiHow - How to Relax During the Holidays 

Inc. - 10 Unique Ways to Relax and Recharge During the Holidays 

Health.com - 25 Ways to  Fight Holiday Stress

Simple Family Finance - 14 Ways to Simplify Christmas and Enjoy the Holidays 

NukNuuk - 5 Ways To Relax and Enjoy the Holiday Season 

Eventbrite - Beating the Holiday Blues, How to Relax and Enjoy the Holidays 

So there you have it - 8 sites that will help you relax and not stress over the nearly here holiday season!   Enjoy the links and hopefully you won't stress over the holidays!

Regards,
Stu

Bitcoin and Blockchain...What Is It?

Hi All,

You might have heard about bitcoin recently - or not.  Check out these links to learn a bit more about bitcoin, blockchain and cryptocurrency!

Wikipedia's Bitcoin entry

Wikipedia's Blockchain entry 

Yahoo! Finance - Okay, Seriously: What the Heck is Bitcoin, And Why Do So Many People Prefer it to Dollars and Cents?

Entrepreneur - What the Heck is a Bitcoin Anyway?

CNN Money: Bitcoin at $11,000: What the Heck is Going On?  (and now it's even more!)

FreeCodeCamp: Explain Bitcoin Like I'm Five

YouTube -  What the Heck is Bitcoin?!

Business Insider: How to Buy and Sell Bitcoin 

Investopedia: What is Bitcoin's Intrinsic Value? 

ResearchGate: Origin, Classification and Utility of Bitcoin

Readers can also do a Google search for the term(s) 'bitcoin', 'blockchain' and/or 'cryptocurrency' and you'll find dozens and dozens of results.  Choose wisely - and look for recent articles, articles that aren't biased or where the author has an agenda...reader beware!


And of course, the library has books on bitcoin and blockchain.  Click on the prior links to see which books are available at the Farmingdale Public Library shelves.

Enjoy the links and the information.

Regards,

Best Android Apps of 2017

Hi All,

So the year is almost ended and all the 'best of' articles are starting to come out in print and on the web.  One of the better ones - written in March 2017 no less - is this article titled '100 Best Android Apps of 2017', written by PC Mag.

The article subtitle states that these are 'The essential Android apps you need, whether you're outfitting the latest Pixel phone or plugging along with a much older device.'

The article has lots of subheadings....including the following Browsers, Health/Fitness, Personal Productivity, Reading/News, Shopping, Travel, Video, Food, Music/Podcasts, Photos, Security, Social Media/Communication, Utilities and Workplace Productivity.

Apps are that 'make the PCMag 'cut' are generally less thank $5 - with the majority of the apps on the list being free to download via Google Play. 

About 5 or so of the 'best' apps are listed in each category with a paragraph length description of the apps features and why it is included in the list of the 100 Best Android Apps of 2017.

Links to each app are on the site as is a rating - 5 solid red dots indicates the 'best' app. 

In the article PCMag suggests using the link for '10 Must Have Android Apps For 2017' if the 100 apps in the prior article are too many to go through.

So...what criteria did PCMag look for when reviewing apps for the article?  They looked for uniqueness, elegance, timeliness, design, price, security and popularity in an app for the list!

Enjoy the apps and the links and your phones' new found capabilities!

Regards,
Stu

Guidestar

Hi All,

Guidestar is a website to help users find information about nonprofit organizations.  Basically Guidestar gathers and disseminates information about IRS registered nonprofit organizations.

It provides information about each organizations mission, legitimacy, impact, reputation, finance, programs, transparency, governance and more.  To learn even more about Guidestar click on this link with is their 'About Us' page.

Guidestar has a search box at the top of the page - in addition users can click on boxes at the top left side of the page on Geography, Organization and Financials for additional links.  Users can also type in the state, zip code and other geographical information to find a nonprofit organization. 

When a nonprofit organization of interest is found, users can find the organizations' mission statement, ruling year (year the IRS granted the organization tax exempt status), President/CEO, contact information, EIN and keywords related to the nonprofit.

Users are allowed 5 free profiles before they are 'locked' out of the site.  However, by creating yor own free account, users can unlock unlimited profile views!

Links to Programs can be found at the top of the page.  In addition, Financials can be found at the other link at the top of the page as well. Operational information is available as well. However, to find this information (Program, Financial, Operational information) users will need to create a free account on the site....

Once you create the free account users will see the information available to users on Guidestar.  For nonprofit information its a great resource!

Enjoy the site!

Regards,
Stu

Unique and Interesting Digital Libraries and Archives - For Free!!!

Hi All,

Lots of libraries and archives are online but the site I'm talking about today has a link to over 250 libraries and archives that specialize in local, regional and U.S. history.  There are larger collections in each discrete link - and there are some eTexts and eBook repositories among the go forth and find them.  And be prepared to fall through the rabbit hole that is called the internet. 

The sites are unique, incredibly detailed and interesting - and of course, very specialized. Technically the link comes from  a site called OEDb - the Open Education Database and can be found by clicking on this link.

Links for New York start at the 99th link.  Examples of the links include Hamilton College Digital Collections, New York Public Library Digital Projects, New York State Documents and the United States Military Academy Library's Digital Collections.

Note that these are the link for JUST New York State - remember there are 49 other states in the union - which are alphabetically organized on the OEDB site.  

Enjoy the texts and the archives and the specialized collections that are now at your fingertips - for free!

Regards,
Stu

Avoiding Holiday Shopping Scams and Fraud

Hi All,

Its that time of year for holiday shopping.  As of the day of this writing Christmas is 12 days away and Hanukah is....tonight.  Start the wrapping and the getting the gift bags out!!!

But with the holiday season comes fraud and scams and other holiday shopping problems.  How to avoid these unfortunate events you ask?  Read on.   We'll have a baker's dozen plus one links to help you navigate through the holiday season with no problems - hopefully at least!

How to Avoid Holiday Shopping Scams and Fraud - AARP

Online Holiday Shopping Scams to Watch Out For - CNNTech

6 Holiday Shopping Scams and How to Avoid them - NBC 

Fake Amazon Gift Cards...and other Cyber Scams Tempt Holiday Shoppers - Detroit Free Press

Holiday Shopping Scams to Avoid - Experian  

14 Dangerous Holiday Shopping Scams - Inc. 

4 Scams To Avoid While You Do Your Holiday Shopping - Motley Fool

How to Spot Fake Fingerlings and Other Holiday Shopping Scams - Forbes 

Don't Fall For These Holiday Shopping Scams - Lifehacker 

Holiday Shopping Scams: How to Identify Fake Sites - WFLA.com 

Holiday Shopping Scams - Tis the Season For Data Protection - TrendMicro

6 Tips For Avoiding Phishing, Malware...and Hacks While Holiday Shopping Online - TechRepublic 

How to Avoid Online Holiday Shopping Scams - Consumer Reports 

Hope the links won't be needed - but if they are you can at least be a little prepared.

Happy holidays!
Regards,
Stu

How-To-Geek

Hi All,

Just found an interesting computer, geeky type site called 'How-To-Geek' (hereafter HTG). 

So, just what is HTG?  Its an online tech magazine that is dedicated to providing interesting articles, how-to's, and more to the audience of tech-type and not tech-type readers.  The site was founded in 2006 whose original goal was to bring a better how-to site to the internet - with content that's understandable for regular people, but geeky enough for more technical readers....(source: HT FAQ).

Click here for a link to the HTG Discussion Forum's.  

Click here for Windows articles and information. 

Click here for Mac articles and information about Mac OS. 

Click here for iOS article and for everything related to iPhone and iPad's.

Click here for Android articles and for everything related to Google and Android.

Other useful links on the site include Gaming, Security and Photography.  Click the links to follow them to that particular subject....

Enjoy the site and the new technology!

Regards,
Stu


 

LibriVox - audiobooks

Hi All,

The rise of audiobooks in the book world has been nothing short of amazing.  As a matter off fact, the Wall Street Journal wrote an article about just this very topic in July 2016.

Click on this link to read the article from the Wall Street Journal. 

With that said, it was inevitable that a website or an organization would, at some point, come up with the idea making accessible free public domain audiobooks. Click on this link to access LibriVox. 

To learn more about LibriVox, users can visit this 'About LibriVox' page. It has links to their 'Fundamental Principles, What LibriVox does?, Contact Information and much more.

The LibriVox homepage has two sides - the left side has a link for volunteers to sign up to read books for LibriVox.  The right side of the page has the Listening part of the page.  This is where users go to listen to an audiobook on the site.

Scrolling down further on the page enables the user to browse the catalog by author, by title, by subject and by language....

Material is able to be listened to on computers, iPods, mobile devices or burned to a CD!

Enjoy the site and the audiobooks!.

Regards,
Stu

Reading and Book Trends 2018

Hi All,

So originally I was going to write a blog entry about 'Shopping Trends in 2017' - but then I looked around and realized everybody and their sister would be blogging about this type of topic.

I needed to write about something different - and then I typed in 'trends 2017' in Google.  And low and behold the idea struck me - write about 'Book trends in 2017'.

Click on the various links below to learn about book trends.

Enjoy the lists and the trends for 2018!

Regards,
Stu

Izzard Ink Publishing - 5 Publishing Trends For 2018 

Publishers Weekly - Bologna 2017, Agents Talk Children's and YA Trends 

Pressbooks.com - 2017 Publishing Trends For Authors 

The Guardian - Up Lit: The New Book Trend With Kindness at Its Core 

BookBusinessmag.com - Top Trends: What Publishers Should Expect in 2017?

Medium.com - Fiction Trends to Watch For in 2017 (and Beyond) 

Children'sBookReview.com - Trends in Children's Books and Young Adult Novels 2017

CNNMedia.com - Real Books Are Back, E-book Sales Plunge 20% 

GoodReads -  2018 Book Lists

Publishers Weekly - New and Anticipated Books 2018

Black Friday Deals and Cyber Monday

Hi All,

Thanksgiving has come and gone...and now the holiday season is upon for real!  Which, of course, means that holiday shopping has started!

So...here's a list of some Black Friday deals.
 The Verge - 24 Best Deals
Engadget - Best Black Friday Deals 2017
ABC News - Year's Can't Miss Black Friday Deals 
Walmart -  Best Black Friday.com 2017 Advertisement
BGR - Black Friday Deals 2017

Cnet - Cyber Monday Deals  
Fox News - Cyber Monday's Biggest Deals and Savings
CBS News MoneyWatch - 10 Stores Will Have the Best Cyber Monday Deals in 2017

Here's the Wikipedia entry for Black Friday - interesting read!  And, here's the Wikipedia entry for Cyber Monday - another interesting read!

Enjoy the shopping!

Regards,
Stu