Monday, August 18, 2014

On That Date...dMarie Time Capsule

Hi All,

Suppose you wanted to find out what happened on a particular date in history?  What website would you go to?  Which would you pick?

Well, have I got an answer for you!

The dMarie Time Capsule is a perfect place to visit - click here for the site.

So...what does the site have and include?  Users can enter the date - for example 07/20/1985 - and then have the choice of clicking on 'Quick Page' or 'Advanced Page'.

Clicking on the Quick Page link connects you to a page that gives you the day of the week, top news headlines this week, top songs for 1985, prices for various products in 1985, who the U.S. President and U.S. Vice-President was. In addition there are categories for Academy Award Winners, people who were born on the date in question, what was on television in 1985, a list of hot new toys from the date in question, the top books of that year.

Interesting website - fun, and easy to use.  And you can amaze family and friends by saying something like, 'Back on your birthday in 19xx, the top book was xxxx and that these were popular television shows?'  Yep - its a great way to show a person that you care to surprise them with facts like that - hint, hint...try this on someone's birthday!

Enjoy the site and the memories.

Regards,
Stu

Tuesday, August 12, 2014

Fun entry - Generac Commercial Series Liquid Cooled Standby Generator

Hi All,

Check out this link from Amazon.com for a very, very, very large backup generator.  You could buy a very nice car for the same amount - or put down a small downpayment for a house - or buy a beautiful diamond ring - or take a very, very nice European vacation.  Enjoy!



Oh, and check out 'customer' comments.  Too funny!

Regards,
Stu

Monday, August 11, 2014

Quilting - Farmingdale Style!

Hi All,

Did you know that the Farmingdale Quilters group meets at the Farmingdale Public Library?  I didn't think so - but they do!

Here is a list of dates and the rooms' that they meet in for the rest of this year.   The Farmingdale Quilters meets on Tuesday nights at 7:00pm on the following dates:

Tuesday, September 9th in Room D
Tuesday, October 14th in Room F
Tuesday, November 18th in Room  D
Tuesday, December 9th in Room D

Here is a list of high quality, current, and very interesting quilting websites that you might want to visit next time you are on the web.

This first link goes to the ever popular website, Wikipedia.  The link is for the 'Quilting' entry and is quite comprehensive and detailed.  Click on this link for the section titled, 'Basics of Quilt Assembly'.

American Quilter's Society - links to American Quilter Magazine, Quilt Life Magazine, Quilt Shows, Fabric, Shop AQS, Authors, AQS Resources, Become a Member, My Quilt Place, Patterns & News, Free Newsletter, QuiltViews Blog and Book Sellers.  Comprehensive, authoritative and great pictures of anything and everything related to quilting.

Fabric.com - buy quilting fabric cheap and easily.  Includes sections for fabric that has Just Arrived, Quilting Fabric, Home Decor Fabric, Fashion Fabric, Notions & Fabric, Sales and much more. 

Quilt in a Day - again, sections include Shop Online, Classroom, Television & Video, Eleanor & Co, Events, Retail Stores, Community, Customer Service, Contact Us, Email Newsletter, Quilt Shop Locator.

And now for something completely new:  I did a YouTube search for 'quilting for beginners' - which yielded about 41,000 results and videos with titles like 'How to Sew a Block Quilt?', 'Quilting 101', 'How to Make Your First Quilt' and many, many, many more videos!


Finally, to get some possible ideas for your next project, click on this image search for 'quilting' from Google Images.   There are dozens and dozens of pictures of quilts - most with links - so you can probably get instructions on how to create the perfect quilt.

Please note that these are just some of the dozens and dozens of quilting and quilting-related websites on the web.  I am not endorsing any of these sites - the material is purely informational.

Enjoy the links and the quilting projects!


Regards,
Stu

Friday, August 8, 2014

Magnificent Old Theatres

Hi All,

I was doing a search at the library for movies for a patron earlier today.  I found the movie that I was looking for, but this was a perfect case of 'it is the journey that matters - not so much the end result'.

While finding the information that I needed about the movie, I came across a website called Cinema Treasures.org.   Click prior link to visit the site.

Cinema Treasures proclaims itself as 'your guide to movie theaters'.  Pretty interesting and sounds somewhat boring until you look under the hood of the site and realize how much valuable and interesting information is at your disposal.

So, what does Cinema Treasures do? Simple, you can search for movie theaters by city or zipcode.   Users can also use a menu of sorts to find Movie Theaters by country (!), state and by city to narrow down their search.

Open theaters, theaters showing movies, closed theaters, demolished theaters, theaters being restored and theaters being renovation are options that can be searched as well.

Pictures, commentary and narrative information (date(s)when the theater was demolished or torn down) are available to readers on certain theaters.  In addition, readers have the option to make comments about the theater being discussed. 

For example, a search for 'Farmingdale New York' yields 2 open theaters and 1 closed theater.  The first open theater listed is the Farmingdale Multiplex Cinemas.  Location and number of screens is listed.  Clicking on the name of the theater yields a current picture, map (user can scroll in and out to get a better sense of the the theater location), and a 2 paragraph blurb about the theater.  A whole bunch of reader comments are available for visitors to read and peruse.  Unfortunately, only users who are signed in are allowed to post comments.


Related websites and additional information is posted on the right side of the page. And....nearby theaters are also listed - which are linkable as well.  At the top of the page are links to Theaters, Photos (lots of movie theater photos - cool stuff).   From the photos link readers also can view Recent Photos, Popular Photos and Photos of Famous Movie Theaters.

Continuing with the links from the top of the page are Video (video about theatres - fairly current), Blog (latest movie theater news and updates) and About Cinema Treasures.

Cinema Treasures is quite a find - I never expected to find such a site! I guess that's what makes the internet such a treasure - you never know what you'll find!

Enjoy the site and the memories and the directions.  Now all we need are some good movies to view!!!

Regards,
Stu

Monday, August 4, 2014

Success!!!

Hi All,

Success comes in all sorts of shapes and sizes and forms.  For example, is the person who has 3 grown, independent children more or less successful than a school teacher? Or is the wealthy investment banker more or less successful than an award winning journalist?  Lots of different examples can be generated, but the one thing in common is success?  What is success? 

And, more importantly, how can you achieve it?

Readers can click on this link from Business Insider for an article titled, '11 Traits All Successful Leaders Share'. Some of the traits are obvious (self-confidence,  self-control and they have plans); other traits are less obvious (they are exceptionally likable, they are sympathetic, they pay attention to details)...


Also discussed in the article is a book written by Napoleon Hill called 'Think and Grow Rich'.  Click here for reviews of the book from Amazon.com - where you can, of course, purchase the book if you would like.  Alternatively, you can inter-library loan the book from the library by clicking on this link.

And if you think you are starting at the bottom in your current job or work; click on this link from, again, Business Insider, for an article entitled, 'Humble First Jobs of Successful People'.   Successful people mentioned in the article include Lloyd Blankfein, Richard Branson, President Obama, Donald Trump and Michael Bloomberg.  Interesting - and fun - article to read.

And, for a more mainstream article, click on this link from the Huffington Post for an article entitled, '18 Ways to Live a Successful Life'.  It is both interesting and inspiring and gets to the heart of what success truly is.

Enjoy the links and here's to being successful!  Good luck!

Regards,
Stu