Irene Preparedness

Hi All,

Sorry for the lapse in posting...Google was nice enough to force me to move the library Blogger account to a new email address. It took a bit of time to figure out how to recover the account name and password. But....we were able to do so. And here we are with another post. Unfortunately it is a hurricane preparedness post. I wish it were another 'summer day' type post that would be entertaining. We'll get to those in a bit though. Let's just get past hurricane Irene and we'll go from there.

So, without further ado, here are 6 really good links that'll get you started on how to cope with the hurricane over the next few days.

Hurricane preparedness from Nassau County Department of Emergency Management - you'll be able to download a printable version of the document.

List of hurricane evacuation shelters in Nassau County

Disaster Supply Kit

Hurricane Preparedness Checklist

Hurricane Preparedness - Nassau County again...

Utility Shut Off and Safety

Good luck and be safe and careful.

Regards,
Stu

Leaving For College? Here's What You Need

Hi All,

We're getting to that time of year when students are getting ready to leave for their Freshman year of college! Talk about excitement! New friends, new places, new roommates and new classes! Wow - that's a lot of great stuff to look forward to! Makes me wish I was a college freshman again!

So - without further ado...some lists of things to bring to college and similar stuff to get students ready for the first year of college.

Well, you don't want to get to college and realize that you forgot 'stuff'. Click on this link to CollegePrep101 that includes lists of what to bring to college for the first time. Importantly, there is a list of what NOT to bring as well.

Direct from College Confidential comes this link that does something similar to CollegePrep101. Specifically you get even more lists of what to bring to college. What is different on this site is that they alphabetize the items that they think you should bring...go figure. Different strokes for different folks as they say.

And finally comes this link from 'The Dormitory' - again, same idea, different lists. Again, the lists are alphabetical - the only difference is that this site has some narrative as to why you should bring the various items they are discussing.

Okay, one last site - this one comes from College and Finance website - and the article is titled '18 Overlooked Things Everyone Should Bring to College'. Good stuff and the financial advice on the site is helpful as well.

Enjoy and have a great freshman year of college.

Regards,
Stu

F is for...

Hi All,

In my continuing quest for good internet resources, I'm up to the letter 'f'...

F is for...
Facebook - great social networking website

Ford - want to buy an American automobile?

France - link to the CIA World Factbook about France - the country

french fries - link to Wikipedia article about french fries

Fandago -helpful movie website where you can buy movie tickets and more

Firefox - competitor browser to Microsoft Explorer - helpful add-ons make it a fairly secure browser

Regards,

Stu

The Debt Limit Debate - Facts NOT Opinions

Hi All,

The term 'debt limit' has been in the news a lot lately. Actually, if you watch the news at night, or use various internet news sites, you'll begin to think that this is the 'only' news item of the last few days...

Click here for a link from Search.USA.gov for a whole page linked to items and article about the debt limit. Click on this link for a simple, cogent and thorough description of what the debt limit really means. Note that link is from the United States Treasury Department - very authoritative.

From Treasury Direct comes this FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) About the Public Debt - click here for the link. When you go to the site, I'd recommend the section on 'General Information'.

Now, from the White House Briefing Room comes this link about the actual agreement entitled, 'Bipartisan Debt Deal: A Win For the Economy and Budget Discipline'.

I'm not going to post link after link about the various parts of the legislation - that would be too boring and wouldn't make a particularly interesting post. Be that as it may...I have a few more links regarding the pro's and con's of the debt ceiling. Note that I am not taking sides on the issue...I'm just pointing out that there are two very different points of view on the issue.

Paul Krugman and Ron Paul Agree: Debt Ceiling Deal Sucks - from Forbes.com

U.S. Hits Debt Ceiling - from CNNMoney.com

The Debt Ceiling Explained - from NPR

Extending the Debt Ceiling is Good for the Economy - from CNBC

So there you have it. Enough words on economics, debt, finances, taxes than you can shake the proverbial stick at. Enjoy!

Stu

Epinions - Lots of Reviews By Users

Hi All,

There are many websites on the internet that evaluate products and include product reviews. One of the better ones that I've found is Epinions.com. You can visit this product review site by clicking on this link.

So, what makes this site so helpful, you ask? Good question! when you visit the site, you'll be able to click on tabs on topics as varied as cars, books, movies, music, computers & software, electronics, gifts, home & garden, kids & family, office supply, sports, travel and more.

There is also a search box where you can type the name or model number of a product and get reviews of the item.

In addition, when you find an item and see the review you have some options. You can view the details for the item (size, weight, color, overall ratings and more. In addition, you can compare prices of the item from different 'brick and mortar' stores and 'online retailers'. Finally, users have the option to visit either the brick and mortar store or the online store and actually purchase the item online.

Users can also enter their zip code to see if there is tax and shipping if and when you purchase the item.

What makes the site so unique are the user reviews. You should realize that user reviews come from eBay, Buy.com/Marketplaces, Amazon.com Marketplace and many other consumer websites.

Users can also subscribe to a particular item to have future reviews of the product sent to them via email - which is a very helpful feature.

Some examples of searches that I did for this blog entry included blenders, laptops, saxophones,

diaper change organizers and a copy of 'Casino Royale' by Ian Fleming. Great stuff!

Here are some links from Epinions.com that might help you get a bit more familiar with the site.

Join Epinions.com by using this website: http://www.epinions.com/register/

Got questions about the various parts of Epinions, use this URL: http://www.epinions.com/msg

Enjoy the site, hope you find the products and reviews that you need!

Regards,

Stu