Just Saying Thank You

I just wanted to say thank you to all of my friend who visited my blog none stop even though I was not able to visit them back right away. As I had been so busy lately... my schedule is slowing down and I am slowly going back to blogging. Just know... that I appreciate all of you and your patient. Later on this day... I will probably be visiting you all, at least I will try to hit all of you. If I cannot able to do that, I ask for your patient and I will get to your blog as soon as I can. Thank you and please stop by again.

Become a Computer Expert

Ever wanted to be the person that someone turns to when their computer is on the blink? Maybe you just fancy showing off your computer skills to friends and relatives?

Take a computer course. People are more likely to listen to someone who has a recognised qualification under their name. Even if it's just passing their GCSE I.T! Make sure you have a computer. Or better still an old one so you can try different things. Try experimenting with a Linux CD as the regular use of command lines will sure to increase your computer knowledge fast! Be prepared to fix. Every time your computer goes wrong, resign yourself to fixing it yourself. You have the Internet now and visiting tech support forums will allow you to communicate with others who have had the same problem. Don't be afraid of your computer! What have you got to lose by tinkering with that registry if your computer is already in an unusable state? You could save yourself the trouble of re-installing Windows. When fixing other people's computers, be sure to bring a flash drive with the following: AVG free setup file (in case they have no anti virus), CCleaner, Auslogics Disk Defrag setup file and FireFox or Opera (to introduce them to the alternative). You can use these programs to free up space, disable start up programs which might cause conflicts and search and destroy viruses. You can also leave them on the computer if they are unprotected. Read tech support forums to recognise the symptoms of well known problems. For example a slow and unresponsive PC could indicate a virus and failure to boot into Windows could be a driver problem.

Become a member of TechSupportGuy.org. Be sure to reply to as many problems with a solution as possible. Make sure you have a Windows CD in case you can't fix the problem and need to start from scratch and make sure you can use it. Remember these useful tools to access behind the scenes of Windows XP and Vista; msconfig and services. Type into the start and run bar

Make sure you're not going to make any computer problem worse by having some knowledge of it before you fix your neighbors PC. Don't fiddle with settings on a perfectly working family computer. Have an old 128mb RAM basic tower that your friends scrapped years ago to do that with! Then mess around until your heart is content!

Things You'll Need:

* A second basic computer for backup and testing things with
* Computer knowledge
* A flash drive with essential tools
* A decent search engine

Monitor Your Apartment With a Webcam While on Vacation

Are you planning to be away from your residence for a while? Need some budget monitoring from a distance? Try this.


Obtain video capture software. There are many different offerings, each with pros and cons. Try looking up for some easy to use, practical video capture software, that comes complete with a review. If all else fails, just use Windows Movie Maker. Use the software's ReadMe or Install Wizard to install the program. This is only necessary if you plan to record the footage. Set up your camera. You will need to keep the camera near a computer. If you can, use a high-memory laptop or similar small size computer. You want to be able to hide it. You will need to have your computer near wherever your camera is. Hiding the camera will give intruders a sense of security, as they will think the house is not monitored. This will lead to a better capture of their features. You need to make sure the camera can see some crucial parts of the house, and as much of it as possible. Remember that having a web cam next to a computer is not unusual, and can make for fairly good cover. Set up an account. You will need to have an account on a website with web cam capabilities. Once you've set it up you're ready to start. Watching from a distance. While on holiday, login using a different account, and make a connection with the account that your home camera is connected to. If you're using the right kind of site, the web cam should be playing you images from your own home. Whenever you check in, take a screen shot and compare them. If anything has moved you will be able to see.

Choose chat room sites that allow you to be logged in indefinetly while the account is inactive. Also make sure you can access the web cam without the permission of the other account. As insecure as this, people won't be able to glean much info from it, so it should be OK.

This will not work if you use one of the more common Instant Messageing sites. These have systems to stop users keeping inactive accounts logged in, so as to save their own processor. Choose one of the websites that seem a little bit 'dodgier'.

Plan a Family Vacation On a Budget

Money is always an issue in today's world, but that doesn't mean you can't plan a fun vacation on a tight budget, it just takes a few tricks and some smart thinking in order to pull it off. Here is what I found to be useful when planning a money conscious vacation.

To Fly or Drive: Assuming that by now you have your destination already picked out, how are you going to get there? Gas prices are near four dollars a gallon, and plane tickets are expensive, not to mention the very strict rules as to what you can and cannot take on board. So to help with both here is what is recommended.If you Drive: Instead of eating your meals at McDonald's on your way to Vacation, pack a cooler of food. You can buy a cooler and a weeks worth of sandwich stuff for around 25-35 dollars. Get a tune up, they can be expensive but a Tune up will help keep your car fuel efficient and could possibly save your life. Budget at least $20 over what you think you'll be paying in gas.

If you Fly: Travelocity, or other Internet sites like Travelocity can help with finding a cheap rate. Flying at odd hours will ensure a cheaper ticket! When traveling around Europe book your plane for around midnight because those flights offer the lower rates.Whatever airline you book with, look up their site as well and see what their rules are as far as carry on material and flight exchanges or cancellations.You might be able to get a cheaper rate through the airline than through Travelocity, and you can save even more money by bringing food with your carry on, so long as they allow it. In flight snacks are expensive so if you can, pack your own. Where to Sleep:The best advice on where to stay once you've reached your destination is to check hotel rooms and rates early, a few months in advance.The earlier you book a room the cheaper the rate. Also try to book in their off season, many Hotels will have cheaper rates when they don't expect a lot of reservations to be coming in.
"I Forgot" Its a bummer when you find out that you forgot something important and have to spend money on an item like, a bathing suit, or shampoo. Granted these items can be cheap, but its better not to have to spend money on them.

Here's what you do to make sure you don't forget anything. Do a walk through of your home and write down all the things you use for personal hygiene, and things you will want to have on your vacation. Tape the list to the top of the suit case, and the day of your flight... start packing. Once you know, that everything on the list is in the suit case... rip up the list. Its easy and its a fairly good way to make sure you got everything. Meal Time: An expensive, but fun past-time during vacation is eating out. Plan your meals ahead of time. Budget your money and if you can, eat out everyday, if you can afford it. If you can't, look at your monthly food bill, and estimate how much it will cost for you and your family to eat for the amount of time on the vacation. Then either pack a cooler to take with you, or plan on going shopping at a store near the hotel and fixing picnic-like meals in the room. Try to set money aside for at least one meal out at a restaurant, and if you do, make sure it's a place that isn't common to your home town.Make it something different and something fun.

Devote a Day to Relaxing and Pampering Yourself at Home

Everyone needs a day off once in a while. But this is a treat- don't do it every week!

Get out that bubble bath and the radio. Draw a bath, of course with extra bubbles. Tune the radio to a relaxing station, light some candles or incense, and just relax! Don't clean, just soak your troubles away. Then wash your body with a refreshing-smelling body soap. Whenever you are done soaking, get out, dry off, and get dressed in sweats and a T shirt, or whatever makes you feel comfy. Maybe lounge pants, floods or shorts.
Pull your hair back into a bun, and put on a headband. You want to make sure your hair is out of our face for these next few steps. Rinse and pat your face dry. Apply a facial mask. If you don't have one, make one (1/2 mashed up banana with 2 tbs. honey. Leave on for 10-20 minutes.) Then rinse. While you're waiting, read a good magazine. Rinse the facial and pat your face dry. Now wash with a great toner (Neutrogena Acne Face Wash, $7 drugstores). Rinse well and pat dry. Now, it's time for the nails. Remove any old nail polish from your finger nails and toe nails.Rent or watch on TV a good chick flick. Paint your nails and eat yummy popcorn while doing this.Get a tub of your favorite ice cream plus cookies and enjoy. After the movie, read a good book for as long as you'd like. After you've read, go to sleep, or, take a nice nap.

Meditation: Try meditating, or resting quietly with the goal of completely clearing your mind. You will inevitably start to think about something, just notice that, acknowledge it, and gently bring yourself back to a silent mind. Whatever you were thinking of will still be there when you leave this state, but putting it down for a moment, 5 minutes, or an hour, will re-energize your mind and help you to deal with any task. Yoga: Some simple stretching of the body can do wonders to relax muscle tension as well as mental tension.

Spray on your favorite perfume/body spray all over your body and clothes.Tell everyone in the house that you're doing this, so they don't disturb you.
If you don't like popcorn or ice cream, make a hot hot chocolate with whipped cream on top. Don't feel like renting a movie? Check to see if any good movies are on TV, or watch a favorite movie that you own! You can replace these clothes items with anything you want, as long as it's comfortable. Pajamas work fine too, if you're doing this later in the day. If you have a CD player near your bathroom, put the CD in there, and turn it up so you can hear it. This may be safer than actually having it in your bathroom.

If you don't have bubble bath, shower/bath gel or bar soap work great too.Snack types can vary, so if you prefer veggies and dip, over chips and popcorn, go for it! This is your day, after all!If you want, invite a few friends over for watching the movie, so you can have fun together. Try doing this on the weekend (Saturday or Sunday), or in the evening. If you don't like to read talk on the phone or take a calming walk! This guide was intended for women, because men may not find it very relaxing to watch a chick-flick (boring yes, relaxing, no) or use bubble bath. But, if you're a man and find these things relaxing, these steps will probably work for you, too. If you don't unplug your phone, pager, etc. you will be interrupted'. Make sure everyone knows where you are and not to bother you, so you won't have to tell them while you're in the tub or something.