What KNot

We’re Back

whatknot — Mon, 16 Oct 2006 17:51:18 +0000

Sorry for the short hiatus, but we just got back from a week-long trip to Disney World. I’m sure that we’ll be posting more about the trip once we get settled back into the “real world”.

Audio interview, Controversy, $3 Mil

whatknot — Thu, 05 Oct 2006 22:14:28 +0000

PayPerPost, which does blog advertising, just announced that is received $3 million of outside capital funding. That has renewed the talk about the controversy about is paying for a post an ethical thing to do. TalkCrunch did a full phone interview about this that you can listen to on the web.

I have to say, that when I first heard about PayPerPost I thought it was crazy. I didn’t know why anyone would want to do it, why anyone would lower themselves to write a blog and get paid for it. But, here I am, happily searching for blog opportunities that fit for me.

That’s really the key thing – blog opportunities that fit for me. I’m not going to write about a frat-boy videos. That’s not me and so it would be lowering me to do that. It wouldn’t be ethical for me to write about that. But I am going to write about Internet phone service and digital cameras – I would do that anyway because those are things I use or am thinking about using.

More than just what you write about, you can also be ethical in how your write. Do I write about an Internet phone service company and say how great they are when I really don’t know. No. But if it’s a PayPerPost about a website about Internet phone service, then I look at the site (really search around and read), and share what I find.

The last big controversial issue is whether or not to disclose when a post is generating revenue. I think it really could be done – as long as companies are ready to get real and unbiased reviews from the bloggers.

P.S. PayPerPost want bloggers to share their true views about this… and they are paying for bloggers like me to share my thoughts. That’s how it works.

Working Through The Pantry

whatknot — Thu, 05 Oct 2006 22:10:23 +0000

It’s time. It’s time to stop buying more pasta and work through the crazy shapes of noodles we already have in our pantry. Canned soup bought and forgotten. Cake mixes. Tapioca pudding. It’s amazing how much is in our little pantry closet. Our food bill has gone down so much now that we are buying mostly just perishable staples like milk, cheese, and eggs. It’s been great for our Visa bill, too.

Disney, Here We Come!

whatknot — Thu, 05 Oct 2006 21:17:53 +0000

Very shortly our family will be making our big trip to Walt Disney World in Florida. There will actually be 4 households all meeting up there. We are all very excited… though right now we are mostly focused on packing and getting everything settled before we leave our homes. Personally, I am thrilled that it worked out that we’ll be staying what was my first choice in hotel locations: Coronado Springs, a Disney Resort on property. Coronado had a great pool, playground, and an exercise gym (a bonus since I joined a gym early this summer and would really miss going over our trip). I’m a little worried that we’ll end up farther away from the main pool than we want, but the walking will be good too. The pictures we’ve seem online look beautiful. OK, I could go on and on….Interestingly, this will be our second Florida Holidays vacation. Our first was exactly 15 years ago for our honeymoon.

If you haven’t been but are thinking about it, the first thing to do is to visit Disney’s website and order the free DVD. (BTW – The cd-rom that comes with it is new and it seems to be still being developed. Your version might have more on it than ours did, so do check it out. It has great potential.) Then, while you wait for the DVD to arrive, search around the website to see videos of the resorts, get prices, etc.

If you decide to go, have fun and let us know how your trip was!

Advil every 5-6 hours

whatknot — Thu, 05 Oct 2006 21:07:05 +0000

Ohhhhh deeeeeear. I have a tooth ache. It needed a filling about a week and a half ago and the trauma of getting the filling has left the root very upset. The technical name is Pulpitis. Basically the root is inflamed with now where to go. Advil every 5-6 hours has been my friend while we’ve waited to see if the Pulpitis would go away on its own. It hasn’t. I go in tomorrow to see what can be done. In the meantime, I’m over due for Advil. Tooth aches are the pits.

New Wine Retailer on Web – Clean Site Design

whatknot — Thu, 05 Oct 2006 18:58:38 +0000

There is a new wine retailer on the web. JJ Buckley Fine Wines is out of California. The site is very well done, very easy to navigate, and very clean. Actually it’s almost too clean! I wish I could see the actual bottles of wine that are being offered. Many wines have good descriptions which are helpful, though. You can sort by the basic color or class (red, white, sweet/dessert, sparkling/Champagne), where the wine is from, wine varietal, and cost. The cost ranges are from under $25 to over $200 with many brackets in between, so the wide range of prices is nice.

~200 pieces of trash

whatknot — Thu, 05 Oct 2006 18:23:32 +0000

Yesterday as I walked home from taking our child to school, I decided it had been too many days since I had picked up trash. At least a week or more. About half way in the 1 mile trip, I figured I had about 50 pieces of trash already. I decided to count and see if I would get another 50 before I got home. Well, I got 50, then 100, then exactly 150. That plus the 50 or so that I didn’t count meant that there were over 200 pieces of trash between home and the school (I didn’t pick up everything). Some were large, some were small, but the full bag weighed in at between 3.5 and 4 pounds.

Capturing any VGA image via USB

whatknot — Mon, 02 Oct 2006 13:34:31 +0000

Have you ever needed to capture images from our VGA enabled computer or device? If so then you really need to check out the VGA2USB capture device. The really cool thing about the product, besides it compact size is that you can capture the images from any VGA device. If you read the VGA2USB Technical Specifications you’ll notice that it captures the VGA output not only from Mac OSX, Windows and Unix computers but also medical devices, PDAs, lab equipment, really anything that puts out a VGA signal.

Because it is capturing a lot of data it does require a USB2 connection, but that is basically a standard connection these days. It supports capture video from 640 x 480 all the way up to 2048 x 1536. Obviously the higher the resolution the slower the frame rate of capture. The unit ships with all of the connectors, splitters and changers needed to hook the unit up to any device. So if you need an external device to capture VGA signals and looking for a compact solution then check out the VGA2USB product from Epiphan Systems.

Zen

whatknot — Mon, 02 Oct 2006 12:49:40 +0000

There appears to be a really cool consumer product from Spotwave Wireless called ZEN. When released (supposedly later this year), this product will be a relatively lost cost/easy installation product for the home. The MSRP is going to be $399. The nice thing about this product (assuming it lives up to the hype) is that it does not require external installation and it uses less power.

Here is some the marketing about the product:

ZEN is the only network-protecting, intelligent coverage system available for the consumer market. It uses patented technology from Spotwave’s commercial-grade products to constantly monitor indoor signal strength – preventing oscillation (radio network feedback) and interference while ensuring the best signal possible for users. While “dumb” boosters and traditional repeater products can create interference that reduces user performance and can degrade network capacity, ZEN’s intelligent power management actually preserves – and can even enhance the performance of PCS networks. It also emits very low power to cell phones and other wireless devices, extending your battery life while it improves your signal…

Out-of-box solution – simple to install

Sleek design blends into any decor

Supports 1900 Mhz band (PCS)

Enhances both voice and data coverage (CDMA, GSM, EVDO, UMTS)

Works with most wireless carriers

Patented network-protecting technology

Trivia, who knew?

whatknot — Mon, 02 Oct 2006 12:37:11 +0000

Trivia can be such fun. While surfing today I ran across a really neat blog with some fantastic trivia. For example did you know that in the 1600′s there was a lady named Charlotte de Berry who became a pirate. Or how about the fact that the “chariot, or horse-drawn cart, was invented in Mesopotamia c.2000 B.C.”

One of the great things about the site is that it covers a really wide range of topics, and it often goes into detail about the topics. Unlike some other sites which only list brief facts, the Aviva Trivia Blog really dives in on some topics and gives you a lot more. So if you are really into trivia and I have some friends who defiantly are, then you must take a look at the Aviva Trivia Blog daily for the some really interesting trivia.