Sims 2 FreeTime Coming Soon!

A new expansion for Sims 2 is coming out soon! I'm all excited!

"Announcing The Sims™ 2 FreeTime*
‘Tis the season to shower Sims fans with information on the upcoming expansion pack!

Get rewarded for doing what your Sims love most! Whether shooting hoops, composing new music, or crafting pottery, your Sims can master new activities that make their lives richer—uncover secret lots, craft unique items, and, for the first time, unlock a secondary aspiration!

Help them fill their all-new lifetime aspiration meter and earn points to spend on rewards! But beware—gifted Sims can create masterpieces, but the works of less talented Sims may have unexpected outcomes!"

http://thesims2.ea.com/about/ep7_index.php?nl_122707

Backing Up & Moving Dragon NaturallySpeaking 9.5

Just in case anyone was wondering how, here's the proper way to backup or move Dragon Naturally Speaking files.

"To Backup your user files, navigate to the corresponding directory and move the folder "Users" to a different location.

C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Nuance\NaturallySpeaking9 (Windows 2000\XP)

C:\Users\<>\AppData\Roaming\Nuance\NaturallySpeaking9 (Windows Vista)"

http://knowledgebase.nuance.com/view.asp?60VQ=JKKL&5d7r4B=onpx-72

Word of the Day

(This definition was clearly written by a man)

Urban Word of the Day
www.urbandictionary.com

January 23, 2008: PMS

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=PMS&defid=523478

A powerful spell that women are put under about once every month, which gives them the strength of an ox, the stability of a Window's OS, and the scream of a banshee. Basically, man's worst nightmare.

OMFG! SHE HAS PMS!!! RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!!!! *explosions and screams*

castor sugar

I was baking the other day and came across a recipe requiring castor sugar. This I assumed was confectioner's sugar, sadly I was wrong. The baking came out fine, but I wondered what exactly was castor sugar? Well here's the answer.

"What is castor sugar and when would one use it?

Castor or caster sugar is the name of a very fine sugar in Britain, so named because the grains are small enough to fit though a sugar "caster" or sprinkler. It is sold as "superfine" sugar in the United States.

Because of its fineness, it dissolves more quickly than regular white sugar, and so is especially useful in meringues and cold liquids. It is not as fine as confectioner’s sugar, which has been crushed mechanically (and generally mixed with a little starch to keep it from clumping).
If you don’t have any castor sugar on hand, you can make your own by grinding granulated sugar for a couple of minutes in a food processor (this also produces sugar dust, so let it settle for a few moments before opening the food processor). You can also purchase castor sugar online."

http://www.ochef.com/580.htm

Song of the Week

"Down by the Old Mill Stream" - John Denver

Down by the old (not the new but the old)
Mill stream (not the river but the stream),
Where I first (not the last but the first)
Met you. (Not me but you.)
With your eyes (not your ears, but your eyes)
Of blue (not green, but blue).
Dressed in ging- (not silk but ging-) -ham too. (Not one but two.)

And it was there (not here, but there),
I knew (not old, but new)
That you loved (not hate, but loved)
Me too. (Not one but two.)

You were sixteen (not seventeen, but sixteen)
My village queen! (Not the king, but the queen).
Down by the old (not the new, but the old),
Mill stream (not the river, but the stream).

Quote of the Day

"Some people
come into our lives
and quickly go..

Some people
become friends
and stay awhile...

leaving beautiful
footprints on our
hearts...

and we are never
quite the same
because we have
made a good
friend!!" - anon (the original had ASCII footprints but they're not formatting right)

Cute fleecy animal hats!!!

This site sells adorable fleece hats shaped like animals... I think the Baby Bunny one is especially cute, see...


"

I think I'm gonna get me a scarfy one when I have some more money LOL!

They have some other awesomely cute animals hats on the website here:
http://www.basiik.net/

Family Game Night Christian Board Games

Well there you have it, Christianisation of almost everything is nearly complete! LOL

"One of the hottest trends in family entertainment is the return of board games and family game nights.




The fall of 2007 has been a banner year for games like Apples To Apples: Bible Edition, Scattergories: Bible Edition and Outburst: Bible Edition. These fast paced family games may seem low-tech in a world filled with iPods and Xboxes but they are proving to be a sensation with families across Canada. Each of these games, along with a broad selection of others that can found at Christian retail stores across Canada, have been some of the hottest items for the Christmas gift giving season."

Also don't forget "Bibleopoly" ;-)

Tibetan Personality Test

This is neat personality test... basically a fwd made into a website.

http://memoriter.net/flash/test.html

Work-At-Home Job Site

This is a site of interest in particular to people looking to work from home and living in the U.S. Although not all the jobs are U.S. based a great deal of them are.

Essentially this site is a database of work-at-home jobs that one can do. You do have to pay a fee to use it but the site says if you are not satisfied they do offer a money-back guarantee.

http://www.flexjobs.com/

"Find a telecommuting job faster! Instead of spending endless hours digging for legitimate jobs buried below scams and ads, let us do that for you so you can spend your time more productively -- applying to jobs!

Search the best and widest variety of legitimate telecommuting jobs from all over the web -- freelance to full-time, entry-level to executive, in over 50 different job categories.

Receive great customer service including a toll-free number with real people who truly want to make your experience an excellent one!

We guarantee your satisfaction, so there's no risk. If for any reason you aren't satisfied with the quality of job leads you find on FlexJobs, simply ask for a full refund."

Free Food to Shelter Animals

Free Food for Animal Shelter

Hi, all you animal lovers. This is pretty simple... Please tell you friends! The Animal Rescue Site is having trouble getting enough people to click on it daily to meet their quota of getting free food
donated every day to abused and neglected animals. It takes less than a minute to go to their site and click on "feed an animal in need" for free. It's in a purple box in the middle of the page. This doesn't cost you a thing. Their corporate sponsors/advertisers use the number of daily visits to donate food to abandoned/neglected animals in exchange for advertising.

Here's the web site! Pass it along to people you know.

www.theanimalrescuesite.com

Song of the Week

"Don't Stop Believin'" - Journey

Just a small town girl, livin in a lonely world
She took the midnight train goin anywhere
Just a city boy, born and raised in south detroit
He took the midnight train goin anywhere

A singer in a smokey room
A smell of wine and cheap perfume
For a smile they can share the night
It goes on and on and on and on

Strangers waiting, up and down the boulevard
Their shadows searching in the night
Streetlight people, living just to find emotion
Hiding, somewhere in the night

Working hard to get my fill,
Everybody wants a thrill
Payin anything to roll the dice,
Just one more time
Some will win, some will lose
Some were born to sing the blues
Oh, the movie never ends
It goes on and on and on and on

(chorus)

Dont stop believin
Hold on to the feelin
Streetlight people

Word of the Day

(I'm a realtor down south ;-) )

Urban Word of the Day
www.urbandictionary.com

January 14, 2008: googleganger

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=googleganger&defid=2619255

Similar to that of a doppleganger, it is another individual with the same name as you whose records and/or stories are mixed in with your own when you Google yourself.

"Hey, I just googled my name and found that I have three googlegangers!"

Make your resolutions stick

I don't really believe in New Year's resolutions, but as many people do I thought this article may be of some interest to them:

"Make your resolutions stick

Why do so many people give up on their New Year's resolutions every year? Because they make it too hard to succeed. Try these easy tips for success.

Do your New Year's resolutions feel like a recipe for failure? Every year you resolve the same old thing and then fall off the wagon by February? Don't get down on yourself! Even if you've already started to slide for this year, you can still do it. Start over right now, but start right.

Reaching your goal can be easy if you make the right resolution. And the payoff is a better you! Follow these easy tips to make your resolutions stick.

Choose a clear goal: While "get fit" sounds good, it's hard to stick to. "Walk during lunch hour three times a week" or "Do yoga every morning before breakfast" are much clearer targets.

Make it obtainable: Losing 25 pounds by bathing suit season might be too daunting, but two pounds a month sounds plausible. Even better, follow the first tip and promise specifics like "no deep fried food" or "no sugar in beverages."

Choose one: If you promise to start exercising, quit smoking, and reduce stress all at once, you'll get stressed out just thinking about it. Choose your most important goal for this year. Your success will be great encouragement for a new goal next year.

Write it down: Put your clear and obtainable goal in writing. And post it on the fridge or the mirror. Try putting stickers on your calendar or keeping a journal.

Tell friends or family: Support makes a big difference. Remind each other of your goals. Better yet, run/diet/quit smoking together!

Reward yourself: Have a little celebration for every month you succeed. But not with cake if you're trying to lose weight! A night out or wardrobe update might do the trick.

Expect some setbacks: Nobody's perfect. Just because you messed up today doesn't mean you've blown it. Get back on track tomorrow and don't give up!

Finally, confidence and commitment are key. By choosing one clear and obtainable goal, you can do it. So go for it. And enjoy the new you in the New Year!"

http://www.livingwell.ca/english/article.asp?arid=670

Blogging = Hazard to Health?

Well I've never considered this to be a problem, but definitely something to think about:

"Some Brand-Name Bloggers Say Stress of Posting Is a Hazard to Their Health

By DAN FOST
Published: January 7, 2008
Om Malik’s blog, GigaOm, regularly breaks news about the technology industry. Last week, the journalist turned blogger broke a big story about himself. Mr. Malik, 41, blogged that he had suffered a heart attack on Dec. 28.

“I was able to walk into the hospital for treatment that night and have been recovering here ever since,” Mr. Malik wrote. “With the support of my family and my team, I am on the road to a full recovery. I am going to be O.K.”

His heart attack — and his blogging about it — raises the issue of what happens when a blogger becomes a name brand.

“The trouble with a personal brand is, you’re yoked to a machine,” said Paul Kedrosky, a friend of Mr. Malik’s who runs the Infectious Greed blog. “You feel huge pressure to not just do a lot, but to do a lot with your name on it. You have pressure to not just be the C.E.O., but at the same time to write, and to do it all on a shoestring. Put it all together, and it’s a recipe for stress through the roof.”

Mr. Malik has 12 employees, including a chief operating officer, and editors run some of his blogs, Yet, “It’s his name on the door,” Mr. Kedrosky said. “People want to know what Om Malik thinks. People want to see posts with Om Malik’s byline.”

Paul Walborsky, the chief operating officer for Mr. Malik’s company, Giga Omni Media, played down stress as a factor in Mr. Malik’s health. He noted Mr. Malik’s incessant smoking of cigars and cigarettes was a more likely cause.

In his post last Thursday, Mr. Malik blamed a variety of vices. “Friends and family have purged my apartment of smokes, scotch and all my favorite fatty foods — I am even going to be drinking decaf,” wrote Mr. Malik. His online avatar features a drawing of him wearing a press fedora and chomping a cigar, and until he rented an office last year he worked largely out of a Starbucks in San Francisco.

The day after his blog, more than 800 people had posted comments on Mr. Malik’s site wishing him a speedy recovery and offering lessons from their own health ailments. The sympathy rolled in from fellow journalists, start-up chief executives, venture capitalists, public relations professionals and, naturally, other tech bloggers.

Despite joining the exhortations that “we need you,” Mr. Kedrosky also warned, “If you come back to blogging before I give you permission, I’ll be at your door to take away your MacBook.”

Mr. Malik, a native of India, has written for tech and business magazines including Forbes, Red Herring and the recently shuttered Business 2.0. GigaOm started as his personal blog, but he left Business 2.0 in 2006 when venture capitalists financed his idea to turn the blog into a business.

It now operates several Web sites, including Web Worker Daily, NewTeeVee, Earth2Tech and Found/Read, each of which has its own arsenal of staff and freelance contributors.

Michael Arrington, who founded the popular TechCrunch blog, said he did not know to what extent stress had to do with Mr. Malik’s attack, “but the stress is crushing in what we do.”

“I was a corporate lawyer and an entrepreneur, and I know about working all the time. But now, you’re always worried a big story is breaking in your e-mail, and if you wait an hour, you’ll miss it. Every morning when I wake up, the panic hits and I have to see my e-mail as soon as possible.”

DAN FOST"

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/07/technology/07blogger.html?_r=1&ref=health&oref=slogin

Word of the Day

(I want a job where this is possible!!)

Urban Word of the Day
www.urbandictionary.com

January 11, 2008: reverse telecommuting

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=reverse+telecommuting&defid=245803

Bringing personal work to the office: paying bills, playing games and reading online newspapers on company time ([OCT]).

Thought of the Day

"Life is all about asses
you're either covering it,
laughing it off,
kicking it,
kissing it,
busting it,
trying to get a piece of it,
or behaving like one." - unknown

Yoda HipHop Video

Richard Simmons on "Whose Line Is It Anyways"

This one is ridiculously funny!!!!

Song of the Week

"Rosie" - Jackson Browne

She was standing at the load-in
When the trucks rolled up
She was sniffing all around
Like a half grown female pup
She wasn't hard to talk to
Looked like she had nowhere to go
So I gave her my pass
So she could get in and see the show

Well I sat her down right next to me
And I got her a beer
While I mixed that sound on stage
So the band could hear
The more I watched her watch them play
The less I could think of to say
And when they walked off stage
The drummer swept that girl away

But Rosie you're all right - you wear my ring
When you hold me tight - Rosie that's my thing
When you turn out the light - I've got to hand it to me
Looks like it's me and you again tonight Rosie

Well I guess I might have known from the start
She'd come for a star
Might have told my imagination not to run too far
Of all the times that I've been burned
By now you'd think I'd have learned
That it's who you look like
Not who you are

But Rosie you're all right - you wear my ring
When you hold me tight - Rosie that's my thing
When you turn out the light - I've got to hand it to me
Looks like it's me and you again tonight Rosie