First, let me say happy Thanksgiving to all.  Right now I’m probably preparing to cook some good food, eat some good food and have a good time with my family.  It is my desire that you are doing the same wherever you may be.

OK, let’s talk Black Friday.  My mother used to always say that sometimes you get what you pay for.  I’m sure you’ve also heard that if a deal seems too good to be true it is too good to be true.  Apply that thinking tomorrow when you are out and about shopping for those Christmas gifts and you may just end up with a great bargain.  Otherwise…

There will be plenty of merchandise sold tomorrow that really isn’t worth waking up at 4am – that is if you went go to bed at all – and camp out for.  Sometimes stores don’t have the good deals people think they are going to have.  It is probably embedded in some people’s minds to buy, buy, buy.  I guess it doesn’t matter that you could probably get the same thing during the whole holiday shopping season.

Let me give you an example I’ve heard about and you can tell me if I’m right or wrong.  That is, if you know. 

I’ve heard and read that electronics at Wal-Mart are either sub par or are purposely different models that other electronics stores like Best Buy and Circuit City.  For instance, a Sony LCD TV may be $1200 at Wal Mart and $1500 at Best Buy.  They could be the same screen size and on the surface seem to have the same specs, but when looking deeper the part numbers are different or they could look entirely different.  What gives?  Well, Wal-Mart – the place where Satan lives to some – has enough power to persuade big electronics manufacturers to make a model only sold in their stores.  If they can sell these products at their seemingly millions of stores around the globe, why wouldn’t Sony, Samsung, Dell, Sharp and others make a Wal-Mart model?  They probably do.

Yesterday we wrote about you driving safe this weekend.  Today we would like you to shop safe/smart and get the most bang for your buck.

OK, I know you are stuffed with Turkey and need to take a nap.  Have fun and remember this one thing: I have a stocking that is big enough for you to fit a digital camera, netbook or 42″ LCD TV in it.  I will give you my shipping address later! 

P.S. After writing this I found information on CNET about deals worth waiting for. http://news.cnet.com/2300-17938_105-10000037-1.html?tag=TOCmoreStories.0

Some states are calling it “Taking the Roads Back” and some are calling it “Operation Slow Down”, but whatever it is called it is a good idea.

The Thanksgiving weekend is one of the busiest, and deadliest, weekends on roadways all across America.  Many people travel during this four-day weekend – one reason for increased traffic.  Black Friday, and the beginning of the mad holiday shopping rush, is another reason for busy streets and highways.  Knowing how busy it will be out there should increase our awareness, when behind the wheel, and force us to think about two things we can save.

The first thing we can save over the weekend is some of our money.  I know you want to get out there and spend some of your Christmas budget, but going too fast may divert some of those funds to the highway patrol of whatever state you may be in.

“I have instructed our troopers to crackdown on speeders this holiday weekend. Speed is the leading cause of fatal collisions on our highways,” said Col. Walter J. Wilson Jr., commander of the (North Carolina) State Highway Patrol. “Getting to your destination safely should be your number one goal. Don’t try to cut off a few minutes of your drive time by speeding or driving aggressively. It’s just not worth it.”

Florida is another state that will be taking action this weekend.  To keep fatal crashes to a minimum, the Florida Highway Patrol is stepping up its patrols.  All troopers normally on administrative duties, plus auxiliary and reserve troopers, will be on patrols for the four-day weekend.

Do yourself a favor and keep your money in your own pocket.  Slow down and practice safe, road-rage-free, driving this weekend.

The second, and most important, thing you can save your weekend is a life.  Being safe can save your life, the life of a loved one and even the life of a total stranger.  Please, don’t drive drunk or even slightly under the influence of achohol or drugs.  Be patient with other drivers and keep from making sudden moves that could result in a crash.  And do whatever you can to make it back home, to school, to work, or wherever you need to be next week, in one piece.

How does one react to a title like this? It’s outlandish, right? Everyday, I hear things in the news that make me think this world is a hot mess! Okay, so here’s the story behind the title:

Born-again Christian Neil Clark Warren started eHarmony to pair up men and women to help create lasting marriages. After 36 years as a clinical psychologist and counselor of married couples, Dr. Warren realized that marriages that endured were composed of compatible people. Warren enlisted the help of a research professor at the University of Southern California to identify the characteristics between spouses that were consistently associated with the most successful relationships.

In 2005 a New Jersey man, Eric McKinley, accused eHarmony of discriminating against homosexuals by operating a website that searches don’t include people seeking same sex. The company believes’ the complaint was “an unfair characterization of our business,” but they chose to settle because of the “unpredictable nature of litigation.” Theodore B. Olsen, an attorney for eHarmony said that even though the company believed the complaint was “an unfair characterization of our business,” it chose to settle. He states that the legal dispute has been a burden on the company.

Under the settlement eHarmony will do the following: pay the New Jersey state division $50,000 to cover administrative costs to create the site; pay Eric McKinley $5,000; advertise the new gay website in other gay websites, and include pictures of same sex models in advertising and promotions.

This is a bunch of baloney!

The Internet, for good or bad, is a part of our everyday lives.  People have found many ways to leverage the power of the Internet and today I wish we would kind of slow down with our internet usage.  For one family in Florida, the Internet increased a pain they will never recover from.

Abraham Briggs, a 19-year-old Broward College student, first declared on a Web site that he hated himself and planned to die.  12 hours later it happened.

All of this was recorded, via web cam, on Justin.tv and the many people watching thought it was a joke or at least wasn’t legit.  The feed was live when Briggs took some pills and went to sleep – for the final time.

I know the people watching didn’t think the suicide was totally legit and/or they didn’t know what to do to help.  If every Internet prank was considered real the Internet would probably come to a grinding halt.  I also know people who commit suicide don’t always give clear signs of their intent.

So what do we do?  I don’t know if there is anything that can be done except to learn from this.  I feel sorry for the family and more importantly I feel sorry for Briggs.  Suicide is a sin that cannot be forgiven, a crime who’s debt cannot be repaid.

What do you think about this unfortunate incident?

The economy is bad and unemployment is up. Everyday, we’re hearing about companies downsizing and laying off tons of people. People who haven’t been in the market for a new job in years now find themselves updating their resumes. Now we all know that your resume is the first impression that employers get about you. I mean, from your resume, employers will determine if you’re capable of doing the job you’re applying for based on your previous job experience.

As more and more people are faced with updating their resume, you can only guess on the advice and tips they are receiving on how to make their resume as appealing as possible. Well, below I’ve listed five horrible job tips that I’ve received before. Please feel free to add any tips you’ve gotten. Hopefully, someone will benefit from this information.

1. DON’T BRING UP MONEY
Do bring up money (BusinessWeek.com, 8/7/08) by the second interview, and let the employers know what your salary requirements are before they start getting ideas that perhaps you’re a trust-fund baby and could bring your formidable skills over to XYZ Corp. for a cool $45,000. Set them straight, at the first opportunity.

2. ONLY SEND YOUR RESUME VIA AN ONLINE JOB AD OR THE COMPANY WEB SITE
Successful job-seekers use friends, and anybody else in their network to locate and reach out to contacts inside a target employer. Playing by the rules often gets your résumé pitched into the abyss at the far end of the e-mail address talent@xyzcorp.com. If you’ve got a way into the decision-maker’s office, use it. Ignore advice that instructs you to send one résumé via the company Web site and wait (and wait, and wait) to hear from them.

3. WAIT FOR THEM TO CALL YOU
You can’t wait for companies to call you back. You’ve got to call and follow up on the résumés you’ve sent. If an ad says “no calls,” use your connections to put you in touch with someone who can put in a word with the hiring manager. Don’t sit and wait for the call to come. Your résumé is in a stack with 150 others, and if you don’t push it up the pipeline, no one will.

4. POST YOUR RESUME ON EVERY JOB BOARD
This is the best way in the world to get overexposed and undervalued in the job market. (Exception: If you’re looking for contract or journeyman IT work, it’s a great idea to post your credentials all over.) Your résumé posted on a job board is a spam-and-scam magnet and a mark that your network isn’t as robust as it might be. These aren’t the signs you want to put out there. Use your network (vs. the world at large) to help you spread the job-search word.

5. LIST EVERYTHING YOU’VE EVER DONE ON YOUR RESUME
Another piece of horrendous job search advice tells job-seekers to share as much information as possible. A post-millennium résumé uses up two pages, maximum, when it’s printed. (Academic CVs are another story.) Editing is a business skill, after all—just tell us what’s most noteworthy in your long list of impressive feats.

Critics of Georgia’s sweeping new crackdown on sex offenders urged a federal judge Thursday to block a provision that bans offenders from volunteering at churches because they say it robs them of their right to participate in religious worship, according to an article in the Athens Banner-Herald (November 14, 2008). State attorneys argued the measure’s goal is to keep Georgia’s children safe from sex offenders who attempt to work at churches and other spots where children gather.

The main portion of the measure bans sex offenders from living, working or loitering within 1,000 feet of just about anywhere children gather. That includes schools, parks, gyms, swimming pools and the state’s 150,000 school bus stops. The measure, which supporters say is among the nation’s toughest, was passed in 2006 at the urging of Republican leaders who said it would help protect Georgia’s children and prevent the state from becoming a “safe haven” for sex offenders.

U.S. District Judge Clarence Cooper did not issue an immediate decision, but his ruling will help resolve a growing litany of lawsuits targeting the strict sex offender law. The Southern Center for Human Rights and others have called the new law far too restrictive. They contend it renders vast residential areas off-limits and could force some offenders to elude the state’s registry.

Attorney Gerry Weber said some sex offenders have been told it’s illegal to sing in a church choir, set up religious events, lead a Bible study and even sing in an adult choir. One sex offender was prosecuted for playing piano at a church function, he said. “These are acts required by their faiths,” said Weber. “All of these folks need and want as a matter of their faith to participate in these activities. And they can’t.”

The state’s attorneys contended the measure helps churches remain a “place of safety and refuge,” and suggested that critics had little hard evidence that the new rules threatened any protected religious activities. (Source: Athens Banner-Herald on Friday)

This is very controversial. My question to you is: Should a person not be allowed to go to church because they’ve been convicted of a crime? Or would it depend on the nature of the crime which would determine if a person could attend church?

Our economy is suffering, our school systems are questionable, natural and man-made disasters are all around us, crime is at an all-time high and our morals seem to be as low as ever.  We clearly need some things to take a positive spin.  But we knew this was coming and here we go.

What kind of adults would have and/or allow to chant about killing someone?  I think that speaks directly to where our morals are and what is allowed to go on in school systems that clearly need to be more $elective – teachers need to make more for this to happen so the “$” is not an accident.  Paying teachers more will draw better teachers and will result in a smarter nation (my opinion).

From California to Maine, police have documented a range of alleged crimes, from vandalism and vague threats to at least one physical attack. Insults and taunts have been delivered by adults, college students and second-graders.

What and who this refers to is poor sportsmanship, poor losers and (again) questionable morals.  Specifically, this is the type behavior on the rise since Barack Obama was elected President of the United States.

There is a large subset of white people in this country who feel that they are losing everything they know, that the country their forefathers built has somehow been stolen from them.

Like cancer in remission, racism is never totally wiped out it is just not out in the open.  The election has changed that for many.  For example, Grant Griffin, a 46-year-old white Georgia native, said, “I believe our nation is ruined and has been for several decades and the election of Obama is merely the culmination of the change.  If you had real change it would involve all the members of (Obama’s) church being deported.”

“The day after the vote hailed as a sign of a nation changed, black high school student Barbara Tyler of Marietta, Ga., said she heard hateful Obama comments from white students, and that teachers cut off discussion about Obama’s victory.

Tyler spoke at a press conference by the Georgia chapter of the NAACP calling for a town hall meeting to address complaints from across the state about hostility and resentment. Another student, from a Covington middle school, said he was suspended for wearing an Obama shirt to school Nov. 5 after the principal told students not to wear political paraphernalia.

The student’s mother, Eshe Riviears, said the principal told her: “Whether you like it or not, we’re in the South, and there are a lot of people who are not happy with this decision.”

I’m not going to give some of these racists the satisfaction of even listing all the terrible things that have went on since the election.

I can respect someone who has a problem with the policies and plans Obama has for our country, but racism is just wrong regardless of who the target is.  I hope we can get through this without anyone, including the president-elect, getting killed.

When Bush was elected and astonishingly re-elected, people who didn’t vote for him basically lived through 8 years where they had to shut up and color.  Well, there will be plenty of crayons to go around. 

It is Tuesday and you just may need someone to smile at you.  If so, I have a smile for you that you can’t get any place else.  What do you think of this?

There was a time when the promise of robots was often talked about, but it never seemed to work out the way we thought.  This is similar to the space-age look our vehicles are supposed to have – we are supposed to be flying in our vehicles by now right?  No longer wishful thinking, robots are becoming useful, and affordable, for us all.

I don’t necessarily have to run the vacuum anymore.  Thanks to the Roomba 560 our floors can be vacuumed daily without lifting a finger.  I will say right now, the Roomba probably doesn’t do as good a job as a Kenmore upright or similar vacuum, but that isn’t the point.  Let’s be honest, many people work long hours, have kids or other activities.  This doesn’t leave time every day to get out the vacuum.

I have the Roomba programmed to start automatically and so far it seems to be working out pretty well.  With seven time slots and virtual wall modules, we can make sure the house is vacuumed with little effort – the only thing we have to do is move the virtual wall modules so the Roomba will vacuum every room.

What about the kitchen floor?  The Roomba 560 will sweep the kitchen floor too, but if it needs to be mopped we aren’t busting out a mop and bucket.  The Scooba 5800 handles mop duty in our house.  It will sweep prior to mopping and will dry the floor after mopping.  Both the Roomba and Scooba are welcomed additions to our house.

You are probably wondering what this weird-looking contraption is.  This is the Rovio and I’m going to keep my eye on this little fella.  The Rovio is a mobile robot web camera with omni-directional movement ability thanks to its unique tri-wheel design.

The Rovio will patrol your house with pinpoint accuracy; it will always know where it is and where you want it to go next.  The Rovio will return to its base to recharge and if knocked off its course it will immediately right itself.  You don’t have to worry about the dog or cat messing with the Rovio!  

The built-in web camera has full audio and video streaming capability so you can spy on your home from anywhere in the world as long as you have a web connection.  Imagine being anywhere in the world with the ability to see what is going on in your home or receiving an email with still pictures of your house.

I will admit the Rovio isn’t as practical as the Roomba, but it is cool technology and I love technology.  I would think the next step would be an outdoor Rovio that patrols your yard at night.  Wouldn’t it be cool to have your outdoor Rovio shine a light on any dubious activity going on in the back yard?  I like it!

We are less than two weeks away from Black Friday and I’m also in the market for a laptop for my wife.  That being the case, I’ve been looking at what is out there in terms of computers and just wanted to talk about some things “under the hood.”

Name Brands – name brands dictate what the outside of a computer will look like, but the guts of computers are basically the same.  Computer companies like Dell buy parts in bulk so HP and Dell could be putting the same parts in their computers.

Hard Drive – they are actually putting 500GB hard drives in laptops now – that is huge compared to 5 years ago.  The thing to look at when deciding on hard drives is rotations per minute (RPM).  The faster a hard drive spins, the better it will perform and more power it will use.  So a 5400rpm hard drive theoretically will not perform as good as a 7200rpm hard drive.  Solid State Drives (SSD) are another type of hard drive with no moving parts.  The lack of moving parts reduces power consumption, heat and most importantly increases speed.  SSDs are still on the expensive and small side though.  Prices will come down in the coming months/years.

RAM – the more the better.  RAM (random access memory) is where your computer gets and stores temporary instructions.  Additionally, some systems have built-in video cards meaning your video (the speed you see) could use some of your RAM.  4GB on consumer systems is not out of the ordinary now – 512MB used to be more than enough.  If possible, max out the RAM when you buy and go for a video card with dedicated memory (512MB is still good for video cards).  There are so many different types of RAM, I wouldn’t even try to cover each one.  Matching RAM speed with bus speed is the main goal.

Processor – of course this plays an integral role in how fast a computer operates.  Processors go from Intel Celeron (slow/budget) to dual core (the most common processor at this time) to quad core (think 4 processors in one) models.  All these processors come in various speeds – 2.0GHz or so seems to be the sweet spot right now for a performance/price balance.

Bus – think of the bus as a street that connects all your components.  Would you rather have a street (667MHz bus), a road (800MHz bus) or a highway (1066MHz bus)?  A computer with a front-side bus running at 800MHz and RAM running at 667MHz would kind of defeat the purpose right?

Like always, some readers already know all this information and more, but some don’t.  Wal-Mart has already sold a laptop for $300 and similar deals will be all over the place this holiday season.  Matching budget, future usage and the actual hardware is what the goal should be, but sometimes cheap prices trump all.  Most people don’t need, or will never use, the expensive systems, but will not be totally be happy with the cheapest computer either.  Since there are so many computer configurations out there, it is helpful to know what is really being sold.

Happy shopping!