Skeletons, the Ugliest Halloween Decorations

Halloween is almost here again. Are you already checking out the skeletons from your closet? This is funny, it’s like a contest of the ugliest courtyard, the scariest costume or the most shocking hanging decoration or accessory. I’ve got these Halloween costumes stores I’m running and after two years, I came up with the conclusion that most people would dress their toddlers in gorgeous costumes, costume themselves like their favorite heroes and dress their lawn, doors and windows in the scariest possible way.
Here are a few samples, so you can understand what I mean by ugly skeleton Halloween props and costumes. I think I’m going to see those light-up eyes in my dreams tonight:
***Hanging Skeleton Pirate Captain
Ahoy matees! This hanging pirate is complete with authentic pirate hat, eye patch, bandana and colorful garments. Complete your themed party with thisgem today.
Skeleton Monk Costume
This Monk has seen his better days. Features a hanging monk over 3 feet tall with frightening skull and long robe with sash and flowing sleeves.
**Skeleton Earring
Complete the look of your pirate costume with these Skeleton Earrings. Features a pair of antique gold metal skeleton earrings with adjustable springclasp.
Skeleton Adult Plus Costume
This jumpsuit and gloves feature a full body of 3-D molded bones and a mask. It’s sure to be the creepiest at the party.
Light-Up Lawn Skeleton
You’ll light up the neighborhood and the eyes of all the neighborhood’s children with this with thisLight-Up Skeleton on your lawn.
Pop Out Eyes N Tongue Skeleton
Skeleton Gloves
These skeleton gloves will complete tons of Halloween costumes! A ghoul, a phantom, a zombie, a freak. You name it!
Best Costume Skeleton Trophy
Make no bones about it, the person with the best costume deserves to win a trophy. Our Best CostumeSkeleton Trophy features a gold statuette of a sk eleton holding it’s head on a black base and a plaque that reads Best Costume.
Inflatable Skeleton Cooler
Our Inflatable Skeleton Cooler is a novel and fun way to keep your beverages cold. Features a boat shaped inflatable cooler with an inflatable skeleton. Just fill it up with ice and plenty of drinks and you’ll have your guests toasting to you all n ight!
Tri Color Pallettes Skeleton
Grey, black and white makeup combine to create the scariest skeleton face and its as easy as following some simple instructions. The makeup and the applicator (included) are all you need.
Skeleton Zombie Adult Costume
You’ll be able to scare the bajeebers out of everyone in this Skeleton Zombie Costume. This Skeleton Costume features a skeleton mask with gauze, a shirt and pants with gauze and bones. Gloves are also included.
*Skeleton Hands
Complete your boney look with these skeleton gloves and scare the wits out of your younger siblings.
Black Skeleton Opaque Stockings
These Black Skeleton Opaque Stockings are a great way to accessorize your sexy pirate costume.
Skeleton Hand Prints Wall Grabbers
Help set the scene of your party with our bloody Skeleton Hand Prints Wall Grabbers. Also included is a Happy Halloween grabber. Decals cling to y our wall.
Hanging Skeletons
A great add-on to scene setters and/or room/border rolls. Features two giant hanging skeleton decorations that measure over 5′ tall.
**Dancing Skeleton Leggings
These Dancing Skeleton Leggings are an ideal accessory for many Pirate Costumes. Can also be worn with a long shirt or under a skirt as an everyday accessory. Features 3/4 Length Black Leggings with White Dancing Skeleton print.
Realistic Plastic Skeleton 36 Inch
Make no bones about it, this is one great skeleton. Our Realistic Plastic Skeleton is made of plastic and is 3′ tall.
Lifesize Light-Up Skeleton Sorceress
Our Life-size Light-Up Skeleton Sorceress is sure to be a great ideal for instilling trepidation into all those who cross its path. Features a skeleton sorceress that is over 5 feet tall, is wearing a black and burgundy hooded robe with robe tie and has eyes that light up.
10′ Rotten Light-Up Demon Skeleton
This is a whole lotta skeleton! Our Rotten Light-Up Demon Skeleton measure 10 feet tall and features light-up eyes.
Glass Skeleton Hand Flute
This Glass Skeleton Hand Flute is an ideal item for any Halloween party. Features a 10 tall Flute G lass with skeleton hand and gem stone. Flute is packaged in a Coffin Box with Acetate Top.
Lifesize Skeleton Sorcerer w/Ball
Our Life-size Skeleton Sorcerer w/Ball is sure to be a great ideal for instilling trepidation into all those who cross its path. Features a skeleton sorcerer that is over 5 feet tall with a black shroud and a ball that lights up.
Skeleton Torso w/Light-Up Brain
This skeleton doesn’t have a leg to stand on so it has to rely on it’s brain to get along. Our Skeleton Torso w/Light-Up Brain features a skeleton torso with an exposed brain that lights up.
Chained Skeleton Torso w/Light Up Heart
You’ve gotta have heart, all you really need is heart. And that’s just what our Chained Skeleton Torso w/ Light-up Heart has. Features a skeleton torso that hangs from faux chains and has a light-up heart.
38 inch Caged Cowboy Skeleton
This is a great prop to help set the scene for an outrageous Halloween party. A 38 Caged Cowboy Skeleton, with exquisite detail, is featured.
38 inch Caged Pirate Peg Leg Skeleton
This is a great prop to help set the scene for an outrageous Halloween party. A 38 Caged Peg Leg Pirate Skeleton, with exquisite detail, is featured.
Punk Skeleton Child Costume
This teenage skeleton is more menacing then she looks. The boney costume features a black shirt, gloves and pantyhose all with skeleton print. Also features a vinyl skirt, belt with attached pouch and choker.
Skeleton Zombie Child Costume
You’ll be able to scare the bajeebers out of everyone in this Skeleton Zombie Costume. This Skeleton Costume features a skeleton mask with gauze, a shirt with gauze and a chest piece and pants with gauze and bones. Glove are also included.
Deckhand Mask
DECKHAND MASK
Eva Skeleton
No bones about it, you will definitely be a sight in this EVA Skeleton costume. This costume features and EVA mask and jumpsuit with EVA bones and EVAgloves.
Skeleton Child Costume
This skeleton jumpsuit and gloves features a full body of 3-D molded bones and an Action Jaw mask that cowls.
Skeleton Prints
Where is it written that only walls and ceilings should be decorated? Decorate your floors with these bloody skeleton print stickers. It’s as easy as 1-2-3.
Boys Skeleton Sweatshirt Hoodie
Our Boys Skeleton Sweatshirt Hoodie is ideal for the boy who doesn’t like complex costumes. With our hoodie all you have to do is put it on and zip it up! Make no bones about it, this was designed with you in mind.
Girls Skeleton Sweatshirt Hoodie
Our Girls’ Skeleton Sweatshirt Hoodie is ideal for the girl who doesn’t like complex costumes. With our hoodie all you have to do is put it on and zip it up! Make no bones about it, this was designed with you in mind.
Mens Skeleton Sweatshirt Hoodie
Our Mens Skeleton Sweatshirt Hoodie is ideal for the man who doesn’t like intricate costumes. With our hoodie all you have to do is put it on and zip it up! Make no bones about it, this was designed with you in mind.
Womens Skeleton Sweatshirt Hoodie
Our Womens’ Skeleton Sweatshirt Hoodie is ideal for the woman who doesn’t like intricate costumes. With our hoodie all you have to do is put it on and zip it up! Make no bones about it, this was designed with you in mind.
Skeleton in Iron Cage – Large
Some people have skeletons in their closets others have them in cages. Our Skeleton in a Cage is perfect for setting the mood for your Halloween Party. It features a skeleton that is over 3 feet tall in a hanging iron looking cage.
If any of you wants to buy those horrible things, just click on the photos to get the prices and shipping details. Then please, send me a picture so I can see how you’ve used the skeleton things.

Black Friday 2009 Deals

Black Friday is one of the best moments for shopping. That’s because most shops and merchants have special deals for this day and for Cyber Monday. For readers who may not know what Black Friday is all about, I’ll tell you a bit of history:
Black Friday is the first Friday after Thanksgiving and it is the symbol of the Christmas shopping season opening. So, there’s not a fixed date for this event, but if you know that Thanksgiving always falls in the fourth Thursday of November, you can’t miss Black Friday. The celebration is very popular offline, in big retailer shops which have already instated the tradition of opening the shops very early in the morning and keeping them open until midnight.
The name of “Black Friday” has several possible origins. Some people say it comes from the fact that people were crowding so badly that day to take advantage of the shopping deals that many accidents happened. Others see it coming from the fact that all store employees have a hard time that day because of the long working hours and because of the clients’ assault. A small leap in history reveals the Black Friday was first used to define the day of 24th September 1869, when the stock market collapsed.
OK, let’s skip now the history and go back to our Black Friday specials. I tried to put together some of the best deals I could find, so you can take advantage of them, if you think you can save some money this way. If you buy from my links, I’ll also make some money, because those shops are giving me a small commission for each sale, but I hope you don’t mind that.
Camera Bags Black Friday 2009 Deals
Deal valid between: 11/26/2009 12/01/2009Take an additional 5% off the already low prices (including our 40% off clearance items!) on top quality camera bags by shopping on Black Friday or Cyber Monday.Coupon code is 5Disc and expires 12/1/2009.M-Rock Camera Bags Black Friday Deal
With the new line of bags, the older line is on clearance:Close Outs on M-Rock Camera Bags – 40% offM-Rock Camera Bags close out section has a selection of top quality camera bags at 40% off MSRP. We need to make room for our new line of camera bags and are selling these at rock bottom prices. Limited quantities, when they are gone, they are gone! Camera bags make great gifts for the photography enthusiast on your gift list.Close Outs on M-Rock Camera Bags – 40% off
iPhone and Computer Accessories Deals
All the offers start on 11/18
1st coupon: Apple iPhone 3G S Groove Black Purple-Blue Silicone Skin Case for $0.99 w/ code cf37792 plus free shipping at CellularFactory.com Expires: 11/26/2009
2nd Coupon: $0.99 One Piece Apple iPhone 3GS Custom-Fit Screen Protector via coupon code CELfry054 [exp 11/25]
3rd coupon: VGA to DVI Adapter $1.97 at CellularFactoryVGA to DVI Adapter $5.97 – coupon code cf37744 [Exp 11/26] = $1.97 with free shipping. Expires: 11/26/2009
4th coupon: $19.99 Compaq NX Series Replacement 90W AC Power Adapter with coupon code CELfry053 [exp 11/25]
5th Coupon: 3.5mm Jack/Plug to USB A Data Cable for iPod / MP3 /PC at $1.29 shipped at CellularFactory.com3.5mm Jack/Plug to USB A Data Cable for iPod / MP3 /PC for $3.19, now is $1.29 after coupon code cf31773 plus free shipping. Expires: 11/26/2009
6th Coupon: $13.99 Casio Z Series OEM Li-Ion Battery NP-20 via coupon code CELfry054 [exp 11/25]
Shoes Black Friday – Cyber Monday Sales
Starting November 27 to December 30 only, Robert Wayne Shoes are offering a generous 20% off most brands (except UGGs) on their site, plus FREE Shipping. This is an EXCLUSIVE offer which you won’t find unless you shop via their partners (like myself). Shoppers must use the coupon code “CYBER20” upon checkout. Here’s the link: Cyber Monday / Black Friday Sale
Blowout Sales At Slippers
Now it’s time to get new slippers for the whole family. Here are the deals:
Curious George Sleeper for BoysNormally $17.99, on sale for $9.99Curious George Sleeper for Boys for $9.99 at CrazyForBargains.com!
Pink Car Slippers for WomenOn sale now for $7.99, blowout sale of $3.99Pink Car Slippers for Women for $3.99 at CrazyForBargains.com!
Navy Cotton Velour Bath Robe for MenNormally $39.99, on sale for $29.99Navy Cotton Velour Bath Robe for Men for $29.99 at CrazyForBargains.com!
Gray Shower Wrap for MenNormally $14.99, on sale for $9.99Gray Shower Wrap for Men for $9.99 at CrazyForBargains.com!
Crocodile Slippers for ToddlersOn sale now for $4.99, blowout sale of $2.99Crocodile Slippers for Toddlers for $2.99 at CrazyForBargains.com!
Leopard Slippers for ToddlersOn sale now for $4.99, blowout sale of $2.99Leopard Slippers for Toddlers for $2.99 at CrazyForBargains.com!
Rocawear Black and Red Plaid Capri Pajama Pants for JuniorsOn sale now for $9.99, blowout sale of $4.99Rocawear Black and Red Plaid Capri Pajama Pants for Juniors $4.99 at CrazyForBargains.com!
Rocawear Cotton Rollover Pajama Pants for JuniorsOn sale now for $9.99, blowout sale of $4.99Rocawear Cotton Rollover Pajama Pants for Juniors for $4.99 at CrazyForBargains.com!
Nuts on the Net Black Friday 2009 Deal
Free Two Day Shipping during the Holidays at NutsOnTheNet.com! This is maybe not as good as you’ve expected, but still, free shipping is something to consider.
Discounts and Coupons for Laptop Batteries and Other Rechargeable Batteries
Details: Thanksgiving Sale. 20% Off All Batteries.com MerchandiseCode: THANKS09Expires: November 19th, 2009
Details: Free Shipping on Laptop BatteriesCode: NoneExpires: Never
The Black Friday coupon will be added on November 24th, so stay tuned!
Spices Deals for Black Friday 2009
Free spice sample with every order and Free Shipping on all Orders $40+ throughout holidays at MySpiceSage.com! This offer is valid from November 26th through January 1st, 2010! No Coupon Necessary. Here’s the link where you can order your spices: Free spice sample with every order and Free Shipping on all Orders $40+ at MySpiceSage.com!
Romantic Gifts Special Deal
Black Friday Special / Cyber Monday – 20% Off All Orders at RomanticGifts.com with the Coupon Code BF2009!
I receive such coupons from many of the shops I’ve got a partnership with, so I’ll be adding to this page all new coupons that I’m going to get. I hope you all get to save some money this Christmas shopping season
No related posts.

The World’s smallest Windows Vista PC

The global obsession of productivity anytime, anywhere has lead the OQO company to release model 02, world’s smallest Windows Vista operated computer. OQO model 02 provides a highly productive mobile computing experience for professional users: you can benefit from all the functions a normal laptop provides, without the impediment of size and weight. Besides, model 02 comes with integrated wireless EV-DO capability, which makes it a powerful communication tool. The surprise comes from the innovative docking station which includes also a DVD writer.
[eminimall]

OQO model 02 features

The model 02 is the ultimate device for Anytime / Anywhere Productivity. In an ultra-small and pocketable form factor, the new model 02 features full laptop performance.

• 1.5GHz CPU
• 60 gigabyte shock-mounted hard drive with active drop detection
• HDMI/DVI and VGA video capability supporting dual 1920 x 1200 displays
• Verizon Wireless or Sprint mobile broadband service with integrated EV-DO capability
  802.11a/b/g WiFi
• Bluetooth 2.0 with EDR and A2DP support

Usability is improved with a vivid 5″ LCD display six times brighter than previous models, an ergonomic backlit keyboard with SmartLock(tm) modifier keys, and capacitive vertical and horizontal TouchScrollers(tm) for easy input and navigation, as well as an optional elegant docking station with an adjustable cradle arm and available dual layer DVD±RW/RAM optical drive. DisplaySense(tm) technology automatically remembers multiple docked locations and seamlessly configures display layout and settings. The model 02 enables high speed access to the internet, email, and networked applications no matter where your computing needs take you.

OQO has already started shipping model 02, with a base price starting from $1499. It is available for online purchasing at the OQO online store.

6 hot blog contests that rock

The 6 contests are over long time ago, but this is a new one which you are welcome to join:

The first contest on EzMoneyOn.Net. For those of you who may not know, EzMoneyOn.Net is a joint venture of Diana and myself, aiming to help people making money online, by giving away tips, tricks, reviews about the most known advertising programs and other money making methods out there.

Prizes:
First prize: $100 cash (via PayPal or MoneyBookers)
Second prize: 1000 Entrecard credits
Third prize: Free 125×125 banner design

Rules:

1. Write a post about this contest, containing at least 100 words and include 2 links, which you’ll be able to see in the contest page.
2. Subscribe to EzMoneyOn.Net RSS feed through a reader – you will get 2 entries in this contest;
3. Subscribe to EzMoneyOn.Net feed by email – you will get 2 entries in this contest;
4. Write a recommendation for EzMoneyOn.Net on Entrecard – you will get 1 entry in this contest.

Please also leave a comment on the contest’s page to let us now that you’re in, and how many entries you’ve got.
We will use random.org to choose the winners.

End date: 11 March 2008. On 12 March we will announce the winners and you’ll get a link back to your announcement page.

Anyone from any country may enter. We reserve the right to discard your entry if your blog is spammy, pharmacy, adult content, etc.

Take a look at the contest and please join! We are waiting for you.

Now, the 6 contests which rocked in the past:

With so many blog contests going on, I’m sure it is hard for you to remember and to track all of them. This is the review of the ongoing contests (in random order):

1. Mind Map your resume for a better job and win a MindManager license at eDragonu (put your brains on paper with this prize and don’t forget to subscribe to the blog: it is full of resources on how to get things done)

2. SEM Scholarship at MarketingPilgrim (hurry up, it ends on April 6th and the prizes are unbelievable)

3. Second Contest with Inspiration Bit (the name may not be telling much, but you can choose your desired prize; besides, InspirationBit is a “must read” blog for all bloggers; hurry up, April 5th is the last day)

4. eMoms birthday party contest at eMomsAtHome (it has just started, the prizes are great and eMoms blog rocks)

5. What do you think? Review contest at The Thinking Blog (prizes are favicons and blog redesigns, done by a real artist – you can see examples of his work in the article)

6. Amazing trick at AllTipsAndTricks: find out the explanation to the illustrated phenomenon and win free hosting

for one year. There are three prizes and no winner yet.

Consider yourself invited to participate in all these contests. You’ll benefit in prizes, links, connections, having a good time or just getting some creative ideas for your own blog’s contests. If I missed any ongoing contest, feel free to add it to the comments, and don’t forget to include a link.

Related posts:

1. How To Zip And Encrypt Your Documents For Free

How to organize your blog’s archives

I’m trying since one month ago to organize the archives of All Tips And Tricks in a way that they are more accessible for new readers: for each category, I wanted the archive page to display the list of posts, in reverse chronological order, and a small excerpt for each post. Everything I tried resulted in errors, after errors, after errors. Googling did not solve my problem, although I tried it really hard.

Yesterday I figured out the winner combination: install a Wordpress plugin and delete two lines of code from the archives file and you get the result you can see now if you browse through my archives.

1. The Wordpress plugin:

Evermore from Semicolon, discovered thanks to QuickOnlineTips, which is the best organized blog I’ve ever encountered.
Evermore automatically displays short previews of your posts on pages containing more than one post. Each preview includes a link to the full post. The plugin requires only installation and activation, and you’re done. If there are multiple post pages where you don’t want Evermore enabled, you just insert in the code (I wonder what Edgar Allan Poe would think about that).

2. The code lines to delete:

The navigation links. In my case, this is the code (you might want to look for something similar in your blog’s template):

Deleting them forces the page to display more than one post on page. This activates Evermore, which forces the posts to display only titles and excerpts.

Wines for all tastes

Wine can be the perfect gift if carefully chosen. Most of us enjoy a glass of good wine at dinner. But how many of us know what makes a good wine? Who decides it’s good or bad? Well, in the first place, the decision is yours, your own taste matters most, as you know better what pleases you. This is also recognized by wine experts. Here is a quote from the Cellars Wine Club:

How we get our ratings and what they mean

Wine ratings are based on a 100 point scale. The numbers can be qualified in relation to school grades.
90-100 = A, 80-89 = B, 70-79 = C, 60-69 = D, and 50-59 = F. Differences between a wine rated 84 to a wine rated 85 will be small but a wine rated 90 (receiving an A grade) should be more noticeable to a wine rated 89 (receiving a B grade).

Please remember that these scores were given by professional critics and it is their interpretation of the wine. The ratings should be used along with tasting notes, and winery information as a guide to help you make informed choices. Nothing, however, can equal or replace your own palate in determining what you think is a great wine.

Please find below a selection of the Cellars Wine Club best wines, available for online order right now!

Enjoy!

Artesa Elements Red Table Wine Price: 17.99Loads of ripe, dark fruit showing black cherries, black plum and currant, followed by hints of brown spice with roast coffee and chocolate filling out the aromas. On the palate the wine is round and plush. Black raspberry and wild blackberry flavors lead off with sweet spice and bright fruit fill the mid-palate. The finish is full and lively.	Holloran Vineyard Wines Chardonnay Price: 19.99Holloran vineyards produces small quantities of hand crafted wines in the Willamette valley. The wines, made by Jay Christopher (J. Christopher Wines) and are some of the most complex in the valley. This beautifuly hand crafted chardonnay come from 25 year old vines. It shows a wonderfully fresh and vibrant Burgundian style that comes across the palate as being elegant. Medium bodied and well balanced showing crisp green apple, hazelnut and creamy complexity.	A to Z Wineworks Claret Price: 15.99Saturated royal purple color with garnet highlights. A complex nose of cassis, white pepper, graphite, blackberries, ripe blueberries, plums, smoke, minerals, pencil shavings and tar lifts from the glass immediately. Aromas of exotic spices, cedar, violets, black cherries and a hint of truffles give complexity and depth. The attack is sweet, broad, ripe and lush. The flavors mirror the aromatics with dark fruits predominating and ripe tannins giving backbone and focus to the fruit. A concentrated succulent mid-palette glides effortlessly to the elegant, long finish This wine is a new classic, an Oregon Claret, and showcases the concentration, power and elegance of Southern Oregon.
A to Z Wineworks Pinot Noir Price: 15.99On the nose, sweet dark ripe raspberries, violets, fresh spices, lavender, hints of oak and cassis emerge after the initial blast of fruit. As the wine enters the mouth a sweet lush entry leads to an integrated succulent attack. Harmonious ripe tannins lift the wine and add great balance to the copious fruit. Good ripe acidity for structure in the wine pulls the wine together gives it great length.	Pendulum Red Wine Price: 48.99A blend of merlot, syrah, cabernet sauvignon, barbera, sangiovese, cabernet franc, petit verdot and malbec, this comes predominantly from Alder Ridge, a windswept vineyard in the Horse Heaven Hills along the Columbia River. The dusty scents of dry barbecue rubs and five-spice powder evoke the dry heat of the place, but the flavors are saucy with mellow, red cherry fruit edged in smoky tannin. For grilled dry-aged beef.	Basel Cellars Red Table Wine Price: 34.99A blend of 56% Merlot and 44% Cabernet Franc, and was aged for 23 months in 1-2 year old French and American barrels. The fragrant nose is reminiscent of sweet plums, raspberry tea, molasses, cinnamon, and mocha. The rich, concentrated mouth has flavors of ripe chocolate-covered cherries and blackberries, and finishes with beautifully integrated tannins. It should easily age for ten years, and perhaps longer.
Fidelitas M100 White Wine Columbia Valley Price: 109.99The first ever m100 white wine can best be described with one word: voluptuous. The aromas of apricot/peach and lemon zest, along with the flavors of apricot, citrus, melon and creamy vanilla are a delightful pleasure to the senses. This unique blend of Viognier, Semillon and Rousanne is as distinct in character as its namesake our Grandma Mary who passed away at 100 in December 2005.	Beresan Winery Semillon Price: 24.99Made at one of Washington’s hottest winery, this Semillon is made in miniscule quantities. Full bodied with medium acidity and a lovely lingering finish. Easy to love, we just wish there was more of it.	Chatter Creek Red Table Wine Columbia Valley Price: 14.99Dry, soft with good fruit and soft tannins.
Chateau Souverain Cabernet Sauvignon Winemakers Reserve Price: 33.99Exhibits an opulent nose with scents reminiscent of lead pencil intermixed with saddle leather and rich aromatics of black stone fruit -a trademark of Alexander Valley Cabs. As ripe flavors of black plum and black cherry meet the palate, they are combined with complex undertones of bittersweet chocolate, spices and cedar from new oak. Multifaceted layers of fruit and dry-spice co-mingle on the palate with hints of vanilla bean as rich, round tannins promote lingering layers of smoky espresso throughout the long finish. 91 Points Wine Spectator!	Chateau Souverain Chardonnay Russian River Winemakers Reserve Price: 23.99This classic Russian River Chardonnay presents typical aromas of tropical fruit and citrus blossom, as the flavors conjure up nuances of ripe pear and a touch of crème brûlée and cinnamon spice from the French oak. This Chardonnay is one of broad dimension and great complexity that is balanced by good acidity and a rich, long finish.	Columbia Winery Chardonnay Columbia Valley Price: 10.99Pale, golden yellow in color. Apple, melon and toasted hazelnut fruit backed by vanilla and oak spice. Full flavored and fresh, with crisp acidity which is a perfect complement to seafood and chicken.
Forgeron Red Table Wine Price: 14.99Bold cherry and black currant aromas, medium dry.	Hendry Red Table Wine Price: 34.99The diverse components of this wine give it many layers of aroma and flavor. Mint, eucalyptus, bittersweet chocolate, dark cherry, and a floral note of roses are among the many aromas detectable which echo on the palate. This wine has sophistication, restraint, and complexity. The palate is bolstered and enriched by well-integrated French oak. The tannins are detectable, adding structure and elements of toast and spice. 93 Points from Wine Enthusiast!	Hatcher Wineworks Pinot Noir Price: 32.99Well Noted Boutique Winery. Medium to dark ruby-colored, it reveals a dark cherry and spice-scented nose as well as a satin-textured, medium-bodied character. Suave, fruit-forward, and engaging, this wonderfully ripe wine displays blueberries, grapes, cherries, and blackberries in its personality

Children rapist writes scientific paper in jail and gets away

Photo: PRO IMAGE

The law does not choose. Kurt Treptow, an American historian, imprisoned in 2002 in Romania for children molesting, and sentenced to seven years of jail, was released yesterday. The Court ruling is final and irrevocable.
He succeeded to get out earlier, because, during his detention he wrote a scientific paper. This 450 pages book, on Vlad Dracul (aka Dracula) and his father, was published in October 2006. In November 2006, Treptow asked the Romanian authorities for a sentence reduction, prevailing himself of a law which says that if a convicted person publishes a scientific paper, or a patented invention, every two days of work count as three days of sentence serving. (Source: NineO’Clock)

I don’t get the connection between being a rapist and writing scientific works, and I don’t understand how such laws can exist. I don’t say Kurt Treptow shouldn’t have published his book. This is very good, I don’t mind criminals writing and publishing books while in prison, but from here to letting them out as a consequence, it is a long way to go. I wonder how the parents of the two molested girls may feel these days.

To all criminals out there, who might read this post: don’t waste your time on digging tunnels, or finding ways to steal the keys to your cell from your guardians. This is dangerous, and you risk to get caught. Write some scientific works instead. It is a much cleaner activity, you are allowed to do it, and you are rewarded with your sentence’s reduction. If you manage to get away with this, nobody will ever chase you afterwards, as the ruling will be final and irrevocable.

Are we going to be the dinosaurs 2.0?

Studies revealed that dinosaurs were killed by an asteroid hitting Earth 65 million years ago. This is how scientists suppose it happened:

“The kinetic energy of the ejected matter would have dissipated as heat in the upper atmosphere during re-entry, enough heat to make the normally blue sky turn red-hot for hours,” said Robertson. Scientists have speculated for more than a decade that the entire surface of the Earth below would have been baked by the equivalent of a global oven set on broil.

You can imagine that, with this kind of heritage, our scientists gaze into the deep blue/black sky, with state-of-the-art technology, looking for asteroids which may head towards Earth.

Year after year, they spotted and announced such menaces, the furthest away in time being predicted for year 2880 (how many of us will be alive by that time? . Until then, let’s see what may be expecting us in the near future, ordered by the announcement date:

2002: space.com: An asteroid first spotted in 1950 has a maximum 1-in-300 chance of striking the Earth in the year 2880 scientists will report Friday in the journal Science. The odds, which might turn out to be zero, are for now greater than for any other asteroid ever determined to be a threat.
This is an interesting read, as it reveals some possible ways to avoid collision.

2002: BBC: An asteroid discovered just weeks ago has become the most threatening object yet detected in space.
A preliminary orbit suggests that 2002 NT7 is on an impact course with Earth and could strike the planet on 1 February, 2019 – although the uncertainties are large.

2003: CNN: A giant asteroid is heading for Earth and could hit in 2014, U.S. astronomers have warned British space monitors.

2004: space.com: Scientists said Thursday that a recently discovered asteroid has a chance of hitting Earth in the year 2029, but that further observations would likely rule out the impact scenario.

2005: India Daily: Computer model predicts 150 sq. mile asteroid to hit earth in 65 years – wipe out human civilization like that of Dinosaurs

2005: NASA: Asteroid 2004 MN4 will come scarily close to Earth on April 13, 2029, but it will not hit.

2005: The Guardian: It’s called Apophis. It’s 390m wide. And it could hit Earth in 31 years time

2006: New Scientist: Big new asteroid has slim chance of hitting Earth

2006: ABC: VD17 was spotted in late November 2004 and was swiftly identified as a rock that potentially crosses Earth’s orbit. At the time watchers gave it one in 3000 risk of collision on 4 May 2102.

2007: CNN:
• U.N. asked to organize an asteroid deflection mission
• Asteroid Apophis has a 1 in 45,000 chance of striking Earth on April 13, 2036
• Mission proposal: A spacecraft would use gravity to alter the asteroid’s course

After reading all the above stories, I confess that I’m seriously thinking whether or not I want to have children anymore. What about you? Do you believe in asteroids hitting Earth? Are you afraid, or you just have lots of other daily troubles to sort out?

Yesfollow or nofollow? This is the question.

Did you know that all links in blog comments have by default the nofollow attribute? This means that if you leave a comment on a blog and put your link in the signature, that link does not count for search engines ratings. It was set like this to prevent comment spam on blogs. But now, at least for Wordpress blogs, this nofollow attribute becomes useless, thanks to the great Akismet plugin. Akismet saved this blog in 7 months time of almost 2000 spam comments. So why do we still need the nofollow?
Actually we don’t, and today, via CosminPTR, a very young but interesting blog, centered on working from home, I found out how to change this. The yesfollow project was created

to give bloggers, commenters and forum participants the credit they deserve. The blogosphere provides some of the most useful content on the web, but due to the pervasive use of the “nofollow” attribute, most blogosphere contributors don’t get search engine credit for their comments and discussions. The yesfollow Project aims to change that.

How to disable nofollow

The yesfollow project teaches us how to do it:

Disable “rel=nofollow” on your blog. You can install a plugin which removes the “nofollow” tag from your blog, or disable the plugin which adds it. For Wordpress 1.5+, install the DoFollow plugin. For Movable Type, disable the nofollow plugin.

I just activated the DoFollow plugin on this blog, so from now on, when you leave a comment on any of AllTipsAndTricks posts you’ll get credit from the search engines for that link. So, come on my friends, DoFollow me!

Give your laptop an alternative use on Shutdown Day

When was the last time you participated in a group project? Problogger’s last writing group project, maybe? Or maybe the Daily Blog Tips project on traffic generation.

What do you think all these projects had in common? They all required you to use a computer (and more or less your brain, but we shall stick with the computers for now).

Shutdown Day launches a challenge to all of us: shutdown our computers for one day, on March 24th. I don’t know who is behind this, but if we take into consideration the countdown timer displayed on their page (-5 hours from Greenwich), I would say they are located on US Eastern Coast.
They claim it is one of the biggest collective experiments to take place on internet ever, and they are curious about what will it happen if we all take the challenge. Taking into consideration the traffic Shutdown Day site has so far, it is possible. If you want to vote (I can or I cannot), you can do it on the page, but you have to provide a name and an e-mail address, which makes me think this belongs to some wise guys wanting to build a huge list of subscribers.

Should you decide to take the challenge on March 24th, I invite you to watch this video, to find out some alternative uses for your laptop.

Shutdown Day was chosen to be a Saturday. This can positively influence its success. Nevertheless, I’m eager to find out how the Shutdown Day guys are going to count the people who did not switch on their computers that day.

What do you think? Would you give your computer an alternative use (see above video) for one day?

Related posts:

1. Multimedia Software For Video Encoding And Conversion
2. Top 10 Social Bookmarking Tools For Educators

Rolling Blogroll 6: Get Your Inspiration Bit

What is inspiration? It could be that volatile feeling that puts sparks of joy and creativity in our eyes. It could be that state of mind which makes us getting things started (as opposed to “focus”, which makes us getting things done). It could be children’s play, creating wonders out of a bunch of cubes. Or it could be half of the act of breathing. You decide.

What is the use of inspiration? Find out with Inspiration Bit, a very young but promising blog, with an inspirational touch that leads to knowledge:

“Knowledge comes from an inspiration – one bit at a time.”

Written by Vivien, Computer Science literate and mother, Inspiration Bit provides information about web design and development, art and photography, web 2.0, computer and internet tutorials, special websites reviews, and many more.

I often find myself scouring the internet looking for either answers to many questions I have or websites that inspire me, sites that I can learn from. On what topics you might ask – any topics that interest me, anything from web design to art and photography, from blogging to entrepreneurship, from programming to open source.

If knowledge came one bit at a time, inspiration travels in packs of 8 bits (or multiple of 8):
- 8 bits of colour inspirations brings to you some useful colour resources on the web
- Get inspired by 8 bits of unique navigation provides you the occasion to see 8 websites highly creative in terms of navigation facilities
- 8 remarkable Wordpress themes – Vivien’s choices of beauty and functionality

Some bits of humour come with the very explicit post about what digg can do with your website. If you don’t want to see your site going through that process, then you can try these 29 traffic generation tips that actually work.

Not monetized, the blog is very readable, clean and not cluttered, focusing on facilitating the readers the access to its best bits (aka Top posts) and to people keeping the dialogue bits alive (aka Top commenters).

Original in both content and design, creative and thoughtful, Inspiration Bit brings a fresh perspective to internet communication in general, and to blogging in particular.
Thank you, Vivien, for the inspiration highway you are building for us, 8 bits at a time. I invite you to take your Rolling Blogroll badge and display it on your site.

This review is part of the Rolling Blogroll project.

Yahoo Search with Vista if you dare

Yahoo! Desktop Products just announced on their blog the release of the Yahoo! Search widget for Windows Vista.

The Windows Vista Sidebar is a new feature in Vista that, similar to our own Yahoo! Widgets or Apple’s Dashboard, allows you to run mini applications (called gadgets) on your desktop that are connected to the Internet without having to open a browser. Since Yahoo! Search is one of our most popular services, it was a logical choice for our first ever Windows Vista Sidebar gadget. We designed the Yahoo! Search gadget to feel at home in Vista’s new visually rich environment with animations and four shiny colors to choose from. And whether docked in your Sidebar or floating on your desktop, the Yahoo! Search gadget puts Yahoo! Web Search, Answers, Local, Video, and more at your fingertips. Of course, there are a number of other ways to integrate Yahoo! Search into your Vista experience, including search plug-ins for IE7 and Firefox as well as the Yahoo! Toolbar also for IE7 and Firefox.

This is the first desktop toy designed for Vista that I discovered. Yet, I’m not going to try it: I uninstalled Windows Vista one hour after installing it, because I could not find any antivirus to run with it. My digital camera’s software did not work either, nor did my TV tuner’s software. And I’m not going to buy new gadgets only for the sake of a new operating system.

Now I understand why Microsoft had to give away those laptops for the Windows Vista review. What do you think? Did you have any Vista experience you wish to share? Be my guest!

Related posts:

1. How Often Do You Buy New Gadgets?
2. Multimedia Software For Video Encoding And Conversion

Rolling Blogroll 5: Finding your marbles – A mental health survival guide

Do you remember from your childhood the nice, shiny marbles of all colors? They were so beautiful, and their glass full of wonderful sparkles turned them into real treasures. Did you ever lose one marble? Can you recall that sadness, that anxiety, that feeling chasing you around, that maybe one day you’ll find your precious marble again?

Well, for some of us, finding our marbles turned into a long and painful journey, spread across many years, or many hospitals, or many drugs.
Scott Davis is one of these children, who found his marbles at the end of a 23 years long journey, and who recently started this blog, Finding Your Marbles – A Mental Health Survival Guide. Scott’s purpose is to offer advice and support to all people out there, who are seeking for information on mental health.

When I began treatment for depression, there were many resources available to help me recover from mental illness. However, I found that there were few resources available to help me learn how to live with mental illness. For example, there was little information available about how to stay organized or plan your time when you suffer from depression. The information that was available was either very condescending, or it required a huge investment of time and energy to get started. This was a major problem for me, since I was trying to hold down a career and keep a marriage together at the same time as I was recovering from depression.
I also found that the therapy and the anti-depressant medication had side effects that were affecting my life, and there was very little information available to help me deal with these side effects. In short, I needed advice on how to get through life, and I needed it fast.

Finding Your Marbles can help you choose a therapist, or how to reward yourself, or even how to survive a party. In case you don’t see why you need to survive a party, think a bit further: think of people suffering from anxiety, as this post is addressed to them. Indeed, they tend to worry about everything, they are afraid that people don’t like them… Here, Scott makes a good point: if you were invited, it’s for sure that at least the host of the party likes you and wants you to be there.

I can emphasize that enough. A party is a chance for a group of people who like each other to get together and have fun. If you were invited, it means that your host likes you, and he or she thinks that the other guests will like you too. So when you go to a party, keep that in mind. The people there will be happy to see you, and your host will be glad you came.

Please don’t get me wrong: even if you are in good health, there are also useful resources for you in Finding Your Marbles, such as learning how to relax using deep breathing techniques, or the ten minute therapy.

If you take my advice and stop by Scott’s blog, don’t forget to move your mouse over the marbles in the header. You’ll be surprised.

Good luck Scott, and may you never lose your marbles again. I invite you to take your rolling blogroll badge and put it on your blog.

This review is part of the Rolling Blogroll project.

Rolling Blogroll 4: Renovate Your Life With Craig

What is the first word that crosses your mind when you hear “renovation”? How many of you thought of house renovation? Do you like it? I don’t know about others, but I feel so good in a renovated house! Even the process can be fun and rewarding sometimes.

But did you ever think to renovate your life? Give it a thought right now. Wouldn’t it be great to live a life with no hard feelings, or misery, a life of success and fulfillments, whatever this may mean to you? That’s another kind of renovation, and if you don’t know from where to start it, Craig Harper, motivational speaker, high performance coach and life renovator is out there to help you. This is how he introduces his blog, Renovate Your Life With Craig, to us:

“This site is a blog site, which is kind of like Craig’s classroom; random thoughts, observations and life lessons. It is an educational and inspirational resource for people who are serious about creating their best life. The cool thing about going to Craig’s class is; the only travel you have to do is on the cyber-highway … and the only school fees are ‘the price of creating your own amazing life.’ If you’re genuinely ready to change, and you want to move from mediocre to amazing, then pull up a seat, have an open mind, be prepared to get uncomfortable and start learning and doing.”

If you find “an hour (or three)” to see what’s this all about, you can discover that the best part of renovating your life is the process itself, you can find out what is the price of success, or you can learn about the incredible relationship between our mind and our body, and how happiness can create cures for our diseases.

I have a friend who always says that her life was only a chain of bad lucks, that she never had an opportunity, and other people and circumstances out there led her to misery. I was never able to find the right words to show her how wrong this kind of thinking is. I’m not saying the death of her father was her decision. Of course it wasn’t. But the reaction she had to this death was her choice. She has chosen to become a victim, so she behaves like one. There’s always our choice involved, and after reading Craig’s post about destiny or decisions, I found exactly the words I was looking for:

“I believe your life is a disaster largely because of the decisions you have and haven’t made, and the things you have and haven’t done.”

It’s about choices.
Simple.

“If you decide to do different, think different, react different, eat different, live different and communicate different…. you’ll be different.”

If you are one of those people who started thousands of weight-loss diets and you still did not manage to have the body you desire, you might want to take some advice from an ex-fat boy, and find out about the psychology of weight loss. I don’t know how fat Craig was as a kid, but now he surely looks good (and he shows it on all pages of his blog)

Briefly, Renovate your life with Craig is so real and so inspiring, that I urge you to make yourself some time and go through its articles. After that, it’s your decision if you go back to whatever you were doing, or you take some tools and start renovating your life. With or without Craig.

This review is part of the Rolling Blogroll project.

The Blog Starter Cheat Sheet

Most of you may have noticed lots of memes spreading around and touching blog after blog. I think they are good, as they keep the dialogue alive.

I was tagged by eDragonu, to tell you why I blog. I took the challenge, and here you are, my main reasons for blogging, with a little bit of history behind. This history can serve as a cheat sheet for new bloggers, as it includes the milestones of almost 7 months of blogging starting from the scratch.

- Everything started last summer. In June 2006 I barely had an idea that blogs exist. I knew there were some kind of electronic diaries called weblogs, I accidentally had read one, which belonged to a former colleague of mine, who had an affair with another colleague and she shared her thoughts and the love for him in that weblog (we were colleagues about three years, and I had absolutely no clue there was something going on between them)

- In July, I was googling for some personal development articles, for my recently started business, which included sales and management training. Then I came across Steve Pavlina’s blog and I found myself spending a few hours (if not a few days) on reading his amazing and thoughtful articles. I liked it so much, that I decided I want to write one as well. My business was on hold anyway, due to summer vacations, so I had lots of time. Said and done, after one day of brainstorming, I came up with Questallia – a place where people put questions, and then I was supposed to write articles on those topics. I imagined that I won’t be receiving too may questions in the beginning, so the blog included also articles about life, friendship, books, or travels (I had a bad experience with a trip to Egypt and I wanted to tell the world what to expect if going there, so I blogged about Cairo and the pyramids, the Nile cruise and the Valley of Kings, and Hurghada, the Red Sea resort).

- Also from Steve Pavlina’s articles I found out about Google AdSense. Following this trait, I discovered keyword research and I wanted to give it a try. But Questallia was not suitable, because I wanted to keep it focused. So All Tips and Tricks was born, on a Blogger domain. I moved it to its own domain about 2 weeks and some 30 posts later.

- It was clear for me that I want to target the US readers. But I had no idea how to measure my results. In Romania we have a ranking tool called Trafic.ro. What about US? So I discovered Alexa. Not knowing that Alexa is one of the main references out there, I said to myself “OK, then, I’ll check with this Alexa, until I find something more serious”. Later on, I discovered that Alexa reports are not quite accurate, because they gather the data from a pool of users who downloaded and installed a special toolbar, which works only in IE, so in case your visitors use Firefox, they do not count into this equation. That became clear to me when one of my posts got farked and received about 23000 unique visitors in about 48 hours, out of which Alexa reported only some 15000.

- After discovering Problogger, a great resource for new bloggers and not only, I realized that I can turn everything into a business and I started to learn, to read as much as I could. I found lots of excellent marketing advice at Seth Godin and Guy Kawasaki, copywriting advice at Copyblogger, good humour and advertising tips at GapingVoid, lots of SEO tools and tips at SEOmoz, internet marketing advice at Digital Point Forums, and the best social networking service at StumbleUpon (which can bring your articles into the attention of lots of readers).

So, coming back to my five reasons for blogging:

1. If I like an experience, I try to repeat it as often as possible
2. I enjoy writing and sharing knowledge
3. I like to live at my own pace
4. I need some decent level of income to allow me to enjoy points 1-3
5. I still have enough resources to keep me functioning until my blogging income reaches my desired standard for no 4, as blogging for a living is a long-term journey.

The short answer is that I feel like the fish in the water (who cares about the tank, anyway?)

Now, I tag Lucas McDonnell, Ilker Yoldas from The thinking blog, Vivien from Inspiration bit, Scott H Young and Martin to tell us their 5 reasons for blogging.

Later edit: I was tagged again by StartUpPrincess with the same meme. The answer remains the same .

Related posts:

1. Dirty Blue Widgets Poetry Jam Sessions Are Officially Open

Rolling Blogroll 3: eDragonu – The choice of a personal path

Concerned with getting things done, Dragos Roua, alias eDragonu, is seeking the most appropriate ways for personal development:

I just think we don’t have to raise perception walls between our mindsets, goals or approaches. Our “big picture” might often seem cluttered and foggy, but this is mainly because our knowledge paths are frozen in habits. Unfroze your knowledge paths and let them converge and feed each other. And do not be afraid about the results. We can never fail. We just learn.

Probably some of you heard about Mind Mapping. Mind Mapping is a way of illustrating how the brain works, thus allowing you to make a clearer picture of things in your life, happenings, events, meetings… It can be applied to anything, and the outcome is a great tool for getting things done. At eDragonu, you can find out more about Mind Mapping and you can even win a free license for MindManager, a software tool which allows you to draw the mind maps in a very effective way.
Speaking of how the brain works, did it ever occur to you to think why do we procrastinate? Why don’t we just do it (thank you, Nike!), when we manifest an intention? We all have our own, personal answer on that. So does eDragonu, and I encourage you to read What is procrastination, to see how you can defeat it, in case you ever wanted to.
In the world of productivity, getting things done, time management and software reviews, there is also time for fun: find out what tarot card are you. I’m the Wheel of Fortune:

Good fortune and happiness but sometimes a species of intoxication with success
The Wheel of Fortune is all about big things, luck, change, fortune. Almost always good fortune. You are lucky in all things that you do and happy with the things that come to you. Be careful that success does not go to your head however. Sometimes luck can change.
Take the test for yourself and have fun.

The blog runs some interstitial ads: quite annoying, because the interruption is more disturbing than in the case of text link ads. Nevertheless, you can always skip the ads; the content is worth reading.
Thumbs up for eDragonu! Dragos, you are welcome to take your badge, display it on your blog, and accept the Rolling Blogroll challenge to review one of your favourite blogs.

This review is part of the Rolling Blogroll project.