Santa Isn’t The Only One Who Loves Cookies

For those who don’t know me that well and only know that I work with computers for a living would probably think that I enjoy giving techy and geeky presents to friends and family. With all the electronics out there I have to say that the gifts I enjoy giving the most are the ones that come out of my kitchen. The most technology that gets used is the oven and the FoodNetwork searches that I do for new recipes (and my Kitchenaid stand mixer which is one of the best things anyone could have invented). It seems like homemade things are getting harder and harder to find. A good example is the marshmallows I made this year. Yes people, I made marshmallows. The usual response I got of “Why on earth would you MAKE marshmallows?!” when I handed them out with my hot cocoa mix. I know I could buy them but they are just so much better when you make them from scratch. Fun too, actually. It’s really cool to see what sugar does when you cook it to different temperatures. Point being, if you’re having a hard time finding that perfect present this year and Best Buy just isn’t doing it for you, try your hand in the kitchen. It doesn’t have to be something as intricate as marshmallows. Even the recipe on the back of the chocolate chip bag would work, especially if you wrap them in some pretty cellophane with some nice ribbon. If you take some time to make something from the heart I think people will appreciate it more than even a really cool gadget (unless it can enable you to time travel…nothing would beat that!).

Have a Merry Christmas!

PS – Despite the reaction, no one turned down eating the marshmallows. :)

Virtual Dollar Store

It seems even gifts are going the way of the digital revolution in a whole new way. I recently read an article about how popular virtual gifts are becoming. Yep, people are paying money (real money at that, not the virtual kind) to buy things like $1 gifts on Facebook. These gifts include virtual shoes, beer, and accessories…intangible items that you display on your webpage. In less than a year people have bought more than 24 million of these dollar items for their friends and family on Facebook alone (talk about money that could go to charity!). Some gifts on other sites go for $2 or $3. I kind of wonder about these since it seems kind of impersonal to give someone something like this for a big event like a birthday, anniversary, or even Christmas. Webpages come and go, and people go in and out of phases too so there’s no telling if that person will have their webpage in another year or two. I guess coming from someone frugal, spending a dollar or two on a little gif for someone’s Facebook page seems a bit silly when you could spend that same money on something small, or even a cup of coffee at the local coffee shop and spend a few minutes with that person. As virtual gifts become more and more popular, I have the hope that people won’t forget the personal touch when it comes to gift giving.

Feed the Hungry with Vocabulary Knowledge

There’s a website that I just found out about called FreeRice.com that will donate 10 grains of rice for every vocabulary word you can answer the meaning of correctly. Snopes has a verification page with more info about the site. The UN’s World Food Programme (WFP) donates the rice. It’s a good thing they don’t penalize you for getting the words wrong or I would have just cost them a lot of grains of rice. :)

Pzza Ordrs By Txt Msg

Papa John’s has started providing a new way to order your pizza at about 2700 locations. Instead of calling in for delivery, you can now send a text message using your cell phone. Even Domino’s is making sure that those customers with mobile devices on the internet can place the order through their browser. Ok, I admit they would have to come up with some better abbreviations than I did for this kind of thing. Papa John’s has already thought of that. You can enter “FAV1,” “FAV2,” “FAV3,” or “FAV4” in the message depending on what you saved in each of these names. You can also save your payment and address information. It seems that this is just one more step towards less and less human contact in a way. However, this will definitely appeal to the younger crowd and will probably create a big benefit for the consumer and the company.

Study Shows That Most Parents Aren’t Into Gaming

One of the latest polls says that parents and gaming isn’t the best relationship out there. It seems the majority of parents never or very rarely join their kids in playing games. I can understand how parents want to limit their child’s time gaming. I mean, there is such a thing as the real world and kids need to get out and run around a bit. However, I think that if they’re going to allow the kids to game they should join right in. I have to think that when my husband and I have kids, we’ll be playing right alongside them (or against them, whichever works). A little gaming, whether it is Halo or Wii Sports, can be a good stress reliever after a long day. It’s nice to go home and just do some fun for a little bit. We usually appreciate the graphics and the beauty that the games offer, as well as the storylines and over all fun factor. A friend of mine recently told me that she played Halo with her 17 year old son and really had a blast. She never really plays the Xbox but she still enjoyed it. So parents, if you’ve never tried it give gaming with your child a shot (no pun intended). You might end up liking it.

Google Your Gas Pump

Google is planning to incorporate their maps and driving directions into gas pumps starting soon. I can already think of a few trips where this would have come in handy. The new gas pumps will have an Internet connection so that lost drivers can check directions while filling up their gas tanks. The service will include categories such as hotels, restaurants, and hospitals for you to choose from to show what’s available in your area. From the sounds of it, it will be very similar to what you get when you visit Google Maps on your PC. You can even print out your directions (very handy!). The gas pump service will be free to drivers, but unlike most Google services, this service will not use ads for income.

Comet Holmes Makes It’s Appearance

I found out today that you can see a naked eye comet in the constellation of Perseus. On October 24th comet Holmes erupted and brightened almost a million times, taking it from magnitude 17 to 2.5 (the smaller the number, the brighter the object). Comet Holmes is a periodic comet that was discovered in 1892 by Edwin Holmes during another such eruption. You can find where to see the comet with this map. I went out tonight and took a peek with binoculars. It looks like a fuzzy circle, not your typical comet shape, but very cool nonetheless. The reason we don’t see the tail is that it is in the line of sight with the Earth, so we’re looking down the length of the tail. If you have a pair of binoculars or a telescope, it would be worth pulling them out and taking a look. You should be able to see the comet at least through the middle of the month, at which time the moon returns and will light up the sky. Right now the comet is just beyond the orbit of Mars and appears to be about the size of a third of the full moon.

Sony Announces a New PS3

Sony is going to give gamers a Merry Christmas this year. The PS3 lineup will have a few changes for the upcoming holiday shopping season. For starters, Sony has announced that it will be dropping the price of the current 80GB PS3 to $499 (down $100). They will also release a new PS3 to the US for $399 with 40GB of storage. The 40GB model has already debuted in Japan and Europe, and the introduction to the US market is probably to help boost sales here. The Wii has sold 9 million units since its release, while by comparison the PS3 has only sold 5 million. (By the way, if you haven’t played the Wii, get your tushy down the nearest game store that has one and try it out.) The new PS3 will not be able to play PS2 games as the current models do so that Sony can concentrate on providing new games for their new platform. The new model will still be the most expensive of the three major consoles, but the new price tag should look a bit more appealing than the current models for those gamers on a budget.

New Zunes on the Horizon

Microsoft has announced that they will be releasing new Zunes in November. The 80 GB hard drive Zune will be available in black with a 3.2 inch screen and sell for $250. This model is the most similar to the current Zune being sold. The new slimmer Zunes will be available in a 4GB and 8GB that uses flash memory. Flash memory has no moving parts, which is a big plus for people who are hard on their devices. The 4GB and 8GB models will come in pink, green, black, and glossy red. It looks like the smaller Zunes will sell for $149.

Both new models will come with the ability to sync wirelessly and will extend the wireless sharing function. The Zune will get new touch controls as well, which I imagine will be like the current iPod controls. Also getting a facelift is the Zune Marketplace. Microsoft hasn’t said much more than this on their Zune website, but as the month goes on I am sure they will have more teaser information posted.

What’s that you say? You already have a Zune? No problem…Microsoft intends to push out Marketplace and firmware updates so that current Zune owners can get the new features on their players.

Canon Unveils the PowerShot SX100 IS

Canon unveiled a new point-and-shoot camera a few days ago that will appeal to the novice (me) and professional (my husband) alike. We purchased one Saturday and have really loved using it. It has a lot of features that your SLR’s have, but without the complication or the separate lenses and body. It’s a mini me of sorts. My husband is as excited about this point-and-shoot as I am. That should give you an idea of the features that it comes equipped with. The SX100 comes with 8 megapixels and powerful 10X optical zoom. The other point-and-shoots that I looked at in that price range for the most part had either a 3X or 6X optical zoom. It also comes with image stabilization which is a definite perk. The one thing that it’s missing that I am used to is a view finder. Good luck finding a point-and-shoot with one of those anymore. It’s slim pickin’s. The SX100 does have a 2.5 inch LCD screen though which by far makes up for the lack of a view finder. The screen is very clear and large enough that you can see what you’re taking a picture of without the need to squint.

As far as options go, there are the standard settings that most point-and-shoots have preconfigured, like portrait, landscape, foliage, night time, etc. The SX100 give you Program, Tv, Av, and M settings so that you can set all of your options like ISO, f/stop, and shutter speed manually. This is the part that my husband was excited about. I’ve found since using the manual settings that I want to learn more about what they are and how they work. You can even do white balancing with preconfigured settings, or you can manually white balance so that you get exactly what you want. The macro setting is awesome. I am finding that I enjoy this feature the best so far. The closest the manual says you can get to an object and still focus is about a half an inch. I’ve tried this out and it holds true. The picture I’ve attached at the bottom of this post is a tomato about an inch in diameter in the morning dew, taken at about an inch away. The camera does come with video capability at 640x480 and 30 fps with sound. I tried this out and was able to view the video maximized on a 17” widescreen LCD monitor without any pixelization. The sound on the video is pretty good, but you do have to be careful not to bump the camera too much or you will get those noises on the video.

Now, you may think that setting all of these features is going to be difficult. Wrong! This is one of the easiest interfaces to get around in. There aren’t a ton of buttons to begin with, and they have pictures next to them to tell you what it does (like the flower symbol for the Macro setting). It does have a wheel on the back that you can either press in the four directions, or turn around in a circle to get around your menus. The four directions are considered buttons since they each do something different when you push them. The left side of the wheel allows you to set the Macro settings, the top button the ISO settings, the right button the flash settings, and the bottom what kind of shot you want to do (continuous, single, timed, etc.).

The best part…all of this comes at the reasonable price of $300. When we compared this camera to the others we saw in the store, we felt like we got the most options for the price. Canon is really making it a point to offer point-and-shoots that appeal to both the beginner and the pro who want a camera that has SLR features, but without the bulk of an SLR.