5 Steps To Credit Card Debt Reduction And Saving Money - DIY

Have you succumbed to the lure of credit cards and found yourself in a bit of a pickle because of it? Pull up a chair and have a seat. Welcome to the ever growing club of consumer debt. Your biggest challenge now is to dig yourself out of this situation and avoid having to pay anyone to help you do it.

Options at this stage are usually as follows (depending on the level of credit card debt):

• Consolidate into a loan.
• Debt Management.
• Bankruptcy.
• Do Nothing.
• Just pay off the cards over as long as it takes.
• Make the minimum payments and keep spending.
• Make an effective Do It Yourself (DIY) plan.

The more popular solutions, such as consolidation loans and debt management that we see being touted everywhere actually put the control of your money in other people’s hands. I don’t know about you, but for me becoming free from debt should not involve spending more money, or borrowing my way out of debt or letting others make "ALL" of the decisions for me.

So how does a DIY system work? Breaking it down into 5 steps, it might look something like this:

1. Address your spending habits and why you are in this situation. 

To ever win with money and have a comfortable financial future for yourself and your family, "YOU" have to take control your money and how it is used. There is no way around this. Take complete control of your finances and set yourself some realistic yet desirable goals for the future. This is the key to "success" and financial stability.

2. Know your options, exactly how they work, and why some of them may not be for you. 

Along the way you will be tempted by quick fix ‘make it all better’ solutions, like consolidation loans and debt management. As mentioned already there is a multi-billion dollar industry making a very healthy profit from charging consumers to get out of debt. A "DIY Plan" does not involve paying someone else to get you out of debt. Common sense says, the money that you are spending to get out of debt can be applied to the debt itself to get you out of debt even faster.

3. Know and fully understand your financial situation. 

Any debt relief system requires a bit of budgeting. As long as you follow your plan, have realistic goals and no intention of taking an easy and perhaps expensive way out, you should have no trouble budgeting. The other thing you should know is your credit score. There are a staggering amount of mistakes found on credit scores that result in people paying more interest than they should. If you are eligible for lower interest rates and 0% APR cards to move expensive high balances on to, not only should you be aware of this option ... You should definitely take advantage of it.

4. Minimize outgoings, Maximize income and leverage your cash flow. 

If you could be paying less for utilities and day to day expenses you should. Saving money is like a fine art, where you go through all of your expenses and find all of the places where you can trim the fat. This is something that you will become very good at if you’re going to crush your debt and not let your debt crush you. Home economics, consumer education and bargain hunting can save you incredible amounts of cash that can go toward paying off your debt a lot quicker. If you’re really serious about this, you can take it a step further and create a secondary or supplemental source of income. Be it a second job, or using a natural skill/strength you have that can use to earn money in your spare time. With the opportunities available online it’s never been easier to find those who are seeking out some knowledge, experience and skills that you have and that they will gladly pay you for it.

5. Form your system and put it into action. 

Having followed the first 4 steps and laid some sturdy foundations you are now in a position to develop a powerful ‘snowball’ plan. This would be a system that gains momentum as you execute it. This step is completely dependent on the first 4 steps and generating an extra figure that you can assign to snowballing your credit card debt. As the debts get paid off the figure grows and subsequently clears the rest of the debts a lot quicker. Additionally, this will save you a tidy amount of interest in the process. It is very possible to use a DIY plan and enjoy great success from it, yes it takes a bit of hard work and discipline on your part but the alternatives just cost you more and keep you in debt for longer.

Here's An Example Of The Debt Consolidation Trick And How You Can Flip It To Your Advantage

Let's say you have 10 credit cards ranging in balances from $500 to $5,000, totaling $12,000 in debt. The payments on these cards come to around $250 a month. A debt consolidation "expert" contacts you or vice verse and tells you that you can clear up your debts and lower your monthly obligations at the same time using the equity in your home. You currently have 8 years left on your mortgage at $600 monthly in payments. Total monthly obligations for mortgage and credit cards is approximately $850.

Here's the experts plan: Refinance your mortgage to a 15 year mortgage while at the same time paying off all of your credit cards. The new mortgage has a monthly payment of $500. In effect this has reduced your monthly obligations by $350. You may even get a lower interest rate by a point or so. The "expert" will tell you all of the ways in which this transaction will benefit you and save you money in the short term as it applies to your monthly obligations. "Keep in mind Mr./Mrs. Homeowner, you can do anything you like with the extra money left over after closing" ,say's the expert. Sounds good doesn't it? That's the little picture. Now let's look at the big picture.

What the "expert" does not tell you is this. Though it is required in some if not all states for the truth to be clearly and fully disclosed, it is usually glossed over as if it were not very important or, confusing language that is not clearly or easily understood is used. Truth is this, even though you have decreased the amount of your monthly obligations, you have gotten yourself into more debt. The "expert" charges a fee. It could be hundreds or it could be thousands of dollars. Usually the latter is the case. These fees, charges, expenses, and debts are all wrapped together and included in the new mortgage which of course has interest payments. This new mortgage is larger and lasts for a longer period of time. You will be paying interest on this larger amount for a new term of 15 years. This could cost you many thousands of dollars over the years before it is payed off. How does the "expert's" plan sound now?

Remember I said, "YOU SHOULD TAKE CONTROL..." Here's what you should do. Take the experts offer, but ignore the experts advice. One or two of those $350 monthly obligations payments that you are saving every month should be applied directly to your mortgage principal ... That's one or two extra payments to you mortgage a year. Some of these payments can even be subtracted from the extra proceeds from the closing. You will effectively reduce both the principle and term or your mortgage dramatically. You can actually reduce the term by as much as half ... Saving you many thousands of dollars in interest in the process. Additionally, you should consider cancelling those credit cards that you have paid off. Those cards now have full balances and it is quite tempting to go on a spending spree. Those credit lines are still open. In using them you will reverse the snowball effect of clearing the debt to a snowball effect of re-accumulating the debt. This is of little or no service to you.

NOTE: Though the numbers used are purely hypothetical they are realistic in some parts of the country. They are used primarily for illustrative purposes to give you an idea of the dynamics involved in such transactions.

It’s your money, it’s your life ... If you want to truly own them both then you have to take control ... Not give it over to someone else. Control or be controlled, the choice is yours.

FREE Credit Repair Information Here ==> http://bit.ly/1gMf3aX

USB Automatic Direct Stirring Coffee Mug / Warmer

If you are anything like me ... When sitting at my computer for prolonged periods of time, I absolutely MUST have a cup of Joe there with me. I have a color coordinated (black & grey) cup warmer sitting to the right of my monitor. However, I have a couple of nagging complaints in regards to this old school warmer. It is not USB so I have to use yet another plug on one of my power strips. Since the cup is not covered, the heat dissipates quickly and it does not stay as warm as when poured from the coffee machine. The cooling off of the beverage causes a film to accumulate on top because it is never stirred ... sighs. During a normal day of posting auctions and such, I ran across this item. As soon as I seen it, I said to myself, "I gotta get one of these!" It is a beverage warmer that works via USB and actually stirs the beverage for you. Google images will direct you to many places where you can purchase this FANTASTIC item. Fairly inexpensive, they run around $20 and come in various colors including basic black (so I won't have to abandon my geeky toy color scheme ... lol). A great gift for the computer geek in your life. Simply Google the post title and you should have no problem finding it. You can also take the shortcut and go directly to eBay ... Where else ... HA!

The Media Matrix - How Propaganda And Mass Media Are Impacting Americas Contact With Reality

Here's something for you to ponder. How much of ourselves is really us? I mean, the things we like/dislike, our beliefs, trusts/distrusts, etc... How much of that comes from within and how much of that comes from somewhere else? What other places? Television, the internet, advertising, the government, propaganda, and mass media. Truth is; all of these entities play a very large part in shaping us spiritually, emotionally, and mentally. Some of the techniques in the past, thought of as brain washing Gestapo tactics are actually currently used in everyday television advertising and product promotions. Techniques used in modern day warfare such as propaganda and disinformation are used by politicians in their election platforms and by the government to take advantage of it's own citizens. These advantages are used to keep the citizens in line or usually for the purposes of catering to the wealthy elite (whom have political power with the funds to support lobbyists), feeding it's greedy corporations or to sure up run away spending and shortfalls in taxation. Massive shifts in the paradigms thought of as "normal behavior" have occurred at a mind blowing pace in the last couple of decades. This documentary uses the movie "The Matrix" to compare and contrast to the machine of this day and age (all mass media) that accomplishes this without most of us having a clue of what is happening to us. I found this documentary to be very thought provoking in this sense: I thought I was safe because I'm not a big TV person, I'm an internet junkie. Truth is ... Radio, TV, Internet, Advertising, etc... are all a part of this machine, "The Media Matrix" according to this documentary.

WATCH THIS !!!

 

 

Square Reader - Squareup.com

What if you had a $1,000 dollar computer to sell? What if you advertised it locally (on craigslist or your local newspaper let's say)? What do you think the prospect would be of someone showing up on your doorstep (residential) with $1,000 cash in their pocket ready to buy it? I say, that the prospect of that happening would be damn near zero ... HA! If however, you can promote that you accept all major credit cards ... The probability jumps up dramatically. Admittedly, I confess that my sales "have not" dramatically increased merely by having this device. However ... I AM PREPARED. Given the way that I promote products ... This gadget opens the door to sales prospects that I would not otherwise have. I can now promote those Getac computers (see Getac post) on craigslist and at least get a few serious inquiries from prospects with the means to pay without having many issues involving security to do so. This device is like having a merchant account without all of the red tape. There is no setup fee, no recurring account service fees, nor minimum transaction concerns (where fees from such may dip into your profits). There is an affordable transaction fee of around 3% per transaction and that's it. And to top it off, the device itself is free. The funds are deposited directly into your account. Visa, Master Card, American Express, and Discover are all excepted. And now Square Up has introduced a register system that works the same way. It's like a mini kiosk and Point Of Sale (POS) system all in one. It may be possible to combine virtual and live sales at one point. See the video below for full details on how it works. Be prepared, you can get it from the URL in the heading.

Turn Your Computer Into Your Personal ATM Machine

Do you think that ATM’s are only available at banks and credit unions?  Think again.  Your computer can become your own personal ATM machine.  How can you turn your computer into a money making machine you ask?  The best way to do it is to jump into the world of internet marketing.  An Internet marketing business is not only profitable, but can be started quickly without reeking havoc on your budget. 

What should you do first to help you start an Internet marketing business?  You need to create a website that reaches millions of potential customers all over the globe.  There are hundreds of software programs, companies, and offerings out there.  If you are not familiar with Internet infrastructure then you may have a difficult time trying to find the right company to host your website.  I have taken the confusion out of this situation for you by providing a couple of references for software tools to help get you started.

First, you will need a domain name.  Domain names are the text that users will type into the Internet to access you website.  Think carefully about your domain name so that it is relevant to your product or service.  Once you have a domain name in mind, you need to make sure that it is not taken.  You can type it into your Internet browser and see if anything comes up.  However, it is good to check this through one of  the domain providers I recommend which are www.hostgator.com or www.hostmonster.com.

Which ever hosting service provider you choose make sure that you only purchase the domain name and none of the extra services. Most of the additional services are recurring expenses and can add up rather quickly. Besides, there will be plenty of time in the future to decide whether you may need these additional services or not. Most providers have a tendency to jack up the prices on these additional services when you can find them a lot cheaper at places like www.frontierpowerhosting.com.

Make sure your web hosting Service Company is top notch whereby you will receive your OWN IP address and not one that is shared by many.  It is critical to have your own IP address so that your emails are never blocked due to an email spammer that has the same IP address.  Make sure that there is also excellent customer service phone support. This option is important to those who do not trust the automated world of the web. In addition, there should be an “Email Tracker” feature which enables you to track your emails and provide you with information regarding the deliverability rate of emails you send to help keep your customer list clean. This information will help you tailor and streamline your marketing efforts.

Next you will need to setup a “Smart Autoresponder”.  A smart autoresponder is one that automatically sends emails or forms to users in order to capture their personal information.  Make sure that your autoresponder captures the following information:  first name, last name, email address, time and date stamp. There are many free autoresponders out there, some even perform all of these tasks excellently.

THE TRUTH ... THE WHOLE TRUTH ... AND NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH !!! 

Some of you out there may read an article like this and either wish or assume that making money on the internet is as simple as pressing a dozen or two buttons , and viola ... You're on your way to becoming rich ... HA! Nothing can be farther from the truth. Making "Real $$$" on the internet involves advance planning, the acquisition of good marketing tools and applications, organizational skills, patience, perseverance, realistic goals (setting, tracking, tweaking), and an intuitive nature to recognize those things that may be beneficial to your marketing campaigns and product niches.

One of the things that you should consider eliminating from your expectations is "FREE". You get what you pay for. This blog for example is a "FREE" blog and I have proved that you can actually make money on the internet without investing a dime. This is indeed a milestone. All of which, no matter how big or small, are things to be tallied to stay motivated. However, let's keep things in perspective. How much? Mere pennies because I am somewhat restricted in what I can do or promote. I am almost totally reliant on the "Google GODs" for advertisements, promotions, optimization, etc... The optimization is for "views" not "sales". A "paid for" blog or full fledged website (like an eCommerce site) have little or no restrictions within legal applications and built-in "sales" optimizations like affiliate status with major internet retailers like Amazon or eBay. Some sites have included built-in marketing and promotion optimizations such as promotional portals to the advertising platforms used on Facebook or Yahoo.

In the near future I plan to take you from beginning to end on a couple of my campaigns so that you may see for yourselves what is really involved in these money making processes. I will also try to provide results and income stats. These campaigns will be posted under the latest new category "Money & Finance". I know, if you're into this sort of thing, that you've heard the saying, "The money is in the list". This is so true. With a good list of supporters, buyers, associates ... You can put things on a sort of auto pilot. Ka-Ching ... Ka-Ching ... Ka-Ching !!! This is the ATM aspect of internet marketing. Any time you need cash, you simply launch a campaign. It takes time, but once in place you can literally make money at the press of a button, but it takes a lot of time and preparation to reach that point. Stay tuned to see how it is done.

Once you have these tools and procedures in place, you are ready to create your website and change your personal computer into a cash cow today!

Earth 2100

Have you ever wondered what the world might be like 100 years from now? If you are in tune with the environment and are paying attention to what we as humans are doing to it ... This documentary may interest you. The population of the planet will soon reach 8 billion people. For the younger children, it may reach 10 billion by the time they are in their 50's or 60's unless there is a catastrophic event that wipes out a large percentage of the population. Funny thing is as a child in school I learned that this sort of thing took a thousand yeas or more. But now, the planets population is growing approximately 5% or more every generation, and that number (factor) is exponential in it's function (the calculus heads know what I'm talking about). How will the earth's resources be managed? The usurping (use without replacement of finite materials) of the earth's natural resources in the name of profits, will cause catastrophic events all over the world. These events will have consequences that are detrimental to the whole life existence of the planet. It will not matter if you are rich/poor, black/white, young/old, etc... Many will suffer more than others however, there may be light at the end of the tunnel if we (in the collective) act now. This is not a prognostication of gloom and doom, it is more of a warning of the potential hazards forthcoming if we do not make some fundamental changes in the way we live as humans. A character named "Lucy" is used as we look at her live over a period of nearly 100 years from now. There is actually two scenarios one good one bad for what the future may hold. Not necessarily for us, but perhaps for our children.

WATCH THIS !!!

Announcing A New Category

Greetings folks. We all have material wants and needs that cost money however, at the same time we must learn to live within our incomes and means ... (budgets). Sometimes in order to acquire those things we put ourselves in debt for long periods of time to get them. Quite a few of us do other things to supplement our incomes or stretch our dollars as far as we can. This new category "Money & Finance", is more about that than anything else. I thought it would be a good compliment to this blog because I talk about a lot of expensive things. Some of us have limited and fixed incomes and still others are burdened with financial obligations that keep us strapped for cash. Here you will find out what others (including myself) are doing to save money, make the money to buy those things, invest time and/or money to reap rewards from your computer and the internet.

Blender - 3D Animation

Blender is an open source (FREE) 3D/Animation production application. I put it right up there with Hollyweird (Hollywood) post production software costing thousands of dollars. The capabilities of this software is only limited by the imagination ... For some of us, that is endless ... LOL. Wait till you see the samples below (WOW!). First of all this software is not for the meek or those looking for the "Quick & Dirty" type of applications. The proficiency curve on this is rather steep. I would say that it would take approximately a year or two before you'd become proficient in it's use. I've used it for a while and admittedly I am not very good at it at all. Needless to say the samples attached are not my work ... BUT DAMN IT'S GOOD! <~~ Shouting ... lol. The graphics produced can give a lifelike appearance when it comes to producing the human image ... Facial expressions are awesome. This is very difficult for most animation software to pull off. With experience and the proper skill set (much patience is required), you can create entire scenes with endless embellishments. There is much web content (YouTube & Similar Sites) on this programs use and tutorials are available also. On a star scale of 1 - 10, I give this one 25 stars. This wonderful software can be downloaded freely at the manufacturers website. The first image is of Jack Nicholson, notice the lifelike appearance of his skin, hair and facial expression. The second image is of a Bugatti sports car, notice the realistic shadowing and the sheen of the auto paint. The first movie sample consists of heavy usage of Blender animations with a live person accompanying the graphics. The second movie animation is made entirely with Blender ... Post production quality at it's best (Rivals Disney in my humble opinion) ENJOY!

Image Sample 1 - Jack Nicholson

Image Sample 2 - Bugatti (Italian Sports Car)

Movie Sample 1 - Jay Funk presents: Zet Project (HD)

Movie Sample 2 - Sintel, Third Open Movie by Blender Foundation (HD)

LivePix 2.0 Deluxe

Here it is folks ... My so called "Quick & Dirty". This photo processing software has been discontinued however, you can still find copies on eBay and Amazon. I have no idea why it was discontinued. It is the easiest program that I've ever used with such top notch results (see attached samples). The Whitney Houston graphic almost looks 3D. I also used this program to make the little alien "About Me" logo to this blog (Resistance Is Futile). I am so familiar and skilled at using this program that I can run circles around the Photoshop amateur like I'm  Caprese Michelangelo ... LOL. So much so ... That I refuse to give it up. The learning curve is a snap, allowing you to be proficient in less than a week. If I'm not mistaken this program actually won an award for ease of use. It doesn't have all of the bells and whistles that the expensive packages have but, it can hold it's own in the industry. The cutout function has the best accuracy that I've encountered. When this program was popular it cost around $20 ... I got a copy at a thrift store for around $5. To this day I swear by this program and when I have a project in mind it is the first that I use to get things started. I've created custom calendars, post cards, pillow cases and T-shirts using heat transfer paper, to name a few projects that I've done. One very useful feature is the text alignment feature which allows you to align text in several different ways. This came in very handy when creating calendars. There is one drawback to this program ... It is not compatible with Windows 7 ... sighs! Nor does Windows OS rollback function during program installation work for it ... SMDH! Remember I said that I could not give it up? Well this program is one of the main reasons that I decided to reconfigured my system into a dual booting system having both Windows XP & Windows 7 Ultimate operating systems.Windows XP is still viable and most institutions such as medical facilities still use it ... I like to call it "Trouble Free XP". Almost all graphics professionals use more than one graphics program (like myself). I prefer to use more than one graphics program because different programs do different things better than others. I produced these graphic images  exclusively with Live Pix, no multitasking or other programs were used.

Sample 1

Sample 2

Sample 3

The GIMP

The GIMP is an open source (FREE) alternative to Photoshop (The graphics industry standard). You can do anything with GIMP that you can do with Photoshop. The keyboard strokes may be a little different and there may be fewer or more steps involved in getting the job done ... But it can be done. GIMP is an acronym that stands for ... GNU Image Manipulation Program (formerly General Image Manipulation Program). GNU is an operating system similar to UNIX. I've used GIMP for a few years now and I love it's capability. Photoshop users find it confusing and a pain to use. Why? Because the special feature key combinations are different. A special feature in Photoshop may require you to press Alt + F5 ... While GIMP may require you to press CTRL + F9 for the same feature. There are tons of add-ons just as with Photoshop. As you can see from the screenshot, the dashboard is very similar to Photoshop. There are literally tons of videos on YouTube and free tutorials for both programs, so have no fear if you are a beginner. Speaking of beginners, I've found something very peculiar in my experience in graphics designs. It does not matter what program you use for the most part. Of course there are some tools available in the expensive packages that cannot be found in the less costly programs that allow you to do things that you couldn't do otherwise. However, it is the skill of the designer and his/her familiarity with the program used that makes all the difference. Case in point: I've created some graphics with my (quick and dirty as I like to call it) program that rivals work done by those who used Photoshop. Not the same images or projects but, my work looks great while the Photoshop users work looks amateurish. Wouldn't you like to know what my quick and dirty (program) is? Wouldn't you like to see some of the work that I've done with it? Well ... Your wish is my command, coming soon so stay tuned.

Serif PhotoPlus X6

Here's one from my graphics arsenal. Though it says photo editing, there is a plethora of tools available. Very similar to GIMP and Photoshop in it's application, layers are used, various sized brushes are available, and many tools are present that are also in the industry standard programs. Serif has a suite of programs that allow you to get real work done. I put these programs right up there with some of Microsoft's products. A couple programs in Serif's Suite of programs are even better than Microsoft's products. I've used most of their products and am very pleased. Free versions are available for download from the manufacturers website. Some of their highlighted programs include: Word Processor, Drawing Program, Movie Editing Program, Desktop Publisher, Web Page Designer, Photo Editor, And quite a few more. Don't sleep on these ... Great programs at a great price. The full versions cost less than half the cost of similar industry standard programs. Photo editing is not all you can do. With a little imagination you can create wonderful graphic images from scratch. One of the nice features that I found particularly useful was the cutout feature. This feature automatically creates the cutout image with a transparent background (default) whereas most graphics/photo editing programs you have to manually select this function. Programs like Photoshop are so bloated with features that it takes you a few steps to pull it off. I highly recommend this program for the artistically inclined and those who like Photoshop but not the long learning curve to become proficient with it ... Not to mention the high price tag. I think the full version of Photoshop runs around $500 - $600. The full version of this program costs $89.99, and it is well worth it.

Still Co-Ordinating

Greetings All ~ I'm at it again. I've been tweaking this blog to get an overall user friendly look and feel to it. I think I'm doing great so far but ... I still haven't heard from YOU! I've added a Google news feed. I think I found pretty good topic keywords for the feeds but ... If you let me know what you are interested in I could easily add those keywords for new news feeds. I've rearranged the right panel so that the order of the items make more sense. Additionally, I've added a friends section where I'll add relative sites/blogs if you care to surf the web for more content of relative topics. I don't want this blog to be all about me. I want this blog to be about you too. Tell me what you think.

Checklist On How To Revive A Dead Computer

What To Do When Your Computer Dies 

Its not something we tend to think about much but ... make no mistake about it, your computer will eventually fail if you keep it long enough. It may be a simple problem, such as the hard drive not reading the disk or it could be as severe as a major system crash. Because computers are run by humans, user error is the most common cause of computer malfunction or failure. When the user is at the computer, he or she may add or delete certain files, or he/she may remove or exchange certain hardware features which may effect the operating systems function. Believe it or not, simply pressing the wrong keys at the wrong time (not knowing exactly what you are doing) could reek havoc on an otherwise efficiently running computer system.

When we look at user error, we must remember that since we're human, the user error may be as easy to solve as simply asking the last user if he/she installed any software, re-configured any software or hardware settings, etc. Case in point: A dear friend of mine was having a problem with his laptop, it would not type the proper letters. It would type numbers when certain letters were typed. It would continue doing so after rebooting and nothing seemed to help. In steps the computer geek-a-zoid (moi). The casual user may not be aware that almost all laptops have alternate keyboard settings to access special characters. Reason being that most laptops "do not" have the extended keyboards (with a numeric keypad) that are somewhat standardized with external keyboards and desktop computers. Turns out my friend had accidentally pressed the alternate keyboard key sequence and was not aware that he had done so. All it took was a quick Google of the situation and the answer was found 3 or 4 links down the list. Laptops are different so the key sequence is not the same as per manufacturer.

A large percentage of computer malfunctions are due to environmental factors such as power surges caused by lightning, resulting in over voltage. This is especially common in areas where there is a lot of rain and thunderstorms. In this situation you may have to check your home circuit breakers. Modern circuit breakers are more intricate and area/outlet specific. These circuit breakers are for specific things now like, kitchen appliances, heating, separate rooms (or only half of the room in some cases). Extreme temperatures and extreme changes can cause problems with computer function also. Queen City Example: I am a resident of Buffalo, AKA snow city. We had a very serious snow storm a few years back (48 hours continuous, 7 foot accumulation) ... circuits were going haywire. We also had another situation where there was 3 feet of snow in one day prior to the Autumn leaves falling (city called in National Guard to remove damaged trees). I did not have an uninterrupted power source, so in both cases nothing could be done until the calm after the storm.

Another cause for failure may be room temperature being too high or low, as well as dust, dirt, or sunlight. I find that servers are more prone to fall in this category however, newer computers are on the fast track to achieving server status. If you're in business and heavily dependent on your computers, such factors as room temperature, sunlight and protection against power surges is of the utmost importance and simply cannot be overlooked. The accumulation of dust on integrated circuits causes major problems. The dust retains heat and can actually be the culprit to overheating and the cause for circuits burning out prematurely. And as most of us are aware of this, overheated computers do strange things ... lol.

Speaking of strange things ... Malicious viruses that aggressively replicate themselves can bring your computer to a grinding halt. Not to be taken literally because there may not actually be "grinding" sounds but, you'll be stuck for sure. Before you know it, you're scratching your head or pulling your hair out and cursing your life-mate's existence. Hypothetical Example: If you click the Microft Word icon and nothing happens ... The first thing you should do is a virus scan. If there are any strange anomalies similar to this, do a virus scan right away. Doing virus scans on a regular basis (weekly at a minimum) can prevent a lot of problems before they become serious.

The most common PC problem is when you can't access your PC at all. When you turn on the power switch, NOTHING HAPPENS! Below is a quick checklist of troublshooting procedures you should follow if you encounter any of these problems. There are also videos available that you can download from the Internet (YouTube) should you need assistance in knowing exactly how to perform any of these procedures:

1. Try the Power Switch a second or third time.
2. If nothing happens... Check the wall outlet (switch sockets)  for power. 
3. If the outlet has power. Check the power cord itself (for damages or breaks) from wall to computer. 
4. Check the Power Supply inside the System Unit. 
5. Replace the Power Supply rather than trying to repair it, they are fairly inexpensive. 
6. If the system makes those normal click noises during booting, but the screen is blank, check the Monitor. 
7. If the monitor proves to be good, check the video card, even new systems may have manufacturers design flaws or defects in it's components.
   
8. Don't forget we live in a world of greedy corporate entities (built-in obsolescence), so one or more of the major components may have to be replaced.

Another big headache you will most likely encounter if you're a regular user of your computer system, is the fact that Windows will fail to load or the system's POST will fail to run. Google "Power On Self Test" to learn more about the Windows program used to handle this situation. Don't forget those other Windows programs used as preventive maintenance procedures that should be done often to keep your PC running at peek performance. Running such Windows ultilities as Scandisk, Disk Defragment, and Disk Cleanup will help your computer performing at its best. Using a can of compressed air removes dust that could build to the point of causing a short. If you get the computer to boot but it does not want to read from the hard drive'the Master Boot Record on the hard drive may be corrupted or even missing. To verify that the master boot record has not been damaged... Boot from the floppy disk that contains the FDISK program and type the command "fdisk mbr" to restore the master boot record onto your hard drive.

This is by no means a complete "tutorial" on how to keep your system running trouble free with so many variables of things that could go wrong, but ... this advice is more of an investigative starting point to determine what the problem is and how it may be remedied at little or no cost. Unfortunately, this is not always the case. There are situations that may call for a heavy outlay of cash for service repairs (labor) or major components (motherboard or CPU). Depending on the age of your computer this may be where you have to consider a last resort. You'll have to ask yourself, "Is it worth it?"

Zeitgeist Addendum (2008)

Why does it feel like the harder I work the less I get ahead? Why does it seem like money is not worth what it used to be? Why does it seem like no matter which political party we choose nothing much seems to change? These are questions that actually have simple answers once you know how the system is manipulated and how corruption is breed in the very nature of how these systems are set up. Is it really true that the rich get richer and the poor get poorer? Is it true that Juan coming across the border is the major reason that there is unemployment and taxes are so high? What is to become of out great nation, is it doomed to collapse and failure? The basic principles of nature, morality, logic ... answer a lot of these hard questions and clear up many of the myths and stereotypes which we all cling to in order to feel more secure or superior (good about ourselves). Corporate America, the government and the spin (a politically correct word for "To hell with the truth") put on history play a very large role in what we believe to be truth ... which in reality is not. You ever wonder why things that are put in place to supposedly help us actually do more harm than good? ... I think this documentary has that one covered too. Just as in "The Venus Project" a couple of posts back, the ideas here became a movement. This group is actually mentioned in "The Venus Project" and vice-verse. There are several sequels to this documentary that give a better idea of what the supporters of this group are about that can be found at the website ~~> http://www.zeitgeistmovie.com/ The entire series can be downloaded freely. Unfortunately, the site has not been updated with the latest installment "Zeitgeist - Moving Forward (2011)". But I'm sure you pirates out there know exactly what to do to get it (wink).

WATCH THIS !!!

Motorola Droid RAZR XT912

Fantastic Phone !!!

 

 

With the advent of Apple dropping 3G I know that it won't be long before other manufacturers follow suit. I knew it was time to retire the old (original) Motorola Droid A855 slider for a new 4G phone. I chose to stick with Motorola because of a few things. One, Motorola has been in the communications business for about 85 years. Two, tons of rave reviews regarding this phone and it's performance. Three, It fits right in with my home server network. If I had only known what I was missing ... I would have upgraded long ago. Though this is not one of Motorola's newer models, it does just about everything the newer ones do.

First of all, the image is stunning. Big 1080P HD screen and it looks fabulous! The speakers are solid and clear. It is one of the thinnest mobile phones that I've ever used and lightweight yet solid (doesn't feel cheap). Battery life is fair and it supports a sufficient sized memory card. The digitizer is very smooth and accurate. Dual front and rear camera views can be swapped with the touch of an icon. Photo and video quality are awesome. I got a great deal on one with a busted screen that I plan to replace myself. I used to repair and upgrade phones as a value added reseller on eBay. Maybe I should have a section where I show the repairs I've done on items. What do you think? The first phone to impress me was the Blackberry 1080i. In its premier days it was one of only a few phones that had both Blue Tooth & Wi-Fi and sound that could fill a room. This is the second phone to impress me via it's convertible versatility, stunning resolution and smooth operation. Setup was a breeze as with all Motorola phones. Finally, as this phone has been around for a while there are quite a bit of accessories available. I chose a little "kick-stand" holster ... To watch movies on those boringggggg dates (yawn).


The interesting thing about this phone is that it has a docking accessory that literally turns it into an Android based laptop. Additionally, there is a HD dock available with a HDMI port to stream phone content to your big screen TV. Outside of fitting my server environment perfectly ... You may ask, What's in it for me? For around $250 retail new or as low as $100 used/street it's one of the best models to take full advantage of the Android OS and all of it's features ... newer phones with the exact same features can cost as much as $500 - $600 dollars. Perhaps I'm a bit too practical for most but ... Why have/pay for dozens of features I'll never use just because it is the newest model out? That being said, I'm more impressed with what it can do than if it is new.

SiliconDust HD Home Run PRIME Network Digital TV Tuner HDHR3-CC

 

Home Run Is An Under Statement

As somewhat of an advocate for "FREE TV" I've never been very fond of cable. I never saw the purpose of getting cable boxes, satellite dishes ... And so forth (all having tuners) while there resides a tuner in your television set. Furthermore, being financially responsible for equipment that you do not own sucks raw eggs. You could wind up buying 3 or 4 tuners for the same A/V setup. I prefer monitors as opposed to full fledged television sets to circumvent this dilemma. Problem is ... Just a monitor alone doesn't capture broadcast or cable television programming. With the introduction of this product ... Problem solved. It has 3 built-in digital television tuners. This device connects via your ISP (Internet Service Provider) router and makes all stream-able content available to the 3 tuners. You can tune into 3 different channels on 3 different devices at the same time for example. Though you don't need one, it has been the perfect compliment to my home server which I control remotely via my wireless router. The included software works in conjunction with Windows Media Center also making it easy to setup custom viewing preferences. My router is wireless so a network wiring nightmare has been eliminated for me. Additionally my Samsung Blu-Ray DVD player with Wi-Fi sees this device. The device has true 1080p high definition. Streaming is smooth and stable. Yet another impressive addition to my home network and A/V entertainment system.

LOOK! NEW LOOK!

I've been working on column formatting, uniformity, photo resizing and a host of other things to enhance the look and overall experience of this blog. Hope my efforts have not been in vain. Thanks for all whom have visited ... Please come back again ... and again ... and again ... LOL And don't forget to follow, join, or leave comments.

THE VENUS PROJECT

Imagine your home being made by means of the plastic waste of plastic soda bottles, trash bags, and supermarket bags recycled and extruded from a big apartment making machine. This machine is built to maintain, upgrade, and re-fabricate (make it's own parts) itself as well. The entire apartment building can be shrunken or expanded as community living quarters needs change. Jacque Fresco is a man who has devoted much of his life to not only redesigning the way in which we use material things but also redesigning behavior and culture as we know it. I've included some photographs of models of this housing, the types of communities, and future design by this man's ideas. His ideas are so incredibly fascinating that they actually started a movement. When I first viewed this it seemed a bit strange and odd. As I listened and sort of tuned in if you will ... I was so impressed with this man's plans and ideas that I had to share. One of the most influential parts of the film is how our culture views the purpose of money and what it is used for. The monetary system seems to be the major entity that enslaves our culture physically, mentally, and spiritually. Funny thing is, this notion of being enslaved by our jobs, money, and living standards seems to be a common eco-political/socio-political thread that weaves it's way through all free thinkers.

WATCH THIS !!!

Announcing A New Catagory

Hey folks! Some movies are so incredibly awesome that they actually get us to change the way we think about things or have a lasting effect on our lives. I've decide to create a new category reviewing such movies and documentaries. I am a big documentary fan, and boy have I seen some heavy ones. Hope to hear some reactions as I too have been blinded and misinformed by our government, great leaders and the news media ... we all have. Enjoy this new section called "WATCH THIS !!!"