LINUX? WHAT'S THAT!?

True, I don't have a lot of time to be writing this, so I will make it short and sweet. If you have an old computer, say one running Windows 98 with at least 128MB of RAM then consider this: Do you want to continue using this antiquated software or do you want something that has some, shall we say Uumph! to it? Anywho, check out these great Linux distrobutions that can be run directly from a CD without even installing it on your computer:
Top 10 Linux Distrobutions

These distros (as the call them) are money savers since all are free. They call also save you time since all include a full package of office software and literally thousands of software packages. I'd recommend PCLinuxOS since I have been using it for months now and have students at my school using it on a daily basis. The computers are set to "dual-boot" which means you have a choice to run Windows or Linux when you start the computer. The installer gives you the option to do this. What could be more of a time and money saver. Only downfall, it is not Windows and you will not be able to run any windows applications without some Linux scripting knowledge. However, like with Macintosh owners, the greatest defense has and always will be this: How many word processors do you need?

Oh, I forgot to mention. I did a sort of quick side-by-side comparison of MS Vista and PCLinuxOS and found that although both systems looked nice. the Linux system used less resources which means you could run Linux on an older machine and not need 2GB of RAM and a dual core processor---just keep in mind, Linux costs NOTHING!

Four Rules to Understand What Makes People Tick

I like this blog called Lifehacker.org. I read it as often as I can. It has some great ideas. This article I thought rang true to dealing with other people. You may already know these things, but it is always good to be reminded in order to keep our perspective.

Link: http://www.lifehack.org/articles/communication/four-rules-to-understand-what-makes-people-tick.html

Animoto will help you make a great video out of your photos

The Perceived Unpopularity of Skype in the US

I have been using Skype for at least three years now and was, initially, sold on the fact that it goes way beyond the normal messengers like MSN Messenger, Yahoo Messenger, ICQ, AOL and others in the fact that it just plain works and has voice and video applications that work better than anything I have seen. As an administrator I have used it to contact students and parents at no cost to my school. I have used it to display real-time video from a scientist in Australia who studies spiders. For $30 a year you can call out to any phone in the US and Canada. Pretty cool stuff. It is more secure than any other messenger with its 256-bit encryption that not even the CIA can tap. Skype also has a voice mail option and a call-in option, but these two options will cost you. So what is free, well, you can call to any other Skype user, this is where you will find this great tool very unpopular. It is unpopular in the US because it is in competition with MSN and Yahoo Messenger who have been greatly popular in this country for over ten years. Try to get a relative or friend in their 30's and 40's to download and install the client so you can communicate freely is like asking them to give a pound of flesh. I have spoken with plenty of people who are daily users of Skype that have faced the same problem with trying to convince people how useful a communication tool this can be. Just try it. It can save you a lot of money in long distance calls, it is quicker than email, and you can transfer files by dropping an dragging them to the chat window of your contact. Check it out here: http://www.skype.com

Health Benefits of Coffee

I love coffee! But, I don't often think of it as a healthy drink. Perhaps it is not healthy when it is made in one of those aluminum urns with pre-ground coffee that has been sitting on the shelf for who knows how long and is doctored-up with ten spoons of sugar and creamer made of some sort of white powder that looks like that stuff that you see around the post of your car battery, etc, etc. However, I am rather a connoisseur of fine coffee and use only real sugar and real cream in mine, and drink it fresh ground and make certain that it is organic. Sorry, I don't mean to be elitist, but I like what I like.

Anyway, I found this report that speaks of the few benefits of drinking coffee in large quantities.
http://men.webmd.com/features/coffee-new-health-food

Tips for better, more efficient reading....

I like reading, but don't have a lot of time to do so. I like to keep up on the news, but don't really have the time to sit and read a five paragraph article on some new study that proves something right I have been doing or something wrong, but I read it anyway and hurry through and don't always get the gist of it. I like to speed read, but text on the computer screen is sometimes difficult to see. Here's a great reader that will allow you to copy the article or whatever and paste it in and set your reading speed and retain stuff like you never have before in a fraction of the time. Check it out at http://www.zapreader.com