Deals Discovered

I am NOT keeping up with this blog. No surprise there. I would have resolved to do better in the New Year, but who am I kidding.

I did discover some new stuff not having a thing to do with libraries, though:

Energy Co-op of Vermont – I had no idea such a thing existed because I’ve never been able to buy heat via my own choice of vendor. I found them in the good ol’ Yellow pages. Their heating fuels are at least 50 cents cheaper a gallon than the other 15 companies I talked to in Chittenden County, plus they give 8 cents off for paying within 10 days or allowing them to just charge a card they keep on file. Plus, they’re a co-op, which is about as awesome as one can feel about heating oil.

Wildblue – In case you are not aware, you CAN get the nets in Vermont where we all thought only dial-up would go. Now, it is more expensive to have Satellite internet than dial-up, but it is comparable to DSL or Cable, so if you were already prepared to, or are used to, paying that much, check out Wildblue, they were the cheapest one I found. Plus, if you have DirecTV, they have a promotion of $10 off a month for 12 months for high speed internet with one of their partners (of which Wildblue is one), making the cheapest Wildblue package $39.95/mo. Not bad. The only drawback I can see is that it looks like you are operating some sort of command center from your house. Personally, I don’t have that kind of vanity, so you can put all the dishes you want on my house as long as I can check IMDb while watching TV! I don’t have it yet, but I’ll report back later on how well it works.

Swagbucks – I learned about this from I’ve Paid for this Twice Already… This search site uses Google and Ask as it’s structure, and pays you in swagbucks for using it to search. Since it is using Google, and gives Amazon gift cards as a reward option, I was easily sold. If you click through and sign up via the link I gave, I evidently get some sort of referral reward.

That’s all for now folks.

 

23 Things – Week 11- Thing 22 – Podcasts

What differentiates a podcast from regular streaming audio or video is that the delivery method for podcasts is often done automatically through RSS – interested listeners or watchers can receive updates through RSS when new content is posted. – 23 Things Podcast  Description.

I had no idea that this was the difference! Podcasts are another one of those 2.0 technologies that I have continually had the opportunity to become exposed to, but deftly avoided. I really had no idea until today what they really were. And now that I know, it seems like something I’d be interested in, but am not sure where to start.

And of course, like most things, a divine intervention. My partner was driving me to my Chiropractor’s appointment and in my Vicodin induced haze, I admitted that I really have no idea what in the world is going on with gas prices or the economy or what drives economics. You know, the kind of confession you would really only make under the influence to someone who would never tell on you (and then you go any tell the world in your blog because your embarrassing ignorance of the subject makes a good point).

He mentioned that one way he keeps up on economics is listening to the Marketplace show on NPR, but then he noted that it was on when I was at work or sleeping. And then I had a moment…I asked him if it was podcasted. He said he didn’t know, but if it was I should subscribe to it and then I could listen to it any time. Ta da!

Since I am on complete house rest, I pulled out my iTunes and decided to figure all this out. After a few failed tries, I ended up with a weeks worth of Marketplace podcasts and a subscription for more. I can listen to these while I ice my shoulder on the couch. At least I will have something to do. And also, now I “get” podcasts and I wholeheartedly approve. Maybe I’ll look for more tomorrow.

 

23 Things – Week 10 – Thing 20 – iGoogle

Well, what do you know, I go to the SEOmoz Web 2.0 Awards and there is my previously mentioned iGoogle, ranking third in the Start Pages category. I could have tried out one of the others, but since I’ve been talking about customizing an iGoogle page forever, it seemed like the thing to do.

My verdict is that it’s fun, but I wouldn’t say it’s absolutely necessary. Of course, if I find out that I can have all my Google apps available on one tab for my viewing, which is probably possible and I missed it, then it will be come necessary. It was fun looking at all the widgets they have for it, but overall, I don’t feel like this is adding to my life in any way. It’s just something else to look at.