Mrs. Mecomber’s Scrapbook

Wow, I saw this in the news and it looks amazing! I have a few Disney-maniacs who visit my blog. Disney fine art is highly collectible, as well as beautiful! I’m sure you’ll love it!

Sanders Art Studio.com in Ogden, Utah is pleased to announce “The Magic of Disney Fine Art Exhibition.” This exciting new exhibit features Artists Trevor Carlton, Tricia Buchanan-Bensen, James Coleman, Mike Kupka, Harrison Ellenshaw and Peter Ellenshaw, among others.

The exhibit showcases over 30 of your favorite Disney Classic Film moments such as Cinderella, Alice in Wonderland, The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, Kermit the Frog, Peter Pan, Mickey Mouse, Pirates of the Caribbean, Mary Poppins and much more.

In addition to the exhibit, over 300 limited-edition Disney Fine Art Giclee’s on canvases are available for purchase on a new website and virtual gallery at Sanders Art Studio.com.

I’m a great admirer of art, especially cartoon art and animation. This looks like a wonderful event to attend! It’s a LIVE event, at Utah’s Hogle Zoo. It’ll be held September 20, 2008, so there’s plenty of time to prepare and plan. Trevor Carlton is an accomplished artist– it would be thrilling to meet him in person. He’ll be at the event! Call managing director KC Sanders (a longtime Disney associate) at the Sanders Art Studio.com (801) 393-9419 for more information.

My kids listen to classical music as they do their schoolwork. I’ve tired of buying CDs (at $10 a CD, it can get very expensive). Here’s a cool website that plays free classical music: Musopen. You can download the music, too! The collection isn’t very large, but it’s growing.

I’ll admit it, when personal computers first came out, and then the Internet, I believed it was all a fad. Similar to something like pet rocks or transistor radios, lol. But the computerization of our culture and the cultures around the world has absolutely exploded, so much so that people are building entire careers around it! That is amazing to me. And even more amazing, is that careers in computing– particularly IT professions– is extremely lucrative. I have a brother-in-law who is an IT guy, and he makes really good money. Of course, if a person is serious about a career in computers and computer “language” as I call it, you should definitely look into Cisco certification.

The Cisco Learning Network is one of the most professional and comprehensive websites for learning everything there is to know, connecting with others and participating in a vast network of knowledge, opinions, and news, and continuing an education within the network. Get the lowdown on the latest news and articles, stay on top of the ever-changing IT career opportunities, and best of all, participate in Cisco’s certification programs.

I don’t know if I would ever choose a career like this (I think I may be too old now, lol), but I certainly encourage you young people to check this out. If anything, Cisco’s certification program would make a great “backup” career should a primary career falter or slow down. The economy and job opportunities are going through a great change, but I think computers and computer experts are here to stay. Time has proven that the IT world is not a fad! If anything, I think that a career in IT has yet to peak. Network security is hot hot hot, and people who know the ropes are going to be in very high demand.

Here’s a terrific tutorial I found for using drop caps for your blog posts. I have been wanting to do this on one of my blogs for quite a while! It’s for Blogger blogs, but saavy bloggers could figure out how to do this with Wordpress. I am going to tinker with it! Drop Caps look so classy.

I think I have seen it all! Well.. come to think of it, maybe I haven’t. But this is something pretty close! Ever heard of it? It’s the “B Membrane” computer.

It looks really funky, like something in one of those retro vegas hotels! I have to wonder if something like this will really catch on. I like the monitor system (like a projector) but the keyboard is extremely awkward. However, there’s no worry about spilling coffee in the keys!

How about you? Would you buy something like this?

Need a user guide or manual? I don’t know what it is about me, but I am ALWAYS losing those durn things! Thank God for the Internet. Here’s a website where you can find a huge variety of user manuals: SafeManuals.com. Remember, it’s a “free” site, so ALWAYS use caution when downloading files and be sure to scan them with your anti-virus first. I haven’t had any problems, but it pays to be careful about everything these days.

Shall I ever stop being surprised what is available online? I love using the Internet to shop, and I’ve discovered all sorts of remarkable things to buy. This is cool– Tactical assault gear, just like law enforcement guys wear! My young sons love stuff like this. The clothing and footwear look extremely durable. Actually, we are impressed with the boots, the “Advance Coyote Brown” boot, because it looks incredibly comfortable, durable, and very affordable! I don’t think my local shoe store has anything like this, for such a low price!

Flashlights, hats, bags, holsters, gun and ammo cases– this place has got it all. Everything looks so durable and well-made. Selections from this site would make the perfect gifts for the outdoorsman in your life. Isn’t it amazing, all the cool stuff to be discovered online, now? Whereas once we were limited to getting our guys a tie or a baseball hat at the local department store, now we can get them high-quality tactical gear delivered right to our doors! I just love the Internet!

I’m very impressed! After hearing about Hulu for several weeks, I decided to give it a try. It/s a website that offers free streaming television programs. It actually worked! I have “medium speed” broadband, and the show worked pretty well. i didn’t browse around a great deal, bui their selection looks quite large.

The shows are free; however you watch a brief advertisement in the beginning, and there is a small banner ad in the Hulu browser. Every once in a while, a corporate logo (I saw the McDonald’s Dollar Menu ad) pops up in the eight-hand side of the screen. The ads are not obtrusive and are easily ignored.

I was extremely impressed because they have a good collection of PBS and NOVA documentaries (I am not a TV show watcher, but I love documentaries). Even when I enlarged the video player to full screen, the video ran smoothly and the picture was still relatively clear. (It’s not like YouTube, where the picture is blocky and cube-looking when you go full screen). Hulu is an excellent tool for home educators. I give it my thumbs up.

I’m a simple lady. I like things.. well, simple! No bells, no whistles, no fancy packaging. It is really difficult to find a cell phone these days– there are far too many and there are too many choices! Right now I have a meager Tracfone. I’m not crazy about the service, and am looking for a replacement. I just don’t want a billion little buttons and additions to service. I prefer the KISS method.*

It would be obvious that I need something like a “cell phone” checker, or a cell phone comparing website. I have too many other things going on around here to know all that there is to know about everything concerning cell phones! Well, guess what? I found one! It’s bestincellphones.com. They have a complete listing of all the cell phone companies and their services, including but not limited to:

AT&T
T-Mobile
Sprint
Verizon Wireless
Sprint Instinct

You can shop by brand (all the major companies are there), service (family plans, etc), features (Including Bluetooth, camera phones, flip phones), and more. I also saw a great offer for a free cell phone with bonus Bluetooth Headsets while supplies last. The site is pretty cool. It’s organized extremely well and I’ve been finding it easy to figure out my choices. The deals are great with all their numerous offers for free phones, free RAZR deals, headsets, and free ringtones. Check them out!

And remember, always read the small print when entering a contract. Also, be sure to check out a company’s website and contact information, and make sure you are dealing with a reputable company. You don’t save any money by being careless!

* if you have never heard of it, the KISS method is Keep It Simple, Silly. LOL!

Love history? Love media clips? You might love to take a look at iCue. I found it recently while looking for educational videos. My kids love to watch videos, but I won’t allow them to browse YouTube. There is so much junk, so much perversity flowing through YouTube, YUK! iCue looks better. It’s run by NBC, so expect the usual self-promotion. But some of the stuff is worth watching. It’s an interactive site, too, with games and the social networking aspect (isn’t everything about social networking these days, lol!). Good site for homeschoolers.

Got a blog? Got readers? I have several blogs, and many readers, yay! I haven’t been too astute about providing easy means of accessing my content for my readers, however. I have RSS feed for some, but setting up RSS accounts is a real pain to do (and when the blog or blog server is down, so are all the feeds). I personally prefer receiving email updates to my favorite blogs, more than reading RSS feeds and reading them in third-party feed readers. That’s why I’m looking into Zookoda. It’s FREE and we all know how much I love that price tag! Zookoda is offered by the folks at IZEA (the brains behind PayPerPost, SocialSpark, and the Blogger’s Choice Awards).

IZEA offers Zookoda, which is an online software program where you can send email updates of your latest blog posts to your readers’ email inboxes. It’s a sophisticated piece of “bloggerware,” but it is extremely simple to use. With Zookoda, you can also manage all your subscribers, design newsletters to match your blog, schedule broadcasts, and even email in text format (this is great for mobile users who read your blogs). There is much more you can do, too. I’m very impressed with the software and how easy it is to use. And it’s free! Pretty amazing. There is also a terrific forum set up by IZEA (it includes boards for all IZEA products and services, but also has a specific one geared for Zookoda users). The IZEA forum is one of the best on the Internet, too, so you can’t go wrong with that. Check it out. I’ll be gearing up with it soon, as I want to create a subscription service for my travel blog, first. So, stay tuned for that!

It is hard to fathom, but 1 in 150 children are diagnosed with autism in the United States. This is a phenomenal number, in my opinion. It tells me that something in our environment, be it vaccines or water quality, are afflicting our kids. It is terrible.

Parents with autistic kids can use all the help others can give. Here’s a wonderful new help– the ZacBrowser! It’s designed especially for children with autism. It looks great! It’s getting the attention of major media networks, too. The download is free. Looks like it can be a great browser for very young kids, too.

My husband is nuts about chess. He found a terrific online chess game. You register and sign up to play with players from all around the world. Players are graded by points, and can create profiles. I have been watching my husband play, and I’m very impressed by the very sophisticated software. It’s pretty amazing! It’s free, too. It’s called ChessAtWork (also called Play the Immortal Game). My husband is QUITE addicted! SO if you have a husband who is supposed to be looking for car parts or fixing the plumbing, and who you’d rather not tempt with online games, better skip this one. Just warning ya.

Firefox is rapidly becoming the browser of choice for Internet users. It is the only browser I use, unless I’m having technical problems and need to use Internet Explorer. I love the tabbed feature of Firefox more than anything. There’s a lot about Firefox that can be confusing, though (ever look into about:config?). I have found the Mozilla forums to be an essential help. Most of the forums is about the Firefox browser. You won’t find tips about cheap term life insurance, but you will reap reams of additional information by reading some of the small talk that goes on between the geeks. It is truly a learning experience! The forum link is here.

I have a wireless DSL modem in the house. I have been unhappy with my very weak WiFi signal in my bedroom upstairs. I had heard that there’s an easy way to increase WiFi signal range, and I found this entertaining video about how to make a homemade “parabolic reflector” with stuff around the house. This looks cool!

The template these guys are referring to is this one. I’m going to try this and see if this fixes my problem. I’ll be sure to give a review when I do it! Now if only making Adirondack patio furniture was so easy!