Kindle Pays For Itself

On By Michel McDonaldIn KindleLeave a comment

I was looking at the Amazon website again (yeah yeah yeah) and I was looking at the reviews for the newspapers just to see if it was worth it.  I saw that for Time magazine people were saying they were disappointed because there were no pictures, just articles.  Well, you need pictures with articles, especially in time magazine.

So I went to the New York Times newspaper and scrolled down to the reviews and the 2nd review from the top this guy said that he was paying $35 a month for his paper but now he pays $14 a month.  So basically the Kindle pays for itself from what amount this guy is saving from getting the digital version of his newspaper.

This person pays $420 a year for his new york times newspaper. He now pays $14 a month instead of $35 so now he pays $168 per year which means he is now saving $252 a year on the newspaper. The kindle doesn’t exactly pay for itself in a year but maybe a year and half.  That’ll work.

I don’t know how much our newspaper is because I don’t pay for it, Darrin pays for it because he is who reads it.  I don’t even read the newspaper.  I asked him how much he pays and he couldn’t recall.  I said is it like $15 a month?  $20 a month?  He said yeah I guess.  Currently our local newspaper is not available for the Kindle but it is available at www.newsstand.com for $10 a month but you have to view that on a PC or a laptop via browser or you can download it and view it through software called iBrowse.  You can also print pages.  If it were available via Kindle then that might be incentive enough for me to buy one so he can read the newspaper but unfortunately it’s not so, oh well.

But it is good to know that the Kindle pays for itself with certain newspapers and magazines.

Kindle Comic Books?

On By Michel McDonaldIn KindleLeave a comment

I wonder if someone can respond to this.  I’m very curious about Comic Books being available on the Kindle 2.  I know that some comic books are full size like magazines so you have a larger page and if it’s shrunk down for the kindle will it be harder to read.  Or perhaps if it is available for the Kindle, will you only get 1 box at a time,  What about the bigger boxes that take up the whole page of the comic book?  That will definitely be harder to read.  Maybe it would have a zoom?  Or does the Kindle 2 have zoom?

I think it would be a cool idea to have comic books available on your Kindle.  If someone googles Comic Book with the word Kindle please respond to this if you find this post and let me know what you think.  Is this going to be available?  Would you like it to become available or is it just better to have them in paper form for their value in the future?

Just so that I don’t look like a complete moron, I went to Amazon and searched for comic books and found this Serenity, Vol. 1: Those Left Behind [ILLUSTRATED] (Paperback).  I see that it’s not available for Kindle so I clicked the “I’d like to read this on Kindle” link.  Yeah, I know, I don’t have a kindle yet but I’ve been clicking that for a lot of books just so they do become available.  At some point I’d like to get one, some day.  But that Serenity book says paperback but it is a comic book.

I looked up Spiderman comic books and they all say paperback and they all have the “I’d like to read this on Kindle” link.

Future PSP Dream

On By Michel McDonaldIn Dreams, PSPLeave a comment

I had this dream that I was in a department store like Wal-Mart or whatever, I don’t remember where it was.  Sometimes in dreams you end up somewhere and you have no idea where.  And I was in the electronics department (yeah big surprise lol) and there was a PSP sitting on a box in front of the counter and it was turned on.

I picked it up and showed the sales lady that there was a PSP on the box and she said it’s a demo, go ahead and play with it.  I looked at it and it was odd.  The screen wasn’t as glossy as the PSP-2000, I’m guessing it was the same as the PSP-3000.  And the right side was missing completely.  The buttons were gone as well as the top right button.  It was obviously smoothed out so it wasn’t cut.  I cropped an image of a PSP to show how it looked.

pspbatman

Obviously the button on the bottom wasn’t cut in half in the dream, Actually there wasn’t any space between the bottom of the screen and the bottom of the PSP.  I don’t know what buttons were on the left side but there were buttons.  And it was all touch screen too.  Oh and I remember it was so light too.  I mean, my PSP is light but the PSP is my dream was so much lighter, it was like half the weight of the current PSP Slim.

I touched the screen and moved my finger and the screen changed, I mean it moved as if I was pressing the arrow buttons to move around.  I’m assuming the buttons on the left were the triangle, square, circle and x buttons.

It was really cool but then all of a sudden I was outside and there was a tiger in a tree trying to save her cub and there was a woman in a dress which was dark green then faded to light green and had these black lines on them.  All of a sudden the tigers fur changed and it looked just like the dress as if it were a chameleon.

Weird huh?

Pet Toxins

On By Michel McDonaldIn Health, PetsLeave a comment

I got an email about Pet Toxins.  You know already that you can’t give chocolate to your dog because they just cannot tolerate it and it will kill them.  This one time our dog Flower (toy chihuahua) ate half of a doughnut with chocolate frosting that Darrin left on the couch while he went to the kitchen.  We rushed her to the vet with the doughnut and showed them how much she ate.  They said that she might feel a little sick and maybe even vomit but she’ll be OK,  It wasn’t enough to hurt her.

But is there ever any amount that is OK?  No.  That’s why I’m listing foods that you absolutely cannot feed your dog or cat.

  • Grapes and Raisins – In dogs and cats, grapes can cause kidney failure.
  • Bread Dough – The dog’s body heat will cause the dough to expand quickly resulting in severe abdominal pain and bloating. In some cases, death can occur if enough dough is eaten.
  • Chewing Gum – A dog might be attracted to the sweet-smelling gum that your kids are chewing or that’s tucked away in your bag. But the artificial sweetener, xylitol, in many types of gum and breath mints, can be deadly to pets. The sweetener can cause a low-blood sugar crisis in your pet. In fact, just one pack of gum can kill a dog.
  • Macadamia Nuts – Ingesting these nuts can cause tremors, weakness, unsteadiness, depression, a rapid heart rate, and a dangerous rise in body temperature that can lead to other complications.
  • Nicotine – Nicotine is highly toxic so it doesn’t take much to cause a health crisis for your pet, including seizures, coma and death.
  • Chocolate – Caffeine-like stimulants in chocolate known as methylxanthines can produce vomiting, diarrhea, excessive thirst and urination, hyperactivity, abnormal heart rhythm, tremors, seizures and even death.
  • Alcohol – Alcohol ingestion can lead to seizures, heart arrhythmia, vomiting, coma and death.
  • Pain Relievers – One tablet of acetaminophen can kill a cat.
  • Tea – Caffeine in your tea is toxic to both cats and dogs. Depending on how much is consumed and the size of your pet, ingesting it can lead to vomiting, diarrhea, hyperactivity, seizures, coma and even death.
  • Onions – Onions are toxic to dogs and cats whether they’re raw or cooked. When ingested, onions can cause hemolytic anemia, a condition that destroys the red blood cells in the bloodstream. A dog with onion poisoning may become lethargic and have difficulty breathing. Generally, a large amount of onions would need to be consumed to pose a serious threat to your dog, but cats are highly sensitive to onion toxicity.

Wow, I didn’t even know that about all these things.  I knew about chocolate but not the rest like the macadamia nuts.  Well, who can afford those anyway?

All I have to say is that the dog on Family Guy better stop smoking and drinking. (That was a joke hehe sorry Brian).

The source by the way is AOL Health.  The website address that this came from is Pet Toxins- AOL Health.  You gotta click the arrow on the picture for a pop up window that shows a top 11 list of what I listed.

Michael’s

On By Michel McDonaldIn craftsLeave a comment

I know the economy is bad and most businesses are suffering greatly because of it.  I’ve gotten a coupon just about every day for the last 2 weeks from Michael’s.  This is a company who I hardly ever get coupons from but maybe 4 times a year.  They are so hard up for business they are practically giving away their merchandise just to keep their stores in business.

I really do have some things that I want to buy but I just can’t afford it.  I want to buy the wood burning kit along with some plain wood boxes and trays and round pieces of wood and rectangle and I would like the grease pencils that you use to color the wood when wood burning.

Wanting however and needing are 2 different things.  I can’t afford so I don’t need.  I want sure but do I need?  No.  I want them so I can learn how to do it so hopefully I can sell some stuff and make some extra money for the household but can I afford to find out if it’s my thing, if it’s not going to turn out to be another craft fad that I won’t be able to figure out and it will sit in the corner?  No.  I can’t afford to take that risk right now.

I think 6 months ago we were there so Darrin could buy some painting stuff and while we were there I bought some drawing stuff that was on clearance but I knew I wouldn’t get that into it so I didn’t buy much.  Needless to say I didn’t get much into it.  But I can see me using that as a tool to sketch out ideas for wood burning.  So who knows, I might not have wasted money on that stuff.  But for now, I did waste money on it because it sits in a drawer.

Sorry Michael’s, your name is my name but that just isn’t enough for me to be able to spend money to keep you afloat.  I really do wish this economy wasn’t in the toilet though because if it wasn’t believe me, I’d be there in a hot second buying stuff.

Oh, with this economy people aren’t going to buy art so buying wood burning stuff to make money isn’t going to work.  People are burning through their savings account to keep from becoming homeless, I highly doubt they are going to buy a wood slab with a picture of a horse or a dog on it.  And the people who still have their jobs are probably having to save all that they can just in case they lose their job.  Or their spouse is out of work so they are scraping by to make up for the loss of their wife or husband.

The Direction of Heroes

On By Michel McDonaldIn TVLeave a comment

Season 1 of Heroes was fantastic.  I just loved it so much because it’s right up my alley.  I love anything that is strange and supernatural.  Something that is not normal.  And this show has nothing but abnormalities.

Season 2 came along and it ended in the middle of the season thanks to the writer’s strike.  The creator/writer of the show didn’t like the direction he was going, it was ok to me but he decided to end it and go for a season 3 and try to fix things.

Season 3 comes and it just goes in a totally different direction that I’m not sure I like.  Nathan is capturing people with abilities and holding them as prisoners?  What?  He has abilities.  What makes him so special?  Why doesn’t Hiro have his ability and why can’t Peter hold onto more than 1 power at a time like before?  That was the thing I liked about Peter and Hiro, their ability.  Also, it screws up the future because Peter came from the future to the past to change things and he had all his abilities that he had before.  If they are going to change the present then they have to change the future to reflect the present.

I hope that they put things back to the way they were because I’m about to stop watching it.  Ok, you know I won’t.  I love Sylar too much to stop watching lol.  Him and his long thick black eyebrows hehe.

Fractured Toe

On By Michel McDonaldIn HealthLeave a comment

fractured-toeIf you’ve ever broken a toe before you already know that they can’t do anything for you.  I don’t know why but they can’t fix toes, I guess they are too little and too insignificant to fix.  They serve no purpose other than being stinky.

Most people who know me and saw me growing up already know I have a depth perception issue.  When I would go to walk through a doorway as a child, I’d see the doorway in my line of sight but as I got to it I’d end up hitting wall.  I don’t know why.  My eyes are a tad bit crossed so I see 2 of everything but it’s not that much to worry about.  I do get tunnel vision without my glasses so I normally should have them on at all times but sometimes my vanity doesn’t allow it so I take them off and walk into walls hehe.

Yesterday I was in the living room and I was walking very fast to my bedroom and my right foot slammed into the door jamb.  I don’t know why, I was centered with the door frame so there was no reason for it, it just happened lol.  I screamed and dropped the f bomb a couple of times and then laughed while I was sitting on my bed.  The pain slowly went away and I thought all was good until I went to the doctor today (routine visit) and said oh by the way, I think I broke my toe.  He said that it’s probably just fractured, it’s still straight but because it is so badly bruised I’ve just fractured it.  Fracturing can make the blood rush to that spot and it looks bruised.

As a child I never bruised at all, you could punch me in the face (and I was) and I wouldn’t bruise at all, or if I did it wouldn’t last very long.  This one time I was visiting my Aunt Joyce in Palmdale, CA and I went to reach for my towel which was on the bathroom counter and I didn’t want to get out and get the floor wet so I grabbed the towel rack to keep me from falling so I could reach for the towel but the aluminum towel rack bar came right off the brackets and even one of the brackets fell to the floor, I fell on the shower door track.  I had a giant bruise from my arm pit to my leg on my right side.  I showed my Aunt Joyce and it had faded 50% by that time.  Within 5 more minutes it was completely gone.

I had to tell you that so you would understand that I don’t bruise so the bruise on my toe must mean that it’s really bad.

Andrew Lawrence

On By Michel McDonaldIn CelebritiesLeave a comment

Wow I was just at IMDB and was looking at Andrew Lawrence (affectionately known as Andy) and see that he will be 21 this year.  He is currently in The United States of Tara (2 appearances so far as Jason).

I remember watching Joey Lawrence when he was in Gimme’ A Break, he was such a cute little kid and I knew from that show that he would make it big.  Now he’s bald and the last thing he did was Dancing with the Stars.

I haven’t seen Matthew in anything in a long time.  The last time I saw him he was on Boy Meets World.

I haven’t seen the youngest brother in years, the last time I saw him he was in Brotherly Love with his 2 brothers.  I do remember him in Jack Frost but that was the last thing I saw him in.  According to IMDB he has a huge credit of 37 titles of movies and tv series.  Good for him.  He’s been working since the age of 3.

Let’s just hope that he continues to work so I can see him really grow up.  I’m just hoping that his character on US of Tara is not that of a homophobe.  Please Andy, don’t be that guy in this show.

Aptera Electric Car

On By Michel McDonaldIn TechLeave a comment

I just watched a story on Fox News about this new 3 wheel electric car that is coming out this October.  It only goes 100 miles on an 8 hour charge.  It has solar panels on the roof to keep the inside of the car cool and it keeps the motor cool while it’s parked.  The news reporter showed how durable it is by banging on the top of the frame (before painted) with a really heavy hammer (looked like a small sledge hammer) and it didn’t dent and there wasn’t so much as a scratch.

www.aptera.com

This is basically a commuter vehicle.  It can have 2 passengers so you can pick up a co-worker and drive to work everyday and not spend 1 dime in gas.  But how much electricity does it use every night?  Does it use as much as a refrigerator or a computer or what?  I looked at their FAQ section, they won’t disclose any of that, probably because it does use a heck of a lot of electricity to charge.

There are electric car parking spaces though in some places.  There is an Amtrak station in Lancaster, CA with like 3 or 4 electric car only parking spots.  What you do is you plug it in then I guess put dollar bills in it and let it charge while you are commuting on the train to work.  I guess.  But I’m sure as soon as it becomes the norm for people to have this car there will be more electric parking spots available for employees so they can charge while they work.

Edit: Found it…  Here is a quote on the Live page on the right side at the very bottom of the list of functions of the car.

Plug-in
Okay, almost time for bed. You can be proud of yourself because the 100 miles you have driven since you unplugged this morning only cost you about $0.50. And, just think, tomorrow morning your Aptera will be waiting for your next big adventure.

That’s pretty impressive don’t you think?  And the seats are recycled from plastic bottles.

Recycle
We just think this is cool, but the fabric your seat material is made of prevented bottles from ending up in a landfill. How about that for being environmentally responsible.