On-Task On-Time For Kids Giveaway From Timely Matters

Does your child have trouble staying on task? Does your child have difficulty with time management? Do you need to try a new system to help with both? Timely Matters, Inc. has come out with On·Task On·Time for Kids.

You can set up each disk for different times of the day. You can space out the stickers to give your child more time between activities. I visited their website to watch a video of how it works. It seems to be easy to carry around and the stickers on the rotating disc gives your child the visual cues he or she needs to help stay on task and on time. Plus, it shows what is coming up. It is a great way to give your child a portable schedule.

Timely Matters, Inc. will be giving one away to a lucky winner. The winner gets to choose if it will be for a boy or girl.

This giveaway starts now and will end July 13, 2010. You must be a US resident to win. Please leave your email with your entry comment.

Main Entry: Leave a comment telling me who you would give these to and why. (If this rule isn’t followed, no additional entries will count).

You can get extra entries by doing any or all of the below. Each entry needs to be a separate comment.

1 Extra Entry - Follow @taless on Twitter and leave your twitter id in a separate comment
* 1 Extra Entry - Twitter this giveaway and leave your twitter name in a separate comment (You can get up to one extra entry by tweeting each day and leaving a comment here each day.)
1 Extra Entry - Follow my blog and let me know in a separate comment
1 Extra Entry - Subscribe to my RSS feed via email and let me know in a separate comment
1 Extra Entry - Write a post on your blog linking to my blog, and let me know in a separate comment

Man Uses Facebook To Share Nude Photos With Church Members

 

This is horrible. In Lexington, NC, a former member of Sonlight Baptist Church in Lexington sent out friend requests to church to dozens of church members. Some of these members were children. The pictures and videos on this man's Facebook page were nudes and some showed his genitals.

When the church realized what was going on, they called all the members of the church. The Assistant Pastor Scott Steed declined to name the church member that sent out the friend requests. Police officials say that no charges can be filed unless children that saw the pictures step forward. The page has since been taken down.

This reiterates the importance of monitoring your child's computer usage. It's also extremely important to monitor the Facebook activity of your child. Even if the person you are accepting as a friend on Facebook is someone you are acquainted with, your child may not be safe accepting him or her as a friend.

Life Without A Camera

I recently dropped my camera. In it's prime, it was a really good camera. It took many fine pictures of my family. It was easy to carry around, and had a video feature. I loved the display on the back and flipping through the pictures I had taken, before I had the opportunity to put them on the computer.

My camera was dropped several times. I'm sorry I did not take better care of it. Unfortunately, when you have kids, you are always juggling multiple things in your hands. They also like to hold the camera, and use it. I'm not the only one that dropped the camera over the four years we had it. My kids and my husband are also guilty of mistreating our trusting camera.

I'm surprised it has lasted as long as it has. You may wonder what brand it is. It's an HP. I miss being able to use it. I miss not being able to take pictures of special moments. There have been a lot of missed pictures since my camera took it's last fall to the ground.

My husband wants to get me a new camera. I want a new one, too. The problem is, I don't know what kind to get. Yes, my HP was an excellent camera. It wasn't perfect. I've also use Kodak in the past, and was happy with it. Plus, there are now cameras available with more features. I'm not a tech person. I'm not a professional camera person. I point and click. Then, I hope the camera has captured a great picture.

I need to make a decision soon. I'm missing out on a lot of photo opportunities. Any suggestions? Do you have a favorite camera? If so, what and why?

PS: I'd include a picture of my now deceased camera, but I don't have a camera to do so with.

Wordless Wednesday It's A Zoo Out There

Wordless Wednesday Pioneer Days

Tsunami to Hit Hawaii Live Coverage

If you haven’t heard yet, Hawaii is on alert for a Tsunami. It’s all over the news and the internet. Twitter is full of tweets about it and prayers for those who are in Hawaii. There are also the ugly tweets like this one:

Twitter: “BREAKING: God sends tsunami to punish Hawaii for letting Rush Limbaugh benefit from state-run universal health care.”

Some people have no taste. Here is a live stream feed of what is going on in Hawaii.

Live Streaming by Ustream.TV

Freeze Frame Publishing Photo Book Giveaway Closed

After I did my Valentine’s Gift Guide, Freeze Frame Publishing offered to do a review and giveaway on my blog. They gave me a free Classic photo book, contents designed by me using my pictures, to review and keep. Freeze Frame Publishing allows you to use your own pictures to create photo books, postcards, posters and more.

Once you have downloaded their free software, you can begin working on your project. I enjoyed using their program. It was easy and quick. You have a choice of multiple backgrounds, picture frames, and page templates. You can also use different ones for different pages when creating an book. You are not locked into just on design for the whole book.

For my book, I created a memory book of Christmas past. In fact, I was able to use Christmas 2009 and 2010 in my book. I used two different backgrounds and played around with the different picture frames and page templates. I was able to display about 80 pictures. The Classic photo book pricing starts at $29.99. You can add pages for $1.99 per double sided page. I think that their pricing is very reasonable.

I was excited to open the photo book when it arrived. The book cover is a plain, black, hard cover that has an open square in the middle to view the first picture through. The pages are nicely bound in the book. The printing on the pages are excellent quality. I did find two mistakes, or I should say, my daughter found two mistakes in the book. The pictures I selected for the album are from Christmas of 2008 and 2009. I labeled them 2009 and 2010. Yes, the mistakes were mine. That is why I strongly urge you to take your time when creating your album. Make sure you double check your work before saving and uploading to Freeze Frame.

This giveaway is for one CLASSIC photo book is 20 pages, 8.5" x 11" landscape hardcover book capable of holding 20 to 100 pictures to one winner. You must live in the US to win. This giveaway begins February 4, 2010 and ends February 20, 2010.

Main Entry: Leave a comment telling me who you would give this to and why. (If this rule isn’t followed, no additional entries will count).

You can get extra entries by doing any or all of the below. Each entry needs to be a separate comment.

1 Extra Entry - Follow @taless on Twitter and leave your twitter id in a separate comment
* 1 Extra Entry - Twitter this giveaway and leave your twitter name in a separate comment (You can get up to one extra entry by tweeting each day and leaving a comment here each day.)
1 Extra Entry - Follow my blog and let me know in a separate comment
1 Extra Entry - Subscribe to my RSS feed via email and let me know in a separate comment
1 Extra Entry - Write a post on your blog linking to my blog, and let me know in a separate comment

Snow Fall Accumulation in NC

Last night, we watched as the snow started to fall, covering the ground and roads. This morning, we woke up to snow that was compacted from the ice that is now falling. Here are a couple of pictures of what it is like outside, now.

As I was taking pictures, I noticed a few, brave souls driving on the road next to the house. They were taking it slow, which was good. I, however, will not be braving the roads today. With ice coming down on top of the snow on the road, driving can be hazardous. Better to stay bundled up indoors today.

We did take some time to play outside. Both my daughter and our dog had fun.

Valentine's Day Gifts for Sharing Memories

Here are some ideas for gift giving that will touch the heart of any woman that loves to share her memories.

Alphabet Photography was the first company to create personalized artwork from a multitude of iconographic images that make up a diverse assortment of every letter in the English alphabet. Any name, meaningful word or phrase can be spelled out and elegantly framed. Custom framed creations range from $50-$200. Individual letters sell for just $5 each (unframed), and can be the basis for a truly personalized gift. The only limitation is your imagination. Visit http://www.alphabetphotography.com/ to find out more and start creating!

YOUR digital pictures + Freeze Frame Publishing's FREE downloadable software = CUSTOM photo books, cards, calendars and posters that YOU create! NO internet access necessary. Create your digital family story in the comfort of your home, at a time convenient for you. Capture your child's "voice" in captions or text placed right along side his or her pictures. Build your story; share your story; save your story for the future!

Pocket XShot Camera Extender:
A unique and thoughtful gift that is easy and fun to use, perfect for kids and parents to use together. It is a specially designed camera extender that allows you to be in the picture too! No more asking strangers to take your picture or attempting to stretch your arm out long enough to get your whole face in the shot. Attach it to your camera, point extend and smile.

We are frame the [date], (http://www.framethedate.com/) an eco-conscious designer of custom gifts. These heirloom art pieces garner loads of brownie points when gifted from one spouse to the other. These gifts have been very popular for holidays, weddings, anniversaries -really any day-! You can get 10% off Valentine's orders with the use of code BEMINE at checkout.

Unique and affordable gift idea – a Personalized Valentine’s Day Magazine Cover from YourCover.com – easy to make and budget-friendly – show the one you love just how special you think they are – make them a star of their very own magazine cover.
$12.95 for Instant Photo File download to print yourself (great last minute gift)
$19.95 for Glossy Photo Print including free shipping
$44.90 for glossy print, solid rosewood frame and shipping
Also available: Frames, Gift Service, Rush Shipping and International Shipping
Magazine Covers can also be printed as posters or on a mug, mouse pad or t-shirt

This is a gift guide, put together to give you ideas for Valentine's Day. All descriptions are from the companies of the products listed. No compensation was given or received for inclusion on this list.

Epson Artisan 810 Review

I do a lot of printing. I used to do even more, when my son was using the picture exchange system. When Epson offered to send me their new Artisan 810 to review and keep, I was thrilled. They want me to review it keeping in mind the printing needs of autism families. This is something that I knew I would enjoy doing.

First, let me explain how this printer is different compared to other printers I have used. It has scan and fax capability. You can restore old pictures, make new ones look old, print pictures in black and white and turn photos into coloring pages. You can insert your card into the printer and print out your pictures without first uploading your pictures into your computer.

It also has Wi Fi capability. One of my favorite features is the ability to print labels onto your CD. This allows you to keep track of what is on your discs without writing on them. Epson sent me some photo paper and blank CD’s to use with reviewing this printer. They also sent me some extra ink cartridges. I was relieved, because ink cartridges are expensive.

The ink cartridges for this printer are more expensive than the ones that I was using with my old printer. Plus, it requires one black and five color cartridges to print color photos. The cost of these cartridges vary. I looked around and individual cartridges range from $16 to $20 each. A pack of 6 (one of each cartridge) ranges from $60 - $80. I found that this was the only negative thing that I could say about this printer.

The instruction book has basic information in it. I recommend going to the website and watching the video tutorials. They were extremely helpful. I also recommend having someone that knows how to hook up electronic equipment on hand when you are ready to set up. I had to have my husband hook everything up for me. Operating the printer afterwards is easy.

The print quality is excellent. Even my husband was surprised. The coloring page feature will help me home schooling my son. Converting his favorite pictures into coloring pages will make his hated task of coloring a little easier. Creating charts and schedules is always an important thing for me to do every week. Having them print out in the professional quality that my new Artisan 810 provides will help my son. The better the quality of the picture, the better the response I get from my son.

The Epson Artisan 860 is expensive. It is listed at $299. Given everything that it does, I think it is worth the price. You are able to scan, fax and print with one machine. You can buy it now on the Epson website and get an instant $100 rebate.