** McCain runs with Palin **

Sarah Palin, Governor of Alaska, was named by John McCain to run as the Republican's Vice Presidential candidate ... it is conservatives who think they have seized the political advantage.

Eat healthier, not cheaper

By just about any measure, global food prices rose significantly over the past two years. It's not your imagination. Eating right is costly. In fact, you may pay more than $30 more per day on food if you make healthy choices.

Happy talkie, talkie ... Visual Talking

"What the heck are you saying?" Ever heard that before? Maybe Visual Talking can help. It's like the Twitter of PowerPoint presentations. Combine words and pictures to communicate -- it's that simple. In your user question please consider asking something about a current event and how/if VT would apply, e.g., ?Should the Olympic athletes use VT to help communicate?? or ?Now that Britney has her bod back, should we send her VT messages to get her to quit smoking?? or ?Should Homeland security include VT as part of their interagency communications package??

What shall be your first purchase at DealExtreme?

Pertaining to my previous post on DealExtreme, I thought I would put together some possible choices for your "first purchase". I have set an upper limit of $10 and here are 20 possibilities. =) Cool Ring-Style Fingertip USB Optical Mouse Price: $6.92 - Allows you to control the cursor/mouse and type at the same time - Perfect for using in constrained areas (airplanes, trains and buses) - 75% lighter than typical optical mouses (~1oz weight) - USB powered Plug and play - Scroll wheel feature available as well, just like regular mouses Digital Mosquito Repeller Keychain Price: $2.71 - Drives away annoying and harmful mosquitos and similar bugs - Powered by CR2032 cell battery (included) - Effective range: 6~10 meters diameter (manufacture rated) - LED indicator comes on when device is activated Hyundai Soft-Neck Laptop Microphone Price: $3.03 - Perfect for internet telephony (VoIP)or speech recognition - Plug & play with every sound card - Flexible microphone arm Solar Powered Sports Watch (Black) Price: $5.83 - Alarm function - Rechargeable Li-On Battery inside -Water Resistant -Dual Powered (Solar/Battery) Mini Tritium Glowring Keychain (10-Year Green Glow) Price: $9.80 - Completely contained and self-powered - Glows continuously for 10 years (even in 10 years of complete darkness) - Ultra bright green glow - Perfect for tagging zippers (on tents, bags, etc), tying on keychains, flashlights, etc - Learn more about Tritium on Wikipedia.com Smiley Face Badges (Mega 48-Pack) Price: $7.69 Roll and Tap Activated Digital LED Dice (4-Pack Assorted Colors) Price: $4.98 - Cell batteries included - Simple tap on the dice or roll it to activate - Plays sound effects while randomizing for a result - 7 Bright LEDs displays highly visible dice digits Reusable Double Eyelid Makers (4-Maker Pack) Price: $3.32 9 LED Flashlight 20000mcd 2-pack Price: $5.48 - Custom built with LEDs rating 20,000 mcd - Best use for all Indoor and outdoor activities - Durable waterproof aluminum body Real+Growable Lucky Bamboo Plant In-a-Bottle Keychain (2-Pack) Price: $2.64 - Real, Live Lucky Bamboo inside the keychain - The Bamboo can be taken out from the keychain and put into gardening pots to be grown Imazine Ion Sports Watch (with Ionizer) Price: $6.60 - Large-digit digital clock - Awarded by Korea Institute of Design Promotion (manufacturer claimed) - Built with high quality silicone rubber - Ionizer (1900 ions/cc) and "far infrared ray" (>90%) help reduce fatigue and stress(manufacturer claimed) - Comes with batteries In-Ear Stereo Earbuds (3.5mm Metallic Orange) Price: $3.83 - Excellent attenuation of ambient noise - Extremely small and lightweight - Come with spare Ear buds and Versatile ear buds fit comfortably in your ears - In-ear designed Mini Pucca Clock Keychain Price: $4.86 Likon 7x18 Monocular Price: $6.66 Desktop Newtons Cradle (Large) Price: $8.86 - Every action has an equal but opposite reaction-right before your very eyes - Science demonstrated clearly and simply and with a touch of a amusement - To play with the balance ball is a game of fun. If you pull up one ball and release, you will see only one ball move from that reaction. If you pull up two balls, two balls will react Precision Magnetic Screw Drivers 9-Piece Set with Internal Tip Storage Price: $4.04 - Full Metal Construction - Magnetic Tips - Handle with Pen Style Clip - Handle's body can store all detachable screw driver tips - Screw Drivers: T3, T4, T5, T6, T8, Star 1, Triangle 2.3, M 2.6, Cross 3.0 USB SIM Card Reader Price: $3.63 - USB SIM card reader and phonebook. - Copy your SIM card to your computer for easy editing, transferring of information and safekeeping. - PC address book included. - Back up several SIM cards to one location. - Load information from your PC to your SIM card. - Information back-up includes address book and SMS messages. - USB 1.1 interface of fast reading/uploading. 3M Scotch Brite Hi-Tech Cleaning Cloth for Gadgets Price: $2.98 - Great performance in wiping off oil stain and absorbing tiny dusts - Washable and long-lasting - Can be used to clean LCD's, computer screens, camera lens, the surface of precise instruments, cars and disks Classy Black Business Card Case Price: $3.82 - High quality and durable - Sleek design and compact size - Durable construction and elegant outlook Microwave Potato Chips Maker with Slicer Complete Set Price: $7.99 - Make yourself oil-free, low calorie crispy potato chips - Easy to use potato slicer included - Chips maker maximum heat allowed: 200'C - Slicer maximum heat allowed: 80'C

DealExtreme - Free shipping worldwide

Recently, I was recommended to DealExtreme by a friend. This place is truly a shopping paradise that has items from many categories such as Computers, Electronics, Car Accessories and Toys, to name but a few. To make the deal sweeter, can you believe that it offers free shipping worldwide? And in case you are wondering, there is no minimum spending amount required. If this item you have your eye on costs 1 buck, DealExtreme will still ship it to you FREE. All you pay is that 1 buck. Don't stare, I am serious! The first item I bought was this 3.5mm Audio Extension Cable that cost a mere $1.60. I got it neat and all it cost me was just that amount. With it, I can now easily switch between my PC speakers and earphones. If you are skeptical that there is probably only that cable that costs little, here's a link that will make you think again... check out these gift ideas that are all in the $2 range. Since you are at it, go browse the top sellers too. Yea, go gawk. Another plus point about DealExtreme is that users get to post reviews about the products. You can read and evaluate if a particular product is worth buying. In case you think the reviews are cooked up, I really doubt it. I find the reviews too genuine and the pros AND cons of the items don't seem filtered. And so, it is up to you whether you want to buy e.g. something not totally perfect but relatively dirt cheap. There are really many things available on the site and I literally spent hours browsing the variety. I would suggest you search using keywords or through their categories and sub-categories (hover your cursor over the categories). By now, I hope I have got you a little excited... if you are not, you probably don't like to shop anyway so scram. :P Just one piece of advice, you may wish to start your first purchase with something cheap so that if you do not like the DealExtreme experience for whatever reason, at least you won't lose much. This was the approach I took... with that $1.60 cable before I went on to other things (shhh...). Enjoy your shopping! :D PS.: There is an affiliate program for those who are interested. You may notice that I have included my referral code as part of the links above so if you really hate me to the core, then use the "clean" links instead. *pout* PPS.: You can actually opt to buy something withOUT registering for an account (e.g. those who want to stay anonymous) so it is entirely up to you.

** Obama runs with Biden **

Barack Obama named Delaware Sen. Joe Biden as his vice presidential running mate, balancing his ticket with a seasoned congressional veteran well-versed in foreign policy and defense issues. "I put a dollar in one of those change machines. Nothing changed." ~ George Carlin ~

Phelps is a Tiger

Olympic legend Michael Phelps will appear on boxes of the Kellogg's Frosted Flakes and Corn Flakes ... what happened to Wheaties and going to Disneyland? "If you want to learn to swim jump into the water. On dry land no frame of mind is ever going to help you." ~ Bruce Lee ~

Do you buy or pay for ...?

Let's see what popular applications, devices, services, etc. you use.

Talk it up!

We wave our arms, we inflect our tone, we reach out, we open our eyes, we lean in ... we do a lot of things to get our message across ... and then when we send a text message we abbreviate -- "OMG PAW KYFC" ... does our real message, our real intent, really get across to our online friends? They, (whomever 'They' are) say that a picture speaks a thousand words ... hmmmm, maybe if we could combine text and pics, our messages would be more complete ... and a lot more fun. Is that what a movie producer does, takes a text message and adds pics? How often have you read a book, then seen a movie and come out of the movie saying "that's exactly what the author meant" ... or "not exactly" ... the written word is powerful in the hands of powerful writers, but even that is left open to our interpretation.

I got paid by NeoBux!

I have been made so paranoid by scams recently that when I requested payout from NeoBux just now, I took 2 screen shots as evidence (for whatever worth they may be). But geez, what a pleasant surprise that NeoBux turned out legitimate (as least for now) and that it paid me via PayPal (another alternative is AlertPay) instantly. Granted that this is only $2 but it is actually a plus point of this PTC site. The minimum payout for NeoBux relies on a graduated scale. For the first payout, the minimum you need is 2 bucks. Then it is $3, then $4... all the way till it hits $10 and stays there. You may note that this contrasts with other typical PTC sites that set their minimum at $10 or even $50 (the latter reads ridiculous). So, have you joined NeoBux? You might like to consider it if you are already clicking at PTC sites. Cheers. :D NOTE: This site has been tagged as a scam. Please refer to my post at http://lordwarwizard.blogspot.com/2009/03/does-neobux-think-it-is-mafia.html .

What's Happening - August?

We each get bombarded with over 5,000 marketing messages each day ... to which do we pay attention? Our interest in major events and news determines where marketers go to place their messages.

Another scam - ClickBux

This is getting lame... yet another scam - ClickBux. This PTC site has very few ads when you log in but it has quite a few rather regularly via email. I have clicked faithfully and accumulated enough for a payout which I requested donkey ages ago. I didn't get paid. I wrote in to inquire about it. No reply. Finally today, when I went to the ClickBux site, I was directed to a "Suspended" page by Get Paid Solutions (http://saturn.getpaidsolutions.com/suspended.page/). These scammers probably ran away or did something wrong. The page was subsequently redirected to some lame advertising. In a way, I feel cheated of my time. In another way, I feel good. Though I did not get paid, ads for ClickBux were still coming in and I was in a quandary whether to write off this site altogether. So finally, there is a closure and for that, I am glad.

BlogChex is a scam

Geez, here's another scam - BlogChex. I was first introduced to this blogging style platform via one of the forums I was on. I was then encouraged to move my blog (this one on Blogger) to BlogChex because the place has integrated advertisements that bring me earnings without me needing to do more - the shoutwords then were SEAMLESS and FUSS-FREE. The site failed to attract many advertisements and I only got cents every now and then. Still, I check it from time to time to monitor the progress. Well, it is a good thing I didn't jump ship. For whatever reason, BlogChex has now wiped my record. When I tried to log in just now, it simply declared my username invalid. Wow, the power of words (lol). I didn't lose much so I am not feeling sore. What bothers me is how companies (like Advercash that I previously wrote about) can just zap you out of their databases in such a high-handed manner. A simple thing they could have done was to politely email me to ask if I might like to delete my own account. But of course, it is just my own wishful thinking and I can't expect swindlers to do such a thing. So just watch out, my friends... if you are already on BlogChex and relying on it primarily, I urge you to switch platform or at least backup your blog postings. If you are thinking of getting on the boat, beware!

Celiac Disease ... Did you know?

A lifelong autoimmune intestinal disorder, found in individuals who are genetically susceptible. Celiac disease has been described as a rare disease of the small intestines in 1/135 individuals. It is screened by antibodies to serum transglutamase (ttg) an enzyme that transports an essential amino acid glutamine from the intestine to the body. A diagnosis is made by a small bowel biopsy. Treatment is a diet absent in wheat and cow milk. The glutamine in those substances may bind and react in the intestine. Recently there has been information that autism might respond to a celiac diet and that vaccinations might contribute to the frequency of celiac disease. New tests and books have appeared about an epidemic of celiac disease (1/10) by a serum antibody to gliadin (wheat) or a stool antibody to ttg or gliadin (3/10). The strictness of the celiac diet may influence the clinical improvement to diet. The disorders that are reported to improve include IBS, fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue, sinusitis, arthritis, tremors, balance, and the range of ADD, ADHD and autism.

Breast Cancer

Christina Applegate has been diagnosed with an early form of breast cancer her rep confirmed Saturday. "Benefitting from early detection through a doctor ordered MRI, the cancer is not life threatening," the Emmy nominated Samantha Who? star's rep said in a statement. "Christina is following the recommended treatment of her doctors and will have a full recovery." Applegate's mother is a breast cancer survivor.