MarloElaine » Interesting

Tiny Bears Fans

Elaine — Fri, 19 Jan 2007 21:37:43 +0000

Sammy and Sophie are Chicago Bears Football fans! You can see their pictures on our local NBC news website. Here are the screenshots of the pages, it’s impossible to bookmark the exact picture since people are still submitting photos to the site.

Thanks to Sammy’s Ninong (godfather/uncle) for the Brian Urlacher Chicago Bears jersey!

We’re all looking forward to watching the last playoff game this Sunday. Hopefully our Bears will make it to the Superbowl on Feb. 4th. Go Bears!

Most Infant Car Seats Failed Crash Tests

Marlo — Fri, 05 Jan 2007 08:48:07 +0000

Consumer Reports is issuing a safety alert for parents with infant car seats. In their latest issue, they tested 12 infant car seats. Nine of them performed poorly.

The important information about the report is quoted below:

When we crash-tested infant car seats at the higher speeds vehicles routinely withstand, most failed disastrously. The car seats twisted violently or flew off their bases, in one case hurling a test dummy 30 feet across the lab. Here are the details:

Of 12 infant seats we tested, only 2 performed well: the Baby Trend Flex-Loc and the Graco SnugRide with EPS.

Nine infant seats provided poor protection in some or all of our tests, even though they meet the federal safety standard. One seat, the Evenflo Discovery, didn’t even meet that standard. We urge federal officials to order a recall of that seat.

Infant car seats sold in Europe undergo more rigorous testing than do models sold in the U.S. Indeed, when we crash-tested an infant seat we bought in England, it was the best in our tests. An infant seat sold in the U.S. by the same manufacturer failed. (See European models.)

Our findings offer added evidence of problems with LATCH, the federally mandated attachment system for child car seats. Most car seats performed worse with LATCH than with vehicle safety belts. And LATCH attachments aren’t always easy to use.

You can read the full article at Consumer Reports. They have several tips on how to safely secure your car seat if yours was not among those that were rated.

We currently have the Graco DuoGlider Travel System which includes the SnugRide infant car seat.

Review: English-Tagalog Dictionary Website

Elaine — Fri, 20 Oct 2006 19:06:26 +0000

I just received an email from my cousin in the Philippines. The email was written in both English and Filipino/Tagalog, so I had a little trouble reading it. Thank goodness for Google and the website it led me to, foreignword.com. Just choose English-Tagalog or Tagalog-English, then enter the word in question. For example, “kaarawan,”

Tagalog term	English translations
kaarawan	n. anniversary; birth; birthday

There were a few words in my cousin’s email that I wasn’t able to translate on this site, but she may have been using slang. The website has a section that allows users to add terms with their translation. Maybe once I figure out what that email says, I’ll add to the dictionary!

Have You Thanked Our Troops Lately?

Elaine — Sat, 30 Sep 2006 18:11:56 +0000

A friend e-mailed me a link to http://www.letssaythanks.com. It is a free and easy way to send postcards to US soldiers stationed all around the world. I sent several cards in just a few minutes. Xerox sponsors the program, printing out the colorful postcards for our military personnel overseas. You can choose from a variety of artwork submitted by children from all over the United States.

All you have to do is click on your favorite design and either select the message that best expresses your sentiment or draft a personal note. The postcards are then printed on the Xerox iGen3® Digital Production Press and mailed in care packages by military support organization Give2TheTroops®.

“There’s nothing like getting mail from home. A letter has a sense of warmth and is more personal than e-mail. With regular mail, it’s all yours to keep and take with you when you’re on the move,” said Specialist Tommy Brooks from the 2-130 Illinois Infantry Battalion served a 12-month tour in Iraq.

Gas Saving Tips for the Summer

Marlo — Fri, 21 Jul 2006 18:55:39 +0000

Trying to save on gas this summer? CNNMoney.com has some tips on how to save money on gas. The writer highlights five gas saving myths you may have thought helped. By the way, the latest gas price for regular in my neighborhood is $3.21. Ouch!

The five myths are:

It’s all about your MPG rating
Gas saving products help fuel efficiency
You need the best octane
All gas rebate cards are created equal
Air conditioning wastes gas

The last one threw me off a bit. I always thought running the AC consumed more gas.

Stop Those Annoying Forwards, Politely.

Marlo — Thu, 20 Jul 2006 15:29:39 +0000

Are you tired of receiving email spam from friends, co-workers and even family? Seeing the same virus warning over and over again? If so, there maybe a solution for you! Send them this site: http://www.thanksno.com.

Here’s an excerpt:

You’re not a bad person, and no one hates you, but it would be valuable to learn the very personal preferences of your friends, family members, and co-workers before including them in unrequested email or choosing to expose their private address to people they don’t know.

If you ever received one of these letters from us, remember it’s nothing personal.

Flagship Apple Store in NYC

Marlo — Thu, 18 May 2006 17:25:03 +0000

This isn’t your normal Apple Store you see at the mall. This one’s special… it’s open 24x7x365 like your local 7-Eleven. The grand opening is this weekend. Rumor has it they are giving out one Apple MacBook every hour.
Read more at Engadget.

How much for your domain name?

Marlo — Thu, 18 May 2006 06:08:12 +0000

I ran into this nifty tool on someone’s blog. The webapp can appraise your domain name and tell you what it’s worth. For the heck of it, I entered our domain: marloelaine.com.

It’s worth a whopping $1,944! Compare that to yahoo.com which is worth $1,393,944.

I don’t think I will cash in just yet.

Lessons for Startups

Marlo — Mon, 01 May 2006 02:08:26 +0000

Thinking about running your own software company startup? This article lists some valuable tips on how to be successful.

Release Early.
Keep Pumping Out Features.
Make Users Happy.
Fear the Right Things.
Commitment Is a Self-Fulfilling Prophecy.
There Is Always Room.
Don’t Get Your Hopes Up.
Speed, not Money.

What’s important about startups is the speed. By compressing the dull but necessary task of making a living into the smallest possible time, you show respect for life, and there is something grand about that.