Help MusicSkins Fight Cancer!

MusicSkins.com, Hopeless Records, Sub City, and The Take Action Tour are joining forces to battle Leukemia. Help the fight by purchasing any product from MusicSkins.com on 1/25/2010 – 5% of all sales will be donated to the Driving For Donors charity.

MusicSkins are premium vinyl skins for iPods, phones, laptops, and much more. Get MusicSkins for all of your favorite bands and artists such as All Time Low, We The Kings, There For Tomorrow, Avenged Sevenfold, Bob Marley, Lil Wayne, The Beatles, and over 500 more. You can even upload your own photos and images to make custom MusicSkins. Support a great cause and become even cooler in the process!

Every year, thousands of people get life-threatening diseases like leukemia and lymphoma that can be treated with cellular therapies such as a marrow transplant. Seventy percent of patients do not have a matched donor in their family so they depend on the life saving action of people who sign up for the National Marrow Registry and it’s as easy as a cotton swab of the cheek and two simple forms.

Driving For Donors exists to draw donors, attention, and funds to the cause. The nonprofit organization is the brainchild of now 14-year-old Patrick Pedraja who was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia at age 10. In 2007, at age 11, Patrick and his family started Driving For Donors and traveled around the country in a special “Donormobile” with the mission of signing people up for the National Marrow Registry to help find bone marrow matches for people in need of a transplant. Since then they have added over 22,000 donors to the registry, saved more than 24 people’s lives with matches and helped raise over $100,000 for tissue typing fees and drive expenses by selling advertising on Patrick’s bald head. Patrick has been honored by the United States Congress, CNN Heroes, DoSomething.org and has appeared on numerous television shows to promote this cause.

Check out some of the skins for your iPhone from We The Kings here.

For years, I built my own computers from parts.  I would research everything online, make my list, and then head over to Milwaukee PC, where I was lucky enough to enjoy a bulk discount. I used it often in the course of building computers for not only myself, but friends, family, and clients.   Whenever an older computer would die for good, I would save it so that I could harvest the memory, cd-rom drive, floppy drive, IDE cables, hard drives, and other goodies.  Over the years, my modest accumulation grew to epic proportions – not only did I have 10-15 computers at any given time, I usually had 5 or 6 different types of keyboards to, 8 or 9 15″ monitors, and several 30 gallon rubbermaid bins full of things like IDE cables, network cables, old video cards, and countless other components.

Another factor in the amount of computer clutter I had to contend with was relating to branding.  For example, an IBM PC, as you are likely aware, is not compatible with an Apple computer. Of course, as I learned when I tried to take apart my Apple IIE, they were all but impossible to work on – parts were actually welded in sometimes.  And neither of them were compatible with the old proprietary Compaq computers, where in order to even open the case, you had to have a special tool which could only be obtained at great cost, if you could find one at all.

Luckily, computer equipment has become much faster, cheaper, smaller, and more standardized in the ensuing years. Just for example: when I was 19 or 20,  my personal computer was a 486 with 4MB of ram.  I browsed with Lynx, a text only browser, because I couldn’t afford a computer that could run windows, and in fact, greatly preferred the DOS command prompt anyways.  DOSTREE was all the GUI I needed.  I saved up something like $400 in order to buy 4MB of additional ram, no small feat when you’re waitressing for 2.33 an hour plus tips, as I was at the time.  Think about that folks.  I spent that much money, not for 4 gigabytes (which is what I have in my current computer) but for 4 megabytes.  There are 1024 megabyes in 1 gigabyte, if that helps you to visualize just how expensive RAM really was back then.  So, keeping all of that stuff around made perfect sense.  If a computer’s CPU died, I could still harvest the RAM and many other components to upgrade my other workstations, or give a power supply to a friend who needed one, or swap out a customer’s broken CD-ROM drive, at a fraction of the cost, though admittedly at the cost of having a lot of old computers stacked up in the closets.

Last year, when my computer started getting too outdated and slow to work efficiently, I started looking around at reviews for motherboards and processors, and decided for the first time to buy a pre-made system for a few reasons.  One, because the cost of buying all the parts and putting them together seemed to actually be a bit higher than just buying a pre-made computer at the time.  Two, because I am no longer a  hardware geek, and don’t really have the time or inclination to re-learn the specs on every processor, motherboard, case, etc. every couple of years.  It’s a lot of work keeping up to date on hardware, since it changes every 5 minutes!  Three, I no longer see the point in keeping all of this older equipment around when it’s not even compatible with newer systems.  Fourth, and perhaps most important: most older technology was not energy star compliant, so to fix and run older computer systems in this day and age, when I can get a newer computer that users only about 1/4 of the energy of my older PC’s, seems like a waste on many levels.

So, I have been trying to gather all of my outdated equipment together and find new homes for it.  I was able to give a couple of workstations to a friend who wanted to build a geeky project in his spare time.  I also gave a couple of workstations to friends who wanted to keep their kids from trashing their real computers. I still had a lot of parts left though.  In many cities, mine included, you have to pay to dispose of old computers at the landfill.  Goodwill won’t take them either.  I know they’re useful to someone, and I don’t want them to go into the landfill because it’s not the environmentally responsible thing to do.  I found a local computer company that claimed they would take them in order to use the parts to make computers to give to the women’s shelter.  I thought that sounded fantastic.  I contacted them and got a response asking for my address and the time and date to pick them up, but after I sent my reply, I never heard back from them.  Another dead end.  So, I have started to look around for other creative ways to dispose of them without sending them to a landfill.  In the course of my search, I came up with some useful information.

If you are looking for ways to recycle your old equipment, give these links a try:

	Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition (SVTC) – This grassroots coalition engages in research and advocacy to help find solutions to e-waste concerns.
	Earth 911 – A nonprofit organization with detailed listings of reuse and recycling centers specializing in computers and electronics. By entering your ZIP code on the site you can find your nearest electronics recycling event/location.
	myGreenElectronics – Local ewaste collection sites.
	MRMrecycling – Local ewaste collection sites.
	Electronics TakeBack Coalition – Chart of ewaste laws & pending legislation.

Other suggestions are of course welcome as well! I’d love to hear what other people do to recycle their old computers.

==

Jessica Franke is the owner of Green Web Design, a full service Website Design, Web Hosting, Domain Registrar, and Online Marketing firm.  She is also the owner of 50 States Classifieds, and has been providing Free Classifieds online since 2002.  For more articles written by Jessica Franke, visit her blog.

Have I mentioned I love Google?  What other search engine takes the time to make their webmasters make useful, high quality videos for other webmasters?  In this video, Google’s Eric Higgins shares some very easy to implement tips for webmasters whose websites utilize the PHP programming language.  Thanks Eric!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sibg0T3wKs4

For more information:

http://code.google.com/speed

Act immediately if you believe that your child is missing.

• If your child is missing from home, search the house checking closets, piles of laundry, in and under beds, inside large appliances, and inside vehicles, including trunks—wherever a child may crawl or hide.

• If you still cannot find your child, immediately call your local law enforcement agency.

• If your child disappears in a store, notify the store manager or security office. Then immediately call your local law-enforcement agency. Many stores have a Code Adam plan of action— if a child is missing in the store, employees immediately mobilize to look for the missing child.

• When you call law enforcement, provide your child’s name, date of birth, heigth, weight, and any other unique identifiers such as eyeglasses and braces. Tell them when you noticed that your child was missing and what clothing he or she was wearing.

• Request that your child’s name and identifying information be immediately entered into the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) Missing Person File.

• After you have reported your child missing to law enforcement, call the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children on their toll-free telephone number: 1-800-THE-LOST (1-800-843-5678). Or you can use their Live Hotline to talk to NCMEC through their web site.

Adapted from Just in Case…Missing. Copyright © 1985 National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC). All rights reserved.

Kiva is a nonprofit organization that brings small business owners together. You can lend money to other small businesses across the world.  Read about what they need the money for and what the risk factor is.  When they repay you, you can either take your money back, or you can lend the money to another small business.

You can really do a good deed by helping other small business. Many of these businesses are woman owned, and most are in third world countries.  Support the entrepreneurial spirit and lend money to a business through Kiva today!

Visit the Green Web Design lender profile on Kiva:

http://www.kiva.org/lender/greenwebdesign

Join the “Friends of Green Web Design” Kiva Team and help us help others!

http://www.kiva.org/team/friends_of_green_web_design

Written by Laurel Walker / Jsonline.com / Posted: Mar. 10, 2009

A.J. Marhofke isn’t in the habit of begging, and neither are his faithful sidekicks, Molly Mae and Zip.

Well, maybe Zip begs. The lively 10-year-old border collie pushed tennis balls in my direction again and again, hoping I’d throw so he could chase.

Molly Mae, a 13-year-old border collie mix who’s now blind and ill, is just not up for play these days.

Neither is Marhofke, and that’s the crux of the problem.

This is the team that makes up 911BC – a nonprofit, volunteer K-9 search-and-rescue unit based in the Town of Summit and founded by Marhofke in 1969. Marhofke, 62, is a onetime maintenance worker, deputy medical examiner and paramedic.

But his full-time passion has always been his dogs, K-9 search training, and responding at no charge to law enforcement all over the country. His dogs specialize in finding people – dead or alive – and forensic evidence, the stuff of crime scenes and court cases.

Molly Mae is retired but admired enough by others that in January Gov. Jim Doyle issued her a formal commendation. Among other accomplishments, Doyle cited her work in finding a Waukesha County developmentally disabled man lost in the wild for three days in 1998, her work with a triple Krnak family homicide in Jefferson County that same year, and her “gentle demeanor and calming effect on children” during Marhofke’s educational presentations to kids groups.

Molly Mae is out of commission, and now, for up to 12 weeks at least, Marhofke is, too. That’s what has him frustrated and worried.

He fell off a few steps of a ladder last week, seriously breaking his heel in the process. Surgery is scheduled for Monday, and he’s under strict orders to stay off the foot for up to 12 weeks. He’s not sure how he’ll tend to the dogs’ needs, especially Molly Mae’s, whose blindness and medications leave her in need of special attention.

Kathryne Jacobs of Cudahy recently struck up a friendship with Marhofke through a mutual business acquaintance. She’s helping him around the house a couple of days a week and getting him to doctors’ appointments, but she can’t be there daily for the dogs. She’s got two of her own. His usual pet sitters are about to leave on vacation.

Jacobs e-mailed this newspaper with a plea that Marhofke was too proud to make himself.

“This man who has done so much for others his whole life, and who has poured his life’s energy and life savings into helping others, now needs some help himself,” she wrote.

She’s hoping someone will step forward – like a scout troop, dog lovers, a volunteer pet sitter – with anything that can see him through this spell. Not only are the dogs a concern, but tasks as simple as getting mail from the roadside mailbox is a problem. (If you can help, e-mail Marhofke at k9911@yahoo.com.)

Marhofke’s heel injury is only the latest in a terrible string of bad luck that would bring most people to their knees.
Read more of this story at 50 States Classifieds…

It’s that time of the year again… time to renew some of my domain names. I own several hundred domains, between myself and my clients, so it’s a never ending task. One thing that never ceases to amaze me is the deception that some companies go through to try and get you to switch to their services.  Today, I would like to warn you about one such company.

As usual, I got an invoice from Liberty Names of America, Inc. asking me to renew my domain name.  Why is this dishonest, you might ask?  Because I *own* a domain name registration company of my own, and have *never* done business with Liberty Names of America, Inc.  Not once, ever.  And yet several times a year, they send me an official looking invoice asking me to renew one or more of my domains with them.

I am not alone.  Millions of people get these deceptive letters, from the company above, as well as several others.  They do what is known as a “whois” on a domain name, get the contact information of the owner, and then send out an invoice, hoping to trick you into switching registrars.  My mom’s boss always gets these, and I would have to explain to him that no, I didn’t sell the company to them or anything else – and that he should just throw it away.

The invoice they sent me states:

Dear Green Web Design,

As a courtesy we would like to remind you that it is time to renew your odmain name which is expiring soon.   Failure to renew your domain name will result in losing exclusive rights to it on the web and losing access to your online presence.  By moving your domain name to Liberty Names of America you can take advantage of the savings we have to offer.  Your renewal will start from the day your domain name expires, even though you are signing up months earlier.

They then offer me a 1 year renewal for $29.99, or a 2 year renewal for $49, or a 5 year renewal for $94.

These prices are rediculous – at TheyreAllTaken.com, which is *my* domain name registration company, I pay the same price I charge my customers -  1 year for $7.99, 2 years for $15.95, 5 years for $39.95, or 10 years for $79.90.  What a huge difference in pricing!

So, if you get a letter from Liberty Names of America, Inc, don’t be fooled.  They are not your domain name company.  They are just trying to get you to switch to them.  You are likely paying less at your existing registrar.  And if you’re not, take a look at my website and consider switching. 

Apple’s MobileMe plays into hands of spammers

Address harvesting all too easy

By John Leyden, 22nd August 2008 11:46 GMT

Click Here to visit the original publisher of this story

Now that you’ve read the news, why not check out the Classifieds?