Nerdy Dork

You’ve all heard the horror stories. You go to boot up you computer, nothing happens… perhaps you hear a click… click… click…

This actually happened to me a couple years ago. Luckily my hard drive started working again just long enough for me to get a back-up before replacing it.

I recently heard of an acquaintance that had this happen to them. It reminded me of how vulnerable I am. I have no back-up plan!

I do however have a plan now. I’m signing up for mozy. Yeah, I’ve heard about about the great claims with Carbonite from all the radio shows (Rush, Dr. Laura, etc. etc.). We’ve even used Carbonite at work. I think its great, but when I did a search to see what other players are out there, I found mozy.

Why mozy?

I recognized their name. There are here it Utah. A couple years ago they sponsored a coding competition with a cash prize of $10,000. It was basically a recruiting effort to expose some of the best local talent.

But it is not just name recognition alone. I’ve done my homework and they are the real deal. Check out these videos:

So what are you waiting for? Get backing up! You’ll thank yourself someday. It’s only $4.95 for unlimited storage. If you can’t afford it, start with the free plan and back up your most important 2 GB (like your My Documents folder)

Mozy Online Backup. 2GB Free or $4.95/mo for Unlimited Backup. It’s simple, automatic and secure!

Oh, and one tip… If you are going to sign up for unlimited and decide to pay for a 1 year or 2 year plan, save 10% by entering “AUGUST” in the promo code (good until the end of August obviously!).

UPDATE: Since writing this post, Amazon has increased their price to $169.99, but the coupon below still works so you can get it shipped for $149.99.

So I have a small business. After meeting with my accountant last night I determined I really could make my life easier by using Quickbooks. I’ve tried the free version and it’s crap. So I figured I’d bite the bullet and shell out $200 for the pro version. Yeah, my business is growing, I guess it makes sense.

But being the budget conscious guy that I am, I figured I’d search the net for a better deal. I was nearly ready to head over to Costco to buy it for $150 plus tax, but after some further research I found a way to get it for $129.99 - no tax, no shipping. Better yet, it’s from Amazon so you know its the real deal.

It’s simple really. Amazon has it listed for $149.99. After adding it to your cart, and before you checkout, add coupon code UPINR5SC

Click Here To Order QuickBooks Pro 2008

Caution: Don’t delay if want this deal. The coupon expires Feb 15th.

Note: It works. I’ve done it. See screen shots below.

   

At Buy.com they are offering a Kingston 1GB microSD Secure Digital Card for only $10 and free shipping. That’s a sweet enough offer in and of itself, but there is a way to get it free.

If you have never bought anything from Buy.com using Google Checkout, they offer $10 your order for doing so. So that’s basically all there is to it. Buy the card with Google Checkout and its free.

So what are you waiting for. This deals going to be gone by the end of the day!

While pregnat with our 3rd child my wife started breaking out with some kind of rash on her face. She went to a dermatologist, but whatever he gave her didn’t work. She then went to a kiosk in the mall and bought a small sampling of Proactiv. It cleared her right now.

Now I think she is addicted. She loves the stuff. So now we just save money and the trouble and buy it online.

Ok, this is for all you nerdy dorks out there! Now you can get your flash drives personalized. Better yet, you can get their personalized for your significant other. What says “I love you” more that a flash [drive]?

UPDATE: Since I first posted this, the price has dropped! This could make a great stocking stuffer - especially for those in school or college. Personalize their thumb drive by laser engraving their name on it!

Continue reading “Flash Your Girlfriend for Valentine’s Day”

In the winter, the air can get very dry. I don’t know if it is true in various parts of the country, but it is certainly true here in Utah, where the climate is very dry as it is. This will often lead to extra dry skin and lips, and sore throats. But funny enough, what I hate most is all the static that builds up when I take off my clothes at night! Being the hairy man I am, It seems like I’m in the midst of an electrical storm when I take off a t-shirt!I’ve found a way to sooth the effects of the dry air. It’s simple enough. I use a humidifier. My wife prefers the hot air humidifier, and I prefer the cold. We used to argue about it often, then I asked my doctor and he said they essentially do the same thing and it doesn’t really matter which you use. If you don’t know of the different types of humidifiers available, I suggest checking out the complete guide to buying a house humidifier.

If your as cheap as I am, just buy the cheapest model at Wal-Mart, the plan on replacing it every year or so. One day, I think I will have one built in to our central air, which I hear is really nice.

(This was a sponsored post)

Humidifiers at eBay

Technorati Tags: humidifiers, dry air

One of the gifts I got for my last birthday was the Altec Lansing inMotion mobile speaker system for my iPod. I’m really impressed with the speaker quality. It’s small and portable, but it can really kick it out - even with just 4 AA batteries!

My mom said she picked it out for me because she didn’t like hers or her boyfriends for various reasons (such as not being able to charge the batter while it’s docked and plugged in, or not being very portable). This one she said had all the features that SHE wanted so it must be good.

Here is what I like about it:

I checked Wal-Mart.com and found they were out of stock, so it must be pretty popular this holiday season. I suppose you can always find it elsewhere such as eBay (view relative eBay items here). I also found this system on Amazon in both black and white.

I took some photos of my inMotion for all to enjoy

Find relative eBay items here.

Continue reading “I Love My Altec Lansing inMotion for my iPod”

As you may have noticed from past posts, I love VOIP!

Now, I’m not a big phone talker, but recently I’ve been trying out Skype, Gizmo, & VoipStunt. Each of them have their pros & cons. But I just love the fact that I can make calls from my computer. Sure I have a phone at my desk, but it is too far to reach and it doesn’t have a headset. I often like to use Gizmo to make calls to business. That way I can easily record my calls to these companies.

And the best part about VOIP. It’s cheap! I still use vonage at home, and at work, while using these three services, I haven’t paid a dime!

Technorati Tags: VOIP, Cisco, Skype, Gizmo, VoipStunt, Vonage

I often build websites for people as well as computers and other odd jobs. Invariably I’m asked, “do you have a card?” Well, I used to have business cards for my “real” job, but giving those out must have been confusing. How could and quality assurance analyst/automation engineer help Joe Blow build a business website.

I like nice stuff, but I’m also very cheap. I didn’t want to buy my own kit to print business cards with computer ink that runs all over at the first sign or moisture. I can’t be the only person with a sweaty bum right?

Well, I did find this place that gives you 250 free business cards. All you have to pay is shipping. Not a bad deals says I! Well, I did it and here is how they turned out:

Click here if you want to get your own free business cards.

WinRAR has always been my favorit archiving (zip/rar) tool. This Sunday, July 30th, 2006, you can get a free licensed copy: