C's Layer

lp

2007-03-06T22:27:00.000-08:00

Sorry!

2006-01-16T13:00:00.001-08:00

Yes I know... this blog has turned up the Suck level lol! I havent posted in forever and most of the recent articles have not exactly been up to par. Hopefully I will have time to write some better articles if time permits. Well happy blogging everyone!

What the Heck is this thing?!?!?

2005-12-20T11:21:00.000-08:00

The other day me and some friends were at a local mall and we decided to go mess around inside of a dollar store. We were looking around at all of the things that this dollar store had to offer. Well when we were on our way out we happened to spot this priceless child protection thingy. Who on earth would buy one of these things it looks like it was made to suffocate the poor child lol! I just feel sorry for whatever child would be forced to have one of those things on them. I mean I can understand that it is supposed to help keep the child away from bad weather occasions but with today’s technology couldn't we have found some other way than placing a plastic bag or tarp over a child? Well here is the picture.

Cheap First-Dibs

2005-11-18T21:05:00.001-08:00

You may wonder what I meant by "Cheap First-Dibs" in my title but you will soon understand. The holiday season is coming around and everyone wants to find the best deals. Most of the time everyone else gets all of the good sales and you get left with nothing but the normal high-cost of whatever it was you were going to buy. Well here is what to do to have the "First-Dibs" of everything you want.

Look in the newspaper, on the internet, as an employee, call the store, or do whatever you need to in order to find out when everything goes on sale. Specifically whatever it is that you want.
Now that you know when the sales will start, find out what hours the store operates. Not just for the sales date but for a few days before that too just to be safe. Example: The sales date starts out on Friday the 24th, find out the store hours for Wednesday as well as Thursday specifically. Mainly you just need to know the previous day.
Now that you know the sales date and the store hours here comes the actual going-out-to-buy part.
Go to the store about an hour or an hour and a half before closing time. When the time is getting pretty near to an end make sure you seem really interested in you product. Maybe even ask one of the store employees to help you out.
Take as much time as you can to delay your purchase for the method in which this process works is not full proof or guaranteed.
Make sure that when you purchase the item, it is past the hours for the store. [Example: The store is open from 8am-10pm. Stay and finally make your purchase at around 10:30 or so.]
Now hopefully everything will work out and you will have purchased your item at the sales price for upcoming sale.

--How it works/Own experience--

This is how it works. The store computers are programmed to sell at their normal price during regular operating times. This would mean that if the store is open on a regular day the price is going to stay the same from opening time till closing time. Typically it doesn’t change. However during holidays and similar events it does change. The key for me was finding out WHEN it changes. Most often the computers are pre-programmed to change on a specific date as to adjust for the sales. Well how I figured it out was like this. My family was looking to buy a T.V. and it was the Thursday before the 4th of July weekend sale. We went to the store near closing time and looked at all of our choices. Finally after closing time we had made our purchase. It was actually cheaper then the sale because the computers had changed to readjust to the sales weekend. So we got "Cheap First-Dibs" on the T.V. of our choice!

I can not say that this will work every time but it is at least worth a try!

New, Creative, Tasty Pocket Organizer.

2005-11-15T23:36:00.000-08:00

This idea is pretty creative. What you will need for this neat organizer is: a pack of gum, the larger pack which comes with 17 sticks I believe; a pencil that is pretty short, a good idea is to get a used pencil that you may find somewhere in the house; and you're set to go!

First get you pack of gum and unwrap it from the top. Usually there is a small tare or a strip that you can unravel to tare the top part of the wrapper off.

Once you have the wrapper off you should then take out a few pieces of gum so that you can then fit your small pencil into the pack of gum.

Once you have done that you are set to go. Here is the way how this little organizer works. The gum wrapper is wrapped in a smaller sheet of paper. Just take out the stick of gum and write your notes on the paper. This is a great organizer because you always will have a stick of gum at your disposal plus it's handy and compact.

Alt-Tab and Exposé Alternatives

2005-11-05T00:07:00.000-08:00

I have really been mesmerized by the user interface with macs. I love the new exposé feature or "dashboard" as some call it. I wanted my windows computer to have the same ability as the macs did. However most all of the software I found was trial only, and you had to pay for the full version.

Anyway after much looking I have found some great alternatives for the ALT+TAB / exposé feature.

-----

Microsoft ACTUALLY did something pretty neat. The program is called Virtual Desktop Manager. It is one of the Microsoft Power Toys.

-Download Here.
-View Site Here.

-----

TaskSwitchXP is an advanced task management utility that adds visual styles to the ALT+TAB dialog and also enhances it by displaying thumbnail preview of the application that will be switched to.

-Download Here.
-View Site Here.

-----

Exposer for Windows is the utility that comes most closely to the exposé feature of macs. This program takes all of your windows and zooms out so you can see all of them, and then select the one you desire.

-Download Here.
-View Site Here.

-----

C-Layer OUT!

Anti-Virus, Anti-Porn, Anti-Spyware, and Fire-Wall Programs

2005-11-01T23:28:00.000-08:00

Here is a list of some useful programs that will help you protect your computer to the best of its abilities.

One of my favorites is AVG by Grisoft. Unlike Norton, it is not expensive at all! It is FREE! And AVG actually does something about viruses. One of my friends recently purchased the Premium version of Norton Antivirus. After a few weeks he discovered that he had a virus. How he discovered it was through Norton. And that is about all it does. It discovers your viruses and then tells you about them. It is basically like "oh hey, yea we found a virus in your computer,... um we can't do anything about it, so um yea here is a link to our site that possibly might help anyways good luck." To say the least he wasn't too happy with Norton. Basically all Norton does is tell you that you have a virus, not fix it. Most of the virus-writers today are smart and know how to bypass Norton, so basically you spent all that money on a program that will just tell you what you already know, that you have a virus. With AVG it will actually help you to remove it, quarantine it, or vault it. You may choose from these different choices depending on the type of file that the virus has infected. In conclusion to anti-virus software, AVG is free and useful while Norton is expensive and pointless. Use AVG

Anyway, this is a list of programs that are great for anti-virus, spyware, porn, and firewalls.

Anti-Virus
::::::::::

- AVG
o http://free.grisoft.com/
- AntiVir
o http://www.free-av.com/

Fire-Wall
:::::::::::

- SoftPerfect
o http://www.softperfect.com/products/firewall
- Zone Alarm
o http://www.zonelabs.com/store/content/company
/products/znalm/freeDownload.jsp

Anti-Spyware
:::::::::::::

- SpywareGuard
o http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/spywareguard.html
- SpywareBlaster
o http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/spywareblaster.html

Anti-Porn
::::::::::::

- Spybot-S&D
o http://www.safer-networking.org/en/mirrors/index.html
- Parental Filter 0.23
o http://www.download.com/Parental-Filter/3640-2162_4-10425523.html?tag=tab_ur

How to Right Click on Pages That Won't Let You.

2005-10-29T21:32:00.000-07:00

- Try to hold the right mouse button, hit enter to close the dialog box, and then release the right mouse button.
- Internet Explorer: Tools -> Options -> Web Features -> uncheck Enable JavaScript
- Shift + F10
- Firefox: Tools->Options->Content->Enable Javascript [Advanced]->Allow scripts to disable or replace context menus (checkbox)
- Opera Web Browser: Tools > Preferences > Advanced > Content > JavaScript Options > Allow script to receive right clicks (uncheck)
- View the source by right clicking and then “view source”
- Take a Screen Shot
- Firefox’s extension "Allow Right Click"
- To copy an image just highlight it and CTRL + C

C-Layer OUT!

Useful Sites

2005-10-29T18:53:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone visit my new page. It containts sites with useful or interesting webpages. Just click here http://great-pages.blogspot.com/ or on the link on the sidebar. Enjoy!

*Updated ~{ Saturday, October 29, 2005 --> 6:53 p.m. }~
*New Post Topic ~{ No.1 Song on Birthdate}~

Convert Files to iPod Video Format

2005-10-27T23:14:00.000-07:00

I was in a slump. The reason was this; I will soon be getting an iPod Video, if Bestbuy decides to stop being idiots and get more than 5 like the did last time, and anyways I wanted to covert some of my movies or shows to quicktime format for the iPod....but I did not have a good program for doing it. Well this program called Videora not only does this, it makes it the exact size as the iPod's screen! What a great feature. You can find the program to download here or you can click here for more information on the product.

Videora converts files such as avi, mpeg, etc into quicktime.

C-Layer OUT!

iPod Media Player Skins

2005-10-23T22:13:00.000-07:00

Ever get tired of that bland normal windows media player skin. Well why not use an iPod skin?
Here are two really neat ones.

The iPod U2
http://skinz.org/download.phtml?skinid=6625

and

The Regular iPod
http://skinz.org/download.phtml?skinid=6618

C-Layer OUT!

Stepmania: The DDR Alternative

2005-10-16T22:02:00.000-07:00

If you hadn't noticed by my email addy (ddrfreak007@gmail.com) that I like ddr (Dance Dance Revolution), well now you do. DDR is a great way to stay in shape, and lose a few pounds while your having a blast! DDR is out for most of the new video game counsels such as the PS2,Xbox, and Gamecube. However you have to purchase the game as well as the pads to play, unless you want to just use a controller but then whats the point of Dance Dance Revolution?

Well if you don't have any of the counsels listed above, don't worry. If you have a computer, and I am assuming you do otherwise how would you be reading this, then there is a program called Stepmania. Stepmania is a DDR simulator that will let you play ddr through your computer. It is awesome for modding, possiblities are endless. You can change themes, arrows, make it look like the arcade versions, whatever your heart desires. Stepmania is a stand-alone program. That means that it doesn't come with all of the songs. What you need to do is download the song packs or individual songs and then you can run them with stepmania. Personally the best site that I have found with great choices for DDR packs was DDRUK. You have to set up an account with them but it is not a big deal and its a free account so no worries. Some people may have issues on the legality of it. Some say that if you purchase the mp3 than your good to go but really there is not that big of a threat. Just to be safe though you may want to buy the mp3 for the corresponding song you wish to play.

If there are any questions feel free to email me at: ddrfreak007@gmail.com

C-layer Out!

Playing Advertisements

2005-10-15T23:58:00.000-07:00

Anyone who has ever been on the internet has seen an ad. Most all web pages have them. Well anyway moving on to one of my most stupid posts, this entry is going to be about playing those advertisements. This should only be done when a person is REALLY bored and has nothing else to do. This should only be done with Firefox. Here is what to do; first, find an ad banner that you would like to play, such as punch osama or make a basket or hit the ball, etc...; second, make sure you are using Firefox; now you can play the ad without it opening up tons of other windows. If any other windows do open up, its time to find another ad, or get Firefox to block the ad popping up.

Well this concludes my pretty pointless post. Thanks for reading. I promise there will be better posts in the future such as how to keep ear bud headphones from tangling and how to keep any videogame controller organized and tell it apart from friends at the same time.

Public Speaking Tips

2005-10-15T00:37:00.000-07:00

Keep the audience in mind as you prepare. Stay away from predictable beginnings, rather, start with an intriguing question or set up a clear problem.
You won’t be able to cover everything you’d like to so set some clear goals regarding the most important points and focus on those.
Talk about your material instead of lecturing about it. This is easier to achieve if you are not reading your script, rather, use notes.
Interact with the audience - ask questions, get people involved - since people learn better when they are actively participating.
Leave time for Q&A and address everyone politely.

Easily Creatable Pocket Organizer

2005-10-15T00:32:00.000-07:00

Ever want a simple, CHEAP, easy to use organizer?
Well at the price of a piece of paper you now can.
There is even room for you to carry a business card!
The Pocket Mod is customizable with "Mods" tailored to your needs.

The organizer is called "The Pocket Mod."
Visit the website for more information.

-Click here http://www.pocketmod.com/

Visit it, use the flash program that lets you create the mod, create your pocket mod to you likings, then print. After printing the Pocket Mod fold it. If needed watch the video for more precision.

RSS Forwarding

2005-10-09T13:37:00.001-07:00

Ever want a nice easy alternative to RSS feeds? Well check out http://www.rssfwd.com/! To subscribe to a feed simply find a feed and subscribe to it.

Step-by-Step Example:

-Go to Website:http://www.rssfwd.com/

-Click on the Popular Feeds (http://www.rssfwd.com/rssfwd/popular)
-Or Click on All of the Feeds (http://www.rssfwd.com/rssfwd/all)

-Find a Feed That you Like for Example: this WEEK in TECH

-Click on it
(http://www.rssfwd.com/rssfwd/preview?url=http%3A%2F%2Fleo.users.sonic.net%2Ftwit.xml)

-Then Enter Your E-mail Address and Click Subscribe

After you have followed this simple procedure you will get updates sent to your email of all of the feeds you have subscribed to!

Elevators

2005-10-08T16:50:00.000-07:00

Ever get tired of waiting for everyone else’s floor before you finally arrive at yours? Well then don't. There is a simple technique that will allow you to skip everyone else's floor and head straight to yours. Go to the head of the class! Woooot! No more waiting!

So here is what you do:

Press these two buttons down at the same time

-The Door Close Button
+
-The floor number you wish to go to

Elevators that have been tested and worked on:
♣ Otis Elevators (All But The Ones Made In 1992),
♣ Dover (Model Numbers: EL546 And ELOD862),
♣ Desert Elevators(All, But Model Numbers ELD5433 And ELF3655)

Free Gmail Invites!!!!

2005-10-05T21:54:00.000-07:00

Hey! You yes you! lol. Do you hate your email account? Do you tire because of too little space? Do you wish you could sometimes just search for a certain email like you would search for something on the internet? Well now you can! It's called GMAIL!!! It is an invite only service provided from Google. The only other way other than to get an invite is to sign up with your phone. However, while supplies last I am giving away free gmail invites. If you would like to obtain one of these free invites just email me at ddrfreak007@gmail.com.

The service is free. No picture/banner ads everything is text based ads relevant to things that you might be interested in. Images also do not display unless you tell them to which makes loading time FAST!

To check your mail just go to www.gmail.com after you get your free invite by emailing me!

Folding T-Shirts May Actually Be Fun?!?

2005-09-30T21:25:00.000-07:00

As a college student I find myself with little time for anything. With all the things that I have to do I rarely find or make time for things such as cleaning my room or doing the laundry. Because I have a lot different things that need to be done my room usually tends to rank near the bottom on my To-Do list. It usually tends to be a mess with clothing everywhere. Many times I find myself trying to sift through all of my shirts trying to find something to wear. Well one day while I was doing some research I found this great site that taught a technique that made folding laundry fun, easy and very neat and tidy.

At first I was like this is just another way of folding laundry either way I am not going to escape it. Well, with this way, I have found it to be efficient and a neat way to organize clothing. At first I found it a little frustrating, but after 2-3 minutes I had almost mastered the art of t-shirt folding! Wooo! It seemed when I started like it was just another pointless way to do it but after a while it was actually fun and actually presented a challenge each time. I always wanted to see if I could get the perfect Store-Like folded t-shirt.

* A great way to practice is on a new finished load of washed/dried clothing. Not only will you get them folded but you will MASTER the art as well!!

Here is a link to the site:http://www.readymademag.com/feature_14_foldem.php

The video is what really helped me TONS!!! Its much easier to watch somebody do it. (there is a link on the website)
www.cs.hut.fi/~demi/cloth_folding.mpeg.

Boost Note Taking Skills!!!!

2005-09-30T21:09:00.000-07:00

Many times, when taking notes, I find myself scrambling to get all of the important information together. Well I have found a pretty efficient way of taking notes. Not only is it super effiecient but it also is well organized.

The note taking method is called the Cornell Note Taking Method
-Here is a link to the website. http://www.westshore.edu/webs/ltc/cornell_note_taking_method.htm

This link shows you how to create a cornell template with word
http://www.timeatlas.com/mos/5_Minute_Tips/General/
Word_Templates_and_Cornell_Note_Taking/

This is the format that I used. However I did add a box at the bottom for summaries.
To add a box just select draw from the table menu and draw your box.

A Sacred Duty

2005-09-30T20:47:00.000-07:00

It is the sacred duty of a blogger to link to other good blogs and blogs of his/her friends:

Allan Barizo's Blog
http://blog.art-app.com/

Brent Aureli
http://www.profyx.com

Send sms text to cell phones!!!

2005-09-30T19:54:00.000-07:00

Have you ever wanted to send an SMS text to somebody but your service would charge you an arm and a leg to do it? Well if you didn't know by now there are ways to send somebody a text via email. Yes thats right! You can send a text message to your friends and family by just following this simple process.

Fisrt: Know the # you want to call.

Second: Find the service you want to use

Third: Insert the number into the valid texting address.
-Example:
-Person X's phone number is (012) 345-6789 that person's service is Sprint
-Insert # into address like such: 0123456789@messaging.sprintpcs.com

Here is a list of some of the more popular services:
T-Mobile: phonenumber@tmomail.net
Virgin Mobile: phonenumber@vmobl.com
Cingular: phonenumber@cingularme.com
Sprint: phonenumber@messaging.sprintpcs.com
Verizon: phonenumber@vtext.com
Nextel: phonenumber@messaging.nextel.com

For a list of other services email me at ddrfreak007@gmail.com