May 1, 2009

     I have more than a thousand subscribers on Yahoo, and none of them is going to get this newsletter. They didn't get the April 15 newsletter either. Which is not my fault and it is a crying shame.

     You see, my newsletter is sent out through Mike Hodapp's server. I have been his customer for years, and he is one of the most honest and fair men I know. He NEVER spams.

     But Yahoo has decided that, since Mike's server sends out so many e-mails, he MUST be sending spam. (Don't you love their logic?) So Mike must join some expensive organization that would "prove" to them he doesn't spam - which membership would cost him $2,000 to $3,000 per month. He would then have to raise his rates so high that I and his other customers couldn't afford him. Mike has filled out form after form for Yahoo, and they still refuse to let him through. In Yahoo's eyes, Mike is guilty until proven innocent.

     And they've got us all over a barrel.

     I'll be e-mailing my Yahoo subscribers separately, asking them to write to their senators to protest this action. Because Yahoo has kept my Tour the Sites newsletter subscribers from getting mail they have asked to get and have a right to get.

     If you should feel, out of the kindness of your heart, that you'd also like to help by writing your senators and representative, you can get their addresses here:

https://writerep.house.gov/writerep/welcome.shtml

http://www.senate.gov/reference/common/faq/How_to_contact_senators.htm

     I hope the following newsletter brings you much pleasure. And isn't it a pity those unfortunates on Yahoo won't have the same privilege?

     Janette Blackwell

----Table Of Contents----

1. Cool Things To Do With Photos
2. The Art Of Being A Neighbor
3. Why Kids Need A Big Dose Of Nature
4. Hiking Trail Guides
5. A Survival Kit In An Altoids Box
6. 5 Freeware Utilities Every Computer Should Have
7. Watch Live Sports For Free
8. Full-Length Movies Online
9. Control How Much TV You Watch
10. Make Big Money From Home (You Wish)
11. 25 Work At Home Businesses
12. Culture Shock In The U.S.
13. Shop Smart On eBay
14. How Much Do You Know About Your Credit Card?
15. When Even The Minimum Payment Is Too Much

1. COOL THINGS TO DO WITH PHOTOS

     MAKE USE OF is a techie's dream site - they review new apps every day. Here are a few things those of us who are not techies may enjoy as well:

     ADD COOL EFFECTS TO PHOTOS:

http://www.makeuseof.com/dir/photofunia-generate-cool-face-montaged-images/

     TURN PHOTOS INTO CARTOONS:

http://www.makeuseof.com/dir/befunky-cartoonize-photos-videos/

     CREATE FAKE MAGAZINE COVERS WITH YOUR PHOTO (a good idea for Mother's Day and Father's Day):

http://www.makeuseof.com/dir/magmypic/

2. THE ART OF BEING A NEIGHBOR

     Sometimes hard times bring out the best in people.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=102961694

     ERMA BOMBECK: "If I had my life to live over":

http://www.ookingdom.com/heavenly/over

     20 WAYS TO SAY "I LOVE YOU":

http://tivate.com/articles/20-ways-to-say-i-love-you

3. WHY KIDS NEED A BIG DOSE OF NATURE

     Many kids spend too much time watching TV and sitting in front of a computer. And this is the season for giving the whole family a larger dose of nature.

http://health.usnews.com/articles/health/2008/02/13/
why-kids-need-a-big-dose-of-nature.html

     RECREATION.GOV is the U.S. government's guide to national parks and recreation areas where you can fish, swim, hike, camp, ride, climb.

http://www.recreation.gov/index.jsp

4. HIKING TRAIL GUIDES

     TRAIL DATA BASE is a treasure, whether you want to hike in Albania or California. Click on the country, and find leads to hundreds of online sources of information on things to do outdoors.

http://traildatabase.org/

     THE CAMPING CLUB. This section gives tried-and-true camping recipes, but you'll see many other good features on the website.

http://www.thecampingclub.com/zzrecipes/index1.html

5. SURVIVAL KIT IN AN ALTOIDS BOX

     An amazing piece of human ingenuity.

http://www.survival.com/best.htm

     BUILD YOUR OWN CAMPING OR HIKING STOVE. The inventor says he was looking for "a homemade hiking stove that is safer, lighter, heats faster, burns longer, uses less fuel, easier to make and use." Another amazing piece of human ingenuity.

http://www.csun.edu/~mjurey/penny.html

6. 5 FREEWARE UTILITIES EVERY COMPUTER SHOULD HAVE

     At last! I've found a female techie. CAROL'S VAULT helps you find the best freeware and open source software amid the hundreds of things out there. And Carol is a woman of broad interests - you can see that her site deals with much more than software.

http://www.carolsvault.com/essential-5-freeware-utilities-every-computer-should-have/

     SEND PICTURES FROM COMPUTER TO CELL PHONE FOR FREE

http://www.makeuseof.com/dir/pixdrop-send-free-picure-messages/

7. WATCH LIVE SPORTS FOR FREE

     MAKE USE OF says, "MyP2P is a website where you can watch almost any sport game live for free. Whether it is football, MLB, NHL, NBA, cricket, tennis etc, in most cases it can be watched live on MyP2P."

http://www.makeuseof.com/dir/myp2p-browse-life-sports-shedules-watch-favorite-games/

8. FULL-LENGTH MOVIES ONLINE

     MAKE USE OF says, "Here is another website that allows you watch full length movies online without downloading. The site lets you search for movies, browse them alphabetically or by genre such as action, fantasy, drama, sci-fi, horror, thriller, adventure, comedy, war and animation."

http://www.makeuseof.com/dir/watchmovieswatch-full-length-movies-online-downloading/

     100 GREATEST FILMS. Bill really liked this one - he made good use of it with NETFLICKS, his favored source.

http://www.filmsite.org/momentsindx1.html

9. CONTROL HOW MUCH TV YOU WATCH

     Americans spend more of their leisure time watching TV than doing anything else, and this can be a problem. (Of course the same goes for watching live sports and full-length movies on your computer, as shown in items 7 and 8. I feel especially guilty about the live sports item, though not guilty enough to eliminate it.) In either case, PRESENT OUTLOOK lists some ways to regain control of this part of your life.

http://presentoutlook.com/how-to-control-how-much-tv-you-watch/

10. MAKE BIG MONEY FROM HOME (YOU WISH)

     Scammers have no fear of sinking too low. Right now they're targeting people who have lost their jobs in the recession. I've seen one Google ad after another for scam "make money at home" schemes, not to mention the e-mail scams I keep getting. Yes, Google is a reputable company - but it's impossible for it to check out the honesty of the millions of ads in its Adsense program. And most of the Google employment ads are scams. And, of course, every unsolicited e-mail you get offering big money is a scam. That's why there are no Google ads in my EMPLOYMENT section. To learn more about work-at-home scams, click on EMPLOYMENT in the lefthand column, then on "Watch Out For Work-At-Home Scams."

http://tourthesites.com/

11. 25 WORK AT HOME BUSINESSES

     These are real things you can actually do, though it's up to you to work out the details. You'll notice that WORK AT HOME MOM has lots more good material on her site.

http://wahmomdaily.com/70/25-work-at-home-businesses

     10 REASONS WORKING AT HOME IS AWESOME.

http://wahmomdaily.com/1/10-reasons-why-working-at-home-is-awesome

     5 LEGITIMATE COMPANIES FOR WORKING AT HOME. Honest work-at-home companies are extremely rare. This listing is a find.

http://www.gomestic.com/Home-Business/
Five-Legitimate-Companies-for-Making-Money-From-Home.551535

12. CULTURE SHOCK IN THE U.S.

     If you've been living in Germany, the U.S. looks really strange when you get back. And if you enjoy this item by KATIE, give the rest of her site a try. Myself, I loved it.

http://www.makingthishome.com/2009/04/27/culture-shock-in-the-united-states/

13. SHOP SMART ON eBAY

     Good tips - though, I must say, things have changed during the recession, and you may find that people aren't bidding as much as they used to. Bill bid on three copiers and was shocked to find he'd gotten all three. He's found a good home for one, he's using the second, and our cat Tivoli sleeps on the box of the third, so they're all being put to good use. I believe he is, however, willing to find another home for Tivoli's box.)

http://liveslick.com/2007/08/26/shop-smart-on-ebay-find-and-win-items-for-cheap/

14. HOW MUCH DO YOU KNOW ABOUT YOUR CREDIT CARD?

     "A quiz to help make it easier to manage."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/04/25/AR2009042500099.html

15. WHEN EVEN THE MINIMUM PAYMENT IS TOO MUCH

     MICHELLE SINGLETARY has given us another of her fine pieces, "As Recession Deepens, Even Credit Card Minimums Can Become A Burden":

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/04/22/AR2009042203636.html