Mom 2.0

Okay. So I was checking out Technorati the other day to see what blogs had linked to me, and I saw that another blog had posted a web shot of my page on MyBlogLog with the title "Mom 2.0." The blogger was pointing out the numbers in my community on MyBlogLog and the number of communities of which I'm a member.

Wikipedia defines Web 2.0 as: "a term often applied to a perceived ongoing transition of the World Wide Web from a collection of websites to a full-fledged computing platform serving web applications to end users." It's the future of the World Wide Web according to some. So I guess I'll take being labeled Mom 2.0 as a compliment.

The strangest thing is that when I went to Google the term Mom 2.0 to find out what was being said out on the WWW about it, my website was the first thing to come up. Cool.

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A Maxineism For Your Enjoyment

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Slow Cooking Apple Pie Coffeecake...Mmmm...

This looked too good not to post. Thanks to Miles To Go Before We Sleep. Slow Cooking Apple Pie Coffeecake. Mmmmm....

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Great New Tool for Small Business Owners

One of the biggest challenges small business owners face is dealing with the issue of sales tax compliance. And since the tax law varies, depending upon point of purchase, this can be a tremendous obstacle for businesses.

But there's a new tool, a QuickBooks add-on that will change all that. It's AvaTax for QuickBooks, and it's taken what used to be a hassle, and made it a breeze. Sales tax is calculated according to location and automatically added to items in your estimates and invoices. And all this happens seamlessly, behind the scenes, securely.

AvaTax calculates sales tax based not only on zip code, but on jurisdiction, right down to the street level. So you're assured that your business is completely tax compliant. And it's affordable even for small businesses, because it's a subscription service, with fees based upon the number of orders you process.

Best of all, it provides your business comprehensive sales tax reports and instantaneously generated sales tax returns, leaving you time to concentrate on what's important: marketing your business.

With no software to download or install, if you're already a QuickBooks user, starting AvaTax for QuickBooks is easy. It only takes a few moments to complete the sales tax setup for your business and start benefiting from the powerful capabilities of AvaTax's automated system. Check it out today.

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Are You Being Discriminated Against Because of Your Credit History?

One of the more disturbing trends I've noticed gaining momentum with employers is denying employment based on credit history. More and more frequently, fully qualified people are being turned down for a job because of a low credit score.

And while this might make sense for a job managing money or handling large sums of money, it should have no bearing when it comes to other types of work. Some are even saying it's a civil rights issue. And I agree.

The Christian Science Monitor reports that "credit checks are a growing factor in hiring, with 35% of employers checking applicants' credit in 2003, up from 19% in 1996, according to the Society of Human Resource Management." And to make matters worse, applicants aren't always told why they've been denied a position, so they continue to apply for jobs they have little chance of getting.

Unfortunately, credit history is not only being used as a screening tool for employment. It can also be a factor in insurance rates. I know that I'm personally paying a higher rate for car insurance due to financial difficulties I had after my husband and I separated. Am I more likely than someone with a stellar credit report to be involved in a car crash or commit insurance fraud? No, I'm not. But there it is.

Denying those who need jobs most, based on past financial difficulty, is wrong. But it will only stop when enough people get mad and draw attention to the issue. If you feel you've been discriminated against in your search for employment, consider contacting the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to file a complaint.

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It's Okay to Slow Down

In honor of my laziness today, I am posting this very relevant talk given by journalist and author Carl Honore on the need to find your "inner tortoise." Enjoy.

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The Frugal Birthday Party

We've got two birthdays coming up at our house, and I'm thanking God my kids are older, and I don't have to do the whole balloons, streamers, invitations, party favors thing. But I remember it well. It was exhausting. Worst of all, it was also frequently quite expensive.

These days, people are over the top with birthdays. But I never went that route. Although I'm sure if you asked my kids, they would tell you they had nice birthday parties. I just didn't rent ponies, hire clowns - you get the idea.

In my mind, all that's needed for a nice party is a cake, ice cream, gifts, a few decorations, and some light entertainment for the kids.

And favors don't have to be expensive either. I remember buying big vinyl balls at the grocery store one year in six or seven different colors and handing them out as the kids were walking out the door. You know the kind? They keep them stacked in a big cage at most toy stores. The kids loved them.

There's a great article on SavingAdvice.com on just this subject. It's Ten Ways to Save on Birthday Parties, and it's great. Enjoy!

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Teach Your Children to Manage Their Online Identity

I did a post recently about employers hunting down prospective employees' MySpace and Facebook pages. And why not? If you're going to be representing their company, why shouldn't they take full advantage of any information available to them in making a hiring decision? Some recent college grads are just now realizing that it might not have been a smooth move to post that shot of themselves passed out on the bathroom floor after a few too many.

It's important for parents to talk to their kids about what they post online about themselves. Pictures and words posted on the Internet have a long shelf life, and it's important for your teen to remember that what might seem hilarious today might be horribly embarrassing later. Naymz Blog has a free E-book that will help you teach your teen how to protect his or her identity and reputation online. It's called Not Just Your Space: The Student's Guide to Managing Online Reputation. And it's free. Share it with your child.

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What Time is it Jeeves?

If you read my blog regularly, you know my main work at home job is as a transcriptionist, which means I download audio from an FTP site, transcribe it, then upload it back to the client. It's a great job, and I love it. But sometimes when I get into the zone, and I'm typing really fast, I can forget to stop and take a break.

That's when I start to have back and hand problems like the ones I'm having this week. I've downloaded several timers off the Internet. And while they were okay, I had to keep going back and manually resetting them to remind me to take a break every 30 minutes or so. So it got to be more trouble than it was worth. And as happens when something is more trouble than it's worth, eventually you just stop doing it.

But I just downloaded the free 30-day trial of Say the Time. It's an atomic clock software download for Windows. And it's great! It has a built-in pop-up calendar and fits down in your taskbar, so that you can always see, at a glance, the month, day, and current time.

You can also set it to speak the time out loud every 15 minutes, 30 minutes, or more. I've set the volume on mine to low, so that every 30 minutes, I get a gentle reminder that a half-hour has passed, and it's time to get up stretch and walk around for a minute.

What's really neat, though, is you can set Say the Time to send you messages on certain dates at certain times, and you can write the message you want to see. If you have the text-to-speech engine on your computer, you can even have your pre-set message read aloud to you. I honestly don't know when I've seen a tool that was more well designed. Try it for yourself, and let me know what you think.

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BlogRush Launched!

A new service has just been launched that promises to drive targeted traffic to your blog. It's basically a blog syndication. You simply add the blog syndication widget to your blog, and every time someone looks at one of your pages that has the widget displayed, your blog's content gets displayed on another blog that's a part of BlogRush.

The great part is your blog content will be displayed on blogs similar to your own. So you'll be getting targeted traffic. Not only that, but if someone clicks on the bottom of your widget and joins BlogRush, you'll get more targeted traffic from that blog. And so on...and so on...

Best of all it's free. Check it out!

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I Got What I Paid For

I know you've heard the old saying: "You get what you pay for." And it's true. The vast majority of the time, there is a direct correlation between the cost of something and its taste, performance, appearance, longevity - you name it.

I hate to spend money on myself. So it is frequently when purchasing something I need that this maxim is brought home to me. Take, for example, the hair color I bought earlier this week. Out of a multitude of choices, ranging in price from $14 to $3, guess which one I chose? That's right. I invested an entire $3 in my appearance. I'm sure you've also heard the phrase "look like a million bucks." Well, I look like three bucks.

I did it again tonight when I stopped by the local Walgreens to pick up some things I needed. There on the shelf was the Starbucks ground coffee (on sale, mind you) for $6.99, several in-between choices, and then the Chase and Sanborn ground coffee for $2.99. How did that turn out? Well, I'm sitting at my desk looking like $3 right now, drinking the worst cup of coffee I've ever had.

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Help Wanted: Groom of the Stool

Sometimes I get sick of my job. It's true. This week, for instance, my back is killing me. My hands are sore. And it's not over yet. I've still got a ton of work to do by morning. But as a rule, I'm thankful for my job. It's flexible. I get to stay home and be available to my kids. I like the people I work for.

And besides, after reading Channel 4's "The Worst Jobs in History," I'm counting my blessings. "The Worst Jobs in History" is an article about exactly that. It covers all the worst jobs from the Roman/Anglo-Saxon to the Victorian periods.

Some of my favorite job titles are spit boy, leech collector, whipping boy, nit picker, plague burier, and sin eater. But the best, hands down, has to be "groom of the stool." I know you're hoping that this has something to do with a piece of furniture on which to sit. But alas, it does not. Have a read for yourself.

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Pass the WD-40 Please

I've been having some back trouble this week due to typing too much last weekend. The pain starts in my back, then shoots down my arm and into my fingers. I get some relief by holding my arm above my head. But obviously, that's not a practical pose for going out in public. I'm pretty sure it's a pinched nerve. And I know the cure. Lay off the typing for a day or so. But transcription brings in the bacon. So no can do.

It's amazing, though, what people will do when faced with bodily pain. Take this man, for instance, who's found an unique cure for his aching stiff knees. A little extreme, maybe. But hey, it works for him. And apparently he's not the only one who's tried it and had success with it. I'm just wondering who the first person was to think, "Hey, I'll try a can of WD-40."

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The Power of Your Comments

I can definitely relate. Thanks Blaugh!

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Feel Good Foods Versus Feel Bad Foods

I recently picked up The Good Mood Diet: Feel Great While You Lose Weight by Susan Kleiner, PhD, RD with Bob Condor at my local library. You see, I want to lose weight. But I have a history of problems with depression. And therefore, dieting often works against me, causing me to feel run down and have low serotonin. Serotonin is the neurotransmitter that makes us feel good. Too much makes you nervous. But too little, and you start to feel sluggish, hopeless - in a word, depressed.

Because I know dieting sometimes leaves me less than bouncy, I'm always looking for news on foods and supplements that boost mood and mind. And this is the focus of The Good Mood Diet. Dr. Kleiner says it's okay to eat, as long as you spread your meals throughout the day and eat what she calls "the feel-good foods." What are these feel good foods? According to Dr. Kleiner, they are:

Bananas Greens, dark and leafy
Beans Green tea
Blueberries Lean, organic meat
Broccoli Mangoes
Caffeine-containing beverages (1 to 2 a day) Nuts
Cocoa powder (or chocolate in small amounts) Olives and olive oil
Dairy, low fat or fat-free Oranges
Edamame (green soybeans) Pomegranates
Egg yolks Popcorn, air-popped
Fish and seafood Pork, lean
Flaxseed, ground Soy
Garlic Spinach
Ginger Strawberries
Grapefruit Sunflower seeds
Grape juice Turkey
Vegetable Oil Whole grains

The most hopeful passage in The Good Mood Diet states that: "What might have gone wrong with your other diets is that you either got no fat, healthy or unhealthy, or that you feasted on fatty animal foods....Your body's natural defense mechanisms kicked in to prevent disaster. While you may assume that losing weight required a painful, uncomfortable process, your body knows better."

Here's hoping she's right.

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Some of My Fave Stumbles This Week

As I've mentioned before, one of my favorite things to do when I'm taking a break from my work is to visit random sites around the Net using StumbleUpon.

Since I'm especially worn out from transcribing too much this week, I'm just going to be lazy and offer up my favorite stumbles for the week:

This guy has a great idea. Why didn't someone think of it sooner?

This article explains why some of us have self-control, and some of us don't.

Tim Ferriss has the right idea.

Wired Gadget has this great variety of three-column templates for Blogger. Very handy. Because if you've ever tried to convert a two-column template to a three, you know - unless you're an HTML genius - it's a pain in the you-know-what.

And finally, I found this great online tutoring site ALEKS.com. I had heard from some forum buddies that it was great. So I checked it out, and now I'm thinking about signing up one of my kids for a month of math tutoring. It's a lot less expensive than hiring one to come to the house or going to some place like Sylvan. I was really impressed with the website. I'll keep you updated on how that works out.

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Be Alert to The Warning Signs of a Work at Home Scam

While the Internet has opened up a world of opportunity for people seeking to work from home, I'm hearing more and more stories lately of people being scammed out of their hard-earned money by some Internet huckster. It's unfortunate, but even as the Web has created a telecommuting boom, it has also spawned a new breed of cons.

It pays to be cautious and do your homework before jumping into any potential job or business opportunity. You should always check the company's history with the Better Business Bureau. And it never hurts to Google the company's name and see what pops up. But what if the company is new and relatively unheard of?

There are some warning signs you can look for when answering an online ad for a home business or employment. Some of the hallmarks of a work at home scam are:

First: Promising the moon. Exaggerated claims of income, earnings, or profits. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

Second: No Experience Necessary. Most jobs - well, most good jobs - require some experience.

Third: Asking that you send money for instructions or products before fully disclosing what the business is about. If the person you're communicating with is not upfront about the name of the company and the type of business it is, back away.

Fourth: They assure you there is a huge demand for the product you'll be selling or promise to provide leads.

If you've been scammed while looking for employment or think you've come across a scam, report it to The National Fraud Information Center at 1-800-876-7060. You might just save someone else the heartbreak.

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No More Boring Business Cards!

I remember when you used to have to go to a stationary store to order a box of business cards. The choices back then were limited and simple, if not unique. So I was really excited when I found MOO. At MOO's online site, you can design your own business cards by uploading your own pictures and logos and/or choosing from available designer images and backgrounds. You can also import your own pics from Flicker, Bebo, Fotolog, and more.

Besides business cards, you can also design your own sticker books and note cards. Just think of the possibilities! You can be an artiste! (And yes, I meant to spell it that way.) Global shipping is just $4.99. And this is not a paid advertisement. I just like the site. Check them out!

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AdSense Notifier Not Working? Fix Update

I love AdSense Notifier. It displays a running total of your AdSense earnings at the bottom of your browser. It's one of my favorite Firefox add-ons. So I was sad to see it hasn't been working for the past week, ever since Firefox did an update. After much Googling, I finally found the solution here.

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My Birthday's Lackluster History

Okay. I've been tagged in a Birthday Meme, the point of which is to see who shares your birthday, historical events that took place on your birthday, and any holidays that fall on your birthday. Seems simple enough. And here's how it works:

Instructions: 1. Go to Wikipedia and type in your birthday (month and day). 2. Write down three events, 2 births, 1 holiday and tag 5 friends. 3. There are five slots in the Birthday Meme. As you are tagged, you have to remove the name in the first slot and bump everyone up so that your name can be added to the bottom.

Here's mine:

Birthday: July 29th

I'm a Cancer.

I share my birthday with the not-quite-all-there actor, Gary Busey and race car driver, Jeff Burton.

My birthday falls on Veterans Day in the Netherlands.

And last, but not least, the three historical events which took place on my birthday are:

Coal is discovered on Vancouver Island.

The Globe Theatre in London, England burns to the ground.

The U.S. Supreme Court rules the death penalty could constitute "cruel and unusual punishment."

Well, that does it. Not too impressive, in my opinion. June 29th appears to be a hump day in history. Oh well.

And the list:
Mommyness is Happiness
This is a miracle
Mariuca
First Time Dad Adrian
Lisa at Work at Home Mom Revolution

I kindly ask these five bloggers to participate in this meme:
Polliwog's Pond
Hearts A Fire
Plain Jane Mom
Working at Home Mom
Outta the Coop

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