Feed My Search

Interesting app...I heard about it on Cog Dog Blog. I like the idea behind it. I currently use Google Alerts, which saves my search query and sends weekly e-mails with the top search results. However, I often see the same results as in a previous week. FeedMySearch attempts to remedy the issue by creating a feed from your Google search and only presenting new search results.

So far, I created one feed successfully. When I tried to create a second feed, I couldn't add it in Bloglines. First, it returned a crapload of feeds that must have been other people's feedmysearch feeds. Then, it told me I was already subscribed to the feed. I suspect that the way FeedMySearch is programmed it doesn't create a unique feed address for every search, so Bloglines has associated all feeds created by FeedMySearch users as coming from the same source. I'm sure they'll fix it and it will make a worthwhile app.

It's Just a New Do

Unlocking the Secrets of Your Blackberry

Soror Barbie - People Need to Get Over Themselves

This AKA Barbie is one of the most beautiful Barbies I've ever seen. Yet, instead of praising the fact the Mattel even bothered to acknowledge Alpha Kappa Alpha's 100 years of service, they are lamenting over the fact that she looks light skinned. Come on now....

I hope the Delta Sigma Theta Barbie is as beautiful as this one. I can't wait until 2013!

Check out Lay of Soror Barbie! on The Root.

Been a long time...

I have to catch up! Being a new mom takes tons of time, but I'll be here shortly to reveal cool stuff on the web. I have TONS of stuff saved on Bloglines just for you guys!

In the meantime, check my new blog: Uncommon Roots. It's a genealogy blog.

Internet Spying

Ah, the Internet makes it so easy to spy on folks you know (and used to know). If you ever get in a stalker kind of mood, check this post from Lifehacker:

How to Track Down Anyone Online

It covers some sites I've heard of like Google and ZabaSearch, but there's a few new ones.

Internet

Find widgets at Widgipedia

Lifehacker Computers make us more productive. Yeah, right. Lifehacker recommends the software downloads and web sites that actually save time. Don't live to geek; geek to live.

Find widgets at Widgipedia In Wiki Want to find a widget? Try Widgipedia, a repository for widgety goodness of all shapes and sizes. There's a variety of interesting widgets here to download; developers can also upload their own creations or collaborate on tutorials, kind of a neat twist. While Widgipedia does offer at least ten different widget platforms, you'll still have to deal with downloading a specific engine for any particular platform (i.e., Yahoo Widget Engine). However, if you're at all a fan of widgets, this is a good place to start finding them. — Wendy Boswell Widgipedia Link

Bloglines - Fake Jeans: 5 ways to spot them.

From zafu.com

Fake Jeans: 5 ways to spot them. By Lori Hayashida on Style Scoop Fake premium jeans are becoming more and more common. Luxury goods have always been the target of counterfeiters (How many of us own a cute "Proda" bag that we bought off the street corner?), but it seems that the amount of fake goods being imported into the United States has been steadily rising. And with the rise of online sales, fakes can be harder to spot. Can you tell the difference between the True Religion jeans below? Authentic Fake The more desired an item is, the more likely there's a fake version out there so premium denim has been hit hard lately. Unsuspecting consumers are ending up with fake Diesel's 7's and True Religions to name a few. If you love a good denim bargain but are afraid of ending up with a fake, here are 5 things to look for: Fabric: Fakes are made of cheaper denim that will feel stiffer and heavier than premium originals. Workmanship: Look at the quality of the stitching. Premium brands reject samples that do not adhere to their quality standards. Uneven stitching and loose threads could indicate a fake. Stitching: Most jeans have signature stitching on the pockets that makes them unique. Subtle differences in pocket stitching can be hard to spot, but are sure signs that you are dealing with a fake. Authentic Fake Labels: Look carefully at the labels. Fakes will usually have subtle differences in writing (look at the difference in the number 9 on the labels above)or label quality. Both paper and fabric tags are usually made of cheaper materials than their authentic counterparts. Wash: Look carefully at the fading and distressing. Fake jeans are distressed quickly and with little artistic flare. Their fade patterns will look extreme and too uniform in comparison to premium originals. If you're looking for a bargain on premium denim, be sure to do your research and become very familiar with the real thing. If you know what to look for, spotting fakes is that much easier. And remember the old saying: "If it seems too good to be true, it probably is!" Test your fake spotting skills at The International Anticounterfeiting Coalition. For specifc fake spotting by denim brand, check out the ebay guide on buying premium denim.

Bloglines - Surveyed 1, 590 black, white and Hispanic youth nationwide between the ages of 15 and 25

Bloglines user aisha1978 (aisha.taylor@gmail.com) has sent this item to you.

Negrophile Born on the Fourth of July ... a.k.a. Juneteenth, C.P.T.

Surveyed 1,590 black, white and Hispanic youth nationwide between the ages of 15 and 25 In articles "The Black Youth Project is committed to making the ideas and attitudes of young people our central focus. By asking young people themselves about important issues like sex education, police discrimination, abortion or same-sex marriage, the Black Youth Project is able to provide data that will help build effective policies that can significantly improve the lives and prospects of young black people. This study is about research, not ranting." | A quote from Cathy Cohen about the Black Youth Project in William Harms' University of Chicago Chronicle article "Empirical data show complex beliefs, attitudes and character of black youth" TrackBack (0) | Comments (0) Comments on this Entry:

Ask.com back from the dead with AskCity

In the first of a series, I'm going to post about the maps I use the most and let you know the good and the bad about the map systems out there.

First up, Ask City!

I haven't used ask.com in about a billion years, so it took a posting on TechCrunch to get me to pay attention to their new mapping utility, Ask City.

Here's the good:

Being late to the game has its advantages. You can rip off ideas from your competitors and then make it better. What's neat about Ask City?

1. You can draw on the map and send it to friends. This opens up a whole new brand of social networking around a map. If you're trying to figure out where to go on Friday, everyone can pin their fav restaurant on the map. You can write your opinions about it and vote, all on the map.

2. Search for business near a location. Google has it, but Ask City lets me search it from the little pop up balloon.

3. Search events. Google lets you search events, but you have to do it through Google Calendar. This puts it all in one app and it looks pretty thorough. After you choose your event, you can use "search nearby" to find a restaurant to eat at before and a bar to hang out in afterward.

4. Find movies. You can find movies on Google, but I think I'm the only person I know who knows how to do it (type movie: your zip like movie: 77449 in the search box).

5. Pin your results. You can pin a result down, then run a new search so that you can see where the stuff you pinned is in relation to something else you're looking for.

You can also send info to your phone, e-mail the map to your friends, and save snapshots of the maps you've created.

In the next post, the bad.

New Direction for the Blog

So, I've realized that my talent lies in finding really neat things on the web that others have no time to find or no interest in finding or trying out because they aren't quite as geeky/nerdy as I am. So, in the tradition of boredom making you blog, I will try and focus my blog on the neat/new stuff that I find on the web. I'll review it so that my friends won't waste their time, but I'm hoping that I can spread the word about some of the things that I think are cool on the web. I'll link to my del.icio.us posts and you can see the stuff as I find it, even before I post on it.

TTFN

Website of the Week

For those of you obsessed with celebrity fashion, www.like.com searches based on pictures to find similar items. You highlight an item that you like from the picture (shoes, handbag, etc.) and like's search engine will find it. Just opened today, with free shipping for the first 10,000 customers. Soon, it will have other items and will search Ebay.

Ergonomic Workspace

People who know me know that my neck has been bothering me for almost 3 months. Nothing on the MRI, but part of it is because of sitting all day and driving for 3 hours or more per day (ridiculous commute). I'm going to use some of these tips for an ergonomic workspace that I came from Macworld via Lifehacker.

Tavis Smiley Laughs Too Damn Much

What the hell is wrong with Tavis??? I'm trying to understand why in the world he was laughing through the ENTIRE Kat Williams interview I heard on podcast today. I mean, Kat would say, "My name is Kat," and Smiley would break out into these loud guffaws for a few minutes like the shit was funny. I understand laughing when something is really funny, but Tavis reminded me of Tom Joyner forcing out giggles every time J. Anthony Brown opens his mouth.

Listen: just because they are comedians doesn't mean that every word out of their mouth is funny and that you have to laugh for 5 minutes. Ya'll need to listen to that foolishness. Go to iTunes and download Tavis' podcast interview with Kat and see if you aren't annoyed in the first 5 minutes (or less).

WTF?

Alright, blogger is acting a fool today. I couldn't log in and when I finally got in, none of the links are working. Anyway, it's been awhile, but I think there will be a barrage of posts in the coming weeks, since I may be unemployed soon.

Men's Rules for Women

From Mar 20, 2006

For Your Entertainment:

Men’s Rules (that women should know)

Women, learn to work the toilet seat. You’re a big girl. If it’s up, put it down. We need it up, you need it down. You don’t hear us complaining about you leaving it down.

Birthdays, Valentines, and Anniversaries are not considered by us to be opportunities to see if we can find the perfect present . . . . again!

Sometimes we are not thinking about you. Live with it.

Sunday = sports. It’s like the full moon or the changing of the tides. Let it be.

Don’t cut your hair. Ever. Long hair is always more attractive than short hair. One of the big reasons guys fear getting married is that married women always cut their hair, and by then you’re stuck with her.

Ask for what you want. Subtle hints do not work! Strong hints do not work! Obvious hints do not work! Just say it!

We don’t remember dates. . . .Period!!

Most guys own three pairs of shoes - tops. What makes you think we’d be any good at choosing which pair, out of thirty, would look good with your dress?

Yes and No are perfectly acceptable answers to almost every question.

Come to us with a problem only if you want help solving it. That’s what we do. Sympathy is what your girlfriends are for.

A headache that lasts for 17 months is a problem. See a doctor.

Anything we said 6 months ago is inadmissible in an argument. In fact, all comments become null and void after 7 days.

If you won’t dress like the Victoria’s Secret girls, don’t expect us to act like soap opera guys.

If you think you’re fat, you probably are. Don’t ask us. We’ve been tricked before!!

If something we said can be interpreted two ways, and one of the ways makes you sad or angry, we meant the other one.

Let us ogle. We are going to look anyway; it’s genetic.

You can either ask us to do something or tell us how you want it done. Not both. If you already know best how to do it, just do it yourself.

Whenever possible, please say whatever you have to say during commercials.

Christopher Columbus did not need directions, and neither do we.

The relationship is never going to be like it was the first two months we were going out. Get over it. And quit whining to your girlfriends.

ALL men see in only 16 colors, like Windows default settings. Peach, for example, is a fruit, not a color. Pumpkin is also a fruit. We have no idea what mauve is.

If it itches, it will be scratched. We do that.

We are not mind readers and we never will be. Our lack of mind-reading ability is not proof of how little we care about you.

If we ask what is wrong and you say “nothing,” we will act like nothing’s wrong. We know you are lying, but it is just not worth the hassle.

If you ask a question you don’t want an answer to, expect an answer you don’t want to hear.

Don’t ask us what we’re thinking about unless you are prepared to discuss such topics as navel lint, the shotgun formation, or monster trucks.

Foreign films are best left to foreigners. (Unless it’s Bruce Lee or some war flick where it doesn’t really matter what they’re saying anyway.)

BEER is as exciting for us as handbags are for you.

Thank you for reading this; Yes, I know, I have to sleep on the couch tonight, but did you know, it’s like camping.

Black.White.

From 07 February 2006 @ 11:10 am

[snip]Along the same lines, check out the Racism Test, a research study done at Harvard to see if you have implicit stereotypes http://www.implicit.harvard.edu/implicit. Click on the demonstration link.

Back again

From 02 February 2006

To tell the truth, I haven't been writing because I haven't had anything to talk about. What have I been up to? Well, been trying to get my husband his own podcast. It's a few more steps than I thought it would be. I'm trying to find the cheapest way to do it, and it's more complex than it should be. When I figure it out, I think I'll put the steps here. In all honesty, nothing interesting has happened. I've been volunteering at the Boys and Girls Club, trying to teach kids who don't care about school how to do something with computers besides play videogames. One of my student's life goals is to become a hustler. Gotta love Houston.

Black.White. (It's On Now!)

From 17 March 2006 @ 01:42 pm

Ya'll know you want to talk about it. Some of you may be shocked by the way the White woman so candidly expresses the most IGNORANT ideas and thoughts. You might say, "Why doesn't she realize how offensive she is?" Well, as a Black woman who went to a White school and had a White roommate (who had only met 1 Black person in her life), I can tell you that White folks are just that way sometimes.

Seriously, that woman doesn't know that she is being offensive or just weird. The definition of ignorant includes simply not knowing. You could put her picture in there with the definition, cuz that's what she is. Unfortunately, the Black woman on the show gets all offended and mean instead of trying to understand the woman. This is typical of Black folks who haven't had the chance to really interact with people who aren't Black. When you do, you realize that, yes, there are racists out there, but there are plenty of folks who are just ignorant. So what do you do? I believe it's your job to educate them. I hear you now: They need to learn on their own. Yeah, they probably should, but they won't.

So, ladies, the next time a White woman reaches out to touch your fresh weave or braids and asks if she can get something like that too, think before you go off on her. The next time a White person calls you "a beautiful Black creature," try to understand that it may be their attempt to give you a genuine complement, and calmly explain that it isn't. It's all good people. Watch Black.White. on FX at 10 EST if you have no idea what the hell I'm talking about.