ricky martin boyfriend

Ricky Martin boyfriend photos: "I'm doing great! Stronger than ever" singer reveals on Twitter

Ricky Martin has been in the top of the celeb news this week with his announcement that he is indeed gay. The singer, famous for songs “La Vida Loca” and "She Bangs" is now a hot topic on the Internet as people search for Ricky Martin boyfriend photos.

Martin used his Twitter account on Tuesday night to express his appreciation for the love and support he has received in light of his not surprising announcement.

Whats going on gang?I'm doing great!Stronger than ever!I'm here relaxing @ home enjoying ur messages!I feel the love!Thanx for all!peace

The Latin singing sensation admitted to being a “fortunate” gay man. He is the father of twin boys that were born to a surrogate mother in 2008.

As far as the search for boyfriend photos or information on Ricky Martin's boyfriend, enough already. Although he's a celebrity, he's still a human being who should be afforded some privacy. Good for you, Ricky, for being proud of who you are.

ricky martin boyfriend

Ricky Martin boyfriend photos: "I'm doing great! Stronger than ever" singer reveals on Twitter

Ricky Martin has been in the top of the celeb news this week with his announcement that he is indeed gay. The singer, famous for songs “La Vida Loca” and "She Bangs" is now a hot topic on the Internet as people search for Ricky Martin boyfriend photos.

Martin used his Twitter account on Tuesday night to express his appreciation for the love and support he has received in light of his not surprising announcement.

Whats going on gang?I'm doing great!Stronger than ever!I'm here relaxing @ home enjoying ur messages!I feel the love!Thanx for all!peace

The Latin singing sensation admitted to being a “fortunate” gay man. He is the father of twin boys that were born to a surrogate mother in 2008.

As far as the search for boyfriend photos or information on Ricky Martin's boyfriend, enough already. Although he's a celebrity, he's still a human being who should be afforded some privacy. Good for you, Ricky, for being proud of who you are.

ricky martin boyfriend

Ricky Martin boyfriend photos: "I'm doing great! Stronger than ever" singer reveals on Twitter

Ricky Martin has been in the top of the celeb news this week with his announcement that he is indeed gay. The singer, famous for songs “La Vida Loca” and "She Bangs" is now a hot topic on the Internet as people search for Ricky Martin boyfriend photos.

Martin used his Twitter account on Tuesday night to express his appreciation for the love and support he has received in light of his not surprising announcement.

Whats going on gang?I'm doing great!Stronger than ever!I'm here relaxing @ home enjoying ur messages!I feel the love!Thanx for all!peace

The Latin singing sensation admitted to being a “fortunate” gay man. He is the father of twin boys that were born to a surrogate mother in 2008.

As far as the search for boyfriend photos or information on Ricky Martin's boyfriend, enough already. Although he's a celebrity, he's still a human being who should be afforded some privacy. Good for you, Ricky, for being proud of who you are.

FOCUS ON: FASHION AND ARCHITECTURE

There is one book Alexander McQueen would certainly have liked: it is Heavenly Vault: From Romanesque to Gothic in European Architecture by photographer David Stephenson (released by Princeton Architectural Press). This book is a vertiginous display of sublime cathedral vaults; of choirs, crossings and naves. The mystique of architecture shines from striking gothic sobriety to norman follies. McQueen’s latest effort also evoke this calm magnificence of architectural motives and the pathos of Middle-Age beliefs. We think there could be no better décors for these heavenly creatures than these architectural masterpieces.

Romanesque Architecture 1000 - 1140 - St. Etienne Basilica, France.

Alexander McQueen Fall 2010

Laon, in northern France city, was one of the first cathedrals built in the new Gothic style, with pointed arches showing you the way up to Heaven.

Alexander McQueen Fall 2010

Stargard Choir - Gothic architecture

Alexander McQueen Fall 2010

Batalha, Portugal

Alexander McQueen Fall 2010

Batalha, Portugal

Alexander McQueen Fall 2010

More about the book:
Internationally renowned photographer David Stephenson has dedicated his practice to capturing the sublime in nature and architecture. Stephenson began to photograph Gothic vaults in Spain and Portugal in 2003, while completing the work for his Domes project, and his first monograph Visions of Heaven: the Dome in European Architecture. He began to focus on the Vaults project in 2006, photographing Gothic churches and cathedrals in England, Belgium and France. With the assistance of an Australia Council Artist Fellowship in 2008-09, Stephenson completed extensive fieldwork for the Vaults project, intensively photographing Romanesque and Gothic architecture in Italy, France, Spain, Portugal, Austria, the Czech Republic, Poland, and Germany. David Stephenson's new book of photography is a love letter to the intricate, seemingly sui generis vaults of Europe's Romanesque and Gothic cathedrals and churches.
Source: Images ©: David Stephenson through John Buckley gallery and http://www.160grams.com/

April Fools Pranks

Google Pranks: A History Of The Companies April Fool’s Day Jokes

Google has a history of pulling off various April Fools day pranks. We have a list dating back to 2000 which features various Google pranks pulled on unsuspecting site visitors. From toilet internet services to jobs on the moon, here are some of our favorite classic Google pranks.

MentalPlex (2000): Just sit in front of your computer and Google will scan your brainwave activity, your past browser history and your mouse movements to figure out where you want to go.

Pigeon Based Ranking System (2002): Google announces that they use pigeons to peck away randomly on their computers to find websites. They claim the pigeons are able to grab information at random, allowing for a more meshed web. The idea behind the algorithm was well thought out for the prank.



Google “Moon” Jobs (2004): This April Fool’s Day joke was part of the companies “Google Copernicus Hosting Environment and Experiment in Search Engineering (G.C.H.E.E.S.E.)” Here’s what the job posting said:

Brain Drink That Makes You Think Faster (2005): If Coca-Cola announced this product the speculation would fly, but leave it to Google to reel in a bunch of onlookers. Our favorite part? Google claims the human DNA code is read with a special sensor on the lip of the bottle. According to Google our DNA is just 3 Gigabytes in size.

Google Contextual Dating (2006): Here’s a new way to date, Contextually! If you prefer speed dating contextually Google was also offering the ability to send a mass upload file to their servers. Sure the idea was a bit silly but since 2006 online dating has exploded, albeit not contextually.

Google Toilet Internet Service Provider (TiSP) (2007): Flush your toilet to send your next Gmail message to your friends, family and co-workers, It was the dumbest of the April Fool’s pranks, but I had at least two or three friends email me and ask how I thought it worked.

Google Worldwide Rickrolling + Other Pranks (2008): This is another odd option from Google, they rickrolled the world, including all videos on YouTube. Google also announced gDay, a product that could add Adsense to conversations. They also rolled out a service that could “search pages a day before they’re created.” Basically in 2008 Google went a little prank crazy.

Google Chrome 3D Browser (2009): Google pulled 17 pranks in 2009, but the best by far was their Google Chrome 3D Browser. Basically it blurred everything as if you were watching 3D movies without the glasses.

Now remember, tomorrow is April Fool’s day and given Google’s history of pranking the public, you’ll probably want to be on the lookout.

Is there another Google Prank you prefer over those we’ve listed? Feel free to share your favorites.

April Fools Pranks

Google Pranks: A History Of The Companies April Fool’s Day Jokes

Google has a history of pulling off various April Fools day pranks. We have a list dating back to 2000 which features various Google pranks pulled on unsuspecting site visitors. From toilet internet services to jobs on the moon, here are some of our favorite classic Google pranks.

MentalPlex (2000): Just sit in front of your computer and Google will scan your brainwave activity, your past browser history and your mouse movements to figure out where you want to go.

Pigeon Based Ranking System (2002): Google announces that they use pigeons to peck away randomly on their computers to find websites. They claim the pigeons are able to grab information at random, allowing for a more meshed web. The idea behind the algorithm was well thought out for the prank.



Google “Moon” Jobs (2004): This April Fool’s Day joke was part of the companies “Google Copernicus Hosting Environment and Experiment in Search Engineering (G.C.H.E.E.S.E.)” Here’s what the job posting said:

Brain Drink That Makes You Think Faster (2005): If Coca-Cola announced this product the speculation would fly, but leave it to Google to reel in a bunch of onlookers. Our favorite part? Google claims the human DNA code is read with a special sensor on the lip of the bottle. According to Google our DNA is just 3 Gigabytes in size.

Google Contextual Dating (2006): Here’s a new way to date, Contextually! If you prefer speed dating contextually Google was also offering the ability to send a mass upload file to their servers. Sure the idea was a bit silly but since 2006 online dating has exploded, albeit not contextually.

Google Toilet Internet Service Provider (TiSP) (2007): Flush your toilet to send your next Gmail message to your friends, family and co-workers, It was the dumbest of the April Fool’s pranks, but I had at least two or three friends email me and ask how I thought it worked.

Google Worldwide Rickrolling + Other Pranks (2008): This is another odd option from Google, they rickrolled the world, including all videos on YouTube. Google also announced gDay, a product that could add Adsense to conversations. They also rolled out a service that could “search pages a day before they’re created.” Basically in 2008 Google went a little prank crazy.

Google Chrome 3D Browser (2009): Google pulled 17 pranks in 2009, but the best by far was their Google Chrome 3D Browser. Basically it blurred everything as if you were watching 3D movies without the glasses.

Now remember, tomorrow is April Fool’s day and given Google’s history of pranking the public, you’ll probably want to be on the lookout.

Is there another Google Prank you prefer over those we’ve listed? Feel free to share your favorites.

April Fools Pranks

Google Pranks: A History Of The Companies April Fool’s Day Jokes

Google has a history of pulling off various April Fools day pranks. We have a list dating back to 2000 which features various Google pranks pulled on unsuspecting site visitors. From toilet internet services to jobs on the moon, here are some of our favorite classic Google pranks.

MentalPlex (2000): Just sit in front of your computer and Google will scan your brainwave activity, your past browser history and your mouse movements to figure out where you want to go.

Pigeon Based Ranking System (2002): Google announces that they use pigeons to peck away randomly on their computers to find websites. They claim the pigeons are able to grab information at random, allowing for a more meshed web. The idea behind the algorithm was well thought out for the prank.



Google “Moon” Jobs (2004): This April Fool’s Day joke was part of the companies “Google Copernicus Hosting Environment and Experiment in Search Engineering (G.C.H.E.E.S.E.)” Here’s what the job posting said:

Brain Drink That Makes You Think Faster (2005): If Coca-Cola announced this product the speculation would fly, but leave it to Google to reel in a bunch of onlookers. Our favorite part? Google claims the human DNA code is read with a special sensor on the lip of the bottle. According to Google our DNA is just 3 Gigabytes in size.

Google Contextual Dating (2006): Here’s a new way to date, Contextually! If you prefer speed dating contextually Google was also offering the ability to send a mass upload file to their servers. Sure the idea was a bit silly but since 2006 online dating has exploded, albeit not contextually.

Google Toilet Internet Service Provider (TiSP) (2007): Flush your toilet to send your next Gmail message to your friends, family and co-workers, It was the dumbest of the April Fool’s pranks, but I had at least two or three friends email me and ask how I thought it worked.

Google Worldwide Rickrolling + Other Pranks (2008): This is another odd option from Google, they rickrolled the world, including all videos on YouTube. Google also announced gDay, a product that could add Adsense to conversations. They also rolled out a service that could “search pages a day before they’re created.” Basically in 2008 Google went a little prank crazy.

Google Chrome 3D Browser (2009): Google pulled 17 pranks in 2009, but the best by far was their Google Chrome 3D Browser. Basically it blurred everything as if you were watching 3D movies without the glasses.

Now remember, tomorrow is April Fool’s day and given Google’s history of pranking the public, you’ll probably want to be on the lookout.

Is there another Google Prank you prefer over those we’ve listed? Feel free to share your favorites.

passover 2010

Passover 2010 Story: The four themes & Seder meal

Its Passover time for 2010, or Pesach, as it’s known in Hebrew, and it’s the Jewish practice that’s most widespread across the world. A lot of people are not sure what Passover is really all about so we’ll try to give you some idea. It really all revolves around the concept of liberation and how we all need to free ourselves from our personal Egypt, or “tight spot”.

Passover is a celebration of making that move for freedom or ridding ourselves from oppression and is marked in many ways. Brad Hirschfield, via the Huffington Post, feels that there are 4 main themes to Passover. Principle One involves expanding our scope of empathy, listening to people in need and helping out where we can.

Principle Two involves questioning everything, and as much as possible, as questioning signifies freedom, even if we don’t always like the answers. Principle Three is all about liberation and remembering that while this means being free, it cannot be gained by not having obligations to others, or not being accountable for our actions.

Finally Principle Four is a reminder of the importance of people in our lives, from inviting people to sit for dinner together, and recognizing the significance of kinship and friendship. One of the special Passover traditions is the ritual Seder dinner, which represents togetherness of people. So here in a nutshell is what Passover is all about, and we hope you can celebrate your own personal path to liberation, whatever that may be.

passover 2010

Passover 2010 Story: The four themes & Seder meal

Its Passover time for 2010, or Pesach, as it’s known in Hebrew, and it’s the Jewish practice that’s most widespread across the world. A lot of people are not sure what Passover is really all about so we’ll try to give you some idea. It really all revolves around the concept of liberation and how we all need to free ourselves from our personal Egypt, or “tight spot”.

Passover is a celebration of making that move for freedom or ridding ourselves from oppression and is marked in many ways. Brad Hirschfield, via the Huffington Post, feels that there are 4 main themes to Passover. Principle One involves expanding our scope of empathy, listening to people in need and helping out where we can.

Principle Two involves questioning everything, and as much as possible, as questioning signifies freedom, even if we don’t always like the answers. Principle Three is all about liberation and remembering that while this means being free, it cannot be gained by not having obligations to others, or not being accountable for our actions.

Finally Principle Four is a reminder of the importance of people in our lives, from inviting people to sit for dinner together, and recognizing the significance of kinship and friendship. One of the special Passover traditions is the ritual Seder dinner, which represents togetherness of people. So here in a nutshell is what Passover is all about, and we hope you can celebrate your own personal path to liberation, whatever that may be.

passover 2010

Passover 2010 Story: The four themes & Seder meal

Its Passover time for 2010, or Pesach, as it’s known in Hebrew, and it’s the Jewish practice that’s most widespread across the world. A lot of people are not sure what Passover is really all about so we’ll try to give you some idea. It really all revolves around the concept of liberation and how we all need to free ourselves from our personal Egypt, or “tight spot”.

Passover is a celebration of making that move for freedom or ridding ourselves from oppression and is marked in many ways. Brad Hirschfield, via the Huffington Post, feels that there are 4 main themes to Passover. Principle One involves expanding our scope of empathy, listening to people in need and helping out where we can.

Principle Two involves questioning everything, and as much as possible, as questioning signifies freedom, even if we don’t always like the answers. Principle Three is all about liberation and remembering that while this means being free, it cannot be gained by not having obligations to others, or not being accountable for our actions.

Finally Principle Four is a reminder of the importance of people in our lives, from inviting people to sit for dinner together, and recognizing the significance of kinship and friendship. One of the special Passover traditions is the ritual Seder dinner, which represents togetherness of people. So here in a nutshell is what Passover is all about, and we hope you can celebrate your own personal path to liberation, whatever that may be.

palm sunday

Christian pilgrims mark Palm Sunday in Jerusalem

Christians from around the world are commemorating Palm Sunday in the Jerusalem, singing hymns and bearing palm fronds as they celebrate Jesus Christ's triumphant entry into the holy city 2,000 years ago.

Pilgrims and local Christians came to Jerusalem's Old City to attend mass at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, traditionally held to be the site of Jesus' crucifixion.

Others celebrated at the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem — the town of Jesus' birth — and in the Gaza Strip, home to a small Christian population.

According to the New Testament, Palm Sunday marks the day Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey, greeted by cheering crowds bearing palm fronds. For most Christians, it marks the start of Holy Week, which concludes with Easter the following Sunday.

palm sunday

Christian pilgrims mark Palm Sunday in Jerusalem

Christians from around the world are commemorating Palm Sunday in the Jerusalem, singing hymns and bearing palm fronds as they celebrate Jesus Christ's triumphant entry into the holy city 2,000 years ago.

Pilgrims and local Christians came to Jerusalem's Old City to attend mass at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, traditionally held to be the site of Jesus' crucifixion.

Others celebrated at the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem — the town of Jesus' birth — and in the Gaza Strip, home to a small Christian population.

According to the New Testament, Palm Sunday marks the day Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey, greeted by cheering crowds bearing palm fronds. For most Christians, it marks the start of Holy Week, which concludes with Easter the following Sunday.

palm sunday

Christian pilgrims mark Palm Sunday in Jerusalem

Christians from around the world are commemorating Palm Sunday in the Jerusalem, singing hymns and bearing palm fronds as they celebrate Jesus Christ's triumphant entry into the holy city 2,000 years ago.

Pilgrims and local Christians came to Jerusalem's Old City to attend mass at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, traditionally held to be the site of Jesus' crucifixion.

Others celebrated at the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem — the town of Jesus' birth — and in the Gaza Strip, home to a small Christian population.

According to the New Testament, Palm Sunday marks the day Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey, greeted by cheering crowds bearing palm fronds. For most Christians, it marks the start of Holy Week, which concludes with Easter the following Sunday.

youtube down

No YouTube Is Not Down (And You Can Still Watch Brigitte Daguerre or any other Videos)

There's a swirling message going around today saying that youtube was down but in fact www.youtube.com is working just fine and you can still search for hot topics like Brigitte Daguerre. There are alot of videos you can watch at youtube, if I had to make a suggestion check out a guy called Redneckrickem on there. He's good for a few laughs.

Apparantly, some users weren't able to log onto the YouTube website earlier today around 7 o'clock in the morning. They saw a message telling them that the service was unavailable.

Anyone who is looking for anything, can literally find some sort of a video of it on youtube whether you're looking for sports, news, politics, cartoons, movie clips, and all around comedy - it's all there.

youtube down

No YouTube Is Not Down (And You Can Still Watch Brigitte Daguerre or any other Videos)

There's a swirling message going around today saying that youtube was down but in fact www.youtube.com is working just fine and you can still search for hot topics like Brigitte Daguerre. There are alot of videos you can watch at youtube, if I had to make a suggestion check out a guy called Redneckrickem on there. He's good for a few laughs.

Apparantly, some users weren't able to log onto the YouTube website earlier today around 7 o'clock in the morning. They saw a message telling them that the service was unavailable.

Anyone who is looking for anything, can literally find some sort of a video of it on youtube whether you're looking for sports, news, politics, cartoons, movie clips, and all around comedy - it's all there.

youtube down

No YouTube Is Not Down (And You Can Still Watch Brigitte Daguerre or any other Videos)

There's a swirling message going around today saying that youtube was down but in fact www.youtube.com is working just fine and you can still search for hot topics like Brigitte Daguerre. There are alot of videos you can watch at youtube, if I had to make a suggestion check out a guy called Redneckrickem on there. He's good for a few laughs.

Apparantly, some users weren't able to log onto the YouTube website earlier today around 7 o'clock in the morning. They saw a message telling them that the service was unavailable.

Anyone who is looking for anything, can literally find some sort of a video of it on youtube whether you're looking for sports, news, politics, cartoons, movie clips, and all around comedy - it's all there.

Frontier Airlines

Frontier Airlines Ticket Sales: Discounted Fares for Summer

The leading discount airlines launched a new round of airfare sales for summer. JetBlue Airways, Frontier Airlines and AirTran Airways sales will end this week so have your booking done before the end of the discount fares.

Frontier Airlines also extends Kansas City International Airport (MCI) and Cancun International Airport (CUN) through Aug. 28, 2010.”The response to our nonstop service to Cancun has been tremendous,” VP of planning and strategy Daniel Shurz said. “Extending our service over the summer now provides the Kansas City community with greater access to their favorite Mexican vacation destination,” he added.

You can get the full details of the discounts and promo mechanics of the Frontier Airlines ticket sales at the Frontier Airlines official website.

Frontier Airlines

Frontier Airlines Ticket Sales: Discounted Fares for Summer

The leading discount airlines launched a new round of airfare sales for summer. JetBlue Airways, Frontier Airlines and AirTran Airways sales will end this week so have your booking done before the end of the discount fares.

Frontier Airlines also extends Kansas City International Airport (MCI) and Cancun International Airport (CUN) through Aug. 28, 2010.”The response to our nonstop service to Cancun has been tremendous,” VP of planning and strategy Daniel Shurz said. “Extending our service over the summer now provides the Kansas City community with greater access to their favorite Mexican vacation destination,” he added.

You can get the full details of the discounts and promo mechanics of the Frontier Airlines ticket sales at the Frontier Airlines official website.

Frontier Airlines

Frontier Airlines Ticket Sales: Discounted Fares for Summer

The leading discount airlines launched a new round of airfare sales for summer. JetBlue Airways, Frontier Airlines and AirTran Airways sales will end this week so have your booking done before the end of the discount fares.

Frontier Airlines also extends Kansas City International Airport (MCI) and Cancun International Airport (CUN) through Aug. 28, 2010.”The response to our nonstop service to Cancun has been tremendous,” VP of planning and strategy Daniel Shurz said. “Extending our service over the summer now provides the Kansas City community with greater access to their favorite Mexican vacation destination,” he added.

You can get the full details of the discounts and promo mechanics of the Frontier Airlines ticket sales at the Frontier Airlines official website.

new health care bill pros and cons

As the Health care bill were passed from the Congress, now getting into the Law maker sign off. But before that, there’s been some change about the Health Care reform it self.

Cause of that, some argue will makes the new health care bill in pros and cons. We’ve been remembering about Rep. Brian Baird from Vancouver Democrat that says:

“I wanted to be absolutely sure of the pros and cons” of the bill, said the Vancouver Democrat, who is not seeking re-election. “It’s one thing to read it. But it’s another to understand it.”

New Health Care Bill – Pros:

* Everybody can have health insurance if they want it.

1. Insurers will not be able to stop paying for people who are sick, even if they lose their jobs.
2. People who cannot afford health insurance won’t have to pay as much money.
3. People who are already sick will be eligible for healthcare.

* In the long run it will (hopefully) reduce medical costs significantly. Rising medical costs are the main reason the long-term budget projections are so alarming. Something has to be done. Unfortunately, this bill might not do enough. While there will definitely be some savings, it’s not clear that they will be as transformative as hoped.
* Health insurers can no longer cap coverage. In other words, they will no longer say that they have spent enough on you and you’re on your own for the next hundred thousand dollars. This should reduce medical bankruptcy.
* There will be increased competition in the insurance market. It might be from a public option. It might also be from some kind of non-profit, state-specific co-operative. This might push the healthcare companies to lower costs and provide better service.

New Health Care Bill – Cons:

* For the first ten years, it will cost about $100 billion a year. This is about the yearly cost of the Iraq War.
* The bill might increase the cost of health insurance. This depends on whether the gains from increased efficiencies and increased competition are outweighed by the cost of providing additional benefits.
* The Individual Mandate. You will have to either buy health insurance if you don’t have it or have a 2% tax increase. This insurance will be subsidized—but there is no guarantee that the subsidy will suffice for your specific situation.
* There will be a tax increase on very high income people. If you are making more than half a million (or maybe a full million) you will have about a 1% tax increase.

* Other stuff that might be good or bad, depending how you see it

* Increased government involvement in healthcare. Government already pays for huge amounts of healthcare—so this won’t be anything new.
* Additional regulation on insurance companies. This might increase costs. It will increase quality.
* Physicians will have increased access to information about what treatments are most effective for their cost. If two treatments work equally well and one is cheaper, doctors can recommend that one. This was almost universally considered a good thing until a few years ago, but some people have started criticizing it lately.
* Large employers may also have to offer health insurance to more of their employees. If they do not, they may have to pay some extra tax.

Things that isn’t true:

* Death Panels
* Nazis
* Inability to choose your doctor
* Healthcare will be “rationed.” My conservative buddies will claim that this will “inevitably lead” to rationing. I disagree. I do think we can agree that there is nothing in the healthcare bill that will reduce the amount of healthcare available. The topic of what counts as “rationing” healthcare (and whether we already do it) is complex and contentious—but the healthcare bill will not directly cause additional rationing.
* Bureaucrats will tell doctors how to do their jobs (in ways that they don’t already do).

new health care bill pros and cons

As the Health care bill were passed from the Congress, now getting into the Law maker sign off. But before that, there’s been some change about the Health Care reform it self.

Cause of that, some argue will makes the new health care bill in pros and cons. We’ve been remembering about Rep. Brian Baird from Vancouver Democrat that says:

“I wanted to be absolutely sure of the pros and cons” of the bill, said the Vancouver Democrat, who is not seeking re-election. “It’s one thing to read it. But it’s another to understand it.”

New Health Care Bill – Pros:

* Everybody can have health insurance if they want it.

1. Insurers will not be able to stop paying for people who are sick, even if they lose their jobs.
2. People who cannot afford health insurance won’t have to pay as much money.
3. People who are already sick will be eligible for healthcare.

* In the long run it will (hopefully) reduce medical costs significantly. Rising medical costs are the main reason the long-term budget projections are so alarming. Something has to be done. Unfortunately, this bill might not do enough. While there will definitely be some savings, it’s not clear that they will be as transformative as hoped.
* Health insurers can no longer cap coverage. In other words, they will no longer say that they have spent enough on you and you’re on your own for the next hundred thousand dollars. This should reduce medical bankruptcy.
* There will be increased competition in the insurance market. It might be from a public option. It might also be from some kind of non-profit, state-specific co-operative. This might push the healthcare companies to lower costs and provide better service.

New Health Care Bill – Cons:

* For the first ten years, it will cost about $100 billion a year. This is about the yearly cost of the Iraq War.
* The bill might increase the cost of health insurance. This depends on whether the gains from increased efficiencies and increased competition are outweighed by the cost of providing additional benefits.
* The Individual Mandate. You will have to either buy health insurance if you don’t have it or have a 2% tax increase. This insurance will be subsidized—but there is no guarantee that the subsidy will suffice for your specific situation.
* There will be a tax increase on very high income people. If you are making more than half a million (or maybe a full million) you will have about a 1% tax increase.

* Other stuff that might be good or bad, depending how you see it

* Increased government involvement in healthcare. Government already pays for huge amounts of healthcare—so this won’t be anything new.
* Additional regulation on insurance companies. This might increase costs. It will increase quality.
* Physicians will have increased access to information about what treatments are most effective for their cost. If two treatments work equally well and one is cheaper, doctors can recommend that one. This was almost universally considered a good thing until a few years ago, but some people have started criticizing it lately.
* Large employers may also have to offer health insurance to more of their employees. If they do not, they may have to pay some extra tax.

Things that isn’t true:

* Death Panels
* Nazis
* Inability to choose your doctor
* Healthcare will be “rationed.” My conservative buddies will claim that this will “inevitably lead” to rationing. I disagree. I do think we can agree that there is nothing in the healthcare bill that will reduce the amount of healthcare available. The topic of what counts as “rationing” healthcare (and whether we already do it) is complex and contentious—but the healthcare bill will not directly cause additional rationing.
* Bureaucrats will tell doctors how to do their jobs (in ways that they don’t already do).

new health care bill pros and cons

As the Health care bill were passed from the Congress, now getting into the Law maker sign off. But before that, there’s been some change about the Health Care reform it self.

Cause of that, some argue will makes the new health care bill in pros and cons. We’ve been remembering about Rep. Brian Baird from Vancouver Democrat that says:

“I wanted to be absolutely sure of the pros and cons” of the bill, said the Vancouver Democrat, who is not seeking re-election. “It’s one thing to read it. But it’s another to understand it.”

New Health Care Bill – Pros:

* Everybody can have health insurance if they want it.

1. Insurers will not be able to stop paying for people who are sick, even if they lose their jobs.
2. People who cannot afford health insurance won’t have to pay as much money.
3. People who are already sick will be eligible for healthcare.

* In the long run it will (hopefully) reduce medical costs significantly. Rising medical costs are the main reason the long-term budget projections are so alarming. Something has to be done. Unfortunately, this bill might not do enough. While there will definitely be some savings, it’s not clear that they will be as transformative as hoped.
* Health insurers can no longer cap coverage. In other words, they will no longer say that they have spent enough on you and you’re on your own for the next hundred thousand dollars. This should reduce medical bankruptcy.
* There will be increased competition in the insurance market. It might be from a public option. It might also be from some kind of non-profit, state-specific co-operative. This might push the healthcare companies to lower costs and provide better service.

New Health Care Bill – Cons:

* For the first ten years, it will cost about $100 billion a year. This is about the yearly cost of the Iraq War.
* The bill might increase the cost of health insurance. This depends on whether the gains from increased efficiencies and increased competition are outweighed by the cost of providing additional benefits.
* The Individual Mandate. You will have to either buy health insurance if you don’t have it or have a 2% tax increase. This insurance will be subsidized—but there is no guarantee that the subsidy will suffice for your specific situation.
* There will be a tax increase on very high income people. If you are making more than half a million (or maybe a full million) you will have about a 1% tax increase.

* Other stuff that might be good or bad, depending how you see it

* Increased government involvement in healthcare. Government already pays for huge amounts of healthcare—so this won’t be anything new.
* Additional regulation on insurance companies. This might increase costs. It will increase quality.
* Physicians will have increased access to information about what treatments are most effective for their cost. If two treatments work equally well and one is cheaper, doctors can recommend that one. This was almost universally considered a good thing until a few years ago, but some people have started criticizing it lately.
* Large employers may also have to offer health insurance to more of their employees. If they do not, they may have to pay some extra tax.

Things that isn’t true:

* Death Panels
* Nazis
* Inability to choose your doctor
* Healthcare will be “rationed.” My conservative buddies will claim that this will “inevitably lead” to rationing. I disagree. I do think we can agree that there is nothing in the healthcare bill that will reduce the amount of healthcare available. The topic of what counts as “rationing” healthcare (and whether we already do it) is complex and contentious—but the healthcare bill will not directly cause additional rationing.
* Bureaucrats will tell doctors how to do their jobs (in ways that they don’t already do).

Sweet 16 Bracket

Well I think it’s safe to say that not many people picked this year’s Sweet 16 out of the original field of 64 teams. Download and view/print our Sweet 16 bracket. The biggest upset so far has to be the #9 seed Northern Iowa Panthers, who upset this year’s overall #1 seed in the Kansas Jayhawks in the second round. That certainly wasn’t the only surprise of the second round. #12 seed Cornell dominated #4 seed Wisconsin as well, eventually walking away with a 87-69 victory.

As if that weren’t enough upsets for one round, both #11 seed Washington and #10 seed St. Mary’s both scored wins in the second round, Washington knocking off #3 seed New Mexico and St. Mary’s downing #2 seed Villanova. Sign up for a new account with BetUS and deposit $500 or more to get a $500 match bonus.

It wasn’t all upsets in the second round, however, #1 seeds Duke, Syracuse, and Kentucky all won their games with ease. Three #2 seeds also advanced to the Sweet 16 with Ohio State beating Georgia Tech, Kansas State winning over BYU, and West Virginia knocking off Missouri. Baylor is the lone #3 seed to advance to this round with their win over Old Dominion, while Purdue is the only #4 seed left in the field after their overtime win against Texas A&M. Two #5 seeds still remain with Michigan State pulling the upset over #4 seed Maryland and Butler advancing with their victory over #13 seed Murray State. We also get a pair of #6 seeds with Tennessee and Xavier both winning in the second round.

Be sure to follow the expert cappers at Betfirms with their college basketball picks against the spread as we advance through the tournament. There’s no better place to get winning NCAA basketball betting advice to help you beat the college basketball odds this season.

Sweet 16 Bracket

Well I think it’s safe to say that not many people picked this year’s Sweet 16 out of the original field of 64 teams. Download and view/print our Sweet 16 bracket. The biggest upset so far has to be the #9 seed Northern Iowa Panthers, who upset this year’s overall #1 seed in the Kansas Jayhawks in the second round. That certainly wasn’t the only surprise of the second round. #12 seed Cornell dominated #4 seed Wisconsin as well, eventually walking away with a 87-69 victory.

As if that weren’t enough upsets for one round, both #11 seed Washington and #10 seed St. Mary’s both scored wins in the second round, Washington knocking off #3 seed New Mexico and St. Mary’s downing #2 seed Villanova. Sign up for a new account with BetUS and deposit $500 or more to get a $500 match bonus.

It wasn’t all upsets in the second round, however, #1 seeds Duke, Syracuse, and Kentucky all won their games with ease. Three #2 seeds also advanced to the Sweet 16 with Ohio State beating Georgia Tech, Kansas State winning over BYU, and West Virginia knocking off Missouri. Baylor is the lone #3 seed to advance to this round with their win over Old Dominion, while Purdue is the only #4 seed left in the field after their overtime win against Texas A&M. Two #5 seeds still remain with Michigan State pulling the upset over #4 seed Maryland and Butler advancing with their victory over #13 seed Murray State. We also get a pair of #6 seeds with Tennessee and Xavier both winning in the second round.

Be sure to follow the expert cappers at Betfirms with their college basketball picks against the spread as we advance through the tournament. There’s no better place to get winning NCAA basketball betting advice to help you beat the college basketball odds this season.

Sweet 16 Bracket

Well I think it’s safe to say that not many people picked this year’s Sweet 16 out of the original field of 64 teams. Download and view/print our Sweet 16 bracket. The biggest upset so far has to be the #9 seed Northern Iowa Panthers, who upset this year’s overall #1 seed in the Kansas Jayhawks in the second round. That certainly wasn’t the only surprise of the second round. #12 seed Cornell dominated #4 seed Wisconsin as well, eventually walking away with a 87-69 victory.

As if that weren’t enough upsets for one round, both #11 seed Washington and #10 seed St. Mary’s both scored wins in the second round, Washington knocking off #3 seed New Mexico and St. Mary’s downing #2 seed Villanova. Sign up for a new account with BetUS and deposit $500 or more to get a $500 match bonus.

It wasn’t all upsets in the second round, however, #1 seeds Duke, Syracuse, and Kentucky all won their games with ease. Three #2 seeds also advanced to the Sweet 16 with Ohio State beating Georgia Tech, Kansas State winning over BYU, and West Virginia knocking off Missouri. Baylor is the lone #3 seed to advance to this round with their win over Old Dominion, while Purdue is the only #4 seed left in the field after their overtime win against Texas A&M. Two #5 seeds still remain with Michigan State pulling the upset over #4 seed Maryland and Butler advancing with their victory over #13 seed Murray State. We also get a pair of #6 seeds with Tennessee and Xavier both winning in the second round.

Be sure to follow the expert cappers at Betfirms with their college basketball picks against the spread as we advance through the tournament. There’s no better place to get winning NCAA basketball betting advice to help you beat the college basketball odds this season.

Breaking Bad

Breaking Bad is a transfixing train wreck

The great 1 that a majority of viewers don’t know about, the 1 most likely to develop a cult DVD afterlife like “The Wire,’’ the 1 on the front lines of the battle against forgettable TV. About the transformation of Walt White (Bryan Cranston) from a nebbishy chemistry teacher with lung cancer into a Southwestern drug kingpin, “Breaking Bad’’ has become a transfixing small-screen epic. Season three premieres tomorrow night at 10 on AMC.

Breaking Bad

Breaking Bad is a transfixing train wreck

The great 1 that a majority of viewers don’t know about, the 1 most likely to develop a cult DVD afterlife like “The Wire,’’ the 1 on the front lines of the battle against forgettable TV. About the transformation of Walt White (Bryan Cranston) from a nebbishy chemistry teacher with lung cancer into a Southwestern drug kingpin, “Breaking Bad’’ has become a transfixing small-screen epic. Season three premieres tomorrow night at 10 on AMC.

Breaking Bad

Breaking Bad is a transfixing train wreck

The great 1 that a majority of viewers don’t know about, the 1 most likely to develop a cult DVD afterlife like “The Wire,’’ the 1 on the front lines of the battle against forgettable TV. About the transformation of Walt White (Bryan Cranston) from a nebbishy chemistry teacher with lung cancer into a Southwestern drug kingpin, “Breaking Bad’’ has become a transfixing small-screen epic. Season three premieres tomorrow night at 10 on AMC.

catamount

Catamounts clocked by an Orange crush - Boston Globe

There was no way Vermont could turn back the clock to 2005 of last night.

The Catamounts faced a hostile crowd as they tried to repeat their fabled upset of Syracuse 5 years ago in Worcester, this time in the unenviable position of a 16th seed. The No. 16s are 0-104 in the era of the 64- and 65-team NCAA fields.

The Orange (29-4) will meet No. 8 Gonzaga here tomorrow at 12:10 p.m. after the Bulldogs held off Florida State, 67-60. Vermont, which equaled its school record for victories, finishes at 25-10.

With the crowd of 18,948 roaring, the Orange exploded to a 35-10 first-half lead and survived a 15-2 Vermont run that pulled the Catamounts within 37-25 at the break. Syracuse quickly put Vermont away in the second with four 3-pointers in the first four minutes.

“Walking into the arena just to see how huge it was and that it’s going to be packed with Syracuse fans, you realize you’re there and it’s not playing Stony Brook in a packed gym of 1,500 fans,’’ said Vermont senior Marqus Blakely, who had team highs of 17 points and nine rebounds in his final game. “This is the real deal. The fact is we went out there and never gave up. The scoreboard might show something different but I’m proud of all of my teammates.’’

“It was awful. I was worried about it all week,’’ said a smiling Vermont coach Mike Lonergan. “I felt like I was going to be at the Carrier Dome II. It was pretty impressive . . . Seeing all that orange, we got off to a bad start.’’

Even with 6-foot-9-inch Arinze Onuaku out with a leg injury, the Orange put five players in double figures with Wes Johnson leading way with 18 points and Scoop Jardine 14 off the bench.

Evan Fjeld was the only other Catamount in double figures with 13 points as Vermont shot just 23 of 66 from the field and 5 of 22 from 3-point range.

“Vermont is a good team. They played well all year,’’ Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim said. “I just thought we played very well. Vermont made no mistakes. Usually we need to force some turnovers and we could not do that. But we forced their shooters out a little bit and made them take some tough shots.’’

The Joseph brothers, Maurice of Vermont and Kris of Syracuse, shared a big embrace and head taps in the center circle as they were introduced prior to tipoff. (Kris outscored his brother, 8-7).

Vermont scored the game’s first points on Maurice Joseph’s 3-pointer 68 seconds in but the Catamounts then went stone cold. Vermont missed its next nine shots as Syracuse went on an 11-0 run. It was 15-8 when the Orange blew it open as Jardine, who averages 8.8 points per game, poured in 11 to spearhead a 20-2 run that had the crowd in party mode with a 35-10 lead.

Blakely was scoreless until canning a jumper with 5:26 left in the half. But he finished with 9 points, including a trio of rim-rocking dunks that had the Vermont fans out of their seats as the Catamounts closed within 12 at the break.

catamount

Catamounts clocked by an Orange crush - Boston Globe

There was no way Vermont could turn back the clock to 2005 of last night.

The Catamounts faced a hostile crowd as they tried to repeat their fabled upset of Syracuse 5 years ago in Worcester, this time in the unenviable position of a 16th seed. The No. 16s are 0-104 in the era of the 64- and 65-team NCAA fields.

The Orange (29-4) will meet No. 8 Gonzaga here tomorrow at 12:10 p.m. after the Bulldogs held off Florida State, 67-60. Vermont, which equaled its school record for victories, finishes at 25-10.

With the crowd of 18,948 roaring, the Orange exploded to a 35-10 first-half lead and survived a 15-2 Vermont run that pulled the Catamounts within 37-25 at the break. Syracuse quickly put Vermont away in the second with four 3-pointers in the first four minutes.

“Walking into the arena just to see how huge it was and that it’s going to be packed with Syracuse fans, you realize you’re there and it’s not playing Stony Brook in a packed gym of 1,500 fans,’’ said Vermont senior Marqus Blakely, who had team highs of 17 points and nine rebounds in his final game. “This is the real deal. The fact is we went out there and never gave up. The scoreboard might show something different but I’m proud of all of my teammates.’’

“It was awful. I was worried about it all week,’’ said a smiling Vermont coach Mike Lonergan. “I felt like I was going to be at the Carrier Dome II. It was pretty impressive . . . Seeing all that orange, we got off to a bad start.’’

Even with 6-foot-9-inch Arinze Onuaku out with a leg injury, the Orange put five players in double figures with Wes Johnson leading way with 18 points and Scoop Jardine 14 off the bench.

Evan Fjeld was the only other Catamount in double figures with 13 points as Vermont shot just 23 of 66 from the field and 5 of 22 from 3-point range.

“Vermont is a good team. They played well all year,’’ Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim said. “I just thought we played very well. Vermont made no mistakes. Usually we need to force some turnovers and we could not do that. But we forced their shooters out a little bit and made them take some tough shots.’’

The Joseph brothers, Maurice of Vermont and Kris of Syracuse, shared a big embrace and head taps in the center circle as they were introduced prior to tipoff. (Kris outscored his brother, 8-7).

Vermont scored the game’s first points on Maurice Joseph’s 3-pointer 68 seconds in but the Catamounts then went stone cold. Vermont missed its next nine shots as Syracuse went on an 11-0 run. It was 15-8 when the Orange blew it open as Jardine, who averages 8.8 points per game, poured in 11 to spearhead a 20-2 run that had the crowd in party mode with a 35-10 lead.

Blakely was scoreless until canning a jumper with 5:26 left in the half. But he finished with 9 points, including a trio of rim-rocking dunks that had the Vermont fans out of their seats as the Catamounts closed within 12 at the break.

catamount

Catamounts clocked by an Orange crush - Boston Globe

There was no way Vermont could turn back the clock to 2005 of last night.

The Catamounts faced a hostile crowd as they tried to repeat their fabled upset of Syracuse 5 years ago in Worcester, this time in the unenviable position of a 16th seed. The No. 16s are 0-104 in the era of the 64- and 65-team NCAA fields.

The Orange (29-4) will meet No. 8 Gonzaga here tomorrow at 12:10 p.m. after the Bulldogs held off Florida State, 67-60. Vermont, which equaled its school record for victories, finishes at 25-10.

With the crowd of 18,948 roaring, the Orange exploded to a 35-10 first-half lead and survived a 15-2 Vermont run that pulled the Catamounts within 37-25 at the break. Syracuse quickly put Vermont away in the second with four 3-pointers in the first four minutes.

“Walking into the arena just to see how huge it was and that it’s going to be packed with Syracuse fans, you realize you’re there and it’s not playing Stony Brook in a packed gym of 1,500 fans,’’ said Vermont senior Marqus Blakely, who had team highs of 17 points and nine rebounds in his final game. “This is the real deal. The fact is we went out there and never gave up. The scoreboard might show something different but I’m proud of all of my teammates.’’

“It was awful. I was worried about it all week,’’ said a smiling Vermont coach Mike Lonergan. “I felt like I was going to be at the Carrier Dome II. It was pretty impressive . . . Seeing all that orange, we got off to a bad start.’’

Even with 6-foot-9-inch Arinze Onuaku out with a leg injury, the Orange put five players in double figures with Wes Johnson leading way with 18 points and Scoop Jardine 14 off the bench.

Evan Fjeld was the only other Catamount in double figures with 13 points as Vermont shot just 23 of 66 from the field and 5 of 22 from 3-point range.

“Vermont is a good team. They played well all year,’’ Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim said. “I just thought we played very well. Vermont made no mistakes. Usually we need to force some turnovers and we could not do that. But we forced their shooters out a little bit and made them take some tough shots.’’

The Joseph brothers, Maurice of Vermont and Kris of Syracuse, shared a big embrace and head taps in the center circle as they were introduced prior to tipoff. (Kris outscored his brother, 8-7).

Vermont scored the game’s first points on Maurice Joseph’s 3-pointer 68 seconds in but the Catamounts then went stone cold. Vermont missed its next nine shots as Syracuse went on an 11-0 run. It was 15-8 when the Orange blew it open as Jardine, who averages 8.8 points per game, poured in 11 to spearhead a 20-2 run that had the crowd in party mode with a 35-10 lead.

Blakely was scoreless until canning a jumper with 5:26 left in the half. But he finished with 9 points, including a trio of rim-rocking dunks that had the Vermont fans out of their seats as the Catamounts closed within 12 at the break.

finding nemo

Pleasure to the fishes in the deep-water of sea, and pleasure of the 9,000 childrens of every age who attended to “Disney on Ice: Finding Nemo” on The dark at Van Andel Arena.

It’s the dearest story of an individual dad, i.e. Marlin, who, with the assistance of a scatty Blue Tang fish called Dory, explores the broadest sea for his missing son, Nemo, the clownfish.

We see Nemo and his daddy in the brilliant red coral reef where they reside.

It is entertaining to watch out the action on the water ice as Marlin and Dory float their minds out to find out Nemo, but even greater to buzz scary-cool, larger-than-sea-life types specified Bruce the shark and the big whale.

The giant, in a sort of scriptural sequence, eats up the pair and they consider certainly as they’re fish food. He was big and made a few of the small ones in the bunch to stare round-eyed at him and his target, whom one could watch inside of him when he steamrolled on the murky sea.

In the meantime, back at the fish tank, Nemo has been plunged into a tabletop fish tank in a dental practitioner office, among unusual aquatics specified bloat the blowfish and Peach the sea star.

With a good story at its center, fantastic, amusing characters, and impressive costumes, lighting and arrangements, “Finding Nemo” interprets very well by movie to ice.

In a point of fact, one may go until now as to tell that a swimmingly blast was had completely. Finding Nemo is a great movie after all.

finding nemo

Pleasure to the fishes in the deep-water of sea, and pleasure of the 9,000 childrens of every age who attended to “Disney on Ice: Finding Nemo” on The dark at Van Andel Arena.

It’s the dearest story of an individual dad, i.e. Marlin, who, with the assistance of a scatty Blue Tang fish called Dory, explores the broadest sea for his missing son, Nemo, the clownfish.

We see Nemo and his daddy in the brilliant red coral reef where they reside.

It is entertaining to watch out the action on the water ice as Marlin and Dory float their minds out to find out Nemo, but even greater to buzz scary-cool, larger-than-sea-life types specified Bruce the shark and the big whale.

The giant, in a sort of scriptural sequence, eats up the pair and they consider certainly as they’re fish food. He was big and made a few of the small ones in the bunch to stare round-eyed at him and his target, whom one could watch inside of him when he steamrolled on the murky sea.

In the meantime, back at the fish tank, Nemo has been plunged into a tabletop fish tank in a dental practitioner office, among unusual aquatics specified bloat the blowfish and Peach the sea star.

With a good story at its center, fantastic, amusing characters, and impressive costumes, lighting and arrangements, “Finding Nemo” interprets very well by movie to ice.

In a point of fact, one may go until now as to tell that a swimmingly blast was had completely. Finding Nemo is a great movie after all.

finding nemo

Pleasure to the fishes in the deep-water of sea, and pleasure of the 9,000 childrens of every age who attended to “Disney on Ice: Finding Nemo” on The dark at Van Andel Arena.

It’s the dearest story of an individual dad, i.e. Marlin, who, with the assistance of a scatty Blue Tang fish called Dory, explores the broadest sea for his missing son, Nemo, the clownfish.

We see Nemo and his daddy in the brilliant red coral reef where they reside.

It is entertaining to watch out the action on the water ice as Marlin and Dory float their minds out to find out Nemo, but even greater to buzz scary-cool, larger-than-sea-life types specified Bruce the shark and the big whale.

The giant, in a sort of scriptural sequence, eats up the pair and they consider certainly as they’re fish food. He was big and made a few of the small ones in the bunch to stare round-eyed at him and his target, whom one could watch inside of him when he steamrolled on the murky sea.

In the meantime, back at the fish tank, Nemo has been plunged into a tabletop fish tank in a dental practitioner office, among unusual aquatics specified bloat the blowfish and Peach the sea star.

With a good story at its center, fantastic, amusing characters, and impressive costumes, lighting and arrangements, “Finding Nemo” interprets very well by movie to ice.

In a point of fact, one may go until now as to tell that a swimmingly blast was had completely. Finding Nemo is a great movie after all.

tiny youtube converter

With these eleven downloads and Web-based services, you can share large files, save ink, monitor action items, and accomplish even more.

DoPDF Free PDF Converter: Want to turn a Word document, Excel spreadsheet, or Web page on your PC into a PDF? Simply install this download and then choose the Print command in whatever program you’re using. Select the DoPDF “printer” and tweak the settings, and your PDF is done.

Drop.io for Outlook: If there’s an easier way to share big files than the Drop.io Web service, we haven’t found it. And now you can grab the beta plug-in for Outlook (or add-ons for Chrome and Firefox). It allows you to select up to 100MB of files and then choose your own custom download URL to share them.

Ecofont: This font set looks a lot like the familiar Arial typeface, but with one key difference. Each letter has lots of holes punched in it, and so requires less ink to print–which means that you’ll spend less money on ink cartridges.

Illustration by Andrew Bannecker
Everything: A search tool on steroids, this app indexes all of the items on your hard drive and then performs lightning-fast searches for files and folders. The tiny program takes the place of the regular search function in Windows 2000, XP, Vista, and Windows 7, and it produces dynamic real-time results.

FlockDraw: If you have an idea that you need to express visually to people who aren’t in the same room, this Web-based service can act as a shared cocktail napkin. Invite other people to view your drawing and even to draw along in real time.

Fonolo: Sick of navigating phone menus? This Web service, which gives you access to the phone menus for common customer service numbers, lets you pick any menu item and then connects you right to it, helping you bypass the hassle.

iCurrent: Personalize this free news site to match your own interests. This beta service shows you the latest news in your chosen areas, in the familiar format of a daily paper. It can take some work to set up, but it is a good way to keep track of a broad range of subjects.

Liaise: Many e-mail messages represent action items, namely things you need to schedule, track, and get done. This Outlook add-in automatically recognizes action items as you type a new message, and then keeps tabs on them and helps you finish them on time.

MakeSomeTime: Invoice management poses a real challenge for the self-employed. Sign up with MakeSomeTime to keep tabs on invoices, clients, projects, and billable time, all within the confines of your browser. The free plan lets you manage up to five clients and send one invoice per month.

ScreenToasterScreenToaster: Say that you need to show Uncle Al (who lives halfway across the country) how to copy and paste text in Word. The easiest approach? Create a “screencast”–a recording of your own computer screen–and then send him the video. Sign up at the ScreenToaster site, press Alt-S, and you’re recording. Once you have finished recording, you can add captions and then upload the video to the site’s servers or to YouTube, or download it as an AVI file.

Tom’s Planner: Gantt charts, with their neat sets of overlapping color lines or blocks, are a nice way to visualize a project schedule. In some apps, however, creating them can involve huge amounts of painful data entry. With Tom’s Planner (free for a year with sign-up during the beta), you go straight to the final product.

tiny youtube converter

With these eleven downloads and Web-based services, you can share large files, save ink, monitor action items, and accomplish even more.

DoPDF Free PDF Converter: Want to turn a Word document, Excel spreadsheet, or Web page on your PC into a PDF? Simply install this download and then choose the Print command in whatever program you’re using. Select the DoPDF “printer” and tweak the settings, and your PDF is done.

Drop.io for Outlook: If there’s an easier way to share big files than the Drop.io Web service, we haven’t found it. And now you can grab the beta plug-in for Outlook (or add-ons for Chrome and Firefox). It allows you to select up to 100MB of files and then choose your own custom download URL to share them.

Ecofont: This font set looks a lot like the familiar Arial typeface, but with one key difference. Each letter has lots of holes punched in it, and so requires less ink to print–which means that you’ll spend less money on ink cartridges.

Illustration by Andrew Bannecker
Everything: A search tool on steroids, this app indexes all of the items on your hard drive and then performs lightning-fast searches for files and folders. The tiny program takes the place of the regular search function in Windows 2000, XP, Vista, and Windows 7, and it produces dynamic real-time results.

FlockDraw: If you have an idea that you need to express visually to people who aren’t in the same room, this Web-based service can act as a shared cocktail napkin. Invite other people to view your drawing and even to draw along in real time.

Fonolo: Sick of navigating phone menus? This Web service, which gives you access to the phone menus for common customer service numbers, lets you pick any menu item and then connects you right to it, helping you bypass the hassle.

iCurrent: Personalize this free news site to match your own interests. This beta service shows you the latest news in your chosen areas, in the familiar format of a daily paper. It can take some work to set up, but it is a good way to keep track of a broad range of subjects.

Liaise: Many e-mail messages represent action items, namely things you need to schedule, track, and get done. This Outlook add-in automatically recognizes action items as you type a new message, and then keeps tabs on them and helps you finish them on time.

MakeSomeTime: Invoice management poses a real challenge for the self-employed. Sign up with MakeSomeTime to keep tabs on invoices, clients, projects, and billable time, all within the confines of your browser. The free plan lets you manage up to five clients and send one invoice per month.

ScreenToasterScreenToaster: Say that you need to show Uncle Al (who lives halfway across the country) how to copy and paste text in Word. The easiest approach? Create a “screencast”–a recording of your own computer screen–and then send him the video. Sign up at the ScreenToaster site, press Alt-S, and you’re recording. Once you have finished recording, you can add captions and then upload the video to the site’s servers or to YouTube, or download it as an AVI file.

Tom’s Planner: Gantt charts, with their neat sets of overlapping color lines or blocks, are a nice way to visualize a project schedule. In some apps, however, creating them can involve huge amounts of painful data entry. With Tom’s Planner (free for a year with sign-up during the beta), you go straight to the final product.

tiny youtube converter

With these eleven downloads and Web-based services, you can share large files, save ink, monitor action items, and accomplish even more.

DoPDF Free PDF Converter: Want to turn a Word document, Excel spreadsheet, or Web page on your PC into a PDF? Simply install this download and then choose the Print command in whatever program you’re using. Select the DoPDF “printer” and tweak the settings, and your PDF is done.

Drop.io for Outlook: If there’s an easier way to share big files than the Drop.io Web service, we haven’t found it. And now you can grab the beta plug-in for Outlook (or add-ons for Chrome and Firefox). It allows you to select up to 100MB of files and then choose your own custom download URL to share them.

Ecofont: This font set looks a lot like the familiar Arial typeface, but with one key difference. Each letter has lots of holes punched in it, and so requires less ink to print–which means that you’ll spend less money on ink cartridges.

Illustration by Andrew Bannecker
Everything: A search tool on steroids, this app indexes all of the items on your hard drive and then performs lightning-fast searches for files and folders. The tiny program takes the place of the regular search function in Windows 2000, XP, Vista, and Windows 7, and it produces dynamic real-time results.

FlockDraw: If you have an idea that you need to express visually to people who aren’t in the same room, this Web-based service can act as a shared cocktail napkin. Invite other people to view your drawing and even to draw along in real time.

Fonolo: Sick of navigating phone menus? This Web service, which gives you access to the phone menus for common customer service numbers, lets you pick any menu item and then connects you right to it, helping you bypass the hassle.

iCurrent: Personalize this free news site to match your own interests. This beta service shows you the latest news in your chosen areas, in the familiar format of a daily paper. It can take some work to set up, but it is a good way to keep track of a broad range of subjects.

Liaise: Many e-mail messages represent action items, namely things you need to schedule, track, and get done. This Outlook add-in automatically recognizes action items as you type a new message, and then keeps tabs on them and helps you finish them on time.

MakeSomeTime: Invoice management poses a real challenge for the self-employed. Sign up with MakeSomeTime to keep tabs on invoices, clients, projects, and billable time, all within the confines of your browser. The free plan lets you manage up to five clients and send one invoice per month.

ScreenToasterScreenToaster: Say that you need to show Uncle Al (who lives halfway across the country) how to copy and paste text in Word. The easiest approach? Create a “screencast”–a recording of your own computer screen–and then send him the video. Sign up at the ScreenToaster site, press Alt-S, and you’re recording. Once you have finished recording, you can add captions and then upload the video to the site’s servers or to YouTube, or download it as an AVI file.

Tom’s Planner: Gantt charts, with their neat sets of overlapping color lines or blocks, are a nice way to visualize a project schedule. In some apps, however, creating them can involve huge amounts of painful data entry. With Tom’s Planner (free for a year with sign-up during the beta), you go straight to the final product.