get with the program

i spent the last week touring vineyards in the fingerlakes region of upstate new york. this beautiful area is truly god’s country. basic inconveniences like the lack of decent cell phone reception is quickly forgotten when taking in the breathtaking sites.

but how does one pursue social media opportunities while there? i lucked out by meeting Jim in one of the wineries. we had the chance to compare notes about my new iphone 4G and his droid . . .

many thanks to my parents and friends who helped provide water filters for 55 families in ghana, west africa.

my good pal sylvia baffour and i decided to undertake this project after seeing a need on a previous visit when she was kind enough to host me at her family’s home in accra. we were humbled by what a difference this small project made in the lives of so many families. we are so grateful to everyone who contributed.

a very special thanks goes out to uncle harry blavo who not only coordinated the logistics for the distribution of these water filters but even spent countless hours driving us around to distribute them. i also want to thank emma baffour, sylvia’s mom, who coordinated the purchase of these filters at a discount, allowing us to help the most amount of families possible. we also can’t forget the very rev. father andrew campbell, ghana’s “mother theresa,” who helped identify for uncle harry and us which areas could best use the water filters. in addition to the areas where we made presentations, a few of the water filterswill be given to a leper community in ghana as well as a village area where the kids have been orphaned by parents who succumbed to aids.

things went so well that sylvia and i are already saving our coins for airline tickets to return back to ghana where we hope to recreate our efforts. our next goal is to help 100 families the next time around. i will be keeping you updated as we progress.

get with the program: Part 2. More about the iPad 3G.

Get with the program: buy the new iPad 3G

check out cousin dave’s latest review….i’m loving his visuals!

Wed Wednesday Features Shoes of Prey

Ladies, have you ever gotten frustrated because you can’t find that perfect shoe to set off that perfect outfit? Or you find the shoe but it doesn’t come in your size? Or you find the right color but wish the heel was higher or lower? Well, never fear Ladies, because now there is a way to control your own destiny by selecting, creating, and designing a fully customizable shoe. Seriously! Design your own shoes thanks to “Shoes of Prey”.

Founded in 2009, this Australian start up makes custom designed one-of-a-kind shoes exactly to your specification using the site’s simple online shoes-designer interface. You choose the heel height and style, the toe (peep toe, round toe, pointed toe, etc.), the fabric (leather, satin, snake skin, animal print, etc.), the color and any embellishments you like (bows, zippers, etc.). Your shoes are made by their craftsmen to measure before being shipped directly to you with a nice traveling shoe bag. (Ladies, word on the street is you love the shoe bags- who knew?) So if you want that yellow snake skin, 4 ½ inch platform heel with a peep toe in a size 8 ½, you got it! Or that sexy red satin sling back with the bow on the toe in a size 11, no problem! Best of all, each purchase comes with their guaranteed satisfaction policy that allows for a full refund within 30 days if the shoes don’t fit or meet your desires.

There are also a number of ready-made shoes already on the site, ready to ship if designing isn’t your thing. If your size isn’t in stock, they can always custom make a pair for you. They also offer a great option for those brides who want their bridesmaids’ shoes to be uniform, but one wears a size 7 narrow and one wears a size 12 wide. The prices range from $180 to $339 with shipping at $25. It may not be what you pay for most of your shoes but at least you have the satisfaction of knowing that NONE of your girlfriends, relatives or co-workers have that pair of shoes like you.

To the men out there, there’s an old folk tale that says you should never buy shoes for your significant other for fear of them walking out of your life. For those who believe this myth (including myself, but we’ll save that story for another post), Shoes of Prey offers gift certificates so they can pick out their own shoes.

A 2009 Crunchies award finalist as the best bootstrapped start up, Shoes of Prey is a growing example of the trend toward the customization of customer products that today’s consumer seem to crave.

So Christmas has come early in June, Ladies. Do something just for you and treat yourself to a new one-of-a-kind pair of shoes. Check out Shoe of Prey today.

Happy Web Wednesday!

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hello everyone,
here’s another web wed. feature from cousin dave. i’ll be getting back to news about costa rica later this week.
have a great day. beverly

In today’s complex society if you’re like me you regularly work from multiple computers and mobile devices. Not too long ago, I can remember emailing files to myself or carrying around an USB drive everywhere I went just so I could have access to my documents or files, no matter where I was or what computer I was using.

Now days services like Google docs, Box.net or Mozy allow you to upload files from any computer to be accessible anywhere you have Internet access, but the processes involves uploading the correct draft of the document or file you’ll need in the future. Enter “Dropbox”, the simplest way to access your files from anyplace while offering the peace of mind of file backup as well.

Dropbox is a file sharing hosting service that downloads a “dropbox” folder on all your computers and mobile devices. Once you update a file or document on one computer or device it automatically updates it on all of your computers and devices using file synchronization across the Internet. Your information is stored on a “server” rather than a specific computer’s hard drive which gives you the ability to access that information from anywhere. You never have to worry whether or not you’re looking at the right version or draft. There is nothing worse than opening up a document only to find you’ve emailed yourself the wrong information or don’t have the latest version. Users can also upload a document or file manually through the Dropbox web site.

Dropbox is free and gives you 2GB of storage. You can upgrade to a paid account which gives you 50GB for $10 monthly/ $99 yearly or 100GB for $19.99 monthly/ $199 yearly. Dropbox supports revision history, so files deleted from the Dropbox folder may be recovered from any of the synced computers. Dropbox’s version control also helps users know the history of a file they may be currently working on, enabling more than one person to edit and re-post files without complications of losing its previous form. This feature is for only 30 days, however. A paid option is available for unlimited version history called “Pack-Rat.

Dropbox received the Crunchie award in 2009 for Best Internet Application and has been nominated for a 2010 Webby award.

So for three excellent products in one – storage, synchronization and sharing – give Dropbox a try today.

for the last month, i have had difficulty writing. and sleeping, and socializing…etc. i realized that my energy had ground down to a zero and stress had been taking a toll. while i’ve been coping with this dilemma, my dear friend mary wade has been spending the last ten weeks traveling and teaching in costa rica, stays in touch and reminds me of my promise to visit her when she took this trip of a lifetime. i only had four nights and five days to escape to this central american paradise, but i had been there twice before and knew that past trips to the country always energized me. costa rica’s beauty is rivaled only by the warmth of the people who live there. In fact, according a new york times piece, three different studies show that costa ricans are rated the happiest folks on the planet. with all of our riches, the us came in a mere 18th and 20th of all countries in terms of happiness.

why are costa ricans so much happier than we are? well for one, the costa rican landscape, whether in the mountains or by the sea is beautiful. however, i’m sure that the happiness quota found by costa ricans also has much to do with their lack of an army and the government’s commitment to promote education instead. it’s not just the physical beauty of the country that keep costa ricans happy. i also believe that the happiness comes from the embracement of peace as a way of life.

i made quick plans to leave. not surprisingly, within 48 hours of being in costa rica, i felt a major revitalization going on. i was not at the mercy of phones, or deadlines and i only checked 30 minutes of emails per day, usually first thing each morning. there were more important things to do, like hear about mary’s experiences living in the mountains with the quaker community and spending time at the university of peace where she shared her skills as a minister with a phd in conflict resolution. mary used to work for the united nations and had been a part of the initial talks to create a university of peace in costa rica. twenty years later at almost age 70, mary was able to see the result of these meetings. when i wasn’t listening to mary’s stories, i took long walks on the beach daily, meditated, ate fresh fish, vegetables, rice and beans and looked at the colorful jewelry in the stores of the beachtown of jaco where we stayed. by day three i’m starting to feel back to my old self, conversing not only with mary but all kinds of great folks that I came across during my daily walks on the beach and at the cafes where i treated myself to several cups of café con leche.

how does one operate in the real world while living in paradise? after all, the online world of social media is a fact of life for most people outside of third world areas. my next blog post will feature some folks who figured out a way…

cousin dave talks about supercook :

what’s for dinner?  it is a question heard every night in most homes and unless you are a gourmet cook like my mom, you’re staring into the refrigerator pondering your next meal. well, you can always look up a recipe on plenty of websites like allrecipes.com and epicurious.com. unfortunately, they do not take into account what you already have in your kitchen.  so you might come up with something extraordinary only to find out you can’t make it because you do not have the necessary ingredients around the house.  not a time saving concept there.  enter supercook!

supercook tells you what’s cooking with what you already have in your cabinets.  essentially, supercook is a recipe search engine that uses a database of 300,000 plus recipes.  you simply type in the ingredients lying around your kitchen into a section on the website that says mykitchen. the more ingredients you put in the search, the better the selections. then using its digital algorithms, supercook gives you a list of potential recipes, using just what you have, or with the addition of another item.   supercook assumes you have some basics like salt and pepper and still may send you to the store for a few items from time to time, but the majority of recipes works with whatever you have in the cupboards.  supercook lists the items needed to be purchased clearly, so you do not have to sift through recipes to find the right one for you. results are filtered by starters, entrees and desserts.

like most of our web wednesday features, supercook is a free service which requires no sign up. signing up for an account is free and allows your to save your list for future recipe searches.

so the next time you’re staring into the refrigerator asking what’s for dinner, try supercook.

happy web wednesday

web wednesday from cousin dave

web wednesday features flightstats

in these days of long airport delays, flight tracking and flight-status alerts have become important tools for travelers. it’s not easy tracking people and planes. all people do not have access to the same information. the problem with most of these services continues to be the accuracy of the information send via email or text. several services have challenges knowing the status of flights which are held at the gate for long delays.

one service that stands above the rest in offering complete, objective, real-time flight information is flightstats. flightstats succeeds where others fail by collecting information from places that include airports, airlines and the federal aviation administration. this service sends messages at the time of a flight’s actual take-off and landing. in fact, the site offers more then just a place for flight updates but a complete wealth of travel information from flights, airports, airlines, mobile applications and travel planning.

like our other web wednesday features so far this year,   you can go directly to the site and start using the services.   you can also register for the site which brings you the following additional features:
·access information on historical flights
· contribute to the flightstats
community forums
· use the flight alert application to receive flight alert messages
· early preview site enhancements prior to release
· date and time formatting options

stop waiting at the airport for the next pick up or delivery and start using flightstats.

happy web wednesday!