Web Round Up – 5/18/07

I read all week; I share with you; you read what sound good. Easy enough, lets get started:

• Remember last week’s tickets for TV watching time? Someone’s made available a set for you to print out.  Available in a variety of colors and for 30 or 60 minute blocks. I’m not sure yet if we’ll use them; the kids are really good about not complaining when I tell them to go play after they’ve been in front of the TV for too long.
• The Baby Name Wizard lets you see names usage over time.  Brian peaked in the 1970s at 8th most popular, but has been in decline ever since. Surprisingly, Meron, Estifanos, and Yordanos didn’t make the top 1000 in any decade (for the US).
• William’s son gives a restroom play by play.
• CrazyD inspires you to do more with less.

Only 4 this week. I had a research intensive commentary to write for The Fool, so I’ve been flying through the feed reader…skimming if I’m lucky, so if I missed a good post of yours, that’s probably the reason.

 

Web Round Up – 5/11/07

It’s an all Parent Hacks week at the web round up (I found all of these there). I’m not sure how that happened, but at least I don’t have to hat tip them each time:

• On line coloring book.  Won’t teach them how to color in the lines (it fills in one section at a time), but it’s good for learning how to use a mouse.
• With a name like Happy to be Nappy, how can you not want to watch (you’ll need HBO or to go buy the DVD, available at Amazon).
• Our kids are usually good about not complaining when we turn off the TV to limit the time in front of the tube, but this ticket idea is really good. It also might help in the “what we watch” negotiations, since the kid that picks the shows will have to pay.
• Check out these cool lofted beds made from an Ikea bunk bed.  It would be nice if they had better directions or more pictures, but if you’re inclined to build it, you can probably figure out how to do it.
• Push the shopping cart backwards. You’re kids will feel like they’re driving.

BTW, court went fine; pictures on Monday.

 

Web Round Up – 4/27/07

Crazy week, but I still found plenty of good stuff to share with you:

• If you don’t think that adoption should be labeled as a fad, perhaps you should go tell Urban Outfitters apparently they’re not on their website anymore, but still available in some stores.
• Got a parent who’s gone a lot, get your kid a flat daddy or mommy. They’re free for military (donations are accepted to defray the cost). Hat tip: Growthink.
• Haven’t figured out the whole feed reading thing?  My post a few months ago didn’t help much?  Try this video.  You can’t get much simpler of an explanation than that.
• Hey Dads!!! Mother’s Day crafts you can help your kids make (Susan don’t look).
• Crazy D tells it like it is in his post, What have I done?

Also Mary’s giving away 2 of Bono’s books about Africa (the other give away is here).  And my first post on The Motley Fool is up (might require you to give them an e-mail address).  If you like it, hit the recommend button.  I doubt they’ll pay me more for it, but at least I’ll get some feedback since they don’t have a comments section.

 

Why I’m So Stressed Out and Your Friday Web Round Up – 4/20/07

I’m a little stressed right now. On Wednesday, I opened my e-mail and found an e-mail containing (amongst others) the following lines:

As it so happens I’m looking for qualified people to write about biotech companies to expand our coverage.

and

If you’re at all interested in writing for us let me know and we can get the ball rolling.

Now if that doesn’t sound like a job offer, I don’t know what is. I was flattered and elated (and quite frankly a little shocked). It’s no secrete that I’d like to get out of the lab (it’s even in the about section of my other blog, which is why he contacted me). After an e-mail exchange discussing the time commitment and pay (Answers: could be full or part time and it depends), I got an e-mail that I need to fill out an application that goes to the managing editor.  I guess this isn’t a done deal after all.

Thursday morning I filled it out (including a sample article…as if my blog isn’t one big resume) and hit the submit button….SERVER ERROR (good thing I copied everything into a word document). Switch browser, fill everything out again…..SERVER ERROR…OK it’s probably not a problem on my end. E-mail the editor. He says to just send the sample article and my resume (I guess I wasted a lot of time coming up with witty answers to questions like, “What’s your favorite financial publications and why?”

And here I sit 24 hours since I sent in the e-mail…checking my e-mail 2 or 3 times an hour…checking Google Analytics to see if anyone from the town their headquarters is in has visited my blog. I jump every time my cell phone rings. It’s just like when we were waiting for our referral call.

Oh and did I mention that the contract that Susan’s company has with the county is up for re-bid, so we don’t know if she has a job after June 1st. They were supposed to find out last week, then this week, now she just found out that they will probably not know for at least 2 more weeks.

Any prayers you can spare would be greatly appreciated.

****************

And so on with the top 5 things I think you should read (reduced to 4 because I was busy writing a sample article for the application):

• Another reason Dads should read to their kids.
• An easy to make construction set made from PVC pipe. I’m a little afraid that it will result in kids hitting each other with the pipes, but Estifanos is into building things and puzzles right now, so we might give this a try. (Hat tip: Parent Hacks)
• Child abuse as reported by The Onion. 95% of kids report “…abuses ranging from less severe offenses, such as children being denied snacks just before dinner, to more egregious, long-term cases of neglect, such as never ever getting what they want, ever.” (Hat tip: Stroller Derby)
• 4 ways to make a bad job good (not that my job is all that bad) Hat tip: Lifehacker.

Back to checking my e-mail.  What time do you think they leave on Friday afternoon, so I can relax until Monday?

 

Web Round Up – 4/13/07

It’s Friday already and I’ve got some good stuff for you to read, look at, and do. Enjoy:

• I don’t usually put quotes in this series (I figure my endorsement and description is enough to convince you to read it…or not), so you know that this is a must read, especially if you’re thinking about adopting:
  

  She did not seem to care if we were good parents, had a tidy home study done, were properly fingerprinted, had taken the mandatory training classes, or that we were white Americans. She just wanted to know if could help — if we could do something for the girl.

• Someone’s started a Digg/Redit/Stumled Upon for parents. It could be good for both bloggers and readers since you can find links to all the best posts by parents under one roof….assuming people actually submit and vote for posts. By the way, hit the box with the number of votes to vote for an item (hint hint).
• Playing Shoots and Ladders driving you crazy?  Here’s some board game alternatives.
• A life size whale. Don’t worry if you don’t have a big enough monitor, it will only show you part of it.  It’s rather relaxing if you watch it long enough.
• Gardening may lift your mood due to good bacteria in the soil (hat tip Path to Freedom.

 

Web Round Up – 4/6/07

A sick kid really cuts into your blog reading time.  But during my limited computer time, here’s what I found for you to read (Easter dying tonight is cutting into the time for commentary on the links; enjoy them none the less):

• Review of the different Easter egg dying kits
  
• Open letter to all toddlers is pretty funny.
• Piss off a bunch of adoptive parents by saying “…the love you have for your non-biological child isn’t the same as the love you have for your own flesh and blood.”

Enjoy your holiday.

 

Web Round Up – 3/30/07

Man it’s been a hard week; it’s short on commentary, but the same quality reads none the less:

• Play April fools pranks on your kids.
• Kids science fair project results in huge fines against a company due to lack of Vitamin C in their drink.
• Not as good as the refrigerator that threw beers to you, but certainly an upside for those that live in the snow.
• 5 tips for taking better photos of your kids.
• Couple gets divorced in order to adopt a kid. Bureaucracy at it’s finest.

 

Web Round Up – 3/23/07

Just when I was loosing my faith in the internet with a lack of good content to share with you the last couple of weeks, I’ve got 5 good pieces for you (all parenting related).

• Another hair dad, although he’s got a slightly larger audience than me (hat tip: a bunch of people and Erin at Transracial Adoptions blogged about it).
• Be a Good Dad has a good post about why Dad’s should read to their kids, something I should do a little more of.
• Anne realizes what it’s like to be the person ASKING the insensitive adoption question. She makes a good argument for not being so mean since it’s obviously easy to slip up.
• A quick search of Google news didn’t come up with anything to confirm this, but apparently there’s a 23 month old baby in China that can climb 26 stories in 26 minutes. Yordie likes to walk, but I think she needs to pick up the pace a little. (hat tip: Be a Good Dad)
• Have access to some cardboard boxes? Make some furniture for/with your kids.

Have a good weekend.

 

Web Round Up – 3/16/07

Here’s the top 5 things I found on the web that you should be reading.  Not much parenting stuff, but good reads none the less:

• Video of a sneezing panda.  You know it’s coming and it’s still funny (hat tip Jason at Dad Centric).
• Got a few hours and a photoshop like program?  You can make a picture of your car look like the characters from the movie, Cars.  Even if you’re not planning on doing it, go have a look at the pictures in the link, they’re really quite impressive (hat tip Life Hacker).
• Attention all Amazon bargain hunters.  I told you right before Christmas about a way to find only things that were on sale at Amazon, but it required some hacking of the URL.  Looks like Jungle Crazy will do all the work for you in finding stuff at Amazon that is at least 70% off (hat tip Life Hacker).
• Not sure many of you will be interested in this, but if you’re interested in investing in small biotech stocks, there’s a new blog where the author analyzes one company at a time.  Go have a read if you’re looking for investment ideas.

4 again this week.  Either I’m slacking on the reading or my standards have gone up.  Anyway, if you need more to read, check out the old versions of the web round up.

 

Web Round Up – 3/9/07

Another week, another set of things for you to read. A pretty random collection this week:

• You know how Google maps has satellite view where you can make out the houses and such? Well apparently you can zoom in even further. I could only go to 19, but I could still make out cars and note that the fence we built 3 years ago isn’t there, so the image is a little old.
• Last week it was a post on teaching your kids to burp. This week it’s teaching them to fart. You’ll only find this stuff on a dad blog.
• The ultimate beer fridge. I think having one of these could get me to start drinking beer out of a can.
• Got a kid who won’t try new foods? Use the costco sample effect to your advantage.

I had about 4 others tagged as possibilities, but none of them are really all that great, so you only get 4 this week. I’m trying to keep it high quality so you’ll be more likely to read it (since I bothered to write it).

If none of those tickled your fancy, check the web round up archives for more interesting stuff to read.