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Stuff I read almost every day |
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CNN/Money:
It's where I go for the quick update and news on the financial markets
Yahoo! News - Most Emailed:
A hodgepodge of the more interesting news, tidbits, and pictures from the Web
ZDNet News: Page One:
What's happening in the technology today
Los Angeles Times - Lakers:
Even though I don't live in LA anymore, the Lakers will always be my home team
Fool.com:
Personal finance columnists
MSN Money:
More personal finance columnists
Drudge Report:
Catchy headlines, with an emphasis on political mudslinging and rubbernecking
Google News:
Google's news collector
Slick Deals:
It's amazing the deals they post here. I got a great deal on my laptop, combining Boeing
Employee Purchase Plan with coupon codes, with sales on particular configurations, and
I'm definitely pleased.
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Places I check in on from time to time |
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Chowhound's Hot Posts:
A search for anything posted today on the site. I usually skip down to the Los Angeles board
John C. Dvorak's Inside Track Column in PC Magazine:
I've been reading this column off and on for over ten years. Sometimes I learn about new
products in the marketplace, and sometimes I read pointed opinions about the Tech industry and
companies.
John C. Dvorak's Opinions Column in PC Magazine:
I've been reading this column off and on for over ten years. Sometimes I learn about new
products in the marketplace, and sometimes I read pointed opinions about the Tech industry and
companies.
Tom's Hardware:
The focus here is on reviewing the guts and performance of hardware products, especially
motherboards, processors, and video cards. They take a methodical approach to analyzing
hardware, and report lots of performance metrics and analysis. Occasionally they put out
videos that demonstrate things like the tendency for processors to melt and smoke if the
cooling fan melts, or show the performance gain under typical PC usage of hyperthreading.
Sharky Extreme:
Sharky puts out buyer's guides for "gaming rigs", also known as personal computers with
powerful graphics and sound, at various price points from extreme value $1000 to extreme
gamer, $4000. It's a nice capsule method of seeing what your money will buy in upgrades,
and is useful for me when I'm looking to upgrade a particular component, which I do a lot
more than building out entire PCs these days.
I Cringely, on PBS:
Another tech writer who has interesting, if occasionally misinformed conjectures on
the tech industry.
Washington Post's Etiquette Column by "Miss Manners":
The stuff people try to get away with always makes me laugh. It seems to boil down to trying
to extort money or objects from friends, acquaintances, coworkers, etc., or trying to argue that
taking advantage of people or institutions can be a "victimless crime."
"Dear Prudence" column in Slate:
Apparently I'm a fan of advice columnists. ;) That's all I'll say about that.
"Dear Margo" column in Yahoo! News:
She used to write the Dear Prudence column, but moved recently to Yahoo, and changed names.
Andy Rooney of 60 Minutes:
It's amazing that he's still going strong after all these years, but he has a unique take on the world
around him, and I like to see what he's been saying every now and then. I prefer his every day
observations to his political ones, but I'll read all of it.
California SuperLotto Plus / Mega Millions:
What can I say? I usually toss $5 in when the jackpot gets high enough.. "Maybe..." :)
Dave Barry of the Miami Herald:
Humor columnist. Funny. 'Nuff said.
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Sites I find to be useful |
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LA Area Traffic:
Real-time maps of traffic speeds and incidents on SoCal Freeways
Yahoo! Maps:
I like the ability to map a location, and then turn on Points of
Interest, like restaurants of a specific type
Superpages.com:
My online Yellow Pages of choice
Babelfish:
Translate blocks of text or entire webpages from one language to another
Bankrate.com:
Where I find out ballpark rates for loans and savings
ING Direct:
A good place to park your short-term savings. Currently 4.00% APR,
and if you e-mail me, I can send you a referral link that nets me $10
and you $25 for opening a new account
State of California Occupational Data Library:
You can search California's Employment Development Department's Data Library for information
on the numbers of employees, mean wages, entry level and experienced level wages, and wage
at several percentile points for any number of occupations. Useful for finding out how much to
pay an employee
State of California Academic Perfomance Index (API) Reports
and Data Files:
The official source of all the academic data from California standardized testing
Realtor.com:
The big daddy of online real estate listings. It's harder to tell here how
active the listings are, or even if the properties have already been sold,
but for comprehensiveness, it's the best I've found
Zillow:
A site specializing in home valuations
Domania.com:
Find out recent home sales prices by address, street, zip, etc
California State Controller's Unclaimed Property Search:
Find yourself or someone you know some money they've lost track of!
LA County Assessor's Property Information Search:
Great utility: you can look up prior sales prices, property tax information (and current paid up status),
assessed value, square footage and bedroom/bath count. The way an Assessor's website should work.
CDC Leading Causes of Death broken down by demographics:
What kills more early 30-something Asian males in California than anything else? Unintentional injuries
Fone Finder:
Shows you who owns a particular telephone number prefix, and where it's located. Good for finding out
Who's in your Friends & Family plan
10-10 Phone Rates:
Lookup for comparison shopping the 10-10 dial-around codes.
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Orange County |
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Chowhound's Los Angeles Area Message Board:
There isn't an OC specific board, but the hounds here are very knowledgeable about
SoCal dining
Cheap Gas in Tustin and Irvine:
The cheapest gas reported in the last 72 hours in Tustin and Irvine
Homeseekers:
My favorite way of accessing the SoCal MLS. Good search functions, but there is a
lag between when the listings are put in the MLS, and when they appear here
Tustin Unified School District Accountability Reports:
Read about the academic performance, demographics, school safety, class sizes, etc
Irvine Unified School Locator:
Punch in an address, and it tells you the assigned neighborhood schools
Irvine Unified School Directory:
Websites, addresses, and School Accountability Reports
Amtrak Pacific Surfliner:
The Amtrak train that runs between San Luis Obispo, Los Angeles, Orange County, and San Diego
Orange County Line Metrolink:
The commuter train that runs between Los Angeles and Orange County
Orange County Tax Collector's Property Search:
The not-nearly-as-nice-as-LA version of the property information search. You can still get
property tax information and status, and a breakdown of the various property taxes and assessed
value, but it doesn't have the wow factor of LA's
PAIS
Orange County Clerk/County Recorder Fictitious Business Name Search:
Where to check for DBA filings in Orange County
California Secretary of State Business Search:
Filed here to be near the above search, but returns results for LLCs, LPs, and Corporations in California
US Patent & Trademark Office- Trademark Search:
Trademark information- need to check here if you're naming your business, along with the above Secretary of State
and County Recorder
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Free Software I Use |
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Google Toolbar:
Replaces IE Search, adds a toolbar for Google search terms, and a decent popup blocker too
Apache HTTP Server Project:
I run the Apache web server on my home laptop, under the Windows XP platform
MySQL:
My database engine of choice, also powering the Gallery and Webmail
PHP:
This is my favorite scripting program for website scripts, such as my Photo Gallery
and web-based email
Gallery Project:
This application is a superb online photo gallery. Simplifies the production and
management of online photo albums. It's really wonderful work.
ImageMagick:
Great for resizing and editing digital photos. It's integrated with the Gallery, but
just as useful standalone, especially in a Unix command environment for batch operations.
WordPress:
Free standards-based blogging software. It now runs my personal site. I was looking for
something that would let me post easily, and hold reviews and articles that I might not have
time to write anyway.
FreeDNS:
Not exactly software, but these guys provide DNS that maps my domain name to
my DSL IP Address. I also run the
Dynamic DNS Afraid FreeDNS Updater which pings
afraid.org every half hour to keep the record accurate.
Quick (PHP) Explorer:
A nice web file manager that lets me edit files, upload, create directories, all the usual
file operations in a simple, clean format
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