Did you know that sometimes I write blog posts for others?  Really, I do.  Sometimes I take perfectly good stuff that could be on my blog and give it to others in exchange for Starbucks and iTunes gift cards completely free.

Head on over to Gina McClain’s blog for my recent gift to the blogging community of JabberFrog.

The Compare Game

Do you ever compare yourself to others? I do. I’ll go ahead and admit that I sometimes try and size up people in the first few minutes with one standard-bearing question: Are they better than me, or am I better than them? It’s all very subjective, I don’t literally wonder if I’m a better person than someone; but I do wonder if my house is bigger, if my salary is larger, if my church is more heavily attended, if my marriage is healthier, and any other way that I could possibly walk away with a win in this dangerous “compare game.”

Head over to Jabberfrog.com for the rest…

My all-time favorite thing to do on the Internet is to find, get, receive, take, and/or steal ideas from others. Whether it be finding hacks for my mobile device, new ways to balance my bank accounts online, reading reviews on books I’ve not read, or just finding new ways to do old things; the Internet has opened the doors to feed my daily improvement habit.

In the spirit of this sharing here are a few of the things I use, both online and offline:

• I love photographs. I love digitally altered photographs even more. I know not how to take photographs, nor do I know how to digitally alter them. Therefore, InterfaceLIFT is my drug for all things photographically wonderful. It is a daily occurrence to add the newest submissions to my desktop wallpaper collection. Of which I use Caledos Wallpaper Changer to keep the desktop rotating fresh.

• Windows Live Sync is actually one of the freshest, coolest, most intelligent programs that Microsoft may have ever developed. For years I’ve kept an external Hard Drive in my office at work, that I use to backup both home files (the most important) and some work files. I don’t like to keep it at the house, because if the house were to be destroyed, God forbid, I’d want my backup to be out of the house. Live Sync allows me to sync folders across the Internet without really ever thinking about it. But wait for it…wait for it…the big deal is that it’s totally stinking FREE and it’s really, really, really easy to setup.
• Tokbox. If you are apt to do video calls with your PC, this little online program (or downloaded program) will make it all better.
• For years I’ve been an iTunes junkie. I’ve hated it that my music is DRM-locked, but have been reluctant to use services like Amazon for digital music downloads. But that changed two months ago when I discovered Amazon’s MP3 downloader program that automatically places their DRM-free music right into iTunes for me. But trust me, it’s not just so I can get DRM-free music (which iTunes now offers), it’s because it’s cheaper. Way cheaper!
• My sister-in-law bought this for me at Christmas this year. It may possibly be the smallest gift I got for Christmas , but it’s also one of my favorites. The Aerobie AeroPress meets my major coffee needs. There is a quote on the box that says, “It makes the absolute best cup of coffee I’ve tasted in my entire life!” After using it for the past 2 weeks, I can confirm the accuracy of this bold statement. It is a wonderful world to live in, if I have access to my AeroPress. And yes I am a coffee snob…
• For my atheist readers, please disregard the next recommendation. I wouldn’t say I’m a voracious reader of the Bible, but it’s a pretty big part of my daily life. And YouVersion.com has helped to make it that way. I referenced it months ago, and I still stand by those claims. In my little opinion, there is no greater biblical resource on the Internet than YouVersion.
• A listing of things I use, wouldn’t be complete without a reference to great site like lifehacker.com. If you’re unfamiliar with the greatness of LifeHacker, then please familiarize yourself.

So that’s all I got in my bag for you this time around. I’d love to hear some of the things in and around your life that are worth sharing. (And don’t send me pictures of your kids, geesh!)

I’m not a high-class music snob, but I know what I like and with the exception of “Kill your momma!” songs and “I’m a redneck” country songs I like EVERYTHING.

With that in mind let me make my Christmas music recommendations.

You could hardly find Sufjan Steven’s Songs for Christmas Album two years ago, but I see it with more regularity now. Whether you like new Christmas songs or classic Christmas songs, you will adore this wonder. But one word of warning: DO NOT buy it on iTunes. Buy it in the store. You will get much more music, as well as the other Christmas goodies included in this box set.

The other recommendation is to check out A Very Rosie Christmas, by Rosie Thomas. You’ve heard her other stuff, right? If not, then please do. You can download and listen to one of the tracks off this album for free by going HERE.

In my race to have the best and newest of everything I downloaded the newest version of iTunes last week, version 7.6. It’s supposed to allow for rentals, and basically it is just new; so I want it. But after installing it I had major issues, both at home and at work getting my music to play successfully. The short of it is that it just wouldn’t play consistently steady music. So I uninstalled and went back to version 7.5. (that wasn’t very easy…) I’ve been patiently waiting for a fix to be released or maybe a new version like 7.6.1 or something, but I’m still waiting. And knowing that there is new technology out there that I could possible have and not have it on my computer is killing me! Absolutely torturing me!

Anyone else had problems with the update?