Justin Germino Ramblings

Today I face the challenge of 22 tons of landscaping rock being delivered to my house and dumped in a giant pile.  I have a goal of 2 weeks or less to spread that 22 tons of 1″ landscaping rock across nearly 4,000 square feet of front yard.

I haven’t done that much landscaping rock tonnage in about 8 years and I was in my twenties then, I nearly snapped a muscle in my back so hoping that this many years later I still have the endurance and tenacity to get this done.

Or maybe I will end up having to hire some help, but I am pretty stubborn and my goal is to have it all completed in 3 days if possible but will give myself a 2 week leeway if needed.

Can I have the rock spread out in time?  And better yet, will I have any time to blog if all my free time is shoving and spreading landscape rock over the next several days?

It is already starting to get hot here in Southern AZ, so going to have to start at like 6am, work until my day job starts, then finish up at nights.

Yes Google is killing Google Reader and the writing on the wall is Feedblitz may be the next service that Google kills, they already killed AdSense for Feeds previously.  However I was paying $9.98 for Feedblitz service and never had more than 500 subscribers, barely sent out any newsletters for it and after paying for a whole year I decided that it was not providing a good enough return on investment to continue paying Feedblitz for my mailing RSS feed any longer.

I just am not leveraging my RSS email subscribers as a mailing list and barely take advantage of my SimplyCast mailing newsletter, so it is a service I can’t pay for. I originally switched to Feedblitz because Feedburner was having feed issues with my images/content exceeding the header size limits, but I have since converted to partial posts (excerpt) in feed and shouldn’t run into that limitation anymore. 

That $9.98 per month is better to put toward another service and recently I did start up the Triberr plan for $10 per month to see how that works at growing my social media engagement for the site, will report if the ROI is worth it in a few months of testing that service.  I have been a Triberr user for a long time, but this is the first few months I have paid for a premium plan other than buying some bones previously when the system used to use bones.

Been spending some time playing [easyazon-link asin=”B002I0KP4G” locale=”us”]StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm[/easyazon-link] since it released on Tuesday and though I am only about 5 missions in I am having a good time and love the story campaign so far.  It is a perfect B sci-fi movie action game where Kerrigan the Queen of the Blades who is mostly back to Human Genetic Material is trying to find and rescue Jimmie Raynor the man who rescued her and used the Xel Naga artifact to purge most of the Zerg DNA from her body.

I won’t spoil the surprise, but Heart of the Swarm has not only the various unit upgrade features called Evolutions that Wings of Liberty have but also has a separate skill tree for Kerrigan herself as she levels up to unlock new abilities which can be either passive or active.

I bought 2 copies of the game, one for my son who is an avid StarCraft fan as well and one copy for myself and it was well worth it so far.  I am not really a great player on multi-player, I tend to base build and have a weak offense taking my time so my skills are suited to custom battles against CPU or other casual players, certainly not the hardcore gamers online, and I won’t be entering any tournaments.

Here are some Heart of the Swarm Screenshots

StarCraft 2 Heart of the Swarm is definitely worth picking up if you bought Wings of Liberty and completed it, the new features, units and story are enjoyable and I missed playing.  It was way too long between the release of Wings of Liberty and The Heart of the Swarm.

[easyazon-block align=”center” asin=”B002I0KP4G” locale=”us”]

The Roku 3 does look like a pretty impressive upgrade with a faster processor, more streamlined UI and now with audio jack in the remote so you can listen to your movies or music on headphones plugged into the headphone jack of the remote.

Though the YouTube Channel doesn’t officially exist on the Roku yet it is expected to come any month now and there are still ways to access YouTube from the Roku even without the official channel such as by using the VideoBuzz channel which has access to YouTube.

[easyazon-image align=”center” asin=”B00BGGDVOO” locale=”us” height=”292″ src=”http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/31eS%2BLUuDsL.jpg” width=”500″]

The Roku 3 has a free iOS and Android app that lets you use any Android or iOS device as both the remote and a channel surfing/adding vehicle so you can make sure you pick the over 750+ channels you want to add.

The dual band wireless promises faster wireless speeds and further range, which should greatly help those who had slower wi-fi connections to older Roku models.

I have been using both the video channels in my blu-ray player, Samsung Smart TV, Xbox 360 and Wii U but nothing compares to the Roku in my opinion as the video streaming device of choice.  I have 3 of them in my house a Roku XDS, Roku 2 XS and I am really considering getting the Roku 3 to replace the Roku 2 XS in the bedroom because the headphone jack makes it great for one partner to watch some TV while the other falls asleep.

[easyazon-block align=”center” asin=”B00BGGDVOO” locale=”us”]

So the weeds have been nearly unmanageable so I decided as a last ditch effort before I just pay a company to scalp the yard to remove these poison resistant weeds I decided to buy a flame thrower aka. Weed Torch.  I only had enough time to run a quick test of a few smaller weeds in the yard but it was too windy and there was a storm moving in.

[easyazon-image align=”none” asin=”B00004Z2FQ” locale=”us” height=”239″ src=”http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/313Db7iqdWL.jpg” width=”500″]

I was all set to torch hundreds of weeds this weekend, but alas the rain has moved in and it is unlikely I will get to it until things dry up again.  I will say this weed torch which hooks up to a gas propane tank (the same kind you use for gas BBQ Grills) has a lot of power and puts out a lot of flame.  I was a little intimidated first turning it on and lighting it and it can produce up to a 1″ jet of flame that is about 6″ in diameter.  It burns smaller weeds to ash in less than 3 seconds and takes slightly longer for bigger weeds.

Pros and Cons of a Weed Torch

Pros

Burns weeds removing all traces but ash which blows away easy, this is better than having dried out dead weeds after spraying weed poison.

Less labor than shoveling, you stand their, aim and torch away.  There is no manual shoveling and spending 15 minutes torching weeds will not tire out your back and arms like trying to dig them out with a shovel.

Immediate removal, poisons can be unreliable and you spray and wait for weeds to eventually die (or not) the weed torch you watch them burn up instantly before your eyes, weed exits, then weed is ash.

Cons

Roots still exist underground and weeds can come back and regrow.

Time consuming, it can take more time to torch weeds than to shovel but it is easier on your back.

Fire hazard, this works best if you have landscaping rock you can’t weed torch where there is any wood or near structure of house without risk of fire.

You have to be cognizant of the fire at all times and making sure you don’t flame your own foot, and it can be a little noisy.

What do you think?

Have you ever used a Weed Torch to remove weeds by burning them to the ground, do you pretend you are using a flamethower when doing it?

[easyazon-block align=”center” asin=”B00004Z2FQ” locale=”us”]

Long ago, in another age and time, there were only a few threats to computers: If lightning struck, the damage was pretty apparent and it was too late to do anything. Then along came surge protectors. Obviously, burglars have been a threat to computers, once they were no longer the size of a living room. A good alarm system and a watchdog can pretty much take care of that little problem.

Eventually the Internet became a fact of everyday life then someone with a bad attitude and too much time on his or her hands created computer viruses. Happily, anti-virus software was developed to prevent most viruses from causing destruction.

Those were the “good old days”. Now threats to our Internet-connected computers have increased exponentially in a relatively short time. At best, viruses, malware, spam, spyware, Rootkit, and other insidious creatures cause confusion, loss of work, and frustration. In reality, and more frequently than not, these things permit identity theft, theft of work, drastically slowed performance of the computer and introduction of all the cousins of these pests.

Yes, it is possible to buy a virus protection program that protects just against viruses, and years ago, that might have been adequate. Today, that’s risky. Norton 360 offers anti-virus protection and a good firewall, protection against Trojan horses, worms, malware, adware, spyware, and such.

You’re going to pay a little more for thorough, high-quality protection, but by installing Symantec’s Norton 360, you’re minding your p’s and q’s, and it’s much better to be safe than sorry, as the old adage goes.

About the Author

This article was brought to you by David who thinks it is better to be safe than sorry when it comes to protecting your PC and thinks that Norton 360 is still better than trusting your Antivirus protection to freeware.

I have been using International Delights creamer cups for years for my various coffee drinks, I particularly liked the fact they are dairy free as I can’t really have dairy.  So it was only a matter of time I figured before they just released full flavored coffee beverages so you didn’t have to get coffee from somewhere else and then add the creamer after the fact.

I learned more about International Delights Light Iced Coffee while visiting the Delightful games the were running on tie International Delights Fanpage.

You play the games by following 3 simple instructions which have you choose your favorite PIN on Pinterest, and some of them lead to coupons and various information.  75 cents off a carton of International Delights Iced Coffee was a good one to try.  The Mocha flavor was the one that interested me the most, though I am a huge fan of French Vanilla as well.  They even have Light versions of the Iced Coffee drinks that only have 100 calories a serving which is 33% less calories and 39% less sugar than the regular versions.

Other games include Guess the Beans to guess the number of coffee beans in a blue Iced Coffee tumbler, Photo Find where you have to spot the differences on 2 photos and even Cups and Cubes where you have to spot the cup that is hiding an ice cube.

Again, if you are a fan of International Delights creamers there is no reason you shouldn’t be trying their brand of Iced Coffee and Light Iced Coffee drinks which have the same great flavors you already know and love ready to pour and drink.  Just fill up a glass with ice, pour and wait about 15 seconds for the ice to cool the coffee drink down and your good.

My wife who drinks protein shakes and is a chef showed me how to combine International Delights Iced Coffee drinks with a few ingredients to make a pretty tasty protein shake as well.  Here is the recipe.

Protein Mocha Smoothie

Ingredients:
3 tbsps. chocolate syrup
1 cup International Delights Mocha iced coffee
2 tbsps. Greek Yogurt
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1 tbsp. powdered soy protein concentrate
1 1/2 cups ice cubes

Directions:
1.    Blend the syrup, coffee, yogurt, vanilla and protein powder in blender until smooth.
2.    Add ice, blend again.
3.    Serve.

With less calories and less sugar, International Delight Light Iced Coffee lets you enjoy MORE of what you love! For more fun ways to break up your day, visit ID’s new online games today for a chance to win sweet prizes and coupons to use on your next purchase!

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of International Delight. The opinions and text are all mine.

I love listening to audio books but know they can cost a pretty penny if you consume them as often as I do, and yes even an audible subscription can be hard to swallow for those on a tight budget.  I do have a Spotify subscription and hoping they eventually get audiobooks but they would need a pause/resume feature for each playlist to effectively offer this.

Meanwhile, I found that there are quite a few classic audio books that you can download and listen to for free, these classics include Victor Hugo’s Les Miserables which I took a huge interest in after seeing the movie and becoming enthralled with it.

Maybe I was just in the dark ages but recently I was brought in to see how Amazon reviews and clever, humorous reviews, rhymes and even stories disguised as reviews can not only bring tons of views, visits and traffic but may actually be leveraged as a way to raise sales of a particular Amazon product.  Can showcasing a snazzy and funny review like those did of the Banana Slicer on Amazon.com (read the reviews they are hilarious) lead to more sales of a product.  Are we that lazy that slicing a banana with a butter knife is too much effort we needed a tool that can slice em with one shot.

[easyazon-image align=”center” asin=”B0047E0EII” locale=”us” height=”500″ src=”http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/31VTJj4VuVL.jpg” width=”253″]

Or maybe this clever review of a jug of milk would be more your style, completely hilarious stories about the milk itself or a Dr. Seuss like rhyme for a review.

[easyazon-image align=”center” asin=”B00032G1S0″ locale=”us” height=”447″ src=”http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41MXP76Q9RL.jpg” width=”272″]

I admit I can spend more time reading the comical reviews than the details about the not so interesting products themselves.  The funny thing is that there is a market in writing reviews and entertaining ones, I have been offered free products in exchange for a detailed review on Amazon, though no one has asked me to write any thing fantastical and I do just true detailed product reviews I find this quite entertaining and it may be an art in it’s own right.  Someone should compile an ebook “Stories from the Amazon” with stories collected from Amazon reviews.

At first it was Dish Network but then I started seeing the live streaming by cable or satellite TV service providers becoming a far more common feature.  This streaming is basically leveraging a cloud streaming platform to send the video signal through the internet from your set top box to your mobile device which watches it via an application.  It has the ability to justify satellite TV service even for those who do a lot of travel since they can watch that content anyplace there is a Wi-Fi signal that is fast enough to stream the bandwidth.

I was early to jump on board but had problems with keeping the Wi-Fi signal between the satellite box and the wireless router stable enough to prevent the live stream from periodically skipping, pausing and converting to lower quality bandwidth.  It turned out to be a larger router issue on my side, but in the end you will get much better streaming capabilities if you have the ability to plug your satellite set top box into your router via an Ethernet cable than relying on the Wi-Fi connection itself to send the bandwidth upstream.  This is especially true if you are trying to stream the HD quality signal, you need less bandwidth to stream SD quality.

With this option you can also stream your DVR recorded shows, movies to Wi-Fi devices as well and when remote you can catch up on Elementary, Psych or any other show you record on your iPad or Android tablets.  Combine this with an HDMI converter plug and you can even have your tablet show that streamed/recorded TV show or movie onto your regular TV in an alternate location as well.

This is good for if you wanted to watch something you recorded back at home in a hotel room stay instead of what was on the hotel room TV service, most hotel rooms have fast enough Internet that you should be able to stream sufficiently.  If you can stream Netflix or Hulu, then it should be fast enough to stream content from your satellite TV service back home so you can watch your live and recorded content wherever you are.

I am going to be putting this streaming to the real test sometime during spring break when I will be streaming my satellite TV service from AZ to my small place up in California I will be staying at for 4 days. I will let you know the results and how well it holds up.