Justin Germino Ramblings

Why did I include both Microsoft and Triberr in the same sentences and what do they have in common?

Both Triberr and Microsoft failed to renew domain licenses in the past few days and as a result took site outages for services.  In the case of Microsoft they failed to renew the the SSL Certificate for the Microsoft Azure Cloud Storage so the entire cloud service platform via the SSL interface had issues and this is especially bad for a major corporation to let a lapse in SSL certificates happen that could cause major customer outage.  What if Google Drive, Amazon Cloud or another forgot to renew some critical SSL certificate and cause major customer outages, this would be a loss of service, trust and reputation for a long time.  Read more about the Microsoft Azure issue from Forbes.

Triberr had a similar renewal issue but this was on the whole Triberr.com domain that failed to be renewed.  Dino shares the story on DIYBlogger.net even before Triberr was back up and running I think.  This one though is another example and though it was fixed in 24 hours and Triberr is a service many pay for the customer base is small in comparison to a massive corporation and what if someone else had bought out the domain from under him (granted I think there is some domain protection that prevents the domain from being picked up by a vulture unless it isn’t renewed for a few weeks after it expires) but still this is a grave concern.  What if the staff were on vacation and had no access to email like on a cruise or something and this happened.  I completely understand this happening and I actually had the opposite problem where I had domains auto-renew when I wanted them to expire.

This reminds me of something I read that domains actually can rank better and have more authority if you pre-purchase multi years instead of renewing annually, just having SEOMoz showing the domain won’t expire for 3+ years in the future can help the ranking and authority of the site since by owning a domain for so long instead of renewing annually it shows it as a longer term investment or something.  I am going to renew DragonBlogger.com when it comes up this year as a 3+ year instead of annual and see if it makes a difference in my experiment as the site hits 5+ years old.

Here’s the lesson, if you purchase domains make sure you setup the notification functionality so you are notified when your domain is about to expire, you can set to manually renew so it doesn’t charge your credit card automatically each year but make sure your email that is notified isn’t one you get rid of or don’t check often. 

So I had been curious about taking Krill Oil as a supplement to get essential Omega-3 and DHA since I had previously taken both Fish oil and Salmon Oil capsules at various times.  I was curious about if Krill Oil had less fishy oily aftertaste (especially on an empty stomach) and if I would notice any additional benefits or have any issues with the supplement.

I was looking to buy Krill Oil but was lucky enough to have KrillOil.com send me a 1 month supply sample to try and they wanted my review of the Krill Oil supplement and also want to give one of my readers a 1 month trial to sample for themselves for those who have been interested in supplementing their Omega-3 Fatty acids which are good for everything from the brain to the skin, hair and even help your cholesterol according to some studies and information.

Inflammation and arthritis pain may be another reason why you may want to try and consider Krill Oil supplementation as well.  According to Wikipedia Entry on Krill Oil and sources quoted, a double blind study conducted in Canada tested the effects of Neptune Krill Oil (NKO) on arthritic symptoms. The results showed that a short treatment of 300 mg daily of NKO significantly reduces arthritic symptoms and prevents inflammation.

I personally have taken this sample bottle of Krill Oil for a few weeks, and I haven’t noticed any particular benefit or negative but I wasn’t suffering from any inflammation, pain or other symptoms either to try and relieve.  I will say that I had a little bit of stomach trouble when I took the pills on an empty stomach and recommend you take it with a meal, preferably after you had a few bites just so you have some food in your stomach to help absorb some of the oil.  I did have a little bit of a bad aftertaste when taken on an empty stomach but this wasn’t the case if you take it after consuming some food.

The pills themselves are relatively easy to swallow but take it with cold liquid as hot liquid can melt the gel caps in your mouth which would leave you with a horrible fishy taste (I learned my lesson by trying to swallow some fish oil pills years back with hot coffee).

If you have been wanting to try Krill Oil for yourself, but was unsure on the price investment this is a great chance to enter to win a free month supply of Krill Oil from KrillOil.com.  Also I suggest you read more about krill oil benefits as well.

To enter the giveaway just leave a comment telling us why you want to try the Krill Oil, is it for relief, or a specific benefit or overall health improvement?

Here are the countries eligible for having a month supply shipped to them, so you must be a resident of one of these countries to enter to win a free month supply.

• Australia
• Canada
• France
• Greece
• Ireland
• Italy
• Japan
• Malaysia
• New Zealand
• Singapore
• Switzerland
• U.A.E
• UK
• US

The Krill Oil giveaway is open between February 22nd and ends on March 8th 2013.  1 Random Commenter will be chosen via Random.org list generation to win a free month supply.

Disclaimer:  I was sent a free month supply of Krill Oil from Viva Labs so that I could try the supplement and then was offered a free month supply to giveaway to a reader in a sweepstakes style giveaway.  All opinions are 100% mine and mine alone.

Okay so realizing I was going through a ridiculous amount of K-cups and having my wife call me addicted when I had a 2 day event where there where no K-cups left in the house and I had to run out to the store to purchase more I decided to share some of the tips I use to conserve K-cups and try to stretch them out because let’s face it.  K-cups can cost you an average of .60 – .80 cents per K-cup which though much cheaper than Starbucks can still be $3.00 or more per day if you drink 3-4 cups of K-cups per day.  Multiply this by 7 days a week and it is $21 per week in K-cups and again times 4 and you are spending $84 per month in K-cups.  It adds up fast and there are some ways to cut the cost down even more.

Buy Dark Brew Light

Depending on your Keurig machine this tip could work for you better, if you have a Keurig that can do small, medium and large cup sizes you can buy a bolder coffee then just brew a small cup and add a little bit of water.  Then brew a 2nd cup after reusing the same filter.  This works particularly well if you like light coffee, you buy medium and get 2 brews out of a medium blend from the same K-cup.  I also do this for some of the stronger K-cup teas and there is no reason you can’t get 2 K-cup brews from a Twinnings Earl Gray K-cup for example.

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I also liked Iced Coffee, and you can brew this lighter by adding ice and water as well.  Finding ways to re-use a K-cup even 2x will double the distance and half the overall cost bringing an average .60 cents cost per K-cup price down to .30 cents per coffee cup.

Bulk K-Cups and Cheaper Blends

I recently found that Safeway, Kroger and other stores carry their “store brand” equivalent K-cups and they have paper like bottoms and are often $3-$4 cheaper per box.  If you just want the coffee and it doesn’t have to be a specific flavor then Safeway Costa Rica blend for example is quite a bit cheaper than the Van Houtte Costa Rica blend.  It doesn’t taste quite as good to me as the Van Houtte Costa Rica Coffee but it isn’t half band and at about .40 cents per K-cup it is 33% cheaper.

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K-Cup Discounts Discontinued and Coupons

I looked on Amazon but this isn’t the cheapest place to get K-cups, I found that Bed Bath and Beyond is.  Even cheaper than Walmart if you take those 20% off coupons you get in the mail and just use them to get about $2-2.50 off your K-cup packs.  That is what I use them for and they also have some great deals sometimes on discontinued K-cup brands or discounted brands.  I once got 3 18 K-cup of the Donut House Chocolate Donut coffee for $7 a box on sale, when they normally are like $11 a box.  This makes it .38 cents per K-cup if you can get an 18 K-cup pack for $7.  With the 20% off you can get K-cup boxes for about $9 which lowers to .50 cents per K-cup.

Don’t underestimate getting K-cups at Bed Bath & Beyond and combine this tip with the doubling up on cups and you may be drinking K-cup coffee for .18-.20 cents per cup which is 70% cheaper than buying it at a local grocery store or Amazon.com.

Refillable K-Cups

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Refillable K-Cup Products allow you to just buy regular ground coffee and just put them into the empty K-cup container and brew it.  You can buy 40 cups of coffee for less than an 18 K-cup pack and this is a great way to stretch your money as well as open up coffee flavors that haven’t come to the Keurig yet or your favorite brand.  You can even buy whole bean coffee, ground it up and put them in the k-cup filters.

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I have personally tried all three of these brands and they all work about the same, though cleaning the Solofill may be slightly easier than some of the other brands.  It is a little inconvenient having to clean out and re-fill the K-cup for every coffee cup and feels a little inconvenient if you are used to just popping in a K-cup but it can save time.  If you buy 3-4 of them and pre-fill them you can pretty much have quick easy access to your day’s worth, then have to clean them at night and set them for the next day but it is easier to clean them right away after you brew coffee, the grinds stick to the cup and take longer to clean out if you let it sit for hours before cleaning them.

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This is probably one of the best ways to save money on K-Cups and I often have a package of Dunkin Donuts French Vanilla grinds to just make a quick iced coffee with my reusable K-cup.

Summary

Clearly I put a lot of thought and time into buying and drinking Keurig K-cups, my favorite brewer is the B145 at this time, you can just fill the side tank and brew coffee cups in less than a minute.

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As parents, we tend to be nostalgic for our own childhood television shows from Johnny Quest to Ninja Turtles and Sesame Street, but there are some really great kid’s shows on television right now. Not all of them are suitable for all ages, but you should know better than anyone whether or not your eight year old is ready for some "big kid" shows:

Regular Show

Recommended for children 10 and up

One of the most popular shows on television right now, Regular Show, follows a pair of twenty something slackers, Mordecai and Rigby, as they try to get out of work and find new and more inventive ways to slack off. They usually wind up putting more effort into undoing the trouble they’ve caused than they ever might have expended at work. Regular Show is mostly kid-friendly entertainment, but about once per episode you can expect a joke aimed at the older brothers and sisters. Though the show rarely ventures into excessive toilet humor or adult jokes, the humor is a little edgier than most kids shows.

Adventure Time

Recommended for children 12 and up

Adventure Time combines slapstick humor, character driven comedy and action and adventure into a truly unique series set in the far future in the Land of Ooo. The humor is generally kid-friendly. Some of the adventure scenes can be a little scary for the younger children, but the lead character, Finn, faces every danger with an enthusiastic, fearless attitude, finding fun in even the scariest scenarios. Jake, Finn’s shape-shifting magic dog, gets most of the biggest laughs thanks to his bizarre perspective and unpredictable sense of humor.

The Amazing World of Gumball

Recommended for children 8 and up

The Amazing World of Gumball is one of the most visually innovative shows on television right now, utilizing a mix of cell based animation, computer animation and live action, among other techniques. That said, it’s perhaps the most traditional series on this list in terms of writing. Following a bickering brother and sister pair through misadventures at home and at school, the humor is very kid-friendly, the characters likable, and the show almost never deals with anything truly scary or explores edgy humor. Gumball serves as proof that you can keep kids interested, even today, with little more than likable characters and funny setups.

Yo Gabba Gabba!

Recommended for children of all ages

Yo Gabba Gabba! is simply a sensory delight. Though the show does explore educational territory with segments like "Don’t Bite Your Friends," the show’s core audience is comprised of children who are still learning about shapes and colors. With inventive, upbeat music and lively dance numbers, Yo Gabba Gabba! is incredibly fun to watch, even for adults. The show was put together by the creators of Homestar Runner as well as members of the group The Aquabats and features cameos from stars like Biz Markie.

If you want to read more, check out www.cablenet.net for information on television for kids and adults alike. It may seem as if all of the best shows were on TV when we grew up, but you can still find some of the best children’s entertainment on television today.

About the Author

Eric Halberg is a father of three whose kids range in age from 3 to 9 years. He writes about TV shows for a variety of entertainment blogs online.

Early yesterday morning and late yesterday night I found myself fishing for a new AdSense plugin for WordPress after SocialSpark found competing Google AdSense ads in one of the sponsored posts at the top of the post banner.  These AdSense ads were hardcoded in my theme php files and there is no easy way to remove ads from single posts if your theme has the AdSense code written into it.

So I decided to fish around and look for AdSense WordPress Plugin alternatives and found many to test, I had been using All in One AdSense and YPN! for years for my bottom banner, but it wasn’t flexible enough to customize 2 separate AdSense banners in same post as different sizes and overall lacked the functionality I needed.

I reviewed and tested 8 WordPress AdSense plugins last night and found the best 2 that are extremely comparable and work perfectly.  I have a 950+ word review of the AdSense plugins detailing each one and how to use them coming up on DragonBlogger.com in a few days.  I will tell you that Quick AdSense is my new favorite and the one I chose to use.

Stay tuned.

Trademarking words and phrases is not uncommon but at what point does it become a violation of common sense? 

With the recent battle brewing over the term Space Marine being trademarked by Games Workshop the makers of the Warhammer 40k series where Space Marines are a crucial representation of the genre one wonders where trademarking words and Sci-Fi phrases will end?  Maggie Hogarth an author who had the book Spots the Space Marine published on Amazon.com learned it was removed after Games Workshop filed a complaint with Amazon.

I admit, this is what I think of when I hear the word Space Marine

The term Space Marine has been used for over 70 years, long before Games Workshop actually trademarked the word in 1995. 

This is not unlike the term First Contact which was trademarked and suit brought against Paramount for Star Trek: First Contact which was settled, or how Lucasfilm now Disney owns the trademark for Droid a simply common shortening of android.  To which Verizon licenses the trademark.

I didn’t realize that Marvel now Disney also owns the right to Super Hero though no major trademark lawsuit I could find came to mind to see if they tried to challenge the usage of that phrase.

It is one thing to trademark phrases and the manner in which they are spoken "Let’s get ready to ruuuumbble" for example which Michael Buffer trademarked.  But common trademarks for individual words or putting two well used words together just seems like a recipe for stifling creativity to me.

Monster cable networks trademarks the word Monster, and they have brought lawsuits against Monsters, Inc. from Disney and others to challenge, winning some and conceding others.  Seriously, the word Monster is trademarked so you can’t use it without risk of being under a lawsuit in the title of your company.

What do you think about these suits against trademark words and names?  When is it valid and should be applicable vs. should not be useable?  Should you be able to trademark a term, phrase or word that has already existed and been printed for decades before you tried to trademark it?

Some of the info for this article was collected from io9.com

Image Credit: Far

The Ouya if you don’t know is a customized Android gaming console that was a Kickstarter success story.  This little gaming box is a way to bring android gaming to the masses marrying the technology found in quality Android tablets with a home gaming console.  The device itself is under $100 and each controller is a separate $49 and not included, but this is well worth it as the controller has a touch screen controller built into it making it very similar to what the Playstation 4 (Orbis) may be trying to do.

The difference is that in Ouya it can allow you to use the touch screen part of the controller to play any game that doesn’t support the gamepad functionality which basically allows you to play a ton of stuff on the android market.

Also, the Ouya is an open free development platform, they encourage the community to root it, mod it and expand what it can do.  They won’t even void your warranty if you root it and experiment, this open concept is something that will greatly expand it’s adoption in my opinion which could lead to advanced concepts, experimental game types and even mods that may change the way we interface with our gaming consoles.

The fact that they tout every single game for Ouya will be free to play in some way, meaning you can free trial or demo every game, or each game is free with just ability to purchase micro-transactions and upgrades mean that most users will pay about 1/3 the cost of a gaming console, but pay many hundreds less for games and be able to try dozens if not hundreds of games before buying the select few they think are worth spending the money on.

Many are touting that Ouya will crush the competition from Steambox and Project Shield by Nvidia.  Some even say the traditional console model will diminish as a result of Ouya, big developers are starting to line up on board and I am excited about Final Fantasy 3 releasing for Ouya which may be a reason for me to pick it up the day it comes out.

You can now pre-order the Ouya on Amazon.com by the way so you can make sure you have it the moment it releases to the public in June 2013.  But the Kickstarter backers will have it first several months earlier the lucky blokes.

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My very first time taking first place in a Blog Engage Guest Blogging contest and it happened to be the annual contest where the winner received $1,000 USD as the prize.

My article Should You Give Up On Blog Commenting had over 1,300 Twitter Retweets, 2,300+ Facebook Shares, over 700 Google +1’s, 638 Pinterest Pins and over 750 comments left on the article.

I was up against some very stiff competition with Abhi and Holly doing more networking and Holly actually getting much more engagement and quality conversations on her article in my opinion, if conversation quality counted rather than simple numbers she would have won.

But the $1,000 USD is just fuel for the Dragon Blogger Fans, as I will be using some of this sum to help pay down some of my own bills, but the rest will be put into giveaways for DragonBlogger.com fans and in addition I have teamed up with Brian from Blog Engage and we will be hosting 3 Google Nexus 7 giveaways in the upcoming months, that’s right 3, not just one!

I am always looking to host giveaways and get other bloggers in the mix as well, so if you are interested let me know if you want to be a co-host of any of the Google Nexus 7 giveaway contests.

-Justin Germino

Recently I tried the Dole fruit cups that are in 100% juice with no added sugar or artificial sweeteners and I have to say that I have become a huge fan of the Dole healthy fruit cups.

They really taste natural and the fruit is ripe, they are not too sweet and so far the fruit cups come as Peach, Pineapple, Mandarin Oranges, Pear and Mixed Fruit.

I like the Pear, Peaches and Pineapple the most with the Mandarin Oranges being just as good, better than any canned version which tends to have a tinny aftertaste to me.  The Mixed Fruit cup was good but was my least favorite of the 4 flavors I tried.

If you compare ingredients you will notice that the Dole Fruit Cups that come packaged in natural juice only have 4 ingredients, the fruit, fruit juice, ascorbic acid and citric acid.  I tried the fruit cups with Splenda and just couldn’t tolerate the aftertaste of the artificial sweetener, so it is good that these have no artificial sweeteners nor any added sugar or corn syrup.  They only have about 60 calories a cup and make a great healthy snack that you can eat any time of day without feeling guilt.

The Dole fruit cups packaged in natural juice are the best fruit cups that I have found so far, I have also been thinking of all the fruit cup recipes you can make with these fruit cups.

For example, just mix up a batch of plain microwavable oatmeal and stir in 1/2 or a full Dole Fruit Cup and you instantly have healthy fruit flavored oatmeal.  You don’t even need to add sugar, this really can vary up your oatmeal routine and the peaches particularly pair well with the oatmeal.

You can simply strain the fruit cups mix 4 of them in a bowl with some sliced apples and banana’s for an instant fruit salad that can be made in less than 2 minutes as well.

If you have been looking for a faster, easier way to get fruit added to your diet to sub out less healthy snacks or jazz up your oatmeal or breakfast with some fruit, then the Dole fruit cups are just for you.  You don’t even need to refrigerate them, so you can just put a few cups in your bag and take them to work with you as a snack.  You can refrigerate them and I like my fruit cold when I eat it so I typically do.  Buy them in bulk, it is cheaper and lasts you longer!

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My kids constantly want to roll up new characters in Guild Wars 2 and test them out, so I decided to test a Sylvari character on the weekend and am just still amazed at how beautiful the game looks and how much character customization there is with all the races.  For instance you can select the colors, ears, nose, hair and can make yourself look more like a Fungi, tree, leafy plant…etc.  Your ears can look like twigs, wrinkled leaves or buds.  The game has just amazing visuals and so much customization that unlike some other MMO’s you nearly never run into another character who has the exact same facial and body features as your character, you truly feel the uniqueness of each character in the game, I wish some of the NPC and character models walking around were more unique but this is how character model creation should have been done in The Secret World for example which as far too few character model options.

The game is still my favorite MMO of all time and the best game I have played in the past 6 months (granted I don’t play very many games, but having too much fun with this one).