Giveaway: The Ultimate Tool for Bloggers!

The Internet Password Organizer provides you with a single centralized location in which to store all your online account login information.

  • This discreetly packaged book features 5.5″ x 8″ pages so you can write comfortably, not crammed.
  • The spiral-binding allows the book to be opened flat so you can write the full width of each page.
  • Reinforced laminate tabs keep your information organized and easy to retrieve.
    The hard cover solidly protects the precious contents within.
  • Bonus sections provide you with space to record relevant information about your Internet Service Provider, Home Network, and Software Licenses.

So stop using Post-it™ notes and loose scraps of paper to record your login credentials and get organized with the Internet Password Organizer™ today!

What is the prize:

Internet Password Organizer

How you can win:
Leave a comment on this post telling me how you currently organize your passwords.

Who is eligible:
You must have a US mailing address. You don’t have to be a blogger to win, just supply a valid e-mail address (don’t forget to include this or I won’t be able to contact you if you are the winner).

When the giveaway ends:
Friday, October 31, 2008. I’ll e-mail the winner on November 1st. If the winner doesn’t respond within four business days, a new winner will be drawn.

Emma’s 3rd Birthday!

On October 21st Emma turned 3 years old. To celebrate we had a “Princess Themed” birthday party with two of her closest friends (Alex and Emma). Elena set up an action-packed and fun-filled day with balloons, arts-and-crafts, a pinata, playtime, and cake. It was really nice to watch Emma enjoy herself so much. Elena and I were honored to have her friends come over to celebrate her special day and make it as beautiful as it was.

Emma’s Tech Tip: Alexa

The popularity of television shows are historically tracked through the Nielson Ratings. This is accomplished by sampling the viewing habits of a segment of the population. People meters are used to collect this information and the select viewing audience agrees to have a log of the shows they watch logged and aggregated with data from other households. This data is then extrapolated and compared against other shows in similar time spots to determine what show is viewed more at any given time.

Ever wonder how web pages are ranked? There are several methods and to my knowledge no standard exists, however, Elexa is a company that is positioning itself as the Nielsen ratings for the internet. To make this technology work, users must download and install “Sparky” the “people meter” equivalent that allows them to track the web pages you visit and aggregate this data with that collected from millions of other users. By collecting this information they can extrapolate what pages are number 1 and which are number 20 million. Although this approach makes a reasonable attempt at accuracy the data is skewed as typically tech-savvy internet users are the main audience that have the tool installed and they traditionally view tech sites.  As a result, tech sites are typically higher ranked than those of the non-tech variety.

So why download the tool? As a contributor you help Alexa improve its accuracy. In return, Alexa will let you know the rank of each site you visit by displaying it in the bottom corner of your browser. For example, Emma’s web page is currently ranked 901,556. To help me improve that ranking my viewers (that means you) need to be running the Alexa tool. This way each time you visit, it is counted and thus improves our Rank. So what are you waiting for? Install Sparky now!

Emma Swim Class #3 Videos

Words and still pictures can not properly convey Emma’s fearlessness, so here are some videos.

Jumping In The Pool

Jumping In Again

Emma’s Swim Class #3

For Emma’s 3rd swim lesson I joined Emma in the water for some wet and wild fun. We practiced entering the pool, freestyle swim-stroke, blowing bubbles through our nose, holding our breath under water, and jumping into the pool (Emma’s personal favorite). Emma is such a fish it’s not even funny. She can stay in the water all day if allowed. The only part she hates about swim class is the end.

Entering the pool

Free-style swim

Blowing bubbles through our nose

Emma holding her breath under water

Tripod Video – This is so me.

I was looking at some of the archives on Emma’s Webpage tonight and I stumbled across this video I had once posted (pre-WordPress). It is so me that I thought it was worth embedding here again.

Emma Swim Class #2 Videos

Emma doing the back stroke

Emma holding her breath

Swim Class #2

Last weeks swim lesson was canceled because her instructor was sick. We took Emma to the pool anyway and swam with her to practice the skills she had learned in her first lesson. When we attended her second lesson today, Emma’s skill had improved. It’s quite amazing because we can see visible improvements from one lesson to the next. During her first lesson she was taught how to “blow bubbles” in the water through her mouth. A concept she struggled with. We practiced the day her teacher was sick and concentrated on emphasizing blowing before submerging her mouth into the water (as initially she was attempting to submerge her head, draw water into her mouth and then spit it out). During today’s class we practiced that skill as well as some basic swim strokes as well as holding her breath under water. Miss Lauren provided some flotation devices so the children could focus on propelling themselves with their arms and legs without worring about staying buoyant. Emma did really good today. Her Mom and I are extremely proud of her. 🙂

Emma “bubble blowing” practice

Emma proudly showing Miss Lauren her “bubble-blowing” skill

Emma practicing some swim strokes

Look at that outboard motor kick!

Emma holding her breath under water (for 4-6 seconds)

Emma standing on the top step of the ladder. Looks like trouble is on the way.

Emma jumping into the water

Emma’s 1st Swim Lesson

I know I have said it several times already but Emma really loves water in all shapes and forms. She loves to drink it, touch it, splash it, soak in it, submerse herself in it, bathe in it, etc. As a result, today we started Emma in swimming lessons. It’s the most introductory of courses designed to create confidence and comfort in the water. Emma is frighteningly fearless which is clearly a concern for me and her Mother. I want her to have fun, but also emphasize her need to listen to our instructions and respect the water. During her first class Emma’s instructor Lauren taught her how to kick, push off the wall, float on her back, and blow bubbles through her mouth. Emma didn’t quite get the mechanics involved with blowing bubbles in the water and would take in water to spit back out in an attempt to blow bubbles. I am really happy and impressed with what Emma was able to accomplish in her first lesson and the wide ear-to-ear smile she had during the whole class was priceless.

Emma with her Mom in the water.

Swim instructor Lauren teaches Emma how to push-off the wall.

Emma pushing off the wall on her back.

Emma practicing kicking with her Mom.

Disney World Adventure 2008

We recently returned from Florida where we visited Grandma Aldona who broke her arm in a fall. She was hospitalized for approximately 10 days and had two surgeries to mend her wounds. She is now back home recovering. We are praying for her.

On our way home we stopped in Orlando so that Emma could see where Mickey lives. We had taken her there when she was about 16 months old but she was too young and the experience was anticlimactic for all of us. This time around, Emma was two years 10 months old and really enjoyed Disney World’s Magic Kingdom. Among the rides she rode and attractions she saw were:

“It’s a Small World”

“Cinderella’s Golden Carousel”

“Dumbo the Flying Elephant”

“Mickey’s Country House”

“The Barnstormer at Goofy’s Wiseacre Farm”

“Astro Orbiter”

“Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin”, “The Magic Carpets of Aladdin”, “Mickey’s PhilharMagic”, “Peter Pan’s Flight”, “The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh”, “Tomorrowland Transit Authority” (a.k.a. “The People Mover”), “Pirates of the Caribbean”, and “Carousel of Progress”.

Some other activities included:

Emma cooling off at Ariel’s Grotto.

Boarding the Engineer section of the Monorail

Emma riding the first car of the Monorail

Watching a show at Cinderella’s Castle

It was really neat to watch Emma have so much fun throughout the day. Her favorite part however, was meeting the characters. We hit each and every character spot and Emma didn’t mind waiting on the long lines as long as she got a chance to give them a hug and a kiss. As a parent you live for moments like these. Seeing your child’s eyes light-up in joy makes yours well-up with tears as you know they will be little and innocent only once. Elena and I had a great time with Emma and look forward to many more adventures in the future.

All tuckered-out (Finally)