Welcome to Smuggle Me

I recently found a great way for you to use your PDA/Mobile phone and be informed of all the news that’s happening all around us. It’s called Newsland. Here’s a description of their services:

Personal service will gather the recent news from your favorite Mass Media and deliver it at any time in any form convenient to your smartphone or PDA. Absolutely free!

Newsland Catalog contains more than 900 recognized Mass Media of different topics (politics, economics, business, sports, humor, erotica etc.). New sources are added daily!

I love that you can download and try out this service at no cost. I always trust a company more that knows their product is going to sell you on its merits.

I downloaded the software and the install was pretty standard. If you know how to install other software on your PDA then you’ll be fine. That’s important for any PDA software I use.

The interface is really easy to navigate. It has all the news items categorized by news feed. You can quickly navigate to each news article and back to the main menu with ease. All the articles were the same format so I didn’t have to figure out each feeds navigation.

The thing that surprised me most about using Newsland is how fast it loaded. I think it has something to do with how they load and cache the different news items, but I’m not sure. It was just much faster than I thought. If it weren’t for the small screen on a PDA I would probably rather use it than the RSS feed reader I’ve been using on my home computer.

For those too afraid of the freeware and want to try it out before going to the effort of downloading it, Newsland also has a great online demo of Newsland on a PDA.

If the demo doesn’t convince you to use it then you must not love news like I do.

Ever since I was a kid I’ve always had the goal of making a million dollars. Don’t ask me what it is about the million dollar number, but it has always been on my mind. I always told people at Wendy’s when I was working there that I would make a million by the time I was 27. Well, I’ve made a lot of adjustments in my life and decided there are more important things than making a million dollars. However, I still have this burning desire to make $1 million. I expect I’ll have a few chances to do it before I die if I’m just smart. In fact, I honestly think that I could make $1 million in retirement money at the rate I’m going. Maybe I’m being optimistic.

However, I found how another person made $1 million at 33 and he gave me hope that I could do the same as him. I love how he broke it down into simple steps that most people can do. Look at the breakdown:
1. $360K from savings, after working for about 9 years.
2. $90K from stock investment.
3. $260K from owning a small condo.
4. $200K from my company stock option.
5. $90K from my parents’ wedding gift for the formation of a new household.

I can’t do the parent’s gift and we’ll see about the stock options. I also would prefer a different investment than the stock investment, but I think this is definitely possible. I have a long way to go, but I’m on my way with my savings for retirement.

My mother is a very interesting story in becoming a school teacher. She went back to college after having seven children to get her degree so she could teach. She finally graduated at age 50 and is now teaching. I’m really proud of her.

Right now my heart really goes out to her. Getting ready for the start of school is such a pain. She has so many things going on to get her classroom ready for the students to arrive. I almost thinks she stresses more before school starts then she does when school is in session.

Let’s just take a look at what could be the most important items for a teacher: School Furniture

Some may argue this point, but I’d say that having the proper equipment in your classroom is essential these days with very demanding kids. Sure, you guys are starting to think about desks, chairs and blackboards. If the list ended there then we wouldn’t have too many problems(even if chairs do HAVE to be comfortable). No, the list goes on much further. I am taking a broad definition of school furniture, but take a gander at this list:

# AV Carts
# Activity Tables
# Architectural Files – School
# Art
# Art Equipment
# Ash Receptacles
# Audio Cabinets and Towers
# Audio/Video
# Benches
# Book Carts
# Bookcases
# Boxes
# Brochure & Literature Displays
# Bulletin Boards
# CD and Multimedia Storage
# Cafeteria Seating
# Carpets
# Carts
# Chalkboards
# Clinic Furniture & Equipment
# Clocks
# Coat Racks – School
# Commemorative College Gifts
# Computer & Monitor Supports
# Computer Furniture
# Conference Boards
# Conference Tables
# Cots and Mats
# Cubbies
# Decor
# Desk Accessories
# Desks
# Directory Boards
# Display Cases
# Display Panels
# Dollies
# Drafting and Drawing Tables
# Drawer Organizers
# Early Childhood Furniture
# Easels
# Equipment Stands
# Exhibit Furniture
# File Pedestals
# Filing Systems
# Fireproof Files
# Folding Chair Trucks
# Folding Chairs
# Folding Table Dollies
# Folding Tables
# Fork Stackers
# Forms Storage
# HON Bookcases
# Hand Trucks
# Hospitality Carts
# Keyboard Drawers & Platforms
# Laboratory Chairs
# Laminating Equipment
# Lecterns & Podiums
# Library Furniture
# Lift Tables
# Lifts – Powered
# Linen Carts
# Literature Organizers
# Lockers
# Magazine & Pamphlet Racks
# Mail Sorters & Equipment
# Marker Boards
# Material Handling Equipment
# Medical Equipment and Seating
# Message Boards and Labels
# Mobile Clothes Hampers
# Mobile Display Panels
# Multimedia Storage
# Overhead Projector Tables
# Overhead Projectors
# PA Systems
# Partitions
# Planters
# Plasma Display Panels
# Platform Trucks
# Positioning Pillows
# Poster Display Cases
# Powered Stackers
# Preschool Furniture & Equipment
# Presentation Boards
# Printer Stands
# Projection Boards
# Projection Screens
# Projector Carts & Stands
# Projectors
# Receptacles
# Recycling Receptacles
# Refreshment Stands
# Rockers
# Room Dividers
# Rugs
# Scales
# School Chairs
# School Desks
# Science Tables
# Science Workstations
# Screens
# Server Racks
# Serving Carts
# Shelving
# Shredders
# Sorting Racks & Trays
# Sports Equipment
# Stack Chairs
# Stands
# Step Ladders
# Stools
# Storage Bins and Systems
# Storage Cabinets
# Student Desks
# Study Carrels
# Tables
# Tackboards
# Teachers Desks
# Training Tables
# Tricycles
# Wardrobe Storage
# Waste Baskets
# Waste Receptacles
# Wedges
# Wire Rolling Files

Now you can see why my mom is so overwhelmed getting all the school supplies she needs to start school. I will give one nod to websites that have all the school supplies in one place. At least it saves teachers time going from store to store looking for what they need.

I don’t know how many people have an antivirus scanner on their computer that is doing absolutely nothing. I’m sure it’s a lot. Too many times virus scanners aren’t scanning everything, they aren’t updated or something is going wrong.

lifehacker’s created a way for you to test your virus scanner. You can put a simple text file on your computer that is completely harmless, but should be caught by your scanner. If it’s not then you have some work to do.

Here’s a description from their website:

The EICAR virus test is a harmless text file that is detected as a virus by most AV vendors. You can use it to verify that your local virus scanner is working (just copy the string into a plain text file), check to see if your email server scans for viruses (email yourself a copy), and test if scanners detect viruses inside archives (put it inside a zip file).

This is great for those HIPAA audits.