I'm ashamed to say I haven't posted in over 2 years! One day, when you get to know me better, you'll understand.
Things have really changed though. More websites (lots more!), more people, more money being thrown around makes for an Internet full of all kinds of people - good and bad. Who feels like worrying or using every tool available?
Hopefully, I'm helping save you time & trouble.
Keep with me - I come up with kinds of topical sites to wonder about! As a matter of fact, send me you're ideas and I will be thrilled to help out!
Until that time when we meet again...
Saturday, November 22, 2014
I'm Back with Installment 62-Home Remedies
Like James Brown once said, "I'm Back!"
Sometimes one must step off to be a better observer. Tools to keep you safe while browsing online are improving every day to keep up with the invasions.
I like trying home remedies before I commit to hiring a special service. Here are the sites I found to be the most useful and informative - and, of course, safe for browsing:
Rapidhomeremedies.com
Myhomeremedies.com
Top10homeremedies.com
Homemademedicine.com
Simplehomeremedies.com
Grandmashomeremedies.com
Commonsensehome.com
Householdremedies.org
Sometimes one must step off to be a better observer. Tools to keep you safe while browsing online are improving every day to keep up with the invasions.
I like trying home remedies before I commit to hiring a special service. Here are the sites I found to be the most useful and informative - and, of course, safe for browsing:
Rapidhomeremedies.com
Myhomeremedies.com
Top10homeremedies.com
Homemademedicine.com
Simplehomeremedies.com
Grandmashomeremedies.com
Commonsensehome.com
Householdremedies.org
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
Installment #60 - Free Ecards (Again!)
In May of 2008, I posted about some ecard sites. This post is the updated version. I found 10 sites that are basically harmless. 3 sites are too new to have any information available yet. The rest are to be avoided!
GOOD:
egreetings.com
rattlebox.com
cardfunk.com
emotionsinprint.com
funtasticecards.com
keepandshare.com
someecards.com
superlaugh.com (the owner of this site promises no funny business!)
funpunch.com
thegreetingstore.com
NEW: (use at your own risk)
freeecardsworld.com
seasonofwishes.com
ecardgarden.com
BAD:
123greetings.com
freeonlinegreetings.net
bubbacards.com
carlsencards.com (this one used to be good but fell to the temptation!)
wondergreetings.com
greeting-cards.com
funny-ecards.com
2000greetings.com
ecarduniverse.com
punchbowl.com
alighthouse.com
Monday, February 20, 2012
Free Photo Editor Online
I needed an editor to fix the shading or the red eyes or to crop them and get some of the excess crap out.
I checked on the security of 11 of them and here are my results (6 are good, 4 are not so good and 1 I would not try!):
GOOD:
pixlr.com
fotoflexr.com
picnik.com (is closing this April)
befunky.com
photoshop.com
picasa.com
NOT SO GOOD (may put Third party cookies on your PC):
lunapic.com
phixr.com
pizap.com
freeonlinephotoeditor.com
BAD:
drpic.com
Thursday, December 8, 2011
Photo Editing Tools Websites
I have several photos that need help. I found these websites that offer free photo editing tools - some are good, some are questionable. Here are my results:
Good:
Bad or Questionable:
- pixlr.com
- photoscape.org
- photopospro.com
- pixia.com
And here's a (safe) website that offers reviews of various photo editing websites:
Have fun but good luck - be careful!
New Websites that Check Other Websites' Security
Found 2 new dependable websites for checking the security of other websites:
safeweb.norton.com
linkscanner.explabs.com
safeweb.norton.com
linkscanner.explabs.com
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Installment #56 - Free Online Quizzes
I like taking quizzes online - don't you? Sometimes they're funny and dumb, but other times they are strangely "on the money!" Blogthings is one of my all time favorite quiz websites.
Naturally, since they're a lot of fun and they attract the carefree and careless user, they are perfect targets for the cyber creeps! I checked up on 15 others - 7 were NO, 5 were questionable (due to third party cookies or excessive pop-ups, and only 3 were seemingly okay. Here are my results:
BAD:
- quizrocket.com
- quibblo.com
- quizstop.com
- funquizcards.com
- links2love.com
- quizilla.com
- chatterbean.com
- helpself.com
- allthetests.com
- testcafe.com
- syvum.com
- bzoink.com
Here's my results after taking the colorquiz test:
 | geni took the free ColorQuiz.com personality test! ""Longs for tenderness and for a feeling of accepta..."
|
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Installment #55 - Free Online Games (Again!)
Have you ever played a game online?
Sure, you have! Who hasn't?
Young, old, male, female - online games are big!
However, the popularity of these websites makes them targets for millions of "cyber creeps!" After playing for years at certain popular, successful social online game websites, suddenly there are worms, viruses, spam, browser exploits. What was safe yesterday or today may not be safe tomorrow! Stay alert!
After noticing issues with my computer, I recently discovered that three of the four game sites I was visiting quite often have now become off limits: Bigfishgames, Miniclip, and Gamefools - just makes me so mad and sad!
I checked up on 22 of these online game websites and here are my results:
BAD:
- Bigfishgames.com
- Miniclip.com
- Gamefools
- iwin.com
- myaddictinggames.com
- box10.com
- mofunzone.com
- gamezone.com
- arcadetown.com
- doublegames.com
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Installment #54 - Car Shopping Sites
It's that time again! I'll be getting my driver's license reinstated in April and will have to buy another car. Ugh! As if the money involved wasn't bad enough - for taxes, and insurance, and the registration and tag, which has recently gone up in Florida - shopping for the "perfect" car is a nightmare!
Of the 18 websites, I found the usual numbers of suspects - 8 were OK, 7 have excessive popups or aggressive spam, and 3 were big no-no's.
Here are my results:
BAD:
- autotrader.com
- cars.com
- automotive.com
- usedcars.com
- edmunds.com
- carsdirect.com
- carmax.com
- thebiglot.com
- autoweb.com
- carsforsale.com
- enterprisecarsales.com
- fastautosales.com
- car.com
- autobytel.com
- cars4jax.com
- used-cars.info
- autodirectusa.com
- autos.yahoo.com
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Installment #53 - (Christmas) Clip Art
It's coming, folks - whether you like it - or not. The holidays - Christmas, Kwanza, Hannukah, the New Year's celebrations - festivities or pandemonium - however you want to look at it or whatever you call it!
I have been slowly digging out all the decorations and trying my best to plan ahead with some semblance of positive anticipation. Ugh! It's killing me! Oh, to be young again!
Clip art plays an enormous part in brightening up experiences online during the holidays. But, all that glitters isn't gold!
Here are my results:
BAD:
- christmas-graphics-plus.com (This is the one that supposedly has "malicious behavior")
- freegraphics.com (this is actually a directory of links - I never trust them - nor should you!)
- hellasmultimedia.com (I don't know what happened here - it used to be very good.)
- holiday-clipart.com (Many reports of bad links.)
- clip-art.com (Another directory)
- freeclipartpics.com (Not really bad, just NOT really FREE!)
- allfree-clipart.com
- uselessgraphics.com (Absolutely the best in every way!)
- christmasgifts.com
- fg-a.com
- leehansen.com
- christmas-clipart.net
- coolclips.com
- allfreeclipart.com
- hasslefreeclipart.com
- barrysclipart.com
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Not my Usual Post - Duplicate Post from Geni's Gabs - But Links are all Safe to Surf!
Halloween is my favorite holiday because it is the anniversary of the day I was adopted! I always got to have a "Second Birthday" party - a super scary Halloween Birthday party! My mom went all out with the decorations and the trimmings - she & my dad both got dressed up - even if all my dad would do is throw a sheet over his head and moan all night!
Every year, I decorate my house more for Halloween than I do for Christmas! Nothing as extreme as the picture below - a bit more toned down! If you need some decorating ideas, try these on the About website.
If you're interested in how Halloween came about, its history and common traditions, check out "The Real Story of Halloween" and "Did You Know...?"
And of course, you will want the best costume for yourself or for your kid - got to Halloween Express or the Halloween Costumes websites. One year, I got lazy and blackened one of my eyes, put on a pair of black pants, and a black T-shirt with a giant letter "P" ironed onto it - I was a "Black-Eyed Pea" - what else? I even got my dog, Sandy, into the spirit:
For some fun activities for the kids or the squeamish, check out the games at Kaboose and the Free World Group. But for some serious scaring, go to Caverns of Blood!
What would Halloween be without the serious scary stuff? To read all about and see photos of actual haunted houses - not the kinds your local Rotary clubs or churches do - the real ones! Check out Haunted Houses and Real Haunts.
And to catch some ghost sightings - check out Ghosts of America, Ghost Sightings, and actual "authentic" Ghost Videos.
To watch free horror movies online, legally and safely, try: Jaman, Babelgum, Hulu, Fancast, or my personal favorite, Fearnet. These websites have the old scary Black & White flicks, as well as the more current ones like Halloween, Nightmare on Elmstreet, Frankenstein, and the usual array of vampire, witch, and zombie movies.
But, if all you're looking to do is send a simple, but unique e-card, you'll find what you need at one of these: Card Cow, BloomPetals, Fun Utilities, Greeting Spring, HD Greetings, Vlad Studio, Hipster, E-cards, or Here n There.
Have fun and watch your back! You never know when someone is hiding in the shadows to get ya!
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Installment #52 - Funny Pictures and/or Cartoons
Things haven't been as stress-free for me lately as I would like them to be, so tonight I felt the need for something funny. But, you know me - I had to check out my intended destinations before visiting!I checked out 15 of the web sites in my Google results - good grief - it's a cotton-pickin' shame that people can't even get a laugh online without some butthead trying to invade our cyber-space!
Of the 15, only 4 were "good-to-go" - 9 are "iffy" by using third party tracking cookies excessively (remember: 3p's don't harm your PC; they just slow you down) and going a little overboard with pop ups. However, 2 of the websites were extremely dangerous and definitely OFF LIMITS!
Here are my findings:
BAD:
- killsometime.com
- monsterhumor.com
OK, but Pop ups:
- veryfunnypics.com
- jokefrog.com
- halfthedeck.com
- coolfunnies.com
- jokesnjokes.net
- allfunnypictures.com
- funny-city.com
- heysko.com
- funnycollection.org
***IMPORTANT NOTE OF ADVICE***
With a good browser, proper security programs in place, and a strong pop up blocker surfing the Internet can be one of the best experiences of your life. I highly recommend you take a minute and check out these three links, especially the second one. They are easy-to-read and understand and the smart thing to do!
Friday, May 1, 2009
Installment #51 - Car Repair Advice
I recently bought a 2002 Ford Taurus used car and, as one would expect, it needed work. Taking it to a repair shop is risky when you don't know much about cars or their repairs. So I needed to research what mechanics told me by posting the cars's problems in several forums. I checked out only 9 web sites and 1 was too new to judge, 2 were plagued with 3rd party cookies, and 6 were good.
Here are my results:
BAD (3rd party cookies):
- ford-forums.com
- fordforums.com
- askcarexpert.com
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Installment #50 - April Fools Day & Online Pranks
In honor of April Fools' Day I had wanted to send out some pranks and/or ecards - NOT! Gee whiz! It's gotten so bad now that you can't even send a free e-card to a friend without potentially causing harm.
I'm getting so sick of all of the invasive so-called advertising and marketing ploys being used. It's not fair and is making surfing the Internet not-so-fun anymore! Get a life, you stupid cyber jerks! Can't you think of any better ways to amuse yourselves without negatively affecting the rest of us?
This blog site is starting to get so depressing! I only checked up on 10 web sites and guess what? Only 5 of them were worth a darn!
Here are my sad results:
BAD:
- freewinks.net
- squidoo.com
- aprilfoolzone.com
- funmunch.com
- girlsentertainmentnetwork.com
What's even worse is that these "good" sites aren't always the best ones. Sadly, the best web sites are the ones that have been "invaded" - the site owners have fallen prey to the evil marketing companies and/or have been targeted by the creepy hackers and criminals because these sites are so popular and have so many visitors.
I don't know the solution - do you?
Monday, March 30, 2009
Installment #49 - Free Online Radio/Music
Every once in a while I like to listen to music while I surf. I tend to run into problems though like a lot of websites start up with sound and the music overlaps - ugh! Also, since music is a teen/young adult "thing" and that age group consists of the most notoriously careless surfers, music websites tend to be very "dangerous" as far as malware, hacking, and whatnot go.
I checked up on 17 websites - unfortunately, only 7 were worth a darn! Personally I prefer Pandora and occasionally AOL radio. Here are my results:
BAD:
- napster.com
- deezer.com
- radiotower.com
- spinner.com
- real.com
- rhapsody.com
- we7.com
- smashitsusa.com
- live365.com
- last.fm
Saturday, March 14, 2009
Installment #48 - Free Clip Art and/or Graphics
I needed some graphics for a sign I was making so I had to check out the websites for free clip art and such. I checked out 21 sites and only found 6 that were absolutely safe and another 6 were absolutely dangerous. Seven of the 21 were semi-okay except that they utilized third-party tracking cookies to an excess and 1 had excessive pop-ups (even with a pop-up blocker) and 1 had a seriously bad link.
So, here are my results, broken down further than I usually do:
BAD:
- 1clipart.com
- clipartcastle.com
- hellasmultimedia.com
- clipart.com
- clip-art.com
- allfree-clipart.com
Too Many Third-Party Tracking Cookies:
- free-clip-art.com
- hasslefreeclipart.com
- allfreeclipart.com
- barrysclipart.com
- royaltyfreeclipart.com
- 321clipart.com
- ace-clipart.com
- free-clipart.net
- cksinfo.com
- free-graphics.com
- myfreeclipart.com
- feebleminds-gifs.com (a personal favorite)
- uselessgraphics.com (another personal favorite)
- classroomclipart.com
- clipartconnection.com
Monday, March 9, 2009
Installment #47 - Song Lyrics
Lyrics - lately my kids have been interested in getting the words to their favorite songs - I figured I had better check things out first. Oh! I was so very disappointed! It just ticks me off that the "bad guys" tend to target the young because they are a bit careless and impatient. Teens don't give a hoot about all the bad stuff that can happen online - to them or their computers! And, unfortunately, the cyber-criminals KNOW this!
Of the 15 web sites I checked out, guess what!? Only 2 were safe! That is absolutely pitiful! It's not fair! So, folks, warn your kids!
Here's my results:
BAD:
- songlyrics.com
- azlyrics.com
- elyrics.net
- lyricsmode.com
- songmeanings.net
- lyricsmania.com
- lyrics.com
- lyricsfreak.com
- musicsonglyrics.com
- thesonglyrics.com
- lyricsbay.com
- letssingit.com
- songs-lyrics.net
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Installment #46 - People Finder
As some of you may recall, I was given up for adoption in 1958, but found out in 1983 that I have 5 "half" siblings. I recently uncovered my alleged family surname - Hossler - and decided to try the Internet for free people finder services. Naturally, I am skeptical!
After using Google, I checked on 23 of these types of websites - only 11 seemed okay, 4 were questionable, and 8 are absolute "no-ways."
Here are my results:
BAD:
- intelius.com
- whitepages.com
- wink.com
- anywho.com
- spock.com
- mysearchdetective.com
- peoplefinder.com
- 411.com
- zabasearch.com
- peopledata.com
- publicrecordfinder.com
- whowhere.com
By the way - if you have any information about that surname, especially if in Florida, do let me know!
Saturday, December 20, 2008
Installment #44 - Free Printable Forms
Every once in a while you have to "put it in writing" and need a properly worded legal form or document for your particular purpose. The forms, documents, and agreements consumers use can be anything from receipts and invoices to timesheets to expense reports - even a last will & testament!
I needed an informal but legally binding rental-type agreement for a young girl temporarily living with me. I wanted it to be easy and understandable, yet thorough and protective of us both.
There certainly are many types of resources for this - retail and downloadable software, workbooks of blank forms you can copy, scan, and complete, and, of course, several web sites. I checked on 10 and found only 1 to be "not safe." I had "googled" "free printable forms" and here are my results:
BAD:
I needed an informal but legally binding rental-type agreement for a young girl temporarily living with me. I wanted it to be easy and understandable, yet thorough and protective of us both.
There certainly are many types of resources for this - retail and downloadable software, workbooks of blank forms you can copy, scan, and complete, and, of course, several web sites. I checked on 10 and found only 1 to be "not safe." I had "googled" "free printable forms" and here are my results:
BAD:
- innocentenglish.com
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Installment #43 - Free Online Resume Creators
With the economy in recession, I am finding the need for another income, as I'm sure many of you are. I "googled" free online resume builders and checked up on 11 of them.
I ended up using the one on mymommybiz.com and just copied and pasted it to my word processor where I will tweak it later.
I found 7 good ones and 4 bad ones - here are my results:
BAD:
So, if you happen to see me at an intersection with a brown paper bag sign around my neck - don't laugh or drive off without throwing me a bone or something!
I ended up using the one on mymommybiz.com and just copied and pasted it to my word processor where I will tweak it later.
I found 7 good ones and 4 bad ones - here are my results:
BAD:
- thepcmanwebsite.com
- provenresumes.com
- 10minuteresume.com
- e-resume.us
- pongoresume.com
- theresumebuilder.com
- resume-resource.com
- myresumeonline.org
- emurse.com
- resumeimproved.com
- mymommybiz.com
So, if you happen to see me at an intersection with a brown paper bag sign around my neck - don't laugh or drive off without throwing me a bone or something!
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