This has been reposted from: http://freebies.about.com/od/booksmagazines/fl/free-magazines.htm)
Here's an up-to-date list of the free magazine subscriptions that are
available right now. You'll see a lot of free one-year subscriptions as
well as some two-year ones.
Glamour
Martha Stewart Weddings
Martha Stewart Living
Family Fun
Field & Stream
Shape Magazine ( I believe this has expired)
Parents Magazine
Entrepreneur (1-Year Free Subscription)
Parents (Seven Free Magazines)
Las Vegas Bride (One Free Magazine)
Lighting (One Free Magazine)
I also have individual lists for free wedding magazines and free baby magazines if you're particularly interested in those.
Thursday, June 18, 2015
Thursday, August 8, 2013
UH-OH, TIER 4 ELIGIBILITY ENDS IN CA
PLEASE NOTE : This was back in 2013.
I am unsure if there are any lack of California EDD funds after 2013.
"While the EDD will no longer be able to file NEW Tier 4 extensions that start
August 11, 2013 or after, already existing claims can still be paid. Anyone starting a
Tier 4 extension prior to August 11th and who continues to remain otherwise eligible
will be allowed to collect the remainder of their Tier 4 benefits."
Here's the full notice from CA EDD > http://www.edd.ca.gov/About_Edd/pdf/nwsrel13-46.pdf
So, first, yes TIER and EXTENSION are the same thing. Why the EDD doesn't use the same language across the board is beyond me. Just another perk to confuse you further. Yay.
Now if you are on your first or second extension you definitely WILL NOT be getting a 4th extension. Your benefits will end after your Third Tier/Extension.
If you're already on your Fourth Tier/Extension then everything remains the same. Relax. Breathe. You are NOT affected by the change.
But what it does mean is, if your Tier/Extension 3 ends AFTER August 11th, 2013 - then you are done! You have exhausted your unemployment benefits. Finito. Exito. Elvis has left the building. You got no income.
NOTE: You can tell when your Tier/Extension 3 ends by looking at the top portion of your last claim form. There you will find the dollar amount left on your current extension. Divide this amount by your weekly unemployment benefit amount and that will tell you how many weeks you have left before you have to move back in with your parents.
If, like me, (thank you Jesus) your third extension ended just a few days before August 11th, you're golden and the EDD automatically filed your Tier/Extension 4 and you will receive all of the Tier 4 benefits they awarded you.
Heavy sigh. If you're still looking for a job - keep your head up. At the same time, if you're Tier 3 or 4- or heck even at the end of Tier 2, I'd start making new long-term living arrangements if you're currently paying rent. Remember most places require 30 days notice. And moving boxes, moving men, tape, trucks or caddys, gas etc in total can cost hundreds. PLAN as far ahead as you can so you don't have your back up against the wall your last 3 weeks of unemployment and find you're scrambling to find money to move. You don't wanna throw your hands up and end up putting expenses on a credit card, or worse - borrowing. Borrowing money sucks for your self-esteem. Avoid it w/ some planning if at all possible!
As an aside, have you ever calculated the interest on a purchase made with your credit card? You might shrug at putting a "necessary" $100 on a credit card, but do you understand that in a few months, what you've done is put is put $175 or more on your card? Always, ALWAYS pay more than your minimum due. Always.
One day when you're bored, take out a pen and paper and your credit cards (or loans) and calculate the interest you're paying. I can only guarantee you that it will make you utterly loathe to charge anything in future. :-) (which is good for us crazy Americans).
I am unsure if there are any lack of California EDD funds after 2013.
"While the EDD will no longer be able to file NEW Tier 4 extensions that start
August 11, 2013 or after, already existing claims can still be paid. Anyone starting a
Tier 4 extension prior to August 11th and who continues to remain otherwise eligible
will be allowed to collect the remainder of their Tier 4 benefits."
Here's the full notice from CA EDD > http://www.edd.ca.gov/About_Edd/pdf/nwsrel13-46.pdf
So, first, yes TIER and EXTENSION are the same thing. Why the EDD doesn't use the same language across the board is beyond me. Just another perk to confuse you further. Yay.
Now if you are on your first or second extension you definitely WILL NOT be getting a 4th extension. Your benefits will end after your Third Tier/Extension.
If you're already on your Fourth Tier/Extension then everything remains the same. Relax. Breathe. You are NOT affected by the change.
But what it does mean is, if your Tier/Extension 3 ends AFTER August 11th, 2013 - then you are done! You have exhausted your unemployment benefits. Finito. Exito. Elvis has left the building. You got no income.
NOTE: You can tell when your Tier/Extension 3 ends by looking at the top portion of your last claim form. There you will find the dollar amount left on your current extension. Divide this amount by your weekly unemployment benefit amount and that will tell you how many weeks you have left before you have to move back in with your parents.
If, like me, (thank you Jesus) your third extension ended just a few days before August 11th, you're golden and the EDD automatically filed your Tier/Extension 4 and you will receive all of the Tier 4 benefits they awarded you.
Heavy sigh. If you're still looking for a job - keep your head up. At the same time, if you're Tier 3 or 4- or heck even at the end of Tier 2, I'd start making new long-term living arrangements if you're currently paying rent. Remember most places require 30 days notice. And moving boxes, moving men, tape, trucks or caddys, gas etc in total can cost hundreds. PLAN as far ahead as you can so you don't have your back up against the wall your last 3 weeks of unemployment and find you're scrambling to find money to move. You don't wanna throw your hands up and end up putting expenses on a credit card, or worse - borrowing. Borrowing money sucks for your self-esteem. Avoid it w/ some planning if at all possible!
As an aside, have you ever calculated the interest on a purchase made with your credit card? You might shrug at putting a "necessary" $100 on a credit card, but do you understand that in a few months, what you've done is put is put $175 or more on your card? Always, ALWAYS pay more than your minimum due. Always.
One day when you're bored, take out a pen and paper and your credit cards (or loans) and calculate the interest you're paying. I can only guarantee you that it will make you utterly loathe to charge anything in future. :-) (which is good for us crazy Americans).
Thursday, April 4, 2013
How To: Unlock Verizon CDMA iPhone 4S for Straight Talk
UPDATE:
OK so after I had to do the below hack several times, it failed - for good. It would not revert back to StraightTalk. It just said Verizon no matter how many times I repeated the hack below over the course of a couple weeks and any other method I could find on the internet. I stopped short of re-purchasing a gevey chip or a new staight talk chip.
Gave up - went to the no contract, $60 a month Verizon plan.
BOO HOO.
:-(
If you want to give it a try, you may have better luck, continue on...
______________________________________________________________________
THE HACK
Here's what you can do if you wanna keep your phone but get the (currently in 2013) $45 unlimited everything (the $30 plan won't work with this method) of AT&T and Walmart's Straight Talk plan. Walmart and AT&T teamed up for that. Kinda cool.
You can spend days googling this to understand what it is exactly that you're doing and since you have free time you might wanna do that. Its kinda interesting really, but not necessary.
TO BUY:
1. The little tool to open your sim card slot on the side of your iphone - around $1.50 on Amazon UPDATE: Embarrassed to realize you can just use a paperclip.
2. The Straight Talk kit you can get online or at any Walmart - First months $45 fee and the AT&T micro sim card. Total $65
3. The gevey ultra sim card. You can go to gevey.com but I got mine at Amazon for half the price, about $17
GETTER DONE!:
Here is a lovely How-To (with pictures!). If you have NO idea what you're doing, pictures are brilliant:
http://www.gevey.com/unlock-verizon-cdma-iphone-4s/
GETTER DONE (AGAIN!):
This is what I did to get mine to work when it once again went back to Verizon. The above worked the first time but I had to do it a multitude of times the next. And yes, for some unknown reason my phone reverted back to Verizon 3 times. Utterly annoying. Heavy sigh.
Reboot with unlock chip in (the gevey white chip)
Select verizon when the screen asks for your carrier
Immediately (maybe 3-5 seconds or so) take out and replace w/ gevey + straight talk chip combo
Click accept when the screen pops up to tell you your phone has been unlocked
Reboot phone > its gonna say Verizon
Dial 1-888-634-9474 once connected, end call
The go to SETTINGS > airplane mode on - wait a few seconds - then switch airplane mode off again
It should now read HOME (which is the straight talk network name)
Good Job!
Set APN: Settings > General > Network > Cellular Data Network
If you don't have the Cellular Data Tab:
1) Cydia > Manage > Storage > Sources
2) Add source iHacks Repo: http://ihacksrepo.com
3) Then add TetherMe APN Editing
It should now appear in your Settings. (I didn't need to reboot).
OK so after I had to do the below hack several times, it failed - for good. It would not revert back to StraightTalk. It just said Verizon no matter how many times I repeated the hack below over the course of a couple weeks and any other method I could find on the internet. I stopped short of re-purchasing a gevey chip or a new staight talk chip.
Gave up - went to the no contract, $60 a month Verizon plan.
BOO HOO.
:-(
If you want to give it a try, you may have better luck, continue on...
______________________________________________________________________
THE HACK
Here's what you can do if you wanna keep your phone but get the (currently in 2013) $45 unlimited everything (the $30 plan won't work with this method) of AT&T and Walmart's Straight Talk plan. Walmart and AT&T teamed up for that. Kinda cool.
You can spend days googling this to understand what it is exactly that you're doing and since you have free time you might wanna do that. Its kinda interesting really, but not necessary.
TO BUY:
1. The little tool to open your sim card slot on the side of your iphone - around $1.50 on Amazon UPDATE: Embarrassed to realize you can just use a paperclip.
2. The Straight Talk kit you can get online or at any Walmart - First months $45 fee and the AT&T micro sim card. Total $65
3. The gevey ultra sim card. You can go to gevey.com but I got mine at Amazon for half the price, about $17
GETTER DONE!:
Here is a lovely How-To (with pictures!). If you have NO idea what you're doing, pictures are brilliant:
http://www.gevey.com/unlock-verizon-cdma-iphone-4s/
GETTER DONE (AGAIN!):
This is what I did to get mine to work when it once again went back to Verizon. The above worked the first time but I had to do it a multitude of times the next. And yes, for some unknown reason my phone reverted back to Verizon 3 times. Utterly annoying. Heavy sigh.
Reboot with unlock chip in (the gevey white chip)
Select verizon when the screen asks for your carrier
Immediately (maybe 3-5 seconds or so) take out and replace w/ gevey + straight talk chip combo
Click accept when the screen pops up to tell you your phone has been unlocked
Reboot phone > its gonna say Verizon
Dial 1-888-634-9474 once connected, end call
The go to SETTINGS > airplane mode on - wait a few seconds - then switch airplane mode off again
It should now read HOME (which is the straight talk network name)
Good Job!
Set APN: Settings > General > Network > Cellular Data Network
| FIELD |
SETTINGS
|
|---|---|
| NAME | straight talk |
| APN | att.mvno |
| MMSC | http://mmsc.cingular.com |
| MMS PROXY | WIRELESS.CINGULAR.COM:80 |
If you don't have the Cellular Data Tab:
1) Cydia > Manage > Storage > Sources
2) Add source iHacks Repo: http://ihacksrepo.com
3) Then add TetherMe APN Editing
It should now appear in your Settings. (I didn't need to reboot).
Wednesday, October 3, 2012
If I'd Only.... the Art of Stockpiling
This post is about what you'll need to do for NEXT time. Its entirely possible you may find yourself "liberated" once more before you die. These are things to stock up on - both necessary and unnecessary.
Fair warning, this list is going to look really long and seemingly cost tons. Its maybe $500 for my list. At $25 a month - little over a year to get there. Do this little by little when you have a job and you won't feel it.
Stockpile:
Stuff you can easily save a surplus of and you'll most likely need for your job search. This is stuff that ended up taking a chunk out of my unemployment salary and made me resentful I had to pay for as I was swimming in these items at the office!
Here are some ideas. Naturally, your list will look different!
Fair warning, this list is going to look really long and seemingly cost tons. Its maybe $500 for my list. At $25 a month - little over a year to get there. Do this little by little when you have a job and you won't feel it.
Stockpile:
Stuff you can easily save a surplus of and you'll most likely need for your job search. This is stuff that ended up taking a chunk out of my unemployment salary and made me resentful I had to pay for as I was swimming in these items at the office!
Tape/dispenser
printer paper
envelopes
stamps
post-its
Printer ink!!! This ran me about $150. Are you serious?? Yes!
stamps
post-its
Printer ink!!! This ran me about $150. Are you serious?? Yes!
Treat Basket
And one more thing > this hasn't happened this time, thank God I have $, but in the past there are those moments when you're really bummed you can't buy your top shelf stuff. I'm not sure how much of YOUR top shelf stuff has a long shelf life but you might consider stocking up on a sort of "treats basket" for yourself. The trick here is to get more than one of these luxury items. Remember you're doing your bit to recreate your higher end lifestyle, and believe me ANY lifestyle is higher end than what unemployment will afford you!
Note: you can buy the actual items or set aside its monetary equivalent. Just keep in mind, if its cash, when the time comes, your guilt will likely take over and you may just put it in your savings account - Ironically, not what we want in this case, so I really recommend getting the actual product.
And one more thing > this hasn't happened this time, thank God I have $, but in the past there are those moments when you're really bummed you can't buy your top shelf stuff. I'm not sure how much of YOUR top shelf stuff has a long shelf life but you might consider stocking up on a sort of "treats basket" for yourself. The trick here is to get more than one of these luxury items. Remember you're doing your bit to recreate your higher end lifestyle, and believe me ANY lifestyle is higher end than what unemployment will afford you!
Note: you can buy the actual items or set aside its monetary equivalent. Just keep in mind, if its cash, when the time comes, your guilt will likely take over and you may just put it in your savings account - Ironically, not what we want in this case, so I really recommend getting the actual product.
Basically, this list really is made up of some items you don't think about when you have an income, and you'd easily downgrade or do without if you didn't. They are the innocuous items that make up your standard of living. You see its these little items that, when given up for an extended period of time, end up making you feel resentful, bummed and sometimes even 'less than'; they make you feel unemployed.
Here are some ideas. Naturally, your list will look different!
1) $150 for a few nice meals. Multiply whatever your total (that means tax, title and license, parking, valet and tip) usually is by the number of splurge meals you want to allot yourself.
2) If your company offers half price tickets to movies, plays, museums or Disney etc - buy yourself some movie tickets every so often so you have a stash of at least 20. That should give you a movie every weekend for 4 months. Stash some dollars so you can buy theatre tickets off Craig's List or the like -same process: check CL prices and then multiply that by as many shows/concerts etc you'd like to save up for.
3) I happen to really like L'Occitane, which I rarely buy anyway, but a couple sets of nice specialty soap and hand lotion is grand. And one set can last months. This is easily unnecessary and hardly missed, but it sure is nice to have. In general, it's the little things you wouldn't think twice about going w/out that end up making you feel like you're still your old self.
4) Hair products. That really great hair color (trust me on this - get enough bottles), that expensive hair oil, the shampoo you'd easily downgrade if you had to - stock up on these. Huge shelf life. If you color your hair professionally, stock some of that $ in an envelope earmarked for that purpose. Trust me, not being able to maintain your hair color can be oddly killing.
5) Your favorite fragrance. These last minimum 1.5 years in the fridge so best to get one of the classic summer and winter scents you love. Easy-peasy.
6) Pet Supplies. Call me crazy but I hated having to buy my pets cheap grain food - my high quality and nutritious pet food is a bit pricey. (A brand called Orijens if you must know). So, if you're a pet lover too, every few months triple purchase your pet food of choice. You'll go through it you'll use this not stash it) so it won't go bad but should you become liberated you'll have a few months of good nutrition for your pets. Trust me - if you put the cash aside you'll likely use it for another purpose when the time comes.
So thats just my short list. Make your own list based on your lifestyle keeping in mind this list is to be made up of things you'd give up w/out much fuss. This is NOT a needs/must-haves list by any means!
Gifts
Lastly, nothing sucks more than not being able to get a nice card and gift for a friend. Not a bad idea to have one or two really awesome all-purpose gifts, nice cards and gift bags with tissue stocked away in a closet. You'll more than likely come up on a birthday, wedding, or like celebratory event during your "staycation".
And you're allowed to think of your own birthday as well! Sadly, I learned this recently as my Bday arrived and I had a lot of great celebration ideas and NO money to do any of them. Make sure you buy yourself a swank Birthday card and stash just $5 from every paycheck in it, keep it tucked in a back drawer. You'll LOVE that you did this should a birthday ever arrive when you're unemployed.
:-)
Get a large tupperware storage box or 2 from the Dollar store (time on your hands? Decorate the box with quotes from your favorite books) and stash these items, then store the boxes in a very out-of-the-way place, lest you get lazy one afternoon and break into your secret stash.
5) Your favorite fragrance. These last minimum 1.5 years in the fridge so best to get one of the classic summer and winter scents you love. Easy-peasy.
6) Pet Supplies. Call me crazy but I hated having to buy my pets cheap grain food - my high quality and nutritious pet food is a bit pricey. (A brand called Orijens if you must know). So, if you're a pet lover too, every few months triple purchase your pet food of choice. You'll go through it you'll use this not stash it) so it won't go bad but should you become liberated you'll have a few months of good nutrition for your pets. Trust me - if you put the cash aside you'll likely use it for another purpose when the time comes.
So thats just my short list. Make your own list based on your lifestyle keeping in mind this list is to be made up of things you'd give up w/out much fuss. This is NOT a needs/must-haves list by any means!
Gifts
Lastly, nothing sucks more than not being able to get a nice card and gift for a friend. Not a bad idea to have one or two really awesome all-purpose gifts, nice cards and gift bags with tissue stocked away in a closet. You'll more than likely come up on a birthday, wedding, or like celebratory event during your "staycation".
And you're allowed to think of your own birthday as well! Sadly, I learned this recently as my Bday arrived and I had a lot of great celebration ideas and NO money to do any of them. Make sure you buy yourself a swank Birthday card and stash just $5 from every paycheck in it, keep it tucked in a back drawer. You'll LOVE that you did this should a birthday ever arrive when you're unemployed.
:-)
Get a large tupperware storage box or 2 from the Dollar store (time on your hands? Decorate the box with quotes from your favorite books) and stash these items, then store the boxes in a very out-of-the-way place, lest you get lazy one afternoon and break into your secret stash.
Thursday, September 6, 2012
And in Breaking News....that break in your paycheck
I was warned about it and sure enough...when the time rolled around..... it happened to me too!
WHAT happened to me too? Well this:
When you reach the end of your unemployment here in CA - (pre-your first Extension) - you'll only get half your "paycheck".
HALF.
So if things are tight for you now, get prepared for a rough month. AND should your parking violation department chose this month to throw that parking ticket at you for a sign that was obviously totally obscured by trees and branches well then....
SO PAY ATTENTION.
Set Siri on your iphone to set a reminder for the 4 weeks/month advance notice so you see it coming. Better yet, start saving right now.... Save from what?? you ask - well even $5 a paycheck will help offset this gap in your pay schedule if you start right now.
So what happens is - you get half your "paycheck" AND if you're not paying attention and fail to call that very next week (as opposed to your normal schedule of every OTHER week) you have a further gap in your pay schedule. Like me.
I was warned by my friend to whom this happened and then it happened to me!! GRRrrr. So please save yourself a super stressful month trying to make ends meet and mark your date on your calendars, on your phone and whatever else system you may have implemented!!!
You can find the end of your unemployment on the top right of your "pay stub". This will give you the end date of your first and regular unemployment period. Here in CA in 2012, its 6 months.
Outside of half your pay and calling 2 weeks in a row, you don't need to do anything else. The state files your extension automatically and on you go.
WHAT happened to me too? Well this:
When you reach the end of your unemployment here in CA - (pre-your first Extension) - you'll only get half your "paycheck".
HALF.
So if things are tight for you now, get prepared for a rough month. AND should your parking violation department chose this month to throw that parking ticket at you for a sign that was obviously totally obscured by trees and branches well then....
SO PAY ATTENTION.
Set Siri on your iphone to set a reminder for the 4 weeks/month advance notice so you see it coming. Better yet, start saving right now.... Save from what?? you ask - well even $5 a paycheck will help offset this gap in your pay schedule if you start right now.
So what happens is - you get half your "paycheck" AND if you're not paying attention and fail to call that very next week (as opposed to your normal schedule of every OTHER week) you have a further gap in your pay schedule. Like me.
I was warned by my friend to whom this happened and then it happened to me!! GRRrrr. So please save yourself a super stressful month trying to make ends meet and mark your date on your calendars, on your phone and whatever else system you may have implemented!!!
You can find the end of your unemployment on the top right of your "pay stub". This will give you the end date of your first and regular unemployment period. Here in CA in 2012, its 6 months.
Outside of half your pay and calling 2 weeks in a row, you don't need to do anything else. The state files your extension automatically and on you go.
Friday, August 3, 2012
Socializing (for the lazy): Social Media
Nows your chance to sign up for all those useless social media sites everyone is talking about!
I'll list the ones I picked here but in about 20 mins that list will be outdated of course.
FaceBook
I recently found friends from grade school. Expand your network beyond just college.
As a side note, you may find friends in locales you actually want to visit and you have a lot of time to travel just now. Some of those friend may even come visit you. And thats always nice! Its always nice to play tourist in your own city when you have someone to do it with.
Pinterest
A community image stock house. People see things on the internet and categorize them into 'boards'. Its like istock but just for viewing. (not for commercial work). Inspirational for things like getting fit or planning weddings/parities.
4 months later I'm NEVER on it
Twitter
Seriously you have to know what twitter is by now. You wanna get a phone app for this cause you'll most likely be tweeting from your phone. I love Twittelator. I used Tweebot before that. Twitter apps let you post to FaceBook at the same time you post your tweet. But, really, all we have is time, right?!
Note about Twitter: Google the "must-follows", this will help you see the cuteness of Twitter. 4 months later and I actually still use and like Twitter. (who knew?)
Blogger!
On it all the time. Keeps me sane when I get tired of talking to my cats.
MeetUp
MeetUps are offline groups that meet in RL. Some are free, some involve cost. (when they do cost - I've seen $20). Just be sure you're not getting reamed. Ask what the money is for. Is it for the meeting place rental? Food? etc. If it feels wrong - find another group!
Whatever your interest, theres a good chance you can find a group of people around you with the same interest. Remember, an hour might have been too far away when you were working and using your gas every day but splurge a little in terms of distance. Getting a new group of friends who share your interest is worth it.
Browse groups! You may find something you never knew you were interested in - like learning Buddhism through the movies. Dont see one you like? Start you own!
Get the MeetUp app for your phone.
Special Interest Forums
Forums are great cause its like speed learning in your area of interest. Chances are you'll learn more here than you ever did at your last job!
Gladly, you're not so special. Whatever your crazy interest is, the paranormal, hacking, candle making, extreme couponing, body building etc theres a forum for it.
And since we're talking about websites to join - make sure you're on:
LinkedIn, Indeed & Craig's List (for jobs)
Fat Wallet (savings for whatever you're buying)
Lastly, in the event you don't find the social media outlet that fits, you can always start your own with your own website!
Find and register your Domain name:
GoDaddy.com
$12 (google to see if you can find a better price and/or discount offers.)
Hosting is free: (there are many, look for one with no ads and the largest amount of server space)
FreeHostingNoads.net
ByetHost.com
Yola.com
x10Hosting.com
Wix.com
$0
These days there are a million free website templates that can get you started without any web knowledge/coding ability. Many of the hosting sites provide that now as well.
$0
And just like that - you're social!
I'll list the ones I picked here but in about 20 mins that list will be outdated of course.
I recently found friends from grade school. Expand your network beyond just college.
As a side note, you may find friends in locales you actually want to visit and you have a lot of time to travel just now. Some of those friend may even come visit you. And thats always nice! Its always nice to play tourist in your own city when you have someone to do it with.
A community image stock house. People see things on the internet and categorize them into 'boards'. Its like istock but just for viewing. (not for commercial work). Inspirational for things like getting fit or planning weddings/parities.
4 months later I'm NEVER on it
Seriously you have to know what twitter is by now. You wanna get a phone app for this cause you'll most likely be tweeting from your phone. I love Twittelator. I used Tweebot before that. Twitter apps let you post to FaceBook at the same time you post your tweet. But, really, all we have is time, right?!
Note about Twitter: Google the "must-follows", this will help you see the cuteness of Twitter. 4 months later and I actually still use and like Twitter. (who knew?)
Blogger!
On it all the time. Keeps me sane when I get tired of talking to my cats.
MeetUp
MeetUps are offline groups that meet in RL. Some are free, some involve cost. (when they do cost - I've seen $20). Just be sure you're not getting reamed. Ask what the money is for. Is it for the meeting place rental? Food? etc. If it feels wrong - find another group!
Whatever your interest, theres a good chance you can find a group of people around you with the same interest. Remember, an hour might have been too far away when you were working and using your gas every day but splurge a little in terms of distance. Getting a new group of friends who share your interest is worth it.
Browse groups! You may find something you never knew you were interested in - like learning Buddhism through the movies. Dont see one you like? Start you own!
Get the MeetUp app for your phone.
Special Interest Forums
Forums are great cause its like speed learning in your area of interest. Chances are you'll learn more here than you ever did at your last job!
Gladly, you're not so special. Whatever your crazy interest is, the paranormal, hacking, candle making, extreme couponing, body building etc theres a forum for it.
And since we're talking about websites to join - make sure you're on:
LinkedIn, Indeed & Craig's List (for jobs)
Fat Wallet (savings for whatever you're buying)
Lastly, in the event you don't find the social media outlet that fits, you can always start your own with your own website!
Find and register your Domain name:
GoDaddy.com
$12 (google to see if you can find a better price and/or discount offers.)
Hosting is free: (there are many, look for one with no ads and the largest amount of server space)
FreeHostingNoads.net
ByetHost.com
Yola.com
x10Hosting.com
Wix.com
$0
These days there are a million free website templates that can get you started without any web knowledge/coding ability. Many of the hosting sites provide that now as well.
$0
And just like that - you're social!
Ditch the box. In favour of another box!: Cable TV
OK this was supposed to be Day 2s lesson!
I'll cut to the chase and say, after much research, I went with the 500GB Western Digital Live TV Web Hub.
UPDATE! <<<<<<<<<<<<<
Feel free to read the below or read my more recent (2016) post on the more current options of AppleTV and Amazon Firestick.
Naturally before I bought it for $140 shipped, I scoured the internet for discounts and deals and free shipping etc. This process of research to purchase took 2 weeks. Again, the theme, the trade-off for saving money is spending a lot of time.
Plus I was a complete newb to this streaming/web TV/cable alternative genre. It seriously took a lot of reading before I even understood how everything worked.
Being that I piggy-back internet I did not have the option to use boxee- which had been the front-runner in my mind. I had to buy an external hard drive unit to house my cable TV shows and enabled me to watch them on my tv.
So my criteria was:
price
largest hard drive space
ease of use - interface
ease of use - set up with a mac
reliability - buy the freakin warranty if your dones't come with one. I've lost 2 "movie-housing units" (hard drives) and allll the movies therein. It is NOT pretty. You're not in a position to pay the $250 to recover your drive should it all go awry.
largest number of formats that will play on it (most are .avi and mp4- don't buy a unit that can't handle those formats)
This unit, in simplest terms, allows you to take movies and tv shows taken from your hard drive and watch them on your TV.
It also has options that I COULD use, but currently aren't for whatever reasons:
1) Streams movies/tv just like boxee
2) Can be networked to play on multiple units
These 2 things are too complicated for my little brain and not needed. I'm sure when you researched you learned about these capabilities however and if you are paying for your internet (WHY would u be doing that??) you can take advantage of streaming.
I am currently on an RCA TV I bought when I graduated from college and a Mac Mini I bought Feb 2012. I had to purchase the cord that allowed me to attach one end to the unit and the other end to my super old TV. Cost was $27. Be sure you buy the cord when you buy your unit or you'll just waste set-up time.
So, its basically a hard drive that can be hooked up to any computer where you can copy the movies/tv shows on that computer onto it, unplug it from your computer, then plug it into any TV in order to watch those movies/tv shows.
Which brings me to my next requirement > getting the movies and tv shows.
This topic I'm not going to touch here. I'm sure you have a friend of a friend who knows an IT guy and can walk you thru how to get the tv shows and movies onto your hard drive. Avail yourself!
(or, once again, google. I'm sure someone out there has a site that walks you thru it).
I will just say this- the process is simple. Simple. Teaching you the process will take about 20 mins. tops. Write it down so you can refer back to it and not have to bug that IT guy again. Once you've used it a few times, its as easy as using google.
Be not afraid.
So that, my friends, cuts the (cable) cord. You've put tv shows on the unit and connected the unit to your TV. You're all set.
Now when you wanna watch your favorite shows you turn on the WD unit and turn on your TV. The remote will allow you to navigate through the unit's folders (that you create) and find the show you wanna watch at any given time. No fast forwarding through commericals cause there are none!
So the time factor here is:
Researching online the TV shows you may want > the downside to no commercials - yes theres a downside - is you have no idea what shows have been cancelled and what new shows you may want to watch are out there.
Actually getting the shows. Once you've stockpiled on the drive a bunch of new shows its all copacetic but, with your now slow yet free internet, it may take 2 - 5 days to get your first few seasons of shows. Its a slow build that you don't notice once you get your few initial shows on. They keep you busy until the next batch is ready.
The only downside I've encountered is, it is a LITTLE bit annoying having to unplug and replug your WD unit to get each week's shows. What you end up doing is waiting til you have maybe 2 weeks eposides. I see what I'll probably be doing shortly is watching off season shows until another series has finished its whole season and then getting that whole season at one time.
Its not like you're talking about the last show at the water cooler!! LOL. But if its a show you're really into, like say Homeland!, you can do this every week. In reality its not that big a deal to get the latest episode of your 5 top shows at one time.
I'll cut to the chase and say, after much research, I went with the 500GB Western Digital Live TV Web Hub.
UPDATE! <<<<<<<<<<<<<
Feel free to read the below or read my more recent (2016) post on the more current options of AppleTV and Amazon Firestick.
Naturally before I bought it for $140 shipped, I scoured the internet for discounts and deals and free shipping etc. This process of research to purchase took 2 weeks. Again, the theme, the trade-off for saving money is spending a lot of time.
Plus I was a complete newb to this streaming/web TV/cable alternative genre. It seriously took a lot of reading before I even understood how everything worked.
Being that I piggy-back internet I did not have the option to use boxee- which had been the front-runner in my mind. I had to buy an external hard drive unit to house my cable TV shows and enabled me to watch them on my tv.
So my criteria was:
price
largest hard drive space
ease of use - interface
ease of use - set up with a mac
reliability - buy the freakin warranty if your dones't come with one. I've lost 2 "movie-housing units" (hard drives) and allll the movies therein. It is NOT pretty. You're not in a position to pay the $250 to recover your drive should it all go awry.
largest number of formats that will play on it (most are .avi and mp4- don't buy a unit that can't handle those formats)
This unit, in simplest terms, allows you to take movies and tv shows taken from your hard drive and watch them on your TV.
It also has options that I COULD use, but currently aren't for whatever reasons:
1) Streams movies/tv just like boxee
2) Can be networked to play on multiple units
These 2 things are too complicated for my little brain and not needed. I'm sure when you researched you learned about these capabilities however and if you are paying for your internet (WHY would u be doing that??) you can take advantage of streaming.
I am currently on an RCA TV I bought when I graduated from college and a Mac Mini I bought Feb 2012. I had to purchase the cord that allowed me to attach one end to the unit and the other end to my super old TV. Cost was $27. Be sure you buy the cord when you buy your unit or you'll just waste set-up time.
So, its basically a hard drive that can be hooked up to any computer where you can copy the movies/tv shows on that computer onto it, unplug it from your computer, then plug it into any TV in order to watch those movies/tv shows.
Which brings me to my next requirement > getting the movies and tv shows.
This topic I'm not going to touch here. I'm sure you have a friend of a friend who knows an IT guy and can walk you thru how to get the tv shows and movies onto your hard drive. Avail yourself!
(or, once again, google. I'm sure someone out there has a site that walks you thru it).
I will just say this- the process is simple. Simple. Teaching you the process will take about 20 mins. tops. Write it down so you can refer back to it and not have to bug that IT guy again. Once you've used it a few times, its as easy as using google.
Be not afraid.
So that, my friends, cuts the (cable) cord. You've put tv shows on the unit and connected the unit to your TV. You're all set.
Now when you wanna watch your favorite shows you turn on the WD unit and turn on your TV. The remote will allow you to navigate through the unit's folders (that you create) and find the show you wanna watch at any given time. No fast forwarding through commericals cause there are none!
So the time factor here is:
Researching online the TV shows you may want > the downside to no commercials - yes theres a downside - is you have no idea what shows have been cancelled and what new shows you may want to watch are out there.
Actually getting the shows. Once you've stockpiled on the drive a bunch of new shows its all copacetic but, with your now slow yet free internet, it may take 2 - 5 days to get your first few seasons of shows. Its a slow build that you don't notice once you get your few initial shows on. They keep you busy until the next batch is ready.
The only downside I've encountered is, it is a LITTLE bit annoying having to unplug and replug your WD unit to get each week's shows. What you end up doing is waiting til you have maybe 2 weeks eposides. I see what I'll probably be doing shortly is watching off season shows until another series has finished its whole season and then getting that whole season at one time.
Its not like you're talking about the last show at the water cooler!! LOL. But if its a show you're really into, like say Homeland!, you can do this every week. In reality its not that big a deal to get the latest episode of your 5 top shows at one time.
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