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LET'S TOUR THE SITES AND FIND THE TREASURES! 
September 1, 2010 As temperatures go down, my spirits go up. Highs lately have been in the eighties rather than the nineties or hundreds, and now I can hear the sound of fall. It’s a gentle hum of crickets and insects, very different from the sound of high summer, which is the call of millions of cicadas all at once, the sound coming in waves. I didn’t encounter cicadas until I moved to Virginia. They’re harmless insects, a bit bigger than a bumble bee, and you don’t generally see them, only hear the sound they make. It’s a tiny dry rasping sound, but multiplied by a million it stands out. And, as I said, it comes in waves. It’s the sound of high summer. The garden projects I had planned for this spring were rudely cut short by one of the hottest springs in recorded history, due to global warming (if you believe in it) or due to a coincidentally warm spring after an especially snowy winter (if you don’t believe in it). I am hoping for a long, warm fall suitable for digging, never mind what’s causing it. Everyone tells me my zinnias are gorgeous. They are almost as high as my head right now and in exuberant good health. The neighbors probably thought I was a bit soft in the head last fall, as I kept digging that flower bed even until they were putting up Christmas lights. I’d dig for a few minutes, sit exhausted with my legs dangling in the trench for a few minutes, get up and dig again for a few minutes, sit with my feet in the trench for a few minutes.... They probably put me down as slightly demented, though not in a dangerous way. Still safe around children, etc. Now I feel vindicated. When I dug those trenches, I put the top layer of sod at the bottom of each trench, grass side turned down. And now I figure the zinnia roots have reached that sod, which has turned to compost. In my experience, vindication is not something you get on a regular basis. I am amazed and grateful to have gotten some in this case. Janette ----Table Of Contents---- 1. Just How Deep Was That Oil Spill? 1. JUST HOW DEEP WAS THAT OIL SPILL? This astonishing chart will show you, along with the height of Mount Everest in relation to it. And that’s only part of what happens. Just hang on while the chart gears up – and prepare to be impressed. http://wonderfl.net/c/gZO7D/fullscreen 2. WILD HORSES One time when Bill and I were camping on Assateague, wild ponies came wandering up to our campsite, and, while we sat there stunned, they ate the peaches on the table. They knew their audience and exactly when and how to make their move. We shooed them off, but in the meantime they’d had a lovely peach snack. And now I see on a wild horse site that “feeding or getting closer than 50 feet to a wild horse is an arrestable offense.” Someone should tell the horses. At WILDHORSES.COM, you can learn ways to help the wild horses and maybe own one, with leads to a number of other sites on the topic. A WILD STALLION DEFENDS HIS TERRITORY: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lvFYUmDSOvU BABY HORSE, JUST BORN: http://www.thedailytail.com/pictures/ WILD HORSES, THE MOVIE VERSION. Beautiful shots of beautiful creatures, complete with genuine movie music by MORRICONE: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wPgZbRTEvr0 3. PLAYING HOWRSE If you know a child who loves horses, check out HOWRSE.COM, where he or she can play a game that lets you “breed horses or ponies and discover the responsibilities of managing an equestrian center.” You join for free and then can “create your first horse or pony, name him and find out about his capacities!” If only they’d had HOWRSE when I was a little horse fanatic. I was the laughingstock of my fifth grade classroom because I once galloped up to my desk after recess, pulled back on imaginary reins and said “Whoa!” (I’d actually been doing it for months but hadn’t made the mistake of saying whoa. FOR DANCING HORSES AND MORE click on ANIMALS, PETS at the top of the column at left, and then on “Dancing Horses, Funny Horses.” 4. FANTASY SPORTS You don’t have to limit your seated participation in sports to the period when a ballgame is actually on the tube. You can do fantasy league sports, your choice of sport and time. And MAKEUSEOF has its usual thorough game coverage: the nine best fantasy sports online resources. Check them out here: http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/the-best-9- 5. ONE MILLION CALLS IN FIRST 24 HOURS “Google continues its assault on the price of a phone call,” says ROB PEGORARO. And now you can telephone with GOOGLE, provided that you have Gmail, and your call is free in the U.S. and Canada. Read ROB PEGORARO’s review of this new service: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/ ALWAYS FREE WITH SKYPE. As I reported in the May 1 issue, SKYPE has been free all along. The only requirement is that you have SKYPE and that the person you call have SKYPE. There are ways you can call someone who doesn’t have it, but not for free. For a thorough technical review, try CNET’s Jessica Dolcourt: http://download.cnet.com/Skype/3000-2349_4-10225260.html 6. BACK TO SCHOOL APPS FOR STUDENTS Some great tools, especially for college students. http://web.appstorm.net/roundups/20-back-to- HANDY TOOLS FOR STUDENTS – 10 ONLINE LEARNING TOOLS: http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/handy-tools-for-students/ WHERE TO RESEARCH MATERIAL FOR YOUR HOMEWORK. These are different sites than those suggested in the previous item: http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/where-to-research AND STILL MORE LEARNING TOOLS: http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/3-great- 7. NEW CREDIT CARD RESTRICTIONS HIT COLLEGE CAMPUSES MICHELLE SINGLETARY tells us that, under the new credit card law, “to open a credit card account if you are under 21, you will need to show that you have the income to make required payments.” Of course there are ways around this, and she lists some of them too: 8. MORE CREDIT CARD CHANGES FOR EVERYONE The final phase of the new credit card act has just gone into effect, putting in place new helps for consumers. If you use credit cards, you’ll want to check these out: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content 9. 10 GADGETS THAT WILL SAVE YOU MONEY They all cost something but WILL save you money in the long run: http://www.allyou.com/budget-home/ 10. SAVE MONEY ON YOUR AUTO INSURANCE Three things your auto insurance company won’t tell you: http://www.howlifeworks.com/a/a/?cid=7060di&AG_ID=839 FOR MORE QUALITY FINANCIAL INFORMATION, click on FINANCES, TAXES, BUSINESS in the lefthand column. 11. VIEW HULU MOVIES ON YOUR LARGESCREEN TV It’s great that you can get all those free movies on your computer, but a lot of computers aren’t situated so you can view movies in comfort. But now you can sit back in comfort and watch them on your TV screen. http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/hulu-desktop- 12. DOWNLOAD FREE HULU MOVIES TO YOUR COMPUTER If you really love a certain HULU TV show or a movie and want to keep it, you can download it directly onto your computer. MAKEUSEOF tells us how: http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/ 13. AWESOME GUIDE TO ONLINE TV AND MOVIES CLICKER is “one part directory, one part search engine, one part wiki, one part entertainment guide, and one part DVR.” And MAKEUSEOF tells you all about it: http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/clicker-%E2%80%93- 14. FIND A JOB AS A VIRTUAL ASSISTANT Hard times have driven employers to cost-saving techniques. Using “virtual assistants” instead of in-the-office employees is one that works out well for both employers and potential virtual assistants who want to work out of their homes. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content VIRTUAL ASSISTANTS.COM is set up to help both prospective employers and those looking for work: http://www.virtualassistants.com/ VIRTUAL ASSISTANT FORUMS will help you network and find resources: http://www.virtualassistantforums.com/ 15. AARP HELPS OLDER WORKERS FIND JOBS Whether you’re entering the job market after a long time away, or if you’ve got a job but want to upgrade, the AARP can help you. http://www.aarpworksearch.org/pages/default.aspx © Copyright 2010 Janette G. Blackwell. All rights reserved. You may copy and use portions of this newsletter for noncommercial, personal use only. You may forward a copy to someone else as long as the copyright notice is included. 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