12 Strong Movie Review

This was a heart wrenching high action movie about 12 men who went into Afghanistan to try to end terrorism on the United States. It showed men fighting on horses in a war that seemed out of place. Men who became unlikely allies. If you watch this movie, you will likely be surprised at the tone, because it's not overly dramatic or sad.

I recommend this movie and give it a solid 5 stars. I loved it and left with a newfound respect for those men and love for our soldiers. It is sad to know what is going on around the world right now, the courage and compassion that these men show. Plus Chris Hemsworth plays the lead role.

Feedback/Ideas for Audible.com and Audible Applications

Recommendations for Audible

I wish that I could provide feedback directly from the iPhone or Android app. I wish that if the application crashed it would save which items have been read or marked as finished.

In the list of books it would be nice to see how many stars each book has been rated and to be able to sort them by rating (IN APP).

I would like to be able to login to the app with biometrics (thumbprint). The android app integrates the store better than the iphone app.

When rating books, there are too many clicks required. Seems like the multiple stars could all just be on the initial screen (with the list of recommended books) rather than clicking overall stars, being redirected, then submitting and going back. When doing this to multiple books it becomes very tedious.

It would be nice to integrate the Listener page better with other book lover's social media like Shelfari and GoodReads or even blogs so that feedback can be auto posted to Amazon, Shelfari, GoodReads, and Blogs.

Why haven't improvements been made to the gamification of the Audible application? I earned most of the badges a few years ago, but no new badges ever appear or rewards for earning them, or the ability to compete with friends. Most of the application seems to just revolve around the antiquated "share feature" which in its default form is annoying and spammy. I read a lot of books and if I shared every book, every badge, and every other thing from the application with the default verbiage... it would annoy my friends. There seems to be little motivation to this, but if people could earn points or rewards for commenting, inviting friends, sharing books, and writing reviews - more people might be involved. It could track the number of people invited, make a competition out of books read, or for every 100 books offer 1 free credit.

The tracking for the number of titles in my library seems to always be off. It would be awesome if books returned would show up somewhere. I'm not sure if I would accidentally repurchase a book I didn't like, but at least I could see the books I rated poorly and the "similar" books recommended.

Mob Mentality Shames Average People into Infamy

I stumbled onto a series of stories. They are about people whose lives have been altered or ruined by Internet attention. The catalyst for each story's popularity is different. Some of the stories may resonate and seem deeply offensive, others may not resonate. The common denominator (seems to be) that an ordinary (not famous) person/people became infamous for an action that triggered hundreds of thousands of people. Basically lots of people shared stories because they agreed/disliked or felt something after seeing an interpretation of a situation.

Author: Marissa Meyer

About the Author

Marissa Meyer was born and raised in Tacoma, Washington, home of Almond Roca and Stadium High School, which was made famous when Heath Ledger danced down the stadium steps in 10 Things I Hate About You. Marissa didn't actually go to Stadium High School, but she did attend Pacific Lutheran University, where she earned her bachelor's degree in Creative Writing. She still lives in Tacoma, now with her husband. Cinder is her YA debut.

Rebecca Soler is a film and voiceover actress who won a 2009 AudioFile Earphones Award for her narration of After by Amy Efaw. Her audiobook credits include work by authors such as Judy Blume, James Patterson and Sarah Dessen. Soler has also narrated the popular young adult series The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer. Her voice over credits include various video games, like Star Wars: The Old Republic and Red Dead Redemption and television shows such as Pokemon, Yu-Gi-Oh, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. She lives in New York City. 

Marissa Meyer on Cinder, writing, and leading men

Which of your characters is most like you?

FEDEX Customer Compliant

Dear Fedex,

I went into a Fedex office this afternoon to make a shipment and prepay for a return envelope. I was told it would cost $8 to ship the envelope one way, but HAD to create an account if I wanted to prepay for it to be returned to me.

So I setup an account. After the account was setup the cost to ship the envelope was $18 and to return it to me was going to be $22-32. I chose to just ship the envelope without paying to have it returned and almost left to go to the post office or UPS instead. This process is illogical. I signed up, for convenience, which *should* make me want to use your service more often. I get, that over time the idea is that eventually I am suppose to save money. However, you should realize that you immediately just lost business from me.

I opted not to purchase that one envelope and nearly left altogether. Then, I asked if - in the future - I showed up to ship a package if someone would be asked to show their ID before using me account. The customer service representative reassured me, that NO ID would be needed. I was not assured. So I asked if he could add a note to my account to make an ID be checked, he said he could not and no password was needed. WHAT?! How is this a useful service?

So I asked if he could just CANCEL the account, he said no but it's okay because when my card expires the account would no longer work. WELL GREAT you just added a card I got this week. It's good for YEARS from now. I'm writing this message, not to file a complaint against the branch but to corporate.

Your processes are corrupt and you need to hire a user experience professional to professionally evaluate this workflow. How did anyone think this was a good idea or a good way to attract customers?

I eagerly await your response to determine if I should just take my business elsewhere permanently.

-- Confused and unsatisfied customer

Changing Permalinks in WordPress for WAMP Users

WAMP Tip

Users of WAMP (Windows): Some versions of WAMP (all versions?) do not enable mod_rewrite or permit following SymLinks by default.

Free Flowers, Delivered - Bouqs

Send 1 Bouquet Get 1 Free

Bouqs

Get your free flowers

Disclosure: If you click on the link to get free flowers, I might get free flowers too.

Review: Hello Fresh Meal Steak Tagliata by desaraev

Meal Delivery Service

Steak Tagliata

Healthy Recipes and all the Ingredients Delivered Weekly

My Rating: 5 Stars of Hello Fresh

Product Review: St. Ives, Fresh Skin Apricot Scrub

St. Ives, Fresh Skin Apricot Scrub, 6oz

Overall

My little brother first introduced me to St. Ives' scrubs. He has been overseas for a number of years in areas that are not kind to on skin. So, he started using scrubs and face masks to maintain healthy skin and moisturize. One time, when he was home to visit we did face masks and he introduced me to St. Ives. 

Actually, long before the face mask story he had asked my father and I to mail him some of this stuff. Anyway one way or another, my brother introduced me to this product.

I've always enjoyed using clean and clear products to prevent acne and clear out any unwanted goop from inside my pours. I still use it, but every few days or so I also use St. Ives. I highly recommend the product as a nice scrub to remove dead skin and to clean up. I do not recommend it as a daily scrub or stand alone product, however, my brother might say differently.

I buy most of my household goods on Amazon, because I hate shopping. I have this on auto subscribe. If you are interested, you can purchase St. Ives for around $5-8 on Amazon.

Please note: At the time of this review St. Ives has never sent me free products, paid me to write a review, or given me discount codes. If I'm sent freebies or money I will disclose it in my reviews. I do however receive a few pennies if you click on the images or links provided to help you find this product and purchase it on Amazon. I only get that money if you click the links and then make a purchase. It's not a lot of money and if you like this blog, I hope that doesn't put you off simply because it helps support this bloggers writing habits.

Happy online shopping and enjoy your clean, fresh, scrubbed skin!

Graphic Designer Tools from Color Theory to a Preview of the New Photoshop

Design Tool Recommendations

I just couldn’t help but share this with you. As a designer, color can make all the difference in the world. It effects readability, feeling and can compliment spaces. Think of how blue in all its coolness and depth makes you feel, light, calm, connected. While red is known to make you hungry, angry, in movies it’s used to relate to death coming up in a scene, and is used in presidential ties to show strength and power. The image below is from the Floating Frog. Even if you’re not a designer, this will catch you up on color theory. If you’ve ever seen a color wheel, you know it’s like a designer’s cheat sheet to selecting colors. Another great tool is Kuler.

Bike Garter Product Review

Bike Garter

Like wearing a dress, but need to bike somewhere. No girl want to show off her undergarments on the go, so checkout the bike garter.

Sold on Amazon and Eleanor's NYC by Bird Industries.

Comes in 6 colors, hand dyed, and three sizes.

Purchase

Beauty Product Review: Schick Intuition Plus Renewing Moisture Razor Refill - Pomegranate

Schick Intuition Plus

The Schick Intuition Plus is another item on my Amazon Subscribe list. You will need a Schick Intuition Razon to use the razon refills. They are not compatible with any other razors I've seen.

In my opinion, the Schick Intuition Razor is in a category of its own. You do not need any gels, goops, extra soap, or lathering cream with this product because the razor is surrounded by a soap bar that lathers on it's own while you are shaving.

Before I discovered Schick, I was a big big fan of Venus Razors because they move so well it is hard to knick yourself. Schick is by no means knick proof, but unless the soap bar is low and I am pressing the razor really hard to my skin it is rare that I will knick myself or draw blood.

The defining factor for this razor, other than it's crazy expensive (unless you shop at Costco or Amazon subscribe), is that it always gives you a nice close and smooth shave. The best shave I've ever had is from the Schick Intuition Plus Razors. My legs feel smooth and soft. The soap has a light scent, but you can get one of the plain old naturals products if you're picky about smells. If you are interested in purchasing this product on Amazon, click here.

Please note: At the time when I wrote this review, Schick has never sent me free products or paid me to write a review. I do receive a few pennies if you buy the product on Amazon by clicking on one of my links or the images, but it's a few pennies and if you like my blog why not support it by shopping via my links? 

Home Automation Product Review: Ivation 6 LED Automatic Motion-sensing Night Light

Ivation 6 LED Automatic Motion-sensing Night Light  

Battery Powered Hallway Light with a Built in Motion and Light Sensor and adjustable light timer

I bought this light when I first bought my house, sometime in early 2014. At the time, I wanted a way to light up the basement when I did laundry or got home from work. The light switch for my basement is not directly next to the door and there are multiple lights and switches. I hate basements and poor lighting so this was kind of a double whammy for me.

Before I knew about home automation, I discovered the Ivation 6. It works well enough and the batteries in it are still going strong but it works like a night light and is not incredibly bright. The motion sensors work very very well considering how small the product is and how far away I was when needing it to sense me. I'm writing this review nearly a year after I purchased the product (guessing $15?), so I do not remember how much it originally cost me but I'd happily send someone mine for $3+ shipping.

My recommendation is to pay the $300 to setup a DIY home automation system. Use Philips Hues, Levitron, or Wink to automate all your lights. If you need a stand alone bathroom light or kids room night light, this is probably great for that. If you want to buy this on Amazon, click here. 

Please note, I was not paid to write this review. Ivation is not one of my blog sponsors. However, the links to Amazon do give me a few pennies, but only if you make a purchase.

DIARY Day 2 of Corsets: Before and After Pictures

After

A few months ago, I was contacted by Orchard Corsets We had a great chat about social media and fashion, they offered me $200 in store credits in exchange for a UX review of their site. I didn't have a lot of time to do a thorough review, but did create a 3 page document of suggestions. In return, I purchased about $320 worth of corsets (4 corsets). This is my second day wearing the corsets, they are incredibly comfortable. I'm still breaking them in, so I'm wearing them pretty loosely right now but you can see a pretty obvious before and after difference.

I had not intended to blog about this experience, but have had quite a few people ask about it. No, I will not be sending anyone pictures of me in lingerie or only in the corset. Don't bother asking, it's not happening.

BOOK REVIEW: Lady of Willowgrove Hall by Sarah E. Ladd #books (Sponsored Review from BookLook Bloggers)

Book Title: Lady of Willow Grove Hall

Sarah E. Ladd

Book 3 of the Series Whispers On The Moors

Book Review Summary

"Secretive Historical Fiction"

Overall

Performance

Story

The story of A Lady at Willowgrove Hall (Whispers On The Moors Book 3) is enchanting, and a story of loss. Oddly enough, the losses are not overwhelmingly sad, perhaps because you rush through them so quickly to get to the real meat of the story. Perhaps the story doesn't feel so sad because the reason the main character, Cecily Faire,  looses the life she once had are her own fault, and they overshadow her future, but her future feels brighter than her torrid past (not so torrid by today's standards).

It takes a few chapters to figure out how Willow Grove Hall comes into play, but I got there in less than a couple hours. Barely wanted to sleep or put this book down. Ms. Ladd, the author, paints a vivid picture of a beautiful young woman who is a twin. The main character is born into a middle class life style with an over-protective seemingly uncaring drunk for a father. Due to some poorly laid decisions, she loses everything she once knew and is thrown into another world. A slightly higher class lifestyle that offers her a chance at something more. Something she'd originally wanted but gave up on, but not in the way you might initially have thought.

"Is it always a sin to tell a lie?" --Cecily Faire, Sara E. Ladd

JOURNAL DIARY ENTRY: Reconnecting with long lost friends + Inkly by Sincerely Review

The attached picture shows friends I met in first grade. My father has gone to Japan to see them. I traveled to Paris once and stayed with them. Thanks to Facebook, I can easily stay in touch with many, many people from around the world. Lately I've been trying to think of more ways to stay in touch with friends from around the world, to personalize it. Facebook is starting to become a lot like email, impersonal. Social media has introduced me to hundreds, if not thousands of people whose paths I may not have otherwise crossed. So I like it for that, but it's also addictive and impersonal.

REVIEW: BLOGGER for Blogging

It has been barely a month since I started this blog. It is not the first time I've had a blog. I used plain HTML/CSS, Wordpress, Blogger, Tumblr, and a few other CMS tools to maintain an online diary. I never really got into Tumblr, but have always forwarded my other blogs there. I love Wordpress, but maintaining a Wordpress blog on your personal server can be a security nightmare so I started this blog on Blogger.

Blogger Pros and Cons

Biz Tips VIDEO: How to Create/Setup an Apple ID for iPad, iPhone, or Apple Touch #howto

Setup An Apple ID 

Setup Process

1. Settings app 
2. iCloud
3. Get a Free Apple ID
4. Enter your birthday and tap Next (top right)
5. Current email or set up a brand new iCloud email and tap Next (top right)
6. Set up a new ID or enter your existing email and tap Next  (top right)
7. Existing email, check your email to confirm you own the email and tap Next (top right)
8. Choose a password - Learn more about creating strong passwords

Question: Do you own a tablet, if so what do you use it for?

Do you own a tablet or mobile device? What kind and what do you use it for?

I own an iPad 1, which I'm actually considering giving to my dad because I rarely use it. In fact, it's awkward to type on so I rarely use it unless I'm traveling. When I do use it, it's for reading ebooks, watching movies, or playing games. As a designer, I use tablets for testing applications and could use it for showing wireframes ect. I've previously used tablets for Aviation and could see many other freelance use cases. It's just bulky and hard to type on. I'd love to be able to use it at conferences for taking notes, but it's not a good replacement for a computer and a table or just a notebook.

Product Review: Withings Smart Body Analyzer

Why? What? How's it work?

Live Healthy Iowa & Not Having to Think About Small Daily Tasks

This is my 2nd year of doing the Live Healthy Iowa Challenge. The idea is to lose weight, track your progress, track your fitness activity, and get/stay healthy. 

I've gained weight over the winter months, like many people I'm uncomfortable with the few extra pounds I've tacked on. It's warm and comfy, but I wouldn't mind shedding the excess pounds. It's not hard, in theory, to either eat less or burn more calories. In theory it's easy to do a lot of things. I can gain more weight in a week than I can lose. I can also maintain a trim, toned, healthy body easier than I can quickly create one. It's easier to manage this process if I track what I'm doing.