Money Making Apps

I talked about Swagbucks and how you can make "free money".  I found 2 great moblie apps to earn free money.  With both of these apps, you check into a store that you are at (or as I have learned nearby) and you gain points.  You can then redeem those points for gift cards.

The first one is Shopkick.  With Shopkick, there are some exclusive stores where you gain earn two points for checking in, and randomly get one point for checking into other stores.  Shopkick also has bonuses.  Bonuses range from more points, to money that goes to charities.  You can also gain additional shopkick points by scanning products in the store.  There are also levels in shopkick, so the more places you check into the more levels you move through.  And it says that you open more bonuses, when you move up levels. 

There is also Checkpoints.  With Checkpoints you gains points checking into stores and scannnig products. With Checkpoints you can usually only check into a handful of stores each day.  But I find with checkpoints there are more products to scan and you gain more points with the products you scan.   With each product you scan you typically get coins, in addition to the points.  You then get to use your coins in something similar to a slot machine.  And with this slot machine you can gain bonus points.  You can also earn additional coins by downloading apps. 

I dont' favor one app over the other. The combination of their features make both great.  I have redeemed points with Checkpoints and earned $21 in Amazon gift cards.  I would highly recommend both apps. And you will come to love them. To me it is a game to collect points.

Swagbucks

I found I website that I love where I get what I call free money.  This website had many different levels to it.  But the main idea behind it is earning Swagbucks.  And Swagbucks can be cashed in to gain gifts, gifts, etc.  There are many different ways to earn swagbucks. 

1. The first way to earn swagbucks is by searching.  Instead of using google or bing, for example, you search through swagbucks.com.  And you will randomly earn swagbucks.  I typically earn swagbucks between 1 and 3 times a day depending on how much I search.
2. The second way is what I call the daily four.  You can earn 1 swagbuck for completing the daily survey, checking the No Obligation Special Offer, NOSO, checking trusted surveys, and finally installing the tool bar.
3. You can also register for surveys, and if you qualify and complete surveys you can gain extra points
4. Completing special offers.  Some of these require signing up and paying for services and some are free news letters, etc.
5. Watching videos.  I do this one daily.  It is a very easy way to earn extra swagbucks
6. A new feature that was just added is playing games.  I typically do this a few times a week
7. You can also refer friends and gain swagbucks when friends join and then earn swagbuck
8. There are also swagcodes that come out periodically.  These are what I consider a bonus.  Typically you will have to find the code from given hints and enter the code within a certain time period

As you continue to use swagbucks.com you will love it more and more.  I love monitoring how much I earn, and what I cash out.  It is a great free way to get more free money.

New 101 List

I started a 101 in 1001 list in October of 2009.  And I have done an extremely bad job of trying to complete that list and updating this blog.  But I really like the idea of the 101 in 1001.  So, I decided to start a new list.  I felt that I threw together my last list too quickly.  Some things one the list I really liked and completed.  Other things I did not really care about.  So this time I am going to go about the list in a different way.

So I am starting the process again, but this time I am going to approach it in a different way.  I am starting the list  today and the completion day will be November 3, 2013.  I have not completed the list yet.  This time around I am going to give myself sometime to compile a list of things that I really want to complete.  Rather that completing the list in order to start.  I will give myself until March 31, 2011 to complete my list.  The other thing I am going to change this time around it allowing myself to change some of the goals on the list if I feel the now longer fit what I want to accomplish.

So, hopefully, I will be much more successful with this list.  Here is the new list.

The Nook Tutorial

One of my local Barnes and Noble stores did a Nook Tutorial.  I have to say, it was a pretty use thing to go to.  Of course there were things I already knew after all the research I did online.  But there were a few things I did not know that I learned.

I would recommend anybody who is interested in the Nook, or any e-reader, go to learn about the Nook and e-readers in generally.  And beware, it may convince you to buy one soon.

A Quick Trip

For a quick trip this summer, it was decided that Colorado Springs would be the destination.  Sometimes it is just nice to get away, even if it is just an hour away.  Here are a few pictures from Garden of the Gods.  It is a beautiful and peaceful place.

The Summer We Read Gatsby

I decided to read this book after seeing it on quite a few summer reading lists, including Oprah's.  I can somewhat understand why Oprah put it on her list.  She seems to be a fan of thoughtful writers, and Danielle Ganek falls into that category.  But other than that, I cannot say I enjoyed the book.  I had such little interest in it that I quit reading a little before the half way point.

It is a story about  half sisters that have to come together when their aunt dies.  Their aunt, Lydia, writes in her will that Peck and Cassie must live in her Southampton's house for a month out of the summer before they can sell it or inherent any of the other items in the house. 

I think this is one of those books where people either love it or don't really care for it, ( I can't say hate it, because that was not the case, I just did not really care about it.)  Maybe my problem with it was the characters.  Peck seemed to be portrayed as a very condescending and pompous, and was always putting Cassie down for not being as classy and sophisticated as herself.  And Cassie seemed to be a push over and just excuse it and let it happen.    I had not attachment towards either character and I think that is ultimately why I did not care about finishing the book. 

I am sure there are people out there who will love the book and all the Gatsby references ( I loved Gatsby, which was why I wanted to read the book, and even this did not get me) and love the descriptions about the parties and Hampton's lifestyle.  But this was just one of those books that was not for me. 

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo - The Movie

As you can tell, I am enamored with the Millennium Trilogy.   I just watched the Swedish version of the Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, as it is called in Sweden, Män som hatar kvinnor – "Men Who Hate Women".  (The book is called the same thing.  Very telling and interesting.)  As with any book to movie, it is hard to get all the same feelings and emotions of the book into the movie.  Niels Arden Oplev, however, did do a very good job.




The overall story line was there.  Blomkvist was convicted of libel for the story he wrote at Millennium magazine about Hans-Erik Wennerström, the business man.  So Blomkvist decides to take some time off from the magazine and gets asked by Henrik Vanger to solve the mystery of his missing niece, Harriet.  Eventually, Lisbeth, helps Blomkvist solve the mystery.

Now, here are the things that I did not like or did not think were captured in the movie.  First off Berger.  In the book Berger is Blomkvist's ongoing lover.  This was not represented in anyway in the movie.  And for some reason I always pictured her as a brunet not as a blond.  I am sure there was a description of her in the book, but I just do not rememeber.

 Second, Lisbeth.  I loved her in the book but not so much in the movie. They represented her as very stand offish in the movie, much like the book.   But I don't think they did a great job of showing how smart she was.  In the books she came across as very intelligent, with photographic memory, problem solving and computer hacking.  Some of this was shown in the movie but not to the same extent. I also found her a little to harsh in the movie, but I understand why.  If you have not read the books, you need to understand that she does not like to have relationships with people and the harshness represents that, (at least in mind).

And the third thing I did not like, which is true in all book to movie renditions I view, story lines taken out of sequence.  It drive me crazy, because it makes me feel like the story line has changed.  

But overall, a very good rendition.  There is the main Vanger mystery along with the growing relationship between Blomkvist and Lisbeth.  I cannot wait to see the Girl Who Played With Fire.  And I am also curious to see what the American version of the Girl With the Dragon Tattoo is like.  I hope they can capture they same intense feeling that the Swedish version did.

The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest

Stieg Larsson did not let me down with this book.  The third book in the series picked up right where the second book left you with a cliff hanger.  (I was a little worried it would start off sometime in the future and we would lose some time.)

With Lisbeth in the hospital recovering from her attack, Blomkvist is still working on solving the murder of his friends and exposing the criminals who did it.  While working on this he discovers that there is a secret group who has been covering up many crimes and also changed Lisbeth's life.  Which has made her the person he knows. Ultimately, the criminals are brought to justice and Lisbeth finally gets her day in court. 

The character development continues in this book.  And I found I became more attached to some of the characters.  But I was a little disappointed with Lisbeth and Blomkvist.  I know a lot of people had trouble liking Lisbeth in the beginning, but I loved her from the start.  After the trial, Lisbeth seemed to become even more withdrawn and harsh.  It was almost too much for me.  I was also disappointed with Blomkvist's love interest in this book.  She was a police officer he was working with.  I think we can all conclude that he is not a typical serious relationship type of guy,  (although he does have a long on going relationship with Berger), but he seems to be on the verge of starting some sort of serious relationship with this police officer.  I found it strange.  He does not seem to like the needed and clingy type of girl, which is the way I viewed her.



Ultimately, this was a great conclusion to the second book and to the series. It was not as suspenseful as the second book, and there was some more character development, that I believe would have been expanded on in the next books he planned.  Everything was tied up well.  This was a great book and a great series.  I would recommend it to anybody how loves mysteries and thrillers.  I have yet to hear of anybody who as not loved this series. 

Ebooks From the Library

One of the things I liked about the Nook was the ability to download ebooks from the library.  Here are the directions on how to do that.

1. Connect your Nook to your computer
2. Download Adobe Digital Editions
3. Install the program on your computer
4. Open the program and register and create an Adobe ID or log in if you already have on.  If you do not have and ID it is free and easy to set up.   
5. Activate Adobe Digital Editions
6. After you have logged in and activated Adobe, it should see the Nook, and install the program on the Nook
7. Once you have pick out your book from the library then download it.  You may need to follow the instructions from the library.  Mine was exceptionally easy.  Once it was checked out it said, download.
8. Make sure you have Adobe Digital Edition open.  On the main page you will see your books, and the Nook at the bottom of the list.  Drag your book to the Nook picture.  
9. Now the book should be on the Nook and you can unplug it and start reading.  

I think it should be pretty easy to download library books going forward.  Just download and open Adobe Digital and drag to the Nook.

Happy reading!!

The Girl Who Played With Fire

I thought it would be hard to top The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. This book may have done it.

Salander decides to spend some of the money she earned and take a trip around the world. She has had no contact with anybody including Bloomkivst, who has been trying to contact her throughout the year. Salander returns home and feels uneasy and decides to purchase a new apartment and rents out her old apartment to her friend Mirium for a dollar.

Meanwhile, Bloomkvist is still a reporter at Millennium and a reporter comes to his magazine with an explosive topic, the sex trade throughout Sweden. This leads to murder and Salander is accused through the weak connections.

Like he previous book in the series, you are on the edge of you seat throughout most of the book. The story is so well written and thought out. There were twists and turns that I did no see coming, just like the previous novel.