New York Traveler.net

Just Dreamin’

Sorry I haven’t blogged much. We are all in high gear trying to finish up the school year, and the gasoline prices have kept me homebound for a while. However, we do have some hopes to do some traveling this year! We have some things in the making, in particular a camping trip in the Adirondacks, and perhaps a hike up one of it’s mountains. We love the “strenuous life,” as fellow New Yorker called it (Theodore Roosevelt). We are very fond of TR, having read several of his biographies and seen many documentaries of him. We also have a neat computer game where you go on an expedition through the Amazon jungle and bump into him there, in the midst of a safari. It’s a pretty cute game and the kids love it.

TR made the African safari famous, too. Would you ever go on an African safari? I think I would! If you love safari (or love reading about it and looking at photos), check out the T. Jeffrey Safari Company website. They offer exciting Namibia safari hunting trips. My sons absolutely love the website. I’m sure they’d love for us to all go, but I can’t hit the backside of a barn anymore (I wasn’t too bad a lass with a gun, however). The gallery of photos at T. Jeffrey Safari Company are amazing. The best glimpse I ever got of Africa was Marlin Perkin’s Wild Kingdom; I’d love to see Africa for real! Imagine, roaming 200,000 acres on a family farm in central Namibia for a safari, or hunting for a week in the Kalahari Desert! Talk about the strenuous life! If you are into safaris, take a gander at the website. It’s an adventure in of itself.

Rocket Science

My husband is a musician and therefore he listens to a ton of music. He’s had Napster for quite a while, but they just raised their prices. I have been hearing about a new downloadable music tool, MP3Rocket. Ever hear of it? It’s relatively new to the music marketplace. C|Net reviewed it and gave it 4 out of 5 stars. I decided to check it out!

I was wary at first. We are well aware of the recording industry’s tyrannical lawsuits against innocent victims, and have no intention of entering the fray. MP3Rocket has a page in their website devoted to the legalities of file sharing.

There are currently over 240 million users downloading and trading files legally on file-sharing networks. You can, for example, legally download music from over 850 bands, over 20,000 live concerts as well as have access to multiple software titles and games. File sharing is not illegal so long as you abide by all relevant copyright laws. Sharing copyrighted material without the permission to do so is illegal.

MP3 Rocket Inc does not condone piracy or breaking copyright laws. The MP3 sharing tools available on through our members area are powerful search tools & we recommend that you use your discretion when downloading music and movie files.

MP3Rocket encourages users to “stay legal.” It’s not a difficult task– never share any protected content (easily done by disabling the “sharing” choice in the software); only share public domain files (that’s an easy one for us, because the kids and I listen only to classical music or orchestral hymns), and never rename copyrighted music to make it appear as public domain music. It’s basically what Napster has been providing us, except that MP3Rocket is free!

MP3Rocket is most known for music sharing, but the software also enables you to access radio stations (200+!), games, and television. At almost 2 million downloads, it’s a very popular program. MP3Rocket is easy enough to download and install. It claims to have billions of music available. I did a quick search for Segovia and Beethoven, and found loads of choices. I am not terribly interested in downloading any music (I like my hard drive lean and mean), but I do like the radio station channels feature.

MP3Rocket is worth looking at if you are a heavy-duty music listener. It also has the TV channels (which I haven’t tried) and the radio stations features (which look good so far). Learn more about it here.

The Watchman

Need a new watch? I’ve always loved timepieces. I have a growing collection of clocks and watches. I just love them. Someday I’n going to get one of those huge wall clocks for my kitchen- the ones that are three feet in diameter!

My husband is of Swiss descent and his ancestors were watchmakers in Bern. I always joke to my husband that he would have made a great watchmaker. He is a real, um, stickler for details. I’m a “big picture” person, so we have a lot of fun around here, lol.

Well, I can’t make him a watchmaker, but I can get him a high-end classy watch. Seiko Watches are some of the best constructed watches. My stepdad would wear no other. As a kid, I was fascinated with what we called his “aviator” watch. It wasn’t truly called that, but it had so many intriguing dials and circles that it looked like an airplane control panel. What a terrific watch!

Father’s Day is coming up, and if you’re in need of a watch, try Seiko. I recommend it. Excellent prices can be found at the biggest Internet Seiko dealer, BlueDial. (They’ve been certified by BizRate.com, and offer free second day delivery, too!)

The Mouse in the House

My name is Mrs. Mecomber, and I’m a mouse junkie.

I have… let’s see… about two dozen computer mouses (mice, whatever) in my electronics-junkie drawer. Some work, some don’t. Some are trackballs, some are optical, some are those cool trackman-marble mouses that you use your thumb to operate. I have so many because I wear out my mouses in record speed. I don’t wear the entire mouse down, just components- it might just be the scroll button doesn’t scroll anymore. Or the left-click side of the mouse is worn, and makes an irritable raspy sound when I click. That is like fingernails on a chalkboard to me!

I am really tough on my mouses. I am ALWAYS dropping them. Why are mouses made with such slippery plastic, anyway? I’ve gotten away from wired mouses and the little trackball-bottom mouses and have gone high tech with my latest love, the “mini mouse.” That’s our name for the Microsoft Notebook 3000 optical mouse. It is the perfect size for my small hands. But the darn things wear out after four or five months. I JUST got the latest one, too (in slate blue, whereas I’ve had two black ones previously). I dropped this one only once, and already it’s on its way out! You’d think it would last longer! The black ones seemed much sturdier. I can drop those babies again and again and they keep working… for a while. And another thing– after a month or two of continued use, the soft, rubbery plastic on the sides of the mouse starts to melt. Or wear away. Not sure. But it gets sticky and I can’t stand to touch it. Out goes another mouse and in comes a new one. Again.

I’m ranting, I know. Proof that I am a mouse junkie. Well, I’m in a dilemma, having to soon get another mouse. I want a small one, a wireless one, an optical one. I would like to try something else besides the Microsoft “mini mouse” this time.

Do you have any suggestions for me? Any warnings? What mouse do you use, and do you like it? I’d really like to hear your opinions. Thanks.

Comment Email Problem

I apologize to you if your comments sit unresponsive. For some reason, Wordpress has ceased emailing me notifications of new comments. I have tried various corrections, but nothing works. I suspect it has to do with me changing the web hosting, even though the email address has remained the same. In any case, I’m sorry if I don’t respond to your comments right away. I’m working on it!

A Diamond Monopoly is Not Forever

Interesting story from Syracuse. It has nothing to do with travel, save for the fact that we will be driving there next week. But I was surprised that this story was not more publicized. A search resulted in only WSYR covering it. The summary of the story is also on a webpage dedicated to the issue:

De Beers is the largest supplier of rough diamonds in the world. Beginning in 2001, Plaintiffs in several states filed lawsuits against De Beers in state and federal courts alleging that De Beers unlawfully monopolized the supply of diamonds, conspired to fix, raise, and control diamond prices, and issued false and misleading advertising. De Beers denies it violated the law or did anything wrong.

The Settlement Agreement provides that $22.5 Million be distributed to the Direct Purchaser Class, and that $272.5 Million will be distributed to the Indirect Purchaser Class. De Beers also agrees to refrain from engaging in certain conduct that violates federal and state antitrust laws and submit to the jurisdiction of the Court to enforce the Settlement.

De Beers was founded by Cecil Rhodes in 1888. I actually found Wikipedia’s article about De Beers interesting:

De Beers, founded by Cecil Rhodes, comprises companies involved in rough diamond exploration, diamond mining and diamond trading. The various companies within the De Beers “family of companies” are responsible for around 40% of world diamond production by value.[1]

De Beers is active in every category of diamond mining: open-pit, underground, large-scale alluvial, coastal and deep sea. De Beers is not involved in informal small-scale diamond mining, which is rarely economical for large mining companies.

De Beers (through its sales and marketing arm, the DTC) has been very successful in increasing desire for diamonds. The famous advertising line “A Diamond is Forever” (attempting to discourage diamond owners from putting their older diamonds onto the secondary market, thus limiting competition) was coined in 1947 and the company has created many successful campaigns since then. One of the most effective of these has been the marketing of diamonds as a symbol of love and commitment and thus the ideal jewel for an engagement or wedding ring.

Some of the campaigns started by De Beers include the “eternity ring” (as a symbol of continuing affection and appreciation), the “trilogy” ring (representing the past, present and future of a relationship) and the “right hand ring” (bought and worn by women as a symbol of independence).

De Beers is also known for its television advertisements featuring silhouettes of people wearing diamonds, to the music of Palladio by Karl Jenkins.The company spends $150 million per year on advertising.

Gosh, I remember those commercials when I lived in Syracuse! My mother used to sigh over things like that– expensive jewelry. I was never into diamond necklaces or earrings very much; I prefer the more functional expensive jewelry, like gorgeous womens gold watches. Hee.

Up and Coming

We have a week of activities planned, this coming week. I’m trying to get the kids focused on their work. I think the winter blues has got them, too, as they are sluggish and have been finding the pencil-pushing laborious this past week or so.

We are planning on taking a tour of a newspaper printing business. This will be great fun! I’ve never seen how a newspaper is produced, and I think it will be a great adventure. We’re also going to Syracuse late next week. We have an appointment but will make a travel day of it. And, I am hoping– really hoping– to get up to Inlet to watch a bona fide dog sled race. Mr. Mecomber had mentioned to us that we should try extracting ourselves from seeing another museum, and get out and enjoy something wintry in New York. He suggested a snowmobile race (which sounds good, too), but when I heard of the dog sled race, I leaped at it, lol. I’ve never seen one, and I think it would be a good activity for the kids. I’m really going to try to get up there for that. If I do, expect lots of photos!

Well, back to reality. I’ve got book reports to proofread and a kitchen floor to mop!

Google Maps Meets 1984

I posted this on my other travel blog, but it was so hilariously funny I had to post it here, so you wouldn’t miss it.

HILARIOUS!

Hat tip Tee.