Alexandra is back

One of the podcasts I have enjoyed is the Chess is Cool podcast hosted by Alexandra Kosteniuk. She has been on a break way too long. But just last week she released a new episode. In it she talked about a new video podcast that she is now doing. It is called Chess Killer Tips.

Chess Killer Tips logoWhile I really don’t watch many video podcasts, this one appeals to me. She is planning to keep the shows short (1 to 3 minutes). It is also much easier to follow chess moves when you can see them as opposed to just hearing the positions read.

If you are into chess at all, then Alexandra has some great tips. She obviously knows what she is talking about since she has been a Grand Master since the age of 14 and is currently ranked #6 in the world for women. Much of her stuff is understandable by the common man. But, some of it is pretty advanced and it takes me much longer to think through it than she gives me time for. With the video podcast it is pretty easy to pause and see the moves as they happen.

I have only watched a couple of episodes so far. She is planning to put a new one out several times a week. I think this is a great tool for anyone wanting to improve their chess skills.

Office supplies

Rapid Supplies is an on-line office supply store. They advertise discounted printer paper as well as various other office supply needs.

I did not find their site to be overly easy to navigate, but you can certainly find the items you are looking for. Their search function seems to work well if you know the particular product that you want. In fact, I was able to more easily find the items using the search than just their general navigation.

Their prices seem fair. I have not done much comparison shopping, but they do advertise below MSRP. Plus, there is free shipping on all orders of $75 or more.

They even have a pretty good selection of office furniture.

[This is a sponsored post]

Wrong language in Picasa

My dad was having problems getting Picasa to work properly on his computer. Picasa was coming up in Spanish instead of English. I finally figured out the problem and just wanted to summarize it here for others with the problem. I am getting all my information from this Google Groups posting.

If you already have Picasa installed, you can got to Tools | Options | General | Language used in menus and dialogs. In that drop down box chose your language. Now the problem comes when you cannot read the language that Picasa has chosen for you. For example, Japanese. I am going to take a guess and suppose that the settings are in the same place in all languages.

Tools is the second menu item from the right (next to Help). Options is the last choice on the drop down. General is the first tab. The language can be chosen in the only drop down box within that dialog box.

If you have not yet installed Picasa (or you have un-installed it due to this problem and need to know how to fix it before installing again) you can do these steps that this poster describes. I do not have a Windows machine available to test with, therefore I cannot summarize more clearly. But if you are a Windows user, this probably makes as much sense as using Windows in the first place.

I went to Control panel–Regional & Language–Advanced, and made sure the Language for non-Unicode Programs is English.  Also to Default User account settings- made sure it is NOT checked, and to Default Input Language, and made sure it is English. I was able to reinstall Picasa in English!

I hope this helps someone else who has Picasa (or potentially other software) installing in the wrong language.

Making money!

I am now back from my trip and still need to earn a bit more blog money to pay for the shoes I bought last month. I have been using PayPerPost to generate some cash from my blogging efforts. Out of the different monetization efforts I have tried, PayPerPost has, by far, been the one to generate the most cash.

I guess I have been with them about 2 months and have earned just under $100. I could earn a lot more if I worked it a bit harder. But with all my traveling lately, I think I have done pretty well.

My goal is to be able to buy running shoes and podcasting equipment with this money.

I first heard about PayPerPost almost a year ago when it first started making a name for itself. I was just getting into blogging at that time and did not see much possibility in it. But today I realize that it is a good opportunity to earn a bit of extra cash. Though some people are earning upwards of $10,000 through PPP, I am not dedicating that amount of time or effort. But for the time I am spending, I think the effort is worth the money I am making.

Home with guests

After the major detour, we rested for the night in Acayucan. We then faced a 10 hour day on Saturday to get back home.

The trip was fairly uneventful. We were thankful to be back in familiar territory. It was nice to feel like we were close enough to home that if anything happened, someone could come and get us.

I know you should not talk about being away from home on your blog because that can invite bad guys to come steal your stuff. I am not concerned about that. We had people staying in our house almost the whole time we were gone.

We got home and I found a weed eater in my office. I think that was a hint from our guests that I need to cut the grass more often.

Today we got to meet our house guests for the first time in several years. Though we have seen the mom and dad a few times recently, this was the first time we saw the 9 children together. Our son had a good time talking with the boys and sharing stories. One thing our son has never been good at is asking other people what their name is. When he does ask, he hardly ever remembers. So I guess he just feels fine not asking.

I asked him what the names of the boys were that he was talking with today. He did not know, but the one in the red striped shirt and he got along well. I asked him if he would know which one the red striped shirt boy was if he changed clothes. “Yes,” he replied, “he looks like the one in the blue shirt, but a little less serious in the face.”

Well, that settles it then.