Aside from console games, I happen to like a good game or two of poker every now and then.  I like winning at poker even more! So, visit this site and take a long look at the free information and offers given - it could mean the difference between folding and taking home the whole pot.

Winning Major Money at Poker - FREE INFO!

The adorable characteristics of casual living room furniture include modern sofas, lighting sources, modern tables and sleek sideboards. Contemporary living room furniture is known for its wonderful color schemes with multiple uses and stylish look. However, if you add some accessories to your furniture such as colorful cushions and accent chairs etc. it will definitely give a fantastic look to your living room.

Leather living room furniture gives the right ambience to your room. The flaunted style of contemporary furniture is accepted by the all the families with modern likings. Modern dining room set holds a clean sleek look that definitely gives the feeling of modern. Once you bring home the modern dining room furniture, your guests can not stop themselves by saying “Awesome”. Contemporary furniture usually uses colors like gray and black but you can also add a luster color for your stools with different shapes to give a dashing look.

If you are looking for elegance and sophistication for your modern living room then don’t think so much because only contemporary furniture can furnish your home. This upholstered living room furniture will make you feel proud without any doubt and you can show off to your colleagues and family friends when they come to your place. Nowadays you find them at many showrooms nearby your house or there are many online companies who deliver them safely and securely to your house.

They also have kind of a social bookmarking platform where users could register and mention some of the interesting deals available online. Other users could vote down or vote up the deals put according to their likings, thus deals get categorised based on popularity. Shop Au ddoes need to build its user base though so as to make this feature popular. Most of the posts I saw had just got a 1 vote rating.

Shop AU also misses an about us or contact us page which is quintessential for any good site. The basic design of the site is clean but the footer content such as Top Rated Shops, Just Added definitely needs to come to the header position or atleast above the fold.

So, I wandered into Gallery Bar on Orchard st. last night and into the internet week startup meetup. It was, for the most part, a lot of idea pitching and too much talking. But, I did meet some really cool and interesting people that had already launched their startups and were meerly there to find this person or that person to jion their team. Which brings me to my first new website.

Dan Chaparian, a founder of youIntern.com introduced himself to me and eventually started talking about his startup. This time, I actually listened. This site provides a forum for potential interns and employers looking for interns to meet. It focuses on marketing and advertising, with the hopes of moving into different realms of the working world.

youintern provides a place for interns to review their internships. Not only is this a great place for potential interns to hear what really goes on in that internship, but it's also working towards eliminating the abuse of interns. I was an intern, my friends were interns, and really there is no way to get a job presently if you don't have internship experience. But, because this is a relatively new phenom. I, as well as most of my friends, have experienced the intern hells. So, here is this wonderful site working towards bettering internships and helping out interns, as well as benefiting employers. Pass it along to anyone looking for an internship as a great resource for them to use.

Why? you ask...well 1. I work there 2. they are funny 3. the commercial/film is hilarious. So, here goes...it's a funny product created for Mother's day. This holiday is nice. I mean your mom deserves a lot of thank-you's, and to give her one day full of them shouldn't be like pulling teeth. But, with Hallmark up our butt's about buying this and buying that, it takes away the genuine attitude that should go along with mothers day- at least I think so. So, what better way to take back the day then to mock it. I know I think it's hilarious:)

Watch the video, look at the candles...if you want to be funny buy one for your mom, or your dad, but I don't really think Grandma would be too fond of them.

look at what i found

Originally uploaded by gumbootspearlz.

In second year high school my social studies teacher was horrified because most of the class did not know their geography. So she gave us a crash course, and we had to memorize the maps and fill them in. We also did a special project on one particular country.

My kids have always loved their atlases but as they have not yet travelled, well except to New Zealand and around Australia. I don’t want them to have their sos teachers horrified at their general knowledge. Besides which I think it’s great from them to understand different cultures and places, especially because of the diversity in Australia.   I do hope we soon take them further than New Zealand.

A lady I heard do a lot of public speaking used to say in “Australia we can travel the whole world within our nation”- and I think that’s so true, especially when you live in the big cities of Australia for any length of time. Although rural areas are becoming increasingly culturally diverse.

I came across several sites that would be helpful in teaching my kids to learn their geography. http://www.printablemaps.net  

You can print outline maps from it, and labelled maps for Australia, South, North and Central America, Europe and Africa. This means the kids can colour them in, and then try and label the blank one when they know it and test themselves. If they laminate them they can test themselves again and again by writing on their unlabelled blank one with a marker!

Another one of my favourite sites, which I must admit I haven’t visited for a while is Kidzone. http://www.kidzone.ws/  

It has a section on geography and of course several other subjects. Its geography section includes,Canada, Egypt, and the United States.

The DLT website http://www.dltk-kids.com/world/index.htm  has several crafts and activities for classrooms doing around the world themes- Australia, Canada, Native American, China, Denmark, Hawaii, Egypt, Greece, India, Norway, Spain are some of the places linked with. Some of it’s not up my alley (too much use of toilet paper rolls?) but some of its useful. I like the Australian and Egyptian sections as they have some really interesting activities, like writing your name in heiroglypics, anagrams

First School is great for preschooler activities on geography and language http://www.first-school.ws/  It has topics like Nursery Rhymes and Fables. Why not start them understanding the diversity of the world from a young age!

the name of this website is ximmy...

well, it is a social search engine site...it allows users to do reviews on any websites that they want to review...

what's more interesting is, for every review that you make...it entitles you 10 points...if you can reach 1,000 points...which is the equivalent of 100 websites to be reivewed...you can earn $10...if you can reach 1,800 points...you can earn $20 dollars...so for just reviewing 280 websites you get to be paid $20..

but, decide immediately when you are really interested because this program is just a promo of ximmy...as soon as ximmy accumulates 200,000 site reviews...then they will stop the program...
so far they count every review as 10 points...so what are you waiting for..register now!!!!

just click on the images below if you want to register for ximmy

this is the points equivalent for joining ximmy...

Good case studies of the above practices - particularly in social marketing - have been few and far between.

Then along came Al, and a really nice example of using the web as the hub of a cause marketing initiative.

Yes, the same guy that turned his An Inconvenient Truth Powerpoint lecture into a major film and raised the level of global warming awareness a notch or two, is behind the "We Can Solve It" campaign.

And according to this Clickz article, the "mass marketing effort was engineered with the Internet in mind."

In the Clickz article, Brian Hardwick, the communications director for the Alliance for Climate Protection, had this to say about the role of the Internet in this campaign:

""If our goal is to mobilize people... then having a big presence online and always optimizing that is key."

The campaign's web site is the starting point for online engagement, and the online and offline promotions are geared toward getting people to the site. Once there, the visitor is presented with a range of opportunities, from mobile alerts and embeddable content to the standards such as email sign-up, forward to a friend, etc.

One thing that I'd like to see when I get to this site is more compelling storytelling. While the Presenters who appear on the site are pleasant enough, I really don't think it's great use of online video bandwidth to have Chris A. tell me to "click links below" to get started in my quest for solutions to climate change. Rather, the same bandwidth could have been used to tell a short story of someone who is actually taking part in an activity that is part of the solution.

Here is an example of the video that's being used to drive awareness of the campaign, and in particular, awareness of the campaign's web presence as the place to go to get involved.

[vodpod id=ExternalVideo.551671&w=425&h=350&fv=flv%3Dhttp%3A%2F%2Fblip.tv%2Ffile%2Fget%2FEhanson2-AnthemTest107.flv] from www.clickz.com posted with vodpod

Buying a car works in six easy steps :

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6. Benefits Program : free roadside assistance, an automotive helpline and generous incentive program.

And with some great testimonials by various of their customers, Private Fleet seems the right choice for car buying service. So be it a Landcruiser, a Mazda 6 or a Toyota Hilux, Private fleet seems to be the perfect solution. So if you have decided on your next new car and are looking for the best possible price, go straight to their enquiry form or call 1300 303 181.

I just happened to visit BlogohBlog.com on my frequent ps3 giveaway pursuits. Well it is pretty good. I especially liked the fire layout at the corners. The site is very easy to use and has a no hassle interface. Whatever you want is very easily reachable. The site does look good but the main attraction is the Playstation 3 giveaway they are supporting. Not only the Playstation giveaway but there are many tutorials and stuff for newbies who want to learn basic web designing and development using php.

It also has some custom wordpress web designs for your blogs which you can buy from here and some free wordpress themes for ones who do not want to buy anything. Do check out the section where many of the Google's mindblowing marvels have been explained. I loved the "Chuck Norris" query part. You can get many good things to learn and work on from this site. I visited this site very recently and it seems very nice.

Not only that you can also chat with the site administrator on the site itself. It has a separate chat window as well.

Overall a thumbs up for this blog. I would give it a 3.5 out of 5 for this blog. Well i would give it a 5 if i win the Playstation 3 console :) (Just kidding). Just go through this site it is very good.

Do check out the link below.

The Ps3 Giveaway at BlogOh!Blog

pathways to peace

Originally uploaded by gumbootspearlz.

In my web wanderings today I found some wonderful educational work on Rainforests.

The Wet Tropics Management Authority on their website have had permission to put PDF of fact sheets on many topics, such as bats, butterflies, foodchains, plants- and on top of this there is a teacher and students resource with units for Prep through to year 8 which make use of many creative teaching and thinking strategies, just as thinking hats, bloom gardeners matrix, the multiple intelligences, games, composing poetry, and role plays to explore issues of caring for the rainforest and the nature of the wildlife and fauna there.

If you are a teacher or parent wanting to educate your children about the Rainforest in Australia this is a great site for supporting you in your in efforts. If you want to also see creative teaching methods applied to a particular teaching unit this is a very interesting site that demonstrates this.  I can't wait to encourage my own kids to explore this site and  do some of the activities on it, particularly as they are studying plants and food chains at the moment.  There is also in the rainforest explorer units a consideration of Aboriginal people living in the wet tropics environment.

http://www.wettropics.gov.au/st/rainforest_explorer

The BBC UK has an interesting site with an activity and a quiz for- shapes, measurement, and number.  Some of the topics include decimals, problem solving,  subtraction, the number system, fractions, division, multiplication,  addition.  The money problems work in pounds and pence so maybe are not so useful if you are not from the UK (but great if you are soon to visit there).  Initially some of the activities take a while to load (maybe that's just our computer?) but they are quite sound activities when they are all systems go.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/ks2bitesize/maths/activities/shapes.shtml

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/ks2bitesize/maths/number.shtml

Superkids http://www.superkids.com/aweb/tools/math/  helps you to generate your own worksheets and is full of inspiring quotes and brainfood!

Funbrain  http://www.funbrain.com/kidscenter.html has levels for the interactive activities, easy, hard, medium and superbrain, some of the topics in Funbrain are fractions, measure it- and there are some activities that are applied maths like working out how to tip a penguin, as well as problems of working out area and perimeter.  For those who like their music as well as maths there is a piano player game ( http://www.funbrain.com/notes/index.html)  You can also search games for an age level match.  Unlike the BBC site it doesn't explain things to you but its good reinforcement practice when you have learnt something and want loads of practice at it.

An Australian site with plenty of interactive games, but the added bonus of a maths dictionary is Jenny Eather's Rainforest Maths http://www.rainforestmaths.com/

Well that's all to log for my searches today- I think the kids and I will check these sites out for a while and see how we go.  I am going to ask them to rate the sites in different areas, usefulness, fun, time to download, enjoyment etc. 

Like any online learning it's also great for it to be backed up by learning by other modes, chatting with parents, hands on maths, and reading and puzzles. 

I've written about music sites before, so here is another addition to that category. A friend of mine at work introduced me to Songza and I love it. It makes finding a song or artist that you want to listen to - for free- the easiest thing you can imagine. Literally typing in the name of the song or artist then clicking play. That's all. You can play it as much as you want, scroll through the album, artist, or search again and keep playing- for free(this gets a double w00t...w00t w00t!!!!) If you really love it and you want to buy it, well guess what...you can! One simple click and you got it. And, one last thing, I think the design is great. Simple, clean, good color palate, and extremely easy and wonderful user interaction. So, go check it...son!

The new Waterwood Capital site is an example of a clean, crisp site without absolute minimalism. The navigation is extremely straightforward - there's a flyout for commercial lending and one for residential lending, for commercial news and residential news. Other pages are mostly standard - everything is gathered under the right header. The table in the middle of the home page is a nice touch - click a visual example of the property type you're interested in, and it takes you to a custom page for each. SEO is quite apparent. Use of color in the design is tame but still impressive. The red from the logo bleeds (intentionally) into the top navigation, creating a soothing backlit effect. This is an XSITE from a la mode, inc - and the designer is Daniel DiGriz of www.editgeek.com

They just released the statement yesterday...and they are excited about it. Boo to them, there is no way Target will keep this hilarious commentary on the cliches of white American culture going.....do we think think is an April Fools joke? White people do love April fools!

The idea of self promotion by using promotional materials that live throughout the web is really wonderful and refreshing. Even if you're not interested in ad agency stuff, take a look at this website. This is creativity and innovation.

The theme is creative, with animated dragon flies, and that fits with the overall personality evident and prevalent in the site, which focuses on international real estate, the arts, the environment, and Austin-area real estate. The site is certainly pretty to look at, given the agent's photo on the top left. The navigation is more interesting than some we've seen, with both drop down and flyout menus. Even the arrangement of the logos/icons in the footer is quite stylish -- an added interest to the footer is friendly-named links to key lead-capture pieces that also provide a high degree of service to the client. Search engine optimization is apparent wherever one looks. The color scheme is nice. You can tell some writing talent has gone into the site as well, and it demonstrates crucial organization forethought. Excellent site.

I saw this link that @Juliaroy posted on Twitter last night. At first I was confused by what it was, but I played along and waited. I can't describe the end feeling as a pleasant surprise...I was really really excited. I don't want to say exactly what it is, because I will ruin the fun for you. But, it's so smart, fun to watch and play, and will no doubt be a viral success. Enjoy.

Here's my dilmema:

I love the content being covered-most of the time. It's interesting stuff I know and care about. Stuff that I'm immersed in at all times. The things that make me the dork I am. The show covers people I'm interested in. The people making, creating, maintaining and innovating in the web-o-sphere. So, it's great to actually have a show covering stuff like this.

BUT...on the other hand, Sarah Meyers bugs the shit out of me. Opps...I just swore. Sorry. Sarah Meyers gets under my skin in a bad way. Her fake cheery, trying-to-be a tv reporter style is annoying, contrived, and takes away from the topics being covered. She makes herself look stupid. The show seems to be written by a smart individual, and dumbed down by the way Meyers sounds, and looks, like she is reading off a cue card. UGH. Not to mention the way she attempts to crack jokes and make witty comments, that are neither of those what-so-ever.

So, my problem...I like the content, I hate the execution of it....Take a look and let me know what you guys think.