Internet Safari

Fud's Fun Factory:

The Emerald Coast of Florida just got a whole lot more fun! Fud's Fun Factory is a new indoor family entertainment center located in Destin, Florida. We are talking 66,000 square feet of air-conditioned fun. A 24 foot rock-climbing wall, Euro-Bungee, Mini-NASCAR remote control cars, midway games, inflatable obstacle courses and slides, and a whole lot more!

Check out Fud's Fun Factory at www.fudsfunfactory.com

You'll be so glad that you did!

Column for month of April 2005:


Making life easier.
Isn’t that what modern technology is supposed to do? Sometimes I wonder though, with the proliferation of video games (both console and portable), portable DVD players, cellular telephones for adolescents and teenagers, satellite radio, and let’s not fail to mention the Internet. With the World Wide Web we’ve got online games, chat rooms, downloadable movies and music, streaming television, and thousands of shopping Web sites.
Is life truly easier now, or simply more distracting?
Are we taking advantage of the conveniences afforded to us or are we becoming more prone to procrastination? Just one more movie to watch, just one more game to play, just another hour or two and we’ll have our entire collection of Jimmy Buffett videos downloaded and cataloged.
Marriages are crumbling, people are becoming less social – more willing to stay at home and sit in front of the computer than they are to go out and mingle with the rest of humanity.
Of course, it’s not all bad – I’m just pointing out some if the pitfalls of modern technology.
Now I’ll dwell on some of the positive aspects. Take for example, getting one’s self organized.
If you’ve ever had the opportunity to use Microsoft’s Outlook program, you were probably pretty impressed with its ability to help one stay focused and organized when it comes to task management, to maintain contact information, and to keep notes on a variety of subjects. That type of program is called a "Personal Information Manager". The primary drawback in using Microsoft’s program is that it comes with a pretty hefty price tag.
I have found a worthy alternative though.
"EssentialPIM" can do just about anything that Outlook can do (except for built in e-mail handling) and it is priced perfectly – that is, it is totally free. I’ve been using the software for about two weeks now and it works flawlessly; and I’m just totally blown away that it did not cost me a dime. There are so many great features that are built into the program that I couldn’t possibly cover them all in this column. You’ll just have to hop on over to:
www.esentialpim.com
and download a copy for yourself. Some of the niftiest features that I like are first of all, the ability to assign different colors to scheduled appointments and for individual tasks. Different colors to indicate the relative importance of each item. The second feature that I like is that I can export almost any aspect of "EssentialPIM", a customized calendar, a list of tasks, etc. into an HTML document and post it on the Web, that way I can access the data remotely from another computer if I so desire.
Now on to another aspect of making life easier with modern technology.
How many times have you found yourself starring at a piece of electronic equipment, or an appliance, and wishing that you had quick access to its user’s manual? I know I have on more than a few dozen occasions. Well, have I got a site for you; check out
www.livemanuals.com
and you will be pretty impressed. One can look up operating manuals by product type or by manufacturer. There is no guarantee that every single device is covered, but it sure doesn’t hurt to give the site a try though.
Happy Web wandering.

I'm baaaaaaack:

I just took a "little" trip (about 3,000 miles to be exact) and my Internet access was pretty limited so I've not posted anything new in a while. I should be back to my two or three postings a week routine shortly.

Here is something of interest. Don't know if you know this already, but Google now offers a mapping service (it's free) and it works great. Just hop on over to maps.google.com and check it out.

I've also just come across a "Wired" magazine article about the service that will help get you "up to snuff" on the service. Click here to access the column.

Following the Money Trail:

There seems to be new hobby of late, and it is growing quickly in popularity. The hobby is that of tracking the location of currency, currency that was once located in one's hand, pocket, or purse. There are now two Web sites dedicated to such a pursuit:

www.MyDollarBill.com

and

www.wheresgeorge.com

Hmmm, I'm wondering when we will start seeing Web site links on currency, a unique form of promoting a Web site maybe?

Column for the month of March, 2005 - as it appeared in
"The Informant" - Clovis, New Mexico - USA:

Being a former longtime resident of Clovis, I try to keep up with what is going on there and in New Mexico in general. Of course, the Internet allows me to easily do such a thing. It was a real surprise for me to learn that the Clovis Blockbuster store had recently shut down. Although it’s not unusual to read or hear about a local "mom and pop" store shutting its doors, it is sorta’ strange to see a major video chain store close up shop like that.
Although the Blockbuster store has shut down, the residents of eastern New Mexico still have an opportunity to rent videos from Blockbuster, and for a very reasonable price. If you haven’t had the opportunity to check out the "Blockbuster Online" service, you should. Just jump on over to
www.blockbuster.com
and you will learn, that for a paltry $14.99 a month, one can rent an unlimited number of videos per month (3 at a time), never have to worry about return dates or late fees, and never once have to ever walk through the doors of a video store again. I mean those visits can be pretty harrowing cant’ they? All that hustling and bustling in the crowded isles, and taking the chance of becoming severely depressed because there are no more copies of a particular video available. Ok, I’m going a little overboard but you get the picture.
It’s all about convenience.
You go to the Blockbuster Web site, you set-up an account, you pick your movies (as many as you want – your selections will be saved), and you wait for the first three selections to arrive. For me, the closest video distribution center is in Tampa, which is about a six-hour drive from here. That meant that within 48 hours I had my first three videos to watch. As soon as I finished watching a video, I popped it into the free postage-paid mailer that Blockbuster had provided and put it back in the mail.
Apparently Blockbuster and the U.S. Postal Service have things all worked out real nice like, for as soon as the video mailer was scanned at the local post office; Blockbuster shipped out another one of my video selections. Same thing went for the other two videos that I had initially received. My free two-week trial period went off without a hitch and I was able to view about ten videos during that time frame.
For folks that still have a local Blockbuster store in their community, there is an extra bonus by signing up for the online service. Membership allows for the free rental of two movies from the local store, each month. Of course, I took advantage of that opportunity since there is Blockbuster in my area.
I believe the "Blockbuster Online" service is extremely convenient and very reasonably priced. If one lives in a rural community or out in the country, far from civilization, the service absolutely cannot be beat.
Speaking of movies, the folks at Google have launched yet another feature for their fabulously popular Internet search engine. After arriving at www.google.com – just type in the word "movie:" followed by the name of a movie, or the name of an actor, or – believe it or not, a brief description of the film. Google will do its best to provide to you the information on that movie or all of the movies containing those keywords. Don’t use quotation marks, your search request should look something like this:
Movie: Titantic
In addition to information on each film, there are links to movie reviews and even theatrical trailers included in the search results page.
Another really cool feature is that one can type in a zip code after "Movie:" and will be presented with movie show times for local theaters.
Ain’t’ modern technology wonderful?

Tom DiFrancesca III is a freelance newspaper columnist and the author of four books. You can learn more about Tom by visiting www.trackertombooks.com or he can be contacted by email at tomdifran@gmail.com

Breaking News Story:


Press Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Small town computer geek becomes prolific worldwide author in five short months.
"Extravagant Grace" – a Christian audio book has just been released by Café Press, a California based publishing and production company. The audio book contains the works of freelance newspaper columnist and author Tom DiFrancesca III. Mr. DiFrancesca narrated his own work and created the soundtracks for each of the twenty pieces contained on the CD. Anyone who visits GraceClouds.com will be pleasantly presented with a sixty-second sample of every track on the newly completed project.

Tom is a Spirit filled born-again believer who re-dedicated his life to the Lord in 1995. In 1996, while living in Clovis, New Mexico, he began writing Christian poetry. He quickly developed a loyal following of readers who subscribed to his weekly e-mail mailing list. Tom soon discovered that he had readers spread out all over the world. Eventually, his work began appearing on ministry Web sites and in church bulletins around the globe. In 2001, Tom began writing a weekly newspaper column about the Internet; and it too began to grow quickly in popularity.

After being prompted by several of his dedicated readers and members of his own family, Tom began to pursue the idea writing a book. In mid-2004, he decided to get passionate about that pursuit. In fact, in the past five months, Tom has had four books published; and has now followed them up with his very first audio CD. "God has richly blessed me throughout my life and now I want to help Him bless others. I’ve got several other projects in the works right now and hopefully they will reach the market by the end of 2005." Tom reports.

Tom’s very first book "Mastering Internet Explorer: Tips, Tricks, & Timesavers", published by Maryland based America House Book Publishers, is currently selling worldwide at most of the major online bookseller Web sites. The book was a "Top Seller" at Amazon.com in January of this year. His other books include two collections of his most popular "Internet Safari" newspaper columns; and a collection of Christian theme poetry and short stories entitled "The Shepherd’s Ink", Lulu Press of North Carolina is the publisher of those three books.

Tom and his wife Susan are now residents of Valparaiso, Florida and attend The River of Life Family Church in Niceville.

Web site: www.GraceClouds.com
E-mail: tomdifran@gmail.com

Column for February 2005:


Have you run "Windows Update" lately?
If not, you need to. Just in the past few weeks Microsoft has released several new patches and updates for its Windows operating system. Folks who are of the opinion that performing preventative maintenance on their PC is just a waste of time, eventually change their minds or – give up computing. Running "Disk Clean-up" and "Disk Defragmenter" are not options either, if you really want your computer to run optimally and efficiently.
I run into people weekly who always tell me how bad their computer is running, how it’s slower than sludge, how there are so many pop-up windows on their desktop at times, that they can’t hardly get to the Web page that they originally tried to visit.
Then I’ve got others who call me and ask me what to do about getting rid of a virus that has infected their computer – the very same folks who called me six months earlier asking the very same question. When I ask them if they have an anti-virus program installed on their computer the usual answer is "no"; or better yet, the classic "yes, but I let my subscription expire". When I ask about a firewall – the typical response is to look at me like a deer in the headlights of an oncoming vehicle.
You know, back in 1994, when I first encountered the Internet, it was a strange and fascinating new dimension that one could safely explore. A fella’ could go just about anywhere, chat with just about anyone, open up any e-mail, and never really worry about it. People like me didn’t worry about anti-virus programs and firewalls – ah, those were the days. It didn’t matter if someone who was dumber than a rock got on the Internet and just started clicking on links. Folks didn’t have to learn a whole lot all at once, if they didn’t want to - when it came to using the Internet.
Those days are now over, kaput, history - just a faded memory.
The learning curve is much steeper now if one wants to access the Internet and stay safe. It may require some folks to get off of the Internet for a while and to take a basic computer class or two. It may cost someone a considerable amount of money to go and purchase some books about the Internet. No longer can anyone take a nonchalant approach to using the Internet – we just can’t. Folks have to begin to take responsibility for their own Internet wellbeing.
I’ve seen it happen a thousand times, a person doesn’t apply themselves to learning about the pitfalls of the World Wide Web, and they constantly depend on someone else to take care of their "issues". Inevitably, the person being counted on eventually starts to feel used and abused, and – taken for granted. At some point they begin to shy away from that other person – or persons. It’s an uncomfortable scenario for all parties involved.
Since I’m on the subject of responsibility, I might as well delve into the subject of Internet security for children. Now, that is a touchy subject. I’m constantly asked questions like "how much time should I allow my 10 year old on the Internet?" or "what chat rooms are OK for my children to be in?" I’ll have to be honest with you – I’m totally uncomfortable with kids in general spending anytime on the Internet unless their parents are sitting right next to them. I think it’s ironic that the very same folks who would not allow their children to talk to strangers on the telephone, will allow them to chat with someone that they do not know in an Internet chat room.
If you’ve got teenagers and really care about their wellbeing and the influence that exists in their lives, don’t put a computer in their bedrooms and allow them to access the Internet anytime they want to, totally unsupervised. You are allowing them to play with fire and they will eventually get burned. Now, if you are willing to pay for the absolute best Internet filtering service; if you are willing to go through their computer weekly and to check their Internet browser "History" files; if they know that at any time you could walk into their bedroom unexpectedly and examine what they are doing on the Internet – well, then you might be able to allow unsupervised access.
Problem is though, very few parents are actually willing to do the right thing when it comes to their children and the Internet. I make that statement based on personal observations that I have made over the past 10 years.
Be careful out there.

Column for January 2005:


I hope everyone had a marvelous Christmas.
Now that we are plowing headlong into year 2005, I hope that you are ready. I’ve had my mouse on the pulse of the Internet for some time now, checking to see what maybe lies ahead for the New Year. The overwhelming signal, the predominant message – has been one of optimism.
That has not been the message of the past few years. Of late, it’s been mostly fear and apprehension.But this year though, people are expecting changes – for the good. I believe that America is on the road to recovery - financially; our standing in the world community is going to improve; technological advances will flourish; and people who have been waiting for "their turn" with prosperity – will get it.Will you join me in prayer this month that all of these things will come to fruition?
Have you heard of "Freecycle"?
No, it is does not have anything to do with bicycles – well wait a minute, I reckon it could. Now that I’ve got you thoroughly confused though I’ll try to straighten things out.
Isn’t that nice of me?
Freecycle is a concept and an endeavor much like recycling is and has become. Instead of a selected group of used items being broken-down and remanufactured as in recycling; Freecycling is a system whereby used and unwanted items are freely given away to others who can still find a use for them. This concept is sorta’ based on the old saying "One man’s trash is another man’s treasure."
Since arriving here in Florida, I’ve joined a couple of local Freecycle groups and I’ve observed some pretty interesting "stuff" change hands. Just recently, I managed to get my hands on a Brita water pitcher (it filters out impurities). The pitcher normally retails for around $25, so picking one up for free that was in almost brand new condition, well – that just couldn’t be beat. The best place on the Web to learn more about Freecycle is:
www.freecycle.org .
At that Web site you will learn that over 1900 cities are participating in the Freecycle movement, and that over 700,000 folks are happily giving away, and receiving everything from furniture, to automobiles, to fish tanks, to puppies. At the Freecycle.org site you will also be able to locate groups that are in your area. A quick perusal indicated that a group has been established for Clovis-Portales-Cannon, and it has about 90 members. Now, since Clovis is situated near Amarillo and Lubbock, and eastern New Mexico folks visit those two cities often, it might just pay to join the groups from those locations also. Both the Amarillo and Lubbock groups each showed over 200 members. It is best to only join groups that are within driving distance since the folks receiving an item are responsible for picking those items up. You won’t see very many cases where the folks giving things away coordinate or pay for the transport of an item freely given – that just wouldn’t be right would it?
The more folks that participate in a given group, the better the variety of items offered.
Most of the Freecycle groups that I have encountered utilize "Yahoo Groups" to disseminate information about the availability and desirability of items. Desirability as in one is allowed to post a message stating a need for a particular item also. It does not cost anything to join a Freecycle group and it only takes a few minutes of your time to sign up. While signing up one can choose to receive all new message postings to the group by way of e-mail, either individually or grouped together each day. I prefer the "digest" version (grouped) that way I’m not constantly receiving new e-mail messages all day and night. Now, for some folks who have plenty of time on their hands and they don’t want to miss out on a really great offer, receiving e-mails individually is probably the best solution for them.
All of the Freecycle groups very clearly indicate that no items for sale, trade, or barter are to be posted with the group.
It’s all about being free man, all about being free.
Happy New Year.

Column for December 2004:


Anyone reading this column like SPAM?
No, not the canned meat product but the type that one receives by way of e-mail. Believe it or not, SPAM is not an acronym – unsolicited e-mail is just called SPAM. Some say use of the term is based on the canned meat product and of the use of its name during a Monty Python skit during the 80’s.
Who really knows the truth?
I’ll have to give the folks who generate SPAM some credit though, they’ve come up with some pretty ingenious ways to get people to actually open up those messages. You know catchy "Subject" lines, or "Subject" lines that say "Re:" on them to make you think that the message has been sent to you in response to an e-mail that you have sent. Pretty tricky huh?
The SPAM folks have begun to mess up though. In the past, the messages generated by those Internet low-life, bottom-dwelling, scum-suckers have always been made to look like they were sent by just your average "Joe", you know – names like Fred Smith, or Bob Jones, etc. But, have you taken a look recently at the names being used in the SPAM messages? I’ve been getting a real kick out of reading the names of late. In fact, I’ve been saving some of the best ones for use later on down the road. I’m gonna’ write some fiction books in the future and am even thinking about using some of those unique and highly original names. I’d like to take this opportunity to share with you some of my favorite ones:
Contraltos L. Laterals
Amplify S. Abutment
Snowdrift C. Ugly
Roistered S. Rundowns
Comfy P. Valerie
Moonshine R. Renews
Languidly G. Nonplus
Flambeing I. Used
Escort I. Turmoiling
Switched G. Quibbler
Crock M. Protruding
Settlement T. Ebb
Speakeasy H. Melisa
Withstanding V. Vanquishing
Flossie Chantal
Biologist H. Amphitheatre
Gregorio Plaza
Condescension A. Gautama
Reconstructs K. Wag
Bitterns B. Transforms
Shetland S. Overlook
Crystallographic M. Rembrandt
There you have it ladies and gentlemen, some of the most unique names ever given to individuals. This list consists of about half of the names that I have saved.

Now, in the spirit of the season – I would like to share with you a little Christmas "diddy" that I have written. But first, before you even read it – I must give my humble apology to Clement C. Moore:

'Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house, not a creature was stirring, except for a computer mouse. For you see, "Dad" had been lazy this year and hadn’t gotten his Christmas shopping done. Now he's at froogle.google.com, trying to find a really good deal, on a brand new BB gun."Wake-up bubba' and smell the coffee, the Internet is wonderful, the Internet is great, but no matter what you do now, it really is way too late."
The stockings were hung by the chimney with care, while anxious little Jimmy typed away on his computer, in his room upstairs. For you see, he had heard that Santa's progress could be tracked, and thank goodness for Cox Cable Internet, Jimmy was doing just that. For you see the young man went to www.noradsanta.org, and he began following the trail of the jolly old man, each and every move, and that was the plan.
The rest of the children were all nestled snug in their beds, while Jimmy continued to surf, and to dream of that brand new shiny red sled. For you see, he had gone to www.santas-colo.com/messagetosanta.htm, and typed an online message to Santa, because now that the old man had an Internet connection, he’d become a "cybersurfing", "webcrawling", Internet savvy - phantom.
If you don't believe me, if you think this is a joke, just hop on over to www.claus.com, and you'll see that it is the truth that I've spoke. Type in the address, give it a try, visit the North Pole, and you'll see that I'm telling you no lie.
The work is real hard up north this time of the year, but again thanks to the Internet, Santa and his crew have been listening to Christmas music all the day through. For you see, they just hopped on over to www.netscape.com, and clicked on the "Radio" link, for you see, the music is totally free and that is true. There's Christmas music of all kinds that come with Netscape Radio, music for kiddies, music for older folks, and even music for weirdoes. Every musical taste can be satisfied, every scratch can be itched, and remember the service is free, so you don't have to be rich.
Back at the house, as the hours whittled away, little Jimmy couldn't sleep, so on the computer he continued to play. He had gone to www.google.com, and had performed a quick search on "Christmas games", and sure enough, he found what was he was looking for, at a Web site entitled "Kids Domain". He then eagerly typed in the Internet address of www.kidsdomain.com, and what he found was surely the ultimate bomb. For that Web site offered games galore, regular ordinary games and even those that required great aplomb.
Now when Jimmy became all played out and was done having fun, he then surfed on over to www.weather.com, for you see, they track the weather there, and they do that for everyone. Santa was able to make his travel plans early, so nothing would get in his way. Because nothing goes unnoticed and the predictions there are on target for each and every day. And sure enough, they had earlier predicted snow, and as Jimmy sat at his computer he heard the wind begin to blow. He then ran to his window, and he opened it up quick, and after hearing a noise on the roof, quickly scanned the sky for traces of St. Nick. Looking out through the snow and watching it fall, Jimmy then heard a friendly old voice calling out in the night "Merry Christmas to everyone, Merry Christmas to all!

Tom DiFrancesca III is a freelance newspaper columnist and a published author. You can learn more about his books by going to www.trackertombooks.com.