Thomas Shaffer Blog has moved

I will no longer be posting on this blog. I've moved on to my own thomas site. Whenever WordPress is compatible with this new blogspot, I hope to transfer everything over. If you link to me, please update your blogroll to include my new site. Thanks.

Thomas L. Shaffer - www.thomaslshaffer.com

Free Money Blogger - Favorite New Site

I love making free money, especially if it's easy. My favorite free money site is Hustler $$$. The site is definitely on top of the free money gig, and even goes as far as showing how to open multiple accounts to take even further advantage (can you say BOA?). Anyway, if you want free money, get the rss feed for free money.

Watch March Madness Online For Free

CBS once again is offering to show March Madness online for free. This is a great option for those who have to work during the first round games and are unable to bring a tv to work. Signing up early will also give you faster access to the games - they run off a waiting room system, so it pays to sign up early. They also have a boss button that will open up a spreadsheet. Pretty cool. Go Heels.

Coors Light Ditka Mora and Walsh Great Stuff

These Coors Light commercials are great. If you haven't watched a single sporting event in the past 3 months, you've missed some of the best advertising on television. Coors Light has taken old press conferences from some of the best sound-byte coaches in the NFL - Mike Ditka, Jim Mora, Bill Walsh and Dick Vermeil, and edited their responses to answer questions from Joe Blow sports fan. The best question has to be towards Vermiel "isn't it a little hot in here for a mock turtleneck?" You can watch them all at youtube, but I've added one of Jim Mora's for your enjoyment.

Bears Fans are Insane - Give Birth Early

We all know men are crazy when it comes to sports. It's a well known fact that our girlfriends and wives have to deal with weekends where the TV stays on ESPN or whatever local station the games are on. We (well, most of 'we') have overpriced and oversized televisions that are neccessary to watch that buzzer beater or to see whether or not his foot was out.

Most men ask one favor of their significant others during playoffs - leave us alone. No trips to Target, no repainting the guest room, no talking about our feelings. We want to watch the end of another season and we don't want to be bothered unless you are bringing us another 12 pack or freshening up the queso dip.

What I would probably never ask for (sans the Cubs in the World Series) is for my wife to induce labor for a game. But that's what Colleen Pavelka did for her husband Mark. Mark had tickets to Sunday's NFC Championship game and was facing a situation - his child could be born any day now. Maybe the doctor knew about Mark's tickets, because he informed the couple they could induce labor on Friday, and they did. So, while Colleen was in the hospital today rooting the Bears on, Mark was at the game, watching the Bears clinch the NFC and come one win closer to a Super Bowl Championship.

Now that is what I would call a labor of love.

Happy First Anniversary

Happy first anniversary to my wife and I. We've spent 364 days of it living in the Pacific Northwest. She is the best thing in the world to me and I love her deeply. You can stroll down memory lane with me looking at the wedding photos.

LifeHacker Best of 2006

Thanks to the power of RSS feeds, I've been able to read more and do more in less time. One of the sites that I've come across since using RSS feeds is Lifehacker. Lifehacker is a blog about increasing your productivity through software, DIY techniques, and even offer reviews.

They have compiled their top 12 most popular postings for 2006. You should definitely check it out. I'm sure this site will become an instant RSS feed favorite. I've posted some of the topics, but you'll have to visit their post to find out more.

1. Hack Attack: Turn your $60 router into a $600 router
Adam came back from O'Reilly's Maker Faire event so inspired, he installed Linux on his home wireless router and practically made it do backflips. Far and away our most popular post of 2006, check out how to unlock the hidden powers of your standard issue home wireless router with free software.

2. Geek to Live: Top Firefox 2 config tweaks
What do a bunch of web-browsing geeks do the day after a new version of Firefox comes out? Jump right into its configuration to make it work exactly how you want it to.

3. Windows Vista Beta: How to dual-boot Windows XP and Windows Vista
Get your paws on an early copy of Vista but don't want to commit your whole machine to it? Here's how to have your Vista and your XP, too.

4. Geek to Live: Automatically back up your hard drive
Backing up your data is one of those things... you know you should do it, but who remembers? Here's how to set it and forget it. (If you look at no other post on this list, look at this one. Resolve to keep your data safe and redundant in '07!!)

5. Hack Attack: Top 10 Ubuntu apps and tweaks
When you decide to take the leap to Linux and banish Microsoft and Apple from your computer desktop and go Ubuntu ("Linux for humans"), take a gander at Adam's favorite applications and mods to make it more workable.

6. Hack Attack: Build your own DVR
Adam builds his on TiVO on the cheap with his PC and a copy of SageTV, and lives to tell about it.

7. Geek to Live: How to format your hard drive and install Windows XP from scratch
As most PC users who install and uninstall a lot of software know, the "wipe clean and rebuild my PC" routine can be a yearly event. Here's how to format your hard drive and start from scratch with a fresh new Windows installation.

8. Hack Attack: Become a Gmail master
Adam drops science on how to bend Gmail to your keyboard shortcut-loving will. This one changed the way I deal with email forever.

9. Hack Attack: One-click DVD rips
Rip DVDs to your hard drive in one step with Adam's freely-available AutoHotkey Windows app.

10. Hack Attack: Automatically download your favorite TV shows
Subscribe to your favorite TV downloads with BitTorrent using Ted.

11. Hack Attack: The self-sustaining iPod
You know you can use your iPod as a hard drive, and you know you can install portable applications on an external drive. Well, here's how to turn your iPod into a stand-alone plugin jukebox that'll rock out on any computer.

12. Geek to Live: Lifehacker Pack
Google's got Google Pack, and Lifehacker's got Lifehacker Pack. Check out our picks for best free software everyone should have to make their computer just work

Seattle Space Needle - It's Cold!

Went to the Space Needle over the long Thanksgiving weekend. It wasn't busy, probably because it was around 5 degrees with the altitude! If you are in the area, it is definitely a landmark to check out. If you have time and enjoy music (especially Jimi Hendrix) go to the Experience Music Project (EMP) right next door. There is also a Science Fiction Hall of Fame.

Looks like somebody needs a haircut!

Oh Christmas Tree Oh Christmas Tree

While the inlaws were here, Ashley went out and purchased our first christmas tree as a married couple. Last year we had a fake tree while engaged. I preferred this tree because it's easy to assemble, needs no water, and I don't have to vaccuum up after it. Ashley LOVES christmas, so getting a real tree wasn't an option. I will say that it smells nice, and Sammy loves it.

I helped with the decorations, I even got to put the first one on. You can see that in the up close picture :) Ashley really likes it because it even makes sounds and plays two movie clips. It is a very lovely tree, even though it tilts slightly at the top. After careful examination, I've determined it is the tree that is crooked and not how it is sitting in the stand.

Anyway, tis the season kids - get those trees up and the christmas lists out!