Testing the new system

Google prompted me to do this, so here I am. This is a test. This is only a test.

Not sure yet, but this blog may be revitalized soon. Stay tuned.

...al

Check out my new blog

Ok... THIS blog has been inactive for far too long. So long, in fact, that it's time to suspend it till...??

But... I have started a new blog on the reviewjournal.com site. It's the Online Guy's Tidbits blog, and I post there four or five times most weeks. Check it out, and become a regular.

Your thoughts, please

I plan to write soon about the MillionDollarHomePage.com site, and other, similar sites.

I want to know your thoughts...does this page intrigue you? Are you inclined to learn more about who is buying and who is using this mish-mash of links?

Personally, I think it's a confusing mess, but somehow it pulls me in. I guess it's like drivng past an accident...you don't like it, but you really want to see what's going on.

Here's the page:

http://www.milliondollarhomepage.com

Thanks in advance.

...al

Back...again...and BIDDING HAS STARTED!

Hi, again...

Ok, it's been a while since I've blogged anything, but that doesn't mean I haven't been busy. Just the opposite. Between the holidays and family emergencies, life has been anything but calm.

But...I AM back to the blog, and I will do my best to make regular appearances here.

Now...for the blatant, self-serving portion of this program:

If you haven't heard, Nevada Public Radio is in the midst of their third online auction...and once again, one of the items...if not THE top item... is lunch with moi...The Online Guy. To get there, start at KNPR.org and click into the Online Auction banner atop the page. You'll need to register to bid, including giving your credit card through a secure site. Don't worry, they know what they're doing.

Once there, click into the NAMES IN THE NEWS link, and scroll down a bit. You'll find me...at a BARGAIN price. Last time I checked, the bid was $25...and last year I went for MUCH more than that.

Check it out...and BID!

thanks...al

p.s...You can get to the auction directly at this link: http://nevadapublicradio.cmarket.com/

I'm Baaaa-aaaaack

Ok, two months off is enough.

Actually, the focus of my column has turned to other topics (Phishing, for one) and my Blog on Blogs has taken a back seat.

So...In the interest of keeping this blog alive-and-well, I have decided to branch out. No longer will this blog be limited to the topic of blogging. i guess I broke that pattern with my Candadian trip entry just below this one, so the precedent has been set!

I'll do my best to make at least one entry a week in this spot, but in the meantime, please don't forget to visit my column. It runs every Monday at reviewjournal.com (http://www.reviewjournal.com/columnists/gibes.html).

Till next time...Happy Blogging!

...al

Canadian numbers

Allow me deviate from the normal topic of the blogosphere.

I was on vacation with my son last week, and we headed to the great Northwest -- Seattle, to be specific. We also hit the great Southwest -- of Canada. We spent four days and three nights in Vancouver, BC, driving up I-5, which turns into Canada 99.

That was my first clue that Canada has a way with numbers. Anyone who's ever watched, played or just HEARD of hockey, knows that The Great One -- Wayne Gretzky -- wore number 99. The highway sign made me smile, then I noticed the next numbers game being played by the Canucks...a speed limit warning sign that said 30 WAS 20. As in 30 km/h = 20 mph.

My son figured out which dials to turn and buttons to push to change the speedometer from mph to km/h, and the needle shot to the right! Later in the trip I found myself cruising at 100, and cars were whizzing by. A drive past a filling station brought another fun-with-numbers revelation. Gas was listed at 109.9! Ok, that's a per LITER cost, but it sure beats 4.159 (That's $3.476 U.S. More on that later.)!!

The next numbers game came with the nightly news. "The highs tomorrow will be 21 or 22," the weathercaster said. Hmm...it felt a lot warmer than that, I thought. But then it hit me -- CELSIUS! How brilliant. A hot day is NEVER triple digits in Canada. 25-degrees is pretty darn warm, but Zero-degrees is just freezing. Makes sense to me.

Then the money game started. The exchange rate is around 20 percent in our favor, meaning my U.S. buck got me $1.20 Canadian, or so, when I made a purchase, meaning I was constantly doing the math in my head. Some things are deals, but others, I found, they just jack the prices up a bit to cover the difference.

If you haven't been to Canada, you should know they have a lot of fun with their money. There are no one-dollar bills. Instead, they use a gold-colored coin that sports a bird on one side. It's a Loon, so the coin is a "Loony!"

They have a two-tone two-dollar coin they affectionately call -- a Toonie! Their money is Loony Toons! To top that off, their smallest currency -- the $5 bill -- has a picture of smiling kids playing hockey and tobogganing! How cool is that?!

The final clincher is the Canadians actually refund a portion of the Gross Sales Tax you spend while visiting their markets. Any item that you carry back over the border are included, as long as each receipt is $50 or more and the total for the trip is $200 or more. It took just a few minutes to fill out the forms and get the cash handed back me. The woman behind the counter gave me a choice of "U.S. or Canadian?" I took the greenbacks, but really wanted a few more hockey-fivers.

So, in Canada you can drive fast, stay cool, get a bargain, use cool money and get a refund.

In your head, at least.

America should take a lesson.

ValleyBlogs.com

In case you missed today's column, I covered the new ValleyBlogs site. It's currently home to Steve Sebelius, Dave Berns and Len Butcher. Len started his blog late last week -- after I'd filed my column to the folks in the Business department.

We plan on keeping this site as the home for all the blogs at the Las Vegas Stephens Media sites. We don't know exactly where it's headed, or who will be added in the future, but we do have a home for our blogs. We're talking about doing photo blogs and mobile blogs (moblogs), which will likely include contributions from the public -- not just our writers.

Give the new blogs a look and let be sure to leave comments.

Happy blogging!

...al