Best of the Web 2006

Here is my list of my best website discoveries of 2006:

1. donationcoder.com

Seriously...that's it!

Nothing else matters. Nothing else can compare, in my mind.

Anybody that has been reading my blog knows I love that site and it has become my online home.

But I am just one person, and my opinions on what is best would only reflect my opinions. If you want a great list of what is best try this one:

DonationCoder.com's Best of the Year 2006 list.

It contains the best

• software


• websites


• essays


• debates


• flash games


• humor


• fun


• gadgets


• programming stuff


• entrepreneur related articles


• and more

all selected from their fantastic forum postings of the past year.

This isn't the usual single person who just comes along and gives their opinion of what they think is the best...you can find that on any other website.

What makes this list special is that this is a huge community of dedicated enthusiasts that has collectively scoured the internet for the best of everything. No single person could have come up with a list like this, and it sure would have taken them a lot longer than a year to put it together if they tried.

If you would like to become part of the team and possibly contribute to the Best of 2007 list, register on their forum and become part of the community. You won't regret it.

It is my best discovery of 2006.

http://www.donationcoder.com/2006/

The perfect gift

“Some people come into our lives and quickly go. Some stay for awhile and leave footprints on our hearts, and we are never, ever the same.”

--Unknown

The perfect gift to give is always the perfect gift for the person you are giving it to. It is a gift that matches the personality and/or the tastes of that person. If you see something that reminds you of someone you know, you are supposed to buy it for them...it commands you to. When you care about someone, you think of them while you are apart and it is easy to shop for them. Things just jump out at you and scream their name.

This is why they say it's not the gift, but the thought that counts.

When I am out shopping, I often see little things that remind me of people I care about.

One online friend in particular...I see things that reminds me of him quite often, but it would be quite expensive to ship to him the things I see, so I don't buy them. It wouldn't make any sense to buy them and not be able to send them to him, so that he could enjoy them.

I didn't have much money for Giftmas shopping this year. I only bought one gift this year...for him. I was browsing around online and saw something that screamed his name in so many ways...I had to buy it. I had no choice. (everyone else on my list received things that didn't cost me any money)

Unfortunately, ebay didn't feel the same about it and wouldn't allow me to buy it and have it shipped to him. I had to send him the link & the money and have him order it. It kind of took a little of the fun out of it. But he liked it and it made him happy.

If there is one thing I love, it's surprises. But every year I don't get very many. Almost every gift I get is something I already know about, expect, and in most cases it is one I have had to pick out myself. I don't understand why people can't shop for me. Does nothing remind them of me? Nothing at all?

I am not saying I don't appreciate the gifts I get, because I do...very much...it's just that I really love to be surprised too. It's not as much fun to tear into the wrapping paper on Giftmas Day, when you know what is in the box and in most cases even wrapped it yourself. It takes most of the fun out of it.

At least someone got it right this year and surprised the hell out of me in the most wonderful way.

A few days ago I received a package in the mail from my online friend that I mentioned earlier, addressed to my daughter.

Now I was expecting this package, and even asked him to address it to my daughter, since she loves surprises as much as I do, and he agreed to do this since it was something for her. But when the box arrived it was much heavier than I expected. There was obviously more in it than the 2 books that we had discussed.

Since it was supposed to be a Giftmas gift, we would both have to wait to see what he had sent.

It is a tradition in my home that we all open one gift each, on Giftmas Eve. My daughter decided it would be the package from my online friend that would be the one. The suspense was killing her. (And it was killing me too.)

So what was in the box?

4 books...the 2 sushi cookbooks, for my daughter, that I was expecting...and 2 more for me.

A book of Farside comics...and a marvelous vintage cat book from the 70's, full of all kinds of stuff about cats...history, legends, poetry, art, information.

It reminded me of one I had bought for myself when I was a teenager. One of many thing I lost during the years when I was being shuffled from place to place while I was a victim of the NJ foster care system.

He probably thought it was something I would like, but I don't think he knew exactly how much I would like it.

But that wasn't all that was in the box...

Along with the 2 sushi books for my daughter, he included a starter kit of supplies she would need for making sushi...sushi rice, soy sauce, wasabi, mats, chopsticks, ginger, etc.

Each item my daughter removed from the box made her happier & happier...the most excited I have seen her in awhile. She was downright giddy.

What made her so happy was how thoughtful the gift was. That someone online that she has never spoken to and doesn't even know her, except through me, gave her a gift that was perfect for her...and it was something she loves. Something her own real life friends wouldn't have bothered to do. They aren't that thoughtful. She now wants to trade her real life friends for my online ones.

I think of all the gifts I have received this year, that box was the best gift of all.

It was a box of thoughtfulness that gave more than just the objects that were in it. It made my daughter smile...it made her happy...and that in turn made me happy....very happy.

My friend has touched my heart through my daughter's smile.

For the first time in a long time, the tears I cry are tears of joy. And yes, they really are tears, I am not exaggerating for the sake of being dramatic or something. I am literally weeping.

The words I write here can not even come close to explaining how I feel or why.

This is a Giftmas I will never forget.

Thank you, my friend.

The Diet

I decided to stop thinking about it and just do it...start the diet....today.

The way it works:

• Fruits, vegetables, beans: They don't count ...eat as much as you want.


• Grains: Whole grains are 1 point per serving. Anything else would be 2 points per serving.


• Dairy products: 1 point for every gram of fat, 1 extra point for being an animal product.


• Meat & Seafood: 1 point for every gram of fat, 1 extra point for being an animal product.


• Candy: 1 point for every gram of fat, 1 extra point for being loaded with sugar and not having any real nutritional value.


• Alcohol: off limits.


• Anything else is 1 point per gram of fat and an extra point if it contains sugar, honey, or any other high calorie sweetener.

The idea is to stay under 20 points per day for 6 days in a row. Eat whatever you please the 7th day. Then repeat.

The best way to break this down would be 3 meals a day and 1 snack...each limited to about 5 points.

Now before you just jump up and say "I can do this!", I must warn you, it's not as easy as it sounds and the first week is the toughest.

You will be thinking of all the things you can't have...thinking there isn't anything you can have. You will get frustrated, feel deprived.

But soon you will change the attitude and fall into a different sort of thinking, and focusing on what you can eat instead. That's when the fun begins. You will start getting quite creative with your cooking.

Another warning: It is almost impossible to keep this diet and eat meat. This works best as a vegan diet, or at the very least, a vegetarian one.

If you are worried about getting enough protien, remember that there are other sources of protien in this world other than meat, and you can eat all the beans you want. Dairy products kill 2 nutrition birds with 1 stone, so take advantage of low fat & fat free in that category, in place of meat.

If you find yourself having a serious craving for something, and you don't want to blow it, and you can't limit yourself to just a tiny taste, just put it off till your treat day.

That's right...it's a TREAT day...not a cheat day. This is the key to success. Taking that 1 day off a week allows you to have all the things you are depriving yourself of and makes your chances of sticking to this diet greater. You can't undo 6 days of super healthy eating in 1 day! So don't worry about it on day 7 and just be happy treating yourself. This is the day without guilt! It would be a great day to go out to dinner to a restaurant with family or friends and not have to worry if there is anything on the menu you can actually eat. Your social life shouldn't have to suffer just because you are on a diet. Social drinking is allowed on treat day, as long as it's done in moderation, so go ahead and have a beer or glass of wine with dinner.

And yes...you have to take that day off each week. You can't skip that or make it less frequent. The idea isn't to become some super hero known as "Diet Woman" or "Diet Man". The idea is to be serious about being healthy, and serious about not setting yourself up for failure.

A note about eating out: If you want to eat out with friends and family on a day other than your treat day, consider Chinese food. You can always get stuff that is steamed rather than fried at most Chinese restaurants. Or pick some place that has a fantastic all you can eat salad bar packed full of healthy stuff, like Charlie Brown's (I don't know if you have this restaurant in your area, most locations are in NJ)

Now I haven't decided if I am going to post my daily menu, because then I would feel like I have to provide all my recipes along with it and that would be a lot of work putting it all together to post every day.

Generations of Packrats

My online friends think I make this shit up about being the ultimate packrat...and it being genetic, or they think I exaggerate a bit.

I offer this mother/daughter conversation as proof:

April = me
Steph = my 20 yr old daughter

I think the only reason why she scored higher than me is because I saved all her baby clothes and nobody saved mine for me, and she probably selected the answer about the broken Atari, even though our 2 Atari's are NOT broken.

---

Steph (3:42:34 AM): I scored higher than 98% of anyone else who took this one particular quiz... ranking me at "Ultimate Pack Rat"
Steph (3:42:41 AM): guess what it was a quiz of
April (3:42:56 AM): link me!
Steph (3:43:08 AM): http://www.okcupid.com/tests/take?testid=8195145313689353295
Steph (3:43:40 AM): tell me your percentage at the top, if you get Ultimate Pack Rat too
April (3:50:39 AM): i got the same as you
April (3:50:50 AM): could have told ya as much though
Steph (3:50:51 AM): what was your percentage?
April (3:50:52 AM): lol
April (3:50:58 AM): from the bottom?
Steph (3:51:01 AM): nope
Steph (3:51:03 AM): the top
Steph (3:51:13 AM): under where it said Ultimate Pack Rat
April (3:51:15 AM): 85%
Steph (3:51:20 AM): HaHA!
Steph (3:51:22 AM): I beat ya
Steph (3:51:25 AM): ...by 5%
Steph (3:51:26 AM): lol
April (3:51:34 AM): remember something...the atari still works
Steph (3:51:40 AM): yah, I know
Steph (3:51:59 AM): but if it didn't, I would still freak if you tried to get rid of it
April (3:52:20 AM): now why would i do that?
Steph (3:52:23 AM): lol
April (3:52:31 AM): i still have all the old broken vcr's
Steph (3:52:43 AM): "Collected cat hair... yanno, to make a pillow"
Steph (3:52:50 AM): I loved that question
April (3:52:59 AM): i actually was gonna do that
Steph (3:53:03 AM): I know!
Steph (3:53:04 AM): lol
April (3:53:08 AM): and go into business making dog toys
Steph (3:53:20 AM): We're insane, aren't we?
April (3:53:26 AM): yup
Steph (3:53:38 AM): No wonder there's so much CRAP laying around here
April (3:53:51 AM): lol
April (3:54:02 AM): it runs in the family
Steph (3:54:04 AM): yesh
Steph (3:54:19 AM): Pack rat-ness is genetic, mayhaps
April (3:54:30 AM): aunt inez and her civil war artifacts
Steph (3:54:35 AM): hehe
April (3:54:43 AM): and buckets of arrowheads
Steph (3:55:00 AM): and your grandmother and her newspapers
April (3:55:02 AM): my grandmother and the 'newspaper room'
April (3:55:06 AM): lol
Steph (3:55:17 AM): Grandpa's junkroom
April (3:55:22 AM): lol
Steph (3:55:27 AM): and... OUR WHOLE APARTMENT
April (3:55:32 AM): lol
Steph (3:55:33 AM): we don't have just one room
Steph (3:55:37 AM): we have ALL of them
April (3:55:55 AM): and the basement...it might be starting to get out of hand down there too
Steph (3:56:04 AM): Eep?
Steph (3:56:25 AM): At least it's organized and neat-ish down there
April (3:56:31 AM): yeah
Steph (3:56:35 AM): That's storage
Steph (3:56:39 AM): not pack-ratting
April (3:56:44 AM): we need to get rid of the encyclopedias
Steph (3:56:49 AM): I think there might be a difference
Steph (3:57:04 AM): Yeah, wikipedia > Britannica
April (3:57:33 AM): that was such a waste of money
Steph (3:57:42 AM): yeah >.>;
April (3:57:54 AM): but there was no internet when we bought it
Steph (3:57:58 AM): true
Steph (3:58:08 AM): then again, I don't think we ever used it much anyhow
Steph (3:58:09 AM): OH!
Steph (3:58:16 AM): the kids version was cool, though
April (3:58:23 AM): we will keep that
Steph (3:58:26 AM): yesh
April (3:58:27 AM): forever
Steph (3:58:35 AM): those were my story books as a kid, lol
April (3:58:41 AM): i know
Steph (3:58:52 AM): wow... no wonder I'm not a moron
Steph (3:59:05 AM): encyclopedia = bedtime stories!
Steph (3:59:05 AM): lol
April (3:59:16 AM): do people think of us as weird when you tell them "my mom read me encyclopedias as bed time stories"?
Steph (3:59:35 AM): No one knows about that, lol
April (3:59:42 AM): yes they do
April (3:59:49 AM): i have told some people
Steph (3:59:53 AM): no one I have told
Steph (4:00:00 AM): Though, I wanna tell Tom
April (4:00:05 AM): lol
Steph (4:00:05 AM): he'll appreciate it
Steph (4:00:09 AM): and might think it's hot
Steph (4:00:11 AM): ^_^;
April (4:00:16 AM): lol
April (4:12:07 AM): speaking of packratting...
Steph (4:12:12 AM): hmm?
April (4:12:23 AM): i saved the packratting convo
Steph (4:12:28 AM): lol
April (4:12:32 AM): we are digital packrats as well
Steph (4:12:36 AM): YESH!
Steph (4:12:41 AM): verily

NANY Challenge: New Apps for the New Year

Mouser has set the challenge:

To pledge, create, and release a new application for January 1, 2007.

It doesn't matter how big or small...just has to be something new.

http://www.donationcoder.com/Forums/bb/index.php?topic=6231.0


-----

This might be just what I need. I said I'd do it. Maybe this will be good for me...push me out of my slump.

Now...what to make?

I am actually nervous about this. I can't think of anything to make...nothing is inspiring me...nothing saying to me "Get your bitch ass into your IDE and make some code!"

I want to make something fun...something different...something that will make people smile.

Maybe something that will make people that don't feel like smiling, smile.

If I can manage to make something that will make me smile, it should work for others, too... since smiles don't come easy for me, lately.

I think I know what I am going to do...I can see it forming in my head...yes...I know what I'm going to make. :-)

You all will be smiling soon.