Staples: 12% off this week (7/29 - 8/4)

Staples has a 12% off coupon for their annual Customer Appreciation Week.

Here's the link

Web site colors saving power?

According to a recent study, it uses less power for a computer's monitor to display a anything (including a Web page) with a black background rather than a white background.

As a result, Google introduced Blackle, a black background based version of Google. It's the exact same thing as regular Google, except with the black background:
http://www.blackle.com

The Wall Street Journal did their own study and acknowledges savings, though not as much as the original study claims.

Does it really save power? Even if it saves a tiny bit, I will probably use the black Google page at home, if for no other reason than it looks pretty cool to me.

Link to story

JourneyEd

JourneyEd is a company that provides discounts (primarily, software) to students and faculty from schools that have an affiliation with them. PCCC is one of these schools.

For example, the Microsoft Office Professional Suite (this is a step up from the standard edition, which includes Publisher and Access) has a list price of $570.00. Even on Ebay, they are still going for around $300. JourneyEd has them for $199.98 for people who are students or teachers at member institutions. Note: it does require validating that you are a student, but this is a trustworthy site.

PCCC Students Home

Ebay: Only show negative feedback

If you use Ebay, read on.

Toolhaus.org has some useful tools for Ebay users. There is one tool that you can use to see only the negative feedback left for a person (impossible to do using Ebay's system, I've tried) and some other tools that might be of interest. I've added it to my bookmarks!

http://www.toolhaus.org/

Cheap Stuff 7/22 - 7/28

Some stuff I noticed in the world of cheap stuff good 7/22 to 7/28:

Staples:
Zebra® Cadoozles® mechanical pencils: Free after rebate
Esselte® 2-pocket paper folders, assorted: 1 cent each
Staples® cap erasers 5¢ 12 PACK: 5 cents each
Staples® 6" plastic protractor: 5 cents each
Dixon® #2 yellow pencils: 5 cents each
12" plastic ruler: 5 cents each

Office Depot:
BIC pens 12/box: 25 cents each
Pocket/prong folders: 5 cents each
B/W composition books: 25 cents

Rite Aid:
There are coupons for a free Pentel pencil in the circular!

Rate your professors

In college, my friends and I used to discuss who was a good professor and who wasn't all the time.

I've always enjoyed visiting the site ratemyprofessors.com for that reason.

Visit the site for PCCC

Feel free to add your thoughts on me or any other professors, good or bad. It's anonymous!

PRISM 2007 handouts

For those of you attending the workshops I am giving at Montclair (or, for those of you interested), I've published my handouts for last week's Google workshop and tomorrow's PowerPoint workshops using Google's free Docs and Spreadsheets service.

Google Tips and Tricks
PowerPoint Tips and Tricks

Military Secrets posted online

As someone who worked for a defense contractor, I always worried that things that we knew might end up unprotected. Sounds like another government contractor wasn't as careful.

"Detailed schematics of a military detainee holding facility in southern Iraq. Geographical surveys and aerial photographs of two military airfields outside Baghdad. Plans for a new fuel farm at Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan. The military calls it "need-to-know" information that would pose a direct threat to U.S. troops if it were to fall into the hands of terrorists. It's material so sensitive that officials refused to release the documents when asked. But it's already out there, posted carelessly to file servers by government agencies and contractors, accessible to anyone with an Internet connection."

More information here...

I really hope people don't die because people are careless with secure information.

Cheap stuff

This is the time of year many stores, including Staples and Office Depot start to make their "back to school" stuff available relatively cheaply.

Deals I noticed for next week (7/15)

Office Depot has the following good deals:
Crayola 24 count of Crayons: .09
Sharp Calculator: free after rebate

Staples has the following deal:
Staples filler paper 150 count: 15 cents

Walgreens
Penway Filler Sheets - 285 or 325 count: free after rebate
Penway 60 sheet wireless notebooks or 70 sheet wire bound wide/college ruled: four free after rebate

Rite Aid
Pentech pencils 8 pack: Free after in-ad coupon
poster and craft paint: Free after in-ad coupon
Krazy Glue: free after rebate

Sprint to Customers: YOU'RE FIRED!

Sprint has apparently decided some customers complain too much. They've told 1,000 customers that they are terminating their contracts. This is going to lead to all sorts of lawsuits, I bet.

Link to article

Magic at PCCC

Earvin "Magic" Johnson, former NBA star, is coming to PCCC.

I remember hearing the news in 1991 that he got AIDS. A neighbor told me about it, and I was just floored. He was really the first person I knew of who contracted HIV. I rooted for him as he made a comeback, and he's really proved how much progress has been made in treating HIV. People used to think of it as a death sentence, but here's Magic, 16 years later, going strong, and promoting awareness of AIDS/HIV.

Magic's bio on Wikipedia

Anyway, here are the details!

Join Magic Johnson at the PCCC Gymnasium for the Stand With Magic program!

Tuesday, July 17
5:30 pm (doors open at 4:30)
PCCC Gymnasium, Ellison Street Entrance
Special appearance by Earvin Magic Johnson

Food and beverages will be served.

All PCCC students are invited. College ID required for entrance. No one under 16 allowed!

Come learn how you can make a difference in the fight against HIV/AIDS in your community!

For more information call 800-401-4590.

Sponsored by PCCC and ISTANDWITHMAGIC.COM, part of the Campaign To End
Black HIV/AIDS.

What to do with those old ink cartridges

A lot of people simply throw out old ink cartridges after they are empty.

Aside from being environmentally unfriendly, it's also not cost effective! The three major office superstores will give you $3 per cartridge, typically, though each store has different requirements on brands, etc.

Staples accepts empty ink cartridges from Dell, HP, and Lexmark, and will give you a $3 coupon off any future purchase. You can use it towards anything, and can use up to 3 per transaction.
Staples Cartridge Recycling Program info on Wikipedia

Office Depot also accepts ink cartridges from some companies, and will give you a $3 coupon off future purchases:
Office Depot Cartridge Recycling Program info on Wikipedia

Office Max accepts ink cartridges as well. The last time I did it, it gave me the option of $3 off any future purchase OR a free ream (500 sheets) of printer paper. I went for the paper.
Office Max Recycling Program info on Wikipedia

New Playstation 3: August

Sony announced the struggling Playstation 3 with a larger storage capacity (80 GB) will be available in August, and will cut prices on the other models.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/07/09/BUGPUQSED41.DTL

Of course, since the beginning, people have been buying the cheaper model, adding a larger hard drive, and reselling for big profits on Ebay. It's amazing how people will go through all the trouble of documenting exactly how to do it:
http://www.gamersreports.com/article/43/

Stupid Technology

Technology giants Microsoft and Apple have both recently drawn negative publicity about areas that they are not experts in.

Apple's iPhone battery can not be replaced like most cell phones. If it dies (it "should" last 300 to 400 charging cycles), it will cost $86 to replace it. Oh, and that service doesn't back up your data on the phone either. If you don't back it up yourself, too bad!
http://www.comcast.net/news/technology/index.jsp?cat=TECHNOLOGY&fn=/2007/07/05/707671.html&cvqh=itn_iphone


Microsoft's XBox360 has been criticized for what gamers called "the red ring of death" - the console would start up and blink a few times. They've extended the warranty for users to three years and will even reimburse anyone who had to pay for repairs on the system during the first three years. The cost to Microsoft? Around one billion (yes, billion) dollars. At least we know they can afford it.
http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/prnewswire/AQTH06305072007-1.htm

Happy Fourth of July!

Hey folks,

I hope you are enjoying the Fourth of July. If nothing else, some of you may have the day off.

Wikipedia has a lot of facts about Independence Day for your viewing pleasure.

Screensavers.com is a Web site that has free screensavers for download. They're featuring some Fourth of July ones today. Happy downloading, and happy Fourth!

Office Depot: Free After Rebate stuff this week

Office Depot has the following items free after rebate this week:

McAfee Internet Security Suite $69.99- 2 MIR

3M Scotch Glue with 2-Way applicator $2.99 - 2.99 MIR (limit 1)

3M Scotch Removable Tape Roller $5.99- 5.99 MIR (limit 1)

Swingline Durable stapler $9.99 - 9.99 MIR (only available in-store)

Pentel Energel Gel Pens 3-PK $3.99- 3.99 MIR (only available in-store)

Link to ad