Random Things That I Like and Regularly Use

Random things that I like and regularly use.

1. Keurig with Dark Magic Extra Bold coffee. Allows me to have a couple of good fresh cups of coffee on the weekend.
2. iPhone - use it every day for phone, reminders, maps, reading, music remote control, grocery list, calendar, contacts.
3. Buy Me A Pie is a great app that allows everyone in the family to contribute and maintain the same grocery list.
4. iPad - movie watching on airplanes, web browsing, email, books, Word with Friends, Facebook and Twitter.
5. PC Blue Menu Twice The Fruit Spread - Strawberry. A jam that's not too sweet, tastes great and has less calories.
6. Songza a free music streaming service available for mobile devices and computers. It's concierge option recognizes the time of day and what day it is and suggest playlists for what you might be doing. Couple this with remote Airplay speakers and I get to hear a variety of new artists in the living room. I normally end up buying something that I hear on it.
7. Mumford & Sons - folk music group. Reminds me a little of Great Big Sea who I also like.
8. Withings Scale and Blood Pressure monitor - these devices allow me to monitor my weight and BP. They automatically post to a personal web account via wifi that I can view in chart form on a mobile device or computer.
9. Netflix - recently watch the first four seasons of Breaking Bad an excellent series. Sherlock was another good one.
10. Farmer's markets in Caledonia and Brantford - locally grown food always seems to taste better.
11. Facebook Groups - we have a family Facebook group where we post works schedules, events, and questions.

I know i should probably post these on Pinterest but got frustrated by the app quite awhile ago and stopped using it.

You've Got Tweet

This article (http://finance.yahoo.com/family-home/article/112952/family-that-tweets-wsj?mod=family-kids_parents) from the Wall Street Journal talks about a family that has taken tech to the extreme. They have multiple blogs and tweet all day long. Our family has not taken tech to the same extreme but they do their part to contribute to the collective social publication of thoughts, ideas and images. Chris has two blogs http://stinger503.blogspot.com/ and http://geocachetribune.blogspot.com/. Sarah has a youtube channel http://www.youtube.com/user/sarahsilver2. Jen posts her artwork on her facebook page. There are the requisite levels of activity on facebook and twitter.

You've Got Mail
Predates the social networking explosion by a few years but displays the intriguing aspect of it that makes it enticing to many people ... as anonymous and safe as you want it to be.  I have admired Tom Hanks' work since Big. He followed that with Apollo 13, The Green Mile and many others. It is one thing to be prolific but to be prolific with a high degree of quality is much more rare.  It is a romantic comedy so there are no revelations here, no plot twists, no academy awards but the performances are warm and endearing. Not a bad way to spend a lazy afternoon with someone close to you. My rating B.