There are services available now that that have made the age-old scratching your head and bugging friends for answers a thing of the past!

Escape a Bad Date
Popularity Dialer - have you ever been in a situation where you wished your cell phone would ring? No need to rely on a sibling or a buddy to get you out of trouble.. simply call submit a request on popularitydialer.com providing specifically what time and type of call to recieve! It's cool how they've got a 'return to office' and 'cousin in need' type of call options! This could've spared me from calling my brother during a nightmare date.

Name That Tune!
411song.com - hear a song you're just dying to identify? Well now you can call up 866-411-SONG and simply hold your cellphone up to the speaker for at least 15 seconds and a SMS will show up with the relevant information. Now it does cost a buck a call but cmon sometimes its worth it!

Amber Alerts
WirelessAmberAlerts.org - self explanatory I think.. SAVE CHILDREN! Service now allows you to punch in upto five zip codes you want alerts sent to you if a child is abducted within. They send the alerts free of charge, but naturally if your cellphone has a lousy plan where you get charged for messages.. upgrade it!

Bewiseaboutbeauty.org is a site designed to give information about plastic and cosmetic surgery to those considering surgery and dispel popular myths associated with each. Upon entering Bewiseaboutbeauty.org, the site is streamlined and appealing. The navigation is simple and straightforward, making it easy and clear to figure out what is located where. Information on the site includes general information about types of surgeries, a quiz to determine if a candidate is qualified for surgery, myth/fact list, current news and statistics related to surgery and also help on finding a surgeon. The information is presented in a concise, easy to understand format and I actually did learn some things while visiting the site. I found the information on each specific surgery a little generic. If I were really considering a breast lift or augmentation (that is not a confession), they mention different techniques but don't get into much detail about what they are. Another site or more information would be required to actually understand the details of each technique and becoming well-informed before making a visit to the doctor. Overall the site was appealing, concise, easy to navigate and informational. I would doubt it would be a site I would revisit often but serves more of a one-time brochure to introduce you to the world of surgery. That being the case, it does an excellent job with its purpose.

"Come try this!" That's the first thing I said after taking a bite of this spinach dip. It tastes good cool or warm. It's great with tortilla chips or even bread. Only bad thing is it's quite addictive. But it has spinach in it so I think that counts for my veggie of the day!

Ive got to mention this movie.. I thought Blood Diamond was amazing.. Im not saying this out of any biases, for I do not recognize any of the cast except for Leonardo DiCaprio (Danny Archer) and he's not in my top 5 actors to watch list. First off.. no sex/kissing/intimate scenes! How amazing is that? I didnt think it was possible to make a movie without at least a inferring to intimate activites... this one did it! The plot was amazing, and brought a clear image of the in-humane experiences that diamond workers are put through and how its all ultimately caused due to the worlds fascination with buying sparkling materialistic rocks. I was wondering what the new slogan 'conflict free diamonds' were all about and now it makes clear sense after watching this movie. It's a great movie to watch and realize that Djimon Hounsou's (Solomon Vandy) role was a great example of how a seemingly insignificant person can be the whole reason for change. It's sad to know that things happen on this planet at the hands of villains and go unreported. It's even worse to realize that the product supplied by the villainous enterprises are sold at high prices to the world market which in turn continues to fund such mistreatment.

Magic Eraser. I thought everyone used these but I've run into a couple people lately that haven't. So. I'm going to sing my praises of this product so everyone (well, at least everyone that reads this) knows about it. Magic Eraser is nothing short of magic in my household. Crayons are the enemy and Magic Eraser is my knight in shining armor. My walls, dressers, headboard, cabinets, floors, doors, doorjams, toys, etc. get written on by my children on a pretty consistent basis. Yes, I know an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure but how can I refuse my two year old crayons for goodness sakes? Anyway, the Magic Eraser looks like a sponge but has some sort of magical chemical or something that magically erases the crayon off of most surfaces. The only places I have found that it does not do well on is wood that has not been painted or stained, textured plastic (it works but you have to scrub hard) and of course places like my fabric covered foot stool. Um, yeah. But what I discovered is it can clean many more things including pencil marks, grime around door handles from use, dirt stuck in scratches in my linoleum and I think my sister even uses one version of it for her tub. The bad thing is it dissolves quickly. I keep at least a box of 4 at a time around the house and even last night it took almost 2 of them to completely remove all the red crayon down my hallway. But whatever the price or no matter how many I have to use, saving my hallways from 10 coats of paint and furniture that looks like Harold and the Purple Crayon had created them, it's worth it. Find a four pack for about $3 at any local drugstore or grocery store.

I did some research on this one.. there's this taste that I can't quite figure out.. Im surprised there isnt an online website where one can guess all flavors that go into these fruit cocktails developed by V8 to provide a full half cup servings worth of fruit and veggies in one regular glass (for a better detailed description please refer to Stacey Whaley's comments from another review). It seems to have a subtle carrot like taste while you drink it.. does anyone else detect that? Apparently V.Fusion's primary vegetable-juice base is sweet potato juice.. so now it makes complete sense as to why you'd wanna throw a million flavors at it, ha ha. I do enjoy this flavor.. and it seems like all three flavors (tropical orange, peach mango and Strawberry Banana) of this product line have that thick consistency.. and I dont mind.. its a nice change from plain standard OJ. I must say that the Strawberry Banana flavor was my fav, so give that one a shot first.

Meals which are typically in a 'kit' Im not fond of.. but Ive got to admit to having had a LOT of Hamburger Helpers throughout my life.. (beef stroganoff is still my favorite). My daughter brought my attention to a new product line called 'Microwave Singles' within the Hamburger Helper family.. apparently lovely Betty Crocker has provided 4 products within this new line: Cheeseburger Macaroni, Cheesy Beef Taco, Cheesy Lasagna and Stroganoff. A box ($3-$4) comes with four single serving packets, so based on your appetite you can now scale up or down as necessary! I love dynamic portioning of meals and not having to deal with leftovers! My daughter only allowed me to have only two spoonfuls since this was a meal she was able to prepare herself.. funny how kids realize how good things taste when you put effort into making it! (Note: adult supervision is always required when kids prepare food) I was surprised to see that the packets came with beef.. now it's not the healthiest but it is a convenient snack when you know your kids are getting a good healthy diet.

I have thin, delicate hair that gets color-treated with high- and low-lights every 6 to 12 weeks (as if you couldn't tell;). It’s fly-away, prone to split ends, and, if I don’t watch the heat settings, it can get to feeling like straw between salon treatments. Luckily, my daughter (“Product, product, product, Mom!”) introduced me to Redken Smooth Down Heat Glide. I use ½ pump after washing and mousing, smoothing it through my hair from mid-length to the tips. No matter what hurried-up high-heat stretching exercises I put my hair through in the morning; it now looks smooth and just-from-the-salon sleek. My daughter’s hair is thicker and longer, so she uses two to three pumps per use. You can also smooth a little extra on after drying and styling, especially on those especially wet and humid days when frizz is a real problem. And it smells great! I found prices ranging from $14.00 to $17.00 dollars, but at a few pumps a use or less, it will last a long, long time.

I got my hotmail email account with everyone else back in the 90s and only in the past 3 years or so moved over to Gmail, Google's email service. I'm not sure how much good stuff I can say about this.

There are more features which I haven't even tapped into like Gmail mobile and Gmail for your domain. The good news is the product is constantly changing and it's not just fluff of making the screen look prettier, it is genuine user friendly features that make email a fast, reliable and sometimes even fun service. And as of this month, registration does not require an invitation from anyone, so have at it!

I've had it installed for a week now.. and Im ready to share my thoughts..

I like the look and feel, its got the updated skin and has retained the same feel so I'm not having to spend precious time figuring out where things went.. of course if you update your messenger from an ancient version then what I just said doesnt apply and its your own fault for not keeping up! haha..

I do love the 'sharing folders' feature that will finally allow people to share files without worrying about firewall issues! Naturally I expect the mean spirited grandfathers at RIAA to formulate some kind of lawsuit to stop such a feature because it could become another avenue for mp3 sharing..

Live Spaces, Live Search, Live Toolbar, Rhapsody??? Funny how one can learn about all kinds of new services Microsoft is pumping out under their 'Live' flagship all through this 'little' tool.. I dont think I'll be using them but I'm starting to think that 'messenger' might need to be renamed 'portal' and messaging contacts is just a part of what this new application can do.

I decided to test the application by tryin my unique logic on it.. and was surprised. Heres why, I saw the 'Find a contact or number..' textbox at the top and decided to punch in a friends phone number and hit enter. The search result suggested that I could call the number.. I clicked on that suggestion and up popped the Live Call application... apparently Microsoft has partnered up with Verizon and now do VOIP (charges apply). Very cool but Im fine with just texting people on their mobile devices if I really need to get a hold of them, which this can do also.

A worrying concern is that with all this activity going on (graphical ticker at the bottom of the messenger of latest videos - video carousel/etc).. I cant help but think that from a bandwidth perspective this 'little' application is taking up a larger chunk of traffic than one would expect. I luckily have broadband service but that doesnt mean I want my rich client showing me things I dont want and use my bandwidth/cpu processing also.. so Im gonna go de-activate such things (video carousel) immediately.

This 'little' application has a 61MB memory footprint and takes up 28MB disk space. I can see why products such as Trillian and Jabber are becoming popular, but for those who have mainly Microsoft (and now Yahoo! - yes you can message them directly too now) buddies.. this is the tool of choice.

Note: To utilize all the cool functionality, it does require that the person you are messaging with to have the same version (or really close) of the messenger too.

You’ve seen the commercials or heard about it. You might have even tried it. It’s expensive (about $7 for a tube of 10), but worth every penny to me. I use it when I know I’ll be in germ-filled environments, but I also use it when I’m just feeling a little sluggish – like I might be coming down with something. I keep tubes of it handy for whenever I think I need an immune system boost. This is more than just an easy way to get my vitamin C. I don’t know what else is in it, but I do know that the ginger is soothing to my stomach, which means more if I do happen to catch a cold – which isn’t as often, isn’t as intense, and doesn’t last as long. I like the orange-flavored, and prefer to use only ½ cup of water to dissolve it in and drink it down. Others that use it like other flavors or drink it in a whole glass of water. And still others can’t stand the flavor at all, but like other brands of similar items. Whichever – try the flavors and experiment with the amount of water you like, and then keep this around for traveling, partying, school environments or anyplace or time you need to boost your immune system. You’ll be glad you did. For more information go to the Airborne site.

I never liked Grey's Anatomy, it was too 'soap-ish' for me and hardly any medical or technical issues to entice my curiosity. House M.D. on the other hand does just that. It glorifies the profession some what, however it zeros in on the diagnostics of the disease while playing some of the characters into that scenario. Its great for those of us who don't want to be patronized by medical shows just because we see scrubs on the actors, this show is just what the doctor recommends for those of us who actually know medicine or even those curious individuals who are open to learning more about the science and practice of diagnosing. Its not extremely technical, and so the average viewer can enjoy the series just as much as those medically trained individuals, however it does seem to go the extra mile for those who watch medical series for precisely that, medical issues. Its one of my favorite shows, and now that Ive finished watching season one, I'm on to season two which is also out! Needless to say, this would make an awesome gift for some.