So for anyone who reads this you already know that I picked up a new VW Jetta back in December. I actually got it just before the new year. I took delivery on December 30th. I went for the VW just because I have always wanted one and the price was right. And by price was right I mean it was a lower monthly payment than what I had with no money down.

So, Saturday morning we were sitting around watching TV just laying around on the couch and being lazy. We had been sitting there for a little while and I went to get up to get something to drink and looked over at the front door and sitting there was a huge box. I was pretty sure I had not ordered anything so I was wondering if they delivered this to the wrong house.

I went over to the door and saw the VW logo on the box and was surprised, I looked at the name and it was mine along with my address, the delivery was correct. I opened it up and to my surprise I found a nice shiny new guitar. I am sure this is not a super high quality guitar but hell I don’t even play so what can I ask for. It will make a nice learner “first” guitar.

I have always (since I was a kid) wanted to learn to play I just never put forth the effort. Well sometimes I really believe things happen for a reason, kind of like fate and this must have been. I guess this is my time to learn to play.

It turns out that any new VW (leased or purchased) from Oct 1, 2006 thru Dec 31, 2006 meant you got this free guitar. What a surprise! Well if anyone has any hints or tips for someone to learn send them over my way.

So I finally got a camcorder over the weekend. I drove down to Circuit City on Friday night to pick it up. I am sure its not the best out there, but for me it is most likely more than I need. I decided to go with the Canon HV10. I went with Canon partly because I have a (approx) 4 year old Canon Powershot S400 camera that has always worked great and has lasted a long time and also partly because the price seemed good compared to other HD/DV camcorders. Hopefully this will be just as good in the future.

I bought a few accessories to go with the camera, I got a second battery, a nice 4 hour Energizer because the one it comes with only gives you about a 1 hour run time. I felt that the battery was a must have. I also picked up a miniSD card to go with it, I got of course the biggest they had at 1gb. That way I can take digital stills with it, and man this takes some nice pictures.

I had not thought I would want to use it much for stills but after taking a few I changed my mind, this takes much better pics than my current 4mp camera. I am still learning about camera’s so I am not really sure why it takes better pictures although I am sure there is a logical reason.

A few things that I have noticed since I got this on Friday. Granted I have not played to much yet, but give me some time.

• I am glad to be a Mac user.
  When on photo mode iPhoto launches when the camera is hooked up via USB, and when on video mode it works very well with iMovieHD. Its nice to be a Mac user and not have to worry about drivers and programs to install before use.
• You really need a powerful computer, my G4 Powerbook 1.67 with 2gb ram is running hard to get this video pulled on to the laptop.
• When using HD video (1080i) you really need alot of space. This video takes up a huge amount of space. I am sure an external hard drive just for video will come in the not to distant future.

This is the first time I have had a video camera of mine. So I am pretty excited.

So like most of the country is has been unusually cold here in Florida, granted most people would still take our weather over what they are having but for us its just cold. Highs over this weekend were in the 50’s during the day and one night we had almost 11 hours of freezing. Its amazing how quick a night of freezing temps can kill just about all of your tropical plants and brown your lawn. Lets hope it warms soon.

This is what I woke up to this weekend. Plenty of frost.

Oh and this photo was taken with my new camcorder, a Canon HV10.

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For those that use PayPal often this should be a must have. Protect your information, many people now have credit and banking information listed in their PayPal accounts. Make sure other people cannot access your account.

I have and use similar tokens on a daily basis for work. They make a great addition to security and make it almost impossible to get hacked and best of all its a very simple step to take.

Add an extra level of security when you log in with the PayPal Security Key.

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I really like the stuff that Chris Pirillo does and have enjoyed his blog and his earlier TechTV stuff. I think this is a great idea and has alot of potential, however I think it does have some drawbacks.

What I am finding more interesting are the comments that are posted on YouTube about this video. Man they really say alot. Some are interesting and offer some good advise or criticism and some are just plain stupid from some really ignorant people. I vote the for the comments.

I used to host a show on the now-defunct TechTV television network - so maybe it’s time we take the same concept online? Submit your questions by video feedback and I’ll take ‘em on.


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I have not really seen or even heard of many problems using Gmail and getting blocked, however with the way its become so popular and the way schools and work places are restricting access I guess this will provide some good tips incase you find yourself blocked.

I am sure glad I don’t work for “the man” anymore. The author of this article does make one GREAT statement that I cannot agree with more, “I don’t understand why Gmail gets blocked at work. I think it is much better that people are having their personal conversations using iluvkfed69@gmail.com instead of representing the company with every list of jokes, funny images, or comical videos they forward.” Very well said!

Don’t let “the man” keep you from your Gmail account! Here are some clever ways to get Gmail access without any programming or security knowledge. Some clever hacks to check out.

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