Product Testing: Honest Thoughts!

I've been receiving a lot of products to test out in the last few months, so I wanted to give some updates and of course, honest opinions!

I received this USB Blackweb Microphone to try out, which was a nice surprise. I had Bill be the guinea pig first to record a bit with the mic and play around, while giving me some specific feedback that I could share as well on the product.

⭐Honest thoughts?

-Simple to use with just the usb "plug and play" feature. Plug into your device and you're ready to start recording or ready for your next Zoom call.  

-Mic is very lightweight though but sound quality is good

-Decent at blocking wind noise

-Clear recording, but seems to lack a nice bottom end so it is slightly "tinny" sounding.

I'll continue to use and see over a longer period of time how the microphone holds up.

Blackweb USB Microphone #hometesterclub

Microphone with tripod

⭐ Natrel's 2% lactose-free milk. 🥛🐄 

Natrel 2% lactose-free

I honestly cannot remember the last time that we actually purchased any kind of milk, as we have mainly transitioned to plant-based alternatives, like oat milk from my favourite brand Earth's Own. 🌱

-Since it lactose-free, there were no digestive upsets from drinking it though and Bill replaced his coffee creamer with this. 👍

-Smooth texture and light taste which doesn't leave a heavy feeling or weird aftertaste.

-I can't say that I would switch back to milk itself though when when there are clearly more sustainable options.

⭐ Colgate Sensitive Pro-Relief 

-It didn't have a strong taste, very mild, but my mouth felt clean afterwards. 

-No gritty feel, very smooth.

-Easy to apply onto the toothbrush. 

-It was also gentle on my already sensitive gums without any irritation and I usually brush my teeth 2x per day.

I'm still hooked on using Crest Gum Detoxify Deep Clean Toothpaste, but this is still a good alternative!

Make Money Online: Virtual Dollars That Make Sense

This next blog will talk about how you can make money from the comfort of your own home. First off, let me say that there are no free lunches in this world, so if you’re hoping that I’ll be telling you how to be a millionaire, go read a Get-Rich-Quick book because this is not the way.

Through my own personal journey, if you’re unable to work outside the home on a regular basis due to illness (this has been my case over the last while), you can still be productive and a valuable asset to a client or company. I’d like to provide tools that I’ve used that will help you gain back your self-confidence and find a new purpose in life. As one of my favourite artists, the Pet Shop Boys would say, “there are a lot of opportunities you just have to know how to make them.”

Developing your online presence:

Okay so I guess I did tell a tiny lie, you do have to invest in some money in order to get started. However, it’s nothing that is unusual to the way the world works now.

1.  A computer is a must!! Desktop, laptop, netbook, Ipad, even your smartphone would work for some tasks. It’s whatever you would be most comfortable to work with.

2. A reliable Internet connection. DSL would be your best option (Update 2020: Now Fibre Internet!)

3. Other technology add-ons could be a microphone using a system like Skype to actually talk to clients instead of running up high land-line phone bills,  a webcam, if you feel like you want even more interaction and a digital camera, in case your job involves taking photographs and posting them to various e-commerce sites. You can always use your phone since some have excellent camera quality.

So now you’re all hooked up from a technological aspect, so now comes the fun stuff.

1. Getting an e-mail address. It is very important for you to access and keep track of your contacts and sites that you belong to.  Keep the name simple, yet professional. Use a gmail account, yahoo, or one that your ISP provides. Avoid using brand new companies who haven’t yet established themselves because if their site goes down, you’ll be having great difficulty with accessing your mail and that will be detrimental to any potential clients that you contact or who want to reply back to you. Trust me, been there, tried that!

2. Set up an online payment account. Personally I think Paypal is the best. It’s quick, easy and most people use it as a method of payment for those who do work in other cities and even countries.

3. Make a list of skills that you possess. Everything from your typing speed and ability to write cohesive letters, to using programs like Excel to make spreadsheets or your knack for capturing a beautiful photo. Refer to a previous resume or if you’re having a self-deprecating day, ask friends or family to help you with this task.

4. Go to free classifieds ad sites such as Craigslist and Kijiji as a starting point. Begin to look at the jobs wanted/services sections and you’ll be amazed at how many postings are up. Browse through each category too. Note that you don’t want to just look at your city, search through other cities, and other countries too.  You’ll find clients who have no issue with hiring someone to “work from home” that can cut and paste text into a document to more complex tasks like web design. Respond to any that you want to try out and write a brief email about what you’d bring to the table, well the virtual table, so to speak. Also mention that you would be more than happy to work from your home computer to do this job/task.

5. Be realistic on your availability. If you have a lot of doctor’s appointments, take medication that makes you drowsy, or just can’t sit for long periods of time at a computer, you can say that you have a flexible schedule and can work a certain number a week (you have to determine what you think you can handle). If you can work more than the regular 9-5 pm, even better as a lot of companies have no problem outsourcing work at various hours, depending on the time zone.

6. Can you “like” or “tweet?” Learn social networking! A lot of clients cannot spend the time going through Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and various other sites updating statuses or doing repetitive tasks. This is where you come in and learn the ropes. If you can navigate the site and send a message, use the search feature, upload pictures, you’re on your way. One great job that is sought out is for someone to compile a list and send out a standard form letter to certain demographics using a site like Facebook, in order to gain more popularity for a business/product/service. Update 2020: Obviously, Instagram is a good one to learn as well.

What kinds of online tasks are available?

Writing tasks. You’d be shocked at how many sites have spelling mistakes and never even notice it until someone points it out. If you like grammar, why not offer to be a proofreader? So many businesses hire people to be a second-eye. Many professionals also want someone to look over his/her work before an important presentation. Can you make sure the data is correct by cross-referencing with another site provided? If you’re fond of academia, students are constantly posting for help with essays and other school-related materials.  If you have a good grasp of the English language (or another language that is required) offer assistance. If you’re the creative type, there are tons of aspiring novelists who go on these classified sites seeking out editors and proofreaders, who won’t charge them the price that a publishing company would. As a freelance editor, you’re providing professional service at a fraction of the price. If you charge as an example $2-3 per page, and the person has 300 pages, that’s not too bad for doing something that you enjoy and will help them out.

Translation services. This one is HUGE! If you know a second or third language, you’re rolling in dough. Seriously, there are so many people who want documents translated in a variety of languages. They are willing to pay a decent amount too since you would be a real person fluent in the desired language and not just a translation software program that they would have to double-check to make sure there were no additional errors.

Next is a big one: Survey companies/focus groups!

Get your voice heard! There are so many awesome sites that you can join up and earn money from. Many are legit, you just have to be cautious about which ones payout and also whether your country is allowed to participate. Some have Canadian or US only, others are broader. I’ve become quite the expert at it, so I’m always willing to help out if you’re unsure of who to join up with. Best of all, these are all FREE!!! You should never join a survey club that asks you to pay money. The surveys range from 5 minutes to the most an hour. If it’s longer than that time-frame, they will often compensate you more. Companies always want your opinion on new products and based on your demographics, you can be eligible to participate. Again, this is all done online. Some even have communities where you can chat with other people and make new friends. They are called online focus groups and forums. If you’re okay with giving feedback on a variety of topics from health to technology, this is a great way to earn some extra bucks or gift cards. You can even donate your money to charity if you wish to.

A few things to note:

• Be honest in your responses.
• Only give out information that you feel comfortable with. Many surveys will include a -ine of “prefer not to say” so there is that option and they will never ask you things like credit card number, social insurance number, etc… If they do, immediately exit that site and delete your account.
• Make sure to claim any earnings on your taxes if you make over a certain limit. It may not be a lot, but it's just the right thing to do.

The fun and easy referral process:

Many survey companies often ask you to “refer a friend.”  This is always a great incentive too because if a friend joins up on your referral, you are both compensated. Just make sure to follow the instructions so your friend doesn’t go directly to sign up and eliminates your chance at earning more.

So now to find the right job for you:

Find your passion. As an example, if you love watching movies, find someone who wants what is termed as a “ghostwriter” (an individual who posts online anonymously on behalf of a client/company) to post reviews.  Mention that you would be happy to write a sample review, this will entice and see if you are a good fit for the job. You can make excellent money posting film reviews for various sites and also get free dvds at the same time.  Just make sure you find out what kinds of movies you’d be responsible for as some may be along the lines of adult-related material.

Those are just some tips that can help you earn some extra cash and keep you feeling productive!

"I'm a big fan of money. I like it, I use it, I have a little. I keep it in a jar on top of my refrigerator. I'd like to put more in that jar. That's where you come in." - Robbie, The Wedding Singer.

Please send me a note by replying to this blog or you can e-mail me,  if you’d like to know some of the sites I belong to that do pay out and I’ll be happy to send you referral links.

Ecosystems: Heading Into Artificial Life

The University of Windsor’s Dr Robin Gras explains the benefits of EcoSim, modelling software for ecologists.
Photo by Melissa Arditti

Sometimes, we think that we have all the answers. Other times, we get close to finding solutions, but many factors begin to limit our progress, leaving large gaps of space and time.

With the evolution of technology, discovering new ways of navigating complex biological and ecological issues, that we might have thought couldn't exist, is actually only the beginning steps.

After attending a lecture on ecosystems on December 17 at the Science Cafe, hosted by Canada South Science City, it is exciting to see how the artificial world is exploring many unanswered ecological questions concerning how species have emerged, their interaction processes, hypotheses for extinction, how diseases co-evolved, and what is yet to come in our ever-changing world.

The University of Windsor’s Dr. Robin Gras, Research Chair in Learning and Simulation for Theoretical Biology and Computer Science, has designed a fascinating computer simulator called EcoSim, which can use certain agent mechanisms and data codes to modify behaviours of predators and prey, and seek out global patterns, as well as species-specific patterns.

Computer modelling is an exciting tool to use in any science. It provides added insight into biological ecosystem interactions that are difficult to observe.

While it does have its limitations, its contributions are definitely worth further exploration.

For more information on upcoming lectures, join up on Canada South Science City’s Facebook page.

Thanks to Canada South Science City for their hospitality, by providing the audience with some tasty treats before the lecture began.

Treats to enjoy before the lecture.

Technology: Remote Assistance

Perhaps I am behind on technological advances, but after a recent experience of having a friend search through my whole computer to troubleshoot, all the way from his office at work, look how far we’ve come from spending hours upon hours of precious time with technical phone support!

I bet a lot of people share my feelings of being frustrated at one time or another because the expertise of a rep sometimes exceeds your own knowledge or the actual problem just has you so frazzled that you are unable to even follow the simplest step-by-step instructions.

Life has this frequent tendency to catch us off guard, and so the ingenious discovery (well my recent finding anyhow, I realize that RA has been around for quite some time now, but this my first time to ever use it!) of Remote Assistance was perfect timing.

Remote Assistance is a way for someone else to simply “take over your computer.” Yes, control! After you locate the program and it loads up, you can send an invite to “someone you trust” as it states, with or without a password code. It is then delivered to the recipient’s e-mail account, and he/she has the ability to click on the link attached in order to connect to the other side. No, not the dark side, but it gives permission to let the other person connect to your computer. Once those preliminaries are sorted out, the magic begins!

As you sit back with mocha latte or a glass of red wine in your hand because your stress is appearing to melt away now that you believe someone can finally figure out why your computer is malfunctioning, watch as the other person completely navigates around your entire system. Warning, all your files are readily available so keep those naughty photos in a safe place unless you’re comfortable with someone else taking a peek as they try and figure out the computer issue!  Take note that depending on how quickly someone can zip through, you can still easily follow along and see what is being done. If you have a microphone, landline or even cell phone, you can communicate verbally too on speaker phone, just in case you had any questions throughout the process or if you suddenly feel adventurous to learn some other techniques being shown to you for the next computer disaster.

At critical times, Remote Assistance may not be the solution and you’ll actually need someone to physically be at your location to really get down to the nitty-gritty of what is happening. However, for certain technical support problems when you would phone up your ISP and the rep would attempt to talk you through the problems occurring, it seems like most of them are using this more efficient method to communicate with customers. 

I cannot tell you how relieved I am to have another option for technical support instead of hearing the dreaded “someone from _______ company will come to your home between the hours of 8 AM – 6 PM.” 

For me, Remote Assistance was a blessing in disguise that I am so happy to know about now and want to share with everyone else. Goodbye virtual insanity!

Technology Rant

I need to vent.

What is with the constant need to be on a cell phone or text message?! Please for my sanity, explain this to me! Seriously, is our society becoming so “connected” that everyone has to talk EVERY SINGLE second of the day? I understand for certain professions the need to be in contact, but for the rest, can you please have some respect and leave the room if you need to take a call or hold off texting while someone is actually talking to you! It is extremely rude! Recently, I experienced a woman saying “hold on a second while I wipe!” and she came out of the stall and carried on her phone conversation.

Is there no sacred time away from technology? I am guilty of being on the computer a lot but there is a limit where I need to take myself away and do something else. 

Here’s a good question that I’ve been pondering, would you actually text message during a funeral? I would be sickened personally since you are there to honour the deceased and show respect to the family, not check who poked you on Facebook!

 I won’t even get into how I would love to take away the licenses of people who have this dire need to text while driving. Pull your vehicle over and text till your hearts content! The sad part about all this, I’ve seen this happening more with young children in the car which poses an even higher risk then if you’re just alone or with other adults. 

It’s bad enough I get to catch a glimpse of women who are putting on their lipstick or mascara driving along or the funniest was a man shaving with an electric razor and almost running a red light. Too bad it wasn't a blade, he could have cut himself open and then there would be a reason for someone to use their cell phone to call the paramedics!!

I’m just thinking now about the episode on Seinfeld where George Costanza tried to get away with eating a sandwich during sex; Sex and the sandwich  I’m awaiting the day when I'll hear about someone who has experienced an incident where their partner started to text on their phone right during sex... most likely in the dark.

Replace "if you don't get off the shed" with "if you don't get off your cell phone" and I think we have an idea of what I’m feeling! SNL Shed Skit Audition (could not find the actual clip)