If you read my shopping blog at all, then you know that Jerry and I are both gadget freaks. We love buying and using all the latest tech toys, from MP3 players to digital WiFi hotspotters and more. So when I heard that Today’s Gizmos is hosting a giveaway for a FREE digital photo keychain, I decided to enter.

I’ve actually wanted a digital photo keychain for a long time now, but haven’t quite gotten around to buying one yet. Hopefully I won’t have to if I’m one of the three lucky winners randomly selected to receive a prize!

The digital photo keychains were made available courtesy of WholesaleKeychain.com. I went over to their website to take a look at some of the products they have to offer, and really liked what I saw — especially the black 1.5 inch digital photo keychain pictured above.

This item features a 4.8MB internal memory, making it capable of storing around 72 photos. You can set up a slideshow so your pictures scroll continuously, or you can switch the display to manual and keep your favorite photo up all the time. When you’re not showing off photos, you can simply choose to display the date and time.

This particular keychain also comes with software that automatically crops photos to fit in the display, making it even easier to show off your best snapshots. Plus, it has a rechargeable battery so you never have to worry about buying replacements!

At any rate, I’m crossing my fingers and waiting anxiously to hear who the winners of this giveaway are! If you’d like to enter, you better hurry up and get your posts done by tomorrow, because that’s when the drawing will be. Check out TodaysGizmos.com for further details!

I need a new laptop soon, and I’ve been thinking a little bit about converting to a Mac instead of another PC. I’ve only used Macs one time, about 8 years ago when I went to a six-week job training program in Madison. The training facility only had Macs, so I had no choice in the matter. I have to say that I wasn’t all that impressed back then (mostly because I couldn’t figure out how to do anything), but with everyone raving about Macs these days, I’m reconsidering my initial stance.

Anyway, I spent some time checking out the MacBook and MacBook Pro earlier today. These units look awesome, and seem to come packed with a bunch of great features that I would definitely put to use on a daily basis. However, the initial price is a bit scary compared to most of the other machines out there, plus I’ve heard that various upgrades are expensive too. For example, Mac memory will probably cost more than memory for a regular PC — unless you happen to find a place with super discounts.

I’m still on the fence right now. I wish there was a way that I could try a Mac for a week or something to see if I can get used to it before I actually buy. Now that would be a cool program! Does one exist??

Jerry had the day off, so he spent the afternoon at a friend’s house. They were playing video games the whole time, first on Xbox, then on the computer. Apparently, the guy has a 20″ viewsonic monitor that makes games like Flight Simulator absolutely awesome. I’m not a gamer at all (online versions of Scrabble and Boggle are good enough for me), so I don’t get the attraction here, but Jerry can’t stop raving about the thing.

So now this monitor is yet another item to put on our Wish List of things to buy whenever we have extra cash. I tell ya, this Wish List of ours just keeps getting longer and longer every single day!

My husband’s desktop PC has seen better days. It’s about 6 years old now, and wasn’t a top of the line machine to begin with, so you can imagine how poorly it’s running after this long.

Unfortunately, a brand-new computer isn’t in the cards for us at this point. We just can’t afford the extra expense for something that’s not exactly a necessity. Plus, we don’t want to mess with Vista, which is what all the new PCs come with.

So we’re looking to do a few upgrades instead. For instance, my husband wants a new graphics card so he can play better video games, and he should probably get additional system memory as well. There are a few other components we might look at, but these two should carry us through until we can buy a new machine.

I’ve mentioned several times before that I prefer to listen to books on my iPod rather than music. Nevertheless, I’ve managed to amass a decent-sized music collection over the years — enough to fill up my 8GB Nano, at any rate.

Since audiobooks generally consist of larger files requiring at least 300-400mb of space, I was in a bind. I could only keep one audiobook on my iPod at a time, and had to delete old files before loading new ones. What a pain!

Fortunately, I was recently able to get a brand-new iPod Nano for free, which means I now have two ipods at my disposal. As a result, I’m using one iPod just for music, and the other just for audiobooks. It’s a perfect solution for my situation!

Of course, my husband thinks I should just get an 80GB iPod classic so I never have to worry about storage issues, but that’s out of the question. Those models are just too big and bulky for my tastes; I’d much rather have a slim, trim Nano tucked into my pocket!

I was doing some reading about coin collecting last night, and I came across several interesting facts. For instance, I learned that the most valuable coin in the world is a $20 double eagle gold coin that was minted by the U.S. Treasury in 1933. The coin is so valuable because it is the ONLY one of its kind in the world, and has never been in circulation. It was sold to an anonymous bidder at a 2002 auction for a whopping $7,590,020. Wow!

Obviously, the average person would never get his or her hands on such a coin. Even so, there are still plenty of good reasons to start a gold or silver coin collection of your own. The best reason, of course, is that your collection can actually increase in value.

For example, U.S. coins minted before 1965 contained up to 90% silver, making them worth more than their face value today. So if you purchased a bag of 1965 U.S. coins with a legal tender value of $1,000, the collection would actually be worth far more than that based on the silver content.

That’s certainly something to think about if you’re looking to invest in something relatively stable right now!

Well, not quite infinite perhaps, but certainly vast! I was shopping for some new shoes for the summer when I was invited to take a look at the Infinity Shoes website. I’d never visited the site before, but it didn’t take me long to appreciate their tremendous selection of name-brand shoes in all the latest styles and colors. Seriously, they have everything from Birkenstock sandals to minnetonka boots, and just about everything in between, which means you’re sure to find something you love no matter what your tastes in footwear.

In fact, I was thinking that many of the shoes and boots featured at InfinityShoes.com would make terrific gifts for just about everyone on my list. For instance, I have a cousin who positively raves about how comfortable tsubo shoes are, so there’s no doubt she would be thrilled to receive a pair for her upcoming graduation. Infinity Shoes stocks numerous styles from this manufacturer, making it easy to find the perfect pair.

Now that I think about it, my best friend’s birthday is coming up in six weeks. I usually just take her out to dinner at her favorite restaurant, but maybe I’ll do something different this year. I found the cutest pair of seychelles shoes on the site, and know Jennifer will go crazy over them. They’re called Coast to Coast, and brilliantly capture her fun-loving, whimsical personality. Those shoes would definitely be right at home in her closet.

Of course, I’m not totally selfless and generous here; I’m going to buy myself a pair of Clark Tobi sandals before I shell out for anyone else!

I recently purchased a TV tuner card for my computer so I’d be able to watch shows on my monitor instead of having to turn the television on as well. Why would I want to watch something on my 15″ monitor instead of my beautiful 37″ LCD TV?

Well, for one thing, it makes me more productive. I can keep the TV show playing in the background while I continue blogging, emailing, or doing other tasks at my desk.

Second, having a TV tuner card allows me to do neat things like screen grabs so I can post relevant images in the various recaps that I write over at Reviews and More. I’ve received several positive emails from readers who have noticed (and appreciated) the difference, so that makes the change worth it. Take a look at an example from last night’s episode of House:

Now I’m trying to figure out whether or not an HDMI cable for my computer would be worth looking into. This would allow me to watch in high-def, but I’m not sure how much trouble it would be to set this up.

I’ll probably just ask my husband to check it out later!

I think I need new glasses. The pair I have now are like three years old, and I know my eyesight has deteriorated somewhat since I had my last exam. I’m nearsighted, so I used to only have to wear my glasses while driving, but now I’m having trouble reading food labels, books, newspapers, and the phone book. I’ve been using one of those big magnifiers as a temporary solution until I can get an appointment with my optometrist.

Just great…. yet another telltale sign of aging that I have to deal with!

I’m finally going to be getting a new iPod Nano! I’ve been wanting one for quite some time now, especially since the current generation is capable of playing videos (the one I have now can’t). The best part of the whole thing is that the Nano will be absolutely FREE to me!

No, I didn’t join one of those “get a free iPod” websites where you have to complete offers and recruit friends in order to score the prize. What I did was simply collect rewards points on my credit card until I had enough accrued for a gift card to an electronics store. Once my gift card arrives, I’ll be able to take it in and pick out whichever 8GB iPod Nano I want. I’m so excited!

My husband thinks I’m insane for going with the Nano when I could get 10 times the storage on an iPod Classic for just $50 more. I understand that, but it’s a size issue with me. I don’t like how big the iPod Classics are (compared to the Nano, I mean), especially since I’ll primarily be using my iPod while I exercise. I don’t want to be weighed down any more than necessary, you know?

Plus, there’s no way I’m going to use 80GB of space before getting yet another new iPod, so what’s the point of having that extra capacity anyway?

At any rate, I’ve got to go check out some freeware that will allow me to upload songs from my iPod back to my computer so I can transfer everything smoothly!

We just bought a tiny ATV for our son to practice riding on. He’s too short to touch the ground on our CRF50, and he probably wouldn’t be able to balance anyway, so we decided to go with an ATV for him instead. That way, he can start to learn throttle control and braking, and get used to riding on dirt for a year or so before we put him on the motorcycle.

We went with a really cheap knockoff from China here because we didn’t think it would be worth it to spend $1,000 or more on a Honda, Yamaha, Suzuki, or Kawasaki ATV that the boy will outgrow in no time. But we’ve agreed that we won’t let him ride it on a real track with other riders; it’s just going to be a practice rig for dirt terrain. That way, safety shouldn’t be too much of an issue.

So now that we have all these off-road vehicles to haul around, we’re probably going to need one of those big travel trailers to get our stuff to and from the track. Our van, as big as it is, simply isn’t going to cut it in this case.

Today we’re going to go buy a helmet and some boots, then we’ll maybe give the ATV a whirl in the backyard.

Now that we’re finally into spring, the busy summer wedding season will soon be upon us. I already have at least one wedding to go to in June, and I have a feeling that there will be a couple more invitations before all is said and done.

Unlike past years, I’m not going to be involved in any planning for these weddings, so I can just sit back and enjoy the ceremony and reception without having to stress out about anything. But that doesn’t mean I won’t offer my advice — if asked. I’m not the kind of person to impose on the-bride-to-be with unsolicited tips and pointers (I know from firsthand experience just how annoying that is), but I wouldn’t hold back if directly approached.

For example, one thing I would definitely suggest would be looking into buying wholesale roses, calla lilies, carnations, orchids, or other popular wedding flowers instead of purchasing from a regular florist. By buying wholesale from a place like FiftyFlowers.com, you can save up to 75% on the retail price of flowers while still getting absolutely beautiful arrangements for your big day.

FiftyFlowers.com also offers special wedding flower packages that include everything from the bridal bouquet to table arrangements — all for one low price.

If you’re looking to save money on your wedding flowers without sacrificing beauty, freshness, or quality, I recommend checking out FiftyFlowers.com today!

Whenever the weather decides to cooperate, my husband and I are going to spend a few weekends getting the backyard ready for summer. We had a deck built last year, but didn’t have any money to buy some real patio furniture, so that’s one of the things we’re going to focus on this year. In addition, we’d like to buy a swing set or something similar for our son to have fun with.

I was actually checking out some swing sets online today, and my jaw literally dropped at how elaborate some of them are. I had a swing set when I was a kid. It had two swings, a see-saw type thing, and a tiny little slide. I thought it was the greatest play area in the world back then, but just take a look at what’s available today:

Can you believe that? I would have had an absolute blast on something like this! Too bad this particular set is way too huge for our yard….

I want to get the most out of my workouts at the health club, so I’ve been trying out different machines to see how many calories I burn for a certain period of time. Here’s what I’ve come up with:

A 30-minute workout on a treadmill at a moderate pace (4 mph) and at varying inclines (ranging from 5-8%) burns about 220 calories.

A 15-minute workout on a Stairmaster at Level 10 (about 70 steps per minute) burns close to 250 calories).

A 15-minute workout on an elliptical at moderate tension burns about 90 calories.

So obviously the Stairmaster is my best bet since I can burn the most calories in the least amount of time. Too bad I hate that workout! I would much rather do a treadmill/elliptical combination so I work more muscle groups and don’t have to put too much stress on my knees.

I probably shouldn’t admit this, but I occasionally open email that I know to be spam just to see what kinds of products the spammers are trying to push. Today I got an email for fake university degrees, so I decided to see what kind of crap the sellers were spewing in order to try to get people to buy the degrees.

Actually, the spammers were surprisingly honest in this case! Here’s what they wrote (mistakes and all):

Lazy to attend exam or classes?

We have Diplomas, Degrees, Masters’ or Doctorate
to choose from any field of your interest.

Only 2 weeks require to delivers the prestigious non-accredited universities paper to your doorstep.

Do not hesitate to give us a call today!

1-xxx-xxx-xxxx

Most fake degree places try to put a “life experience” spin on their service instead of coming right out and saying that people who get these things are simply too lazy to go to classes! Also, the spammers came right out and said their degrees are non-accredited and merely “paper”. This is a far cry from other spammers who claim their fake degrees are accredited by some bogus organization or other.

Anyway, don’t get me wrong: I still hate spammers and scammers, but at least these particular idiots were honest!!!