Steal from Microsoft: Get Office 2007 Ultimate


Posted on September 15th, 2007 by Merlin.
Categories: Hack, Office, Shopping, Web Service.

Just saw this incredible deal from Microsoft if you are a current student. This deal is good until April 2008. Basically what the deal is that if you are a student you can get The Office Ultimate Edition for only $59.95. The catch is you must have a valid .EDU address and if they ask you - You must provide proof that you are enrolled at the school currently.

Get the Ultimate Steal


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DIY Lip balm - Similar to Burt’s Bees - All Natural Hack


Posted on August 21st, 2007 by Merlin.
Categories: DIY, Hack, Health.

Well, a friend of mine who makes various soaps and what not gave me a small container of some homemade lip balm. All I can say is wow - this stuff is really nice and helped out on the chapped lips. She got her recipe in an email from a soap making group she belongs to. There was no attribution as to who first made this or any sort of copyright on this so I am going to share with you what in my humble opinion is one of the best lip balms I have used. And Hey I have tried quite a few such as chapstick, blistex carmex, and burt’s bees. Burt’s Bee’s has been my favorite up until this.

First Gather the following items up to prepare for this lip delight.

  1. 1/2 oz of Almond or Olive Oil
  2. 1/2 Tablespoon of fine grated beeswax - Found in Health Store or Some Drug Stores
  3. 1 Tablespoon of Honey - The Better the Honey the Better it will be
  4. 5 drops of Vanilla Essential Oil or Peppermint or Other Food Grade Essential Oils to make it smell nice
  5. Set of Lips to test it on. :-)

To Prepare:

  1. Put Oil and Bees Wax in a heat proof glass measuring cup.
  2. Set Cup in pan of simmering water.
  3. Heat until both items are melted
  4. Slowly blend in Honey
  5. Blend in the 5 drops of Essential Oil
  6. Pour mixture into small container
  7. Let mixture set - Can be placed in refrigerator.

The Container my friend used was to recycle a small mint tin with a secure lid.

To Use - use finger to smooth onto lips. Smack Lips Around. To Test give your love one a nice kiss on the lips (Hint: if you are sick don’t try this at home)

Other Idea is to use Peppermint Essential Oil or similar food grade flavoring to add aroma to the DIY Lip Balm.

Some Mint Tins Waiting to be filled

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Survival Kit in Sardine Can - at Gaiam - with Coupon Code


Posted on August 11th, 2007 by Merlin.
Categories: Anything Else, Communication, Food, Gadgets, Hack, Health, Life.

Sardine Can Survival Kit EDC

 

Survival Kit in a Sardine Can

This lightweight waterproof tin puts an entire survival kit in your pocket.We still can’t believe all it holds: a compass, whistle, matches, first aid instructions, razor blade, pencil, non-aspirin pain reliever, fire starter cube, adhesive bandage, energy nugget, reflective signal surface, fish hook & line, duct tape, wire clip, note paper, tea, sugar, salt, gum, watertight bag, safety pin, antibiotic ointment and alcohol prep pad. With all this gear stashed in the smallest possible space to keep bikers, hikers, campers, boaters and adventurers of all kinds prepared, it even floats. 3″ x 41/4″ x 7/8″. USA.

Now this normally would cost $14

But Put this code in that I found from Dealspl.us site and take $10 off any order over $10

That Code is ——> CSAS

 

Merlin –+–_=

 

 

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Computer Controlled Beer Tap?


Posted on August 11th, 2007 by Merlin.
Categories: Anything Else, Beer, Craft, Hack, Weird Stuff.

Beer tap PC

Ok I want one of these - Seems this older PC is now seeing better times - Looks like they recycled an old pc into a nice new PC with beer tap. I would like mine with Palulner. Mmm Good beer. So what is your favorite blend of Hops, Yeast, and Water? As I just mentioned one of my Favorites is Paulner Beir from German, I also enjoy savoring the flavor of a nice hand crafted Micro Brew like Golden Monkey from Victory Brewing, or even a nice flavor infused beer like Lindeman’s (Love the Cherry, Raspberry, Apple - OK I love them all) MMM Beer - Ben Franklin Said it best - “Beer is living proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy.” -

Merlin
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Spotted this at Staples - Rolla Notebook


Posted on June 22nd, 2007 by Merlin.
Categories: Communication, DIY, Gadgets, Hack, Notetaking, Office.

I have been thinking about storing my Notes and Indexcards slightly differently while still using my Levengers Internation Shirt Pocket Briefcase. I have seen some people use the rollabind / circa (by Levengers) System to make them a little easier to store / sort and use. Well the Rolla Notebooks with leather cover are back at Staples. Below is a photo I snapped as they were updating the plan-o-gram for the store shelfs. The product is still not on the shelfs at the store closest to me but will be I am guessing by the weekend? This is much larger then what I would use - It is for 8.5 x 11 sheets but it looks really nice and wanted to share what I find out in the wild. This was a faux leather cover with places to hold slips of paper in the front cover and you can completly flip the cover to the back making it fairly easy to take notes. They also had many forms to fit into this binder as well.

I really hope Staples.com will also supply the rollabind punchers and binding disks. That really would be nice. But the Staples Person stocking the shelfs didn’t know and was not sure how to look them up on their computer. Staples.com if you by chance see this - get them instock. Please…. I really hate having to purchase them from Levengers or other places online with the inflated shipping and handling charges.

The Rolla Notebook at Staples

The Rolla Notebook - At Staples Store Near You.

 

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10 comments.

The Hippier Hipster PDA - The Hipster Shuffle


Posted on June 22nd, 2007 by Merlin.
Categories: Communication, GTD, Gadgets, HPDA, Hack, Indexcards, Life, Notetaking, Video.

I really use quite a bit of index cards and carry them around with me in my Levengers International Pocket Briefcase. (Hey, I even spotted another one at work during lunch - Which was cool seeing someone else using the same technology - Way to go Bart)But this is just too cool not to post about - The Hipster Shuffle - Making a cool idea even cooler. Below you will see a video of the Hipster Shuffle in Action.

In case you are not in the know - “The Hipster PDA is a paper-based personal organizerSan Francisco writer Merlin Mann. popularized, if not invented, by ”

Varients of the Hipster PDA which I use is the DIYPlanner complete with templates and directions. The version I use is the DIYPlanner made for HipsterPDA. This was designed especially for the D*I*Y Planner project by Douglas Johnston, the package includes a wide array of cards covering life management, project planning, calendars, notetaking, business development, and creative uses like writing, storyboards, mind mapping, and photography.

Now on to the video:

YouTube Preview Image

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I hate Automated Customer Service Systems and A Solution


Posted on March 13th, 2007 by Merlin.
Categories: Communication, Hack, Human, Tutorial, Web Service.

Frustrated on HoldI had a horrible time this morning - I had to call and get some paperwork straightened out about my vehicle. I had to call the bank the used to have my auto loan and try and get them to send out some paperwork that dealt with a lean on my vehicle that doesn't exist anymore and had not since 2003. Well, this morning I went through Customer Support H E Double Hockey Sticks. I really despise those automated voice prompt systems. (And I used to work with one at my previous job) But they seem to be getting harder to use.

I used to know the trick of pressing 0 to get a customer support specialist - well now they switched up and when you don't press anything or keep pressing the wrong buttons it switches over to the computer telling you to please speak your answer instead of connecting to a human.

Is it me or do those computer voice recgnotion systems really make things worse. After I tried pressing 0 - I was put into the voice prompt maze - Say 1 for this - Say 2 for that - say 3 for anything but the human I desired to talk to (Heck I would have been happy to even talk to a script reading operator located in some foreign land).

Since my issue is not that common (At Least I hope is it not that common) to have it's own voice prompt menu item. I kept switching from menu to menu and back over a few again - trying to find the correct combination to get to a person or by chance to a menu system that may have what I was calling about.

Now - the really furious thing happened  - The computer said it was not sure what I wanted to do and was told to call back when I had had all the proper information and proceeded to promptly hang up on me. Ouch 17 mins wasted in a phone menu maze and then the system hung up on. Yes, HUNG UP ON ME - How rude and very poor customer service.

Well I proceeded to check the internet to find alternative ways to get ahold of someone at this bank - Which honestly I should have checked in the first place and was able to find this God Send of a website — Get Human .COM — Using the database I was able to find the 800 number (The Same One I previously called) and it had all the keystrokes I needed to get to a human being right away.

This time around I was talking to a live human that was able to help me in a matter of only a few minutes and was able to send me out all the paperwork I needed. Complete phone call 7 minutes. I am so happy that I found this website and I just had to share this experience with you.

Make sure you share this website with your friends and family. Print out a list and keep it in your daytimer if you use one. This can be a big timesaver for everyone.

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