In My Bag

What is your favorite has-everything online shopping site? I admit it, I’m a sucker for eBay. I’m not on there for expensive luggage, which seems to be quite popular for purchasing there, but I am certainly on there for electronics, accessories, and stuff for the kids.
I have gotten some great deals with eBay, including a $500 MSRP photo printer for $240 (shipping included), and a gently used iPod 30gb video for $137 (again, with shipping).

What goodies have you found on eBay lately?

The search for a decent, reputable company on the internet can be a daunting task to undertake, especially if you don’t know where to look. Whether you’re searching for mortgage lenders or the best place to buy car parts, I can’t stress enough the importance of finding a review site such as this one. A review site, and even sites like ripoffreport.com, are great for finding factual, unbiased information that often is sprinkled with personal experiences and recommendations.

One particular review I’m going to be doing is how well the metal polishing product Brasso can clean up a heavily damaged iPod. I read this review on how well Brasso did for cleaning several iPods, so while I was out today I picked up a bottle of it.

iPods, as I’m sure many of you know, damage very easily. My iPod looks like it does because I carried it in my purse (in a separate pocket, away from non-soft objects) for about two months before buying a case for it. That’s right, that heavy, awful, atrocious damage came from two months of unprotected usage.

Anyway, here are the before pictures of my iPod:

In case you haven’t been paying attention, this website is a review website. As the slogan states, I use In My Bag to review the stuff I buy and use. “Stuff” is a pretty broad term, and one I use to cover just about anything that I purchase, or otherwise make use of. I find review websites such as this one to be valuable in terms of choosing what company to go with or what product to go with, as sometimes the company’s advertisements aren’t enough. Unbiased reviews from individuals who have actually tried out a product or a service mean so much more than a flashy banner.

webhostingbluebook.net is another review website, but it is specifically geared towards reviewing webhosting companies. Choosing a host should not be something you do on the fly or right off the bat, because you’re making a purchase and setting up services with a company that you are entrusting with treasured files and possibly photos. A website like webhostingbluebook.net can help you make a careful choice in what hosting company to choose.

The website offers a web review for each hosting company it reviews. The web review will include information on the hosting company, such as their name, site URL and image, and a blurb on when and how they got started. You can also expect to find ratings of each hosting company that is reviewed. The ratings cover a lot. Get at a glance info on each company with uptime information, establishment year, the amount of customers the company has served, and the company’s SEO.
The host rating covers the price, reliability, customer service, features, storage, bandwidth and ease of use.
And then there’s the overall rating, which can be used to quickly compare one hosting company with another.

In addition to hosting reviews, webhostingbluebook.net offers a message board, tools and articles for hosting and web design, WordPress themes, a newsletter, and basic info and a glossary to help you learn the in’s and out’s of hosting.

If you had asked me in September of 2006 what my thoughts on Flickr were, I probably would have said something like, “Flickr is cool, but it isn’t for me. I like having control over the placement and settings of my photos!” But somewhere between then and October of 2006 Flickr pulled me into its beautiful grasp, and I have been hooked ever since.

Flickr isn’t just a website where you can store photos. Flickr is a community. You can store photos, but you can also share them — with family, with friends, or with anyone else on Flickr who happens to mosey on by your photostream. You have complete control over who sees your photos — anyone, those who are on your contact list, those who are on your contact list as a friend, those who are on your contact list as a family member, or just you. Enable or disable comments, notes (placed on photos themselves with the use of some fancy CSS footwork), and tags (I don’t have to explain tags, do I?). Create sets, and put those sets into collections (I think of sets as a way to organize photos by a certain date, and collections as the albums to put them in). Join groups and share your photos with others who share a common interest or specific photographing style.

Flickr, in summary, is quite the addiction. To date, I have been registered at Flickr for one year and five months, and have uploaded almost 3,500 photos! If you’re interested, my Flickr account can be found here.

I have searched high and low for a baby wipe that was thick and textured, and thus would stand up to diaper changes and the wiping of grubby hands and faces, and even for quick spill clean ups. A few months ago I tried a sample of baby wipes that I absolutely loved, but then forgot the brand of.

So, two weeks, when my husband and I were in Target, I headed straight for the baby aisle and opened up five different boxes of wipes (I chose the cheap trial packs, as I obviously had to pay for what I opened!), before finding the perfect ones: Huggies Supreme baby wipes. These bad boys are thick, and almost more importantly, textured. They hold up during even the really bad diaper changes, so there’s no need to “double up” on wipes to prevent the risk of getting fingers into a mess in the event of a wipe tearing. These wipes are awesome, and I recommend them to anyone who is looking for strong and durable baby wipes!

Travel insurance, that is. I have heard one too many horror stories of illnesses or injuries happening while a person was out of the coverage area for their health insurance, and facing huge bills that they were forced to cover out of their own pockets. Health insurance is pretty sucky that way (as well as in other ways!) — so many terms and conditions to adhere to, or else!