DragnFly

We have a lot more options available now than we used to, and as such it got me to thinking about this. How do you watch videos (TV/Films/Web series)? Do you watch programming as it airs on TV? Do you record it for later with a device like a DVR/DVD-Recorder/PC? Do you watch on demand programming? Do you watch it at your TV? Computer? Portable devices like tablets, mp3 players, etc? Do you stream it off the internet, from free or paid services (netflix, hulu, youtube, etc)? Do you download it off the internet? Do you stream it from your PC to your television? Use some sort of set top device or smart TV? When purchasing content, do you buy the DVD? Blu-Ray? Digital File? Do you typically watch in HD or SD? Widescreen or Full screen? Do you have cable? satelite? antenna? Or basically anything else related to how you acquire and view content.

I created this topic on another (non-related) site, however with many young people on this site I thought it would make for an interesting topic here. As such, I decided to make such a post. For many people, I am sure at some point in their lives... They have either experienced financial hardships, or just looking for methods to save money in either the short term or long haul. Now keep in mind, many of the options I am about to list require maintenance and upkeep. Also, not all options are convenient or necessarily worth it for many people/most people. Your milage may vary. Basically, I am coming up with alternatives and leaving it up to you to discuss the pros/cons of each. So without further a due: #1 - Property: When it comes to property, you basically either rent it or own it. Make no mistake about it, owning property (especially if in a good location) is usually expensive. It does, however, mean you no longer have to pay rent. Though for most, you'll usually have to pay a mortgage til you own it outright (though thats often cheaper than rent). #2 - Electricity: As far as electricity goes, the alternative from receiving it from the electric company is solar power and wind turbines. Usually, these are options with a high initial cost and require alot of planning of your own electrical needs. The benefits however are reduced cost of electricity (infact, sometimes you can even make money by selling electricity back to the grid, if you generate more than you use). #3 - Garbage / Waste Disposal: Instead of paying the city for pick up, your alternatives here are basically any legal means of disposing of your garbage. This can include recycling certain items, burning some, or arranging for delivery to a land fill. #4 - Water: The major alternative to city water is of course well water. Now this option certainly isn't available to many/most people, but for those who have it... It means no water bill. #5 - Food: Most people purchase most of their groceries from a supermarket. However, you also have the options of growing your own fruits and vegetables, and raising your own livestock. You can pay for an animal to be butchered, and store the meat. You can purchase from your local farmers market (sometimes its cheaper, others its not), or in cases pick your own from certain farms/orchards for cheaper costs. #6 - Transportation: Aside from having a car (and the expenses that come with it), you could choose several alternatives. You can carpool with others to reduce costs. There is public transportation, which is an option for many in larger cities. You also can ride a bike, or walk in certain cases. There are also motorcycles, which have lower costs. #7 - Sewage: The major alternative to city sewage is the septic tank. Naturally there are drawbacks, such as when they back up and having to watch your water usage. Though you can eliminate another bill this way. #8 - Clothing: Aside from purchasing clothes in major stores, you really have two alternatives. The first being to make your own, or have them created. The second being acquire clothes second hand, whether from the hand-me-downs from friends and family... or purchasing them from the local thrift stores, flea markets and garage sales. Obviously you will not have as many options this way, but often you can find used clothes in great condition at a fraction of the cost. #9 - Furniture: Very similar to clothing, your alternatives are to make it/have it custom made, or to acquire it second hand. Again, thrift stores, flea markets and garage sales are your friend in this scenario. You can sometimes get stuff for free, on sites like Craigslist. #10 - News: The best alternative to paying for a newspaper is viewing the news online. Its usually free, and you can find both local and major news outlets this way. Another alternative is many areas have several free alternative news publications. #11 - Television: Instead of cable and satellite, your major alternative is an antenna. Obviously the amount of channels and what channels are available to you depends on your location (generally, there are more options for those close to major cities). Some antennas have very large range and can pick up from quite a long distance. Some people even state that HD programming can be of slightly better quality than cable, due to the signal being less compressed. Aside from this, you can purchase the media outright (DVDs/Blu-Rays), download it off the internet, or stream it off the internet free or cheap (Hulu, NetFlix, etc...). #12 - Phone (land line): There is really not a lot of alternatives for replacing land lines. Cell phones and VOIP are your major alternatives. #13 - Phone (cellular): Your alternative to paying a monthly contract is going for a prepaid phone. Generally, you have to buy the phone outright, though you can usually get unlimited service for half the cost of a contract (or cheaper, if you only need so many minutes/features). #14 - Music: Radio is free (aside from satellite radio), so take advantage of this. You can also download music from the internet, or stream it from services like Pandora. You can also purchase CDs outright, and can often find them used for a fraction of the price. #15 - Internet: Sadly, there are no real good alternatives to paying for internet service. The closest thing you have is public WiFi, which often requires you to be in certain locations. The quality/speed/security varies. So that is everything that I can think of at this moment. Feel free to post any other alternatives/money saving solutions that you may have. Naturally, as I said not all of these options are great options. Many of them are not for everyone (or even most people), but they are alternatives. Feel free to discuss the pros and cons of each, as that is the intention behind this topic to begin with.

I thought I would ask, what sort of personal care and hygeine do you guys practice? How often do you usually shower? What sort of personal care products do you use (shampoos, conditioners, deodorants, colognes/perfumes, hair products, soaps/bodywash, toothpaste, aftershave, etc...)? Do you exercise regularly? If so, how long/often? Do you work out (whether at a gym or at home)? Basically, anything that can pertains to your personal health, well being, or general hygeine is what I am asking. For example, talk about dietary/suppliments is also welcome (along with other topics related to health/hygeine). As for me: I generally shower daily or every other day. At the moment, the personal care products I use are Selsun Blue (dandruff shampoo), Tresemme (Regular Shampoo & Conditioner), Axe's Excite brand (body wash + deodorant + body spray), Crest Anti-Cavity toothpaste, and LA Looks hair gel. I do not currently exercise regularly (other than day to day stuff), though I am thinking of adding a 10-15 minute walk into my days.

Kinda surprised nobody already made a post on the subject yesterday. Source: http://www.cbc.ca/news/arts/story/2012/04/18/dick-clark-obit.html He was known for a variety of things, escecially New Years Rockin` Eve and American Bandstand. What some of you might not know is the man also owned a home that looks like it come right out of the Flintstones. See here: http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20575984,00.html

I figure some of you might have already seen this (as it has over 30 million views on youtube), but I figure I would post it here anyways. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kl1ujzRidmU Source: http://www.litefm.com/pages/news-story.html?feed=421220&article=9738000 Basically, to sum things up... A teenage girl apparently posted comments on facebook about her father and having to do chores. From what the father says, this isn't the first time she reacted this way and he warned her that if she did it again, the punishment would be more severe. So he posted this video on facebook, using the same medium as she did. It ends with him shooting her laptop several times with a gun. Some praise his approach, while others believe he over-reacted or was abusive. Either way, theres mixed reactions. Since, the man has update about the video: [spoiler=Update on the story]TOMMY JORDAN'S FACEBOOK PAGE HERE Attention Media Outlets: While we appreciate the interest you're all putting forth to get in touch with us regarding the video, we're not going to go on your talk show, not going to call in to your radio show, and not going to be in your TV mini-series. Some of you think I made an acceptable parenting decision and others think I didn't. However, I can't think of any way myself or my daughter can ...respond to a media outlet that won't be twisted out of context. The Dallas news TV news already showed that in their brief 5 minute interview with the psychologist. Additionally, there's absolutely NO way I'm going to send my child the message that it's OK to gain from something like this. It would send her a message that it's OK to profit at the expense of someone else's embarrassment or misfortune and that's now how I was raised, nor how she has been raised. So I say thank you from all of us. If we have anything to say, we'll say it here on Facebook, and we'll say it publicly, but we won't say it to a microphone or a camera. There are too many other REAL issues out there that could use this attention you're giving us. My daughter isn't hurt, emotionally scarred, or otherwise damaged, but that kind of publicity has never seemed to be to have a positive effect on any child or family. If you're a news outlet that wants to ask us a question, feel free to so via email. I'm sure by now my email address is easy enough to find. It might take me awhile to get to a response because I'd have to sort through the "Die you bastard" emails to find it, but we will respond if its something that we feel merits it. Otherwise, sorry... no interviews, no talk shows, no call-ins. If we respond to anything, it will be on here, and it will be in a way that our words can't be misconstrued or edited for appeal to specific audience or shock value. Now, I'm going to try to get to work for the day. Best of luck to all of you out there... and PLEASE give my phone a break. ========================================== HOW HANNAH GOT CAUGHT HOW SHE GOT CAUGHT: The Dog Did It.. no, really. I finally came out and told her this today, partly because it was too funny NOT to share. When my daughter made her post, she used Facebook's privacy settings to block "Family" and "Church" friend's lists. All her other friends could see it. We, of course could not. One of our dogs is always getting in photos and therefore has her own Facebook pa...ge. It's just a cute dumb thing we did for fun. Well, the dog's profile is rarely used except when funny pictures of her are posted. Since that's not too often, and she has very few friends on Facebook, her wall is kind of bare, with relatively few posts showing up on it. The other night we gave the dog a bath and there was a funny photo we uploaded to Facebook and tagged her in. I logged in as the dog the next morning to comment on the photo. However when I logged into the dog's profile, my daughter had forgotten to add her to the "family" list.... so our family dog's profile showed her post right there on the front page. It wasn't any parent-hacking, computer spying, or monitoring of any kind.. the dog actually ratted her out completely by accident. She hasn't petted that dog all day today... ========================================== HANNAH'S REACTION For those that wondered, commented, criticized, and just in general wanted to know: My daughter came through it fine. Yes, she's in trouble, and yes she's grounded, but that doesn't mean every moment of her life has to be miserable. She's going to come to terms with the changes that will be present for a while; no TV privileges, no Internet, etc. In the meantime, once the initial anger passed,... she sat with me reviewing some of the comments that have come in via Facebook and YouTube. One person even suggested collecting the shell casings and auctioning them on eBay. I said Id do it if it would help contribute to her college fund! When I told her about it, she thought a minute, got a funny calculating expression on her face and said, in that case you should shoot my phone too. We can use more bullets and Ill go half-sies with ya on it! Its not like Im going to need it any time soon. And I can use the money we get to buy a new one. While the whole point of this story isnt funny, what is funny to me is how weak some people out there think kids are. Our kids are as strong as we help them to be. My daughter took a horrible day in her life, had her crying fit, then got over it, accepted her punishment, and hasnt let it (or peoples comments) destroy her strength. I dont get any credit for that. Shes strong and able to overcome almost anything life throws at her. Since this unsuspectingly threw her into the limelight much more strongly than either of us intended, I asked her if she wanted to make her own response video, and told her Id let her do it if she wanted to. She doesnt like being in front of the camera, so she declined, but Ive told her if she wants to write a response or post a video response, Id be OK with it. Its only fair considering the viral nature of the whole thing. So far shes not really interested. Quite frankly it seems shes gotten bored of it much faster than the general public has. If that changes Ill post it here. ========================================== FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS: Media Response to Anita Li, from the Toronto Star Since you took the time to email us with your requests like we asked, Ill take the time to give you an honest follow-up response. Youll have to forgive me for doing so publicly though; again I want to be sure my words are portrayed the way I actually say them, not cut together to make entirely different points. Your questions were: Q: Why did y...ou decide to reprimand your daughter over a public medium like YouTube? A: Well, I actually just had to load the video file itself on YouTube because its a better upload process than Facebook, but the intended audience was her Facebook friends and the parents of those friends who saw her post and would naturally assume we let our children get away with something like that. So, to answer Why did you reprimand her over a public medium like Facebook my answer is this: Because thats how I was raised. If I did something embarrassing to my parents in public (such as a grocery store) I got my tail tore up right there in front of God and everyone, right there in the store. I put the reprisal in exactly the same medium she did, in the exact same manner. Her post went out to about 452 people. Mine went out to about 550 people originally. I had no idea it would become what it did. Q: How effective do you think your punishment was (i.e. shooting her laptop and reading her letter online)? A: I think it was very effective on one front. She apparently didnt remember being talked to about previous incidents, nor did she seem to remember the effects of having it taken away, nor did the eventual long-term grounding seem to get through to her. I think she thought Well, Ill just wait it out and Ill get it back eventually. Her behavior corrected for a short time, and then it went back to what it was before and worse. This time, she wont ever forget and itll be a long time before she has an opportunity to post on Facebook again. I feel pretty certain that every day from then to now, whenever one of her friends mentions Facebook, shell remember it and wish she hadnt done what she did. The second lesson I want her to learn is the value of a dollar. We dont give her everything she asks for, but you can all imagine what its like being the only grandchild and the first child. Presents and money come from all sides when youre young. Most of the things she has that are cool were bought or gifted that way. Shes always asked for very few things, but theyre always high-dollar things (iPod, laptop, smartphone, etc). Eventually she gets given enough money to get them. Thats not learning the value of a dollar. Its knowing how to save money, which I greatly applaud in her, but its not enough. She wants a digital SLR camera. She wants a 22 rifle like mine. She wants a car. She wants a smart phone with a data package and unlimited texting. (I have to hear about that one every week!) She thinks all these things are supposed to be given to her because shes got parents. Its not going to happen, at least not in our house. She can get a job and work for money just like everyone else. Then she can spend it on anything she wants (within reason). If she wants to work for two months to save enough to purchase a $1000 SLR camera with an $800 lens, then I can guarantee shell NEVER leave it outside at night. Shell be careful when she puts it away and carries it around. Shell value it much more because she worked so hard to get it. Instead, with the current way things have been given to her, she's on about her fourth phone and just expects another one when she breaks the one she has. She's not sorry about breaking it, or losing it, she's sorry only because she can't text her friends. I firmly believe she'll be a LOT more careful when she has to buy her own $299.00 Motorola Razr smartphone. Until then, she can do chores, and lots and lots of them, so the people who ARE feeding her, clothing her, paying for all her school trips, paying for her musical instruments, can have some time to relax after they finish working to support her and the rest of the family. She can either work to make money on her own, or she will do chores to contribute around the house. Shes known all along that all she has to do is get a job and a lot of these chores will go away. But if youre too lazy to work even to get things you want for yourself, Im certainly not going to let you sit idly on your rear-end with your face glued to both the TV and Facebook for 5 to 6 hours per night. Those days are over. Q: How did your daughter respond to the video and to what happened to her laptop? A: She responded to the video with I cant believe you shot my computer! That was the first thing she said when she found out about it. Then we sat and we talked for quite a long while on the back patio about the things she did, the things I did in response, etc. Later after shed had time to process it and Id had time to process her thoughts on the matters we discussed, we were back to a semi-truce you know that uncomfortable moment when youre in the kitchen with your child after an argument and youre both waiting to see which ones going to cave in and resume normal conversation first? Yeah, that moment. I told her about the video response and about it going viral and about the consequences it could have on our family for the next couple of days and asked if she wanted to see some of the comments people had made. After the first few hundred comments, she was astounded with the responses. People were telling her she was going to commit suicide, commit a gun-related crime, become a drug addict, drop out of school, get pregnant on purpose, and become a stripper because shes too emotionally damaged now to be a productive member of society. Apparently stripper was the job-choice of most of the commenters. Her response was Dude its only a computer. I mean, yeah Im mad but pfft. She actually asked me to post a comment on one of the threads (and I did) asking what other job fields the victims of laptop-homicide were eligible for because she wasnt too keen on the stripping thing. We agreed we learned two collective lessons from this so far: First: As her father, Ill definitely do what I say I will, both positive and negative and she can depend on that. She no longer has any doubt about that. Second: We have always told her what you put online can affect you forever. Years later a single Facebook/MySpace/Twitter comment can affect her eligibility for a good job and can even get her fired from a job she already has. Shes seen first-hand through this video the worst possible scenario that can happen. One post, made by her Dad, will probably follow him the rest of his life; just like those mean things she said on Facebook will stick with the people her words hurt for a long time to come. Once you put it out there, you cant take it back, so think carefully before you use the internet to broadcast your thoughts and feelings. - Taken from Tommy Jordan's Facebook Page Read more: http://www.litefm.com/pages/news-story.html?feed=421220&article=9744152#ixzz1nvoDwVOy Source: http://www.litefm.com/pages/news-story.html?feed=421220&article=9744152

This post isn't based on a personal experience, mine or otherwise. Rather, the idea for this post comes from reading a few pieces on the internet related to the subject: http://jobsearchtech.about.com/od/workplaceissues/a/Presenteeism.htm http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=92762761 http://lifeinc.today.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/01/24/5894196-survey-most-people-go-to-work-when-sick I'm sure there are many more, but they just got me to thinking and I decided to post this.

This is actually something I rarely hear discussed, and as such I thought it might be worthy of a topic. I'm sure most of you know someone whom, despite being sick, will force themselves to get up and go to work (or school) sick. For the purposes of this post, I'm going to focus more on work. Though they could apply to school as well. Should you attempt to tough it out and work while sick? Or should you take the time off to recover? I'm going to say there are three main reasons people generally force themselves to work while sick: 1. Financial. Basically, they cannot afford to take an unpaid sick day. 2. The possibility of unemployment. Fear that if downsizing/layoffs should occur at some point, taking time off will place your job in jeopardy. 3. The social stigma surrounding it, being seen as weak. However, attending work while sick also can be bad for the business for the following reasons: 1. While your employee may show up, they are working at reduced capacity. Which can reduce their quality of work, or make things take longer than they should ordinarily. 2. The risk of spreading germs to fellow employees, which is harmful to the companies bottom line. 3. Sick employees are less likely to be careful, which could result in injury on the job. So what are your thoughts on the matter?

Some of you who have been reading these forums several years might remember me making a topic discussing men having long hair (link here). However, I thought a better topic would be... Why, exactly, does society have an issue with men having long hair? There is certainly nothing new about men growing their hair long. It has happened all throughout history. In fact, even in ancient Greece, men where known to wear their hair long. Jesus is commonly depicted with long hair. It can even harm our chances at employment. Could you imagine the uproar you would hear today if womens chances for employment where harmed by having short hair? Women having short hair seems to have become socially acceptable. So why is men having theirs long still such an issue?