Michael

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Contest Factory for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

Here’s your chance to improve!  Make a video of your office, with all the mess, the chaos, the outdated equipment, etc., and post it to the PMC site, for a chance for a Do-Over!

Just explain why your office is horrible, with noise, and dirt, and darkness, or whatever your particular problems are, and why the Contest Factory needs to come and “Pimp Your Cube”.  Tell all your friends, coworkers, and family to go see your video and vote for it, and leave comments.  You get sweepstake points for registering, for their votes and their comments, and for inviting others to upload their own videos.  (not to mention, how horrible your space is…)

You could get your whole place “pimped” with a grand prize of $1200 to get new equipment, or new furniture, or even a high end stereo and/or espresso machine.  It’s easy to upload your video to the site from your computer, your phone, or your webcam.  And, there    is a second prize of a $200 gift card to be chosen randomly.

Go check this out. Visit the site,  Pimp My Cube Contest   , register, and upload your videos to enter the contest.  Then have all your friends vote on it.  You just may win, because so far, there are very few videos in the running.

· The contest period is from 12/5/11 at 12:00PM to 1/31/12 at 12:00PM.  

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Norton Small Business by Symantec for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

Recently, I had an issue with my computer, and and I took it to my friendly neighborhood computer troubleshooter for some work.  It’s always a bear to disconnect everything, and haul it over, even though the shop is nearby.  The real issue is being without my computer for any length of time.  Seems like the world stops revolving when my computer is out of commission.  Then, when I get it back, I have to wade through hundreds of emails… what a pain.

At any rate, Emily found 27 viruses- count ‘em- 27!  and cleaned them out of my machine. Thank God no permanent damage was done, but I can tell you, right then I began a search for better protection.  I came across some information about Norton that I’d like to share with you.

Right now Norton has a 30% discount for small business owners that get certain products- primarily the 5U/10 products).  So that’s a good thing right up front.  For more info on this, go to get 30% off Norton Small Business Products now

My business is not very large, but it still could be crippled by random malware, and any small business runs the same risk.  Without having some kind of virus and malware protection, you’re playing a dangerous game.  Thinking that you have the one computer that will not fall victim is probably a little over optimistic.  Everyone needs the kind of protection that Norton can give us.

Norton has a couple of services that they have just launched this past September, the Norton 360, and the Norton Internet Security 2012 .  You can get more details here:  Norton Small Business by Symantec

It would have been very handy for me to have had these services before my entire business crashed, due to those nasty viruses.  I encourage you to check out these up-to-date services for protecting your computer, and your livelihood, before you have serious issues yourself.

You can leave a comment here if you wish and let me know which Norton product you might make the best use of, and how it’s going to benefit your business.  Any and all thoughts are always welcome.

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Tassimo for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

It was Black Friday.  12:00 midnight.  I had driven straight from Asheville, NC, (3 hours away) where I had enjoyed a great Thanksgiving dinner with my family.  Still, since I was arriving home so very late, and I was still awake, I figured, why not hit the Black Friday Sales?  So I did.

Cruising the store and gathering up great deals in my arms (there were no carts available) was no big deal.  I didn’t want much, and I found it rather quickly.  The problem was, the checkout line wrapped all the way around the store!  Even that would not have been so bad, as it moved slowly and imperturbably forwards.  The bad thing was,  as I crawled my way to the front of the store, I saw one more thing I wanted to investigate.  It was one of those awesome single serving coffee makers. 

I couldn’t stop.  I couldn’t get out of line with out losing my place.  I couldn’t carry it in my arms, with all the other stuff.   So… I just yearned, and gazed, as my slow steady shuffle worked me away, around the corner, and out of sight.  *sigh*

   Then, what should I encounter the next day at a friend’s office?   Her company had an awesome Tassimo Professional Brewer right there in the break room!    She could make coffee house style drinks right there at work- cappuccinos, and lattes, and all kinds of variations on flavors- hot chocolate and even Twinnings tea!  It was so easy to use.  All it takes is one touch, and there are LCD instructions for everything.  There are many different individual disks for making your choice of drink, and they fit the office brewing machine exactly (so don’t even think about taking these home,  folks, they will not fit the home brewers.

I guess I have coffee and hot chocolate on my mind, because now I’m quite sure I want one of these machines for my office.  My friend says I can sign up for a    Tassimo Professional free demo  anytime I want at baristainside.com/workplace.  You can too, and I really suggest you do so.  This brewer is amazing- once you see it in action, and taste the gourmet drinks that the   Tassimo Professional  can make, you’ll want one for your office, too. 

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Untitled Jersey City Project for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

There is a great 8 episode show getting started on Jersey City.  At first, when I saw the current title, I was a bit confused.  It is called “Untitled Jersey City Project”.  Still, I checked into it, thinking that this was just some writer’s idea of a snappy title.  What I found was really interesting.  It is a new concept, an experiment by the producers to have the audience, (that’s you and me) get involved with the creation of the show!  It is a TV drama, but it is a work-in-progress, and WE get to have input and feedback.

For starters, you can name the show!

Or at least, you can put in your two cents worth.  You can go here  Untitled Jersey City Project  for more information, and if you scroll down and bit and click on Name The Show, you can put in your suggestions.  I really like this! You can also leave a few comments  if you like.

So far, there are 8 short-form episodes, that are just fragments of a much larger story line.  Many of the story thread are started, but left without any resolution, so you know that more is coming.  And from the looks of things, you and I will be able to have some input on what that may be.

The setting is on the Jersey City waterfront, which is developing fast.  It is across the river, and within sight of Manhattan.  Lots of new development is going on right on the edge of the old gritty town.  So the contrast between the shiny glass towers, and the down-and dirty grime of the streets is fair ground for many twists within thickening plots.  Already I am fond of Jane Kaplan, who is a reporter who, naturally, gets caught in the midst of things.  No doubt her life will be in danger multiple times, and there will be much ado to keep her safe.  (What would a hero be without a damsel in distress to save, eh?)

Check this out- it’s fun!

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This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Net10 for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

I just got off the phone with a friend of mine.  Again.  I say again, because her phone kept dropping the call.  Every time we talk, I have to wait for her to call back at least 3 times.  She swears she’s going to get a new phone soon, and I can’t wait.

Since she’s been on the search for a new phone and service, we’ve been looking around a bit, and talking about what might be the most economical thing to do.  I’ll share some of our findings with you!

One company of real interest is Net 10.  I have relatively few needs in a phone, or at least I thought I did, until I got caught up in the app craze.  Now, I need a smart phone at the least that can connect to the internet, without costing me an arm and a leg.  Net 10 has a really good deal- unlimited nationwide coverage with unlimited talk, text, and data for a flat $50 a month. One thing I like about them is that they have no contract, so you’re not on the hook for hundreds if you need to cancel.  They use great quality phones like LG, Motorola, Kyocera, Nokia and Samsung.

Of course they have other plans for different needs if you don’t want the unlimited one, and you can easily switch between plans each month if your needs change.  Very flexible- that’s a good thing.  You should check them out on FaceBook https://www.facebook.com/NET10…

I was impressed when Vick talked about how his phone service doesn’t get dropped any more, even in the mountains- here he is:

or you can listen to What Rob has to say  .  Then there’s Hector, he’s a  Real NET10 customer  too.