Momnesia

AUGUSTA, GA. - So let's talk credit crunch. Housing bubble? Burst. Rising economy? Dropped. Bankruptcy filings? Up hundreds of percentage points from the previous decade.

Look, whether you like it or not, bad credit is a reality for millions of Americans. In a country where the slightest infraction goes on you credit report, it's difficult for some to re-build their fortunes and their futures.


Fortunately, there are lenders who are willing to give those with bad credit loans or bad credit credit cards a second chance. Don't blow it, folks! BadCreditOffers.com is a leading comparison website for people with bad credit -- featuring credit cards, home loans, auto loans, personal loans and more. Consumers can apply for the offer that's right for them, and by making payments on time they can start down the road toward rebuilding their credit and, perhaps, their financial future.

This is one of many resources out there for the struggling consumer. As always when agreeing to legally binding contracts, read the fine print carefully and ensure that you fully understand the terms for which you will be responsible. Don't count on the future; bank on the present. Watch out for predatory lending practices and balloon payments, adjustable interest rates and other problem areas for middle-class consumers who don't bring in executive-level salaries.

And chin up. Even Donald Trump has declared bankruptcy in the past.

Visit Rotten Neighbor. I wouldn't advocate using Rotten Neighbor to harass people, but for research on possible neighbors it can be very handy. Be careful what you post, though! It could come back to haunt you!

If there's one thing people should know about me, it's how much I love nuts.

No! Not that kind!

The kind that you put in your mouth.

Stop laughing, 'tards!

The kind you chew.

Well, that shut you all up with a quickness, didn't it?

So, here's what I DON'T like: horrible canned nuts that could be as old as the dirt they grew in and nobody would ever be able to tell.

People don't think of it this way, but nuts are produce. They ripen and spoil, and they should be served as fresh as possible. There's nothing worse, to me, than biting into one of those dry old crumbly things out of someone's stash of trail mix.

Thank Jebus that the people at Back to Nature agree with me. I might be weird, but I haven't actually purchased nuts in a long time - no, fellow Southerners, not even our beloved pecans. I just never know what I'm getting! But the Back to Nature trail mixes (something I love more than nuts? Nuts with dried fruit. I feel a little like a Kalahari Bushperson eating it, but that's part of the fun) are sold in the produce section. That tells me that these people are coming at their jobs from the right angle. One taste, and you'll know that they DO their jobs right, too.

Y'all, usually I think I'm lucky that I get sent product samples. But sometimes I get a sample and wish I'd never heard of a product. With this one, though, I wish I'd heard of them long ago.

Trust me, if you're a fan of nuts (and I know you are, too! STOP. LAUGHING) you'll want to give these a try.

Rap Artists.com just set up their site, and are they already on their way, or what? it's great that someone has put together a site devoted strictly to the flow and artistry of rap music. No more browsing through ridiculous lists of artists of mixed-genre, where even sorting by name or album gets more entries than you care to read. RapArtists.com tries to bring to you the most up to date hip hop news, gossip, music and anything related to the hip hop scene - but purely for entertainment purposes!

Check out featured artist Nas, along with rankings of the top artists, the top albums, and the top songs. Watch for information about tours and new releases. Chat about your favorites - and your most hated - in their online forums. RapArtists.com is the most convenient way to check out information about music in the genres you like most.

AUGUSTA, GA. - It's a fact that immigration has changed the face of America. From its founding to our future, the country will never look or sound like what our forefathers expected. But it's been that way over our entire history. From the Irish in the 1800s to the Southeast Asians in the 1980s, to Latinos in the last 20 years, our culture embraces them - and their presence invigorates our nation. These immigrants infuse us with fragrant foods, colorful histories and a growing workforce.

The Indian community in the United States added more than 640,000 to its number in the last five years, a growth rate with no precedent in the history of Indian immigration to the U.S.
From 1,678,765 in 2000, the population grew to 2,319,222 in 2005, a growth rate of 38%, the highest for any Asian community. The 2000 Census found the Indians the fastest growing community showing an increase of 106% during 1990-2000.

But that means we have to be able not only to reach them with social, medical and government services, but also to identify their needs and market to them. IAFL Translation & Interpretation Services helps businesses around the world to respond to those needs by offering Hindi translation.

Along with Hindi, nearly 30 other languages are spoken in India and neighboring countries whose populations have also exploded in the U.S. in recent years: Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan. IAFL Translation & Interpretation Services can help reach them, too, with Arabic translation and Farsi translation.

After nearly 20 years, they've acquired a client list of some of the top companies across the planet, including those on the Fortune 500 list. With Ford just yesterday divesting itself of Jaguar and Land Rover to India's Tata Motors, you can see how a familiarity with the countries, the languages and the culture of this region can be a great asset. They can provide more than just interpretation of documents, but also related services such as subtitling, DTP and translation for the hearing-impaired for use in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Iran, Myanmar(Burma) and Bhutan. A complete list of the languages IAFL Translation & Interpretation Services can translate follows below:

We provide translations in practically all languages including English, Hindi, Urdu, Arabic, Farsi(Persian), Dari, Pushto(Pashto/Pushtu), Punjabi, Bengali, Gujarati(Gujurati/Gujerati), Marathi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Sinhala(Sinhalese/Singhalese), Nepali, Tibetan, Myanmarese(Burmese), Bodo(Boro), Bhutanese, Sanskrit, Assamese, Kashmiri(Koshur), Konkani, Oriya, Dogri, Manipuri(Meitei), Sindhi, etc.

This photo from one of the earliest known professional baseball games is just an example of the photo archives from the New York Public Library. Free and open online access to over 600,000 digital images, from a library whose holdings total more than 43 million items. Yeah, it's pretty comprehensive.

This massive compilation from the New York Public Library collects images from primary sources and printed rarities such as illuminated manuscripts, historical maps, vintage posters, illustrated books, rare prints and photographs, short-lived prints and more.

Know what you're looking for? Search by a specific keyword and jump right to your results. Just browsing? Peruse through thousands of subjects and names or digitally leaf through NYPL categories like Cities & Buildings, Arts & Literature or Nature & Science to find the most interesting, bizarre and beautiful images from the distant past to more recent publishings.

From black holes to déjà vu, find out how the world really works.

Every day we rely on a lot of stuff to help us get things done. But how much do we really know about the objects that surround us? That was the question HowStuffWorks.com was founded on in 1998 — and it's been giving credible, unbiased and easy-to-understand explanations since.

Visit HowStuffWorks

Classic quid pro quo — trade things you have for things you want. With swaptree's unique "multiple-way trade algorithms," as soon as you post an item for exchange, you'll see hundreds of things you could get for it.

Unlike other online trading communities, on swaptree you don't have to spend time searching for and negotiating trades or dealing with a points system. Join for free, list what you have (either by ISBN or UPC number or by clicking a "Have It" button if you see your item featured on the site) and add things to your "Items I Want" list (the same way). swaptree will instantly alert you when you have a valid trade with a "Get Now" button next to something you wanted. Click it and you're set. The only thing you pay for is shipping your item (usually under $2.50 via USPS).

The traditional model of book publishing involves researching interested editors, searching books that were published a year ago or websites that might never have been updated. When you find an editor you think might be interested, you package up your manuscript and put it in the mail. Then you wait. And you wait. It could be months before you hear a thing.

Creative Byline employs first readers, who have expertise in writing and publishing. They'll read your children's picture book or a synopsis, outline, and first three chapters of a longer work. And they'll give you (or your writing friend!) useful feedback that you can use to polish your work so you know that it's ready to be reviewed by an editor, who's a professional critic!

The service provides:

• Helpful coaching from first readers
• Target the editors you want
• Guaranteed connection to the editor you choose
• Discounted submissions for you and your friends

Have you ever thought about what to do with that last cell phone or computer? MyBoneYard®.com will reward you for recycling your used electronics. And shipping is free! Recycle a cell phone, PC, laptop or flat screen through MyBoneyard.com for a chance to win $2,500!

AUGUSTA, GA. - View hundreds of live webcams positioned across every continent — when access to the world is this easy, who needs plane tickets to experience the globe?

EarthCam.com collects views from some of the planet's most visited hotspots. Take a trip to New York's Central Park Zoo, experience Seattle from the top of the Space Needle or penguin watch on the Antarctic Peninsula all from your Internet browser. Most of the locations feature a live video feed (some capture photos and refresh every several seconds) and give you a little background information about what you're looking at.

Start off by taking a look at EarthCam's Featured locations (including the MGM Grand in Las Vegas and Times Square cams). Find something you like? Take a picture and keep it for yourself or e-mail it right to a friend. Once you've got the hang of it, get a webcam and set up your own page! EarthCam will provide you with the software and host your camera images, so you can share your world with the rest of the world.

New Oust® Surface Disinfectant & Air Sanitizer is the only spray that both eliminates germs on hard, non-porous surfaces and also kills odor-causing bacteria in the air. Instead of just covering up odors, this spray eliminates germs and odors and provides a fresh scent.

AUGUSTA, GA. - Unless you've found a way to completely avoid buying things, you've probably been the victim of a rip off before. Whether it was a scam, fraud or some unscrupulous company, RipoffReport.com claims to give you a voice when battling Big (or little) Business. Just be careful to obey the laws, people. Remember that words have ramifications.

AUGUSTA, GA. - Of course, I can't endorse their methodology or results. But for an interesting glance at where Americans stand on every issue - from the next President, to immigration to alternative schooling — Polling Report has a lot to offer.

At Polling Report, they say that they pull data from surveys from dozens of sources such as CNN, Gallup, TIME, CBS News, Harris and Pew (just to name a few) and update whenever new polls arrive. And they're independent and nonpartisan, so you don't have to worry about any hidden agendas.

The site touches on nearly every trend in American public opinion: Religion, politics, stem cell research, same-sex marriage, global warming... there are over 50 topics, each with their own poll results. So take a look at PollingReport.com, you'll probably be surprised to see where the nation stands.

AUGUSTA, GA. - Of course, I can't endorse their methodology or results. But for an interesting glance at where Americans stand on every issue - from the next President, to immigration to alternative schooling — Polling Report has a lot to offer.

At Polling Report, they say that they pull data from surveys from dozens of sources such as CNN, Gallup, TIME, CBS News, Harris and Pew (just to name a few) and update whenever new polls arrive. And they're independent and nonpartisan, so you don't have to worry about any hidden agendas.

The site touches on nearly every trend in American public opinion: Religion, politics, stem cell research, same-sex marriage, global warming... there are over 50 topics, each with their own poll results. So take a look at PollingReport.com, you'll probably be surprised to see where the nation stands.

AUGUSTA, GA. - Usually when you donate to a worthy cause, all you get is that warm, fuzzy feeling inside. Now you can provide rice for starving people and build an impressive vocabulary while you're at it – all without paying a dime.

WAY better than those hand-held digital voice recorder. Frankly, I think we should all start using it just to get rid of those stupid commercials about a woman who can't write down "milk, eggs, bread." Noooooo. She has to record it and play it back to herself. Whatever.

Not many people get the opportunity to coin a phrase that enters the ZEITGEIST (that was for you, Alice) and isn't something that takes advantage of some kind of lame celebrity. But getting "dooced" is now slang for being fired for blogging. Visit Dooce, a blog chronicling the rise and fall (and subsequent rise) of Heather Armstrong, an ex-Morman web designer turned stay at home mom — with a brief stint in a mental hospital thrown in for good measure. In 2002, the blog got her fired. Now it fully supports her family of three.

Wish mine did that. Click on my ads, people! Throw this dog a bone, already!

Look at this cute shirt I found!And this one!

This site has more than 3 billion on-demand, one-of-a-kind retail products - customized T-shirts, mugs, calendars, even ties and stamps. But if 3 billion isn't enough, you could always just create your own.

It's all one-of-a-kind and user-generated. On the off chance you aren't completely in love with any of the designs, try rearranging the layout, adding some text or changing the picture — most products on Zazzle are editable. Or just design your own. It's that easy. Visit Zazzle

AUGUSTA, GA. - Project Gutenberg is the first and largest single collection of free electronic books, online or offline. From novels and poetry to cookbooks and reference to magazines and newspapers, Gutenberg.org boasts quite the scope of work. Looking for something specific? Search the catalog by title or author, then download the e-book in plain text English (looking for a different language? Gutenberg's got those, too). Some downloads are also available as audio books or "plucker" files for your Palm or smart phone. You can also download comprehensive CD and DVD collections of Gutenberg.org's most popular works. The August 2003 CD contains 600 of their most downloaded e-books, while the July 2006 DVD collects over 17,000 books from their first 19,000 titles. That's some pretty heavy reading.

Started in 1971 on a single computer at the University of Illinois, its site has grown to include over 20,000 free titles for download, with over 100,000 available through its partners and affiliates. Biggest Digital Library Ever.