There are some things to consider that aren’t openly discussed when speaking with a typical college advisor. Going to college should be a fun and exciting experience and it can be, but the fact is, you have to watch your own back. I am going to mention some things that I have experienced at my college, USF, that your typical “new student” probably wouldn’t even think about. Keep in mind that I am only talking about USF, I am not trying to generalize all colleges, but I’m sure students going to other colleges will experience similar circumstances.

1. RateMyProfessor.com

If you are unfamiliar with RateMyProfessor.com you should become good friends with it. Until several semesters into my studies at USF I did not use this website. I figured that an accredited college like USF would only have good professors… I was wrong. Once I started taking more difficult math courses, such as calc 1, calc 2 etc.. I found that having a good professor was critical in getting a good grade in the course. And when I say a “good” professor I don’t mean a professor that will give easy tests. I mean a professor that will teach the material well and give fair tests. So, assuming that any professor will be able to teach the material equally well, I registered for classes online and chose class times that fit my schedule.

When class began, I started to realize that the professor I ended up with was a bad apple. His “lectures” consisted of copying the examples out of the book onto the board and leaving no time in class for students to ask questions about homework. If that wasn’t bad enough, he would make constant mistakes throughout this process and students would repeatedly correct him. Needless to say, going to the lecture was useless. I could teach myself the material better than he could, though doing so is much more time consuming. Even though the lecture was useless, my professor did not think so and proceeded to give pop quizzes when people walked out of class… that will teach them.

After I dropped the course I decided to look this guy up on RateMyProfessor.com and found that he had a one star rating, which is the lowest anyone can get. All of the comments that were posted were accurate descriptions of my experiences in the class.

Bottom line:When choosing classes at a college, use RateMyProfessor.com!

2. Pay for Parking

Apparently college students aren’t paying enough, so why not make them pay for parking too. USF requires students, faculty, staff, aka anyone who has to park on campus to pay for parking or they will run the risk of getting parking tickets. At $30 a pop, tickets can add up so the only option for people who need to park is to pay for a $130 parking permit per semester. That is $130 for students, I’m not sure what it is for others. Unpaid parking tickets will result in your car getting booted and towed! To save money, parking off campus is a possibility. Near USF is a mall that many students park at and use a bus or a bike to get to the campus.

3. Books

Don’t buy your books on campus. On average you will save 50-100 dollars if you buy textbooks off campus. Alternatives to buying books on your campus include buying at local stores that sell used books at discounted prices. In my area we have a store called Books n’ More, which buys and sells used textbooks. Of course you can always use Amazon.com or Craigslist.com to get a little more out of your books when you resell them. If you plan on reselling your books, make sure to do so as soon as the semester ends. If a new version of your book comes out you will be able to get little if any money for it.

Find out what specific book you will need for your class. Some teachers don’t use the latest version of textbooks and new versions are coming out all the time. It is a good idea to wait until the first day of class to see what book you need before you buy one.

Anna Maria Island really offers a little something for everyone.  We visited at the beginning of spring break and for those who might enjoy a beach with people and activity, one of the main public beaches there might be right up your alley.  On the day we visited, Manatee public beach was full of life with families and spring breakers alike.  This particular beach offers Cafe on the Beach, a restaurant that’s literally right on the beach and whether you’re looking for all you can eat pancakes and sausage for breakfast or American cuisine for lunch or dinner, it’s a great place to casually dine inside or out (feel free to wear your swim suit) with ice cold beer and live music in the evening.  Afterward, you might enjoy taking a stroll along the beach or watching the anglers on the pier as they try their luck at fishing or you might go shopping in the surf shop and grab an ice cream too.

On this particular day, we were looking for a quiet place to dine and take some pictures so we drove to the north end of the island and the atmosphere there seemed much more quiet and slow paced.  We made our way to the Rod and Reel Pier restaurant. Situated at the end of a long fishing pier, it seemed as though we had boarded a boat for lunch as we made our way upstairs and sat at one of the inside tables (you can dine inside or out).  Looking out the window, we enjoyed watching as boats zipped by in all directions and below deck, people were casting their reels and having fun pulling in a few fish.  As we looked off in the distance we could see the massive Sunshine Skyway Bridge.  A a very casual dining experience; we thoroughly enjoyed this place with it’s comfortable atmosphere and some of the best blackened grouper around.  I suppose they should know how to get it right; they’ve been around since 1947!

After lunch we drove to a small public beach with plenty of shaded parking and walked along the wooden boardwalk that was steps from the water’s edge.  The walkway lead us to the old City Pier and restaurant which has a football length fishing pier with a nice indoor/outdoor restaurant located at the end.  An outdoor bar area with live entertainment wrapped around the south-end of the dock and people were fishing along the dock’s edge.

Walking back along the boardwalk, we noticed numerous available vacation rentals all within walking distance to more restaurants, shops, ice cream parlors and plenty more side walks to enjoy a leisurely stroll.  The free trolley which runs all day every day and runs the entire length of the island came and went picking up people for perhaps a ride to the arts and craft festival in-town or dropping people off back at their vacation house.  What a wonderful place to visit, truly something for everyone.  We decided that day with so much more to see, this is one place that’s on our list of places to re-visit.

The graphic above was created using The Logo Creator

By Lori  If you have a need to create clean, simple logos or images for use in flyers, newsletters, websites or blog sites, The Logo Creator is a great software product that is quick, easy and user friendly.

The Logo Creator software has been a perfect fit for our on-line internet business; with over 15,000 items listed for sale on our website, this software enables us to create quick, unique product listings or easily advertise “specials”. This simple software solution even gives us the choice of choosing the file type to export our created product allowing us the choice of PNG, PDF, GIF, BMP, JPEG, GIF. You can change your character spacing, make circular or curved text, add special effects like shadowing, blur, emboss or outline and resize the entire project to get the best fit for the page. One word of caution, it’s fun to use, my husband has been known to spend a couple of hours at a time “working” with The Logo Creator all in the name of enhancing a product listing or adding enhanced graphics to one of our blog sites.

We first learned about the software a few years ago when purchasing a desktop computer for our business. A free version came already loaded onto the computer and it gave us the chance to learn a little about its features and what the product had to offer; so after some time of working with the basic version, we decided to download the full feature version and paid somewhere around $100.

So, although there has been an occasion for our son to clean up a graphic or text using Photoshop (which is nowhere as user-friendly), the price and simplicity alone makes this product well worth the cost.

DennisB

Type of Car

Car insurance costs can be reduced by driving certain vehicles. Sporty fast cars typically have higher rates than more conservative cars. Safety features on newer cars sometimes will garner the lowest rates. If shopping for a new car, be sure to consider the cost of insurance for particular models. As already mentioned, different model vehicles can make your insurance premiums drastically different.

Driving Record

Well everyone already knows that an individual’s driving record has a substantial affect on insurance rates. And it’s common knowledge that going to “driving school” to take points off your license can save money too. But did you know that there are driving school’s that take points off while making you laugh? I actually went to a comedy driving school years ago. I hated having to go to any class; but since I had to, I chose a comedy driving school that made the experience much more bearable and less boring. They have to cover the same material, but no one says they can’t be funny.

Comparison Shop

It’s no fun to contact an insurance company for a quote… even less fun to call several insurance companies to find the best deal. But, sometimes is worth calling around or even checking several car insurance companies on-line to save some money. What if you can save a $200 by spending an hour of your time? You know the saying “a penny save is a penny earned”. This means saving $200 is like making $200 for just one hour. OK, I know the savings may be more or less than the $200 in my example but you get the idea.

Compare Apples to Apples

There are certain minimum requirements for amounts of coverage. Just make sure when comparing the different insurance companies that coverage amounts are the same. It’s also a good time to consider the higher amounts of coverage and NOT just the lowest. The more you have to lose, the more this matters. Car prices are higher than ever and so are medical expenses. Let’s not forget the reason for the insurance coverage to begin with. It not only is to cover your car, but to cover someone else in case an accident is your fault. Also you don’t want to be responsible for paying medical expenses that the cheapest insurance option won’t cover. Cheap insurance is good, but having the proper coverage when you really need it – is priceless.

DennisB 

Like with many things on-line, the power to reach so many people is something to be handled responsibly. With common sense and awareness, Craigslist can be very beneficial when selling, buying, hiring, looking for a job and so on. Keep in mind that if something sounds too good to be true, it usually is. Not ALL Craigslist seller’s are honest, although in my experience, the overwhelming majority of them have been. Keep in mind I’m not speaking of the personal ads when I say this! I’ve sold a jet ski, a motor cycle, cars, trucks, household items including things like living room furniture and appliances. All for free. I also like to use an image hosting company called “photo bucket” for posting free large pictures that aren’t even an option through Craigslist alone.

Make Money on Craiglist

With the economy, creative people with the desire to succeed on a dime can use Craigslist to their benefit. For example, everyone knows how bad the construction industry has been hit since the real estate downturn, especially in Florida. Well, we recently purchased a three tiered water fountain off of Craigslist. We bought it because it was for sale at a fraction of the cost compared to similar sized fountains at home improvement stores like Lowes and Home Depot. The seller’s story was inspiring. He was actually in construction and had lost much of his income because of new construction slowing down so much. He bought some molds to manufacture the components of the water fountain we purchased! He mixes concrete with a colorant and pours it into the molds. After the parts are all made, he’s ready to sell on craigslist. He delivers and set’s up the fountains within a 80 mile radius of his home. I’m sure he makes a pretty good profit on these since the molds are surely paid for by now. Now that’s a success story.

Used Mobile Homes

I recently sold my Mother in-law’s mobile home. It was easier to sell the mobile home which sat on a rental lot, than to sell it where it was set up in a “senior’s only” park. The guy that purchased the mobile home buys and sells on – you guessed it, Craigslist. He made a nice living just moving and setting up trailers in the last thirty years or so. During the real estate boom he made a fortune clearing out entire trailer parks, to make room for development of new condominiums. In one park he bought 200 trailers at $3,000 each and sold them for $13-15,000 each delivered and set up on the buyer’s property. If you estimate 10k profit multiplied by 200 that is around 2 million dollars! Of course he has to pay his guys, so that’s not all profit. But you can see how the numbers could work. Since real estate development has slowed down, he makes his own work by purchasing mobile homes that are listed for sale on Craigslist. Like the one I listed for my Mother in-law.  He puts them on his 5 acre property until he gets a buyer. This is an excellent example of someone using Craigslist to make money. This also confirms what I believe, those that want to work will find a way.

 By: Blake

I purchased the Bowflex dumbbells a few months ago to use with my p90X workouts. I have to say, the weights are very useful. They are adjustable and range from 5 pounds to 52.5 pounds, so I will never need to buy dumbbells again… unless I plan on growing some Schwarzenegger arms. For an average weight lifter these dumbbells are perfect. Anyone who has tried p90X knows that the workouts are very demanding and having dumbbells that aren’t adjustable could result in less of a workout, unless you have an entire set of dumbbells on hand. Before I got the Bowflex dumbbells I was using regular steel 20 lb weights…. for everything! This made doing shoulder flys and other smaller muscle group excercises difficult to do, not to mension potentially dangerous. Using improper weights can result in tearing muscles, especially if you are doing a workout for the first time or  before you are fully warmed up.

If I had any complaints about the Bowflex dumbbells it would be that they are a bit too long. This can make doing workouts such as reverse tricep kickbacks a bit awkward. Another minor issue I found was how the dumbbells adjust. When doing p90X it is important to adjust the weight on the dumbbells quickly. The dials on the weights require you to make four separate adjustments. This isn’t really a big deal, but when you do it quickly you may not turn the dial to exactly the position it needs to be in. Leaving a dial partially turned will cause all of the weights to lock to the base that the dumbbells sit on. Meaning that when you go to quickly  pick it up, you may be unexpectly trying to pick up 52.5 pounds and I’m sure your back wont appreciate that!

Overall, the Bowflex dumbbells have been a great addition to my home gym. I would highly recommend them to anyone. They are a bit pricey, but shopping around can knock that $400 price tag down a bit. It seems like Amazon is giving away everything now. The day of this post Amazon is selling them for $273 with free shipping! If that is still out of the question, there are tons of competitors that sell similar adjustable dumbbells at a lower cost.

By Lori –  Summary:  With gas prices on the rise should commuting by bicycle be a consideration?

Once again, as gas prices begin to rise, we American’s begin to think about how much of our hard earned money is going into our tank and once again, we begin to think of alternatives.

Although this line of thinking may only be temporary in many cases especially if we stop to consider the United States still has some of the cheapest gas prices when compared to most of the western world.  However, a spike in gas prices affects everything we purchase and a sudden rise (or fall) can have a huge impact on the economy leaving many to believe that perhaps a pro-active stance on the purchase of a Eco-friendly bicycle may actually be an effective solution.  After all, gasoline prices rarely go back down much once they’ve been raised.

Today, many cities offer bike friendly designated lanes and places to lock-up bikes making commuting by bicycle the fastest, easiest and cheapest way to get from point A to point B.  Bike enthusiasts might say this is a win-win solution as we are currently seeing gas prices increase on a daily basis. And, there are a number of bike designs, styles and accessories to fit the bike commuter’s needs.

A good local bike shop can help with determining your needs and budget and can match you with the right size frame along with a well adjusted seat and handlebar height. They will be glad to assist with finding the type of bike that fits your needs and many offer scheduled maintenance plans with a bicycle purchase.  If you’re one who has considered adopting a conservative transportation choice, here are a few bicycles for consideration:

Mountain Bikes:  Comes with wide tires that usually have knobby treads and a more stout frame than road bikes. Mountain bikes are not as fast as road bikes but you sit higher and more upright making for a more comfortable ride.

Road Bikes:  Features skinny tires, a lightweight frame and a riding position that puts you bent over the handlebars. These bikes are faster than mountain bikes and might be a choice if speed is more important to you.

Hybrid Bikes:  Include features from both the mountain bike and road bike.  With a stouter frame and slightly wider tires along with a more upright position.

Fold Up Bikes:  Many fold up bikes will fit you like a full sized bike but offers the ability to fold compact enough so it can be taken anywhere. These are popular with those who take mass transit or live in congested metropolitan areas.

I’ve learned long ago that if you win something without ever putting your name in the hat, there’s got to be a catch! I have no problem with creative marketing, but this sounds very suspicious. No return address on the mailing seems fishy too. In the position where the return address should be, it says ” Travel Check Voucher Enclosed These documents are on record as being sent to you. Please verify all information enclosed as current and correct”. FINAL NOTICE.

Travel Promotion?

Click on the image on the right to see the actual letter that I received. Keep in mind this is the third one I’ve received. How did I get on this list since I haven’t entered into any drawings? It’s possible my name ended up on a list somewhere because of one of the several cruises I went on. I went to Mexico, Jamaica, Grand Cayman Islands, the Bahamas and Key West. I hate thinking I got on a sucker list! Frequent fliers may be targeted for such promotions. Maybe it was because of the Las Vegas trip I took awhile back? Which airline did I take? Let’s see there’s US Airways, Continental, Air Tran, Jet Blue, Delta Airlines… South East. Wait a minute I don’t remember US Airlines! It sounds familiar but I don’t see US Air Lines as an option… anywhere. Seems to be a non existing airline.

Book Your Own Vacation

Well, when something sounds “too good to be true” it usually is. Let’s face it, vacations come too few and far in between. What I don’t want is to be obligated to listen to someone’s “sales” speech, when I should be off enjoying myself. Time share’s are the worst. I know several couples that got roped into free stays in Las Vegas for agreeing to attend a time share meeting. To my surprise, two out of the three couples ended up buying! They later regretted their spur of the moment decision. One thing no one ever regrets is booking their own trip and spending some quality time with their honey. I say, don’t be disappointed and “book your own flight”.

DennisB - Summary: Paint bubbling on Ford Mustang’s is a common issue. At first glance the bubbled or blistered area looks like rust bubbling the paint, but wait this hood is aluminum!

Click on the image to the left too see a larger view. Aluminum cannot rust, but it can corrode. Corrosion under the factory paint causing paint to bubble is a very common issue. There’s even a TSB (Technical Service Bulletin) about this. The Ford Mustang is not the only vehicle affected either. The TSB includes Ford Explorer, Taurus, Expedition, Lincoln Navigator, Mercury Sable and more. Outside the 3 year 36,000 mile warranty, Ford owners are left to pay for this repair themselves. It does make Ford owner’s question their loyalty to Ford on their next new car purchase though.

Below is what the TSB # 06-25-15 has to say regarding the cause and the way to prevent this from happening again when the panel is repainted.

FORD:
2000-2007 Crown Victoria, Taurus
2005-2006 Ford GT
2005-2007 Mustang
2000-2003 Ranger
2000-2007 Expedition
2002-2007 Explorer
2004-2007 F-150
2007 Explorer Sport TracLINCOLN:
2000-2006 Lincoln LS
2000-2007 Town Car, Navigator

MERCURY:
2000-2007 Grand Marquis, Sable

This article supersedes TSB 04-25-1 to update the vehicle model years. ISSUE:

Some vehicles may exhibit a bubbling or blistering under the paint on aluminum body parts. This is due to iron contamination of the aluminum panel.
ACTION:

This TSB provides service tips and procedures, outlining methods to properly prepare and protect aluminum body parts from cross contamination.
BACKGROUND

Ford’s Scientific Research Laboratory has performed a number of tests on vehicle body parts returned for corrosion related concerns. Testing has revealed that the aluminum corrosion was caused by iron particles working their way into the aluminum body part, prior to it being painted. SERVICE TIPS AND PROCEDURE

When repairing a vehicle for corrosion or collision damage, it is essential that extreme care be taken to cover and protect all aluminum parts to prevent cross metal contamination. Areas in a shop where metal work is performed should be sectioned off, using at the very least curtain walls, to prevent metal dust migration. Cross contamination can also occur through the use of metal working tools (hammers, dolly’s, picks, grinding wheels, etc.). Tools used for aluminum repairs should be kept separate, and not used to repair other metals. Wire brushes used on aluminum should be made of stainless steel.
NOTE:THIS PROCEDURE SHOULD ONLY BE USED ON NON-PERFORATED METAL. REVIEW WARRANTY AND POLICY MANUAL FOR VEHICLE WITH PERFORATED METAL.

NOTE:READ THIS PROCEDURE COMPLETELY BEFORE PERFORMING ANY SERVICE.

1. Corrosion should be removed by blasting. Use an aggressive blasting material, such as acrylic (salt grain size).
2. Use a DA sander with 180 grit paper backed abrasive. Only sand and featheredge the damaged area.
3. Mix and apply Ford approved epoxy primer, per the manufacturer’s label instructions. Bake at 140° F (60° C), or use an infra-red lamp for curing.
4. If necessary, mix and apply two-part polyester filler to a slight over crown. Allow polyester filler to cure 20-30 minutes, or mix and apply spray polyester filler two-three (2-3) coats as necessary. Allow to cure per manufacturer’s label instructions.
5. Hand-sand the repair area with 80 grit sand paper to remove excess filler.
6. Finish-sand the repair area with 400 grit sand paper.
7. Mix and apply Ford approved primer/surfacer per manufacturer’s label instructions. Bake at 140° F (60° C) or use infra-red lamp for curing.
8. Sand the primer/surfacer with 400-600 grit to level the surface.
9. The next two steps are wet-on-wet. Mix and apply to hiding Ford recommended basecoat material per manufacturer’s label instructions. Allow to flash.
10. Mix and apply two (2) coats (2 mils minimum) of Ford approved clearcoat per manufacturer’s label instructions. Allow flash time. Finish bake at 140° F (60° C).

 By: Blake

I have been getting into some programming and I thought I would share a simple rock paper scissors game I made with java script. I used nested if statements a random number generator and the string class to generate a computers play and compare it with the players play. The main parts of the script are explained with comments. I made the program in JGrasp, a free compiler that I use. It is difficult to get the spacing exactly as I see it in JGrasp, but spacing wont effect functionality of the script. Please leave comments if you have any questions about this java script.

// ****************************************************************
// Rock.java
//
// Play Rock, Paper, Scissors with the user
//
// ****************************************************************

import java.util.Scanner;
import java.util.Random;

public class Rock
{
public static void main(String[] args)
{
String personPlay = “”; //User’s play “R”, “P”, or “S”
String computerPlay = “”; //Computer’s play “R”, “P”, or “S”
int computerInt = 0; //Randomly generated number used to determine computer’s play

Scanner scan = new Scanner(System.in);
Random generator = new Random();

computerInt = generator.nextInt(2);//Generate computer’s play (0,1,2)

if (computerInt == 0 ) computerPlay = “R”;//Translate computer’s randomly generated play to string using if statements
if (computerInt == 1 ) computerPlay = “P”;
if (computerInt == 2 ) computerPlay = “S”;

System.out.print (“Enter R, P, or S: “);//Get player’s play from input– note that this is stored as a string
personPlay = scan.next();

personPlay = personPlay.toUpperCase(); //Make player’s play uppercase for ease of comparison

System.out.println (“The computer played: “ + computerPlay); //Print computer’s play

//See who won using nested ifs
if (personPlay.equals(computerPlay))
System.out.println(“It’s a tie!”);
if (personPlay.equals(“R”))
{
if (computerPlay.equals(“S”))
System.out.println(“Rock crushes scissors. You win!!”);
if (computerPlay.equals(“P”))
System.out.println(“Paper covers rock. You lose!!”);
}
else
if (personPlay.equals(“S”))
{
if (computerPlay.equals(“R”))
System.out.println(“Rock crushes scissors. You lose!!”);
if (computerPlay.equals(“P”))
System.out.println(“Scissors cuts paper. You win!!”);
}
else
if (personPlay.equals(“P”))
{
if (computerPlay.equals(“R”))
System.out.println(“Paper covers rock. You win!!”);
if (computerPlay.equals(“S”))
System.out.println(“Scissors cuts paper. You lose!!”);
}

}
}