Monday, April 16, 2012

Blog moving

Hello everyone!

This is just to let you know that I have moved my blog to www.alainayewing.com

Hope to see you there!

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Windowfarms

Recently I watched a video on windowfarms and was totally blown away with the idea. I have not made one yet, but intend to as soon as I can. This spawned because my family was ready to find a house, get out of the city, and start growing (at least some) of our own food. The problem with is that now, we are stuck in city life another year. After seeing a video on this, I think it may hold the answer!

Here is the link to the open source information on how to grow food in your own apartment or condo window. http://www.windowfarms.org/ You can either buy the kits pre-made, which basically all you are paying for is the cost of materials, or you can view the open source and make one yourself using 2 liter pop bottles. It is quite amazing.

The website offers great information on how growing even a small amount of our own food is the best way to reduce our carbon footprints and help our environment. I do shop at the farmers markets when they are open, but that leaves a good portion of the year that I must shop at the grocery store, shipping all that food and wasting precious fossil fuels. If I grew some of that food, then I would save that need to ship.

For anyone interested, please check out the website. There are people you can message with that will share what they have found works best for growing all year around, or specific types of foods that work better than others. It is a great resource for anyone wanting to make a difference in a simple way. :-)


Happy planting!

Tuesday, February 28, 2012

The Man on the Corner

For the last two years, I have watched an older man play guitar on the street corner by my house. He is there every day with his stuffed monkeys and a smile on his face. I have heard people say that this man is homeless, begging for money, and adding to the decay of our race. But I happen to know a few things about this person...

Though I do not know his name, I do know where he lives. And it is nicer than my place! He has also never asked for money. I have seen things to make me think he is a retired Vet, but I don't know for certain. The gentleman only wants to play for people. That is all. As people drive by the busy street, he merely waves, flashes a peace sign, and continues playing.

As a family member and I were driving past the other day, the man was out again, in literally dumping rain, still playing his guitar and smiling for us all. My passenger looked at him and said, "Wouldn't it be funny if that man was some sort of Angel or Divine Soul." Truth be known, he probably is. All those people pass him day in and day out, thinking he is begging for their 'hard earned money' when they are refusing to see what is so clearly standing before them.

So many people wish someone or something would come in and change the world, yet there is a man on my block doing just that. He may not be super wealthy, or dress in the latest fashions, but he always has a smile and a tune waiting for you. Isn't that--not following in what society says he 'should' be doing--changing the world?

Just a thought! :-)

Friday, February 10, 2012

The Synopsis

This could just be me, but seriously... I have been working on my synopsis now for months, and it is driving me insane. The problem, really, is that I have no idea how long it should be.

Some websites I have been to say they want it under two pages, which to me, sounds best. I know if I was reading a ton of them a day, I surely would not want to be reading upwards of ten pages. No way... But there are others who want them longer, or don't specify how long they should be.

I have come up with this solution, and please, anyone with input feel free to comment! :-)

The synopsis I plan on sending out mostly is the two pager. This is for the same reason I stated before. It is short, straight forward, and will hopefully give the reader a good idea of the storyline. The longer version I have will be reserved for those who request a longer synopsis. Though it definitely has much more detail than the two page one, it is also over ten pages.

If any of you have experience with the synopsis process, what do you think?

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

All Apps are NOT Created Equal...

Recently, government has been debating the issue of apps on mobile devices. The issue is that people who use android services can download apps through the android market for free. Sounds great to me, right? And who doesn't love open source programming?

(For all of you who do not know what open source means, basically that means I can go get the code to the android software for free, and from it make my own apps to use with my android device.)

So where's the problem???

Apparently, some people don't understand what that means and think that anything they are downloading from the android market is safe and android approved. That is not the case. You never want to download anything that asks for credit cards, bank accounts, or anything personal like that. People are gaining access to other's bank accounts by coming up with apps to do online banking. Thus, if I download and input my information, whoever created that app now has all they need to wipe out my bank account.

There are safe ways to get apps, that are not as much of a concern. Here are some things that I do to protect my personal information...

1. If you want to use an app for your banking, or to pay bills, you must go to their 'official' website and download the app from there. You can even speak with an operator to see if there have been any security issues with the app.

2. Some apps, like kindle, do ask for a credit card number, but as I said, make sure you download it from the kindle store, not just the android market.

3. Read the comments and warnings under the download section of the market, they really do offer good feedback.

4. Last, make sure you put a password on your actual device. I know it's a pain, but most people I know use their phones or tablets to pay bills, read email, even watch netflix, and all these things store passwords. Once someone can get into your email, they can see where your bank statements are sent and do a password reset. Granted, they would still have a safe guard or two to get past, but it's not that difficult to find maiden names or birthplaces when you already have so much personal info. on someone. If you password or use a swipe code to protect these items, the only way to get into it if stolen is to wipe it clean and install knew software, also wiping out any traces of your personal information.

So people, please, let's be smart about these things. :-) Research 'before' you use it, because the last thing anyone needs is for the government to have another reason to take over control of the Internet and technology! Happy androiding all!

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Quantum Physics

This is my totally geekness coming forth, but my mom bought me a book on quantum physics today and I am so dang excited that I already read several sections. What I like most is it takes complex concepts and simplifies them. Love it, love it!

One of my favorite topics is string theory and the possibility of other dimensions. Which is probably why I incorporate that in literally everything I write. It's a great book. It even covers telsa, haarp, the blackest black... Great stuff. If anyone wants to stretch their inner geekness, the book is called, The Physics Book.

Saturday, January 21, 2012

Beverly Crusher

So I'm a big Star Trek fan, and somehow I always managed to skip the episode where Beverly Crusher falls in love with an evil ghost. I have to say, this episode is kind of freaky!

I will admit, it is nice to see ghosts as a part of Star Trek, but still. You'd think that far in the future, a person would know better than to get jiggy with a non-physical being. Especially after he murdered her grandmother! But oh well... On to another episode!