Desktop Wallpaper

A great source for desktop wallpaper is National Geographic's photo gallery.
National Geographic Photos
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SPOT GPS and Two-Way Satellite Device

I just got the SPOT I ordered to give as a Christmas gift to my son.

SPOT is a new GPS and satellite communication device that has an emergency 911 function. SPOT uses GPS (Global Positioning System) to locate the device and it has a satellite communication link that will call a response center and send an email notice.

The device, called a personal messenger and tracker, retails for $149.99 after a $20 rebate.


SPOT has several functions listed on their web site http://www.globalcomsatphone.com/spot/

• “Alert 911” button dispatches emergency responders to an exact location
• Ask for “Help” button sends a request for help to friends and family
• “Check In” button lets your contacts know where you are and that you are okay
• “Track Progress” sends and saves your location and allows contacts to track your progress using Google Maps.

Activation is with an annual service fee of $99.99 that allows limited messaging. Add-on's include an unlimited messaging fee for continous mapping and a GEOS response emergency response service for $7.95 per year.

Designed for some basic, but critical functions when traveling, the SPOT uses satellites, not cellular phone systems to communicate. The user just presses a button in the event of an emergency, which sends an emergency message to both a contact that they set up when registering on the SPOT web site and the GEOS 24 hour emergency response center. If located in the United States, GEOS calls the local emergency response agency and provides the SPOT location. Outside of the US GEOS contacts the US Embassy.

A user can "check-in" which will send an email to the contact that the user set up on the SPOT service web site. Tracking allows the user just to send their location, which is integrated with Google MapsTM and can display multiple GPS points sent by the SPOT user.

There are some areas of the world that aren't covered such as India, the southern half of Africa, and some of Southeast Asia. However, for anyone travelling who wants to have "911" type service anywhere there is coverage, this is the lowest cost device around.

This seems useful for anyone who hikes or does adventure travel, especially alone, or anyone who travels and wants to let their friends and family know they are OK and where they are at anytime.

SPOT is also a "piece of mind" device to give the home-based contact a way to know the traveler is OK. Hopefully we'll get some feedback from our son after Christmas on how well the device and service works.

This seems to be the lowest cost solution for personal satellite tracking and communication and puts it within reach of the average consumer. There are more expensive devices and services available for corporations, one of which is Track24.

Jigsaw Puzzles

For jigsaw puzzles, here are a few web sites I found that seemed pretty good. Some use a shockwave plug-in which needs to be installed for your browser and many offer the same picture in varying numbers of pieces and level of difficulty.

• Shockwave's Gamezone
• Jigzone (you can make your own from a picture here also)
• DLTK for kids jigsaw puzzles
• Just Jigsaw Puzzles
• The Kidz Page jigsaws (also lots of other free stuff for kids)
• Jigsawland
• Puzzlehouse
• Crea-soft

Here's one for you to try now from Jigzone, which allows you to embed them in your blog, just click on the picture to start the puzzle:

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Crossword Puzzles

Here's a list of a few sites where I found some web-based crossword puzzles for my wife who loves playing word games:

The best directory of crosswords I found on the web is at Crossword.org, which lists many many more.

• Yahoo! Games - Daily Crosswords
  
• Quizland
• Yahoo Games - Crosswords (Syndicated from the Washington Post, so it's the same one)
  
• LA Times Crossword
  
• NY Times
  

What is syndicated content mean?

Publishers and authors often make content (articles, puzzles, tv shows) available for purchase to others for their use. This practice, called syndication, allows the owner of the original content to find a wider audience and get paid multiple times for the same article, puzzle, tv show, etc..

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