CWAHD.com » Technology

jorimslist.com

Jorim — Wed, 21 May 2008 15:16:22 +0000

I’d like to thank CWAHD for inviting me to their blog, to announce I don’t have one. I run jorimslist.com, a video game content resource site for parents. Believe it or not, there really is nothing exactly like it on the web. Nobody else I know of is playing through every game and making note of all the objectionable content in detail. But I think this is the best way to help parents make a decision about the games that are best for their kids, not just noting the ESRB’s little black box on the back of the video game cover.

You can go to other sites for interactive info, but I try to avoid too much personal editorializing, and just give you the most complete content review and info you’re looking for. I’ve just finished an intensive review of Grand Theft Auto IV. In fact you won’t find a more comprehensive content review of this game anywhere else on the web.

Beyond in-depth game reviews, for those of you with younger kids, you may just need suggestions regarding good games to keep them happy and busy. I categorize games by age and by platform, and there are printer friendly links to help you out.

It’s not a blog, but feel free to interact with me by email if a game you want to see reviewed isn’t on my site. Keep in mind that the kid list is new and still growing (and so is the rest of my site).

What Can RSS do for ME?

cwahd — Mon, 31 Jul 2006 20:01:45 +0000

If you have used the internet lately you have heard of something called “RSS.” If you are anything like me I am sure that you have wondered what this “RSS stuff” is all about. I am going to try and answer that question as well as explain a little bit about how RSS can be useful.

For the purpose of this article RSS stands for “Really Simple Syndication”. I started my RSS research by going to wikipedia.org and simply looking up the term ‘RSS’.

The information in the article I found, is informative, but if you are like me you don’t want to have to read a huge document to understand what something like RSS is all about. You want a simple, concise definition and a few example of what RSS might mean in your life.

So, let me break the topic down in a way that we can all understand.

I have been using RSS for about a year. I discovered a use for RSS soon after I started using Firefox, which is a browser alternative for Internet Explorer. (If you would like to know more about Firefox, visit http://getfirefox.com.) Many people in the technology field use Firefox - I even have my wife using it.

One reason to use Firefox as your web browser is that it makes using RSS simple. Firefox makes it so that whenever you go to a webpage that uses RSS you will see the following symbol in the address bar.

When you see this symbol, you can click on it and it will bring up an option to add a bookmark. This adds a bookmark that links directly to either a RSS file or an XML file. These files are a condensed version of the website that you were visiting when you clicked on the RSS symbol (sometimes they are referred to as “feeds’).

Another great thing about Firefox is that you can read RSS files without the need for any other software. The feed will look like a folder with a collection of links that are the articles from the RSS Feed you subscribed to.

But, to get some of the more advanced feed reading features you can get an ‘RSS reader’. Firefox includes an RSS reader extension that you can install called Sage. You can download it at https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/77/. (Note: My next article will be about Firefox and extensions so don’t worry if you don’t understand them at this point.)

You can also use an online reader put out by Google here http://www.google.com/reader/things/intro. I prefer the browser interface and haven’t used any of these on-line readers. You will to experiment with both types of RSS viewers a little bit and see which works best for you.

If you aren’t using Firefox and you still want to subscribe to an RSS feed the link will normally look something like this or this . These standard icons are usually used to make the RSS Feeds easier to find.

RSS feeds are also used for Podcasts and Videocasts. A Podcast and/or Videocast is an internet radio/TV program that can be listened to on an iPod or other MP3 device. You subscribe to the RSS feed using iTunes and it will automatically download the audio file and put it on your iPod (or another type of MP3 player). If you don’t have an iPod you can still use these feeds with other audio programs like http://www.podfeeder.com/. You can also check out the CWAHD Podcast Directory at http://www.cwahd.com/podcasts.html. This directory is full of Christian Podcasts.

I have a Video iPod and I love to watch Videocasts when I have some free time. I have even gone as far as mounting my iPod in my car so I can listen to audio podcasts on the way to work.

I hope that you have been able to get at least a little bit of information about what RSS is and what it can do for you. I am really excited about RSS and have started a project to have CWAHM.com and CWAHD.com redesigned to incorporate RSS for all of the articles featured on both sites. I believe that RSS will change the way that you surf the internet in the near future. It is a quick way to get a lot of information from the internet in a simple, easy to read format.

About the Author
Allen Hart is the founder of CWAHD.com,
Christian Work at Home Dads. CWAHD.com
was designed to assist dads in their quest for a work at home job or business.
For more information and additional articles, visit www.cwahd.com
or contact Allen at info@cwahd.com.

Do you have an iPod?

cwahd — Mon, 31 Jul 2006 00:04:19 +0000

I recently broke down and purchased an iPod. I have been a big fan of
mp3 players for a long time. I owned one of the original mp3 players created
by Rio and one the original hard drive based players from Creative. But
these products had many problems from short battery life to not enough
storage. So I was basically without a digital music player for several
years. That is until I decided to purchase and iPod. Now, I had been looking
at the iPods for a long time before I decided to purchase one but being
a windows user I was waiting for someone to come along with a killer player
not made by Apple. Well I guess I finally got tired of waiting and made
the decision to bite the bullet and get the iPod. I must say that it was
the best decision that I ever made.

If you don’t own an mp3 player already, I would recommend the iPod,
and even if you do own another mp3 player it may be time to upgrade. With
the addition of Podcasting to iTunes 4.9 the iPod has become the must
have tech gadget of 2005.

Just in case you don’t know what podcasting is, I will explain.
Podcasting is basically an on-line radio program delivered straight to
your iPod or other mp3 player. My wife has even started her own Podcast
over at cwahm.com. This Podcast is devoted to women who have decided to
start working from home. There are Podcasts that have been created for
just about every topic under the sun. A lot of Podcasts focus on Tech
related news and views, but the landscape of what is being done in Podcasting
is opening up quickly. I have found Podcasts for everything from video
games to Christian music. I would say that with Podcasting, just like
the internet, the sky is the limit. A lot of broadcast based and internet
based radio programs are starting to offer Podcasts. I guess you could
consider Podcasting the newest fad for 2005.

I also like the iPod because of the support from all of the third party
vendors who have started making car kits for the iPod. There are several
different choices on the market. Some of the car hookups require nothing
more than plugging into your cars outlet and turning your radio to the
proper channel. Others plug directly into the back of your factory radio
and allow you to actually control the iPod from the stereo. I purchased
the kind that plug into your factory stereo from www.mp3yourcar.com, and
it has been great. If you have the money I would definitely recommend
this option because of the sound quality.

I guess the point that I have been trying to get across is that it might
just be time to check out an iPod for yourself because I think that the
technology has finally made them a viable option. Without a lot of experience
you can download and listen to your favorite music and radio programs.
But you don’t have to take my word for it - check it out for yourself.

For more iPod information:
http://apple.com/itunes
http://ilounge.com
http://ipodgarage.com

Podcasting information:
http://podcasts.cwahd.com
http://christianpodcasting.com
http://odeo.com
http://podnova.com

My favorite Podcasts:
http://diggnation.com
http://thisweekintech.com
http://wiredjesus.com/

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Allen Hart is the founder and editor of Christian Work at Home Dads, CWAHD.com.
This site is dedicated to providing dads with work at home resources and
opportunities to promote their businesses while at the same time providing
them spiritual encouragement and articles. E-mail Allen at info@cwahd.com
for additional information or stop
by his site at www.cwahd.com.

This article is free to reprint if the Author’s Bio remains in tact.
For additional articles, please contact Allen Hart.