Archive for October, 2007

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Support Our Troops Online

- by Jim Edwards

© Jim Edwards – All Rights reserved
http://www.thenetreporter.com
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A few days ago we received word that my son-in-law was gravely injured when the vehicle he drove in Iraq was hit by a roadside bomb.

He faces a long recovery and may never fully regain the use of his right foot, yet he was one of the lucky ones in this incident.

One of his friends and team members was killed and another was grievously injured and fighting for his life in a hospital bed in Germany right now.

Sometimes it’s easy to forget the fact that so many men and
women serve to protect us and our freedom every day until
something like this happens to you.

Whether you agree with the current political climate or the
reasons we fight or not, it’s important to never lose sight
of the fact that our soldiers are in peril serving us.

Unless you have a son or daughter or husband or wife
serving, it may never cross you mind to really think about
the tremendous sacrifices every armed forces member makes
daily so we can remain safe and free.

However, what you may not realize (or even think about) is
that these young men and women are not robots – they’re
people.

They get scared and lonely and homesick just like you would
if you got separated from friends and family over thousands
of miles for months, sometimes years at a time.

But there is something we can all do to make their lives
brighter and bring comfort to them and their families no
matter how far away their duty station – and the Internet
helps us do it!

** www.USO.org **

The USO (United Services Organization) has been helping to
support the troops ever since Bob Hope toured Europe to
entertain during World War II.

The USO continues its mission today by offering help,
support, and comfort to our troops both at home and abroad.


But the USO needs help constantly with both cash donation
and volunteer help to keep serving our troops.

If you can’t volunteer your time then they would certainly
appreciate a donation through their website.

You can even make your donation in memory of someone or in
honor of someone special to you.

** www.AmericaSupportsYou.mil **

This site provides a way to connect with troop support
organizations in your state.

Here in Virginia there are 40 different sites listed with
more information on how you can make a difference in the
lives of our troops and their families.

This site makes it possible for you to find a specific way
you can contribute.

With the holidays coming up, it’s even more important to
get involved with the effort to support our troops with
more than just a ribbon on a tree or a magnet on a car.

The best gift anyone can give is the gift of time, energy
and effort to make someone else’s life a little brighter.

Even if you just send a card, make a donation, or put
together a gift box, that simple act may lift the spirits
of someone who could really use a hug across thousands of
miles or right around the corner.

If you don’t do it, then who will?

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– Jim Edwards is a syndicated newspaper columnist and the
proud father-in-law of "PFC Jon H." who is the
proud father of baby Johnny, Jim’s handsome grandson

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5 Cool Websites Nobody Knows About!

      – by Jim Edwards

© Jim Edwards – All Rights reserved
    http://www.thenetreporter.com
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The following websites warrant a close look simply because
they rate so darn useful! In fact, you might just want to
tear this article out of the paper right now and put it up
on your fridge — because I know you’ll need it sooner or
later!

* Hard to Find 800 #’s *
Let’s face it. When you want customer support, it seems
like the phone number you need is the last phone number on
earth you can find, especially a toll-free support number.
Enter www.HardToFind800Numbers.com to the rescue.

The tag line on the site sums up the service, "You keep
them in business. Yet they hide from you. Until now."
Boasting 800 numbers for Microsoft, Amazon, eBay, Paypal
and more, the site makes it easier to avoid adding insult
to injury by paying per-minute for the privilege of waiting
on hold.

* Rentometer.com *
www.Rentometer.com enables you to compare rental rates on one
property or apartment against rents in the surrounding
area. The site uses a "mashup" with Google Maps to show not
only what other properties rent for, but their exact
locations relative to the property you entered.

The site rates especially useful for homeowners weighing
renting vs. selling their property and need a fast
thumbnail sketch of rental rates in the immediate area. Oh,
and if you currently rent, the site can give you an idea
whether your rental rate puts you at the top or bottom of
the local scale.

* DaFont.com *
Despite that fact that everyone typically only uses 2 or 3
different fonts (Arial and Times New Roman for me), a whole
world of cool and useful fonts exists online. Log on to
www.DaFont.com, browse through over 7,000 different fonts
separated by category, and then spice up your greeting
cards, web graphics and more.

Most of the fonts work with both PC and Mac, but the site
assumes you know how to install a font on your computer.
For PC, simply unzip the font in your Windows /Fonts/
directory. For Mac, consult your help files.

* OldVersion.com *
Ever upgraded to a newer version of a software product and
almost instantly regretted it? Log on to www.OldVersion.com and
download one of over 170+ common software programs with
upgrades that left people less than impressed.

For example, need to test your PDF file on an older version
of Acrobat Reader? OldVersion.com lets you dial back the
clock all the way to Acrobat Reader 2.0 (along with
versions 3-7).

* Any Chat – Anywhere *
If you like online chat, I’ll bet you maintain more that
one ID on multiple online chat services.  Well instead of
installing several different chat software programs or even
installing any software at all, you can use www.Meebo.com.

Meebo.com enables you to chat on MSN, AIM, Google Talk, and
Yahoo! with just your web browser and makes a great way to
chat either from either home or on the road.

* Convert File Formats *
www.Zamzar.com makes it easy to convert files from most popular
image, document and video formats into another. Previously
you had to scour the web to find an app to convert each
type of file, but Zamzar.com will convert files up to 100MB
in 4 steps at no charge (and my tests on Word docs and PDF
files proved very promising).

Well worth a look before you buy a piece of software just
to convert a single file from one format to another.

–
Jim Edwards is a syndicated newspaper columnist and the
creator of an amazing course that will teach you step-by-
step and click-by-click how to finally create your own
money-making mini-sites…

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