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January 6, 2010
January 5, 2010
Nexus One previewed with Flash 10.1 beta: careful what you wish for (video) — Engadget
via engadget.com
I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to wait for flash ads to load over the mobile web.
February 19, 2009
Focus Groups and Research Studies [easy money]
Just about everyone I know is interested in making some money (esp if you are unemployed). So I put together a list of the Focus & Research groups that I am registered with in the Dallas area. There are more in other cities, just go digging around. I understand Austin has quite the plethora of medical studies. So if you’re a broke student and don’t mind being poked and prodded then go find them. Those pay upwards to $1,000 or more and they last a while longer. There are some of those in Dallas but most of the time you have to have something “wrong” with you to qualify for them and I’m pretty normal aside from allergies so I don’t do them.
The way it works is first you must get yourself registered in their database (see sites below). At some point you will get an email or phone call to let you know of a study happening, they will ask a few questions to see if you qualify. If you do qualify for the study/focus group they will give you the date, time and location. The calls are usually a week before so it’s good to be flexible. Expect to spend anywhere from 30 minutes to 2 hours in the discussion. On payment, 95% of the time you get paid immediately afterward, some pay cash, most pay in check form.
The timing of the phone calls or emails are completely sporadic. It’s important that you answer the call because they don’t generally call back. I’ve even caught myself putting a conference call on mute at work to answer the call on my cell! As far as emails are concerned, I’ve setup filters in Gmail to have them forwarded right to my phone via text message so I get them right when they come in. I only do this for one company because they tend to send an email asking you to call them to see if you qualify. If you want me to explain how to do the forwarding thing let me know in the comments.
So what does a focus group entail? Sometimes you will be just sitting in a small group talking and giving opinions about a particular thing like socks, cell phones, or some other product. They are often guided by a discussion facilitator who usually has some paperwork for you to read or fill out. While you are discussing the product you can expect to be recorded via audio/video. Sometimes you may also have some people observing you from behind a 2 way mirror. Yes, it is odd, but you get accustomed to it. I have personally done taste tests, talked about cell phones for 2 hrs ($75), looked at student loan lenders and even played a juror in a mock trial!
This is not going to replace your normal income, it will only complement it. I find it makes for unexpected money that often helps pay for the little things you tend to forget to budget for, minor car repairs, gifts, or like myself, concerts!
Here are the websites to register at:
Clinical Connection (if you’re into getting poked & prodded)
If you have any questions…. reply to me on twitter @got80s or in the comments.
December 23, 2008
2008 Top 5 Lists
I always like to share what I’ve found each year because it helps others find new things. The only reason I say that is because I am constantly searching the web, or talking my friends virtual or real about the media we are consuming. Quite often I’m at the mercy of my husband and his complete control over the the remote so I just let him take over the recommendations in the home. He’s got great taste, I mean, he found me 
. But sometimes variety is the spice of life so I look to the web for recommendations outside my little world. Below are my top lists of things that I have fallen in love with over the past year. What did you find out about this year that you feel like sharing with me? Tell me in the comments or @ me on Twitter.
Top 5 Albums of 2008
I pulled these from my play counts compiled by my Last.fm & Zune.net accounts.
Gnarls Barkley – The Odd Couple
Santogold – Santogold
Of Montreal – Skeletal Lamping
IAMX – The Alternative
Dead Confederate – Wrecking Ball
Mixtape from http://favtape.com/got80s/top 5 08
Top 5 Movies
The Dark Knight – The last, and a great performance by Heath Ledger, can’t say the same for Christian Bale.
Milk – Great look into GLBT history, Harvey Milk is our MLK.
Wall-E – Simply the MOST stunning Sci-Fi film ever.
Kung Fu Panda- Another out of left field, really funny movie that appeals to adults and children alike.
Hancock – Surprisingly funny, refreshing to finally see Will Smith be a dick.
Top 5 Fun Movies
Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay – A must see for those who saw the first, or if you are a current or former pot head.
Wanted – No holds barred action film with the same director that did Night Watch / Day Watch.
Step Brothers- had me ROFLOL in the first 5 mins and for the rest of the film.
House Bunny – Seriously, it will make you laugh.
Forgetting Sarah Marshall - Kristen Bell (Veronica Mars), and Russell Brand, who was actually funny in this movie, unlike his appearance on MTV.
Top 5 Software / Tools
Twitter - After having an account for 7 months before I actually started using it, I’ve finally figured out how to use it and now I’m hooked. my account
Launchy - I don’t need icons anymore thanks to this free piece of software.
Digsby - I ditched the bug laden IM program Pidgin for this all in one piece of add free software and now I’m loving it.
Firefox 3 – If you are still using Internet Explorer on your home computer you are an idiot. ( I understand if you can’t use it on your work computer) If you need to be educated on why Firefox is awesome watch this video.
Google Reader – Forget actually visiting sites to see new content, make your own “newspaper” with Google Reader & the RSS feeds from the sites you visit, you’ll get addicted.
Top 5 (nah, just 2) Concerts
Both of these concerts were visually stunning, they will stick in my mind as some of the best shows I’ve ever seen.
Nine Inch Nails – Lights in The Sky Tour
Of Montreal – Skeletal Lamping Tour
Top 5 TV Shows
Little Britian USA – The UK version is just as funny.
The I.T. Crowd – UK is on season 3, but you can catch it on IFC currently showing season 2.
Dexter - I promise, you will be cheering on a serial killer by the time you finish your first episode ( you can rent the first 2 seasons, season 3 just finished airing)
Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles - This show is a little over the top with drama, but the visuals are great for a TV series, plus it’s available to watch in full on Hulu.com
Chuck – Currently on season 2 (you can watch on Hulu.com ), rent season 1. It’s consistently funny and well written.
Until next year, toodles..
July 2, 2008
Looking at Electrical Outlet & Fork [Summer Fun]
So, I’ve been silent on the blogging front lately because, well, I’ve not been excited by much lately. Matt’s in NY having a ball and I’ve been doing my film homework every night. I’m almost done with 4 weeks of a super speed summer class about film. Pretty much used all my time to read till my eyes bleed and write till my fingers do the same. Sure has been an awful lot of reading and writing for a class about movies(scratching head).
I had a temporary period where my Creative Zen died on me and I had to hear the world around me minus my personal soundtrack. Never realized how uber-boring and quiet it can be on campus and in my cube at work. I quickly made with the spending of money that I didn’t have and broke my longtime tradition of buying Creative players and got a Microsoft Zune 2.0. I emphasize the V2 because V1 was an absolute EPIC FAIL. Except for the awesomeness of sharing songs which was dubbed squirting . I have to say aside from some little uber-tech speak problems, the player is quite usable.
I’m in the market for a new cell phone and the new iPhone looks promising but the plans are just wayyyy out of my $$$ range. Plus I’m with T-mobile and currently contract free so if I’m ever booted out the door at my temp job and times get tough I can drop my phone without paying an arm and leg. Phones contract free are freaking expensive and to be quite honest they all just suck. I text and call, maybe use the web once in a blue moon on my phone. I’d like to get a “qwerty” phone because I do 90% texting and 10% calling. I just can’t find one that I like, that I can afford. I think they consulted Barbie when making the latest Blackberry because the keys are so small I can’t even use it. I’ve gotten so frustrated by trying to find a phone that I like that I’ve almost just given up and said fuck’em all together. For now my phone is getting some glue since it’s all sorts of cracked.
I’m listening to music like crazy lately. Found a bunch of new artists and some old ones that dropped new albums. You can see what I’ve been into by checking out my Last.fm account, friend me if you are on it. They are still working on making the Zune work with it (they=hackers). Matt got me into The Office, of which I’ve now seen every episode. I myself revisited Weeds and found that I can’t miss an episode now and nor can Matt. Aside from that, nothing in the glorious world of TV has pulled me in.
As I mentioned long ago, I’m taking 2 summer classes. The film one is almost done and the Digital Photography class is almost useless. The best part is the tax write off for the Canon Rebel I had to buy for the class. I’m still on Flickr and uploading most of my homework alongside regular photos, so if you are interested head on over and check it out. If you want to just track everything I do online you can join me on FriendFeed or just subscribe to my feed. I read a lot of articles and hear a lot of music online and sometimes recommend something to read. FriendFeed is a timeline of all of my online activities, including this blog. I live under the reality that Privacy is Dead so I willingly jack myself into the net and let it know my thoughts.
In the real world, stuff has happened.
There’s been two new additions to the family since I last blogged. Matt’s sister had her baby boy Jacob and his sister-in-law just had her boy Ian. I’m kinda over babies, I mean seriously, I’m now an uncle 12x’s over. Not to mention my friends got into the whole baby thing (Will/Bethany). I’m just excited that I’m baby free, they’re cute, but they are quite the handful. Plus, I’m a smidge ADD and tend to get into something that’s new and then get bored with it. That might be problematic if Matt and I adopted. I mean you can’t in all good sense return a baby. They don’t come with receipts do they?