Thanks for the post from Kirk Wood

I knew I wanted to make the switch to satellite TV, but I had no idea who to buy it from. I really do like to shop online, so I thought I would search a few of my options before making a decision. Of course as soon as I started shopping for my satellite TV service, I found a million other things to do. I shopped for shoes on Zappo’s, paid some of my bills, and then got totally sidetracked reading news. Shopping online is like a black hole for me. Once I get started, it’s really hard for me to stop. I just get so excited, and then forget what I actually logged on for. When I realized that I was not completing the task I had set out to get done, I knew I needed to get focused. I immediately found satellitetvfamily.com, which had some great deals. Instead of going crazy and searching a thousand sites, I decided just to buy from them. They had great deals that I could afford, and I was happy with their service. I’m glad that I didn’t get stuck in the black hole again!

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Snapdragon by Qualcomm. All opinions are 100% mine.

Starting December 18th and going on for about 11 days or so, Qualcomm Stadium (The Q) in San Diego is going to be renamed for the first time since it became Qualcomm (from Jack Murphy or The Murph) back in 1997. It will be called Snapdragon Stadium. Snapdragon processors by Qualcomm are the digital brains inside mobile devices made.

I don’t know about anyone else but I love when stadiums get renamed. Why? I have no idea. I just like change! The stadium is one of the NFL’s oldest stadiums and while she sometimes seems to be falling apart in places, the renaming–though temporarily–is still like a fresh little facelift for the old girl. While renamed, the stadium will play host to a Chargers/Baltimore Ravens Sunday night game and two college bowl games: the Poinsettia Bowl (Dec. 21) and the Holiday Bowl (Dec. 28). As a San Diego native myself, born and raised there, I have only been alive long enough to see The Murph become The Q. Even though this will be only temporary, I still like being a part of that bit of history.

Qualcomm Snapdragon processors are in 300 mobile phones, tablets, etc. and are expected to be in another 350 devices still in development. As Snapdragon processors become more powerful, they are likely to start being put into things like laptops and will start encroaching on a territory previously owned by Intel.

“There’s an incredible focus now on smartphones and tablets,” said Dan Novak, vice president of global marketing for Qualcomm. “What we’re looking to do is raise the volume on awareness for Snapdragon — let people know it is the heart of their smartphone, and then build awareness and eventually preference.”

Side note, according to Scoop San Diego: “The cost for changing the name of the stadium is said to be less than a 30-second commercial at the upcoming Chargers-Ravens game.”  WOW! Smart move there, Qualcomm!

sports business daily | scoop san diego | sign on san diego

If you somehow have been living under a rock for the last year and however long, you wouldn’t have heard about the whole “internet blacklist” and all of the various censorship attempts that congress has been trying to enact. I am often on sites like “demand progress dot org” and decided to share just a few of these:

Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the PROTECT IP Act (PIPA)
The AT&T/Comcast “Three Strikes” Censorship Deal
Congress Wants To Make Streaming A Felony
the Internet “Kill Switch”
Mandatory Internet IDs
trying to outlaw WikiLeaks

Oh. And then there is Facebook:
Tell Facebook: Stop Censoring Political Speech

More than 50 blocked pages were political in nature, and several users have had their pages maliciously blocked through fraudulent claims of intellectual property violations. This news follows Facebook’s disturbing assertions that it’s willing to work with government censors in places like China, and that the company is worried that it sometimes provides “too much” free speech.
Excerpt from the demandprogress site

I’m sorry. Aren’t people outspoken about these sorts of things being done in China, Egypt, etc and yet it’s in motion to happen here? I don’t even have any words for my feelings on that stupidity.

Stay Classy, Internets.
♡ Kristen

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Sprint. All opinions are 100% mine.

I have this really strange habit of losing my phone at the most random times. It’s not that I am a forgetful person. In fact, I’ve never lost my phone somewhere that was <i>not</i> my place of residence. Most random place to find said phone? The drawer of the dresser in the spare bedroom. Wait. What? Yeah. I know.

So enter the Sprint Total Equipment Protection App; It will help you locate your phone if it is lost, lock the phone, and you can even remotely wipe the phone if it gets lost beyond your ability to get it back or even stolen. No one wants that fear of having their phone fall into the wrong hands and suddenly all of their information is in someone else’s possession.

Don’t have anything like this yet? Why not?? Sprint customers have until August 30th to add this feature to their phone so you had better jump on this. It costs $8.00 per month. And while there is a deductible ($50 or $100) for approved claims should a phone need to be replaced, it’s definitely better than the full replacement price of that sweet EVO you got yourself: $449. But again, Sprint customers can only get in on this until August 30th!

… speaking of phones, has anyone seen mine? Ugh! I have to find it.

Just before I left for my visit with my girls, my new monitor came in. It’s a Samsung LCD widescreen (23.5″) monitor. I was able to get that and the borrowed monitor set up for dual view and I had a very happy, geek-girl moment.

When I worked for AAA in dispatch, we had dual screens. It was very useful and it was something that I had gotten so used to that I wanted the same set up for myself with my personal computer. This monitor is the first new monitor I have ever owned. That pleases me just in itself.

Now I can be doing something full screen and not completely lose the ability to multitask in another screen. Or I can have video playing on one screen while I work on something on the other–which is really what I wanted it for. I used to watch movies and TV shows on my computer all the time. But because it took up so much room and limited my ability to continue working on what I was doing, I wasn’t very happy with my setup.

I am now! Eventually, down the road, I will replace the borrowed monitor with another new one but that is not something I am worried about. When it happens, it happens. I’m just all kinds of happy-spazzy that I even have this new one.

Yay!