Category: product endorsements

WHY I switched from Bluehost to WordPress.com

On By Rick McIn blogs, internet, product endorsementsLeave a comment

Finally. All my sites are on WordPress.com. Happy. Happy. 🙂

WordPress.com is a blog web hosting service provider owned by Automattic and powered by the open source WordPress software.

This website provides free blog hosting for registered users and is financially supported via paid upgrades, “VIP” services and advertising. …

Registration is not required to read or comment …

Some notable clients include CNN, CBS, BBC, Reuters, Sony, Fortune.com and Volkswagen. It is estimated that more than 40% of internet bloggers use WordPress as their publishing platform. ..

Click PLAY or see how it works on YouTube.

I’ve been sending money to Bluehost every month for years. It is still rated one of the best hosts though I’ve been dissatisfied from the start.

Bluehost sites frequently go down.

When you inquire why, they blame the customer. 😦

Seems Bluehost is unable to keep servers shared by many people secure. WordPress.com has almost never been hacked.

One guy at Bluehost is super. Matt Greenwood <mattgreenwood@bluehost.com> If you MUST host on a for profit server, I’d recommend you contact him.

WordPress.com is by far the best of the free web hosting services. I do pay for some add-on services with WordPress.com. Happy to support that excellent company

I'm recommending WordPress.com, not WordPress.org
I’m recommending WordPress.com, not WordPress.org

WordPress.com vs WordPress.org – What’s the Difference?

Fargo (season 2)

On By Rick McIn product endorsements, TVLeave a comment

Excellent. It’s still got the Coen brothers weirdness of the original film.

And much better than True Detective (season 2).

 Click PLAY or watch a trailer on YouTube.  🙂

 

The second season of the American anthology black comedy–crime drama television series Fargo premiered on October 12, 2015, on FX.

Starring Kirsten Dunst, Patrick Wilson, Jesse Plemons, Jean Smart and Ted Danson, the season consisted of ten episodes and concluded its airing on December 14, 2015.

Set primarily between Fargo, North Dakota and Luverne, Minnesota in March 1979, the season is a prequel to the first season detailing the events that lead to a massacre in Sioux Falls, South Dakota that was often mentioned in season one. …

related – Season 3 of Fargo won’t premiere until 2017

Travel Insurance for Canadians

On By Rick McIn hiking, product endorsements, travel1 Comment

I renewed my travel insurance for another year. This still looks the best deal for me. I haven’t made a claim … so I don’t know for sure.

__ original post April 2015:

What’s the best travel insurance for a 57yr-old who spends a good deal of time in the States. And who hikes remote nations?

Year round policies.

Budget backpackers, including myself, have long used World Nomads.

But the last time I went to book with them, there was some sort of weird exclusion for Albertans. 😦

Right now they want CAD$408.45 for 6 months. FAR too expensive.

The best site for Canadians researching the topic is Travel Insurance Review. Click through for a list of options with commentary.

There’s no coverage for anyone over 60 with many policies, including World Nomads. I’ve got a couple of years left.

World Escapade insurance is available to travelers who are 74 years old or younger. Travel CUTS Bon Voyage insurance is only sold to those age-50 or younger.

With my TD Bank account I can get less coverage for 1 year for $128.00. Rather than trying their lousy online system, call 1-866-566-1464.

TD uses Meloche Monnex to handle their insurance. The very inexpensive cost is offset by a deductible on any claim. $100 to $1000 deductible. I’ve never made a claim in the past. Don’t expect to make one in future. But this covers me (partly) for worst case scenarios.

I’ll go with TD Meloche Monnex.

TBN-Logo-Blue-Transparent-Edited-e1400086871155

related – The Barefoot Nomad – Resources We Recommend

improved slaughterhouses

On By Rick McIn ethics, food, product endorsementsLeave a comment

If you eat mammals as I do, there’s some good news.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Thousands of animals are slaughtered for meat every second. Who is Temple Grandin and how has she helped to reform the meat industry and improve the welfare of livestock?

pedal 1 hour, electricity for 24 hours

On By Rick McIn cycling, economics, ethics, health & fitness, product endorsements, things getting betterLeave a comment

Pollution free energy. 🙂

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Manoj_Bhargava,_Founder,_5-hour_ENERGY
Billions in Change is a movement to save the world by creating and implementing solutions to the most basic global problems – water, energy and health. Doing so will raise billions of people out of poverty and improve the lives of everyone – rich and poor.

That’s the mission of founder philanthropist Manoj Bhargava, born in India, educated in the U.S.

Bhargava has committed to giving away 99% of his $4 billion dollar net worth and signed the well-known Giving Pledge in 2012.

Thanks to Doug Davis for the link.

AUDIO books and PODCASTS 2015

On By Rick McIn audiocasts, books, friends, product endorsementsLeave a comment

Seems everyone I know is now listening to audio books and podcasts. 🙂

In the fall of 2014, the medium of podcasting achieved a milestone moment. The podcast Serial – which reinvestigated the 1999 murder of Maryland high school student Hae Min Lee – became the fastest podcast to reach 5 million streams or downloads in iTunes history. Although the success of Serial – a spinoff of WBEZ’s This American Life – clearly represented a new peak in the popularity of podcasts, Pew Research Center data show that the medium has, in fact, been steadily growing its audience …

journalism.org

PJ_15.04.28_FSA-Podcasting

I’m currently subscribed to about 70 podcasts. But truly only listen to about a dozen of those. They are all free via iTunes.

I have about 20 audio books lined up into the future. I pay an average of about $10 for those.

I buy from Amazon – Audible.com.

Audible

The advantages of audio over reading are many. But progress in the switch over has been slower than I would have expected.

Sadly, Apple has mostly bungled podcasts. Their apps have been lousy. Yet the competitors have not dented the importance of iTunes in distribution.

Audible is too dominant in the audio book market. They don’t innovate. They charge too much / title. Yet competitors have not dented the market leader, Amazon.

related – Against all odds, print books are on the rise again in the US

Alzheimer’s and me

On By Rick McIn food, product endorsements, things getting betterLeave a comment

I’ll need these soon. Christmas 2016, perhaps. 🙂

Compassionate new spoons and plates make it easier for people with Alzheimer’s to eat

thumb-eatwell-mashable

(via Mashable – 26 incredible innovations that improved the world in 2015)

in praise of Otis elevators

On By Rick McIn product complaints, product endorsements, travelLeave a comment

I travel a lot. Take elevators in all sorts of buildings all over the world.

I’ve noticed that Otis elevators work. Pretty much all the time. And that all other brands of elevators have problems.

… In 1852, Elisha Otis introduced the safety elevator, which prevented the fall of the cab if the cable broke. The design of the Otis safety elevator is somewhat similar to one type still used today. …

Today the Otis Elevator Company, now a subsidiary of United Technologies Corporation, is the world’s largest manufacturer of vertical transport systems. …

Otis

If you see a name plate for any other company (ThyssenKrupp, Schindler, etc.) … you should consider taking the stairs.