Realm of the Shadow Redux

I’ve been trolling the web lately and found a site full of Web 2.0 tools that are available and easy to use. These tools are focused to help make your online life easier (and some of them ACTUALLY DO) and provide some useful services depending on what you are trying to do online. I will highlight just a few of them here and provide you the link for further apps for your perusal:

1. 1. Amplify – an application that helps the user clip portions of webpages for usage in twitter, facebook, delicious, and Clipmarks. There are plans to extend this service to other social sites as well.
2. 2. Thy News – get the news the way you want it. Choose from online news sites (paper or video), blogs, online magazines, rss feeds, and other sources to customize your daily news. For an example go to my own Thy News!
3. 3. TWTPoll – Create a poll for your twitter and/or facebook (you can embed it in other places as well!). It’s easy and FREE!
4. 4. TWTBizCard – Create a virtual business card to provide your contact information and a short description. Mine is embedded in the footer of my blog here. Look for it down there!
5. 5. TWTJobs – Create a resume or post a job opening from the same Web 2.0 application! See my resume on the sidepanel for a quick example.

These are just a few of the many, many Web 2.0 apps that are available on this site or on the rest of the web. Here’s the address for you to check them out in your own time (I’m still trying to work my way through this site as well). Good luck with it and if you happen to find on that you really enjoy, be sure to comment on it and share it with the rest of the readers here!

Web 2.0 Tools and Applications at Go2Web20 be advised though, there are over 50 pages of apps here, this might be addicting!

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Ok folks, time for a new semester. I’m taking MATH 096 and DMED 110 this semester. The Math class is a remedial algebra class in preparation for me to take the college level algebra needed for my degree. The DMED class is Web Page Development and should be no problem considering I’ve been coding pages since around 1994. I’m not taking the Web Page Development course for my degree but instead to help “round out” my skill set and make myself more marketable in preparation for my career change later on in life. Neither of these courses should be overly difficult for me as long as I stay focused and committed to the task at hand. I will most likely be posting some of my assignments for your pleasure and critique. I may also post some of my math assignments if I am having difficulties with them in hopes that someone could steer me in the proper direction.

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Kimberly told me about this video and now I’ve got to share it with you. Check this out….

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Ok folks, I’ve ate at numerous BBQ joints in my time, some famous and some not so famous but without a doubt there is only one that I would travel out of my way to visit. That one is Super Smokers BBQ in Eureka or St. Peters, MO.! To me there is no better pulled pork, chicken, beef brisket or ribs than at Super Smokers. Marinated with a custom made rub before it is placed in their Fast Eddy smokers made by Cookshack and smoked for hours on end in tasty apple wood!

What more could you ask for? Well, how about the choice of BBQ sauces (6 of them!) ranging from a mustardy Caroline sauce, sweet St. Louis, Kansas City, tangy Tennessee, spicy Texas and their own Championship sauce (I think I got all of those right!) placed in empty beer cartons for some atmosphere. All of which are worth the trying and believe me, you get plenty of food to try them all if you decide to! Portion sizes are well worth the money that is charged for this meal and couple it with the home-made applesauce and seasoned green beans (my favorite sides at Super Smokers) and you won’t be able to complain at all.

Now I mentioned atmosphere and Super Smokers is full of that! Once you walk into the restaurant you realize that you are not in some fancy smancy high brow place but instead in a quality eats place that focuses more on flavorful food than they do on “putting on the airs” quite often found in high dollar restaurants. You walk up to the cash register to order your food cafeteria-style after gazing at the array of foods listed on the menu wall (yep, the menu is hand written on the wall and you truly get hungry just reading the choices!). Once you order your food you get a number and find a seat, your food will be right out before you know it.

The walls are covered with an eclectic collection of memorabilia and writings on the wall (I still remember the first time we went to Super Smokers and they allowed the customers to write comments on the walls, a practice no longer allowed but they still have some remnants around the place). Pictures of what I assume are the 3 original founders of Super Smokers depicted in the famous “hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil” poses, witty sayings, and an assortment of other items decorate this rustic and interesting establishment. Enough so to feast the eyes as well as the belly in!

Couple that with friendly service from wait staff like Kimberly and the General Manager Jake who are friendly, outgoing and eager to ensure your visit there is fulfilling and memorable and you have the makings of a world class establishment fit to serve anyone from the locals to the White House (yes, they have even catered to the White House, check it out!).

So, if you are anywhere near either St. Peters or Eureka, MO and are even a little bit hungry, I highly recommend stopping in and grabbing a rack of ribs or maybe one of the many sandwiches that are offered there. Definitely not only worth dropping in but also worth going back to on each visit down there. Being right outside of Six Flags surely can’t hurt either as it is the perfect place to enjoy a great meal after being slung around on the coasters all day long! This place goes on my favorite places to eat and travel 40 miles to do so list!

Tags: Family, Fun, food, vacation by shadowchaser
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I’m talking about a specific “ALLEGED” criminal here, our former governor Rod Blagojevich. Just in case you are not aware of the person I am speaking about, here’s an excerpt from wikipedia:

Blagojevich was arrested on federal corruption charges December 9, 2008. The charges involved conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud and solicitation of bribery. The Justice Department complaint alleges that the governor conspired to commit several “pay-to-play” schemes, including attempting to sell Barack Obama’s vacated United States Senate seat to the highest bidder.

This actually is just one instance in a history of injustices Blago has perpetrated against the citizens of Illinois. Even though “Governor Rod” came from a blue-collar background, and he made campaign promises to initiate change from our corrupt “business as usual” government over the last 20 years in Illinois, it soon became evident after his first election that nothing good was going to change. How he won a second term I’ll never understand.

Anyway, after being impeached from office in Illinois, he has explored many avenues to profiting off of his exploits including the bid to write a book. Now I wake up this morning to find out that he has been hired by WLS Radio (A.M. 890) for a Sunday early afternoon slot. Now we don’t have the specifics of his salary but any amount is too much to listen to this scum prattle on about how innocent he is and how much he deserves to be back in office.

My point is this, why do we allow such people to profit off of their crimes and/or notoriety? Since when is it right to allow a person like Blago to retain a lifestyle that is better than those of his victims? Blago’s victims are the citizens of Illinois, they are victims of his lies, deceit, misinformation, greed, and other crimes yet to be discovered. Time will show that Blago is indeed guilty of at least some if not most of the crimes that he has been accused of. I can only hope that the people of Illinois will wake up and stand up against such people. It seems to me that Blago is building a case for a mistrial by being allowed to discuss his crimes in the public forum of radio, T.V., and celebrity talk engagements as to disallow anyone to be chosen as a non-biased juror. Of course this is all just my opinion and like everyone else it probably stinks.

Now if you will excuse me, I think I hear the gears creaking and grinding from the Chicago Machine as they begin their way down to central Illinois to quiet down a lonely hillbilly who can’t keep his mouth shut. I’m headed for cover!

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