PicApp – What is it?  An online service that lets you use free of charge quality professional images from Getty Images, Corbis, Newscom, Image Source, Splash News and the recently added Pacific Coast News.  The app is picking up speed amongst bloggers and other content publishers that would like to use professional images without the worry of copyright infringement.  It also promises to add that extra punch to your site giving it a quality feel and look.  Image use is granted in exchange for allowing PicApp to display a small ad block under the photo.

There are thousands of images to choose from and they are broken down into two simple categories; creative and editorial.  Within these two categories the images can be searched based on professionally tagged keywords.  There is also a WordPress plugin that lets you easily select and post images directly from your blog post editor.

The company does not require you to register to use its service, however it does require an email address in order to copy the embed code to publish an image.  Registering gives you further benefits like a lightbox that lets you store previously used images for future use and reference, etc. 

PicApp seems to be a great source for celebrity, news and sports photos.  The second photo in this post is of Susan Lucci recently putting her handprints in concrete for Planet Hollywood.  The PicApp images feature a “more” option that readers can click on to read additional information about the photo.

Other photos like the first one in this post are from the creative category and may or may not have the “more” option.  This photo was found with the search term “shirtless beach” in the WordPress plugin provided by PicApp.

The pros and cons:

PicApp pros

• Easy access to professional images
• No worry of copyright infringement
• Great for celebrity gossip and editorial sites
• Reduces image surfing to find the right image
• Nifty image size and text alignment options
• Fast and intuitive searching and embedding
• Advanced search options
• It’s free

PicApp cons

• ‘Read More’ feature cannot be turned off
• Ad block may be considered intrusive
• Does not offer custom image sizing
• Does not inherit or offer a way to blend with blog settings for images and ad block
• No revenue share with content publishers

PicApp WordPress plugin pros

• Convenience
• Easy to install and activate
• Most all the PicApp pros listed above

PicApp WordPress plugin cons

• Search is erratic and does not display all search results pages
• No advanced search options
• Copy to clipboard function did not work in my test
• All the PicApp cons listed above

Summary:

I like PicApp very much but it also needs some work on both the software architecture and business model to meet my needs.  I have two main caveats and those are with the ad block and the ‘Read More’ inclusions with PicApp. 

The ‘Read More’ feature is pointless for most content publishers as it takes away from the creative process in writing by adding its own story/article when the content publisher should be the one telling the story how they see fit.  This should be an option for the publisher as to whether or not to include it with the published photo.  To satisfy copyright and source credit, PicApp could simply add a watermark to the bottom of the image instead of in the ‘Read More’ section. 

The ad block is a bit blocky for my liking and it is entirely style locked.  I suppose each one could be edited to fit site’s color scheme but that would be tedious if a lot photos were used.  As you can see on this blog the ad blocks make the entire post look shoddy and that also takes away from the quality of an image.  In my opinion PicApp is shooting their own foot by offering a quality and professional photos, yet no ability to offer the same with its advertising block.  It’s too easy to allow these blocks to inherit a blog’s color scheme settings for this to be an issue.  For that reason alone I cannot justify using PicApp as an image solution on this blog.

Revenue:  While this may not be an issue with all content publishers it certainly is for many.  The offer of images free of charge is great but to slap on an intrusive ad block (without any control or customization) in return is asking a bit much, I think.  Instead of the ‘Read More’ overlay feature why not incorporate the ads into a similar overlay.  The ad overlay could start in the open position and give the viewer the option to close it.  That would also solve the very unprofessional look of the current ad block.  Additionally, ad revenue should be shared with the publishers.  In fairness to PicApp, they do briefly mention in their FAQ’s section that something is coming soon.  However, there is no further information or timeline that content creators can look forward to at this point.

Again, I think PicApp is a great concept and will improve greatly in the coming months.  I will definitely keep my eye on them for progress and look forward to incorporating their services on this blog at some point in the future. 

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Ahh…  That worked.  Now for the video.

Sweet Jebus!  It worked for the video too!!!  And the toolbar is a little less sparse in functionality.  Nice…  I’ll play around with Live Writer beta with a few more posts in the near future and decide if the beta does it for me.

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What about the actual writing?  WordPress has a built-in editor that works fine.  But it does have limits that get in the way once you get to the point where you want to do more with your posts than just simply type and go.  There are several plugins out there that can enhance or even replace the built-in editor which are great.  Then there are the complete third party apps, like ScribeFire and Windows Live Writer.  I’ve used ScribeFire for over a year now and I’m mostly happy with the results.  It is a FireFox addon/plugin that resonates within the browser.  This makes it easy when writing from other URLs and blogs.  Like those times when you need to reference other blogs, etc.  I especially like the ability to insert links from other pages by simply having a page open and ScribeFire will automatically choose the URL for that page as the default when inserting a link at your request.

While ScribeFire is a great editor and writing tool it still falls short in several areas.  The most important of those for me is with photographs.  I like using photos and a lot of them in my blog.  Almost every post I write has at least one photo in it.  If it were easier to work with all of my posts would have them.  You might say, "how hard can it be to simply upload a photo?"  You’re right, that’s not the problem.  It is easy, but I like to do more.  I’m constantly resizing, etc.  With WordPress alone it’s a pain.  With ScribeFire, you have to go into code view and change the max size and that’s the limit of it.  If you upload a photo while in code view, you have to add the size attributes yourself.

A friend recently told me about Windows Live Writer.  I first heard of it months ago but never tried.  I didn’t think I’d like the idea of a desktop app to write in my blog.  I mean, I could just go to my blog admin and do it from there. ScribeFire on the other hand let me view my resources while writing.  I liked that a lot.  However my friend convinced me to try it at least once.  So this is my first post using Windows Live Writer.  It’s long on purpose!  Haha!   He also said there are many benefits.  The most important being that you can save your work to your desktop as an extra backup safety measure.  Second, photos are much easier to work with.  Third, you can preview your post exactly how it will look in your blog complete with blog layout including header, sidebars, footer, etc.  Plus he says there are all kinds of cool plugins that enhance the experience.  Oh, and video is supposed to be a snap too.

Let’s see about that:

Ok, that was a snap!  The video is from Remarkablogger about how to use Windows Live Writer.  It is a video my friend recommended that I watch.  It’s a great video that covers the basics of how to use the editor.  Now, back to inserting that video.  While the insertion was a snap, I couldn’t easily find a way to center it on the page.  The layout options are: inline, left and right all having to with text wrapping.  I noticed before the same was true with photos.  I’m sure there’s a way to center align but I’m just getting started.

Centering text works!  Yay!  But no centering images or video.  Boo! 

Confirmed: Just checked my resources.  So the only option would be to edit the code in WordPress after publishing.  And, well…  That sucks!  If you edit the code in Live Writer it just overwrites it back to the previous layout setting.  Not good.

However, the new beta that’s not so new (released this past summer) is supposed to offer image centering support.  I couldn’t find anything that said the same for videos. 

I’m going to run through a few more tests before I give my final review of the current production release.  After that I think I’ll try the beta because so far I like the feel of this program but it needs a lot more uhmpf to make it a complete sell.

There’s a bit more to this post but I’m going to put that on page two to test adding a WordPress tag to the post.

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We would like to introduce you to a new cookbook, Natural Harvest — A Collection of Semen-Based Recipes.  Designed to bring spice and fun back into your life.  This collection of recipes gives a whole new meaning to the naked chef.  This exotic and unusual cookbook is sure to wow the senses of cum connoisseurs around the globe. The cookbook is priced at only $24.95 and can be purchased at Lulu Publishing.  The author, Fotie Photenhauer, promises delivery by Christmas if ordered by December 12th.

The cookbook can also be previewed online at the above link.  Below are few photos from the preview we thought our readers might enjoy.  It is too late to order in time for Thanksgiving food preparation but no worries, the preview gives away a few recipes that you can whip up, giving them a try before you buy.  You and your partner will certainly be thankful for the effort you’ll put forth in the harvest of the freshest ingredient.

Cooking with Cum – Inspiration #1

“We all hope to pick up a smooth young stud when we head to the club, but at the club these guys go to, it all happens there and they are all stunningly beautiful! Full of fantastic close-up spunk showers.  This film will get you beating harder than a hand mixer, so keep a measuring cup nearby.”

*The perfect aid in milking that prized ingredient!  DVD image courtesy of Tla Video

Why not start off with the Strawberry Splasharita, a margarita cocktail made with you in mind, taste and satisfaction.  This margarita is best frozen instead of the traditional on-the-rocks version.  There are many stories of how margaritas originated as there are flavor varieties but this one will be one of a kind — It’s all about you because it has you in it!  It makes the perfect drink for the one you love.  Also making it the perfect cocktail for Valentine’s day.  Make one for your lover and have him shake one off for you.

The presentation is outstanding and the taste is sure to delight the pallet.

For a the main course, you might consider the delectable Veal Scallopini with a creamy semen-citrus based sauce.

For desert or the anytime snack you might try some Spunky Candied Pecans. There is just the right hint of muskiness to compliment these sweet nuts.  If you like a bolder flavor you can substitute the pecans with walnuts or any nuts of choice.

Finally, the perfect food for that before and after sex appetite.  Throughout the ages it is said that oysters make the perfect before sex food to help get your juices flowing.  So why not slide a few raw oysters down your throat as an aphrodisiac before sex.

Cooking with Cum – Inspiration #2

“Brad Slater just loves a nice stiff drink… of cum! Actually it’s the cock he likes to be stiff – the cum he prefers to be warm, gooey, wet and chewy.  Aim that load for his mouth because he’s a hungry stud and he ain’t leaving ’til everybody’s delivered.

In a local bath house Brad hooks up with 12 hot guys and sucks off their stiff rods gulping down all the man juice he can handle.”  Image courtesy of Tla Video

But what about afterward and that insatiable hunger that builds from working every muscle in your body? Save the shells and prepare you own Man Made Oysters.   This recipe promises to satisfy that after sex appetite like no other.

I’m not sure I’d ever try or recommend these recipes to friends.  However, I am sure that this would have to be one of the strangest cookbooks I would ever lay my hands on.  I’m even more sure it would make an excellent coffee table book and one that I wouldn’t have a problem displaying.  Just imagine the conversation that would take place when just one of several invited dinner guests sees this book lying on the table; then opens and begins to read it.  Now that’s priceless!

A special thanks to my cool friend Rey for sharing this on his blog, which is where I found out about this crazy book.

[Photo Sources: Cosmopolitan; Lulu; Tla]

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I could sum this post up with one word, WOW! But that would be a cheap shot. That said, I’ll make every effort to be frugal in the spoiler department. Although those are easily found all over the internet. If that’s what you’re looking for, knock yourself out.

We went to an afternoon viewing of The Dark Knight where it was being shown on six screens with a show starting approximately every 30 minutes. When we pulled into the parking lot we immediately spotted several people made up with “Joker” faces. We purchased our tickets for a later show then went to grab a bite to eat. We arrived back at the theater just in time to join the front of the line as they removed the rope letting everyone in our showing room. No, we didn’t rudely cut in line. We were guided in that direction by an attendee. We managed to get seats smack in the middle of the theater, which are my favorite seats (the screen doesn’t appear too big or too small). After the lights dimmed it was an eerie feeling to turn around and look up a the darkened theater room sprinkled with white flickering Joker faces and their big red lips.

On to my thoughts of the movie, The Dark Knight. I almost hate going to see a movie that’s overhyped up by commercial advertising and viral marketing techniques. Usually it sets me up for disappointment and even more often that disappointment pans out in a full ungratified failure of a movie. With this movie the over hyping was as over-the-top as any other, if not more. But this time the critics stood behind it. Still… I wasn’t sure if maybe they weren’t just being nice because of the tragedy earlier this year with Heath Ledger’s very unfortunate and untimely death.

Although as minor as they might be, I’ll get the negatives out of the way first. As I just mentioned I always find myself sitting in the theater looking for flaws of any overhyped film. I piss myself off with this because it’s almost as if I’m wanting to be disappointed. I must admit it was a hard sell to be disappointed with this film. I could only find two flaws worth mentioning.

The first negative was the film being unattractively loud during the action sequences. This one is difficult to explain since we expect loudness during the action scenes and even enjoy it. The scenes themselves were not eardrum popping. It was the gunshots, crashes, etc. It just seemed unnecessary but certainly not a noisy film as I’ve read from others. My second negative mention is Batman’s voice. I’ll just say it like this: At times the Batman sounds as if he’s sitting on the toilet executing a constipated dump. While these may be distractions for some, they in no way deter from the all around brilliance of The Dark Knight as a film. I just can’t seem to figure out why Batman wasn’t constipated in Christian Nolan’s first film, Batman Begins. Now that I know what to expect, I don’t feel these negatives will be as prominent in future viewings which is a must (more on that later).

It was the late Heath Ledger’s performance as the Joker that stole the performances and the show. His performance was so in tune with the character that it yielded perfection. If Ledger had acted any more it would have been over done but instead he nailed it as if one swift swing of the hammer. He made it look easy, but certainly he put his all into it and then some. Without a doubt, the weeks he spent locked up from the outside world, getting into character paid off.

The question everyone is asking; who is the better Joker? Heath Ledger or Jack Nicholson. After a single viewing of The Dark Knight the answer will be obvious. With all due respect to Nicholson’s wonderful career and great performance as the Joker in Tim Burton’s original Batman, there is no doubt that Heath Ledger will now and forever own the Joker character. I feel sorry for the next actor who accepts the role in future installments, if any. It will be a tough purple suit to fill. Ledger’s performance is pure magic. At times I didn’t know whether to laugh or be shocked with disgust. Other times the intended emotion was quite clear. He interjected a charisma that was both dark and psychotic and expressed it through gesture, personality and voice. At times taking on different characters within himself with a complete fluidity. This all combined with delivering an innate attribute that prevails in most of us even if only on a minute scale.

Yes, I’m saying there’s a little bit of the Joker in all of us. The Joker plays on human emotion. I think we all do that to some degree. It’s whether it is good or bad that makes the difference in the psychotic state of one’s mind. On another level if the outcome is self-serving and harmful to others the line of morality is crossed. It just so happens The Dark Knight’s Joker is immorally psychotic. Now that I mentioned it, I’m quite sure I know at least a couple of Jokers out there although they haven’t killed anyone that I know of.

Christian Bale again delivers as Batman as he did in Batman Begins. Bale is good, but the truth is the role of Batman could be played by several good actors. I don’t mean to minimize Bale because he is good in this role and it would be hard to see someone else in his place. But I’ve got to admit, with the exception of Batman Begins, these movies are more about who he’s up against than himself. That said and somewhat contradictory to the previous statement, Nolan does continue unveiling the duel identity of the caped crusader but also brings them closer together. This time he was more Batman, even as Bruce Wayne. We finally get to see him do some detective work on his own. It answers as opposed to the unanswered pieces of the puzzle in previous movies. I wasn’t left wondering how he knew this or that. This time he takes matters of getting information into his own hands. It makes sense and it works much like in the original comic. Of course this is due to the excellent script that leaves no stones unturned.

Batman gets a new suit and toys in The Dark Knight. The caped crusader emerges on his Bat-Rod [cycle, in above photo] in a spectacular action sequence. Even cooler is that you least expect it. I immediately thought, “Man, I want one!” There are several scenes in the movie that will leave the viewer picking up his or her jaw up off the floor.

I was surprised at Aaron Eckhart’s role as Two Face (Harvey Dent). I didn’t expect much from him. In my opinion Eckhart’s not a stellar actor and never will be. Some people just ain’t got as they say. However, his role as the District Attorney, Harvey Dent, seamed to fit his personality so it worked. As Two Face, the special effects of his facial mishap carried him as an evil doer.

Maggie Gyllenhaal as assistant D.A. Rachel Davis out performed Katie Holmes [Mrs. Cruise] previous role by a long shot. I recall Holmes being a little too giddy and perky for the role. Gyllenhaal brought layers and depth to the character in the new film. She almost over acted the part of being too much a down-to-earth woman to the point of a plain Jane type. It’s just a little odd to imagine that Bruce Wayne and the dapper D.A. would have such a deep love interest in anyone other than a woman a bit more voluptuous. The depth of character definitely saved her from what otherwise could have sent the movie down
a notch. In the end it worked.

Director and co-writer Christopher Nolan is doing a fabulous job at rewriting the Batman movies. To be honest he blows Tim Burton’s previous big screen Batman out of the water. Nolan continues to develop the characters with a darker side as originally intended in the DC Comic books. This along with excellent scripting and direction has delivered two highly successful feature films. Nolan is not for from a Joker himself as he does a good job reflecting the fears of today’s society, making this one believable. His depictions are based more on real emotion while Burton’s focus failed to hit home resulting in a mediocre production. Then there are the Joel Schumacher series which lacked substance. His focus seemed to be on glamor and sensationalism. Such as the homoerotic overtones which sparked negative criticism. That may have been eye pleasing but it really had no place in a batman series. Gotham is not and never has been a city filled with huge oversized, dark, bulging male statues. If it were, I’d probably reluctantly live there. Gotham is meant to be portrayed as a real city like New York or Chicago with a heaping dose of super villain thrown in for an extra bad measure.

The bottom line, Nolan’s script and directing coupled with Ledger’s outstanding performance makes this Batman the best comic feature film of all time in my opinion. What makes it the best is not just the accurate depiction of the characters and real human emotion but also the fact that it transcends the comic book hero. The script, plot and storytelling also make for an excellent crime drama which will appeal to and satisfy even a wider audience.

In my opinion this is a must see and a must see more-than-once movie. Not that anyone what will get lost in the storyline. The plot is clear and executed well. However, the first viewing will keep you on the edge of your seat for the entire 152 minutes. You’ll want to go back and see what you missed visually. Additionally, six of the action scenes are shot with IMAX cameras so I will definitely keep my plans (as mentioned in another post) for that. I said before we were worried if seeing it first in a regular theater would ruin the IMAX experience. I no longer have any worries about it. Instead, I believe it will enhance the experience. Now I will be able to sit down, relax and enjoy the visuals while not being on the edge of my seat in anticipation of will happen next [I think...].

The only disappointment I’ll ever get from this movie is if Heath Ledger doesn’t win an Oscar for his role. He should have won and Oscar for his role in Brokeback Mountain. A win for The Dark Knight would be a sweet redemption but by no means a replacement. The theater we were in was nearly full at our 3:30 PM showing. Throughout the movie people cheered, oohed and ahhed at Ledger’s performance. The end of the movie was followed by a few moments of silence. Then in unison everyone in the theater stood and applauded — that says something. It says much more than I could ever say here.

I saved the best for last. This is where I will spoil you if you want me to. If not, do not click play on the video below. It contains the actual first few minutes of The Dark Knight movie. This was included as a teaser on the Blue Ray version of Batman Begins. It is intense and yes, it is a spoiler but it does not spoil the movie.

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Some guys do, most guys don’t. I do. It all started about 8 years ago when I started freeballin’. All my life I’ve loved the freedom that only being naked can offer. Both as an adult and in my later teen years. From skinny dipping to walking around the house to nude sunbathing, I’ve done it. Never really being a fan of boxers, I’ve always worn briefs. But I didn’t really like that either, too constraining, too humid especially in the Texas heat. So about 8 years ago I ditched ‘em and went commando or freeballing as they say.

Although I was much more comfortable letting my stuff swing free in my jeans it didn’t come without problems. I would frequently zip my pubes up when putting on jeans. Ouch, that hurts! I learned my lesson to be careful after catching actual skin a couple of times. I quickly learned to pull the zipper out and up to avoid that disaster. But there’s only so far out you can go when getting close to the top so every now and then I’d catch a couple of pubes and that doesn’t feel so good either. The solution; trim it.

I purchased a trimmer by Whall, the only major brand at the time that I can remember. It was the perfect solution. No more trapped hairs in my zipper. I was a happy freeballer…Yay! At first I just trimmed the pubes above my cock but realized that aesthetically it looked ridiculous. Short pubes on top and a few longer ones on the shaft and even more on my balls. After a few months I started trimming it all as evenly as I could. I would trim the hairs to leave about 3/4 of an inch. That way I only had to trim every three or four months. The more times I trimmed it seemed to grow faster and longer. Eventually my schedule leveled off to every two months where it stayed for years.

About a year ago, the topic of freeballing came up with a friend. He said he used to let ‘em hang too but stopped because his inner thighs became discolored because of it. He proceeded to tell me about these weird dark brown spots on the inside of his thighs caused by his balls constantly rubbing against them. I was shocked at what he was telling me because I had them too. I had no idea what it was caused from. I had even mentioned it to and shown my physician once before and he didn’t know what it was either but said it didn’t look harmful. Come to think of it, it’s probably because I wore underwear when I saw him…haha.

My friend tells me that after he started wearing briefs again the discoloration went away. I didn’t like it on myself either but the spots didn’t hurt or cause irritation and no one had ever complained about it. So it really wasn’t a problem. Still, it bothered the more I thought about it. By this time, mens underwear had come a long way since the days when I stopped wearing them. After a few weeks of this mentally growing on me, I decided to try a few different brands and styles of underwear. I was able to find some that I liked and thought, “Why didn’t underwear make real pouches before.” I remember the transition well. When men’s fashion underwear started getting popular the companies had to compete and continue to innovate. Before the pouch became popular, it was contoured briefs but even those were too constricting for my liking. Once the pouch caught on, there was hope. But all pouches are not created equal. Currently my favorite is the Trophy Shelf by C-IN2 made with Bamboo material. It’s designed to hold your stuff up and out. But I learned if I buy a size up and after a couple of washings it lets me hang freely — Yes!!! There are other brands and styles that work nicely too, but for my money I can’t beat the feeling of the bamboo mesh fabric. It’s like wearing nothing at all.

Once I started wearing briefs again I thought all my problems were solved. The brown spots faded over a couple of months and I didn’t have to trim anymore. Not that I really minded trimming but I had gotten tired of it. A trim-free life was short-lived because within a few months my pubes had grown back out and they were longer than ever before. I began to notice that after sitting for a while, the hairs would on occasion get caught in my foreskin. Then sometimes when I would stand up, my cock would actually tug on the hairs. A quick adjustment would take care of it but the longer they got the worse it became. To the point it was really uncomfortable when it did happen.

I brought out the ol’ hedge trimmer and whacked it off. Fast forward until a few weeks ago my aging trimmer started to pull on occasion. That’s not good. It was time for a replacement. When doing my research I ran across the Bodygroom by Norelco for $35.. It has over 500 mostly positive reviews on Amazon. All the guys really liked it with the exception of a few who have really thick pubes or those who try to use it on their scalps too. It clearly states it’s meant for the neck down. I decided to order it and I’m very glad I did.

I received it a few days ago but used it today for the first time. Probably a little TMI, your reading the words of a freshly trimmed guy…haha. And, it feels great! The Bodygroom’s ergonomic shape makes it super easy to hold onto while trimming at different angles. It can be used wet or dry but does perform better dry especially if you’re going to be cutting any hairs that lay close to your body. Though it worked perfectly in the shower for my pubes.

It’s rechargeable which means it will be always ready when I am. Of course, to extend the battery life it needs to run down before recharging. An eight hour charge allows for 50 minutes of shaving/trimming.

It comes with three comb attachments to allow for different lengths but can also be used as a close shaver in either a push or pull motion. The blade design is ingenious. There are two sets of trimmers that allow for shaving in either direction without the combs. In the center is a foil shaver for a closer cut without nicks. I will mostly only be using the comb attachments for my needs. But for those wanting to shave things a little closer the Bodygroom promises to accommodate you too. There’s a humorous and popular user review on Amazon that states: “The “Bodygroom” is Shaft, Beanbag, and Starfish safe. No nicks or any pain…no worries.” The comments on that review are even more hilarious, especially the guys questioning
what the word starfish means.

A couple of tips; if you’ve got thick pubic hair, start slow and take your time. The trimmer should work well as a maintenance tool after the first cut. Or you could use a regular trimmer to get it near the length you want to keep it. The trimmer blades are small. Much like those found on face shavers (the pop-up sideburn trimmers). So they’re meant for maintenance rather than heavy duty cutting. If you’re going to trim or shave body hair, it’s best to use it dry but you can experiment with your hair type.

I absolutely love the Bodygroom. Now I’m able to completely cut off the edge of my pubes that stuck out of my underwear at the leg openings. Hey, that’s better than saying “bikini line,” right? Before when I tried this with my old trimmer, the blades were hot and burned my skin to the point of being very uncomfortable.

For some closing entertainment, here’s a bold music video by Phillips Norelco about the Bodygroom. Guys shave their bodies for many different reasons. For me it is to solve real problems, but maybe you just like the look and feel of an all over shave. Whatever the reason, if you’re looking for an everywhere body shaver/trimmer, you won’t go wrong with the Bodygroom by Norelco.

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Beautiful Mag is offering it’s readers completely free of charge a download of this masterpiece in three large files finished in a digital photographic fresco. You can find them here. They are large at approximately 17 megabytes each and are suitable for quality printing. If professionally done it could be turned into a magnificent piece of artwork. There are services both online and off that can turn these images into stunning wall art with the appearance of an oil painting or even a fresco replica. The Prophecy will make a wonderful presentation whether the finished print is a separately framed set of the three images or if they are pieced together to make one large print. Pieced together, the photos would make a large print that would yield an approximate 60 x 30 size in inches which is 1/3 the size of the digital photo in it’s entirety.

The Prophecy by Aymeric Giraudel & Beautiful Mag

I am seriously considering making this a wall mural in my own home. To do this would take some careful calculations, not to mention a lot of time, paper and ink but it would definitely be worth it.

In the meantime I decided that I wanted to use it as a wallpaper. I carefully pieced the photos together in Photoshop making sure the pixels were perfectly lined up and reduced the large image to 25 percent to preserve the quality in psd format. From there I further reduced the images to a computer screen resolution size at a high quality jpeg format. I decided since I had already done one for myself I should also make additional sizes to fit most screen resolutions being used today since it was fairly easy to do at that point.

I have really enjoyed Beautiful Mag over the last several months that I’ve known about it and thought I’d give something back by offering downloads of the wallpapers. This is especially for those who do not have the software, time or resources to do this on their own as well as anyone who would like to have them. The work and creativity of Rob and Yann over at Beautiful has been a real inspiration to me. That has also fueled a project I’m currently working on. I just hope I can live up to that inspiration. If will definitely be a challenge worth achieving.

If you would like one of the wallpapers for your personal use you can find them in the Features/Extra section of this site via the navigation bar above.

Of course, the easier way would be to simply click here for the Wallpapers Enjoy!

Lika Starr

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I really tried to get his name but he refused to oblige, I guess I’ll have to find a name for him. He doesn’t talk back (much) and promised to help me out with whatever I need. Definitely the perfect qualifications for the ideal assistant. Since I may be spending a lot of time with him I hope Jake doesn’t get jealous. By the way, if you like my assistant you can get your own over at Voki for non commercial purposes. Or if you intend on using your site assistant for commercial reasons you might want to check out SitePal which is the mother-ship for Voki or see the banner below for a quick demo.

Once I get to know my assistant a little better I intend on posting a full review of his services. Maybe by that time I’ll have a name for him. In the meantime I’m taking suggestions for names.

Related posts:

1. Lika Starr – Experiencing Growing Pains!
2. Lika Starr To Get Face Lift
3. Lika Starr – Under The Knife!

Right off the bat in writing this post I noticed the insert link option on the editor does not allow two needed options. They are; giving the option to select open in local window or new window and no option to enter alternate (mouseover) text. A workaround for this would be to add the

 target="_blank"

code to the end of the link in the source code. I’ll do that with this link: Link to another blog I write on. I could also add “title” code to achieve the alternate text but it’s really not necessary for this post. What is necessary is to know that neither of these options work automatically with this plugin without having to do them manually in the source code of the editor. Most bloggers won’t find this too annoying if they don’t direct most of their outgoing links to new windows. This is due to and old etiquette rule. However if you’ve noticed this rule seems to be fading especially amongst some of the more prominent sites. The hidden theory behind this is “they’ve got the traffic so they can afford to be rude.” I have my own opinions on this and I’ll share them in another article. In short I use “open in another window” option with most of my links because my content often refers to outside sites for which I share opinions on, thus I tend to use numerous outgoing links. I know this reasoning doesn’t fly with a lot of web-developers and blog owners but it seems to work for my targeted readers.

What I do like about the editor itself is there are some nice features compared to the standard WordPress editor. Like text size options and color choices. Additionally, the Ctrl-Z (undo) works to easily allow you to correct mistakes.

Now I will attempt to insert an image.

I was able to successfully upload the above image using the API option. However, positioning seems a bit quirky to me. I don’t see an options to allow me to wrap text around the image although I was able to left justify, center or right justify the image. Two things that come to mind here is that not being able to wrap text around an image will make this non useful for some bloggers. The other thing is that I don’t see an options for selecting an image that’s already uploaded. And example would be if I wanted to show the above image left or right justified. That’s not a biggie because most users won’t have the need to display the same images more than once.

Other than that the editor features are pretty commonplace so what really makes this plugin so cool is convenience. As mentioned earlier, it gives you the opportunity to surf the net while posting. It is best suited for those who like to post on the go so-to-speak. If you’re writing about a story you found on the web it conveniently allows you to copy & paste quotes from another webpage directly into your post without switching windows.

Here’s a quote from the Firefox install page for for ScribeFire: “ScribeFire (previously Performancing for Firefox) is a full-featured blog editor that integrates with your browser and lets you easily post to your blog. You can drag and drop formatted text from pages you are browsing, take notes, and post to your blog.”

That was a simple copy & paste. You can also highlight your selected text and drag your mouse to your editor and drop it in.

ScribFire gives you the option of inserting Technorati tags and using the same tags for del.icio.us as well as inserting trackback URLs. There are sections that list all of your blogs so you can publish to multiple blogs in the same session. There is a tag section for your existing blog tags that are selectable but there is not an option to add new tags (this is different from the Technorati tags mentioned above).

You can view and edit your previous posts on your blogs as well as your pages. One of the most nifty features and probably what I’ll use most out of this little tool is the ability to write notes. You can save your notes and publish them as drafts to your blog. You also have the ability to save your posts as drafts or publish them. Either option submits them to your blog site.

There are a couple of other annoying quirks not mentioned here already. There is no “undo” or “back” functionality for the interface itself. Example; if I go to the notes section and open a note while I’ve got a post halfway written it opens the note in the same “content” area as my post. This erases my half-written post and there is no way that I can see to retrieve it. Another taboo is when I click on ScribeFire icon at the bottom of the browsers while it’s already open and select the “about” option or any of the others I can’t find the way back to the editor. Others have commented to click on the double arrows at the top left of the interface screen to retrieve the editor. This does not work for me as there are no double arrows at that point. Hint: when you first open ScribeFire go ahead and open the menu (the double arrows) and leave it open. This way you’re editor option will always be visible.

Bottom line: I give this plugin 3 out of 5 stars. My rating is mostly based on the convenience factor. I will use ScribeFire for taking notes while surfing the web and publishing them as post drafts to my WordPress blog. At a later point I will log into WordPress and tidy it up. I can also see myself using this for actual published posts on occasion when I need to post a quickie

Additionally, I think ScribeFire has great potential and will only get better in time. I’m one of those who doesn’t mind waiting on a good thing. So there you have it, my review of ScribeFire.

Lika Starr

Technorati Tags: ScribeFire, wordpress, firefox, plugins, text editor,

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Layout: Choose from the large or smaller player

Content: Choose from My Videos (your downloaded videos), My Favorites (videos that you have added to your favorites) or Playlists (your playlists).

Generate Code and Save Player: This is obvious

That’s all you get with customizations. The players look good in their default size. As you can see above if you want to add the larger player to a blog as I did above it must be resized. This loses much of the quality in the player’s sidebar. The video titles in the sidebar are illegible and the snapshots are very small. The result being the larger player is not really at all suitable for a blog. The smaller player which is suitable doesn’t really give your viewers to see all of your videos without having to scroll through them with the left/right navigation that overlays the video. The included themes are “pretty” but they really offer no value in customization to fit “your” blog or website.

The players work well as far as playback and even offer a new feature that lets you skip around the video much like Google video does. The ability to select your own playlists is nice too. If you want to get into to video blogging you could add your own videos to specific playlists and create new players for each of them so you can show targeted videos to pertaining to your particular post/article. But that’s where the good stops and the bad begins.

Amongst other things, I’d like to see more customization features in sizing and color schemes. I’d also like to see the ability add videos individually without having to set up playlists. A third player (smaller video and vertical alignment) would be nice giving the option to add it to a blog sidebar. The option to list titles of videos instead of video snapshots for smaller applications. The ability to set a search term to display related content other than your own videos. Finally, a search option for viewers so they could change what is displayed just in case they want to stay on your site awhile watch a few extra youtube videos.

Overall I give the YouTube Player by YouTube a fair rating, but it’s not what I’m looking for.

Lika Starr

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I’m putting this post under the category reviews because I tried the widget and I liked so it’s not a full review since I’m not going to into any real detail. But I will say you can set the search terms and you can change the color scheme to match yours. Bottom line: it’s cool and it works well. Get it here.

Lika Starr

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I’ll start this post off with a question. What is BlogRush and who is John Reese? BlogRush or Blog Rush, if you prefer, is John’s newest baby mammoth that he hopes will be become the next big thing in blog-viral-marketing. More on BlogRush a little later, first let’s take a look at the man behind the blog rush to success.

[Source: BlogRush]

If you’ve ever tapped into internet marketing as a business venture you’re probably already aware of John’s stature amongst the elite internet gurus. There was a time when internet marketing was a niche in its own right. Times changed quickly and this soon led to the “find your own niche” phenomenon. It became the catchphrase of the period and produced a plethora of new age marketers on the World Wide Web, the Internet. “Find your niche” eventually took on the more commonly known term “Niche Marketing.” In the beginning it was all about building static web pages where the marketer would write a compelling sales letter selling “information” on an e-product, usually an e-book on subject matter that was essentially untapped. This could be anything from fishing to dog training to cultural cuisine. But the real success stories came from those who didn’t only market their niche products but took it a step further and sold their how-to knowledge.

The phrase “Internet Guru” was coined by the experts themselves and everyone who thought they had what it takes wanted to be one. John Reese is no exception, and very much deserves the title of Internet Guru. His own site Marketing Secrets has enjoyed a huge success. Reese saw an opportunity in the fact that the experts were holding out and not really “selling” all of their knowledge. As a pioneer himself in the world of Internet Marketing he decided the easy way to make money on the internet was to let other people show you how rather than try to do something completely new. Ironically, it is his own “something new” projects that have made him the success he is today.

Viral marketing and ingenuity played a huge role in John’s success. While he did not create viral marketing himself, it was his spin on the idea that led to super stardom amongst those in his field. In 2004, John had gone where no one went before. He raked in over $1,000,000 in just 18 hours with the launch of a new product, a “Traffic Secrets” CD/DVD course. He did this without spending anything on advertising. Let’s not forget he was already a very successful marketer and had his ducks in a row, so-to-speak. John has made millions upon millions before and since then.

More recently, John Reese has a declared a rebirth of Internet Marketing. Like a good marriage, business strategies also lose their punch over time. What’s this rebirth all about? According to John (and I agree with him) it is video marketing. I won’t go into here, but I promise to revisit this subject in another post soon. In a nutshell it’s using a short version of selling your product in a text version on website with an accompanying video to nail the sale. John is a master at testing his ideas and the results show it’s a hit. This coincides with his new website Income.com which is not fully launched as of this writing. But its sub-product BlogRush has been in circulation for a couple of weeks now.

BlogRush is a blog syndication widget that displays other blogs on your site. Its functionality is much like a viral banner ad system. We’ve seen those before back in the day when everyone was trying to find a quick and easy way to promote their static websites. Then it was considered a form of spam and the search engines frowned upon them starting with Google. But is this different? I’d say yes if John keeps his promises. Immediately after the launch of BlogRush people began abusing the system. In other words they were creating false hits to obtain credits for themselves, etc. What this means is that if you’re part of the network and your blog is getting displayed on those blogs who are abusing the system then you’re not getting any click-thrus back to your blog.

Once John Reese was made aware of this and he immediately took action and made the following statements.

From John Reese

1. We’re moving to a MANUAL REVIEW process. No more automation. We will be reviewing ALL blogs submitted to BlogRush. If the quality of the blog is poor, they will not be allowed to participate. We’re going to start reviewing ALL the blogs that are currently in our network and will be disabling the accounts for poor quality blogs.

2. We’re continuing to add security measures to our system and we will be mass-removing any and all cheaters that we discover. We will not rest until the cheaters are WIPED OUT and kept from abusing our network. The manual review process will help eliminate most of them as legitimate bloggers that have put in the time to create a decent blog aren’t the types that are going to be abusing the system.

All of these changes will only benefit our users — it will increase their click-through rates and drive more traffic to their blogs. It will also make sure that the blogs their widget links to are only quality blogs.

Now, on with my post…

If I know John as well as I think I do, I am confident he’ll deliver on this and make into something we will all be proud to be a part of. He’s a stand-up guy and has always gone the extra mile for quality. The only bad thing I can say about him is he’s too damn good at keeping secrets, yet he makes his millions by selling them. In other words he won’t tell you until he’s ready to tell you. But that’s alright, it’s all about competition and honestly it’s the name of game.

BlogRush is a terrific idea that has tremendous potential. I recommend jumping in early so you increase your chances of picking up a few high traffic blogs to ride under your wing. What?!?! You say! Yup, BlogRush is a viral marketing tool and gives you the ability to enlist referrals. So, when a blog owner sees your widget and clicks on the “Add your Blog Posts – Free” or the BlogRush logo you will get additional credits on their traffic if they sign up. Check it out on the right hand side of this page. If that blog owner gets lots of traffic already, then you’ve just set yourself with some nice bonus hits. This goes up to 10 levels deep and takes it one step further. You also get credits based on your referral’s referrals. How’s that for being sweet?

As of this writing there is only a limited number of categories you can list your type of blog under. The team is working hard to add more and they are taking suggestions at the moment for more. I have no doubt there that before long the list will be long which will even give us more targeted traffic. In terms of traffic “targeted” is a huge keyword. It’s what you want and it’s what you need.

I am really interested to see how this pans out so please get your BlogRush widget today. Then once you’ve installed it and let it run a few days come back here and share with me how it’s working out for you. As time goes on I will also do the same with new posts on its progress. But don’t wait until weeks or months go by before you jump on this one. The more people using it the quicker it will get establish and show its real performance capabilities. You can download and install within seconds. If for some reason you don’t like it removal is a snap, so you really have nothing lose and best of all it doesn’t cost a cent. What are you waiting for? Get it here; Get it now while getting more traffic is on your mind. Plus, you’ll feel good knowing you’re helping others out at the same time by helping them get more readers to their blogs.

Lika Starr

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I saw Bourne Ultimatum today and it was definitely more than I expected. After reading review upon review, most of which were positive with a few peppered in dislikes, I was sure I was going to be disappointed. Usually when a movie is hyped up it’s a big disappoint in the theater because I expect too much and find myself disappointed by the end of the movie. I think a big difference in this films hype was it critically hyped without much commercialism…so maybe that’s the difference. Looking back at he Matrix installments, #1 was great but the others were disappointment which probably had a lot to do with the commercial hype. I almost feel it’s a disgrace to the Bourne films to compare it with The Matrix series. To save myself on that one I will say that in both sets the main character (‘s) are looking for the same thing in general. To find out why they’re what they are and who put them there – And, to fix it…damn it!

In Ultimatum the film starts out running, literally. It doesn’t slow down much afterwards except for a couple of quiet moments that seemed to last just long enough to let me catch my breath. Look at it this way. If you plan a trip to an amusement park in anticipation of the thrill rides, only to be disappointed and saddened it turns out to be a rainy day and your trip is squashed by Mother Nature. Go see Bourne Ultimatum; it will definitely satisfy the lust of even the most hard core thrill seekers.

Jason Bourne gets the answers he’s been searching for which is much welcomed in this installment. After an exhausting ride during this movie I felt I was rewarded enough to be satisfied if there are no follow-ups. The ending does leave for the making of future sequels although a new chapter of Bourne’s life would be a must. Matt Damon has said in a Variety interview that after this he’s done with the Bourne ‘character’ identity. There are rumors there will be more films but nothing is certain. If there are more I hope they do a legitimate casting call instead of trying to fill Matt’s shoes with an A-lister just because it’s the thing Hollywood does.

On that previous note it really bothers me to some degree that t he quite a number of people say they have a difficult time buying Matt Damon as a tough guy. Their analogy is nothing more than he’s too soft. To the contrary and even “they” don’t deny it is that there is plenty of hard action in this film and its predecessors. Maybe if Damon showed a little more skin in an action scene or two they’d think differently. After all, he’s definitely got the body for tough guy action. Baby Face Damon will never be up to par for those who think every action hero must have the rough edged face of Clint Eastwood. Even sadder for those with that mentality is the fact analogy is given an answer in this movie and they apparently didn’t get it. I’d say it here but it would be a huge spoiler so I will refrain. The answer is only a tiny part of “big answer” to the trilogy and you really have to figure it out on your own. I’ll just say this, there are several answers within this answer like why he doesn’t have to be the “Eastwood” type, the basis of his “instincts”, etc. Once you know the answer its common sense at its best which brings home the ingenious directing throughout the series.

Pamela Landy (Joan Allen) finally comes to her senses in this one…enough said about that. But more could be said about her somewhat seeming lack of interest to play her part. I couldn’t quite put my finger on, but I liked her better in the past films. Julia Stiles, although I like her she doesn’t do much more than show face in this movie. Unfortunately, I can see why as too much dialogue from Stiles as Nicky Parsons would have over thrown the other two movies in which she barely had any part in at all. The disappointment in this one is that she “almost” becomes his girl but it just never happens. The rest of the returning actors are about the same as before. Overall, the acting is good but not stellar with the exception of Matt Damon who plays Jason Bourne to the max in my opinion.

I thought Greengrass did a superb job of directing this as well as the previous two. He’s still young and will mostly likely sit at the helm with Spielberg before his time. He does an awesome job bringing all three movies to a head in this one. There are enough flashbacks and conditioned memory jolting for Bourne’s character to give even those who’ve never seen Identity and Supremacy enough to go on all while building up to the finale. That and damn good action, car chases, and cool shoot ‘em ups guarantee lots of foreplay before the climax in this flick. To sum it up, Bourne Ultimatum is satisfaction at its best…unless of course you’re actually in the act of having sex ~ Lika Starr

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LOL, this is funny. This just might be the best text application out there. It reminds me of The Matrix. How the heck do I get out of it? Ahh….the escape key does the trick! This will be great for writing looooong articles. You’ll need to make sure you run it through MS Word or your word processor of choice before you publish anything. Doing so will give you the opportunity implement formatting, spell check, etc.

You might ask if you have to run it through a word processing application anyway then what’s the point of using Dark Room. The simple answer to that is that it’s not for everyone. The answer for me is that I find it works quite well for specific tasks. I wouldn’t use it for every writing task I have. An example of that would be answering most email and other short writings. On the other hand I I think I’ll find it quite usefull if I’m writing long articles.

There are several reasons for this. The number one reason is the same basis it was developed on. That is there are no other visual distractions whatsoever. The second reason I’ll like it for those long writes is because I seem to notice my mistakes right off the bat. Where as, in MS Word I don’t always notice them. Sometimes they even make it past my intense proofreading, spelling and grammar checks. Thirdly, an important item is it kinda puts my mind on a blank canvas allowing me to paint that canvas with words of art (mind creativity).

Some other reasons that might not seem all that important but provide a much easier experience over all. I tend to notice when paragraphs are getting way too long. Long paragraphs are boring to readers no matter how talented of a writer you are. Just like this paragraph. I originally had it included with the one just above and decided to separate it and lead in with “Some other…”. For me Dark Room is easier on the eyes. If you like bright blinding colors you can customize it into your very own ‘bright room’ or just about anywhere in between. Personally I’m using a medium blue font color on a black background that soothes my eyes. Yet is still bright enough so I notice all those mistakes I make.

Dark Room is a very small application and its free to download. It contains no spyware or any other malware. It hardly uses any resources and is a huge friend to your video card. This might be just what you need if you write large documents or have your own blog site. Give your mind, eyes, PC resources and your video card a break and give Dark Room a try. If you don’t like it you can always remove it easily with your windows built it uninstall option.

Highly Recommended,

Lika Starr

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