Digital Photography Tutorials You Can Actually Understand

Is there anything worse than getting into a new hobby like digital photography only to be stymied by all the technical jargon you encounter? Do terms like ISO, aperture or white balance leave you scratching your head? If you're thinking, Can't someone explain this stuff in plain English already? you're going to welcome the online digital photography tutorials of Photoxels.com.

Succinctly written and in a style that's not off-putting, these digital photography guides from Photoxels.com make even the most arcane digital photography topics accessible to the average user.

Designed to help you take better pictures, they go beyond explaining the finer points of digital photography with mere words alone-they use photographs too, so you'll actually see the difference between great and not so great pictures.

A handy reference you'll find yourself going back to again and again!

A Treasure For Non-Fiction Book Lovers

If you're a fan of non-fiction literature, there's a site on the Web you simply don't want to miss-especially if you'd like to learn more about the authors who pen these fascinating works. It's called Booknotes.org and is really one big archive of about 800 interviews with notable 20th century non-fiction authors that originally aired on Booknotes (a television program of the C-SPAN network), that ran from 1989 to 2004.

The site's highlights include:

• complete written transcripts of every one of the 800 programs

• streaming video of hundreds of the original 800 shows

• the ability to search the archive by keywords

Though not an online book club in the strict sense of the category the site nonetheless is a valuable resource for book club members and book lovers everywhere.

Share Your Experiences On TeeBeeDee

What are some of the things you look for in a social networking site? A place to share your life-earned experiences with people who've gone through the same things? The chance to meet new friends who share similar interests? You'll get all that and more from a site called TeeBeeDee.

Founded by Robin Wolaner, who many years ago created the successful Parenting magazine, TeeBeeDee is a social networking site especially for boomers and beyond.

Here's a small sample of what you can do there:

• Create a member profile complete with a photo of yourself
  
  
• Take part in online discussions on a variety of topics

• Join one of the many groups offered or start your own

It's free to join and you can even sign up for their e-mail newsletter. If you're looking for a social networking site for the mature crowd, you won't be disappointed!

Price Protection For Online Purchases Made Simple

How do you try to save money when shopping on the Web? Do you "clip" online coupons? Are you in the habit of using price comparison search engines? All good ideas, but what about the price protection policies offered by many online retailers? Have you been taking advantage of those or do you consider them too much of a hassle?

In the past, watching to see if the price dropped on an item you purchased online was tedious. Now, thanks to a site called Price Protectr it's gotten a whole lot easier. Currently if you make an online purchase from one of 68 stores that support the service, Price Protectr will check to see if the price drops and send you an e-mail alerting you if it does.

Simply visit Price Protectr, follow their easy instructions and you're on your way. Check out this service before your next online purchase!

Uncle Sam's "10 Tips for Smart Holiday Shopping Online"

With all the hype surrounding so-called "Cyber Monday" and online shopping in general this year don't let security take a back seat to finding a good bargain. Educate yourself on what you have to do to make online shopping a safer experience.

To that end, read the FTC's recent consumer warning:


10 Tips for Smart Holiday Shopping Online


This handy guide offers both obvious advice like, checking out sellers to make sure they're reputable, to advice which might not be so obvious like, turning off your computer once you stop using it to decrease the chances of falling victim to scammers.

Be sure to read the entire document before you shop online this holiday season!

A Feast For The Brain

By now your stomach has probably had more than its fill of turkey and all the fixings, so why not give it a break and feed your brain for a change of pace? When you're ready to put down that drumstick, a cornucopia of stimulating puzzles and brain-bending diversions awaits you at BrainBashers.com.

Some of the items on the menu include:

• Logic games like Kakuro and Sudoku just to name a few
  


• Crossword puzzles of both the traditional and non-traditional varieties
  


• Visualization puzzles that exercise your ability to think in three dimensions
  


• Fractals, Stereograms and other illusions

And that's just a sample to whet the appetite. There's so much here to feed your hungry mind you might have trouble deciding where to start-but at least you can keep going back for more without having to loosen your belt buckle!

Everything You Always Wanted To Know About The History Of Thanksgiving

How much do you really know about the history of Thanksgiving? How much do your family and friends know about it? This Thanksgiving why not add some spice to your dinner table conversation by bringing up the history of this classic holiday? Just make sure you head to the Web first so you'll know what you're talking about!

Visit one of these sites to brush up on the history of Thanksgiving :

• The History of Thanksgiving - From History.com, the companion Web site of The History Channel you'll find out about the myths surrounding the Pilgrims and the Mayflower, learn what foods might have been on the Pilgrims' menu, and more.

• Thanksgiving in North America: From Local Harvests to National Holiday - If you're looking for a quick one-page history of Thanksgiving, it's hard to beat this one from Encyclopedia Smithsonian.

• The LOC.GOV Wise Guide: Thanksgiving - Here you'll find historical info and even a link to an American Memory Page that features a great Thanksgiving Timeline.

Enjoy the history lesson and have a happy, healthy Thanksgiving!

Talking Turkey Online

Need some last minute advice and ideas on how to pull off a spectacular Thanksgiving that all your friends and relatives will rave about? Try turning to the Web were you'll find a feast of tips, tricks and helpful hints to make your holiday an all around success.

Start your search at these top-notch sites full of special holiday advice:

• MarthaStewart.com - Domestic Diva Martha Stewart serves up a hearty portion of helpful Thanksgiving ideas complete with a Thanksgiving Planner you can print out, cooking videos, decorating hints and more.

• RachaelRayShow.com - The ever popular Rachael Ray cooks up Rach's Thanksgiving Guide which includes recipes, decorating advice and even how-to videos including one where she shows you how to carve a turkey.

• Rd.com - Reader's Digest offers Thankgsgiving Tips for Hosts and Guests that includes all sorts of useful entertaining info designed to make your Thanksgiving run smoother.

With tons of great advice available like this online, your Thanksgiving should go off without a hitch!

Bridging The Digital Gap With eGenerations

Sometimes on your travels along the Information Superhighway do you ever feel like there's too much to figure out and not enough time to do it all? Especially if you feel a little overwhelmed by all the technology, but still interested in taking advantage of the more salient things the Web has to offer, like social networking for example, you'll love a site like eGenerations.

eGenerations is a social networking site especially for people 50+ that makes it easy to connect with people your age, discover new travel and learning opportunities and a whole lot more by providing you with all the tools necessary in one easy to navigate Web site-minus a lot of technical jargon.

Some of the highlights from the site include:

• Message forums featuring hundreds of topics
• Articles on travel, photography and more
• Travel videos and even Web cams from around the world

Incidentally, even if you're tech-savvy, eGenerations merits your consideration just for the fact that it has so much to offer, conveniently assembled under one "virtual" roof!

Boost Your Vocabulary And Help End World Hunger While You're At It

As Thanksgiving approaches do your thoughts turn to the plight of those less fortunate? Are you the type of person who's concerned with the worsening problem of global hunger and wish you could do more about it? Then you'll be happy to know that there's a new Web site dedicated to helping you fight global hunger with, of all things, your knowledge of vocabulary!

The site is called FreeRice.com and it works like this: You play a vocabulary game where you're shown a word and asked to select its definition from four choices. Click on the correct definition and 10 grains of rice will be donated to the United Nations Food Program! Continue playing and for every correct answer you choose, another 10 grains of rice will be donated.

By the way, if the grandkids are over this is a great online activity to share with them as well. It's free to play, you'll both improve your vocabulary, have fun doing it and help put a dent in world hunger-what's better than that?