Slightly Unhinged » product recommendations

Exfm: A Brief Review

Courtnay — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 07:11:33 +0000

Since the demise of Lala, which had previously been my favorite music site, I’ve been experimenting with different sites in an attempt to find a new favorite. Both Slacker and Pandora are adequate, although neither are very good at helping me find new music and despite numerous attempts to “teach” it my preferences, Pandora continues to slip in the occasional death metal tune even though I absolutely despise the genre. I like Last.fm a little better, since it gives users the option of indexing your library and listening history from third party programs such as iTunes or Windows Media Player and incorporating that information along with your activity on the site to give you more personalized recommendations. I had been using Last.fm almost exclusively until I learned about Exfm, a site that scours music blogs for MP3s. Exfm is fully integrated with Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr and Last.fm so that users can browse and collect MP3s and then share them with their social network, as well as follow other users to see what they are listening to and what new music they have discovered. Browser extensions for Chrome, Firefox and Safari and an iPhone app are also helpful. I’ve only used the site for about a month but so far I like what I see. Exfm is excellent for discovering new music and the fact that it integrates so well with Last.fm makes it easy to go to Exfm when you’re in the mood for something new and then switch back to Last.fm when you want to listen something from your library – and all of your listening history will be recorded. If you enjoy discovering new music and sharing it with your social network, Exfm is definitely worth checking out.

Filed under: Music, Personal Tagged: exfm, Music, product recommendations, reviews

Barefoot Books Winter Sale – Up to 80% Off!

Courtnay — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 02:32:47 +0000

I’ll admit it: I’m a bit of a snob when it comes to children’s books. I don’t want just a good story, I want the whole package…gorgeous illustrations, beautiful presentation, something educational or inspiring, possibly even a little work of art for our bookshelf. That’s why I’ve always loved Barefoot Books, a children’s book company started by two moms who appreciate books in much the same way I always have. Barefoot produces exquisite, award-winning books that not only tell great stories but nurture creativity, feed imaginations, and strengthen connections with the global community and the earth. Best of all, Barefoot is currently in the middle of their Winter Sale, in which they mark select items down by up to 80% off regular price. Whether you are already a fan of Barefoot or you want to check them out for the first time, the Winter Sale is a great time to stock up on their quality products at bargain prices. Don’t wait though…the sale ends on January 31, 2010.

Posted in Books, parenting, shopping Tagged: product recommendations, shopping

Rizzo Tees: Your Online Source for Funny T-Shirts

Courtnay — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 03:02:32 +0000

I haven’t always been a funny t-shirt aficionado but since my 13-year-old son has decided that his wardrobe should consist of almost nothing but wacky graphic tees, I’ve had to get up to speed fairly quickly. He began forwarding me links to shirts he liked and when I’d check them out, I’d often end up following the companies he likes on Twitter on becoming a fan of them on Facebook. Once I had identified myself as a funny t-shirt purchaser, I began to get tons of follows on Twitter from various funny t-shirt companies…which was surprising to me since prior to this experience, I had no idea just how many sites were servicing this niche market. At any rate, suffice to say that over the last few months I have had the opportunity to check out more funny t-shirt sites than I ever would have believed possible. There is an amazing array of funny and creative stuff out there but a few sites have stood out as particular favorites: one of these is Rizzo Tees.

Rizzo Tees is a St. Louis-based one man operation. The company’s founder, Chris, runs the fledgling business out of his basement and although he still has a day job, it is clear that funny t-shirts are his true calling. He’s created some seriously funny and original tees: among my personal favorites are I Hate Pants (who doesn’t?!), Ceiling Cat vs. Long Cat, and Dalai Lama. Chris also knows how to treat his customers right with friendly service and extra bonuses like drawings for gift certificates on his Facebook fan page.

Bottom line: If you’re in the market for funny t-shirts, you should definitely check out Rizzo Tees. Their t-shirts will have you looking cool and since you’ll be supporting a small business, you’ll feel good too. What could be better than that?

Posted in Fashion Tagged: product recommendations, shopping

Helpful Tools for Freelancers: Toggl

Courtnay — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 08:52:16 +0000

I’m always looking for tools to help me manage my time more effectively and one of my current favorites is Toggl. Toggl is a simple and straight-forward Internet-based time tracking tool that makes it easy to track time spent on various projects. It is flexible enough for a wide range of uses but it is particularly well-suited to the needs of freelancers and small groups. It is so simple and intuitive that you can easily have it set up and ready to use in just a few minutes.

All of the basic time tracking and reporting features of Toggl can be used for free by individuals or teams of up to 20 members. Toggl also offers a Premium plan that gives users access to additional features however I don’t have any personal experience with the Premium version – the free version has been more than adequate for my needs.

Besides the fact that it is free, my favorite thing about Toggl is how easy it is to use. You can log in to the website to access your personal workspace where you can click on the timer to track time on various projects or use the reporting feature to run customized reports on your activity. There are also downloadable timer widgets, gadgets that integrate with Gmail or iGoogle, and an embeddable version of the timer that you can place on your website. Since it is Internet-based, it has the added advantage of giving you the ability to access your information anytime and from any computer.

If you are looking for a way to simply and easily track time spent on multiple projects, I highly recommend giving Toggl a try.

Posted in Freelancing Tagged: product recommendations, productivity, time management

Updated Book Recommendations

Courtnay — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 07:31:48 +0000

I finally got around to updating my recommendations in several categories on my Books page. To take a look at the updated lists, just click on the links below:

If you have any questions or comments about any of my selections, please send me an email and let me know. Also, if you have any book recommendations you’d like to share with me, I’d love to hear about them!

Posted in Books Tagged: Books, product recommendations