Amazon Announces the $79 Kindle

If you've been thinking about getting a Kindle but just haven't done it, it looks like procrastination is a good thing in this case.  Amazon has just announced a whole new family of Kindle readers - new, improved, and cheaper too.  You can now get the Kindle with Special Offers for only $79. ($109 without the special offers)

Also available, the Kindle Touch, Wi-Fi, 6" E Ink Display - includes Special Offers & Sponsored Screensavers for $99. Never having used a Kindle, I didn't realize they didn't already have touch screens - but now they do, and they're cheaper than before.

For about $200, you can get the new Kindle Fire, Full Color 7" Multi-touch Display, Wi-Fi that takes you beyond reading to movies, apps, games, web browsing, email and more - all with a gorgeous full-color touchscreen.

The new Kindles will be available in November, but you can pre-order yours now to reserve your place in line - orders are prioritized on a first come, first serve basis.  Which one will you order?  I added that Kindle Fire to my wishlist, just in case you're thinking of getting me something....

*affiliate links

No Contracts and No Surprises with Straight Talk

This post brought to you by Straight Talk. All opinions are 100% mine.

If you're looking for a cell phone, you might want to check out Straight Talk.  Cell phone providers are famous for requiring customers to sign contracts every time they get new phones or change their plans.  Straight Talk doesn't do that.  There are NO contracts.  There are NO credit checks, NO activation fees, and no surprises.

Straight Talk provides nationwide coverage at an affordable price.  You could even cut your cell phone bill in half by switching.  Amazing, huh?  I don't know how much you're paying for your plan, but it's probably more than $45/month.  I know mine is.  For $45/month with Straight Talk, you can get Unlimited calls, text, picture messaging, and web.  That's what I mean by no surprises - no matter how many times you Call a friend, send a text or picture message, or surf the web, you are only going to pay $45.  Even 411 is included - at no extra cost.  If you (or your husband) has ever called 411 to get a phone number, you know how fast those charges can add up!  I'd rather use that money to go see a movie or something fun.  If you don't need unlimited, they also have some options that are going to save you even more.

Straight Talk only uses trusted phone manufacturers like LG, Motorola, Kyocera, Nokia and Samsung, so you don't have to worry about getting a sub-standard phone just because you're saving money on the plan.  Sure, you can get reconditioned phones for about $10 - great for people who are hard on their phones or as a first phone for your kids - but you can also get smart phones with  Android on Straight Talk with features like voice navigation, camera, video recorder, music player, instant messaging, and Bluetooth®.  And, since there's no contract, if you fall  Hook, line and sinker in love with a new phone, you can go ahead and upgrade without that new 2-year commitment the other providers would require.

Straight Talk customers sound like a satisfied group of people.  They're probably wondering why the rest of us actually have cell phone contracts.

Rolling in the Deep - The Piano Guys

Have you heard of these guys?  I hadn't until a friend posted this on facebook (for another friend who plays the cello) - and WOW!  Seriously.  So. Good.

Watch this video and then go check out their others on YouTube.



Absolutely amazing.  Be sure to watch this one.  Really - don't miss it.

Google Analytics - Don't Forget the Code

I've had Google Analytics installed on my blogs for quite a while now.  It's fun and interesting to see how many visitors I have, where they come from, what keywords they searched to find me, etc.  But, when I changed the design on this blog - way back in April - I forgot to re-install the code.  I had Google Analytics set up to email me if my traffic started dropping, but then I just ignored those emails.  I had posted something about Charlie Sheen which seemed fairly popular, and I just figured it had run its course.  Yeah, it doesn't do any good to have good tools if you don't use them!

I stopped getting the emails, and I forgot about it - until I changed the design on my other blog and started getting those emails about that blog.  For some reason, even though I had copied the code from my old template to the new one, it wasn't working - so I logged into Google Analytics and started looking for the code I needed.  That's when I realized that it hadn't been recording anything for this blog since April!

It took a bit for me to find the code, so I thought I'd share where to find your code on Google Analytics.  First of all, log into your Analytics account.  If you don't have one, you can sign up for free and start adding your own sites.  If you've already got an account and added sites, you'll see them all listed.  Next to the site you want the tracking code for, click edit - you'll find it on the far right side.  (click the image to get a better view)

On the next page- top, right side - you'll see a link that says Check Status.  Click that.  There you will find the code you need to add to your site.  You will need to edit the html of your site (under template in Blogger) and paste the code in right before the </head> tag.  Save the template, and the code should start tracking your visitors and receiving data.  As you can see (if you actually clicked that image above(, now that I've re-installed my Google Analytics tracking code, my traffic has increased 90,800%!  Well, anyway, it went from ZERO (that Google Analytics knew of) to several visitors a day - and once again I can see where they came from, how they got here, and how long they stayed.

Related articles

• Beginners Guide to Google Analytics: Part I (problog.weddingwire.com)

Too Much Good Stuff Giveaway

This post brought to you by ampm. All opinions are 100% mine.

I won!  I played the Instant Win game on the ampm facbook page, and I won a corn dog.  I've never had a corn dog from ampm, but from everything I'm reading they're pretty good.  I just need to find out whether or not I'll actually be able to eat it or if I'll have to give it away to someone.  I checked their website and can't find out whether they're all beef or not.  And then there's the fact that I'd have to take a road trip to redeem my winnings, since there's no ampm close to me. (insert sad face here) because they look like really nice convenience stores with all kinds of snacks, beverages and hot food prepared on-site.  It actually looks like the perfect stop on a road trip.

But anyway, here's the deal - right now you can enter the ampm Too Much Good Stuff giveaway for your chance to win instant prizes.  They're giving away 15,000 bottles of Pepsi Max and 10,000 corn dogs.  Entering is easy - simply 'like' their facebook page, click on the Too Much Good Stuff Giveaway link on the left side, and enter your email address to get started.  Then you get to spin the virtual slot machine to see if you win.   If all three reels match - you win! Whether you win an instant prize or not, you're still entered into the sweepstakes for some cool prizes like Apple iPod Nanos, Apple iPod Touches, Apple iPads or an Apple MacBook Air and the grand prize trip to Las Vegas.  I wouldn't mind going back to Vegas - especially if someone else is paying for it.  How about you?  And I'd take an iPod Touch... *crossing my fingers*

Must be 18 or older to play and 21 or older to win the trip to Vegas, and you can play once per day.  So what are you waiting for?  This giveaway ends 8/31/11, and they've got some Good Stuff to give away.  Go see if you can claim your share.

Tools for Better Blogging

Image by Colin ZHU via FlickrI really need to check out this list of 15 Must-Have Tools for Better Blogging. It's a list of tools, sites, and plug-ins that 'most bloggers have never heard of' and are supposed to help increase the engagement of your blog readers.

Quickly glancing through it, I recognize and use a few of these, Zemanta and Google Analytics to name a couple.  There are several that I've not heard of, and I really want to check them out.

How many of them have you heard of or do you use?

Manage Your Phone Calls with Google Voice

I was talking to a friend this weekend, and she mentioned that she had purchased a cheap cell phone and some prepaid minutes because she's trying to sell something and didn't want to give out her 'real' phone number.  Not a bad idea really, and I think those cheap no contract phones can be a good thing, as you can tell from the previous couple posts.  But now she doesn't need the phone any more, but she bought minutes that need to be used or they'll expire - therefore not really being a good deal at all.

I mentioned that she should have (could have?) just signed up for Google Voice and given that number out instead.  The calls could have come into her regular phone, because Google Voice lets you forward calls to any or all of your regular phones.  Just link them with your Google Voice number and decide which phones should ring when a call comes in to your Google Voice number.  And, of course, these settings can be changed at any time.

Of course, Google Voice has all kinds other features like voicemail, text messaging, call screening, call blocking, caller ID, the ability to record custom greetings for different callers or groups of callers, and even the ability to embed a widget in a web page so all callers have to do is click to call you.  For free.  And that's just the beginning, really.  Google Voice offers so much more than I've even begun to mention.

So maybe I was wrong.  She shouldn't have gotten a Google Voice number to give out instead of her 'real' number.  She should get a Google Voice number and start using it for everything.  And me?  I've had a Google Voice number for a couple years - and I really, really need to start using it!

Any big Google Voice users out there?  What do you think?  How do you use it?