One Stop Shop for Movie/Book/Game/TV Reviews

Not sure if its worth $10 per person to see the latest movie releases? Should you wait for the paperback version of the new bestseller saving more than 50% of the hardback price? Before you spend your hard earned money and time, check out MetaCritic.com for the latest reviews from top newspapers and publications around the country on movies, books, games and tv shows. MetaCritic.com offers a “Metascore” (average of the critics’ scores) for each item giving a quick glance at its overall rating. You can read the critics’ reviews as well as the opinions and ratings from non-critics. You can post your own opinions or participate in group discussions.

You can access the information through the website or through an RSS feed or your smartphone.

Get Cooking Tips from Top Chefs

“If your food and wine adventures are more about the journey than the destination, Behind the Burner is the perfect place to explore your culinary desires.” From BehindTheBurner.

BehindtheBurner.com offers advice, tricks and secrets from the country’s top chefs. Learn about the chefs’ and restaurateurs, watch videos of chef’s cooking signature foods (I liked the chocolate french toast by Chef Peyard – Chocolate Epiphany), and read articles on everything from wine and travel, to how-to and health. Plus you can get great recipes.

If cooking (and eating) is your life, be sure to visit BehindtheBurner.com.

Get Money for Your Creative Project from Kickstarter

Are you a fledgling artist, filmmaker, musician, writer or creative soul? Need some cash to pursue your creative project? Then check out Kickstarter, which touts itself as the largest funding platform for creative projects in the world. Don’t worry that investors will have part ownership of your project. Through Kickstarter you keep 100% ownership over your work.  Instead, investors are thanked or compensated in other ways such as copies of the completed project. Current projects include documentaries, game boards, comics, art app for iPad and more.

If you don’t have a project, but are interested in supporting artists, Kickstarter has thousands of project looking for your help.

To learn more, visit Kickstarter.

Get Cash for Your Gadgets and Help the Environment too!

Dealing with old outdated gadgets is a hassle. You don’t want to throw them in trash, after all you paid good money for it and it probably still works. And of course, sending them to the landfill isn’t good for the environment. On the other hand, throwing them in the junk drawer just adds more clutter.

There are many organizations willing to take your old cell phones but what about your old digital cameras, MP3 players, GPS systems, laptops and other gadgets? Gazelle offers you good money for most of your gadgets. And if your gadget isn’t worth anything, it will still recycle or dispose of it in an environmentally safe way. Gazelle offers other ways to make a difference by allowing you to donate the money you make from your gadgets to a cause. If you have a cause that needs money, Gazelle can help you fundraise as well.

Gazelle is easy to use. Create an account, type in the gadget you have into the search box, answer some questions about its condition and ask for a price quote. Gazelle will give you a price and let you know what the item is selling for in the regular market. Next you request packaging so that you can send your item in at Gazelle’s expense. You’re paid when the item is received.

To learn more, visit Gazelle.com!

Find Free Wi-Fi Spots

Its easier and easier to find places to work no matter where you go. Locations like Panera Bread and Barnes and Noble offer free wi-fi and in a bind you can get access at Starbucks if you’re a reward card member. But occasionally I still get stuck without wi-fi or at least free wi-fi. There are many online resources you can use to find free wi-fi and all seem to yield different results. None of the few I tried were able to find the free spots where I live. I know I have at least 2, but my area is rural so maybe its not worth listing on the map. Here’s a few resources you can try if you need free wi-fi:

Hotspotr can search using your address and will provide other nearby city options on a Google Map.

Jiwire can search worldwide although Paris wasn’t on the France list and I don’t remember enough about France to know what region its in. When searching my local area, it had a few options that didn’t come up on Hotspotr but was also missing a few that had been on Hotspotr. It provides results on a list with an option to click on a map for specific locations.

OpenWiFiSpot at first had no options when I searched the larger city near me. But then there was a list of other options that included the zip code I initially searched with. Clicking on that I got a list with some of the same options offered on Hotspotr and Jiwire. It gives an option to get results by list or on a map.