Microsoft also informed me that they are sending the new Microsoft Wireless Mobile Mouse 3500 Studio Series to me, and it should be arriving shortly. I’m going to make sure and review the “plug-and-go” receiver, BlueTrak technology and battery life (which is currently listed online to last up to 8 months). There are numerous design templates for the face plate of this mouse design, and I already have two of them (that I bought earlier this year for my surface and laptop). Because of this, after I conduct a short write-up about the product, I will be giving it away for free to one of my readers! Keep a look out for post headlines featuring mobile mouse or something similar in the headlines in order to become eligible. Your chances of winning are pretty high.. considering I don’t have a vast audience or more than a handful of blog followers.

Alright now for the important details about awesome competitions you can get involved in (if you have a few extra minutes to spare to enter), and if you are a Windows 8 user (like me, high fiiiiive) then make sure you are updating your apps! This month Microsoft featured the new Kindle, Skype and updated justWINK apps that are now available on the app store for free download.

Here are some details about each of these three apps:

justWINK: justWink lets you personalize and send awesome greeting cards from your Windows 8 device to your friends, family, and beyond, via email or Facebook. Cards that shuffle between, funny, bold, cute, trendy, sassy, heartfelt, sweet, and beautiful. Cards that open and flip and make people smile just like real cards. (Free)

Skype: Skype is the always-on app that makes staying in touch with all your contacts easier than ever. If you can’t be with your Dad on Father’s Day, Skype is the next best thing. No matter if you’re on a PC, Windows Phone, Mac, tablet, iPhone or Android device, Skype keeps you connected and always available. (Free)

Kindle: Do you or your  dad or grad love to read? Show them the Kindle app for Windows 8. They’ll have access to over 1 million books in the Kindle Store, including best sellers and new releases. Amazon’s Whispersync technology automatically syncs their furthest page read, bookmarks, notes, and highlights across all of their devices that have the Kindle app installed and across any Kindle device. That means they can start reading on one device and pick up where you left off on another device. (Free)

And, finally, details about the competitions:

Microsoft recently launched  YouthSpark Challenge for Change, a contest to inspire young people to share their ideas for sparking change in their communities or around the world. Challenge for Change is part of Microsoft’s YouthSpark initiative to create opportunities for 300 million youth around the world over the next 3 years.

The rules are simple. Between now and May 24, Microsoft is asking U.S. residents aged 18-25 to submit a short proposal for a social good project and explain how they would use Windows and Office to launch and run it (e.g. tracking expenses, collaborating with friends to create promotional materials, etc.). Microsoft is looking for all ideas – big or small – that have real potential to make a difference. Five grand prize winners will receive an all-expenses-paid volunteer trip to Kenya in August 2013, as well as $2,500 cash to help kick-start their projects, and a bundle of the latest Microsoft technologies including Surface, Windows Phone 8 and Xbox 360.

You can find key dates and the full list of prizes on the Microsoft Citizenship blog. For inspiration, Microsoft created this video that shares the stories of two young women, Rebecca and Christina, and their social good projects: Plus Ultra and the Do Good Bus. Enter the challenge here.

Bing It On!

Are you ready for something new? With summer right around the corner, now is the perfect time to mix up your routine and branch out. Step out of the box and join the nearly 25 million others who in the last nine months have visited the Bing It On challenge site. Turns out, people prefer Bing over Google for the web’s top searches, yet many people still use Google out of habit. Take the challenge at www.bingiton.com and see which results you prefer!

So, now that you have taken the time to learn about all these cool new updates and challenges, what are you waiting for? Either download the apps now from Windows 8, enter the competitions or even better, do both! I am going to be ALL over YouthSpark so Bing It On! I’m not scared of some more competition .

Sometimes I have moments where I see you,

————————- Le Fin ————-

I love you mom.
You have no idea how beautiful you are. There is no one on this earth quite like you- you are special. I know it.
And you passed your creative, limitless mind and point of view on to me.
And I sincerely am so grateful.
Because I love the beauty of the way my mind and eyes interpret the world.
But I never forget I am looking through the lenses of my mother– a mind with unmeasurable, spectacular perspectives and point of views.
I truly think you are one of the most creative people- and kind hearted individuals that exist. Really, I do.
I know I’m hard on you- and you are hard on me too at times- but deep down we share a connection that is almost completely intertwined and indefinitely reliant on maintaining the balance between this complexity.
My deepest thoughts are mere replicas of your own perspective.
It’s honestly crazy- but the world is crazy- and that’s how I know that I really am a piece, just a genetic clone, of the woman you are.
I am a part of you- pieces and qualities of me..
Thousands of them.. They are yours.
And this poem.. Well, it attempts to describe those random moments of sudden realizations I have where I realize I share so very much in common with you.
And you are beautiful- and it makes me really know deep down, that I must be beautiful too.

I love you mama.

You were and still are so good to Alyssa and I. We don’t deserve all the love and care you provided us- but I promise you that one day, I will willingly return the kindness and love you fostered for your family by caring for you when you and dad need Alyssa and I to fulfill our roles as the thankful daughters we are now and forever will remain.

Ultimately, this poem was initially set out to describe in a sort of abstract way, how I sometimes do really pause everything around me- because I am completely in awe of something I do- say- or the way I look.. Like the way my hairline matches yours exactly.. Because in those few, what feel like paused moments of my mind and the world around me, I am not seeing myself but I am seeing my mother. I can’t even begin to try and recollect how many different days or random evenings this has happened to me- when I notice parts of me that are pieces of you. However, I can tell you that there has never been an experience where I haven’t felt proud, lucky, and beautiful, to know that I am your daughter and I possess a fraction of the beauty you’ve always demonstrated or displayed.

I am so proud to be the daughter of you, and also of dad. You guys are both awesome and made two pretty amazing hybrid children, if I do say so myself .

• The videos mentioned in this post, I mean “tutorials”, will be posted later this evening. They are relatively straight forward. I am posting them just in case anyone has trouble using Craigslist, for example. I realize everyone knows how to simply use the site — no one is that tech oblivious — but there are a bunch of simple tricks you can do while searching the site to make your search extremely specific, and time saving. It’s worth taking the time knowing how to utilize these sites, especially when house hunting. 
• I made this tutorial (the resource list, as well as steps as to how to take advantage of these resources/use them properly and efficiently) for a group of 3 girls, a few of my good friends, that are looking for a 3 bedroom place in Seattle, WA. But, there are a lot of different neighborhoods in Seattle (it is very similar to SF if you are more familiar with that area) — and they specifically want a place in Capitol Hill — a relatively popular area to live — making the search that much more difficult. So, heads up if you see a bunch of Seattle apartment resources listed or mentions and you don’t live in this area!
• Anyway, I figured this guide would be helpful for anyone trying to find an apartment/place to live (since we all have to do it every few years, or at least when you are in your 20s and struggling to stay alive). Not to mention, it is finally spring which means the retail market is getting more and more competitive each day (depending on what city you plan on moving/living in). 

The Official Apartment Hunt Guide

The Online Resource & Mobile App List:

Craigslist

PlaceofMine

HotPads

ApartmentFinder

Rent.com (by eBay)

Padmapper

Airbnb

Trulia

Zillow

VRBO

SeattleRentals

ForRent

MyNewPlace

Apartments

HomeAway

Apartmentguide

SeattleApartmentFinder

RentAdvisor

forleasebyowner

The Seattle Times/The Seattle Weekly

An online comment I spotted on a local Seattle housing site that applies to Capitol Hill, as well as any popular urban/city neighborhood:

“As for Capitol Hill, Craigslist, as Kate suggested, was my best source. I also suggest just walking around Capitol Hill. Many buildings will have vacancy notices posted outside with a contact number. Just call them up when you are outside and see what they have. Many of these smaller buildings didn’t appear to be listing on Craigslist.”

• Dedicating one day to walking around most of Capitol Hill and looking for the “For Rent” signs is actually really effective also (as you can see from this direct quote I got online haha). My dad advised me to do that in SF when literally all the apartments already had interns settled there, and I did (surprisingly) see various signs posted up. Just keep this as an option if your internet hunt completely fails

1. The Apartment Hunt Guide Outline:
   1. Resources for apartment hunting – online and mobile apps
   • I will create a list of the best resources to use/download on your phone and upload this to your new Gmail account’s G-Drive.
   • NOTE: This way, it will be easily accessible to all of you virtually anywhere you go as long as you have your phone/computer and wifi.
2. Video Tutorials on how to use a handful of resources on list
   1. Most of them are pretty straight forward to use, and aside from just being dedicated and quick to respond to renters after the initial email, you guys just need the links to these sites. However, I will conduct a few video tutorials as references for some of the sites that are more confusing to use/there may be specific techniques on how to use them efficiently (i.e. Craigslist, Airbnb.. etc). I will be doing this using Camtasia 2 — a screen-filming/audio recording application you can download (MAC or PC) at this site here. It is the same software they use on educational sites such as Khanacademy, Udemy, etc. If this seems like something you find interesting, make sure not to forget to download it at the listed link.

• Must create a Gmail account for all future roommates to have accessible
• Curate a generic template that you can simply copy and paste into e-mails/messages to any listing that interests you (even if it isn’t the picture perfect listing — keep your options open in the beginning and eliminate later)
• Record your Username for new account & Password in a safe place, and share with roommates
  1. If you are serious about finding an apartment within your budget right now, you need to frequently be checking for email responses. This time of the year the listings get really competitive and if you don’t respond to an email or call back ASAP you will lose your spot to someone else
• You now have the best resources for the search process, an group email account for the applying process (with a general template on its corresponding drive for easy access), and limited time/a limited budget.. 
  1. Apply to as many listings that fit your budget/meet your requirements as possible.
     1. Once you do so, put the listing address in the excel spreadsheet (also on your email’s google drive) in the first column.
     2. Then, put the website/app used which found this address/the website you replied to the renter on (because some renters post on a variety of sites, it is okay to message them on different platforms but not multiple times on the same platform — this annoys them) in the second column of the excel sheet
        1. Why? Again, messaging a specific listing or renter on different websites or applications is okay but you all need to be on the same page about what listings you have responded to AND on what exact sites you responded to these listings. This just makes everything a lot more organized and professional
     3. Write your NAME in the third column of the excel spreadsheet, for once again, organization reasons (and everyone needs to help during the search so no one gets butt hurt later over a disagreement or something)
     4. Lastly, write the date in the fourth column on which you sent a message or email to the renter/renters. Again, for organizational reasons.
  2. When you receive a follow up email that seems like they still have availability or welcome you to see an open house, all 3 of you should try to go but if not take plenty of photos and prepare questions to ask so you can inform your other roommates about the place with as much detail as possible. The more of you that go, the easier it will be to come to a decision once you have heard back from a good number of listings, and boiled your list down to a top 3.
     1. Remember what you want and don’t give in to anything else (for example, if there is a relatively nice place in Queen Anne — keep it an option but don’t settle until you find what you were looking for exactly)
        1. So you guys have expressed that you: (1) want to live in Cap Hill and (2) the max amount for monthly budget is 2400. We will stick to these constraints. 
• Moving is a whole other story, but I have moved like 5 times by myself (weakling) and have the best/cheapest ways to do it! We will go over that when the time comes.

EXAMPLE OF WHAT THE EMAIL TEMPLATES YOU SEND OUT SHOULD LOOK LIKE:

Message Introduction

Option 1) 

Dear [Renter or Rental Agent that posted the listing]

Option 2) 

Hi – use this option if responding to a Craigslist post

*Never underestimate the power of politeness. Using dear may seem weird at first, but people (especially older people..) value that respect so don’t hesitate to be as formal as possible. 

*If you do not know the renter’s name, a second alternative would be to simply say “To whom it may concern:”

Message Body

Option 1:

Hi there,

My name is ________ and I’m a ______ at ______ University. My ____# of____ roommates (also ______ students) and I would like to sublease an apartment in the _____ area from ____ to _____ this ______ in order to [put any logical reason here, mine said "in order to intern in the city"].

Is this listing still available? If so, please contact me at your earliest convenience with the information provided below.

Thank you so much for your time and consideration. I genuinely appreciate having any opportunity to learn more about your listing at [insert listing address here] and would love to speak with you in person, if that is possible.

[insert either craigslist posting id link, or the website/app link the posting was found at here from any 3rd party resources -- this helps the renter who posted the rental, and it ultimately helps you keep all the listings you messaged (a lot) in an organized fashion]

Best regards and I hope to hear from you soon!

Option 2:

Hi,

My name is [insert name] and I’m currently a [year] at [whatever college you attend]. I have a {.. this can be a list of things, “a job”, “an internship”, “an interest in this area of Seattle”] this [time period whether it is just for summer or for an entire school year] with [company or school.. etc] in the [city] area and I’m in desperate need to find housing! My [work/internship/school] dates range from [desired move in day 1] to [desired move out day 2]. Do these dates work for you and your listing agenda?

*** NOTE: IF THE LISTING IS PICTURE PERFECT & YOU’RE DESPERATE ADD THIS*****: I am willing to take this listing unseen, given my situation. I can also offer [listing price + extra 100 or so dollars] a month, rather than [the original listing price], to make me a more likely candidate.

I’m a very clean and responsible individual and consider myself to be a good roommate and a friendly person!Let me know if your listing is still available. I would really appreciate the help!

Best regards,

…

Message Conclusion

[YOUR NAME HERE]

[If you mentioned your roommates, list their names also]

[your primary email address, in this case: the group email you created for house hunting!]

[Your phone number]

[any website link you may have like a blog, or even a linkedin, facebook or twitter -- just so they can get an idea of who you are and make sure you aren't a crazy person]

Lastly, if you have already made your own template (which I am sure is wonderful), and want any second thoughts or quick edits, just fill in the form here and submit it. I will take a look over it asap and get back to you on my thoughts. Just an option for anyone that needs help!

• [contact-form]

The article, “LinkedIn Launches New Contacts Feature and App”, highlighted today on LinkedIn News feeds and written by Chris Neiger, explains the new feature “LinkedIn Contacts”– available on social media site, LinkedIn, for the past 5 days. This online tool and, believe it or not, stand alone iPhone application, has increased the site’s performance and growing popularity since its initial release (less than a week ago).

Unfortunately, I haven’t had the opportunity to download/play around with the iPhone app yet but I did notice a change in the website’s connectivity performance earlier this week when my email contacts from various platforms were suddenly integrated onto my account — making it much easier to connect with people I really do know, aka connections I should have made months ago but at the time finding user profiles was much more difficult.

That being said, this article is significant because it illustrates how these small site changes may cause LinkedIn to exponentially grow in popularity– since the site’s traffic has drastically increased this week (in a matter of just 5 days). While reading just the first few sentences of the article, I was stunned to have realized that I, too, have been spending a lot more time on LinkedIn (especially the mobile app) than I am used to. Also, the recent activity of my connections (usually lifeless) has suddenly blown up my once barren feed– it is obvious that people (including myself) have been successfully impressed and intrigued with this new feature– whether it is obvious to you or not.

Update: Just downloaded the iOS app and here are a few screen shots at what it looks like/what it entails. One aspect of the application that I really like is definitely the Evernote and TripIt account integration options. Check it out for yourself if this sounds interesting to you!

Related articles

• LinkedIn Turns Its Contacts Section Into A Personal Assistant, With Google, Yahoo, Evernote & Outlook Apps Integration And A Standalone iPhone App (techcrunch.com)
• New Look: LinkedIn Redesigns iPhone, Android Apps (news.terra.com)
• LinkedIn’s new app creates “relationship management” address book (seattlepi.com)
• LinkedIn’s newest feature revamp is also a standalone iPhone app: Contacts (venturebeat.com)
• LinkedIn Launches New Contacts Tool for Smarter Relationships (business2community.com)
• LinkedIn Launches New LinkedIn Contacts (webpronews.com)
• Introducing the New LinkedIn Contacts: A Smarter Way to Stay in Touch [SLIDESHOW] (linkedin.com)

Here are the links for the other two posts, in case you wanted to read them before continuing:

Mailbox for iPhone goes live for free in the App Store, reservations now being filled

Posted February 7th, 2013

The Mailbox App & it’s Growing popularity

Posted March 18th, 2013

Regardless of having read the other two or not, all you need to know is that the Mailbox app was an instant success just minutes after its initial release in the App store on February 7th, 2013 (about a year after being available in beta version). Although the app was at that time officially “released” to iPhone users for download, the actual download was one’s way of guaranteeing his or her spot on the immense wait-list the app put together for users on a first come first serve basis. To illustrate this more clearly, here is an example image of what you would typically see after downloading the app and opening it for the first time:

Except by the time I finally got around to downloading the app for my own iPhone, the number of people behind me from the image above was the number of people in front of me * 100 (no joke).

Despite such set backs, I kept the app on my phone occasionally checking my status and eagerly waiting to finally have access to it. A few weeks ago, I was very excited to receive a notification that the Mailbox app was finally ready to provide my phone with its much anticipated services. I felt like a super star — and then 10 days later, on April 16th, 2013– Mailbox announced the app is now available WITHOUT THE WAIT. This is wonderful news for you but c’mon, did that seriously just happen to me?

Anyway, I am sure the reservation system disappearance had to do with Mailbox’s decision to team up with Dropbox, Inc a month before in March. Waitlist or no waitlist, the app lives up to its reviews and is definitely a “must have” iPhone application (if you are a Gmail user of course).

If you are curious as to what the actual application looks like, here are the first few screen shots of my experience using it. Hopefully these pictures can provide you with enough drive to go and download the app yourself but if you prefer sticking with Mail — an app I still use for my other email clients — then I guess this entire article was a waste of time. In other words, you should really just download the app and try it out for yourself.

The feature, or in this case “program”, is called “Museums on Us” by Bank of America. And it is awesome.

Basically, the program allows any BOA customer to get FREE general admission to more than 150 museums, science centers, botanical gardens & more on the 1st weekend of EVERY month. The list of museums is extremely impressive too. For example, in Washington, almost every museum/science center is listed as a participant in the program (even the Asian Art center.. which I had no idea existed).

How to use/access the free admission services? All you need is your BOA debit or credit card and your ID with you. AKA two small cards you most likely carry with you at all times anyway.

To get more details about the program or to locate a museum near you, click here.

Once you arrive at this page and finish reading about the program yourself, look to the bottom right of the screen. You will see this:

Make sure to sign up for either the text alerts or email alerts so you don’t forget when the first of the month comes (in this case, only a few more days before it’s officially May).

Here are some more details about “The Museums on Us” program:

The 2013 Calendar shows the specific days of each month that are eligible for the program to work. As I mentioned above, May is soon approaching so make sure you check the full list of all participating places in the PDF file (see image) or click the “locate a museum near you” option. Then, decide on one of the various participating places in your state. And lastly, mark your calendar for the 4th and 5th of May as possible visiting options! To all the gentlemen out there, this would be a great (and extremely mature) opportunity to treat your girlfriend to a date (hopefully she is a BOA user also though, haha).

I will be at SAM (Seattle Art Museum) on May 4th — hope to see you there!

Related articles

• To All Bank Of America Users: Are you adding cash back deals to your account? (totallyagreewithme.com)
• Best of MSPBJ: Keeping that 5-star TripAdvisor rating + Bank of America grows in Twin Cities (bizjournals.com)

Reblogged from GigaOM:

Wikidata, a centralized structured data repository for facts and Wikimedia's first big new project in the last 7 years, is now feeding the foundation's main project, Wikipedia.

The Wikidata project was kicked off around a year ago by the German chapter of Wikimedia, which is still steering its gradual development. For Wikipedia, the advantage is simple and powerful -- if there's a central, machine-readable source for facts, such as the population of a city, then any update to that data can be instantly reflected across all the articles in which the facts are included.

Read more… 440 more words

WordCamp (Photo credit: jaycross)

So excited!

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