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Book festival an OK experience

I'm really not sure what I expected at the Baltimore Book Festival ... more well-known authors, more freebies, a new car. Nevertheless, I did expect a little more. I learned, however, a few things to be prepared in greater detail for next year:

1. Check the schedule: I had seen a brief schedule, but I didn't bring it with me, nor did I attempt to obtain one at the festival. There were a handful of things, including a tour of the Peabody Library, that I wish I had attended.

Build and share your virtual bookshelf

You can learn a lot about people by finding out what types of books they like. In the past, that meant grilling them on what they had read, what they own, etc. Maybe they remember every book they have ever seen, but most likely, unless you come up with a title and/or author, they'll have no clue if you spout off about a book they love.

Naming your new company

Do you have a great idea for a new invention? Do you have the perfect business plan to make millions? Do you have the means to bring peace to the world and bring a fortune to yourself?

Next stop: Baltimore Book Festival

I'm not exhibiting at the Baltimore Book Festival, for a couple of reasons. But that doesn't mean I won't be attending.

From the information on the website, it looks as if there's a lot going on at the festival, for all ages. Also, it begins Friday night and continues Saturday and Sunday, which means you should have the opportunity to check it out at some point.

Mix your music with GarageBand

Attention Windows shoppers: You may want to glaze over the next few paragraphs, because this isn't for you.

It is, however, for music lovers who wish to create your own beats on a Mac. I have been using GarageBand for a month or so, and I'm pretty confident that I have the next album to go platinum stored right here on my machine. OK, maybe it's not that good, but at the very least, it's fun to make your own mixes.

From the Archive

Watch for extra charges at the Waverly post office branch

While the United States Post Office seems to be losing money each month, at least one Baltimore branch has decided to take matters in its own hands - by charging extra postage at random intervals.

The Waverly branch of the Baltimore United States Post Office charges an additional 17-44 cents for an article of mail that can be sent from the USPS Hampden branch for just 44 cents. It's pretty shocking that one would receive a different rate from various post office branches. Before compiling this story, I had to check with my own eyes to make certain this was accurate.

Making online dating a little more realistic

Some people I know who refuse to date people online say so for one simple reason: "I don't know if people are who they say they are."

This is a funny comment first off because even if you met people out somewhere, at work, etc., you rarely don't know who they are until you REALLY know them. Even then, it's debatable how well you know them, not just their physical appearances, but their personalities as well.

Unlimited email storage space with Yahoo

If you use Yahoo email and you are one of those people who save every email, it looks like you won't need to empty the trash anytime soon.

Yahoo announced that in May, the company will over unlimited storage capacity.

Enemies of the Internet

I would like to think that the Internet is everyone's friend. You know, kind of like the guy at the diner down the street who always puts an extra squirt of hot fudge on your ice cream sundae for no extra charge. Unfortunately, there countries who not only won't give their citizens ice cream, but if you do manage to buy some on your own, they smear it in your face.

Company placing e-commerce sites in jeopardy

This just in from the Department of You Can't Be Serious: Pangea Intellectual Properties (PanIP), a technology development company based in San Diego, is suing boatloads of companies for infringing on its patents. The company claims to have patents on e-commerce and Web-based financial banking systems, which means any Web site that conducts shopping on the Internet is violating a patent and could be sued as well.

To quote one of my favorite Different Strokes characters: "Whatcha talkin' bout, Willis?"

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