Cruise Sites

Whether you are looking into booking your next cruise or your very first one here is a list of five of the Web’s best cruise sites.

1. CruiseMates.com doesn’t sell cruise, as much as give you information on which cruise to take. It’s an independently owned Internet cruise magazine and cruise information site. If you’re a cruise enthusiast this is the perfect site for you. Make sure to check out their message boards. You can find information written for people of different ages and interests.

2. CruiseComplete.com is a site where independent travel agencies will compete to offer you the best cruise deal. Just choose a cruise, Create an account and then request quotes. More than 100 travel agencies will compete for your business. Once you’ve picked the trip you want just contact the travel agent by phone or e-mail.

3. icruise.com is one of the largest online sellers of cruise vacations in the US. This cruise site lets you search 5 different ways for your next cruise, by destination, by departure port, sail date, cruise line, even search by cruise ship.

4. Cruise411.com has weekly deals listed on their homepage, as well as a best deal tab which lists pages of the best cruise deals. But if you don’t find what you are looking for, try their search tool.

5. Kayak.com searches hundreds of travel sites from all over the world. Just click on the Cruise tab. Choose the destination, cruise line, departure date, and length. Kayak will find the best deals and connect you directly to the source to make your purchase.

WTAE BBQ

Today was a great day here at Channel 4. We had a fantastic BBQ for the entire staff and crew. There was even Caribbean music, thanks to the steel drums.

What a perfect opportunity for me to share some pictures of our WTAE family.

Joe DeNardo was here enjoying the food.
Every one just loves when he stops by!
What a great picture of Demetrius Ivory and Joe!
Here are two of our photographers, Ralph and TJ

This is Cherneise. She edits my packages everyday; with out her I’d be lost…

Cherneise, Jim, Bernie, Jackie and me

Here are our producers, Steve, Tom and Becky

Marcie Cipriani, Demetrius Ivory and our Assistant News Director Roberta

Funny or Die

Move over YouTube—the comedic genius Will Ferrell has launched his own funny site! And let me tell you it’s FUNNY.

The site is called FunnyorDie.com. It first launched last Thursday.

Will Ferrell and a bunch of other guys came up with an idea of a comedy site where established comedians and regular users can post funny stuff, but at the same time they didn’t want all the junk videos. You know the really stupid ones that get posted on YouTube. So they came up with the funny or die idea.The site is pretty simple. Just watch a video and then vote on whether they’re funny or should die. Videos that die go to the crypt section of the site and those that are voted funny live in the immortal section.
What is extra cool about the site is that there will be regular featured videos from popular comedians, like Will Ferrell.

The first of these videos is called The Landlord. I think it is hilarious the more times you watch it. Basically, it’s Ferrell at his best–being screamed at by his landlord who just happens to be a little girl dressed in a princess outfit.

Apple Products for Cheap

Looking to finally make that investment in an iPod… maybe you just want to add another to your iPod family…or perhaps you want to upgrade, but just can’t afford to?
You can get a refurbished iPod for a discounted price right on Apple’s web site.

Apple offers great deals on Certified Refurbished Products including iPods.
Most of the products listed have been returned under Apple’s Return and Refund policies and some are returned due to technical issues. But, all devices undergo Apple’s refurbishment process prior to being offered for sale.

These deals change everyday!!!

Head to Apple.com and click on the Store tab. From there scroll down the page until you find the Refurbished iPods section on the left side.

You’ll find current versions of Apple’s iPod silver shuffle for $50 that were originally sold for $80.

You’ll find the iPod nano in a variety of colors for $169 that were originally priced $200.

You can even get the black 8GB nano for $209… almost a $50 savings.

Apple Certified Refurbished products meet the companies quality standards and carry a One-Year Limited Warranty.

You’ll also want to check out the refurbished Mac section. If you’re looking for a new computer, monitor, or mouse there are plenty of great deals to choose from.

From Apple.com: “Apple Certified Refurbished Mac products are pre-owned Apple products that undergo Apple’s stringent refurbishmentprocess before being sold. All Apple Certified Refurbished products are covered by Apple’s One-Year Limited Warranty. For extended coverage, you have the option of purchasing the AppleCare Protection Plan with your Apple Certified Refurbished product. For your convenience, we have placed the appropriate AppleCare Protection Plan at the bottom of each Apple Certified Refurbished product collection.”

Here are some of the Apple Computers that were available today:

Refurbished MacBook 1.83GHz Intel Core 2 Duo – White
Original price: $1,099.00Your price: $949.00

Refurbished iMac 17-inch 1.83GHz Intel Core 2 Duo Combo Drive
Original price: $999.00Your price: $849.00

Apple Certified Refurbished PowerBook G4 17-inch
Original price: $2,499.00Your price: $1,699.00

Refurbished Mac Pro Quad 3.0GHz Intel Xeon
Original price: $3,849.00Your price: $3,299.00

These are just a small list of the computers you’ll find on the Apple’s Refurbished Mac page, but beware, the list changes everyday.

I think the refurbished sections of Apple’s Web site are definitely worth checking out! Hello, you are saving money and still getting a great product! You can’t go wrong. And if you don’t find what you’re looking for just keep checking back.

Archos 404- One Sweet Multimedia Player

Looking for the gadget that can do it all? A device that acts like your MP3 player, camcorder, camera, plus allows you to watch TV and movies on the go?

Well, meet the 30 GB Archos 404. This is a portable multimedia device with a built-in camcorder.

You can store up to 40 movies, 300,000 photos, 15,000 songs or some combination of all 3 via Windows Media Player. The 404 supports all standard video formats.

The device cost $250 and only weighs in at just 6.8 ounces and it packs one big, bright 3.5-inch LCD screen.

When using the photo viewer you can zoom, add music and even transition effects to your favorite pictures. To use the camcorder, just point and shoot. Seriously, it’s that easy. You can also upload your videos to your blog or a video-sharing site. And don’t forget the Archos 404 comes with a built-in 1.3 megapixel digital camera.

If music is what interests you, listen up. With the ARCHOS 404, you can create, delete, edit, and rename multiple playlists directly on the device without a PC.

You can even plug the Archos 404 into your TV, VCR or DVD player and record your favorite shows/movies.

I have to say, I absolutely loved the Archos 404! I think it is one pretty awesome gadget. The only downside is that in order to use the 404 as a digital video recorder you must add the $99 docking station.

This gadget is perfect for your tech-savvy/tech-enthusiast relative or for someone who travels a lot and wants to capture the moments. This is a product that will definitely go on my wish list. Check out all the Archos products.

Keep’n It Current

These days former Vice President Al Gore is known for his fight to inform the world of Global Warming. He is also behind the TV network and web site called Current.

The web site, Current.TV, is very similar to YouTube, except for the copyright restrictions. It’s actually a pretty cool site. Whether you like Al Gore or not, it’s worth checking out. A lot of the videos from the site come from around the world. They give you an insight on different lifestyles and cultures.

On the site you can search through the different channels of viewer created content, submit your own videos and vote on your favorite clips.

Current.TV hosts thousands of videos ranging anywhere from one to seven minutes. They’re called pods and they fall into a list of categories. These pods are produced by both on-air correspondents/producers and regular viewers just like you.

Current.TV has one big advantage over other video-sharing sites on the web. The site doesn’t just show your video online, it also airs segments on its DirectTV, Comcast, DISH Network, AT&T U-verse and Time Warner cable channels. Even YouTube can’t do that. The actual TV network currently reaches 38 million American homes and 12 million in the UK.

The main idea of Current TV is to encourage those of you out there who consider yourself independent producers to submit stories that are different from the mainstream media. Current will then air them on actual television.

If you do decide to submit a piece to Current.TV and the channel’s editors like what you submit and put it on the air, they’ll pay you $500- $1,000. Not a bad deal for a little creativity. Be aware, to submit a video you must get trained. Check out the Make Videos and Ads tab along the top.

Just Plugging You In

I just wanted to give you a heads up on some tech news you may just be interested in.

Microsoft has announced that the Xbox 360 will soon have instant messaging capabilities over the Windows Live Messenger application.

An online update will take place in May. The new feature will allow Xbox players to chat with up to six people while either playing games, listening to music or watching movies on their Xbox.

Check out the new control that Microsoft will provide later this summer. It has a keyboard built right in! Currently Xbox users have to use an onscreen keyboard which can be a major pain. Having this controller will certainly make “chatting” much easier.

In other tech news, if you haven’t heard Apple has finally sold 100 million iPods. The 100 millionth sale makes the iPod the fastest selling music player in history. That is pretty amazing, considering the very first iPod was sold just five and a half years ago.

I remember when I first got my mini blue iPod. I thought it was the most amazing little device I had ever seen! Since Apple launched the original iPod, nine other models have followed. Think about it, the iPod and iTunes really transformed the way we view digital music and now digital media.

The iTunes Store features one of the world’s largest libraries of music, TV shows and movies. Since launching, the iTunes Store has sold over 2.5 billion songs, 50 million TV shows and over 1.3 million movies.

Another recent announcement from Apple is something called Complete My Album. This new feature, available through iTunes, allows customers who have bought individual songs to complete an album by buying all the songs at a reduced price. Basically, instead of purchasing a song twice, once as a single and once as part of an album, Apple will now give you a 99 cent credit for every track you have previously purchased from that particular album.

Here’s an example. I bought Sexy Back by Justin Timberlake when it first came out. I recently decided to buy his entire album. Since I already bought Sexy Back, iTunes gave me a 99 cent credit, because you get Sexy Back when you purchase JT’s entire album.

I think Complete My Album is a fantastic addition to iTunes. This way you not only get money back, but you don’t have duplicates of songs on your music library.

Meet the Apple TV

The Apple TV has hit stores. The new device can stream video from your computer to your TV, finally connecting your digital and entertainment lifestyle.
Eventually, the Apple TV and other similar devices are going to replace that prized DVD player you own!

This 8 inch square device packs a 40GB hard-drive, meaning you could store up to 50 hours of video, 9,000 songs, 25,000 photos or a combination of the three.

But before you run out and drop $300 on the device you should know Apple’s TV isn’t for everyone.

First off, the Apple TV is compatible with Windows PCs and Macs. You just have to have iTunes. But this slim device is only compatible with widescreen high-definition televisions. It will also work with certain “enhanced definition” widescreen TVs.

So, if you still have an older square TV, you’re out of luck, unless it can display widescreen-formatted content and accept the newer types of cables, component jacks or an HDMI cable. Those white, red and yellow connectors won’t do the trick, sorry.

If you do happen to have the compatible TV set, the Apple device can be connected wirelessly or through an Ethernet cable.

Once the device is connected to your computer and TV, you decide what to store on its 40 gigabyte hard-drive.

The Apple TV menu is similar to that of your iPod including movies, TV shows, music, podcasts, and photos.

One downside to the device is it won’t allow you to buy media directly from the iTunes store. You have to download content to iTunes via your computer, and then Apple TV will stream it on your television.

All in all, the Apple TV is a great device, but it won’t replace cable or satellite nor your DVR or TiVo.

The Apple TV is really for people who take advantage of downloading TV shows, music videos and movies from the iTunes store.

If you still want more information, PCWorld has a great video review of the Apple TV and so does MacPublishing. There are also tons of videos demonstrating Apple’s new device all over YouTube and if you still want more on the Apple TV, visit Cnet.com and type in “Apple TV.”

Meeting YouTube CEO

YouTube co-founder and now CEO Chad Hurley spent this past weekend at his alma mater, IUP.

He was one of four panelists speaking to students, sharing his insight and, of course, inspiration on how an idea of a video-sharing site transformed the way we view the Internet.

Hurley says YouTube was just an idea he and friend Steve Chen came up with to solve a problem.
(Click here for Chad Hurley on YouTube Idea)

Hurley and nine other IUP grads were honored last weekend as the 2007 Distinguished Alumni.

In 1999, the YouTube CEO earned a degree in Fine Arts at IUP and then with a buddy created the video-sharing site.

Since graduation, Hurley has been named one of Fortune’s most powerful people in business, and Time magazine named YouTube the Invention of the year.

These days, YouTube serves up millions of videos to billions of viewers around the world.

In October, Google paid $1.65 billion in stock to acquire YouTube.
(Click here for Chad Hurley on Google Deal)

Hurley even says these days he’s surprised what YouTube is being used for. From the police dept to political candidates, even the US military is now taking advantage of the YouTube phenomenon.

Although I didn’t actually get to interview Hurley one-on-one, I was able to introduce myself. I have to say it was pretty cool! It just goes to show, you never know which direction or career path life will lead you. A fine arts major is now the CEO of one of, if not, the most powerful site on the Web.

Disney’s Parenting Site

A Web site launched by Disney is a one-stop shop for all you parents out there– especially you moms.

The Disney site, which is in beta form until later this summer, is all about parenting. It is therefore appropriately called Family.com. From fruits and vegetables to parenting tips and mommy blogs, this site has everything you need.

Along the top you’ll find tabs for Food, Parenting, Entertainment, Education, Travel and Shopping. There is even a tab for coupons!

On each page you’ll find additional sub categories full of helpful articles on just about every subject.

Make sure to check out the blog section where you can read and share your parenting experiences. Another feature that will catch your eye is the “Family 1,000.” This is a list of the best parenting sites found all over the web voted by Family.com users. You can nominate your favorite sites and rate the lists of others.