Last-Minute Vacation Bargains

If you haven’t yet planned a getaway this summer, you may actually be in luck.

 

More and more people aren’t taking big vacations this year due to the rising cost of gas and food. That means many vacation homes and resorts are going unbooked.

 

So if your vacation dates are flexible, meaning you could go at a drop of a hat, then last-minute bargains are everywhere.

 

Sites listing vacation rentals

Lastminuteusvacations.com

Myfavoriteresorts.com

Lastminuterentals.net

 Homeaway.com

 

Sites listings hotels and resorts

Lastminute.com

Travelzoo.com

 

Another affordable option, although it may not be for everyone, is a home exchange.

Websites like homeexchange.com and intervac.com offer families a chance to swap homes all over the country and even the world.

 

And remember you don’t have to fly somewhere or even drive more than a few hours. There are plenty of great adventures and affordable vacation opportunities you can discover in our region.

 

 

 

Combination Shopping

Great news people. If you shop at Gap, Old Navy, Banana Republic, and Piperlime (a women’s shoe and handbag line) online shopping just got easier.

 

If you didn’t know, all four of the stores are owned by the same corporation. And now you can shop all of them at once!

The company created navigating tabs to all four stores along the top of all of the sites. Plus, now you can put items from all four stores into one shopping bag, and check out just once. And instead of paying for shipping from multiple stores, you’ll now pay only one $7 flat shipping rate. You can also return any item for free using prepaid shipping labels.

 

Here’s another tidbit. If you have one of their credit cards, it will work with all of the online stores when checking out.

Plus, Gap, Banana Republic, and Old Navy cardmembers get free shipping on purchases of $100 or more.

 

I think this is genius and about time…Happy shopping!

Girl Scout Newscast

 

Meet Girl Scout Troop 3181! What a great group of girls. I spent a couple of hours with them Monday as they recorded their very own newscast. It’s all part of a communication badge they’re working toward. So after weeks of practice the girls had put together an entire newscast including anchors, weather, a Plugged In reporter, a health and consumer reporter, and even sports coverage of the Pens. The girls wrote their own scripts and created their own props. I have to say, I think they did an excellent job. Any of them could have a future career in broadcast journalism. After the newscast we all sat down and they asked me a whole bunch of really great questions before I headed out. I just wanted to say, thanks again for asking me to take part in your Girl Scout newscast. It was so wonderful to meet all of you.

Playing Games Makes Computers Smarter

Playing games online is always fun, and let’s be honest—a great way to waste some time at work. But what if those games you’re playing could actually make your computer smarter?

 

Believe it or not, a group of CMU researchers have developed several online games that are designed to help computers with tasks they can’t automatically do. They have created the site gwap.com.

 

By playing these different games, you’re actually advancing your computer’s artificial intelligence by improving your computer searches for images or audio clips.

 

The games can be played by people of any age. Once on the site, users are matched with other players on five games, with others to be added later.

 

Here’s a description of the five new online games:

 

ESP—a game in which opposing players are shown a picture and try to guess what words the other player will use to describe the image. The aim of the game is to help improve image searches on the Internet by creating descriptions of uncaptioned images.

 

Matchin- a game in which opposing players are shown two images and asked to choose which one they like best. The more the players choose the same image, the more points they rack up. The goal is to help computers recognize what images people would prefer to see when they are searching for pictures on the Web.

 

Tag a Tune-a game where players describe the music they hear in audio clips. This game is designed to help computers search for music with keywords other than just the title of the song.

 

Verbosity- a game which asks one player to describe a word and the other to guess what the word is.

 

Squigl- a game where two players are given a word describing a part of an image and must trace what the word is describing. Points are awarded based on how similarly the players traced the image. The goal is to help computers more easily recognize images.

Online Personal Bargain Shopper

One of my girlfriends emailed this site to me. I signed up and love it, so I figured I’d share it with all of you.

 

Has this ever happened to you?  You finally found the clothing you wanted at the right price, but then discovered it wasn’t in your size? UGH! This seriously happens to me all the time!

 

Well, you can forget browsing online and even wasting time going from store to store looking for deals. With the help of Shopittome.com you’ll get exactly what you want, in your size at a price that’s appealing.

 

You can think of Shopittome.com as your free personal shopper.

It will search the web sites of leading retailers and then email you a daily or weekly summary of which new items in your size are on sale.

And the best part–the online service is free.

 

By signing up you can choose women, men, girl or boy clothing.

 

Next, select your favorites from a list of over 500 brands.

 

Once that’s done you’ll choose the attire you’re interested in and your size. This also includes shoes.

 

The site will let you specify whether or not you wish to receive daily, weekly, or semi-weekly emails.

    

You’ll then start receiving emails listing the dozens of items in your size and on sale! By clicking on an item, Shopittome will connect you to the retailer’s web site for purchasing.

 

Love it!

Pittsburgh Moms Click Here

With school coming to an end very soon, you are probably thinking about how to fill your kid’s time this summer.

 

Whether it’s swimming lessons, parks, playgrounds or family-friendly restaurants, it can be difficult to find different locations and activities.

 

Well, Dr. Heather Starr Fiedler is a journalism professor at Point Park University and a mother of two young boys took this matter into her own hands and created PittsburghMom.com

 

PittsburghMom is really just a compressive Web site where Pittsburgh moms can find useful information all in one place.

 

The mom-friendly site is broken up into three sections. The first is a resource directory where you will find information on playgroups, parks/playgrounds, swim lessons, kid friendly restaurants, story time locations and a lot more.

 

The second component of the Web site is a message board where Pittsburgh moms can talk to other moms about almost anything, plus it gives moms an opportunity to ask and answer questions.

 

The third portion of the website is dedicated to a blog. Heather and several other moms, who are all in different parenting situations, blog about their hectic lives and all the comical things that happen to them and their kids.

 

Also check out our own Mom 4 Moms page. It’s an entire section on our site dedicated to moms.

White Water Rafting

Happy Monday!

This weekend I spent a little time in the Ohiopyle State Park.

Talk about a great use of a day!

The 20,000-acre park is beautiful and packed with lots to do from rafting/kayaking, to hiking, biking and rock climbing.

It was my first time to the park and I absolutely loved it. Instead of spending a day, we should have spent the entire weekend.

 

Anyway, we decided to dive into the adventure of white water rafting. With all of the recent rainfall, the river was high, making it perfect for rapids. I couldn’t have asked for better weather. The water was bitter cold, but the sun’s warmth made it all worth it. We signed up with Laurel Highlands River Tours & Outdoor Center for the Lower Yough of the Youghiogheny River, which is a level 3 (meaning not hard, but still packs a thrill).

 

 

Here I am getting all suited up—wetsuit, lifejacket and helmet.

We took three boats packed with 4-6 people each. And since the river was high, each boat had a guide. They were not only nice, but very knowledgeable.

 

 

It took about three hours to go 7.5 miles, with a stop for lunch. Like I said, it was great! I’ve done white water rafting before and each time it’s a blast.

 

If you’re looking to spend a day outdoors, I would definitely make the drive to Ohiopyle. We’re already making plans to go back for an entire weekend. This time though we are going for the Upper Yough (level 5).