I recently retired my old Samsung monitor, and brought in a replacement.  While I work on getting a more official review in order for my new Samsung Touch Of Color 25.5-Inch LCD HDTV Monitor I thought I could at least share my unboxing photos with all of you.  Thus far I have been really impressed with it – and I’ll be sure to post more of my thoughts very soon.

There is the side of the box, giving all the geeky details. 

The box is now open, what kind of mysteries are inside? (and did I open this thing upside down?)

After digging the monitor out, I thought it would be worth it to do a side by side comparison.  New monitor is on the left and old monitor is on the right.

All plugged in and ready to roll.  Here is the Samsung Touch Of Color 25.5-Inch LCD HDTV Monitor all plugged in, and ready for work.  It also doubles as a TV too – just got to find room on the desk to plug something into it, PS3? Wii? or maybe go old school and find an NES?

There you have it.  I’ll be sure to post more of my thoughts on the Samsung Touch Of Color 25.5-Inch LCD HDTV Monitor very soon.  So far though, I would give it a huge two thumbs up.

Do you find the sound of rain to be relaxing?  Being from Texas, thunderstorms in the Spring are like second nature, so I really do like the sound of rain.  You can now though add that gentle sound of rain to your environment with Rainy Mood.

This web site is simple, and to the point. You have a big ol’ play button in the middle of the web page, and when you click it – the rain sounds stop or start.  The web site plays a 15 minute high quality loop of rainy sounds.

So if you feel like you get your best work done with the rainy noises in the background, be sure to check out RainyMood.com.

Having been fully entertained by the There Will be Brawl web series, I have high hopes that the production company behind this Final Fight trailer will be able to pull something together.  Could they really do any worse than some of the video game to movie adaptation there have been thus far?

Download Here: 1680×1050 1440×900 1280×800

Download Here: 1920×1200 1680×1050 1440×900 1280×800

Download Here: 1920×1200 1680×1050 1440×900 1280×800

Hope you enjoy!  (found via Fanpop) Also, if you want a little more desktop decoration, check out the Legend of Zelda desktop icons too.

Who doesn’t love a little traffic humor?  I’ve done my best to search the Web for some of my favorite traffic signs out there.  Some are real, some are questionable, and well – they are all something that would make you do a double take if you saw them on your way to work.

Are we watching out for falling cars, or crazy people in the streets?

Keep your hands on your brains at all times.

Well, which one is it?

You know they’re right…

Stopping with The Supremes?

… and finally, my favorite sign, warning you about the cautions of the sign.

Hope you enjoyed, and if you know of any other funny traffics signs you know or love, leave them in the comments.  Would love to check them out!

The big reason I decided to pick up this book was because a good friend of mine, Meilena Hauslendale is the author.  I worked with Meilena while she was at Lunarpages, and she had always been a good source for advice and guidance.  Plus, if you can’t plug you friend’s creations – who’s creations can you plug?

Back to the book, Stop Complaining: Guide to Living Life Instead of Complaining About It really does help you stop and think about what it is you complain about, and if it is really worth it or not. 

Through ten chapters, Meilena does an excellent job at helping you identify the things you complain about, how complaining can be healthy or unhealthy for you, and helps you break the habit of complaining about thing that you really don’t need to waste your time complaining about. 

I’m not usually the self-help book type, however I’m happy I read Stop Complaining because I do think it has had a positive impact on how I look at issues, and has helped me reduce my own stress by complaining less.  To pick up the book for yourself, or to learn a little more about the lady behind it, go check out imotivate.org.

Happened to run across this fantastic wallpaper the other day, and wanted to share it with you all here.  Anybody know knows me well, knows I am a huge Legend of Zelda fan boy – so this wallpaper is just perfect for me.

No idea who the original source is for it, however here are a few different screen resolutions: 1920×1200, 1680×1050, 1440×900, and 1280×800.

Pick the one that suits your monitor best, and enjoy.  (via Fanpop)

Your meta description says a lot about your web page.  If you get a lot of visitors from Google, it could be the only thing you have to use to sell them on clicking that link to find out more information.  So what steps can you take to make your search engine snippets stand out? 

I have a few simple tips to share:

• Ensure each page has a unique meta description.  Each page has different content, so you should make sure your meta description reflects the content inside.
• How about length?  Ideally, your meta description should be kept between 70 and 160 characters long. 
• Make sure it is explicit enough and contains keywords relative to that web page’s content.

For more help with meta descriptions, check out these two resources:

• Improve Snippets with a Meta Description Makeover
• The Meta Element via Wikipedia

This should make for a fun weekend project, and I can promise you will see even more traffic from the various search engines out there.

WooRank is an impressive new web site analysis tool worth singing the praises of.  I have several of these types of online tools bookmarked, and I have written about most of them.  The thing that separates WooRank’s analysis of a domain over any other tool is the plethora of information they provide to you.

After submitting mitchelaneous.com to the site, I found out tons of information I can turn around and use to make my web site even better.  Here are some of the details this online tool provides to you:

• Visitors
• Content
• In-Site SEO
• Home analysis
• Inside analysis
• Website compliance
• Off-Site SEO
• Popularity
• Directories
• Social Media
• Usability
• Website information
• Server
• Domain
• Related websites

WooRank is definitely my new favorite tool to find out how I can make my web sites better.  I got a WooRank of 53.1.  Can you beat me?  Plug your own domain name into WooRank.com and see what score you get.

Are you looking for a way to spark your creative fuse?

“Writing is a socially acceptable form of schizophrenia.”

- E.L. Doctorow

I love to write, and have done so semi-professionally for the past seven years or so.  Sometimes though, a good topic to write about it hard to find, or you might be out of creative muses to inspire you.  That is where the web site Write for Ten comes into play.

This web site serves as a writing sketchbook. Writers from all skill levels and of all types can come any enjoy this resource.  It is handy for a number of reasons.  It can help inspire you with an idea.  It can keep you in writing shape, if you have a hard time finding the time in the day to do so. 

Via the Write for Ten web site, here are several ways you can participate:

• Take ten minutes now and write! Grab a notebook, open a text editor, sign up for an account, or post a blog.
• Write a ten-minute post using the Write for Ten site. Your posts are published at http://writeforten.com/users/username.
• Grab a timer and write a blog post for ten minutes. Add our badges to the bottom of your posts.
• Make a habit of writing everyday. Use this site or your favorite blogging platform (e.g., Wordpress, Blogger, Tumblr, Posterous )
• Tweet your posts with the hash tag #writeforten or #wf10.

This free writing exercise is an excellent way to get over writer’s block. 

Want to join in on the fun?  Point your browser towards writeforten.com.