Site: AAFES Gift Cards for Troops

URL: https://shop.aafes.com/gcs/default.aspx

Brief Summary: Want to send a gift to our troops?  You can through AAFES!

More Info: This week I begin a series of websites that you can use to send gifts to support other people.  These are great ideas for when you want to get a gift for someone but don’t know what to get them or they already have everything. These ideas allow you to send a gift to someone who needs it and will help make the world a better place.  Just let the person you wanted to give a gift to know that you gave a gift to someone who really needed it.

This week is a service through AAFES and the Red Cross. For those who do not know AAFES is the Army and Air Force Exchange Service – the main shopping place for the military.  Normally only military members can shop at their stores and their website. There is an exception for gift cards though – that anyone can buy them.

The first option would be to buy a gift card through them, have it shipped to you, and then send it to a soldier you know.  My sister knows all about this – right? 🙂

The other option is for those of you who don’t know a military member personally but still want to help out.  You can purchase a gift card and the American Red Cross will get it to a person who needs it.  You can designate your card to go to military troops in Iraq or Afghanistan, Air Force members and their families, wounded or ill service members, and a variety of other options.  Check out the website for all the options you can use to donate a gift card.

So, when it comes time for Christmas shopping this year, remember the best gift you give someone, may be the gift you give to some other person.  Today’s option and the ones I will cover in the following weeks, I would be perfectly happy knowing that instead of getting me a gift, you gave someone else a gift who needs it more.

Site: Epinions

URL: http://www.epinions.com/

Brief Summary: Reviews on almost anything!

More Info: Most people want to read reviews of what other people thought about an item before buying it or about a service before using it.  One of the websites I use when I’m researching a product or service to find out what other people think about it is Epinions.  They have a very wide range of items that have reviews (and you can always add your own review).  Sometimes it is hit or miss though if they have a review on the item I’m interested in, but most of the time they do.  These are reviews from every day people – not paid reviewers, so you get their honest opinion about what they thought of the item.  I do encourage you to read through the reviews though as some people may rate a product low because of a problem they had and it was more with the user than the item 🙂 While you are here you can also get some price comparisons as well.

Site: Down For Everyone or Just me?

URL: http://downforeveryoneorjustme.com/

Brief Summary: Checks to see if a website is up or down.

More Info: Do you ever wonder if a website you are trying to get to is not working for just you or for everyone?  Typically people asks other people to check the website for them, but sometimes you don’t have someone available to ask or you don’t want to bother them.  Just hop on over to this site, enter the address of the site you want to check and it will tell you if it can access the site or not.  The term “everyone” might be a bit misleading because maybe the site is just down for you and the downforeveryoneorjustme.com site.  Even so, this is a great quick check to see if it works from a different place.

P.S. I’m not sure what you are supposed to do if http://downforeveryoneorjustme.com/ is down – not sure where you are supposed to check that 🙂

Site: SpeedyFox

URL: http://www.crystalidea.com/speedyfox

Brief Summary: If you use Firefox, use this utility to speed up load times.

More Info: Firefox tends to be a pretty fast browser, but it can seem to slow down over time.  In fact it is.  A lot of settings and other data that Firefox saves is stored in mini-databases.  These databases become cluttered and unoptimized over time which can cause slow performance especially on startup when it is loading most of the information from these databases.  This quick utility which requires no installation will optimize those mini-databases for you and keep Firefox running smooth and faster.  Just head on over, download the utility, exit Firefox, and run SpeedyFox and enjoy a more responsive Firefox.  Remember to only run the utility when Firefox is not running!

This week’s Website Wednesday is the website for the NSCL – the National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory.  Their website is http://www.nscl.msu.edu/ This is a science lab on the campus on MSU (Michigan State University).  I took a tour of the lab when they had an open house this past Saturday.  I always knew that the lab was there, but never gave it much thought.  But now that I’ve learned more about it – it’s very cool.  A lot of great research is going on there – with scientists coming from all over the world to perform experiments.  The main research that goes on is rare isotopes and nuclear science.  The lab also is not just focused on themselves, but is community minded.  In addition to the research at the lab they offer educational opportunities for elementary students on up to post graduate.  You can read a brief page about the lab at http://www.nscl.msu.edu/ourlab and http://www.nscl.msu.edu/about.

The more exciting information about the lab is that, as it was put in the community, the FRIB is coming to our crib.  The FRIB is the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams.  This will allow MSU to lead research again and advance science even further. This is great for MSU and Michigan as it will bring billions of dollars into the economy over the next several years as they build the lab, staff it, and people visit from around the world to use the lab. For a light-hearted, but serious look at what the FRIB will do – check out the Rare Isotope Rap (really – check it out even if you think you don’t like rap!)