Kelly's Campaign

Autism, a complex and mysterious brain disorder. Being so, science have not provided explanations about why and how it happens. It strikes one in 110 children in the United States and affects four times as many boys as girls. And most often than not, it is detected at around three years old. Just imagine how parents may feel upon learning that their kid has Autism. I know a single parent who recently found out that her son has developmental delay, she was devastated (but have moved on since then).

A recent study however claims to detect autism at an earlier stage in life. On Thursday, US researchers reported that “A five-minute screening test could help detect autism in babies at 12 months of age, giving parents and doctors far more time to intervene.” This is good news because it has been established that early detection is better since intervention can be done right away. The author of this study is Karen Pierce of University of California, San Diego, funded by National Institute of Mental Health c/o Dr. Lisa Gilotty who heads the Autism Program. The study will appear in the Journal of Pediatrics.

Click here for more details.

Sometimes, if not always, you need other options when working with your computer. Sure, you have probably tried different ones, found a perfect match to your needs but there will always be one of those stuff that will prove to be more useful. There are programs that come handy and these are not necessarily expensive. Yes, there are open source software models that have in fact saved consumers about $60 billion per year.

Check out these samples that I found in the internet, these could be used for instant messaging, coding, office work and even playing media. For one there’s Pidgin to connect all at once to AIM, Yahoo Messenger, MSN, among others.  Another is Miranda IM which differentiates itself from others because you can customize with use of powerful plug-ins. You may also download NotePad++ as your new source code editor. It runs in MS Windows and supports different languages which is really convenient for non-English speaking developers. OpenOffice, on the other hand, also does word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, and basic photo editing.

The options available for you online are limitless. See how you can do the same kind work for free, instead of paying for an arm and a leg for software. And when all your work is done, turn on your MPlayer, sit back and relax.

I was offline for a few days in observance of the Holy Week. I spent the break attending to some church activities and time with my family and relatives. I was also able to do some house cleaning since we’re one angel short in the household (how I wish we could find a replacement soon!)

Anyway, it is refreshing to be back online. I am off to enjoy the rest of the weekend (I’m putting off work until tomorrow, LOL!). Have a blessed Easter you all!

I found these tips in Project Small Feet, when considering a Preschool for your toddler:

• Credentials of the School and Teachers – research and ask around about the qualifications of the school and its educators. Remember that they will build your child’s foundation, so it is important that you entrust your kid with people who knows what they’re doing.
• Class Hours – an early morning class, for instance might not work for us because DD tends to wake up late in the morning.
• Disciplinary Styles – Is the style similar to your style at home? You don’t want your kid to get confused, right?
• Safety – Will you be able to leave your child and not worry about her safety?
• School’s Philosophy or Teaching Methods – Progressive versus Traditional?

I can’t say that finding these tips is timely as I still have a full year to wait before the little goes to school. But these tips will sure come in handy next year.

Cisco announced on Tuesday that the company “will exit aspects of its consumer business.” Unfortunately for a lot of fans, this includes shutting down the Flip. The move, according to Cisco, is towards the realignment of its consumer businesses to “support four of its five key company priorities.” Flip users, because of the shut-down will be presented with a transition plan.

In 2009, Cisco purchased the Flip maker Pure Digital for $590M. While the purchase sounded odd to most, everyone expected a Wi-Fi enabled generation to somehow give reason. But that did not materialize either. Modern smartphones with HD cameras probably killed it.

Every parent would like their kids to meet these characters in real life. Oh, just imagine how their faces would light up when they finally do! Those moments are precious and are now going to be a reality for you and your family as you start planning for this ultimate getaway to Florida. Visiting the Walt Disney World Resort will surely be a dream come true! 

And just like any parent, you would like to focus more on making memories than fussing about accommodations, itineraries and everything else that is connected to the trip. I know of someone who was so stressed about planning for their Walt Disney tours that when the day finally arrived, she was too tired to even take pictures! She had no one to assist her in accomplishing the plans she laid out for her family that she forgot to relax during the trip. When she told us about their week-long trip upon their return, she admitted she’d pay for anything, even for private tours if it meant enjoying the moments with the rest of the family and not worrying whether their stay is being maximized or not. 

I mentioned to her the services being offered by Michael’s VIPs and she regrets not knowing about it while she was planning for their trip. The service they offer gives maximized fun with minimum waiting because they know the ins and outs of the resort parks. The guides will be with you “through the parks’ best of the best attractions, shows, and dining choices.” Going through the endorsements found in their website, I know in my heart that someday, I will choose to pay for their services for the best Disney experience.

I usually learn a thing or two from the daily chats with my online-turned-real-life friends. We are at that point when the future is more important than our current shopping whims. We talk about our kids’ schooling, building homes, loans, health cards and even retirement. One time, my friend mentioned about IRA and 401(k), and coming from outside the States, I had a few questions to satisfy my thirst for learning new things. Mr. Google came to the rescue as our time zones are different and chat sessions are limited.

An IRA is short for Individual Retirement Account is where a person saves money and invest for retirement and an account that has huge tax benefits. A lot of people, probably like myself, get confused of the definition but basically it is just a portfolio that holds all investments like in stocks, mutual funds, money market funds and even gold. In my readings, you can even build an entirely gold IRA, and that is fine. There are just limits per year that the IRS have set. On the other hand 401k, I found out is a retirement savings account that is paid for by the individuals themselves and an alternative to a pension account set forth by employers. In the same manner as an IRA, a gold 401k can be an alternative to investing for the future.

An IRA gold or 401k gold investment is said to be a sound financial move because of gold’s reputation of being invincible no matter how shaky an economy gets. Stocks and other paper investments are said to weaken in times of war, high oil and gas prices, bank failures, defaults on loans, inflation or budget deficits. But gold, in all its forms, keep appreciating through time. No wonder a lot of wise investors do gold IRA transfer from their traditional IRAs.

My niece Tisha who recently passed the licensure exam for nurses got accepted in a major hospital soon after the results were out. To say that she is super excited about working and finally earning her own money is an understatement. Tisha wants to make sure that she will make the right first impressions that she’s preparing everything. Even her scrubs, she said must look smart and spiffy.

She asked for leads on where to buy medical nursing scrubs because she knows my life-long best friend is in the same field. I told her to check out BlueSkyScrubs because my best friend once mentioned she orders from them from time to time.

Tisha just called me on the phone to let me know that she is pleased to have found from BlueSky cotton scrubs, cotton scrub sets that are traditional and some have colorful and happy designs. She said that she just placed her orders. I am sure she cannot wait to try them on!

Around last week, I was bugging DH to bring us to the mall so we could buy DD a new pair of toddler dress shoes. You know how it is for kids, their feet grow too fast. Before you know it, the ones you bought a couple of months back do not fit anymore. Shoe shopping is not exactly my most favorite activity so I made sure I looked online, i.e. over at Shopwiki, for options. At least I had ideas and this cut the amount of time we spent looking. We went home happy and satisfied with our loot for the little girl. It was also the right decision to bring her along because I thought she was a size 6 but her feet are actually now a 7.

Now that DD has her new shoes already, I realized that DH and I are also due to buy new shoes. See, hubby has caught up and now runs whenever he has extra time. The runs are getting more frequent that I feel he needs to buy himself a pair of running shoes. I think this is important because just the other day, he complained about achy heels. I am sure his sneakers are not helping him when he runs.

As for me, I would like to get a pair similar to my wedding shoes but less formal of course. I have been wearing sandals and flip flops since I quit the corporate world. My feet are getting wider because of that, and they sure need some loving. I wish we can do this over the weekend so I can plan on other things already.

Designer Taewon Hwang created this Floor Plan Light Switch with people who are always confused with the traditional switches, in mind. I am probably among his target market as I tend to switch all lights on until I find the right one, LOL!

Found in the Yanko Design website, the light switch imitates your house’s floor plan so you know exactly which ones you are turning on, in case you forget. I think it would be cool to have one in every home!