Kids Can Earn a Free Book This Summer from Barnes and Noble

Here's How It Works:

1. Kids read any 8 books.

2. Kids use the Summer Reading Journal to tell us their favorite part of each book. A parent/guardian signs it when it's complete.

3. Children bring their completed journal to a Barnes & Noble store between May 29th & September 2nd, 2008.

4. We'll give them a coupon for a FREE book! They choose from a list of exceptional paperback titles.*

* Eligible books will be listed on the coupon. Choices must be made from eligible stock. No special orders. Limit of 1 form per school-age child (grades 1-6), please. Incomplete forms will be ineligible for free books.

Transcript of Life Chat with Debbie Macomber, Author of "Twenty Wishes"

New York Times bestselling author, Debbie Macomber will be on Gather discussing her new book, Twenty Wishes, in The Book Review Group on Thursday, May 29th at 9 pm ET.


She's written the 4th story in the Blossom Street Books about a female character who is thirty-eight, childless, a recent widow and alone. The story follows her life as it takes unexpected turns, she forms new, surprising bonds, her wishes come true.

Follow this link to leave a question or CHAT LIVE with Debbie Macomber

Elizabeth ... Looks Like ...

MyHeritage: Look-alike Meter - Family roots - Family history

Anthony .... Looks Like....

MyHeritage: Family tree - Genealogy - Celebrity - Collage - Morph

Steve Winwood - Talented, Warm and Personable Musician

Steve Winwood has been an influential musician who has contributed greatly to the classic rock/blues genre over the past forty years. He is a renowned solo artist and a key member, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist for Traffic, the Spencer Davis Group, and Blind Faith. Now you can connect with Steve Winwood on Stevewinwood.com, order his new album, revisit his extensive discography, find local tour dates, and celebrate the art and life of a talented personality and treasured songwriter and musician.

Steve's new single "Dirty City" is a free download on his website. Download and listen to the song and tell us what you think.

Steve began his musical career in the 1960's at age nine, playing guitar in his father's band in Birmingham, England. Since then, he has evolved into one of classic rock's timeless guitarist and songwriters. His long and prosperous career has exposed him to millions of devoted music fans of different ages, backgrounds and genres. Now, those fans can log on to Stevewinwood.com and share thoughts and stories with each other on any Winwood related topic. Fans that visit Stevewinwood.com now can preview songs from Nine Lives, his newest and most progressive album to date. Nine Lives paints a musical portrait of spiritual transformation through the exploration of soul, rock, blues and world music.

When visiting Stevewinwood.com you will find the elegant and minimal design, streaming audio and video player, and extensive history section informative, intuitive and easy to use. In the full discography section you will be able to dive into Steve's memorable career by reading and viewing photos and lyrics from every single album he has released up to date (both as a solo artist and in his collaborative projects with others). Visit the tour section to check up on live dates and buy tickets to any of his upcoming shows and then share your live experience by posting your fan photos on the site.

You can also connect with Steve Winwood through other features on the site:

• Order his new album Nine Lives


• Purchase the first single "Dirty City" featuring Eric Clapton


• Participate in the Mozes mobile voice mail campaign - leave personal messages for Steve and comment or ask him any question you'd like.


• Visit the timeline section - a year by year timeline of Steve's musical career.


• Shop for any Steve Winwood merchandise in the fully integrated merchandise section.


• Browse through the discography section to read the liner notes, view the album art, and listen to clips from Steve's previous albums.

After visiting Stevewinwood.com you will discover the talented, warm and personable musician that millions have come to love. He has become an ageless musical treasure that continues to push beyond the artistic and creative boundaries of classic rock.

Visit Steve Winwood's Website Now

So, what are you eating?

Everything you ever wanted to know about the things you eat (and probably a few things you didn't want to know, too). Learn how foods affect your health and the simple changes you can make to maintain a healthier diet.

NutritionData.com has everything you need to help you watch what you eat - nutrition facts for over 1000 foods and meals (including information on protein quality, nutrient balance, glycemic load, and fullness factor), sensible diet advice, tips on supplements, healthy alternatives and an e-pantry where you can store, analyze and create recipes or meal plans and track your daily consumption.

Start by completing the Daily Needs Calculator to determine your Body Mass Index and recommended minimum consumption of calories, vitamins, minerals, carbs and proteins. Then find the foods that best suite your needs by searching for items sorted by their nutritional characteristics (like the ones highest in fat, lowest in carbs, or the best choices for weight loss). To get a little more in-depth knowledge, check out the Topics section, where you'll find info on fatty acids, dieting and weight loss, food additives and plenty of delicious, wholesome recipes.

Next, stop by the Pantry and save your favorite foods to study their nutritional value and compare them to some NutritionData.com-recommended alternatives. You can also check out a pre-loaded pantry, stocked with items great for special dietary needs such as low-carb, heart healthy, and super nutritious.

So, what are you eating? Visit Nutrition Data.com

Remote Disasters Videos

Check out these "Remote Disaster" videos from Logitech and help get them featured on YouTube - view before May 22^nd!

Looking for a fun way to kill a few minutes? Why not help Logitech earn a place on YouTube's "Daily Most Viewed List"? Just watch these videos about the amusingly disastrous consequences of managing too many remote controls and, if they get 50,000 views by 9am on Wednesday, May 22^nd, they'll make the main page!

If you like the videos, share them with friends, too and help save them from their own Remote Disasters.

Highlighted videos:

• Babysitter Gets Ambushed by Kids & Boyfriend
• Mom Flips Out
• Rube Goldberg Remote Control Contraption

Here are a few ways to spread the Logitech love:

• Use the link provided by YouTube to email the videos to friends
• Use the links provided by YouTube to post the videos to an Aggregating Service such as Del.icio.us, Digg, Reddit, StubmpleUpon, or furl
• Use the coding available on YouTube to embed the videos into comments on topic appropriate blogs or forums
• Rate the videos 5 Stars on YouTube!
  

Visit Logitech Remote Disasters Videos

checkMD - Share your healthcare story - make a difference

Share your healthcare story today, to make a difference tomorrow.

checkMD is a unique web site that unites a vast array of people and provides them with a voice. The answers to every healthcare problem are held within that collective voice. checkMD encourages the general public, patients, physicians, pharmacists, health plans, pharmaceutical companies, nurses and other healthcare professionals to participate together as People Healing Healthcare^TM.

Built on community participation, checkMD fosters the idea that when people are informed, they make wise choices. No matter who you are, or what you have to contribute, your participation on checkMD will provide new insight, a different perspective and perhaps a helping hand to someone in need. Someone who is searching for answers you may have already found.

By simply rating your doctor, participating in community discussions, sharing healthcare success stories or voicing your concerns about healthcare, you are contributing to the greater good. You are taking an active role in the healing process. And who better to do it, than you?

If you just think about it for a moment, you'll realize that you've had a healthcare experience that needs to be shared. checkMD gives you the opportunity to do just that. The more information sharing that occurs the more informed people will be. Visit checkMD

checkMD Services are intended to provide useful, transparent information about your health, medical issues, and the healthcare provider selection process. We are not, providing medical advice, diagnosis or treatment, or advice about what providers or insurance services to use. The Services are not a substitute for the advice of your health care providers or for reading your insurance policy carefully. We do not warranty the reliability, accuracy completeness, quality, performance or the suitability of this site, the information or products found on the checkMD site.

Castles and Medieval Fun

My 13 year old and I read the book "Castle" by David Macaulay together. He absolutely loved reading about the history and building of the castle. He has another larger DK book on Castles and as we read told me about his previous knowledge on the topic we were reading about and expanded our discussion. The images (drawings) being b/w are a perfect match so that details of the castle stand out.

After reading this story, we watched the accompanying PBS special Castle by the same author. The movie is s a perfect tag-a-long going into further details and highlighting real castles and showing the details of the Castle that was discussed in the book.

To follow up on the book/movie, my son is now building his own brick castle. We ordered a kit and it includes everything to make little bricks from molds and then directions on exactly how to build the castle.
I highly recommend purchasing the book, movie and castle building kit together if you or your child is interested in castles and/or medieval studies. All three provide great discussion, for both visual and auditory learners as well as a hands-on learning experience.

TasteSpotting - photographed dishes - make them

Design blog, meet food blog. Find some of the most beautifully photographed dishes on the Web - then find out how to make them.

TasteSpotting.com is deliciously aesthetic (or is it aesthetically delicious?). Either way, it's a place for people to share the articles and products that inspire them the most when it comes to good eating. Each stunning photograph on the site is a link to a recipe, an article on a dish, a post about an ingredient, more delectable images or whatever on- or offline muse they have for great taste(s). Raspberry and chocolate dream bars, lamb with sage and rosemary in a red wine reduction, Pike Place Market in Seattle - you'll find these and more than 10,000 other things that motivate food-lovers around the world.

And when you're done drooling over your monitor, why not submit your own? Just register for free, upload your image and submit your link.

Go ahead - find and share some inspiration! Visit TasteSpotting

Visit OVGuide.com — the Online Video Guide

Founded in 2006, OVGuide.com is the Internet's most comprehensive guide to online video sites, including those containing TV shows, movies, user-generated content and video games. Headquartered in Los Angeles, the privately-held company delivers an innovative, user-friendly way to search and browse relevant, high-quality video content on the Web. OVGuide.com currently indexes more than 1,600 online destinations, offering both short- and long-form video integrated into an intuitive and categorized directory. The site offers a very relevant, powerful search engine, receiving more than 10 million visitors, 50 million page views and over 10 million searches per month. OVGuide.com's team of experienced editors review all video sites prior to listing them, ensuring all content listed is valuable and categorized appropriately.

OVGuide.com receives video site submissions from people throughout the world, and in their attempt to remain complete and comprehensive, they have launched a contest for users to be eligible to win $1000 if their site is placed on OVGuide. OVGuide encourages all users to submit new video sites for a chance to win $1,000! In addition to the cash monthly drawing, all users who submit sites are entered to win one of 25 FREE OVGuide.com t-shirts. Submit a great video site today @ www.ovguide.com/contest.

There is a human behind all editorial decisions at OVGuide.com, and they remain to be the only site on the web that truly sifts through the noise of the Internet to deliver the BEST sites in online video to our users.

OVGuide has a very powerful video search. Their video search is currently utilized over 400,000 times per day-delivering very relevant results-because we only index the best sites in online video.

Visit OVGuide.com — the Online Video Guide

King John and the Writing of the Magna Charta

My 13 year old and I have read “The Magna Charta” together and both learned an enormous amount of information concerning not only the Magna Charta but the history surrounding this document and the rulers who opposed or were forced into the signing of this Charta.

This book is written for the Middle School level and my son needed some help with pronunciation, definitions and discussion as we read. Many new concepts were introduced including how Kings ruled their lands during the Medieval time period, relationships between the Pope and King, the transfer of lands and dictatorship, relationships and fighting between rulers of different lands, the development of laws to protect the Kings people, and the progression and refinement of Charters which lead to the Magna Charta.

Although the focus of this book is primarily on King John’s life and his influence on the Magna Charta, this book is highly recommended for middle schoolers who would also like to learn about past rulers including King Henry, King Richard, King John, Stephen Langton, and other interesting subjects such as the Crusades, The Sheriff of Nottingham, Castles, Runnymede, the Siege of Rochester, the Pope, Hubert de Burgh, the Treaty of Lambeth, and very early American History related to the Magna Charta.

“The Magna Charta”
By James Daughery
Publisher: Beautiful Feet Books
ISBN: 0-9643803-5-8

Educate your children about safety and crime prevention

A fun and entertaining way to educate your children about safety and crime prevention.

Drugs, bullies, gangs, strangers - the potential dangers facing kids these days are numerous. You want them to be safe, but it's not always the easiest thing to sit them down and give them advice they're going to want to listen to (or remember). So why not try teaming up with McGruff the Crime Dog?

Parents and kids have been looking to McGruff for almost thirty years for facts and tips about safety and crime prevention - now you and your family can look to McGruff.org. The site is loaded with fun interactive games and stories, videos, downloads and advice, all featuring McGruff and his nephew Scruff, helping show your children how they can stay safe. There's even a section with information for parents and educators, so you can reinforce everything your kids are learning from the crime-fighting hound dog.

You don't have to teach your kids about safety alone - let McGruff give you a hand!

Visit McGruff.org

Sacrifice for "Freedom From Oil"

“I plan to deliver an address from the Oval Office one month from today. The topic will be oil dependence.”

I tend to steer clear and far away from any type of political book. My disinterest stems from the obvious bias and propaganda that these types of political figures tend to bring into their views and writing. The viewpoint and rambling on and on bores my racing mind. “Freedom From Oil” was written from a completely different perspective and point of view that it took me by surprise. I was fully engrossed throughout the entire book and often referenced previous views and opinions as I read through Sandalow’s ideas.

The format of this book was written as fairly short, but highly detailed documents written to the next President of the United States by the various Directors and Secretaries within the President’s office. Each perspective detailed the pros and cons of how to eliminate the United States’ addiction to oil. The forward thinking approach brings in thinking from all factors which would affect the people and corporations of the US.

These views facing the problem of oil addiction include memorandums from the President, his Counselor, the Secretary of Energy, the National Security Advisor, the Council on Environmental Quality, the Environmental Protection Agency, the National Economic Council, with several articles profiling American viewpoints.

Solutions to the oil addition problems are presented by the Secretary of Transportation, the Secretary of Agriculture, the US Trade Representative, the Council of Economic Advisors, the Secretary of Energy, the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, and the Secretary of State. Additional viewpoints include profiles and ideas presented by American citizens. The range of solutions presented include Biofuels, Plug-in Cars, Fuel Efficiency, Coal, Hydrogen, Smart Growth, Strategic Petroleum Reserve, and Diplomatic Strategy.

Finally, a compilation of all the problems, solutions and discussion is provided via a press release and “The President’s Speech to the Nation.” The format presented in this book not only held my attention but strengthened my belief that all Americans should work toward finding solutions to our current energy crisis and work toward using cleaner fuels and be willing to sacrifice convenience for what is best for not only the United States, but also the world.

"Freedom From Oil"
By: David Sandalow
Publisher: McGraw Hill
ISBN: 978-0-07-148906-5