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GEEK ORGANIZATION 101
How many accounts and passwords do you have for your online activities? Lots, is my guess. Organize those accounts, log-in names, email addresses and passwords -- hit the nearest dollar store, buy one of those photo books with the plastic sleeves you stick photos in -- write down the name of each account, the login name, and the password on a sheet of memo paper or sticky note, and stick each one in a little sleeve (or stick related ones together -- I have my 2 tagboards in the same sleeve). Keep the photo book near the computer so you can check it when you need to.
If you really can't stand the thought of having someone paging through the book and seeing all your passwords in full view, write them on the BACK of the sticky notes (use 3x5 file cards... perfect fit) -- they're easy to pull out of the sleeves when you need to check a password or update it.
These books are great organizers for business cards, notes, phone numbers, receipts, software warranty cards, and all those little bits of paper you collect because you think you might need them later. I've carried one in my shoulder bag for the last 2 years, and just thought I'd get one for my online stuff.
CAFFEINE FIENDS! -- POOR GIRL'S CAPPUCCHINO:
-- Cajun-style chicory coffee (FRENCH MARKET or LUZIANNE)
-- cinnamon
-- malt Ovaltine (NOT the chocolate Ovaltine)
-- instant powdered non-fat dry milk (optional)
To every cup of hot chicory coffee (I use the FRENCH MARKET brand from Safeway), add a dash of cinnamon and 1/2 tsp of malt Ovaltine. Add milk/cream to taste (NOT non-dairy creamer junk, doesn't taste right) -- if you MUST have the frothy-milk top, take add 1 cup instant nonfat dry milk to 1 cup very hot tap water, WHISK MADLY until frothy, add to coffee, sprinkle cinnamon on top of milk froth.
No fancy cappucchino maker, no fancy milk frother, and the coffee tastes pretty authentic (do NOT use more malt Ovaltine than 1/2 tsp -- it won't taste right -- if you use Chocolate Ovaltine, the coffee tastes like mocha coffee but NOT like cappucchino).
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Incidentally, chicory coffee (like FRENCH MARKET or LUZIANNE) makes very rich-tasting coffee which is actually LOWER in caffeine than "normal" brands without chicory. Chicory coffee also makes MORE coffee than regular coffee -- it comes in 1-lb cans (rather than the 11-13oz cans which are now standard), and you use LESS of the ground coffee. I counted the number of pots of coffee I made from ONE CAN of chicory coffee, using my little 4-cup coffee maker: 20 pots of coffee, each 4 cups. Go ahead, TRY getting 80 cups of coffee from a can of regular brand coffee -- it'll taste like dishwater.
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BEST LITTLE POCKET TOOL EVER MADE:
One of the handiest little pocket tools I've ever found is, believe it or not, the collar tab thingie for a man's dress shirt -- the little brass stick that is stuck into a little slide-pocket in the collar to make it stiff so it won't curl while worn. Find them at your local department store in the men's dress shirt department!
The pointy end can be used as a Philips screwdriver, to slice open tape on cardboard boxes (still dull, so it won't cut skin, but will slice plastic tape), or to clean your nails; the bigger end can double as a standard screwdriver, or a cuticle tool. I also use it at work to pop keys off a computer keyboard to clean the mini-dustbunnies out with a watercolor paintbrush (part of a cheap set bought at a dollar store).
NEWBIE TIP #1 -- CHANGING CLOTHES/SKINS/SHAPES:
Ever wonder how everyone manages to change their appearance so fast in SL? Well, there's a trick to it. I didn't learn how to do this until I'd been in SL for a couple of weeks. I was horrified the first time I FLEW THROUGH someone else and ended up looking DRASTICALLY different from what I'd so carefully set up in my APPEARANCE window. I had to go back into APPEARANCE and reset my shape, my skin, my clothes, EVERYTHING -- from scratch. That's a serious pain, and it's completely unnecessary. In SL, we can use DRAG & DROP to change how we look; it takes a little preparation in sorting inventory, though.
Go into your INVENTORY, set up a NEW FOLDER and name it something like "BASE AV - CASUAL". Go through your inventory and copy the files for SHAPE, SKIN, EYES, and HAIR -- paste these copies into the folder you just made. Go back into your clothing inventory, copy those items you need for basic clothing -- underwear, jeans, t-shirt, shoes & socks (use freebie clothes, since those are always copyable) -- and paste these into the same folder. Add jewelry if you like -- earrings, studs/piercings, a watch or armbands, tats, etc.
Next time you need to change clothes in a hurry, just open your inventory window and DRAG THAT ENTIRE FOLDER onto your avatar onscreen. It make take a minute or two for your appearance to change, but it's so much easier than changing one item at a time in your inventory.
Set up other folders if you want to fast-change into a GOTH or VAMP skin, or into a furry av. You can also set up folders for your fave formal outfits or dance outfits. Some items aren't copy-enabled -- you'll only be able to keep one copy in your inventory, in one particular folder. Others you can copy & paste into alot of folders - I've got my freebie black leather pants in at least 3 diff outfit folders, with different tops, hair, eyes, and jewelry.
When you get around to buying a designer skin, or more than one, make special folders for them - one for your Goth skin, one for a vamp skin, one for a furry av, one for a designer tanned skin, one for a fashionably pale one. Set up a sub-folder for EYES, another for HAIR, another for JEWELRY, etc.
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