All of the attention received by the truck plunging off of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge sent me looking for traffic web cams for that area. The Maryland DOT has two cameras that cover the bridge. One shows the traffic at the west bound toll booths. The other feed alternates between the east end of the bridge and the intersection of 50 & 404. Looks like things have cleared up now.

One of my favorite things about the internet is the free services that have been made available. About once a year, I find myself needing to send a fax. Of course my first thought is, “I wonder if I can do that free on the internet?” Luckily for me the answer is yes. Faxzero.com offers free internet faxing for documents up to 3 pages. The documents can be in .DOC or .PDF format, or you can just type your text in a form box on the site. If you need to send more pages, Faxzero offers a premium service for up to 15 pages at a cost of $1.99. I have used Faxzero several times with great success, and I highly recommend this great money saver.

If you are like me, you have built up a list over the years of certain contractors to call when an unexpected repair is required. I have one for heat and air, another for appliances, and luck would have it that we know an electrical contractor as well. Finding a paint contractor is often one of the hardest things to do. I can handle the smaller jobs around the house, but there are some jobs that I just don’t have the right tools and equipment to handle. I only have one ladder, and it gets me to the gutters around the first story. The second story gutters have been neglected. Gutter cleaning is on our to do list this year.

The internet has provided opportunities for both customers and contractors. People in need of a particular service can use the web to search for a contractor that has taken advantage of internet technology to promote their business. There are also sites that provide home owners the opportunity to review a contractor they have utilized. Whether you are looking for a contractor in Salisbury, MD, or you need to hire Fort Worth Contractors, ClickSmart has a list of certified experts who are properly licensed in their state and are in good standing with the Better Business Bureau. When you need a reliable contractor, check with your friends, and then check on the web.

I used a toaster oven for the first time at a house we visited on vacation. I was surprised at the speed and uniformity of the toasting provided by the toaster oven. I thought I might investigate these nondescript countertop appliances to see if one would make sense for our kitchen. Of course the wonders of the internet provide pages and pages of information on the toaster oven, from the toaster oven with the best wattage to models with convection cooking abilities. Who knew that toaster ovens could be so complicated?

Maybe you saw Brooks & Dunn or Carrie Underwood at the Delaware State Fair and you have a song stuck in your head. Does Cat Country have you singing along to the radio? There is always that one part of the song that you just da da da don’t know the words to. If you need a little help with those Country Music Lyrics, then check out CountryMusicPerformers.com for the right words. CMP has a homepage for all of your favorite Country Music artists where you can find song lyrics, biographies and music videos. If country is your pick, the CountryMusicPerformers.com is your site.

What is your favorite web site? TalkReviews.com is encouraging web surfers to submit User Website Reviews about the best and worst sites on the internets. Visitors to TalkReviews can Review A Website that is already in their database, or new web sites can be added. You can even start a discussion about your own site. Let the world know about your nightmare online shopping experience or sing the praises of the best web site you have ever visited. The web has opened up an almost infinite flow of information, and the best way to learn about the most worthwhile domains is from other users.

It looks like one of the next trends in web tools will be applications that bring the web to you rather than making you go out and search for sites that match your needs or interests. One tool that I started playing with recently was StumbleUpon, which links users to sites that have been stumbled by surfers with similar interests. SU reminds me of the Next button on WordPress with some degree of logic involved in determining your next destination.

I ran across another site today that promises to serve up all the latest news on your pop culture interests from music to TV to movies. PopBandit.com creates pop pages for each band or actor or TV show that you might be interested in. The pop page includes photos along with a feed of the latest news, product releases and videos. PopBandit also features a social networking aspect that allows you to see other visitors who are fans along with other popular pages.

I decided to see if PopBandit had a pop page for the Arctic Monkeys, since I was listening to them on the MP3 player today. Even though they might not be a mainstream band, sure enough there was a pop page for them with links to the latest news and videos about the band.

There is a new song playing on the radio with Tom Petty on vocals, but it is not his usual band backing him up. Petty is currently playing with members of his early 70’s band, Mudcrutch, which never made it past there first single, but led to Petty’s eventual success.

PopBandit also has pages for new movies like Get Smart, and the site will even send you an alert when the Weeds Season 3 DVD comes out. Check out PopBandit and find what you’re in to.

No, I am not going to post about physics today. I am experimenting with StumbleUpon, which claims to help you find web sites that match your interests, and I have also read that it can be a tool that can increase traffic to your web site. I plan to see if SU can do both for me.

One of the first web sites that I stumbled upon is titled String Spin Toy. It is one of those fun time killers that occupy the web.

It used to be enough to display a sticker from the local security company in the window of a home or business to discourage theft or burglary. Criminals can be more effectively discouraged by installing visible security systems to make it obvious that someone is watching. A digital security camera can easily be installed to monitor a home or business. Choices are even available for security cameras that can be incorporated into an existing wireless computer network. These cameras can be monitored on site or even from home via your internet connection. IT Planet is a great source for security system equipment and supplies, and they guarantee the best prices.

It seems that the longer we live in this area, the more sensitive we become to the allergens that are in the air during the various seasons. When I first moved here, I had no problems with allergies of any kind, but now after twenty years, I am beginning to notice more frequent bouts with allergy symptoms. We use humidifiers in our house during the winter to combat the dry heated air, and I am starting to think that we might also need to use an air cleaner to improve the indoor air quality. There are lots of choices in air cleaners, from HEPA filters to ionic air purifiers. I guess while I do some research to find the best solution, the generic form of Claritin will continue to grace the shelf of our medicine cabinet.

When we begin shopping for something at our house, our search always starts online. The internet has created open competition among retailers, and this gives buyers a quick and easy way to compare dozens of choices from the comfort of their own home. If that comfort is provided by an old worn out couch, then it might be time to browse some online furniture stores. One site that I have visited is called FurnitureFromHome.com. Shopping online for furniture keeps you away from those high pressure salespersons that meet you at the entrance of every furniture outlet these days. FFH starts off with an easy to navigate home page that offers the ability to shop by room, style and color. From bedroom furniture to home office furniture, the choices are all just a click away. We are looking for a desk to complete our home office, and FurnitureFromHome provided us with lots of ideas. And with gas prices as high as they are these days, you can save a lot of money by starting your shopping trip online.

HGTV has started a new contest in conjunction with Season Three of the Design Star series. The Grand Prize is a $5000 shopping spree from Sears and a $5000 Gift Card from Lumber Liquidators. You can enter once a day until August 4th.

HGTV also has an ongoing Product of the Day contest with weekly winners. The contest features a new tool or construction product every day.

The World Wide Web has created countless opportunities for traditional brick and mortar companies to reach a wider audience, and many other businesses have been created that exist completely in cyberspace. The goal of any web site design is to get the most views possible. A visitor has to click something, somewhere, to reach a web site.

The publishing and promotion of a web site is both an art and a science. The most elegant graphics and fonts are of no use if visitors never find their way to the web address. That is where the science comes into play. There are many facets of web design and publishing that will maximize the traffic to a web site. These facets include search optimization, search marketing and online marketing. WebSiteOffice.com is an excellent source of information regarding all of these topics.

Search engine optimization (SEO) is a two phase process. The first phase involves the design of the web site. The design phase must include the use of keywords, relevant content, and a structure that is easily indexed by a web crawler. The second phase of SEO involves the building of traffic and search engine ranking through incoming links from other highly rated web sites and the continual maintenance and updating of the site content. Traffic to a site can also be improved through marketing campaigns connected to search engines and online ad networks.

The ultimate goal of a company’s web site is to obtain and increase revenue. The revenue can come from the traditional business model, but revenue can be greatly enhanced by maximizing income from ad placements and affiliate networks.

Web designers and site owners should include WebSiteOffice among their bookmarks and links as a reference for maximizing the effectiveness of any web presence.

I was shopping recently for a barcode scanner that would help me with the tracking and pricing of the inventory of books and other media that are part of my online business. I wound up putting together a PDA and scanner system that will allow me to tap into an online database of media from several sources. The options available in the area of barcode technology are amazing, with everything from handheld devices to systems for entire production facilities. One online source for barcode technology is Barcode Discount, which offers solutions for implementing barcode systems on a large or small scale. Barcode Discount offers input devices like the handheld Symbol MC3090 scanner and output devices like the Zebra 140-7A1-00000 bar code printer. Barcode technology is one of the many areas that have allowed such great improvements in production efficiency over the past decade, and the success of the technology will only increase the implementation of barcode solutions in industries around the world.

St. Jude Medical has created an interactive video library that can inform you or a loved one about all areas of heart health at HeartLibrary.com. The video series includes information about how the heart works, coronary circulation and heart anatomy. Visitors can also learn about the causes of heart failure such as an enlarged heart. Atrial Fibrillation, Tachycardia, and Sick Sinus Syndrome are examples of the heart conditions covered by videos in the Heart Library. The heart is the most important muscle in the body. Please forward this site to a friend or family member that might benefit from this information.