Monday, January 30, 2012

Review of MyTvLand.net

If your favorite TV channels are Nick at night and TV land, or you like old-time radio, then check out this review of a free listening-only internet website.

MyTvLand.net is a free listening-only portal that sends you back for a blast of the past to old TV commercials, comedy, drama, game and other TV shows, and movies, and documentaries. Best of all, there is no software required, just an internet connection and a media player is needed for streaming. I've streamed shows on my computer and also on my I Phone.

How it works. Go to http://www.mytvland.net and register for a free account. You will then receive an email confirming your registration information. You will automatically be subscribed to the announcement list which sends out one daily email listing the programming available each day.

There are five channels to listen to, a comedy channel, a music/old-time radio channel, drama channel, and 2 miscellaneous channels. Last week my husband and I listened to old episodes of 25000 Pyramid, and I cleaned my house to the accompaniment of old shows like Mash, Judge Judy, and I scared myself by listening to Dragnet in the middle of the night when I couldn't sleep. We even found an audio-described old Star Trek episode.

Audio-description is also featured on some documentaries and made for TV movies, but only consists of about 4 shows a week. Descriptions of available documentaries, movies, and which programs feature audio description are listed in the email schedule. Programming is changed daily with some repeats, and they are always adding new shows. They are also quite receptive to listener preferences and suggestions.

How to get started. Once you log in to the system with the link they provide, you are taken to a page to choose your media player. When I am using my computer with either Firefox or Internet Explorer, I choose windows media player, and when I am using Safari on the IPhone, I choose the second option for older players.

Once your player is selected you go to a page which lists what is currently playing on each channel. You click on the choice you want and your media player will open up and start streaming the content. I usually refresh my internet page when a show is over, just so I can hear what is being played next and also what is on subsequent channels.

Anyone with an account can listen and some channels run 24 hours and some till midnight eastern time. If you don't want to sign up for an account or if you just want to hear how it sounds, you can listen through ITunes radio in the eclectic section to the MyTvLand comedy channel.

For a household without cable, this has been kind of fun, and although my kids wish there were pictures, I just tell them it’s like listening to a audio drama and they usually shrug and do their own things. I have to put up with Netflix streams of Johnny Tess, Finneas and Ferb, and now something called Tough Puppy after all, so I figure we are pretty even in the media department. Thank goodness they like American Idol, and we can usually agree on what movies to rent.

Sunday, January 29, 2012

Appreciating Myself

Last week I felt very unappreciated. While I was at home alone with the kids for 5 days straight including the weekend, my husband got to have drinks at a bar, didn't have to cook any meals, wash dishes, or take care of sick kids.

Normally, I am a reasonable other-half spouse, meaning I don't generally begrudge him taking time for himself. He is the one with the greater-earning potential moneywise, and its partly due to that traveling aspect that a typical nine to five job situation won't work for me. We did the math, and if I were to get a typical job, my earnings would go straight to day care costs, plus I'd probably loose it based on when kids inevitably get sick, summer vacation, and other school breaks which were not designed for working parents.

But when I think of all the work I've done so far this year, aproximately cooked 48 muffins, 4 banana breads, packed over 36 school lunches, 25 cooked dinners, the 29 loads of laundry, scrubbed 40 toilets, vaccumed over 4 hours of my life away to equal about 10 minutes a day; and its only the end of January, and what do I have to show for all this work? I'll be doing the same things next week without earning any pay checks, or any recognition except for what I show myself.

Mother's day is so not enough recognition people! To know that tomorrow there will be another load of laundry, more lunches to make, and kids will complain because they didn't like the bread, could be depressing. To pump myself upI will do the following:

1. Play the Staple Singers Respect Yourself at full volume after the kids leave for school.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1II2nPmBZJk

2. Get a grip. Appreciate that all jobs can get mundane every now and then even the mom variety. Be glad that I can at least do my job while listening to a book, or walking around wearing whatever I want.

3. Even if nobody else notices stand back and be glad that everybody has clean under wear, food to eat, and its all because of me.

4. While I take a minute to appreciate myself, remember to appreciate the little and big people who I do all this stuff for. Its hard to be a kid and as much as I can barely remember the days when I did have an actual paying job, that isn't always a walk in the park either.

Monday, January 9, 2012

Making Money Using Your IPhone

I use my i-phone to do everything from paying the bills, reading for pleasure, and keeping organized, but did you know that you can make money from a free app? Here's how.

Field Agent offers a way to turn your i-phone in to a source of income that is simple, and although, you won't want to quit your day job, why not earn some extra money while running your typical errands? All you need is to know how to follow instructions, take a decent picture with your camera,and to be at a specific location on a certain day. Hours are flexible in that you check available jobs in your area, read the detailed instructions to see if you want to do the job, accept and complete your task, and within a day your account is credited and you can have the money you earned sent to your PayPal account. There are no earning minimums for a payment to be processed and there are no quotas on when you work or how often you work.

Jobs range in price from $3 to $8 and usually consist of going to a place of business, finding and taking a picture of a display or product, and then answering a question or two, then emailing in your results. Think secret shopper with a slightly different twist.

Companies need feedback on how stores display their products and have specific agreements on product placement, and this is a way for them to make sure their products are displayed in a manner that fits there desires. They can get multiple feedback from multiple stores all across the country without having to hire consultants or pay for transportation costs, and field agents can earn a little extra money as they go about their day. In the last month, jobs have been available at Costco, Walmart, and Walgreen's to name a few.

There are no fees to become a field agent and the app is free at the Apple store. You do need to provide your email, and there is a long survey that is optional, although they say you will have more task listings show up if you fill in the questionnaire. I chose to fill in the survey and have so far not had any email or junk mail associated with the application. Remember, as always to read the fine print, and the reviews given by other people at the app store.

For those that don't drive or have no interest in looking at store shelves, the app says that demographic paid surveys are offered occasionally, but I have not noticed any in the two months I've been using this application.

I live in a large city, and if I drove, there are at least three jobs a day within 20 miles of my home that I could complete. Keep in mind that if you are in a rural area your options may be limited due to how many other agents are in your vicinity and how many major chain stores are nearby. Field agent is available in the USA, and in some other countries, so check at the app store.

For those using voice over, I've found the app to be mostly accessible, and I did need some help with some questions on the survey which did not conform to voice-over gesture commands. Although, I have not found any tasks that are within walking distance and do not require the use of the camera, this may work for someone who is low vision. I'll update this post should that change.

I've found the i-phone to be an amazing tool, and I wonder what people will think up next. Maybe you can go from checking email to going to work if you try the field agent program.

Note: I am not affiliated with Field Agent, but am just sharing the information. Other reviews of this program can be found by searching in any search engine.