Domestic Geek

When I was shopping at a yarn store that was rather far from me, the owner asked where I lived. After telling her Aurora, I lamented that I'm not really close to any yarn stores. The closest one is about 9 miles away and I don't care for that particular store much. The store that is actually in Aurora is 10 miles away and is kind of off my regular beaten path. Anyway, she told me that she had heard a store was going to be opening in either Lowry or Stapleton.

Well, I just read on Ravelry (an online knit/crochet community to which I belong) that the store is open! It's called Modern Ewe and is located at 200 Quebec in Lowry (6 miles from home according to Google maps). As I practically drive past there on my way to work, it is definitely convenient for me. Sadly, the store is not open tomorrow, but I'll be checking it out later in the week. I really hope it's a cool store and some knitting groups form there. As much as I love the group that I currently attend, sometimes I don't go because it's just too freaking far to drive.

The Big Bang Theory is my most favorite show ever! I love the geeky t-shirts they have the cast wearing on that show. I've been meaning to (for a while now) figure out where all those great shirts come from. Well, somebody did all the work for me. Check out SheldonShirts.com. Not only have they tracked down where you can get some of those cool shirts that Sheldon (and Leonard) wear, but some of the other cool things that have been in the show. They also have links to get other great geeky stuff, too. Thanks guys at SheldonShirts!

In a related vein, you can follow the show's characters on Twitter. It's kind of amusing. Here's links to their profiles: Sheldon, Leonard, Penny, Raj, Howard and Leslie Winkle. Funny stuff!

Since I've been kind of out of the loop the last few weeks due to the surgery, I was excited when a fellow Ravelry member informed us of Amazon's new Universal Wish List feature.

Rather than try to explain, I'll just post the blurb from Amazon's site:

Adding Items to Your Wish List from Other Websites

Sometimes you'll find things you want to add to your Wish List when you aren't browsing the Amazon.com website. That's OK, you can still add those items to your Amazon.com Wish List with the Universal Wish List Button!

The Universal Wish List Button is a browser button that will let you add items to your Wish List even if they aren't listed on the Amazon.com website. Click here to get the button!

To get the button, all you need to do is click on the image for the button and drag it to your browser's tool bar as instructed. It should only take a few seconds for the button be added and appear in your browser's tool bar.

Once you see the button, it's available for you to use immediately. When you're browsing a website and you see something you want, just click the "Add to Wish List" button in your tool bar. You'll see a confirmation screen, and the item will be added to your Amazon.com Wish List.

Check it out in action at my Amazon Wish List. As my circle of friends rely heavily on our Amazon Wish Lists for gift-giving occasions, it's so cool that we can now include other items we want that are not available through Amazon itself. It's well-timed as not only is Christmas going to be here before we know it, but my birthday is a little over a month away as well.

The only problem I have had with it so far is not being able to link the right picture of a t-shirt I want. That's not Amazon's fault, it was just the way this particular site was pulling in the product images from their database. It would be cool if you could add your own picture. Still, not a deal breaker for the whole feature in any way.

So why would Amazon add this feature? I'm guessing the answer is twofold. First, they can gather data about what people are wanting that they do not currently offer. Second, even if they do lose some sales to other sites, a person still has to go to Amazon to view your list and may ultimately purchase something else anyway. Just my thoughts. Still, a very cool feature!

I was perusing the Techie Diva site and found a geeky accessory that I absolutely must have! It's the Cyber Snipa Dog Tag. I don't usually wear jewelry or such, but I think I'd wear these. One of the tags houses a flash drive (I'm always finding myself in a spot where I wish I had a flash drive on me) and the other sports some tools and an LED flashlight. Definitely something a geek such as myself should own.

Marcus just alerted me to an article on ArsTechnica that CompUSA will sell or close its remaining stores after the holiday season. I have mixed feelings about it as I've always had a love/hate relationship with that particular retailer.

It is part of Marcus' and my ritual, though, to browse through the aisles of Comp at least every other weekend. It's just a quick jaunt up the street if we need an ink cartridge or something. The next closest computer retailer is Microcenter, but it's just a bit too far of a drive to just window shop. It's looking like the majority of our computer shopping in the future will take place online if it can't be purchased at The Apple Store.

They're saying that consumers will be able to find "attractive holiday bargains" as they begin to sell off the assets. I guess we'll see.