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Archive for Blogging/Social Media

Tax Day Tea Party

March 3, 2009 · Filed under Blogging/Social Media, In the News · Tagged Arch, protest, St. Louis, stimulus package, taxes, tea party

Last week (Feb. 27), a group of conservatives hosted a “stimulus package protest” event on the St. Louis Arch Grounds that had a Boston Tea Party theme. A similar event — this time emphasizing tax cuts – is scheduled for 7 p.m. April 15 (tax day).

The St. Louis Post Dispatch covered the Feb. 27 event, which was organized by one of my favorite bloggers, Dana Loesch, who blogs at Mamalogues. She also hosts a conservative radio talk show on 97.1 FM and blogs here, as well.

If you’re a conservative and you sometimes feel lonely, or if you’d like to keep more of your money in your pocket, then the event on April 15 is for you. Check Dana’s radio show blog as the date gets closer to confirm details.

St. Louis Home & Garden Show Favorite & Ticket Giveaway

February 21, 2009 · Filed under Blogging/Social Media, Giveaways, Product Reviews, Uncategorized · Tagged cabinets, Granite Transformations, kitchen remodel, St. Louis Home & Garden Show, ticket giveaway

I mentioned previously that I’m blogging about the St. Louis Home & Garden Show. In addition to giving away tickets to the show here, I’m going to tell you about my favorite exhibitor — Granite Transformations-St. Louis.

I used Granite Transformations for my kitchen remodel in September and I couldn’t be happier with the WOW results of these “countertops that fit on top.” Here are a few “before” pictures:

old, Formica countertops with old sink and faucet

sep-04-2008-0681

My home was built in 1990 and my countertops were original, as were my cabinets. I couldn’t afford to replace the cabinets, but the owner of Granite Transformations-St. Louis, Chuck Wintermute, assured me that using his product to cover my existing countertops would revitalize my kitchen and improve the look of my cabinets. And he was so right! Here are a few “after” pictures:

Check out the beautiful mosaic back splash, cool black sink and delux faucet, also purchased from Granite Transformations.

Check out the beautiful mosaic back splash, cool black sink and deluxe faucet, also purchased from Granite Transformations.

Granite also helped us raise part of our island countertop to create a new "eating area" bar.

Needless to say, I was really pleased with our remodel and with the cost of the project . Using Granite Transformations saves 15 to 20 percent compared to the installation of quality granite. You also save money because these countertops go over your existing countertops, eliminating any demolition costs or resulting problems from tearing out counters and cabinets. And there are no ongoing maintenance costs that are associated with ordinary granite. Granite Transformations surfaces are maintenance free and come with a lifetime warranty.

Granite Transformations was founded in 1995 in Australia and came to the United States in 2001. Granite Transformations-St. Louis was founded in 2004 and is locally owned by Chuck Wintermute. Chuck used to be my neighbor and I’ve known him for almost 10 years. He’s as upstanding of a guy as you’d ever want to meet and he really wants his customers to be happy with the remodeling projects with which they trust him and his company.

Granite Transformation’s booth at the St. Louis Home & Garden Show will be booth No. 5045, located in the Edward Jones Dome kitchen and bath center, across from the speaker stage. Chuck will be offering specials for all appointments signed up at the show, including a free, high-end Blanco Silgranit or Artisan16-gauge stainless steel sink with optional under-mounted installation. In addition, any customer who opts for the Bevel edge treatment will qualify for a matched faucet credit of up to $300 towards Moen, Blanco, or Hans Grohe plumbers line faucets. Chuck also is offering specials for customers who contract for cabinet refacing and countertops.

In case these deals don’t grab your attention, check out a few pictures of other kitchens Chuck’s company has remodeled:

chuck-kitchen1

chuck-kitchen2

Now, back to the free tickets. Go to my giveaway here and enter to win two free tickets, good for any day of the St. Louis Home & Garden Show March 5-8.

Facebook TOS – really an issue?

February 16, 2009 · Filed under Blogging/Social Media, In the News, Uncategorized · Tagged Facebook TOS, privacy, social media, social networking, St. Louis Bloggers Guild, twitter

Facebook recently changed their Terms of Service (TOS) to basically state that anything you post on their site becomes their property, even if you delete your account. Here’s a pretty good explanation.

I’m not sure this is really an issue. I guess I figured that if I post something online, particularly on a free social-networking site like Facebook, I can’t exactly expect my property (whether it’s a photo, video or written content) to be protected. When you “put it out there” online, it’s, well “out there.”

To steal a term from my teenager — maybe I’m being a “newb.” Some of the bloggers I respect the most are pretty upset about this. I’m a member of the St. Louis Blogger’s Guild, and the discussion about this topic (via email so far — there’s not a post up about it as of this writing) has fallen on both sides of the fence and right on the fence (which is probably where I’m sitting right now). As a professional writer, I’m all about copyrights and being paid for my work, etc. But I wouldn’t put something that I hope to get paid for or that I hope to own exclusive rights to on Facebook or any other social media site.

My best understanding is that Facebook has always had the right to use anything you post on the site for commercial purposes, but now they also have the right to use anything you post there even after you delete the account. Some of the discussion on Twitter about the topic suggests that Facebook is doing this because they’re now storing some of their data offsite and it will be too complicated to retrieve it after accounts have been deleted. Thus, this is just a “CYA” kind of move, according to that school of thought.

Here’sFacebook’s response on their blog about the topic.

What do you think?

UPDATE: Facebook returns to its previous TOS.