Although I love iTunes and have almost all of my CDs loaded into it, I don’t listen to it as often as I use Internet radio.  The beauty of Internet radio is that it gives me options to hear something new without purchasing songs!  That being said, I used to think that Pandora was everything.  With Pandora, you can enter a song or artist that you like and it will play you songs that are musically similar.  I loved it and used it so much that by the end of each month I had already used my allotted free playing time.  Once that happened, the site prompted me to pay for the few days left in the month.  After thinking it over, I decided that I did not want to pay for unlimited and ad free access (although it is only $36 for a year subscription), I did some searching and found Grooveshark.

To this point, I haven’t had to pay a dime and I’ve been listening to it continuously.  Grooveshark works a little differently than Pandora – more like Playlist.com.  Pandora builds a play list for you based on your suggested song or artist, while Grooveshark and Playlist.com allow/force you to build your own play list.  I have been able to find all the songs I like,  make my own play list and also can even listen to play lists made by other people who have the same taste in music that I do; all for free.  Its similar to Pandora in that it provides free Internet radio but the biggest bonus, no commercial interruptions (Pandora certainly interrupts to sell you something)!  At this point I have to say that I no longer have a use for Pandora.  I’m now thinking that Grooveshark is everything!

Just so we are clear, I still like to have my iPod for when I’m traveling.  Unfortunately, there’s not currently a Grooveshark app for the iPhone.  So, with all of that said feel free to check out my Grooveshark playlist: prinlzbth!  Happy listening

For those of us who have not checked everyone off the list yet.

iPad; who would open this gift and not smile?  And, for the price (about $500), not a terribly expensive gift, but a big enough price tag for it to be the front runner of this years pile of gifts.

Samsung Galaxy Tab;  the iPads competition. It has some features that the iPad currently lacks such as dual cameras and support for flash. (about $600)

Flip video; sleek design and fool proof to manage. Films in HD with up to 4 hours of continuous recording . 3 inch widescreen touchscreen works great for the novice videomaker! A perk for this is that you can make it personally designed for the gift receiver by downloading a favorite picture or design for the casing, and it can be as original and unique as the person who receives it.  Starts at $149.99

Kinect;  for the special one you know who loves their Xbox. You are the controller (as their slogan suggests), play games simply by moving around.  Its motion sensing capability also allows navigation of the Xbox 360′s menus with swiping gestures and the built-in microphones work with voice recognition to enable voice command for basic functions. $149

Nook; for the one you love who loves to read.  The displays text is as crisp and clear as a printed page and offers great contrast with no glare or backlight so you can read with ease, even in bright sunlight.  There are over 2 million books available to download wirelessly in seconds and can hold up to 1,500 books.  It has an extra-long battery life so you can read for days.  Exclusive LendMe lets you share reading with friends for up to 14 days. $149

iPod Nano Touch;  iPods newest Nano has a 1 ½ inch square touch screen.  The new nano is a smart, fast, capable player that should please a lot of people looking for something new this holiday season.  $149

LG BD300 Blu-Ray Player;  for the movie/tv lover.  This fully functioning player plays both Blu-Ray and standard DVDs.  It also has the ability to stream from online sources such as YouTube, Netflix and Hulu. $129.99

PENTAX Optio W90 Camera;  for the rugged photographer.  Completely durable as it is waterproof, shockproof & coldproof.  It also features a digital microscope mode with LED lens lighting.  12.1 megapixels. $279.95

Ah, those pesky passwords. If you work in the corporate world or in an office, you have one for your PC/Network and, unless there is a password synchronization application that combines them, you probably have more than one for other applications. Add those to the ones that you have for your home Internet, your banking and other websites that require passwords, and before you know it you have a nightmare on your hands in trying to manage them. Read the rest of this entry