Spook Central: The Ghostbusters Companion - Established August 1996 By Paul Rudoff
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Everything Else > Non Ghostbusters
LINKS & OTHER STUFF

COMPUTER RESOURCES

DVD/CD

GREETING CARDS (ONLINE, FREE)

JAVASCRIPT/DHTML ARCHIVES

LANGUAGE TRANSLATORS

  • AltaVista - Chinese/French/German/Italian/Japanese/Korean/Portuguese/Russian/Spanish to English (and vice versa - for most languages) (alt url)
  • Dictionary.com - French/German/Italian/Portuguese/Spanish to English (and vice versa - for most languages)
  • FreeTranslation.com (SDL International) - Dutch/French/German/Italian/Portuguese/Russian/Spanish to English (and vice versa - for most languages) (Does the best translations out of the bunch.)

MISCELLANEOUS

MOVIES

MP3 SITES

MUSIC

ONLINE PRIVACY PROTECTION (FREE)

  • BugMeNot - Provides login information for websites that require FREE registration, such as the New York Times. They will not provide login information for pay sites. Use this service when you want to view a website, but don't want to go through the hassle (and privacy problems) of registering for it.
    NOTE: It only displays the five most recent and/or working logins for a particular site.
    NOTE: There is a 40 character limit on the "Other" field when submitting new login info.

  • Mailinator (alt url) - Public one-way e-mail addresses for when a website or a person wants your e-mail address, but you don't want to get any messages from them in your real mailbox. Pick any 15 characters (letter and numbers only, I assume), attach @mailinator.com to it, and you've got an instantly created e-mail address (example: jonesy@mailinator.com). All mail sent to this address can be read on the Mailinator website by ANYONE (so don't use it for personal information) who either knows that name or decides to use that name for their own SPAM prevention. Mailinator accounts are created when mail arrives for them. No signup, no personal information, and when you're done - you can walk away. The messages are automatically deleted for you after a few hours.

  • Spam Gourmet - If you hate spam, you should check out this free service that allows you to setup an account and create unlimited disposable email addresses. You limit the numbers of emails you want to receive at that address, so for example you can easily create an email address that allows you to receive 2 messages, and after that it becomes invalid. Setup is easy: read the simple instructions, get a username and start making your own disposable email addresses.

SEARCH ENGINES

SHOPPING (ONLINE) - MISCELLANEOUS
[ ** Don't do business with: these companies **]

  • Comparison Shopping (Price Grabber)
  • Online Coupon Codes (Coupon Craze)
  • Online Coupon Codes (eDealinfo)
  • Online Coupon Codes (Retail Me Not)
  • Adorama Camera - Camera and video supplies. (PayPal Accepted)
    * Also sells VIDEO SLEEVES (this is the only one they have): Adorama White Cardboard Sleeve without Window for VHS Tapes. ($0.25 each). You *CAN* purchase a single sleeve, as it is added to the cart that way.
    * Adorama T-120 VHS Video Tape ($0.99 each). No idea if this comes in a sleeve (photo shows JVC sleeve).
    * COUPON (FOR ME ONLY?): Free Shipping (code: CSLND8TJC), expires 9/27/2007, up to 10 lbs. in cont. USA. (ONE TIME USE ONLY?)
  • Amazon.Com - Books, CDs/Cassettes, DVD/VHS, Video Games, Toys, etc. (Free Shipping [$25+, some items excluded], No NY Tax [some items excluded])
    WARNING: Don't preorder books from Amazon because they never ship them on release dates (or update their pages either). Most other items are OK to preorder (such as DVDs, videotapes, video games, and CDs).
    WARNING: When placing one order for items from multiple Marketplace sellers, that order will get broken up into separate orders for each seller, and your credit card will be billed for each of those new separate orders. This can cause your credit card to be declined if your bank limits the number of approved charges that can be made per day.
  • B. Brown Video (alt url) - Copies of wrestling tapes (and a few others) from all over the world. He has practically anything you could be looking for. If you don't see it, ask. I should warn you that his prices are tad high and sometimes the quality isn't the greatest. (No NY Tax, PayPal Accepted) 1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10  11  12 
  • B&H Photo Video - Various photo and video supplies. (PayPal Accepted)
    NOTE: B&H does not accept or process orders from Friday evening to Saturday evening, or on all Jewish holidays. Yes, the store (online and the physical store in New York City) are both closed for an entire week for Passover and Succos, respectively. Apparently they don't believe in hiring non-Jewish workers to maintain store operations (though they do close for Christmas too). I never tried to place an order online during one of their closed periods, so I don't know if the orders go through or are flatly rejected.
    I shop at the site mainly for the side-loading no-window VHS sleeves (boxes) listed below. The paper boxes ship flat, the plastic boxes ship three-dimensionally.
    * General Brand: VHS Paper Sleeve without Window - White ($2.50 for each 10-pack)
    * General Brand: VHS Plastic Sleeve without Window - Clear ($4.40 for each 10-pack)
    * General Brand: VHS Plastic Sleeve without Window - White ($4.40 for each 10-pack)
    * General Brand: VHS Plastic Sleeve without Window - Black ($4.40 for each 10-pack)
    If you have an emergency need for VHS sleeves during one of B&H's closed periods, here are a few alternate sources. Their prices are about the same, but the selection is less.

    Tape.com (Accepts PayPal at Tape.com, but not at Yahoo store)
    * White Cardboard (Paper) VHS Sleeve Side Load - No Window (50 Pack for $11.95) (Yahoo store, same company)
    -- These sleeves ship flat.
    -- This seems cheaper than B&H, but when you add in the $9.20 for Priority Mail shipping (nothing cheaper), you get a grand total of $21.15, which is about on par with B&H. Although I've never ordered from them, they sent me a free sample of one sleeve, which was sent via UPS Ground at their expense. So of all the alternates, this one I can recommend.

    Tape Stock Online
    * Clear Plastic VHS Sleeves - Side Load, No Window, Vented (10 Sleeves for $4.50, $0.45 for each additional sleeve, discounts for 50+)
    -- These sleeves ship three-dimensionally (according to e-mail rep Kayla Hogan).
    -- Compared with B&H's plastic sleeves, these are $0.10 more at a minimum. Of course B&H's sleeves have to be ordered in multiples of 10, whereas these can be ordered in any amount as long as the minimum is 10. So if you wanted to order 12 sleeves, you can.
    -- Shipping (Ground) for a minimum of 10 sleeves is $6.55, with NY Tax being $0.38, bringing the grand total to $11.43. Unlike Tape.com, they charge NY Tax. According to e-mail rep Kayla Hogan: "Tapestockonline.com is based out of Anaheim, CA. However we do have a small warehouse in NY with a limited amount of supplies that we use to help fulfill some of our east coast orders. Legally, because we do have a warehouse there, we have to charge tax." The site uses a Yahoo store for payment and checkout. Kayla said that they do not send out free samples, so I can't rate their service or products, and this I can't recommend them at this time.

  • Deep Discount - DVDs, CDs, Books, Video Games, and more. (Free Shipping, No NY Tax)
    NOTE: As of this writing (12/5/2004 to 2/18/2007), they DON'T list a product's availabilty on the product's page and the search results screen. If a DVD is not in stock, you won't know until you add it to your cart. Sometimes even then it will say that a DVD is In Stock, but the order confirmation e-mail you'll receive (the second one with the order number) will say that the DVD is Backordered.
  • eBay - Various items, ships individually from various sellers, auctions mostly. (No NY Tax, PayPal Accepted - most sellers)
  • eBay Store: Shop-N-C Technologies, Inc. ("shopnc") - (website) - Cards, comics, and supplies; books; and computer and printer related items. I bought a few 11x14 and 16x20 Top Loaders from Mr. Kevin R. Morgan in August 2005. (No NY Tax, PayPal Accepted)
  • eBay Store: Valley Enterprises ("valley-ent") - (website) - Various electronics wires and accessories. I bought a 6' 3.5mm 1/8" Stereo Headphone Extension Cord/Cable from them in December 2005. (No NY Tax, PayPal Accepted)
    As an alternative to Valley Enterprises, you could try Razern (feedback). He was selling the same headphone cord for roughly the same price at the time I bought it from Valley Enterprises. I've never bought anything from Razern, so I can't vouch for him.
  • Frame USA and Frame Place - Sells frames for posters, photos, etc. (No NY Tax)
    Both sites are run by the same company, who also manufactures the frames themselves. However, Frame USA is the wholesale site, and Frame Place is the retail site. The prices are cheaper on the USA site (even shipping is cheaper), but there is a $50 minimum order (before shipping), and a $10 fee charged for all orders under $100. Depending on what you're ordering, you may get a cheaper total on the USA site than on the Place site - even WITH the $10 fee.
    NOTE: Orders ship via FedEx, but they don't automatically sent you an e-mail letting you know when your order is expected to ship, nor do they automatically send you an e-mail to let you know when your package has been shipped (and to give you a tracking number).
    Poster Frames (listed from cheapest to most expensive)
    • Corrugated Series: USA / Place
    • Hardboard Series: USA / Place
    • Foamcore Series: USA / Place
    • Deluxe Series - Polystyrene* (cardboard backing): USA / Place
      * "The styrene is a plastic front. Polystyrene is a thick plastic moulding a lot better in my opinion than the posterframe series." - Frames USA customer service representative Amber Sayers.
  • Garbage Pail Kids For Sale By John Lockwood (No NY Tax, PayPal Accepted)
    NOTE: John very rarely replies to e-mails. It's actually a bit easier to speak to him over the phone, but that doesn't necessarily get him to deal with orders faster. However, he DOES provide great service and quality merchandise.
  • G.L.O.W.: Gorgeous Ladies Of Wrestling Official Merchandise Website (No NY Tax, PayPal Accepted)
  • Half.com (my listings) - Various items, ships individually from various sellers. (No NY Tax)
  • Mile High Comics - Comic Books (No NY Tax, PayPal Accepted [in eBay store])
    * DISCOUNT CODES can be found on that linked site, plus there are other comics store codes found there as well if you search for them (the link is only going to show you Mile High codes).
    NOTE: They have a very crappy online shopping system. They ask you for your credit card information AFTER you place the order, and sometimes they won't even use it, instead opting to use some stored credit card information they have for you from a previously placed order (even if that old information is obviously expired). If you pay via PayPal (to ebay@milehighcomics.com) for purchases from their eBay store ("milehighcomics"), then you won't run into this problem as they process and ship those orders quickly.
    NOTE: You CAN buy items from their website and pay via PayPal. According to the Back Issue Department (on 6/6/2006): "You can order online using the check money order option of payment, then pay us through the backissues@milehighcomics.com including your invoice number and address. You should then email me back to verify the payment and we will update the order." I tried this and it worked great.
  • Mr. Remote Controls - Discounted Original, Universal & Learning Remote Controls. (No NY Tax)
  • Office Depot - Office Supplies, etc. (Free Shipping [$50+])
  • Office Max - Office Supplies, etc. (Free Shipping [$50+])
  • Olympus Emporium - Olympus Digital Camera Accessories. I have the FE-115 camera, so I use this site ONLY to see what accessories are available for the camera, and actually make my purchases at B&H Photo or Amazon, where the prices are significantly cheaper (and where I may be able to save on shipping and tax).
  • Sleeve Town (Sleeve City) - Professional-style CD jewel cases & DVD plastic cases (single, double, and multiple). (No NY Tax)
    [As of 9/9/2005, you can use coupon "BIG15" at checkout to save 15% on your entire order.]
    NOTE: Some DVD cases can be purchased for less money from other places, such as Shop4Tech.com (I've never bought from them so I can't vouch for them.)
    NOTE: Don't buy their 2-CD slim cases as they are cheap pieces of junk. The front cover tabs/hinges break easily as you need to remove this piece in order to get the rear tray out so that you can insert your rear liner into the case. This is the only one of their cases that I've had a problem with. They were nice enough to send me a completely new 10-pack of cases absolutely free, even though I only asked for them to replace 3 broken ones (or at least the front cover pieces), and they didn't even want me to send back the broken ones. So I'm not complaining about their customer service or anything like that. It's just this particular case that's given me problems.
    NOTE: Don't buy VHS sleeves from them - Lately (as of 4/24/2006) their e-mail customer service has to be the most inept I've ever dealt with. I ordered the "White Top Load Video Sleeve No Window" VHS sleeves from their website. Even though I was unaware that it said top load and not side load (so they weren't what I wanted anyway), Samantha Ransdell sent me an e-mail the next day saying that they don't sell them anymore. I e-mailed back asking what sleeves they do sell, and she replied with a copy & paste from their website - which listed the one I had ordered! A week earlier (on 3/27/2006) I asked if I could get a free sample of their VHS sleeves. Samantha Ransdell said that they would send me out an assortment of their VHS cases. I figured that I would get it before I intended to place my order. I finally got it almost three weeks later (on 4/15/2006). There was one of each of every VHS case and sleeve they have. One of them was perfect for my needs: "VHS Cardboard Sleeve Sideload NO Window, Red" (Item # 4PBDRDNOW). This one isn't listed on their website, so I e-mailed them asking how I could buy it. I was told by Samantha that "the option you listed above are the only style and color we have the sleeves available in. The only Sideload cases we have have a window." Since I don't think she understood my simply-worded e-mail, I wrote back with less words and with a more clear message. She replied a few days later with this: "We do not have a sleeve that is Red that has a side load." Is she REALLY that stupid! They sent me a red, sideload, no window sleeve, and I even gave them the item number listed on their invoice, yet she's telling me that they don't sell the ones that THEY sent me?!? Ok, no problem. I'll just buy VHS sleeves from someone else. They lost the money.
  • Staples - Office Supplies, etc. (Free Shipping [$50+ -OR- all orders for Staples Rewards members])
  • Stories Comics (eBay Store, "storiescomics1") - They have lots of comics and magazines, even of the adult variety. They also sell bootleg DVDs of tv shows and movies that are not officially available on DVD, including The What NOW Caper. E-Mail them a want list, and they'll promptly get back to you to let you know what they have and don't have, and how much it would cost. I've purchased several magazines from them and have been very pleased with the service, item prices and quality. (No NY Tax, PayPal Accepted [at storieshope@webtv.net])
  • WWE Shopzone - WWE Merchandise.

SHOPPING (ONLINE) - AUTOGRAPH DEALERS
COA = Certificate of Authenticity
[adult autograph dealers listed in the Adult section at the bottom of this page]

SHOPPING (ONLINE) - SPECIFIC ITEMS FROM AMAZON.COM
[These are items that are either great deals or are highly recommended by me.]

  • PNY Attaché 64MB USB 1.1 Drive (Mfr#P-FD064U11-RF)
    I bought this from BestBuy.com in June 2004, but they no longer carry the item. This is the only USB drive that I can personally confirm that works with CodeBreaker v8.0 (Playstation 2 cheat device). I can also personally confirm that the Memorex Thumb/Travel Drive (Mfr#32507712) (128 MB) does NOT work. Feel free to check out the official list of (supposedly) Compatible USB Pen Drives (last updated 7/26/2005). Of course, as with all USB drives, you can also use this to transfer files from one computer to another. In that scenario, you dont even need a CodeBreaker or a PlayStation 2.

  • Jensen JHF-350 Retractable Open-Earpad Headphones (Official Site)
    Full size headphones with a retractable cord. I paid $15.99 for this in January 2006. It produces much better sound quality and slightly louder audio than the Panasonic RP-HT660 headphones I bought for $34.37 (plus $6.99 shipping) a few years earlier. The only downside is that physically the Panasonic headphones were made better. They had a compartment for the included adapter (Jensen gives the same adapter), a much longer cord (the Jensen cord is of decent length, but I'm spoiled by the overlong Panasonic cord), a cover for the cord area of the headset, and the cord retracted by inserting it into a hole in the headset. These headphones don't have any of those features (the cord retracts by sliding a switch on the headset and the tip lies uncovered) and they're so lightweight that I feel like I'm going to break them. Still, I prefer the Jensen headphones as they do what I'd want a pair of headphones to do: produce rich, full sound.

SOFTWARE

TELEVISION

TELEVISION STATION OFFICIAL SITES (LOCAL NEW YORK/LONG ISLAND)

TELEVISION STATION OFFICIAL SITES (NATIONAL)

TRADING CARDS

VIDEO GAMES

WAREZ & RELATED SITES

WEBSITE INFORMATION & FREE TOOLS

  • Banner Creation Sites
  • Bravenet Webmaster Tips & Tricks
  • Color Chart
  • Color Chooser
  • Common Fonts
  • Common Fonts - Samples
  • Dr. Watson - Performs numerous checks out your web pages.
  • Free Image Albums - Fotki - An online image/photo album with unlimited storage space, number of photos, and albums. An account gives you a "mini-site" with several pre-made pages: Welcome, About Me, Links, Photo Albums, Guestbook, and Journal. The differences between Free and Premium account is listed here.
    * NOTE: Until they allow free sites to display photos at the maximum size allowed (800x800), or allow downloading of originals for free, it's best not to upload any photos over 500x500.
    * NOTE: Use Internet Explorer with ActiveX to bulk upload images (I suggest using Mozilla/Firefox for everything else). You could use Java, if you wish to have it installed on your system. Fotki's downloadable program is only for Windows XP, and FTP is a pay feature. There are a bunch of other upload options, but I find most of them to be useless.
    * NOTE: When batch uploading files, the titles are created automatically based on the file name. Underscores are converted to spaces, and upper/lower-case is left as is. So, to have a first-letter capitalized title, the file name must be first-letter capitalized (either with spaces or underscores) as well.
    * NOTE: The "Title" of a photo isn't mandatory, but since it helps to identify the photo, so it's suggestable to use it.
    * NOTE: If you try to use the same text for the url of two images, it will add a "-1" (-2, etc.) to the second one and so forth).
    * NOTE: In the URL Name field for a photo, there appears to be no character limit if you enter in the names manually (only when it auto adds the name on batch upload does it cut it off after 20 characters).
    * NOTE: Tags are listed on the Photo Tags page in order of how frequently they appear in your photos.
    * NOTE: Currently you would have to use tags, instead of (or in addition to) descriptions, if you want images to be searchable.
    * NOTE: Can't add tags while uploading or editing. Can only add them from the "view photo" page. So, the option to add tags is only available AFTER a photo is added to an album.
    * NOTE: You CAN'T link to the original images on the free site as the URLs become invalid after less than 24 hours. So this prevents hotlinking for free.
    * NOTE: You can put folders into folders, but you can't put albums into albums.
    * NOTE: Image description box does not accept html (or vb code), but it will make links out of urls automatically, and those links will open up in a new window.
    * NOTE: No "style" is the best as most of them are pretty useless anyway.
  • Free Image Hosting - List Of Services
  • Free Image Hosting - "The Image Hosting" - This free image hosting solution no longer allows hotlinking (displaying of an image from another server) of full size images, so for most purposes, this service is useless. It's only useful if you plan to show 150x150 thumbnails on your pages (which can be linked to the full size image). You can use the service without a registration, but registering (free) will allow better management of multiple images. Limitations: You may upload as many images as you like, as long as each of them is less than 1024 kb (1 MB) in size; File types allowed: .jpg, .jpeg .gif, .png, .swf (Flash files); No images will be deleted for inactivity.
    * NOTE: If you upload a file with the same name as one already in your account, the new one will have a dot and a number added to the end of it.
  • ClickHereFree - Free Web Hosting And ISP Guide
  • Google - Automatic URL Removal System
  • Google - Removing Content From Google's Index
  • Graphics Generator
  • Graphics Effects Generator
  • HTML Forums (Webmaster Help Forum)
  • HTML Reference
  • HTML Special Symbols Reference Charts
  • Link Checker - W3C
  • Markup Validation Service - W3C
  • Meta Tags - Meta Tags Explained
  • Meta Tags - What Are HTML Meta Tags?
  • Picture Resizer - The quality of the resized images are as good as what Paint Shop Pro does. In fact, it actually resamples the images, not resizes them, which is better. The Sharpen filer they have SUCKS! It sharpens the images TOO MUCH.
  • Remotely-Hosted CGI Scripts And/Or Services
  • Search Engine Submitter (Bulk - Bravenet) (req. Bravenet registration) - Automatically submits your site to these search engines: Aesop.com, EntireWeb.com, Google.com, InfoTiger.com, ScrubTheWeb.com, SearchEngine.com, SearchIt.com, Subjex.net, SurfSafely.com, and WebSquash.com.
  • Search Engine Submitter (Alexa, for Internet Archive)
  • Search Engine Submitter (Google)
  • Search Engine Submitter (Yahoo/AltaVista) (requires Yahoo registration)
  • Transparent Gif Maker

WRESTLING

ADULT

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Spook Central copyright © 1996- Paul Rudoff. All rights reserved.
Ghostbusters copyright © 1984 Columbia Pictures Industries Inc. All rights reserved.