Charlotte's Web

How To Get Almost Free Audiobooks Downloads

Audiobooks saved my sanity during crazy commuting times. I used to spend about 3-4 hours in my car every day, going to and coming back from the office. Sometimes traffic jams were so serious that I started to bring books with me in the car, thinking I’d read some on my way. That’s wrong. If you just sit there and do nothing, waiting times seem like ages. When you do something, such as reading or putting on makeup, the same waiting times seem much shorter. Reading books while stuck in traffic is non-sense. Drivers behind you won’t let you finish your sentence. If the line moves, you have to move with it and be fast. Then I made a fantastic discovery: audiobooks. The first audiobook I bought was by one of my favorite authors, Mircea Cartarescu. He was the reader and I found that to be cool, even though I had imagined his voice different. I thought it was amazing to have the chance to listen to how a writer interprets his own writing. The best of all was that I was able to use my commuting time in a pleasant and entertaining way.

Audiobooks downloads: cheaper than audiobook CD or books on tape

At first, each time I wanted a new audiobook, I would buy the CD. It was expensive, the average price for an audiobook CD was $30. At that time there were no audiobook downloads websites, so buying from bookshops was the only option. Today there are multiple options. Among the most convenient are membership sites. You pay a monthly or a yearly fee, then you get access to an entire library of audiobooks and you download the ones you like. Usually you get one or multiple free downloads as part of your membership. You may also get extra downloads for discounted prices. A good example is Audible.com with their Special Offer – Get Your First 3 Months at Audible for $7.49/month!. They have an impressive online library of more than 85,000 audiobooks, which you can download and listen to on your iPod, iPad, iPhone and other such devices. You can either buy and download audiobooks one by one, as you want them, or you can choose a membership plan. Such plans give you a certain number of credits which translate into up to 75% discounts for all audiobooks, audio newspapers and magazines in their database.

Audible features I like most

Audiobooks are grouped in 27 categories such as Arts & Entertainment, Bios & Memoirs, Classics, Fiction, Business, Kids, Health & Fitness, Language Instruction, Romance, Religion & Spirituality. Each category is divided in subcategories. This makes it very easy to find titles in the genre you want.

All audiobooks come with samples you can listen to for free. Then there’s the publisher’s summary, then reviews from people who downloaded the book. Reviews are useful, they either describe the book or comment on the narrator’s voice. Here’s an example:

BTW the narrator (Angela Dawe) is wonderful. One of the few females that can do male voices without making the male characters sound a little creepy.

Each audiobook is available in four audio formats: AM Radio, FM Radio, mp3 and CD. This means the sound quality is similar to the above mentioned options, not that you can listen to the book on the radio. There’s a table with all these, giving info on the file size and downloading time. If you are not sure what format to choose, you can look at the table and listen to samples of each one. Depending on the device you want to download to, you’ll see what formats work. This can be a little confusing at first, but if you know you only want to burn CDs to listen to in your car, that’s the option you always need to choose.

AudibleManager, the proprietary application that comes with your subscription, automatically downloads and syncs your subscription content with your playing device. This is very easy to use. I believe my mom could use it, too, and she knows almost nothing about computers.

There’s a special bestseller section. I like that because I’m always curious about the latest bestsellers, and I can find them very fast in Audible.

Last but not least, you can benefit from this Special Offer – Get Your First 3 Months at Audible for $7.49/month!, which is half of the regular membership price. You get one credit per month, which means you can download an audiobook for free. Very few titles are worth more than a credit. If you want to use more than the assigned credit, you’ll benefit from the 30% member-only discount on all your downloads. Read more about this and Download audiobooks to your iPod, iPhone, Blackberry & over 500+ devices. Save 50% for 3 months, only $7.49/mo. by clicking on the previous link.

I’ll quote from the Audible website the promotional offer details:

AudibleListener® Gold Membership Details
Get the first 3 months of the AudibleListener® Gold membership plan for just $7.49 per month, which includes one credit. For your convenience, your membership will automatically renew each month and the monthly membership fee will be billed to the credit card you used when you registered with Audible. After the 3 months, your credit card will be billed the regular membership price of $14.95 per month. With your membership, you will receive one credit per month plus members-only discounts on all audio purchases. Cancel anytime, effective the next billing cycle.

Automatic billing is convenient if you like the service and wish to continue using it. However, if you feel like giving up, you need to remember to go and cancel your subscription. This may seem a bit naughty, but it’s common practice for many membership communities. Anyway, if you want to check out Audible and their impressive library, here’s the Special Offer – Get Your First 3 Months at Audible for $7.49/month!.

Author name:: Charlotte
Discussion:: No Comments

Pan-Fried Pork Chops Video Recipe

As I don’t have a good video camera, I can’t make movies to show you how to cook the recipes I’m publishing here. Nonetheless, I found another solution, which I hope will help you cook delicious meals: a video-recipes series of posts from famous and less famous cooks. For today, chef Keith Snow demonstrates his very popular & delicious pork chops recipe.

Author name:: Charlotte
Discussion:: 25 Comments

How to Spot a Fake Coach Bag

As designer handbags usually come with barely affordable price tags, there’s no wonder that fake bags manufacturers are thriving. Many girls wish to show off with a designer bag hanging on their shoulder, but few of them afford to pay that kind of money for a bag. Even cheaper brand names such as Coach bags or Botkier are subject to counterfeits. Many times, those fake leather goods look so well that it’s really hard to spot they aren’t original.

It can be hard to tell the difference between a real Coach purse and a Coach knockoff, especially if you’re at your first Coach purse and you don’t know what to look for when making your purchase. Learn these few simple tips to quickly and easily pick out an authentic Coach handbag, so you can be sure you pay for the real stuff and not for a cheap replica. For instance, did you know that Coach never wrap their bags’ hardware in plastic? If you see plastic wraps on the hardware, you’re 100% surely going to pay the real price for a fake purse. This video discloses other excellent tips to help you differentiate between an authentic Coach purse and a replica.

Author name:: Charlotte
Discussion:: 25 Comments

Mushrooms Stuffing Ideas

Stuffed mushrooms are delicious. I know they are a bit painful to wash, but once you’ve managed to do that, the rest is poetry. The secret here is not to store them for too long in the fridge. Although they resist up to one week, cleaning is much easier in the first 1-2 days. If you are the kind of person who likes to have a pantry full of supplies, then you’d better freeze them. Mushrooms are suitable for freezing. Please don’t ask me how to do it, because I prefer to cook them fresh.

Preparing the filling is easy. For example, you can stuff the mushrooms with themselves. I mean, are you going to discard the stems or what? Stems are good. If you want, you can use them into some other meal or you can chop them, mix them with a little bit of egg, cheese, onions and garlic, and you’ve got a lot of healthy stuffed mushrooms recipes to try. If health is not your main concern, minced meat is another delicious option. You can use either pork, beef, turkey or chicken, or a mix of minced meat and bacon pieces. How often do you cook pulled pork recipes, have a great barbecue party, then try to do something with the leftovers for the following week? Stuffed mushrooms can help you clean up your fridge, because they make good friends with all other veggies. I admit I haven’t tried them with eggplants, but who knows, I might discover a new recipe to share with you one of these days.

What other mushroom stuffing secrets do you know? Would you care sharing them with us?

Author name:: Charlotte
Discussion:: 4 Comments

How To Choose Your iPad Case

From the very first time I’ve seen an announcement for the new Apple iPad, I knew I wanted one. It’s just so cool! I always enjoy sharing my photos with friends and family, but carrying the laptop with me all over the place was not my ideal way. I hate big bags and in my regular purses there’s definitely no place for a laptop. A netbook would probably do, but I haven’t bought one because I decided to wait for the iPad to become available. I think it was a wise decision. The iPad is so slim that it fits most of my purses without problem, leaving enough room for the other stuff I need. Besides, it really looks sleek and geeky. All my friends were so impressed when they saw me, that they added it on their wishes list. I think Apple could pay me commissions for sending them so many customers. Anyway, that’s probably not going to happen and it’s not what I wanted to tell you about today anyway.

Buying the iPad seems to be triggering a longer chain of purchases which I somehow expected, but didn’t think it would call for so much money. Let me only tell you about ipad cases and you’ll see how hard it is to stop at one single item.

In the first place, one needs to decide what’s the best solution: a skin, a folio case or a sleeve? Or maybe a messenger bag? Perhaps you need both a skin and a bag. Getting a skin would be nice, especially if it would come with openings for all connectors. That’s because I hate taking devices out of their shell each time I want to charge them or to use them in conjunction with something else. I’ll tell you what I did: what I usually do when I need something and I’m not sure what I’m looking for. I did a Google search for iPad accessories. The first site I found was an excellent online resource for iPad accessories such as skins, cases, screen protectors and many more other little things that one may need when wanting to use their iPad to the full. I was very much attracted by the wonderful Gelaskins. In fact, I loved them, so I ordered four models, because I wanted to benefit from their promotional offer. I got four skins for the price of only three. I’m so proud of them that I want to show you here what I’ve got:

Neo New York

Gustav Klimt - The Kiss

Georges Seurat - Sunday Afternoon On The Island

Amy Sol - Land of Dreams

Do you like them? I love this idea so much that I’m thinking to buy four more such skins and save them for truly special occasions. I know this may sound a bit expensive, but I think it’s so cool that money start fading in importance in front of the effect I’m hoping to achieve. You know, one of my favorite sayings is a definition of luck I’ve heard from an old friend of mine: “Luck is when preparation meets opportunity”. So, I like to be prepared from head to toes, iPad accessories included. What about you?

Author name:: Charlotte
Discussion:: 1 Comment

Business Cards Ideas for Your Health Business

If you are a health professional it is important to have good looking business cards to give your potential customers or patients. At least this is what my friend Melissa tells me. She runs a gym and she’s got the most amazing business cards I’ve seen. It’s true that she didn’t choose them from health business cards directories, she went for the help of a designer. She said the designing process was interesting. That guy showed her lots of photos of gyms, people exercising, smiling faces, then asked her to choose the most representative ones. She did so. In the next stage, the designer showed her several variants of graphics, based on the elements she had chosen. She was impressed by the creativity of this man. He combined two or three images in a single card, for a memorable effect.

After they settled for one of the graphics, she had the chance to choose the font for her business cards. There was an impressive number of typefaces on that website. You would just write the name of your business, then apply different fonts to it, so you could see how the final text would look like.

I asked my friend how much she paid for this, but she wouldn’t tell me. She said the designer made her a special favor, so the price is not relevant for his other customers. Too bad, because I was thinking to make some business cards for Charlotte’s Web to give people I get in touch with!

Author name:: Charlotte
Discussion:: No Comments

Would You Upgrade To iPad 2 Or Wait For iPad 3?

Apple iPad 2

I thought iPad was a cool gadget to have, so I made an effort and bought one last year. Then I made another effort and bought some neat accessories.

Now I see the new iPad 2 is going to be in shops this month. In a way, I like it more than the previous one. Plus, it will be available for the same price as the first version. My problem is that $500 is not pocket change for me, so I’m not so sure if it’s worth spending that to upgrade to iPad 2, especially that I read on a website that the real revelation will be the iPad 3, which is going to be launched in early 2012. I’m not sure where I read that, so I can’t say it’s a trustworthy source. Please don’t take this for granted.

Anyway, here’s how I see things:

I love the fact that iPad 2 has two cameras, because Face Time is such a cool app to have.
I love it that it’s thinner and lighter than the original iPad
I think the iPad 2 Smart Cover is probably the smartest cover I’ve seen. I find that magnetic alignment simply genius, I like that I can buy the cover in more colors, so I can match it with my outfits.
The faster processor and better operating system don’t say much to me. I find the iPad I have now fast enough for what I need, so I wouldn’t spend money to get this.
I already bought nice Gelaskins, so I’ll need to buy some again, because the iPad 2 is a bit smaller.
The iPad 2 still doesn’t “see” Flash, this being one of my major discontents.

One thing that crossed my mind was to sell my iPad for some $200-$250 and go for the upgrade. However, I’m not sure I could find a buyer for that price and I’m still not convinced I won’t be sorry later on, when the iPad 3 will be out.

What would you do? Would you sell your iPad and go for iPad 2 or would you rather wait for the next version?

Author name:: Charlotte
Discussion:: 2 Comments

Are Artificial Christmas Trees Better Than Natural Ones?

Until very recently I was a big fan of natural trees for Christmas. I just love their fresh scent and I can’t imagine Christmas without it. However, I’ve started to ask myself whether I’m being selfish in my desire of killing one tree each year just for the sale of a few days of Christmas fun. Then I started to do some research and it didn’t take long until I found a few websites that made me change my mind in this respect. One of those sites is named exactly Artificial Christmas Trees and I was attracted by it from the very first glance, because it has a friendly look and feel. I love the falling snow effect and I’d be happy to discover how to add that to my site for December.

Back to our Christmas decorations, this is one of the trees I liked very much on the previously mentioned website (sorry for “borrowing” the photo, but I really wanted to show it to my readers):

Surprisingly, I liked this tree even though it doesn’t look realistic at all. Maybe that’s because I’m a bit bored with conventions lately and I try to do stuff other way than most people do. This bronze color is absolutely fantastic and the metallic look combined with the mini lights make the tree look like coming straight from a winter tale. I think it evokes the spirit of Christmas, wouldn’t you agree? I’m sure all the kids will love it, so I’m strongly considering getting one soon.

The reason I posted this here is that I want to know your opinion on whether or not buying an artificial Christmas tree could be considered a green option. I do agree it saves 3-4 trees from being cut (thinking that I’d keep it for maximum 4 years before wanting a new one). Nonetheless, there’s some pollution in making an artificial tree as well, so it might be much more than 3-4 trees missing from the forest.

Have your say! Thanks!

Author name:: Charlotte
Discussion:: No Comments

The Best iPad Screen Protector

When I wrote about the five iPad accessories I like and recommend, I forgot to tell you about the best iPad screen protector and its advantages. I’ve tried several protective films and I wasn’t quite pleased, either because they peeled off as quickly as within one week, or because they got ugly scratches fast, thus needing frequent replacement. The last one I’ve tried was ZAGG Invisible Shield. It’s still on my screen and it’s looking like new, even now, after about one month. It seems to be really tough, I’m pleased. Too bad I bought the screen protection only. Now I wish I also had the iPad back covered, because it got scratched inside its case.

Anyway, here’s a video showing how to install the ZAGG protective film on the iPad screen:

Author name:: Charlotte
Discussion:: No Comments

Five iPad Accessories for Women

A lot of friends asked me to make this list of iPad accessories that any woman would want to have. I hesitated a bit because I wasn’t sure there are such items that women would use but men wouldn’t. Eventually, I decided to make the list because after using my iPad since more than one month now, I know what I appreciated most out of all things I bought for it.

1. The Joule iPad Stand

Joule iPad Stand

I like this one because it looks absolutely gorgeous, with or without the iPad on it. I use it mainly in the kitchen, when I cook using recipes found on other websites, but I also enjoy using it for watching videos or slide-shows with my friends. All these girls loved it and asked me where can they get one. Well, when I told them that I paid $129 for mine, they weren’t that inquisitive anymore.

Anyway, for all other girls that read my blog, here’s where I found this stunning iPad stand for the first time, even before it was available for purchase.

2. Oscar de la Renta iPad Clutch

Oscar de la Renta iPad case

I’m sorry for all those lambs that get killed for our purses, but I just love this iPad case made from the finest lamb skin, embroidered with elegant patterns. The lining is very soft, so I’m sure my iPad is safe inside this case. I also like the snap closure, because it’s tight enough for the iPad to be secure, yet easy to open when needed.

This case cost me $290. It’s a lot, but I think it’s worth the money because it makes me feel good each time I look at it. I find buying so many happiness moments for only $290 a bargain. However, if it doesn’t resonate with you in the same way, you’d better go for a cheaper case, as there are a lot iPad cases cheap and cute.

3. Apple Wireless Keyboard

Apple iPad wireless keyboard

I don’t know about others, but I love long nails. Long nails, however, are the enemies of touch screens, therefore girls who can’t say goodbye to their long nails need a real keyboard, because they won’t be able to type on the virtual one. At least I can’t. If any of you manages, maybe she can tell us more in the comments section. Until then, here’s where you can get such a wireless keyboard for iPad from: Apple Wireless Keyboard (Retail Packaging)

4. Gelaskins iPad Skin

Neo New York

This is not as much functional as beautiful. It’s a custom skin, very thin, with a matching desktop wallpaper. The skin plays also the role of protecting the iPad from little scratches which are almost inevitable. There are so many such beautiful skins on the Gelaskins website that I bought more than one. My iPad still wears the first one, which looks like new, so I suppose I won’t need to change it too soon.

5. Boxwave iPad Capacitive Stylus

Boxwave iPad capacitive stylus

This is a must-have accessory not only for girls with long nails, but also for boys with thick fingers. It allows you to use the virtual keyboard much better, so it’s good to have one. Here’s where you can get yours from: BoxWave Apple iPad Capacitive Stylus

Even if you’ve got the external keyboard, the stylus is still useful, because you won’t feel like carrying the keyboard with you everywhere. Well, if you do so, you’d better give up your iPad and choose a laptop. It will make your life easier.

This is my list. Of course I’ve got a car charger and some external speakers as well, but I’m not so pleased with them so I didn’t feel like listing them here.

What about you? Do you have an iPad? What accessories have you got for it?

Author name:: Charlotte
Discussion:: No Comments

Interactive Book Applications For Children

Children love books, that’s a fact. They seem to never have enough of their parents reading them stories. They never get tired of going through the same books again and a again, ten times, twelve times, million times. Yet the parents will soon go crazy if they don’t put a stop to this. Today I’ve discovered something that’s going to change the life of many parents, offering them a bit of peace while their kids entertain themselves: Touchoo electronic book applications. If you have an iPod or an iPad, all you need to do is install and launch the application, then let the child enjoy the stories and interact with the characters via the touch screen interface. I thought this could be useful, so I decided to write about it, to spread the word. Here’s a short video introducing Thumbelina, the classic Hans Christian Andersen story, adapted for the touch screen:

Author name:: Charlotte
Discussion:: 4 Comments

Chemical Free Cleaning: Expensive or Affordable?

I’ve got this very good friend who is concerned with chemical free cleaning. Being allergic to a lot of things others don’t even notice, I bet she pays attention to whatever may help her stay symptoms-free for as long as possible. However, eco-friendly detergents are almost twice as expensive as regular ones, so she can’t afford to buy those all the time. This is how we got to talk about our grandmothers and about their secrets of cleaning their homes with natural substances. Indeed, I still remember vinegar as being a must-have cleaning product in my grandma’s arsenal. She mixed it with various other foods to obtain cleaning solutions for windows, floors or carpets. Lemon was another universal cleaner. There were many other things which I don’t remember anymore, but I know it’s possible to have a perfectly clean house without using so many harsh chemicals. I agree a bigger scrubbing effort may be required, but if you care about going green, saving the environment and living in healthier conditions, then this is a small price to pay.

One of the cleaning methods I like lately is steaming. There are steam cleaners which don’t cost a fortune and yet do a good job in the household. I think I’ve paid about $50 for my steamer and I’m pleased with the way it cleans the floors. It works only with water, so it’s much easier to finish the cleaning now. I have pets and I always had to take of rinsing the floors very well, so they don’t carry detergent residues on their paws. I think this is one of the cheapest methods of green cleaning, wouldn’t you say so?

Now I have to ask you what other methods of chemicals-free cleaning do you know? What do you think in terms of costs: is is cheaper for a family to use only natural cleaning products?

Author name:: Charlotte
Discussion:: No Comments

Learning How To Play Guitar: You Are Wonderful Tonight

Do you want to learn guitar? It’s not as hard as you imagine, even if your age is already not-to-be-disclosed. All you need is a good guitar, a good course and a lot of time and patience. Let me tell you something: when I learn a new song, I usually have to practice at least for two weeks before being as confident as to play it to other people. Let’s take only one example, a song I like very much: You Are Wonderful Tonight, by Eric Clapton. I wanted to learn how to play it on my guitar and I found this video which looked quite helpful. What I liked about the author was that he slowed down with the playing while explaining how he moved from C to D, then to G, this alternation managing to generate that awesome sound. Chords, strumming patterns, fingerpicking, everything is in the demo. Even so, I quickly discovered that I forget what to do with my fingers, so I really had to practice a lot before being able to unconsciously remember all that stuff that makes the song.

Now I can play it almost without mistake. Yes, I still have issues with that part where I need to alternate the 12th and 14th riffs, if you know what I’m talking about. When I’ll master that too, I’ll make a recording and post it here for you.

Do you play guitar? What songs do you play best?

Author name:: Charlotte
Discussion:: 1 Comment

Weight Loss Programs: Are They Really Working?

“Does Wonderslim work if you only want to lose 20 lbs?”

This is what my good friend Ella asked me the other day. I’m no expert in weight loss but I think I’m able to give her an answer. Since this is a question many chubby girls have in mind, I decided to answer her on my blog, maybe we can start a helpful discussion with other readers who are interested in healthy weight loss methods.

First of all, let’s see what is Wonderslim.

Produced and sold by DietDirect, Wonderslim is a range of medical grade protein diet supplements in the presentation form of portion-controlled meal replacements. The efficacy of Wonderslim and of other similar weight loss diets resides in two facts:

Converting protein into energy calls for higher calorie consumption than converting the equivalent carbohydrates intake.
The restriction of the daily calorie intake allows controlling the body weight variations.

The above mentioned will lead to a healthy weight loss process only when combined. A high-protein diet without the calorie restriction won’t make you slim, because the excess protein will turn into fat just like any other food. On the other hand, restricting calories without taking care of giving the body enough essential proteins will lead to a loss in the lean body tissue. This is not desirable because when we lose weight, we need to aim at burning the fat and not reducing the muscular mass. This is where Wonderslim diet foods come into action. They are presented as regular foods such as soups, salad dressings, snacks, puddings, entrees, desserts, candies, shakes etc and they are supposed to replace normal foods in one’s diet while providing the essential protein supply needed for the proper functioning of the body.

Coming back to the efficiency of such meal replacement diets, I’d say that they are indeed effective, provided that one follows the instructions in the enclosed leaflet. I’d also say that consulting your physician is a must prior to committing into any of these diets that may seem safe at a glance but may harm you in case you suffer from some medical conditions.

Moreover, I have a few questions for my friend and for all other interested readers:

Are you eating like there’s no tomorrow?
Are you living a life that takes you from bed to chair and again to bed in only a few footsteps a day?
Are you constantly feeling under pressure of deadlines, commitments, obligations or other similar stuff?
Are you feeling like never getting enough sleep?

If you answered yes to any of the above, maybe you should first try to reassess your life and your priorities, have a more relaxed approach to your environment, then see if you need any diet at all to get in shape. Relax! What’s the rush, anyway? You’ll see weight loss will soon follow.

Author name:: Charlotte
Discussion:: 4 Comments