The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest (2007)

This book is the third of the Millennium trilogy by Stieg Larsson and brings us to the close of one part of Lizbeth Salander's life. At the end of the last book, she had just extricated herself from a grave where her father had left her with a bullet wound in the shoulder, her hip, and her head. She returns to the house where he is in hiding and manages to land an axe in his face. We start this book with the two of them in the hospital, two rooms away from each other, with Lizbeth being accused of his assault and two other murders.



Mr. Larsson does not let us miss the main point of these books. He introduces many new characters, many of them women, and intercorollary chapters which told us about women warriors. We certainly get the message that men are pigs and that women are at their mercy. It is only when women join their talents and abilities together that they are able to get out from under mens' thumbs. And do they ever come out in force in this book!

This trilogy has been quite a ride. The "Girl" has been an amazing character to get to know. The consummate underdog, she used her unique talents and abilities when the moment arrived, to clear herself and set herself up for a new life. We can only hope that she is still able to find peace and some semblance of normalcy. Or at least, pick up the crusade and help other women trapped in testosterone hell like she was.

This whole series has extreme violence and sexual abuse but not gratuitously. The intrigue and computer hacking seems, at times, to be a little too convenient and easy. The individual books are very large (the paperback version of this book had 746 pages) but they read fast since they are mostly comprised of conversations and emails. I am glad to have met the character, Lizbeth.

My rating for this book: ++++

National Novel Writing Month

50,000 words in the 31 days of November! That's the challenge. Quantity over quality matters here. I would do this if I wasn't taking my online courses. I will encourage my daughter, however, since she has aspirations of being a writer.

Along with keeping track of how much you have written, they also give you help in the form of mini challenges that you must include in your writing. One example might be to include a certain item in your story.

What a fun way for budding writers to push themselves.

In case you think I was copping out with my excuse of classes -- I am putting it in my log with the hope of finding it again next year.

zamzar.com

"Have you ever wanted to convert files without the need to download software?"

One of the biggest problem students have when trying to print a paper at school is that they forgot to save it at home as an .rtf (Rich Text Format) file. They bring in their flash drive or CD, or email the file to themselves, and find the file cannot be opened by Word on the school computers. Luckily, Zamzar can help.

A student can upload their file to Zamzar and give them their email address. In a short time (usually less than one hour), a link to their converted file is sent to their email. Download, print, take the paper to class!

Of course, this would not be necessary if students would remember to save files with the .rtf format, but as long as they have an hour or so to wait for the conversion, Zamzar can be the answer to their dilemma.

DailyLit

"DailyLit: Sparking your mind and imagination with great books and ideas in under 5 minutes a day."
This is the perfect solution for those of us who say we don't have time to read a book. Visit DailyLit and browse their title lists, many of which are free. You can choose a title and select how often you wish to receive your literary doses and they will an installment to your email, RSS feed, or even you iPhone or Blackberry. On those days when one installment isn't enough or you're in a really good place in the story, you can request more on the spot.
Not all of the titles are old classics, Cory Doctorow's book, Little Brother, is one of the selections (free!) as is Wikipedia Tour: The Grand Tour. Some books are short (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button has only 11 installments where the Wikipedia book has 618).
You're in luck if you are a romance reader. There are over 300 Harlequin Romance titles. There are not very many YA titles but hopefully that will change. They encourage companies to sponsor books so that we can read them for free. None of the books are over $10. That's cheaper than a paper back! I think I will try one of the free titles through my RSS feed on my iGoogle page. It is recommended that you use an RSS feed instead of email so installations aren't blocked by spam filters.
I think I will try "Famous Stories Every Child Should Know" since I seem to have been a very ignorant child never having read any of the stories. 116 installments - check back with me in about 4 months.

Pipl.com

"The most comprehensive people search on the web"

Do you know how many times your name appears on the web? What do you think employers might use to check on a prospective employee? Pipl.com is what they are using and it might be a good idea for you to check first before they do. An explanation on their website states that they search what is called the "deep web" which can gain access behind passwords. One example of this is Facebook. Would you be comfortable with a boss checking pictures on your site?
When I ran a check with my name I was very interested to see that a lady in East Lancashire, England, has my exact name. Luckily she seems to be a very upright citizen so I didn't have to worry about some nefarious person that I might be confused with. Otherwise, my Facebook page came up as well as links to my job and 4-H.
It is always good to remember that anything that goes up on the web will very likely stay there - forever. Remember that just about anything can be copied and pasted in other locations so you can't expect privacy when it comes to pictures, emails, blog entries (oh, my!), etc.
So, as I tell my young friends, "Be good, be careful!"

WikiHow

"The How-to Manual that You Can Edit" http://www.wikihow.com/

Have you ever caught yourself saying "I wonder how I could...." and then stopped because you don't know where you could look up something or who could answer your question? Here's where you can find the answer! I put a link to this site on my iGoogle page and read a new "How To" everyday. Today was a wonderful article on how to bake cookies. There are always pictures that help demonstrations and links at the bottom to related articles and resources.

I learned how to make the most darling pop up cards for Christmas. I read about how to braid a horse's tail. Choose the Education and Communications category and get lots of articles on homework help (How to Do Your Homework on Time if You are a Procrastinator) and presentations (How to Create Less Annoying Powerpoints). Were you curious about how to make a crop circle? Here's the place to learn how.

Of particular interest is the category "Youth." In these pages are all sorts of things to try of special interest to young people. Young people are invited to help edit these pages so here's your chance to step up to the plate and show how much you know about a topic.

Fun and informative, this is a great site.