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4% among us are psychopaths or sociopaths | The Sociopath Next Door

According to Martha Stout, author of The Sociopath Next door, 4% of the population (1 in 25 people) are psycopaths or sociopaths.  What is psychopathy or sociopathy?  In short, it is the condition of missing conscience.

Dr. Martha Stout states that according to the bible of psychiatric labels, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Discorders IV, the clinical diagnosis of antisocial personality disorder should be considered when an individual possesses at least three of the following characteristics: → continue reading 4% among us are psychopaths or sociopaths | The Sociopath Next Door

September 4th, 2010 | Tags: , | Category: Product Review | Leave Comment, Get Link Reward

Top 529 College Savings Plan

Top 529 College Savings Plans

  • Virginia
  • Nebraska
  • Colorado
  • Maine
  • Tennessee

Other top 529 College Savings Plans

  • Ohio
  • Pennsylvania
  • Wisconsin

These states have laws that specifically protect the 529 plan accounts from creditors.  For example, → continue reading Top 529 College Savings Plans

February 8th, 2010 | Category: Product Review | Leave Comment, Get Link Reward

Wordpress Themes-Top 3 Wordpress Themes

Atahualpa WordPress Theme by Byes For All

Atahualpa  is likely the  best and the most robust free WordPress theme available.  It has many easily customizable options .  It has  both the page  and the category menu bars unlike Cutline WordPress theme by Chris Pearson.  With so many options available, there may be little need for technical support for many users of this WordPress theme.  It support sub menus for both the page and caterogy menu bars, out of the box.

Amazing Grace WordPress Theme by  Vladimir Prelovac

Amazing Grace or Blue Grace is probably the most elegant of these three WordPress theme.  Like Atahualpa WordPress theme, it has both the page and the category menu.  According to Vladimir Prelovac, social bookmarking is available out of the box for this WordPress theme.  Most users will need technical support to customize this WordPress theme.

Cutline WordPress Theme by Chris Pearson

Cutline WordPress Theme has the best typography of all the above WordPress themes.  It has page menu but not the category menu.  Like the Amazing Grace WordPress theme, most users will need technical support to customize this theme.

To be continued.

September 29th, 2009 | Tags: , | Category: Product Review | Leave Comment, Get Link Reward

Atahualpa Wordpress Theme

How to delete header images

Atahualpa WordPress Theme Header Items

Atahualpa WordPress Theme Header Items

  1. Click on Appearance in the WordPress  dashboard.
  2. Click on Atahualpa Theme Options
  3. Click on Style & edit HEADER AREA under the Header Area option
  4. Now the first option is Configure Header Area and its default settings are %pages %logo %bar1 %image %bar2 (as shown in the figure above).
  5. Delete %image and click on Save Settings button.  You may also delete the %bar2 if you find it unnecessary.
  • %image – The rotating (or static) header image with the (optional) opacity overlay left & right and an (optional) overlayed blog title & blog tagline
  • %bar2 – A second horizontal bar, that can be styled differently.

Related Post: Free WordPress Theme-Cutline WordPress Theme by Chris Pearson-A Review

September 21st, 2009 | Tags: , | Category: Product Review | Leave Comment, Get Link Reward

P0420 Code-P0420 Code for Toyota-Check Engine Light

About P0420 Code

P0420 code refers to the catalyst system efficiency for bank 1 being below threshold for the current engine operating conditions.  This shows up as Check Engine Light error in the instruments panel of a Toyota Sienna dashboard.  A Toyota dealership may charge about $70.00 for performing the relevant diagnostic test, a AutoZone car parts retail store may do this 1 minute test for free.

Probable Causes of P0420 Code

  1. Catalytic Converter defective (failure possibly due to #2, 3, or 4)
  2. Engine misfire or running condition
  3. Large vacuum leak
  4. Engine oil leakage into exhaust-valve guide seals, piston rings

First repair for P0420 Code

I dug up information about the existence of a Toyota Technical Service Bulletin (TSB) related to the P0420 Code and the 8 year/80,000 mile emissions warranty.  It is interesting to note that several Toyota owners are not fully aware of this emissions warranty.  With a hard copy of the emissions warranty, I took the Toyota Sienna to a Toyota dealership.  I thought the Toyota dealership would follow the instructions of the Toyota TSB.   Instead, the Toyota dealership replaced the exhaust manifold catalytic converter under the emissions warranty.

Second repair for P0420 Code

Several weeks later the Check Engine Light turned on again.  The Toyota dealership replaced the existing engine control computer with a remanufactured engine control computer under emissions warranty.  The Toyota dealership refused to return the existing engine control computer.

Third repair for P0420 Code

Several weeks later, the Check Engine Light came on again.  This time, the Toyota dealership verified that the engine control computer installed previously was the appropriate one and replaced the front exhaust pipe with converter under goodwill warranty assistance because the Sienna was more than 8 years old but was within the 80,000 mileage.

Lessons Learned

  1. I thought the Toyota dealership would play games but they did not.
  2. Bad, bad, bad Toyota Sienna.  Never, ever, ever a Toyota Sienna again.

Related EPA Fact Sheet: Emissions Warranties for 1995 and Newer Cars & Trucks

September 3rd, 2009 | Tags: | Category: Product Review | Leave Comment, Get Link Reward

Cigarette Lighter Socket Repair-P0420 Code for Toyota

Back of coin holder and 15A fuses

Back of coin box (left) and 15A fuses (right)

Repair procedure for blown fuse for the cigarette lighter socket

  1. Remove the coin box of the 2001 Toyota Sienna.  Turn it over and find the layout diagram of electrical fuses (shown to the left in the picture above).
  2. The electrical fuse box is located behind the coin box.
  3. Look for the two blue colored fuses labeled CIG 15A and PWR OUTLET 15A.
  4. Using a needle nose plier, pull the two fuses out and examine them to find the blown fuse.
  5. The 15A fuse shown in the box to the right can be purchased at any auto parts store for less than $5.00 (shown to the right in the picture above).
  6. Replace the blown fuse with a new fuse.

Coming up, details about the dreadful P0420 Code for Toyota Sienna.

August 29th, 2009 | Tags: | Category: Product Review | Leave Comment, Get Link Reward

Free Wordpress Theme-Cutline Wordpress Theme by Chris Pearson- A Review

Cutline is a free WordPress Theme by Chris Pearson.   It comes in a few configurations:

  1. Cutline 2- 2 columns, 1 post column 1 sidebar to the right
  2. Cutline 3-3 columns, 1 post column 2 sidebars to  the right
  3. Cutline 3-3 columns, 1 post column, 1 sidebars on the left and 1 side bar on the right

Cutline theme’s 3 column layout with sidebars on either side is suited for showcasing a blog’s important links at the top of the home page (called frontpage).

Cutline theme provides for a website that is visually easy on the eyes by utilizing the right font characteristics. This WordPress theme provides for more parent pages to appear in the menu by implementing more than one row.  Some WordPress themes limit this to about five.  But child pages do not appear in the menu, perhaps this could be included in the next update.

Cutline theme page and post title fonts size, h2, are not large enough.  Some WordPress theme have a better title font implementation.  When the cursor is placed on the titles, they get highlighed with a nice bold green color.  There is no calendar type post date and this could be included in a future update.

The images have a double line border around them, this takes away from the readability of the pages and the posts.

tagcloudThe tags overlap in the tag cloud widget (shown above) and also are underlined and this takes away from the ease of reading.  The tags and comment links below the posts get highlighed with a light black rectangle and the black text turns white, nice.

Many users may find that the code is not the easiest to understand.  A few comments are included to help the user but they are inadequate.

Support for the Cutline theme is available through the Cutline forum.

Overall, Cutline WordPress theme by Chris Pearson is one of the best free 3 column themes available.  Chris Pearson has a WordPress Theme called Thesis for $89.

Update August 28, 2009:

There is no contact form in the base model of Cutline WordPress theme.  This is a basic feature and must be integrated in the base model in all WordPress themes.  Integrating Enhanced WP Contact Form was a breeze.

There are a few other very interesting free WordPress themes out there.  Amazing Grace/Blue Grace by Vladimir Prevovac is one such theme.

Update September 8, 2009:

Another good feature of the Cutline theme is that unlike many WordPress themes, the author’s name is not displayed near the post link.  Its unnecessary to display author’s name with each and every post.  An About page is a better option.

Update September 17, 2009:

Switched current theme from Cutline theme to Atahualpa theme.  Cutline theme has better typography but Atahualpa theme offers a couple of hundred theme options.  For free!

Changes made, so far, to the out of box Atahualpa WordPress theme include:

  1. Removed and replaced the red green yellow cubes logo with the peace symbol logo.
  2. Removed the header images and one horizontal bar.
  3. Added mini icon images to the post footer (folder for category, anchor for tags and images for date and comments).
  4. Added Type + Enter to the search box
  5. Added text to the footer.
  6. Added new favicon.

August 20th, 2009 | Tags: | Category: Product Review | Leave Comment, Get Link Reward
 
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