JumpStart 3D Virtual World

I’ve been buying JumpStart computer games for my boys since they were in preschool. I’ve always found the quality of the games and the amount of educational play combined with just plain fun to be well worth the purchase price. Now JumpStart games are available at the JumpStart 3D Virtual World website, with eye-popping graphics and fun characters!

Free registration on  JumpStart 3D Virtual World includes access to hundreds of adventure-based learning games, movies, songs and more.  Become a member, and you unlock hundreds of customizable games that teach over 60 essential skills in reading and writing, art, music, math, and critical thinking skills.  Aimed at ages 3-10, there is a game to appeal to most every child!

Right now you can save 20% off the regular monthly membership price and pay just $7.99 a month. Or, pay $74.99 for a full year and save 38%. When you think about how much it costs to buy workbooks, rent educational video games, and how much kids have to know just going into PRESCHOOL these days, $7.99 a month (the cost of ONE fast food meal) is an incredible deal.  (I’m not an affiliate for JumpStart 3D and this is not a paid post. They did give me a beta tester code so I could create an account and try out the site.)

Your character in the JumpStart 3D World is called a Jumpee. Jumpeez are guided by the host of JumpStart World,a dog named Frankie. He gives instructions for players to complete tasks as they play, sometimes just by moving their character around, sometimes by going into a Learning Center to play a learning game. This is a screenshot of the World Map:

jumpstart-world-map

At the completion of each learning game, the player earns coins or gems that can be used in other parts of the game to buy the supplies needed to complete a task. The jobs Frankie and other characters give players are designed to teach lessons about being helpful, trying new things, or other character-building traits.

There is so much to do in JumpStart 3D Virtual World! I really encourage you to check it out for yourself. Keep in mind that the free part of the site is only the introductory games, but you certainly don’t have to pay for membership to use the site. Also, the 3D graphics require a high-speed Internet connection and adequate memory. Take a look at the site with your child ages 3-10 and see how much fun it is!

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Win prizes in the “Decrypt and Drive” contest

PKWARE, the inventor of the .zip standard, is giving away a non-commercial use license of SecureZIP Express and the opportunity to win great prizes in the new “Decrypt and Drive” contest! With SecureZIP Express you can compress/decompress and encrypt files that you store or send. Compressing files is a great way to save storage space, especially on thumb drives and CD’s, and we all have files we should be securing! The software also includes a digital certificate so you can exchange files securely with others without using passwords. Only the person the file was encrypted for can open it when you use a digital certificate.

The software is fully licensed for non-commercial use and has no toolbars or spyware! For years, PKWARE has given free .zip software away and wants as many users as possible to receive the benefits of SecureZIP. PKWARE is also giving away great prizes including a Honda scooter, bicycles, Wii games, gas cards, and more! Visit www.DecryptandDrive.com to play the game daily and/or download the free software. You need to have SecureZIP, and the digital certificate it installs, on the computer you play the game from. You can also get SecureZIP Express at www.securezip.com Good luck! Hope you win something cool!

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So, you’ve decided to go self-hosted. Now what?

My dear friend Tresha has a blog on WordPress.com, and she has grown frustrated with her inability to make her site look just the way she wants. Ah, I was once in her shoes. I went from Blogger to WordPress.com, but with the encouragement of a good blog friend who runs a blog design company, and a boost of courage from attending BlogHer ’06, I took the plunge and bought my own domain. I chose my host, Bluehost, on my friend’s recommmendation, but if I had wanted to do some research first, I could have used a site like Web Hosting Geeks to read web hosting reviews. They review and rate web hosts and publish their top ten favorites right on the home page of their site. The Editor’s Choice pick for best hosting goes to Bluehost, yay!

WHG also has an excellent Web Hosting Guide page, which explains in an easy-to-understand way what some of the important things are to look for when choosing a web host. Scroll further down the page and you’ll find links to Popular Web Hosting articles, there’s a plethora of great information in those articles. Don’t be afraid to get your own domain and go self-hosted! There are tons of great resources out there to help, bloggers like me who remember how scary it is at the thought of having all these files to be responsible for, and it really is an empowering feeling to have your own domain. So come on, be the master of your own domain (heh). And check out Web Hosting Geeks, too!