I've noticed that in everyone's home is a room full of crap. I'm not talking about fecal matter, I mean junk that they've held onto for ages and don't use or need. But in the hustle and bustle, they never get around to selling it on eBay, putting it on a truck to Goodwill, or even finding a family member who can use it and wants it.

Enter Freecycle. Freecycle is based on the idea that for every person who has something they want to get rid of, there are even more people who actually need the item and will put it to good use. All you have to do is join your local Freecycle and join the listserve.

Freecycle is easy to use. Sign up, and most groups asks that you give away something first. Pretty soon you'll get an email either with every new listing, or you can choose to recieve daily digests. People who want your item will email you, asking for it. Some people give away to the first person to email them, others (like me) will give away to the person who seems to have the greatest need. Arrange to meet somewhere to do the exchange or have them come to your house to pick up the item. It's that simple.

When I was living up in Tallahassee, I got everything I needed for my new apartment from Freecycle members. I got a bookcase, a desk, a bed, kitchen implements, the usual stuff I needed to start out. I've seen all kinds of things on the Freecycle list: old computers, kids clothes, old movies, lots of stuff.

Freecycle is a great way to find things you've been wanting but couldn't afford. But Freecycle is an even better way of getting stuff you don't need to people who could really use it.

At least in the United States I've always heard the conventional wisdom that French people are rude. And this was way before the Iraq war. Now, this opinion is being backed up more globally.

LONDON (AFP) - The French have been voted the world's most unfriendly nation by a landslide in a new British poll published. They were also voted the most boring and most ungenerous... A decisive 46 percent of the 6,000 people surveyed by travellers' website Where Are You Now (WAYN) said the French were the most unfriendly nation people on the planet... WAYN's French founder, Jerome Touze, told the papers he had been stunned by the thumping condemnation of his compatriots and sought to blame it on Gallic love-struck sulking. "I had no idea that the French would emerge as such an unfriendly country," he said... To add insult to injury, British newspaper The Daily Telegraph put the boot in on Saturday by saying in an editorial that the French stank. "The French may like to think that Chanel No 5 is their scent but we all know that garlic and stale Gitanes are much more representative."

This article has some more information about what the poll's respondents think about Germany, England, United States, Spain, and Italy.

The buzz about iPods isn't going anywhere any time soon. Check out the iBuzz. With a bullet that vibrates in time to the music from any mp3 player, the iBuzz claims to "turn on your favourite tune and let the vibrations take you to heaven." One look at the ad on their flashy page shows you the iPod's trademark white headphones and men and women in various positions, apparently "enjoying" their music.

I remember several years ago, when the Apple iMacs were all the rage. They had them in great colors like grape, apple, cherry, blueberry, etc. Not too long after their release, suddenly you could purchase just about anything you wanted in similar iMac colors, even vibrators.

Apple speaks and other companies pay attention. People want choices, choice of colors, and now, choice of what song really turns you on!

Some places want to ban sex toys, but as this quiz will show, it's not so easy. Take the quiz and be the judge. (Even if you don't want to bother taking the quiz, at the end of it there's a link to show you the answers.)

And just in case you're interested, you can place orders.

Supposedly Bacardi and cola get the job done. I'm somehow disturbed by this. What job does Baracardi and cola get done? Do they get you fucked up cheaply? Do they get a girl fucked up enough that she'll put out?

I'm also disturbed by the commercials. They show two girls, dressed sluttishly, and they're stupidly pouting that they can't have fun at a party because they're doing the low-carb lifestyle that's "so popular" nowadays, and they can't drink because alcohol and soda contain a lot of carbs. The "Bacardi", the tall one, suggests they hook up with his friend, low-cal/low-carb cola (i.e. Diet Coke). Suddenly the slutty/stupid girls are happy that they can get fucked up, and the "Cola" and "Bacardi" give each other the high five for encouraging inebriation and easy behavior.

Of course, if we were to contact Bacardi, they'd be the last to admit that they are encouraging inebriation or easy sex. They'd tell us that Bacardi and cola (or whatever you choose to add to Bacardi) is meant to be enjoyed in moderation. Whatever. Their meaning is understood by me. The sad part is that most of the people who view the advertisement will be under the age of legally consuming or purchasing alcohol. Not only that, they purchase a staggering amount of alcohol considering they're not legally able to purchase it in the first place.

Do they get the job done? Ask any horny guy, "they sure do!"

...online. Like most people of my generation, I do a lot of day-to-day stuff online. I'm not just talking about email or chatting or research, although those are all useful things. But I check my bank account online, I pay my bills online, I'm trying out online dating, you name it.

So imagine my surprise when I got pulled over a few weeks ago for pulling a California roll at a stop sign. The cop gave me a ticket and I had the option of taking a traffic class to avoid getting any points on my license. I went to pay the ticket online (nice) and that's where I discovered I could even take my class online! Mind you, I'm taking this class right now and it's boring as hell. Several years ago I got a speeding ticket and took the option of the comedy traffic school, but this seemed quicker and cheaper.

Basically, all it does is give me a chapter to read with cute animations and quizzes at the end of every chapter. It times me as well, so even though it took me around 15 minutes to finish one chapter, I still had to wait the additional 40 minutes because it's a 55 minute chapter.

Not bad for the comfort of staying in pyjamas on a Sunday night, listening to Fort Minor on iTunes. I considered chatting while doing it, but even that seemed like multi-task-overkill.

I'm going to sound like an old timer, but I remember looking forward to summer vacation with immense enthusiasm. The days just looked like magical endless vignettes of swimming in my friend's pool, riding bikes from around our neighborhood, and all the different innane adventures we had. We did a whole lot of nothing and it felt good. I had the unsual experience of having stay-at-home grandparents, so I wasn't sent to camp or daycare or anything like that. I stayed home. And it felt good.

That's not the same experience most kids experience nowadays. Most of my students are going to camps, and not just the suffer-in-the-heat-while-getting-bitten-by-bugs type either. They're going to camps that specialize in the culinary arts, drama, learning skills such as conflict resolution and creating miniatures of Hogwarts. During the school year, I sometimes get the feeling that the kids are overscheduled with grueling sports, academic and music lessons. But summer just has always represented a time to regroup, refresh and *gasp* relax.

Are we raising future citizens who won't know how to chill out and enjoy quiet and simple moments? Or are these kids getting enriched and will they be better prepared for an adult life of neverending responsibility? Only time will tell. But for me, I'm looking forward to doing a whole lot of nothing and having a great time doing it.

I always thought that I was above pettiness and shallowness, particularly when it came to the opposite sex. Over the years I've been able to overlook all sorts of things that most girls would turn their noses at, like guys who were overweight, had weird hair, odd piercings, glasses, you name it. But now I'm older too, and I definitely don't have the bod I had when I was in high school. When a guy dismisses me based on my photo on some of the dating sites I'm on, I just assume he's shallow and unworthy of my affections in the first place.

But now, even now, I've become picky. As I've gotten older, so has the opposite sex. And when a guy ages, the one thing that's truly unattractive to me is lack of hair. Mind you, I did date a guy who had a shaved head, but he really looked beautiful in a healthier-Moby-sort-of-way. Now the guys are thinning on top, and some even have the whole monk-crown-thing going on. And I'm not attracted to them! I like hair! I've always been fond of thick hair, be it wavy, curly, or long and straight. So am I shallow? I think I have to admit that I am. And I am not proud of it.

According to RobertVerdi, co-host of E!’s “Fashion Police”, the major fashion mistakes people make are:

-- What both men and boys do, they fill their pockets with (stuff). They put their wallet, sunglasses, Palm Pilot, cell phone, in. They look like pears around the middle and it pulls up the length of their pants. It’s sloppy.

-- Women are usually more in tune with style. But I think at the change of season, when you’re applying makeup, your skin should all be the same color — your face, your neck, your arms. Women will sun-protect a part of their body, say their face, but it’s uneven.

-- If you use a self-tanner, use it all over the body. I think sometimes people forget to put it on their face or the back of their legs. And open-toed shoes without feet being pedicured — I think that’s another big issue. You should always do pedis and manis.