I just learned of another way to get air miles at no extra cost by using the site airmilesshops.ca.

This site, which is part of the Airmiles Official Site allows you to use your Airmiles collector number and look for retailers which offer AirMiles on-line. This is above and beyond the usual stores you can think of like Shell, Boston Pizza, and Westjet. I also shop at Dell and Expedia which are on-line stores that do not directly let you collect Air Miles with them. You can get points from them at airmileshsops though.

How AirMilesShops Works

When you click on a retailer on airmilesshops, you are taken to a page that explains the Air Miles you will receive if you make a purchase on-line. You can then enter your AirMiles Collector number if you haven't already and click on a button that redirects you to the retailer's site where you can shop as you normally would and make a purchase if you want. If you place an order on-line then they give you a certain number of Air Miles based on the rate they are offering.

This is great, because now Air Miles are available at more stores than they normally were. For example, I just booked tickets on Expedia for a business trip of mine. They normally don't offer Airmiles, but they were listed on the airmilesshops.ca website and when I clicked on them I found out they offer 1 Airmiles for every $35 spent on their site and you get a bonus 35 miles the first time you make a purchase. I was going to buy my tickets on Expedia anyway, but this was a way to gain a few extra miles.

Do You Pay More?

I was worried that they might charge more when Air Miles were included, but I was wrong. I compared prices by trying to book from a different computer where I did not go to the Expedia store by using the affiliate link from airmilesshops (would not get the AirMiles) and by using a computer where I did use it. The prices were identical and I could not even see a difference in how the site looked.

So basically, it is just another way to get Airmiles from companies that don't offer it directly (why I don't know).

Double Dip To Maximize Your AirMiles

If you already have a credit card that collects Air Miles like the American Express Air Miles card or the BMO Mosaik Mastercard then you will collect miles when paying with your card and you will receive the airmilesshops miles in addition to that.

For example: I $500 flight through Expedia for the first time would give you the following miles (assuming your have the Gold BMO Mosaik Mastercard):

• BMO Mosaik Mastercard (1 for $15): 33.3 miles
• Expedia (1 for $35): 14.3 miles
• Bonus miles: 35 miles
• Total: 82 Air Miles (rounded down)

That is 82 AirMiles instead of the 33 you would normally expect. Even if you have already used your first purchase the 14 extra miles is over 40% more than you would have received normally and there is no extra cost.

What Retailers Are There

A lot of good on-line retailers are listed. This includes Expedia, Dell, Apple, Bose, TigerDirect, Chapters, Amazon, La Senza, and the list goes on. Here is a screenshot of some of the top ones from the site.

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This gorilla was sitting with his back to the glass at the Calgary Zoo. The keeper told us that is a sign of trust to the people watching when they show them their back.

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It was the middle of winter, minus 30 degrees Celsius, snow blowing across the road, and in east central Alberta. This is a harsh winter scene. There was not a tree to be seen on either side of the road.

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This is the living room where I grew up outside of Vermilion, Alberta, Canada. Mom had a fake fruit thing sitting out on the table that looked kind of Christmas-like. I was taking photos of the giant lion print in the corner with every possible resolution setting on my camera to have them developed to see the results. You can see a full size photo of it in my article Artwork in My House that I took a year ago.

This was my first ever digital camera, the Canon S50. I had it for like a week.

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I have been using the DSOrganize Web Browser for several months now. If you are not familiar with DSOrganize, it is a free homebrew application for the Nintendo DS that is a collection of smaller applications. The best being the web browser. It has always stayed in my list of the Best Nintendo DS Homebrew.

A Nintendo DS web browser is one of the ideal homebrew applications. It is free and very useful. Even if you just want to check email, the sports scores, or something else, it can be convenient.

Developed by DragonMinded, it is a very impressive application that is constantly being expanded and improved. You can check out the DSOrganize Homepage for more details on the features.

How Well Does The Web Browser Work?

Reasonably well. It currently supports background colors and some fonts. It will render images, but not all the time and not that well necessarily. The rendering time can be slow on the big pages too, but that is to be expected.

It works really well for reading blogs in particular. You can load it up and switch to dual screen mode where it fills both screens with the web page so you can see more at once. Then you just scroll and read.

For example, this blog loads in the browser. The top banner does not appear and neither do the larger images in the text, but I notice it will box in the image and replace it with the alternate text if it is defined. The text looks okay and so do the links. Even the javascript FeedBurner showing my readership shows up properly. The menu is rendered at the bottom of the page as well, but that actually works out for the better.

There are some nice interface tweaks as well. The on-screen keyboard automatically loads in the touchscreen when you tap on a text field and there are some quick text items you can use like .com or http:// when typing in the web browser's address bar. You can even tap Ctrl-B to bookmark a page.

My Hardware

I have Nintendo DS Lite (NDSL) with a Supercard Lite and Super Key. The Supercard Lite takes a microSD card for memory storage. I use the 1GB Kingston microSD.

Getting DSOrganize Running

There are a few steps here. I am just writing about what I had to do to get it working for myself. If you have any suggestions or instructions for other hardware, let me know. I will post it and put a link to a site for you with whatever keywords you want in this article.

Instructions for NDSL, Supercard Lite, Super Key

1. Download the latest version of DSOrganize from the DSOrganize Homepage.

   He provides it as a zip file so you will need a program to unzip it if you are running a Windows version less than XP.

2. In the zip file are the DSOrganize folder, the moonshl folder and a few files. I use the file DSOrganize.nds in particular. Copy this into the root folder of your memory card.
3. This application reads and writes to the memory card so you will need to patch the DSOrganize.nds file with the DLDI for your hardware.

   I have written an instruction page on doing this called Patching NDS Homebrew With DLDI. Follow the instructions there and then continue on here.

4. Boot your NDS and load the file DSOrganize.nds.
5. You will see a variety of applications, but if you look around you will eventually find the Web Browser.

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Another cold winter night in Alberta. I took this photo using a tripod out the front window of my parents' home outside of Vermilion, Alberta. Forgive me if it is a little dark, but this is exactly how it looked at the time. You had to kind of move your head to the side a bit and let your eyes adjust to see out there. Kind of had a scary look.

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I recently purchased a Playstation Portable (PSP) and have to say that I am impressed with the quality of games that have come out for it. I purchased because of a couple games in particular that I know would never come out for my Nintendo DS (which is awesome too).

This is a listing of games in my library and I have the ranked in the order that I am currently playing them. #1 being the game getting most of my time (which is not a lot lately).

I am only writing about games I own or have owned. This is entirely my own biased opinion. If you think your tastes match mine, then I guarantee the top 5 of this list you will definitely enjoy. I am also including my own personal ranking and how much I paid for this game.

1. Syphon Filter: Dark Mirror

My Ranking: 9/10
Purchase Price/Store: US$15/eBay (Used)

Covert operations shooter. You have lots of weapons, neat locations to play in, puzzles to figure out, and combat strategies. The campaign story is very interesting and the multiplayer is very slick.

References:

• Syphon Filter: Dark Mirror Review

2. Killzone

My Ranking: 9/10
Purchase Price/Store: US$15/eBay (Used)

Kind of top down from an angle tactical game. You basically walk around a foreign planet and take out various enemy soldiers. Very slick graphics and a cool story line.

Here is a video review of Killzone: Liberation.

3. Grand Theft Auto Vice City Stories

My Ranking:8/10
Purchase Price/Store:US$15/eBay (Used)

If you have not heard of Grand Theft Auto then you have had your head stuck in the ground. This game is just as fun on the PSP and this is the same city you will be used to from the first Vice City for the other consoles. This time there is a different storyline and missions and begins in the other side of the city (where you are locked out of for the beginning of the other game).

It is knocked a little bit in the video review below. They are right, there are some display bugs that make it annoying. It is still lots of fun though.

4. Star Wars Battlefront II

5. Daxter

6. SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs Fireteam Bravo

7. Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories

8. Need For Speed Underground Rivals

9. Untold Legends - Brotherhood of the Blade

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I used to live in one of the tallest buildings in south Calgary called the Pinnacle. This was a sunrise was winter morning looking east from my apartment. It looked kind of neat. You can see how flat the city is. Only 2 and 3 story buildings once your are out of the downtown.

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I was traveling by boat along the river a couple hours from the city of Batambang, Cambodia. There were villages of these floating homes along the river. I snapped this with my Canon S50 point and shoot.

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I was walking through Namdaemun market in Seoul, South Korea. These ladies were just sitting there talking away and I could not figure out what they were doing. Right in the middle of a busy intersection of a few different streets. Anyhow, they were money changers to get you the right change. Why can't all markets have these people?

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