Our Favorite Links

Swope Design also owns and operates ColaCollectables.com, an online e-commerce web site offering popular branded gifts, collectibles & novelties. Brands represented include Coca-Cola, John Deere, Looney Tunes, NASCAR, Ford, Chevrolet, Cadillac, Corvette, Mustang, NHRA and others. Among the many items you'll find at ColaCollectables.com are watches, desk clocks, neon clocks, wall clocks, dish sets, kids dish sets, cookie jars, flatware, NASCAR-style uniform jackets, and other unique, hard-to-find gifts.

My wife recently became an Avon representative in the Mulvane, Kansas, area. She chose to become an eRep as well, which means convenient online ordering for her customers at a web site personalized for her and hosted by Avon. My wife, as many of you know or will gleen from this site, is a beautiful person of quality (as defined in Robert Pirsig's Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance). She has many talents, and she's a people person. She likes to talk to people and likes to help people. So I think she'll do well selling Avon products. If you're interested in Avon but don't have a representative, give Lynette and her online Avon store a try. You won't be disappointed. PS: She may do more with her new domain name, LynetteSwope.com, too. We'll just have to see what happens.

As a freelancer, I often partner with others in the business. I do a lot of work for Imagineer Productions, from print and graphic design to web design and maintenance and hosting. Among the more noteworthy projects on which we've collaborated are an annual community calendar for Halstead, Kansas; the HalsteadKansas.com web site redesign, maintenance and promotion; a large fold-out city map of Halstead, Kansas, for visitors and new home owners in the area; and assorted other web and print projects. We always seem to have something on our plate for Imagineer Productions. I provide only some of the design/print skillset. Craig Sooter, principal, also offers video and photography services, and along with other select freelancers, additional multimedia and illustration services. Imagineer Productions is based in Halstead, Kansas.

Online magazine sites, while similar to news sites, are a different beast but cover some of the same ground. MacCompanion is an online magazine for the Macintosh, and the only such true online magazine devoted to the Macintosh of which I am aware. MacCompanion is like a grass roots organization, in that those who write for the magazine do so on a volunteer basis, but that doesn't mean that the quality of writing is anything like Uncle Bob's. As MacCompanion has gained readers, its coverage and writing has likewise grown. For a monthly online Mac magazine, MacCompanion does a reasonable job keeping up with current events, software, trends and issues in the Macintosh world. Of course, MacCompanion is also kind enough to publish some of my reviews. You should check out MacCompanion if the Macintosh computer interests you.

There are a handful of good Macintosh news web sites. MacNN, IMHO, is at the top of the heap. Not only is their design fresh (they recently posted the redesign), but of course their content is ever changing. They also post some of my reviews, for which I am thankful. But they also post reviews from others, and they make an honest effort to make MacNN the best Macintosh news site on the net. If you haven't seen MacNN, you should go there now!

Epinions.com is a great idea that's not yet been fully realized. It allows the average Joe and Jane user to tell others about their experiences with products ranging from hotels, cars and trucks, computer software and hardware, music, movies, office supplies, gifts, sports, travel and more! I find this a HUGE benefit before I buy. We post reviews at epinions.com, and hope that you will, too, so that other folks can make informed decisions and weed out the bad stuff in our lives (that we can).

If you like horror fiction, you've got to visit C. Dennis Moore's web site! I've known Dennis since before I graduated from Missouri Western State College when we worked together at Rax Restaurants in St. Joseph, Missouri. Dennis still lives there, and his writing is deeply rooted in northwest Missouri and St. Joseph and the surrounding area. His writing has improved much over the years, and his work is some of the best new horror and fantastical fiction available. IMHO, of course. He has had several small books published, and a number of stories. His work stands out among his peers, and he is gaining recognition in the horror genre every day it seems. Perhaps Dennis will be our next Stephen King (Stephen King is one of Dennis' favorite authors)! So check out his site and buy his books. You should even read them. You'll be glad you did.