Apex Entertainment

Great Gluten Free Options

Apex Entertainment is a great place for a fun night out with friends or family. They offer bowling, arcade games, and even laser tag, but what if you're following a gluten-free diet? Can you still enjoy some delicious appetizers while you play?

The Answer is Yes!

This past Friday, We headed to Apex in Marlborough, Massachusetts with a group of friends, with my daughter who is gluten-free. We were happy to discover that Apex offers several appetizer options that are naturally gluten-free or can be modified to be gluten-friendly.

Here's what we tried:

• Crispy Chicken Sticks: These were a huge hit! They were perfectly crispy on the outside and juicy on the inside. Disappeared off the plate faster than you can say "strike!" Be sure to mention your gluten-free needs when ordering to ensure they are prepared on a separate surface to avoid cross-contamination.
• Fried Pickles: A classic bar staple that can often be off-limits for those with gluten sensitivities. Thankfully, Apex's fried pickles are gluten-free! These were a delightful balance of tangy and crispy, perfect for sharing (or not sharing, in our case).
• Xtreme Nachos: This option is naturally gluten-free as long as you skip the tortilla chips (which contain wheat flour). Apex offers a delicious salsa and other toppings that you can enjoy with your favorite gluten-free chips brought from home or a side salad.

Overall, we were all impressed with the gluten-free options at Apex in Marlborough. With a little planning, you can definitely enjoy a delicious and fun night out, no matter your dietary restrictions.

Here are some additional tips for a gluten-free experience at Apex:

• Call ahead: Let the restaurant know about your dietary restrictions so they can answer any questions you have about the menu.
• Double-check ingredients: When ordering, don't hesitate to ask about ingredients to ensure your selections are gluten-free.
• Player Platter: When bowling, order the Player Platter so everyone can munch on some food while they bowl.

Apex Entertainment offers a fun and inclusive environment for everyone, including those with gluten sensitivities. So grab your friends, lace up your bowling shoes, and get ready for a night of gluten-free fun!

April 2023 A-Z Blog Challenge

Topic Plan for April 2023

I am excited to announce my theme for the April A-Z Blog Challenge! This year, I will be exploring the world of AI with "The A-Z Blog Challenge."

Each day in April, I will share a post that delves into a different topic related to psychology, from common mental disorders to theories of personality and social psychology. Through this challenge, I hope to help readers gain a deeper understanding of the human mind and behavior, as well as provide practical tips and insights for improving mental health and well-being.

Topic Plan for April 2023

Here's a sneak peek at some of the topics I will be covering:

Media Monday - Rather than focusing on VHS commercials this month, I will be focusing on audio content. I have a lot of audio in my collection and I am sure I will find some interesting audio to share. Audio content is often more engaging than video content because it is easier to create and can be consumed in a shorter amount of time. Additionally, it can be consumed while doing other activities like walking or running, which makes it more accessible than watching a video.

QA Tuesday - In this month's QA Content, we will be discussing silly theories and Thesis. These were generated by using ChatGPT and completely random words. The focus is on new methods for testing QA software for which these were generated. ChatGPT came up with some crazy things so you'll want to check these posts out.

iPhone 14 Pro Max Wednesday - This month's iPhone blog posts will feature some basic design and functionality of the iPhone 14 Pro Max. This is likely the last month that I'll continue with the iPhone posts, so I will want to finish strong. I'll cover topics such as the upgraded camera, the battery life, the new processor, the improved screen size and clarity, and the new software features. I will also provide a summary of all the features and a comparison of the iPhone 14 Pro Max with previous iPhones.

Gluten Free Thursday - Our Gluten-Free posts this month will feature some of my daughter's favorite foods. We will also take a look at some of the many restaurants we visit, and we will also discuss some of the snacks she enjoys, as part of this month's Gluten-Free posts. This is yet another topic that is likely to end at the end of the month.

Macintosh Friday - This month's Macintosh blog posts will focus on some cool ways to use applications together. We'll explore how some applications complement each other. We'll look at the synergy between the applications, and see how they can be used to create powerful results. We will also discuss the potential for automation and other possibilities. Finally, we'll discuss the best practices for using multiple applications together.

Internet Saturday - This month's Internet Saturday will focus on AI tools. ChatGPT is just the beginning. There are a lot of new tools that are poping up and worth checking out. AI tools can help us automate mundane tasks, increase productivity, and create new opportunities. They can also be used to create new types of content and experiences. However, it's important to be aware of potential risks and ethical implications of using AI tools.

Open Topic Sunday - There will be no rules on open blog Sunday. If you have something you would like to contribute please feel free to contact the blog team with your ideas. This allows people to share their ideas and experiences with the blog community without judgement or fear of not meeting certain criteria. It provides a free and creative space for people to express themselves.

In Summary

As we gear up for this year's April Blog challenge, we are excited about the potential for growth, learning, and community building. We hope to make this year's challenge the best yet, with even more participation, engagement, and compelling content.

We believe that this challenge is an opportunity to push our boundaries creatively, explore new topics, and connect with a broader audience. We hope that participants will embrace this opportunity and challenge themselves to produce their best work.

To make this challenge the best yet, we plan to offer more resources, support, and opportunities for collaboration. We want to create a sense of community where participants can connect with one another, exchange ideas, and provide feedback on each other's work.

Retrospective

2021 Challenge Thoughts.

Last month was the A-z Blog challenge. It was a lot of fun trying to come up with topics to post every day. I enjoy the challenge and learn a lot about different topics that I wouldn't normally learn had I not been challenged to come up with a topic.

Six Thoughts on This Year

1. Planning content helped deliver some great posts. I had plenty of time to come up with ideas and graphics.
2. jQuery topic was a mistake. I changed from Affinity Designer to jQuery thinking it would help deliver some better content. I found that the jQuery post wasn???t all that great.
3. Media Monday didn???t get as much traffic as I hope it would. I???ll continue the topic in May. I think focusing on certain content didn???t appeal much to users
4. Next Year I plan to just focus on one topic all month long. I think it will be easier for planning and come up with more meaningful topics. Perhaps just a A to Z of Boston.
5. Toughest letters this year were: M, Q, and X.
6. I used Notion Calendar to do the content planning. It worked really well. I was able to see what the upcoming content was and what days were the most challenging.

A-Z Challenge 2021

Getting ready for the 5th year

This weeks mark the 5th year that I???ll participate in the April's A to Z Challenge.

You can see all the previous posts on the cryan.com's A-Z page.

No Big Theme Reveal

This year I am not going with anything exciting. It will mark the first year that Boston won't be part of the weekly contribution. Had it been, I would have had to come up with content with the letters: A,G,M,S, and Y.

Here's the lineup for this years content:

Toughest Posts Days

So based on past experiences, the toughest post days are likely to be:

A-Z Challenge - 2020 - Reflection

Not a great A to Z Challenge year

This year's participation with April's A-Z Blog Challenge wasn't a 100% success. I completely forgot about the challenge until a couple of days into the challenge.

I didn't really plan out the month that well.

I did manage to get most of the posts in April to conform to the rules of the challenge, but had I prepared in advanced I would have gotten better content.

Check out all the A-Z Posts since 2016.

Four Things I Would Do Differently

1. Plan to Win - The COVID-19 certainly distracted from the whole A-Z Challenge and I checked out several blogs that participated in the contest and they didn't post their content on a regular schedule.
2. Promote More - I had some great content and would have been better to promote it on various social media accounts.
3. Research More - I had a hard time finding good topics for the M, and T letters.
4. Do it Not Do - I have to think if it???s worth doing the challenge next year. I didn't generate much traffic and there wasn't much feedback on doing the challenge.

A-Z Challenge - 2020

A Late Start to the A-Z Challenge.

It's been a crazy few weeks in the United States, and I completely forgot about the April A-Z Blogging Challenge. That event didn't get canceled.

Yes, the A-Z Challenge is on! Well as much as I can do. I started late, and I didn't plan as well as I have done in the past. In addition, I didn't sign up for the challenge in the Official Master List. So technically I am not in the challenge.

However, I am still game as I have been for the last four years: Check out the previous A-Z Challenge Posts.

A-Z Challenge Goals

Here are my top 4 goals for the April A-Z Challenge:

• Focus on more challenging topics. Come up with interesting things that would be fun to find out that I wouldn't have normally researched.
• Be creative with the Blog Post graphics. Come up with good graphics other people might want to use.
• Stay focus on the goal even though no one else knows about them. I'll be sure to let the folks at A-Z Challenge know early next year about being part of the challenge.
• Stick with it, even though I started late, keep the momentum going.

Good News

Even though I had a late start, I notice that many people that signed up have completely bailed out on the challenges. I looked through several sights listed on the Official Master List and notice that many have given up only after a couple of days in.

I am confident that I'll finish the challenge strong.

Julie Leach Fake Accounts

If you're on Twitter, watch out for strange communications from "Julie Leach." This is a scam by a group of people pretending to be someone looking to "give away money" to strangers for absolutely no reason.

Who is Julie Leach?

In October 2015, The real Julie Leach won $310 million in the Powerball Lottery. There are many YouTube videos about her winning and her plans after the winnings.

Impostors are Everywhere

Check out the current fake accounts about Julie Leach on Twitter.

Don't Follow Back

The scam starts by them following you, and then when you follow back you'll get notified that you have won a giveaway.

So why is this bad?

They will require an activation fee of $500 for your documentation and stamped clearance. To pay this activation fee you need to use a Steam Gift Card or an Amazon Gift Card.

Amazon Gift Cards

Amazon Gift Cards are to pay for Amazon. From Amazon's Gift Card site:

A-Z Challenge - 2019 - Reflection

What I learned with this years challenge

This year's A to Z challenge started off promising but fell off because some of the letters were difficult for the various daily topics.

Overall it was a good month. I learned a lot about various things that I wouldn???t have had I not done the challenge.

Five Things I learned

• As much as I wanted to get the content out early, it wasn't always possible. There were too many distractions.
• Some content that I had planned was scrapped because it wasn???t interesting enough.
• The content was pretty bad since I didn???t get as many comments as last year.
• I did enjoy trying to find quality content for the letters. The topic of jQuery made things pretty difficult. I think next year I???ll stick to known topics.
• Towards the end it wasn???t as fun and this year. I actually was excited when the challenge was over.

Four Favorite Posts in April

These are my favorite post from this year A to Z challenge.

• Vendome Hotel Fire Monument - Learned a lot about this historical event in Boston's history.
• USB Power - I have the USB power with the green dot and wondered why it was there.
• Add Link Check using jQuery - Cook way to check page links.
• Battery GoPro Silver - Simple tips on battery life using the GoPro Silver.

A-Z Challenge - 2019

Blogging Challenge is back for 2019

This is the third year in a row that I am participating in the A-Z Blogging Challenge. It's a good challenge to come up with creative content.

This year I didn't signup on the form because there are so many contributors that it's not worth the time and overhead. So I'll be doing this year's challenge in stealth mode.

Check out the past A-Z Challenge posts.

Blog Plan

Here's the plan for this year's challenge:

• Sunday - Edit Previous Post, and open content. I'll use the time to touch up some old blog posts and add something interesting.
• Monday - jQuery from a QA Perspective (New for April)
• Tueday - GoPro 7 Silver Content
• Wednesday - Cool features of the iPhone XS Max
• Thursday - Sights and Sounds of Boston, Massachusetts.
• Friday - Anything Macintosh
• Saturday - Cool Internet tool/functionality.

Four Powerful Goals for 2019

• Plan out the month Post. Done! I have planned out all the content for the month of April.
• Be more creative with Graphics and Content. Don't just post to post, and put more effort into any images associated with the Blog content.
• Learn from past years challenge - I'll reach out to other people to help with content ideas and material.
• Focus more on quality content rather than have a large blog post.

Evernote Planner for the 2018 Challenge

Evernote Document can help you plan your Blog Post

Next month is the when the yearly A-Z Blogging Challenge starts. The challenge is to create a unique blog post around the letter of the day.

Here's an Evernote document to help with the planning:

Access Evernote Document

Click on the image to connect to my Evernote Share page to view the planner. Then simply click on the "Save to Evernote" button to save it to your personal notebook. After you save it to your document, you can customize it any way you want!