For those of you that read my previous Guide to Free Internet Phone Calls or my horrible issues with Packet8 service, you’ll recall that I have long been a supporter of ATT CallVantage service.

Well, I was upset to learn today that AT&T has quietly lowered the monthly rates on their CallVantage service without notifying existing customers of this fact - or adjusting their billing!
Read the rest of this entry »

Man, those guys in the infomercials could sell the proverbial ketchup popsicle to a woman in white gloves! But the real question is, did she enjoy it after she got it?

Well, InfomercialRatings.com is here to answer that question. Now, you’ve got to use some common sense when evaluating the ratings here and really read through them.

I found that many of the “reviews” seemed so positive and professionally written that they could only have come from the marketing departments of the product manufacturers themselves. The main weakness of their system lies in the fact that there are no user login and ratings functions, like for example eBay or IMDB.
Read the rest of this entry »

There seems to be so much confusion out there with regards to the common ritual of tipping that I decided to take the initiative and help clarify the rules when it comes to this long standing practice.

But unlike some other tipping guides I’m not just going to tell you how much to tip, instead we’re going to focus on why people earn the tips you give them, and therefore gain a better understanding as to how much to give.
Read the rest of this entry »

December 5, 2006

New World Record Achieved in Solar Cell Technology
New Solar Cell Breaks the “40 Percent Efficient” Sunlight-to-Electricity Barrier

WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Alexander Karsner today announced that with DOE funding, a concentrator solar cell produced by Boeing-Spectrolab has recently achieved a world-record conversion efficiency of 40.7 percent, establishing a new milestone in sunlight-to-electricity performance. This breakthrough may lead to systems with an installation cost of only $3 per watt, producing electricity at a cost of 8-10 cents per kilowatt/hour, making solar electricity a more cost-competitive and integral part of our nation’s energy mix.
Read the rest of this entry »

Have you ever purchased an expensive piece of electronic equipment along with an extended warranty only to have that product break during the warranty period… wait, I’m not done yet… but then when you try to contact that company (Circuit City, this means you!) you find out that they dodge you like a stray bullet? Well, you’re not alone.

Here’s a story of a man in New Jersey that had a problem with a Dell laptop and found a basically fool-proof way to get that problem solved!
Read the rest of this entry »

There is a very interesting new site called Bid Nearby which is a mashup, or combination, of eBay and Craig’s List auctions overlaid onto a Google map in a given area.

Simply go enter the item you’re looking for and the site will display a map showing clickable pins which pop up descriptions of the items for sale at each location.

You could use this service to help cut down on shipping costs by purchasing items that are local enough to drive over and take delivery.

Surprisingly (at least to me) the Christian Science Monitor has a very good article about a guy that cut his electric useage by 2/3rd, so I figure that even if you don’t do everything he did you should be able to cut yours in 1/2!

Personally I’ve already done everything on this list, and then some, and as a result our electric bills are less than people we know whose houses are smaller than half our home’s size. I’m telling you, these tips work!
Read the rest of this entry »

Ok. This just pisses me off. Can someone explain to me why Citibank is going to spend the money to develop and implement fingerprint reading ATMs for the poorest people in India, but not for the richest people in the US?

I mean, I wouldn’t have to lug along another ATM card if they’d just put a fingerprint scanner on their ATMs. Instead I could just swipe a finger, enter my PIN and be gone. Just think - if someone stole my wallet I wouldn’t have to worry about not having any cash as long as I could get to an ATM.
Read the rest of this entry »

People are generally curious as to how their compensation package stacks up to others in their field. This knowledge is useful as a measuring stick to make sure that you aren’t being taken advantage of.

Of course, it can also be detrimental to one’s job satisfaction, so keep in mind that this information isn’t vetted so people may be exaggerating, lying or their situation may be entirely different from yours.

There are a few new sites that allow you to compare your earnings to others:
Read the rest of this entry »

If you’re surfing this site on your fancy computer via a broadband connection while sipping on a Starbuck’s beverage, you probably qualify as someone who has the means to be charitable to others.

Since most of my readers fit this bill I thought I’d offer a little assistance in helping learn how to ensure that your charitable donation has maximum impact, especially since the holiday season is right around the corner.
Read the rest of this entry »

In a couple of weeks we celebrate Thanksgiving. That special Thursday in America each year where we give thanks for the following weekend’s shopping frenzy. The Friday following Thanksgiving is therefor known as “Black Friday”.

That’s right. For one weekend each year people lose their minds completely and run up untold credit card bills which they will spend the next year trying to pay off so that they can do it all over again.
Read the rest of this entry »

The Internet is not a safe place. I’m not talking about your kids, I’m talking about YOU!

Recently my financial institutions have begun implementing “security enhancements” in order to fain compliance with guidelines set by the FFIEC. In a nutshell, the recommendation is as follows:

Using nothing more than a login ID and password to access banking and financial transaction services via the Web is insecure. Instead, financial institutions should turn to multi-factor authentication schemes to ensure client safety.

In order to understand what this means, here is a quick security lesson.
Read the rest of this entry »