As you are no doubt well aware by this point in the afternoon, Daylight Saving Time has brought its destruction to our sleeping patterns over the weekend, rending them unrecognizable. While the idea of jumping forward in time is neat to us sci-fi geeks that love time travel, it's no fun to wake up at a time that feels like an hour earlier to our bodies. I've been in Austin all weekend for South By Southwest Interactive, and I've seen some sleepy and tired people wandering the halls of the Convention Center. Note to SXSW planners: parties plus DST do not equal happy convention goers.
However, even if you're bitter about never getting that sixty minutes of sleep back from Sunday morning, there are some actual benefits to DST that go beyond putting that daylight away to use for later. Here are 5 things to know about losing an hour of sleep...
The original title of this blog post was going to be about making "biweekly" or "bimonthly" mortgage payments, but since there seems to be confusion about which term is correct, I thought I'd go for something a bit simpler. Moving right along...
Paying the mortgage every month is always a stressful time around our household. Mainly because we are always trying to figure out whether we have enough money to put more down on the principle, so we can gradually shave off some of that lovely interest. However, a great money saving blog called The Simple Dollar offers a different solution that I took a liking to.
The great thing about media is that you don't always need a DeLorean (or Christopher Lloyd) to take a quick jaunt across time and space to a simpler, less cluttered era in the online universe. With the advent of the tubes that make up these great and exciting Internets, we can instantly go back and look at things that were said in the past, and promptly laugh at the foolish less informed prophets of yesteryear.
Take this recent article from Newsweek that's been making its way around the blogosphere in the last couple of weeks. The article in question is titled The Internet? Bah!, and happens to be a writer's take on why the Internet will fail. Did I mention that this was written in 1995? It sure was.
It really is interesting to take a look at what folks believed the status of the Internet was going to be in the future, and how some people seemed to discount that thought. Some of the more memorable sections:
"Baloney. Do our computer pundits lack all common sense? The truth in no online database will replace your daily newspaper, no CD-ROM can take the place of a competent teacher and no computer network will change the way government works."
"How about electronic publishing? Try reading a book on disc. At best, it's an unpleasant chore: the myopic glow of a clunky computer replaces the friendly pages of a book. And you can't tote that laptop to the beach. Yet Nicholas Negroponte, director of the MIT Media Lab, predicts that we'll soon buy books and newspapers straight over the Intenet. Uh, sure."
That second one makes me laugh. He goes on to talk about how social interaction online is limited, which is the biggest disconnect of the Internet. It's hard not to read that and think about the success of online social networks and how they are revolutionizing the way people communicate, spread information and even make purchases online.
So, how does this bit of time travel make you feel? Amused? Queasy? I honestly can't believe where the Internet has come in the last 5 or 6 years, let alone since 1995. What things can you do on the Web that still surprise you, even in 2010? What are some things you hope for in the future? Tell us in the comments!
Cars aren't the only ones being grouped into the 'hybrid' category, you can now include vending machines. Yes, that's right! So the next time you reach for a soda, make sure you're being green and shopping where there are eco-friendly vending machines.
Coca-Cola and Pepsi are two soda giants that are doing their part to be environmentally friendly and reducing their carbon footprint by using vending machines that use carbon dioxide and hydrocarbons instead of harmful refrigerants.
Moving into our house last year, my wife and I had to make sure we had the bare essentials. These usually involve things like lawn equipment, cleaning supplies, home repair tools and the like. However, one thing that we didn't consider at first was a fire extinguisher. While as many as 75 percent of homes have a fire extinguisher of some kind, there are many out there that don't know their classifications, and at worst, how to use the extinguisher itself.
For the uninitiated (I am including myself in this category), This Old House has put together a list of tips and tools on how to choose and use fire extinguishers. It covers the three types of fire extinguishers (A for flammable items such as wood or cardboard, B for flammable liquids and C for electricity) as well as other useful pieces of information for fire safety newbies like myself. I think the most interesting portion of the article would have to be the section that recommends the size of fire extinguisher that is appropriate for different places. If I'm being honest here, I'd admit that I didn't know fire extinguishers came in as many sizes as This Old House lists. The more you know, right?
To read more about fire extinguishers, I'd definitely recommend checking out This Old House. How many of you have fire extinguishers in your home? Do you know how to use them?
If the weather where you live is as volatile as it has been lately in Houston, then you may understand the pain of always having to fiddle with the thermostat in your home. I know that in my previous apartment unit, the thermostat was hard to read, which resulted in a temperatures that I was never quite satisfied with. The unit in our house is better, though it is also old and not always accurate. Through all of this, I've learned that if there's anything that can mess with both electricity and natural gas bills, it's a fickle thermostat.
One way to save money on those monthly bills is through the installation of a programmable thermostat. That way, you can manage when your heating/cooling is running during hotter or colder periods of the day, effectively cutting off the wasted energy when you are not at home or sleeping. This can cut your energy bill substantially, and is well worth the the time it takes.
Luckily for us, the guys over at Microsoft Hohm have put together a handy video that demonstrates the installation process for a programmable thermostat. We've written about Hohm before, so if you've never been there, it's definitely worth checking out to see how you can find some savings each year. In the meantime, check out the video.
So, who out there has a programmable thermostat in their own home? What have your experiences been? Tell us in the comments!
Money is tighter than ever for millions of Americans these
days, and people are starting to rethink some of their spending habits and looking for ways to cut down on wasteful spending. With that
in mind, BillShrink has come out with a list of 13 of the biggest rip-offs consumers commonly face.
Of course there are classics like movie theater
popcorn and hotel mini-bars on the list, but there are also some more subtle
choices. Here are a few of my favorites:
Wine Service In Restaurants – Knowing that no one wants to order the cheapest bottle of wine on the menu, shrewd restaurant owners mark up the second-least
expensive bottle.
Actively
Managed Investments – While mutual fund managers fail to beat the market 75
percent of the time, you have to pay their fees 100 percent of the time.
Printer
Inks – In some cases, it can actually be cheaper to buy a whole new printer
than buy ink for your old one.
Check the article on BillShrink for the full list and let us know what you think the biggest rip-offs are in
the comments.
Here’s my contribution: HDMI cables. Knowing that most
people are not electronics experts, many stores mark up their HDMI cables over
five times. In fact, it’s not unheard of for stores to make more money off the
HDMI cable you buy with your new HDTV than the TV itself!
AT&T recently announced that it now serves 1 million AT&T U-verseSM Voice digital home phone lines. The milestone comes two years after AT&T introduced the VoIP service. More than 67 percent of new U-verse TV customers bundle U-verse Voice service.
The company said it reached the milestone by adding 248,000 U-verse TV subscribers in the fourth quarter of 2009, with a total of 2.1 million U-verse TV subscribers nationwide and added1 million U-verse TV customers in the last year alone.
"We knew we had the opportunity to revolutionize our consumer business with U-verse and our IP platform, and the growth of our U-verse TV, Voice and broadband services shows we’re on the right track," said Anthony Tuggle, AT&T vice president of wireline voice products. "Customers are choosing U-verse Voice for its reliability, advanced features and unmatched value as part of an integrated AT&T bundle. U-verse Voice will only get better as we continue to launch more calling apps and features."
AT&T offers multiple combinations of U-verse TV, U-verse Voice, U-verse High Speed Internet and AT&T wireless plans that offer savings for customers that bundle their services. As of the end of 2009, more than 90 percent of U-verse TV customers bundle High Speed Internet, and more than 75 percent of U-verse TV customers have a triple- or quad-play.
According to a new study from ABI Research, "Smart" electricity meters, which enable two-way communication between the meter and the utility, and may enable greater consumer control over consumption, are being deployed at an increasing pace, especially in North America and Europe. The number of smart electric meters deployed worldwide will rise from a 2009 level of 76 million to reach more than 210 million in 2014.
In the US, $3.4 billion in federal economic stimulus funding was directed to smart grid development in November 2009. The Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (EISA 2007) also directly encourages smart grid technology adoption by the states, and funds NIST’s efforts to develop a standards-based technology framework to facilitate smart grid adoption.
However, ABI says the path to smart metering is not always smooth, siting PG&E in California, one of the early utilities to deploy smart meters. The company has faced claims by consumers that they have been overcharged. Still, there are many environmentalists who believe that smart meters will help consumers curb their energy use and save money, simply by being more educated about the amount of energy they use. And there are those that say people may use more energy if they see that electricity is cheaper than they expected.
As many of you know, there are plenty of ways for you to save money in your day-to-day spending. Whether it's through car pooling or the way you use water and electricity, you can find all kinds of opportunities to pinch a few pennies.
One place where you can always use more money saving tips is the grocery store. CBS News has put together a list of tricks to turn you into a savvy food shopper.
Check the bottom shelf — Since eye-level is where most shoppers do their spending in the grocery store, many companies pay to have their items stocked there. Check the bottom of the shelf for more cost-effective items.
Mind the end-cap — Just because certain products are on display at the end of the aisle doesn't mean they are on sale. In addition, check the expiration date on these products. There's a chance the retailer has put less fresh items there in hopes of selling them before they go bad.
Convenience costs money — Sure, you can buy pre-cut chicken or shredded cheese, but it's always cheaper just to buy the full product yourself and then cut it or separate it out later.
