Making the Move Easier

Moving locations is rough. We all know it. While I'm not often prone to exaggerated complaining, I personally find moving to be completely and thoroughly soul-crushing. OK, so maybe that's just a little over the top.

Part of my disdain for the moving process comes from college, where I moved apartments every single summer. My wife and I also moved twice in our first few years of marriage, bringing the grand total to 6 moves in 6 years. We had sworn off moving for quite awhile until just last month, when we bought our first home. Early in the process, we decided that we were going to try hiring movers instead of doing everything on our own or with the help of friends that would forever scorn us for making them lift boxes full of my video games.

This was my first time to experience the help of a moving company, and I don't think I can ever go back. While moving will never be easy, hiring some professionals to carry my junk around really made a huge difference. It made me wonder why people ever try to move on their own, so I thought I'd make a little poll and find out how many readers out there have used movers.

Got any moving horror/triumph stories? Feel free to share. For moving help, be sure to check out the WhiteFence move center.

Save Money and Go Green by Upgrading Your Home’s Insulation

Yahoo! Green has posted an in-depth guide on how to lower your bills and reduce your carbon footprint by upgrading your home’s insulation. On average, heating costs make up about one third of a home’s energy budget, making insulation upgrades one of the quickest ways to make your home more energy efficient.

The article walks you through how you can identify trouble areas in your home and how to choose your new insulation. Included is an in-depth breakdown of every style of insulation on the market, featuring innovative new green choices like bio-based fibers, radiant barriers and blown-in insulation. To help you determine which type of insulation is best for your situation, the guide even provides a link to a handy cost-to-savings calculator.

With winter just around the corner, there’s not much time left to protect your home from the cold before temperatures drop and energy rates soar, so consider upgrading your home’s insulation today.

Is Your Computer Infected With Rogue Security Software?

Symantec Corp. recently announced the rather frightening findings of its Report on Rogue Security Software and it doesn't look good for millions of computer-owning consumers. The study revealed that cybercriminals are employing increasingly persuasive online scare tactics to convince users to purchase rogue security software.

Rogue security software, or "scareware," is software that pretends to be legitimate security software. These rogue applications provide little or no value and may even install malicious code or reduce the overall security of the computer. The scam involves encouraging unsuspecting users to install rogue software with website ads that prey on users’ fears of security threats. These ads typically include false claims such as "If this ad is flashing, your computer may be at risk or infected," urging the user to follow a link to scan their computer or get software to remove the threat.

According to the study, 93 percent of the software installations for the top 50 rogue security software scams were intentionally downloaded by the user. As of June 2009, Symantec has detected more than 250 distinct rogue security software programs.

The initial monetary loss to consumers who download these rogue products ranges from $30 to $100. However, the costs associated to regain ones’ identity could be far greater. Not only can these rogue security programs cheat the user out of money, but the personal details and credit card information provided during the purchase can be used in additional fraud or sold on black market forums resulting in identify theft.

To make matters worse, some rogue security software actually installs malicious code that puts users at risk of attack from additional threats. As a result, installing these programs can lower the security posture of a computer while claiming to strengthen it. For example, rogue programs may instruct the user to lower or disable any existing security settings while registering the bogus software or prevent the user from accessing legitimate security Web sites after installation. This, in turn, leaves users exposed to the very threats the rogue software promised to protect against.

Symnatec offers these tips to protect against rogue security software:

• Avoid following links from emails, as these may be links to spoofed or malicious websites. Instead, manually type in the URL of a known, reputable website.
• Never view, open, or execute email attachments unless the attachment is expected and comes from a known and trusted source. Be suspicious of any emails that are not directly addressed to your email address.
• Be cautious of pop-up windows and banner advertisements that mimic legitimate displays. Suspicious error messages displayed inside the Web browser are often methods rogue security software scams use to lure users into downloading and installing their fake product

Amazon's Kindle Greener Than Printed Books?

If Amazon's Kindle is on your wishlist for this holiday season, you might end up greener than your book buying friends and family.

Cleantech Group found in a study that e-readers could have a major impact on improving the sustainability and environmental impact of the publishing industry, one of the world’s most polluting sectors. In 2008, the U.S. book and newspaper industries combined resulted in the harvesting of 125 million trees, not to mention wastewater that was produced or its massive carbon footprint.

The Cleantech Group’s report, The Environmental Impact of Amazon's Kindle, found that, while e-readers are still a niche technology with a little more than 1 million units sold to date, they could have a more positive impact on the environment in the future. The report indicates that, on average, the carbon emitted in the lifecycle of a Kindle is fully offset after the first year of use. The Cleantech Group forecasts that devices like the Kindle and Sony's Reader purchased from 2009 to 2012 could prevent 5.3 billion kg of carbon dioxide in 2012, or 9.9 billion kg during the four-year time period.

Learn more about the study's findings here: Cleantech Group report: E-readers a win for carbon emissions.

TXU Energy Earns the ENERGY STAR® for Superior Energy Efficiency

TXU Energy recently announced that it has earned the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) prestigious ENERGY STAR for its corporate headquarters. The designation is a national symbol for superior energy efficiency and environmental protection. This signifies that the building's energy performance rates in the top 25 percent of facilities nationwide.

TXU Energy implemented numerous energy efficiency steps that earned the ENERGY STAR rating, including a retrofit of the parking garage to LED lights, upgrade of the building automation system lighting controls, and improved operating procedures.

Commercial buildings that earn the ENERGY STAR use an average of 35 percent less energy than typical buildings and also release 35 percent less carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.

The EPA's national energy performance rating system provides a 1-100 scale that helps organizations assess how efficiently their buildings use energy relative to similar buildings nationwide. A building that scores a rating of 75 or higher is eligible for the ENERGY STAR. Commercial buildings that can earn the ENERGY STAR include offices, bank branches, financial centers, retail stores, courthouses, hospitals, hotels, K-12 schools, medical offices, supermarkets, dormitories, and warehouses.

To learn more about the program, check out The ENERGY STAR for Buildings and Plants.

Even With DVR, Many Still Watch Commercials

I like to consider myself one of the kings of DVR. I have heard a few people say that they avoid DVR because they thought it would make them spend more time watching TV. Honestly, I think it's cut down on my time in front of the tube, mainly because I'm able to get on and speed through the commercials or material I don't want to see. With sports especially, you can use the fast-forward function to skip timeouts, officiating breaks, foul shots and more. In fact, my brother hates watching sports with me because of how much of the game I fly through.

With all of that in mind, it was especially surprising for me to hear a startling statistic out of The Atlantic today: 46% of people don't skip commercials with DVR. Say what? Apparently, regardless of whether or not they can skip ads, many viewers still consider TV watching to be a passive activity. I mean, I'm all for hanging out and relaxing on the couch, but surely pressing the fast-forward button isn't kicking the interactivity up too much?

As DVR gained ground over the last few years, it seemed to spell doom for the television network advertising model, but this goes against that idea. I'd be curious to find out what commercials people are stopping for, or if people are  using the time during commercials to take care of other tasks while they watch their program. What about you guys, do you skip commercials or watch them with DVR?

Source- The Atlantic

7 Reasons to Keep Your Landline Phone

These days, it seems like everyone is ditching their home phone and relying exclusively on their cell phones for their communication needs. But, before you decide to join the party, check out these things your trusty landline can do that a cell phone can’t.

• Make long distance calls without paying an arm and a leg – Cell phones typically have very high long distance rates. If you have to call out of state or out of country often, you might save big by using your landline to make those calls.

• Keep your DVR working – It’s true, DVRs need to gather programming data, and most use a landline for this. If your DVR requires a local phone line, shutting off your phone service may force you to watch your favorite show live, like we did back in the dark ages.

• Stay connected during a disaster – As anyone who lived through Hurricane Ike here in Houston can tell you, cell phone availability during an emergency is anything but solid. Having a landline gives you a reliable way to make contact during a disaster.

• Ensure people can understand what you’re saying – Call quality on cell phones hasn’t quite caught up with what’s available on landlines. Make sure your friends and family don’t get a mixed message by making calls with your landline while you’re home.

• Allow emergency operators to locate you 100 percent of the time– While strides have been made towards updating cell phone and 911 systems so that operators can locate the source of an emergency call made with a cell phone, not all systems are ready. If you make a 911 call with a landline, the operator can always locate you.

• Save on cellular overage charges – For most people, it’s quite easy to go over their monthly allotment of cell phone minutes. A landline can help ease the burden on your poor, overworked cellular plan.

• Keeping your home protection system connected – If you currently have a home protection system, chances are it’s hardwired into your landline system. In that case, discontinuing your phone service will also disconnect your alarm system.

Charge Your iPod, Phone and Other Gadgets with Yo-Yo Power

While solar powered chargers are great for giving your gadgets a quick charge when you’re away from a plug, what do you do if you’re inside, or the sun isn’t shining, when you run out of juice? Easy Energy has a solution for that situation: the YoGen, a small yo-yo inspired generator.

By pulling on a string attached to its body, the handheld YoGen generates up to five watts of clean energy to charge your device via an included connector. While it will probably get rather repetitive after a few minutes, on the plus side, you might be able to burn some calories and build some forearm muscle in the process.

Easy Energy claims that the YoGen has a better ratio of energy input to energy output of any similar charger on the market, but have yet to announce just how many pulls it will take to charge a device. At a price of $39.99, it’s not exactly cheap, but could be just the thing for a quick charge while away from home.

The YoGen is available to preorder for a release date of November 15^th from the Easy Energy store now.

Image via Easy Energy

Happy Birthday to the Internet

The Internet turns 40 years old today. It's all grown up. Who knew?

On October 29th, 1969, "the first two nodes of ARPANET were interconnected between UCLA’s School of Engineering and Applied Science and SRI International (SRI) in Menlo Park, California". I suppose the rest is history. Eventually came the now-dead Geocities, broadband, file sharing, social media, pictures of cats and Kanye West memes.

It really is hard to imagine life without the crazy World Wide Web these days. It's just as ordinary as turning the lights on or cranking the heat during the winter. We use the Internet on our phones, personal computers and our video game consoles and expect to be able to do so without a wait or a series of crazy dial-up noises.

I think my first encounter with the Internet was around 1993 or so. My friend was on AOL I believe, and we would log into chat rooms after school and make fun of people. Looking around at message boards these days, I suppose that really not that much has changed. So what about you guys? What was your first encounter with the Internet?

Source- Mashable

New Study Finds More Than One Third of Employees Telework

According to new research from the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA)®, nearly two in five employed U.S. online adults work from home at least one day a month. The study, The Telework and the Technologies Enabling Work Outside Corporate Walls, also shows that most teleworkers plan to spend at least $925 over the next year on technology products to help them work from home.

More than 38 million employed U.S. online adults, or 37 percent of the total U.S. workforce, work from home at least once a month. Employees say focusing on tasks without disruptions and running a business from home are the top reasons for teleworking. The top benefits include flexible hours, reduced travel time/costs and fewer disruptions/greater productivity. Ninety-eight percent of teleworkers use computer/IT technology, 90 percent use communication technologies and 75 percent use CE accessories.

The increasing number of teleworkers has benefits for the environment as well. CEA research has shown that a single day of telecommuting saves between 16 and 23-kilowatt hours of electricity or the equivalent of up to 12 hours of an average household's electricity use. One day of telework also eliminates the need for 1.4 gallons of gasoline and reduces CO2 emissions 17 to 23 kilograms. A worker with a one-way commute of 22 miles, commuting five days a week, will also save about 50% of the annual electricity consumption of the average household by working from home one day each week.

For more on the study's finding, check out the CEA press release.