WhiteFence's Favorite Sporting Events

Back before college, I never really understood the appeal of being a sports person. Not an athlete, but someone that was actually into sports. Sure, growing up I was a huge fan of the Houston Rockets (Clutch City), but beyond that I just didn't drink the Kool-Aid on sports the way my friends did. However, the wonder of college football opened me up to a whole host of new interests. Now, all I listen to in the car is sports radio, and one of my favorite shows on TV is Pardon the Interruption, an ESPN debate show.

We are currently in one of the bigger sports seasons of the year. With the college football bowl games in the recent past, the NFL playoffs currently underway, the Super Bowl next month, the NBA All-Star weekend shortly thereafter and March Madness after that, there is a whole list of sporting events to get excited about.

This got me wondering what other people's favorite sports were, and how they liked to enjoy them. I took the liberty of asking other WhiteFencers that very question. Here are some of the responses I got...

Donating to Haiti Relief Funds

By now, I'm sure many of our WhiteFence Blog readers are no doubt aware of the unbelievable tragedy that has taken place in Haiti this week. The 7.0 earthquake that devastated the country could be felt as far away as Cuba, and has left many thousands of people homeless, injured, missing or worse.

Last night I found myself feeling the tug to give, but I wasn't quite sure exactly where I could do so. You can't always be sure that you are giving to a trustworthy source. I did some research and as a result, I wanted to put up a link I saw today that compiled a list of charitable organizations helping Haiti. We certainly wouldn't want to pressure anybody to give, but if you are feeling so inclined, I thought the link would be helpful. A little bit of money could easily go a long way. Who knows, maybe you'll see an organization listed that you were unaware of before.

Haiti Earthquake: How to Help

Verizon FiOS Internet Named Reader's Choice by PCMag.com

For the fourth consecutive year, PCMag.com readers gave high praise to Verizon FiOS Internet service, earning the online magazine's Readers' Choice award. It's also the third consecutive year that FiOS has finished at the top of the Web site's annual Internet Service Provider (ISP) Service and Reliability Survey.

The survey, conducted between June 15 and July 17, asked PCMag readers to rate their ISPs in 11 categories ranging from speed and reliability to initial setup and overall satisfaction.

FiOS Internet scored 8.7 out of 10 in its overall rating and led all competitors in scores for initial setup, speed, reliability, e-mail, technical support, repairs and likelihood to recommend. It topped all cable companies when it came to needing the fewest repairs.

See if Verizon FiOS Internet service is available in your area

Powering Up with Microsoft Hohm

We've written a few times in the past about the myriad of energy tracking tools available on the Web for consumers looking to beef up on their energy efficiency.There's Google PowerMeter of course, as well as EnergyCircle, a tool that helps parents show their kids about conservation. One of the newer entries into the bunch happens to be from software giant Microsoft.

Microsoft Hohm is a service that allows you to monitor your energy usage for the purpose of saving money.As someone that's interested in that, I thought I'd sign up and give it a whirl.

I think one of the more interesting features of Hohm is just how thorough it is when evaluating your home energy situation. It asks for information about your house, including the year it was built, the structure, what kind of insulation you have, the surface area of the windows, etc. The information is organized in a way that's easy to use and surprisingly fun to fill out.

Once you're done with that, you move on to your heating/cooling and lighting, where you input the amount of light fixtures in your house and the kinds of bulbs you use. It's actually kind of eye opening to think about each room and where you could be saving money by just swapping a few bulbs or by leaving the lights off more.

After all of that, there is even a field for you to share your electricity info, including the amount of kWh you use per month, and the rate you're paying. With all of this information, Hohm constructs a chart of your average utility costs, and what you can do immediately to make your home more energy efficient and save money.

All in all, I would definitely recommend checking out Hohm if you have been thinking about ways to lower your utility costs or how to upgrade your home. It's in beta right now, and you'll need a Windows Live ID but I'd say it's worth it to give Hohm a trial run.

Do you have any energy monitors that you use for your home? Which ones are your favorites?

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

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

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

Get Smart and Go Green Sweepstakes

For those of you who have to deal with a long commute to work, you know the awful pain of going to the gas pump and re-filling every week. If you don't have a fuel efficient vehicle, constantly stopping and paying for gas can be both tedious and expensive. Well, if you've been looking to get smart and go green with your vehicle, now might be the perfect time for you.

Green Mountain Energy Company and smart center Dallas and Fort Worth are teaming up to give Texas residents a chance to win a smart fortwo Passion coupe, valued at $16,235 before tax, title and license.The smart fortwo is one of the greenest and most fuel efficient cars that money can buy, pulling in around 41 miles per gallon on the highway. It also emits up to 50 percent less polluting emissions than average 2009 model vehicles. This is certainly a fitting give away for Green Mountain Energy Company, Texas' only electricity provider dedicated to cleaner energy.

Registering to win the smart fortwo is a piece of cake. Simply enter online or visit any number of Green Mountain Energy Company events. You need to get in fast though, because the give away ends on December 14, 2009. To enter the 2009 Sweepstakes, visit Green Mountain Energy Company. If you want to know more about the guidelines, check out the contest's official rules.

Making a Greener Halloween

Like most U.S. big ticket days, it's hard to avoid Halloween. Seeing as how stores start lining up the orange party decorations as early as July 5th, it's obvious that October 31st is a big event for many shoppers. To be honest, I've never been one to dress up much myself, but that doesn't stop me from buying candy like Willy Wonka. Or looking at pictures of robot pumpkins.

Given the amount of consumption around Halloween, it makes you wonder just how much of what goes on is environmentally friendly. Luckily for the eco-minded, we have Green Halloween. Not only does Green Halloween like capitalizing on clever rhyming conventions, they also give great tips about how to make Halloween less harmful to the environment. Their blog has tons of great tips including party activities, masks and even costumes for the kids.

To read more about how to be green this October, visit Green Halloween.

AT&T Launches New Entertainment Site

Last week, AT&T announced the launch of AT&T Entertainment, a new site that offers streaming TV shows and movies to watch on your PC. The online content is provided by numerous providers including ABC and NBC Universal (via an agreement with Hulu), CBS Interactive and others. The site is open to any user, not just AT&T high speed Internet customers.

Content will include movies and TV shows (available after their initial network airing) from a variety of networks and studios, including ABC, Bravo, CBS Entertainment, CBS News, CNBC, NBC, Oxygen, Syfy, The CW, and USA Network. The site allows users to brows TV shows and movies alphabetically, by genre, or by network or studio.

AT&T U-verse TV and Internet customers who visit AT&T Entertainment can sign in to access U-verse Web Remote Access, a popular application that allows customers to schedule and manage DVR recordings directly from their PC.

To start watching, visit www.entertainment.att.net.