Beating the Black Friday Deals Now

Ah, Black Friday, the titan of shopping and savings that looms the day after Thanksgiving. I can't think of a better way to celebrate a gluttonous feast than to go buy a bunch of stuff. Personally, I avoid the day like plague, because in my head it's probably just a re-creation of several popular zombie horror movies, only with even more bite wounds. That being said, I do see the necessity of it for folks that do a lot of Christmas shopping and don't want to break the bank in the process.

However, if you want to do your Black Friday shopping without all of the hassle, there are actually a number of sellers and vendors this year doing pre-day deals, so that people can capitalize on the savings early. Yahoo has a list up of 7 Black Friday Deals Worth Buying Now, and it outlines all the places that have been in a price dropping war the last week or so, including Target, Wal-Mart and Amazon. Good news for shoppers!

There are a few key items to take note of where the savings are potentially at their highest. For one, toys seem to be getting marked down already, almost across the board. In addition, HDTV's are going to see their best prices in years. In fact, it might even be possible to grab 42" 1080p TV's for as low as $500. It all sounds too good to be true, but you might want to check out the list to see if there's anything you can get a steal on before the craziness of next week.

So, which of you brave readers will go out and confront the masses for Black Friday next week? Do you have another source of great deals? Let us know in the comments!

Turn it Off - Saving Energy When You Leave Work

Over the last couple of years, I've tried to become more energy conscious, both at home and at the office. One of the things that I've made a habit of doing is to turn off my computer and my monitor when I leave work, and hibernate my computer constantly at home.

If you've ever wondered how much energy a little process like this saves, amateur filmmaker Nigel Upchurch has created a video to demonstrate. Turn if Off takes a look at the habits of workers in different countries, and the kind of energy consumption these habits entail. It's actually astounding to consider the effects that all of these computers and their monitors have on the environment.

To see more about how these statistics were put together, or just to see more of his work, visit the video page for Turn it Off. What about you guys? Do you turn your monitor and computer off at home/work when it's not in use?

Current Deals on WhiteFence: AT&T

Our summer of savings is still going strong, which works out great for consumers looking to cut their bills on home services. We're constantly updating with prices and packages from top providers nationwide, and one of the newest deals on WhiteFence is too good to pass up: AT&T high-speed Internet.

AT&T is currently cutting prices in half for their high-speed offerings, which results in some great deals to take advantage of. For instance, their DSL Direct Pro package, with speeds of up to 3.0 Mbps, is going for a low price of only $14.95 a month. You don't even need a phone line to sign up. If you take advantage of this now, you could save as much as $300 this year on high-speed Internet alone.

If you want to get in on the savings, be sure to visit AT&T on WhiteFence and sign up today.

Transitioning to a Digital Age

We speak quite a bit on this blog about the rapidly changing technology of the day, and how the world of communications is moving forward at a blinding pace. It is interesting to consider that just ten years ago, there was no such thing as iTunes or even YouTube, two of the things that people spend a great deal of their time doing online. In this digital age, things are almost transforming faster than people can keep a handle on.

If you're curious about the numbers associated with this digital revolution, Newsweek has put together a nice article with an infographic depicting these changes. Titled How the Digital Revolution Changed Our World, it's a fascinating look at some cold hard facts. It demonstrates just how far things have come in the last 10 years, some of which are in ways that surprised me.

For instance, did you know that the numbers of books published has quadrupled? I wonder how much of that has to do with e-readers. Likewise, time spent online has increased by almost 1000 percent. That's just the tip of the iceberg, so if you're curious about what the other numbers are, I would definitely recommend checking out the article. What are some things that surprise you about the list?

Source - Newsweek

5 Things to Know About Losing an Hour of Sleep

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...

Blast From the Past: How the Internet Was Supposed to Fail

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!

Source - Three Word Chant and Newsweek

Where to Watch the Olympic Events You Missed

Ah, it's Winter Olympics time. It's interesting to me how sports that people typically don't care about become the most fascinating things in the world whenever the Olympics come crashing down on us. Who ever thought we'd find out so much about curling, the biathlon (AKA best Bond villain competition) and funny Olympic pants?

While the games have been going on for a little over a week now, there's still about a week left to watch some of your favorite events. However, for those poor blessed souls that still don't have a DVR with their TV service, or if you're like me and you simply don't feel like recording huge 6 hour blocks of programming to catch one event, it sometimes seems like there is so much to miss. Fear not! Lifehacker has posted some cool tips and links about where to watch the Olympics online. Lots of the events are available to stream, as long as you have a fairly decent high-speed connection.

Now you know who to thank when you're up until two in the morning watching figure skating. You're welcome.

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