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Quicken Pays Bills, Blesses Matrimony
Tweet Share on Facebook March 30, 2007 CommentLike most of us, I love/hate banks. We need them, but I definitely don't like being beholden to one–I want the freedom to walk when rates fall or fees rise. So I've worked to free my family from dependence on our bank's bill-paying service, which we access through the Web. The convenience has suckered us into a long list of payees that would be a pain to reconstruct at another bank.
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Now Playing on TiVo: Me
Tweet Share on Facebook March 29, 2007 CommentIf you're getting bored with what's on your TiVo, maybe you want to tune into me and mine. Our own TiVo channel, that is. Eventually, there'll be lots of home movies of our boys and their exciting life of playgrounds and T-ball.
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All Hail Weather.com's Radar Upgrade
Tweet Share on Facebook March 28, 2007 Comment (3)Fast-moving, often violent weather is part of life in the Midwest. It was a leap forward when the first, somewhat crude radar images were available on cable TV, giving us a chance to see what was coming–and to get cars under cover from spring storms laden with twisters and hail. Then came the Web, and radar moved online, where it took a new leap this month with an upgrade at the Weather Channel's site.
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Online Video Without Apple TV's Training Wheels
Tweet Share on Facebook March 23, 2007 Comment (1)Getting TV and movies over the Internet is said to be the next great thing. It's already good at our house. We've discovered free shows and entertainment that are available for downloading as part of our abandoning cable and its steep monthly fees. Now Apple has released a $300 device to make the process easy, but I don't think I'll be buying.
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Speeding LogMeIn's link to a PC Back Home
Tweet Share on Facebook March 22, 2007 CommentOne of my favorite Web services, LogMeIn, lets me stay connected to computers from afar–and just got a bit easier to use. LogMeIn is among several products that allow you to connect to a computer across the Internet and work on that PC as if you were sitting in front of it. LogMeIn is my favorite because it's free.
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Scooba Shines Like the Floors it Mops
Tweet Share on Facebook March 15, 2007 CommentMy wife did a little jig the other day. Scooba, our robotic mopper, had arrived. The turtlelike device is the sibling to Roomba, which had already won our hearts for its automated vacuuming. We've found Scooba to be at least as charming as it scrubs and polishes our hardwood and tile.
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A Good Idea Flickers Under Fluorescent Bulbs
Tweet Share on Facebook March 14, 2007 CommentSo a Washington, D.C., coalition wants to force us to use fluorescent bulbs, instead of the incandescents we've known since the days of Thomas Edison. The group's members would enact new energy standards that would essentially outlaw the inefficient lightbulbs we now use. Fine, as long as their new regs include standards for how fluorescents perform.
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For High-Def Disks, Conversion Is a Better Bet
Tweet Share on Facebook March 12, 2007 Comment (1)A format war, not to mention outrageous prices, is stopping most of us from investing in a high-definition DVD player. So I decided to test a standard disk player that tries to convert the image into something close to the clarity and vivid picture of high definition. I've been testing one of the latest models from Oppo, a company with a good reputation for "upconverting" players. I even tested it head to head against an HD DVD player from Toshiba.
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Quicken's Pricey Lessons on Giving Kids Cash
Tweet Share on Facebook March 9, 2007 Comment (1)Teaching kids about money is a tricky process, as we are discovering with our 5-year-old. The problem goes beyond his burning desires, which this month are for Yu-Gi-Oh! cards. It's also tough to remember the weekly allowance, much less lessons on budgeting and saving. So I checked out a Web service launched this week by Intuit, the company that sells personal finance software.
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Keeping Your PC in Tune With Daylight Saving
Tweet Share on Facebook March 8, 2007 Comment (1)The sun will be rising a bit later next week, which is a blessing for some of us and a hassle for all. A hassle because your PC may need updating to understand that daylight saving time starts this Sunday, March 11, which is three weeks earlier than in the past. It also lasts a week longer into autumn.
