A Personal Review Of Google-411

Whenever one hears of a speech recognition algorithm that supposedly can understand all speech without prior training you can usually just shake your head and walk away. Not this time. Google has produced an amazing product once again. Here are my experiences.

The speech recognition algorithm kicks some serious audio butt. If that is possible. As I used Goog-411 to locate nearby stores such as Costco, the moutain bike dealer, and the theater address I was amazed that not once did the "operator" aske me to repeat my query. Every time it was spot on. Even on difficult words such as "Coeur d'Alene". I bet you don't even know how to pronounce that.

The speech recognition system is merely a way for phone users to interact with data that Google has already mined from the internet. If the business is not listed on the internet you can kiss your connection hopes goodbye.

I suspect that Google has integrated Goog-411 right into it's infrastructure. Meaning a computer receives your request for data, then that computer queries (searches) the internet listings for that item, filters out non-businesses, and responds with the best results. You can choose to have that info spoken to you, connect you, or have it text messaged to you. That is all somewhat easy to deduce. But that shows us some interesting possibilities in the form of Google's potential dive into the mobile market.

If information on the business can be texted to you then why not a map to it if you have a gadget phone? Why not paid advertising from related query results? Why not paid rankings for businesses? If Google is looking for money from the mobile market (which they certainly are) then advertising is where it's going to at. I think that because advertising is one area that Google as embarrassed it's competitors.

The number that you dial from could reveal:

• Geographic locations of the called numbers
• Names of persons called
• Names of businesses called
• Names of organizations called
• Types of business called
• Types of organizations called

This can all build enough information to target ads to the user. Now whether these ads are audio, text, images is still up in the air.

By the way the Goog-411 number is just that: 1-800-goog-411.

Or for the layman, it's: 1-800-466-4411

Apple OS X Leopard Guided Tour

Apple has released a guided tour of the impressive new OS X Leopard. Go forth and watch HERE.

What Should You invest in?

Deciding among the plethora of investments is a heady and hazardous task. Small mistakes made early can affect your results significantly. A mistake in what you invest in and when can cost you your comfortable retirement.

If you are young you are incredibly wise to apply this knowledge now to take advantage of the time you have. Starting now gives you time to use compounding interest and allows for mistakes to be corrected with less impact on your final sum for retirement.

In this article I will discuss some of the most popular investments and what you should avoid when putting your money in them.

CDs
CDs are the easiest form of investing. They are the easiest because you can get them at almost any bank and your money is already there. All you have to do is say you want to buy a CD, sign some paperwork, and off you go. Banks make it this easy for a reason. They make a killing off of you that you could be making somewhere else. Most CDs return a yield of 3% to 5% in our current, healthy market. That will fluctuate along with interest rates. T

The unfortunate part about CDs is the horrendous rate of return. No joke. If you get a high 5% out of your bank then after taxes and inflation you are just BREAKING EVEN. That is to say, don't invest in CDs. Yes they are easy but they are not liquid and get low, taxable yields.

One reason most people invest in CDs is for the liquidity. One way to get complete liquidity (checkbook access) from your invested money is a Money Market.

Money Markets
Do your research in this sector. For keeping money liquid and constantly returning a 5% yield you can't beat a money market. If you need to keep large amounts of money liquid then a money market is the way to go. I like the Genworth Interest Plus money market a lot because it has no fees or expenses, has checkbook access, and gives a great rate of return. For keeping money liquid in an IRA your just can't beat a money market.

Mutual Funds
Mutual funds are great for returning a predictable yield, are rated by the Nationaly renown mutual fund company, Morningstar, and can have proven track records from their fund managers.

One word of caution though. Mutual funds can have some hefty fees tied to them that your broker or advisor will NOT tell you about, no matter how cuddly you are with them. Make sure you ask to see a complete Morningstar report on the selected fund. When you get this report look for expenses.

There are management expenses. These are called expense ratios. These can run all the way up to 2%. An acceptable expense ratio would be close to 0.4%. Don't accept anything over 1.5% because there are plenty of funds that return excellent yields for low expense ratios.

The next trap is the 12-b fee. These are fees imposed by your manager on a yearly basis for "managing" your money. Since most mutual funds are held for the long term this is ridiculous. A good investment manager will not charge you 12-b1 fees. An average 12-b1 fee will run around 0.25%.

Then there are loads. If you are young an uncouth investment manager will suggest funds that are heavily front loaded. This means there is an up front fee for buying that fund. It also means you start out at a loss. A typical front load is 5.75%! That means your fund needs to grow 5.75% before you make a dime. It's a ripoff. Don't buy funds that have a loading, either front or rear. There are a great many good funds that don't charge loads. You should not stay with an investment manager if he recommends heavily loaded funds.

Stocks
This one can get you in a lot of trouble if you don't take the time to educate yourself. However, with some time well spent learning about value investing from a business perspective you can turn a handsome profit. A great example is Warren Buffet who made 33 billion dollars from $100,000.

The essentials of buying stocks can be summerized into these few points.

1. Buy a company that has consitantly made significant amounts of money on the profits.

2. Buy a company that has a consumer monopoly that couldn't be taken away with a zillion dollers. A few examples come to mind like, Hersheys, Coca Cola, Google, Wriggly, and any others who have a firm position in their market.

3. Buy a company with a low price to earnings ratio. The way to determine this is to divide the price of the stock by the earnings per share. All of that information is readily available on the net.

4. Don't buy a company just because the price has been going up or you think it will go up. Invest only in good solid companies and you will reduce your risk to a minimum.

5. If the stock takes a dive don't be the first one to jump ship. If you don't manage to sell your stake in the company before a correction occurs then sit it out. Most corrections are nothing more then stockholders letting their emotions run their money.

6. Be alert and be detached. Don't follow the crowd.

7. Don't take stick "tips" from websites or people unless the company meets the prerequisites laid out above. If you do take tips you are putting yourself at their mercy. It is most likely you will be extremely disappointed and that relationship will be damaged.

Be greedy when others are fearful and fearful when others are greedy.

What goes up must come down.

Buy LOW sell HIGH.

Sell before the market corrects and buy after it corrects.

Don't get caught by a plunging market with your hand in the money bag.

Do your research and get a good advisor. Try to get an advisor with a fiduciary agreement. This is a special kind of adviser that is required by law to give you information that helps you first. Most investment advisors like Shwab, Edward Jones, Davidson, UBS, and more have obligations to their broker first, themselves second, and you third. Having a fiduciary manage your money can mean the difference between keeping your money and watching it grow or giving your yields to the brokerage and your adviser.

Don't rely on an emotional tie with your adviser to keep him honest with you. The majority of happy investors are being lied to and robbed blind by their nice investment advisor. And I do mean that all those investment firms I listed above engage in those practices. LOOK AT THE NUMBERS! with investing, the numbers are all that matter. If you are getting a satisfactory rate of return, not paying much in fees (less then 2%), and can easily understand the investment choices your advisor has made then you should stay. Otherwise, find another adviser.

The Power Of Compounding Interest

Did you know that if you inherited a $100,000 IRA when you were one year old that IRA would pay out more than $8,000,000 over your lifetime?

Compounding interest is an amazingly powerful tool for building wealth. Almost all wealthy people have used compounding interest to work for them in one way or another. Whether it be stocks, bonds, CDs, or mutual funds, you should get your money working for you as early as possible.

Often when I mention the folly of not investing extra money into some sort of compounding investment early in life I get mixed responses. Some don't comprehend the magnitude of an opportunity like that. Some think numbers that enormous can only be a scam. Some are apathetic and just don't care. But then there are some that see the opportunity and take advantage of it. I hope you are one of those people.

Compounding interest is the best way to build wealth because it is easy. There is no effort involved in making the principal accrue interest and build itself. Granted, you have to work hard to earn that principal but look at it this way. Say you are 21 and you have $40,000 in savings. You want to buy a new lifted truck because you hear paying cash is a great way to save money not paying interest. This scenario is to illustrate the power and importance of compounding interest. Here are two options and the results they will give:

Option 1: Buy the truck outright with the cash. Let's imagine you would have had to pay 9% on that loan. Over a period of 5 years you would have paid $9820.05 in interest.

Woohoo! That's great. Let's see what you would have made if you would have invested the $40,000 in a retirement account and taken out a car loan.

Option 2: Invest the $40,000 at 9% in a ROTH IRA and take out a car loan at 9%. You might think they would just cancel out, but you would be wrong. Here are the numbers:
You spend 5 years paying off your new truck and pay out $9820.05 in interest. While you paid off your loan your IRA was busy making money babies. Over 5 years that invested $40,000 has made you a fat $61,544.96 . That is a profit of $11,724.91 (with the interest subtracted). But since that money is staying with you it continues on making money far past the loan maturity date.

To summarize that scenario, over 20 years, when you are 41, you would have a comforting $224,176.43.

I do not suggest trying to retire on only $224,176. I do suggest using this principal of compounding interest while you are young so that you don't have to work so hard as you get older.

Here is your very own calculator so you can figure out what your savings could do for you.

Financial Calculator

What have your experiences been with saving and investing? Sound off!

Interesting Apple Trivia Facts

The recent release of the iPhone was preceded by 200 patents for the revolutionary phone. 21 of the patents are actually innovative.

The idea for the Macintosh computer was actually Jef Raskin’s (employee #31) idea for a low cost, easy to use computer. Steve Jobs and Steve Wazniak rejected most of his ideas (no mouse) so Jef left the project. Steve Jobs took over and shaped the Mac into what it is today.

The first Mac computer was born on April 1st, 1976 and sold for $666.66.

Before co-founding Apple, Steve Jobs worked for Atari.

Steve Wozniak worked for Hewlet Packard before Apple was founded.

The GUI that the first Mac used originated at Xerox.

The former president of Pepsi is the new president of Apple.

Steve Jobs was fired by the board from his own company but returned when his company, Pixar, was acquired by Apple.

Acording to Sophos, there are more than 60 viruses that affect Macs. 0.16% of Mac users have reported problems.

OS X 10.4 has more than 86,000,000 lines of code.

Get Paid Per Post

Blogging can be a very frugal affair for many of us new to this system. It's hard to get readers and make money at the same time. Reading a blog designed to make money can be hard on the eyes and annoying. PPP or Pay Per Post is an inovative way of getting the best of both worlds.

Yes, this is a paid post.

The way the program works is this. You sign up as an advertiser or a blogger. As a blogger you can browse the listings for paid posts. Say someone wants to promote their new product. They post their requirements on the PPP site where bloggers can select them. The blogger writes about the new product from either a literal product review standpoint or from a research standpoint.

I have mixed feelings about this.

In a way I feel like I am selling my soul for money. Blogs are supposed to inform honestly. Free speech will always be more honest then paid speech. I don't want this blog to become superficial becuase I get paid to write about certain things.

Here is how I plan to do it.

I will continue to post about all the normal Mac/PC/Google/tech inovations and updates. All of those articles will be untouched by the want of money. When I do post a paid post it will be unbiased towards or away from the subject. Of course the content will be appropriate, relevant, and always informative.

What do you think? Would or could this ruin a blog? Is it wrong for me to do this? Should I have even written about my decision? Let's hear it.

make money

Disable Dashboard To Free Memory

Don't use the Dashboard feature much? Granted it's cool, but at a price. And unless you use it actively it is probably slowing your Mac.
Dashboard uses a lot of memory and bandwidth to keep all those little baby programs running and updated for when you need them. If you don't need them this is how you do it:

Open Terminal, and then type this command, followed by the Return key:

defaults write com.apple.dashboard mcx-disabled -boolean YES

This command informs the system that you don't want Dashboard enabled anymore. But there is one more step. Dashboard is operated under the dock preferences and is therefore controlled, in a sense, by it. To make the command your just wrote take affect you need to type this into the terminal and press return when you are done.

killall Dock

After the dock restarts Dashboard will no longer be operational.

To reinstate Dashboard you simply type this into the terminal and hit return when you are done:

defaults write com.apple.dashboard mcx-disabled -boolean NO

Once again type in killall Dock to put the changes in effect. The Dashboard will work great after it's nap and all your widgets will be there as they were before.

Comments?

Maintain Your PC Without Paying A Premium

Process explorer v11.02
Microsoft has endorsed (but not produced) a program designed to clean up all those bloated little programs that get installed with your intended software. It's called Process Explorer v11.02.

It is basically a powerful task manager. You can view all running prosesses, get info from the internet on them, ban them from your startup sequence, and find the original program using them. It's great for finding out why your computer is running slow and taking out the bloat.

I ran this on my Alienware and found all sorts of intersting, useless crap. When i got rid of it my startup time was at least halved.


Lavasoft Adware
Spyware has only increased in volume over the last few years despite increased regulation and legal action against the much despised perps. All consumers can do though is protect themselves while the Fed sorts things out.

Lavasoft Adware is a free program that has been the mainstay of my anti-spyware campaign. It has a great search algorithm, can scan your entire computer (including memory), and they release monthly updates to keep current with all the devious little deviants out there planning the overthrow of your computing experience.


AVG FREE
AVG Free is a great way to manage the ever enroaching virus problem while still keeping your money in the bank and your computer running fast. It can run as a process like any other anti-virus solution (CPU and memory often take a big hit) or your can schedual scans.

I like the flexibility of this freeware in that it does a great job protecting you, doesn't bog your computer down, is free, and still has a ton of great features like auto-scanning downloaded files.

Any suggestions? Feel encouraged to comment!

Making your PC love your Mac

Lifehacker.com has a great article on making all your home computers work together efficiently. With a minimum of hair pulling.

Most of the article is about networking your differ computers together and getting them to all speak to one another.

Logitech VX Nano Cordless Laser Mouse for Notebooks Review

I love this mouse!

Someone is getting very clever at making things small. The receiver that attaches to the computer via a USB port is tiny. Completely tiny. The entire receiver is no larger then a nickel.

The laser is very precise. Now these mice are getting so precise and accurate you can't really tell the difference. I suppose if you used one day in and day out it would become a little easier to tell.

I like the ergonomic feel of the mouse. I have a small hand so this is a welcome change.

Lots of handy buttons as well as usefull sidescrolling for Photoshop users. The scroller is smooth and has a fantastic feature for those browsing long pages. When you zip the scroller hard it goes into a sort of glide mode. You can hit the scroller hard and (depending on how hard you zipped it) go exactly where you need to. I just found out that if you push the scroller it will click into a more conventional clicking mode.

The Mouse is small, no larger then a plum. It takes two AAA batteries. The receiver slides neatly into the mouse when it's not connected. It fits in quite niftily and pops out with the touch of a button. It also comes with a small padded case that comes with the mouse for transporting it undamaged in your laptop case or backpack.

The battery life is very good for two conventional AAA batteries. Expect the charge to last from four to six months, depending on usage level. A new charge is as simple as two AAA batteries. When you are not using the mouse but still using the laptop and the receiver is plugged in the mouse can be left off to conserve the battery.

Click here to view this item on Amazon

In Brief:

Apple iTunes has lowered it's price for DRM free iTunes Plus from $1.29 to $0.99. Most likely this is a response to Amazon's cheaper MP3s.

It's probable that Amazon is actively seizing market share from Apple. Competition is always healthy.

Leopard cometh, October 26th

Every time Apple announces the arrival of a new program or piece of hardware the Apple forums have double the posts (I actually just made that up, but it wouldn't suprise me). For good reason to. Apple produces innovative products at competitive prices.

Leopard is the big deal now. In ten days the OS I am running (10.4 Tiger) will be uncool, out of style, and somehow not as productive (mine as well get the new one eh?). $129 will get you a single license while a cool $199 will snag five.

The Advent of OS X Leopard 10.5 is heralded by the number 300. Apple boasts 300 new improvements of 10.4. These aren't just little patches like Windows users are used to either. Cool new interfaces and ideas are making their ways to our computers on October 26th.

According to the Countdown Timer, as I write this there are nine days, 23 hours, and 23 seconds till the release. Talk about hype!

There are some very interesting features in Leopard.

Finder can operate like coverflow in the iPod.

Quicklook allows you to preview any document, file, video, and many other types without opening an app.

Time Machine keeps your computer backed up automaticaly with an external HD.

iChat has some amazing background and sharing options. You can share anything on iChat that Quicklook can preview.

Spaces allows you to divide your monitor real estate more efficiently, reducing the need for multiple monitors or quadrupling productivity.

Boot Camp comes standard, all you need is your own version of Windows.

And Mail has cool email templates for the sentimental.

Check it out at Apple.com

Make Google Save You Money

The Internet is a great place to find deals on just about anything. There are also a lot of surveys and freebies just waiting for you take them. iGoogle is a great way to do that!

All you have to do is set up free Google account. If you have one already you are one step ahead.

After you get your account set up go to www.google.com/ig. This is the iGoogle page. There will probably already be the defualt content on the site. You can choose to add another page to the iGoogle also. I have three pages. One page for online deals. One for keeping track of my favorite forums. And one for monitoring the stock market.

iGoogle get it's content from the rss feeds you specify. Click the "add content" button near the top right and go to town. Add the URLs of the sites you want to monitor. This will work with any site that has rss feeds enabled. Some great site for finding online deals are:

Slickdeals.org
Absurdly Cool Freebies
Woot!
Tech Bargains
XP Bargains
Digital Deal

That is only a summary of all the deal sites there are in the expanse of the interweb. If you have a favorite be sure to share it. If we get enough submissions I will make a comprehensive deal list.

Marware Sportfolio Review

As you have undoubtedly noticed, I purchase a lot of my tech related items from Amazon. I have purchased yet another item. The Marware 13'' Sportfolio.

I wanted a soft carrying case for my Apple MacBook that would retain the handy compactness of the laptop. I bought the Marware Sportfolio because:

It's soooo soft. Something as soft and cuddly as this case hasn't the heart to scratch my beloved Macbook. It has a nice thick lining that can protect the valuables in transit from my hand to the ground. It's made of some sort of neoprene that smells awful when you tear it out of the box (it goes away) but does a fantastic job of protecting the laptop.

There are two side pockets, one for each side. One is open, great for stuffing papers, books, magazines, or the Dead Sea Scrolls. I can easily fit a book, mighty mouse, and charger in the open side.

The zippered side I save for my more precious small items like jump drives, earbuds, pens and pencils, notebook, loose change, and a healthy helping of lint (just in case I need to start a fire).

The bottom of the case is lined with a flexible and durable rubber to soften any of those emotion filled moments when you do something stupid with all your passwords. Essential for anyone.

You can buy one HERE.

Expect To See Plastic Sky Scrapers

Nanotech has come a log ways since the advent of the bucky ball. Now we have super plastic! MSNBC did an article on a breakthrough by scientists of the nanoscale order. They have figured out a way to layer polymers to create a transparent piece of plastic that has the tensile strength of steel.

Unfortunately the time it would take to make something large and useful is measured in light years. By the time they made something cool we could be moving to mars because the sun is running out of steam.

Actually I lied. The process is simple and super plastic could be forming unbreakable Tupperware within a year. Expect it to be on the pricey side of the moon though.

Google 411

Google has released a new service called Google 411. It's great. All you have to do is dial the toll free number and respond to the voice prompts. What you say is analyzed by some kick butt voice recognition algorithm to find out where you live and what you want. When you find what you want via the numerical menu you say that number to be connected with that business.

So far Google 411 is just for finding businesses. Having a white page directory accessible by phone is probably not far off though.

Here is the Accompanying video Google released.

More Space For GMail... How Long Can This Last?

GMail has upgraded their email client GMail for basic users. The service currently now offers a staggering 3.1 GB of storage for the free version which increases minutely every second. Premier Edition suckers get a whopping 25GB slab of platter up from a measly 10GB.

Google persists in giving consumers what they want for free. Paid advertising keeps Google in the good graces of accounting but for how long. Can a company continue to produce free apps and just live off the advertising?

Read the Google Blog post on GMail here.

A Mac Browser Better Than Firefox?

Firefox has come to be regarded as an standard web browser for both Mac and Windows users. For the most part it is safe, secure, and very functional.

But I learned something new today on my jaunt down to my local Apple store. There is a better browser than Firefox for Mac. It's called Camino.

Camino uses the same Gecko engine used by Firefox and looks very much the same. One big difference though. It's fast. Firefox is a memory hog, especially when you have a lot of tabs open. For some reason Camino hardly uses any memory compared to Firefox.

Sometimes in Firefox it would hang up if I tried to open a new tab and follow a link at the same time. Not so with Camino.

Camino also comes with some great features for those developers out there. You can save you session to return at another time. In the preferences section you can have Camino start with the same sites open when you quit. Of course it has normal spell checker. Integration with Keychain is an added bonus. Feed detection is standard so subscription is super easy.

Essentially Camino is Firefox optimized for Mac.

Maybe we can get some addons for it? It is open source.

Macally Macbook Protection Shell Review

I like preserving large purchases such as my recent acquisition of an Apple Macbook. While the Laptop is sturdy and durable I don't like the idea of the outside getting scratched or dinged from general use.

I bought a Macally Protection Shell from Amazon. I give it a five out of five for being what I expected. It's a hard, two piece case that snaps onto the outside of the Macbook. The leather finish looks excellent as well as durable. One thing I would not do is expose it to anything sharp that could cut the leather.

The bottom piece is molded so that all the ports and fans are unobstructed. Everything is very easy to access.

I have been monitoring the temperature of my Macbook with iStat and have not noticed a significant increase in heat.

The case does increase the thickness of the Macbook by half and inch and ups the weight half a pound. It really isn't that noticeable and makes me feel much better.

The case looks excellent. The black leather finish is an eye catcher and can protect your Macbook from scratches and small falls.

I purchased mine at Amazon in the New and Used section for $20.10. I consider it a great deal for the exemplary protection it provides.

Save Money By Buying Shoes Online

I have been going to finishline.com for all my shoes now. Most of them are discounted a considerable amount and they have all the newest styles. Shipping has been fast and I have always got my purchase quickly with no mistakes.

Prosper Peer To Peer Lending System

I have been searching for a way to make money, or more exactly, make my money make more money. Prosper.com seems to be a cool way to do that. Prosper is a peer to peer lending system. Unlike peer to peer file sharing systems that this one is legal, safe, and productive.

People with money they want to invest create an account for free on Prosper. The financial and ID information is verified through your bank and by faxing photo ID and tax information. Once everything is confirmed you can transfer money into your Prosper account. The loans people have applied for and were accepted are posted on the lending page.

Information on the borrowers is available to members (free), that includes credit score, delinquencies, credit card usages, lines of credit open, debt to income ratio, and how many times their credit score has been requested.

The borrower also posts what the loan is for and how they intend to repay it. Most borrowers post their income and how the loan will benefit that.

Prosper has all the performance data (important to me) regarding the number of defaults in each credit catagory. The numbers are suprisingly low. Click here for perforance data on all the loans.

In total, Prosper.com has a total of 460,000 members and has loaned out 92,000,000 million dollars. That seems to lend some amount of credibility to this institution.

Zorpa is a UK based p2p lending system that pioneered the concept. They are currently building a site for the US market. Zorpa has some interesting investing ideas that I am going to write about later on.

My Personal Finance Blog has some great analysis on Prosper.

Practice Getting Rich For Free

Online stock trading is a questionably profitable enterprise (for the end user) when compared to trading with a broker. Trading commissions can destroy profits in small trades and often online brokers have a limit on trade amounts which forces large volume traders to make multiple trades one the same stock.

I have a solution for people who want to use the internet to spend money on stocks without calling their broker. There is a catch though. It's free and you won't make a dime. Welcome the virtual stock market.

I have found the Market Watch site is easy to use and has great resources for those looking to learn how the stock market works.

Review of Acer 22'' LCD Monitor - AL2216Wbd

Since I do a lot of work on the internet I don't like to spend it staring at a 13.3" laptop screen. So I bought an Acer 22'' wide screen. And love it. The screen controls are simple and intuitive, it was recognized easily by my mac, the screen is bright and vivid with color, and best of all, it is an Acer. Acer makes excellent monitors due to superb quality control and quality liquid crystals in the display.

Running two monitors increases my productivity, lowers my click rate, and lowers my frustration. The Acer 22" was well worth the $200 I spent.

Why All Cool People Need A Lava Lamp

A lava lamp is a cool addition to an office or room simply because of the intrinsic attraction it employs. The average person does not know how one works. It is a rare mystery of science to them where as it really represents the forces of temperature changing density properties in a constant liquid.

I can stare at my lava lamp for hours. There is something fascinating about watching a fluid float effortlessly, bumping into other globes, merging, reforming, rising, sinking, all in a constant cycle.

A lava lamp is a great, clean, techy addition, to any office or room. Amazon is a great place to buy items like this.

I Bought a Mac, Why You Should Switch Also

This is one of those controversial posts that always gets Windows users blood running and the comments cooking off in the inbox. I would know. As of two weeks ago I would have been one of them. I would have marveled at how blind the Mac user was and think that they just need to learn how a computer works. I would ask myself who would buy a computer you can't upgrade, is expensive, looks weird (to some), and can't run the majority of software out there. What could possibly be dumber?

I could actually. All my marveling and wondering was for naught. I had never operated a Mac before. I didn't have a clue what I was thinking about. I felt I was superior in my choice of platform. I was proven dead wrong two weeks ago.

You can bluster all you want about how your PC runs great and you never have any problems but that is because you have not used a Mac. You just don't know what it is like to have no problems. You are not used to just having something work. When I had my Windows platform I was the same way (FYI: I have been a Windows user all my life, till now). I was used to troubleshooting my missing drivers, missing .dlls, cryptic error messages, random crashing, viruses, adware, constant maintenance, and consistent upgrades. I just considered it a challenge or even a necessary evil. After all, Macs were just not good enough for me, or so I thought.

When I used a Mac for the first time I expected to be introduced to an immature computer, a fancy looking expensive toy that couldn't really handle the stress of everyday work and play. Instead I got a smooth and fast load time into the OS, A very appealing fluidic display, and consistently fast load times for programs that more often then not exceeded the abilities of Windows applications.

Take Itunes for example. Any computer user can get it since it runs on Windows also. Look at the graphical user interface compared to Windows Media Player. It is simple when WMP is complex. The user in Itunes can access any music without wading through menus, a two year old could burn a CD, the main controls are in a central location with everything else, the player is well thought out. In WMP it took me 30 minutes to understand most of the features. I still don't know how to make the track slide out thingie in the Now Playing section come back.

Then there is the design of the Mac. Very few people that I have met think Macs look bad. At that, Apple products are all aesthetically pleasing to me. There seems to be a quality of design and a passion for not just user friendliness but also the cool look. A lot of Windows users scoff at this but I think it means Apple has not forgotten it's customers. Microsoft products are devoid of personality, cold, and business like. It seems to me that Microsoft is largely bureaucratic and has a hard time letting personality and creativity show. I am not saying Microsoft doesn't show creativity at all but it certainly could see a boost.

I just installed the Microsoft Zune on my Alienware M7700 to retrieve some music. What a nightmare. I do not exaggerate. I would never buy a Zune even for the low prices they are at now (low demand=low price). To use an IPod you connect it to your computer, load Itunes, and you should be ready to go. Simply drag the desired music into the IPod tab and the downloading initiates automatically. In the off chance that it needs an update it only takes a few moments to download and install the update. To get a Zune to connect to a computer you must first install new software for the Zune, Windows XP doesn't have the drivers,. The music player is confusing, awkward, and not at all intuitive. It took me 10 minutes to sync music to my PC. If you are unlucky enough to need a Zune update, prepare to spend an inordinate amount of time watching the update download, three minutes, transfer, one minute, install, two minutes, and apply, 30 seconds. It's ridiculous! I don't know why Microsoft doesn't make their products streamlined. I think the Zune is a great idea laden with too many features and gimmicks. To use a Zune you have to install separate music software. The Zune will not run off of WMP. WHY!?!?! Wouldn't it be so much easier if you just used WMP? I bought an IPod for it's ease of use and that is exactly what I got. There is a lot to be said about the simplicity of design in a Mac. The IPod needs competition to keep Apple innovative but Microsoft's attempt fell flat on it's face, as you can see here.

The Mac I bought was the Macbook. I think it's the best laptop for your money. My new Apple Macbook has a huge line of after market accessories that are easy to purchase at Amazon.com.

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Build A Monitor Riser To Save Space And Look Way Cool!

This is a fantastic looking way to economize on you desk space or just spiff it up. Here is what you do:

1. How much area you need on your new mini-desk? I picked 12 in. x 30 in. to give me plenty of space for my 22 inch wide screen, speakers, and whatever else my fancy decides I need up there (pen jars, peripherals, pictures, etc.). I have a large desk so it is not a big deal to have a 12×30 footprint.

2. How much space do you need underneath? I stuffed a huge 15 pound Alienware laptop, a keyboard, mouse, and all sorts of unsightly cords underneath with four inches. Everything on my desk is now organized and easy to keep organized!

3. What are your weight limitations? Since weight was not a problem for me I made mine out of steel for the coolness of durability. I also like the weight because it does not move around very easily if bumped. Never fear if you have a light duty desk though, there is still hope!

If you do need your cool new item to be light weight then consider using black ABS pipe (also called sewer pipe) for the legs and a sanded piece of wood for the table.

4. How much are you willing to spend? If you don’t mind spending a bit for this nifty item and you can handle the weight then make it out of steel. Steel is cool. I only spend $32 to get four, 3”x4”x1/4” tubes and a plate 12”x30”x1/4”. Cut and everything. To save money, request low grade steel as you won’t (or shouldn’t) rely on it to save your life. Low grade is plenty strong for what you are doing. I see now that I have mine built that I didn’t need the table top to be 1/4” thick. For steel you could go as low as 5/8” or even 3/16”. Although that may be pushing it.

5. Then you go to the hardware store and buy some primer and an enamel and give it a custom paint job. I recommend using primer as it will help the enamel stick better to the steel. You can get as creative as you like with the paint job. The more coats you give it the better it will turn out. Make sure you don’t build up to much paint at one spot and create a drop spot.

6. To finish the piece and give it a professional office look, call your local glass company and have them cut you a piece a glass the same dimensions of the desk. Make sure to order it seamed as well to take off the razor sharp edge. A 12”x30”x1/4” plate of seamed glass cost me $12. You should be able to get some tabs for free that will raise the glass a tiny bit above the table to keep it from getting scratched.

Summary of ingredients: 1. Four tubes in proportion to your desired size (ABS pipe or steel)

2. Table top (wood or steel)

3. Primer and enamel (primer goes on first, multiple coats are good)

4. Glass plate same size as table top (seamed for safety)

Total: $50 for me

I imagine you could do this for super cheap by using the ABS and wood and no glass.

There you go. An awesome looking mini-desk that saves you space for cheap.

Finding An Affordable Web Site Hosting Plan

Finding an affordable web site hosting plan is a must for new businesses or established businesses that are on a budget. Of course, as with most things, this is much easier said than done.

There are tons of hosting companies out there that claim to offer free or cheap web site hosting, but many of them have hidden fees or low quality services. A supposedly affordable web site hosting plan can quickly turn into a costly nightmare if you aren’t careful. This is why it is essential that you do your homework and research a number of hosting companies before making any final decisions.

Comparing Costs

If you are looking for cheap web site hosting, then you will obviously need to compare the costs that are charged by different hosting companies. Specific costs to look at when searching for an affordable web site hosting plan include site set up fees, monthly or annual maintenance fees, and any other fees that may be associated with the plan.

It should be noted that some hosting companies offer free set-up. If you can find a web host who is offering this in addition to low monthly hosting fees, you will of course be much better with this host versus another who makes you pay for the same service.

Features

Things to compare in addition to the cost when looking for cheap web site hosting services include the amount of storage space received with the plan, the programming languages supported by the web host, and the amount of customer support offered. Some hosting companies will offer all of these features in their basic or most affordable web site hosting plan, and others will not.

You will also want to take a look at the other services offered by the web hosting companies that you are considering. Some cheap web site hosting companies provide additional services such as domain name registration and web building tools. If you haven’t purchased a domain name yet or if you need help building your website, you may want to check to see if these services can be combined with the company’s most affordable web hosting plan. This could save you an enormous amount of money.

Other Considerations

If you have found a cheap web site hosting plan that has all of the features you need to build your web site, there are still a few other things that will need to be taken into consideration before you sign on the dotted line—the most important being reliability.

Some hosting companies who offer an affordable web hosting plan have one major downfall: they aren’t always reliable. Because you need the web site to work when people try to access it, reliability is going to be a must. This is why you should always ask hosting companies about downtime before signing up for cheap web site hosting. Last, but not least, you need to make sure that you will have all of the support you need if you choose the most affordable web hosting plan that is being offered to you. Specific things to ask about include technical support response time and customer service representative availability.

One great hosting company is hostgator.com. They offer affordable hosting for small websites to large database operated sites. Dedicated servers are available at competitive prices. Hostgator.com boasts at least a 99.9% uptime guarantee from their huge secure server facility. I recommend hostgator.com for all server needs.