Download TV Shows For Free

Mac Only:

I am an addict of the TV show House. That is odd because I don't watch TV. I used to get my fix off of iTunes for $1.99 a pop, now I get it for free.

My source is a simple program called "TV Shows" that organizes all the available episodes for download. All I have to do is select the show I want to watch, select the episode to start with, start Transmission, and I am off to the races. The Bittorents can be agonizingly slow or blazing fast, depending on the charity of the seeder.

Basically, TV Shows organizes available bit torrents of TV episodes. All you do is click and the program does it's best to keep up to date with the latest episode.

There are a ton of TV Shows to choose from. Probably a couple of hundred and the list is added to all the time.

Another great feature is that the episodes are usually in .avi format so you can import into iTunes very easily.

Click HERE to download. You will also need Transmission, the bit torrent download app for downloading the shows.

Update: I am told that this is now illegal. So don't do this...

How To Begin Investing To Build Wealth

Building wealth can be a daunting task for someone young or unfamiliar with the financial industry. To get involved without a good idea what you want can be dangerous for your financial future. However, to not get involved can be far more dangerous for that same future. So here is what you do.

1. Educate yourself

Find out what kind of investing would be the most profitable for you. The most profitable form of investing is always the same for everyone. It's whatever interests you the most. Don't try building wealth based on subjects you find boring. If you seem to find all subjects boring then find a good investment adviser and let him manage your money.

Here are some ideas for investing:
real estate
stock market
bonds
business

When you decide on a subject or multiple subjects then begin educating yourself. Go to the library, rent books, download podcasts, buy books, read everything you can, prepare yourself for any possible situation so you can take advantage of any situation, even situations that seem like problems.

2. Find a good investment adviser

In my opinion this is the most important part of investing. An educated, clever, and honest adviser will prevent you from making even the small mistakes that can cost you hundreds to millions of dollars.

You should make a list of local advisers in your area of interest and set up dates to interview them to advise you and help you manage your assets.

To know you have a good adviser you need to at least know the basics of investing. Don't expect the advisers you meet with to have your best interest in mind. Non-fiduciary advisers don't have the clients best interest at heart. They have a legal contract to put their broker service's interest first, then they will humanly put their interests second, and finally you come in a sad third. A fiduciary is a special, higher, certification that the adviser has the client's best interest at heart. These fiduciaries are the people you want helping you manage your money.

Get ALL of the fees and expenses associated with the adviser. Make sure you understand everything the adviser suggests.

3. Implement The Plan

Set goals that you want. The type of goals you have will dictate what you should invest in and how it should be managed.

Here are some ideas for goals:
growth
income
stability
safety
time span

4. Stick with the plan

Rarely will investing yield you astronomical gains. However, over time it can create HUGE wealth using compounding interest. Compounding interest is nothing to be ignored. To exemplify this I will show you some simple numbers.

$1,000 invested at a very reasonable rate of 8% over 50 years, yields $46,901.61

But.

$1,000 invested at 8% over 100 years, yields $2,199,761.26

You need to put the money in a tax shielded vehicle to capture the full effect of compounding interest. If the money is not in a tax shield vehicle then the interest gains will be reduced by taxes and the gains will take much longer to realize.

The fact is this. If you see these numbers and they don't impress you then move along. But if you do, then you have realized a huge asset. You are the type that can take information and run with it.

Here is a compounding interest calculator so you can do some of your own calculations.

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. If you really do well and apply yourself you can easily retire early. Then you can do whatever you want!

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 average 3% out of your bank then after taxes and inflation you are actually losing ground. 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. The reason he will recommend these expensive funds is because he gets paid from the sale.

Understand that your investment advisor needs to be well compensated IF they bring you a good yield on your money. However, most advisors will not bring you a consistent, safe, and high yield. What they will do is charge these fees:

1. 12-b1 fees (0.25% on average)
2. Expense ratios (mutual funds)
3. Loads (mutual funds)
4. Account Fees (these may be simple account maintenance fees and range up to very specific trade fees)

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 summarized into these few points.

1. Buy a company that has constantly 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.

Investment Advisor
Do your research and get a good advisor. Try to get an advisor with a fiduciary agreement. This is a special kind of advisor that is required by law to give you information that helps you first. Most investment advisors like Schwab, 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 advisor.

Don't rely on an emotional tie with your advisor 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 advisor.

Microsoft Re-Releases the iPod Killer...

In the mortal struggle between Microsoft and Apple, Microsoft has landed a killing blow. Introducing the Zune 2 (original, I know, but hear me out).

Fact:
You can pick from the 4GB, 8GB, and 80GB versions for your buying pleasure. Battery life comes in at an astoundingly bad 20 hours (compared to 52 hours from a 160 GB iPod).

Opinion:
Microsoft has oversold the experience market. Don't believe me? Watch this.


But in more serious matters here is a video from the design process.



Don't be hatin'.

Microsoft's Answer to the gPhone

It's called the oFone. The obsession with singular noun before the "phone" word has not been lost on Microsoft. Behold the idiotic oPhone. Apparently, judging from the video, Microsoft is still working out a few of the bugs. Like being able to read in a circle. There's got to be firmware update for that. 123.1.5 anyone?

Watch out Google... Apple... Or just... Never mind.

Android To Control Your Phone

Google has finally made progress into the mobile world. And not in a way you might think. While the gPhone remains humorously speculative an Android is going to town in your smart phone.

Essentially Google has made a way for crazy open source programs to do their best with modern smart phones. Doing what Google does best, encouraging innovation.

Android is an OS for phones that want to lack "proprietary obstacles." Meaning, if it can be programed then it can go on your phone. An early version of the developer SDK will be available on November 12th, 2007 and you can expect heavy development to ensue immediately.

Android was not Google's idea incidentally. The experience and resources that went into building the OS came from a company named Android acquired by Google in it's early 22 month growth stage. I suppose Google saw something it liked. Maybe an open door into the mobile market? The company was on the cutting edge of cellular development and carried a heavy and disproportionate load of industry experience.

This specific case of the ever encroaching Google Mass absorbing a related tech company and then producing a product designed from the purchased knowledge is what we can expect to see in the future. Google doesn't just buy a company on a whim without having a plan for it. Neither does it buy the 700 Mhz spectrum without a plan for it....

Android offers expandability, customoblity, and the word "free", to the cellular industry. It's up to them to accept. Judging from Google's HUGE user base it won't take long for more companies to jump on the open source bandwagon.

What do other companies have to say?

Well, Microsoft says "It really sounds that they are getting a whole bunch of people together to build a phone and that's something we've been doing for five years," said Scott Horn, from Microsoft's Windows Mobile marketing team. (Did Microsoft release an open source phone OS yet? Did I miss that or is that still coming after 5 stinking years?)

A bit defensive.

"If Google was not involved the industry would have just yawned and rolled over," said John Forsyth of Symbian.

"We don't see this as a threat." Nokia stated bluntly.

Well that's all good and fine but there is something these companies are missing. Google IS involved. Symbian was right to say that it's Google's involvement in Android that makes this a big deal. But that doesn't change the fact that because Google is involved we can expect to see some exciting changes in the phone business.