Category: Technology and Retail

With another holiday season upon us, it’s not too soon to start planning your gift buying budget. Since last year, the economy has changed, many well-known retailers are no longer in business, and it’s likely that those who still have jobs may not find a holiday bonus in their company…

It’s hard to believe than another holiday season is upon us. With all good intentions, most of us will make a promise to ourselves that we will shop early and shop smart. But unfortunately, in most cases, life's routines and little emergencies usually force us to shop at the last…

Each year more people are becoming victims of identity theft. When this happens, it could take years for the person to regain their rightful identity and their good credit standing. And the bad news is that identity thieves are getting much more sophisticated about identity theft and will stop at…

Christmas spending during the pandemic was relatively low in comparison with other years, but that’s all set to change this Christmas as Americans return to spending money. According to the National Retail Federation (NRF), shoppers are ready to part with their cash this holiday season and have forecast record retail…

Credit card fraud is on the rise worldwide as we move from a paper/cash based economy to an electronic/online one. For this reason it's important to be aware of credit card security and to protect your financial identity. Many people are not fully aware of the extent of credit card fraud, but…

Google plays a big part in my life and my blogging business. Apart from it's Adsense publisher program which provides the bulk of this blog's income, Google's search engine provides the basis and background for a number of the topics that I write about. I am not alone with 70%…

If you've bought an appliance or electronic gadget in the last few years, the sales person has probably tried to sell you an extended warranty or insurance plan. Often they justify it as a relatively small purchase, and isn't the peace of mind worth? Unfortunately, many of us are sucked in and end up…

With the recent release of Microsoft's new operating system, Windows 7.0, I now have two enticing choices when it comes to getting a new laptop. I currently have a desktop PC running Vista (which isn’t as bad as some make it out to be) and an older model laptop. Thanks…

The Federal energy-efficient appliance rebate program or Cash for Appliances program as it is more commonly known is now live in a number of states. The program will provide $300 rebates for Energy Star electric heat-pump water heaters, $100 for super-efficient clothes washers and $50 for super-efficient refrigerators. The program…

As a relatively new small business owner working from home, one of the money saving technologies I have been looking into is VoIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol) telephony. A broadband or VoIP phone is like a regular phone except it uses high speed Internet to make calls at a fraction of the…

The recent run up in Apple stock (AAPL) over the last three months has made me one happy stock holder indeed. My ill fated and much disparaged purchase last year (see comments) of the stock at $180+ had many saying that I was crazy to buy. I always had a…

Part of setting up my new small business home office, meant getting a new PC that I could use to write for this blog no matter where I was at home or on the road. Initially I started my search looking at standard laptops/notebooks from the usual makers Dell, HP…

The internet and it's evolution is synonymous with the leadership in American technology. However, like every thing else, the world is catching up and over taking the US. One clear example of this is internet usage, which is now the highest in China as shown in the graphic from a…