I have a new favorite web site for the week – http://www.bugmenot.com. I learned about it from Time Magazine. Bugmenot.com is a place to share username and passwords for web sites that require them – but don’t requirement payment. The Minneapolis newspaper is one example. To access more than one story, the Star Tribune now … Continue reading →

In honor of Cinco de Mayo I thought I’d take a look at a couple of online translation tools: Babel Fish Translation Enter in a phrase or a web site address and Babel Fish will translate it for you. Languages available include most European languages, Chinese, Korean, and Japanese. Google Again enter in a phrase … Continue reading →

The Byte is a little unusual today. Someone sent me this fun list of household tips yesterday. I couldn’t resist passing it on in honor of the season of spring cleaning. I’ll post the top ten tips in this email and the whole list (40 items) on my web site with other “Digested Bytes.” I … Continue reading →

I wanted to tell you about 2 shopping related sites. First, Rick B. in Minneapolis told me about CompUSA’s fantastic search tool. You can do a keyword search, narrow it down by product, or check their directory of departments. It’s particularly helpful if you are looking for a part.Second, I read about a fun site … Continue reading →

I found a new favorite tool today – the improved Yahoo Map. I’ve always loved the online maps for directions, but now Yahoo will give you an interactive map of an area that can include things like restaurants, ATMs, gas stations, and more. Yahoo Maps I tried it out in my own neighborhood for listing … Continue reading →

Whether you’ve been celebrating Hanukah, finished celebrating the Winter Solstice, or are looking forward to Christmas or Kwanzaa, most of us are opening gifts at this time of year. Some gifts are perfect! Some don’t quite fit our style. Instead of trekking to the return counters, tracking down receipts, or re-gifting, consider selling your surplus … Continue reading →

This statistic is dated (Dec 2000), but according to the Identity Theft Clearinghouse, the average time it took for someone to notice identity theft had occurred to them was 14 months. Here is a short list of things you can do to minimize your risks. Check your own credit rating once a year. You can … Continue reading →

I have talked about this tool in the past – but the timing seems so good I had to mention it again. Froogle is a Google off-shoot. It indexes merchandise and will report back (in order of increasing price) merchandise that meets your keyword search. It looks like Google, it works like Google, and the … Continue reading →