Life Little Lessons...

TightVNC Portable

2009-12-18T09:25:00.000-08:00

I've heard a lot of great things about tightVNC from my friends and decided I am going to try it out today.

As part of their promotion, you can get a free license to the portable edition by linking to their website on your blog!

Check them out at www.tightVNC.com

Happy remote controlling!

Make $25 on ING

2009-04-22T10:01:00.001-07:00

I have been using ING Direct for as an online saving account for some times now. Today I received an offer to make $25 dollars by opening up a checking account with them. To sign u p and receive the bonus, you have to use the reference code: EM256.

The nice thing about having an online checking account is that there's very fees that is usually applied to the traditional checking account like ATM and check fees. ING allows you to use their vast networks of ATMs without a fee and you can also write a virtual check to anyone you want to send money to.

Here's the content of the email I received. Go make (and save) some money and have fun!

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Go Green. Save Green. Earn Green.

Manage your account and pay bills online with Electric Orange checking. There's no need for stamps, envelopes or inconvenient trips to the bank or post office. It's good for the wallet - good for the environment, too. Plus free features like:

Access to over 35,000 free ATMs
A Debit MasterCard® to make purchases
No monthly fees or minimums

Earn a $25 bonus for card purchases.

Open your account by May 31, 2009 and use your Debit Card to make 3 signature-based transactions within the first 45 days. On day 50, we'll put $25 in your account.

Go to www.ingdirect.com/electric to learn more. Don't forget to enter Reference Code EM256 to be eligible for the $25.

Is A Penny Worth 30 Seconds of Your Time?

2009-04-18T12:30:00.000-07:00

Recently, I came accross a program called Clixsense.com that supposedly pays you up to $5 per ad that you view. With some extra time and the prospect of $5, I was willing to check out their site.

Not to my surprise, what I found offered instead was not $5 but more like $0.01 per ad watched.

Could you make $5/ad? Maybe. I think you may be able to do it if you work up the ladder of some kind of pyramid scheme that they have set up.

Promises: $5.00
Reality: $0.01

Well, that's my two cents, free! :)

Best Choices for 37-inch LCD TVs (Consumer Reports)

2009-04-08T15:08:00.000-07:00

If you are in the market for a 37-inch LCDTV like I was... here's what Consumer Reports have rated best in this category.

For 1080p sets they recommended:

1. Panasonic TC-37LZ800 ($1200, Retail) - for highest in picture quality and widest viewing angles.

2. Panasonic TC-37lz85 ($900, Retail) - this also recieved the highest rating for picture quality and viewing angles but the first model has a glossier screen!

3. Sony Bravia KDL-37XBR6 ($1500, Retail) - in addition to great picture quality, it also has four HDMI inputs (rare)

For the 720p sets, these TVs recieved the best bang for the buck:

1. Toshiba Regza 37CV510U ($750, Retail) - this one is noted for its good picture quality and viewing angles.

2. Insignia NS-LCD37-09 ($650, Retail) - this TV recieved best overal performance and excellent HD picture quality.

Good luck with all of you who are searching for a new set. Remember, to keep your eyes open as April is a good time to buy a TV especially since new models just arrived and old inventory needs to be replaced.

Dell Television Coupon Has a Redemption Limit

2009-03-21T00:25:00.000-07:00

So I am still in the market for a new TV. Consumer Reports recommends a Panasonic model but for right now its out of my price range so I've decided on a Vizio model. With a little research and a little luck I found on Fatwallet.com a great deal on a Vizio 32" LCDTV 720p for $350! All you had to do was enter a coupon code before the expiration date and voila!

Well, it turns out that the coupon was limited to the first 95 people... so now I am still in search mode and crossing my finger to find a Panasonic 37" 1080p LCDTV under $600. With this economy, I am hoping the price on TVs with be reduced further.

Just a side note, I've read on 'Bottom Line' that March is a good time to buy a TV because prices will be lower to accomodate the new models entering the market.

Will keep you posted on what I will eventually find.

If you found a great deal... please do post it in the comment!

Lenovo T500 and Wubi Linux

2009-03-17T14:11:00.000-07:00

Recently I decided to install and learn how to use Linux on my IBM / Lenovo T500 laptop having seen how easy it is to install from Vista. I learned from youtube that all you need is the Wubi program. The whole system could be installed and removed right from Windows! If you want the link to the program is type in 'wubi' in the search bar of Google.com and it should be the first thing that show up. But after about 2 hours of trying to get the program to install and failed here's what I learned that you need to do to get the program to install correctly.

The Lenovo T500 is a great laptop that comes with two graphic cards -- an integrated and a discreet card -- that is swappable without having to reboot the computer. Unfortunately, the Wubi Linux system currently does not have this hot swapping capability. So when you go to install the program it fails to find the correct display driver. So in order to fix this problem, you have to decide first which graphic card you want to use and manually set the correct type in the BIOS. On the Lenovo T500, the BIOS can be accessed by pressing F1 while the system is booting up. There's no on screen indicator about this so I had to learn it the hard way by trying with the various key combiniations (i.e. DEL, ESC, F12, ThinkAdvantage and F1) before find the right one.

Once you set the display card, Wubi should be able to complete the installation process without any problems.

Complete instructions can be found here: WUBI on the T500

Expand Wireless Network with a Repeater!

2009-03-06T21:41:00.000-08:00

I have known for some time now that you could technically expand your wireless network by using a second router/repeater. I first learned about this from reading about the Apple Airport Express and its ability to not only extend the wireless network but also broadcast iTune music etc. Let say you live in a two story building and your main route happends to be stuck in the basement and your computer is on the second floor that could not get a strong the signal or no signal at all. The repeater would act like a virtual extension chord that you would place on the main floor where it would boost the signal into the second floor.

In theory, I know it is possible for two routers to talk to each other and extend the range of the network but I don't us a Mac or own an Aiport Extreme Router. What I do have is some old linkys routers that is not programmed to repeat signals. The secret is that most wireless router has the capability to being a repeater but they lack the programming (by design?)

With that knowledge, all you have to do is upgrade the software in your old router (also known as a firmware) to WW-DRT, configure the router, and voila! you are in business :)

Here's the link to ww-drt website for more details: http://www.dd-wrt.com/

Good luck and let me know if this post has been helpful to you.

Capitol One and GMAC Bank: Best Credit and Debit Cards to Travel With

2009-03-05T12:10:00.000-08:00

For those of you who would travel a lot may already know this but for the uninitiated I would like to share with you my favorite credit cards and (debit cards too) to use when I travel. Here are the problems I am faced with when travelling abroad as it relates to money:

A) I don't want to carry too much CASH on hand because I don't want to get loose them or god forbid, be robbed with a ton of cash in my pocket :P In general, I just don't like to have a lot of cash on me.

B) If the country I am travelling to uses a different currency -- I never feel like I am getting a great deal when I am exchanging the currency at the counters in the airport or even the local banks. The rates they have is below the exchange rates and they even charge a service fee on top of everything. I found that some banks will not even convert money for you even at discounted rates.

C) If I decided to use my debit cards, my local banks, WellsFargo, charged $5 for foreign ATM machines, and a conversion fee of something like 2%. Sometimes my debit card charges more fees then the people currency exchange counter.

D) If I use my credit cards -- a conversion fee, around 2%, applies on top of the currency conversion rates.

So the short of it is that I end up feeling nicked and dimed every time I need access to cash UNTIL I did some research and found a better system. Now I carry two cards with me whenever I travel:

1) Capitol One Credit Card - this card does not charge a conversion fee and gives great exchange rates. The company absorbs the cost of exchanging the currency. I have not found any other company that offer this service. As a result, I use this card primarily.

2) GMAC Bank Debit Card -- For access to CASH, before I travel I would set aside a certain amount of cash that I think I would need from my local bank and transfer the funds electronically to the GMAC account and take the debit card with me. GMAC does not charge an ATM service fee -- so all I have to do is use the ATM I come across in the foreign country.

Through this method, I minimize paying all of the fees and avoid carrying a large amount of cash on my body while having access to local currency (as long as there's atm around, of course.) I haven't figured out a way to travel to countries without a strong banking system other than carrying cash.

Anyone else have different ideas? Please comment!

Costco does not sell TVs listed in the Consumer Reports

2009-03-03T11:29:00.001-08:00

For the past few weeks, I have doing some research about latest LCD TVs. My last 32' VIZIO died about a month a go - it made a loud crackling noise before the screen went black. The TV was about 2.5 years old. Fortunately we were able to return it to Costco for a partial refund and went it search for a new set.

I learn a great deal about LCD TVs from the March issue of Consumer Reports and settled upon buying a Panasonic brand.

Here's the fine prints:

Costco does not carry any television listed in the consumer reports. In fact, I learned from a customer that Costco actually carry their own private label TVs which means that you will not be able to find a Costco TV at BestBuy, Target, or at any other major electronic retailers.

I wonder if this is true for all of the major chains? Do you have any experience with this? Please comment and let me know what you think.

Update:
We finally decided to buy a Toshiba TV at Costco:

It is the Toshiba 37AV52R with 37" LCD and 720p.

The final price was $540.00 (MSRP $699)

Costco gave us a 10% discount along with an $50 instant Manufacture Rebate.

After our 32" VIZIO LCD TV died 2 mothns ago, we decide to try another brand - lets hope that this one lasts longer.

Remote Desktop Limitations

2009-03-02T13:12:00.000-08:00

Having spent several hours trying to use Remote Desktop to connect my home laptop and desktop together and failing repeatedly... I consulted the help files to discover:

You cannot use Remote Desktop Connection to connect to computers running Windows Vista Starter, Windows Vista Home Basic, Windows Vista Home Basic N, or Windows Vista Home Premium, and you can only create outgoing connections from those editions of Windows Vista.

You cannot use Remote Desktop Connection to connect to computers running Windows XP Home Edition.

If this helps you, leave me a comment.