I just bought a Slingbox Solo for the times that I travel and just absolutely positively have to access my TV for things like sporting events.  Not only will I be in a foreign country when the big football game is on but I will be in transit during the hours the game is being televised so I cannot even find a sports bar with a satellite dish to satisfy my needs.  I will need to tape the game via my DVR (my cable companies TIVO) and then watch the game later that night on my computer from the hotel room.
(I will tell you how it works out.)

 It got me thinking about the growing trend of people watching TV Video on anything but a TV.  People love their video whether it’s an episode or clips from their favorite TV shows or whether it is the overnight sensations like the cat playing piano while riding an elephant that a friend just emailed you.  More and more of the internet enabled are moving away from watching digital media from TVs to other screens, such as their computers, tablets or phones. ---

According to eMarketer (February, 2011), 60.5% of Internet users were also online video viewers.  This number jumps to 65% in 2010 and 76% by 2015.  Will there be no need for TVs in the future?  Cable companies were concerned about the trend and forecasts.  However, surprisingly (or maybe not), consumers who have said they wanted to cut their pay-TV service, according to surveys, have not actually done so.

A Harris Poll survey (released October, 2010) asked Internet users in the US where they watched their TV shows.  As one would expect, 95% of Internet users age 55 and up said they watched their shows either primarily on TV or mostly on TV but sometimes on computer.  More interestingly, 70% of the Internet users in the age group 18-34, they still watched primarily or mostly on TV.  12% said they watched mostly or primarily on their computer. An Opinion Research Corp survey done for Accenture (March, 2011) listed the leading frustrations when watching online video according to Internet users worldwide.

• Time required to buffer/download/play video
• Advertising during the program
• Poor video quality
• Poor navigation/search/EPS
• Increased broadband/high-speed data costs from downloading video

I think the cable TV companies are safe for the moment but as technology improves, we will likely see TV video viewing continue its migration to other devices.  So hold onto that TV of yours and enjoy the big screen… or like me, use the TV for the DVR capabilities so I can Slingbox things to my computer and me around the world.

If you want to reduce your cost of home heating and cooling, there's no more effective way than with a programmable thermostat.  Our daily deal for the Honeywell RTH6350 can't be beat.  It's an easy-to-install and easy-to-program thermostat for almost any kind of heating and cooling (except electric baseboard).  You'll see it elsewhere for its list price of $59.99 or maybe on Amazon.com for $53, but no one comes close to our daily deal price of just $35.99 including FREE shipping, handling and 90-day trial of HomeESP Premier.

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My two-year-old Toshiba laptop PC was running great... until it started to shut down all by itself.  It would just switch off right in the middle of whatever I was doing, and usually while I was doing something with a database, spreadsheet or writing a blog post.

A couple of times, I lost my work as the machine, when it shut down, left me with corrupted files.  This casued me to lose a few hours of time rebuilding files that were lost.

As it turns out, a laptop shutting down unexpectedly is a symptom of dirt and dust getting in the vents of the laptop case and clogging the fan and heat sink on the CPU of your computer.  With less air getting in the case because of the clog, and less air reaching the heat sinks on the CPU, it's no surprise that it might overheat.

At first, I thought I would have to take the case apart to clean the vent and inside of the computer. After looking at the back of the laptop, this seemed like a daunting task.  In looking closely at the fan and vents, I realized I could probably just vacuum the vents and get much of the dust and dirt back out of the PC.

So I placed the laptop on a countertop, and placed my vacuum hose directly over the fan vent on the back of the case.  I did it a few times to make sure that I got all the dust that would come out.  Then I worked on the vent to the side of the case nearest the fan vent and did the same thing.  Here, I had to use a finger to close off part of the vent as it was bigger than the diameter of the vacuum hose.

I use a utility to monitor the performance and CPU heat on my laptop, called Core Temp, which is free and you can download at this link.  My CPU used to run at 85 to 98 degrees centigrade before it shut down when it reached 100 degrees (boiling).  Now, since I cleaned the dust out, it runs at 65 to 75 degrees centrigrade, and never overheats.

So, you don't need a new laptop if it shuts down unexpectedly due to overheating.  You can fix it for free with this simple DIY tip!  If you try it, please comment below and tell me of your success.

Electricity costs will continue to rise, so we are well served to become more energy efficient and reduce wasteful spending in our home budgets.  A Kill A Watts an electrical monitoring device that helps you determine how efficient your appliances are and how much energy each consumes.  I bought one to try and see if it was effective and useful as an energy saving device.  

Was it a good investment?

If you're like me, you want to save energy with programmable thermostats and reduce cost and waste with rechargeable batteries.  What could be better than putting the two together?  Well, almost anything, it turns out, because rechargeable NiMH batteries (like the Sanyo Eneloop) are lower voltage and can throw off your digital thermostat.

As it turns out, leading manufacturers like Honeywell and Lux specify AAA or AA Alkaline batteries for their programmable thermostats, with a recommended one-year replacement cycle unless a low-battery indicator is visible.  I found out the hard way that rechargeable batteries were wrong for this application when we had no heat in the main level of our two-story home.  I noticed that the back-light on the thermostat wasn't working but didn't connect that with a battery issue (doh!).  When the service technician came to the house, he quickly verified that the boiler and downstairs air handler were operating correctly, and that the thermostat wires were able to close the circuit and call for heat.  So suspicion quickly fell on the thermostat.

It sounds like the beginning of a joke; how many people does it take to change a light bulb.  When you are talking about changing the light bulb in a high-hat canister in a ceiling 22 or more feet high, it is no joke.  I learned the hard way that it is easy to make mistakes and cost yourself money.  Here is my home repair story and how to avoid the issues I faced.

Our family room has double height ceilings and a light bulb went out.  I went to change the bulb, with great confidence, using my extension pole extended as far as it could go and standing on my tip-toes.  Home centers, hardware stores and shopping sites sell adjustable pole-mounted bulb changers with different pieces that fit different shaped bulbs.  I had successfully used my bulb-changing extention pole often over the years on bulbs in 12-foot ceiling when a ladder was not accessable.  

 

I expected this to be a more delicate operation but not that big a deal.  I was able to grasp the bulb and start to twist but I could not get the bulb to release from the socket.  I twisted and twisted until I twisted the canister, breaking it and causing it to dangle dangerously.  But the worst part was that I could not get the pole to release from the light bulb.  So now I had the canister and pole dangling from the sky.

A friend came over to the house and taught me some important tips.  First he was able to remove the bulb changer basket from the bulb without ripping down the canister.  Then he switched from the wire mesh basket piece that is designed to go around the light bulb to the suction cup piece that you affix to the bottom of the bulb.  He easily suctioned to the bulb and twisted it out of the socket and carefully brought the bulb down to earth.  

In today’s connected world, it’s not uncommon for a family of four to find themselves with a  monthly cell phone bill of $200 or more.  You only review your plans when you get a surprisingly large bill (when you beg the company to give you a credit and revise your plan) or when adding a phone.

Most carriers allow you to modify your plan without a charge during your contract period.  But with millions of cell phone plan combinations, it’s impossible to make the best choice for you – one that provides the text messaging, data, minutes and devices you want, at the lowest monthly cost.

Enter billshrink.com.  It has plan and promotion data from all the leading carriers and, if you allow it, can analyze your most recent bill and suggest the best changes to your current contract as well as alternatives to consider at other carriers.  If you don’t want to provide your wireless account information, you can enter your usage data easily enough.

I bought the boiler controller on eBay for around $200 and will have it installed for about $130 by my oil company (this is about 1/2 cost I've been offered elsewhere).  If it can save me 10% of my oil use, around 200 gals, it will pay for itself in less than one year (current price of oil is $2.29).  Will let everyone know how it goes!  Might need to add a sensor for the hot water storage tank... complications!