Portable Hard Drive with USB Dock

My Passport Elite | Ultra-Portable Hard Drives with USB Dock, Capacity Gauge And Drive Lock Indicator: 

"One of the storage industry’s pioneers and long-time leaders, Western Digital (WD) has launched its new ultra-portable My Passport Elite portable hard drives, which feature a convenient USB dock for storage on the go, as well as illuminated capacity gauge and drive lock indicator that let users check at-a glance how much space is left and whether their data is secure or not."

I have two external HDD's on my home network, one USB one ethernet, and they work out well for my SOHO PC needs. Traveling is a different story, I own two  old  vintage laptops with limited disk space so I've been looking at these personal portable hard drives for quite some time.  The security functions work out great when you're traveling, and it has quite a bit of storage for your pictures, music, and videos. Keep your eyes open for some pricing deals on this one by following the Bargain Blogs listed on the left hand column. For those of you who are more technically orientated, it's also possible to put a Linux OS on one of these drives and use it to boot any computer you come across in your travels.

No Knead Bread

I ran across this video a few years back and thought that with everyone cutting back to save money I'd share it with you. It's from the NYTimes and it's by Mark Bittman, a.k.a. The Minimalist. Mark shares the recipe on how to make no-knead bread, where the secret is letting the time do the work. The recipe was made famous by The Sullivan Street Bakery (NYC my home town) and has been reproduced and modified on many a baking web site since the video and NYTimes article were published. I use the recipe myself for both bread and pizza, and I highly recommend it. However, in the spirit of full disclosure, I prefer active dry yeast to instant yeast which seems to be in vogue these days. Active dry gives the bread/pizza a better taste than instant. The ultimate is cake/block yeast, but unfortunately it is almost impossible to find in "beautiful downtown Durham" or most anywhere for that matter.

Baking bread at home saves hundreds of dollars on groceries every year. With this easy method, you can still have that deliciously crusty-on-the-outside, moist-and-chewy-on-the-inside, rustic bread with out the gourmet price tag.

Reverse Mortgages

Declining home values squeeze Reverse Mortgages:
"Declining home values have put a serious squeeze on one of the mortgage market's most popular and fastest-growing financing concepts: the Federal Housing Administration's reverse mortgage program for seniors 62 and older. In a letter to reverse mortgage lenders Sept. 23, FHA Commissioner David Stevens said his agency must reduce the maximum amounts seniors can receive on reverse mortgages because of a $798 million estimated deficit in the program in the coming fiscal year."

I don't know about you but I've always felt that these financial vehicles were a bad deal for both parties.

1. The banks made them thinking they could rob seniors of future equity growth in the house. What a shock when they found out that real estate doesn't always go up in value.
2. The seniors made them thinking it was free money, but never considered; the Medicaid implications of the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005, other tax benefits associated with having a mortgage, and complicated inheritance issues.

The last 15+ years of tinkering with housing by the Federal Govt. has turned out to be a disaster. 

Grand kid's first bike without the training wheels

Gyrobike's Gyrowheel stabilizes bike without the training wheels:
"Being the fine physical specimens that we are, even from an early age, we of course had little trouble learning how to ride a bike without external help, but we're sure **some hapless child out there will welcome the Gyrowheel as salvation from the embarrassment of training wheels. The 12-inch wheel (a 16-inch version is in the works) replaces a standard front tire and has an adjustable-speed spinning disc inside, powered by a rechargeable battery. The idea is that you get the kid started on a high stability setting, and step them down until they're not using the gyro at all. It goes on sale this December and should retail for around $100. Video of it in action is after the break."

For you grand parents out there, here's something to make Christmas magical for the grand kids. Check out the video in the article, it is awsome. I'm working on a method that will allow me to embed a video directly into the post. Check back in a couple of days and I should have a YouTube video up and running.

Weight loss - Lifehacker

Five Best Weight-Management Tools:
"There's no magic bullet for fitness and weight loss—although most would argue 'eat less, move more' is a excellent starting point. One pattern that is definitely prominent among the comments of Lifehacker readers in our call for contenders for this week's Hive Five, however, is that if there is a magic bullet for weight loss, it's tracking. Whether you're using a spreadsheet, a notebook, or some of the great web and mobile phone-based solutions you'll see below, the biggest element in our readers' weight-loss success has been tracking their food intake and exercise activity."

I felt I was getting too Gloomy Doomy with the economy stuff so I thought I'd lighten it up (no pun intended) with some health news. Since almost everyone I know is trying to lose or control their weight, this article on management tools caught my eye and I thought I'd pass it on to you.
Enjoy!

World Bank In Trouble

Could 'Run Out of Money' within 12 months - Telegraph UK:

"The Bank, whose job it is to support low-income countries, has had to hand out so much cash in the wake of the financial crisis that its resources could run dry within 12 months.

"By the middle of next year we will face serious constraints,” said its president Robert Zoellick, as he launched a major campaign to persuade rich nations to pour more money into the Washington-based institution."

Well here's something else for Boomers to worry about in our Golden Years.

I wonder which country will be asked to step up to the plate and contribute the lions share of money to the World Bank? I wonder whose country's politicians will be tripping all over themselves proposing funding bills for "the great humanitarian effort" to save the World Bank? My prediction is that whatever country it is, it will be a Herculean Bi-partisan Effort to give away more of that country's dwindling assets.

You get the point.

Economy Down But Chip Sales Up

Sales Of Potato Chips Thriving In Recession:

"It seems that those of us who aren't chewing our nails these days are busy chewing potato chips. Chip sales have leaped by 22% since the economy started to go south, according to market research firm Mintel, which compared 2007 market data against its own market estimate for the category for full-year 2009."

I can't figure out why the sales are up, the price per pound on those things are outrageous, you can buy a pound of chop meat cheaper. When I do buy them, it's generally my local Kroger brand, they are as good as the national brand, but 1/2 the price (on sale of course).

 I will tell you one thing, supermarket Seniors Discount Days are getting very popular around here, with a %5 discount it's small wonder. Krogers is Tuesday, Harris Teeter is Thursdays and Food Lion is empty all week because it doesn't have one. I've even noticed that Targets food department is devoid of gray haired people because they're all buying on senior's day.

I'm sure you've noticed all of the pictures in my posts lately. Well it's because I've just learned how to insert them using a nifty text editor function, and I've also found that Google and Bing have a large collection of images to choose from.

Google Web Site Experiment

I'm thinking of setting up a Google Web Site to supplement my knowledge of Internet Publishing. It could also be a good way to make some extra cash by teaching people how to create their own Blogs and Web sites.

I had originally intended to graduate from Google Blog to a more robust blog platform called WordPress, but I think I'll hold off on that until I try Google Sites.

Google products have a few things going for them:

1. FREE
2. EASY (if you stick to basics)
3. TEACHABLE
   

You can't ask for anything more, did I mention FREE?

The Dark Side Of Debt

Introducing a new product, "Insurance": 
"The boys at The Economist are once again sounding the alarm over hedge funds, derivatives, and now dark matter. No, not the chimerical good will and brand value used by some supply-siders to rationalize away the huge trade deficit - the dark matter in this case is debt. As in the current cover story, The Dark Side of Debt.

There are three stories in the current issue about the new dark matter that is driving the world economy - there may be more than three, as the entire magazine has not yet been reviewed. Surprisingly, all three are in the public area of the website, available to passersby at no charge. The cover story starts the ball rolling, wondering what a low-interest rate world hath wrought."

Let me preface the following remarks with the statement "I am a capitalist, I've always been a capitalist, I will always be a capitalist".
BUT......... these guys are killing the goose that laid the golden egg.

More Health Tips

Five hospital secrets you should know:

"While most patients check in and out without incident, there are plenty who haven't been as lucky. On average, one person at every hospital is harmed by a drug error -- every day, according to a 2006 study by the Institute of Medicine. It gets worse. The Centers for Disease Control estimates that roughly two million people a year get hospital-related infections, many of which are potentially lethal. About 195,000 patients die each year from hospital errors, according to healthcare ratings firm HealthGrades."

It's amazing how many health related articles I've run across this week. But then again, it beats all the other depressing news the media is throwing our way.