Money for Gadgets

Favorite Google Chrome Extensions

noreply@blogger.com (Justin Taylor) — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 02:52:00 +0000

I've been using Google Chrome as my browser of choice for a while now. There are two main reasons it has become my go to browser. The first reason is the simplicity of it. I made my bookmarks, and that's it. I've never had to mess with any settings. The second reason is the extensions available. Looking back, I don't know what I did before using extensions. They're like mini applications, similar to iPhone apps, but they are always there for me, just sitting in my browser, sending me alerts of new tweets, new items in Google Reader, controlling my web based music player. Here is a short list of some of my favorites.

1. Chrowety
Chrowety is a versatile Twitter client for chrome. With one click of a button, I've got access to all my mentions, messages, lists and favorites, and I also get an alert whenever someone I follow posts a new tweet. Plus, I can post a new tweet, share a link, and reply to messages all from the extension.

2. Facebook
Like Chrowety, the Facebook extension gives me quick access to everything essential on Facebook. I can see my friend's recent updates, my notifications, even chat from the extension. No playing Farmville from the extension, but that's something that I'm completely okay with.

3. Toodlechrome
I use the web based service Toodledo to keep up with all my todos. Remember the Milk is great, but I find that I can access Toodledo from all the same places, and there are more features (not to mention it's completely free). Toodlechrome shows all of my upcoming reminders, and I can make new reminders right from the extension, while everything syncs seamlessly between the extension, the website, and my phone.

4. Chromeshark
I love Grooveshark. It's an online jukebox that's like a web based iTunes. Most popluar music is available on the service, and you can upload your own music to add to the collection. The only problem is that you constantly have to keep a window open to play it, and go back to that window to use the controls. Half of that problem is solved with Chromeshark, which puts basic play/pause and last/next song controls on whatever page I'm on.

These are some of the extensions I've grown to love. Feel free to comment with extensions you love for Chrome.

My favorite iPhone Applications

noreply@blogger.com (Justin Taylor) — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 14:58:00 +0000

I’ve had my iPhone for a few months now, and I’ve found some apps (mostly free) that I now can’t live without. Here are just a few of those.

1. Twitterific

Before I got my iPhone, Twitter was just a hobby. Now it’s an addiction. I use Twitterific to keep in touch with my old college friends, and more importantly, celebrities. My favorite feature of Twitterific is Trends. It keeps me up to date with breaking news quicker than traditional news sites, it’s where I first found out that Michael Jackson died. There are plenty of other Twitter apps out there for the iPhone, but for my needs, Twitterific is the best.

2. Shovel

Shovel is an app that shows the top stories on Digg. I find a lot of my tech news using this app. It’s not limited to just the top stories, though; you can also view up and coming stories and brand new stories.

3. Kashbook

Kashbook is what I do all my budgeting on. I don’t have very much Excel knowledge, so I need an app that does it all for me. What I like about Kashbook is that you can create multiple accounts, so I make new accounts for all my budgeting categories (groceries, dining, etc.). The straightforward and intuitive interface has made Kashbook my finance app of choice.

4. Todo

For quite a while I used Remember the Milk to manage my to do list. When I got my iPhone however, I couldn't find any apps that would sync with RTM without me having a pro account (I know it’s only $25 a year, but I’m such a cheapskate I can’t bring myself to pay it). Then I tried the lite version of Todo, and discovered that it could sync with Toodledo. This was a big deal to me, since I wanted an app that would sync with a web service so I could access my to do list even if I didn’t have my iPhone. I liked it so much I eventually broke down and gave up the $9.99 for the full version. Now I have everything completely synced, as I can sync Toodledo with my Google calendar, which syncs with outlook on my computer, which syncs with iCal on my iPhone.

These are just a few of the apps I’ve found so far that I now can’t live without. Feel free to leave some comments about your favorite iPhone apps.

A Great Idea

noreply@blogger.com (Justin Taylor) — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 02:47:00 +0000

High yield free checking accounts are the greatest thing ever thought of. It's free checking, and for most of them, if you have your direct depoist go to that account, you can earn some nice interest rates on the money in your account. The highest I've seen is 5.5%. Head over to Checking Finder to check them out.

My bank was sold today

noreply@blogger.com (Justin Taylor) — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 02:24:00 +0000

Just as I've been fearing, my bank, Wachovia, was sold to Citigroup today. Now, I love Wachovia, but I had a credit card with Citi before and they gave me some trouble, so I'm a little nervous about how much things are going to change at Wachovia now.

What about you, Washington Mutual customers, or anyone whose bank has recently been sold, have you had anything weird happen to your accounts after your bank was bought?

How I'm staying orgainzed in schoool

noreply@blogger.com (Justin Taylor) — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 04:02:00 +0000

To be honest, I'm not a very good student. There are a lot of things I would rather do than homework, I'm just not a bookworm kind of guy. I'm also not very organized. This is a double-edged sword when it comes to school. I have always had a tough time keeping track of assignments, when they're due, what they are, etc. This year I decided to stay on top of things and get organized. Here's how I'm doing it.

1. Remember The Milk
    This has been the key to me staying on top of things this semester. Remember The Milk is like an online to do list, and it's as basic or as advanced as you want it to be. It's simple to add tasks, but from there you can also add tons of information about that task, assign priorities, and have the service send reminders to you by e-mail or even sms. There's also a Firefox extension that will put your list right into Gmail, which kills two birds with one stone, and gives you a nice reminder of what you need to do every time you check your e-mail. At the beginning of the semester, I put all my assignments on Remember The Milk, and it's made life so much easier. It's almost like having a personal assistant.

2. Google Docs
    Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that I completely ditched the Office suite for Google Docs. I still write all my papers and create all my presentations in Microsoft's trusty old horse. However, my computer is fairly slow, and having to fire up Word every time I want to double check one little thing in my paper is a hassle. So when I'm done writing a paper or creating a presentation, I just upload it to Docs, and from there I can have speedy access to my documents without having to open a bunch of programs. I also uploaded all my syllabi to Docs, so I can have quick and easy access to them.

3. Being consistent
    I've tried many different programs and methods to stay organized before, but without getting into a routine, everything else has failed. Consistently using the system I'm using now without giving up after a week has been the key to me staying organized so far this semester. And my grades have been better for it.

Anybody do anything else to stay on top of things during the school year?

My computer to television setup

noreply@blogger.com (Justin Taylor) — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 15:33:00 +0000

I finally got around to buying a cable so I could hook my computer up to my 52" television. I have an iMac, so I bought a mini dvi to composite dongle, which only cost me $20. I also had some miniplug to audio compostie cables for audio. I got it hooked up in around a minute, with no technical knowledge required. It did have to adjust the display resolution to the television so everything wouldn't be huge and jumbled, but other than that setup was a snap. The picture on the television is a little blurry, but I believe an mini dvi to hdmi cable will solve that. Video, however, looks decent, so it's good enough for now. Right now I use logmein.com through my wife's laptop to use as a "remote control," but I plan on eventually getting a wireless keyboard with a trackpad, which will be much easier.

So far, everything is working great. I've watched a lot of hulu videos and other random web videos, and I love it.

Here are some pics:

Make my iMac a Media Center PC

noreply@blogger.com (Justin Taylor) — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 03:46:00 +0000

I've just had the first big problem with my 4 year old iMac. There is a huge white line down the middle of the screen that I can't see behind. This is an annoyance, but I've also wanted to hook my computer up to my 52" television, so I consider this the perfect excuse. I just ordered a cable that will let me use my television as a display, and down the road I'm going to get a wireless keyboard with a trackpad on it so I can use the computer from the couch.

This actually might end up saving me some money. Because of the increasing amount of video content online, I may soon be able to do away with cable, since most of the shows I watch are online for free. I should be able to watch Netflix "watch now" movies, since I have Windows through Virtual PC, so that will cut down on my Blockbuster trips.

An easy way to keep track of bills

noreply@blogger.com (Justin Taylor) — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 17:06:00 +0000

We all have a lot of bills to keep track of, and it can get pretty frustrating to remember when they're all due how much is due. The rise of online billpaying and statements has made this easier, but it's still a hassle to go to each biller's website to keep track of everything.

About six months ago, I discovered billQ. It's an easy to use website where you list your bills, and it keeps track of them for you, showing you which bills are due when and how much is due. It even has widgets you can download that will automatically sync with the website, so you can enter new bills straight from your desktop.

I've been using billQ for quite a while now, and I haven't had any problems with the service. It makes managing all my bills a lot easier, and the best part is that it's completely free.

Be on the lookout!

noreply@blogger.com (Justin Taylor) — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 18:16:00 +0000

When you're shopping for groceries, especially name brand products, make sure that the items haven't shrunk. That's right, shrunk. To deal with the struggling economy, many products are being downsized without warning, but the price is still the same. If you buy a product regularly, keep an eye on the size before you buy.

Ways to buy things without going into debt

noreply@blogger.com (Justin Taylor) — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 15:08:00 +0000

Let's admit it, when we get the urge to buy something, we want to buy it now. The problem is, many of us don't have the money to buy whatever thing it is right now, so we charge it. This can lead to some serious debt problems, and must be kept in check. Here are some ideas for buying the things you want without going into debt:

1. Sell stuff
We've all got stuff sitting around our houses that we don't use or need anymore? Why not sell the stuff we don't want for what we do want. There are hundreds of ways to do this, have a garage sale, list stuff on Craigslist or Ebay, or classifieds. An easier option to sell electronics is to sell them to Gazelle. You tell them what you have, and they tell you how much they'll give you for it, plus they'll pay for all the shipping. You probably won't get as much as you would on Ebay, but Gazelle is quicker and more convenient.

2. Save up
This is in my opinion the best option to buy something without having to go into debt. If you keep track of your finances, it's easy to designate a little from each paycheck to go towards buying something. Also, if you cut out some unnecessary expenses for a while, you can accelerate your savings.

3. Look for deals
The less you have to pay, the less amount of time you have to save. For electronics, Amazon is always a good place to start, as well as Buy.com. If you keep a close watch on websites such as these, you can usually catch a sale on whatever it is you're trying to buy.

4. Learn to be content
One option that will probably make you a better person is to learn to be content with what you have. Think to yourself, "Do I really need this thing, or can I get by without it?" If you learn to be content, you can save a lot of money, however, it is also the least fun option to learn.

Whatever you do, please don't go into debt for something you don't absolutely have to have. It doesn't make sense to be paying 10 years for a computer that lasts three. Save up, look for deals, or get rid of some old junk.

Great new service

noreply@blogger.com (Justin Taylor) — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 21:45:00 +0000

I just came across a great new service called pageonce. It's a website where you can enter your login information for almost any website, and check all your online accounts. Currently, I check my bank accounts, 401K, e-mail, credit cards, cable bill, and even my Myspace. There's tons of other things you can check, such as your ebay account, different e-mail accounts, there's too many to list here. Overall, it's a great way to keep a check on your online accounts without having to go to a hundred different websites.

Check it out here:
http://www.pageonce.com/

A sad story

noreply@blogger.com (Justin Taylor) — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 19:10:00 +0000

The Consumerist tells the story of a woman who entered a marriage debt free, but is now drowning in debt.

Check out the original article here:

The Consumerist

My review of the new iPhone

noreply@blogger.com (Justin Taylor) — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 00:11:00 +0000

So I finally took a trip to my local Apple store today and checked out the new iPhone (One interesting note, there was still a line of people out the door of people wanting to buy the iPhone, 11 days after it came out). Here's what I thought.

The 3G makes it pretty speedy. I tested the phone with Wi-Fi turned off, and couldn't tell much of a difference between 3G and Wi-Fi (One thing to keep in mind is you won't have 3G coverage everywhere, so check out a coverage map before you buy).

Other than the speed; and the lower price of course, there isn't much difference between the new iPhone and the old one. The GPS is improved, however it's not good enough to replace your current GPS unit (unless the rumored TomTom app shows up). You still can't get iTunes downloads over the network, you still have to be on Wi-Fi to do that, you still can't record video, things that a lot of people were hoping for.

The best thing about the new iPhone is the app store. I got a chance to check out a few games, and they are really fun, the graphics are great, and these are only early games, it can only get better from here. Plus, as time goes on, developers are going to come up with all kinds of genius apps that fully take advantage of the iPhone's abilities.

Unless you need a camera and want to be able to access the internet from anywhere, I advise getting an iPod touch instead. You'll save a lot of money, you still have access to the app store and all those goodies, the iPod touch has e-mail access, it's just a better value in my opinion. However, both are excellent, and I will be saving up to get one myself.

Has anyone gotten their hands on an iPhone yet? What do you think so far?

Create a custom shirt and make money

noreply@blogger.com (Justin Taylor) — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 01:28:00 +0000

If you've never been satisfied shopping in department stores for your clothes and want something truly unique to wear, check out Cafepress. This site lets you design your own shirts, hats, and many other different things, like coffee mugs. You can pick from designs they have on the website or you can upload your own design, so you are only limited by your creativity. It also doesn't cost very much.

One of the most interesting features is the ability to set up an online store and sell your creations. Cafepress gets the money for providing the shirts of course, but you can decide how much to mark up the items and you get paid the profit. Cafepress pays for the shipping, too; all you have to do is design and then get the word out about your creations. It could be a good way to make a little money on the side, if you put enough effort into it.

Keep track of your finances

noreply@blogger.com (Justin Taylor) — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 04:12:00 +0000

When my wife and I first got married, it was hard for us to keep track of our spending. Neither one of us had lived by a budget before, and neither one of us really kept track of our spending, except to make sure that we didn't overdraft our bank accounts. Since then, we've learned how to make a budget, plus track our expenses to make sure that we're following that budget. Before we did, though, we found a great website that helped us keep track of where our money was going.

The site is mint.com, and it's absolutely free (I don't like to pay money to manage my money, unless I have to). On this site, you can see each transaction and place it into different categories, and then see how much you are spending in each category. It also has different charts and graphs to illustrate everything a little clearer. The best part is, if you have online banking, you can tell mint your username and password, and it will automatically track your transactions for you, provided you use your debit card or credit card (There's no way to manually add transactions at the moment). You can also set up a budget and mint will automatically keep track of how you're doing. A recently added feature is keeping track of investments. I use mint to keep track of my 401k.

Mint is not perfect, however. Sometimes transactions won't be listed from the right place; I buy gas at Sunoco, and it shows up as Sojo. Also, sometimes it has trouble connecting with your bank and updating your information and transactions. The best and most accurate way to keep track of your finances is by doing it yourself, but if you're not ready to do that or you don't know how, mint might be a good stepping stone for you.

Netflix on Xbox 360

noreply@blogger.com (Justin Taylor) — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 19:24:00 +0000

Microsoft announced today that if you have Xbox Live and are a Netflix subscriber, you can now watch your Netflix "watch now" movies on your Xbox 360. If you already own a 360 or were looking at getting one, this is a good motivation, and a good alternative to the Roku Netflix Player.

A good financial course

noreply@blogger.com (Justin Taylor) — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 17:25:00 +0000

If you haven't heard of it, you should check out the Financial Peace University course by Dave Ramsey. My wife and I took it before we got married, and it gave us some great pointers on how to do a budget, save for retirement, and get out of debt. The course does cost, but I believe it is money well spent.

More info here:

http://www.daveramsey.com/fpu/home/

Yellow Tinted iPhone 3G

noreply@blogger.com (Justin Taylor) — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 19:02:00 +0000

Some people are complaining that their new iPhone has a yellowish tint on the screen. Here's the original article:

http://www.appleinsider.com yellow_tinted_screens.html

Is anyone else experiencing this? Let me know

Thanks for the input

noreply@blogger.com (Justin Taylor) — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 16:09:00 +0000

Thanks to everyone who commented on my post about someone donating an iPhone for a review. I was pretty sure no one would go the route of lending a stranger their iPhone (which I probably wouldn't do, either), but I thought I'd give it a shot and see if someone out there was a little on the crazy side. Also, thanks to the person who pointed out that I was getting the capitalization wrong on iPhone, I always thought it looked a little funny. Anyways, thanks for checking out my post.

Need IPhone 3G for review

noreply@blogger.com (Justin Taylor) — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 23:44:00 +0000

I would love to do an IPhone 3G review, but first someone needs to send me one. I promise I'll send it back after I've spent adequate time with it to garner an accurate impression. Just throwing it out there. If you want to, contact me and I'll get my info to you. Also, if someone wants to give me money to put towards purchasing my own IPhone, my Paypal address is GUITARMANJT2000@gmail.com. Thank you very much. I look forward to hearing from you.

5 easy ways to get a free IPhone 3G

noreply@blogger.com (Justin Taylor) — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 15:18:00 +0000

Here are 5 easy ways to get the new IPhone for absolutely free!

1. Follow someone to the Apple store parking lot, kill them, and take theirs (Pleas don't actually do this, killing someone is frowned upon in our country).

2. Sell all of someone else's belongings.

3. Carry a small piece of glass with you. Convince someone that has an IPhone that the piece of glass is the next IPhone, and you got your hands on one early. Then trade with them. You can probably get them to throw in $20 too.

4. Learn the art of hypnotism.

5. Wear a Steve Jobs mask to an Apple store, and say you're just there picking up one for Woz. If the store employees are hesitant to give you one, politely remind them that you invented the IPhone, and if they don't give you one they will be fired faster than you can say 3G.

The Itunes app store is up!

noreply@blogger.com (Justin Taylor) — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 16:03:00 +0000

Good news for all you Ipod touch/Iphone users, the Itunes app store is up and running. There are around 500 apps available at the moment, and many of them are free. The ones I'm most excited about are the google mobile app, Super Monkey Ball, the remote app, which turns your Ipod Touch/Iphone into a remote for itunes and Apple TV, and the different banking and money apps, like the Bank of America app.

I poked around the app store in Itunes today, and it the navigation seems to be fairly easy to use, it basically is the same as searching for downloads and widgets on apple.com. It remains to be seen how navigation is on the Ipod Touch/Iphone, seeing as how I don't have either. I promise as soon as I acquire one of said devices, I will be posting a full review on the app store. Until then, check it out on your Ipod Touch/Iphone, you lucky son of a gun.

The problem with subnotebooks

noreply@blogger.com (Justin Taylor) — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 03:28:00 +0000

Don't get me wrong, I think that subnotebooks such as the Eee PC (And the dozens of other Eee PC clones) are a step in the right direction. They are low cost, easily portable computers. The problem is, they're not cheap enough to justify the weak specs, especially the higher end models. I'm all for paying $300 for a laptop, but I can't justify buying a laptop with a processor slower than 1Ghz and less than 1GB of ram. You cannot play modern games with those kinds of specs, you can barely watch videos. It also is harder to justify buying a subnotebook when I can pony up $200 more and get a full size laptop with at least a 2 Ghz processor and (at least) 1GB of ram. If I look hard enough, I can find one with 2 GBs of ram. And it has a full size screen and a keyboard I don't have to have kiddy hands to type with.

So why do people buy subnotebooks when they can get a much better computer for not much more. One thing is, they're popular right now. They're marketed as a cheap and portable way to get on the internet. And for that purpose alone, they are great. But I have a feeling most people want to do more than get on the internet on their laptop. They want to store media, play games, and have expandability for whatever the future holds. Sure, if you have enough money and you want something small you can carry with you to get on the internet with, grab a Eee PC while they're hot. However, if you have a gun to your head and are forced to choose between an Eee or a decent full size laptop, please choose the latter. You'll be much happier in the end.

The best way to save money on gas

noreply@blogger.com (Justin Taylor) — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 04:44:00 +0000

This is probably our last option available to lower gas prices. These people are meeting at gas stations and praying that gas prices will lower. It's not as lighthearted as you'd think, either. Some people in their group believe that gas prices are a sign of the apocalypse. Who knows. If this works, why not try it for other things that are overpriced? People can go to the grocery store and pray for cheaper milk, the Apple store and get a discount on a IPhone, maybe even get a group together and wield their power on Starbucks' prices. Couldn't hurt.

Check out an article about the gas price prayer group here.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/story/2008/05/30/ST2008053003189.html

Xbox 360 price cut!

noreply@blogger.com (Justin Taylor) — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 19:53:00 +0000

According to Crave, there is going to be a $50 price cut on the Xbox 360 premium system, which will bring the price down to $299, only $50 more than the Wii. The price drop is expected to take effect on
July 13th. Gamers, rejoice!