Archive for May, 2010
Friday, May 28th, 2010
| FollowFriday : On any given Friday, thousands upon thousands (maybe even millions) of Twitter users enter the hashtag #FollowFriday (or #FF), followed by one or more “mentions.” The idea is for users to share the names of other “interesting people” that they follow and think you should too. These recommendations serve as positive comment cards for the digitally inclined.
JumpstartMyPC.com has decided to bring FollowFriday to our blog. Read on and, if you are so inclined, add these “interesting people” to your own list. |
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Tags: barbecue, BBQ, brisket, chicken, DIY, Do it Yourself, food network, Holiday, Home Depot, Memorial day, project, ribs, Weekend, yard, yeardwork
Posted in FollowFriday | No Comments »
Thursday, May 27th, 2010
If I told you that I could give you detailed instructions on how to save $1,000 or more per year, would it be worth an hour of your time? No, this is not a pitch to get you trapped in a room with time-share vultures. This is legitimate information on saving money on your energy consumption and it is 100% FREE! That’s right, thanks to a BETA service from Micorsoft called Hohm, you can begin analyzing your energy consumption and saving money almost immediately. All you have to do is invest the time and supply Hohm with the necessary information about you residence and past consumption.
Before you jump in and begin entering information, lets take a look at this service. According to the press release issued by Microsoft (June, 2009), Hohm is a “new online application that enables consumers to better understand their energy usage, get recommendations and start saving money.” Recommendations are tailored to the individual home, based on house features, usage patterns and appliance information provided by the user. As a user, you can also compare your usage to neighbors and gain access to the community of participants online to share ideas and compare savings.
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Tags: appliances, cooling, cost, Electricity, gas, heating, hohm, Home, lighting, meter, Microsoft, Savings, usage, utilities, ware heating
Posted in Free Programs, Tips and Tricks | 2 Comments »
Tuesday, May 25th, 2010
Are you a fan of really great deals? Do you like electronics, gadgets, t-shirts and/or wine? That list might sound odd, but it pales in comparison to the name of one of our favorite sites…. Woot! Woot is another one of those “must visit” sites that guided me to create JumpstartMyPC.com. I’ve been sharing the Woot with anyone who will listen/read since I first stumbled onto it almost 5 years ago and apparently I wasn’t the only one. The site has become something of a national phenomenon and with it, an entire culture has developed.
So what is Woot? Woot.com is an internet retailer base in Carrollton, TX and the originator of One Day, One Deal. The concept is simple, a new item goes on sale (at a great price) every day at midnight. The item is on sale until 11:59pm (central time) or until they are sold out of that item. Woot.com’s focus is “selling cool stuff cheap” and they always ship for $5. The woot! style of business became so popular that other retailers, including Amazon.com, Buy.com and Target.com have started their own One Day, One Deal selling strategies.

A Normal Day on Woot.com
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Tags: mywoot.net, one day, one deal, t-shirts, wine, Woot, woot watcher, woot-off, Woot.com, wootalyzer, wootwatch
Posted in Online Shopping, Tips and Tricks | 1 Comment »
Monday, May 24th, 2010
One of my many hobbies/addictions is saving money on the web. I love to hunt for the ultimate deal by using price comparisons, coupon codes, cashback options, etc. I have had these tools at my disposal for at least 10 years now and have saved thousands of dollars, yet I still make some purchases in physical stores. Grocery shopping, although attempted as a web service years ago with Peapod, is not available here in Houston so I venture out to my local Kroger, Randalls or HEB at least once a week. Until now, these trips to the supermarket meant I had to leave the technology behind and earn my savings the old-fashion way (printed coupons). Thanks to Grocery IQ, that is all about to change.
Grocery IQ is a FREE application (originally priced at $4.99) for smartphone users and is currently available for iPhone and Android owners. The tool, powered by coupons.com, was designed to help users with a number of typical grocery shopping activities (listed below):
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Tags: Android, barcode, cellfire, Coupons, groceries, grocery, grocery iq, iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch, P&GeSAVER, randalls, safeway, savings card, scanner, Shopping, shortcuts.com, smartphone, supermarket
Posted in Free Programs, Online Shopping, Tips and Tricks, Uncategorized | 5 Comments »
Thursday, May 20th, 2010
Way back when (Nov 16, 2009) I posted an article about the new clicker.tv web site. The original article (posted below) highlighted some of the great features of this TV, movie and music aggregate web site. Since that first post, clicker has gone and made some significant changes to its interface. We’ve got the skinny on the changes and new functionality available at the click of a button (now on your mouse or remote control).
The original article is posted below and the additions/changes are highlighted in green.
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Tags: aggregate, BETA, clicker, clicker.tv, episodes, Glee, Lost, Movies, Music, remote control, Television, TV
Posted in Free Programs, Tips and Tricks | No Comments »
Wednesday, May 19th, 2010
As I’ve mentioned in previous articles, I am a TV junkie. The problem is not that I spend too much time watching television or that I ignore other parts of life because of it. The problem is much worse. I am also a gadget junkie and an HD snob. Yes, I am willing to admit it. If a program is available in HD, I must have it over the standard definition option. If there is a new DVR or device that allows me to watch TV and/or movies on the go, I want it. These three problems mixed together have caused my cable bill to inflate steadily over the last decade and I have grown sick and tired of the bottom line. There has to be a better way and I think I have found it.
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Tags: Amazon.com, bing, cable, cashback, Comcast, DirecTV, DVR, HBO, HD, HR10-250, HR21-200, Netflix, Premiere, Television, TiVo, TV
Posted in Deals, Online Shopping, TiVo & DVR Tech | 16 Comments »
Tuesday, May 18th, 2010
Every week 140,000 hard drives crash in the United States.
That fact alone should be enough to frighten every computer owner on the planet. We all have photographs, movies, important documents, emails, etc. that we do not want to lose for any reason, yet I find very few PC users who regularly backup the contents of their computer(s). Every one of us has experienced a moment when we thought our PC had crashed and the first thought was “I should have backed up my files!” Why is it then that so few people perform regular backups? Is is Time…. Money…. Knowledge?
Whatever the hurdle is, it is time to overcome it and protect our important files from permanent deletion. There are several theories on what makes a “safe” backup, but we are going to focus on online backups. Why? Because external hard drives or CD/DVD backups are great, but they are almost never stored in an off-site location. Natural disasters and fires don’t show any mercy when it comes to destroying a home or an entire community, so let’s prepare for the worst scenario and secure our files in a secondary location.
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Tags: backup, crashplan, Dropbox, important documents, mozy, off-site, offsite, online backup, unlimited storage
Posted in Free Programs, Security, Technical Issues, Tips and Tricks | 4 Comments »
Monday, May 17th, 2010
Does your WiFi occasionally cut out for, what seems like, no reason at all? Do you feel like your wireless internet connection is dragging and you just know it should be faster? Both of these issues might be the result of interference caused by other electronic items in your home and/or around you. As simple as it sounds, a simple channel change in your router might fix the issues.
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Tags: analyzer, channel, interference, internet, router, smartphone, spectrum, video game console, WiFi, wireless
Posted in Technical Issues, Tips and Tricks | 2 Comments »
Friday, May 14th, 2010
| FollowFriday : On any given Friday, thousands upon thousands (maybe even millions) of Twitter users enter the hashtag #FollowFriday (or #FF), followed by one or more “mentions.” The idea is for users to share the names of other “interesting people” that they follow and think you should too. These recommendations serve as positive comment cards for the digitally inclined.
JumpstartMyPC.com has decided to bring FollowFriday to our blog. Read on and, if you are so inclined, add these “interesting people” to your own list. |
(more…)
Tags: #FF, actors, actresses, Blockbuster, box office, Films, Follow Friday, FollowFriday, HSX, IMDB, Movies, Rotten Tomatoes, Summer
Posted in FollowFriday | No Comments »