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.

Getting Started

Starting out with Hohm is very easy and you can get a quick overview of your home by simply visiting the site and typing in your address.  If you want to begin using the service, you will need to provide your email address as well.  I went through the entire process and here are the highlights of my hour on the web site:

First, I simply entered my address and Hohm provided me with some basic information by simply pulling from public records and other users.  The information was amazingly accurate, including house size, year built and average usage.

My Hohm at a Glance

Next, I worked my way through a series of screens that asked for information about my house.  Everything from number of doors to type of refrigerator needed to be entered.  I also entered in all of my electricity and gas usage (thanks to information pulled from their respective web sites) so that Hohm could see what I have been paying over the last few years. *Some lucky users can simply import their usage from participating sites.  My utility companies were not participating unfortunately.

Gas Usage Entered Manually

Finally, Hohm provided me with a laundry list of Savings Recommendations, broken down by annual savings and cost (both DIY and pro).  From this, I can prioritize the changes I need to make and estimate initial investments.  Below the recommendations chart, I was also provided with how-to videos, detailed explanations of the individual recommendations and difficulty of implementation for each.

Savings Recommendations

Verdict

While many of the items on the site are basic “cost cutting” measures that I have heard about for years, like replacing bulbs with energy efficient ones, using a programmable thermostat and buying energy efficient appliances, I was introduced to some new concepts and ideas.  For instance, I didn’t know that having my air ducts professionally sealed or lowering the water temperature of my hot water heater could have such an impact.  Those two items alone could save me almost $100 a year.

The main issue that most people will take from this is “why enter all of that data?”  Yes, you might spend an hour or more entering the information, but it will pay off in the long run.  Now, you’ll be able to measure the impact of your changes and your information will be available for national studies.  If someone comes up with a great way to cut costs for a particular type of home, appliance or door type (just a few examples) you’ll have access to the information quickly and easily.

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.

FollowFriday – Round 8

Organization has been the topic of a few of our most popular articles.  It seems that many people, including myself, are always on the hunt for a better way, a better device or even a better program to help organize our life.  While some of us might know how we want to accomplish this, there are many of us who need guidance and new, fresh ideas to help us move forward with our organization goals.  Why not use the power of the internet to have that information delivered to us every day?

The following sites are dedicated to organization and decluttering your life.  Add these sites to your inbox, Twitter follow list or Facebook “likes” and let the information come to you.

unclutterer is a website for home and office organization.  According to their own web site “it’s not just for the helplessly disorganized who would lose their heads if they weren’t attached, and pack rats looking to put their stashes on a diet, but also for obsessive compulsive neat freaks looking to squeeze even more order into their lives.”

This great site has several writers on board who are fighting their own organization demons and are constantly trying new and creative ways to unclutter their own home and/or office.  If they find a great idea or tool, they share it with you.

Twitter: http://twitter.com/unclutterer
Web Site: http://unclutterer.com
Email: Subscribe to the unclutterer email distribution list

unclutter Your Life at unclutterer.com

The motto for this site says it all: “Clean House, Cut Clutter, Get Organized at Home!”

Web Site: http://organizedhome.com
Twitter: http://twitter.com/cynthiaewer

Get Started with Organized Home

The Organization Junkie (orgjunkie.com) is another great site from an individual.  Laura is a self proclaimed junkie who loves organization (especially containers) and owns her own professional organizing business.  She writes articles on all sorts of organizing topics and frequently provides product reviews.  This is perfect, considering her job puts her in contact with all sorts of gadgets and products.  Let this expert share her experiences with you.

I especially like that Laura has written her own Housekeeping Mission Statement: “To provide an inviting and peaceful household environment, for my family and all that enter, that is conducive to living simply, loving deeply and laughing abundantly. I will make strides everyday to achieve this by practicing and teaching good daily habits and routines along with effective organizational skills. I will graciously and cheerfully serve my family and genuinely enjoy my commitment to creating a home sanctuary that is above all else pleasing to God.”

Web Site: http://orgjunkie.com
Twitter: http://twitter.com/orgjunkie
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Im-an-Organizing-Junkie

Living a Life of Simplicity and Order...

Try out one or all three of the sites we recommended today and check back next Friday for more great #FollowFriday recommendations. Don’t forget, if you want to share this article with friends or family, all you have to do is click on the ShareThis button below.

“Listing all those empty homes out there” is the tagline for PleaseRobMe.com and categories like “Recent Empty Homes” are used to demonstrate the dangers of location-aware services.  Location-aware services is a broad term that basically means any software, device or site that allows you to share your current geographical location with others.  There are a lot of advantages to sharing your location (mostly social) but users should understand the dangers associated with broadcasting your whereabouts.  Mainly, telling people you are at point X means you are not at home, thus making your home a target for thieves.

Why Would Anyone Broadcast Their Location?

It might be hard for some people to understand why anyone would do this, but the world has embraced location-aware technologies and we find new uses for it every day.  Here are a few examples of sites and services that make location-aware fun and useful:

• Twitter – There are some services that add a users location to every tweet they send out.  Some users simply include their location as part of their standard message.
  BENEFIT: You might have friends in the same area that want to meet up for a meal or a drink.  While on vacation or on a business trip in a strange city you might get some recommendations from others on where to go and what to do.

• Foursquare -  A separate application for almost any smartphone, this service allows users to “check in” when they arrive at a cafe, bar, restaurant, park, etc.  They have even made a game out of your destinations where you can earn badges for “discovering new places or taveling to far away places.”
  BENEFIT: Find out what your friends are up to, what places everyone is frequenting and get reviews on just about anything before you try it.

• Latitude – This smartphone app tracks your location and shares it on a map for friends and family to see.
  BENEFIT: Keep track of family.  You can even use the service to make sure your kids aren’t wandering off too far.  And, like the other services, you can meet up with friends who happen to be in the same area.

• Facebook/Buzz – Although Facebook and Google Buzz aren’t real-time location trackers, they do provide users with a way to broadcast their plans.  You can tell your friends where you are about to go on vacation or where your date is taking you for dinner.  Mobile apps make it possible to update both of these services as often as you would like.
  BENEFIT: Sharing is fun and suggestions from friends and family are where we find out about the best restaurants and places to visit.

What People Are Doing Wrong

The services listed above can be just as dangerous as they are helpful.  People who aren’t aware of these cyber-stalkers (those looking for your location information) don’t know they are setting themselves up for trouble.  We’ve mentioned the dangers in previous articles, like Who Sees Your Social Media Credit Score and Why, but only grazed the surface of the issue.

• Twitter – Most people think that only their followers read their tweets, but that is not the case.  A quick search at search.twitter.com, with the proper keywords, can provide criminals with just enough information to get started.

Who is "going on vacation tomorrow?"

• Foursquare – Twitter posts by Foursquare users contain “4sq.com” links and are easily tracked.  Letting everyone know you “checked in” at location X means you are not at home and this is exactly what PleaseRobMe.com is exposing (in order to educate users).

Recent Empty Homes on PleaseRobMe.com

• Latitude - A “friend” or someone with a little computer know-how could potentially use latitude to track you.  Not much need for explanation here.

Google Latitude Shows Right Where You Are

• Facebook/Buzz – Do you really look at who you approve as a friend on Facebook or Buzz?  Is your information really “private” or are there ways around that.  Do you have “friends” that you don’t know so well?  Maybe posting your vacation plans is not the best move.

Posting a comment or a picture from your smartphone?

PleaseRobMe.com is not out to harm anyone, but is helping to raise awareness.  Hopefully you will change your habits just enough to prevent potential dangers.  You should also take the time to Google your user names and id’s.  Make sure that someone can’t research your Twitter user name to find your home address or phone number.  That simple link could be enough to bring a thief closer to your valuables.