Stop theives from stealing your laptop (or at least make them think twice)

Today I came across this summary products that PC World recommends to prevent laptop thefts. Some products overlap, but all have been proven devices when keeping your laptop in your possession. It covers devices such as locks, motion-sensors, tracking tags, and lojack-like software to locate a stolen laptop. Reading about the lojack-like software that reminded me of a story I read of a MacBook that was taken awhile back and it caused the built-in webcam to take pictures while in use. Well, the pictures were of the thief sitting on the toilet, so I don't know if I'd want it back afterwards, but it was proof that this software does work.

Another good source that I found was put out by Microsoft. Some of the information was pretty basic, but one that stuck out was the encryption of your data. Of course they recommend their products for encryption, but myself and lifehacker.com prefer the free, open-source TrueCrypt (a very nice encryption program). To take your personal data encryption even a step further, check out the IronKey USB stick. It's pricey for the size of data it holds, but it's mil-spec ruggedness makes it stand alone on the market. That's not even to mention the fact that all data is encrypted and after entering 10 wrong passwords (you can reset the count via a web interface and answering some questions you set) the chip self-destructs...very Mission Impossible-like.

That's just a few of the options that are available, but they are some of the best and easiest to implement.

Video Time: Penn & Teller - cashier/change money scam

First off...if you're offended by off-color language or at work, Penn & Teller might be something you'd rather not watch. I am including this because it shows an excellent example of how the miscounting of an exchange of money (usually from change as shown in the video) can leave your wallet or purse a little lighter than intended. Now, don't get so worried that you no longer give change for a $5 out (I've asked people for $1's on a few needed occasions), but be mindful of the count of bills.

Great cost of living calculator for those planning on moving

For those that have been considering moving to a new area you've probably wondered about what the difference in the cost of living will be between where you live now and where you want to go. Homefair.com has an excellent cost of living calculator on their page that makes it easy to find out what that difference is.

The steps are as simple as it can be:

1. Select the state that you currently reside and the state that you are moving to.

2. Enter your current salary then choose the city you live in and the city that you are moving to (the list is quite thorough). Also choose if you prefer to rent or own (it doesn't seem to change the results).

That's it! It will show you what you currently make and what you will need to make in the city you're planning on moving to in order to keep the same standard of living.

The best way to get started in stock investing

This post came about from an experience I had at work today showing the coworker I share my office with the best way to get your feet wet in stock trading. I've dealt with many online traders and even after their merger with ING (which turned out to be a change for the better) I led her to Sharebuilder.com

This wasn't because of any kind of kickback I would receive (actually, there's a better $50 added to you account kickback you can get that's much better than I can offer you, check the article at hustlermoneyblog.com), but if you're planning on making reoccurring transactions and don't have a limitless budget, this is definitely the way to go.

First, with the market state right now I'd definitely recommend the dollar-cost averaging that the monthly reoccurring transactions will provide. If the market falls, you'll gain more shares so when the market turns around, you'll be in a good position to make a lot of money. I'm not one of those "the sky is falling" market pessimists, but I do have my doubts about what will happen in the next year or so. If you're looking for short-term gains this isn't the approach for you, but if you're looking long-term, i.e. retirement, you might want to give this a serious look.

Next, for the budget that can't afford purchasing 100 shares of a stock flat out, this is where Sharebuilder won me over. If when you sign up you choose the automatic investment plan (required for the $50 bonus btw), not only are your stock purchases only $4, but you can buy fractional shares. This means you can buy by dollar amount and not share price amount. How do they do this? Well, they pool all of the money from those investors that want to purchase the stock and then split the stock evenly by the purchase price. This way you can purchase a fractional share of even Berkshire Hathaway (currently $133,600 a share) and be a true shareholder.

You can still do trades on the fly ($9.99 since the ING buyout, used to be $14.99) and options trading, but if you're getting started I'd stay away from both...they'll come at a later time.

I may put out some of my stock picks in the future, but incase they fall through I'm not comfortable doing so at this time. I will follow Warren Buffett's tip and tell you that index funds are the best way to get started. Kiplinger's is a great magazine for indications on what funds to look at and general personal finance information, so I'd highly recommend checking it out if you're looking for some funds to invest in.

Preparing for an extended recession with I Bonds

***Ethical Grifter Note: The fixed interest part of these bonds will change May 1, 2008....if you are planning on buying, do so tomorrow! The Fed's interest rate cuts are sure to lower the interest rates on these bonds!***

Well, I finally got back into the US bond market today due to concerns about my portfolio in the next year or so and the lackluster savings account rates that I'm currently getting due to the Fed cutting interest rates. I've been searching for a stable place to put my money and still get a decent return rate and after reading numerous articles I think I bonds are the way to go. Funny thing is, over the weekend I visited my father and brought it up. It seems that he's doing the same approach, guess the apple doesn't fall far from the tree.

Why the I bond? Well this article at mymoneyblog.com sparked my interest. It sounded like exactly what I was looking for, a stable, medium-term investment with a decent interest rate. I signed up at treasurydirect.com to purchase some, but unfortunately they needed me to validate further and in order to make the interest rate deadline I couldn't mess with that. Luckily, mymoneyblog followed up with this article describing how to buy them at most banks.

What interests me most about the bonds is:

1. You are set with the fixed interest rate (currently 1.2%, but most likely going to drop further on May 1.)
2. You receive a variable interest rate on top of that which adjusts with inflation. The more inflation (including gas and food prices...and those are getting out of control), the more interest it earns.

It was as easy as stopping into my local bank (which I do not have an account with), asking if they sold the bonds, and filling out the form and turning over the cash (make sure you pay in cash to avoid any chance of bank fees). I received a date stamped copy of the form I filled out which assures me of getting the fixed rate that is currently offered and the bonds should be coming in the mail in the next three weeks.

Sounds like a pretty good place to stash some cash to me. Currently the fixed+variable interest rate is earning a total of 4.28%....spanking my ING and HSBC savings accounts.

Refill or create a planner for free at D*I*Y Planner

Planners can help you get organized in more ways than you could imagine. The problem is, refills are expensive, almost as expensive as the planner itself. DIY Planner has come up with the best solution to this issue....make them free. Offering different size templates, DIY Planner can refill your traditional planner or you can even create your own Hipster PDA, a 3"x5" card based answer to the Palm and other electronic PDAs.

The beauty of creating or refilling your planner this way is that you can choose the exact type and quantity of sheets that you want to carry in your planner. Some of the choices are:

- Agendas
- Potential Projects Charts
- To Do Lists
- Product Idea Breakdowns
- Finance Checklist
- Job Search Information
- numerous others, including the basic calendars, contacts, etc.

All of the different sized templates can be found here in both .pdf and .zip formats (the .zip files unzip into .pdfs).

So next time you need to refill your traditional planner or if you're trying to get organized and don't own a planner yet, this should be you're one-stop shop to finally getting a planner custom tailored for your tastes. The price is right too.

Sunday Fun - Free and legal music and movies

Just wanted to provide some quick links to some free entertainment for a nice, lazy Sunday.

1. Amazon Free Music Downloads - Pretty decent selection for my tastes (A lot of the mid-90's punk), but kind of thin in some of the other departments.

2. Public Domain Movie Torrents - A lot of the old black and white movies you see for sale in those "50 movies for only $19.99" sets. These films are actually not copyrighted anymore and you can get them for free here. My top picks are: Night of the Living Dead, the old Flash Gordon series, and all of the old cartoons.

*Note* You can watch some of the movies on the site, but to download you will need a torrent client. I recommend uTorrent, (Windows) and Transmission (Mac) they're the least obtrusive clients I have used. There is also have a beginners guide for anybody who is new to downloading torrents on the uTorrent site.

3. gHacks Free Music List - Very good looking portal for many free music download sites. I haven't checked this out much yet, so there may be some gems.

Enjoy!