Every weekday, our guide to the Web takes care of business, tackling tech topics that really matter to everybody. From topic definitions to topical rants, Dan Gray\’s pieces inform as much as they entertain.
I came very close to losing a pair of treasured domain names this week. I’ve been sitting on (not squatting, mind you) these two domains for a few years. Boy was I shocked when I logged into my favorite cheap domain registrar to find the two domain names missing from my control list. […]
The MySpace phenomena caught me by surprise. I’ve watched my kids evolve from Neopets to Xanga before migrating to MySpace. While the whippersnappers occasionally ask me to help them with graphics stuff, they’re quite self-sufficient these days. When the topic of seamless textures came up recently, I realized that thousands of tiles I’ve created over […]
I got some fantastic advice from a kind Gnomie earlier this month, after writing about HDMI cables. Seeing the prices on high-end HDMI cables at Best Buy made my jaw drop. Thank heavens I was set straight, because I needed to buy not just one HDMI cable, but three …
The DirecTV installer found his way to Ranchero Indebto this week, just in time for us to watch the US Soccer team fall painfully out of the World Cup … in glorious high definition (HDTV). Yeah, I balked at doing the dish installation myself. It only took minutes to dial in the HDTV signal once […]
Looking for some snappy new company schwag? Look no more! Promotional USB drives are the hottest ticket in corporate trinketry. Imagine your company logo custom printed on a spiffy USB drive. It’s a no-brainer … what gadget-loving geek wouldn’t dig a free promotional USB drive? Forget those run-of-the-mill corporate gifts, your company needs to order […]
Online mortgage calculators are indispensable, whether you’re thinking about refinancing your home or buying a new place. Can you afford that new house across town? How about a nice little vacation condo in Florida or Colorado? Gather up your numbers and get ready to run the what-ifs. In the wink of an eye, a home […]
Are adjustable rate mortgages (ARMs) big fat time bombs? An article at ABC News runs the scary headline: Foreclosures May Jump As ARMs Reset.” It’s a sobering thought. With the rise in interest rates, the monthly payments on adjustable rate mortgages are on the way up, with no end in sight. Imagine the cost of […]
The lack of an on-site breathalyzer turned a recent high school prom into a disaster for more than a dozen NJ students and their parents. School officials took swift action after finding a water bottle containing alcohol. Without a breathalyzer on site, the students were hauled off to local hospitals for blood tests. That’s […]
Here it is, the middle of June … and that can mean only one thing … It’s almost time for a fantastic family summer vacation! Around these parts, a family summer vacation always means time spent at the beach, soaking up the rays (and getting soaked for an expensive summer rental). Ah, but we need […]
When I wrote about being stiffed on my DirecTV HDTV installation on Friday, I never thought I’d make it to Monday sans the World Cup in its high-def goodness. Well, here it is Monday evening, and we’re still watching fuzzy blobs dart across the bright green pitch. I still don’t have a HDTV picture on […]
I ordered my HDTV service from DirecTV on Monday. They promised to have a technician out for the install on the afternoon of Friday the 9th … just in time to don our England replica jerseys and watch the first World Cup games this weekend. The hours clicked by this afternoon. Nobody showed. I finally […]
Hey kid, want to retire with a million bucks? Just pump a couple of grand into your 401k plan every year for seven years and you can do it. Wait a minute, you say … how could a 401k plan turn a $14,000 investment into $1,000,000? A mere 401k plan? It must be a trick! […]
HDMI cables are the way to hook up the latest and greatest A/V gear. The High-Definition Multimedia Interface carries all the uncompressed digital signals — audio, video, data, and control — with just one HDMI cable. Bring on your DVD player, HDTV box, receiver, and digital TV … HDMI cables get the nod, as […]
What will it take to get you to upgrade to HDTV? Here at Ranchero Indebto, there’s a major event on the horizon that has us poised and ready to take the HDTV plunge … any day now (and sooner much better than later). What’s that event, you ask? Well, if you live anywhere but […]