I personally am on T Mobile, but there are many other options.  There are many networks, but I will focus on the big four: AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, and Sprint.  These four have nationwide service and a collective 393.2 million users worldwide.  These networks have their own ups and downs, making each one good for different situations.

• Verizon Wireless: the largest provider within the U.S. alone, this network is famous for the line “Can you hear me now?”   Verizon offers 3G and limited 4G Lite, but only in urban areas as of now.  They have a smart phone selection of Androids, Blackberries, and palm phoners.   Also, they now carry the once AT&T-exclusive iPhone.  Verizon has excellent service in New Hampshire where I live, which is a bonus for people in my area.
• AT&T: the second largest provider in the U.S.  They provide the unique feature of rollover minutes, which is an attractive offer to many people.  Also, they offer the trendy iPhone along with many other smart phones.  They have 3G networks, but they are limited to urban areas and a 4G LTE network is in development.
• Sprint: the third largest network in the U.S., Sprint is, to me anyway, less a of a personal network and more of one for businesses.  I think of them as the company who provides push-to-talk phones as the primary product, even if this isn’t true.  They actually offer 3G in cities and smart phones.
• T-Mobile: the final major network, T-Mobile is the smallest network, but they, too, offer 3G service.  T-Mobile lacks the iPhone but offers many other smart phones, such as the MY Touch 4G, an iPhone competitor.  They service is poor in my area, because I lose service if I go 45 minutes north, but to the south is fine.  Interestingly, I have 3G just about everywhere.

Hopefully, these little bits of data will help with your cell carrier choosing adventure!

Time to look again.

Netflix is not inclined to rest on its laurels. Sure, they changed the paradigm for DVD distribution in America. Yeah, they’ve driven Blockbuster to the verge of ruin. But that was so last decade.

Although they don’t get a lot of credit for being progressive, Netflix seems to always be one step ahead. The company has seen the writing on the wall – DVDs, even BluRay, are not the future of entertainment rentals. Most cable and satellite customers have the option to rent movies on demand through their set top boxes. ITunes and a host of other outlets sell electronic copies online. Driving to the video store is out. Waiting for a DVD in the mail is out. Now is the time of now – instant delivery.

Because of the dent that Netflix’s mail delivery program has put into DVD sales, the company recently renegotiated its contracts with the major movie studios. The studios got the concession that Netflix would not rent DVDs through the mail delivery program for 30 days after the movies hit stores. Netflix got a significant upgrade in the financial arrangements. Both sides got what they wanted, but the winners are Netflix’s customers.

Netflix is pouring that extra money into the streaming side of the business. They have vastly increased the number of movies available for viewing instantly and also improved the delivery considerably. With thousands of choices available to watch instantly on your computer or TV (if you’ve got a Wii, Playstation 3, Roku, or other Wifi enable device attached to your TV), the DVDs that come in the mail are suddenly a side note to the Netflix service.
There just isn’t any better return on your entertainment dollar (without violating international copyright law) than the nine bucks a month for Netflix.

Kelley Blue Book is a website that provides consumers/users with the ultimate car database. In a nutshell, it is a collection of car values and prices. With Kelley Blue Book, you can research any car, discover the perfect car for you, or evaluate your own car.

I will give you an example. Hypothetically, let’s say I have a 2005 BMW X3. I am looking to buy a new car of a similar type but I am unsure of its competitors. So, I consult Kelley Blue Book. I input my current vehicle information such as year, make, model, and trim. Instantly, comparisons are displayed at the bottom of the screen. I decide the system generated selections are not luxurious enough for me so I manually input another vehicle such as Audi (Q7) as well as the Acura MDX and the Lexus LX 470. Then, I hit the much anticipated compare button.

Once I hit compare, I become showered with facts and figures, invaluable to my decision making. Some facts and figures include:

• Used car suggested retail price
• New Car MSRP
• Estimated payments with APR
• Gas mileage
• Engine, transmission, and drivetrain information
• Max seating capacity
• Door information
• EPA class
• Body style
• Country of assembly and origin
• Warranty information

Next the website enables you to get quotes and/or search listings. You can also check out car photos, features, tech specs, safety, reviews, and ratings all on one comprehensive page.

Still not satisfied? Take your car search to the next level and help the book  help you find your favorite with Kelley Blue Book’s Perfect Car Finder. In the basic version (there is an advanced questionnaire for all of you car lovers out there!) of this program you can find your perfect car in a few simple steps:

1. Enter your price range: minimum and maximum.
2. Enter your vehicle type: new or used.
3. Enter your vehicle category ranging from coverable, crossover, sedan, SUV, to hatchback (including all the categories in between)
4. Enter manufacturers such as Acura, BMW, Cadillac…
5. Enter maximum seating capacity
6. Enter miles per gallon desired
7. Enter size of vehicle: subcompact, compact, midsize, full size/ large
8. Simply hit GET RESULTS and your perfect car awaits!

Kelley Blue Book’s message and objective is clear. There service is free and their message is simple: be smart and shop around. Also, do your research before making any kind of auto investment: big or small, foreign or domestic.

Newegg.com is a great place to get your electronics because the prices are so low in comparison to other dealers. It was founded in 2001 by a guy in an industry-based city. His name is Fred Chang–a Taiwanese immigrant. Newegg was originally a smaller division of the company ABS Computer Technologies, Inc., a computer systems integrator. According to sources, Newegg was made after ABS executives realized that there was an increased need to offer services for the “do it yourself” customer. ABS did not decide to change their ways of business– which sold their customers great PCs but did not allow the customers to buy the parts separately in order to make small updates here and there in the PCs. ABS wanted the customers just to buy a new computer rather than replace the faulty and not as up-to-date parts. After realizing that some other system had to be developed, Newegg was formed.

Newegg.com was named one of the Internet’s Top 10 retailers by Internet Retailer Magazine in 2005 with their 2004 sales revenue of just under $1 billion. In 2005, Newegg.com grew an additional 30%–clearly a successful company! It has some other pretty impressive ratings as well. For instance, Reseller Ratins ranked Newegg as one of the highest rated online retailers– 9.73/10 for a six-month rating (30,054 lifetime reviews)! As of January 2008, this put it in the top ten of over 13,000 stores. Then, in 2009, Forbes added it as #234 on the Forbes America’s Largest Private Companies list.

So, clearly Newegg is making some moves. I always check Newegg first to see their prices for the items that I want, and let me just say, I usually buy everything from Newegg when it comes to buying electronics online.

I am a new user to this phenomenon and wanted to share my experiences.  Currently, I am typing from Qatar in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.  My wife and family are back in the USA.  Since I like them all, I began to explore options to speak with them before I left and kept landing on Skype.

It is an online chat program much like Yahoo and MSN Messenger.  There is even video chat.  Nothing too ground-breaking there, until you add in the ability to call people on the phone very cheaply.  In fact, Skype-to-Skype calls are free.

In the time it took me to load the program on my computer and create a profile, my coffee had not even finished brewing.  Now, how is the quality?  The area I was in had a very weak Wi-Fi connection, and I still was able to chat with no problems at all.  My video and audio were extremely choppy.

I was able to bring up video and type even though the audio was non-existent.  Feeling defeated, I was ready to hit delete until I was told otherwise.  Many others sharing the desert scenery with me say the program works great when in a good area.  It will be great to put it to the test but getting to that area will be a small challenge for me in the very near future.

Summary: Skype, so far, has not had a fair chance to live up to its hype.  In time, I have faith it will be a great program given a good connection.  It worked outstandingly for me at home during my test runs.  However, the true test is if I can still talk to others when I am this far away with minimal to no problems.

Does anybody have any tips or testimonies to vouch for Skype?  Any other programs out there that are even better?