This is just an observation of mine and I practice this in my personal life, too.
Have you paid with debit card @ grocery checkout? restaurants? on-line?
Just think of this way. Credit card number is stolen every day, including debit cards. If your card number is to be stolen, which you rather be, credit or Debit card? Neither is what everyone would say, but if you use any card in public, you are increasing risk of getting it stolen. So, let's think in term of practicability.
If your card number was stolen and thief start charging. If the number that was stolen happened to be credit card and not debit card, then your credit card may be maxed out. You can dispute your charges and hope that your credit scores weren't affected. If your debit card number was stolen, you may have all of the problems from credit cards PLUS cash that you'll not going to have for weeks and months until banks get them back for you.
My point is that debit card is directly linked to your cash. When cash is gone from your bank account, it'll take long time to get them back. I hope you have saving tacked away somewhere else so that you can continue to pay your obligations.
If you have problem paying credit card bills, this may not be a good solutions for you. I pay mine as I spend. So if I spend $50 one day, I transfer from my checking account to credit card $50 within few days. I don't spend money if I don't have them in my checking account or can't pay the money I spent within a week.
I haven't used the debit card in groceries stores in a long time, but rumor is that if you use debit card at check out lines, some bank charges you fees - this is depends on the bank and check your bank for debit card use. Every time shopper uses a credit card, the merchant have to pay the fees for each transactions, so likely that they will encourage debit card transactions.
Some article regarding Debt VS. Credit. http://hffo.cuna.org/20659/article/1171/html
Posted: December 6, 2007 10:31 am | 0 comments
Tags: credit card, debit card, personal finance
iPhone was innovation of cell phone, which changed the standard of cell phone industry. Well, this laptop, which is designed for children in 3rd world countries may be another big thing.
If you haven't heard buzz about One Laptop per Child, this is time for you to catch up what is going on. One Laptop per Child is aggressive initiative found by Nicholas Negroponte to give a laptop to every child in the world. He believes that every child has so much potential and technology is important to help tap into child's mind. Here is paragraph that explains the mission well.
"OLPC is not, at heart, a technology program, nor is the XO a product in any conventional sense of the word. OLPC is a non-profit organization providing a means to an end—an end that sees children in even the most remote regions of the globe being given the opportunity to tap into their own potential, to be exposed to a whole world of ideas, and to contribute to a more productive and saner world community."
You may say, well, it's a child toy. Well, this is impressive piece of equipment that I can't wait to get hands on. This is the first household laptop to have screen that is readable under the sun. It uses 1/10 of power compared to a conventional laptop. Wi-Fi capability that also can act as router - and range is more than conventional according to interview during the 60 minutes. Resistance to various weather conditions - dust proof. AND it runs on Linux. Oh, yeah. There is a built in camera that video tapes 640 x 480 30fs. HOW ABOUT THAT?!?!?!
Check out full specs at: http://www.laptop.org/en/laptop/hardware/specs.shtml
You want one? Right now, you can buy this impressive machine AND give one to a child in 3rd world country for just under $400, but you must buy it before DECEMBER 31, 2007. Half of money you spent (not including shipping) is TAX DEDUCTIBLE!
Buy it at: http://www.laptopgiving.org/en/index.php
More info on initiative: http://laptop.org/
Explore the XO: http://www.laptopgiving.org/en/explore.php#QuicktimeVR
I ordered mine and I am expecting to get this early 2008. I can't wait! I did think of buying it for my kids, but you know, I have 4 nephews and if I buy for one, I need to buy for all. So, for now, it'll be my toy. I'll use it in my kitchen reading off recipes and back yard when spring comes. I'm sure I can get a lot of gardening tips on-line and don't want to print them out. Yes, selfish me.
Posted: December 11, 2007 5:18 pm | 4 comments
Tags: donation, laptop, one laptop per child
I often like to use Microsoft Word to print the large image file, so I can lay the image to full 8.5 x 11 paper size. I can center them and choose how much margins I want to have around images.
This time, I chosen 0 margin for left and right, .5 for top and bottom.
I inserted an image using Insert >> Picture >> From File. The size of images I had were 100KB to 200KB.
I put an image, then I hit "apple p" to print it out, then I deleted the image and do the insert again with different image. When I hit "apple p" to print it out again, it crashes. First time seems to be fine, but not second time.
Since I had 4 image files to print, I've tested 4 times. Every time, it happened except when I inserted small image - 24KB - it didn't crash.
Posted: December 13, 2007 10:37 am | 0 comments
Tags: Mac, Mac Leopard OS, Microsoft Word 2004, word
