Update Firefox 1.5

Time to discuss about your browser today. If you are listening to people around you who take security and privacy of their web-browsing behavior seriously, you might have already heard about Firefox.

Throughout the world the number of people using Firefox browser ( Our past posting) is increasing day by day. The reason is a good one -- no doubt it is the most secure and currently the safest browser to use. Microsoft's Internet Explorer somehow could not keep pace with these developments.

Today A new version of the open-source browser Firefox is released for download, just over a year since the first release arrived. The version 1.5 is said to be faster, more stable and offer a host of new features.

Firefox 1.5 now includes the ability to reorder tabs by drag and drop, faster back and forward buttons. This version has additional privacy and accessibility. The pop-up blocking is also improved. Even for Mac users who are looking for an alternative browser may find that Firefox has improved migration facilities for both Mac IE and Safari.

Version 1.5 of Firefox can be downloaded from Mozilla web site.

Alert: Flu Vaccine

We all know by now that Flu vaccines are in shortage and the suppliers are struggling to deliver right number of vaccines to all parts of USA. In many places vaccines can not be expected to arrive before mid-December.

To know everything about flu vaccines, visit Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) of the Department of Health and Human Services: http://www.cdc.gov/flu/.

If you are in a high risk health category, try to obtain inoculation from your primary physician or other source. Start enquiring clinics around your area. To find a flu clinic near you go to the following important website:

The American Lung Association (ALA), in Partnership with Maxim Health Systems, has developed an electronic influenza vaccine clinic locator. To use the locator, go to www.flucliniclocator.org, enter a zip code and a date (or dates) and receive information about clinics scheduled in your area.

Car of The Year

Last Tuesday Motor Trend magazine announced its annual "Car of the Year" award and the winner is Honda Civic. Motor Trend considers three factors in picking the winner: (i) significance or the impact on the market, (ii) superiority or a leading level of performance in terms of both style and functionality within its vehicle class, (iii) value or what one gets in return of the money one pays.

A spokesman for the magazine said that it is giving the award to the Civic for all four of its new versions,"With the sizzling Si, a sleek coupe, an elegant sedan and a Hybrid that averages 50 miles per gallon, each model shines through with what Motor Trend looks for when crowning Car of the Year."

The Civic is the nation's best-selling compact car model. Interestingly, it was the only Honda model up for consideration for the award. Other leading contenders for the award were: (i) US: General Motors' Buick Lucerne, Cadillac DTS, Chevrolet Cobalt, Chevrolet HHR, Chevrolet Impala, Pontiac Solstice; Ford's Fusion, Lincoln Zephyr and Mercury Milan; DaimlerChrysler's Dodge Charger, Mercedes-Benz CLS and R-Class. (ii) Japan: Toyota's Avalon and Lexus GS and IS models; Nissan's Infiniti M35/M45 models; Mazda's Mazda5 (small wagon) and the MX-5 sports car; Mitsubishi's Eclipse GT. (iii) Korea: Hyundai's Accent, Azera, Sonata and Kia Rio. (iii) Germany: Audi A3, BMW 3 Series; Volkswagen's Jetta and Passat.

Chrysler 300 and Toyota Prius were the winners of 2004 and 2003 respectively. Note that Honda Civic won the best family car award from AAA and Parents magazine back in May, 2005 (read our posting )

Holiday Travel Tips

Holiday travel is going to be rough this year, but with airline bankruptcies and and weather-related woes, it's only going to get around delays and other airport annoyances. Here are a few advanced tips ... just in time before the Thanks Giving Holiday:

Get the traffic report
Find out what's happening at the airport on fly.faa.gov, which lists real-time flight delays. For security lines, check out waittime.tsa.dhs.gov, which lists security line wait times by hour for any terminal at any U.S. airport.

Park online.
Airport parking lots fill up fast during holidays. Book a spot early at parknflynetwork.com . Most lots give a 10 to 25 percent discount to online bookers.

Surf for free
Before you leave the house, find free airport Wi-Fi hotspots at wififreespot.com/airport.html so you can easily get online during long flight delays and spend some quality time.

Holiday Shopping

Holiday season is here. Last weekend all prominent malls throughout the nation were buzzing with activities and, if that is an indication, we are going to see a strong boost to the performance of retailers in the coming Thanks-Giving weekend.

This holiday season, many retailers, including Talbots, Linen'n Things and Lowes, are letting shoopers use their Web sites to see what's in stock at their local stores. Some now let you search by size and color. All you need to do is to browse online, select items, reserve those online and the item will be waiting for you at the store's customer-service counter, saving shopping time and shipping fees - plus, you can try the item on before you buy.

We also want to remind online shoppers before this holiday season -- have you computer properly secured with anti-virus and anti-spywares and firewall and always choose an Internet service provider or an email service that offers online (server side) virus and spam email filters.
These are essential things you need to do before you start putting your credit card numbers and address on the internet. We'll discuss about these issues in detail some other day.

Assessment: K-2 kids

Leading test developer and publisher Harcourt Assessment, Inc. has introduced the Early Childhood Observation System, ECHOS(TM), which combines technology with ongoing observation in the classroom to help teachers easily monitor the progress of young learners and guide instruction in grades K - 2.

Designed to work on the Palm OS(R) handheld computer, ECHOS makes it easier for teachers to do what they already do -- observe their students in the classroom while they are naturally engaged in every-day activities and monitor what grade-level skills, knowledge or behaviors a student consistently demonstrates or needs to develop.

ECHOS was developed with the guidance of a national panel of early childhood and subject matter experts to ensure that it evaluates the whole child across the following seven developmental areas: language and literacy; mathematics; social and personal skills; science; social studies; physical development and fitness; and creative arts. Based on their observations of specific benchmark behaviors in these seven areas, teachers can assign one of four performance levels: not yet demonstrating, emerging, progressing or consistently demonstrates.

Teachers can download their observations to a personal computer and receive immediate feedback from Web-based classroom and student reports that help them plan and implement effective instruction. Home reports in English or Spanish also provide suggested activities that can help parents reinforce or develop their child's skills.

While ECHOS was designed to operate most efficiently on a handheld computer, the system is flexible, so teachers can record their observations on paper then enter them into a personal computer and still receive the same student, classroom and home reports. Web-based interactive professional development is available to help teachers learn to use ECHOS effectively. It includes instruction on observational assessment, as well as video highlights of early elementary classrooms and teachers.

For more information about ECHOS, visit http://www.echosonline.com/.

Vacation Exchange Home

Christmas is not far away and probably this is the time to prepare for a vacation with your family and especially kids.

In recent years, swapping or exchanging homes located throughout the world is gaining more and more popularity as an attractive part of taking vacation. For an annual membership of around $50, you may enlist your home onan exchange site. If someone is interested in your home, they will email you and when you come across anything that you like, you email them. Finally you decide to cut a deal depending on mutual preferences and options. Some people even go beyond to exchange their cars too. You can even agree to take care of each other's pets.

Three leading (and Big too!) house-swap sites are: HomeExchange.com, Intervac.com, Homelink.org . Besides these there is SinglesHomeExchange.com for swapping apartments and also some quite interesting ones like TeacherHomeSwap.com which provides the specialized service of finding other teacher swappers who are very likely to search for houses for similar vacation dates.

Even with so many websites available, it might not be very easy to find an exchange home of your choice. Vacation is precious and you may notafford to spoil it by a hurriedly-made choice by you. So, start early, plan properly, have a talk with the exchangers and take sufficient time to decide how your summer home should be. Many people who did that say that they want to do it again. It's worth the trouble and time.

Donate by Cell-Phone

There's a new way to donate this season: Zap a text message on your cell phone. Many charities, including the American Red Cross and CARE, are soliciting and accepting donations this way. Key in what you want to give, hit "send," and the amount shows up on your next phone bill. The service has appeal for consumers who don't want to load up their credit cards or who don't want to load up their credit cards or who don't want to use them online.

Requests for donations are usually sent only to people who have signed up for text-message updates. Cingular Wireless, however, has solicited donations from its customers. To keep your mobile clean, enter your number into the National Do Not Call Registery (www.donotcall.gov as we explained in our recent posting).

If you do decide to give, you may be charged for the messages on top of whatever you donate--though at 5 to 10 cents per text message, it's cheaper than mailing a check.

Hotel Bed Sheets

Hotel chains are saving millions of dollars by reducing their changes of sheets. Of course, all new guests get new sheets, but those with extended stays will no longer see the daily sheet changes that used to be industry standard.

Hotels are explaining the move as an effort to be more environmentally friendly, using less hot water, detergents and bleach to clean sheets. But the hotels see big savings from less laundry and reduced labor costs. The upscale, full-service hotels of Marriott International, the world's largest hotel chain, began switching to every 3 days earlier this year. Privately-held Global Hyatt Corp. went from changing each guest's sheets daily to every 4 days last year.

Some leading chains, including Holiday Inn, do not have uniform policies on sheet changes across the chain. Some lodging companies, including Sheraton, Westin and St. Regis, all owned by Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, still make daily sheet changes. Most hotels are willing to change sheets daily for any customer who requests it. According to a report by US Today, about 5 to 7% of guests make that requests, although that varies by hotel.

Kids' Health Insurance

According to the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, an estimated 45 million Americans lack health insurance, and nearly 20% of them are children. These kids are often forced to go without needed medical care, including a pediatrician. Last summer the Foundation launched its 6th annual Covering Kids & Families Back-to-School campaign with the goal of informing working families that their children may be eligible for federal and state health coverage programs.

More than half of uninsured children in 2002 were eligible for these programs. This shortfall may be due to the stigma surrounding government support, as well as a complicated eligibility system. Also, many working parents don't realize they can have a relatively modest income and still qualify for government-funded insurance for their children. Though eligibility varies by state, in most states children in a family of 4 with an annual income of up to $38,000 would likely receive some coverage.

To find out if your child is eligible for health coverage, call the Covering Kids & Families toll-free number at 1(877) KIDS-NOW.

Resources: Health Care

The best place to get lot of healthcare information is the website of
U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS). You will get
information about almost all health-related issues and facilities there.
Toll Free: 1-877-696-6775

For specific financing questions Medicare, Medigap, and Medicaid,
and other financing issue, you may also visit the website of
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) which is a Federal
agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Its
former name was Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA).
Toll-free number: 1-877-267-2323

Medicare hotline [800-MED-ICAR or 800-633-4227] is operated by CMS.

The JointCommission on Accreditation of Health Care Organizations
offers information on accrediting of nation’s hospitals, home health care
agencies, and mental health care facilities. (708) 916-5800

Association of Claims Assistance Professionals
Members Assist consumers with health claims paperwork (708) 963-3500

National Alliance for Caregiving (Resource center for caregivers)
(301) 718-8444
National Association of Professional Geriatric Care Managers
(602) 881-8008

National Hospice Organization (800) 658-8898
Visiting Nurse Association of America (800) 426-2547

Telephone Tips

DoNotCall: Want to get rid of those nagging calls in the evening and weekend from mortgage banks, phonecards etc but do not want to pay monthly fee for call blocking? Register your telephone number in http://www.donotcall.gov/ You'll see big reduction in those types of calls. You may still get such calls from charity etc. but avoiding charity calls is easier than avoiding people trying to sell you interest-only mortgages or trying to extract your social security number.

Collect Calls: This is a common nuisance but you may not know if you do not check your phone bill with care. You may find in your telephone bill a charge from nowhere for "collect calls" although your sharp memory tells you that you never accepted any such call. You call your local telephone company and they only ask you to contact that company (may appear in you bill beside that charge for that collect call). You contact them and they say, "No way! You have to pay! orrr ..ok! We are giving a partial credit" as if they are doing you a favor. Here is your solution: If you are unable to resolve your dispute, contact your local telephone company and ask confidently to offer you a "recourse adjustment". A recourse adjustment will remove the charges from your local telephone bill. However, the service provider (for that fictitious collect call) may pursue collection of the charges directly from you. But Usually they will not bother you because they know that the charge was fictitious in the first place. If they contact you - it's your turn to reject them!

Private Test Preparation

Over the last few years the number of companies offering private test preparation services and private college admissions guidance kept on rising. Some kind of increased parental concern or heightened competition for getting into good colleges could be reasons behind this trend.

The Independent Educational Consultants Association (IECA) says its membership base has grown to 450 from 250 roughly five years earlier and they are predicting that the group's membership will swell to 850 within the next three to five years. For example, Inspirica charges $125 to $400 an hour for private test coaching and has tutors who are available to fly all over the world just to tutor.

Such private coaching are also offered by Test preparation titans Kaplan and The Princeton Review. The Princeton Review offers a standard tutor package featuring 18 hours of instruction, 4 practice tests, and access to their online student center for $2,000. Howard Greene, an author and independent college admissions counselor runs Howard Greene and Associates that specializes in college consulting. Fees could start from $750 for a private meeting that includes a review of the student's curriculum for the current and upcoming academic year, tests taken, and help developing a specific list of schools that may fit the student's needs. Ongoing counseling is available for $6,000.

IvyWise is a New York-based college consulting firm. It charges $1,000 for a 90-minute initial consultation to $32,995 for a two-year, 100-hour plus program working with their founder Dr. Katherine Cohen. They boast of an impressive list of statistics of former students, noting that 75% of their clients have gone on to Ivy League schools.

SATs are typically taken at the end of a student's junior year, or early senior year at the latest. But in recent years more and more kids are preparing for the exam the summer after their sophomore year as opposed to taking a short-course right before the exam. Repeated exposure to the test breeds familiarity, but the time spent studying for the test is taken away from other activities which are important as well.

Ethical Will

Well ...you have finished your financial planning and now you also have a legal will and a living will. Great! But not yet! They are not going to let you finish that 'what to do' list. From their bag comes out another estate planning tool -- the so-called ethical will.

Lawyers and financial advisers are seeing more and more interest in ethical wills, documents that stipulate the general life guidance you'd like your heirs to follow. If you want your kids to attend college, if you want your kids to avoid drugs or to be religious, you may scribble your wish into this. Ethicalwill.com is a site that can give you more information about this.

Ethical wills have no legal validity but its business is gaining more and more ground throughout USA. Of course, imparting a legacy of values doesn't come cheap. Consultation fees average around $350. So, we think a much better option would be to avoid the fee and simply tell your heirs about your values by spending some quality time with them -- it's a much more rewarding option. Verbal communication is always better than written document, especially if the latter does not have any legal value.

College Savings

Many people think that the more you save for your kid's college education, the less likely your child will receive any financial aid. That's simply not true. A big chunk of financial assistance actually comes in the form of loans. So, the more you save the less likely you'll need to borrow.

As long as you save wisely, you can minimize any reduction in your total aid package. One important key is to save in your name, not your child's. The aid formulas count only 5.6% of parental assets vs. as much as 35% of money saved in the student's name. This makes tax-advantaged programs like Coverdell ESA and 529 college savings plan especially useful. Federal Aid Rules regard those accounts as parental assets.

If you have already set up a college fund in your kids' name, you may consider spending the money on your child's behalf well before college (of course, if it's not a very high amount). For example, you may spend the money for SAT preparation or music lessons. At the same time you may deposit a comparable amount in one of those tax-saving programs in your name. The 529 plan is a great savings program with tax advantage.

Wedding Coordinator

Love is blind but wedding can not be arranged having your eyes blindfolded. Planning a wedding, like creating a loving and trustworthy relationship, takes time. Selecting a location and having the prudence of reserving that a year in advance, arranging bands, caterers, photographers, rooms, flowers, dresses and the multitude of other things -- Oh God, it takes time.

That's the reason many couples nowadays are knocking the doors of wedding coordinators. A decade ago, hiring a wedding coordinator was a luxury that could be afforded by only the wealthy. These days, there are a variety of coordinators, charging either a flat fee, a percentage of the total cost of the wedding or by the hour. According to the "American Weddings" study conducted by The Fairchild Bridal Group, the current average cost of a wedding is $26,327. It's possible to hire a coordinator within that level of budget to have your ceremony well-managed. A wedding coordinator is almost like a financial planner. A professional coordinator can save you money by securing discounted rates that you couldn't have gotten on your own. They also take the hassle of checking and hiring people who are really professional and are not just claiming to be so.

You'll be surprised to know that the Association of Bridal Consultants has almost 4,000 members in 26 countries. You must hire a coordinator who lives in your city simply because that person has contacts with local vendors. You can get a list of wedding coordinators in your area by visiting BridalAssn.com .

Best Credit Cards

Recently ConsumerReports.org, the nonprofit,
independent consumer group has issued a list of
10 most consumer-friendly credit cards:


1) Platinum MasterCard, issued by Town North, 877-866-2265
2) Visa Platinum, issued by First Tennessee, 800-234-2840
3) Visa Gold, issued by Pulaski, 800-217-7715
4) Visa Platinum, issued by Simmons First National, 877-245-1234
5) Target Visa, issued by Target National, 877-474-8378
6) Visa Platinum, issued by BB&T, 800-476-4228
7) Platinum MasterCard, issued by Franklin Templeton Bank & Trust,
800-238-2761
8) Visa Platinum, issued by RBC Centura, 800-236-8872
9) Visa Platinum, issued by Commerce, 888-751-9000
10) Visa Platinum, issued by Zions, 800-789-8800

These cards are good to keep in your wallet because their issuers don't
employ universal default policies and don't charge balance transfer fees.
These cards also have a grace period of at least 25 days and don't charge
an annual fee, according to the study.

These cards also offer other favorable terms than many other cards. They
offer introductory rates ranging from zero to 3.9%. After the introductory
period ends, those rates are followed by regular rate ranging from 7.99%
for the No. 1 card listed, to 11.5% for No. 10 card on the list. (Note that
these terms are offered only to card-holders with high credit scores.). As
far as the sensitive question of late fee is concerned, the Commerce card
(No. 9) charges no late fee at all, and the Town North card (No. 1) charges
a late fee of just $15, whereas some others among them charge $35.

Passport Going Hi-Tech

By next year you can expect to have a new hi-tech passport in your hand. Starting near the end of this year and progressing through next, the new generation of passports issued by the U.S. State Department will be electronic.

E-passports, as they are called, are not to be confused with airline e-tickets, which are merely a piece or pieces of paper. E-passports will look much the same as today's machine-readable passports with the familiar gold-embossed blue cover.

The State Department issued a final rule October 25 for the implementation of new electronic passports. The so-called e-passport will come into effect October 2006, requiring all new US passports to include a radio frequency ID (RFID) chip that can transmit personal information, including the name, nationality, sex, date of birth, place of birth and a digitized photograph of the passport holder. The chip will be 64KB in size to leave room for additional biometrics data to be added in the future. The e-passport also will incorporate codes and additional anti-fraud and security features. With today's thin technology, the chip, coil and metallic security shield will not add any detectable thickness to the cover.

The screening process for the e-passport can take as little as 5 seconds. An immigration officer will hold an e-passport over a reader to view digital information embedded in the chip on a monitor to make sure it isn't altered.

For application or renewal of your passport, read our posting of July 5th, 2005