Who knew Swan prices could fluctuate so much!

After all the verses — when the singer has 12 partridges in 12 pear trees — the song’s gifts would cost $78,100, up 4 percent over 2006. This contrasts with $128,886, a 2.5 percent increase from last year, to assemble the same gifts on the Internet. Giving only the gifts from the 12th day, an online shopper would be set back $31,249, 3 percent more than last year and significantly more than the old-fashioned way of gathering the gifts because shipping costs drive the tab higher.

The only time that the PNC index has not closely paralleled the Consumer Price Index was in 1995, when swan prices tumbled because of increased availability. The cost for seven swans a-swimming is $4,200 today, nearly half the price two decades ago.

A Partridge, a Pear Tree, a Price Tag That Grows (NYTimes)

Source: PNC Christmas Price Index

(1) Charge up all available cell phones before you leave.
Even the one you keep in the glove box just so you can dial 911 in a pinch. Get them all charged up, so that you reduce the potential variables that would keep you from being able to call ahead about emergencies and call family and friends to let them know what’s happened with you. The technology is available - use it.
(2) Keep an extra set of clothes or two available to you inside the interior of the vehicle. If you’re in a situation where you have to get out of the automobile for some reason, more layers of clothes are better. Make it as easy as you can for yourself to access these extra clothes. Read the rest of this entry »

PC Magazine has written a series of articles outlining the best times of year to buy various tech gadgetry. We all know the pain of buying a new computer or flat screentv , only to find out a month later that the same product is now on sale for 30% less. Different types of products are discounted at different times of year. Knowing when to buy is as important as knowing what to buy.

So, here’s a calendar summary of the best times of year to buy various electronic goodies:

Read the rest of this entry »

10 questions will bring resonance to your choices and heart to your actions:

1. What is it to be completely fulfilled in life?
2. What values, qualities of being must be present for you to have a fulfilled life?
3. How would honoring those values impact your experience of work-life balance?
4. What are you committed to? (Not goals… goals are the doings that happen inside the field of commitments.)

This list has been severely abridged. To read the full list, view the original post at it’s source:
Two Methods to Maximize Creativity (Lifehack.org)

Additionally, the original post has 10 Signs Your Life Is Out Of Balance.

(1) Surfing will slowPEERING into Tech.view’s crystal ball, the one thing we can predict with at least some certainty is that 2008 will be the year we stop taking access to the internet for granted. The internet is not about to grind to a halt, but as more and more users clamber aboard to download music, video clips and games while communicating incessantly by e-mail, chat and instant messaging, the information superhighway sometimes crawls with bumper-to-bumper traffic. Read the rest of this entry »

(1)China-During 2007, the Year of the Pig, Mattel is forced to recall almost 20 million items made in China because of lead paint on toy cars and tiny magnets that could be deadly if swallowed. Lead paint problems are also found in 844,000 Chinese-made Barbie accessories and toys with the Sesame Street brand. (…)

(2) Eli Lilly- Eli Lilly wins FDA approval to put Prozac into chewable, beef-flavored pills to treat separation anxiety in dogs. Read the rest of this entry »

Wine blog Vinquire has a list of the top wines of the year. Not only the venerable and much written about Wine Spectator Top 20 (Number 1? Clos des Papes Châteauneuf-du-Pape, 2005, natch) but also:

• Wine Spectator Top 20: Selections Under $20
• Wine Enthusiast 2007 Top 20
• Wine Enthusiast 2007 Top 20 Best Buys
• Wine.com Top 20

The entire list is in the original post, with links to the full lists:
Top Wines of the Year(Vinquire)
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A list of the top ten universities offering free online instruction:

1. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (mit.edu)

Free MIT Courses Online
If you are looking for a wide range of free courses online, MIT is your best option. There are more than 1,800 free courses offered through the school’s OpenCourseWare project. Courses are in audio, video and text format and can be translated into a number of different languages. People from all over the world use OpenCourseWare and 96 percent of visitors say they would recommend the site to someone else.

2. Open University (open.ac.uk)

Free Open University Courses Online
The Open University is the UK’s largest academic institution. The school’s OpenLearn website gives everyone free access to undergraduate and graduate level course materials from The Open University. Courses cover a broad range of topics, such as arts and history, business, education, IT and computing, mathematics and statistics, science, health and technology.

Read the rest of this entry »