Mrs. Kathryn loves birdfeeders, but the pesky squirrels were eating everything in sight. She tried numerous "squirrel-proof" birdfeeders and quickly figured out "squirrel-proof" means "the squirrels will prove they are smarter than you within the hour," as the squirrels laughed their heads off and mowed through the birdseed in record time.

The Brome 1024 Squirrel Buster is something different: the reinforced Humvee Tank of the squirrel feeder world. They try and try, and slip right off the thing. After 2 weeks of trying, our squirrels finally gave up. SCORE! 53 bucks here at Amazon.

You don't have all the time in the world, 'ya know, and paying bills every month takes time. Well, maybe for you. Ten years ago, I started using PAYTRUST, a bill payment service that's different than all the rest. Your bills actually get diverted to them -- no more in the mailbox. Everything goes online, and you can set your bills to all pay AUTOMATICALLY -- or as manually as you wish. You can see digital images of everything and set up simple rules (email me to prompt me to pay, or pay it for me automatically up to this amount, etc). Have used them for over 10 years without any problem; FIVE STARS; highly recommended.

Get totally control of your bills and you'll never pay a late bill again.

http://www.paytrust.com

Bidding on eBay is a little like playing the slots in Vegas... there is that adrenalin surge you get as you gamble to beat the odds and win. Frustrated with losing auctions? Take a quick lesson in human psychology and start winning most of the time by using a free Snipe service. What is a Snipe service? It's a bid put in for you automatically in the very last few seconds of the auction by an Internet service. For Free!

It's just human behavior: you bid, then someone else who wants to win beats your bid, and then you bid again. All you are doing is running up the price of the item you want to win. Get in your mind the absolute MOST you are willing to pay, and register for a free account at AuctionStealer.com. It allows you, in simple fashion, to set up a Snipe: tell it the item # and your maximum bid. Seconds before the auction ends, the AuctionStealer system automatically swoops in and places your bid. Others have no time to react, and as long as your maximum bid is above the current bid, you'll win. I use odd numbers as maximums -- like $51.51 instead of $50 -- which is likely a dollar or cent more than others might bid. Although their systems stores your login info (they have to to bid), it is safe. I've used them for over 5 years! Great service. Buying their priority service for $2 for a bid gives you a later time window (you can snipe at 2 seconds before auction close versus 10-20 seconds), and is sometimes helpful. Keep in mind that the Maximum bid is the absolute maximum you'll pay -- if the current bid is much less, you'll win at $1 over that current bid. Happy winning!

Money falls out of trees for you? Not me -- I earn it the Old Fashioned way. Oh, you too? So when you travel, WHY would you give your hard-earned cash to hotels and car agencies? No, no: they are not charities.

Unless there is a specific hotel where I want to stay, I *always* use Hotwire and save 50-70% versus the lowest rates you can get elsewhere. I'm talking 50-70% off the LOWEST rates you can find on the hotel sites, and I use Hotwire for car reservations, too.

It's simple. Go to Hotwire.com, specify the city you want to stay, and they give you a list of hotels along with their amenities at unbelievable prices. You can narrow down on a map to the specific area you want. We've stayed in a $400 a night room in the downtown Omni in Philly for $140. We've slept in a $199 a night Holiday Inn Express suite for $79. And we nabbed a resort in San Diego this year for $179 a night -- versus the lowest Internet rate of $499 per night. And I once found a $39 deal on a $139 hotel room in Dallas. There are only 2 "catches": first, you don't find out the specific hotel until you buy, and secondly, like most Internet travel services, you pay immediately and it is non-refundable (cancellation insurance is available). I've never had a bad experience in years of using Hotwire, so spend your hard-earned money elsewhere and use Hotwire to save a bundle. By the way, I can frequently figure out which hotel I will likely get by going to betterbidding.com.

Why Hotwire versus Priceline? Because on Hotwire, you can choose the hotel amenities (pool, work out room, etc) -- no abilty to specify those things on Priceline.

It's not Plasma. It's not LCD or LED.

• "Better than the Best TV on Earth" -- Gizmodo
• "The most vivid colors of any display device I have ever seen" -- HDGuru.com
• "Colors don't look so much as if they are painted on the screen... they're shooting out from it" -- NY Times

It's LASER TV-- the image is produced by lasers -- and only Mitsubishi has it. They aren't cheap -- save your nickels -- but for a TV experience that will blow your socks off, nothing else comes close. As of December 2009, the Official Viewscreen of the Batcave. No, I'm really not materialistic -- "except when it comes to wide-screen TV's, son"... I waited on this for 3 years and it does not disappoint. If you are in the market for one, contact me and I'll tell you how I got a smokin' deal.

http://www.laservuetv.com

Are you a magazine junkie like me? I do like to read a dozen or so mags every month: The Week, Esquire, The Atlantic Monthly, B. Archaeology Review, Smithsonian, and a host of others. Where to find the best deal? There are BIG bargains on the 'Net... there are a number of sites that you can use, but the BEST is MagazinePriceSearch.com. Period. They compare 2583 magazines from 24 online magazine stores, plus 23 coupons sources, to find the best deals.

Just enter the name of the magazine you want to subscribe to. Just recently Mrs. Kathryn almost paid $20 for a year of "Body and Soul." I got a 3 year subscription for $13. See?

http://www.MagazinePriceSearch.com

If you live in the Austin area, I definitely recommend Jeremy, the mobile mechanic. He makes "house calls for your car." I found him highly responsive, respectful, and his work was fast and precise. And cheaper than the auto garage, I might add. "If I don't return your call within 2 business hours, 20% off my work" -- not many in the service business make such a promise.

http://www.theatypicalmechanic.com

If you have a high-speed Internet connection, you're ready for video conferencing. Skype (skype.com) is the best of the free Internet communication programs, but you need a quality webcam. Believe me, I've tried tons of them, but nothing compares to the performance of the Philips SPC 900NC. The picture is crystal clear, with fantastic video quality even in the dark. Check Walmart.com or eBay for best prices (retail $80; you should be able to find for around $50).

I've flown a lot of miles in my life, and nothing is worse than getting a "crappy seat." Not all seats are the same when it comes to planes, which is why God invented SeatGuru.com, the niftiest website in the world for deciding your seat in advance. Simply pick your airline and the model of plane you'll be flying -- Seat Guru shows you a diagram of the seating, with the seats coded Green (great!), Yellow (caution!), and Red (NOOOO!!!!) Hover your mouse over the seats for specific advice on legroom, window position, and many other things for each specific seat. Great site!

www.SeatGuru.com

I truly think that this is the most amazing thing I own. As a kid watching the planets and stars through my telescope, I could never have imagined someone would invent such a device. The Celestron SkyScout contains advanced GPS technology, and it's funciton is simple. Take it outside at night, and point it at ANYTHING in the sky -- and it tells you what it is. Every star -- every planet. Want to find Jupiter, or a constellation, or a star? SkyScout can guide you to it! Absolutely AMAZING. Oh, "it talks, too." $199 at Amazon.com (was $400 when they originally came out!)

SkyScout at Amazon.com

David Terrell and his Austin BBQ company catered the 2008 Derby Party -- he is a fantastic chef; creative, joyful, & affordable. Who else calls you during the week to say "just want you to know everything is going great -- we'll be ready!" Highly recommend him to cater your next cater-able gig. Read more about David and the menu on Page 84.

www.austinbarbecuecompany.com

As I was planning the lighting for Club KaVe', I stumbled across this remarkable piece of technology. It's a laser device that projects thousands of moving stars onto the ceilings and walls of a dark room. The reviews said "you have to see it to believe it." It is simply amazing, and the most talked about lighting effect in Club KaVe'. Great gift for your gizmo lover.

NewAjeLasers $139 w/ free shipping

Have a wide-screen TV? Hook up your computer and browse the Internet from your couch...! But, you're going to need a spiffy wireless keyboard. Don't even think about an I/R (infrared) keyboard -- they have an effective distance of approximately 2 inches. Trust me -- the Adesso WKB3000UB RF keyboard (100 foot range) with the integrated mouse is the bomb... (TechwareLabs agrees) $55.90 at MWave.com.

Goodbye, cable!!! I am a HiDef junkie -- and DishNetwork has the best HD experience hands down. A few bucks cheaper than DirectTV, they have something Direct doesn't have... a HiDef DVR that blows Tivo away. I was one of the original Tivo users -- and the second I found the Dish 722, my Tivos went into mothballs. Stunning HD clarity, great features, and the ability to hook up external USB drives -- I have over 300 HD movies spooled off for viewing at our convenience.

Dish Network

The world's coolest watch line -- here's the scoop.

Shopping for electronics of any kind? Before you do, check out www.deals2buy.com. They scour the Internet for the best of the best deals -- updated daily.

Everybody went cuckoo for coffee pod machines a few years ago. The problem is that most brew very small cups of coffee -- and don't accomodate large, tall cups. And of course, you have to constantly fill them with water. I believe (and many professional reviewers concur) that the commercial grade Bunn My Cafe pod machine is the best. Unlike most other models expensive to cheap, My Cafe lets you set your serving size from 4 to 12 ounces, accomodates tall cups, can brew large cups of coffee and can utilize a wide variety of coffee pods up to mega-sized 12 ounce pods. It brews tea, too. The best part, besides its cool look and "LED cup area light-up feature" when brewing? The automatic model PLUMBS INTO THE WATERLINE, so you never, EVER have to fill the thing with water. krs would give My Cafe 10 bats if the Bat-rating system went that high.

The best coffee pods we've found are the MegaPods and other flavored pods from Baronet Coffee in Hartford, CT. Their "Megapods" brew a nice 14+ ounce cup for the road every morning.

Various places on the web... the MCA model is the Automatic one...
great deal at Essential Expresso $359 w/ free shipping

My Jaguar XK-8 convertible was my dream car -- and it got all of 12 miles to the gallon. Late one night during a Batcave conversation with Rich, I realized that I was doing my own little part to keep our country hooked on foreign oil -- stuffing the pockets of foreign regimes, including the country that spawned the 9-11 Terrorists, Saudi Arabia. I love our soldiers, and the notion of them putting their life on the line for my petro-dependency made me feel awful. I sold the Shaguar immediately, and fell in love with a $20,000 car... the wonderful Toyota Prius. Meet my personal assistant, Miss Sparks... 60,000 miles and nary a single problem, with 50 mpg on a weekly basis. Looking forward to the newly redesigned 2009 Prius pictured below.

With over 2.4 million English articles, Wikipedia is the Internet's best information resource. People, places, things, history, movies, science, medicine... odds are there is a qualitative Wikipedia article on topic, and articles are updated in real time -- by the time you've heard it in the news, the Wikipedia article is already updated.

My favorite Internet resource... find the English version here at en.wikipedia.org.