According to a bill that passed the US House of Representatives unanimously on Thursday (10/15/2009), some Military personnel, overseas intelligence operatives and officers may be entitled to an extension of the $8,000 first time home buyer credit through November, 2010.

The bill, set to level the playing field for those deployed overseas and allow them to capitalize on the incentives being offered “back home.”

The bill also waives the payback period of three years for those military and intelligence agents ordered to transfer to a new duty station per government orders.

The bill is now off to the Senate, and with the unanimous vote in the House, I’m pretty certain we’ll have this one wrapped up.

Read the Service Member’s Home Ownership Act of 2009.

Tags: In The News by Spokane Home Guy (509) 990-7653
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Dyson, the company who eliminated wheels on the vacuum cleaner so you can maneuver around table legs, couches and family pets with the agility of a ninja has launched a new product: the bladeless fan.

This is awesome, or “Straight out of a sci-fi movie” the way the article on FT describes it. The only thing I have to say is:

If I stand behind it and talk into it, will I still sound like a robot?

My thoughts are, probably not.  For the price tag ($300+), I’m sure I’ll be passing up this novelty this holiday season.

Tags: Fun by Spokane Home Guy (509) 990-7653
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Sleeping  does not always mean saving.

I read a compelling tweet this morning from @Dan_at_Avista that made me think.  Fifty Six Dollars a year in energy costs annually for a home computer that isn’t in sleep mode, heck – even in sleep mode that’s $16 per year in energy costs.

I quickly started doing the math… I’ve got at least two to three computers running at any given time; a file server, a laptop and another that I use to test new software and tools on.  Admittedly – I’ve not been the best at turning these off when I’m done, because afterall, it’s just a computer how much harm could it cause.  I’ll tell you what – it’s a tank of gas, per computer, PER YEAR.  That number doesn’t even include the monitor which is $9.20 for an LCD or $37.00 for CRT (not using sleep mode).

Other culprits include: Copiers, scanners and printers.  These devices also use power while in sleep mode.  I did the math – my home office costs me about $150.00 per year in unseen energy costs (works out to be a little over one month’s totall bill).   Looks like my to-do list for the weekend just got bigger.

Read the full article.

Tags: New Ideas by Spokane Home Guy (509) 990-7653
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