Resources

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General

•  Pirateship - save money when you need to ship a package by USPS, UPS, Fedex

• Company Contacts - Christopher Elliot writes for the Boston Globe and maintains a list of company contacts for complaints

•  Free annual credit reports - request a free report from each of the 3 credit reporting agencies - (do a different one every 4 months for constant monitoring)

• Mr. Clean magic eraser - removes scuff marks and stains from a wide variety of surfaces. It really works.

• Whole house, or central, vacuum system - one large vacuum unit in the basement, and a hose outlet on each floor.

• Booking.com

  • Highly recommend this site for reliable international hotel bookings - I had a great results with them on my 2010 trip to Normandy. Also accessible through Tripadvisor.com

• DSL Speed Tests and Fast.com - if you have broadband internet service, you should test your speed periodically

• Heavens Above - Astronomy site: see when visible satellites will pass overhead

• Digital Photography Review - Good information if you're in the market for a digital camera

• Treating the Common Cold - Feel a case of the common cold coming on? This has worked for me

  • OTC Clemastine Fumarate has become hard to find; it can be special ordered by Theater Pharmacy, Lexington if you are near there

• Edmunds.com - Good information if you are in the market for a car

• Shields Up - Check how secure your computer is - scroll down to the Shields Up link. There's also a security podcast that's quite useful. Text of the podcasts are available as .pdf files, too.

• USNO Real-time clock: When you need to know what time it really is!

• Monoprice.com - reasonably priced cables for your electronics

 

Local Businesses

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• Kevin's Tree Service, Lexington MA - 978-327-9177 - Kevin has done several tree removal and trimming jobs for me - very good work; I'm a satisfied, repeat customer.

• Lexington Lock Service, Lexington MA - 781-861-1056 - Bob provides an excellent service for all your lock and key needs

 

 

Tech Corner 

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Firefox is my preferred browser. One reason is that it can be customized to reflect your preferences using Add-ons. Following are some Add-ons that I find useful:

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• AdBlock Plus

• uBlock Origin

• Brief (RSS reader)

• SingleFile - save web page to single HTML file

• HTTPS-Everywhere - available here, not from the regular Firefox Add-ons page

• AlDente - if you have an Apple laptop, you can extend battery life by restricting max charge to 80%. Follow the link.

Comments or broken-link reports welcome - send the webmaster mail

Last modified: Friday, May 19, 2023