OK—if you don’t know what phishing is, listen up—especially if you use eBay. Briefly, phishing is a scam that tries to steal your private information by getting you to hand over—or type over, to be precise—the information that the scammers are trying to steal. In essence, phishers try to dupe you into giving them your accounts and passwords. The latest outbreak of phishing, according to CNET News.com is on eBay. It seems that intrepid phishers are taking advantage of eBay’s dynamic listing options to direct unsuspecting users to fake eBay log in pages. These pages look like the real thing, but instead of logging you in, they send your private information directly to the scammer. You can probably figure out what happens next. The moral of the story is to be very careful when entering any information into a log in page that pops up when you click on an auction listing. eBay, of course, is doing what it can to stop these identity thieves. To learn more about what you can do to protect yourself, check out eBay’s Spoof Tutorial.

Movie sequels are generally nothing to write home—or write blog entries—about. This is especially true when it comes to animated sequels. Even Disney has fallen prey to the old standby of release the crappy animated sequel on DVD so the hapless parents will buy it because the kids are inundated with commercials. That’s why Ice Age: The Meltdown seems to be such a departure from this common sequel machine (what this says about the lack of creativity in kids movies is another story and another article). In addition to full budget computer animation, Ice Age 2 also features the same full budget big name cast as the hit original Ice Age. Specifically, John Leguizamo, Dennis Leary, and Ray Romano all reprise their starring roles. Queen Latifah, Sean Willaim Scott, Josh Peck, Will Arnett, and Jay Leno round out the all-star cast. Ice Age: The Meltdown is now showing in theaters pretty much everywhere.

The Holy Grail in Las Vegas (other than—of course—the million dollar slot machine jackpot…but let’s be a little more realistic here) is the buffet. When tourists come to Vegas, they want buffets. On the face of it, it makes little sense. In most vacation spots, people don’t flock to buffets like pigeons in the park, but something comes over people in Vegas, and they must find the best place for cramming themselves full of the most food that they can possibly choke down. Needless to say, the casinos are more than happy to cater to this predilection, and buffets are just a little less numerous than slot machines. Also needless to say, most of them would have to bump things up a notch to reach putrid. On the other end of the spectrum, the current winner of Vegas’s best buffet from both word of mouth and personal experience is The Rio’s Carnival World Buffet. At $23.99 per person for dinner, it’s not the cheapest buffet in town, but, unlike at many of the other buffets, you get more than your money’s worth. Not only do they have your traditional standbys like crab, shrimp, and prime rib, but they also have a great selection of international cuisines like Mexican, sushi, and Chinese. And if that’s not enough for you, they overwhelm you with desserts. In particular, make sure you save room for the bananas foster. They make the whole buffet worthwhile.

In keeping with my periodic updates on obscure citrus, this week the spotlight turns to Minneola Tangelos. As the name implies, the tangelo is essentially a cross between an orange and a tangerine—with the best features of each one. It’s the size of an orange, with all the juice and zing of a tangerine, but the mellow aftertaste you expect from oranges. It’s also easy to peel like tangerines (if you want to impress your kids, it’s pretty easy to peel a tangelo in one piece). Anyway, the reason that I’m talking about Tangelos this week is that they are starting to come into the peak of their season (which runs generally from late December through April). Because I love tangelos, I’ve been trying them and hoping, and last week, the tangelos at my local store finally hit the pinnacle of distinctive juicy sweetness you don’t get from other citrus. The best way to enjoy a Minneola tangelo (look for the Minneolas specifically—they’re the ones in season right now) is by itself. Just peel it and eat it. For a change, though, they go great in salad. Toss sections of tangelo in with your favorite greens, and top off with a dressing of olive oil, red wine vinegar, tangelo juice, ground coriander, and ginger.

Yes—I’m going to write about baseball and not talk about steroids, George Mitchell, BALCO, the cream, or the clear. You know why? Because it’s opening day! Summer is about to officially get underway. I know—scientists and fussy types will tell you summer doesn’t begin until June 21st. Bah. In my family, spring begins—and always has begun—when pitchers and catchers report in February, and summer starts on opening day. For those of you too jaded to get past the hullabaloo that is the steroids “scandal,” I can only say that I’m sorry that you just don’t get it. Sure, steroids are bad. Using them is cheating. Here’s a news flash for you—people have been cheating in baseball since Doubleday first paced off 90 feet between bases (and yes, I like to believe Abner invented the game, too). And if more baseball players have been taking steroids than football players, I’ll eat my A2000 (and if you don’t know what that is, your credibility for being a baseball critic is pretty small). Anyway, things finally get underway this year on Sunday as the defending champion White Sox take on the Cleveland Indians. For those of you dying for some relief from basketball, the end is finally in sight. For a full opening day schedule, check out the MLB.com opening day web site.

If you're selling or buying a house, you may be expecting to pay a six percent commission.  That used to be the standard, and they'd like you to think it still is.  But the truth is, realtor commissions are not set in stone.  Competition in real estate has increased enormously, thanks to the Internet and the number of agents flooding into the field.  That means the ball is more in your court than in theirs. 

Before you sign with one broker, get commission estimates from several, and while you are at it, check out their qualifications and their records.  An agent who has had a good record but who has hit a sales slump may be even more flexible than one who is flush with sales.  Plus he or she will be able to concentrate more on your home. 

While you are negotiating, don't limit the talks to the agent's fee.  You can also bargain for a better price on the photographer the agent will hire, and have more input into how many open houses you will have, and what kind of advertising will be done.  

Some experts say it's a better idea to meet for negotiations in your office or a coffee shop.  It's harder to be tough in your own home. 

Though selling your own home is not easy and not for the feint of heart, you should know about the alternatives.   Some brokers, like Help-U-Sell, will let you choose from a menu of services you can buy (and negotiate for).  There are also discount brokers listed on the Internet who may charge commissions as low as three percent.  Whether you take one of these options or you hire a full-service agent, it's a good idea to know all the alternatives available before you sit down to negotiate.

Looking for a way to save money on your home bills?  Consider getting rid of your landline telephone.  You could save $40 per month or more.

If you don't rely on your landline for Internet service and you mostly use your cell phone anyway, this might be a natural move to make, and put money back in your pocket.

Possible drawbacks to cutting the landline:

Before you do, find out if the 911 services in your area can track cell phone calls.  Less than 60 percent do. Landlines, on the other hand, allow call tracking.  

If you have a lot of teenagers in your house who spend hours on the phone each day, it could be more expensive to go strictly wireless.  So before you chuck the landline, find out if your wireless plan really will meet your needs more cheaply.

If you do keep your landline, here are some tips for cutting that cost.

Check into unlimited long distance.  For $30 or less per month, you can completely eliminate the risk of huge long distance bills.

Check your statement to see if you are paying for extras you don't use, like call waiting. Many people have it but feel like it's rude to interrupt calls to use it.  If that's you… save the bucks.

Find out if you can save a little money by paying your bill online and skipping the paper statements.

If you have mortgage insurance and your premiums shoot up suddenly without explanation, check your credit report.  There may be errors or omissions there that were reported to your insurer.   Mortgage insurers generally don't have to inform with customers (with a notice of adverse action) when they use negative credit information to double or triple your premiums.  That leaves customers without the opportunity to find out if the information is correct or not.     

This may change soon. Recently the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has asked a U.S. appellate court in Philadelphia to require insurers to inform borrowers when they raise your premiums because of negative information.  The FTC recently stepped in when Radian Guaranty Inc., of Philadelphia hit homeowners with premiums of over $900 per month - triple what they'd expected  -on top of their mortgage payment.  This was done because the insurer found negative information in their credit report.  The information was inaccurate, but that didn't matter.

If you secure a mortgage that requires mortgage insurance, let your lender know you want to be informed if there is a premium increase based on negative credit information.

Hopefully the FTC will be successful in forcing mortgage insurers to provide notices of adverse action.  Some have already started doing it, but others, like Radian mentioned above refuse.  They argue that their customer is the lender, not the homeowner; therefore they don't owe the homeowner the courtesy of supplying notices.

March 30, 2006

This Travel Warning updates and supersedes the Travel Warning of November 4, 2005.

The Department of State continues to urge American citizens to consider carefully the risks of travel to Liberia.  Notwithstanding the UN’s deployment of 15,000 peacekeepers and 1,100 police advisors nationwide, the overall security situation remains unpredictable.  There was no major civil unrest during the elections held on October 11 and November 8, or during the inauguration of the new president, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, on January 16.    However, there remains an undercurrent of political and social tension and economic hardship that could result in sporadic violence and instability.
 
Owing to the potential for violence, U.S. citizens should avoid crowds, political rallies, street demonstrations, and any gathering of security forces.  By most measures, Liberia is one of the poorest countries in the world and the nationwide unemployment rate is very high.  Foreigners, including Americans, are high-profile targets for robbery.  Americans should report any threats or suspicious activity to the U.S. Embassy in Monrovia and monitor the local media for developments that may affect their safety and security.

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March 30, 2006

This Travel Warning has been revised to update security information and remind American citizens of the potential danger of travel to Bosnia and Herzegovina. This Travel Warning supersedes that of August 1, 2005.

The Department of State warns U.S. citizens that there are still risks from occasional localized political violence, landmines, and unexploded ordnance in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Criminal activity has also been on the rise, particularly in urban areas, with a marked increase in reports of residential break-ins, vehicle and petty theft.  There exists a substantial organized crime presence throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina; however, violent confrontations between rival criminal elements usually occur in larger cities and pose little direct threat to Americans. In one suspected instance of a criminally-related act, an explosive device was discovered on a public transit bus in Sarajevo in December 2005. Travelers are warned to exercise additional vigilance in urban areas to avoid being victimized during confrontational crime. 

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