Airline Credit Cards

By Kelly Kilpatrick

If you keep up with this blog regularly, you know that travel is a part of this blogger’s life.  From the international trips to trade fairs, technical trainings, and conferences, being on-the-go requires a lot of time and organization.  Sometimes it is all too easy to get caught up in the gadgets we already have because they are familiar and comfortable.  

Of course, there are constant innovations in the world of mobile technology and the new products are making mobile productivity even easier to achieve than ever before.  There are many people helping to keep track of the goings-on as they relate to mobile technology.  Here are five great places on the web to get the latest info on mobile tech to keep you in touch and ready to work—wherever you are.  

Mobile Future:  Get the latest news and reviews related to mobile technology, whether it be mobile, wireless, or the latest innovations.  Analysis on the ways mobile technology will continue to shape the world as we know it is one of the key points of the constant updates to this site.  Tips and tricks for maximizing the capabilities of your mobile devices are also available for your perusal.

The Mobile Weblog:  For great reviews of products both on the market and in the pipeline, look no further than the mobile weblog.  Features assessments, as well as interesting applications for mobile devices are explored in their succinct product reviews.  If you want to know more about mobile devices and just how they can benefit you, check out The Mobile Weblog.

Mobile Magazine:  Mobile magazine has got to be one of the web’s most prolific publishers of content related to all things mobile.  With multiple articles posted almost every day, it’s easy to see why Mobile Magazine is a go-to place for those who want to know about all things mobile.  Like other sites, new, reviews, tips, and tricks are all available.  Browse through their immense archives to find out more on the products you want to learn about.

Latest-Mobile:  The name may not say it all, but the site certainly does.  Detailed, hands-one reviews of products are available on Latest-Mobile, as are articles, tips, and other cool new technologies.  Finding out the latest news in mobile technology is what these guys are all about, so if you are looking for something new and innovative, give them a chance to tell you all about it.

PC World:  For many years, PC World has been the go-to magazine for all things PC.  For quite some time, however, PC World has been reviewing and writing about other areas of technology and sometimes how it integrates with the PC.  PC World has an extensive listing of product reviews and offers advice on which products are worth the high price tags that generally adorn mobile devices.  When you’re ready to buy, check out what the folks at PC World have to say first.  

By Kelly Kilpatrick

With an unofficial recession in full swing, and the government geared up to bail out major financial institutions, many consumers are finding themselves in a situation they never thought they’d find themselves in.  Credit damage for many families has created a woeful economic climate, with little on the horizon for the little guy who’s been as deeply affected as the financial institutions—only with far less recourse.

Predatory lending and lender optimism, along with lowered standards for mortgage qualification led us into the slippery slope upon which our economy now teeters, but who ends up footing the bill when all is said and done?  The taxpayers are now helping out companies that continue to gouge the very ones that are now helping to keep them afloat.

Starting a few years back with the philosophy that every American deserved to own a home, banking loosened up the eligibility requirements to obtain mortgages.  Banks were given incentives for helping boost our housing market, and an unusually optimistic lending market was born.  When the dust settles, surely there is far more to the story regarding this boom in mortgage lending.

Perhaps what was really going on was that financial institutions were lending money to people knowing full well that these people would default, and the banks would be able to foreclose and resell the homes again, achieving these same results.  It would be nice to think that these sorts of practices were not going on, but upon taking a closer look, it is obvious that the banks were only looking at the dollar signs, not really trying to help people get into homes.

Naturally, banking is a business and business is about making money.  However, predatory lending—qualifying people for seemingly good loans that rose exponentially after the fixed rate term expired—is what got this whole ball rolling.  Many who qualified for mortgages were barely able to pay during the fixed rate term of their loans.  Once the payments went up, these people were unable to pay, with little or no knowledge of how to improve their situations.  

Now, the government is bailing out these financial institutions.  What about the growing homeless population and the affect this mortgage crisis has had on debtors nationwide?  Should different criteria be developed for consumers who are trying to get back on their feet, but are unable to do so because of tarnished credit records?  These issues must be addresses before the current state of the economy graduates from recession to a full-blown depression.