TRICK #1: Spy On Your Credit Card Charges. - http://www.billguard.com/

We'll bet that, more often than you'd like, someone has tried to sneak through a charge on (or fails to issue a credit to) your credit card or cards. In these busy days you could let some of these slip through.

Now there's a solution, in the form of a free personal finance security service, that alerts you to unwanted and unauthorized transactions on your credit and debit card bills. You just register the cards you want protected and their program scans your card activity daily for hidden charges, billing errors, forgotten or misleading subscriptions, scams and fraud, and alerts you via email when your attention is required.

Each new transaction is analyzed by over 100 automated tests. They also scour the web for complaints posted by others about similar charges and merchants that appear on your bills. Then they email you a monthly report, providing a quick overview of their findings and an indication of how clean your cards are from any of these issues

Neat service - and it's on the house.

TRICK#2: Cool Down Your Computer. - http://www.almico.com/sfdownload.php

Have you heard that heat is your computers biggest enemy - especially on notebooks? You may already help reduce the heat with a fan equipped base but, even then, you really have no way of measuring the effectiveness of this arrangement - or the temperature inside your machine.

Unless you're a computer guru you might want to pass on this one - and gurus should read the disclaimer carefully. With that said, here's a software tool that can change your computer's fan speeds, read the temperatures of your motherboard and hard disk, read voltages and fan speeds and check the status of your hard disk.

Nice to know what's going on inside that box - and this one is yours for the asking.

GREAT PLACE #1: Get 101 Projects Done. - http://dayzeroproject.com/

You can't reach your goal if you don't have a goal - and this is the place to declare your commitment to set and achieve your goals -- a place to record your goals, discover new challenges, and gain motivation to achieve them.

Want to stop smoking, take off a pound or two, learn to type, organize your clothes, set up a new filing system, write a novel, learn a language, set up an exercise plan or learn to fly a plane? This program will help you with whatever is on your bucket list.

You can build a list of 101 things here that you want to do and then track your progress over the next 1001 days. You can also get ideas and inspiration from thousands of other participants.

Motivational.

GREAT PLACE #2: Expand Your Vocabulary - The Fun Way. - http://www.vocabulary.com/

Expanding our vocabulary is either necessary - or fun. Recognizing this, the folks at this great place created some interesting technology that models your brain. The more you play their game, the more you learn about your vocabulary knowledge.

Regardless of your education level or age, this place will help you to master the words that are essential to your personal, business or academic success. All you do is answer a few of the 40,000 questions designed to help you learn words. Then they predict which vocabulary words you don't know and teach them to you. You can also track your progress as you quickly build on your vocabulary.

Smart - and their gift to you.

Copies of all previous "Real Estate CyberTips" columns complete with all direct links are available at www.REcyber.com/reintelligence/cybertips.html

Published: November 17, 2011

Use of this article without permission is a violation of federal copyright laws.

---

Related Articles:

• October Cybertips
  
• September Cybertips
  
• June Cybertips
  
• May Cybertips
  

John M. "Jack" Peckham is the Executive Director of REcyber.com (the Real Estate CyberSpace Society). In that capacity he oversees the development and delivery of the latest up to the minute Real Estate Cyberspace tools, strategies, networking structures and services that the Society provides its members to leverage their effectiveness, visibility, professionalism and earnings. As host of Real Estate CyberSpace Radio, he provides over 40 hours of programming to help listeners integrate the power of the Internet into their daily business lives. He is the author of several real estate books published by Prentice Hall and Harcourt Brace Jovanovich including his latest Master Guide to Income Property Brokerage from Wiley Publishing. A columnist for the Boston Herald for nine years, his syndicated columns have appeared in over 100 papers nationwide. Jack loves to sell real estate has been involved directly in the sale of over one billion dollars in Real Estate. Today he sells in his jeans and fuzzy slippers as a one-man shop and has closed over $40,000,000 in sales on the Internet recently in 20% of his working time. The balance he spends directing the affairs of the 10,000 member Real Estate CyberSpace Society. The Society awards the RECS (Real Estate CyberSpace Specialist) Designation to members based on the current criteria. He served as Chairman of the Strategic Planning Committee for the National Association of Realtors (NAR), is a Past President of the Massachusetts Association of Realtors and has been honored as the Massachusetts State Realtor of the Year. You can reach Jack at or by calling 617-523-4441.

---