Dewalt XRP 18v 1/2 inch Hammer Drill

There's never been a better time to ditch your landline.

If you're already paying for cable or DSL Internet service, you've got everything you need to kiss your local and long-distance telephone companies goodbye.

Well, almost everything: The missing ingredient is a voice-over-IP adapter, which sounds complicated but isn't. It's a little box that sits between your existing phone (or cordless phone system) and your router and provides full-featured home phone service. For pennies.

You've probably heard of one such product: the MagicJack, an infomercial staple. A few months back, I reviewed its successor, the MagicJack Plus.

Today let's talk about its latest competitor, the NetTalk Duo WiFi. Read More …

Unless you've figured out how to clone yourself, you can't be in two places at once. But you can keep an eye on, say, the baby's room, the babysitter, an elderly parent who's living on their own, an empty house, and so on -- even when you're not there.

All you need is a Webcam that feeds live video to your smartphone or tablet.

The Stem Innovation iZon Remote Room Monitor is one such Webcam, and it costs far less than competing products. Ah, but is it any good?

Yes and no.The concept behind the iZon is excellent, the price quite reasonable. It's the execution that falls a bit short, though not so far that you should rule out buying one.

Small, white, and cylindrical, the iZon stands about four inches high on its curved, magnetic base. That base makes it easy to position the camera, and can even be hung upside-down. Read More …

Photo courtesy of AndyRobertsPhotos at Flickr. 

The only new piece of furniture I own in my house is my mattress. Everything else is a hand-me-down. Not only have I furnished my entire house for less than $1,000, I'm saving the environment by reclaiming furniture that would have otherwise ended up in the trash. To make everything match and look nice, I have repurposed many of the pieces. I'm no handyman, but there are several ways you can repurpose furniture with little experience and without spending a ton of money. 

1. Paint

A fresh coat of paint gives life to an old piece of wood furniture. You can paint the furniture to match the original wood or in any color you like, (I have a blue desk.) The major hardware chains sell samples of low-VOC paint for about $3.50 and its enough paint to finish most jobs. Read More …