Credit Card and Holiday Season insurance

According to the National Retail Federation the average person will spend $683 on shopping during this holiday season. To control expenditure and stay on budget people prefer to use debit cards because they link directly to your bank account, while with credit cards you tend to spend what you don't have. Then there is the risk of credit card fraud. The Herald Net reports that using debit cards may not be good enough insurance from overspending.

Both debit and credit cards offer protections against unauthorized use, but legally and in common practice there are more safeguards for credit card holders. That’s because if you lose the debit card, thieves could have access to your entire bank balance. It’s not clear that using a debit card will help you stick to your budget. Several studies have found that carrying cash — especially large bills — helps curtail spending, but there’s little evidence that translates to debit.

Guarding the PIN while using a debit card at the ATM is particularly important, because if a thief uses it, any spending or withdrawals that result may not be covered. Avoid shopping on sites that don’t have a bright green banner in the address bar when you’re checking out. That green banner indicates the site meets the industry standard for online safety.

Touchscreen computer Windows 7

People use touchscreen technology on computers when they use an ATM, receive boarding passes at the airport, or print pictures at a photo kiosk. And now Microsoft's new operating system for computers, Windows 7, has in-built ability to manipulate the display screen with one or more fingers and finger paint, play music, spin a globe or enlarge and rotate photos. Acer, Asus, Dell, Fujitsu, Gateway, Hewlett-Packard (HPQ), Lenovo, Sony, Toshiba and other PC makers have or will shortly trot out touch-ready computers with Windows 7.
USA Today



The demand for touch-screen PCs is rising. Amy Leong, research director at the Gartner research firm, says the number of touch-screen PC units shipped will surpass 6 million in 2010, nearly quadrupling 2008 shipments. She says about 10% of the new PC models coming this year will support touch technology. According to iSuppli forecasts, the global market for touch-screens will reach $6.4 billion by 2013, up from $3.4 billion in 2008.

Sciphone cheap but unreliable

Sciphone is a cheap iPhone clone manufactured in China, which runs on Google's android software. The latest version is the Sciphone N19, which has a 2MP camera, compatibility with GSM 900/1800 MHz bands, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity, a 2.8" touchscreen display at 320 x 240 resolution, 128MB ROM and an equal amount of RAM, and a microSD memory card slot. And it costs $150:



With the limited features it offers, the Sciphone has other drawbacks, like the absence of manuals and firmware. Some of the older versions of the Sciphone are the i68 and the G2 Dream. Mostly average phones, they are understandably popular in the Far East.