Smartlife

Movies and make-believe may teach you that taking risks is the only way to get things done, leaping into danger and dynamically charging through all opposition to achieve everything you ever wanted in 90 minutes or less. But that’s because they’re movies. And usually Bruce Willis. He can do that.

In reality, even a slight scuffle can destroy your productivity for days or weeks, to say nothing of being so extraordinarily unpleasant that the word “unpleasant” really doesn’t do it justice, even when you use the massive adjective “extraordinarily.” Because…

Just a few years ago, you probably would have called up your travel agent if you were thinking about taking a trip or vacation somewhere. These days, though, there are thousands of websites online that can help you with every step of the planning process — as well as offer some help beyond what a travel agent could do for you. With these online tools, you can make sure that your travels, whether for business or pleasure, are enjoyable.

Modern technology makes everything easier, but sometimes the pursuit of powerful hardware ignores the actual humans. How many times have you witnessed others struggling with an unwieldy laptop, forcing it edge-on into an unsuitable case? Or spilling their carrier’s contents as they extract their electronic assistant? A good choice of computer storage makes every single use that much easier — and making the right choice once to ease life forever is what this blog’s all about.

It would certainly be nice to have the same kind of expense account as high-ranking corporate executives, but not everyone is quite so lucky. This applies to people who are self-employed, as well as regular employees who need to fit their regular business travel expenses into the company’s budget. This is especially true given today’s economic climate.

According to the IRS, deductible travel expenses can include such costs as airplane tickets, in-town transportation, hotel stays, dry cleaning, business calls, and equipment rental. All of these can add…

Forget the Groundhog and its sham prognostications and let’s look at the real indication of spring’s proximity: the NCAA Tournament, March Madness, The Big Dance.

Now most people recognize March Madness as the quintessential cairn of spring’s presence, and with the brackets so easy to understand and bet on — whom among us has never participated in an office pool?

With Google Maps you can organize a hiking tour around the world without even standing up (which may indicate you’re a little over-ambitious). Some people might say that plans and schedules totally ruin the relaxed vacation experience, but let’s be honest: most of those folks can’t manage their time. And likely can’t afford to go very far anyway. The rest of us can’t stand the thought of wasting time or money as a result of non-planning. We didn’t fly halfway across the world to stand around staring at street signs, after all.