The good thing about having a standardized statewide electronic toll collection system is that it’s interoperable between jurisdictions, thus allowing you to take advantage of price disparities among the different agencies and corporations that use it. San Diego and the Orange County toll roads require a $1 a month service fee, while the 91 Express Lanes require a start-up fee or a minimum monthly toll of $7. The San Francisco Bay Area toll bridges have neither a start-up fee, nor a monthly service fee.

In the last three years I’ve made only two trips on the 91 Freeway east of the 5, but both times I wanted desperately to pay for the privilege of driving past chumps in the Express Lanes. I’ve also been to the Bay Area a few times and have had to stop at the toll gate to pay cash like a commoner. Now I’ve found a cheap and easy way to get in that upper echelon of the electronically privileged. God bless the Internets.

NaBloPoMo 18

For the longest time, buying a PS3 was the cheapest way to get a Blu-Ray disc player. $600 for the movie-playing game console vs. $1000 for a standalone player. The PS3 also compared favorably in terms of startup time, disc load time, etc. Now that standalone players have dropped below $300, does the PS3 still make sense as an alternative?

ars technica: New Blu-ray 2.0 spec makes PS3 the most future-proof player

… Sony finally gets to play its trump card: the PlayStation 3, which has clearly emerged as one of the best Blu-ray players on the market—and is likely to remain so for some time. Why? Because the first player now becomes the most versatile, sporting a future-proof Blu-ray setup.

…

HD DVD players have included networking as standard since the beginning, but Blu-ray has not, and the evolving standard may become a large problem for early adopters. The 2.0 profile actually changes the minimum requirements for full compatibility. In other words, there is only one player currently on the market that will be 2.0 compatible: the PlayStation 3, which, with its upgradeable hard drive, Ethernet port, and powerful graphics capabilities, will be able to adapt to any and all future updates. This is quite the slap in the face to consumers who paid several hundred dollars for players that won’t able to be updated to take advantage of the 1.1 profile, much less the upcoming 2.0.

To me, this makes a strong case for getting the PS3. Still, some people will be hesitant to shell out $400 for a PS3 when they can pick up a decent Sony or Samsung BDP for $250. That’s where the Sony card and the SonyStyle store come in:

1. Go to SonyStyle, add a PS3 to your cart, and start to go through the checkout process.
2. On the payment page, check for the rebate offer for SonyStyle purchases using a Sony card (new card members only). I think it’s currently $100 off a $300 purchase. If it’s there, sign up for the card. If not, mull over your decision until after the holidays.
3. Complete checkout and find the rebate on your first statement from the Sony card.

A few weeks ago the rebate was $150, so you might want to play the waiting game to see if Sony brings it back. Enjoy!

NaBloPoMo 14

If you’re reading this, you probably do a lot of web browsing. Imagine how much more you could see if your browser were faster. Here are a few things you could get to speed things up:

Mozilla Firefox 3

Firefox 3 features dramatic speed improvements over version 2, as well as better handling of embedded Flash files. While Google Chrome is mind-blowingly faster than FF3, I still stick with Firefox for its add-ons, like ColorZilla, Web Developer Toolbar, MeasureIt, FireBug, and…

Flashblock

This Firefox add-on lets you choose not to show Flash objects embedded on the page. Ever get annoyed by Flash ads, music and video players, and games slowing you down? This is the add-on for you.

CCleaner

This Windows utility isn’t exactly related to speedy browsing, but it’s a fast and easy way to clear temp files, browser cache, and other things you don’t need filling up your hard drive. I run it once every 1-2 months and clear out several hundred megabytes worth of accumulated crap.

NaBloPoMo 12

Soon after I bought the S2000 I started shopping around for a new insurance company. I’d been with the Auto Club for years, but I figured I could save some money if I looked. A friend of mine recommended Wawanesa, but I wanted to get more information.

The California Department of Insurance, as it turns out, has some fantastic information on insurance companies.

The Consumer Complaint Study ranks insurance companies “based on the number of Justified Complaints to 100,000 Earned Exposures.”

The Automobile Premium Survey features “an interactive tool for consumers to use to obtain a premium comparison between insurance companies.”

Wawanesa ranked third-lowest out of fifty in the complaint study and lowest in premiums for my particular insurance needs ($400 cheaper than anyone else!). Highly recommend!!! A+++

NaBloPoMo 6

Heard this on NPR today:

Day to Day, September 23, 2008: TransUnion Deal Includes Free Credit Monitoring

TransUnion Corp. is offering free credit-monitoring services as part of a settlement over allegations that it improperly sold consumers’ personal data.

Here’s where to register:

https://www.listclassaction.com/