[Jake] never ceases to amaze with his inventions, from his Powered respirator to his Steampunk LCD and more. Today he proves that not every hack has to be an amazing one requiring hundreds of hours, tons of soldering, and an Arduino. Instead, he was tired of being charged $50 for a $5 cabin air filter. With a quick squeeze he had access to the filter bay. It was only a matter of finding a similar filter at a home improvement store and then using a scrap wood jig, he could cut and glue his own filter. It’s stuff like…

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According to research by the Melbourne Institute, Australian households` finances are much better now than they were three months ago, news.com.au reports.The Institute found that 47% of Australian households found they were able to save part of their income (a slight increase on three months earlier), and there were fewer households running into debt and/or using up their savings.The research also found that households from New South Wales were more likely to get into debt, and that households in Victoria were more likely to `make ends meet`.The improvement of household finances in Australia could influence what the future may hold…

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The RMB/BER Business Confidence Index continued to decline in the third quarter, falling by 3 points to 23. This is the index’s lowest level in 10 years – a reading of 15 was recorded in the second quarter of 1999, just before the start of the last cyclical economic upswing in September of that year. The third quarter decline in business confidence is the net outcome of divergent results for the individual sub-sectors comprising the overall index. Confidence continued to decline in the retail and wholesale trade sectors, whereas it increased in manufacturing and new vehicle trade. In the case…

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Risk management, compliance, and cost management are top strategic imperatives for Hong Kong banks in the next 12 months, said IDC that had a closed-door session with 12 technology leaders from key banks headquartered out of Hong Kong recently for a discussion on critical business, operational, and technology related issues impacting their businesses. These imperatives are rated higher than others such as expansion into other markets, operational efficiencies, and customer experience improvement, according to the research house. “Hong Kong is easing back into a recovery mode, but wary of the fragility of the economic situation, bankers are placing concerted efforts…

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Lenovo Posts Third Loss as U.S., Europe Demand Slows (Update1)
By Mark Lee
Aug. 6 (Bloomberg) – Lenovo computers manufacturer, Lenovo Group Ltd., China’s biggest personal-computer maker, reported a third straight quarterly loss because of a slump in U.S. and European demand, and said the operating environment “will continue to be challenging.”
The net loss in the fiscal first quarter ended June 30 was $16 million, compared with a $110.5 million profit a year earlier, Lenovo said today. The loss was less than the $54 million median of five analysts’ estimates in a Bloomberg survey after the company cut most…

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Bankruptcy often is the last ultimate solution for many debtors who have unbearable debts. With filing a bankruptcy, you will get rid of your debts instantly and relief you from the harassing call of your creditors.
Although bankruptcy has many undesirable consequences such as your bad credit record will remain on your credit report for 7-10 years, but with a little work, you can improve your credit even before these negative records expire. Here are five easy steps you can take to rebuild your credit.
Step 1:
Get to know your current credit status
The first step to rebuilding your…

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I’m pretty sure all of you know the WebRequest and it’s derived class HttpWebRequest.
And what a marvelous property both of them have – the TimeOut.

Yesterday I had to write some app that reads files located on some remote computer.
As I knew already this ins’t such a good practice, because your code can just hang/freeze for seconds waiting for that UNC path to become available or just checking it’s existence.
Still, I had to provide some quick solution and “hoping for the best” wasn’t good enough.
So, this is what I came up with.

public static T Limex<T>(Func<T>…

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FHA Refinance, Is it The Solution for Your Home Mortgage?
By Antin. For the homebuyers, FHA Refinance Home Loans are a so good problem solver. FHA Refinance gives great advantages for the homeowners that wish to cut down monthly payments. If you are a homeowner, you have already experienced in applying for a mortgage. Towards FHA, refinancing with this insured mortgage is the same as applying for any other home loan but in addition qualifying standards are easier and protections better.
FHA, (Federal Housing Administration) can provide all the necessary help therefore you can refinance your current home mortgage. In…