I definitely agree with the principle of kids having a their own sweat equity stake in their college funds -- I made a similar decision with my son's education. But I think a "no college funds" policy is a bit harsh. It is only natural to want the best for your kids, after all. In my case, I am willing to contribute a portion of the costs of a state school education. I think that balances my desire to give my kid a headstart in life, and the realities of limited funds and not wanted my kid thinking everything in life is going to be given to her. I think a 529 plan is a great vehicle for said savings ... it grows tax free and if you need to, you can use the money to go back to school yourself. A certain amount of the balance will be ignored when schools look at your assets and determine eligibility for aid, too -- unlike a 401k or IRA. And you can work it so Upromise will funnel a few dollars into it for free. Anyway, I think it is a good point to make that just blindly stuffing away cash for college may not be a smart move -- but I do think some college planning (and the saving that goes with it) is a good idea.

http://froppy.com/blog/

1. Of the reported bugs above, have any of them been fixed?

2. DTV has a wait list now for the HD DVR. How does that work? If I signup for service and get a regular HD Receiver, how much do I have to pay for the new HD/DVR Receiver -- and does that mean another 24-month contract?

3. Does the new HD DVR support the MPEG-4 encoded HD Locals?

I'll be the first to say that Google has been less than pure -- but I think eBay's move is just tacky. They bought PayPal to improve the consume experience. It wasn't so that they could have a monopoly, right? Wish the FTC should look into the wisdom of letting them maintain their PayPal holding while freezing out new innovative competitors like Google Checkout.

http://mrshiney.froppy.com/blog/

Yokata, ne!

Small time independent retailers suck. If they aren't whining about being "undercut" by the big box stores that don't inflate their margins they are pulling these kind of underhanded, sneaky tricks. I say put them all out of business and I'll buy everything online or at the big box stores.

Thank you for clarifying the difference between nigiri sushi and sashimi. This has never been at all clear to me. Another tip, for total sushi nubes, is to never place ohashi poked up from your bowl of rice after a meal. Such an insult! http://mrshiney.froppy.com/blog/

Does this upgrade fix the problem for Tivo users whereby the Dish receiver can sometimes get "stuck" changing channels? http://mrshiney.froppy.com/blog/

I think this method has potential; and not just for ads. Think about other consumer information ... like recalls/product updates for example. You could subscribe to such an RSS feed when you fill out your e-warranty card and be up-to-date about your product info without having to worry about giving out your email address. http://mrshiney.froppy.com/blog/

I don't know what this is but it looks cool. Why does Japan get all the best gadgets? http://mrshiney.froppy.com/blog/

I wish the breathless bloggers posting about this new capability would clearly report that in order to take advantage of PC uploads you MUST have the 7.2 software on your Tivo ... and that most people don't have it yet. I think it's pretty frustrating to have this exciting capability announced and not be able to take advantage of it.