Neat resource of vintage ads

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Neat resource of vintage ads

Type in a few search terms (like Babies and Airplanes) and out pops one of the millions of ads in this incredible database.

Certain to inspire, or possibly just give you fodder for a great presentation.

Cheap Mobile Calls, Even Overseas

By Joanna Stern

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/07/technology/personaltech/07basics.html?pagewanted=1&th&emc=th

Recently, my parents returned from Italy with a few bottles of Chianti and $750 in AT&T calling charges. Buon giorno!

Racking up exorbitant mobile charges is easy to do if you are not careful about using your cellphone internationally. AT&T charges 99 cents a minute to use your phone in Italy (rates vary by country), and that is if you pay for the carrier’s international calling plan. If you do not, the charge goes up to $1.29 a minute.

What my parents did not realize was that they could have nearly eliminated those charges if they had set up their (in this case) iPhone and BlackBerry to take advantage of mobile Internet calling services: That $1.29-a-minute charge would have gone down to a much more reasonable 2.4 cents a minute (or nothing at all if they were on a Wi-Fi network).

The Internet has been used to make calls for some time. One of the largest providers of the service, Skype, was founded in 2003 and has more than half a billion user accounts. And while many people gather around the PC to talk to far-flung friends and family, new apps and services can replicate that experience (and that savings) on cellphones.

To transform your mobile phone into a device capable of making cheap international calls, you need to consider a few things. Ideally, you have a smartphone that can access Wi-Fi, like an iPhone or a Droid. Wi-Fi ensures the best call quality, since it’s carried over a high-speed Internet connection rather than through third-generation, or 3G, cellular networks.

But if you don’t have a Wi-Fi-enabled smartphone, you are not out of luck. There are calling services that use local phone numbers rather than wireless data connections to place calls, making them compatible with a wide range of devices. Applications can dial a local access number as if you were placing a regular call; and your call is routed over the Internet at similarly discounted rates.

There are also free calling mobile applications, each with its own layout, feature list and call quality. In my tests of more than six different applications by calling friends in Europe and Africa, these stood out:

SKYPE FOR MOBILE Like the program for Mac and PCs, Skype Mobile lets you make free calls and send instant messages to fellow Skype users. You can also call non-Skype landlines and cellphones using Skype Credit, a fee-based service that charges pennies per minute for international calls.

Skype offers several mobile versions, including Skype for the iPhone and iPod Touch, Skype Lite for Java and Android phones, and Skype for Windows phones.

The application for the iPhone and iPod Touch most closely resembles Skype’s familiar desktop program. Though I could send text-based chat messages to my Skype-using friend in Belgrade over AT&T’s 3G network, I needed to connect the phone to a Wi-Fi network to make a call. (You currently cannot make Skype or other Internet-based calls on the iPhone via AT&T’s 3G network, though that could change soon.) After a simple tap of the call button, I could clearly hear his familiar accent without any noticeable lag or choppiness.

Similarly, a call I made to a friend’s cellphone in Senegal using Skype Credit was crystal clear in sound and connected in only 15 seconds. We chatted for 10 minutes, which cost me only $2.40. That same call on AT&T, even if I signed on to its international calling plan (which costs $4 a month), would have cost $8.80. Without the international calling plan, the fee would have climbed to $27.80.

For those without iPhones or Windows Mobile devices, Skype provides its Skype Lite application. Skype Lite cannot make calls over Wi-Fi or 3G networks, but instead routes calls through a local cellphone number.

It isn’t as complicated as it sounds: when using a MyTouch 3G phone, I selected a Skype contact in London. The application started the phone’s dialer and automatically routed the call to a local number. My British pal came through clear and static-free.

One thing to remember is that while calls made with Skype Lite are local and your carrier won’t exact a long-distance fee, you are technically making a call. So those calls will count against the minutes in your calling plan.

FRING Picking up where Skype Mobile leaves off, Fring provides an even richer experience on more phones. It supports calling over Wi-Fi and 3G on Android and Nokia devices; iPhone 3G calling is on the way. In addition to free calling to Fring members anywhere in the world, the service connects to Skype, Google Talk and MSN Messenger contacts.

After installing the Fring application from the Android Marketplace on Sprint’s HTC Hero, I tapped into my Skype account to call my Belgrade friend over Sprint’s network. Since I didn’t need to be in a Wi-Fi hotspot, I made the call while walking down a noisy New York street.

Unfortunately, because 3G data networks weren’t built for packets of data as fast-moving as a cellphone call, the connection was weak and kept fading in and out. When I was standing still, the call was slightly clearer but like a dialogue between in-studio anchors and on-the-ground news correspondents, there was a noticeable lag in the conversation.

That all disappeared when I connected the Hero to a Wi-Fi network; we talked for five minutes with no interruptions or delay.

If you are a fan of Skype’s desktop video-calling service, you may be wondering when it will be appearing on its mobile app. Fring’s already beaten Skype to the punch on this feature. The company recently updated its iPhone application with one-way video calling. “One-way,” because the iPhone doesn’t have a front-facing camera — so you can see your caller but your caller can’t see you.

TRUPHONE Truphone, which works a bit differently from Skype and Fring, is available for a number of devices including the iPhone, the iPod Touch and Android, Nokia and BlackBerry handsets.

Truphone doesn’t have a 3G calling option, but offers calling over Wi-Fi for Android, Nokia and iPhone handsets. The company offers Truphone Anywhere, a service similar to Skype’s Lite application that routes long-distance calls first over a local number and then via the Internet for lower rates.

Though Truphone permits you to sign into your Skype account and call Skype users, you can also make free calls to other Truphone users. When I called a Truphone friend in London on his cell using a Wi-Fi network, call quality was decent and there was no background hissing.

Blending the functionality of both Fring and Skype, I discovered the true beauty of Truphone when I ventured outside of Wi-Fi territory and was able to automatically call Truphone users and international numbers by using my phone’s own dialing capabilities. Although I needed to buy Truphone credit, the call was routed over a local number and then to Truphone’s network.

What’s the benefit of that, rather than it switching to 3G like Fring? Much better call quality. Just as with Skype Lite, when I dialed my friend in Israel, Truphone called a local New York City number, and connected me to her cell. Her voice was as clear as if she was sitting right next to me.

Clearly, making a choice about which service to use to reduce the cost of international calling will depend heavily on what cellphone you have and whether you have easy access to a Wi-Fi network.

But no matter which option you select, you will definitely save some money. AT&T may have heavily charged my parents one time for their globetrotting calling habits, but with so many new and cheaper options, that won’t happen again.

A wealth of Tax and property related information for the first time home buyer can be found at:

http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=204671,00.html

Homebuyer Credit Expanded and Extended

The Worker, Homeownership and Business Assistance Act of 2009, signed into law on Nov. 6, 2009, extends and expands the first-time homebuyer credit allowed by previous Acts.

Under the new law, an eligible taxpayer must buy, or enter into a binding contract to buy, a principal residence on or before April 30, 2010 and close on the home by June 30, 2010. For qualifying purchases in 2010, taxpayers have the option of claiming the credit on either their 2009 or 2010 return.

The new law also:

• Authorizes the credit for long-time homeowners buying a replacement principal residence.
• Raises the income limitations for homeowners claiming the credit.

News release 2009-108 has the details, as do two new IRS videos in English and Spanish.

Members of the military, Foreign Service and intelligence community serving outside the U.S. should also be aware of new benefits in the law that apply particularly to them.

Following is general information for first-time homebuyers who settled on a new home on or before Nov. 6, 2009.

For 2008 Home Purchases

The Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 established a tax credit for first-time homebuyers that can be worth up to $7,500. For homes purchased in 2008, the credit is similar to a no-interest loan and must be repaid in 15 equal, annual installments beginning with the 2010 income tax year.

For 2009 Home Purchases

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 expanded the first-time homebuyer credit by increasing the credit amount to $8,000 for purchases made in 2009 before Dec. 1. However, the new Worker, Homeownership and Business Assistance Act of 2009 has extended the deadline. Now, taxpayers who have a binding contract to purchase a home before May 1, 2010, are eligible for the credit. Buyers must close on the home before July 1, 2010. [Added Nov. 12, 2009]

For home purchased in 2009, the credit does not have to be paid back unless the home ceases to be the taxpayer's main residence within a three-year period following the purchase.

First-time homebuyers who purchase a home in 2009 can claim the credit on either a 2008 tax return, due April 15, 2009, or a 2009 tax return, due April 15, 2010. The credit may not be claimed before the closing date. But, if the closing occurs after April 15, 2009, a taxpayer can still claim it on a 2008 tax return by requesting an extension of time to file or by filing an amended return. News release 2009-27 has more information on these options.

General Information

Homebuyers who purchased a home in 2008, 2009 or 2010 may be able to take advantage of the first-time homebuyer credit. The credit:

• Applies only to homes used as a taxpayer's principal residence.
• Reduces a taxpayer's tax bill or increases his or her refund, dollar for dollar.
• Is fully refundable, meaning the credit will be paid out to eligible taxpayers, even if they owe no tax or the credit is more than the tax owed.

The credit is claimed using Form 5405, which you file with your original or amended tax return.

Questions and Answers

More information is available in the question and answer section.

Related Items

• IR-2009-83, First-Time Homebuyer Credit Provides Tax Benefits to 1.4 Million Families to Date
• The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009: Information Center

Cities where homes have lost the most value

Far-flung suburbs particularly hurt by glut of new housing built during boom

By Francesca Levy

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34644840/ns/business-real_estate

Merced, Calif., is a quiet, residential city an easy drive from Yosemite National Park and Pacific Coast beaches. It's also a perfect case study for the aftermath of the housing crisis.

Homes at the median level in Merced have lost 62 percent of their value from the second quarter of 2006, when they peaked at $336,743, the biggest drop anywhere in the country, according to data provided to Forbes by Local Market Monitor, a Cary, N.C.-based real estate research firm. Earlier, home building and buying grew exponentially in Merced, but the metro now suffers from a whopping 16.4 percent unemployment rate, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, reflecting a drop-off in building industry jobs and a grim housing market.

Providence, R.I., where values sank the most in the Northeast; Detroit, the hardest-hit market in the Midwest; and Port St. Lucie, Fla., the biggest loser of value in the South, have also suffered from their local market's slide.

It's not news that Las Vegas, where value has dropped 48 percent, Miami (down 38 percent), and Orlando (down 31 percent) saw a burst of homebuilding fueled by bad loans and rampant house flipping between the years of 2002 and 2006, and that those building bubbles subsequently collapsed. But it's the exurban cities just outside of easy commuting distance from the most desirable West Coast and Sunbelt metros where home values have taken the biggest pounding.

In many of these relatively affordable bedroom communities, subprime lending was rampant. As families clamored to buy homes, prices inflated to match their exuberance. But when the mortgage market disintegrated, these outer-fringe cities were left with a glut of new housing, and the value of these once-desired homes took a nosedive. Bay area satellite cities Stockton and Modesto, where home values have dropped 54 percent and 53 percent respectively, appealed to middle-to-low income buyers — and subprime lenders.

“There was such pressure on housing in the Bay Area that people were being pushed to the outskirts, and prices went up a lot there,” says Cynthia Kroll, senior regional economist at the Fisher Center of Real Estate and Urban Economics at the Haas School of Business, University of California Berkeley. “They were areas where a lower-income population was trying to buy homes, and they were the target for subprime loans.”

To find the cities where home values fell the most, Local Market Monitor (LMM) pinpointed 10 Metropolitan Statistical Areas — as defined by the Office of Management of Budget and used by the federal government to collect statistics — in each census-defined region (Northeast, South, Midwest and West) where the Federal Housing Finance Agency's Home Price Index had fallen the most from that market's peak, to the third quarter of 2009. The FHFA index is derived from data on all mortgages bought or backed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

The numbers show that housing markets at the heart of the boom on the West Coast and in Florida had much farther to fall than in the Midwest and Northeast, where most of the damage to values was done by rising unemployment and deteriorating business environments in the wake of the financial crisis.

On average, markets on the West Coast have lost 21.6 percent in home values since their peaks, and Florida alone lost 31 percent. By contrast, the Northeast lost an average of 8.6 percent and the Midwest only 5.6 percent. To put it another way, Merced, the biggest loser of value in the West, and in the country as a whole, lost 45 percentage points more in value than the biggest loser in the Northeast, and 32 percentage points more than the biggest in the Midwest.

There is also a broad spread in how early the decline began in different cities. Although the national peak in home prices occurred in the second quarter of 2006, according to Case Shiller, individual markets, such as Ann Arbor, Mich., peaked as early as the second quarter of 2005 and as late as the third quarter of 2009 in a number of Texas and Iowa metros. The tide changed during the same quarter in markets scattered around the South and Northeast, proving that cities underwent housing recessions timed as much by local economic factors as the national climate.

“There are timing differences here,” says Susan Wachter, a professor of real estate at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School. “There are regions that went into the recession earlier, and those are coming out earlier.”

The cities that lost the most home value in the South are, unsurprisingly, concentrated in the Sunshine State, where exuberant developers went on a construction binge, unfettered by strict zoning restrictions. Port St. Lucie, the city with the greatest value loss in Florida (46.4 percent), and a striking example of the overzealous building in the state, seemed almost to spring up whole during the housing boom. New homes began, in the 1990s, to occupy what had previously been a desolate tract of sand, and prefabricated communities sprang up in earnest as the housing market heated up. Similarly, the retirement and resort communities of Cape Coral, where homes are down 46.4 percent from their peak and Naples, where they're down 44.6 percent once showed seemingly endless promise to builders. Those metros now feel the pain from that era's speculation.

“In Florida, it's not a pretty situation,” says Sean Snaith, director of the Institute for Economic Competitiveness at the University of Central Florida. “Without strong job growth it will take a significant amount of time to absorb that inventory.”

In the Midwest and Northeast, however, the loss of home values is a slightly different story. Here, the financial pummeling taken by the entire country sent values sinking, but because subprime lending and overbuilding were less prevalent, home prices didn't shoot up as dramatically, and didn't have as far to fall. Most housing woes here were a result of long-building economic distress and a declining manufacturing industry. That is evident nowhere more than in Detroit, where housing prices peaked early, in the second quarter of 2005, and began a dramatic slide in tandem with its sinking auto industry. Home values there are down 31 percent.

By Francesca Levy

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34644840/ns/business-real_estate