Cable continues to sucker us                                 Posted May 27 2008, by Kim Peterson The New York Times examines why we keep paying for cable, even though prices have risen 77% since 1996. Cable customers generally pay at least $60 a month, but only watch 13% of the channels available. Sounds like a rip off, doesn't it? But people accept the charges and continue to subscribe in growing numbers. The key to cable's success has been bundling channels together instead of letting people pay just for the ones they watch, according to the Times. Cable companies say that unbundling those channels would give lots of cash to the most popular ones while the rest suffer. You'd think our addiction to cable would make cable stocks a winning investment, but that hasn't been the case as the industry faces growing competition from telcos and the Internet. Comcast shares are down 20% from a year ago, and Cablevision shares have dropped 27%.  I just downgraded to Comcast's basic cable. I don't need anything more, with iTunes, Netflix and sites like Hulu.com. The only thing I really miss is cable news, but I can watch that online as well. But many people don't want to watch video on their computer screens, and they don't want to deal with connecting their computers to the TV. Tech companies are addressing this problem by developing set-top boxes that bring Internet videos to the television. Everyone from Apple to Netflix to Hewlett-Packard has a box in the works. But that part's easy. The real challenge is getting Hollywood to distribute all the shows that normally go to cable. When that happens, the cable industry might see its subscriber trends reverse. Good, Useful Information...        Peel a banana from the bottom and you won't have to pick the  little 'stringy things' off of it.  That's how the primates do it.         Take your bananas apart when you get home from the store.  If you  leave them connected at the stem, they ripen faster.         Store your opened chunks of cheese in aluminum foil.  It will stay  fresh much longer and not mold!         Peppers with 3 bumps on the bottom are sweeter and better for  eating.  Peppers with 4 bumps on the bottom are firmer and better for  cooking.         Add a teaspoon of water when frying ground beef.  It will help  pull the grease away from the meat while cooking.         To really make scrambled eggs or omelets rich add a couple of  spoonfuls of sour cream, cream cheese, or heavy cream in and then beat  them up.         For a cool brownie treat, make brownies as directed.  Melt Andes  mints in double broiler and pour over warm brownies.  Let set for a  wonderful minty frosting.         Add garlic immediately to a recipe if you want a light taste of  garlic and at the end of the recipe if your want a stronger taste of  garlic.         Leftover snickers bars from Halloween make a delicious dessert.  Simple chop them up with the food chopper.  Peel, core and slice a few  apples.  Place them in a baking dish and sprinkle the chopped candy bars  over the apples.  Bake at 350 for 15 minutes!!!  Serve alone or with  vanilla ice cream.         1.  Reheat Pizza.  Heat up leftover pizza in a non stick skillet on  top of the stove, set heat to med-low and heat till warm.  This keeps the  crust crispy.  No soggy micro pizza.  I saw this on the cooking channel  and it really works.         2.  Easy Deviled Eggs.  Put cooked egg yolks in a zip lock bag.  Seal, mash till they are all broken up.  Add remainder of ingredients,  reseal, keep mashing it up mixing thoroughly, cut the tip of the baggy,  squeeze mixture into egg.  Just throw bag away when done easy clean up.        3.  Expanding Frosting.  When you buy a container of cake frosting  from the store, whip it with your mixer for a few minutes.  You can  double it in size.  You get to frost more cake/cupcakes with the same amount.  You also eat less sugar and calories per serving.         4.  Reheating Refrigerated Bread.  To warm biscuits, pancakes, or muffins that were refrigerated, place them in a microwave with a cup of  water.  The increased moisture will keep the food moist and help it  reheat faster.         5.  Newspaper Weeds Away.  Start putting in your plants, work the  nutrients in your soil.  Wet newspapers put layers around the plants overlapping as you go cover with mulch and forget about weeds.  Weeds  will get through some gardening plastic they will not get through wet  newspapers.         6.  Broken Glass.  Use a wet cotton ball or Q-tip to pick up the  small shards of glass you can't see easily.        7.  No More Mosquitoes.  Place a dryer sheet in your pocket. It  will keep the mosquitoes away.         8.  Squirrel Away.  To keep squirrels from eating your plants  sprinkle your plants with cayenne pepper.  The cayenne pepper doesn't  hurt the plant and the squirrels won't come near it.         9.  Flexible Vacuum.  To get something out of a heat register or  under the fridge add an empty paper towel roll or empty gift wrap roll to  your vacuum.  It can be bent or flattened to get in narrow openings.         10.  Reducing Static Cling.  Pin a small safety pin to the seam of  your slip and you will not have a clingy skirt or dress.  Same thing  works with slacks that cling when wearing panty hose.  Place pin in seam of  slacks and -- at DA! -- static is gone.    11.  Measuring Cups.  Before you pour sticky substances into a  measuring cup, fill with hot water.  Dump out the hot water, but don't  dry cup.  Next, add your ingredient, such as peanut butter, and watch how  easily it comes right out.     12.  Foggy Windshield.  Hate foggy windshields?  Buy a chalkboard  eraser and keep it in the glove box of your car.  When the windows fog,  rub with the eraser!  Works better than a cloth!         13.  Reopening Envelope.  If you seal an envelope and then realize  you forgot to include something inside, just place your sealed envelope  in the freezer for an hour or two.  Viola!  It unseals easily.        14.  Conditioner.  Use your hair conditioner to shave your legs.  It's a lot cheaper than shaving cream and leaves your legs really smooth.  It's also a great way to use up the conditioner you bought but didn't  like when you tried it in your hair.         15.  Goodbye Fruit Flies.  To get rid of pesky fruit flies, take a  small glass fill it 1/2' with Apple Cider Vinegar and 2 drops of dish  washing liquid, mix well.  You will find those flies drawn to the cup and  gone forever!        16.  Get Rid of Ants.  Put small piles of cornmeal where you see  ants.  They eat it, take it 'home,' can't digest it so it kills them.  It  may take a week or so, especially if it rains, but it works and you don't  have the worry about pets or small children being harmed!