Want Entertainment? Stay Home!

It's no secret that the country is going through rough times in terms of the economy. While everyone tries to save money and enjoys the ludicrously cheap gas at the pump (seriously, take a picture because one day, you'll look back at these prices and stare in disbelief), people are staying home for things that they used to go out for regularly.

According to MediaBiz, a recent poll indicates that "more than half of U.S. adults (57 percent) said they plan to spend more time at home watching TV in the coming months rather than going out to restaurants or the movies". While this might have meant a night talking to your great aunt Muriel on the phone in another time, people have many more options to stay entertained at home these days.

Access to HDTV, movie rental services, music and more really help people connect with entertainment right in their living rooms. So, if you're looking to pinch some pennies in these hard times, start by seeing what's available for you at home. You'll be surprised by what you can do at your leisure.

Whole Foods Introduces Canola Power

43 stores in the Whole Foods family currently supplied by a facility in the Northeast, will soon become primary benefactors of canola power—as in the same canola oil used for cooking products sold at Whole Foods locations. It is estimated that by next year a generator will be up and operational to power the facility with used cooking oil at a whopping 2 million kilowatt hours per year. The used canola oil is currently being stored in 55-gallon drums.

To get the full lowdown on the Whole Foods canola revolution, visit the Boston Globe and it's recent article on this new energy alternative.

Video Streaming over XBox Live with Netflix

As of November 19th, the New XBox Experience is now available for the XBox 360 video game console from Microsoft. Bringing with it an upgrade in the system's interface, the New XBox Experience adds a variety of features, including something extra special for those of us addicted to Netflix: streaming video.

That's right, Netflix junkies, if you have an XBox 360, XBox Live and a Netflix account, you can now stream everything from their "Watch Instantly" content direct on your video game machine. This includes a wide variety of movies and some TV shows, displaying in both SD and HD formats.

The process itself is simple. Just add the movies to your instant queue once you've activated your account for your XBox 360. Within moments, your selections will show up in the 360's interface, and from there you just click play and start watching.

The service works fast and is actually terribly easy to use. Definitely worth checking out.

Wal-Mart Green? Retail Giant Eyeing Wind Energy and Natural Gas

Wal-Mart, king of the super retail industry, recently announced its intentions to buy 15 percent of the electricity for Texas facilities from a Duke Energy wind farm to the tune of 226 million kilowatt-hours a year, enough to power nearly 18,000 homes. What's more, T. Boone Picken, infamous oil tycoon, is working closely with Wal-Mart chief executive Lee Scott to possibly convert some 7,200 trucks to natural gas.

For more details, here is the official Wal-Mart announcement.

Reliant Puts the Cost of Electricity in the Palm of Your Hands

Have you ever been slapped with a $300 electric bill and wondered how you could have possibly used that much electricity? What if you could tell how much electricity you were using at any given time of the day? Would you change your habits to lower your bill?

Reliant has recently set up a house in Houston, Texas to test their new communication device called Insight. It is a new handheld product that communicates wirelessly to the utility meter and updates information every 10 seconds.

Insight will display the dollar amount of what you're spending per hour and how much the bill is so far. From there you can calculate how much your bill will be if you keep spending the same amount. This can truly help you manage your usage. I mean if I knew it would cost me $8 an hour to use the dishwasher at 2 pm as opposed to $1 an hour at 8 pm, well I would certainly be doing the dishes after dinner.

To read more about Reliant and their new Insight device, you have to read the article A House That Thinks.

Texas Kid Builds Electric Car

Over the summer, a 17-year-old boy from San Antonio built an electric car, something that the country's automakers have yet to do. Luke Laborde picked up a gas-powered Bradley on EBay and with his dad's help, he switched it over to a motor that runs on several lead-acid batteries.

Apparently, it can get up to 55 mph total and requires less than a dollar of electricity to recharge it. In total it took nearly 150 man hours and $18,000 to complete the project. To see the full rundown on Luke's electric car, visit 3news.

And to think, when I was 17, all I did was play video games. Come to think of it, that's all I still do. I need to be more productive!

Ohio Natural Gas Commerical Service

South Star Energy's Georgia Natural Gas and its Ohio company, Ohio Natural Gas, recently launched its commercial natural gas product at OhioNaturalGas.com, a site dedicated to helping the lovely people of Ohio switch or connect their natural gas service.

Ohio Natural Gas currently serves half-a-million residential and business customers in both Georgia and Ohio. Business customers at OhioNaturalGas.com will need an account with Dominion East of Ohio prior to entering their address to switch to Ohio Natural Gas service. Fixed and variable rate plans are offered as well as a $25 Visa Gift Card.

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Have a Green Thanksgiving Holiday

Yea! Turkey, family, friends and pie — oh my! I do hope all of you are having a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday, but just because it's a holiday doesn't mean I don't have some green tips for you.

I know that energy conservation and being green is hard to keep in mind when your house is filled with relatives, there's food to prepare, kids to corral and merriment to be had, but it has to be done, for the sake of our planet. Um.. yeah, no pressure.

Don't worry it's easy. You can do simple things like carpooling with relatives or friends when going to Thanksgiving dinner, bring your own re-usable plastic containers for leftovers instead of using foil or making no bake dishes so the only energy being used is the whirling power of the spatula in your hand.

For more easy green holiday tips read Don't Let Thanksgiving Ruin Your Carbon Diet.

Black Friday and Electronics

Thanksgiving is tomorrow, and you know that means? Eating until you can't do anything else. While many of us are excited about time with family and a day off or two from work, that's not the only thing that people get worked up over around this time of year. You see, Black Friday looms just after Turkey Day, and consumers are already gearing up for the savings.

According to Consumer Reports, about 85 percent of shoppers this year are aiming to buy electronics like MP3 players, HD TVs, video game systems, phones and more. With all of the deals that I've already seen in my local catalogs, you can bet that I may join the swelling ranks of the Black Friday mob.

If you plan on participating in the frenzy of shopping, there are plenty of options not only in savings, but also in terms of ways that you can ensure that you're getting the best deal possible. Consumer Reports has a guide on "11 Ways to Strike Gold on Black Friday" that has all kinds of valuable tips such as visiting the retailer's website, asking for a price guarantee and more. Make sure that you are prepared and equipped to tackle the day and give it a read.

Anyone planning on going out on Black Friday? Any particular purchases in mind?

Bright House Gets a PowerBoost ™

Bright House Networks recently announced their launch of PowerBoostâ„¢.  The company says this technology, first deployed by Comcast, will allow their Turbo customers to temporarily experience download speeds significantly faster than their current speed at no additional charge. Currently, Road Runner Turbo with PowerBoostâ„¢ is available exclusively from Bright House Networks.

“We are very excited to be delivering this free, time-saving feature to our Road Runner Turbo customers,� said Kevin Hyman, Executive Vice President, Cable Operations of Bright House Networks. “PowerBoost will jumpstart a large file download reducing overall download time, and give users more time to enjoy the multitude of media available online.�

The speed provided by PowerBoost is available to customers who subscribe to Road Runner at a specific level. For example, Road Runner Turbo customers with a current speed of up to 15 Mbps will be able to experience  PowerBoost speeds up to 22 Mbps; and customers in Tampa Bay with a current speed of up to 20 Mbps will see PowerBoost speeds up to 30 Mbps.  Once a PowerBoost is completed, a download in progress will continue at the normal speed.

If you are not currently a customer, you can check out Bright House Network high-speed Internet plans and pricing to see if their service is available in your area.