With Christmas still a warm memory, there's all this new stuff in your life; your friends and family have showered you with the latest gadgets and gizmos. Now what are you going to do with all these new toys? Before you get too far into the manuals, and before you throw out the old stuff, take an inventory of what you have and what replaces what. Before you pile up the old TV with this week's trash, consider what can be done with that still usable item. First, may I suggest you consider donating some of your replaced items to charity; the world has so many people in it that have a lot less than you do, so consider sharing some of it. If it still works, it's donatable. If you just can't part with it, then consider adding it to your cellar work area or the sun porch. You don't need to get another cable box for it if you're on cable, just split the signal out from another feeder line as it comes out of the wall and you should have limited control over the channels. I put the old, smaller TV in the kitchen for those cooking channels and comedy shows for while you prepare and clean up, all I did was split the signal before it enters the TV; that way I see the same thing in the living room and kitchen, and still have full access to all the channels, as long as both rooms want to watch the same thing. If you got a new home entertainment system, you can move the older one downstairs into the cellar and hook up some outside speakers for those Summer parties, or perhaps up into the kid's room for their own enjoyment.



Did you pick up a new MP3 player or iPod? There's a little device that I've found useful for these personal audio players, and it's a little transmitter that plugs into the headphone jack, runs on AAA batteries and transmits your signal to an FM frequency on the radio. Very cool, and it works great in the car too. If the device stores files on a smart card or secure digital device or other media, keep an eye on the post-holiday sales, you may be able to double or triple your storage space for a low cost; if your device has removable media, it should be able to handle the biggest size available in that storage media type. Also a little patch cord from your player headphone jack to the stereo input on your home entertainment system will have you rocking to your portable MP3s in the comfort of your own living room.

It's a new year and you should put a new message on your answering machine. I found some great old audio files online suitable for a greeting, but wanted to add something to them, and so they went into AV's Music Morpher Gold, and after applying a few filters and effects, out came a fresh, personalized greeting. You could also simply use your own voice and apply some effects and produce a new and fresh greeting for your callers. So enjoy your new toys, and do consider recycling or donating your older devices, and enjoy your new year.

BIO: Wayne Rice is a freelance journalist, copywriter, photographer and artist. He currently resides in the United States.