Clark despises monopolies. He has a built-in prejudice that makes him automatically expect bad things from them. One of his least favorite monopolies (one that invariably gets some of the lowest score in customer satisfaction ratings) is the cable industry. Comcast, the nation's largest cable operator, is not only raising rates by around 5%, but it's recently begun to put caps on the usage of its Comcast internet service. What's driving this? Clark says to look toward South Korea, which has one of the most advanced internet systems in the world. Younger Koreans no longer subscribe in large numbers to pay television. They watch TV mainly over the internet and on their advanced-technology media phones. Over the next year or two it will become much easier to get internet programming onto your big screen in this country as well. Comcast is very afraid of this trend, and has responded with this cap on internet usage. If you exceed their limit, they'll fire you as a customer. Time Warner Cable is looking at metering internet usage as well.

Even though the US pioneered the web, our internet capacity is now at third world standards. Other countries are much more advanced, and pricing reflects that. For example, Korea's ultra-fast high speed connection costs only about $7 a month - compare that to what you're paying here in the States! You can thank the cable monopolies for that.

One of the easiest ways to lower your electric bill is to reduce the power your computer uses when not in use. In fact, "Dracula" or vampire electronics account for some 5 cents of every $1 you pay for electricity.

Here's the good news: You can reduce consumption by 95% by going through a simple series of tweaks at ClimateSaversComputing.org. This move can save you up to $60/year!

Remember several years ago when Internet cafes were all the rage? Over in Europe, some of these cafes were huge and occupied multi-floor buildings.

The last time Clark was in London, however, he saw one formerly popular cafe that was reduced from 500 terminals to about 75. What happened? The marketplace changed. Free wifi became wide-spread and suddenly everyone could access the Internet from their cell phones.

Likewise, the Internet will increasingly be anywhere you go. Delta Airlines will have high-speed connections on all its flights by 2009. The price for access will be around $10 for a few hours or around $13 or $14 on longer flights. Delta's system will not be compatible with Skype.

Meanwhile, what you surf on is undergoing a transformation. A new class of ultra-lightweight mini-laptops -- called "netbooks" -- is all the rage. Many of them are Windows based.

Clark recently (over)paid for one Hewlett Packard model at $599. Lenovo's S10 ThinkPad is going for $399, which is not much for a fully functional mini-computer. Expect a big marketing push for netbooks this holiday season. People will be snatching them up for themselves and their favorite road warriors.

Speaking of traveling, there are new TSA-approved computer bags available where you don't have to unpack your laptop at security checkpoints. The TSA can actually check your laptop while it remains in the bag.

Google has been in a clash of the titans with Viacom because the latter's copyrighted content has been appearing on the Google-owned YouTube. Viacom -- which owns HBO, MTV, Comedy Central and others -- is seeking more than $1 billion in penalties from Google.

This move is in contrast to what Hulu.com is doing. Hulu sought the explicit approval from copyright holders and features on-demand network and feature film programming for free.

Viacom also got a judge to agree to give them personal information on all YouTube users who accessed their content. Clark thinks they are the Kings of Mean for this move. What do they hope to do by harassing individual consumers? Just be aware that if you get an oddball legal notice from Viacom, it may stem from this.

The whole episode is very reminiscent of the online piracy debacle in the music world. The music industry dropped the ball on that one, and the TV/film world is trying to learn from its mistakes.

Microsoft has long dominated the office software market. But the computer giant is now feeling threatened by alternative programs that target entrepreneurs and small business.

So Microsoft is experimenting with a $70 annual subscription service that's being sold at major electronics retailers. Customers will receive any new versions of Office for free during the year.

Google also offers its own office suite that's similar to Microsoft. Then there's also the free Star Office option. Clark has used Star Office for years and never had a problem with opening a Microsoft Word document. Why pay money for something that's available for free?

One final thought: If you're still using Internet Explore as your web browser, Clark encourage you to take a look at Firefox 3.0. Most tech reviewers think it's a clearly superior browser.

Clark owes an apology to Vonage after he took a recent call from a woman who ripped them apart. This particular caller complained about several things, among them being hit with a larger cancellation fee than her contract called for. To add insult to injury, the call quality was so bad that the Vonage people couldn't hear her when she called to cancel her service!

But recently Clark learned that Comcast allegedly targeted Vonage customers for bad connections -- in the hopes that they would drop the service. Comcast denies the charge, saying that they simply didn't have enough broadband capacity. The two companies have since kissed and made up.

But this is not the first time Comcast has been accused of purposely ruining the experience of customers who use competing technologies.

Clark believes it's time for the FCC to issue clear rules that outlaw the kind of practices Comcast has been engaged in. As always, Comcast is free to come on the air and counter Clark's perceptions of the company.

Interestingly, the penny-pincher noticed that his MagicJack service works fine during the day with his Comcast connection. But at night, there's no way he can make a call.

Which again begs the question: Is this a question of (in)competence on Comcast's part -- or an instance of specific sabotage of a competing technology?

Clark recently told you about Time Warner's experimental metering plan for Internet service in Texas. They'll be charging their Lone Star State customers per kilobyte. Now AT&T has announced that such a plan is nearly inevitable for them.

What's going on here?

These ISPs are in terror of people skipping cable or satellite and going straight to the Internet to watch video content. Think about it: Comcast, too, has already admitted degrading the Internet experience of its customers when they watch a competitor's video content. Are you beginning to see a trend here?

Clark's staffers Kim and Joel both watch TV on the Internet, especially via Hulu.com. It's just like on-demand TV without having to pay for anything.

The cable/phone monopolies are trying to choke their Internet customers. This is a byproduct of our nation's shortsighted policy, where only the monopolies control the Internet.

There is, however, a hope on the horizon. Stay tuned for a new wireless way to get on the Internet that will bypass the cable/phone monopolies.

Meanwhile, Kiplinger's has crunched the numbers and figured out that downloading a single movie under Time Warner's metered Internet plan will cost you $30. Imagine if you download 10 movies per month!

They want to eliminate your freedom to watch video with a Time Warner Internet connection. Don't stand for it; anytime an ISP tries to meter you, you need to take your business elsewhere!

Unlimited Internet use has become something of a given in modern life, whether you access via dial-up, DSL, cable modem or another way.

Until now.

Time Warner is launching an experiment in Texas with metered Internet. Much like your utilities, you'll be charged based on your usage.

Why are they trying out this "Dark Ages" approach? Clark believes the cable companies are terrified of people watching TV shows on the Internet for free. It completely demolishes their main business model.

But Time Warner doesn't have a chance with this experiment, according to Clark. This business model could only work if they were the sole provider of the Internet, but that's not the case. There are so many more choices coming, including WiMAX and even the wireless cards from cell carriers that are close to becoming cost-effective.

So if you're in the testing grounds in Texas, don't think you're a sitting duck. Just go to a monopoly phone company for Internet, even if that's the only other choice. At least they aren't metering!

The United States isn't even in the Top 10 worldwide when it comes to a good Internet experience -- we're 15th. Our Internet is slower, more expensive and less reliable than many other developed nations. We're even below some Third World countries! But new technologies coming into the market will blow things open and promise a much different experience -- without metering.

Microsoft has long trailed Google in the search market, which explains why they've been trying to buy Yahoo. By the numbers, Microsoft controls about 9% of the market, Yahoo controls around 20% and Google has 55%-60%.

In order to gain more market share, Microsoft will actually pay you to use them for search! Customers who make an online purchase after using their search engine become eligible for a cash back rebate from Microsoft. Clark has no idea how well this idea will pan out.

In related news, Google offers its own suite of free office software. Those same programs are also available in a free web-based version as well. Clark likes to see what Google has available from time to time on their site.

Finally, did you know that Microsoft Office is available outside the United States in select countries for only $3?! That's a huge difference from the $150-$500 we pay!

A few years ago, Clark told you about a website that lists trash facilities and toxic waste sites in a given area. Potential homebuyers could use the service to vet a neighborhood before a purchase. Then he recently read about a website called CrimeReports.com that allows you to do the same thing for crime statistics. CrimeReports.com is still a fledgling effort so there's not too much info in the database yet; so far Dallas and Chicago are the only big cities listed. One of the main impediments to growing the website will be from politicians and police departments. Unfortunately, a lot of politicians don't want their local police departments to be honest about crime rates. Spikes in crime reflect poorly on a politician's leadership. So we'll see how this site progresses in the future. CrimeReports.com was the brainchild of a man in Virginia who had been the victim of a crime. The site could prove to be a real boon to community-based policing of the sort that was favored by former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani.

If you're like Clark, you snap a lot of digital photos and then have trouble getting them out of the camera and into the real world. He's too lazy to figure out how to hook up the cable to his computer to print them or upload to a website! There's a new solution to this problem that's been getting some great reviews. A company called Eye-Fi sells a memory chip for your camera with built-in wifi. The chip, which is SD compatible, automatically uploads images to your computer or a photo-sharing site. At $100, Eye-Fi chips cost of about 8 times what you'd pay for a standard 2 GB memory chip. But prices should be dropping by the end of the year. Eye-Fi will work with most major photo-sharing sites including Snapfish, Shutterfly and Flickr.

Meanwhile, the cost of developing pictures is dropping and there are a lot of value-added propositions. Clark recently received a bound, hardcover book with photos and commentary to commemorate a trip that he and his wife took with another couple. That's how advanced photo processing has become. Remember the old days when Clark would recommend having a disposable camera in the trunk so you could take pictures if you were in a fender bender? Today people would probably just use their camera phone and e-mail pictures directly to the police!

There are some new technological developments that Clark is very excited about. Say, for example, you want hi-speed internet. If you call your phone company to get it, you'll find out that you must purchase a landline as a prerequisite. The phone monopolies think they're smart pushing obsolete landline technology on consumers who want modern DSL. But the phone companies are just outsmarting themselves. When younger customers seek DSL, they don't even think about installing a phone line. They simply go through their cable companies and sidestep companies like AT&T and Verizon completely. So AT&T is now experimenting with offering what's called naked DSL that stands alone without having the requirement of a landline.

The Chicago Tribune reports AT&T will roll out a naked DSL trial service -- priced between $20 and $24 -- in Chicago; Austin, Texas; and Jacksonville, Florida. If it succeeds, look for it in other markets soon. Meanwhile, if you're a former Bell South (now AT&T) customer, you'll be eligible for naked DSL by December at the latest. That's as per a contractual agreement between the two companies. On another technological front, The New York Times reports that Time Warner is going to offer free DVRs in South Carolina that allow you to watch TV when you want -- only you can't skip the commercials like you would on TiVo. It's like renting your eyeballs, so to speak, to advertisers in return for free DVR service. Will this business model survive in the marketplace? Only time will tell.

It’s strange how much power is concentrated in Washington D.C. D.C usually ends up being the referee between two feuding types of businesses -- and the one with the most money and lobbying power wins. And it's not always what's best for the free market. An example is internet radio. You've been able to listen to whatever you want on the web. A lot of powerful interests were not happy with this. A recent ruling now destroys internet radio -- this is terrible! In commercial radio you have a small number of a few large companies controlling all the stations. It’s hard for people to listen to what they like because of this. Internet radio stopped this because it gave diversity and choice for the consumer. But now it is being demolished. If you find your favorite internet radio station is gone, you can thank Washington, and more specifically, the money that's in the hands of politicians.

Sunrocket, the internet phone service provider, is dead. People really let Clark have it on the Clark Stinks board for recommending them. Clark believed in them, but he lost money too when they suddenly folded. After a few days Sunrocket put up some referrals to new companies that will take on their former customers , but even with these referrals, it's risky. You just can't predict how long a company will stay in business. A lot of people are choosing to run for safe cover: the cable company. The problem is, internet phone service from cable is almost twice as expensive as the smaller start-ups. There's a new company called Ooma who are selling internet phone service for life for $399. But who knows how they're going to do down the road. Currently, Clark uses a service owned by Ebay called Skype, which costs $29 for an entire year of unlimited local and long distance. It's not as easy to use as Sunrocket, but they're backed by a big company.

There's another company called Grand Central that's getting some big backing from Google. This is for people who have several phones--a land line, a business line, a cell phone, etc. This service gives you one number, which rings all your lines at once, so you are always reachable. You can also hear the voice mail in real time, as it's being recorded so you can decide if you want to "pick up" or not. And the voice mail goes to one inbox. This will make life much simpler for those who like to stay reachable!

Cross-country communication is very tough nowadays with generational differences in technology preferences. So how do you get emails and photos to someone who's computer challenged? A year ago, Clark read about something called "Presto," made by Hewlett Packard. It's a simple device that prints out photos and email automatically, three times a day. It's like having the mailman come several times every day. Clark got one for his 83-year old mom for her to get photos, emails and calls from family without touching a computer. This is such a wonderful, simple device. It isn’t cheap ($99) but it's very helpful! It even emails you when you're low on printer ink. Check it out at presto.com. Also, here's a bonus: you don't get any spam, because you can control who's able to send you anything.

As you probably know, Clark hates to waste things. He had been using the same pair of headphones in the studio since the '90s. Even though they were old and ratty, he used them until the end of their life. Now he has a new pair, so don't be surprised if he's able to hear you callers a little bit better! Likewise, he holds onto clothes long after they should be thrown away or given to charity. In fact, his wife has to periodically purge their closet and make the old threads "disappear."

Clark read a TechWorld.com report about how manufacturers of the cartridges we all use in our printers give you a notice that your cartridge in empty when nearly 60 percent of the ink is still left. If you throw it out at that point, more than half the ink you pay for goes unused! So when your computer tells you replace to the cartridge, instead just pull it out and shake it. You'll probably get several weeks more use out of it. After all, manufacturers have a clear financial incentive to shortchange you and make you buy more of their product. What you pay to print per page skyrockets if you throw that cartridge out or recycle it too early. Multi-ink cartridges are the worst because they have individual ink banks for up to three or four colors. Any one of them can run out before the others do. Another way to save money on ink cartridges is to get them refilled. Manufacturers hate it when you do this. Studies haven't yet shown decisively if the refilled ink is good quality or not. So just shake it up, baby! Samsung is one of the few companies that makes printers with a toner saver button that can reduce the amount of ink you use per page by 40 percent. Over time, that becomes a great savings.

Here on the show we always give out free advice to you, the consumer. But did you know that we also get it back from our dedicated listeners? After receiving a tip from one such person, we've put up a list of FREE software that you can download from the internet. It's divided into dozens of areas of interest, so you can surf around easily to get software, books, games, free conference calling and so much more. While the quality of stuff that's free is all over the board, you can rest assured that none of it will cost you one thin dime. Bookmark the page...it just may come in handy.

AT&T has done something unethical. When they took over Bellsouth, as part of the deal they were forced to offer an inexpensive plan as one option. They did, offering a slower (768k) DSL connection at $10 per month. It's a great deal. But they hide the link to this service on the website, making it almost impossible to find if you don't know where to look! Well, Clark thinks this stinks, and wants you to know how to find the deal. Here's how:
This direct link will show you all the details:
http://www.att.com/gen/general?pid=7690#10_basic
Or, navigate to it this way:

• Go to att.com
  
• Click "View Internet services"
  
• Scroll down page, and just above Terms and Conditions look for the text link that says "Term contract plans available"
  
• See "FastAccess DSL Lite with term agreement" and follow the instructions from there!

The internet can be a difficult thing to navigate. You start to type in an address of the site you are looking for and you end up going to a site that you definitely did not want to go to. This can make things very scary for parents who don’t want their kids to go to adult content sites by mistake just because of a mistype. There are now fantastic services available that help parents monitor and control what their kids see when on the internet. Parentalcontrolbar.org, Parentpresent.org, and Kidrocket.org are three of the best tools out there for you to check out what your kids are viewing when on the internet. These sites are great for not allowing your kids to see things you don’t want them to see. So try them all for free.

Zennioptical.com is a website where you can get a simple pair of prescription glasses for $8. It is going to cost you a decent amount more if you have special requirements for your glasses but you can get glasses in a fairly short amount of time at a great price. If you look at reviews online you will see that most of the people that have used the website are pretty happy with the service and product that they have received. So check out Zennioptical.com, type in your prescription, and get your glasses on the cheap.

Dell Computer continues to take it on the chin. The company now faces a lawsuit from the state of New York for cheating people on rebates and financing offers. New York alleges that Dell conspired to cheat people in those areas, and Clark has received a lot of calls to that effect. People were expecting some kind of rebate or service and Dell failed them over and over. Dell vigorously disputes the charges. But the bottom line is that you’re going to be in trouble if you buy a Dell, dude. Consumer Reports recently rated which computer companies are best in support after the sale. No one was even close to Apple. The company got a top rating in all categories. The worst rating went to Compaq in all categories. Dell got a poor rating on average wait time and a fair rating on solving problems. But calls to Clark’s show tell a different story. So, which computers break the most and which break the least? In desktops, Apple computers break the least while Gateway breaks the most. In laptops, there was a five-way tie for worst between Dell, Toshiba, Gateway, HP and Apple. That’s right. Apple did not do well with laptops, a category where Sony got the best rating.

Microsoft just released its new “Vista” operating system and you’ve probably heard all about it. The company spent a fortune on public relations for Vista, so people think it’s something they must have. Don’t believe the hype. In fact, all of the techie types are warning against getting Vista now because of the bugs that must be worked out. There are flaws in the program that could expose you to identity theft and other problems in the short term. So, you want to give this system six months or a year. You want to get a new operating system when it already comes on a computer.

There is a price war for computer printers that Clark has never seen before. No matter what the printer – ink jet, laser jet or the like – you will get huge deals on the initial buy. Clark saw one laser printer last week that was $9.99 after rebate. Companies lose a ton of money on printers because they know they’ll make it up when you buy ink. So, what can you do? Well, Clark likes to buy a new printer every time his ink starts running dry. It works when you consider that new laser printers cost $180 while replacement ink cartridges cost $330. Sometimes the economics don’t work, especially if the printer comes with a “starter cartridge.” It will tell you on the box whether this is the case. But you’ve got to try some alternative methods if you want to beat the printer game these days.

Let’s say you need to do some research online, but you’re about to get on an airplane. Well, there is a new service called “Webaroo” that allows you to collect information from Web sites and then view it while you’re in the air. You can store information from newspapers, magazines and other sites on your laptop. Then you can browse the Web without being connected to the Web. It works with other devices as well, and Clark thinks the idea is ingenious. Better yet, it’s free!

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In other technology news, there is now a program that allows you to shut down your computer and access to anything on it if it’s stolen. If you carry a laptop with sensitive information, you should consider this service. It’s called “CompuTrace” and it costs $35 a year. There are also programs that you can install that will track your laptop if it’s stolen. Laptops are not such hot commodities anymore because they’ve gotten pretty inexpensive. Decent laptops are in the $299 range, so criminals aren’t really interested in them. So, unless you’re doing a very specialized function, there is no need to reach the $1,000 mark.

You no longer have to pay Directory Assistance for phone numbers. There are tons of services out there offering free phone numbers. Hear all about them and how reliable they are. Disable your pop-up blocker first!

Clark talks about Loki and Slingbox - new GPS and television gadgets. Just remember to disable your pop-up blocker if you have one in order to listen.

You may have heard that craigslist.org was recently purchased by eBay and the business model is no longer a free one in some cities. Craigslist has had a monopoly on online classified ads, so eBay thinks it would be smart now to charge for postings. Well, before that gets started, Microsoft is now stepping in with “Windows Live Expo.” It will be another free online classified service. It will keep Craigslist honest and hopefully blow apart the new fee-based approach. Other ideas are also popping up from AOL, so there will be lots of competition in this area. And competition is always good for the consumer.

AOL and Yahoo have both announced that they will offer preferential treatment if you pay for your e-mail. What does that mean? Well, those e-mails appear first, which is a good thing. But the e-mails also don’t go through spam filters. Clark is not at all happy about this move, so we’ll keep you posted. In other bad news, Craig’s List is now thinking of charging in some areas. The site has always been free to list on, as a way of bringing people in communities together. San Francisco, LA, San Diego, Boston and Seattle are a few areas where the fee-based model will be tested. Well, that didn’t last long. Even more bad news is the proposal to start “network neutrality.” Monopoly phone companies are planning to charge Web sites a fee if those sites don’t pay them a cut of the pie. They plan to give customers very bad customer service on their Internet lines if the sites don’t pay them a toll. It’s ridiculous. Some people aren’t making money off their sites. They’re just offering information and having to pay for that domain name. So, the phone companies are trying to control freedom of speech.

The FCC has approved the takeover of AT&T by SBC, one of the major long distance companies in the country. AT&T, once the proudest name in corporate America, is no more. Now, AT&T wireless has disappeared, the cable provider dissolved and now the entire company itself is no more. But funny enough, people don’t know who SBC is. So, ironically, SBC is adopting AT&T’s name. The company knew AT&T had great name recognition, even if it’s negative. The good news is that because of this merge, people can now get high-speed Internet access without having to sign up for local phone service. Also, if you have an alternative phone service such as Vonage or Packet8, it will be illegal for these companies to block that access. Several other companies are doing that and playing dirty pool. But with SBC and Verizon, it will be illegal and, in turn, the rate will be much cheaper.

Clark talked last year about experiments with high speed Internet through the power company. It’s known as BPL – or broadband over power line – in the trade lingo. It started in Cincinnati, and now is in a suburb or Washington. There has been no competition in this business, so prices have remained high. Now that BPL is competing with phone and cable companies, prices are sure to go down. And, as long as you have an outlet in your house, you can get BPL. Prices have settled at $29.95 a month, but looking forward pricing is going to get cheaper and the speed will get faster.

It’s a little late in the game, but Yahoo is now offering a subscription service for music. Customers pay $60 a year for an unlimited amount of music that can be loaded onto select music players and basically “rented” for a year at a time. Yahoo needs market share and they decided to try this. So, Clark decided to try it for his wife, Lane, and it worked up until about three days ago. He can’t get the device to play and it took three days to get an answer from Yahoo. The response he got was highly technical and it didn’t help fix the problem. He’s gone back and forth with Yahoo for several weeks now and nothing seems to work. The device miraculously started working again, so maybe Clark helped them fix a bug. But it should be easy to use the devices and to get help. If Yahoo is trying to compete with iPod, the company needs to get more customer oriented.

Clark can’t stand monopolies. He thinks that when there is no competition for service, monopoly companies get lazy and have no incentive to serve customers promptly. For a long time, the high speed Internet industry has been a monopoly. But other companies are experimenting with new wireless offerings that could prove to be a breakthrough. One of these companies is “Clear Wire,” and Clark has had the opportunity to try this service out at his home in Florida. It’s known as “fixed wireless,” and it works by renting out space on cell towers and then sending out wireless signals through the air. The signal reaches about 30 square miles and so far it's worked great. Clear Wire is in parts of Texas, Minnesota, and on the east coast of Florida. You have to buy a little modem that receives a signal from the transmitter on the cell tower. And then you instantly have high speed access. The best part is the price. Clark was paying $43 a month to the cable company for high speed access. Now, with Clear Wire, he pays $24 a month. What a deal! The only downfall is that there is a contract and a $250 cancellation fee. So, if it turns out not to work for Clark, he won't be happy about paying for it. Find out more about it at clearwire.com. (Editor's note: Some users have reported negative experiences with Clearwire.)

Clark has three old, dusty computer monitors in his home, and his wife, Lane, can’t wait to get rid of them. The trouble is that it costs money to get rid of old computer equipment the right way because there is so much lead and other harmful chemicals in them. But two companies have gotten together to help solve this problem. Office Depot and Hewlett Packard, one of the pioneers of computer recycling, are taking electronics and computer equipment off your hands for free this summer. Just bring your items to any Office Depot store. They will take monitors, computers, PDAs, fax machines, digital cameras and fax machines. They will also take televisions that are smaller than 27 inches and TV/VCR combos. The only catch is that they will only take one item per person, per day. The promotion will run through Labor Day, so gather your old goods and make a couple trips. Clark wonders when Dell will respond with an offer of its own.

Wal-Mart is selling music online for a rock bottom price, and Clark wants you to know about it. The company is selling songs on its Web site for 88 cents, when the going rate on most sites is 99 cents. Wal-Mart’s prices also keep pressure on other music companies to stay at the 99-cent mark and not raise prices. Clark says the selection of music is pretty thorough, but songs with explicit lyrics are not available. He has bought music from this site and it’s very easy to do. In other music news, Apple is going to put on concerts in its music stores very soon. The idea is that people will come in to the stores to hear the show and will buy an iPod or other gadget while they are there. People want to be able to buy music legitimately but they want to pay a decent price. It’s finally happening.