Extension Inbox from 2012

The crisp fall air has many families playing outside in leaf piles, tossing footballs at tailgating events, and getting ready for Halloween and fall festivals. Seasonal decorations can be challenging, but the Internet and sites like Pinterest can help anyone, even those without a speck of the Martha Stewart gene.

Halloween is fast upon us, and many parents are looking for fun party alternatives to the scary side of this holiday.

Hunting season is upon us here in Mississippi and across the Southeast. As hunters shake out their camouflage and prepare their deer stands, many find technology can make a big difference.

My friend John Long is the Mississippi 4-H shooting sports specialist, and he tells me that technology has revolutionized the hunting experience. From Global Positioning Systems, or GPS, to trail cameras and online ballistic calculators, technology is making its mark with hunters.

Several friends who hunt said my recent column on taking technology to the deer stand omitted their favorite new devices: e-readers or tablets. When the hunting activity slows down in the woods, some hunters slip out their tablets and quietly read till it’s time to spring into action.

With the launch of the new iPad Mini in October and seven new Kindles from Amazon, consumers are on the hunt to decide which tablet-sized option is best for them. The deer generally don’t have a preference as long as the tablet keeps hunters from focusing on them.

With today’s increased reliance on technology, many insurance companies are moving their services online and making them available to customers on their mobile devices.

Having gone my entire life without so much as a speeding ticket, the past few months have proven very trying. In fact, I’m now on a first-name basis with my insurance agent’s assistant, and I’m pretty sure we will be exchanging Christmas cards this year.

With Thanksgiving upon us, that means Black Friday chaos is soon to follow. Big box stores are chasing every dollar, and many are even choosing to open on Thanksgiving rather than wait until Friday’s wee morning hours.

There is another option to consider if you are looking to save money this holiday season, and this option will help your local economy. Many businesses take part in a national event known as Small Business Saturday.

The season of Thanksgiving is upon us and I am reminded that I need to take time out to count my blessings and give thanks for the small things in life. For starters, I am very thankful for computer users who take the time to learn how to maintain and safeguard their computers. They make life much less complicated.

The Christmas season is fast upon us, and many children and adults alike have put an iPad or similar product at the top of their Christmas wish list.

Shoppers can be overwhelmed with the range of tablet choices, including the iPad, the new iPad Mini, seven new Kindles from Amazon, the Samsung Galaxy Tab and Google’s Nexus 7. Soon, the Nexus 10 (a larger-screen tablet) will be added to that list.

Remember that the more gigabytes the tablet has, the more books, music and movies it will hold. Common storage sizes for a tablet are 16 GB, 32 GB and 64 GB.

Most holiday get-togethers involve tables heavily laden with favorite family recipes that have been passed down from generation to generation. Recently, a friend asked me to help her put together a family cookbook as a gift. Creating a personalized cookbook can be a great gift idea for your family, but creating one can be an ordeal.

The holidays can be a very trying time, especially if the number of people on your “nice” list exceeds the amount of money in your wallet. All you need to do is mix in a little creativity, a dash of the Internet and a pinch of old-fashioned elbow grease to have yourself a collection of creative, inexpensive gifts.

Many children are on the move this Christmas season as they go over the river and through the woods to distant relatives’ houses. Travel can be very distressing for little ones who worry Santa might not be able to find them on Christmas morning. Fortunately, Santa has gone mobile with numerous Smartphone apps to help children and their parents stay in contact with the jolly old elf while on the move.