Tools and Hardware

The Internet, which has wrought major changes in the way people conduct their lives, is changing the way people manage their finances and borrow money. What social networking sites My Space and Facebook have done for online personal interaction, other...

Bamboo steamer basket (Two baskets with lid, $9 at China Food Corp.) Set these clever baskets over boiling water in a wok or any large pot and steam anything from vegetables and frozen dumplings to all types of seafood and chicken. They also make...

Competition among banks for consumers' money has heated up in recent months, meaning better deals on bank accounts. Most adults need three banking relationships: checking, savings and borrowing. The accounts don't all need to be with the same bank. In...

Surrounded by crates of fresh produce, a freezer full of local beef products, shelves with jars of honey and jam and planters brimming with newly cut flowers, Harford County officials have launched www.harfordfarms.com, a Web site designed to boost...

A new University of Miami study confirms what seniors already know: Shopping for Medicare prescription drug coverage on the Medicare Web site can be confusing, even for techno-aware consumers. Three-fourths of adults with modest computer skills could not...

They don't sell revolving doors at Sears, but maybe they should. The retreat in consumer spending and the slide in the housing market are taking a toll on Sears Holdings Corp. But keeping a stable senior management team in place to navigate the...

Towson-based Black & Decker Corp. said yesterday that net earnings fell 18 percent in the second quarter as a sharp downturn in home construction and remodeling continued to hurt sales. The maker of power tools and hardware products reported net earnings...

Most chainsaws are heavy, oily and noisy—aside from scaring the heck out of people in movies. The power and that lethal-looking chain make some buyers wonder if the tool is inherently too dangerous to use around the house. But a chainsaw is just...

Twenty-five years ago, ATMs were novelties. Ten years ago, online banking was only for the brave. Today, both technologies are as mundane as the phone or refrigerator. Next up on the road from cutting-edge to routine: the PHR, or personal health record....

Google's online filing cabinet for medical records opened to the public Monday, giving users instant electronic access to their health histories while reigniting privacy concerns. Called Google Health, the service lets users link information from a...

++++++++++++++++++++ || || || ++++++++++++++++++++ Microsoft Corp. and leading astronomy institutions like the Adler Planetarium in Chicago on Tuesday will offer a free computer program to put the vast reaches of the cosmos at your fingertips. And...

From summer's first fajitas to autumn's final s'mores, few dishes are more satisfying than those cooked in the great outdoors. Memorial Day officially welcomes those fragrant curls of smoke that beckon barbecuers to hit the deck and fire up the grill....