LATEST ADDITIONS

The <A HREF="http://www.he2005.com">Home Entertainment Show</A>, scheduled to take place in NYC April 28&ndash;May 1, is almost upon us! Throughout the Show, ticket holders can experience the finest consumer electronics and convergence products on the planet&mdash;PLUS enjoy a variety of live music performances by popular jazz, folk, rap, blues, and classical music recording artists.

That last cell phone you bought&mdash;the one with the nearly telephone book-sized instruction manual&mdash;did you take the time to read through the tome completely, learning every function and programming feature before using it to actually make phone calls? Products are becoming so over-engineered and laden with features and functions, most of us merely skim the surface of the ones we buy, often remaining content with just getting the thing to actually function as intended.

My friend Jon is a wiz with pretty much anything mechanical, and he has a Rain Man-like gift for motors. Whether it's a pool pump, a lawn tractor, or a car, Jon is the man to call. What amazes me is that he can often diagnose my motor problems over the phone with only the most basic description.