‘Tis the season: Defeating porch pirates
Porch pirates are waiting to steal Christmas. In New York City alone, 90,000 packages disappeared from doorsteps in 2019. Nationwide, 1.7 million packages…
Author: Rick Good
Rick Good spent ten years in the newspaper business, including with The News & Observer (Raleigh, NC) and The Greenville News (Greenville, SC). He co-wrote, with Melinda Coleman, Rutledge to Riley: Governors of South Carolina, 1776–Present (Published by The Greenville News), and is the author of Mind Games Trivia #1 (Amazon). He has recently spent 15 years creating original trivia content through Sounds Good Mobile Entertainment and continues that with his new company, SGME Software. He edits The Smart Reader's money, real estate, and business coverage.
Apps reward drivers for low miles, safe driving
Looking to save money on car insurance? There’s an app for that. In fact, there are now several apps that you can use to reduce car insurance premiums,…
Considering cash deposits amid high-interest rates and inflation
For many years, Certificates of Deposit (CDs) offered low interest rates, thus limiting their investment potential. Now, however, CD rates are on the…
Do solar panels add value to your home? Sometimes yes, sometimes no
Asphalt shingles are so 20th century. Take a peek at roofs these days and there’s a good chance you’ll spot solar panels. By the end of 2020, roughly 2.7…
Surviving and thriving during job interviews
Your dream job’s on the line. Questions come, questions go. Rattling off insightful answers, you’re impressing the crowd. But suddenly, an interviewer…
Nearly resigned to the trash bin, super strong Kevlar now saves lives
They call Superman the “Man of Steel” because steel ranks among the strongest known materials. But modern synthetic materials, like Kevlar, are far…
Inside the genius of the original Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto
198.4 billion dollars. That’s how much the video game industry drummed up in 2021, topping the record-breaking 2018 $41.1 billion movie box office. Yet…
Ask the Expert
Question: In 2020 I lost my job and went into bankruptcy. But now I am back on track and I would like to buy a house. Is it even possible to get a…
Good news for buyers as home prices cool
The red-hot real estate market is slowly cooling as sellers in big markets lower their prices, according to brokerage firms. Notable in the market are…
The voyage that fed the world
More than 500 years after Christopher Columbus landed in the Bahamas, his legacy is … complicated. But whether you revere or revile him, chances are…