Community Magazine January 2012

Picture It Morris Antebi, Photographer On The Subject of Lenses: When buying a simple “point and shoot” camera, many people think that the more zoom magnification a camera has, the better the camera will serve them. But in truth, the zoom specification should probably not determine the camera you choose, since the proper use of zoom to capture most subjects requires much more lighting than the small flash on the front of your camera will provide. Therefore, regardless of how much zoom the camera is capable of, subjects will most likely come out dark, unless the photo is taken in an optimum light setting. Instead of focusing on zoom, look for the widest lens. Aside from making it easier to take group shots from closer range, the wider view will show more of the surroundings enabling you to see the distinct location in which the shot was taken. Money Matters Larry Aboudi, Senior Mortgage Consultant , Investors Bank Pay Off a 30-Year Loan in Only 24: A biweekly mortgage is a mortgage loan payment plan where the borrower makes payments toward his/her principal and interest every two weeks instead of once a month. The biweekly payment is exactly one half the amount a monthly payment would be. The savings offered by a biweekly mortgage payment plan are often astounding. A 30-year $750,000 mortgage at 4.75% requires a monthly payment of $3,800. When this mortgage is converted to a biweekly mortgage payment plan, the payment will be $1,900 paid every two weeks. Paying the mortgage this way will result in the mortgage being paid off nearly six years sooner, with a savings of over $105,000 in interest payments. The key to a biweekly mortgage plan is that instead of making 12 full payments each year, youmake26halfpayments, or13full payments, each year, because there are 26 two-week periods in a year. Hence, some months require 3 payments, or 1.5 traditional payments. Since the biweekly payment schedule is perfectly aligned with most paycheck schedules, it is a convenient option for many borrowers. Beware, many banks charge a premium for this service so the savings can vary. Investors Bank does not charge for this option and even offers a discount of .25% to our Jumbo 30 yr fixed rates. For more information, visit www. LarryHomeLoan.com Garage Gab Ralph Czeisler, Emil’s All Tire Don’t Blindly Buy a Used Car: If you are buying a used car, be sure to first get a Vehicle History Report (from AutoCheck or Carfax) and have a mechanic inspect the car on a lift. The report will tell you about any accidents, check if the car was flooded, and even help you determine if the odometer was rolled back. It will even tell you when the dealer took delivery; if it’s been sitting on the lot for months, you can probably use this info to haggle a better price. – edited by Rachel Dayan They are the trained professionals, experts in their fields and masters of their domains. Community magazine’s savants share their best tips on how you can make your life a bit simpler, more economical, and more efficient. Are you a savant in your field? Email your hints and advice to editor@communitym.com. Tech Know Morris Massry, Technology Partners Assoc. Share Your Screen with Ease: Screen sharing software can be a pain. Some react slowly, others take a long time to configure, and most are just not user friendly. Meet Join.me — a fast, simple screen sharing utility. Simply go to the site (http://join.me ), click share, and provide the 9 digit ID from the app that opens to the person who needs to see your screen. Once that person enters your ID from their end, he can see your screen, and control it should you allow. This site is especially useful for helping older parents find the “any key.” Track Your Lost Phone: There are many apps that can help you find your lost or stolen phone, but most are pricey, and don’t have many features. Android Lost for Android, and Prey for iOS ($0), can track your phone via GPS, send pictures of the person who has it via the phone’s camera, and report back activity such as recent phone calls and text messages. Security is invaluable, but it doesn’t need to break the bank. Savan 38 COMMUNITY MAGAZINE