The Best of Web Buyer's Guide This Week

Gartner: 10 Database Activities That Must Be Monitored | The Truth About Email Archiving: 10 Myths Busted

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iPhone & iPad Dev Tools: A 7-Point Buyer's Checklist Businesses need to be more responsive to changing conditions, act quickly on new business opportunities, and improve customer service. The popularity and usefulness of the iPad and iPhone are making these devices the ideal platform for improving business operations. Companies that want to take advantage of the platform need a cost-effective, quick, and easy way to develop, prototype, deploy, and update iPad/iPhone solutions. FileMaker Pro and FileMaker Server are ideal solutions for developing and securely hosting databases that reside at the heart of such solutions. View this resource now The Truth About Email Archiving: 10 Myths Busted Recovering deleted emails and locating old business records are two of the most cited reasons for needing an easily searchable email archive. On the one hand, email managers think archiving is important and regularly need it. On the other hand, relatively few have deployed an effective archiving solution in their business. Why is this? Perhaps some companies don't understand the benefits of a proper archiving system (as opposed to simply storing email on an Exchange server with quota restrictions to control storage growth). This white paper discusses some of the top challenges businesses can face when deciding to implement an email archiving solution and what to consider before moving forward. View this resource now Think It, Plan It, Do It: The Fastest Way to Drupal If you're new to Drupal, maybe you're already impressed with Drupal's power and flexibility, and you'd like to try your hand at setting up a website that goes beyond a simple blog. This white paper will provide you with a planning toolset and a few tips to help get you oriented. View this resource now Top Resources of the Week Gartner: 10 Database Activities That Must Be Monitored Most enterprises are paying too little attention to the very real security risks associated with their databases. Auditors, security and risk professionals, and data owners need to watch for telltale behaviors that may indicate serious database security problems. READ MORE >>> vSphere 5: 5 New Upgrades You'll Want to Know About vSphere 5, the next version in the ESX and ESXi and vCenter family of products builds on the strengths of Version 4. First, you will get an overview of vSphere 4; then you will be introduced to five new features of vSphere 5. The author uses discussion, examples, and diagrams to explore his Top 5 list, which includes: vSphere Storage Appliance (VSA), Policy-driven Storage, High Availability, vCenter VA (Linux), and ESXi Host Deployment (Image Builder and Auto Deploy). READ MORE >>> 10 Reasons Cloud Backup is Your Best Bet in 2011 Protecting vital information is critical to an organization's survival, no matter what size the organization. Increasingly, organizations are adopting cloud backup solutions to address their data protection challenges. Exacerbated by data growth, protecting data is difficult, expensive, unreliable, and unmanageable with traditional tape backup methods. Cloud data protection solutions that combine the latest advancements in disk-based backup with secure, integrated, cloud technologies offer organizations fast and assured recovery of their critical enterprise data, while reducing costs and freeing their IT staff to focus on more mission-critical projects. READ MORE >>> Managing Macs in a PC World: 3 Mistakes That'll Cost You Big Cross-platform environments are the new standard, supported with the switch by Apple to Intel processors, the Boot Camp capability to run Windows via a Mac, and the ability to run Windows within the Mac OS via parallels and VMware Fusion. The result of these technical advances has become every IT team's challenge. The most cost-effective way to manage windows and Mac clients is with a fully cross-platform client management solution, one that provides components that are equally effective on either platform. This white paper explains what to look for in a client management solution, including scalability and cross-platform capabilities. Learn how to inventory devices, remotely install applications and actively manage licenses in a mixed environment. READ MORE >>> eNewsletter Information To avoid any problems with your newsletter delivery, please add newsletters@response.webbuyersguide.com to your address book. Sign up for complimentary subscriptions to eWEEK, CIO Insight and Baseline magazines and receive a 360° view of today's technology arena. eWEEK gives you expert product reviews that help you choose the best technologies. CIO Insight provides a high-level look at technologies and processes. And Baseline takes you to the front lines, with in-depth case studies. Subscribe today! If you no longer wish to receive The Best Of Web Buyer's Guide, unsubscribe here. Click here to Update Your Email Preferences Copyright © 2011 Ziff Davis Enterprise. All Rights Reserved. Ziff Davis Enterprise, 28 East 28th Street, New York, NY 10016 Privacy Policy

ScienceDaily: Latest Science News

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• Scientists discover 'fickle' DNA changes in brain
• Less is more for common cancer drug, study suggests
• 'Micro'-chemo and cancer pill combo tested in liver cancer patients
• Impediment to some cancer immunotherapy involves the free radical peroxynitrite
• New guideline outlines recommendations to reduce blood clots after hip and knee replacement
• Flight patterns reveal how mosquitoes find hosts to transmit deadly diseases
• Russian and US veterinarians collaborate to solve mysterious wild tiger deaths
• Cell-specific mechanism-based gene therapy approach to treat retinitis pigmentosa
• How your brain reacts to mistakes depends on your mindset
• Expandable prosthesis resolves advanced aortic valve disease
• Toxic red tides: Scientist tracks neurotoxin-producing algae
• Antisocial personality traits predict utilitarian responses to moral dilemmas
• Fruity aromas: An aphrodisiac for flies
• Glucosamine-like supplement suppresses multiple sclerosis attacks, study suggests
• New approach to keeping coronary arteries open after angioplasties
• Researchers realize high-power, narrowband terahertz source at room temperature
• Community storage of anthrax-preventing antibiotics should be determined by state, US researchers urge
• Young adults want to recover from addiction but need help to make it happen, study suggests
• 'Sexting' driven by peer pressure
• Combating mood disorders: New approach simplifies the search for more specific drugs
• Intrinsic aerobic exercise capacity linked to longevity
• New inherited neurometabolic disorder discovered
• Reefs recovered faster after mass extinction than first thought
• Closing of a collider . . . and opening of a new frontier: Fermilab moves toward new discoveries
• Humans and sharks share immune system feature
• High-performance simulation, neutrons uncover three classes of protein motion
• Cosmic weight watching reveals black hole-galaxy history
• Astronomers reveal supernova factory
• New software brings science to life for young people
• Taking the heat: Asian elephants simply 'ride out' high daytime heat load
• Early to bed and early to rise: Study suggests it's keeping kids leaner
• Professor wins Ig Nobel Prize for beer, sex research
• 'Back-up system' reduces heart disease deaths
• Alcohol impairs the body's ability to fight off viral infection, study finds
• Vicious queen ants use mob tactics to reach the top
• Physicists consider their own carbon footprint

Scientists discover 'fickle' DNA changes in brain Posted: 30 Sep 2011 04:51 PM PDT Scientists investigating chemical modifications across the genomes of adult mice have discovered that DNA modifications in non-dividing brain cells, thought to be inherently stable, instead underwent large-scale dynamic changes as a result of stimulated brain activity. Their report has major implications for treating psychiatric diseases, neurodegenerative disorders, and for better understanding learning, memory and mood regulation.

Less is more for common cancer drug, study suggests Posted: 30 Sep 2011 04:51 PM PDT Scientists have found that smaller, less toxic amounts of chemotherapy medicine given frequently to mice with human prostate cancer noticeably slowed tumor growth.

'Micro'-chemo and cancer pill combo tested in liver cancer patients Posted: 30 Sep 2011 04:51 PM PDT A combination of an oral drug, called sorafenib, and a method for injecting microbeads of chemotherapy directly into tumors has been proven safe for liver cancer patients and may improve outcomes for those who have these fast-growing, deadly tumors whose numbers are on the rise in the US.

Impediment to some cancer immunotherapy involves the free radical peroxynitrite Posted: 30 Sep 2011 04:51 PM PDT Researchers have found that tumor cell resistance to a specific cancer immunotherapy designed to kill cancer cells can be blamed on a mechanism that involves the production of a free radical peroxynitrite that causes resistance to therapeutic cancer-killing cells.

New guideline outlines recommendations to reduce blood clots after hip and knee replacement Posted: 30 Sep 2011 04:51 PM PDT An updated clinical practice guideline recommends how to reduce the likelihood of blood clots after hip or knee replacement surgery, procedures that more than 800,000 Americans undergo each year. The new guideline suggests use of preventive treatments and advises against routinely screening patients after surgery using ultrasound imaging.

Flight patterns reveal how mosquitoes find hosts to transmit deadly diseases Posted: 30 Sep 2011 12:30 PM PDT Experiments performed by entomologists to study how female Aedes aegypti -- mosquitoes that transmit yellow fever and dengue -- respond to plumes of carbon dioxide and human odor demonstrate that puffs of exhaled carbon dioxide first attract these mosquitoes, which then proceed to follow a broad skin odor plume, eventually landing on a human host. Results from the study could clue scientists on how odors can be used in traps for intercepting host-seeking mosquitoes.

Russian and US veterinarians collaborate to solve mysterious wild tiger deaths Posted: 30 Sep 2011 12:30 PM PDT Veterinarians are working to understand how distemper -- a virus afflicting domestic dogs and many wildlife species -- may be a growing threat to Siberian tigers.

Cell-specific mechanism-based gene therapy approach to treat retinitis pigmentosa Posted: 30 Sep 2011 12:30 PM PDT Scientists have achieved temporary functional preservation of photoreceptors in a mouse model for retinitis pigmentosa using novel bipartite gene therapy.

How your brain reacts to mistakes depends on your mindset Posted: 30 Sep 2011 12:30 PM PDT "Whether you think you can or think you can't -- you're right," said Henry Ford. A new study finds that people who think they can learn from their mistakes have a different brain reaction to mistakes than people who think intelligence is fixed.

Expandable prosthesis resolves advanced aortic valve disease Posted: 30 Sep 2011 12:30 PM PDT Among individuals 65 years and older, as many as 30 percent have aortic valve sclerosis or stenosis and as a result of their deteriorating health, they cannot enjoy a normal lifestyle. Physicians involved in a new study now have the option to replace the aortic valve using an innovative minimally invasive procedure -- transcatheter aortic valve implantation.

Toxic red tides: Scientist tracks neurotoxin-producing algae Posted: 30 Sep 2011 12:30 PM PDT With toxic algal blooms -- which can increase the amount of harmful toxins in the shellfish that California residents consume -- ramping up in frequency and severity locally, scientists have developed a new algae monitoring method in hopes of one day being able to predict when and where toxic "red tides" will occur.

Antisocial personality traits predict utilitarian responses to moral dilemmas Posted: 30 Sep 2011 12:30 PM PDT Scientists found that people who endorse actions consistent with an ethic of utilitarianism -- the view that what is the morally right thing to do is whatever produces the best overall consequences -- tend to possess psychopathic and Machiavellian personality traits.

Fruity aromas: An aphrodisiac for flies Posted: 30 Sep 2011 12:30 PM PDT The smell of food acts as an aphrodisiac for Drosophila (vinegar flies). Scientists have brought to light a novel olfactory perception mechanism: male flies use a scent derived from the fruit that they eat to stimulate their sexual appetite.

Glucosamine-like supplement suppresses multiple sclerosis attacks, study suggests Posted: 30 Sep 2011 09:30 AM PDT A glucosamine-like dietary supplement suppresses the damaging autoimmune response seen in multiple sclerosis, according to a new study.

New approach to keeping coronary arteries open after angioplasties Posted: 30 Sep 2011 09:30 AM PDT Researchers report a possible new approach to preventing coronary arteries from reclogging after balloon angioplasties.

Researchers realize high-power, narrowband terahertz source at room temperature Posted: 30 Sep 2011 09:30 AM PDT Researchers have developed a simpler way to generate single-chip terahertz radiation, a discovery that could soon allow for more rapid security screening, border protection, high sensitivity biological/chemical analysis, agricultural inspection, and astronomical applications.

Community storage of anthrax-preventing antibiotics should be determined by state, US researchers urge Posted: 30 Sep 2011 09:30 AM PDT As part of preparations for a possible large-scale anthrax attack, public health officials on the state and local levels should determine where and how anthrax-preventing antibiotics should be stored in their communities.

Young adults want to recover from addiction but need help to make it happen, study suggests Posted: 30 Sep 2011 09:30 AM PDT A new study suggests that strong motivation to change may exist from the get-go among young adults with severe addiction problems entering residential treatment, but the know-how and confidence to change come through the treatment experience,.

'Sexting' driven by peer pressure Posted: 30 Sep 2011 07:31 AM PDT Both young men and women experience peer pressure to share sexual images via the new phenomenon of "sexting," according to preliminary findings.

Combating mood disorders: New approach simplifies the search for more specific drugs Posted: 30 Sep 2011 07:28 AM PDT Many psychiatric conditions are caused by aberrant metabolism of the neurotransmitter serotonin. Researchers have now developed a new screening method, which will facilitate the search for new drugs that modulate the biological activity of serotonin.

Intrinsic aerobic exercise capacity linked to longevity Posted: 30 Sep 2011 07:28 AM PDT Aerobic exercise capacity has proven to be a good indicator of health. A recent article uses a rat model to show that innate exercise capacity can be linked to longevity.

New inherited neurometabolic disorder discovered Posted: 30 Sep 2011 07:28 AM PDT Researchers have discovered a new inherited disorder that causes severe mental retardation and liver dysfunction. The disease, adenosine kinase deficiency, is caused by mutations in the ADK gene, which codes for the enzyme adenosine kinase.

Reefs recovered faster after mass extinction than first thought Posted: 30 Sep 2011 07:28 AM PDT Metazoan-dominated reefs only took 1.5 million years to recover after the largest species extinction 252 million years ago, paleontologists have found, based on fossils from the southwestern USA.

Closing of a collider . . . and opening of a new frontier: Fermilab moves toward new discoveries Posted: 30 Sep 2011 07:00 AM PDT Today, Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (Fermilab) will shut down its Tevatron particle accelerator after nearly 30 years in operation. Named one of the top engineering achievements of the past 100 years, the Tevatron accelerated particles to almost the speed of light along its 4-mile ring, smashed them together, and studied the resulting particle showers in order to understand fundamental facts about elementary particles and forces.

Humans and sharks share immune system feature Posted: 30 Sep 2011 06:35 AM PDT A central element of the immune system has remained constant through more than 400 million years of evolution, according to new research. T-cell receptors from mice continue to function even when pieces of shark, frog and trout receptors are substituted in. The function of the chimeric receptors depends on a few crucial amino acids, found also in humans, that help the T-cell receptor bind to MHC molecules presenting antigens.

High-performance simulation, neutrons uncover three classes of protein motion Posted: 30 Sep 2011 06:35 AM PDT Molecular motion in proteins comes in three distinct classes, according to researchers. The research team combined high-performance computer simulation with neutron scattering experiments to understand atomic-level motions that underpin the operations of proteins.

Cosmic weight watching reveals black hole-galaxy history Posted: 30 Sep 2011 04:17 AM PDT Using state-of-the-art technology and sophisticated data analysis tools, a team of astronomers has developed a new and powerful technique to directly determine the mass of an active galaxy at a distance of nearly 9 billion light-years from Earth. This pioneering method promises a new approach for studying the co-evolution of galaxies and their central black holes. First results indicate that for galaxies, the best part of cosmic history was not a time of sweeping changes.

Astronomers reveal supernova factory Posted: 30 Sep 2011 04:17 AM PDT A team of astronomers has detected seven previously unknown supernovae in a galaxy 250 million light years away. Never before have so many supernovae been discovered at the same time in the same galaxy.

New software brings science to life for young people Posted: 30 Sep 2011 04:17 AM PDT The use of new technology is helping students to become real 'science investigators'. Researchers in the UK have developed a software toolkit that shows how such an approach sparks and sustains students' interest in science.

Taking the heat: Asian elephants simply 'ride out' high daytime heat load Posted: 30 Sep 2011 04:16 AM PDT Scientists in Austria have discovered the mechanism by which Asian elephants are able to tolerate hot daytime temperatures. Heterothermy is an adaptive mechanism by which body temperature fluctuates in response to environmental temperature, decreasing at night when it is cooler and increasing gradually in the daytime.

Early to bed and early to rise: Study suggests it's keeping kids leaner Posted: 30 Sep 2011 02:22 AM PDT Researchers recording the bedtimes and wake times of 2,200 Australian youths found that the night owls were 1.5 times more likely to become obese than the early birds, twice as likely to be physically inactive and 2.9 times more likely to sit in front of the TV and computer or play video games for more hours than guidelines recommend.

Professor wins Ig Nobel Prize for beer, sex research Posted: 29 Sep 2011 08:52 PM PDT The tragic tale of how male Australian jewel beetles became so enamored with brown "stubby" beer bottles that they try to mate with them -- so vigorously that they die trying to copulate in the hot sun.

'Back-up system' reduces heart disease deaths Posted: 29 Sep 2011 08:51 PM PDT Small bypass vessels which act as a "back-up system" for the heart's main arteries play a significant role in reducing the mortality of patients with coronary artery disease, according to new research.

Alcohol impairs the body's ability to fight off viral infection, study finds Posted: 29 Sep 2011 08:51 PM PDT Alcohol can worsen the effects of disease. New research shows that alcohol modulates the anti-viral and inflammatory functions of monocytes. Prolonged alcohol consumption has a double negative effect of reducing the anti-viral effect of Type 1 interferon (IFN) whilst increasing inflammation via the pro-inflammatory cytokine TNF±. Consequently this may impair host response to single-stranded virus infection like hepatitis C.

Vicious queen ants use mob tactics to reach the top Posted: 29 Sep 2011 08:51 PM PDT Leptothorax acervorum ants' reproductive strategy depends on habitat. Colonies are functionally monogynous (only one queen reproduces) on sun-exposed slopes in Alaska, Hokkaido and the mountains of central Spain. New research demonstrates that queen ants fight by antennal boxing to become the reproductive queen, and that worker ants reinforce queen behavior by feeding dominant females and expelling, or killing, their weaker sisters.

Physicists consider their own carbon footprint Posted: 29 Sep 2011 08:51 PM PDT An astrophysicist calls on physicists to pull their weight when it comes to climate change, drawing on his own research showing that astronomers average 23,000 air miles per year flying to observatories, conferences and meetings, and use 130 KWh more energy per day than the average US citizen.

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ScienceDaily: Strange Science News

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• Professor wins Ig Nobel Prize for beer, sex research
• Vicious queen ants use mob tactics to reach the top
• Complicated gene networks involved in fly aggression
• Galaxy caught blowing bubbles

Professor wins Ig Nobel Prize for beer, sex research Posted: 29 Sep 2011 08:52 PM PDT The tragic tale of how male Australian jewel beetles became so enamored with brown "stubby" beer bottles that they try to mate with them -- so vigorously that they die trying to copulate in the hot sun.

Vicious queen ants use mob tactics to reach the top Posted: 29 Sep 2011 08:51 PM PDT Leptothorax acervorum ants' reproductive strategy depends on habitat. Colonies are functionally monogynous (only one queen reproduces) on sun-exposed slopes in Alaska, Hokkaido and the mountains of central Spain. New research demonstrates that queen ants fight by antennal boxing to become the reproductive queen, and that worker ants reinforce queen behavior by feeding dominant females and expelling, or killing, their weaker sisters.

Complicated gene networks involved in fly aggression Posted: 29 Sep 2011 07:32 AM PDT Put up your dukes. A study of aggression in fruit flies aims to provide a framework for how complex gene interactions affect behavior. And these clues in flies could translate to a better understanding of human genes and behavior.

Galaxy caught blowing bubbles Posted: 29 Sep 2011 07:30 AM PDT Hubble's famous images of galaxies typically show elegant spirals or soft-edged ellipses. But these neat forms are only representative of large galaxies. Smaller galaxies like the dwarf irregular galaxy Holmberg II come in many shapes and types that are harder to classify. This galaxy's indistinct shape is punctuated by huge glowing bubbles of gas.

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[Kelsey Timmerman] A slow clap for stay-at-home moms

Kelsey Timmerman has posted a new item, 'A slow clap for stay-at-home moms'

I'm on stage. She's putting the kids to bed.

A thousand set of eyeballs stare at me. Two stare at her.

My words inspire laughter, hers tears.

When I'm done, I'm rewarded with a standing ovation. She's rewarded with
silence.

I hear: "Good job. Well done. Thank you."

She hears: a ticking clock, a baby rustling, a [...]

You may view the latest post at
http://whereamiwearing.com/2011/09/30/a-slow-clap-for-stay-at-home-moms/

You received this e-mail because you asked to be notified when new updates are
posted.
Best regards,
Kelsey
kels00@yahoo.com

Lifehacker

By Alan Henry Take a Day Off and Put Yourself Through Financial Boot Camp You have a 401(k) from an old employer that you haven't looked at in weeks, a high-interest credit card you've been meaning to do something about for months, and cash sitting in your checking account that's doing nothing. You've been meaning to whip your finances into shape for a while now, but haven't had the time. Do it now: take a day off of work or school if you have to, get up early, and put your finances through boot camp. Here's how. Photo remixed from an original by JutASC (Shutterstock) Take a Day Off The first thing you'll want to do is make sure you take a day off from work or school where you won't be distracted by your daily activities. You don't actually have to play hooky, but if that's what it takes, do it. You're going to spend a lot of time on the phone, so you don't want to be distracted by an incoming call from a colleague at the office or a family member at home that wants your attention. For this to work, you'll need—at least for a good portion of the day—to sequester yourself in a quiet place where you can focus while you use the phone, read documents, and browse the web. 0800 Hours: Enroll In (or Check Up On) Your 401(k) If your employer offers a 401(k) and you're not using it (especially if your employer is willing to match some portion of your contribution), now's the time to sign up. Most companies partner with an investment firm to manage their 401(k) program, and to enroll all you have to do is log in to that firm's site with credentials supplied by your employer (or sign-in instructions supplied by your employer.) Photo by _e.t. Spend your first hour collecting your 401(k) enrollment documents, or contacting your company's HR department (preferably by phone—we are on a schedule here) to find out how to enroll. Then head over to the respective site for your 401(k), log in, and see the funds that are available to you. If you can enroll online, head over to MorningStar and Yahoo Finance and start researching funds, and use previously mentioned BrightScope to evaluate your 401(k) program. If you can enroll online, go ahead and do it. If you have to send in forms or have paperwork processed by your HR department, make notes to yourself about which funds you'd like to enroll in, how much you'd like to contribute from your paycheck to each fund, and take it with you when you go back to work. By the end of the hour, you'll either be completely finished or you'll have most of the heavy lifting done and you'll be able to finish the process the next time you speak to your company's HR team. When I did this, my HR department didn't want to deal with handling my investment for me, so when I ran into trouble, they gave me the direct line to our 401(k) administrator's corporate support line, which streamlined the enrollment process. 0900 Hours: Move/Consolidate Your Old 401(k) If you're changed jobs a few times and made use of your employer's retirement funds at each company, you probably have a couple of 401(k) enrollments lying around collecting dust. If you've been attentive, you know which funds you're enrolled in for each of them and how each one of them is performing. Then again, if you were attentive, you wouldn't need to take a day off for financial boot camp. Since you spend the last hour enrolling in your current employer's 401(k), now is a good time to roll over your old 401(k) funds into your current one, or into a rollover or Roth IRA so the money isn't sitting somewhere out of sight. Logging in to one investment firm and seeing all of your money in one place-especially if the funds available at your current employer are better-will give you a single, holistic view of your retirement funds. Keeping three or four different firms with dozens of different funds is a recipe for eventually getting lazy and ignoring them all-the way I did until I put myself through this process. If you have a financial advisor, now's the time to call them up and talk to them about the process. For those of us without one, you'll need to call each retirement fund and imitate the process manually. Call your current investment firm first though: more and more are offering painless rollovers and transfers as selling points, and they're all more than happy to take your money, and will likely make the process as seamless as possible. When I did this, both firms handled the process electronically, avoiding any tax implications for moving that much money around. There may be some documents you have to sign, but they'll mail, email, or fax them to you. 1000 Hours: Call Your Credit Card Companies for Lower Interest Rates This step may take a while if you have several credit cards, but now's the time to take a look at your bills, the interest rates you're paying for each credit card, and start making phone calls to ask for lower rates. We've discussed how a simple phone call can save you money on your credit card bill, and discussed it again in our bill by bill guide to saving money on your monthly expenses. You may not have success with all of your credit card issuers, but it doesn't hurt to ask, and if you have a long history of on-time payments and an account in good standing (which sometimes means you're carrying a balance on the card,) the credit card issuer will be willing to lower your interest rate a few points to keep you as a customer. If the customer service rep you speak to can't help you, ask to speak to the issuer's customer retention department and let them know you're considering consolidating your balance to another, lower-interest card, but don't want to have to if they can cut you a break. 1100 Hours: Call The Lowest Interest Card Issuers and Consolidate Debt After you've called your credit card issuers and negotiated lower interest rates, your debt landscape should have changed a bit. Now that you have lower rates from some companies (and perhaps no results from others,) take the next hour to call the ones with the lowest rates and see if you can consolidate your credit card debt to one, low-interest card. There may be a balance transfer fee associated with the move, but many issuers waive the fee for new customers and customers who have been with them for a long time. Photo by Andres Rueda. Many issuers will be happy to bump up your credit limit to accommodate a balance transfer because it represents incoming debt. Higher credit limits aren't always a good thing, but if you're using the higher limit as a way to consolidate your credit card debt onto one low-interest card that you intend to pay off, it's a good step. Now comes the hard part: make sure that you resist the urge to load up those now zero-balance cards. 1200 Hours: Lunch Seriously. You've been working a full day here whipping your finances into shape. Take some time to put your feet up and enjoy a well-deserved meal. If you don't feel like taking a whole hour out of the day when there's more to do, you can use some of this time to follow up on phone calls from earlier, or eat into this hour if the previous steps are running behind. Whatever you do though, take a time out for at least a little while: it's been a productive morning! 1300 Hours: Call Your Cable/Cell Phone/Internet Service Provider and Negotiate Lower Bills It'll help to go into these conversations educated. Before you pick up the phone, check out your cable provider, wireless carrier, or ISP's website to see how much they're offering your level of service to new customers. Then go check out their major competition in your area, if there's competition available. There's no guarantee that you'll get the same bargains when you call them up to and ask for it, but you'll at least know how much you could save.Photo by Mike Fisher. When you call your cable TV company or ISP, cite how much they're offering your level of service to new customers, and ask if you can get a break. Explain that you don't want to have to leave for the competition, even if their packages are competitive. This is another situation where a front-line customer service rep may not be able to help, and you'll have to chat with a customer retention representative or a sales rep who can get you to the right people. When you call your cell phone carrier, keep your usage in mind and bump down to a lower-cost plan if you're paying for features you don't use. Your mileage may vary here. Some companies will be happy to offer long-time customers a break on their bills to keep their business: I actually had a Comcast rep ask me how much I was willing to pay per-month for my current level of service just to keep me as a customer. Other reps have heard this refrain from enough customers that it just won't work anymore, even if you cite their own discounts and bargains. You may have to make good on your threats to quit and go with a lower priced competitor-which is why it's important to do the research before you call. Don't cancel on the spot, but if they won't help, let them know you likely will. For some more tips on how to trim those bills, check out our guide to minimizing your monthly expenses. 1400 Hours: Call Your Bank to Automate Your Checking and Savings Accounts Now that you've organized your retirement funds and gotten yourself a break on your monthly expenses, it's time to do the heavy lifting and call your bank. At the very least, you'll want to take some time to open a high-interest savings account (or any interest-bearing account) if your bank offers one that you qualify for, but the real goal here is to take the time to automate and organize your routine expenses and cash flow. Photo by m.prinke. Once you have your savings account open, consider opening an additional checking account for your bills. It's not mandatory to get your bills and savings nice and streamlined, but having one account that's entirely for bills and another for discretionary spending removes the temptation to spend into the money you need for regular expenses. Usually, all of this can be done online if you already have an account with the bank, but you may have to make a phone call or two if you have questions. Now, sign up for your bank's electronic bill payment program. Set up an automated transfer of funds; say around 5% (more if you can afford it) to your savings account (preferably to take place when your paychecks land; pay yourself first!) to help you save for future purchases, like your next computer, a new appliance, or a new TV for the living room. You can use this account for long term expenses like a down payment on a car or house, but we'll get to that in the next hour. Your end-goal is to create an automated flow that kicks off when your paycheck lands in your checking account. When it's deposited, interest-bearing savings are automatically deducted. The amount you've budgeted for bills is automatically moved to a checking account that handles them, either through your bank's automated bill payment process so you're never late, or that you kick off manually by paying your bills online when they're due. Like I mentioned above: a separate "bills only" account isn't necessary, but it can help separate the money you have to spend on regular expenses from the money you need for bills. By the end of the hour (or two, if you have to make phone calls to get these automatic processes going) you should have automated your most routine, mundane financial processes: bill payment, savings, and investing in your future goals or retirement. 1500 Hours: Open High-Interest CDs or Interest Bearing Accounts Now that you've gotten your regular expenses sorted out with your bank, it's time to take some of your discrectionary cash (if you have any, of course) and put it to work doing something better than standing by in your checking account for your next impulse buy. Even though interest rates on Certificates of Deposit (CDs) and other high-interest savings accounts aren't great right now, there are plenty of good ones to choose from. Here are a few of your favorites: even though rates are low, any time is a good time to set some money aside for your long term goals. Whether it's a down payment on a home, or you want to buy your next car with cash, locking up the money in a CD or high-interest account is a great way to put it out of sight (so you're not tempted to spend it,) and put it to work for you. 1600 Hours: Spruce Up Your Budget By this time, the banks are closing, and financial institutions are winding down the end of their business day. It's time to put the phone down and turn your attention to matters at home. Take a look at your budget, and make sure that your expenses actually match up with it. Many of you said that the humble spreadsheet was one of your favorite personal finance tools: make sure the money going out of your bank account actually matches up with the spreadsheet. If it's not, it's time to reevaluate your budget, or try a ddifferent tool that can help you create and stick to a budget. Photo by espensorvik. Spend this hour making sure that you know where your dollars are going and none of your expenses are unexpected. You've gone through all this trouble to automate them and make sure they're all organized: a little attention to you're your predicted and actual cash flow will make sure they don't fall apart all over again. 1700 Hours: Clean Up By now your finances should be in order, and in the last hour you spent some time making sure that you trusted the processes you set up and understood where your money was coming from and eventually going. Now, take it a step further and tidy up your documents and files. Shred old bank statements and bills that you don't need anymore and scan documents like your tax returns, old W-2s and 1099s that you want to keep. Get your filing cabinet in order, and take some time to dig out from the piles of paper that you probably have, and may have spent a good deal of the day sifting through. At the end of this hour, not only will your finances be in order, but all of your financial documents will be as well. Digital copies of your investment fund terms, any recent prospectuses, and other important documents and files should be archived and backed up. Your filing cabinet should be in good order so you can easily find and pull out information you may need to quickly retrieve. This is especially important because you spent the day making so many changes. 1800 Hours: Dinner You're all finished, and your day of boot camp is over. If you didn't finish everything, make a short list of the things you want to come back to, or the things that require some follow-up when you have other documents at hand or after you've spoken to someone you couldn't reach. Don't let the ball drop just because your boot camp day is over-follow up and finish the job. When that's done, treat yourself to dinner, comfortable in the knowledge that your finances are automated, easy to examine at a glance, and that your bills will be paid, you'll always be able to tell what you can and can't afford, and you're saving for short and long-term goals as well as retirement. If you don't want to spend the money on dinner after talking money all day long, we can respect that too. Follow Through Automating and organizing your finances isn't a ticket to walking away from them. You've consolidated your debt and retirement accounts to make it easier to see them, not so you don't have to look at them. You set up multiple accounts or automated bill payments so you don't have to worry about bills being late-not so you can forget you even have bills. Make sure the system works well for you and tweak it where it doesn't. Photo by Pete O'Shea. Over the long term, taking these functional steps will help your finances transform from something strange and arcane that you don't understand into a clear, concise, and easy to follow process that makes sense to you and helps you get to where you want to be financially. Thoughts? What do you think? Are there additional steps that you would put into a financial boot camp regimen? Do you think it's too much to tackle in one day? Share your thoughts in the comments below. You can reach Alan Henry, the author of this post, at alan@lifehacker.com, or better yet, follow him on Twitter or Google+. Share this:

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