expense

Absence Management System is a complex program that allows users to track employee absences and many other workplace events. Although it's not the most intuitive program we've ever seen, we really like the way it automates a lot of workplace functions that have traditionally be handled with paper, verbal, or e-mail requests.

The program's interface takes some getting used to. We spent a fair amount of time in the built-in Help file, and just messing around with it, it gradually started to make more sense. The program's main functions are organized in a tree-style format down … Read more

Shoeboxed announced this week that it has improved the way it handles digital receipts sent to its online filing system. The company, which scans and hosts paper receipts, business cards and full-size documents, can now pick out specific information from forwarded e-mails containing purchase information, and put it into one of the system's 15 purchase classifications.

Like users would do with purchases on travel services like TripIt and Worldmate, simply sending the confirmation e-mail to your Shoeboxed address means that it gets filed along with the rest of your expenses. The goal is to make it easier for customers … Read more

High-end audio prices are getting crazy lately, but this $1,000,000 speaker--the Ultimate--may be the most expensive speaker in the world.

Please understand that $1 million buys one speaker, so you'll need to shell out $2 million for stereo, and at least $5 million for your Ultimate home theater.

The Ultimate is a rather large speaker--each one consists of six, seven-foot tall panels. Each Ultimate houses a total of forty 15-inch subwoofers, twenty-four 8-inch woofers, and massive arrays of 2-inch wide and 1-inch wide ribbon tweeters. All of this is for a single channel/speaker, double those numbers for stereo! A pair of Ultimates are nearly forty feet wide!

That pretty much rules out my chances of getting the Ultimate for review in my Brooklyn apartment, oh well.

Each Ultimate speaker comes with its own power amplifiers, with an output of 31,000 watts, and the manufacturer claims the Ultimate can generate up to 146dB SPL, that's a lot louder than a jet plane taking off. And just because it can play that loud, doesn't mean it has to. Just because a Ferrari can go 200 mph, doesn't mean it can't cruise at 55.… Read more

Hey Jeff,

I am a devoted 404 listener and have been thinking about video games and the cost of them based on the amount of gameplay you receive.

I was very sad when say, The Force Unleashed, ended. Yes, you can go back and take two different paths, but I feel like the game was too short. If I went out and bought Fable II when it was new, it would cost the same as this game and just think of how many more hours of gameplay I would have gotten.

Should there be an organization that requires publishers to … Read more

While some financial management programs are complex and require some time to learn, Easy Cash Manager strips away all but the most simple money tracking elements. It's easy to learn, but it may not fit the bill for everyone needing to manage their money.

This freeware program has a bold, all-green display that is laid out fairly simply. The green is a bit over the top, but the simplicity of the screen makes it easy to get started. The left screen is merely blank space. The right offers simple buttons to add deposits or subtract expenses. In simple black … Read more

Ncome and Xpense is a program to monitor all finances in order to balance your household budget. You'll need to spend a little time mastering its overwhelming interface, but it's worth the time and effort.

This program's interface is initially a shock to the system. Users are ushered into a screen full of rows and columns, boxes and color-coded categories that are certain to result in a few head scratches. Luckily, the program's online Help file will explain the layout and hopefully result in an ability to navigate the intricately organized program. Once we familiarized ourselves … Read more

Balancing your checkbook or converting to meters to feet just got a bit more high tech thanks to the Talking Calculator. And yes, as the name implies this calculator talks!

The Talking Calculator's dual-display system is a step above your everyday go-to calculator in that Talking Calculator lets you simultaneously see both the equation you have entered and its corresponding answer just below. This feature alone will help keep the muddles away. Scared of conversions? With this very simple calculator, you are one click away to converting with ease.

But the Talking Calculator's stand-out feature is that it … Read more

Expense Tracker does just what its name suggests and lets you record all of your personal and business expenses. As long as you're not looking for any type of synchronization functionality, it's a very easy-to-use tool for managing your finances.

We were happy to find that the program is password-protected. The user interface is as simple as it gets, and we needed no guidance whatsoever to get started. Prominent icons on the left side of the window let you quickly access your accounts, transactions, and payees. Adding new accounts was as simple as clicking the Add button and … Read more

First off, an admission: I've always wanted a Mac Mini. Sort of like I've always wanted a Mini Cooper convertible. But then I take a look at the price tag and it always seems too expensive. Call me cheap, but when you're at $600 (for the entry-level Mini) you start to ask yourself: what can I get for a few hundred bucks more--aside from the step-up $799 Mac Mini?

The answer is always a laptop. Now, the Mac Mini, of course, is basically a laptop without the screen. It uses laptop components. This new base system features … Read more