Just one week left of round one!

Though new technology is often synonymous with high cost, there are actually devices and software offerings on the market today that will help you reduce spending and stay on budget. Here are a dedicated techy few.

With mobile phone bills out of control because of social nets, Opera Mini is here to keep you connected and in control. This free mobile phone browser reduces the amount of data that is sent to your phone during a mobile surfing session.

Since most are charged based on what you are downloading, Opera Mini has been known to make data charges on your monthly bill up to 10 times cheaper. The Opera Mini system works by compressing web pages to a smaller size before they are sent to your phone. The result is faster browsing and less waiting, as pages load much quicker when you download less data. To get Opera Mini on your mobile phone, go to www.opera.com/mini.

Voice over IP (VOIP) has reached the masses, and more people than ever are avoiding land lines and turning to their broadband connection when placing a call.

Skype is a popular VOIP technology that allows you to call computer-to-computer at absolutely no cost. Computer-to-mobile phone and -land line calls are also possible at a much cheaper rate than the typical long distance phone plan. Currently, a mobile phone version of Skype is in the works. This is a good way to make inexpensive calls, especially for those who have unlimited data plans on their phones.

Find out more about Skype at www.skype.com or search the Web for “VOIP” to find loads of alternatives.

Anyone who’s ever bought a computer knows that stocking that empty machine with the necessary software can get expensive. What your friendly salesperson neglected to tell you is that there are free, high quality alternatives out there.

For example, check out the AVG Anti-Virus software, Open Office suite and the Ubuntu operating system and break the chains tying you to that overpriced software.

Smart power strips saving you cash: Stop sucking up all the power and invest in socket boards for all your computer equipment, including the PC, monitor, speakers and printer. Just plug your devices in and when you shut your computer off, the board will cut power to all the peripheral devices that continue to draw electricity while on standby.

Smart Power Strips are reasonably priced, and manufacturers claim that they pay for themselves within a few weeks. Who wouldn’t love reducing their power bill while staying environmentally friendly?

One for the really committed with a large initial cost (upwards of $5,000 ), residential windmills are a long-term investment for reducing your power bills.

By generating your own wind power (how cool is that!), you are putting electricity back into the grid through your power box, essentially running your meter backwards when you’re not using power.

In this article, Lars Kleinschmidt introduces you to the basics of skinning Opera, that is, customizing the look and feel of the UI.

We will publish more in depth articles later on, but this article is meant as a quick start tutorial on completing simple tasks such as customizing button icons. Here Lars covers where the skin files are located, how to package the files that make up an Opera skin, and how to make simple replacements of button and background images.

It's a great read and we recommend everyone to check it out, and who knows, you might need it for something...

Creating an Opera Widget is quick and painless, with just a few pointers in the right direction. An updated article (by Hans) on Dev.Opera details what a Widget is and what you need to create one, and also takes you through creating, running and packaging a Widget step by step. The basic techniques discussed there also apply to Widgets intended to run on mobiles, set-top-boxes or within the Opera browser on the Nintendo Wii Internet Channel.

This article is very handy for those of you thinking of creating Widgets for upcoming or ongoing contests.

Read the full article...