The latest issue of Fast Company features an article that takes a look at the state of solid state and the promise that our electronic gadgets will soon no longer need hard drives. As the primary point of failure for most computer-based devices, I’m eagerly looking forward to the day when hard drives are no longer necessary, but I thought we still had a few years before this could start happening. But according to Have a Solid Holiday, things are progressing faster than I realized in the world of solid state memory.

I knew that these so-called solid state drives (SSD) were faster and require less power to run than typical hard drives, but I didn’t realize how dramatic the differences are. According to this Fast Company article, SSDs can access a piece of data in 200 millionths of a second, compared to the 8 thousandths of a second a hard drive takes, and they do this using 10 times less power than traditional hard drives need.

I was also impressed with the speed that SSDs are finding their way into new devices. You can now not only buy solid-state based laptops, but also digital video cameras, phones, and it appears that most electronic devices that use hard drives either already have SSD-based alternatives or very soon will.

Look Inside >> December 2008/January 2009

Just click on the image above for a free preview of Fast Company on Coverleaf.

If you’re like me, your house is getting pretty cluttered around this time of year. Why not make uncluttering your home your New Year’s resolution? If you’re looking for inspiration, the latest issue of Better Homes and Gardens has a great article with 45 suggestions for helping to clear out your clutter.

Ideas like using dish stacking shelves with labels in your linen closet to separate sheets for the different beds in your house and using an inexpensive toothbrush holder attached to the side of your desk to hold stray pens are just a couple of the creative and clever ideas that I’m going to incorporate into my own war on clutter. With 45 different organizational suggestions, there’s bound to be something that appeals to just about everyone. Just click on the image below to read a free preview of Better Homes and Gardens on Coverleaf.

Look Inside >> January 2009

Everyone likes handmade gifts, but you’re rapidly running out of time to make anything creative for this holiday season. Don’t fear, ReadyMade has come to the rescue with some inspired and simple ideas for crafty gifts in their latest issue. My favorite is the cashmere scarf throw blanket, featured in this month’s Hot Toddy column.

Just gather up a few of those old cashmere scarves you don’t wear much anymore and some basic sewing materials and you should be able to whip up one of these in less than an hour. The article suggests picking 5 scarves that share a similar color palette, and don’t worry too much about how they line up — you can always trim them to get the edges even. This sewing project is so simple that I’m pretty sure I can even do it, and I’m heading to our closet now to see if I can whip one of these up this afternoon.

Look Inside >> January 2009

Just click on the image above for a free preview of ReadyMade on Coverleaf.

You may have noticed some changes to the way Coverleaf looks and feels, we’ve been working hard behind the scenes and we think you’ll appreciate the improvements. We just rolled out some changes to the Coverleaf front page and the my stuff section that should make navigating around Coverleaf and managing your clippings even easier.

You’ll probably notice that there is no longer any horizontal scrolling needed to see all of the magazine categories on the Coverleaf front page, or to see any of your clippings in my stuff. We realized people were not always seeing all of the category choices and having trouble managing their clippings with the horizontal scrolling, so we’ve removed it from those areas. I really like being able to see all of the Coverleaf categories at a glance now.

We also added more social networking connections, as I posted about recently. You can now easily share Coverleaf content on Facebook and LinkedIn. We love feedback, so please let us know what you think about the changes or any other thoughts you’d like to share with us about our service. Just leave a comment on this post or send us an email.

If President-elect Obama wants any advice on scientific matters, he should take a look at the latest issue of Discover Magazine. In Memo to the Commander in Chief, Melissa Lafsky has compiled a fascinating and inspirational list of “50 science ideas” for the next President from an impressive group of experts in their fields. From making alternative energy research a top priority and restoring research funding to adequate levels to bringing back the independent scientific panels that used to advise Congress and  “act as an evangelist for a more scientifically literate public who are better able to evaluate issues such as climate change,” there’s lots of good and important advice here from people worth listening to.

I don’t know about you, but I’ve been thrilled to see President-elect Obama selecting cabinet members and advisors who are respected and acknowledged experts, and not just beltway politicians. I hope Obama will read this article and act on some of the important issues raised in Memo to the Commander in Chief.

Look Inside >> November 2008

Just click on the image above to read the article for free on Coverleaf.

We’ve just expanded the options for sharing your Coverleaf clippings by adding connections to Facebook and LinkedIn. To share one of your favorite articles on a social networking site, just go to your my stuff tab, select the clipping you want to share, and click on the share button to the right. When the share window pops up select the Social tab, and you’ll see buttons for most of the popular social networking sites, including Facebook and LinkedIn now.

There’s lots of ways to share your Coverleaf content. From that same share window you can also select tabs to easily email a clipping to your friends or get the html link for the article or you can even get a custom widget that will display a thumbnail image of the page that links back to your article. So go ahead, pass your favorite articles around!

In turbulent economic times, gold has always proved to be a sound investment and the latest issue of Coins magazine has an article on the history of gold in the U.S. that reinforces that maxim. In 2008, gold passed the $1,000/ounce price for the first time ever. In Gold’s Amazing Comeback you’ll learn about the history of the gold market and how it’s been performing during our current economic woes (hint: very, very good).

Full of stats, tables, and charts, this article will leave you feeling much more educated about the gold market. The history is fascinating as the article traces the days of gold being considered a primary asset of wealth to today where it is more considered an “asset of last resort.”

Like everything right now, the price of gold has been volatile — it’s ranged between $700 and $1000 this year — but it still stands out as a solid investment in trying times. Just click on the image below to read this article for free on Coverleaf.

Look Inside >> January 2009

As the author of Birthday Blowout: Tales from the Trenches notes, it’s common to look at photos of a baby’s first birthday party and see the little tyke looking more confused than happy. After all, at just one year of age much of the activity of a big birthday celebration probably seems incomprehensible. If you have a little one at home nearing this milestone, don’t fear — this article in the latest issue of Pregnancy magazine offers up some great advice for that first birthday party.

First, a shift in perspective is suggested. Be realistic, your child’s one-year-birthday party is really more of a celebration for the parents and grandaparents the article points out, “Think of the first birthday party as a celebration of the anniversary of your first year as a parent, rather than as a party for the child.” Keep the guest list short, the party favors simple, and the duration short enough so your little one can hopefully avoid a meltdown.

Look Inside >> Janaury 2009

Just click on the image above to read this article in the freely available digital edition of Pregnancy on Coverleaf.

Although the economy seems to be on a pretty wild roller-coaster ride these days, and one that has a lot more downhill track than uphill action, it may actually be a pretty good time to make a home purchase. Certainly if you don’t feel stable in your job or means of income it’s probably not a good idea to be making making major purchases, but if you have a relatively stable income, it’s looking more and more like a buyer’s home market. The latest issue of More magazine has an informative feature from Jean Chatzky, their financial columnist, on the state of the real estate market today and how to take advantage of hungry sellers. Buying a House in This Market: Crazy or Canny? offers up some sound advice for anyone considering buying a house in today’s real estate market.

Chatzky suggests that many sellers are getting so desperate that the standard practices for bidding on houses are falling by the wayside. “In the new economy math, your first offer on a house you’re interested in buying should be at least 10 percent below the asking price. Maybe even 15,” Chatzky advises. Not good news if you need to sell a house right now, but if you’ve been thinking about moving up, now could be a very good time.

Just click on the image below to read a free preview of this article from More magazine on Coverleaf.

Look Inside >> December 2008

We hear every year about the rising electricity costs associated with holiday decorations. I think just about every neighborhood in the U.S. now has one of those blocks with extreme holiday displays and a massive number of flashing and twinkling lights. Our family always enjoys driving around the most decorated areas where we live with the kids as part of our holiday tradition, but the amount of electricity these displays take is one reason we haven’t gone overboard on our own decorations.

The latest issue of Midwest Living has a short feature on “greening up” your holiday lights this year, and they’re not talking about the color of the light bulbs. The crucial piece of advice is to trade in your incandescent holiday lights for LED-based light sets. An average user will save $19 per year on energy costs by making the swap. But the more interesting statistic to me was that if just 20% of homes in the U.S. switched to using LED-based holiday lights, that would save enough energy to power 100,000 homes for an entire year!

Look Inside >> November/December 2008

Just click on the image above to get a free preview of Midwest Living on Coverleaf.