If you are looking to get into forex trading, you will quickly notice that all online forex brokers offer their services "commission free." It is a tactic to attract new customers, but for many these kinds of promises raise red flags. Certainly, there must be a catch. No one works for free.

The truth is that forex brokers do in fact earn what amounts to a commission on every trade you make. It is just hidden within the pip spread provided each day via the forex trading system that your broker furnished you with.

Now, don't let that turn you off to forex trading. The fees worked into the pip spread are usually quite small, since there are lots of brokers and they need to keep competitive. After all, everyone needs to make a living.

Ever wonder why while cruise lines are offering hugely slashed rates, air fare on most carriers remains high?  After all, we are in a recession, fuel prices are low and several global issues like the swine flu are keeping most from traveling.

The reason is that during such times, most airlines will simply park parts of their fleets.  They reduce their operating costs to match their reduced revenue.  The air travel industry is large enough for them to get away with that.

But the cruise industry is much smaller.  It is not seen as a necessity like air travel is.  So cruise lines cannot just park their ships - they have to keep going in hopes of making enough money to "stay afloat."  Their solution, therefore, is to offer an abundance of cruise deals to entice people to continue sailing the high seas.

The Salt Lake Tribune reports that Salt Lake County has imposed new restrictions on government employees idling their vehicles.

The local government believes it can save more than $100,000 annually by reducing the daily idling time of each of its 480 vehicles to just a few minutes a day.

The new restriction has the added benefit of helping the environment by putting less pollutants into the air. It was unclear what the penalties will be for violating the new law.

The move is part of a broader fleet safety and management effort in the Salt Lake area.

Absentee Democratic voters from Michigan were mistakenly directed to a phone sex hotline by their own state party committee, reported the Associated Press.

The error occurred on a flier that contained two absentee ballots and a campaign hotline phone number. The committee went through a lot of trouble to make sure absentee voters received the flier, only to discover that the phone number rang through to a sex hotline.

The committee apologized profusely after the error made the evening news.

As part of a broad initiative in the computing hardware industry to be more environmentally friendly, HP has announced that it will offer a special universal driver that will enable any HP laser printers up to 10 years old to become a duplex scanner and printer.

HP executives said the offer will encourage more people to print on both sides of a page, thereby reducing the amount of paper used. One official noted that it requires 10 times more energy to make a piece of paper than to print on it.

The effort is commendable, and even more so considering that HP is giving the technology away for free to its current customers.

With the sub-prime mortgage crisis still in full swing, a lot of analysts are still recommending that people find properties for rent rather than seek out a house or apartment for sale.

But of course, it all depends on where you plan to live.  Some communities are experiencing far more unfavorable market movements than others.  In some communities, buying an apartment or house is still advantageous and affordable.

But how do you find out if the place you are moving to is ripe for buying or if renting is preferable? Hotpads.com is a new website that could help.

Hotpads.com examines listings in any number of locations across the US, and analyzes whether it is better to buy or rent in particular towns and neighborhoods.
 

A Dallas-area man was spotted jumping into the passenger side of a stretch limousine recently after robbing a local branch of Comerica Bank, reported The Associated Press.

The incident begs a few questions:

If you are driving around in a limo, do you really need to be robbing banks?  And if you are a down-on-his-luck thief who just happened to steal a limo also (or perhaps work for a limo company?) do you really think a limo is the best getaway vehicle?