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Show The Salt Lake Tribune SAVVY MAENGR I Se THE SAVVY CONSUMER vm teouHowlernatu Summertimesavings: 15 ways you can be nifty, thrifty having so much fun that they tend to splurge and havingto dash out to the closest (overpriced) shop when you need anitem. bust their wallets. Those pesky monthly bills, un fortunately, don't care how nice the weather is. Soto the manufacturer's and store's Web sites. Often during the summertime months, people are keep your spending in check, Good Housekeeping surveyed its readers, staff and financial experts to come up with 15 simple cutbacks that won't hinder your fun this summeror any season. You can find more tips at the magazine's Web http://www.goodhousekeeping.com. site, Shopping 1. If you can't waitfor that best seller to be avail: ableat the public library, buy it with a friend and split the cost. 2. Do you havea favorite shampoo,frozen entrée or cereal? Goto the product's Website and see if you can download a coupon. Also, sometimes if you call the customer-service line to ask a question, the company representative will send you a free sample. 3. Shopping for a new appliance? A recently discontinued mode] can save you money. However, makesure that that specific model wasn't recalled bythe federal Consumer Product Safety Commission(http://www.cpsc.govhas list of recalls). 4. Buy tape, pencils and paper clips in bulk at the local office-supply store. You will save and avoid 12. Slow down!A car going 55 mph gets 15 percent better fuel economy than one going 65 mph. All those little extras 5. Rebates often are not well-advertised, so check Eating out 13.If you can’t give up bottled water, invest in a home cooler. The initial payout ($150 to $200) is steep, but a 5-gallon jug costs $5, compared with $1 6. Splurging for an anniversary or birthday? You canstill celebrate at Chez Chic, but go out for lunch perpintfor individual bottles from the store. You do the math. 14. Are youtaking advantage ofemployee bene- rather than dinner. 7. Instead of ordering cappuccino atthe coffee bar,try the coffee of the day and ask the server to leavelots of room for milk. The foam is gone after fits? Weare not talking aboutthe big ones, like health care, but the smaller ones, like discount three sips, anyway — and you could save $2. movie tickets or a gym membership. 8. Don't order dessert orcoffee at the end ofa restaurant meal. There is a high markup on these “extras.” band’s hair yourself. 15. Women: Save a few bucks by cutting your hus- PROBLEM:The toys’ seams can sepa- Feedback can be helpful to workers, but also can be a source ofworry in the weak economy By SrerHaniz Anmour USA Today Job reviews are causing even more dread in today's weak economy. That's because more employers are using reviews to rank employees, deciding before a layoff who should be let go. About 44 percent of companies now makefrequent use of forced ranking, up from 13 percentin 1997, according to a June study by Pittsburgh-based Development Dimensions International. Managers rank their employees, from best to worst, which can makeit easier to decide whom to cut. out your lobsters. But in the Good Housekeeping In- stitute’s lab tests, this mitt was tco bulky to grab placement. barbecue tongs, and it was not flame-resistant, so avoid open flames. When you are grilling, the mitt you wantis the five-fingered “Ove” Glove ($14.95). control could lead to an undercar fire. For Made from Nomex and Kevlar (materials used in recommended pressure can improve gas mileage by eee uniforms), it truly is flame-retardant. 3percent. more information, call Saturn at 800-5536000, prompt 3. 11. Check yourtires. Inflating to the maximum analyst at Nationwide. “For me, it’s been beneficial.” fect, the lawsuit has prompted @Employees are more in- instead of once a year. “Tt allows employees to know where they stand, whether it’s volved in their own reviews. good or bad,” says human re- employers who adopt forced ranking to be more cautious about howit is applied, legal experts say. Companies are reviewing the rankings to be sure there is nodisparate impact on certain groups of employees. Companies are being careful because “plaintiffs lawyers Companies are moving away from having just managers sources manager Jami Secchi. “Job security is a priority ina down economy.” Ford overhauled its system. But instead of having a chilling ef- have found the systems discriminatory [based on] age or gender,” says James Brown, a Pittsburgh-based employment lawyer, adding that “there's no problem with ranking if it's neutral.” Laurie McCann, with AARP, says the organization doesn't believe forced ranking is discriminatory. Still, she says, “There is a great potentialforit. Stereotypes about older workers comeinto play, and companies haveto be very careful.”” evaluatetheir workers. Instead, they are asking employees to play a role, making them more accountable for their own progress and goal setting. About half ofexecutives and 53 percent of employees had input into their performance evaluations, according to a 2000 survey by the Society for Human Resource Management and Personnel Decisions International. @ Performance criteria are being linked to overall corporate goals. Employees are being asked to show how their job performance bolsters the bottom line or fits with corporate missions, “Thetrendis to take reviews very seriously and align them even those employees who are How reviews are evolving: with the operating plan of the company,” says Jane Weizman, a consultant in Washington not being ranked as job reviews take on greater significance as employers try to drive em. ployee performance in this competitive economy. In the next two years, 40 percent of companies surveyed intended to make significant changes to Forced rankings are just one with human resources firm their review system, according to the DDI survey. “As companies struggle to keep costs down, employee con waythattraditional reviews are © More feedback. More com: panies are conducting formal, written reviews twice a year instead of annually or they are adding a midyear checkuptosee if employee goals are being met. Insurance and financial services firm Nationwide, based in troversial. Workers sued Ford Motor for a ranking system they where they are and where said amounted to age discrimi nation. The lawsuit was settled they're headed,” says Katie Daggett, 26, a senior business says Bob Rogers, DDI president. “Companies lookingto cutcosts are looking at whom to cut. They think forced ranking helps to screen out bottom performers.” But forced ranking is con- Watson Wyatt Worldwide. ‘That is what Walter Indus- changing: Columbus, Ohio,in 2000 adopted a consolidated performance review process instead of having a number of different systems. Annual reviewsare followed up with coaching and feedback from managers throughout the year. “Whenthe economy is down, {employees} need an idea of cern about reviews increases,” presenting an aspiration hazard to young children. Consumers should stop using these toys immediately and call The Boyd's Collection at 800-377-3050 to get a free re- With the new Orka Silicone Oven Mitt ($19.99), you can reachrightinto a pot ofboiling water to pull 9, Be scrupulous about observing parking-meter limits and other town ordinances: Cash-strapped municipalities are raising fines to exorbitantlevels. 10. Keep your car tuned up. Replace filters regularly. A new oxygen sensoralone can improve mileage by as much as 15 percent. in 2002 for $10.6 million, and Job review angst is hitting rate and allow small beads to be released, On another matter Your car Job reviewsadd angst to employees Evolving evaluations: your model to see if it is included in the recall. The dealer will tell you what to do. PRODUCT: “Egg Dippers” Easter Animal Plush Toys made by Small Small World (labelsays “The Boyd’sCollection”), sold in department and specialty stores from February 2003 through April 2003 for about $8. tries has done. The Tampabased conglomerate revamped its review process. The com- panyfirst determined its core values with senior manage- ment. Those core values, which include such goals as innova- tion and customer commitment, were then built into the review process, “{Employees] know exactly what's expected of them,” says Larry Williams, human resources senior vice president. In April, Stanton Crenshaw Communications, a New York based public relations firm, launched a review process for the company’s 50 employees. As part of the change, formal reviews are heldevery six months A tool to retain top workers: Employees say the weak economy has made them more nervous about the review process. Margaret Guyton Stout, 33, is a development officer whose company, a United Way branch, recently laid off 22 percent workers in Toledo, Ohio. She went through a job review last month. “Twas anxious going through the review. I wanted to bé sure we were on the same page because of job security,” she says. “There's anxiety that goes along with makingsure it’s noted that I'm going above and beyond.” VEHICLE:2000-03 Saturn L-Series PROBLEM:A failure in the ignition Bittorquelimiting device, medical needle safety shield patented U.S. patents issued Tuesday to Utah inventors and companies ville, Michael A. Vail of Salt Lake City and Kenneth M. Jensen of Springville, assigned Gordon A. Tibbitts of Salt Lake to Diamicron Inc. of Orem. Titanium materials, patent Continuously variably reciprocating transmission, No. 6,596,228, invented by Harry Rosenberg of Pittsburgh, Pa., patent No. 6,595,084, invented by Nigel Winters of Sandy and Yun Xu of Pittsburgh, assigned to Bret J. Park of South Jordan. Vinyl beam reinforcement apparatus and method, patent No. 6,595,497, invented by Paul M.Linford of Salt Lake City, Duane M.Linford of Salt Lake City and Khaled Mahjoub of Damascus, Syria. Pressure regulat- ing buffer seal, patent No. 6,595,524, invented by Daniel K. Zitting of But some trends haven't from peers and subordinates, While the April-June quartertypically is slower, the numbers “illustrate the hand-held device market's struggle to grow beyond its roots,” said IDC hand-held ana lyst Ross Sealfon. has met with resistance because of concerns it amounts to a popularity contest. The DDI survey found only 19 percent of companies make frequent use of such reviews. Effective performance re- view systems can be a tool for retaining high-value employees, according to the SHRM report. But reviews often falter because companies don't link them to corporate strategies or they focus too much on measuring workers rather than promoting personal development. “In a down economy, you see more importance placed on performance,” says John Dooney, a consultant with the Alexandria, Va.-based Society for Human Resource Management. Palm Inc,saw its shipments grow from the previous quarter. Buoyed bysales of its new Zire 71 and ‘Tungsten Cdevices, Palm heldtts leader. shipstatus and grew its market sharetoal. most 40 percent. Hewlett-Packard Co. followed with a 17 percent share; Sony Corp., 11 percent; Dell Computer Corp., 6.7 percent and Toshiba Corp., 3.3 percent. The data do not include DLP a new option fi or HDTV ° . VICWETS @ Continued from Cl with 13 million hinge-mounted micro: scopic mirrors, Each mirror measures Jess than one-fifth the width of « human hair. Coordinated with a digital video Signal, a light source and a projection lens, the mirrors reflect a crisp image onto a screen. ach mirror corresponds to » pixel filters to highlight messages from people they know, Compiled byLisa Carricaburu CSE EEESER . handheld devices that double as cell phones, 00gle adds new earch feature fe Online search engine Google has added a tool designed to make it easiertofind spe- invented by Paul O. Zamora of PATENTS Inc. of Ogden. Gaithersburg, Md., Ray Tsang of Salt Lake City and Shigemasa vented by Bradley W. Smith of Ogden,assigned to Autoliv ASP gies Inc.ofCollege Park, Md. Portable auxiliary battery pack for extended use and recharging of personal digital assistants, patent No.6,597,151, invented by Mark D. Price of Inc.of Hybrid magnetically sus- pended and rotated centrifu- gal pumping apparatus and method, patent No. 6,595,762, invented by Pratap 8. Khanwilkar of Salt Lake City, Paul E. Allaire of Charlottesville, Va., Gill B. Bearnson of Salt Lake City, Don B. Olsen of Salt Lake City, Eric H. Masien of Earlysville, Va., and James W. Long of Holladay, assigned to MedQuest Products ment of blood, patent No. 6,595,941, invented by Duane D. Blatter of Salt Lake City, assigned to Integrated Vascular Inof Sait Lake City. Apparatus and method for preventing free flow in an infusion line, patent No. 6,595,950, invented by Scott Miles ofSandy, Kent F. Beck of Layton and James Malmstrom of Kaysville, assigned to Zevex Inc. of Salt LakeCity. Safety shield for medical Corporate executives and other high: profile individuals, like Mark Cubanof the an “advanced search”link in Google's news section, lets visitors limit news searches to Dallas Mavericks, can get as many as 1,000 e-mails a day. particular publications and dates, The tool needles, patent No.6,595,955, invented by F, Mark Ferguson of Salt Lake City, Charles V. Owen also narrows searches tostories containing of Highland, David L. Thorne of spams. Ted Leonsis, vice chairman of an exact phrase. Kaysville, Craig N. Thorne of Google introduced its news section last year, It covers 4,500 English-language sourc- up from about4,000 sources 10 months ago. David Neeleman, CEOofJetBlue Air ways,reads most of his but responds to less than 10percent, Maney reported. Bill Gates and Michael Dell use their mail software Bountiful, Mark Nelson ofSandy and Gale H. Thorne Jr. of Bountiful, assigned to Specialized fying the competition with other Internet Health Products Inc. of Bountiful Methods for manufactarponer apt component, power brokers, including Yahoo! and Microsoft’s MSN. The Associated Press Springville, Jeffrey K. Taylor of Loomis, Calif, Richard H. Dixon By building more attractions around its America Onlinespends as many as four hours a day reading and replying. main search engine, Google has been luring even more traffic to its Web site and intensi- Nucleic acid coating compositions and methods, patent No. 6,596,699, Air-bag inflator diffusion system and method of manufacture, patent No. 6,595,547, in- “Ife‘Thenewsstories. new feature, available by clicking on how do they handleit? In manycases, they don't, writes Kevin Maney, technology col umnist for USA Today. Mostread all their e-mail, except for Roswell, Ga., Sohail Malik of Roswell, Ga., Cameron G. Rouns of South Jordan, Sharon L. Greene of. Canton, Ga., and Archel A. Ambrosio of San Diego, as- inflator system,patent No. 6,595,546, invented by Bradley W. Smith of Ogden, assigned to Autoliv ASP Execs read their e-mail, except spam With their money and organizations, Of thetop five vendors, only No. | seller therewith, patent No. 6,596,402, invented by Dave Soerens of signed to Kimberly-Clark Worldwide Inc. of Neenah, Wise. terventional Technologies L.C. sales, Morristown,N.J. Absorbent, lubricious coating and articles coated view, which includes feedback Hand-held computer shipments down for quarter The Associated Press Honeywell International Inc. of caught on. The 360-degree re- Methods for external treat- TECHNOLOGY TRENDS , Louis M. Pope of Provo, Dean C. Blackburn of Bit torque limiting device, patent No. 6,594,881, invented by Inc, of Salt Lake City. orldwide shipments of hand-held computing devices declined 11 percent in the second quarter, marketresearcher IDC reports. Shipments dropped to 2.3 million units from 2.5 million a year ago, falling for the second quarter in a row. Industrywide shipments slid for most of last year except for a surge from holiday of Provo, Clayton F, Gardinier of include: invented by Bill Osaki of Sandy, assigned to BioSurface Engineering Tectinolo- Midvale and Curtis Thompson of Taylorsville, assigned to 3Com Corp.of Santa Clara, Calif. High and low side driver tests for air-bag module, patent No.6,597,181, invented by Colm Peter Boran of Novi, Mich., Paul Douglas Bingham of Can- ton, Mich., Steven John Bigham of Canton, Mich., and David Matthew Mantey of Canton, Mich., assigned to Autoliv ASP Inc, of Ogden. Optical digital environment compliance system, patent No. 6,597,799, invented by William P. Pfaffof Navarre, Fla., and Jay Stretch of Ogden, assigned to Scientech Inc. of Idaho Falls, Idaho. continuous connection with a device on a network, patent No, 6,598,063, invented by Eric B. Remer of American Fork, David A. King ofHighland and David L. Remer of Orem, assigned to Intel Corp.of Santa Clara, Calif, Folding chair, patent No, 477,470, invented by Thayne B. Haney of Syracuse and Kent Ashby of Logan, assigned to Lifetime Products Inc, of Clearfield, “ Pope of on the projected image. Samsung Electronics Co. launched its first DLP-based sets in the United plug in the cords for anew DVDplayer. The 43-inch Samsung DLP set weighs 67 pounds, less than half the weight of a reasonable to expect. Also, CRT sets and, toa lesser extent, plasma and liquid crystal diode displays the lamp, it's like a brand-new TV again,” Panosian said. York, and the response has pleased the giant Korean manufacturer. “Consumers like the lightweight, compact design, thatit fits into spaces using the least amountof cabinet,” said Steve Punosian,senior marketing man: ager of Samsung's visual display group. ‘Thinfs in, to be sure, but consumers also like lightersets that can be moved around easily, whether to make room for the Christmas tree during the hol days or simply to get behind the set to DLP advocates also note that the static images from video games or protechnology dossn't suffer the quirks of grams that are not in the 16:9 wide-sereen other formats, format can leave permanent ghosts on TI says the chip's unique design the television screen. DLP doesn’t suffer makes {t relatively impervious to heat, these kinds of memory effects, humidity and vibration, so clarity and Finally, with rear projection sets in color accuracy remain consistent and particular, viewers can't see the picture reliable. Under typical conditions, Tl well ifthey sit oto theside. Viewingangle says, a DLP display is expected to last {# not an issue with DLP-based models. 100,000 hours or almost 96 years of + ‘The main downside to DLP sets is that running eight hours a day, Samsung ‘he light bulb needs to be replaced every figures 15 to 20 yearsofservice would be few years; the bulb costs around $250, drop, and Samsung expects to deliver models priced well below $2,000 within two or three years, Panosian says, though they will be sold alongs! : technologies rather than replace them. LCD will grow stronger for smaller sets, he says, and plasma will be around for the larger models, “DLP looks very promis: ing,” says Dale Cripps, publisher of HDT'V Magazine, based in Alsea, Ore. “It's going to be around for a while.” States a year ago ata trade show in New typical 32-inch CRT model, od are susceptible to burn-in, Over time, his Prices for DLP sets will continue to POOR |