I'm Gone. Please Rob Me.

Updating your status frequently online could cost you. Multiple stories have surfaced about individuals being burglarized after posting their "out-of-town" whereabouts on social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter.

Now insurance companies are getting in on the action. "(Some) predict that after customers get burglarized and file claims on stolen property, the insurance companies will probably investigate to see whether the customer broadcast information over social networks in a way that constitutes 'negligence.' They could also make 'social networker' the homeowners insurance equivalent of 'chain smoker' in health insurance -- a category of customers who are charged higher premiums."

Read more here.

Balmy Breezes

A recent trip to Oahu was made even better by some helpful locals who provided great recommendations and tips to make the most of a three-day weekend.

Car rental: Little Hawaii Car Rental Co. Tae, the owner, was personable and willing to work with our schedule. He also provided a local's perspective on where to eat, where to stay and where to drive our awesome little rental car. Locally owned and operated, Little Hawaii offers a fleet of MiniCoopers at a reasonable price. If you've never driven a Mini, Oahu is a great place to start. There is no better way to explore the island than with the top down and warm tropical breezes blowing through your hair.

Scuba Diving: Oahu Diving. Erik, our guide was super flexible, knowledgeable and

accommodating. For $89, which included all equipment, he arranged two dives to the Koko Craters and The Rock Wall in Hawaii Kai. The latter is teaming with life; and with 100 foot visibility, divers will have no problem seeing a variety of species - including green sea turtles, reef sharks, spotted moray eels, sea urchins and schools of colorful fish.

During our "off-gas" break in between dives, Erik tied a bait line in open water and encouraged the divers to jump in with just fins, masks and snorkels. Out of the deep blue emerged two four-foot-plus sand sharks. However irresponsible it was of him; it was exhilarating for us divers, to say the least.

Special Event: Midnight Yacht Party. Shane Curtis is the brainchild behind FireWater Events. Four times a year, locals and visitors alike can climb aboard a three-story yacht and party the night away in style. The next event is coming soon - likely April timeframe. To stay in the loop, be sure to join the mailing list, by sending an email to firewaterevents@gmail.com.

Best place for sunset: Sheraton Waikiki has a great view and happy hour specials at The Edge bar, adjacent to the lovely infinity pool.

Best lava flows: While it's a bit far to drive JUST for the alcoholic libations, hands-down, Turtle Bay Resort had the best lava flow of the MANY my girlfriend and I tasted during our short stay.

Best kayak rental: Kailua Sailboards and Kayaks, Inc. This place came highly recommended by locals and received five star reviews from previous customers. Kailua is a gorgeous little beach community with mature trees, breathtaking vistas and lotsa' shops and restaurants from which to choose. It's one of the places we wish we could have spent a little more time...

Best free exhibit that I would have happily paid $20 to enter: Pupukea Tide Pools.

After spending $13 each to enter the Waimea Botanical Gardens in order to see a waterfall overflowing with pasty-white tourists, we high-tailed it out of there and stumbled upon the surreal Pupukea Tide Pools. As tiny sea creatures playfully darted among the rocks and soft, pale sand, we thought we entered another world - one where it was hard to tell where the sky ended and the water began.

Aloha.

Sick of Suck

I have to get something off my chest. There are so many untalented hosts and entertainers on television these days, and they're not only employed, they're winning AWARDS.

This inspired me to create my own awards program. I hereby introduce the SUCKIES. 

And the nominees for "People With No Talent, Who Should Just Go Away" are...

Taylor Swift. I mean. Really. I'm not sure who should have won album of the year at this year's Grammy Awards, but I'm positive it's not someone who delivers an embarrassingly off-key performance alongside rock legend Stevie Nicks. Just recalling every excruciatingly off-tune note in Swift's rendition of of "Rhianna" sends chills down my spine.

Most every hot "exotic" female supermodel host on every standard-format Bravo! show. Notice I will not have to exclude Heidi Klum because she's no longer ON Bravo! - not to mention, she's smart and entertaining.

Some of the other hosts though...

- Top Chef's Padma Lakshmi: much better than when she first started but still terribly phony, unanimated, cold and contrived.

- Shear Genius: Camila Alves... really? I'm sure she is a nice woman, but last I checked a "host" should be required to speak. I felt the better part of the (one) episode (I endured) was spent waiting for her to complete a full sentence. Pity, too. Save for Alves' mediocre communication skills, the show is somewhat entertaining.

Michael Buble: Crooner, schmooner. Again, seems like a nice enough guy; but the first time I really heard this guy sing was on Saturday Night Live a couple of weeks ago. I thought he was having an off-night, or maybe his mic was turned down or maybe he wasn't the best live performer. Wrong. He always sounds that way. Flat, fake, weak, cheesy, blah.

Joan Rivers.

Our final painfully untalented nominee is TV host Olivia Munn. If Munn was as powerful an orator as she is gorgeous, she'd be the female version of Walter Cronkite. But she's not and she won't. In fact, she should never be allowed to hold a microphone in her hand. Ever. Unless it's off. Yet, she was not only hosting a pre-show at the Grammies, she was interviewing people LIVE on the red carpet. Her interaction with celebrities was uninformed, lazy, disinterested and at times downright rude. (To Munn's credit, she looked great... And she was probably drunk.)

Phone lines are now open. Cast your votes today.

Tune in next year, when 2011 nominees will most likely include the entire cast of "The Jersey Shore." (Oh sure, those kids are entertaining now...)