Have you ever had a stranger offer you their place in line at a grocery store or open the door for you when your hands were full? If you’ve really been lucky, maybe someone paid for your meal at a drive-thru. We call these random acts of kindness - when someone does something nice for us even when they don’t know us.  

The idea is to be nice to someone so they can pass it on to someone else. If we all lived this way, think how much nicer the world (or your community) would be. Here are a few ideas to help you with some random acts of kindness of your own.

Money

One of the biggest ways you can help someone is by using your money. You can do any of the following and it will make a difference:

-Put a quarter in a meter when you are about to leave or in the spot next to you

-Tip a service person more than the usual

-When you leave a foreign country, give away all of the currency that is left instead of converting it back

Microsoft Windows 7 has been around for awhile now, which means more businesses are using it and more people are buying computers with the version already installed on it.  Learning some key tips and tricks can help you save time on the tasks you do the most with Windows 7.

Know What You Can Do

If you are wondering what your options are in a certain screen, right click your mouse and all options will show up.  Anything you can’t do will be faded out.  You can also press ALT for any program to find hidden menus.  If you are unsure about what a specific button does, hover your mouse pointer over that button and it will often bring up a box with details.

Organize Your Open Windows

It’s easy for a desktop to get cluttered when you are working in several windows at once.  You can quickly organize them to make them easier to work with.  A list of all of the open windows is in your bottom taskbar.  You can also click on the one you want from there or hit ALT+TAB+TAB to switch to another one.

In addition to bulk boxes of Cheez-It crackers and discounted flat screen TVs, shoppers can now purchase ready-to-go mortgages at the wholesale depot Costco.

Partnering with First Choice Bank and ten other lenders, Costco now offers a mortgage lending program on its website. After a year of testing more than 10,000 mortgages, Costco will move into an aggressive promotion campaign to gather more members and provide a wider range of financial products.

"The Costco service, while offering competitive options for its members, still warrants comparison shopping and research," says Keith Gumbinger of the mortgage information company HSH.com. Gumbinger surmises that the Costco services may provide more opportunities to homeowners looking to refinance, than those looking to purchase a home. "The process of purchasing a home happens face-to-face, and isn’t yet suited for online transactions," Gumbinger says.

Having a hard time getting back into the swing of things after your vacation? Here are a few handy tips to cure your vacation blues and hit the ground running. 

Tidy Beforehand – Before you even set out on your getaway, tidy up the house by taking out the trash, running the dishwasher, vacuuming, and doing whatever else it takes to make your home neat as a pin when you return from vacation. 

Unpack – The only thing worse than unpacking your suitcases is not unpacking them and finding a rotten, smelling bathing suit weeks later. If you can unpack everything as soon as you get home, tossing dirty laundry in the washing machine, you’ll be well on your way to getting back in the swing of things. 

Work Out – It may be the last thing on your mind, but working out can boost your endorphins and get rid of that depressing, I-have-to-work-tomorrow feeling. If you had dessert and cocktails every night during your vacation, exercising will get your body back in shape, and you won’t feel so guilty about indulging yourself.  

UFC is rapidly evolving into one of the most beloved and exciting sports in the world. Fans love the unpredictability and surprising finishes that are unique to mixed martial arts. Here's a look at the most exciting UFC fights in the short history of the sport.

The First UFC Fight

While it didn’t receive the attention that many other fights have gotten since, the first night of the UFC title fights began a movement.  Royce Gracie fought three fights that evening to take the first ever title and to give credence to an underground movement.  His final fight was against Gerard Gordeau, who had just defeated Teila Tuli earlier in the evening to make it to the last match.  Gracie easily took this fight and became the first UFC champion.

UFC 31

This event had several notable fights, but one of the best remembered was Chuck Liddell against Kevin Randleman.  The bout only lasted 78 seconds and developed Liddell as a favorite with fans of the UFC.  The most shocking event of the night was when Matt Serra was knocked out by Shonie Carter after he had been leading the bout the entire time.