Work + Money

If you send e-mail, post updates on Facebook, check your bank account balance online, or do most anything that requires the Internet, you're at risk of being hacked.

In fact, last August, Mat Honan, senior writer for tech magazine Wired­-someone presumably well aware of the dangers of hacking-got hacked. He lost data from his iPhone, iPad, and MacBook, including all photos of his one-year-old daughter. "My entire digital life was destroyed," he wrote on wired.com. Luckily, embracing the Luddite lifestyle isn't your only option. These five simple steps can greatly reduce your chances of being hacked.

1. Be aware of what you share You don't have to delete your Facebook or Twitter account to say safe, but posting birth dates, graduation years, or your mother's maiden name-info often used to answer security questions to access your accounts online or over the phone-on social-media sites makes a hacker's job even easier.

Plus: Salt, healthy? Why it's not longer public enemy #1 ...Read More »

By Robert Frank,CNBC.com

You don't have to be the Earl of Grantham to own your own British country estate. But it helps to have a royal-sized fortune to burn.

With this week's season premiere of the third season of "Downton Abbey," we decided to take a look at what it costs to buy, own and maintain a grand estate in the U.K.

Rupert Sweeting, head of the Country Department of Knight Frank in London, said that the biggest costs of owning a country estate are the staff. He said that for a "moderate-sized" 1,500 acre spread, you'll need a butler, cook, secretary, groundspeople and cleaning staff.

"And for hunts, you need gamekeepers, one or two at the very least," he said.

Total annual cost for the staff would be anywhere between $600,000 to $1 million a year.

Then there all those leaky roves and crumbling gargoyles. Everyday repairs on your estate or castle will set you back another $100,000 a year or so.

Renovations are the big ticket item. Sweeting said most owne

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By Jane Wells, CNBC.com

Not every coffee company born in Seattle is a winner. Tully's, a 20-year-old chain founded in the Emerald City, filed for Chapter 11 last fall. The chain had trouble competing in the shadow of Starbucks, and it filed for protection reporting $3.7 million in debts and very little cash.

Much of its debt is owed to Green Mountain Coffee Roasters which owns Tully's wholesale and roasting businesses.

The remaining part of the company - retail stores, agreements with franchisees and the coffee sold in grocery chains - is in need of a cash infusion immediately.

Actor Patrick Dempsey is one of several parties bidding to buy Tully's out of bankruptcy at an auction Thursday.

Dempsey told the Seattle Times he'd like to save the 500 jobs at risk. "I've always loved this city, and with the purchase of Tully's Coffee, I plan to spend a lot of time in Seattle - and the stores connecting with the community and growing the Tully's brand."

Other reported bidders incl

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Aries (March 21 - April 19) You need to hide today, because you have a very thin skin. You're not always so averse to harsh reality, but today anyone who wants to be frank or open with you should be avoided like the plague, even if it means crawling under a rock and staying there. Today's Aries Reading: Free Sample Celtic Love Tarot Reading

Taurus (April 20 - May 20) You may be tempted to quit early on, but that would be a huge mistake. You can not only meet but surpass your goals if you keep at it today. Convince yourself that anything is possible, and it will be. Today's Taurus Reading: Free Sample Destiny Reading

Gemini (May 21 - June 21) You're inspired to make a difference in the world, even if it's on a microscopic level. When you're this fired up to make changes, nothin

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By Stephanie Emma Pfeffer

Here's some good news: The country's economy is projected to improve (slowly, but surely) in the year ahead. Even though economic upswings tend to drive up prices, deals will be available in 2013-if you know where to look, says Greg McBride, senior financial analyst at Bankrate.com. Here, a few categories where your dollars will go farthest. Photos by Getty Images, iStock and Thinkstock.

1. Laptops, Flat-screen TVs and Digital Cameras

The cost of commoditized technology (products made with basic, widespread knowledge of hardware components) will keep going down, says Brad Wilson, founder of the savings website BradsDeals and author of Do More, Spend Less: The New Secrets of Living the Good Life for Less. Because of technological improvements, electronics parts are becoming cheaper and easier to manufacture, tempting more companies to get in on the action. As suppliers compete for market share, prices for consumers fall-except on those be

...Read More »