consumer issues

"The Darkness II"

Platforms: Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PC

Genre: Shooter

Publisher: 2K Games

ESRB Rating: M, for Mature

Grade: 2.5 stars (out if 5)

You think the things that you do online are between you and your computer. Not so. Your cyber-privacy is constantly being chipped away: by your Internet provider, your cellphone carrier and lawmakers. Before you post to a social-media site or browse the Internet for that report you're compiling on pedophiles, keep in mind how your actions online are anything but private.

After years of wandering through thickets of gas-guzzlers, practical-minded motorists now are treated to an abundance of economical small cars and not a clunker in the bunch.

It's a promised land of subcompacts that offers just about everything anybody could want in an automobile, especially fuel economy.

You might not expect to drive a Buick with a six-speed stick that was made in this century.

In recent years, the near-luxury division of General Motors has represented sublime detachment from the rigors of the road. Anything that could be automatic was, from the climate control to the gearshift.

Congratulations -- you've won a prize!

Maybe not.

More people reported falling victim to phony prize and sweepstakes awards than any other type of scam last year, the National Consumers League reports.

"Resident Evil: Revelations"

Platform: 3DS

Genre: Action

Publisher: Capcom

ESRB Rating: M, for Mature

Grade: 4 stars (out of 5)

To prepare for playing "Revelations," I dug out some old "RE" titles to reacquaint myself with the franchise and get into the proper frame of mind for this series.

The day my husband handed his iPad to our 2-year-old, I cringed, fearful of the $700 device's imminent destruction and of introducing technology at perhaps far too young an age. But after seeing how quickly he picked up easy lessons on colors, matching and numbers from his first interactions with "Monkey Preschool Lunchbox" (a 99-cent app), I swallowed my protests.

For those planning to get a mortgage this year, 2012 will bring good and bad news. Mortgage rates will likely stay low, mortgage experts say. Still, borrowers may have to pay more for mortgages this year.

That's because even if mortgage rates remain near record lows, certain fees associated with getting conventional mortgages are set to rise.

2012 HYUNDAI ACCENT SE

TYPE: Front-drive, five-passenger, subcompact hatchback.

PRICE: $15,795 base, $15,830 as tested.

WHERE BUILT: Ulsan, South Korea.

KEY RIVALS: Honda Fit, Toyota Yaris, Nissan Versa, Ford Fiesta, Chevrolet Aveo.

POWER: 1.6-liter, DOHC, 138-horsepower, 4-cylinder engine; six-speed manual transmission.

Have you seen the lean, green, driving machine?

If you drive the 2012 Hyundai Accent in a coat of "Electrolyte Green" you will be noticed. I have witnesses.

"That's a cute car!" a woman in the supermarket parking lot informed me as I was loading groceries in the lime-colored hatchback.

"And affordable, too!" I added.