A Million Readers in About 365 Days or So...

I Just Love Star Wars...

2009-01-15T19:33:00.001-08:00

Star Wars: Retold (by someone who hasn't seen it) from Joe Nicolosi on Vimeo.

... Don' you?

Life is Short and then You Die! Just Don't Break the Camera!

2008-12-04T13:53:00.000-08:00

It looks like you have to pay some attention to that camera of yours. If you have one just make sure it won't get hit by anything while you wear it!

Two Xbox 360 or Not Two Xbox 360... This Is the Console Question!

2008-11-20T09:05:00.000-08:00

I have a friend who has a friend who has a friend and they all play together on Xbox Live. These friends of mine have tried many times to convince me to get one myself. I basically refused them since I had no time and I preferred certain PC Games at the time which were not available for other gaming consoles.

But when Wii entered the gaming console universe, my perspective has changed. I became interested in the new thing, but I have just told you that earlier today. The only downside when getting a Wii is that you need an awfully big TV to use it to the max. So you might end up paying from $1,000 to $1,300 for the whole thing. After realizing today that a Wii, otherwise really affordable, might be just a little too expensive if purchased with a new TV I decided to turn to the competition. The Xbox 360 from Microsoft to be more precise. And who knows, I might go wild today and even get a sneak peak at Sony's PSP 3 later on. What's the advantage over the Wii? Besides the fact that there are more games available for the Xbox? Well it doesn't need a big-ass TV for one? I could easily play it on a regular 21-inch screen siting in my favorite seat.

And I found two Xbox 360 to chose from as Xbox comes in various models. I have a regular Xbox 360 System and an Elite Xbox 360 System. The price difference is just about $100. The regular Xbox costs around $500 which is quite a lot while the Elite version retails for around $600.

So what's the hardware difference you ask? Both run at 3.2GHz, both have some 512 of RAM but in terms of graphics card and hard drive they differ. The white one, regular Xbox, has only 20GB HDD and a "48-way parallel floating-point dynamically-scheduled|Unified shader architecture 500MHz" graphic unit. It had me at hello... NOT! The black one on the other hand, the Elite Xbox, has a 120GB HDD and an ATI Xbox 360 500Mhz graphics card. That sounds a little better.

So I have looked at two Xbox platforms that won't get under my Christmas tree yet. I am still a Wii person. Need to get the money for that Wii-related-TV then! I'll have to convince my friends to drop the whole Xbox act!

(This post is written for the PCNews contest.)

Will I Get a Wii Soon? This Christmas?

2008-11-20T08:28:00.000-08:00

That's right people, what you see in the video is what you get if you purchase a Wii. And since Christmas is almost here, why not order a Christmasy Wii from Santa Claus?

A Wii game console bundled with a big LCD is what I would get myself this Christmas. The Wii set from Nintendo is just around $330 which is about $20 cheaper than the regular price on this site I found. It comes with an IBM 729MHz processor, some 512MB of RAM and 4 Nintendo GameCube controllers. It has USB and WiFi support and it will let you play all sorts of games. My favorite ones would be the sports simulator. Get into that sports clothes and play tennis for an hour. I'm sure you'd end up all sweaty and ready to take a shower and a nap. That could potentially be the best $330 I have ever spent. It will totally replace the subscription to the gym I am not going to, to keep me in good shape! So I need a Wii to work on my virtual pectorals... That sounds a lot better now!

Ok, so the Wii is not expensive at all especially since most resellers are going to offer it at discount prices around the world for Christmas. But that Big Plasma or LCD TV sure is. I mean you would need from $1000 or more to get a decent set. After all I want decent pixels showing up when I am virtually kicking your ass at tennis right? I must see what's going on from the distance. So the question is, Santa, is it worth getting a Wii bundled with a brand new and really big TV? If so why won't retailers offer us some great deals on gaming TVs? You know the Buy a TV Get a Free Wii kind of thing?

So anyway, have you been a good person this year? What Wiill you get yourself for Christmas?

(This post is written for the PCNews contest.)

iPhone 3G vs Samsung Omnia vs HTC Touch Diamond

2008-11-18T16:11:00.000-08:00

Without further ado here are the three main contestants of today:

iPhone 3G

It will cost your from $200-$400 with various contracts.

Samsung Omnia

It will cost you $600-$750 without a contract and depending on memory size.

HTC Touch Diamond

It will cost you $600-$750 without a contract.

So we have our contestants ready, who will win? Which one is the best phone of 2008? The BlackBerry Bold is watching from outside the stadium while the BlackBerry Storm has failed to qualify yet.

Stage 1

Stage 2

Stage 3

Now that you have all the information available from the video comparison between Apple's iPhone 3G, Samsung's Omnia and HTC's Touch Diamond you can choose the winner of the competition. Who will you vote for? Who will win the competition? Which one is the best phone available this year? Which one did I choose?

(This post is written for the PCNews contest.)

Asus Laptops Strike Back or How to Overuse Contests for SEO

2008-11-16T18:36:00.000-08:00

The PCNews Contest I am part of is closing to an end. Today's chore is talking about an Asus liking of my choosing. As always I have to choose from an Intel Atom or an Intel Core 2 Duo processor. I have written so far at least 4 Asus related articles and I think that by know, my 2 left readers got the idea that I hate netbooks and I'd prefer a regular notebook instead. Nevertheless I went ahead and checked Asus netbooks too and I have gone through Atom and Core 2 Duo specs. And I kept receiving similar tasks.

The whole contest is based on SEO needs of the various sponsors. What is SEO? Search Engine Optimization. Or how to rank higher with Google in order for my site to get more exposure. In other words let's say a website is working hard on having a top position, mainly the first page of Google, for certain keywords. Let's look at "Intel Atom" and "Intel Core 2 Duo". Right now Google has only 14,400,000 results showing up when you search for Intel Atom products and 31,900,000 for Intel Core 2 Duo. Out of them 5 are my posts. Will I get on top of the result page for that keyword? Well not exactly! But I have surely contributed to that top position for at least 5 different sponsors of this contest. Multiply this by at least 100 bloggers linking back to a different site every other day with similar keywords and those sites are going to certainly benefit from the search. The strategy behind the whole contest is almost perfect. Besides links for certain keywords, the sites will get their Google Page Rank higher. The higher the bloggers' page rank, the better for the sponsors.

What did they do wrong? Well they failed to give more specific instructions. Sure I wouldn't mind writing 5 different articles for the same products if the articles would be better targeted. If I was a sponsor I would have asked my writers to use specific keywords from my writers. I would have a certain word or phrase link to my main page and then a bunch of exact similar keywords point to some of my most popular products or, why not to my most popular promotions. But by leaving all that up to me, the sponsor looses some exposure. I can link any word to its page but it might not be the word people will search for when looking to buy an Asus laptop. Here's the simplest example. Instead of saying anything linking "Asus Intel Atom" to a specific site, I could use the phrase "read more here" to point to it. Which keyword do you suppose the sponsor wants to be used?

Furthermore the way the contest is made will do less for us as bloggers. Google might see as as potential link sellers as it's not aware of the whole contest thing. But when it sees the recurrent linking to PCNews or to sites that are out of our blogs' niche, we might be loosing some PR ourselves. Who won't certainly loose you ask? Bloggers that write only gadgets related articles. But hey, the show must go on! We'll talk more about SEO techniques later on.

Well anyway, I wrote this lines on a laptop powered by an Intel Core 2 Duo processor. As I said before it's not an Asus, it's a Dell. But if you wanted an Asus, you could always get one for less than $600 and it would pack an Intel Core 2 Duo processor. How you'd do that? Well... Read more here! "Read more here" returns 116,000,000 webpages. Again, which one would you like me to use when linking back to your site sponsor?

(This post is written for the PCNews contest.)

Quantum of Solace on a 63 Inch Samsung Plasma TV Or What's the Difference Between a Plasma and an LCD?

2008-11-14T19:14:00.000-08:00

I have just seen the new James Bond movie the other day and I have to say you need a big screen to watch any of the James Bond action. He's the only guy that gets to crash every car he gets his hands on. And while we're at it, he's the only guy that gets to shoot anyone that pisses him off and to score with every girl that happens to walk by. So in case you can't make it to the cinema to watch Quantum of Solace or any of the previous 007 versions then simply go get the cinema to your own home.

You need a pretty big living room for this 63 inch Samsung Plasma TV but there are smaller versions to choose from. This particular Samsung, the PPM63M7FSX, will get you a Full HD kicking and screaming James Bond, a maximum 1920x1080 resolution, a 1000cd/m2 luminosity and a 10,000:1 contrast ratio. What do you need more? Well you'll have to wait for the Quantum of Solace DVD to come out before you can actually watch it. The DVD will set you back around $30 while the whole plasma will cost around $6,000. Too expensive for you? Fine then, don't get the DVD right now!

So why a Plasma and not a really big LCD? What's the difference you ask? Well a Plasma TV uses some gases like xenon and neon which are placed between two glass panels and then turned into plasma. The plasma will make phosphors emit light and there goes your Quantum of Solace image. The LCD or liquid crystals display is a little more complicated than the Plasma. It's also a thin and flat display made of colored and monochrome pixels in front of a light source.

Therefore the Plasma TV is made up of multi-colored gas filled cells while the LCD are made of a thin layer of liquid crystals. Images are formed when electricity passes through the cells or through the liquid crystals. The images formed look better on a Plasma TV than on an LCD TV in terms of details and sharpness so that's why I'd watch Quantum of Solace on a Plasma TV. On the other hand LCDs have the edge on Plasma TVs as they they have more pixels to play with which will get you a higher resolution for HD shows. Probably by the next James Bond, LCDs will catch up on Plasma TV's image quality even more. Plasma TV's can be slightly cheaper than LCDs, but they tend to break down faster than LCDs.

Well I take it you'd be checking out LCD TVs too now right? Well maybe we'll just do that too in a future post. Until now, go catch that Quantum of Solace movie.

(This post is written for the PCNews contest.)

How to Burn Some Fat?

2008-11-12T18:47:00.000-08:00

So are you spending all your time stuck in a cubicle at work? What about home? Does it happen often to you to fall asleep on the couch and wake up in the middle of the night not knowing where you are? With all the stress from work, do you happen to have any spare time for exercise? Or are you just on an eat-sleep-work schedule?

Today I could recommend you various solutions to loose some weight. Vibrating devices, sauna-like products and tea and patches made out of plants extracts. I could do that if I happened to believe in any of those. Sure you can get some vibrating devices in your home and use them from time to time. Sure you can get that plants products and start drinking weirdly-taste water. And sure you can buy some sauna products. But hey, that's no way to actively burn some fat!

Simply go to www.bestsellertv.ro and pick any of those boring devices. If you really want to have some fun, go get a pair of 1GB iPod-like MP3 players which come in a special offer at under $40. Next go call your friend and share the players with them. The next step will involve you going out to buy matching running shues. Get my drift? Instead of buying unnecessary household appliances, go outside with your friends for some great jogging. We recommend you get the Shuffle-like MP3 players out and run until your 45 minutes playlist is finished. Take a short back for a breath of air, restart the MP3 player and come home!

Besides the 1GB capacity the MP3 player will get you MP3/WMA playback, flash USB functionality, Li-Ion battery, Windows and Mac support and lots of hours of running your friends or special someone. Sure it's not an Apple iPod Shuffle, but it will do the job?

What do you think? Would you burn some fat with this MP3 player?

(This post is written for the PCNews contest.)

AMD + ATI = LOVE

2008-11-10T18:32:00.000-08:00

Last time I talked to you guys I was comparing AMD and Intel. The conclusion was that AMD would be the wiser choice when you think about quality and pricing. One more reason to support that conclusion would be the ATI graphic cards. ATI is part of AMD and they mean business. It's no coincidence that ATI GPUs come along with AMD processors.

One such graphic card is the rather new ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3400. Or the 3600 model should do fine too. They are some of the first series of a new generation of graphic cards which will get you HD gaming and movie watching experience. You will find some of those new cards in Asus M50 and F8 new notebooks, or maybe you are using such a laptop right now to read these lines!

ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3000 is a series of graphic cards. The series has DirectX 10.1 support, which we need for those games and it is designed for the new AMD-based laptops out there. I am talking about the laptops wearing the Puma combo from AMD which will include the AMD Turion Ultra processor and the AMD RS780 chipset.

Watching HD movies in 1080p quality has never been easier. You need a Blu-ray player and this new ATI technology they called ATI Avivo HD Technology which will get you great HD quality on your laptop. And the new graphic cards will have lots of ports like the DVI, the HDMI and the DisplayPort, which is something else for laptops. Need a desktop configuration? Well how about a AMD Phenom X3 working with an AMD 790FX chipset?

Right now I am working on a Dell laptop with an Intel processor inside and precisely an ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3400. How does it work? Simply marvelous despite the fact that Intel and ATI do not share the same love AMD and ATI do! So what's going to be next then? Maybe an ATI Radeon HD 4800 as you must keep up with the fashion!

(This post is written for the PCNews contest.)

And McCain Can't!

2008-11-05T23:47:00.000-08:00

Well you also should have seen McCain's speech Conceding the presidency. He came, he fought, he's going further. We'll see what happens in 4 years time.

Yes Obama Can!

2008-11-05T23:32:00.000-08:00

Below you'll find the acceptance speech which you should have seen at least once by now. Did the guy you vote for win the elections or not?

Well then let's see who can do what, and what happens next!

AMD or Intel?

2008-11-05T20:11:00.000-08:00

Every time I purchased a new computer, whether for me or for someone else, I preferred to virtually build my own instead of getting an already built PC. And I did choose quite a few PCs. I went from desktops to notebooks as year passed on and now I am ready to get to the next phase which is a Mac.

The most important 3 things of a computer are, at least to me, the CPU, the RAM and the GPU; the processor, the RAM and the graphics card. And we all know that the most important one is the processor. Depending on your budget you can pick up one of the two most recognized processors out there, AMD or Intel. Come to think of it, the rivalry between AMD and Intel might be compared to some extent with the latest rivalry we've seen, Obama vs McCain. Who is who? That's difficult to say. The oldest one would be Intel, but only by a year not 212. But let's not get into politics shall we?

When I was younger and my budget was a little tighter, I'd have chosen AMD over Intel at any time. I think I've played around with Athlons and Semprons processors once they became cheaper that their Pentium counterparts. At the same time I always thought higher of Intel than AMD although I can't exactly explain why. I am no professional geek that spends his time modding computers and benchmarking various parts. Nor am I crazy about very detailed specifications and reviews. I am just a regular consumer. I want speed, quality, good customer support, extended warranties and of course, some money left in my pocket.

When I made the transition to laptops I switched back to Intel: Centrino (which is more than the CPU) first and then the Core processors. More expensive than AMD's Turions X2 (which are the Core equivalents). But I must admit I did consider AMD's CPUs right after my Inspiron 9300 Centrino equipped died. I needed a laptop fast and I needed a cheap laptop which would keep up with my multi-tasking need. And here's something I would have bought a couple of months ago: a Dell Inspiron 1501 with AMD's Turion64 X2 TL-52 at 1.6GHz, packing 512MB RAM (which I would have upgraded to 2GB), 120GB, Windows XP. The whole package would have cost me around $600 a few months ago, and now it can be found for $450 to $600 depending on what upgrades you decide to make. I also played with an Acer Travelmate and with a Dell Inspiron 1520. The first was AMD powered while the second came with a Core 2 Duo CPU. Neither one dissappointed me. Vista did dissapoint me no matter what system I'd run it on.

What would you choose? Obama or McCain? AMD or Intel? The AMD is as fast and dependable, it's as durable and as Vista-friendly and you will barely see any differences, if there are any, between it and a corresponding Intel CPU. The main advantage is the price. If your wallet tends to shrink then give up the large HDD and the pretentious GPU and get a cheap CPU from AMD. Too many acronyms for you? And invest in some RAM and a good motherboard. If you choose a desktop you'd want it to be upgradable later. Check a Phenom which is one of AMDs latest CPUs and see if it fits your needs. Also make sure you get a second opinion from a person that knows what all those acronyms stand for.

(This post is written for the PCNews contest.)

Buying Gadgets Online, What's Your Favorite Store?

2008-11-02T18:56:00.000-08:00

How many gadgets have you bought during the last 3 months? How many of them were purchased online? How do you feel about buying stuff online?

Whenever your looking for a new product, say an Asus Eee (it's been rather popular lately), you tend to compare prices on various resellers' websites, right? Look for technical specifications much? Browsing for cheap deals? Interested in savings?

The point is you must have a favorite online store no matter if it covers all the issues above. It should have lots of products in it, look good, load fast, and be very cheap. And the customer care should better live up to your expectations too.

While I am still looking for mine, I found Arigo recently. What's in it? Well name your gadget and we'll probably be able to find it in here. You can chose from over 230 laptops and desktops, hundreds of PC components, over 150 computer games titles, over 100 cell phones, over 200 LCD choices and more. But hey, I am not the innventory guy here. Go check it out. The Christimas shopping spree is getting closer and closer. I bet a whole dollar you're going to buy an electronic piece of equipment for a special friend or a family member.

The prices are pretty much affordable although I'd want to see more special offers and discounts. And while we're at it, I'd like the blog section to be updated. The blog section in an online store will give me the impression there are actually people working hard to keep that site up. It's like getting a "Hi, how may I help you?" greeting in an actual store.

Despite the large inventory, I'd like to see some Apple products. You know, just for the fun of it. I always end up comparing PCs to Macs even if I end up buying PCs. And I'd like more phones included in the mobile section.

Other than that, the site looks pretty in those bright and shinny colors. It loads really fast so you won't have any problems getting to your favorite products in time. No matter how long the specifications list of a product, and they can be rather long, and no matter how many reviews are jotted down the page, you're going to get the page displayed every time. A fast site like that will always make it to my favorites list. Don't trust me? Try it for yourself!

All in all Arigo is a great candidate for my Chrismas shopping store. It has a ton and a half of products, great prices and it loads fast and virtually error-free. It will make an impression on you too and I'm sure you're going to remember it next time you're looking for, you know, an Asus Eee netbook. Merry Christmas anyone?

(This post is written for the PCNews contest.)

What is a Blu-ray? A DVD with a Twist!

2008-10-29T19:47:00.000-07:00

As you might have noticed from the content of my blog, I tend to watch lots of movies. I'd give anything a try, but I won't promise I'll finish it if it's really bad.

I'm not going to the cinema as much as I'd like, although The House Bunny I got to see yesterday evening was quite the movie I needed. A good laugh before a good night's sleep, that's what The Bunny is. But it isn't an Oscar winner in my book. Had I waited for the DVD release, I might have fallen asleep at some point. And hence the question, is it better to wait for DVD movies which you could enjoy in the privacy of your own home? Or should you hurry to download all the new stuff once you know it's running in theaters? Woopsie! I meant of course, hurry to see the movie once they are out in cinemas? Downloads, as we all know it are illegal of course. So are drugs and five other things.

Getting back to DVDs then what would you choose? A DVD combo optical device or a Blu-ray disc? What is a Blu-ray exactly? A Blu-ray Disk, rarely referred to as a BD, is an optical storage medium. It is mostly used for HD video and data storage. It looks like a DVD but it's more than that. It's a DVD with a twist.

The name comes from the blue laser which used to read and write this type of disc. A BD can store 50GB of data which is six times the capacity of a two-layer DVD or twelve times the storage space of a single-layer DVD. That means you can now enjoy lots of HD movies which need lots of storage space (it's the HD codecs that require all that storage space, or that's what people say). And we all know what HD movies look and sound like. Crystal clear video running at high resolution will certainly impress you. The image quality of a HD show is worth the investment in a plasma HDTV and a Blu-ray player. Instead of going to the cinema, you'll have the cinema coming over to you.

What do you think? Will you get a Blu-ray inside your next laptop or notebook? In case you do, here's a movie I'd recommend to you. National Treasure 2: The Book of Secrets is an action/adventure movie starring Nicholas Cage, John Voight Helen Mirren, Harvey Keitel, Ed Harris and Justin Bartha. Just like in the first episode, Nicholas Cage is following clues accross history in order to uncover a great American secret and an even more secret treasure. This time the hints are well hidden in various official and harder to reach places. Think the White House and the President's secret book. I wonder who's going to get the next Book of Secrets. Is it Obama or McCain? Well anyway, if you get a BD with the HD version of National Treasure 2, give it a try! It's a great movie to watch on a cold autumn evening!

(This post is written for the PCNews contest.)

World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King Collector's Edition

2008-10-27T18:09:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite games of all time is World of Warcraft. And it's not because I get to use magical powers, and it's not because there are lots of interactive characters involved which I get to blow away. It's because it reminds me of some of my closest friends. We used to play it quite a lot. We had a guild and all of that and we were ready to rumble! But those times are away and I hardly have time to check out a computer game anymore. Were I to go back, the guild is still there waiting for me!

Oh, wait a second I see you frown there. And it's not the game right? Or is it? Oh you don't know what it is! Well go ahead and ask me! Ok, really, ask me! ASK ME!

World of Warcraft is a Massive Multiplayer Online Role Play Game or MMORPG. For a monthly fee you get to play with your friends. (Can't help to wonder how much money did Blizzard make of this ingenious idea?) Chose the Alliance or the Horde and go chase the others on various maps and terrains. Complete quests, kill monsters and get better guns and gear. But the best of all, you will have a very interesting instant messenger interface! You get to talk with all your friends live, while shooting a bear in the ass. That's quite fun! The best Yahoo Messenger environement ever invented!

And we are just in time for the new expansion set! The Wrath of the Lich King will get you places, or so I hear. I am actually thinking about getting back in the game myself. If I preorder it now, I'll have a chance to get the Collector's Edition pack! It would be fun to get a nice souvenir like which will remind me of those old good times!

The Collector's Edition includes the official game manual “The art of World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King", a “Behind the scenes” DVD, a new exclusive pet, “Frosty the baby frost wyrm”, the original soundtrack CD and a mouse pad with the new continent map, Northrend. And of course, the original game DVD is in that pack too. eMAG is the store to go in case you want to enter the competition!

The simple expansion set costs just around $60 so I am actually thinking about getting this one before November 12 to take advantage of all those extra things... in case I would win. And if I do win the Collector's Edition I'll save around $40, as the Collector's Edition costs around $100.

And for the connoisseurs, I was a Hunter for the Alliance. Long live the Alliance! Death to the Horde!

(This post is written for the PCNews contest.)

The MSI Wind Is the Prettiest Netbook of Them All

2008-10-25T18:49:00.000-07:00

It was pretty clear to me today when I decided to talk with you about yet another Intel Atom powered notebook that I would choose the an MSI Wind netbook. Why you ask? Pretty simple I answer. An MSI Wind netbook is the prettiest of them all. By all I mean all those netbooks I told you about more than a week ago; and by prettiest I mean features-wise. Come to think of it, looks matter too!

What do you think? Did you have any time to compare any two notebooks? That's a pretty nice experience so I won't ruin it for you by doing it step by step. What I will tell you is that the U100 or the U90 are just a little better to me than any of Asus' new Eees.

What I chose today is the MSI Wind U100-266NL. It has quite an ugly name! Nothing pretty about that. What's pretty is under the hood. We have an Intel Atom 1.6GHz, 1GB of RAM, an 120GB HDD and the genuine Windows XP Home edition. Why is it so pretty? It has a 10.4 inch screen which will better suit my eyes. After all size does matter right? Pretty much!

The MSI Wind U100 is available from a pretty store I like to call my favorite online store in the area. It loads on time, it's freshly updated and has accurate information. Maybe that's why I feel pretty good about writing good stuff about a netbook.

The price for it? Well it's from $500 to $600 depending on the OS. Pretty much for half a notebook, but the MSI Wind U100 deserves it.

What did you think while you were sitting pretty checking out the Wind? Too much prettyness inside this post? That's pretty much what I thought you were going to say.

And you know what else is pretty? The MSI Wind U100!

(This post is written for the PCNews contest.)

How to Wash Your USB Stick

2008-10-22T22:19:00.000-07:00

Ever wanted how to wash your USB stick? Well simply leave it in your pants. Put them in the washing machine. Select your appropriate washing cycle. Add detergent and the other thing and let it wash for an hour or so.

If you choose to dry the pants you get extra points.

Was that difficult? Everyone should try this at home. Please feel free to tell me if it worked for you. I am talking about the USB stick. Did it work afterwards? Mine was bold enough to survive almost two washing cycles. Now it's not working anymore, no matter what I've tried to do. In all fairness I have to say the first time it had the lid on!

It's a 4GB Corsair Flash Voyager which I really need like really right now! And it's not working! It must be all that water... Upgrade here I come!

Protector of the Weak, Bit Defender of the Innocent, Total Security 2009

2008-10-22T18:40:00.000-07:00

Well you'd think I covered it all in the title wouldn't you. I mean sure, it's another gadgety post, but then again, gadgets are part of our daily lives. And whether or not we like it, gadgets are vulnerable to attacks.

There was a long time in my early computer years in which I wasn't using any antivirus. Back then I used to play games mostly and didn't exactly care about the safety of my personal files. It's like sex really. First you start it all off without being that much into security measures. After a while you realize you do need that condom. Well protecting your computer is very much like safe sex, only without the orgasms.

In my recent years, I have used McAfee, Kaspersky, Rav, Nod 32 and Bit Defender. Probably I've tested even more antivirus programs back when it was fun to test stuff. Right now I am using McAfee for a change. It's like an ex-girlfriend; you'd get back for another ride! Besides that I am considering Bit Defender too, and especially the Total Security 2009 package.

Total Security 2009 will not get you total security. It's like saying the condom is the safest contraceptive measure. Unless it breaks and then it isn't that safe anymore. Total Security 2009 might be as close to perfection as any similar program. It will protect you against viruses, worms and trojans sent by your friends. Phishing, spamming, identity control, malware and spyware; you name it and Bit Defender will take care of it for you.

What I hate is the complicated install. Too many settings and configuration tweaks. I mean I want protection fast, I don't want to tick, read, select, apply and then next. The condom is a simple product right? Imagine your erection if you had to follow complicated steps in order to get protected. Am I right or what? And talk about the basic view and the advanced view. You need quite a lot of time to familiarize yourself with the software if this is your first time using Bit Defender, or any antivirus for that matter.

Another similar to sex element is the Parental Control feature. Without all that nonsense about the birds and the bees, the parental thing will appeal to you after that first condom breaks irremediably. Well not exactly after that but in the next 5 to 10 years.

I happen to like two more features of this Defender of the innocents. The laptop mode is one of them. I use a laptop and I will never turn back to a desktop. Whenever I am using my battery juice, Bit Defender will know about that. It will be smart enough to shut the hell up and let me work without asking for anything. Virtually silent it will postpone stuff for later when the power cord is plugged in.

Another cool thing which I won't be able to try soon is the gaming mode. If I was to go back to World of Warcraft which is a MMORPG game or to Counter-Strike which is a multiplayer based game, Bit will know and it will let me play. Why won't I try it out you ask? Well because I am reverting back to McAfee for now. And I don't have any games that require an Internet Connection.

I could tell you more about Total Security 2009, but I am not a gadget newspaper nor a gadgets store! Yet! And probably I could take out all the sexual analogies but I'd have a harder time to explain it all. Did I just say sexual analogies? Twice? Now let's see if I get any hits for similar keywords!

Remember kids: Stay in school, mary-juana is baad and get an antivirus on! Bit Defender or not, it will keep you blogging/working/gaming! You choose!

(This post is written for the PCNews contest.)

Not Another Asus Laptop

2008-10-21T17:15:00.000-07:00

So I am taking part in this huge contest where I have to write some reviews about certain products and more. That's all right with me. I like rules and I go by the rules as long as the organizers can keep to certain rules themselves.

And every contestant gets judged after each stage. I've reached stage number 8 so far and today I am going to be really creative. I have to choose from an Asus Atom based netbook or an Asus Intel Core 2 Duo laptop. I have checked these laptops before and written my side of the story. I'd choose an Intel based regular Asus laptop over any Atom Eee at any time of day. That's how I feel now, that's how I felt yesterday and the day before!

And I would have done so today too if the site was going to load faster. I would have told you how an Intel computer is way a smarter choice than an Atom. No matter what store, the Intel is a better deal! But that's when I decided to think outside the box and tell you guys how annoying it would be to try loading a site that wouldn't load whatsoever! That's besides the fact that the current stage I am writing for could have been scheduled at a later date, and in such case it would have gotten a better response from all those people reading these articles. You know, just so I don't repeat an Atom or Intel Core 2 Duo story, which I've already completed for some earlier stages.

I mean it must be quite clear to anyone reading it that writing about the same products every other day will make readers step away from the second similar post. Let's say I talk about product X sold in store A. Sure I would generate some buzz if my product X is totally hot like an Atom Eee PC right? Or an Intel Core 2 Duo. I might even make some people buy the computers right? Right! But if tomorrow I would have to talk about the same X product sold in store B, people would see right through me. And they might loose the interest in that certain product, no matter how cool it is. Sales would drop then. Now imagine 200 people doing the same thing like me. Due to the rotation system, store A will get more attention than store B on certain days and vice-verse. And what will master Google have to say about this? Google tends to notice certain discrepancies in the force when people are linking in a certain way to certain sites.

Today's store B has a bad server. It looks neat, it has lots of products which won't load. Mozilla won't get them fast enough, and neither will IE. Which means I am taking my extra contest hour on waiting for a site to load products I have written about only last week. And boy, was I waiting to get the required links at least to show in the browser bar! It must be a bad day for store B but hey, I am playing by those damn rules!

Will I loose readers? Yes?
Will store B get less sales? Yes?
Will I get a bad grade for this article? Yes?
Although I played by the rules? Yes?
And is the Intel notebook way cooler than the Atom Eee notebook? Hell Yes?

(This post is written for the PCNews contest.)

Choose a Laptop: Asus M51SE

2008-10-18T19:22:00.000-07:00

I think I've already told you during my travels towards the millionth visitor that my Dell Inspiron 9300 died and went to heave right? Since then I was looking for a proper laptop. By proper I mean a budget laptop with some power inside. Sure the Macs could usually pull off cool tricks, but those tricks are expensive. So instead of getting a MacBook right now, I'd go for a PC that's more wallet friendly while being quite able to compete against any Apple configuration.

The only thing I want inside is a good Intel Core 2 Duo processor and some extra RAM to make Vista work. Without Vista, I wouldn't be able to launch posts for the most important personal blog I've ever written: this one! And since I've had my share of Dell experiences, good and bad, I would choose another Dell computer at any time. But today let's take a look at an Asus notebook. It might simply have what it takes to qualify for the open notebook position.

I've talked about the Dell Inspiron Studion 1535 earlier on so today I am looking at the Asus M51SE. It's quite the working station. I am sure I could blog from it very easiy. This Asus comes with the Intel Core 2 Duo T8300 (2.40GHz, 800MHz, 3MB cache) processor, which I really need. The 15.4 Widesscreen is certainly a downgrade from my previous 17 inch proudly-owned 9300 notebook, but I realized I don't need such a heavy laptop in my bag every day. And the bigger it would be, the heavier on my back!

The M51SE also has a 1.3 megapixel built-in camera, 4GB of RAM, a 250GB SATA harddrive spinning at 5,400 rpm. There's either a 128MB ATI Mobility Radeon HD 2400 graphics card or a 256MB ATI HD3470 VRAM card (check screenshot below).

Nevertheless, it seems ready for the fight for supremacy in the notebook business. And it feels like it will come in handy for movie lovers, gamers, and serious home office guys. I have a little bit of all of that. Should I go claim my own right now? Well I am still pondering it Pinky, but tomorrow we might take over the world, when some of the specs are clarified.

The Asus M51SE I found costs around $1,400, but it packs a lot of punch. I'd consider adding some more RAM, just in case I might need it for Microsoft OS (that's way cooler than calling it simply Vista); too bad that it might not be possible to go over the default 4GB of DDR2 RAM memory. And maybe a pinch of extra battery life if I may! And since I am suggesting upgrades, consider adding WiFi N to it, as the specs aren't clear on the nature of the WiFi support in this Asus M51SE (check screenshot below).

Other than that I am willing to suspect this Asus M51SE is at least as good as my favorite Inspiron if not better. And let's not forget it packs that Intel Core 2 Duo, which is exactly what my blogging habits require. Now where was that shopping cart...

(This post is written for the PCNews contest.)

To Wireless or Not to Wireless?

2008-10-15T18:39:00.000-07:00

So are you still hooked to a cable or you have other ways to go online? I hate cables and I definitely need some freedom for my laptop. I am used to working in various environments and since I need the all mighty Internet most of the time, I'd be always looking for a connection. Now I am going all 3G on this post since my current ISP is going berserk. I had to turn off the router and plug in that USB modem. And talk about bad reception! I have one bar out of the possible five. I wonder if I'll ever get this post out...

Wireless seems to me the best choice for spreading the Internet love. Until we're gonna go WiMAX here, wireless should do it. And I am talking of course about the faster, better, but seldom used 802.11n standard. Sure you'd need a wireless card that supports the N, but that can be easily taken care of! Buy one!

In case you are looking for a new router, check out Edimax' BR-6504N. It's not everything you've ever wanted in a router but for those $80 it will do its job. It has 4 LAN and 1 WAN ports. As for encryption for the most paranoid of you guys, there's 64/128-bit WEP encryption and WPA-PSK and WPA2-PSK included. What's a WPA and whad does that do to you? That means you don't know what a WEP is too, right?

Wired Equivalent Privacy or WEP is an algorithm destined to secure IEEE 802.11 wireless networks. Wi-Fi Protected Access or WPA, together with Pre-shared key or PSK will bring even more security to your home wireless network. WAP fixes WEP issues and PSK will let you enter your own passwords to forbid unwanted access. All in all you have a secure network!

So it looks like the Edimax' BR-6504N is well worth the money. Besides the N standard you will get some decent security. What does N exactly mean? You didn't know that either? Well the N will get you transfer speeds from 54 Mbit/s to a maximum of 600 Mbit/s. That's a lot considering the N is still being developed and it will be finished sometime next year.

There's a nice 24 months warranty to go with the BR-6504N so in case you hate the thing, just take it back and get another one.

I am still on 3G, thinking about an N router. In case the post doesn't make it, I'll be very pissed later on, so imagine me kicking and screaming since I won't be able to blog my live reactions!

(This post is written for the PCNews contest.)

Joke of the Day

2008-10-09T17:19:00.001-07:00

A couple was watching TV one evening. All of a sudden the man says to his wife: "I bet you can't say something that would make me feel both happy and sad in the same time!" After a moment the wife answers: "Your dick is much bigger than any on your friends'!"

That's the joke that made my day today! Hope you have enjoyed it at least as much!

Intel Atom Processor Anyone?

2008-10-09T17:03:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure I am ready for the Intel Atom processor yet. I am still dealing with Intel's Core 2 Duo processor which I would pretty much install on my bike if possible. But since I have already showed you the netbook I would never buy and the Dell I would probably choose, I said I'd have to look for another laptop which would sport an Atom processor without being a netbook which I'd hate. Tough luck folks. The only Atom I could find was installed into a 10 inch Asus N10J-HV010.

I guess Atoms will go into netbooks for a long while. Besides the Intel Atom N270 processor, this Asus has 2GB DDR2 RAM, a WXGA 10 inch screen, a 256MB Nvidia GeForce 9300M GS and a 250 SATA HDD. Oh boy, it seems we have a real laptop on our hands. Connect it to a 19 inch screen and you have a great working station. There's WiFi n too and a 1.3 megapixel built-in camera.

Unfortunately it has a laptop price too, as this baby can go up to $900, without the extra monitor. Hmmm... would you get it?

(This post is written for the PCNews contest.)

A Dell Studio for My Studio

2008-10-07T13:16:00.000-07:00

The "weapon" of my choosing. Gaming, multimedia and blogging! It can all be done on a Dell PC. I've been interested in getting a Mac for quite a while now. A laptop of course since I need my mobility. I still haven't bought one. In case you were not aware of it yet, Apple is going to release a new line of laptops next Tuesday, on October 14th. Would a Mac get me closer to my 1 million visitors? Who knows really? In the mean time I'll have to rely on a PC to get me there!

A Dell has gotten me through most of these posts here. A Dell Inspiron 9300 and later on a Dell Inspiron 1520, after the first one died in my arms on a cold day this March. I don't know what drew me to Dell in the first place, but if I were to chose one again, I'd go for a Dell laptop. And it wouldn't be an XPS system. No sir! And it wouldn't be one of the latest Latitudes laptops, despite their 19-hour battery. It would be the next Dell Inspiron.

Not exactly the last Inspiron either since the last Dell creation is the Dell Inspiron Mini 9. And I would never ever buy a netbook.

The next Inspiron is the Studio 1535. It looks totally different than what I was used to. It comes in various colors like the 1520. It has a new hinge system which I suspect that was "invented" for better cooling. Hopefully that hot air will get out faster. Previous Inspirons used to overheat from time to time, so the new hinge seems like the perfect addition. The whole laptop is just a little slimmer but it's not symmetrical in size.

What's inside you ask? Well what are you interested in? Is it the Core 2 Duo processor? Or is it the 4GB of RAM? Do you want the 256MB ATI Mobility Radeon graphics card? Or the 320GB hard drive? You must be in it for the slot load optical drive? Or is it the WiFi 802.11n that would make you get it?

Microsoft Vista comes usually pre-installed. But you'll get the Studio 1535 from some retailers with Linux or Free DOS installed.

Such a system could cost anywhere from $1,000 to $1,500 depending on what features you ask for. You might get it cheaper if you go straight to the manufacturer. But as we all know, besides the online store, Dell doesn't have actual stores to go to and you're more likely to find its products at various resellers.

Would I get a Studio 1535? Certainly! Unless Apple decides to offer free Macs next week!:)

(This post is written for the PCNews contest.)

I Would Never Buy... a Netbook

2008-10-05T19:19:00.000-07:00

Ever since Asus launched their first tiny Eee PC, everyone who's anyone in the PC business decided it would be funny to make their own. And there are so many netbooks available out there and some of them are real best sellers. And let me name just a few manufacturers that have the netbooks ready: Dell, HP, Vaio, Toshiba, Acer, MSI, Asus, Samsung, Fujitsu, Commodore, Lenovo, Packard Bell. And don't think I am simply rounding up some names in a phrase there. But if I was to give you more details about each model then you'd have to wait for a sequel post.

I would never buy a netbook whatsoever. Too small the screen, two small the keyboard. Not enough hard drive space.

Sure it's highly portable. Add a 3G mobile broadband dongle to it and you'll have fast internet access almost anywhere. And it's fairly cheap but if you'd add a couple of hundred dollars you would end up with a 15-inch notebook would have everything the netbook is missing.

Nevertheless there are lots of netbook buyers. Let's take the Acer AspireOne for example. Here's what's inside that cute chassis:

Intel Celeron Atom N270 1600
512MB DDR2 533 RAM
Tip display WXGA
8.9 Inch LCD: Acer CrystalBrite high-brightness TFT LCD with LED-backlight
Intel GMA 950 video card - shared up to 224MB
8MB SSD
5-in-1 (SD, MMC, MS, MS PRO, xD) card reader
Ethernet LAN 10/100 Mbps
Wireless LAN (802.11b/g)
Webcam Acer Crystal Eye 0.3 megapixel
24 W 2200 mAh battery: 3 hours worktime
Linux OS

The AspireOne is a good computer. Connect to a monitor, add a keyboard and an external hard drive and you just got yourself a new desktop PC. Unfortunately you will have to pay a lot more on the "peripherals" above than on the Acer itself. It's somewhere around $430 including tax, depending on the OS and the amount of RAM you would choose.

Now replace the Acer brand with any other manufacturer. The specs are almost the same. Trust me on this one, as I have been checking them out a while ago when I thought a netbook was a really good idea. What about you? Are you a notebook or a netbook person?

(This post is written for the PCNews contest.)