Console Wars - And The Winner Is…
The Nintendo Wii once again takes top spot in the battle of the consoles as its console sales hit a massive 432,000 units sold just last month! Now that’s what I call popular! The second spot goes to the Sony Playstation 2 console, which is still very popular amongst gamers. Playstation 2 is also a hell of a lot cheaper than its expensive counterpart the Playstation 3. Speaking of the Playstation 3 – well, Sony is finally starting to move some units as sales for this console came in at an impressive 280,000 units sold last month. After lagging behind for months, the Playstation 3 is back on people’s radar screens. If you ask me, I believe it has something to do with the Blu-ray winning the HD standard war. With Blu-ray as the new standard, it is definitely going to be a major boost in sales for the Playstation 3. In a respectable last place for console sales is the Xbox 360 with just 254,600 units sold last month.
Keep in mind that the above figures represent a month’s worth of sales and could change next month or the month after that. It’s interesting to see how the console wars pans out. Keep your eye out for next month’s sales figures.
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A New Las Vegas Show at Caesars Palace
Las Vegas, NV is probably one of my favorite places to visit in the United States. I love everything about it including the atmosphere of the city, the nightlife, the fast-paced gaming action in the casinos, the excellent food, the huge Hotels, and most of all the entertainment. I try and go at least once per year when I can and stay for as long as possible (or until I’m broke!)
Some of the biggest stars perform in the Las Vegas area casinos. I have seen many shows on my trips to Vegas and always look forward to these fantastic shows and their amazing venues. It is such a great way to take in the whole Las Vegas experience and unless you go to a live show you haven’t experienced Las Vegas to the fullest. I like to keep up to date on the latest news and recently learned that Celine Dion will be replaced by Cher at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. Cher is scheduled to perform four times a week and the show is scheduled to start sometime in the beginning of May. It is a much anticipated performance and I imagine a sell-out crowd every night. If you plan on seeing this show, make sure and get your tickets early and remember to ask for Cher Tickets at Caesars Palace. Cher is one of the top performers and sellers for Vegas, rivaling other well known artists, so just remember that little tidbit of information when making your plans and schedule early.
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A Unique MP3 Player And A Hand Crank
Look, I’m all for progression and moving forward with all the latest high tech wizardry coming out, but I was looking at the latest MP3 player from Eco, the EMP-MX71, and had to comment about it. It comes with all the latest features like 2GB of memory, which is expandable utilizing a SD memory card, 1.8” display, voice recording, and supports MP3, ASF, WMA, WAV, OGG, WMV, MPEG and AVI formats. The Eco EMP-MX71 also has some other nifty things like a picture photo viewer, an LED flashlight and a cool text reader.
Now, the most unusual part about the Eco MP3 player is the hand crank on the back of the unit. This baby can be powered by the built-in hand-crank, which provides 40 minutes of playback for each minute of cranking. It is a pretty neat idea, however I for one do not want a crank handle on the back of my MP3 player as it adds bulk to the unit. In an age where people are getting lazy and technology is helping us get even lazier, cranking a unit for one minute seems a little mundane to me and reminds me of some 1960s gadget. So, for now I am going to have to pass. Hmmm…maybe if they get an automated hand-crank on future models — then I may be interested!
In the Eco’s defense I would like to add that it can also be powered by the USB port so if you’re lazy like me and don’t mind the handle, then by all means go for it.
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Guide To Web Hosting
Choosing a good web hosting company is crucial to your web site’s existence. A good web hosting company provides its users with the latest web utilities, applications and support tools. Another thing to look for in a web hosting company is their customer support. 24/7 availability is very important and fast response is a necessity. Nothing is more frustrating than when your website is down and you have no way to contact the hosting provider except through email and even then it may take days before you get an answer. Make sure there is an actual phone number that works before signing up with anyone. While everything mentioned above is important, one of the most crucial aspects of a good web hosting provider is their uptime guarantee. Most claim a 99.9% uptime, but most of the time cannot provide that. I have had sites hosted at various web hosting that made this claim and sometimes my sites would be down without any notice. I even had sites where my SQL databases were completely wiped out.
Make sure you look around for the best web hosting companies before plunking your money down and always back up your websites and databases to avoid a possible disaster. Bad things are bound to happen, however if you backup your sites and prepare for the worst then you can turn a potential disaster into a minor disturbance.
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Bloatware Should Be Treated As A Virus
Has anyone out there recently purchased a new computer? If you haven’t purchased a new system yet you are missing out on the whole bloatware ordeal - trust me, it’s a good thing! Bloatware is described as the software that the major manufacturers cram onto your brand new computer. Bloatware hogs crucial system resources that could be used for other applications that you install, or even the actual operating system for that matter. I refer to bloatware as “junkware”, as I believe that this additional software is truly useless and interferes with the consumer’s choice as to what they want installed on their computer. The unfortunate part of this whole thing is that some consumers (the less computer savvy ones) are clueless as to the harm this bloatware creates. The below scenario gives you an example of what I am talking about:
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All That Glass
Spring is almost here and it’s that time of year again to do some remodeling of my house. Something I am considering this year is remodeling my bathroom and utilizing glass tile, as opposed to the standard ceramic tile. There’s just something about glass tile that provides a more authentic and at-home type of feeling. Besides that, glass tile makes a nice, bold statement anywhere in your house. The variations in the shape and color of the pieces create depth, and reflect the light giving it a natural glow, which is great if you are trying to brighten up a small room.
Since I do my own home improvement projects I usually check on the Internet to find a supplier that fits nicely into what kind of project I am contemplating working on. I am always very careful to choose a good supplier. In addition to the supplier, I tend to look closely at the quality of the product. And last but not least, I look into getting my products at the best possible prices.
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Online Reputation Could Cost You More Than You Think
Online privacy is something many are concerned about. While most people never stop to think or even imagine that there could be something negative about them online, the truth is that nowadays most information is easy to obtain and could easily affect your business and social life in a negative way.
Have you ever performed an online search of your name? Interested to see what the results are? You may not be the only person interested in this type of information. Potential employers can type someone’s name into popular search engines like Google and Yahoo to see if any dirt comes back on them. They can also use this information against you in interviews or job selection.
I don’t know how many times I’ve heard of someone’s family life or career being ruined because of questionable information being disclosed about them on the Internet. Don’t become a victim and make sure you maintain a clean reputation.
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My Quest For Online IT Training
I’m always looking for new ways to improve my knowledge of things. I am constantly doing research into everything that intrigues me. If I hear something interesting on TV or on the radio or even online, you can bet I am going to look into it. I also have a strong desire to improve myself through education but sometimes find it hard to accomplish this due to my full-time job. That is why I started looking into online courses that would fit into my hectic daily schedule.
Last week I decided to do some research into online IT courses as I have been looking into some of the industry certification programs. I discovered several sources. As usual I found that most of the companies had something to offer, but me being the stubborn person I am started looking for a company that went a step above the rest. Enter Global Knowledge. This company has been in business for sometime now and offers a very comprehensive assortment of delivery methods for their training classes to include classroom learning, on-site learning, virtual classroom e-learning and self-paced e-learning. It’s a very impressive list of different styles of training available to the would-be student. As far as courses go, Global Knowledge offers a huge variety of courses on IT and Business. Some of the courses offered in IT include Cisco, Microsoft, Databases, Red Hat and VoIP and Telephony, while some of the Business courses include Business Process, PMP certification and Professional Skills. So, no matter what your situation is - you have no more excuses for putting off that educational goal of yours like I used to. Good luck on your training!
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XBOX 360 and Frustrating Lengthy Repair Times
How well is the XBOX 360 manufactured? That’s a question a lot of people seem to be asking these days as XBOX 360 returns are on the rise. In fact, the spike in these returns has supposedly led to a repair backlog and an increase in the return time back to the consumer. Some people have reported return times as high as 8 weeks. That’s insane if you consider that most gamers do not want to be without their consoles for a 2 full months! Hopefully this backlog is taken care of and Microsoft gets these hardware errors fixed with pertinent updates to the game consoles.
I really like the XBOX 360 and believe the graphics are awesome. The problem lies when you have a superbly built system and it fails. When it fails and things go wrong it leaves the consumer stuck. I mean, you can’t take it back to the store where you bought it from, so you have to rely on the manufacturer. If the manufacturer repair process is ridiculously slow, then you are basically without your game console. Nothing is more frustrating than being in this predicament as you are totally helpless and extremely upset. Hopefully none of you guys get into this situation. Now, in Microsoft’s defense, I did hear a rumor that instead of doing the lengthy repairs, Microsoft has been sending brand new game consoles back to the consumer instead.
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Information For The Home Buyer
I’ve always been frustrated with the home buying process. In fact, I put it right up there with other painful events such as buying a car or going to the Dentist. For me, buying a home always involved finding a real estate agent (who may or may not have your best interests in mind), painstakingly going through the MLS with the agent and spending hours of time and money driving around. I also hated the fact that a real estate agent thought they knew what the best house for me would be and would show me listings completely different than what I wanted. It was a very frustrating experience and something I have tried to stay away from.
Fast forward to present day. While looking into virginia real estate, I stumbled upon a website – drodio.com that offers the home buyer a much better way of buying a home. The site is loaded with useful tools such as a Google maps-based search tool, complete home buying how-to videos, a very powerful home search tool and lots more. In addition, a listing notice service will inform you if a home matching your criteria shows up on the MLS system. To top it all off, they have a free GPS loaner available to assist you in finding your listing. Now the best part about all of this is that all of these tools are absolutely free of charge.
If you ever need assistance whatsoever with the home buying process, they are always available with 24×7 phone support. I absolutely love their approach to the real estate home buying process. It is a unique and much appreciated service that was long overdue.
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Call Of Duty 4
Call of Duty for the XBOX 360 is by far not only the best war game I’ve played, but also one of the best online war games. I was a Rainbow 6 and Ghost Recon fanatic. However, since the arrival of ‘Duty 4’, I can’t even pick up those games anymore.
The graphics are astounding; very realistic. Since childhood, I’ve always wondered how the graphics would be more enhanced with every new platform that came out. Fast forward to the present and the answer is here. Which brings us into the playability.
The game play is astounding; from the death scenes to the bullet time, coupled with the online play. Whilst zeroing on another player’s head with your sniper rifle from across the board, being ever so steady,the helmet shot gives you a sense of sick satisfaction. From the way the body drops from the well placed shot, to the blood spewing on the wall behind him. Another thing that the game developers finally got right was the bullet action. Other shooters were fun in the past, but I was very annoyed when an M-16 Nato 7.62 round could not penetrate the car glass or thin wooden door the enemy was hiding behind. Call Of Duty 4 takes care of that. Heavier rounds penetrate more. In time, this too will probably be corrected even more.
All in all it’s an addicting game. The only turn off is with the online feature, in communicating with other players (not a game flaw). Every now and then you get some pimple faced teenager or over sheltered idealist stating all sorts of foolery having nothing to do with the game. From preaching Hitler styled rhetoric to just plain screaming or rapping over everyone else. But, when it gets to that point, you can just shut the mic off.
Happy Gaming! by Contributing Editor: Lonnie Curwen
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Domain Registration
Are you considering getting your own website? Have you thought of a name for your site? Do the technical aspects involved with the process overwhelm you? The first thing that must be done is getting your domain name. Owning your own domain name can be an exciting experience. A domain is Internet real estate and is an investment that can eventually go up in value. Make sure you select your name carefully as there are a lot of criteria that go into making a good quality name. Some things to consider when purchasing a domain name include the length of the name, how pronounceable it is, how memorable it is and how brand able the domain name is. As you can see there is a lot to consider here - so choose wisely.
The next step involves the registration of the name. Registering a domain name doesn’t have to be difficult. In fact, with the increased popularity of the Internet and the influx of new domain registrations increasing everyday, most Registrars have developed their sites to accommodate new users. If you are a complete newbie to the domain registration process then this will come as welcome news to you. The key is finding a Registrar that provides an easy process and guides the user every step of the way by way of a well-crafted site. Of course if you need additional assistance then a 24/7 support system would be another criteria I would use in my selection of a Registrar.
Good luck in your domain registration efforts and have fun selecting all those cool names. Hopefully you build up a good portfolio and get some nice matching websites going in the process.
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Random Musings About The Mortgage Market
If you haven’t been following the recent turmoil in the housing industry and rise and fall of the mortgage rates then you have truly been living under a rock. That’s okay though, if you’ve had other things on your mind or just didn’t care what was and still is going on I will attempt to fill you in right here. First off the housing markets took a huge hit last year with well-recognized mortgage companies specializing in subprime lending going bankrupt. This, in part was due to people defaulting on their loans, which is why subprime lending is a high-risk to begin with. Now there are talks in the U.S. about foreclosure proceedings topping the amount of homes sold in certain parts of the country. This is just amazing to me if you consider just two years ago the amount of mortgage loans being underwritten was at a phenomenal figure. Analysts call this the housing bubble that popped and some experts say it hasn’t popped all the way yet.
With the Fed recently dropping the Prime rate by .50% the current national average 30-yr fixed rate is 6.24% at the time of this writing. Who knows where all of this will lead, but to tell you the truth I believe the housing market will come back stronger than ever and with the current low rates you may want to consider taking advantage of it now before they go back up again and getting a Free Mortgage Quote
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