Roaming through Best Buy (again), I came across some teenagers asking their mom for a Macbook. I could not resist; I approached them and informed them NOT to buy a Macbook, not because they are overpriced but because a new model is on the horizon. How do I know, am I secretly Steve Jobs? No, but even though I am not an Apple fanatic, I am aware of how often Apple releases products! Why would someone want to buy a product if its about to be replaced with a newer, usually better model? If you are in the market for a new Apple product, make sure you check this site out.
Have you ever wanted Santa to call you? Well now you can offer that which you could not hear to someone else, kids would really like this. There is a site set up by Google called Send A Call from Santa. The site enables the sender (you) to compile a personalized messaged using the template and options they provide. In addition they allow you to preview the message. You may send this message via e-mail, phone or Facebook. If you are using the phone option you must provide your number and the person whom you wish Santa to call. Although note there is a bit of advertising for Google Voice following the message.
http://www.sendacallfromsanta.com/
In my opinion, I think Black Friday is a scam. I walked into my Best Buy with no intention of purchasing anything, and I almost walked away with an overpriced netbook. I mean the netbook price was fine, except it was not a "low" price considering the given day of the year! I kept walking around and all the Macbooks were on sale, except the sale price was actually higher than what I can pay for with a student Apple discount! The point is not that Best Buy offers terrible prices, but get this, for the holidays they have eliminated their 15% restocking fee. In other words, if you buy something and don't like it, they will not charge you an amount for returning it. Don't go and barge in to buy/rent something, but I think Best Buy has taken a step closer to compete with e-retailers such as Newegg.com and Amazon.com. Just keep in mind everytime you want to buy something
- put in a 30-day list so avoid impulse buying
- go on USER-RUN deal sites if you remain in the market for a product
- ALWAYS cross reference prices to get the best possible deal
- ask for a price match if possible
We want to give out gifts right? Let's do it as cheaply as possible!
Tis' the season for charity. During this time many people are more charitable than usual. Subsequently, we may express charity a variety of different forms. One form, if your an internet user, is by installing the Chrome for a Cause extension Google will donate its money for every tab you open in Chrome for a charity of your choice from a given list. Unfortunately, this is only for this week which is ending tomorrow night. Yet, there is plenty of last minute shopping to do which require several tabs to open. If you do not have Chrome, here's an opportunity to try it out while supporting a good cause at not cost to you!
Does your workspace involve managing more than one computer or perhaps you have a media center that does not have a dedicated keyboard? Would it not be great if you had one keyboard and mouse to use for all your computers? The answer is Synergy. Synergy allows you to share a keyboard and mouse among multiple computers on the same network.
[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="454" caption="visualization from Synergy website"]
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The process involves setting up a host which is the computer that physically has the keyboard/mouse attached. To do so, you FIRST have to specify the group of computers that will be involved.
IMPORTANT: the names of the computers on the list should match the names under the Windows computer system properties.
In my setup, Rudy-PC is the computer's monitor on the right and simon-PC is the computer that will be the host. You have to include the reflection. If Rudy-PC is right of simon-PC than, simon-PC is left of Rudy-PC!
Next, install Synergy on all the computers that will be using the keyboard. In this case, use the "use another computer's keyboard and mouse" option, verify the computer's name and you should be done with the setup process! Finally, go back to your host computer, either test your configuration, start the server or set it to autostart and you should be done. Once started, you should see this on your guest computer's once you start the connection to the host.
You can get creative how you use Synergy; multiple hosts, using the laptop as host to create a sudo wireless keyboard, etc.
Google recently released a sweet feature. This feature allows you to print to your home computer from anywhere. Imagine being at school and sending documents to print on your home computer. Sweet! In oder for this to work, you need a couple of things.
- A Goggle account
- Google Chrome browser
- A working printer
First, download the Chrome browser if you do not have it. You need the latest version.
Second, in your Chrome browser, click the wrench icon, click options, click the tab "Under the hood" and click "Sign in to Google cloud print."
Once you do this, the Google service will try to establish the right settings with your printers. It might take a few minutes. To print click the wrench icon and click "print." After everything has been set up, you're ready to print. Right now Google supports Google Cloud Print through their own services only. They claim to be working hard to spread the features around to make it easier to print.
Here is a link to frequently asked questions.
I have a new baby; I got some money to put together a new desktop computer, but through some misfortune, I ended switching motherboards and consequently my Intel i7 950 had to be relocated. Unfortunately, moving the processor around involves moving it's heat sink as well. Once I had everything reinstalled, I turned on my computer only to realize my processor was running HOT, 84C, 16C degrees away from being able to boil egg on water! Upon further inspection, the heat sink was cold yet the processor was hot to the touch.
[caption id="attachment_2382" align="aligncenter" width="460" caption="Image by *Alejandro on Flickr"]
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What’s the moral of the story? Don’t forget the thermal paste! Thermal paste is used to help the heat sink transfer heat away from the processor as quick as possible; no paste, no heat transfer! If you followed my post on Speedfan, your fans and airflow might be optimal, but often a little paste can provide more optimal heat removal. Also, if you plan on using a different paste than the one that comes with the retail CPU box, make sure you get some paste removal too!
[caption id="attachment_2368" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Video on Demand"]
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To elaborate on an earlier post regarding hooking up your computer with the TV to watch several forms of media, there may be those whom do not always want to be connecting their computer to their TV to view media. There are solutions that offer several features that will convince you to ditch the discs (DVDs & Blu-Ray) , the satellite dish as well as cable TV (coaxial).
First, I will mention new software that enables the user to instantly discover something to watch online from their couch via a set-top box. Whom is making this software? Google. Yes, this year Google has introduced Google TV which is software that runs specifically on a set-top box (think cable box) but the media is streamed and found online, minimizing the amount of commercials. Let's be honest here, you probably watch more commercials during an entire month than an actual show.
Apple TV is another competitor looking to take a slice of the video on demand market with capabilities to rent and stream shows from iTunes. It will even allow you to use your iPhone or iPod Touch as a remote.
But what if you already have content on a hard drive that you just want to view without turning on your computer. There are several media players out specifically for this such as the Western Digital Media Player, Seagate Freeagent Theater, ASUS O!Play, etc. The aforementioned are probably the top 3 media players on market. Depending on the model you purchase, you could view almost any media format available. In addition, they have HDMI and wireless capabilities. Subsequently, you could just connect your external Harddrive or a regular flash drive and they will automatically identify compatible file formats. At the moment I have not delve into a specific player but I am looking into investing in one. Fortunately, if you get tired of the content that you have, you may connect them to the Internet via an ethernet cable or Wi-Fi and access content from Youtube, Netflix or even Hulu. Although it depends on which respective model you purchase, some have a regular model that plays content from an external HDD while the premium model will enable you to access to online video channels.
Why you should buy one other than the reasons above? The reason is saving money. In the longer term, you will be saving money from ditching services such as satellite TV and cable TV. Why pay for commercials when you could be paying for entertainment.
Because of the growing content available online you may want to ditch the discs and the cable all together. Currently, this is where the market is heading; some have even said Blu-ray may be the last physical media format to be popular amongst consumers as more of them are seeking video on demand services. Unfortunately, I have barely touched the surface, I have not discussed the X-Box 360 and Playstation 3!!
Google is ending 2010 with a BANG!!! This past week Google made several announcements regarding their upcoming Chrome OS, Notebooks, and Android software. The most talked about of these announcements is perhaps the Chrome OS which is an OS that relies heavily on the "cloud" also know as the internet. Utilizing the cloud entails almost being connected all the time to the internet in some form and where information is automatically synced with an online storage space as well as saved locally on your computer. The Chrome OS is meant to be efficient and quick to boot up. In particular, the OS targets consumers who mainly spend the majority of their time online. All certified Chrome OS notebooks come with free 100mb of internet 3g via Verizon wireless each month for the first two years.
The Chrome OS is not necessarily meant to completely replace your current laptop, at the moment, due to it being in development. Currently, they are still BETA testing the OS before a full retail launch in the Spring. Although, you could be part of this Beta testing by applying via Pilot Program in which you will get a FREE notebook with Chrome OS. Apply because you may never know if you wake up the next day with a new notebook.
With services like Hulu, Justin.tv and the infamous Youtube, TV viewing has taken a shift or in other words, almost been completely replaced by computers. Instead of going out and buying the priciest HD TV out there, why not take that old standard definition (SD) TV and combine it with your forgotten PC desktop or laptop to convert it a decent media server? I promise your grandma won’t differentiate between the two! If interested, read on! The first order of business would be the computer. Depending on the TV, the computer will need the matching connector to hook up video to the TV. If the TV isn’t too old, it will have a VGA connection. If that is the case, you are in luck. A VGA connector is the same type of connector that monitors most frequently have if not always! Given that luck, it is just matter of connecting them together and you have video.
[caption id="attachment_2347" align="aligncenter" width="460" caption="VGA cable, Image by Josh Bancroft"]
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If the TV is a little bit older or smaller, it will most likely have an S-video/ RCA (yellow) video input. Older PC’s might have S-video outputs. If not you will need a converter from VGA to S-video like this one.
Regardless, you now have video from your PC to your TV.
For audio, you have two options:
If you have some old speakers lying around, u can simply plug those in and you are set! If not, check to see if your TV has RCA audio inputs; if so, you can as well buy a mini-Stereo to RCA (red & white) audio cable like this one
If your TV does not have the RCA audio inputs, you will need to purchase a set of small speakers. A 10$ pair will get the job done.
For cost analysis, in the worse case, you'll spend $5 on the adapters and maybe 15$ on a new set of stereo speakers. If the wires are too short, you will need to simply purchase additional adapters to extend the wires; of course, it is assumed the computer will be near in proximity to the TV.
[caption id="attachment_2353" align="aligncenter" width="460" caption="One way to extend the RCA audio cable, Image by CHCOOBOO"]
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You can now watch Internet videos through your TV. The only downside is that the text will be blurry, unless you bump up the DPI. Once set up, browse to your preferred video provider, set to full screen and enjoy!
[caption id="" align="alignright" width="202" caption="Image via Wikipedia"]
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We are not a news site but an advice/tip technology site yet Wikileaks can share with us something very valuable. Yes, it has been in the news lately because of the controversal war documents it has released to the world. In my opinion, I favor this. Although the government may disagree. Various technology companies have put pressure on Wikileaks, like their DNS provider and Amazon with their hosting to shut down their service to Wikileaks. I believe no criminal act has been done to leak these documents. They are just a journalistic company like The New York Times. If you go to Wikileaks.com it might be blocked but there are many mirror sites, 507 sites to be exact. Wikileaks still lives and will never end. It's on the internet. Where am I heading with this? Everything online lives. As a user on Facebook, I see things that you may not want to have online. Do you have embarrassing pictures on there? Think about your future. I see Wikileaks as a great example to the power of technology for the good and the bad. In the case of Wikileaks,
"Could become as important a journalistic tool as the Freedom of Information Act." - Time Magazine
I agree! This site will battle big corporations and governments to be transparent.
A shocking story that was leaked by Wikileaks:
(Read about the story then watch the videos)
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kelmEZe8whI&feature=player_embedded]
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5rXPrfnU3G0&feature=player_embedded]
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=is9sxRfU-ik&feature=player_embedded]
More info about Wikileaks:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1pTl8KdREk&feature=player_embedded]
Related Articles
- The Weakest Link: What Wikileaks Has Taught Us About the Open Internet (readwriteweb.com)
- Facebook: We're Not Kicking Wikileaks Off Our Site (readwriteweb.com)
- China Blocks Wikileaks, Forgets About Wikileaks.ch, Maybe Thanks to Google (techie-buzz.com)
- The More Some Try To Kill Wikileaks, The More It Spreads (techdirt.com)
- Online activists fighting to keep WikiLeaks alive (news.cnet.com)
Is it your Birthday? Yes! It is mine! I was freaked out today when I logged into my Google account. On Google's front page I saw this:
At first, I thought Google was celebrating their birthday or their anniversary. I was shocked to see that it was on the same day of my birthday! Then I clicked on it and this popped out:
My Google profile was celebrating my Birthday. It was freaky but amazing how it happened. I remembered that Google had my Birthday and could do this but did not expect them to customize their Main page, www.google.com for my sake.
Now, when it's your birthday, log into your Google account and you will be awaiting a little surprise from Google. Happy Birthday!
[caption id="" align="alignright" width="240" caption="Image by doug88888 via Flickr"]
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Just today, I was studying for finals,for this upcoming week when I heard a couple of people humming a song over and over. I knew that song was stuck in their heads and I remembered how sometimes we just remember one or two lines and repeat it over and over again. It was funny to think about.Knowing it might be a distraction, I found a clever solution to get that song out of your head. Have you heard of Unhearit.com? This is your solution. You can go to this site and it will play a random song that will use
the latest in reverse-auditory-melodic-unstickification technology
to remove the song out of your head. Yup, you heard it here first. Give it a try. ♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪...♫♪....♫♪♫♪.....♫♪.....
[caption id="attachment_2295" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Image from W3 Schools"]
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A couple years ago when MySpace was the place to be, I taught HTML in a course at a youth center in which they created their own myspace profile from scratch. In order to prepare some lessons and teach the kids new codes, I would reference w3schools, an online tutorial site, that provides the tools to create a website. One specific feature I enjoy is the try it out editor which enables you to view the code and the output on the same screen (as shown below). I recommend this site if your are interested in learning more about web design and creation.
[caption id="attachment_2296" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Insert Code on the Left see the output on the right"]
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W3Schools: http://www.w3schools.com/
Apple released iOS 4.2 for many Apple devices. With this update came one shocking feature, find my iphone. This feature was not free before. In the past,it was $99 with a Mobile Me account. Apple now includes it with iOS 4.2. In order for this to work, you must have iOS 4.2 and an iphone or itouch. Here is how to enable this feature.(You do not need a MobileMe account).
1)Tap over to Settings > Mail > Add Account >and tap MobileMe.
2)Now, enter your Apple ID and password.
3) Turn on "Find My iphone"
After this you should be all set. You can go to www.Me.com and log in. You should see the location of your iOS device.
With the inertia of my previous post on SDD’s, they are still high priced compared to hard drives but there does exist a happier and much faster medium, which when used correctly, has the possibility to perform just as well if not better than SSD’s in some scenarios. This happy medium turns out to be your RAM. If you have more than 4GB of RAM, I recommend you download Dataram RAMdisk. Essentially, the utility uses RAM instead of writing the data to your 200X slower hard drive. The program will create a hard drive with a TEMP folder. To configure, simply specify how much RAM should be allocated as the hard drive and individually modify each program to store its temporary files in your RAM hard drive.
You may wonder how this is useful and not tedious to modify each program altogether? It turns out there are programs that write to the hard drive more frequently than others. The main culprits turn out to be your internet browser and installation executables. Check with your preferred browser. I know for a fact Chrome will not let you change its TEMP folder directly, but as always, if there is a will, there is a way. As for the installation executable, modify the environment variables to point to the RAM hard drive. In my case, “I” is my RAM hard drive.
The only downside is that because RAM gets deleted at shutdown, so will any temporary files get deleted; in other words, the temporary files that could have speeded up your page loading will not be there. If you think offsetting the cost of slower page browsing is negligible, proceed. If not, simply do not modify the browser's settings.
Today's tip focuses on your internet browser. If you are like me, you might use another browser other than Internet Explorer exclusively. Even though Explorer has come a long way with IE 9 showing promise, it will not replace Firefox or Chrome as my primary browser. On the other hand, there are times were IE is required to view pages or utilize some functionality. Fortunately, there is an option which opens up IE via an add-on, IE Tab.
Both add-ons enable you to view an IE page in a tab.
IE Tab for Chrome and Firefox
Get IE Tab 2 for Firefox |
Get IE Tab for Chrome |
Today's world can have ups and downs. One day you might be on top of the world then next not wanting to talk to anybody. Sometimes we need to cheer up. I believe I have heard that a laugh a day keeps the doctor away? Not sure. Correct me. lol. I will present to you a funny site that might be interesting. Have you heard about auto DamYouAutoCorrect.com? Yes it's that site that reminds you of those times when you curse at your cell for auto correcting what you wrote. Here is an example:
We all are aware that our technology is always advancing faster than we can grasp. It's a scary thought. Here is the deal though. Lets think on the bright side. Why not use it to our advantage? I recently, paid to get my DNA tested. Why tested? Here is why. There is a company called 23and Me, based in New York, that does genetic testing. I want to see what things I am at risk for early on so I can prevent them. How does it work? I will soon receive a kit that I can put my saliva in and then ship it to their lab. Within 6-8 weeks I will get results on their website. I will be able to see if I have a high risk in cholesterol or other diseases so I can prevent them and live a happier life. Also in the future if I have an awkward feeling I can see my medical history. Today, they started an awesome deal. For only $99.00 you can get this test. Original price $400! This deal is available only through 11/29. Below is an example of some results.
Ever heard of RAID? No, I am not talking about pirates getting away with treasure. RAID stands for Redundant Array of Independent Disks. As hard drives approach the Terabyte range (1000 Gigabytes), they have become inexpensive to the point where RAID becomes a consumer level alternative to the trendy Solid State Drives (SSD’s). The advantage over SSD is there no finite amount of data writes but of course mechanical failure is always eminent. To do so, you will need to back up your data, purchase identical drives, most likely have to purchase a RAID controller and be willing to get your hands dirty to install the additional hardware under the assumption your PC system meets the requirements. You can read more about RAID on your own, but my preferred configuration is a RAID 0+1. My preferred configuration gets the performance boosts by splitting (stripping) the data into two drives as shown below and backs up ( mirrors) the entire data into a third drive.
