Make Your Web Design Interactive

The importance of effective website design can never be undermined. Right from having the potential to attract new customers to getting you more sales, a good quality and attractive web design is something that can mean the difference between a no sale and an actual purchase!



Clean design

One of the biggest mistakes most people make is to clutter up their website with unnecessary content and imagery. This not only distracts the user but you maybe actually preventing the user from seeing the important aspects on your site. For example you may think that having a Flash introductory page will help in luring more customers. Fact is search engines don’t even recognize such pages! Imagine your home page not even being scanned by search engines! Not such a happy idea, right? Any good quality web designer will advise you against having such a Flash intro page.

Interactivity is key

When we talk about interactivity we are not talking about feedback forms and text input forms! It is much more and bigger than that. The entire concept of Web 2.0 is fast gaining popularity as far as custom web design services go. Many of such service providers also specialize in Web 2.0 methodologies to help enhance the overall potential of website design.

Centralized layout

The most important feature of Web 2.0 as far as professional web design goes is the usage of a centralized layout. This often sends out an impression that your site is honest and bold while also being simple. These are traits users look for in a brand and sending out such signals is always a positive sign.

Less number of columns

In the earlier days of custom web design the norm used to be to use as many as 4 columns while 3 columns on a site were more common. However with the advent of Web 2.0 technology the norm these days is to use just 2 columns on the site and 3 is the maximum that you would possibly go.

Demarcating sections

It is very essential to let users know which parts of your site deserve priority. One of the best ways to do this is by using bold colors where you want users to look first. For example if you want to highlight a discount on a new product make sure to use attractive coloring and effects there. After all it will decide a sale! A good web designer familiar with Web 2.0 design aspects will ensure your site is well differentiated. For example differentiating the header of the web page from the rest will do you good.


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Internet Talk Radio - the Tale of Its Evolution

Radios have been a source of entertainment since a long time now. Radio has been really powerful in the past, specially at the times when older folks used to sit in front of the old dial tune box radio getting carried away listening to some hit talk shows from the past. When it all started there were only AM channels and these channels mainly had talk shows and story-telling. There was music too, but not to the great extent as it happened later. With the introduction of the FM channels, music programs were shifted mainly to the FM-s while the talk shows and stories remained for the AM channels.


However, with the popularization of TV as an alternate media for entertainment, the power of AM and FM radio was greatly diminished. Due to its variety of channels, great options and greater appeals to the senses, TV had almost driven the once powerful radio out of business. Nonetheless, some still held on to the old radio. It was probably because they could get into a multi-tasking mode i.e. doing other things while still listening to their favorite radio programs. This was one thing that they could probably have not been able to do with TV. TV required them to sit in front of it and concentrate on the programs. But this small issue was too minor to stop the diminishing power and importance of radio as a primary source of entertainment. Soon, radio was a thing of the past.

Another major problem with the older radios was the frustrating loss of reception due to the device getting out of range. People had already got into the habit of carrying portable radios with them while they were outdoors. And often, they would be out of range causing them to probably miss the crucial conclusion of an interesting discussion or the climax of a story.

In a bid to revive the radio experience, satellite radios were introduced. These radios typically had several channels, often hundreds of them, dedicated to specialized programs. The model was more like that of a TV. It solved the out of range issue of the older generation radios. With satellite radio, one could be anywhere in the continent, listening to the same streaming everywhere. Its various channels were designed to cater to the interests of several individuals across diverse demographics. However, the main problem with satellite radio was its cost. In order to subscribe to satellite radio, a charge of almost twenty dollars or more was required.

The evolution of radio started showing its potential and reached a more apt state towards the early nineties when the internet talk radio was introduced. It was a new wave in the advancement of talk radio that hit the market with a bang. Internet talk radio provided a cheap and powerful alternative to the old AM radios. It required a computer, an internet connection, a phone, headsets and software to get started. Subscribing to the channels came completely free. The reach was now global, a lot more than the continental average of the satellite radios. And adding more to it was the easy option of creating a channel and participating. Being on the radio to reach out to the entire world became open. It was then possible for an avid listener of a talk show for years to easily host his own talk show and let the world know about his views.

With the introduction of internet talk radio, the evolution of radios has clearly attained maturity.


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Inflatable Mouse

The amount of portable devices is so huge that sometimes it seems like there is already nothing that can be made smaller. Yet creative designers think that even portable devices can become much smaller. What about you? Have you ever thought that a mouse can be even more portable?

An absolutely new mouse design has been recently offered. This gadget that is named Jelly Click takes mouse portability to the extreme. All the electronic circuitry lives on a small flexible board. The body itself is just soft plastic. When the concept is inflated it looks like a usual mouse. But you can easily let the air out and roll the gadget up. So, whenever you need your mouse, just inflate, attach the USB cable and enjoy the usage. It's quite an understandable fact that such a structure has some important advantages. First of all it would be almost impossible to do any damages to such a device because it's very light. Another advantage consists in the fact that due to the used material this mouse will be water resistant. So you can use it even in the extreme conditions.

To my mind this gadget represents a successful attempt of combining usefulness, portability, solidity and originality. However taking into consideration the fact that everybody is accustomed to using usual mouse it would probably be, at least at the beginning, strange to use this gadget.


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Get Paid - BloggerWave

Making money online is more easy now. There are many opportunities. Nowadays, making money blogging is very popular. The most famous one is Pay Per Post. But now I have found another one that more important and easy for use, Bloggerwave.

It is much like pay per post . What you have to do is just write related articles in your blog, and when your articles are approved, you will get money via PayPal. Normally $10 per article. Things are just that simple.

If you want to make some extra money online and want to live a more comfortable life, you will consider using Bloggerwave .

So why not make some money now? Give it a try!





bloggerwave

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Sony PSP

Good : The Sony PSP is a slick portable gaming system highlighted by an impressive wide-screen display and PS2-like graphics. It also boasts built-in Wi-Fi, a Web browser, and the ability to play music and videos, as well as to store images.

Bad : The Sony PSP's multimedia functionality is underwhelming, especially for video, requiring expensive memory cards. The load times on the UMD games can be excessive.


The Sony PSP elevates portable gaming to the next level, but its multimedia functionality falls short of its full potential.

The PSP offers built-in 802.11b (Wi-Fi) wireless LAN access. You can play against another PSP over a wireless LAN or the Internet. Up to 16 PSPs can also be connected to one another directly in ad hoc mode for head-to-head contests. You can count on a whole PSP party subculture to pop up as the device becomes widespread.

While gaming is clearly the focus, Sony designed the PSP to be a portable multimedia device, too. There is a Memory Stick Duo card slot for storing music, photo, and video files, as well as a USB 2.0 port (though no cable) for downloading multimedia files from your PC. Games come on Sony's new, proprietary Universal Media Disk (UMD) minicartridges, which can also house movie and TV content. Look for the first UMD titles (Spider-man 2, Hellboy, Resident Evil 2, House of Flying Daggers, and Once Upon a Time in Mexico) to hit stores about a month after the PSP's March 24 launch. The PSP Value Pack, which we looked at, will ship with a UMD version of Spiderman 2, the aforementioned 32MB Memory Stick, a headphone-remote combo, wrist strap, battery pack, soft case and a sampler disk that includes movies clips, music and trial games.

The PSP proves itself a good, not great, multimedia companion. For starters, we found that the headphone sound volume is not very high, which could be a problem for those listening to music or watching a movie on the subway. Storing music and photos on the Memory Stick Duo is not very intuitive. It is necessary first to create a main directory named PSP and subdirectories for music, photos, and video, or the PSP will not acknowledge that the files are present. You don't get the full complement of playlist and EQ features you would see on a dedicated music player. And unlike with dedicated portable media players (such as the Archos Pocket Video Recorder line), there's no way to capture video content from TV and get it on the PSP directly. Practically speaking, for video you'll be limited to what comes out on UMD.

On the plus side, you'll never have to worry about having an outdated version of the system software: Simply connect to any wireless network with Internet access and choose Network Update. The PSP automatically goes out over the Internet to search for and apply the latest patches. That said, we wonder why a device that can get you online so easily lacks a built-in Web browser.

Although it's not perfect, the PSP is an innovative portable device built for games. If you view the multimedia features as gravy, you'll be more than satisfied.

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Philips DECT Digital Baby Monitor

Recently featured in Time Magazine, the Philips DECT Baby Monitor features a two-way intercom so you can communicate with your child directly from the handset, an integrated thermometer reads ambient room temperature and displays it on the handset and base, 5 different lullabies are controllable from the handset, a nighlight is controllable from the handset, and rechargeable batteries with up to 12 hours operation between charges.

Also included are a belt clip, neck cord, zippered travel bag, and a lifetime guarantee.
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Portable Audio : Music Jacket

In case you like music, but are usually on the go, portable audio player will do the job. However, what if the headphones disturb you or you just want to make everybody listen to your beats? Very few models offer speakers functionality, and even if they do, it is hard to hear music coming from a pocket. Possible solutions? You can keep music player in your hand, but it is not very comfortable. If you want to keep your hands free while listening to music, then you would probably love this gadget.

MP3 Smart Jacket offers just the possibility of listening to music comfortably and keeping your hands and your mind free of this problem. It looks just like life jacket, with one exception: it will not save your life, but will save you from boredom instead. Colored in bright colors, this gadget will be clearly seen at night so drivers, if you like jogging at nights, will surely notice you. Two integrated speakers and a mini jack connector give possibility to connect almost every music player to this jacket, and a zipped pouch protect your device from accidentally falling out. Speakers are covered by protective covers, which guard them from dust or small splashes. Moreover, this jacket offers on / off switch and volume control buttons for easy and comfortable control over your music.

This original gadget will be useful when you need music but cannot hold your player at hand - for example while jogging, biking or skating. Of course, loud music can be annoying, so try to not disturb anyone with loud music coming from your jacket, especially at night or early morning.

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source here

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SD-featuring MP3-enabled Headphones

In the era of wireless technologies, it is obvious that everything that was wired before has its wireless twin. There are wireless PC accessories, wireless Bluetooth headsets etc. Wireless headphones become more and more popular. However, there is one huge flaw of wireless technology - it needs batteries to run, and it drains them pretty fast. So the Bluetooth headphones can power off even if your player is full of energy. Unpleasant surprise to leave without music in a trip or walk, isn't it? Nevertheless, who needs Bluetooth when MP3 player can be right inside the headphones, integrated with them?

New SkullCandy headphones offer wireless audio without wireless technologies - audio player is integrated right inside them, so no Bluetooth-enabled device is required. Everything you need for music listening is in built in. Just put those on your head and you are ready to go. Unlike most of MP3 enabled headphones, the memory on this is limited only by capacity of SD card. Yes, it has a SD slot, so you can expand the amount of music stored as you like. No word about SDHC support, but in any case up to 4 gig of music - very impressive!

The device lacks a screen, but when headphones are on your head, who will read it anyway! On the right side of them control buttons are placed, they can be easily reached. The Li-Ion battery inside them are easily and rapidly rechargeable, don't know about battery life, but without Bluetooth it must be fair enough to hold for 9-10 hours at least.

These headphones are perfect purchase if you hate wires and like to listen to music on shuffle. They have three color schemes: orange / brown, yellow / white, and black, to fit almost every style. The price on this gadget is unknown for the moment, but it will be announced soon.

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source here.


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Canon EOS-1D Mark III

asic Specifications
Resolution:	10.10 Megapixels
Kit Lens:	n/a
Viewfinder:	Optical / LCD
LCD Size:	3.0 inch
ISO:	50-6400
Shutter:	30-1/8000
Max Aperture:	n/a
Mem Type:	CF1 / CF2 / SDHC / SD
Battery:	Custom LiIon
Dimensions:	6.1x6.2x3.1in (156x157x80mm)
Weight:	40.7 oz (1,155 g)
MSRP:	$4,500
Availability:	04/2007

The big story with the Canon EOS 1D Mark III is that it's a better, more universally appealing professional camera for more types of professional photographers. I think a lot of intermediate photographers may want to make the jump as well, given its more friendly interface and astonishing high ISO performance. With past Canon EOS 1D announcements, the big story was the incredibly high capture speed at reasonably high resolutions. The amazing technology required to dump high res images at high speed tended to dominate our coverage of these sport-tuned professional SLRs. But the scene has changed. The additional 1.5 frames per second isn't the most important improvement with the Canon EOS 1D Mark III, it's just a nice enhancement. The same goes for the jump from 8 megapixels to 10.

The Canon EOS 1D Mark III isn't just for sports anymore. It's a more universal camera for the vast majority of pro photographers. With the multiple improvements in the new camera, photographers will no longer need to trade off resolution, image quality, and speed against each other. The 1D Mark III now has enough of all three to satisfy a huge slice of the market in a single camera body.

The EOS 1D Mark III has several improvements that illustrate its greater versatility:

• Fast performance, high resolution, and improved image quality across the board
• Resolution sufficient for double-truck spreads and general commercial photography
• Even faster capture, processing, and write speeds, and faster AF tracking for sports shooters
• Super low-light capability for photojournalists (High ISO)

In addition, the EOS 1D Mark III has a few new features that will expand the camera's versatility and convenience, including a new Live View mode for image composition on the camera's LCD or via a remote computer; compatibility with a faster optional WiFi transmission system; several AF improvements; a stack of custom functions; and Canon's new dust reduction technology, which first appeared in the Canon EOS Digital Rebel XTi.

There's a lot to cover, so stick with us over the next few days as we build on our preview coverage of the Canon EOS 1D Mark III.

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The Illusionist

Steven Millhauser doesn’t traffic in emotional upheaval or interpersonal conflict. Most fiction writers try to make characters seem like real people, but Millhauser flattens them, giving his books the paradoxical effect of seeming realer than reality. For him, meticulous observation does the work of psychology. Millhauser is also our foremost animist: in his stories, mannequins walk out of department store windows and figures in paintings knock hats off innocent bystanders. His vehicles for these effects are the parable and the confession. There is a disquieting quiet to every Millhauser sentence that makes it immediately recognizable, a feeling that each was recorded for posterity by the last man living.


The 13 terrific stories in “Dangerous Laughter” reintroduce us to this strange realm, last glimpsed five years ago in Millhauser’s previous collection, “The King in the Tree.” After one story described as an “Opening Cartoon,” he divides the rest into three sections: “Vanishing Acts,” “Impossible Architectures” and “Heretical Histories.” (You can recombine the adjectives and nouns at will.) Together, they present the typical Millhauser gallery of obsessed miniaturists, bookish adolescent boys in thrall to mysterious evanescent girls and reports from a dystopian near-future told with ill-considered confidence by town leaders. But over the years Millhauser’s elegant midcentury prose has only gotten stronger, and here he moves his chosen themes forward with additional confidence and power.

In the section called “Vanishing Acts,” Millhauser presents people who in one way or another cease to be. The book’s title story features an ordinary high school girl whose talent for orgasmic laughter allows her to enjoy a surge in popularity when a hilarity epidemic sweeps through a town’s teenage crowd one summer — only to result in her death after her classmates drop her to take up communal weeping.

The adolescent narrator of “The Room in the Attic” befriends Wolf, a hip new classmate whose sister is beset by an unspecified illness that has kept her out of school. These two, Isabel and Dave, conduct a relationship for months in her darkened room, knowing each other entirely by voice and occasional touches. Dave grows quietly obsessed, but at the climactic moment, when Isabel is about to throw open the curtains, he flees. When he comes back, a few days later, she’s gone — sent, according to her mother, to live with an aunt in Maine. “She loved games, all sorts of games,” Dave realizes early on. Now he begins to wonder whether Isabel wasn’t his own game, more dream than reality.

The slippery self is also the theme of “The Disappearance of Elaine Coleman,” in which an ordinary woman returns to her rented apartment one evening but never emerges. The police investigate and find no sign of a crime — and no sign of Elaine Coleman. The door was locked, the windows shut, the key left inside, along with the woman’s wallet. “Is it true that whatever has once been seen is in the mind forever?” the narrator asks, only to recognize that this is not so. Elaine Coleman, he concludes, unloved, gradually disappeared, “fading, fixed ... in the long habit of not being noticed.”

The section called “Heretical Histories” contains a set of alternate recent pasts. Harlan Crane, the subject of “A Precursor of the Cinema,” is a “minor illustrator” in New York during the “seductive prehistory” of the film industry, when “a host of brilliant toys, spectacles and entertainments ... produced vivid and startling illusions of motion.” Crane’s paintings, displayed at his Phantoptic Theater, are so lifelike that many observers insist they can see them move. The illusion (perhaps “a shared hallucination,” the newspapers speculate) leads to riots and the death of a spectator. The city closes the Phantoptic before this potentially remarkable bridge to the inanimate world can be confirmed.

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Sony squirts out new iPod dock, Bluetooth gear

Sony's got a new iPod dock / clock radio -- the ICF-ClipMK2 -- which comes in both black and white with line-in for $100 this May. Also announced, the clippable DRC-BT15 Bluetooth A2DP / AVRCP receiver and SRS-BT100 30 Watt A2DP speakers. The Bluetooth gear is out March for $130 and $160, respectively.


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Everybody’s An Expert

Prediction is one of the pleasures of life. Conversation would wither without it. “It won’t last. She’ll dump him in a month.” If you’re wrong, no one will call you on it, because being right or wrong isn’t really the point. The point is that you think he’s not worthy of her, and the prediction is just a way of enhancing your judgment with a pleasant prevision of doom. Unless you’re putting money on it, nothing is at stake except your reputation for wisdom in matters of the heart. If a month goes by and they’re still together, the deadline can be extended without penalty. “She’ll leave him, trust me. It’s only a matter of time.” They get married: “Funny things happen. You never know.” You still weren’t wrong. Either the marriage is a bad one—you erred in the right direction—or you got beaten by a low-probability outcome.

It is the somewhat gratifying lesson of Philip Tetlock’s new book, “Expert Political Judgment: How Good Is It? How Can We Know?” (Princeton; $35), that people who make prediction their business—people who appear as experts on television, get quoted in newspaper articles, advise governments and businesses, and participate in punditry roundtables—are no better than the rest of us. When they’re wrong, they’re rarely held accountable, and they rarely admit it, either. They insist that they were just off on timing, or blindsided by an improbable event, or almost right, or wrong for the right reasons. They have the same repertoire of self-justifications that everyone has, and are no more inclined than anyone else to revise their beliefs about the way the world works, or ought to work, just because they made a mistake. No one is paying you for your gratuitous opinions about other people, but the experts are being paid, and Tetlock claims that the better known and more frequently quoted they are, the less reliable their guesses about the future are likely to be. The accuracy of an expert’s predictions actually has an inverse relationship to his or her self-confidence, renown, and, beyond a certain point, depth of knowledge. People who follow current events by reading the papers and newsmagazines regularly can guess what is likely to happen about as accurately as the specialists whom the papers quote. Our system of expertise is completely inside out: it rewards bad judgments over good ones.


“Expert Political Judgment” is not a work of media criticism. Tetlock is a psychologist—he teaches at Berkeley—and his conclusions are based on a long-term study that he began twenty years ago. He picked two hundred and eighty-four people who made their living “commenting or offering advice on political and economic trends,” and he started asking them to assess the probability that various things would or would not come to pass, both in the areas of the world in which they specialized and in areas about which they were not expert. Would there be a nonviolent end to apartheid in South Africa? Would Gorbachev be ousted in a coup? Would the United States go to war in the Persian Gulf? Would Canada disintegrate? (Many experts believed that it would, on the ground that Quebec would succeed in seceding.) And so on. By the end of the study, in 2003, the experts had made 82,361 forecasts. Tetlock also asked questions designed to determine how they reached their judgments, how they reacted when their predictions proved to be wrong, how they evaluated new information that did not support their views, and how they assessed the probability that rival theories and predictions were accurate.

Tetlock got a statistical handle on his task by putting most of the forecasting questions into a “three possible futures” form. The respondents were asked to rate the probability of three alternative outcomes: the persistence of the status quo, more of something (political freedom, economic growth), or less of something (repression, recession). And he measured his experts on two dimensions: how good they were at guessing probabilities (did all the things they said had an x per cent chance of happening happen x per cent of the time?), and how accurate they were at predicting specific outcomes. The results were unimpressive. On the first scale, the experts performed worse than they would have if they had simply assigned an equal probability to all three outcomes—if they had given each possible future a thirty-three-per-cent chance of occurring. Human beings who spend their lives studying the state of the world, in other words, are poorer forecasters than dart-throwing monkeys, who would have distributed their picks evenly over the three choices.

Tetlock also found that specialists are not significantly more reliable than non-specialists in guessing what is going to happen in the region they study. Knowing a little might make someone a more reliable forecaster, but Tetlock found that knowing a lot can actually make a person less reliable. “We reach the point of diminishing marginal predictive returns for knowledge disconcertingly quickly,” he reports. “In this age of academic hyperspecialization, there is no reason for supposing that contributors to top journals—distinguished political scientists, area study specialists, economists, and so on—are any better than journalists or attentive readers of the New York Times in ‘reading’ emerging situations.” And the more famous the forecaster the more overblown the forecasts. “Experts in demand,” Tetlock says, “were more overconfident than their colleagues who eked out existences far from the limelight.”

People who are not experts in the psychology of expertise are likely (I predict) to find Tetlock’s results a surprise and a matter for concern. For psychologists, though, nothing could be less surprising. “Expert Political Judgment” is just one of more than a hundred studies that have pitted experts against statistical or actuarial formulas, and in almost all of those studies the people either do no better than the formulas or do worse. In one study, college counsellors were given information about a group of high-school students and asked to predict their freshman grades in college. The counsellors had access to test scores, grades, the results of personality and vocational tests, and personal statements from the students, whom they were also permitted to interview. Predictions that were produced by a formula using just test scores and grades were more accurate. There are also many studies showing that expertise and experience do not make someone a better reader of the evidence. In one, data from a test used to diagnose brain damage were given to a group of clinical psychologists and their secretaries. The psychologists’ diagnoses were no better than the secretaries’.

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Two 5W Speaker - Cradle System

Let your computer feel your care with the totally new 2 5W speaker cradle system. This gadget is compatible with MP3/ MP4 players, PC, laptop and many other gadgets.

It can be easily connected by a standard line-in jack or by an USB stream if you want to recharge it or to interface the streaming music access.

Their own stereo output is 2*5W. As there are 2 speakers, each has a frequency response of 100hz – 18khz, 500mV – 1.5v sensitivity input and an input impendence – 10k.

It is available in different colors and shapes so you can easy find a black one if your laptop cover is diamond black.

Has a good size that looks perfectly on your desk or in your bag 216*216*51mm.
Includes few accessories: one AC adaptor, 2 audio line-in cables and a USB cable.



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Garmin Zumo 550 Motorcycle GPS

Works well on both bikes
I purchased the Garmin Zumo 550, along with the extra cradle and wiring harness since I have two Harleys. I combined them with the E-Caddy locking system on both bikes. On my Softail it was an easy installation and works very well, except of course you cannot hear the audio prompts on the bike, unless you install speakers.

On the Ultra I wired the sound through my radio speakers using a 3.5 mm cable and using the Aux port, that you can use with your MP3 player etc.
The prompts are loud and clear.
Garmin GPS

The 550 works very well. I alternate it between both bikes and my car. The suction mount for the car leaves a little to be desired, but the 550 has great features including the Bluetooth capability and also the screen slider to use with heavy gloves. So far so good, but it is the best system I have had in over 45 years of riding. I recommend it to anyone.
Doug P

Zumo 550 problems
I have now had two Zumo 550's completely fail. The first made it three weeks, the second made it 4 weeks-Failure is the same on both units-simply died (not a battery issue).

As the weather prohibits riding a MC at the moment, my only experience with the 550 has been in a car. When it works, very good and easy to use.

While the store replaced the first one (and they will replace the second one), I expect much better from a product at this price point. I will be asking for a refund at this point.

Suffice it to say that I have zero confidence that this unit will survive when exposed to the vibrations and weather on a motorcycle!

The Garmin Garmin zumo 550 Motorcycle Navigator GPS is the first fully-featured, no compromises GPS navigator designed exclusively for motorcyclists with glove-friendly, left-handed controls. Specific features of the new zumo 550 include Bluetooth wireless technology. This feature allows users to place hands-free mobile phone calls when paired with a compatible phone that has Bluetooth wireless technology. Incoming calls are answered by simply tapping the zūmo’s screen and speaking through the helmet mic or optional external mic. A user can also make a call from zūmo’s huge points of interest database – which includes hotels, restaurants, stores, and much more. Customers will also wirelessly receive navigation audio prompts when using a compatible helmet. By connecting to the wired stereo audio jack, users can also listen to MP3s and optional Satellite Radio (subscription required). zūmo 550 comes preloaded with highly detailed City Navigator NT maps containing detailed road maps throughout the entire United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. Map data for the zūmo 550 is provided by NAVTEQ the world leader in premium-quality mapping. This industry leading navigation database allows the user to look up nearly six million points of interest such as restaurants, hotels, transportation hubs, and banks.


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8G Eee PC Shipping Coming Soon

According to a new Amazon product page, the 8G Asus Eee PC is once again up for sale. The 8G was recently delayed after "minor hardware issues", which explains the three to six weeks ship estimate. Amazon appears to be the only site giving a ship date, so if you've been waiting for a 8 GB Eee, it's $542.99 with black as the only color option and your gonna have to wait a month to get it.


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The Appeal - John Grisham

“The Appeal” is John Grisham’s handy primer on a timely subject: how to rig an election. Blow by blow, this not-very-fictitious-sounding novel depicts the tactics by which political candidates either can be propelled or ambushed and their campaigns can be subverted. Since so much of what happens here involves legal maneuvering in Mississippi, as have many of his other books, Mr. Grisham knows just how these games are played. He has sadly little trouble making such dirty tricks sound real.


Building a remarkable degree of suspense into the all too familiar ploys described here, Mr. Grisham delivers his savviest book in years. His extended vacation from hard-hitting fiction is over. However passionately he cared about the nonfiction events he described in “An Innocent Man,” his strong suit remains bluntly manipulative, no-frills storytelling, the kind that brings out his great skill as a puppeteer. It barely matters that the characters in “The Appeal” are essentially stick figures. What works for Mr. Grisham is his patient, lawyerly, inexorable way of dramatizing urgent moral issues.

The jumping-off point for “The Appeal” is that a mom-and-pop law firm wins a big Mississippi verdict, triumphing over a chemical company that has spread carcinogenic pollutants. But this victory could turn out to be hollow, because the deep-pocketed corporate defendant isn’t giving up without a fight. The New York-based Krane Chemical swings into combat mode, first by taking stock of these small-town lawyers. The mom and pop are Wes and Mary Grace Payton: nice people, good parents, nearly broke. Krane’s stealth envoys quickly determine that it wouldn’t take much to push the Paytons over the edge.

But the Paytons themselves are little more than a nuisance to Krane. The precedent created by their case is what matters, and the company’s real objective is to make itself safe from similar attacks in the future. In order to arrange that, Krane needs the Mississippi Supreme Court. Another nuisance: Mississippi Supreme Court justices can’t simply be appointed. They have to be elected.

Now the stakes start to ratchet up. So a corrupt senator puts Krane’s greedy billionaire C.E.O., Carl Trudeau, in contact with Troy-Hogan, a mysterious Boca Raton firm that specializes in elections. There is no Troy. There is no Hogan. There is no record of the nature of the business conducted by this privately owned corporation, which is domiciled in Bermuda. For two separate fees, one acknowledged and the other, larger one delivered quietly to an offshore account, Troy-Hogan will do its magic. “When our clients need help,” says Barry Rinehart, Troy-Hogan’s main power player, who radiates the same expensive sartorial confidence that Trudeau does, “we target a Supreme Court justice who is not particularly friendly, and we take him or her out of the picture.”

This multipart process involves choosing a victim and creating rival candidates from scratch. Soon the stealth saboteurs have trained their sights on a justice named Sheila McCarthy. She is not a liberal ideologue, but she can be made to sound like one (“a feminist who’s soft on crime”).

She’s not an operator or a politician. She is unprepared for a campaign fight. And the only special interest group that ever supported her is suddenly a liability. (Anti-McCarthy mailings will trumpet the question “Why Are the Trial Lawyers Financing Sheila McCarthy?”) As Mr. Grisham points out in one of his book’s many moments of indignation, there’s no need for the architects of a smear campaign to answer such a question. All they have to do is keep on asking it.

Meanwhile the covert operators create their own man: Ron Fisk, a political newcomer. “They picked Fisk because he was just old enough to cross their low threshold of legal experience, but still young enough to have ambitions,” the book explains. Fisk is also new enough to be wowed by perks like private jets, which allow him to make so many more campaign stops than his rivals can, and by all the new attention lavished on him by his backers. He barely has time to wonder why they find him so appealing or where all those campaign funds are coming from.

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Sony rolls out roll-along music player

Is Sony's new portable music playar an attempt to cash in on the Rugby World Cup? With its ovoid shape, the Rolly certainly has a football feel, but instead of air, this ball packs in an MP3 player, funky coloured lights and a pair of loudspeakers. And it moves.

The palm-sized gadget - model number SEP-10BT - has 1GB of on-board storage, which you can fill from a PC connected by USB or Bluetooth. The unit plays MP3 files, but unlike Sony's newest Walkman players, retains Sony's own Atrac format in place of Windows Media Audio. It can play out loud songs streamed over Bluetooth, too.


The 300g player has its own rechargeable battery which is good for five hours' music playback. Switch on Rolly's multi-coloured lighting and its ability to... well... roll along on its own, and play time drops to four hours, Sony said.

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Grocery List Organizer

Grocery List Organizer
The instructions for adding a product could be clearer - which is probably why some give up on the product. Instead of having to move the arrow to each letter to spell in a new product you can just speak the letter. When spelling, you don't have to press Record. You also have to be aware that each added product needs to go in its own group so the printout will put it in the correct category.


A couple of places I have had problems:
1. have to find the word again to pronounce the word more than once (e.g. glucosamine is not recognized with just one training).
2. Adding a word (by spelling) is very easy if the unit is on the refrigerator but is close to impossible if you are trying to set it up on your desk before you put it on the refrigerator
3. Instructions for adding multiple units are OK but haven't gotten them to work. Haven't tried coupons. It's easier to just mark on the list by pen.

All in all it's very useful even if you don't have the time or energy to figure out all of the features. And it's readable - unlike our prior grocery list!

This nifty organizer from SmartShopper eliminates the need to dig up a pad of paper and a pencil and try to remember what you need when you want to make a shopping list. Keep this handy device stuck to your fridge magnetically, or mount it on the kitchen wall with the included kit, and you're set to go. At breakfast when the milk runs out, simply push the Record button and say "milk." At lunch when you realize you're out of bread, push and speak again. Kids will love helping out. You can also add errands, such as going to the bank or post office. Entries are automatically alphabetized. When you push the Print button, the list is printed with errands at the top and food items by category, to make your shopping expeditions more efficient.

Easy and intuitive to use, the SmartShopper is already loaded with state-of-the-art voice recognition software, a thermal printer that doesn't require ink, and 2,500 item names, for everything from brand-name cereals to antacids to paper towels. Three rolls of thermal paper are included as well. All you need to add are four AA batteries. Arrow buttons allow you to scroll through your list, delete an item if you wish, or add a customized item to the pre-loaded list. With its brushed metal exterior, large LCD window, and front-loading door for paper, the SmartShopper makes a great gift, especially for those who may have trouble writing due to arthritis and other health conditions.

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Slacker Portable Player (8GB/40 stations)

The Slacker Portable Player offers an innovative way to discover new music on the go, and its screen is extra large and full of information. The interface is intuitive (minus the touch strip), and the service that complements the device is a bargain.

But, the Slacker Portable Player is large and doesn't feel as high quality as the price point suggests. The device also suffers from background hiss during the playback of stations and awkward placement of volume controls.

The bottom line: The Slacker Portable Player isn't the best player for audiophiles and control freaks, but its excellent accompanying service makes it perfect for those who want their music provided to them for very minimal effort and cost.
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Apple MacBook Air Review

MacBook Air has the following specifications:

• Mac OS X v10.5.1 Leopard and Windows Vista Ultimate
• Intel Core 2 Duo P7500 1.6GHz (4MB L2 cache, 800MHz frontside bus)
• 2GB 667MHz DDR2 SDRAM
• 80GB 4200rpm parallel ATA hard disk drive
• 13.3" glossy widescreen TFT LED backlit display (1280 x 800)
• Intel GMA X3100 graphics (144MB of shared memory)
• iSight webcam
• AirPort Extreme WiFi (IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n)
• Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR (Enhanced Data Rate)
• Micro DVI, USB 2.0 port (480Mbps), Audio out
• Dimensions : 0.16-0.76", 12.8", 8.94" (H, W, D)
• Weight: 3.0 pounds (3lbs 0.6oz actual)
• Integrated 37-watt-hour lithium-polymer battery
• 45W MagSafe power adapter with cable management system (6.5oz)

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Samsung NV

Samsung has announced a trio of new compacts in its NV (New Vision) series, upping the resolution in the range-topping NV20 to 12 megapixels with 8 and 10 MP sensors available in the NV8 and NV15. All three feature the same attractive styling and innovative 'Smart Touch' interface as before - albeit with tweaks. The NV20 is the first camera from Samsung to feature a new and improved image processing system - it will be interesting to see how that performs when the cameras arrive at the end of August 07.


NV Series strengthened with launch of three stylish new digital compact cameras

30 July, 2007, London, UK - Samsung Cameras, leaders in innovation and digital imaging, is building on the success of the groundbreaking NV Series with the launch of three new premium compact cameras. Continuing the themes of innovative technology and user-friendly features, the new NV8, NV15 and NV20 also sport the stylish blue ring design which has become a trademark for Samsung quality and design in the digital camera market.

All three new models in the NV Series include Samsung’s award winning Smart Touch User Interface which has now been further enhanced for easy and convenient control – a gentle touch is all it takes to navigate menu items, change the camera settings, or view your pictures. Samsung’s new NV models also include improved processing technology which allows faster operation of functions within the camera’s ultra-thin stylish bodies. Improved functions include, faster processing of images and improved noise reduction. Other developments include faster Advanced Shake Reduction (ASR) to 0.7 seconds, advanced noise reduction which supports up to ISO 3200 and a new local contrast control which enables the camera to compensate the brightness of a shadowed subject in backlit conditions for even better results.

“Samsung Cameras award winning NV Digital Camera range has set the benchmark for quality and innovation. With new improved processing technology and enhanced features the NV8, NV15 and NV20 build upon this success. Quite simply our new NV cameras ensure photographers of all levels can enjoy taking high quality images they can be proud of” said Robert King, Commercial Director, Samsung Cameras UK.

NV20
The NV20 is Samsung’s first 12 mega pixel compact camera featuring Samsung’s improved processing technology combined with features such as a 3 x optical zoom lens, Advanced Shake Reduction (ASR) and Red-eye fix to deliver optimum image quality to all photographers. The sleek NV20 also offers additional functionality such as TV quality MPEG-4 VGA (640x480) 30 fps video recording and a photo gallery function for convenient picture viewing with the Smart Touch interface. The NV20 boasts a 2.5” LCD screen, a multi-charging system and it comes with a rechargeable battery.

NV15
With 10 mega pixels and a 2.5" wide-view LCD, the NV15 provides brighter, sharper, more detailed images. Coupled with Samsung's unique Advanced Shake Reduction (ASR) system, the NV15 enables you to take clearer pictures indoors or in lower light conditions. The NV10 also features TV quality MPEG-4 VGA (640x480) 30fps video recording. The NV15 comes complete with a rechargeable battery and can also be charged via USB.

NV8
Functioning as a high resolution 8 mega-pixel digital camera, the NV8 is a stylish yet practical device sure to attract the next generation of digital photographers. With both Advanced Shake Reduction (ASR) system and Red Eye Fix technology the NV8 will produce stunning results for photographers of all levels. The NV8 with 3 x optical zoom is encased in a thin body and boasts the stylish black design in keeping with the NV Series. It also has powerful movie capabilities and a 2.5” LCD screen.

The NV20 is priced at £249, NV15 at £229 and NV8 at £199 and will be available from leading high street and online retailers from September 2007. All Samsung cameras also have a two year warranty included. Customers requiring further information should call 00 800 122 637 27 or visit www.samsungcamera.co.uk

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GPSlim 236

Holux GPSlim 236 Slim Bluetooth GPS Sirf III laptop PDA PALM IPAQ PC Receiver
The Holux GPSlim236 Wireless GPS Receiver with SiRF-Star-III high sensitivity built-in chipset is an easy-to-use trip-guiding tool. You are able to enjoy brand-new experience in driving with Bluetooth technology of GPS Receiver, and have GPS connection without a cable. It's more convenient and flexible. Enjoy the GPS life!
Failure of Bluetooth means poor choice
Such a promising device. Worked great with Google Maps on my Blackberry right until the Bluetooth stopped working. Many people seem to have this problem and Holux support is non existent.
Still great almost two years after purchase
I purchased the Holux GPSlim 236 almost two years ago and it still works perfectly. I use it [along with iNav iGuidance software] daily and have never had a moments problem. It sits on the dash of my car all day, every day and continues to amaze me with its performance. It initializes quickly and always has enough satellite coverage to find my location. This poor gps receiver has been ABUSED and never gives up. It has been thrown from my dash more than once [during spirited driving] and it still didn't lose its signal. All in all, one of the better tech purchases I have made.

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HTC Wizard Windows Mobile 5.0 Device Review

Recently we were able to acquire a Qtek 9100, a European version of the soon to be released Cingular 8125. The HTC Wizard is a Windows Mobile 5.0 cellular phone with a sliding QWERTY keyboard and a great little form factor. For more information on the Wizard, and our full review, read on.

INITIAL IMPRESSIONS
The HTC Wizard immediately impresses any user right out of the box. It’s much smaller than you would think for a device packing the functionality it does and easily fits into a pocket. It’s slightly smaller than the highly popular Treo 650, and due to its internal antenna feels much smaller in a pocket or bag. The easy access form factor and well placed hardware buttons make the device easy to use as a phone single handed, and with both hands as a road warriors dream mobile communications device. The screen is bright and crisp, and the speakers provide very clear audio.

THE HARDWARE
As far as the form factor and hardware goes, we couldn’t be more impressed with the HTC Wizard. The sliding form factor, roomy keyboard, and strategically placed buttons make for a slick device. The screen slides up to reveal the keyboard, and then the operating system automatically rotates the on screen UI to match the orientation of the device. The Wizard is a solidly built device. Initially there was some concern that a slider form factor might lead to a weak hinge that was easily breakable, however, after a weeks use those fears were put to rest. The hard plastic used on the Wizard feels tough and able to resist scratches and dents.

The built in antenna is well designed and gets a good signal strength for both GSM communications as well as Bluetooth and WiFi. The antenna is actually on the underside of the screen so the Wizard gets the best reception when opened for use.

The QWERTY keyboard on the HTC Wizard is really the shining crown of the device. It’s roomy, easy to use, and after a weeks adjustment I was able to type an easy 30 words per minute. They individual keys have good feedback and a decent backlighting. On the Qtek 9100 the symbols are difficult to see in the dark because they have weak backlighting compared to the normal letters - this is a minor flaw that the Cingular 8125 promises to fix.

The 200 megahertz OMAP 850 processor in the Wizard is more impressive than we were expecting. It has a number of on-chip features to help process audio, networking, and other commonly used processes which helps speed things up. Unfortunately even with the added speed bonus of the on chip processors the Wizard is a little slow. When using multiple applications the device can seem sluggish or unresponsive.

THE SOFTWARE
Windows Mobile 5.0 has made some significant improvements to previous Pocket PC operating systems from Microsoft. WiFi and Bluetooth are much better integrated, and the operating system has been made much more keyboard accessible. Significant improvements have been made to the Messaging and Pocket IE applications. Pocket IE has a new full screen mode, and more options for how to display normal web pages on a small screened device. The browser still lacks Javascript, but is both easier to use and more functional that it’s competitors on the market (such as the Blazer browser on the Treo 650.)

The Messaging application really shines for business users wanting to connect it to a corporate Exchange server. The new Activesync over-the-air functionality means that you can synchronize your calendar, contacts, and exchange email either on a set schedule, or at the push of a button. The IMAP support unfortunately has not been improved since previous versions of the Windows Mobile operating system, but does provide adequate functionality for most users to keep up on their mail, and keep in contact with their friends.

For some strange reason, as improved as the keyboard support in Windows Mobile 5.0 is, there are still some things that require the use of a stylus or fingertip. The Messaging application requires the stylus to change the active folder being viewed within a mail account, and Pocket IE requires a stylus to put the focus on the address bar to input a new website to view.

THE VERDICT
The HTC Wizard is a great, well-designed device. There are some minor flaws with the operating system, but for the most part it has been a fun and powerful device to review. Although the HTC Wizard is aimed at the enterprise market some of the more tech-savvy power users out there are going to love this device. We hope that Microsoft continues to improve the usability of their operating systems to help make their devices more consumer friendly. We proudly give the HTC Wizard an 8/10 rating and are enthusiastic to see it’s US launch. Hopefully devices like this will become more prevalent and continue to improve the mobile communications paradigm that has begun and make push-email, IM, SMS, and video conferencing technologies within the reach of the entire world.


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‘The Bush Tragedy’ By JACOB WEISBERG

George Walker Bush is the product of two family traditions, the Bushes and the Walkers. On one side is the familiar patriarch Prescott Bush (1895–1972), the decorous Republican senator from Connecticut, the New England WASP, the pennant-waving Yale man. On the other side of his father’s family stands a lesser-known patriarch, George Herbert Walker (1875–1953), the St. Louis buccaneer and raucous playboy.

The Bushes as we know them today are the product of a combination of — one might say the combustion between — the two very different families arrayed around these two dominant men. Because the family is private to the point of being obsessively secretive, its basic internal struggle has been largely obscured in favor of a familiar cliché: the old American upper class. But this isn’t the story of a happy, unified family. Drilling into the history of the Walkers and the Bushes, one hits layer upon sedimentary layer of conflict among brothers, cousins, uncles, and grandparents. The buried drama and forgotten ancestors are the beginning point for understanding George W. Bush, the roots of whose temperament are not as shallow as they appear.

Superficially, the Walkers and Bushes had much in common when they came together just after the First World War. Both families represented industrial fortunes from the Midwest transplanted into East Coast finance. Both were fanatical about sports and ferociously competitive, sharing a passion for baseball, golf, and tennis. Both came to worship side by side at Christ Church in Greenwich, Connecticut, and at St. Ann’s in Kennebunkport, Maine, where George H. W. Bush’s parents, Prescott Bush and Dorothy Walker (1901–1992), were married in 1921. Endless connections to Yale, Skull and Bones, and the Harriman banking enterprises run through both families.

Yet an enormous amount is papered over by the simplification that George H. W. Bush was raised a Connecticut Yankee. The union of Prescott Bush and Dorothy Walker represented less a merger of equals than a crossing of lines: old fortune and new, Protestant and Catholic, Republican and Democrat. Prescott Bush descended from New England abolitionists. Dorothy Walker came from a Maryland family that owned slaves — a family secret that has been previously reported only in a small paper published in Springfield, Illinois. The more noticeable differences were resolved with relative ease. Both families soon became thoroughly Episcopal and Republican, and money ages quickly in America. But there endured a less visible conflict over attitudes, beliefs, and principles.

To put it simply, the value system of the original patriarch, George W.’s great-grandfather George Herbert Walker, was based on the pursuit of wealth. The one embodied by George W.’s grandfather Prescott Bush was an ethical ideal. The ramifications of this divergence were infinite and insurmountable. The Walkers behaved like the worst nouveaux riches: they were grand, greedy, extravagant, and focused on class distinctions. Prescott Bush’s clan was pointedly modest, frugal, and egalitarian. George Herbert Walker’s world was one of yachts, racehorses, estates, and servants. Prescott Bush couldn’t abide a yacht, was uncomfortable at clubs, and hated formal dinners, preferring the modestly genteel lifestyle of a suburban commuter. His social life was the Whiffenpoofs, the Greenwich town council, and golf.

The Walkers were gamblers; the Bushes conservators. The Walkers pursued winning and success; the Bushes sought to serve and lead. The Walkers viewed wealth as an end; the Bushes as a means. The Bushes embodied the old WASP embarrassment about being rich; they pretended they really weren’t, and treated the help as “family.” As Richard Ben Cramer puts it in What It Takes, whose early chapters contain the most insightful writing about them, the Bushes were known in Greenwich as being “not like that” — not the sort of people who lorded their wealth or station over their social and economic inferiors. Biographers find no shortage of tales of the early George H. W. Bush’s egalitarian decency; how he stood up for a Jewish kid being bullied at Andover, how he bonded with the enlisted men on his boat during World War II, how in Congress he wrote personal letters to crotchety constituents, turning them into devoted friends.

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Kyra by Carol Gilligan

Kyra is an architect who moves between her work at Harvard and her design of a utopian city on a private island. Originally from Cyprus, she fled after her husband's murder and finds her time on the island to be a private refuge. She meets and falls for a Hungarian theater director named Andreas who is putting on a non-traditional staging of Tosca. When his betrayal ends the relationship, Kyra seeks help from a therapist named Greta. In re-enacting her relationship with Andreas, Kyra must deal with the sense of betrayal all over again. This debut novel from Carol Gilligan (who wrote the 1982 nonfiction bestseller In a Different Voice has received mostly positive reviews with the San Francisco Chronicle saying, "With her first novel, she achieves both a closely observed voice and a captivating perspective. Kyra is a rare thing: an engrossing, deeply emotional, thinking person's love story."
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