I will be finished with this website tonight: Dry Erase White Boards
11 mars 2010
6 mars 2010
TV TimesBlog
What a great idea, I just bought a usb tv tuner for my wife's computer and it works great. If you are thinking about buying one, check out one my new websites, the links is above. Have a great day!!!
4 mars 2010
Wednesday
A total of 19 Japanese startups were given the chance to show their services at TokyoCamp, a demo event held by TechCrunch Japan (one of the country’s biggest blogs) this Friday. The event, which was co-organized by hosting company KDDI Web Communications, was a blast and attracted over 200 people this time.
This was the third TokyoCamp (see here and here for my previous reports), and here are short profiles of all the startups that presented there. (Please note not all of the services offer English homepages.)
Demo 1:
AQUSH by Exchange Corporation
Launched by Tokyo-based Exchange Corporation in December last year, AQUSH is a peer-to-peer lending service that is similar to ZOPA in the UK. AQUSH aims to unlock some of the more than US$7 trillion of retail cash and bank deposits (that are earning nearly 0% interest) by offering individual investors access to the US$300 billion Japanese consumer loan market.
Lenders set their desired investment amount and interest rates from 4% to 15% for 5 classes of borrower credit risk, as denoted by AQUSH itself. AQUSH loan applicants are screened based on their credit histories, financial situation and FICO scores.
The service has been in operation for 2 months and so far the average annualized ROI for investors is 10.58% after fees. AQUSH says for borrowers, interest rates range between 25% to 50% cheaper than available from specialized consumer lending companies.
If you can read Japanese, there’s an in-depth (and fairly recent) article on AQUSH on TechCrunch Japan.
Demo 2:
Maysee by Mogura
Japan is business card country, which means that your average salary man collects hundreds of these cards in any given year. Maysee is a service that scans business cards for clients, corrects OCR errors manually and makes the data accessible via PCs or mobile phones through a web app (for $20 per month per user/$0.35 per business card). The company is currently looking for business partners overseas.
Demo 3:
Sketch Piston by Team Lab
Sketch Piston is the name of a “new game genre” created by Tokyo-based Team Lab. There are two “Sketch Action” games available at the moment, Sketch Piston 3 and 4 (both of which were made for Team Lab clients). Players can interact with characters in the Flash games by “sketching” various objects with a virtual pen, stamp and eraser. The games have no goal per se, but users can make and share creative gameplay videos on a dedicated platform.
Demo 4:
Cacoo by Nulab
Cacoo is a what appears to be a powerful online drawing tool that allows multiple users to create designs collaboratively and in real-time. The designs can be shared with certain users or published on the web, for example on blogs or wiki sites. If you make changes to the designs in Cacoo, the blog or wiki the designs were pasted into gets updated automatically and in real-time, meaning there is no need for another upload.
Mainly made for technical illustrations (wireframes, software design diagrams, network diagrams, UMLs etc.), Cacoo is completely browser-based, free and available in English.
Demo 5:
Link Knowledge by SAN SAN
Link Knowledge is an SaaS solution with a focus on CRM and SFA (sales force automation). Much like Maysee (profiled above), Link Knowledge digitizes information found on printed business cards, puts the data into context and stores it in the cloud for customers who can then access their data from anywhere they want.
Demo 6:
Wishcovery
Wishcovery aims at matching people who have the right skills with those who have uploaded requests or project proposals on the site. The service is scheduled to launch in alpha in April. TechCrunch Japan covered Wishcovery just last month after it won the “TechCrunch Japan Award” at the first Startup Weekend Tokyo event.
Demo 7:
Conyac by anydooR
Dubbed “social translation service”, Conyac is actally based on a virtual currency called “Conyac Points”. The way it works is that “requesters” need to pay a certain fee upfront, upload a text and indicate which languages the text should be translated into. Registered translators (who don’t need to get screened or examined) translate texts they think they can handle to earn Conyac points. Those points can then be converted into real money via Paypal, with the service itself getting a 20% cut.
Demo 8:
LIFEmee
TechCrunch50 demopit company LIFEmee presented a revamped version of their eponymous life management service that will go live early next month. Expect less clutter, a simplified UI, fresh features (i.e. a scheduler) and a new mobile version (scheduled for release next month).
Demo 9:
Mangaroo by Mobakids
Mangaroo is a free, social manga service that allows comic artists (amateurs and professionals alike) to upload and share self-created works with other users. Readers can just read the comics, leave comments, bookmark their favorite manga or rate them.
Here’s how a typical “e-comic”, submitted by a Mangaroo member, looks like (click to enlarge):
Each manga is based on Flash and can be embedded in other websites.
Demo 10:
meme memo by meme design
meme memo is a free, Flash-based “pin board” that can be covered with “virtual Post-its”. Each user can set up to ten pin boards (folders) and embed up to 1,000 Post-its (“cards”) to scrape, organize and share various information. Some cards require work by the users themselves (i.e. the ToDo card or the address book), but others get updated automatically once you add them to your folder (i.e. the Twitter card or the RSS card). Apart from pure text, it’s also possible to add videos (YouTube card), images or audio files to the pin board.
Demo 11:
TwitCasting Live by sidefeed
As one of the few iPhone apps that were shown at TokyoCamp, Twitcasting Live (iTunes link) is a free Twitter client that lets you broadcast (video and audio) live through your Twitter account. The app splits the iPhone screen in half: You can see what you currently broadcast on the top and access your Twitter timeline on the bottom. When you start the recording, Twitcasting tweets a link to your followers who can watch the live broadcast on their PCs or iPhones. The app works with both 3G and Wi-Fi and supports the 3G as well as the 3GS (click here for a demo video).
Demo 12:
Bang Me! by DigitalNomad
Let me explain the name first: Bang Me! is a wordplay of sorts on the Japanese word for “program” or “show”, which is pronounced “ban-gu-mi” (seriously). Provider DigitalNomad is marketing the downloadable software as a dead-simple video editing tool for beginners or online businesses that don’t have the budget to produce flashy promo videos.
Bang Me! was featured on TechCrunch Japan last month and appeared to be much better than the name suggests (I was told they will change it when the software goes on sale internationally).
Demo 13:
Hanashirabe by Knowledge System
In case you ever stumbled upon a flower whose name you either forgot or were interested to know, Hanashirabe is the solution for you. Just upload a picture of the flower in question, crop it, specify when you took it and the “flower recognition engine” will reveal the name of the flower in a heartbeat (demo video).
Demo 14:
Talknote
Pitched as “Yammer for private use”, Talknote is a micro social communication service that has yet to launch. The main selling point of the service is that it enables multiple users to text-chat across a number of different devices – virtually in real-time. Talknote will be the first service that allows iPhone users to communicate with owners of regular Japanese handsets this way (PCs, Symbian, Blackberry, Android etc. will eventually be supported as well). The conversations are stored as “talknotes” and can be accessed again anytime later. I was able to play around with the iPhone version, which looked pretty nifty already.
Demo 15:
Qlippy by SpinningWorks
Presented for the first time at TokyoCamp, Qlippy is an iPad application that extends to the web in the form of a social network for book lovers. The app will let users download EPUB-based ebooks off the web to read on the iPad. Provider SpinningWorks says readers will also be able to clip pictures or texts on the iPad to create their own scrapbooks. The clipped elements and scrapbooks can be shared with other people on the Qlippy website (demo video).
Here is an early screenshot (click to enlarge):
Demo 16:
waarp by Waaotn
Korean transplant Dong Yol Lee has presented a very early version of waarp, his 3D audio augmented, “eyes-free” social network system that eliminates the need for a visual UI.
Demo 17:
Video Analytics by sus4
Video Analytics is a freemium-based “Google Analytics for video” that’s especially geared towards e-commerce and education sites. The tool helps to analyze how visitors view videos by breaking down which keywords from search engines are the most effective, how many times a certain video was accessed, how many users watched it from beginning to end, at which points users pushed the stop button etc. All data is visualized online through a Google Analytics-like dashboard.
Demo 18:
mindia
mindia wants to be the online “encyclopedia of your mind”. The main idea behind the service is to provide a platform for people to share their viewpoints on any given keyword with the world (in Japanese, at least). Unlike Wikipedia, mindia encourages users to post what they personally think and makes all discussions public, with every member having a specific profile page (example). In other words, mindia is like Wikipedia with a social network built on top of it. The platform is free to use, but there’s also a solution for enterprises.
Demo 19:
Fastweet/Fastweet Live by Glucose
Tokyo-based startup Glucose presented three Twitter apps for the iPhone. Fastweet is one of the many, many Twitter clients out there and is available in the App Store as a free version (which stores just the latest 200 tweets) or as Fastweet 2K (for $1.99), which keeps the latest 2,000 tweets. Fastweet Live (iTunes link) is a good solution if you search for specific keywords or hashtags. The app then displays just the relevant tweets dynamically, which makes sense during an event or if you want to stay informed continuously on a current hot topic or a specific news item (demo video).
The next TokyoCamp will probably take place in April. Thanks to all attendees, startups and co-organizer KDDI Web Communications, and a sorry to the many people who couldn’t make it on the guest list this time!
Go to TechCrunch Japan’s Flickr account to see more pictures of the event.
Every week The Sports Hernia and Cousins of Ron Mexico will recap the top five stories of the week. They are listed by importance, humor and relevance with a high degree of historical perspective in mind. Mostly, we’ll be reviewing the stuff TBL has run into the ground over the last few days, but sometimes a story slips through the cracks. Or some third reason allowing us to bring up something pointless.
1. Tony Kornheiser, Hannah Storm and ESPN
CRM — Personally, I don’t care how Hannah Storm dresses. And I thought it was weird that this story got so damn big. And then it turned into a flame war between Big Sexy and The Balls. This internet stuff can be weird sometimes.
TSH — It’s still shocking to me how many people are/were actually “offended” by the way Hannah Storm dresses. Those boots, FMBs, whatever you want to call them, are a winter wonderland fixture. They’re everywhere in the northeast, sans Bristol, from early November to whenever icicles stop forming on our nipples — which, right now, looks like early June. The outrage is laughable.
2. Olympic Ice Hockey and USA vs. Canada
CRM — This game needed more Eurotrash, I can tell you that much. If you can get past that, what an awesome game. I was on the edge of my couch for the entire time and it was capped by Ryan Kesler’s sick empty netter.
TSH — Using two Mario’s, one medium guy and one skinny dude is probably the best strategy in bringing Olympic hockey gold to American soil. But the safest guess for Sunday’s final is that Mike Milbury loses his shit halfway through the second period.
3. Figure Skating Beef! Evgeni Plushenko vs. Evan Lysacek
CRM — It’s figure skating. Let me just say that NBC messed up the figure skating too. They kept it live, late at night so people like my mother could watch. Well, my mother doesn’t want to stay up until midnight in the middle of the week when she has to work the next morning. There’s no perfect time for any of these events. Did I just argue for or against NBC? I’m honestly not sure. And who the fuck are Evgeni Plushenko and Evan Lysacek?
TSH — Never in a million years did I expect a male figure skating controversy to be headlined by two dazzling showmen who are content with boning chicks.
4. Lindsey Vonn vs. Julia Mancuso
CRM — Mancuso has a point about Vonn getting all the attention for no particularly good reason. But what do you expect? The media latches on to certain people for unknown reasons. The only way these two can truly settle their differences is Jell-o wrestling.
TSH — Every time they show Lindsey Vonn when it’s not her turn to ski, she looks like someone who is simply there to look good and has no idea why everyone is going up and down the mountain. It’s a fascinating transition. As for Mancuso, she finds relaxation with a Carlsberg tall boy. She’s cool with me.
5. Curling
CRM — I got into a big argument over it. The Sports Guy thinks he can improve it. I went curling. There was an internet curling tournament with bloggers and commenters. “Shuster’d” officially entered our lexicon. Will any of us still be thinking about curling at all next week? Maybe not, but this was one magical ride.
TSH — I’ve watched my fair share of curling over the past week. Its definitely got a hypnotizing quality to it, but the only thing that merits being described as a magical ride is soaring through the sky on the back of affable flying dog, Falkor.
Honorable Mentions
Awesome celebrations … Nude viral marketing … A fucking hat!
Query of the Week
What is Eric Hinske’s deeeeeeal?
I find this video entrancing.
But this is my favorite video… of all time?
And now, for a tremendous finisher…
3 mars 2010
17 février 2010
13 février 2010
The BeanPost
One of the biggest factors stopping people from purchasing a coffee press is that they don't know how to use one. After purchasing one for myself I've learned that making a perfect cup of coffee is extraordinarily easy with a classic French press. The great news is that not only are French presses easy to use, but they are also extremely cheap. Follow this step by step guide to learn how to use a coffee press.
1. Use coarse grounds – To use a coffee press you need to use coarsely ground coffee. Finely ground coffee will clog up the filtering system, preventing the coffee press from working and creating a headache for you. Very finely ground coffee could even escape the filtration system. For the freshest results, manually grind your coffee beans right before you make your coffee.
2. Measure out the coffee – The recommended amount of coarse coffee grounds to use is one large tablespoon per 4 ounces of coffee. Do the math for how much your making to figure out how much you need.
3. Pour the coffee grounds – Take the filter and plunger system out and pour the coffee grounds directly into the bottom of the French press.
4. Heat and pour in the water – Heat up however much water you need and pour it into the coffee press. You want to water to be extremely heat but not boiling, so if it boiled just give it a few seconds to cool down.
5. Stir the mixture – Stir around the coffee grounds and the hot water in the coffee press for a quick moment.
6. Put the top back on – Place the top of the coffee press including the filter and the plunger back atop of the French press, but don't press down.
7. Let it sit – You want your mixture to sit with the top on for about four minutes. You can use a kitchen timer on your oven to easily keep track of this, or otherwise just keep a close eye on your watch. You generally wouldn't want any less than four minutes, but if you left it for a bit longer you'd get stronger coffee.
8. Push and plunge – Slowly and gently push down on the plunger. If your coffee press is glass or see through, you'll be able to see the coffee rising above the filter as you keep all of the coffee grounds below.
9. Enjoy – Pour the coffee into your cup and enjoy!
Learning how to use a coffee press really isn't that difficult. You can make a great, fresh cup of coffee with no hassle in well under ten minutes. It's a tried and true way to get distortion free, great tasting coffee from the convenience of your home.
11 février 2010
With advanced technologies that will allow you to turn this simple desktop computer into an entire entertainment center. This Gateway Intel Quad Core TV Desktop, Model: LX6810-01 has been developed for those who are looking for a desktop that will produce extraordinary 3D graphics, super-charged processor and an overall stable computing environment. This Gateway desktop computer comes with a TV tuner and the ability to record live TV as well as display your video games in stunning clarity. The average price for this Gateway Desktop is $780 and it can be purchased only at Best Buy and through online retailers.
Product Rating:
Overall Rating: 4/5 Stars
Main Features and Technologies:
This super-charged desktop computer will allow you the flexibility to enjoy high-performance computing within a user-friendly computer. The first feature that I found to be very exciting is the Intel Core 2 Quad Processor. This unique processor features the stability of the Intel Core 2 processor line, however, with four execution cores you will never encounter a situation where you computer freezer or even lags. If you are a creative professional, then you will definitely want to take a look at this Gateway Desktop Computer.
The hard drive within this desktop is massive. It will offer you a total of 640GB worth of storage, which is plenty for not only advanced computer users but also the average user. With a read speed of 7200RPM, you can easily access your information, as well as download files in lighting speed. If you have a large multimedia library, then you will be very pleased with the size of this hard drive.
With the NVIDIA GeForce GT120 Graphics Card, you will be able to enjoy a higher level of graphics capabilities. Again, this desktop has been outfitted with ample features that will allow professionals as well as those who are just serious about their multimedia entertainment to enjoy a world class computer. This graphics card will enhance the appearance of your movies as well as create the ideal platform to play even the most graphic-rich video game.
The 15-in-1 Memory Card Reader will allow you to instantly upload your digital photographs, no matter what type of memory card you use. When you combine this with the six USB 2.0 ports, you'll be able to connect all of your digital devices to this desktop.
With the 10/100/1000Base Ethernet Connection, you'll be able to connect to the Internet in brilliant speeds. However, there is no wireless connection built-into this Gateway Desktop, so you'll have to install one if you desire to connect wirelessly.
What a great idea, I just bought a usb tv tuner for my wife's computer and it works great. If you are thinking about buying one, check out one my new websites, the links is above. Have a great day!!!
10 février 2010
PC FriendBlog
Gadget and Gear Deals of the Day
We've got quite a pile of deals in today's Dealhacker roundup. Discounted HDTVs, mountains of laptops and netbooks, and more than a few cameras and peripherals. If you're saving your pennies, you can still score some free tunes and games.
Computer Gear!
- 15.6″ Dell Studio 15 Core i7 Laptop for $899 + $6 shipping (Regular Price: $999)
- HP Pavilion Elite HPE-150t Core i5 Desktop for $779.99 + Free Shipping (Regular Price: $1,000 – use coupon code DTAL89741)
- 17.3″ Acer Aspire AS7740 Core i5 Laptop for $699.99 + Free Shipping (Regular Price: $850)
- 17.3″ Toshiba Satellite L555D Laptop for $549.99 + Free Shipping (Regular Price: $648)
- Microsoft Wireless Desktop 3000 for $39.99 + Free Shipping (Regular Price: $52.23).
- Microsoft LifeCam VX-5000 for $27.99 + Free Shipping (Regular Price: $37.95).
- Canon ImageCLASS MF4350d Laser All-in-One Printer for $179.99 + Free Shipping (Regular Price: $204.93).
- Iomega Prestige 1.5 TB USB 2.0 Desktop External Hard Drive for $119.99 + Free Shipping (Regular Price: $130.95).
- 10″ Samsung NC10-13P Netbook (Pink) for $339.95 + Free Shipping (Regular Price: $374)
- 10.1″ Dell Mini 10 with Intel Atom N450, 160GB HDD, WinXP for $279 (Regular Price: $299)
- iRocks 2.5″ Silicone Hard Drive Enclosure for $2.99 + Free Shipping (Regular Price: $12.99)
- 10″ ASUS Eee PC Seashell 1005HA Netbook (3 colors) for $299.99 + Free Shipping (Regular Price: $319)
- 10″ Dell Inspiron Mini 10v Netbook for $249 + Free 2-day Shipping (Regular Price: $279)
- 23″ HP Touchsmart 600 Quad Core i7 All-in-One Touch PC for $1,615 with free shipping (Regular Price: $2,099.99 – use coupon code SVNL58743)
- Dell Studio Desktop Core 2 Quad 2.5GHz and 20″ HD Widescreen Monitor for $702 shipped (Regular Price: $867)
- Dell Inspiron 546 Desktop with Athlon II X4 630 2.8GHz and 20″ Monitor for $649 plus shipping (Regular Price: $963)
- ASUS Eee Box B202 Desktop PC for $219.95 + Free Shipping (Regular Price: $254)
- Biostar AMD Quad-Core 2.3GHz Barebones Desktop w/ 1TB Hard Drive for $299.99 + Free Shipping (Regular Price: $399)
- 18.5″ HP Pavilion MS220s 1.6GHz Dual-Core All-in-One Desktop for $569.99 with free shipping (Regular Price: $699.99 – use coupon code SVNL58743)
- 18.4″ Toshiba Qosmio X505-Q870 Core i7 Laptop for $1,399 with free shipping (Regular Price: $1,494)
- 18.4″ Toshiba Satellite P500-ST6844 Core i5 2.2GHz Laptop for $799 with free shipping (Regular Price: $1,1094)
- 16″ Asus K61 Laptop for $819.99 + Free Shipping (Regular Price: $872)
- 15.6″ HP G60-630US 2.2 GHz 3GB RAM 320GB HDD Laptop for $529.99 + Free Shipping (Regular Price: $579)
- 15.6″ Toshiba Satellite L500-ST2544 Laptop with Intel Core i5 Processor for $599 + Free Shipping (Regular Price: $819)
- 14″ Toshiba Satellite M500-ST6444 Core i3 2.13GHz Laptop for $699 with free shipping (Regular Price: $889)
- 14″ HP dv4i Core i5 Laptop w/ TV Tuner & 12-cell battery for $1,052 + Free Shipping (Regular Price: $1,502 – use coupon code NBLB654877)
- 13.3″ Dell Studio XPS 13 Laptop with Core 2 Duo Processor 2.53GHz and HD WXGA WLED LCD for $1249 with free shipping (Regular Price: $1668)
- 13.3″ Toshiba Satellite U500-ST6344 Core i3 2.13GHz Laptop for $699 with free shipping (Regular Price: $854)
- 12.1″ HP EliteBook 2730p FM866UT Notebook for $1000 with free shipping (Regular Price: $1599)
- 11.6″ Lenovo ThinkPad X100e Netbook Laptop for $449 + Free Shipping (Regular Price: $584)
- 23″ Acer P235Hbmid HDMI LCD for $179.99 + Free Shipping (Regular Price: $209.99)
- 23″ ASUS VH236H LCD for $164.99 + Free Shipping (Regular Price: $189 – use coupon code CUPID14 – use this form)
- 19″ Acer X193WCbd LCD for $119.99 + Free Shipping (Regular Price: $129.99)
- 120GB OCZ Solid 2 OCZSSD2-2SLD120G MLC SSD for $269 with free 8GB Memory Card (Regular Price: $299 – use use this form)
- Seagate FreeAgent Desktop 1.5TB USB 2.0 External Hard Drive for $129.99 + Free Shipping (Regular Price: $139)
- 640GB Samsung S2 HDX-MU064DA Portable USB 2.0 Hard Drive for $89.99 with free shipping (Regular Price: $110 – use coupon code 24HRSALE23C)
- Seagate FreeAgent Go 500GB USB 2.0 External Hard Drive for $90 with free shipping (Regular Price: $168 – use coupon code:EMCYNYN34)
- 300GB Western Digital VelociRaptor WD3000HLFS 10,000RPM 3.5″ Hard Drive for $189.99 + Free Shipping (Regular Price: $250 – use coupon code EMCYNYN45)
- Lexmark Prospect Pro205 Wireless 4-in-1 Printer for $99.99 + Free Shipping (Regular Price: $124.61)
- Epson Workforce 610 Wireless Color Inkjet All-in-One Printer for $99.99 + Free Shipping (Regular Price: $130)
- Logitech diNovo Wireless Keyboard Mac Edition for $39.99 (Regular Price: $68.27)
- Logitech diNovo Edge Bluetooth Wireless Keyboard Mac Edition for $78.99 (Regular Price: $89.95)
- Logitech G9x Mouse + Logitech G110 Wired Keyboard for $106.98 + Free Shipping (Regular Price: $138.98 – use this rebate form and this rebate form)
Home Entertainment Gear!
- 50″ Samsung PN50B450 720p Plasma HDTV for $699.99 + Free Shipping (Regular Price: $797)
- 60″ Sharp AQUOS LC60E77UN 1080p 120Hz LCD TV for $1,700.40 + Free Shipping (Regular Price: $1822 – use coupon code BONUSBUY)
- 50″ Samsung PN50B450 720p 600Hz Plasma TV $699.99 + Free Shipping (Regular Price: $798)
- 40″ Samsung UN40B6000 1080p 120Hz LED TV, plus Samsung BD-P1600 Blu-Ray Player for $1,099.98 + Free Shipping (Regular Price: $1254 – use coupon code OJG589)
- Yamaha RX-V365 5.1-Ch. Home Theater Receiver for $159.99 + Free Shipping (Regular Price: $195)
- Jamo E770 3-Way Loudspeaker for $149.88 + Free Shipping (Regular Price: $500)
- 32″
Toshiba 32AV502R 720p LCD HDTV for $349.99 + Free Shipping
(Regular Price: $424) - 52″ Sony BRAVIA KDL-52W5100 120Hz, 1080p LCD HDTV + Free Wall Mount for $1,408 with free shipping (Regular Price: $1,589 – use coupon code LOGICBUY20)
- 52″ Sharp AQUOS LC52D85U 1080p, 120Hz LCD HDTV for $999 with free shipping (Regular Price: $1245)
- 47″ LG 47LH30 1080p 120Hz LCD TV for $679.96 + Free Shipping (Regular Price: $775 – use coupon code EMCYNYN27)
- 47″ Vizio VT470M 1080p 120Hz LCD HDTV + VMT37-60S Ultra Slim Tilt Wall Mount for $879 with free shipping (Regular Price: $1099)
- 42″ Vizio XVT SV421XVT 1080p LCD HDTV for $799 with free shipping (Regular Price: $999)
- 42″ Zenith Z42PQ20 720p 600Hz Plasma HDTV for $449.99 with $65 shipping or free pickup (Regular Price: $569.99)
- 40″ Toshiba 40XV645U 1080p, 120Hz LCD HDTV for $649.96 with free shipping (Regular Price: $699 – use coupon code 24HRSALE23F)
- 32″ Toshiba 32RV525R LCD HDTV (1080p) for $399.99 (Regular Price: $599)
- Logitech Harmony 1100 Universal Touchscreen Remote for $291 with free shipping (Regular Price: $350)
- Logitech Harmony 700 Universal Remote Control for $104.99 + Free Shipping (Regular Price: $119.99 – use coupon code EMCYNYN26 and this rebate form)
- Klipsch HD Theater 500 Home Theater Speaker System + Sony STR-DH700 7.1-Channel Home Theater A/V Receiver for $600 with free shipping (Regular Price: $800)
- Magnavox NB500MG1F Blu-ray Disc Player for $68 (Regular Price: $110)
- Asus O!Play HDP-R1 TV HD Media Player for $89.99 + Free Shipping (Regular Price: $100)
- Polk Audio SurroundBar360° DVD Home Theater System for $319.99 + Free Shipping (Regular Price: $399.99)
Portable Gear!
- TomTom XL 340S Live 4.3-inch Internet GPS for $196 + Free Shipping (Regular Price: $238)
- Canon Powershot E1 10MP Digital Camera for $149.99 + Free Shipping(Regular Price: $170)
- Sony Alpha A330Y 10.2 MP Digital SLR Camera with 18-55mm and 55-200mm Lenses for $679 + Free Shipping (Regular Price: $749).
- Magellan RoadMate 1470 4.7-Inch Widescreen Portable GPS Navigator for $137.66 + Free Shipping (Regular Price: $164.73).
- 12.1-MP Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W190 Digital Camera for $129.99 with $4.99 shipping (Regular Price: $140 – use coupon code 24HRSALE23G)
- 12.1-MP Panasonic Lumix DMC-TS1 Waterproof Digital Camera for $249.95 with free shipping (Regular Price: $272.95)
- Digital Foci Photo Book for $162.16 + Free Shipping (Regular Price: $178.95)
- Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W290 12 MP Digital Camera for $179.95 + Free Shipping (Regular Price: $219.69)
- Sanyo VPC-CG10 HD Flash Memory Camcorder for $149.99 + Free Shipping (Regular Price: $160)
- Apple iPod touch 32 GB 2nd Gen for $239.99 + Free Shipping (Regular Price: $272.06)
- Zune HD 32 GB Video MP3 Player for $249.99 plus frdee shipping (Regular Price: $260)
- Nextar 7 inch Digital Photo Frame $23.98 (Regular Price: $39)
- Axion AXN-8701 7-Inch Widescreen Handheld LCD TV with Built-In Tuner for $79.99 + Free Shipping (Regular Price: $109.41)
- Garmin nuvi 285WT GPS Navigation System for $107 shipped (Regular Price: $130 – use coupon code:24HRSALE23D)
- Audiovox ARWH1 Mini-Bridge Bluetooth Stereo Earset for $30 with free shipping (Regular Price: $65)
- Lexar 16GB Secure Digital High Capacity (SDHC) Card – Class 2 for $25 shipped (Regular Price: $60)
- Alpine Blackbird PND-K3 4.3″ Portable Navigation System for $92 w/ free shipping (Regular Price: $160 – use coupon code:BONUSBUY)
- TomTom ONE 130 GPS Navigation for $80 w/ free shipping (Regular Price: $160 – use coupon code:BONUSBUY)
- Viewsonic HD MovieBook VPD400 Portable Video Player for $80 w/ free shipping (Regular Price: $140)
- Altec Lansing IM207 Orbit Ultra-Portable Speaker for $9.99 (Regular Price: $15.38)
- Samsung WEP460 Bluetooth Headset for $1.99 with free shipping (Regular Price: $16.94 – use this form)
Free Stuff!
- “Surviving Sid” (free Ice Age short, Amazon VOD) for $0 (use this form)
- Long John Silver's Crispy Breaded Fish Piece for $0 (use this form)
- Rockstar Classics: GTA, GTA 2, Wild Metal (PC) for $0
- Mass Effect: Redemption issue 1 of 4 (iPhone) for $0
- eMusic.com 35 MP3 songs for $0
- Drop Those Legs by The Recital (MP3) for $0 (download here)
- MP3 of Heroes by Ne-Yo for $0 (use this form)
- Rooster by Alice in Chains MP3 for $0 (use this form)
- In Between The Spaces You Don't Think About by …soihadto…(MP3) for $0 (download here).
- Twistum (iPhone/iPod Touch) for $0 (Regular Price: $.99).
- Subscription to Surfer Magazine for $0 (use this form)
- Coldplay Download for $0 (use this form)
- Paragon Hard Disk Manager for $0 (use this form)
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There are tons of uses for displays that can be connected to a PC or other video input source that have nothing to do with home theater or general computer use. Some of the largest displays are aimed at use as digital signs like we see in airports and at some businesses. NEC has pulled a massive display out of the shadows called the P701.
The giant display has a screen measuring 70-inches and is designed to operate continuously. The huge screen has a resolution of 1920 x 1080 and a contrast ratio of 2000:1. The screen has a typical brightness of 420 cd/m2 and a maximum brightness of 600 cd/m2. NEC builds thermal protection and internal temperature sensors in to prevent damage caused by overheating.
A sealed design helps the screen survive environments with dust, grease, or steam and the display has a built-in expansion slot. Other features include a real-time clock and a scheduler that will shut the display down when it’s not needed to save power. A version of the P701 with a TV tuner called the P701-AVT will be offered as well. Both versions of the display will ship in March with the non-tuner version selling for $11,799.
The Visiontek ATI TV Wonder USB Tuner is an exceptionally easy to use TV tuner to receive analog and digital TV signals as well as a full recording and video capture device.
Ease of Use, Performance: 23/25, Look & Feel: 23/25,
Features 22/25, How much I enjoy 23/25
Total: 91/100
The Visiontek ATI TV Wonder 650 series of TV tuners can capture video from a separate device as well as record high definition or analog television on your desktop or notebook computer. The ATI TV Wonder is an easy to install USB device that also comes with the ATI Media Center program for ease of installation and watching your TV as well as DVD and other videos.
Of course you will need to meet the system requirements but this great and very easy to install TV Tuner works with a notebook or desktop computer. The USB connection and external tuner box means you can use this with any computer and watch high definition television as well as record shows and video from a device you connect with the RCA or S-Video connections.
The ATI TV Wonder 650 USB features and specifications from the Visiontek website:
Features:
HDTV with No Monthly Fees
Personal Video Recorder
Watch, pause, record live TV,
Fully integrated Electronic Programming Guide (EPG)
Video Input and Capture
ATI Catalyst™ Media Center
Built-in DVD decoder
ATI Avivo™ Video Converter
ATI Catalyst™ Software Suite
ATI Catalyst™ Media Center is our new 3D interface that makes it easy to access the vast array of features on the ATI TV Wonder™ 650 series. Large, bright easy-to-read buttons with fully integrated Electronic Program Guide makes for an easy to use, intuitive interface.
Electronic Program Guide
Video Converter Supporting MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4, DIVX, WMV9, and H264
DVD decoder software
DVD Authoring software
System Requirements:
AMD Athlon™ or AMD Sempron™, Intel® Pentium® 4 or Celeron®, (or compatible) CPU.
Sound card and speakers.
High-Speed USB Port
System memory: For Windows® XP: 256 MB required, 512 MB or more recommended for better performance. 1 GB or more recommended for Windows Vista®
CD-ROM drive (for installation software).
An ATI Radeon™ DirectX® 9 compatible or newer graphics card is recommended for optimal display output quality.
Cable TV signal or amplified antenna.
Supported Operating Systems
Windows Vista (all versions),
Windows XP
Windows XP Media Center Edition
Package Contains
TV Wonder 650 USB TV tuner
USB 2.0 cable (A to B)
FM Antenna
Power adapter
Full featured remote with receiver
Installation CD
Install guide
AMD LIVE!™ CD
The TV Wonder 540 Tuner allows you to watch television in both high definition and analog as well as capturing video from the analog and S-Video connection on the tuner box. You can also listen to FM Radio with the enclosed FM Antenna or your own external one by connecting the antenna to the Cable TV/FM antenna connection and setting up the channels in the setup of the ATI Catalyst software.
Setting up the entire system was very easy for the ATI Catalyst software and worked very well. You can also use the TV Tuner as a TV tuner and capture device for Windows Media Center but this can be a bit more difficult to set up. You need to get your computer to recognize that it has the tuner connected and often Windows will not recognize an external device. What worked for me was turning off the computer and turning it back on with the tuner connected and Windows Media Center had no further problems using the external TV tuner on my new laptop computer.
As I mentioned and the system requirements also state that you will need a better computer CPU with this and just about any other TV tuner. You can use a Pentium 4 or an AMD Athlon single core but if you have any dual core CPU it will work much better.
I have four computers that this tuner works on very well and I have no problems at all receiving very good high definition television on them all. One laptop computer is even a single core Athlon notebook computer and it worked fine. You just can't run other things while you watch TV on the lower systems but they still work well without any skipping or other viewing problems.
The TV Tuner also works very well as a recording device to connect a VCR or Camcorder to and record all those VCR tapes or special events on your computer or transferring to DVD. The Media Center or ATI Catalyst will bring up several options to record from these devices that work very well. The device capture works well and records with several options in the ATI Catalyst like author and burn or just save to a file.
The various settings and features of the ATI Catalyst are nothing fancy but offer some very good basic controls and settings that are easy to use. With good video editing software like Windows Movie Maker you can do a good job of editing those home movies and recording them to DVD for future viewing and sharing. The video and DVD authoring in ATI Catalyst is simply changing some basic functions of the video like format and adding in music files as well as a few preset menu choices.
The ATI Catalyst program does a decent job for the video creation but is nothing fancy as it is more of an add on to the capture device. The FM Radio also works very well but is nothing fantastic as it just captures and records local FM stations that are available. This is not something that is really a major feature as most TV tuner cards also come with a radio tuner but it does work well and is easy to set up with the Catalyst software.
The ATI TV Wonder 650 also comes with a remote control with the remote sensor on a separate USB connection that works just like a regular TV remote. The remote works very well but you do have to get used to the power button, it works as a power button for your computer and not the program. If you want to set up the remote for use with your computer you have to set the Bios for wake on a USB device. The program to use the remote is installed with the rest of the ATI programs and is effortless to install.
The Visiontek ATI TV Wonder 650 USB Tuner is a very good TV tuner for both the analog and digital TV signals and is very easy to set up. The USB connection means you will have an easier time using this without the fuss of installing a video card in your computer as well as easy installation for a notebook PC.
Overall this is one of the easiest but most basic TV Tuners I have reviewed but it works very well. I highly recommend the Visiontek ATI TV Wonder 650 USB Tuner for a very good TV tuner and capture device.
6 février 2010
21 janvier 2010
NaturalTips
Table of contents
1. Introduction: Surface Properties and their Functions in Biological Systems
Stanislav Gorb
Part I. Protection and Defence
2. Biological Properties of Fruit and Seed Slime Envelope: How to Live, Fly, and Not Die
Agnieszka Kreitschitz
3. Easily Damaged Integument of Some Sawflies (Hymenoptera) is Part of a Defence Strategy Against Predators
Jean-Luc Boevé
Part II. Anti–wetting
4. Water Repellence in Gecko Skin: How Do Geckos Keep Clean?
Uwe N. Hiller
5. Anti-Wetting Surfaces in Heteroptera (Insecta): Hairy Solutions to Any Problem
Pablo Perez-Goodwyn
6. Water Repellent Properties of Spiders: Topographical Variations and Functional Correlates
Gail E. Stratton, Robert B. Suter
7. Dry in the Water: The Superhydrophobic Water Fern Salvinia – a Model for Biomimetic Surfaces
Zdenek Cerman, Boris F. Striffler, Wilhelm Barthlott
8. Brochosomal Coatings of the Integument of Leafhoppers (Hemiptera, Cicadellidae)
Roman A. Rakitov
Part III. Transport
9. Pull, Push and Evaporate: The Role of Surfaces in Plant Water Transport
Anita Roth-Nebelsick
Part IV. Aerodynamics
10. Molding and Carving Cell Surfaces: The Joke of a Fold and the Origin and Evolution of Feathers
Lorenzo Alibardi
Part V. Acoustics
11. Surface Structure of Sound Emission Organs in Urania Moths
Alejandro Barro, Marianne Vater, Martha Pérez, Frank Coro
Part VI. Sensory Systems
12. Functional Coupling of Cercal Filiform Hairs and Campaniform Sensilla in Crickets
Ralph Heußlein, Heribert Gras, Werner Gnatzy
Part VII. Optics
13. Advanced Photonic Systems on the Wing-Scales of Lepidoptera
Peter Vukusic
14. Sub-micron Structures Causing Reflection and Antireflection in Animals
Andrew R. Parker
15. Surface Colors of Insects: Wings and Eyes
Doekele G. Stavenga
16. Butterfly Photonics: Form and Function
Abigail L. Ingram
Hello,
I recently emailed Cllr Terry Kelly in response to some lies he'd told about me on his blog.
Here is his response!
'It wasn't just the terrywatch site which was repellent you were as well; anyone who uses mental health issues to gain personal advantage is beneath contempt; that means you.
You were anonymous out of cowardice nothing else; like the other contemptible blogger “Will” you now feel vulnerable because of the recent expose of anti Labour blog scandals and you no doubt wonder what might happen. I have been contacted by two different sources who remember the Herald article and they have asked me if I would supply them with any stuff which I have kept so I am watching developments closely. It would be interesting to add some other names of people involved in such despicable behaviour.
I don't know anything about other Herald Stories on you or the other malcontents involved and I don't want to know; the whole rotten lot of you deserve each other. As far as taking further action against you is concerned that decision will be taken not by me but by my daughter; were it simply down to me you would have had the lawyer's letter by now.'
Cllr. Terry Kelly.
Oh dear! I'm actually desperate for this to go to court. I'm of the opinion that prosceuting me for my political beliefs hurts him rather more than it hurts me. I'm also of the opinion that pigs will fly the day this pair of political bigots sue me.
Cheers
P.S If anyone is up for restarting Terrywatch on a more organised and more analytical basis let me know.
J.C
