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Xbox Takes Auto Racing To New Speeds
Dec 27th
Never before have game makers been able to capture the true auto racing experience, but now with the release of Need for Speed Shift Xbox all the excitement of racing can be yours. Now, sure you are probably thinking, how much better can this game truly be? Well, this game, quite frankly is over the top.
The graphic are outstanding and give a real feel and look of a true simulated race track. It also has a feature not seen in many games, the ability to pick and choose every aspect of the car you race. From how the car looks to what you have under the hood, all the choices are up to you!
Another great experience with this game is the crashes. You are not only able to feel and see the impact, but you driver is also left stunned and disoriented for a few seconds. The game also adepts to the speed that you are driving so that the drivers head is vibrating and the objects that are passing all correspond to how fast you are racing.
And the way you drive is recorded and you are matched with races that are based on your skill level and driving abilities, which honestly makes for a better overall racing experience, since you will be matched with racers that are at your level. Racing has never been this competitive. Single player career mode is just as good as the multi-player mode, but for many the best racing comes from the online experience of racing others in the Xbox live forum.
It is difficult to describe this amazing experience in just a few short words. The best I can say is that it is the closest racing experience you will ever have, without actually having to step on a track and drive. I believe it is the best racing game, to date, for any game platform, and I think it will be difficult to even try and top it!
The latest racing game that has been receiving a lot of hype is Need For Speed Shift Xbox. It is a excellent game that has the realist feel of actually being on a race track. To order your copy, visit www.cdwow.com. It is a game that the whole family can enjoy so get your copy today!
Do You Have What It Takes To Telecommute?
Nov 29th
If you have wanted to be hired to work from home, the options for you are endless. Today nearly 23% of the workforce works from home at least part time. However, there are characteristics and work habits that you must have if you are going to be successful. Before you quit your regular job to take a work-at-home job, make sure you have what it takes to telecommute:
1) Do you have a skill or talent? Companies that use telecommuters are not looking home workers per se. Employers are more concerned with finding someone who has the skills and experience to do the job that needs to be done. So, how fast can you type? Are you accurate? Can you write? Do you have phone skills? Are you experienced using bookkeeping software? In essence, what skills do you have to give to a company?
2) Do you have the resources? While some companies will provide you with equipment and services, many won’t. Do you have a computer with high-speed Internet access? Do you have landline phone service with flat-rate long distance? Do you have basic word processing and spreadsheet programs? Do you have the equipment, services and resources to do the job you want to?
3) Are you reliable? Are you able to deliver the work at the quality expected in the time frame needed? This means if your child is sick, you can’t just slack off and work whenever. Instead you need to stay up late or get up early to meet the deadline. Work-at-home employees need to operate with the same professionalism as any other employees.
4) Are you self-motivated and able to work independently? There are hundreds of distractions when working at home. The laundry, Oprah, kids, neighbors, the couch for a nice nap, etc. There is no boss standing behind you to make sure you are getting the work done. Its up to you schedule time to work and to get it done in a timely manner.
5) Would you hire you? Before you answer that question, really think about it. If you were the owner of a business that needed to hire help, would you hire someone who had your work ethic or skills? If you are someone who chats a lot by the water cooler or does just enough to get by, you probably wouldn’t want to hire someone like you. If that is the case, you need to change your ways. Working at home gives you a great deal of flexibility and freedom, but its still a job in which someone is paying you to provide quality work to your best ability.
Telecommuting has been the perfect solution to balancing work and family for me; however, it does have its challenges. Not everyone is suited to dealing with the lack of structure and routine that comes with working at home. Before you take the leap into telecommuting, make sure you have what it takes to succeed.
Leslie Truex is a work-at-home consultant and owner of Work-At-Home Success. Get her Jobs Online Toolkit free with a subscription to her work at home jobs and news newsletter, which is also free. Subscribe here http://www.workathomesuccess.com
Sony Takes on Apple as Mp3 Players Evolve Into Mp4
Nov 27th
Apple stole a march on Sony in the portable music market when the iPod appeared as the hottest MP3 player available. With consumers now demanding more mobile entertainment, video music players could spell the end for MP3 players – and Sony looks like it means business with the launch of its new Walkman.
During the era when portable music came in a much more tangible form of cassettes and CDs, Sony practically carried the market with its Walkman concept. However, since the dawn of the iPod, Sony has since found itself no longer the leader of the portable audio player market. The latest offerings from Sony look as though they might be able to force iPod to wobble a little a bit on their perch as they seek to take back what had for so long been theirs – domination of the portable music market.
The NW-A 800 range extends the portable music player line up that Sony currently has. The design is still recognisable from the previous NW-A 1000 range, but it is now a lot slimmer, measuring only 1cm thick. Where its predecessor failed with Sony’s Connect Player music management software, the NW-A 800 models are supplied with SonicStage in the bid to rival Apple’s iTunes. By killing off Connect Player and resurrecting SonicStage – originally designed to be used with the ill fated NetMD players – Sony is effectively demonstrating how it intends to learn from its mistakes. The organisation is still persevering with the ATRAC audio format, maintaining Sony’s determination to assert its way on the world. The players themselves also support the more generic MP3, AAC and WMA formats, making it accessible to more users. Although the audio transfers are done with Sony’s own software, video transfers are made with a simple drag and drop, and the players support MPEG4 and AVC video formats. Another subtle difference exists between the old and new Walkman MP3 players, as the NW-A 800 comes with flash memory instead of a hard disk. As is the standard with portable video players, it will be possible to upload JPEG images to view too.
On paper, the Sony Walkman MP3 player appears to be able to compete with the Apple iPod; it looks good, it can play continuously for 30 hours (8 hours for video), it uses software that works as well as conventional methods and it is compatible with plenty of other popular file formats. Unfortunately, Sony may discover that this Walkman might not be able to compete with the iPod Video on price. Apple’s 30GB iPod Video can be found on the Internet at prices as low as £150, where as the NW-A808 8GB Walkman retails at best at £179.99. Although people with smaller music collections may well have more money spare, the compactness and guaranteed uninterrupted playback of the Walkman cannot possibly win over such a large saving per GB. The iPod’s inferior battery life may also play into the hands of Sony, as well as the extra file format compatibilities, but it is hard to imagine that there will be many people who are willing to pay over the odds for portable MP4 video players at this early stage of the market lifecycle. Clearly, Sony is betting a lot on the early adopters.
In terms of accessories, Apple has captured the imaginations of many other manufacturers, and there exist plenty of add-ons and spin-offs to keep the savviest happy. These range from portable speakers and skins to audio pets and body straps, and are all designed with the same quirky looking panache that is synonymous with the iPod. Sony have announced that there will also be plenty of accessories available for the new MP3 player, but it’s likely that there will not be the same adulation and take up from third party manufacturers that is afforded to Apple. With Sony’s design also aiming at a more sophisticated ‘cool’ look, it might also be harder for designers to create anything that can really compliment the player. Sony’s previous insistence on imposing its own formats and standards hasn’t always endeared itself to the general public, either, so this count against the take up for third party produced gizmos. But by incorporating the standard drag and drop method for playing MP4 and video files, this may take Sony into more popular light. Too help boost their presence, they have also launched a MySpace page to encourage a more approachable persona.
Cracking the MP3 player market is already difficult enough, with other brands like Creative and Samsung holding positions below Apple. Sony’s history in the portable player market has carried it well into the digital age, but now they find themselves playing catch up against considerably larger odds. Advocates of Sony’s innovation and build quality will be more than prepared to pay for this new MP3 player and that may be enough to ruffle Apple’s feathers. As credible an achievement as this would be, Sony are likely to be unsatisfied with this, and they will hope that the NW-A 800 range is a step to regaining the market leading position.
This article has been brought to you by Laskys. Laskys is a trusted supplier of a wide range of Home Entertainment Systems, Plasma Screen TVs and a LCD TVs.
Technology Takes Surveillance Cameras to the Next Level
Nov 20th
With technology continuously offering new and improved things to society today, it is no surprise that surveillance cameras have improved the way we can protect ourselves. Everything from infrared cameras to wireless PC cameras can be bought on the market, and many can be purchased for a surprisingly reasonable rate.
The future of surveillance cameras lies within pc surveillance systems with wireless cameras. This is truly one of the only ways you can go about getting a portable system that is quick and easy to use. There really is no installation process needed and if you want to put night video surveillance cameras around, there is little effort required.
To enhance the experience even more with your PC wireless cameras, you can use DVR multiplexers with the cameras. This allows you to send data to your PC and control everything that happens with the cameras from your computer. Even if you are on vacation, as long as you have an Internet connection you can view your cameras and control what they are doing.
If you are looking to put surveillance cameras outside your house or business to watch at night, purchasing an infrared camera is the way to go. Infrared cameras automatically illuminate in the dark, giving it the ability to record in black and white mode. Using low light wavelengths, these cameras can detect moving objects in the complete darkness allowing you to sleep comfortably. It’s almost essential to have since a majority of robberies and break-ins are after sunset.
Board cameras are fixed lens’ mounted on a circuit board that are packaged either in a small case, a dome or simply aren’t packaged at all. Lenses that you will find in these cameras are either a normal industry opening or a pinhole lens with a very small opening. It is the pinhole lens that is most commonly known as spy cameras.
Spy cameras are great for mounting in a concealed manner for covert surveillance situations. You can place a spy camera virtually anywhere that is small and undetected, but the most common places you will find them at are in smoke detectors and small holes in a wall. The most common forms of spy cameras are motion detector cameras and smoke detector cameras.
It is comforting to know that with technology developing by the second, there are new and innovative ways for people to stay safe. You now have the ability to view your house while on vacation with PC wireless cameras, you can catch burglars in the act at night time with infrared cameras, and you can go covert opt with the latest spy cameras on the market.
Danny Wright is the webmaster for MerchantLand.com .For more information on Surveillance Cameras , please visit the fastest growing online shopping mall MerchantLand.com. We offer top brands at very reasonable prices. Satisfaction guaranteed.
Nokia Takes Touchscreen Phones to the Next Level
Nov 15th
Anyone who likes touchscreen phones should be excited; the most well known brand in the industry has brought out not one, but TWO mobile phones: the sexy Nokia 5800 and the terrifyingly jaw-dropping Nokia N97.
Phase 1 – Nokia’s not-so-brilliant early attempts at a touchscreen phone
Many people seem to be under the incorrect assumption that the Nokia 5800 is the first touchscreen mobile phone Nokia have ever made. It isn’t. The opposite’s true, because there have been several touchy-feely phones released under the Nokia name. Starting with the 7700, we’ve seen a few Nokia mobile phones that are controlled by you pressing directly on the screen. They had a relatively big (for the time) touchscreen in common, but the other feature they had in common, unfortunately, was that they were irredeemably hideous. Just one of those devices, the 6708, displayed a modicum promise, but it was made only for the Chinese market, and so, we never got to play with them in Britain. Unfortunately, that meant that the phones we got were utter, utter garbage.
However, those bad mental images have now been removed by the launch of two new Nokia mobile phones, both of which have touch-sensitive displays, and both of which are much, much sexier…
Nokia 5800 – the magic touch
The first phone on the roster is a completely new member of Nokia’s Xpress range of music mobile phones, the gorgeous Nokia 5800. This phone is very obviously built for music and video; you can tell by the separate XpressMedia touch-key that brings up a list of links to music, videos, the internet, and more. Oh, and the Nokia 5800 has a 3.2 inch touch-sensitive display, to let you use those different media files. Essentially, the Nokia 5800 was created to be a teeny handheld entertainment centre, and as music handsets go, this is just about the sweetest. The Nokia 5800 has also got a 3 megapixel camera, HSDPA internet connection and sat-nav, so that it’s a superb all-round mobile phone, in addition to being a superb media box. Oh, and it’s got a strap to clip on a fake guitar pick. Pointless, but brilliant.
Despite all those features, the Nokia 5800 is very definitely a mid-range device; it isn’t, nor will it ever be, a full-on powerhouse. That role falls to another device…
Nokia N97 – touched by an angel
With the Nokia 5800 all set to deliver touchscreen mobile phones to the mid-range market, that opens up a very big gap at the absolute top-end of the product range; well, there IS a touch-based mobile phone on its way to take its place as the top-end powerhouse: the utterly jaw-dropping Nokia N97. This uses the same Symbian S60 Touch operating system and packages it into the frame of a proper, full-on smartphone. So it has an even more huge, 3.5 inch screen, a slide out QWERTY keypad, and the camera now weighs in at a meaty 5 megapixels. The Nokia N97 is, as should be glaringly obvious, destined to be the new flagship Nseries mobile phone, and it really is as hyper-powered as the rumours had us believe, with HSDPA, sat-nav, digital compass, and integrated Flash, so that you have an internet experience that tops any other mobile phones! Put it like this: the Nokia N97 is awesome. It gleefully relieves itself over other mobile phones and while the Nokia 5800 angles firmly for the mid-range, I reckon that the Nokia N97 will completely DESTROY the competition next year!
Expert on mobile phones, having worked in the industry for over 7 years.
Nikon D3000 Takes the Place of the D40 and D60 – How Does the Nikon D3000 Compare to the D5000?
Nov 14th
But there is already an entry level camera in the Nikon stable. It is the Nikon D5000. So what are the differences between these two cameras, and which one is the better buy?
Starting with the basic specifications that always get the headlines, the D3000 has a 10.2 megapixel image sensor compared to the 12.3 image sensor of the D5000. While many people are driven to buy the newest camera with the most megapixels, it is not as significant a difference as the marketers would have you believe. A 10 megapixel image is capable of producing monstrous prints of just about any size you would want.
Other differences of note are listed here:
(D3000 listed first) vs (D5000 listed second)
Sensor size: 10.2MP vs 12.3MP – slight Advantage D5000 LCD: 3.0″ with 230K pixels vs 2.7″ with 230K pixels – tilt LCD screen - slight Advantage D5000 because of the tilt screen Live View: no vs yes – Advantage D5000 Continuous frames: 3fps vs 4fps – slight Advantage D5000 Video: no vs Yes 1280 x 720 (720p) 24 fps with mono sound – Major Advantage D5000 Price: $599 vs $729 (both cameras have the same Kit Lens included) – your call based on the above features Image quality: equal – Advantage D3000
From the differences listed, the Clear Advantage goes to the D5000. However, one must consider their own needs. The price difference is about $130, and the major feature causing that price difference is the Video capability of the D5000. So, the bottom line will be the whether or not the buyer has a desire for Video in their camera. Many folks who are moving up from a point and shoot digital camera have become accustomed to having that capability. However, camera purists will be looking for a camera that has two things, The first is the ability to change lenses as shooting requirements change (hence the DSLR), and the second is the ability to control the cameras shooting setup by manually selecting the priority mode, such as Aperture or Shutter speed.
Are you willing to spend an extra $130 for the video capture feature?
Since this is a brand new release, many reviewers will compare the Nikon D3000 and D5000. A more visually pleasing comparison is available at http://www.digital-photographic-resources.com.
I love photography and all things related to it. Cameras, camera gear, and image editing software fascinate me, so I am either buying the newest piece of equipment (or software) or researching my next purchase.
New Nikon D3000 – Nikon D3000 Takes on Canon Rebel XSi
Nov 13th
A few years back, Canon was the first to release a sub-$1000 camera with the Rebel 300D. Nikon followed quickly with the Nikon D40, and subsequent releases of Canon and Nikon entry level DSLRs have been able to increase the technology and lower the prices of these highly regarded cameras with each new release. Both Canon and Nikon have had terrific track records in the area of user satisfaction.
So how has Nikon sweetened its pot with the new D3000? There have been some very significant improvements over the extremely popular D40 which has now been discontinued from production. There are also a few improvements over the D60, which is also getting older as camera years go. Here are a few of the improvements over the Nikon D60:
LCD panel is improved from 2.7″ to 3″ Autofocus has been upped from 3 point recognition to 11 point recognition 3D AF processing Starting price is $599 (includes kit lens)
With respect to the Canon Rebel XSi the beginning price point is even lower for the Nikon than it is for the Canon, even though the Canon XSi price tag has been reduced since the release of the Rebel T1i with its newer processor and video capability. Some things to consider as you ponder your camera buying decision.
Neither the Nikon D3000 nor the Canon Rebel XSi have video, so if you must have video in your DSLR, you are going to need to spend a bit more to get to the next level, either the Nikon D5000 or the Canon Rebel T1i. Both cameras produce excellent images. This has been true with all the entry level cameras from Nikon and Canon – award winning image quality. Both models allow the use of the interchangeable line of lenses designed for these and much more expensive DSLR cameras. Other lens manufacturers also produce quality lenses for Canon and Nikon that may be less expensive.
Whether you are leaning toward the Nikon D3000 or the Canon Rebel XSi, you will be happy with your choice. The Nikon vs Canon debate will go on no matter which one you choose, but once you make your purchase, you can join in the discussions and fun on forums and camera clubs.
There is a much more comprehensive comparison at http://www.digital-photographic-resources.com.
I love photography and all things related to it. Cameras, camera gear, and image editing software fascinate me, so I am either buying the newest piece of equipment (or software) or researching my next purchase. Be sure to visit the Cameras-N-Stuff Blog.