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Morgan Hamilton offers expert advice and great tips regarding all aspects concerning animation. Get the information you are seeking now by visiting Animated Mouse Cursor
February 6, 2008
Even though I am a huge fan of playing cards, I cannot set aside an evening to play poker with my friends and family because we all have very busy schedules. I miss those evenings when we played poker for hours. Nothing can be compared with sitting down with your friends for a lovely evening of cards, remembering old times and funny memories, drinking a few beers and having some snacks. Personally I find this the best way to enjoy my friends. However, when this is not possible, then I turn to playing online card games, my second favorite activity.
Playing online card game is really easy, you don’t have to call your friends and try to arrange a convenient time and place for everyone to get together and play poker. When playing online, you sign in and then you just get started, everyone is already there, you have virtual cards and a virtual table, as well. Everything is redistributed, cheating is impossible and all you have to do is sit down and play the hand. When you get bored, you are free to go or you could change the table. There are even people who can play two or three online card games at the same time. I can only admire such dedication.
When playing online, you can still make some new friends. Online card games have the opportunity for text conversation, so you can talk to the people you are playing with. Using this chat is great because you are not face to face and you don’t get nervous about meeting strangers. Moreover, you can pretend to be someone you are not and no one will question you. If you start feeling uncomfortable or you get bored with the game, you can leave whenever you want. Playing online card games has the advantages of face-to-face card playing without the disadvantage of commitment and effort. However, no matter how good online card games might be, nothing is better than a nice poker night with your old friends sharing memories and having a few drinks.
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Morgan Hamilton offers expert advice and great tips regarding all aspects concerning computer software. Learn more at Online Card Games
February 3, 2008
INTRODUCTION
We now live in a fast paced society where we expect products and services to be delivered rapidly (some say ‘yesterday’), cheaply, and with a high degree of quality. This is particularly true in the systems and software industry. If we lived in a perfect world, systems and software would be developed rapidly and inexpensively, they would effectively satisfy business needs, and would be easy to maintain and modify. There is only one problem with this scenario: it is a fantasy. In reality, we live in a ‘disposable’ world where systems and software are slapped together in the hopes everything will hold together and will pacify the end-user for the moment. Some people believe striving for a Utopian world is an impossibility and, as such, resign themselves to rewriting systems and software time and again as opposed to designing them to be industrial strength.
Improving speed in the development process is relatively simple to accomplish; e.g., the plethora of programming tools available. But adding quality into a product is something entirely different. From the outset we must recognize that quality doesn’t come naturally to people anymore. Back when there was a sense of craftsmanship, quality was rarely a problem. This is back when people identified with their work products, and strove to seek perfection as it was a reflection of their character. Corners were not cut and products were made to last. Unfortunately, we no longer live in such times and people tend to disassociate their work from their personal lives. Further, the speed and sophistication of our tools leads us to believe we are producing quality products. The reality is that our tools are only as good as the people using them, not the other way around.
A PERFECT WORLD
How one person perceives quality may be entirely different than another’s. This is because we tend to have different perspectives in how to build something, e.g., whereas one person may build a product one way, another may build it using an entirely different approach. This means products are commonly built using inconsistent methods. Let me give you some examples:
- If we lived in a perfect world, we would have a standardized approach for defining requirements, thereby everyone would be operating with a standard approach for scrutinizing requirements. But the reality is our approach to requirements definition is redefined with each development project, thereby making it impossible to validate requirements with any consistency.
- If we lived in a perfect world, developers would be working with standard data definitions that would include validation/editing rules, among other things. This would result in a consistent approach in the use of data (aka ‘Data Cleanliness’) and would promote system integration through data sharing. But the reality is that each programmer specifies the use of data (including its physical characteristics and validation/editing rules) on a program by program basis, thereby defeating the opportunity to share and reuse data in a consistent manner. Even worse, implementing changes on a consistent basis is difficult at best (e.g., the Y2K problem).
- If we lived in a perfect world, programs would be designed in a standardized manner so they may be easily modified or maintained by any other programmer at a later date. But the reality is that programs are written based on the personal nuances of the programmer, making it next to impossible to maintain or modify by another person. Consequently programs are discarded and rewritten.
- If we lived in a perfect world, developers would adhere to a standard and consistent approach (methodology) whereby uniform work products could be produced and reviewed, thereby improving communications among the staff and allowing for the interchangeability of workers in the development process. But the reality is, the development process is defined on a project-by-project basis, thereby uniformity and interchangeability is defeated.
The reality is we live in an imperfect world. What would appear to be obvious approaches to development seldom occurs in most systems and software shops. It is simply unnatural to developers who prefer to operate independently as opposed to adopting a shop standard. This of course means development organizations tend to ‘reinvent the wheel’ with each project.
Because of such inconsistencies, the only option for improving quality is to try to inspect the product after it has been built, not during development. Under this approach, inspection is complicated as each person has designed the product according to their own personal interpretation of development, not as a standard body of work.
BUILDING QUALITY INTO THE PRODUCT
It is obviously cheaper and more sensible to arrest a product defect early during development as opposed to trying to catch it afterwards. To do so, the development process has to be subdivided into defined units of work specifying what is to be
produced (work products, aka ‘deliverables’), how it should be produced (using accepted tools and techniques), and its acceptance criteria (including review points). Such a work environment is in sharp contrast to ‘The Black Hole’ approach used by most organizations today; e.g., requirements are fed into an unknown development environment and the resultant product is inspected afterwards. This approach concentrates only on the final deliverable and not on the overall process by which the product is to be developed. By the time the final product is produced, it may be unrecognizable to the user and the project may have exceeded estimated cost and schedule. Even worse, the product may have to be redesigned and rewritten over and over again. Interestingly, this is the approach advocated by today’s ‘Agile’ proponents.
In other manufacturing practices, the definition of the work environment is the responsibility of an Industrial Engineer who defines the units of work in the development of a product (assembly line), the standard tools and techniques to be used, the work products, and the acceptance criteria. Although the concept of Industrial Engineering is applicable to systems and software, few development organizations are familiar with the concept.
THE PRICE OF QUALITY
Regardless of what you call it, Industrial Engineering or Quality Assurance, quality requires a dedicated group of people to define the overall development process, monitor progress, and constantly research new ways to improve it (tools and techniques). This does not mean quality is the sole responsibility of such a group. It is not. Quality is the responsibility of every person involved in the development process. The group simply provides leadership in this regards.
In terms of costs, the truth is that quality is free (as the likes of Philip Crosby have pointed out to us). True, it requires an outlay of money upfront to embark on a quality assurance program, but this will be offset by reduced costs later on in terms of reduced development time and fewer defects requiring rework. By having everyone working according to defined processes and work products, errors are caught and corrected early in the
development process. Further, work products are easier to maintain and modify later on, this specifically includes systems and software. Such a program, therefore, does not add overhead to the development process, it reduces it.
To make this work though requires commitment from management and herein lies the rub. As I mentioned earlier, we live in fast-paced times. Implementing an effective quality assurance program takes time to cultivate, it cannot be installed overnight. There is more to it than mechanics; standards have to be devised, attitudes have to be adjusted, consciousness’ raised, etc. In other words, it is the people-side of quality that takes time to mature and become ingrained in the corporate culture. As such, a quality assurance program requires management vision and long-term commitment to see it come to fruition. This is difficult to sell to managers who have trouble thinking past the next financial statement. But if executives understand that a company truly runs on systems and software, then they will be more amenable to investing in industrial strength applications.
CONCLUSION
Its interesting, the systems and software industry is one of the few industries that resists standardization as opposed to embracing it. Standardization is an inherent part of any quality program. It means devising and applying craftsman-like rules in the development of a product or service. Such rules substantiates completion of work in a prescribed sequence and is measurable. And maybe it is this kind of accountability that developers resist.
Some developers even go so far as to question the necessity of a quality assurance program since many companies rewrite their systems and software year after year. Maybe they are right, but I tend to see this as a defeatist attitude, that we can do nothing more than produce mass mediocrity. I believe we can do better. But to do so, we need to invest in ourselves and our future. Remember, you must first plant the seeds in order to harvest the crop. Unfortunately, most companies tend to eat the seeds and then there is no crop to harvest. Somehow I am reminded of the old expression, ‘You can pay me now or pay me later, but you’re going to pay me.’
‘Quality must be built into the product during design, not inspected in afterwards.’
- Bryce’s Law
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Tim Bryce is the Managing Director of M. Bryce & Associates (MBA) of Palm Harbor, Florida, a management consulting firm specializing in Information Resource Management (IRM). Mr. Bryce has over 30 years of experience in the field. He is available for lecturing, training and consulting on an international basis. His corporate web page is at:
http://www.phmainstreet.com/mba/
He can be contacted at: timb001@phmainstreet.com
Copyright ? 2006 MBA. All rights reserved.
January 22, 2008
Microsoft Great Plains upgrade, customization redesign, placing back into Microsoft Dynamics annual enhancement program, custom reports version revision, Dexterity and VBA/Modifier custom logic upgrade
When you have out-of-the-box non-modified version of Microsoft Dynamics GP Great Plains 6.0, 7.0, 7.5, 8.0 or 9.0 upgrade is pretty straight forward process, Dynamics GP Utilities do the job. However this ideal case is rare, real customers have Microsoft Dexterity customizations, ReportWriter modified reports, modified Great Plains forms (Modifier with VBA scripts), Crystal Reports, SQL stored procedures ? all these modifications needs professional consultant to be analyzed, upgraded and even redesigned. Let?s look at technical highlights:
? Microsoft Dexterity. Great Plains Dexterity customizations were introduced in earlier 1990th and since then the whole spectrum of Great Plains clients depends on these modifications. Dexterity was initially aimed to provide database independence (with Dexterity cursors ? these were working with Btrieve/Pervasive SQL, Ctree as well as MS SQL Server 6.5). In 2004 Microsoft Business Solutions stopped support for all the other DB platforms, except Microsoft SQL Server 2000/7.0. This single fact makes Dexterity cursors pretty slow and less efficient, than aggregated logic of SQL select and update statements. The other typical Dexterity customization upgrade issues are alternate forms.
? ReportWriter reports. Microsoft Dynamics GP upgrade guidelines list reports, that needs to be recustomized, or modified from scratch. Our experience indicates that in the majority of cases we can ?upgrade? these reports without ?demolition? by analyzing change to Dexterity functions, introduced in the new version.
? VBA Modifier. These mods are the likely candidates to be redesigned on the new technology base: eConnect, MS Visual Studio.Net and even Dexterity. VBA is not a .Net technology
Please give us a call: Alba Spectrum Group: 1-866-528-0577, Brazil: 55-11-3444-4949, help@albaspectrum.com skype: albaspectrum
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Andrew is consultant at Alba Spectrum Technologies ( http://www.albaspectrum.com http://www.enterlogix.com.br ) - Microsoft Business Solutions Great Plains, Navision, Axapta, MS CRM, Oracle Financials and IBM Lotus Domino Partner, serving corporate customers in the following industries: Aerospace & Defense, Medical & Healthcare, Distribution & Logistics, Hospitality, Banking & Finance, Wholesale & Retail, Chemicals, Oil & Gas, Placement & Recruiting, Advertising & Publishing, Textile, Pharmaceutical, Non-Profit, Beverages, Conglomerates, Apparels, Durables, Manufacturing and having locations in multiple states and internationally.
January 21, 2008
Structural engineers use engineering formulas relating to material properties and physics to design structures which will withstand all the forces the structures may be subject to. Examples of such forces are gravity, wind shear, stresses due to aging of materials and seismic vibration.
Structural drawings are part of the language the same structural engineers use to communicate with contractors, fabricators and regulatory bodies. These drawings describe the details of an object?s supporting members, such as beams and columns, which are designed by the structural engineer.
Structural drawings are crucial in the construction of buildings, tunnels, ships, aircraft, oil drilling platforms, bridges, retaining walls, mines, infrastructure projects, automobiles and any other object subject to significant forces.
Examples of elements described in structural drawings are beams, columns, trusses, roof framing, braces, steel connections, concrete footings, pile foundations, metal decking, joists, stairs and handrails.
Structural drawings are executed by structural draftsmen. Structural draftsmen typically work under the structural engineer responsible for the structural design. Skilled structural draftsmen convert the engineer?s sketches into CAD drawings, and also check that the designs conform to the relevant statutes and building codes.
In addition they compile material takeoffs and are responsible for keeping records of all drawings produced and transmitted downstream.
During the later half of the twentieth century, structural drawings were created on the computer using specialized software. This software created two-dimensional (?2D?) images of structures; conceptualizing the actual object in its real, three-dimensional (?3D?) form took place only in the mind. This called for highly developed spatial conceptualization abilities on the part of the concerned individuals.
But the twenty-first century saw the emergence of advanced 3D software tools for structural drafting. These tools enable draftsmen to instantaneously create a 3D element (such as an I-beam) by merely entering its dimensions. Subsequently, on the screen, the element can moved, rotated and joined with other elements just as it would be in the real world.
Once an entire object has been thus drawn from 3D elements, the software automatically creates a bill of materials, and if costs are put in by the draftsman, an itemized estimate is also output.
All this translates to shorter turnaround times for the production of drawings and more accuracy in the drawing itself.
Since the time structural drawings were created on computers, they were stored in electronic form. With advances in network communication, paperless transmission of drawings from one node in a network to another became possible. The network now encircles the world (as the Internet) and structural drawings are transmitted between countries quickly and easily.
Using additional collaboration software, structural drawings are now created by teams separated by thousands of miles, faster, more accurately and with more creative input than at any time in human history. No wonder a structure can be designed in the US, drawn in India and built in the Middle East!
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Lucky Balaraman runs The Magnum Group, one of India?s best-known engineering CAD services providers. The Company offers an outstanding structural drawing service that is overseen by in-house engineers and architects. To learn more about it, go to
http://themagnumgroup.net/Structural_Offer.htm
January 16, 2008
As more and more emphasis is laid on the use of innovation and information communication technology(ICT) as a powerful medium towards improvements in the field of education, technology has become a huge enabler, for the complete teaching-learning process.
An article by Mr.Rajendra S. Pawar, chairman, NIIT on ‘Dreams for India’ published recently, made interesting reading. He has very steadily outlined the Govt. of India’s initiatives in the field of education, followed the pace of growth of these endeavours and highlighted how they have benefitted the fabric of education at school level.
Though his article primarily highlights technology assisted learning and not technology assisted teaching, yet his lines,
‘…revisit the role of technology in education and look at imaginative ways of using it to grapple with one of the most staggering problems that dogs elementary school in India, paucity of teachers.Through a rigorous public-private partnership, and by using Technology as the enabler, the push for universal education will get the vigour and thrust it needs…’
carry an important message.
However, with due regards to his stature and background, i would like to reiterate here, that the role of teacher as a catalyst in the delivery of education, cannot be overlooked. Hence, in a scenario like that of India, where there are issues like population explosion, a conscious effort should be directed towards-
1.Training and recruiting more and more teachers, and hence also creating those many new jobs.
2.Aiding the teacher through providing them with good ICT tools for the delivery of good quality education.
As public-private sectoral partnerships in this direction grow, i am sure that creating those many new jobs and providing breadwinners to those many additional households will also be a step in the right direction.
An interesting endeavour in this direction, is an Indian teaching system called ‘Bhartiyavidya’. As laid down in Wikipedia, ‘Bhartiyavidya is an Indian teaching system that attempts to integrate technology into the classroom while maintaining the student-teacher relationship. The system has found some recent success within India’.
Bhartiyavidya is a system that can be used by the teachers for more effective classroom teaching alongwith other conventional teaching methods and tools. The philosophy behind Bhartiyavidya is that the teaching-learning process is sacred and should not be tampered with; the teacher should just be provided with the right tools to perform the function of imparting knowledge. This is a beautiful audio-visual medium which succeeds in increasing the interest of the learner, increasing conceptual clarity and retentivity as also incorporate measuring tools for perception analysis and has found widespread favour with students and teachers.
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http://www.itvidya.com/blog/vandanaahuja
http://www.ict4social.blogspot.com
January 15, 2008
Retrieving deleted/inaccessible data from electronic storage media (hard drives, removable media etc…)
Typical causes of data loss include:
o Electro-mechanical Failure
o Natural Disaster
o Viruses
o Data Corruption
o Sabotage
o Human Error
Is Data Recovery important?
Over the past years, hard drives have gotten a lot quieter and faster, with capacities of more then 350 GB. The downside is that their consistency is far from perfect, and the devices are often burdened with mechanical failures, this warning however is never mentioned in the vendors’ product specifications.
Our experience for over a decade shows that users can be sub-divided into two groups. The first group of users is well informed or has already experienced the sting of losing data. In cases such as these, the user is careful to back up information such as emails, photos, document files and financial data on a CD/DVD or other media, at least on an asymmetrical basis. A corporate user has the IT department or an administrator one who takes care of his backups. Digital assets are thus protected however still a virus attack, hardware failure or simply human error can destroy this critical asset. However, this group is a small minority.
The other group lives with an enduring risk, either because they aren’t aware of the possible horror scenario or often it is the case, they don’t take it seriously enough. It should be clear to everyone that any multifaceted component at any day may fail to provide its services. If such a scenario occurs, then all the data stored exclusively on a hard drive would most likely be lost.
So when this nightmare happens and your hard drive is clearly damaged, people pick up the phone and call data recovery firms, which have the necessary equipment and lab infrastructure to do the required job.
According to Imation?s Small Business Survey Special Report conducted in April 2003.
30 percent of small businesses admit they have no formal data backup and storage procedures, or do not implement their procedures consistently.
?Fifty-five percent of small businesses rated themselves as ‘fair’ or ‘poor’ in terms of having a documented disaster recovery plan, or do not have one at all.?
?Review and evaluation of data backup and storage procedures is not a common practice among small businesses.?
?The majority of small companies? backup critical data on a daily basis and daily backups are more common among companies that deal with higher volumes of data. But one in three small businesses still wait until there is a problem before reviewing and evaluating their backup and storage procedures.?
?Moreover, 21 percent said that they are doing a ‘fair’ or ‘poor’ job of periodically removing important business data offsite ? a vital procedure to protect businesses from physical disaster. An additional 13 percent of small businesses admitted to not removing backup files at all ? that?s 34 percent at risk?.
Data Recovery Techniques
Basic questions which needs to be answered before recovery process
1. What is the data which needs to be recovered?
2. What type of hard drive is it?
3. How much data is on the hard drive?
4. What happened when the drive failed?
5. How fast do you need the data?
Recovering critical data is a specialized process that requires the right software, hardware and advanced techniques. In many failure-related cases, the chances of recovering data from a damaged hard drive range from 90-100%. If the electronic system is the only thing affected, then the drive can often be reused after the electronic control panel has been replaced. If, on the other hand, the defect is of a mechanical nature, then recovery will be a bit more difficult, which can be taken care at any specialized data recovery services companies lab.
If it is problem related to the file system, which has caused inaccessibility of the data then it can be recovered using data recovery software, an independent review has been posted on my website which lists the best in the field and helps you to identify the correct solution.
The review report is available on this link http://www.protostech.info/windows-data-recovery-review.htm.
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Member of Reverse Engineering Group, a writer of various articles on Data Recovery & Storage Techniques
Here?s some tips for birthdays on the networking site www.myspace.com. That time of year when you can shower people with greetings, cards, and pressies to wish them all the best?and hopefully receive the same when it’s your big day! It’s difficult remembering all these though, particularly those who aren’t your closest friends or family ? and even if you do remember, it’s trying to get around to actually sending regards.
So?a few tips on finding people’s birthdays on myspace:
1. Go through you friends list and see if they’ve registered their date of birth and the orange birthday symbol is showing as their birthday coming up soon. This is shown just below their photo.
2. Ask them! Send a quick bulletin asking for people’s birthdays, promising to remember and send a fantastic greeting on that day. You could then note in your diary or on your myspace calendar so you don’t forget.
3. What about people off myspace? Send a quick normal email along the same lines ? maybe promising that if they join myspace then you’ll be able to send them an unusual greeting on the big day. You can of course add your personal URL link to this email so they can click and see your profile on myspace.
4. People you don’t yet know on myspace. If you want to get chatting to people you don’t know you could send a quick mail with their birthday as a conversation starter ? particularly good for friends of friends. Unfortunately you can’t search for people just on their birthday, but as you flick through profiles you should be able to see chat about their birthday coming up or the orange symbol if they’ve set it to show.
And of course, don’t forget your own birthday! A little publicity will help jog people’s memories - here’s some tips on how to remind people:
1. Make sure your date of birth is entered on your profile, and the orange symbol is showing when it’s coming near. Go to ?account settings? on your profile, then ?privacy settings? then tick ?show my birthday to my friends? option.
2. Mark your myspace calendar with your birthday through ?manage calendar? on your profile ? you can set this to show up on your profile to just your friends or with everyone on myspace (go to the ?options? part of manage calendar), but be careful because your whole calendar will be on view!!
3. Send a bulletin letting your friends know when your big day is and what you’re planning?
4. Set up an Event for your birthday and invite your friends to it. This could be just meeting up with mates for a drink, but you can really jazz-up your event sheet to make impressive and invite people to be a ?guest?. You can also invite people off myspace to this, offering a link to your profile and event.
5. Add some funky or special birthday HTML code to your profile on your birthday ? searching the myspace layout sites will come up with something cracking. A bit daring, but maybe put on some old photos of yourself?!
6. For bands, a great opportunity for some publicity. As well as band members birthdays, there could be the official birthday of the band formation that you can let people know about.
A final thought on sending regards on people’s birthdays. You could make an effort with sending a comment or mail with some good HTML code. If you want to really go to town, you could set up a new myspace profile or event just for them individually and put a link from your mail/comments to this site ? you’re got a whole fresh site to get wishing happy birthday on!
If you want to actually buy a gift but you’re too far apart or its last minute, then you could buy a gift token online and send the details by email. A popular site like amazon can do gift vouchers for their site ? you can add a personal message, and have it ready within seconds.
Happy myspacing!
Andy Nuttall
www.learn-myspace.com
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Andy Nuttall is the author of the website http://www.learn-myspace.com which has free monthly emails about myspace and an ebook ?101 Red-Hot Tisp For making The Most Of Myspace!?.
January 14, 2008
The trouble with Blackberries is that they don’t connect with wi-fi. But the manner by which they are able to send and receive e-mails, and lately SMS as well as IM, can get really addictive. In fact, they won’t call the Blackberry a ‘Crackberry’ for nothing. The Electron 8700r, for instance, runs on a 850/900/1800/1900 MHz processor, is GSM/GPRS/EDGE enabled, and has an integrated phone with speakerphone in one. It’s also Bluetooth-enabled, so you can guess how this has become a genuinely multi-tasking tool for mobile workers.
Before I tell you just where to get the best deals on the Blackberry, let me just assure you that this handheld, despite being a new mobile tool, has been invading the market only recently. Most companies all over the world provide Blackberries to their employees to make sure that their people are always informed of latest happenings in their corporate circuit. Because of the ease of use, the Blackberry has been transformed into the quintessential tool for the guy on the road. So much to the point that he may even complain that he is suffering from ‘Blackberry Thumb.’
But the Blackberry persists. I don’t look at it as an addictive gadget, but as a great help to my everyday tasks. I can go anywhere with only my Electron 8700r in my backpack. The trouble is, when I’m located in a wi-fi hotspot, I’m lost. Sure, I can send SMS, browse the web, and chat on Yahoo client, but the subscription costs can get to my budget. Of course, this works with just about any mobile device that supports WAP, so I really have no choice but to grin and bear it. That’s why I’m always on the lookout for the best discount shopping deals. One of the best places where I found Blackberry discounts is at EAccess Solutions (http://www.eaccess.com/Rebate_Center.htm). Choose your model from Cingular, Nextel, Verizon, and T-Mobile; and if you purchase them on certain dates listed in the site, you get rebates for your Blackberries.
Another place to find great deals is at the Blackberry Source Clearance Sale. View your Blackberry and Blackberry accessories, cases, chargers, holsters, holders, pouches, batteries, and other knick-knacks and order them at discounted prices. Check them out at www.blackberrysource.com — these products are sold at limited time. Usually, I get my accessories at these discount shopping stores and at Shopping.com, if some unwitting (and perhaps recuperating) Blackberry addict decides to sell his holster or charger at half the price. Somehow this stretches my budget and allows me to save my c-notes on other more important, and probably more high-tech gadgets such as the cPC from Dualcor Technologies.
Although I’m talking about Blackberries and mobile computer devices in general, I’m more inclined into thinking that the mobile devices have so far been the most evolved gadgets these days, thanks to our diligent technological researchers and trend setters. The cPC from Dualcor, I imagine, is going to bowl over the Blackberry users since it supports wi-fi and lasts a hell lot longer than other integrated mobile devices. For example, the sole reason that the mobile phone and the entire PC package is difficult to integrate is the fact that the battery life can only last for so long — and you can’t possibly recharge them while you’re on the road. Doing so erases the concept of mobility that it promises. For this reason, the invention of the cPC from Dualcor troubleshoots that problem and offers a lot more advantage than we expect.
The cPC, according to the manufacturers, is sold at around $1,500. This price can be so steep compared to a Blackberry, but hey, we’re talking mobile phone integrated with a real PC here! Folks who are planning to buy the cPC shouldn’t be so surprised, since as soon as they use it, I don’t think they would be asking for more. Today, it’s still quite early to come up with a verdict. But the idea of a mobile phone running in Windows Mobile software, integrated to a PC running on Windows XP, and is as small as Palm pilot is nevertheless groundbreaking.
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For more valuable information on discount shopping and discount travel, please visit http://www.shoppersdiscount.com
January 12, 2008
From iPod auto accessories to travel Podcasts
Apple’s iPods have blown the mp3 player competition away like a tornado in Kansas. With unbeatable marketing, Apple has turned the iPod into more than just an mp3 player, but an integral part of the average person’s day. In our high tech society, the iPod now is even an important part of traveling. With a billion accessories, here is a run-down of the necessary iPod travel accessories - or at least as necessary as an iPod can be.
Road trippin’ - iPod auto accessories
Taking your iPod on a road trip with you is a lot easier than carrying a hundred CDs. There are plenty of iPod auto accessories and adapters that enable you to listen to your iPod in your car, some are better than others though.
If you have an older car that still has a cassette player, I recommend using Coby’s $9.00 CA-747. It’s not fancy, but it does the job. But as most people do not have cassette players in their cars anymore, iPod FM transmitters are the next option. The only problem with iPod FM transmitters is finding a station to tune to and being able to stay tuned to that station for a long duration. In my opinion, the best iPod FM transmitter is the iTrip FM Transmitter from Griffin. The large LCD screen makes it easier to see what you are doing while driving and the multiple broadcasting modes help you get the best possible audio quality from your radio.
The battery of an iPod doesn’t last forever, but there are plenty of ways to power your iPod in the car. I recommend the Griffin PowerJolt Auto Charger, to keep the tunes going while driving.
Walking around
People walking around with earbuds sticking out their ears is a common site these days. If you’re on vacation with a friend, I recommend buying the Monster iSplitter, so whether you’re on a plane or a train or walking around - you can share your music with a friend.
Carrying it all
With all these iPod accessories, you’ll need something to carry them in. Depending on how many iPod accessories you are bringing there are many choices to carry and protect your precious iPod within. The most popular and well-made iPod bags are Waterfield Designs’ iPod Gear Pouch, which comes in two sizes. The small bag will fit all size iPods, earbuds, Firewire/USB cable and power or supply or arm band. The large fits all of the above, plus other accessories like a car stereo adapter, FM transmitter, extra batter and more. Plus they come in different colors.
If you are carrying more stuff, there are plenty of messenger bags that have special iPod and mp3 player holders. For example STM’s Xs drift courier bag is large enough to fit all your gear, but not so big that it’s bulky and in the way.
Protection
You wouldn’t want to damage your precious iPod - would you? There are plenty protection options from the cute and colored iPod socks to the multiple iSkin options out there. My personal favorite though is the Otterbox Waterproof cases, perfect for beach vacations.
Tours
Podcasts are huge, and there are hundreds if not thousands of Travel Podcasts out there. Wcities offers free City Guide Podcast downloads for over 300 cities. You can find a Podcast for just about any destination or topic. For more great travel Podcasts visit the TP Insider.
With hundreds of iPod accessories out there, the decisions are endless; luckily TravelPost.com is here to guide you along the way from iPod auto accessories and adapters to iPod FM transmitters and Podcasts.
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