General Articles

Five Reasons Why You Should Buy A Gaming Laptop

Gaming laptops are very powerful machines and with technology advancing at a rapid pace it has become a reliable alternative to the traditional desktop PC. The PC will still have an advantage over the laptop in terms of its ability to be upgraded. If you are looking to purchase a gaming laptop, then you will need to consider these five major reasons on what to look out for when searching for your chosen gaming laptop.

The first factor to consider in your gaming laptop is the graphics card. You should be looking to get a high-spec graphics card that has at least 1GB of dedicated RAM onboard as it will enable you to play the latest high definition and 3D games. Many of the well-known laptops now have two or more graphics card inside the laptop that will work via CrossFire or a Scalable Link Interface configuration that will deliver first-rate power.

The second factor to consider is the processor. The majority of laptops today will have at least a Dual Core processor and now some are coming with a Quad Core processor. The processor will decide how quickly the laptop will run and process the data. You will want to get the laptop with the fastest processor you can afford.

The third factor you will need to consider is the size of RAM. This will decide on how fast the laptop will run and you should aim to buy a gaming laptop has at least 1GB of RAM as this will play the latest games. But the majority of laptops are now coming with 2GB of RAM. Make sure that you check the type of RAM your laptop has like DDR3. It is best to get a laptop that has a lot of RAM that you can afford.

The fourth factor to consider is the hard drive. The size of the hard drive is important as this will store a large amount of gaming applications. The majority of gamers will go for a hard drive for a 7200RPM or a SATA drive. A SATA drive will give a faster performance, which is needed when playing multi-player gaming. Newer laptops are now sporting two hard drives and have a capacity of 1 Terabyte. In the future, gaming laptops will have solid state drives which provides more reliability than current standard hard drives as it has no moving parts.

The final factor to consider is the display screen as the majority of gaming laptops now come with 1080p high definition displays. They also come with Blu-Ray drives ensuring that you get the best possible viewing experience. These laptops are now not just use for gaming anymore as people now want to use it for photo and video editing. This has made the laptop the ideal desktop replacement as it is not just restricted to gaming.…

What’s Your PR IQ? Part 2

When it comes to marketing, this is one of the most confusing times for business owners professionals and entrepreneurs. Marketing is changing. What works for one business, could be a waste of time and money for another. Still, many still believe they intuitively know the ins and outs of launching and implementing an effective PR campaign. Sadly that is seldom the case. In part one of “What’s Your PR IQ?” I discussed defining your business, defining your target market, thinking in terms of stories and writing a press release, but there’s much more to consider before launching and implementing an effective public relations campaign.

Study the various media outlets. You don’t have the same conversation with every person you know, so why would you send every media outlet the exact same release? Each media outlet has different story needs and a different audience. Tailor your releases and your pitches to each specific media outlet.

Less is more. If you’re thinking of sending out a huge press kit filled with reams of paper, photos and brochures, think again. This may work when pitching clients, but remember the media is interested in only one thing – a good story. Burden them with pounds of useless information and they’ll see you as a nuisance.

Examine all of the available angles. Your first pitch may not work. Be creative. Keep at it. Eventually you’ll hit on the right one. Media outlets vary. Each magazine, newspaper and TV program has different needs and demographics. Each time you’re preparing to pitch a story, put yourself in the place of that editor or segment producer.

Work backward. Approach it from the media’s perspective, and you will be much more creative, and more effective. What would make a disinterested party want to catch a segment or read an article about you or your business? Once you hit on the “hook,” you have a story.

Learn how to meld a traditional PR campaign with blogging and social media. Don’t think in terms of doing online marketing or traditional PR. The two go hand in hand. Facebook and Twitter explode whenever a story breaks on TV. The mainstream media gives the story credence and validation and then the bloggers and social media sites pass the information along, or discuss it, agree, disagree, analyze, etc. That is why getting a story into the press via traditional PR is so important.

Be patient, be persistent and prepare for success. This is the toughest concept to master. Some campaigns hit a home run in the first week, but most take time and persistence. But the wait and the work are worth it. An effective campaign can grow your business, increase your cash flow, build your brand and establish you as the expert in your field.…

The Nintendo console game is the least expensive and includes both Bluetooth for wireless controllers and a DVD drive, but will not be able to play DVD movies. It also lacks a hard drive. Instead, the Wii focuses on physically involving console games using the wireless Wii Remote paired with the accessory Nunchuk controller. The Wii will also wirelessly connect to Nintendo portable games system, using its microphone and touch screen as inputs for Nintendo’s Wii console games.

The console wars continue to rage on. Since the PlayStation portable arrived on the market to challenge the Xbox 360 consoles.

Sony’s PlayStation 3 console games is the most expensive because PlayStation 3 includes a standard hard drive, a high definition Blu-ray optical drive, HD video output, Bluetooth wireless controllers, and-in the premium version-WiFi wireless networking.

PlayStation 2 is part of the sixth generation of video game consoles, and is backwards-compatible with most original PlayStation games. It has also been released as a media center configuration and also having, like its predecessor, a slimmer redesign. It is the most successful games consoles in the world. Cheap PlayStation 2 games became the fastest console game.

Microsoft’s Xbox 360 console, uses a standard DVD optical drive, and only includes a hard drive and wireless game controller in its premium version. Rather than positioning the Xbox 360 consoles as a standalone PC alternative, Microsoft pairs it with its plans for Windows Media Center, allowing the Xbox 360 console to be used as a media extender to stream music and movies from a central Media Center PC.

For your reference, you can read this The Ins And Outs Of Business Leadership.

Sony PlayStation PHP and Microsoft are gunning for pure performance systems, while Nintendo console games is shooting at fun, playable games consoles that rely more on its unique controllers than impressive graphics hardware.…

New PlayStation Games – 3 Award-Wining Titles That Gamers Can’t Get Enough Of

Many of the new PlayStation releases are based off of favorite games of the past, and have been improved upon in almost every aspect. There are also some original titles that have created a stir in the gaming community due to the challenging nature of the game play.

Here are 3 award winning PS3 titles that PlayStation gamers have flocked to this year…

Dirt 2: Everything about this game has been fine-tuned from its predecessor. There is more content, better (and more stunning) visuals, and a more fleshed out online mode. The game play is also more frantic, intense, and more realistic than ever before. It takes off road racing, at breakneck speeds, to a whole new level.

The cars handle beautifully, and the game has perfected the physics of driving off road. One of the best features about the game is the full rendering of the dashboard, with controls that actually work. The in-cockpit view is also much more expansive than most racing games, and actually one you can use while driving.

There are different levels of play, from easy to savage, which makes the game challenging enough for anyone. If you are looking for the perfect mix of stimulation and fun, you will love Dirt 2.

Demon’s Souls: This game is not for the faint of heart – or the easily frustrated. Arguably the most challenging game to come down the pike in years, this takes a level of skill that many gamers have been anxious to experience. The role-playing game creates an exceptional sense of atmosphere and depth, which is both compelling and unforgiving.

Unprecedented in its character customization and intensity, the game is both hard-core and amazingly gratifying. When you finally beat the bad guys, you feel a tremendous sense of accomplishment at the task. Just know – you are going to die – lots of times – before you ever beat the game. And that is what is going to keep you coming back. Demon’s Souls will be the game that you just have to keep playing till you win, just to prove that you can.

IL-2 Sturmovik: Birds of Prey: This game wins hands down for the best simulation and strategy game to emerge in the last year. It lets you experience the rush of aerial combat over some of the most iconic battlefields in history. As a pilot of a World War II combat aircraft, you launch aerial bombing missions and massive dogfights. The remarkable scenery takes you over the smoking ruins of Stalingrad to the patchwork fields of Southern England.

Unlike other flight simulator games, this one is easy to pick up, even for novices, fun to play, and yet impossible to master. The different levels of difficulty make it just as challenging for hard-core gamers as beginners, and the campaigns are very robust. With Birds of Prey, the developers finally filled a void in the gaming industry and …

Facebook Ad Tip: Reasons For Fans And Followers To Stop

Social media sites are a hit for internet marketing that many businesses already put their pages up on these sites. One of the most popular social media sites is Facebook.

You can actually advertise your own business and website on Facebook using Fanpages. It’s very simple, you just get people to like your page and remain as your fans.

Your Facebook Fanpage relies on your fans for success not only in patronage but also in increasing traffic to your website. The fans spread the word about your page and your website so you have to maintain them as much as possible.

Getting fans shouldn’t be your only concern in maintaining your page on Facebook. You also have to think of keeping them as fans and followers of your page.

And yes, they do have the ability to click “Unlike” on your page and stop following you for different reasons. Wonder why they stop following you on Facebook?

It’s because of your double posts. Don’t forget that your Facebook fans are also your friends.

These are real people who expect you to be real and not automated. When they notice that you keep posting the same thing about links to your stuff (especially ones that you’re selling), it annoys them a lot.

Sometimes these people don’t want you appearing twice on their feed talking about the same thing. Try posting once in a way that will catch their attention instead of posting it twice because you think it will draw their attention.

If double posts annoy them, multi-posts will drive them to really “unlike” your page. There is a right time and place for posting and at the right amount; which is only ONCE.

If you’re aiming for emphasis, repeating your posts over and over will not do you good. It clogs their news feeds which can get really annoying for the user.

Rather aim for really attractive content and posts that will get them to visit your website or heed to your calls of action.

Posting on your profile to ask for fans and repeating it. That’s drawing too much attention to you which is again very annoying for Facebook users.

It will make you appear too narcissistic or desperate to get fans to like your page. That irks people to the point that they will surely hit the “unlike” button and never hear from you again.

If you treat some fans wrongly or say really mean things to them, then that could make you lose some fans. This can project an entirely bad attitude towards others which you should avoid from doing.

It can ruin your reputation and your business for that matter. If they dismiss you on your own page, then don’t retaliate; instead keep quiet.…

Determining ROI on Viral Video and Social Media Marketing

Return on investment (ROI) for viral video and social media marketing is difficult to determine since the benefits of viral and social media marketing are not always quantifiable. However, we can measure whether a campaign’s ROI is positive by making a realistic assessment of costs upfront and establishing well-defined goals.

The first step in determining ROI for viral video and social media marketing is defining achievable goals for the campaign. The following are achievable goals for viral video and social media marketing:

• Increase subscribers, fans, followers: A short and long-term goal to create an ongoing base of consumers and influencers on social networking sites.

• Achieve desired video views: The number of desired views is based on the approach, investment and channels used for distribution. Decide how many targeted, national, international views are required to achieve what percentage of conversions.

• Increase website traffic: Engage your subscribers, fans, followers via social networking and videos enough to make them want to visit your company website and learn more about you.

• Increase consumer engagement and interaction: A long-term goal that maximizes time spent with your brand and results in increased sales.

• Increase conversions: After converting viewers, decide what needs to be done to increase conversions. Specify what percentage of the total views will take the desired action. Also, know converter behavior and attitudes.

• Reduce marketing costs: Viral marketing can be a more cost effective alternative in the short and long term as content remains on the web and your message is shared.

• Increase bottom line sales: The ultimate goal for most businesses.

Once you have defined campaign expectations you can determine the budget necessary and what tactics you will use to achieve those goals.

On social networks and video sharing sites such as YouTube, users’ online lives collide with their real lives when videos, posts and tweets appeal to them. Their attention is generally focused and receptive because they are choosing to watch (opting in), increasing the likelihood of message retention and enhancing the value of the marketing content. The personal nature of video and social media marketing makes for a more qualitative assessment in terms of ROI. To maximize this advantage as a marketer, define the tactics you will use to achieve the goals. These tactics should include:

• Create and promote viral content.

• Build relationships through engagement.

• Expand online presence in terms of buzz/pages.

Another option within your tactics to be considered is paid media vs. earned consumer attention. Paid offers the value of an automatic view guarantee and paid seeding can often help build a viral campaign. In cases where the goal is to reach a highly specified target, paid seeding can be a huge asset in accomplishing this goal. Purely organic viral marketing requires an ample amount of time researching targeted channels within social networks and sharing sites. Your budget must include paid media costs if you want to venture into that …

MW2 Equipment Uses

Throwing Knife

Best thing about these is that if you do hit an enemy your guaranteed a kill, worse thing is they’re hard to aim.

Tactical Insertion

Tactical Insertions are basically a flare that marks where you respawn. They don’t work in Search and Destroy. Mostly used by campers or snipers. Especially handy in Headquarters. Beware of Sit-rep. Enemy flares are red, friendly flares are green.

Blast Shield

Never really use these personally their are just to many good choices to replace. Basically just decreases enemies grenades, claymores or launchers

Claymore

They don’t seem as good as the claymores in Modern Warfare 4, either everyone is watching out for them or their easier to see. They come in handy if your sniping or there’s a surprise around a corner.

C4

Another explosive that doesn’t seem to be used much. I’ve had my share of deaths via C4, but not many. The problem is the remote detonation. This causes the trap layer to be in close proximity to the C4. Seems like it would just be easier to shoot them.

Stun Grenades

Basically just stuns the enemy so you can fill them full of bullets, but be careful not to be too close or you will end up stunning yourself too. They also disable claymore’s and sentry guns for a short period of time giving you the chance to run past or destroy it.

Flash Grenades

They are pretty much like stun grenades.

Smoke Grenades

They are a very useful for cover and getting past pesky snipers. Sentry guns also cant see you through the smoke giving you the chance to run up and destroy it but enemies with a thermal scope can.

Frag Grenades

Frags are excellent for multiplayer games. They are very useful for throwing into a room where you know the enemy are hiding. You will want to cook the grenade to increase kill percentage. Cooking the grenade gives the enemy less time to run away. A handy technique is to throw a grenade beside a vehicle where you think an enemy might be hiding not giving them a chance.

Semtex

Semtex is pretty much a sticky grenade. They don’t bounce like a frag and stick to about anything even teammates or enemies. They beep unlike a frag and can come in real useful especially up against those pesky riot shields. You could stick it to a friend and get him to run into a group of enemies but its hard to do. It would be useful in HQ, Domination or Search and Destroy.…

The Peer Society – How We Now Control What People Buy

Did you ever hear how in the old days if you wanted something you talked to a guy who knew a guy who knew a guy and that is how you got what you needed. I think we have not changed much since then, just the means of how we do this.

Today’s society is based around forums, chats, and commenting. Social networking works best when it is a two way street where someone will discuss a process or reveal some great secret and then the cool part begins as people begin to respond by commenting on their interpretation of how the process works. The best part is that people talking back and forth create even more ideas that will eventually allow companies to thrive as people discuss the best products and services to use, and why they like one choice over another. Free advertising and referrals at a whole new level.

Additionally, for businesses, consumers are more likely to use peer reviews when checking out a product or service then they will with an established organizations review. Why? There is no manipulation of facts, just pure information that can help you make an educated decision on a product.

What does that mean that companies should be doing if they are solely reliant on customer review? First, they must get in on the conversation, particularly on social networks where people talk the most. Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and YouTube are no longer optional reading about your business. They are necessary for you to understand what people are saying about your business and your brand. Now it is not your job to start deleting items that you do not like. Instead, provide people with reliable information about how your product or service actually works and examples of this.

Second, start collecting video and written testimonials from customers. Let’s be honest, it does not matter what you do, you can always get a few negative responses. On the other side, having people who have actually used your services for good will be a great way to reverse any negative comments online. Better to be prepared for any situation.

The notion of peer review is huge to your business, because people that you might not know will build or destroy your business whether you like it or not. Additionally, joining the conversation will allow you to be closer to your customers in order to build not only long lasting relationships with them, but also be able to peek into their network to also build your business with their social network as well.…

5 Reasons Why You Should Use Social Media Marketing

Having a business online may be a new venture for many entrepreneurs wishing to shift from the real to the virtual world. If you are not yet into this worldwide trend of using social media marketing as a tool for promotions, better get your attention in line and read on.

As everyone else is shifting or adding an online business counterpart, it is a wise move on their part since it broadens their scope of marketing. Not only that, there are specific reasons why their new project has so much potential, and is definitely worth the investment in time, resource, and effort. Here are the top five reasons.

It is the most popular. We can’t deny the fact that when something is popular, it is well known among a great number of people. In business sense, having things in your marketing arsenal which are popular would most likely have a big following, that which is one of the main goals of having.

Wide array of resources. Because of social media marketing as a popular tool used by most businesses, many agencies and companies have created websites that cater to businessmen who need to expand their entrepreneurship. Social networks, blogsites, and similar services are now readily available for seasoned and greenhorn businessmen.

Marketing potential is very positive. Because everyone is now connected with each other in the virtual setting, information distribution can never be denied. And unlike in normal television and radio media, the internet has one feature that makes it more efficient for business, which is immediate interaction process between client and businesses.

It is always evolving. Social media marketing strategies, applications, and characteristics change periodically and in conjunction with the trends of society. While this constant shift and transformation cannot be directly controlled by any entity, it is for the benefit of a greater general public.

It promotes healthy competition. Businesses which are using social media marketing techniques are also connected with each other in terms of their services, pricing, promotions, and other client focused processes. Since the goal is to create sales, each would try to improve over the other ideally, promoting a healthy competition and increase in overall quality of online services and sales, let alone scammers and detractors.

Hopefully, these reasons are enough to push your decision process to getting your gear in check and start preparing for an online business to your success using social media marketing.…

How the Xbox Kinect Stacks Up to the Competition

Video games first hit the scene in the late 70’s and they are still going strong. The advent of the home version provided people with the ability to play their favorite game whenever the urge hit them. Each year programmers and developers have provided better graphics, new games and a host of improvements to keep people coming back for more. The latest craze sweeping through gamers are the interactive games that require physical movement from players during the game. So how does the new Xbox Kinect stack up to the existing types of “movement” games?

Whole Body Movement

The most obvious advantage of the Kinect is the ability to use the entire body in the game. There is no need for a controller, a wand or steering wheel. The included camera follows your body’s movements and uses that movement to control the game. The “Pause” command and “Menu” can be called up by making certain hand gestures.

But it goes beyond that. If you are dancing your heart away in the dance game and you want to spin around, then spin. The player in the game will respond to your spin move. You can also jump, kick and do almost any kind of physical move while the game copies your actions. This is a big improvement over other similar games that basically only follow arm movements tied to the various controllers.

Setting Up

Getting the machine out of the box and ready to play is a straight forward process. The video camera can get its power straight from the Xbox 360 through a handy USB cord. Place the camera either below or above your television. Then follow the commands the tune the camera to your body, your television and your Xbox. It also will ask you to speak a few lines in order to get in sync with your voice.

After you are set up you can use your hand to make a waving motion near the sensor. Or you can speak “Xbox” that will bring up a command bar. From here your hand acts like a pointer on a mouse screen clicking and choosing options.

Cool Applications

Using the voice or hand commands will also let you view the different Kinect apps. Some of these applications include the ESPN channel and Zune music store. Users can use their hands to move through various music or movie choices in a sci-fi mode that will surely appeal to the techies in the family.

For people that would rather talk than wave, voice commands can also be used to scroll the applications and find what you are looking for.…