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Buy PlayStation 3 Slim Or Stay With The Old PlayStation 3

The faithful PlayStation 3 owner will no doubt already have their console. You will have enjoyed the fantastic graphics and gameplay that this machine has over the previous PlayStation models. But the latest version of the PlayStation 3 called the PlayStation 3 slim is a bit more than your standard upgrade. There are new features and gadgets that are not backwardly compatible with the original PS3 model. If you are an existing owner should you buy PlayStation 3 slim or just stay as you are?

PS3 Slim New Design

Fair enough – the new PlayStation 3 slim looks nothing like the older model. The whole console is smaller and smarter. It also is very lightweight coming in at only 7 pounds in weight. Gone is the gloss plastic look in favour of a Matt black finish. I quite like it but not everyone will. The dimensions of the main console are 12 inches by 12 inches by 2 A� inches wide. (In metric that’s 290mm X 290mm X 65mm wide). Its small but still bigger than for example the Nintendo Wii.

The powersupply needed for the PS3 slim is slightly reduced from 280-watts to 250- watts. So it should run not quite as hot as the previous models.

PlayStation 3 Slim Technical Spec.

One good thing to notice is the hard drive has been increased from 80GB to up to 320GB. I am sure most serious gamers will jump in at the higher end of the spec range. This is a huge future proofing level of hard drive capacity that should keep you save with new memory hungry games released in the next few seasons. The hard drive can be removed from the unit although I still don’t quite understand why this really matters. If your drive fails you are going to upgrade to the latest machine anyhow.

Backward Compatibility of The New PlayStation 3 Slim

In 3 words – There is none. This is because of 2 things. Firstly the need to change the machine to handle the new “Move” controller. Secondly to add gameplay features that were not available in the original PS3 and are now needed to keep in step with the competing consoles – in particular the Xbox 360. So the PS3 slim is not backwardly compatible

Is It Really Worth Buying A PS3Slim if you have the older model?

The first thing to say is that if you have never owned a PlayStation then this is the model to beat them all. It comes with a built in Blu-ray disc player which places it a year ahead of the Xbox 360. The graphics are state if the art and the best currently available on any console.

For existing owners it is a bitter pill to swallow when you have invested so much money on games for your old PS3 model. I would say that you would want to make sure you buy a new …

PC Gaming Vs Console Gaming

Video gaming is nearly a modern sport. It is incredibly popular in just about every age group, from pre-teens to forty year old veterans. Nintendo Wii has even made progress in the senior citizen market by offering our older citizens a very accessible way to have fun and stay a bit more active. There is at least one television channel purely dedicated to video gaming, available from any cable or satellite television provider which carries Voom HD Networks. Even professional leagues and sanctioned video game competitions, not just for the glory of the frag but also cold hard cash.

So, with all this gaming the question is out there waiting to be asked: What’s the best platform? You shouldn’t be disappointed to learn there is no easy or straightforward answer to that question. In fact, the reasons so many platforms exist and enjoy their own success is because each has something to offer. Depending on your needs, personal tastes, and gaming style you will likely find that one platform has more to offer you personally than the others.

The Microsoft Xbox 360 has a solid catalog and is really the gold standard all around. It’s not the best at any one thing but the system does everything well. Sony’s PlayStation 3 was touted to have better graphics than the Xbox 360 but even at launch it was hard to tell. These days some games might look better on one system or the other, they’re considered pretty equivalent.

Unfortunately, Sony lacks some of the intuitive features Microsoft incorporated into their system. It’s not about the hardware, it’s about the overall experience. If you are strictly gaming, chances are you will have a better gaming experience on the 360. That being said, Sony’s machine is much more than just a game console. It’s a unique sort of computer. You can access media files over a network, browse the web, and best of all you can watch high definition Blu-Ray movies with the integrated Blu-Ray disc player. In other words, if you want more than just gaming, the PS3 beats the 360 fairly handily.

Nintendo’s Wii system offers a unique experience that really can’t be equated to any of the other systems. Technically it is inferior, but the motion controls Wii is based around can be so intuitive it offers a completely new way to game. This game system is extremely appealing to people who have never found video gaming appealing before. For veteran gamers, some may find it appealing and some may not. All will agree it’s a different sort of experience.

PC gaming is where the REAL hardcore gamers go, though. Being a PC gamer can be expensive because you are frequently choosing to buy upgrades to get the most out of the latest games. PC gaming also isn’t as straightforward as console gaming. You don’t simply put a disc in the drive and play, you have to go through an install process. You can get …

Three Reasons Why You Fail at Social Media

There’s no shortage of information out there about how to do well with social media, I thought I would look at things from a different perspective. Here are three things you must not do if you wish to succeed in social media.

You Try To Automate It.

I see so many people who think using social media is about the right tools that automate the experience. If a family member invited you to their wedding would you automate your interaction with them and your presence at their wedding? Too often we get caught up in growing our numbers that we forget how important our impact with those followers is. Automating your social media experience will undoubtedly lessen your impact on your followers. Spending more time making real connections will build you up faster than any automation.

You Pimp Too Many Links.

We’ve all seen these people on Twitter and Facebook, every update is a link to their website and if you dig deep enough (most people don’t bother) you will see that they are actually repeating the same links over and over. While this might get you a few clicks here and there certainly won’t ignite anyone or make them want to suggest you to their followers. The people who do get away with link pimping are the ones who interact and offer value 9/10 times while pimping a link less than 10% of the time.

You Follow And Unfollow To Try and Look Popular.

One of the biggest problems with Twitter is that the common misinformation out there suggests that you build up your following by following people and then subsequently unfollowing them. All this does is make people dislike you. You may look popular from a numbers perspective but your followers think you’re a douche bag.

The people who do well, follow those whom they respect and wish to receive updates from. Those people may or may not choose to follow you back, that should be irrelevant to you. The way to get more followers is to interact with the people you follow publicly as much as possible. Social media is here to stay and you should really consider what kind of reputation you are building for yourself online. Ask yourself this question every time you consider a new move. Would this fly at a party or business meeting? If the answer is no don’t do it on social media.…

What Are The Disadvantages Of Using A Gaming Laptop?

Some people love using laptops but also like playing games. Most know that playing games on standard laptops doesn’t always give that great of performance. Because of this you might have the temptation to go buy a gaming laptop. While it sounds nice to have a laptop that could play high end games on it, you really should consider the disadvantages of these first.

These machines cost some serious money. They aren’t cheap at all. You could purchase a gaming desktop and a very good laptop for the same price as just one gaming laptop. You are really cutting out many options by investing this kind of money in hardware like this.

The weight of it is a huge problem. While you might think it’s portable because it’s a laptop, it really isn’t that portable. It will be too heavy to carry around all day. Additionally, you will need a gaming mouse to go along with it which adds to the weight and makes it more complicated.

The battery life of these machines are fairly worthless since it’s running high power hardware. You will be stuck near a plug if you want to do anything more than an hour of gaming. This really defeats the purpose of using a laptop. Most people purchase laptops so that they can be portable.

There is a huge risk with these laptops. The parts on them tend to go bad quickly. You will have to service the whole computer versus repairing a part or two yourself like on a desktop. This will also up the cost of owning this type of computer over the long haul.

You can’t upgrade that easily. As a gamer you know it’s best to have frequent upgrades. A gaming laptop will become old much faster than a desktop that you can upgrade. Most gaming computer laptops have most of the upgrades already installed when you purchase if you are serious about gaming. This limits future upgrades which would require you to purchase a new model in order to upgrade.

Heat will make it uncomfortable to use and eventually kill your hardware. There is a limited life span with these devices compared to a desktop that can deal with heat better while playing games.

A gaming laptop is something that many want to buy. Find out the disadvantages to this and why you might avoid buying a computer like this. Ask you friends if they think it would be a good investment before you go out and purchase one of these gaming laptops.…

Manners and Social Media Marketing

Right and wrong is evident in social media marketing. The critical path to creating a following starts initially by being a follower. Participating in the process is integral in growing those relationships necessary to share your ideas and products. Opportunities present themselves to those who learn what works in the environment of social media marketing.

What will work for social media marketing is presenting yourself, along with your idea or product, to the community as a willing participant within the confines of the industry. Along with being a follower in the process of collecting followers, you should interact often with those whom you wish to share your opportunities and experiences. This shared learning from all parties leads to positive interaction within the community.

On the other hand, if you insist on spamming, you are not going to further your efforts. Another negative would be to do a hard sell of your idea or product prior to building the relationship side of the equation. People in social media marketing are well aware of posers and others who are out more for themselves than for creating a lasting relationship to share ideas or products. Your relationship building must be done prior to presenting your idea or product. Insisting on the inverse will adversely affect your reputation within the community. And without the opportunity to interact within the community, there will be no reward for your efforts.

As social media is about interacting and creating relationships, it is important to develop opportunities to share your ideas and products. Of course this does take time, and does not happen overnight. You should expect to devote the time and expertise necessary to nurture these relationships. If you do not have the time yourself, find someone to assist you. This aspect of social media marketing is possibly the most important asset you have to promote your ideas or products.…

PlayStation 3 Deals That People Cannot Resist

A lot of people resort to searching on the web to source for the best PlayStation 3 deals, and in our era on online shopping, the large online retailers are often able to provide a better price for these gaming consoles as compared to traditional brick and mortar gaming stores, due to their lower cost of doing business.

But first, why would you want to get a PlayStation 3 now? While motion gaming has become the new standard for gaming these days brought by the advent of the Wii Console, the PlayStation 3 is undeniably still standing strong. One important reason is because there are many, many games such as strategy, action-adventure, and a whole plethora of other genres that do not go well with motion gaming yet. A lot of traditional gamers including myself still rather sit down to play our game. This is why there are still many people hankering after a ps3 for their household, contrary to popular belief.

Besides, the ps3 is good, not just for playing games. It can also be used to watch high quality blu ray DVDs, as well as to play songs and video. It can actually also be used to store your photos if you want to do so. Therefore, on top of the great gaming experience it gives to gamers, the extra invaluable functionality of it is also a major draw as to why demand for them is still going strong.

Also, there are actually some parents who get it to use it as a carrot or stick for their children. Parenting requires flexibility, and some parents have used the PS3 to either reward their child when they have done something outstanding, or deprive their child of playing when he or she does something wrong. Not to mention, the PlayStation 3 can allow for parent and child bonding if the parents take the initiative to join their child in the game.

Now, the basic PlayStation 3 with the least specs (160 GB hard disc storage) easily retails above $250 USD online. However, if you’re serious on getting one and can afford it, it is highly recommended to get the ones with at least 320 GB hard disc storage because with the variety of games and the large utility of the console, the smaller models may not pack enough punch to fulfil your needs. However, you ought to bear in mind that these larger memory consoles could easily cost more than $350, so you should carefully consider if it is worth it.

In order to get the best PlayStation 3 deals, always look for those that comes with games thrown in together as a package with the console. This would make it considerably cheaper for consumers as you need the games to play anyway, and the games that are just released usually comes at more than $50 a pop. When they are thrown into the package, they would most definitely be cheaper as compared …

One of the significant challenges many enterprises face is having an effective information technology department, especially regarding Wi-Fi installation. There are several reasons you should always ensure your IT section is in its best condition by considering procuring professional services, such as those offered at Vann Data. Nonetheless, as explained below, it is critical to understand some of the vital considerations to ensure you get the best services when installing the internet in your enterprise.

The Contractor’s Professionalism

Getting the best results by installing your business Wi-Fi starts with working with professionals. This is why it is critical to consider how professional a particular expert is before hiring them. Putting up Wi-Fi in your business is not simple, making it necessary to check how professional the installer is.

The Charges

There are many business internet providers, but they all have varying charges for their services, depending on several factors. It is critical to understand where your budget ranges to ensure you get an internet connection that does not harm your profits. Take time to compare different Wi-Fi prices to pick one within your financial capabilities.

Speed

The Wi-Fi you install in your organization must offer top speed for effective operations. It is essential to confirm with your installer and provider about the best internet speed for a business. Nonetheless, the Wi-Fi speed you choose depends on how many devices and people will be connected to it.

Security

Online data breaches are among the top threats to many enterprises today, and some of them come through the internet you connect to your business systems. Therefore, it is vital to consider the security measures your Wi-Fi provider has implemented.

Having a reliable internet connection in business ensures smooth communication, detailed research, and easy data storage and access. Wi-Fi has become the king in the provision of business internet, but you must ensure you pick the best by making the above-explained considerations.…

Final Fantasy VIII – How To Get GF Bahamut

Bahamut is one of the best GF’s in the game with many useful abilities and commands. However it is an optional side quest to get Bahamut and many Final Fantasy VIII players miss out on the opportunity.

The earliest point in the game to get Bahamut is on disk 3 once you have acquired the Ragnarok. Before setting out to get Bahamut make sure you have some good junctions and abilities. Don’t worry about your characters levels as almost all monsters and bosses in Final Fantasy VIII (Bahamut included) level up as your party levels up, so in essence the stronger you become the stronger your enemies become. Meltdown, meteor, triple, flare, holy, ultima etc are good to have before setting out.

Once you’re ready set out to the deep sea research center which is located in the far South West of the map (bottom left hand corner), you can’t see it on your map. Once you find a small floating island, land the Ragnarok and walk inside. You will notice a glowing, blue core in the middle of the room. Walk toward it but pause when the glow intensifies, not doing so will cause you to enter a battle with Anacondaur’s and Blood Souls. Encounter None and Encounter Half have no affect unfortunately.

Once you reach the core you will be given an option of what to answer, choose “It is not our will to fight”. You will now enter a battle with a ruby dragon, they can be quite tough so be careful. If Quistis is in your party kill it instantly with a “degenerator”. After you have beaten it you will be given another option of what to say, select “Never”, you will enter a battle with a second ruby dragon. Once defeated you will be given a third and final question to answer, select the third option (it’s blank, you can’t see it). After a bit of dialog you will fight the big boy himself, Bahamut.

Hopefully you took my earlier advice and have equipped some decent junctions and abilities. Begin by casting meltdown on Bahamut then aura on your best characters. Limit breaks like Irvine’s shot (AP or pulse ammo if you have it), Zell’s combos and Squall’s Renzokuken work well. Heal with X-potions or Curaga spells or Quistis’s white wind, her mighty guard works well too in buffing your characters up. His HP is dependent on your party’s average level so the length of the battle will likely be dependent on what level your characters are at. Eventually he will go down and you get this great GF as well as his card (which converts into 100 megalixers using card-mod).

Now that you have Bahamut you are free to go get Eden which can be drawn from Ultima Weapon at the bottom of the deep sea research center, just make sure you’re prepared!…

Sky Drift PlayStation 3 Review

Since the release of Super Mario Kart in 1992 kart racing games have been flooding the market and so many of them have been released that the genre has almost been killed. Let’s face it, kart racing isn’t exciting anymore.

Sky Drift, however, is a kart racing game that puts all others to shame and breaths new life into the genre. The tracks are fabulous and although there are not many, you will fall in love with the few that are present. The races are exciting and full of action. Throughout the race there are signs pointing you in the right direction. If you should lose control and spin off the track and crash you are instantly re-spawned and thrown back into the race. Most of the time you start from where you left off. The game is quite easy and most kids will love it.

There are many things you can collect which will enhance your racing skills and give you better enjoyment as the game progresses. You also have weapons to take down opponents and other stuff to protect you from getting hit. If you love speed this game is what you need.

There are three different modes to choose from and all of them offer something unique and satisfying. In survivor mode you race for a certain time and when the timer stops the person in the last place is eliminated from the game. This goes on until there is only one player left.

In campaign mode you have to race several tracks. All of them are different and you have to adjust your strategy in order to overcome really hard obstacles. Unfortunately, you can’t customize the tracks and must choose one that is available in the game. However, it’s nice to play against other real humans and you will have plenty of excitement in your living room. Play too long and it can become rather tedious and mundane. Because of the limited tracks available, you will spend many hours racing too familiar territory and yawning all the way to the finish line. It’s best to play the game once and put it away for good, or swap it on eBay.

Sky Drift takes kart racing to new heights. It has everything to make the game wholly satisfying. The good looking tracks and non stop action make this a fun game for kids and adults alike. The limited tracks to race are a serious flaw, but won’t affect your fun too much. But another downside is the high price the developers are asking. $15 is a bit high for such limited content. Sometimes selling at a reasonable price isn’t only fair, but allows you to sell much more and in the end your profit margin is bigger. Far too many gaming companies are just out to make a quick buck.…

Gaming Notebook – Knowing the Pros and Cons of a Gaming Laptop and Gaming Desktop

If you go to a computer shop, you will notice that there are now selling gaming notebook from various brands like Dell, HP and so on. For a person who loves gaming, he may feel that laptops are not meant for playing games. Desktop computers are considered to be very powerful for playing games. However, the recent laptops that are mainly designed for enjoying high-end games seem to be equally efficient.

Let us study the pros and cons of gaming notebook and desktop computer and try to find out which one is better:

Pros

1. It is a portable device. You can carry it wherever you want. You can take it to your college, to your pal’s house, etc.

2. Since it runs on battery and can connect to the web wirelessly, you are free from the hassles of cables

3. Before you purchase the device, you can customize it by asking for the processor, RAM amount, and video card of your choice.

Cons

1. At the price of a gaming laptop, you will be able to purchase even more powerful desktop PC for playing games.

2. Because of its size, laptops tend to get heated up quickly. Some systems get so hot that you will not able to place it on your lap.

3. Size of the keyboard is also a matter of concern. Desktops give you full sized keyboard, however on laptops you are restricted to small sized one.

When you compare the pros and cons, you may think that desktops have slight advantage. However, problems like heating and keyboard size among laptops can be solved easily. With practice you will be type quickly and for playing games, you can make use of a gamepad. As far as heating is concerned, you can connect a USB cooling fan. Also keep in mind that all laptops do not get heated quickly. As far as price is concerned, you can customize the laptop according to your needs and purchase a system that best fits your buck.

In order to promote, gaming notebook, many retailers also give away many freebies like gamepad, USB pen drives, free games and software. The best thing such kind of laptops brings to you is the power mobile gaming. You can be at a coffee shop or at your friend’s place and start gaming wherever you want.…

Acer Predator G5 Gaming PC Review

Acer Predator G5 gaming PC is one if not the industry leading top gaming PC out there. The G7 might have all the nitty gritty performance extras as would with any high end system but the G5 comes with some impressive features and a drop dead look. The G5 with its overall black look with some orange trimming makes it quit an attractive PC. A handle is fitted at the back of the case and a carefully placed sloping top. When you pop, open the DVD drive you are greeted by two Predator like mandibles. However, the mandibles seem to be too much of plastic and pose the question of their long-term durability.

So how is the hot swapping on the G5? Located at the bottom front fascia of the G5 is a panel that opens to let you access two hot swappable hard drive cages. A lever is available to allow you the ease of access to these cages and you can place your 3.5-inch hard disk that you can secure using tiny mounting studs. Fitting your new hard drive in there will not be much of a problem… more on that some other time.

The G5 for its size packs in some impressive performance attributes. If you are to set the resolution to its maximum of 1920?�1080 with most games today it will deliver as promised. I recently tested out Cyrsis since I was having heavy lagging issues on my other PC. The G5 with high graphic settings together with 8x anti-aliasing it performed pretty good with frames averaging from 39fps and if I have the resolution reduced and in game settings lowered I get frames as high as 59fps. I intend on carrying out more performance tests and see how this G5 handles but so far, I am impressed.

One of the great things about the G5 is that it makes little or no noise when you are throwing all your system demanding games at it. When you consider purchasing the G5 know that it does not come with a monitor. Now for a quick breakdown on other features you will get on the G5: a multi-format memory card reader along side a 1TB Hitachi hard disk. It gives you connectivity options, with a gigabit Ethernet, VGA, DVI, an HDMI port and incredible choice of 10 USB 2.0 ports. However, they fell short by not including a USB 3.0. It is shipped in with a clean installation of Windows Home 7 Premium not to forget a basic budget mouse and keyboard are bundled with the base unit.…

A New Laptop Purchase Might Not Be Warranted

Troubleshooting computers can be tricky sometimes. They’re like cars in a way: if you don’t know what lies underneath the hood, you could easily have a hard time finding out what the problem is. They’re also like cars because it’s sometimes better to replace individual parts than to buy a completely new machine, especially if you’re talking about an Apple computer. If you have a feeling your laptop could be damaged, it may be time to purchase an Apple laptop motherboard and get it fixed.

Apple computers are highly prized because they meld design and functionality together in a way that most other manufacturers wish they could emulate. Because no one can match what they offer, they tend to charge a premium on their laptops. Unfortunately, their laptops are vulnerable to damage just like any other laptop. For example, if you were to drop it from a certain height you could end up causing extensive damage to the machine. Also, a power surge could end up destroying internal parts like the Apple laptop motherboard. If your machine is damaged and inoperable, you may be tempted to buy a new one, but you’re much better off replacing the component that’s damaged.

Before you buy a replacement motherboard, you should make sure that the motherboard is indeed the problem. If a power surge preceded your problems, then it would be reasonable to assume that either the power supply or the motherboard would be at fault. Try testing your power supply unit on a different laptop to see if it’s still functioning normally. If it is still okay, you should test various components and peripherals to see if they’re fine. If they’re not, you should probably purchase a replacement Apple laptop motherboard and go through the procedure of replacing it.

When it comes to actually purchasing the part, you could buy a brand new one, but you’re probably going to have to pay a premium for it since it’s an Apple part. Alternatively, you could try purchasing a used component. People frequently sell their laptops online and the undamaged parts of them could end up being available for people like you at a fraction of the cost of new parts. You and your computer would not end up noticing the difference in terms of performance or reliability too. Additionally, you’d be doing something good for the environment if you bought a used Apple laptop motherboard. A new parts means that new resources have to be utilized. A used part though means recycling has taken place, which is always good for planet Earth.

The final piece of the puzzle is performing the actual replacement itself. If you don’t have any experience doing this kind of repair, you might want to hire a computer support specialist to perform the operation for you. If you do have some experience, you can tear into the machine and perform the repair yourself. Just make sure that you diagram or take …

The Rise and Rise of Social Networking Websites

What exactly is social networking? Firstly, I should point out that this is not an entirely new phenomenon, and, at its most basic it has existed forever in the coming together of individuals into specific groups, based on what they have in common. Be it a small rural community getting together to talk about local issues, or a selection of people becoming linked through an affinity for dressing up as Harry Potter, these are the social networks of old. However, while ‘in-person’ networking obviously does still exist, online social networking sites are now what most people think of when they hear this term.

Social networking websites provide a platform for people to create and publish online content simply for the benefit of sharing it with other people. They offer a stage for airing opinions, thoughts, experiences, pictures – almost anything that people want – and they enable conversations to take place around them. There are endless options in terms of the social networking software that enables individuals to write blogs, start forums, post videos, and begin conversations online and social networking websites such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn all use different combinations of these elements to satisfy their growing base of users.

So how can businesses capitalize on this? Well, as with everything, there is obviously no cut and dry answer, and what works for one business may be inappropriate for another. Targeting appropriate existing social network websites to spark dialogue with your customers is definitely a good idea, but another, lesser walked path is to create a bespoke social network designed specifically for your customers. Your members would design their own profiles and upload videos, blogs and profiles and be in control of their own privacy settings. With interactive walls, activity feeds and the ability to search for other members using multiple criteria, your social network would have the potential to create a real sense of personal ownership and involvement with your brand. Hot topics or news stories relating to your brand could be discussed, and this would amount to a fantastic way for your business to converse with customers, listen to what they are interested in and to expand your online consumer base.

It all seems rather simple when put like that, and you would be forgiven for being sceptical as to how easy it really is to just create a social network from scratch. However, in reality it only takes a few minutes to set up and once people begin to interact with it, then it is only a matter of days or weeks before your own social network is up and running. At a time when everyone is clamouring for a bite of the social media apple, setting up a social network moderated by you that enables real interaction with your customers might just be the way forward.…

Promote Your Business for Free Using Social Media

Small businesses are in a roll the past few years. Gone are the days where they need to spend big bucks just to market their products or services. Now, any business owner with access to the Internet can showcase his wares to a wider audience with the help of social media. So you don’t have the funds to advertise in print and TV? No problem. All you need is Facebook, Twitter, and other online channels in order to get your business noticed at little or no cost.

For instance, you have a small business but can’t afford setting up a traditional store. By selling your stuff online, you do not have to maintain overhead costs apart from your Internet subscription. Here’s how to get started:

Create Your Online Store

Websites like Multiply are godsend to small business owners. All you have to do is sign up, create an account, post pictures of your products and voila! Instant online store created for free. Of course, you will have a lot of competition, which is what you can expect from free accounts. To stand out among the horde of online stores, you need to be creative. Multiply has lots of great-looking templates that you can use for your website. Take high quality pictures of your products and upload on your site. Presentation is everything so you need to use good quality camera to take snapshots of your products. Remember, you need to thwart the competition so you have to do the extra effort.

If you do have some cash to spare, you can create your own website, with its own hosting. Here you can customize all you want to get the look and feel you like for your store’s image. You can hire a web designer to make your website look pretty or you can just use a WordPress platform and choose from one of their professional-looking templates.

Use Facebook and Twitter

Now is the time you put your Facebook habits to good use. Create a fan page for your business and link your online store here. Post pictures of your products in your fan page and garner as many likes as you can. This shouldn’t be hard; a little emotional blackmail to your friends will do the trick. Ask them to spread the link to your store as well. Post regular updates about your products and services to keep them interested.

Same goes for Twitter. Twit the link of your online store and garner as many followers as you can. With a little help from your friends, your business will gain potential customers.

Of course, there’s eBay and many others.

You can’t write about online selling without mentioning one of its pioneers, eBay. It’s easy to set up an account and post pictures of your merchandise. In order to thrive in eBay, you need to get positive reviews to get more customers and retain existing ones.

If you would like to heed the …

Trying to Find Good Gaming Laptops For Under $1,000?

Most gamers will play their computer games on their laptops because they were simply not able to find good gaming laptops without spending a ton of money. With technology improving so much over the last decade, you can not only find laptops for gaming, but you can find one that will rival any desktop that is out there today.

Asus has made a name for themselves in the computer industry rather quickly. While the have swarmed the mini niche, they are also putting out full sized laptops that would make anyone happy. The most prominent of these is the Asus Eee PC 1005HA. This machine is quick and will handle just about anything that you throw at it. The best feature is the fact that it costs under $500!

If you are scared to try one of the new kids on the block, Dell also has a great laptop for gaming that will run you only $799. The Dell Studio 15 Laptop Computer is fast, has a ton of memory and was built with gamers in mind. Being one of the biggest companies in the industry, you know you are getting a quality machine.

Toshiba is another company that is putting out a great machine for gamers. The Toshiba Satellite A505-S6960 will only set you back about $700 and is going to give you everything that you need. It is amazingly light at only 6.4 pounds adding to the attractiveness of the machine as a portable gaming center.

The days of being stuck in your room because you have to play on a desktop are over. For well under $1,000, you can buy a great machine that will serve as both your gaming laptop and your home computer as well. It’s time to get out of the house and hit the road with your gaming laptop notebook.…

Gaming Laptops Vs Standard Laptops

It can be confusing when trying to purchase a laptop that fits in with your requirements and budget especially when it comes to manufacturers pushing you to buy their products. It does not have to be that complicated as buying a gaming laptop can be simple as you want it to be. You may be interested in a laptop because you want to work whilst on the move or is a replacement for a desktop computer.

This article will give you useful tips on securing the best gaming laptop. A gaming laptop will use performance based components to produce outstanding graphics. The type of games you buy will help you in deciding how much to spend on hardware components for the laptop. Another criteria to consider is future game releases as you want to make sure the laptop can handle these games as well.

Another consideration is your game play style as some gaming laptop may have too much power and performance for you to handle. The majority of standard laptops today are able to run many games as technology has become cheaper and far more advanced. Laptops can handle games such as World of Warcraft or games that have a good FPS and will also save you money in the long run.

The major different between gaming based laptops and your standard laptops is the hardware components inside the laptop. You can get a performance based laptop that 2GB of RAM with a decent graphics card, 250GB hard drive and Core 2 Duo processor at an affordable that can run most games. With a gaming laptop the hardware specifications should be a minimum of Quad Core processor with 4GB of RAM, 250GB+ hard drive or SSD (Solid State Drive) that offers the ability to play two or more games at once.

You need to look to see if the laptop can be upgraded in terms of its hardware components i.e. added in extra hard drives or replacing them, the maximum amount of RAM memory that can fit inside the laptop. You also need to look at seeing if these main components are interchangeable.

A warranty is essential must when buying a laptop due to the expensive hardware components inside the laptop.

When buying a gaming laptop, it is important to do research so that you do not end up with a laptop that does not meet specifications. The ideal place to look first is online as you can visit the manufacturers/retailers websites to see what kind of laptop they have in stock but also you can make comparisons between different laptops. Another area to look at is review sites and online forums as this will give you an idea as to what other people have said about the various laptops in terms of their performance.

In conclusion, the main differences between these devices are its components and how they perform to produce images on the screen whether it is from a standard laptop or …

Managing Video Marketing Costs Under Control

You simply can’t afford not to. Part of the strategy is to advertise your business enterprise merely particular times, is going to save you finances.

Each and every small business proprietor needs to be quite conscious these days of where each and every penny is going. They need to come up with tight spending budgets and stick to them diligently or they could struggle with being forced to shut down their business altogether. Among the key aspects where small business enterprise owners make some mistakes is in either spending too little or too much on marketing and advertising costs. Advertising, marketing as well as promoting your small company or business could make or break you and you have to get expert assistance before you invest a lot of dough into the process.

The initial thing you need to do is some research. Just before you even hire any outside experts or firms you must know some important issues yourself. The very first thing you have to think about is: who am I selling to? Quite simply, what exactly is my target market? Who is going to buy my products as well as exactly who do I would like to purchase my merchandise? These are two different concerns and you need the answers to the two prior to starting. Advertising costs could significantly get out of hand in the event that you do not have a clear cut plan of action.

You need to figure out who your competition are and exactly what they are doing for advertising as well as marketing, including exactly what their websites look like and how they offer their products. Does their site have a shopping cart option or online catalog? Is there an interactive reply box for clients to contact you? Exactly how is the contact made? Are there Flash banners or other animated graphics? You have to rate each one of their websites on a scale of 1 through 10, with ten being the best and having the most desirable features. In business it is alright to acquire ideas as well as things that work, that is why people protect their business secrets so dearly. There is nothing improper in modeling your own site with your rivals, particularly when you are starting out and have no room for error.

Website developing as well as layout are expensive and there are several solutions to go about putting one together. To start with, figure out what you would like it to look like and storyboard or pre-plan every single page and the different links. Once you have that you should get a firm or freelance artist that specializes in setting up sites. Most companies and freelancers make use of Dreamweaver or various other identical software such as Front Page to make their sites. It is advisable to see samples (live website urls) that match what you have in mind for your own site before choosing your designer. You may want …

Using Social Media Marketing Can Save You Time and Money

In our current economic climate it is all too important for businesses to really find ways to leverage a multitude of different mediums to “spread the word” about their products and/or services. One of the best ways to do this is through the use of social media marketing. In this article we will discuss some of the best ways to use it to save you both time and money when marketing your business.

Social media marketing which could also be called social network marketing is in its infancy. There so many ways to implement this type of marketing into your current strategy that it can sometimes become confusing. My experience has taught me that when people become confused or overwhelmed by a topic, they typically choose to avoid it. I don’t suggest you do that. So let’s discuss the minimum ways that you can use the social media marketing platform to help you stamp out a solid place in the socialsphere (not really a word, but it sounded good!).:)

One of the absolute minimums you should have to really compete in the social media marketing arena, would have to be through the use of a weblog also commonly referred to as a “blog”. Blogs have been around for a long time. They started as simple sounding boards for anyone with an opinion. They are now used as a primary way to disseminate information on the internet today! Blogs or blogging is one of the best and easiest ways to increase your search engine position, position yourself as an expert in your industry and also to gain the trust of your website visitors. One of the most popular platforms used for blogging is called WordPress. It is extremely easy to install and/or use. Best of all, the major search engines all love WordPress. All of these benefit help to save you money and time because you don’t have to devote as much of your marketing budget to buying traffic to your site, instead you can get free traffic through the search engines.

Another minimum for any business is the use of any of the social networks like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and etc. My personal favorite is Facebook. This is only because of the ability to really increase brand awareness through the use of Fan Pages. The ability to directly interact with customers, clients or possible clients is invaluable. The internet is still not wholly accepted or trusted by a lot of people. This is because of the anonymity that is present. Anyone can buy a domain name, build a website and do business online. The whole time, they can remain nameless and faceless. So the interaction that is afforded by using social networks like Facebook, Twitter, and others, is a huge advantage to those who choose to embrace it. Social media marketing is all about conversations. And using these networks is the best way to start and continue the conversations.

Social …

Enterprise With Social Media

It’s no doubt that social media is finding ways into businesses. More and more businesses are using it. It’s probably the fastest way to get connected with people all over the world. You have to be a part of social media to stay in the competition. Businesses are taking the role of leadership and finding their new way with social marketing.

To be apart of social marketing you first should know the people you are working with. Some people are just on these websites to have a blog or web page. Some people have their own social networking profiles. Some are people who like to comment online about businesses. Some are people who actually like to write blogs themselves. You can profile employees and customers to see how active they are in social medias.

As a business person you want to list your company’s objectives when it comes to social medias. Innovation is a good focus point. Posting video on a site where employees can submit ideas. Make a group where members can communicate and share documents with each other. A support area where employees can post and answer questions. Be open to learning new things.

You want to come up with a strategy for your business objectives to achieve them. Social strategy should focus on people in the community, and not the technology. It’s called social media for a reason. It’s changing the relationship between business and customers. You want a way to communicate to employees what’s happening. You want a way for members find and make connections with customers. You want a way for members to create their own content. And a way for members to be rewarded.

When you have your media site, make sure you determine which employees are allow to access what parts of the site. What you want to be shared.

James Hickey

Master Business Consultant…

How To Choose The Best Gaming Laptop On The Market

Computer gaming has become one of the largest phenomenons if not the largest in recent years. The need to play games at home on a computer has increased greatly and what people look for has changed. When looking for the best gaming laptop you are no longer just looking for a standard laptop anymore you are looking for specifics which will give you the best performance.

Most people believe that the more expensive the machine that you buy is then the better the game experience will be however this is not the case. On average most gamers will look for an inexpensive computer which has a good list of high specifications for the price. So when choosing the your gaming laptop then what specifications should you look for.

If you are looking for the games laptop then you should look for a higher specification than a standard one. A system with a higher RAM should be first on your list as this sort of system will be able to handle the higher resolution graphics and motions that most games these day have.

As most people should know 3D games require the computer to run at high resolutions so with this you need to have a powerful processor. The better the processor then the better it can handle game speeds as well as being able to use faster graphics cards.

If you are looking to buy the best laptop then you should also look for a high end graphics card as they will boost your performance as well. Always remember that when buying a games computer that you try and buy within your means.

The higher the specifications of your machine then the more expensive it will be but that should not put you off. The choice is what you are going to play and what you need. Most games have a minimum requirement of specifications and this should also be consulted before buying your new machine.

There are many brands that design specifically for the games market and it is up to you to choose what you think is the best gaming laptop for you and your needs. Whether you look at the range designed purely for playing or computers that are available through the more mainstream range there is bound to be one out there that will meet you requirements and in most cases will exceed them at the same time. Happy playing!…

5 Tips on Becoming a Social Media Manager

Building a business on any type of social media service takes a light touch and an experienced mindset. Unfortunately not everyone can boast having both of these attributes. If a small time businessman includes himself/herself in the equation than that usually turns out to be a recipe for disaster. No one can think of managing a social media business presence without the aid of relevant management skills. You can opt to hire a social media manager to do the job for you which helps lesson the learning curve and saves you tons of hours.

One thing you must understand is that hiring a social media manager is not the be all and end all of online business management. You can’t just pay one off, sit back and dream of the oodles of cash just waiting to be tipped into your bank account. Before even thinking of hiring one, it’s always best to learn the ropes of social media management yourself. So, how should you go about it?

Get to know the lay of the land

The first thing you must do is to map out the online terrain and get to know the lay of the land. In layman’s terms that means you have to familiarize yourself with the best social networking and bookmarking sites and direct a large portion of your activities there.

Choose your tools wisely

Keep tabs on your most frequently visited sites and choose the most suitable tools to make your social management easier to manage. You can do that by regularly posting your progress online. Take Twitter for instance. If you have an account on that social media network along with a large following you can automate your tweeting with tools which will aid you in updating regularly.

Strategy is Key

Every website needs regular maintenance to keep it afloat. The same applies to business sites which need more than usual tune ups. The key to doing this is through website traffic analyzers like Google analytics which will provide you with detailed reports regarding where your traffic is coming from as well as the most used or popular keyword searches to your site.

The geographical diversity and density of your users can also be found out through the use of these analyzers making. This continuous update will allow you to strategize your business website accordingly.

Importance of Market potential

Be sure to check out the popularity of any good websites and blogs. When you find them try and have your advertisement campaign displayed on it especially if it is related to your products or services.

Don’t be the Needle in the virtual Haystack

The World Wide Web has been perceived as a potential business venture by billions of users around the world. Making your presence known in this dense corporate jungle can prove to be the key to many successful business ventures world wide. It’s therefore essential that you make yourself as visible as you can amidst …

Final Fantasy 13 Characters – Find Out Who’s in the Game!

Final Fantasy 13 (also known as FFXIII) is the latest game in the massively popular Role Playing Game series created by Square Enix. This is the first game in the series that will be released both on the XBOX 360 and the PlayStation 3, so both parties will now be able to meet the Final Fantasy 13 characters and experience their adventure.

Since the E3 event in 2006 when the game was first revealed (albeit, a rough demo of the game), the hype has been building, and information has slowly but surely been filtering through about the game. Now, with the release of the game not too far away, everyone’s wondering what the main cast of Final Fantasy 13 characters will be.

The game’s main character is called ‘Lightning’, and is a female soldier, once of the ‘Cocoon army’. She has red hair, and is quite the tom-boy. Lightning has elements of past Final Fantasy characters about her, as he main weapon is a cross between a sword and a gun (similar to Squall’s Gunblade in FF8), and she is supposedly the game’s female answer to Cloud Strife (from FF7). She, like Cloud, has a dark, mysterious past, and it is known that she was an orphan from an early age.

Vanille is another of the Final Fantasy 13 characters, and she originally starts out on the opposite side to Lightning; as a rebel who fights against the Cocoon army. She is another female character, who lives in a town called Pulse after being forced out of Cocoon. After the events at the start of the game, she joins up with Lightning and a team is formed.

The third main character in that team is called Snow. Snow is the direct opposite to the small, thin female characters previously mentioned, as he is a huge man, who uses brute force more often than not. Snow is undoubtedly the coolest character in the game, as he can be seen in the trailer riding a motorbike.…

PS3 Red Screen Fixes

Got PS3 red screen when turning it on? Have searched around the Internet but found no fixes that work? Maybe you should try my way to fix the PS3 red screen of death. It has helped two PS3 players repair their red screen and I hope it will work for you as well.

One way to fix red screen of death on PS3 is to update the firmware. You need to download the latest firmware from Sony’s website. Prepare a USB memory stick, and create a folder called PS3 on it. Inside this PS3 folder, create a folder called UPDATE. Down load the PS3 firmware into the UPDATE folder.

Connect the USB memory stick to your PS3. Hit and hold the power button on PS3 until you here 3 beeps. You may seen the menu screen on PS3. If not, press and hold the power again. From the onscreen menu, you should be able to install the new firmware. Update your PS3 and see what happens. No change? Go to the next method.

The other way of PS3 red screen fix is to reformat your PS3 hard drive. There is high possibility that your PS3 hard drive has been corrupted which causes red screen. Therefore you have to reformat it, and restore the system to build the new database.

Firstly, backup all your personal files onto an external USB drive. Take out the your HDD and reformat it using your PC. OR reformat on you PS3 too. Press and hold the power button on PS3 until you here 2 beeps. Then you got a menu where guide you format the HDD.

After reformatting, reboot the PS3, there should be a screen asking you the restore the system. Follow the instructions and accept all the default settings. After that check to see how your PS3 works.

Give these two fixes a go. You have nothing to lose.

There are also chances that none of them works for you. If that is the case, you have to call Sony. They may ask you to send it back to it and return it after 4-6 weeks. But some lucky guys may have a replacement of a new PS3.

OR get yourself a PS3 repair Guide. This is also a good idea, for it costs little but benefits in the long term. Because a good repair guide will provide detailed fixes to most of the PS3 problems, including PS3 red screen.

No matter which way you choose, wish you a success at last.…

Using the Internet to Buy and Sell Homes

In this modern age, any business that would want to survive should have an online presence, most especially to buying and selling homes. People these days have been relying on to the internet for their real estate transactions. They are doing these for a variety of reasons, to increase the options available, convenience, or just to avoid agent commissions.

Online classifieds is where mostly people meet to buy or sell properties. The amount of websites where people can list or browse for houses that can be found in this place are endless.

Another great place for buying and selling properties is through online auctions. Here you can search for an agent in the real estate directory websites if you think you need professional assistance in buying or selling your home.

But if you want a better exposure for your properties, then you can opt for the property website service that guarantees greater exposure of properties by means of search engine optimization only that you have to pay for a membership fee.

But the most popular trend in buying and selling real estate nowadays is through social media sites. Social media sites not only allow you to list your properties on the market but also create a faster interaction between the seller and the buyer. Dealing with transactions through social media sites is much safer and more secure because it has more of a personal approach.

Buying and selling homes online is truly an effective and useful option where it allows you to reach a broader audience. The internet has made it easier than ever for you to find what you are looking for in the real estate market. Make use of these new technologies and ideas emerging in buying and selling your properties.…

Five Factors In Choosing Your Gaming Laptop

Gaming laptops today are very powerful in what they can do as they are able to cope with huge performance specifications that the newer HD and 3D games. A regular laptop will do the basics of allowing you to create Word and PowerPoint documents, browsing the internet, play movies and listen to music. But a gaming laptop is designed specifically for playing high-spec games.

Before going out and buying the first laptop that you see, it is worth considering these factors:

The first and most important factor in a gaming laptop is the graphics card. Most standard laptops now come with built-in graphics card which will drain the power of the memory and displays the actual image. You should look to get a laptop that has a dedicated graphics card ideally an nVidia or ATI. These are two of the leading manufacturers in producing graphics for desktop and laptop devices. Newer laptops now have SLI interface which allows the laptop to have two graphics card running at the same time.

In addition, newer laptops offer the capability of 3D gaming which comes with the 3D glasses. These laptops will cost a little bit more than your standard laptop. Newer Nvidia graphics cards have dual-GPU technology built-in, which is like having SLI interface but only with one graphics card. Dedicated graphics card will also have on-board memory with some carry as much as 2GB.

The second factor to consider is the RAM. The larger the amount inside the laptop, the better as this will enable you to play the latest games. If there is a built-in graphics card, then the RAM memory will be jointly shared between the graphics card.

The next important factor is the CPU as this will determine the laptop’s overall speed. The majority of laptops come with a dual core processor, which is great if the other specifications are at the top end of the scale. Some newer gaming laptops have now got quad core processor running in them. Be sure to check when buying your high end laptop that you look at the cooling options as these devices can get quite hot, which can have an impact on the performance. It is best to invest in some type of cooling device that will keep the laptop running at an optimum temperature.

The hard drive is another important thing to consider as most laptops now come with 320GB worth of storage enabling you keep all your gaming files and other associated documents in one place.

The screen size is the final important aspect to consider and that is why you should invest in a laptop that with a display over 15 inches.…

Choosing The Right Desktop PC Cases

Finding desktop PC cases that do what you need them to do often proves to be quite the task for many people. This is largely in part due to the fact that there are a lot of options out there to choose from. To ease the stress of this search you should first determine the functionality of the components it will be housing. After all, be prepared and knowing everything you need will save both time and money in the long run.

If your are mainly looking for things for a gaming computer you will find that this probably weighs heavily on your decision making for this type of purchase. Most people will have a specified look or design they want which can easily be made by picking out what you need from the several thousand options you will find available for this. A case can be bought in many different colors and usually comes with the option of what power supply you want to use and in some cases even the number of fans you will use as well.

If you wish to build your whole gaming computer yourself you will also want to look into the components you will be using to find out if any of them will need special mounting in the case or other accommodations.

If you are planning for a water cooled system you will also need to make sure the material on the inside of the case is capable of handling such a thing. Not picking the proper material can cause a lot of problems and often result in the total destruction of the entire computer which only wastes the money you have already spent on the system.

If a plain and basic computer for work is all you are interested in you won’t have to worry about most of these aspects of the process. You will only need to locate a case that blends well with your surround office decor. A very basic case model usually works out perfectly fine here. Gaming systems tend to be more elaborate and would never fit in to a setting such as this.

If a case for a work computer is your main interest you most likely won’t have any certain type of design you are looking for. In such a case it is typically best to go through your computer’s manufacturer and choose from one of the several options they will have. The choice of a case is dependent mostly on the type of hardware it will house and when it comes to a work only system this doesn’t mean anything big.

If you are serious about building this entire computer on your own you need to make sure you remember to get any specialized mountings that will be required and that the inside of the case has enough room to hold everything that needs to go in there. By knowing ahead of time all of these things you …

So What Makes a Good Gaming Computer?

PC gaming has been around for decades and PC gamers are a special breed. Where console games use simplified controllers and offer standard performance, video games on the PC tend to offer better graphics, more extensive gameplay and more customization options including higher graphics settings and even surround sound. To reap these benefits you do have to be willing to accept some inconveniences as well. Playing video games on a console generally involved popping in a disc and going, but on a PC you need to go through a (sometimes lengthy) install process first. You also have to deal with things like driver updates for graphics cards or sound processors. Still, for a richer and more detailed gaming experience it is absolutely worth it.

So what makes a good gaming computer? Generally speaking it takes a good balance of CPU and GPU power, coupled with a decent amount of memory and decent sound capabilities. These days most computers come standard with a good amount of RAM and built-in sound processing, not enough to satisfy an audio fanatic but good enough for just about anyone else. Those are important to look for but the CPU and GPU are the real workhorses for today’s games. Lacking in one or the other can cause your games to run slowly, or only run well at lower resolutions or with a number of graphical effects turned down or off. The CPU would generally be an intel chip and the most popular and compatible GPUs are made by Nvidia, although ATI’s Radeon systems have been consistently good over the years and shouldn’t be passed up if the price is right.

One thing that I cannot stress enough is to be very conscious of the expense curve with a good gaming computer. Console gamers need to spend money on a new console every five years or so, and this is about the same for entry level PC gaming (which is still advantageous over consoles in a number of ways). Maintaining a high end PC gaming system can become an expensive proposition very quickly. The top of the line graphics cards and CPUs can cost nearly double that of units that are only slightly less powerful. Unlike new console systems, the latest and greatest PC technology tends to stay that way only for a few months, or at most a year. Anyone who is spending several thousand dollars on the absolute top of the line machine should know an even faster machine will be available in a year, and it will likely cost about the same (if they were planning to always have the latest and greatest).

Most PC gamers manage this dilemma by finding a price point they are comfortable with and sticking with it. The gaming PC’s that cost a fraction of top-of-the-line machines often are within 10% – 20% of the same performance. Whether you are a techie that upgrades CPU’s video cards, motherboards and RAM as you …

Drivers are software that typically controls how your computer’s hardware runs the system. All the hardware components of your computer, such as the CD player, PC card, and DVD drive all use drivers. Updating your drivers is crucial as it can help make the computer work properly.

Thankfully, there is a tool that can help you update your driver. It is called driver update software or PC driver updater. It helps ensure that the system works to its maximum capacity. Here is what you need to know about why and when to opt for these updates.

The need for updates

Tech experts recommend updating your driver regularly to boost the computer’s performance. If you notice that your computer is functioning strangely or is constantly slow, it is time to update the driver using the driver update software.

Some of the problems that you may encounter that show that it is time to update your driver include:

• The printer stops functioning or doesn’t accept print commands
• The game you play lacks graphic quality
• Your computer fails to connect to Wi-Fi
• The CD player does not read
• The mouse is not detected

When you notice the above problems, instead of having to change the hardware, it would be good to try updating the drivers first.

Checking your driver’s current version

Once you have pinpointed these problems in your computer, it is not time to check your software’s current version. Your device manager menu will give you the current version of the driver you have, its dates, as well as the recent updates. You can opt to click ‘update driver’ to install your driver to the recent version.

With that said, let’s take a look at some of the top benefits of driver updaters.

1.  Automatic scanning

The PC driver updater software typically doesn’t need your intervention to scan or look for updates. They simply run in your PC’s background and scan the whole of it to look for bugs and fix them automatically.

2.  The software is always up-to-date

Another incredible benefit of the driver updating software is that it is always up-to-date. This guarantees you that your system will always run at its maximum capability.

3.  It provides backup

Another best thing about premium versions of driver updating software is that they take a backup of the previous versions before they start the upgrade.

4.  Boosts efficiency

Of course, you want your updated driver to perform as efficiently as possible. Thankfully, you can achieve that by using the driver updating software. It boosts efficiency by up to 100%, which is very remarkable.

5.  You get official driver updates

Finally, you don’t have to worry about downloading counterfeit or corrupted updates for your driver when using the driver updating software. This is because providers of this software ensure that they only choose driver updating software from the best and reputed brands. This, in turn, will give you great peace of mind knowing that your driver is safe and secure.…

Should the Government Be Able To Monitor Social Media?

Socrates once said that the virtue of goodness comes from knowledge. The counter to that is ignorance, or lack of knowledge, which is considered “evil.” In modern terms this means the ability of the media to withhold information in a way that alters its meaning. Censorship, propaganda, conspiracy, these are the worst case scenarios that can result from the power of the media which would be considered immoral. But perhaps we should look at it in a different light. Instead of knowledge being purely goodness and ignorance being purely evil, we should consider instead how that knowledge or ignorance is being used. For example, the Department of Home Security usage of social media monitoring as a means of assessing public belief and sentiment towards certain “sensitive” topics. This isn’t immoral because of the government withholding information from the people but rather the accessibility of information about the people by the government.

The Social Networking/Media Capability was officially announced in a Privacy Compliance Review on November 15th of 2011 but was formulated as early as June of 2010. According to the review, this capability was meant to allow the government to utilize the openness of the web’s social media for early identification of possible threats and “collect information used to provide situational awareness and establish a common operating picture.” The problem is that, like in many government documents, the words are rather ambiguous and noncommittal. What types of threats are they looking to identify? What kind of “common operating picture” are they trying to create? They make it seem like these monitors have a specific purpose, but the extent to which they use them in pursuit of that purpose is not stated.

Here’s what we do know: The government has implanted monitor accounts in multiple forms of social media including top sites Facebook, Twitter, and Wikileaks but the full list of monitored sites is unknown. The privacy and civil rights ethics of this is obviously questionable but in light of the SOPA/FIPA backlash and controversy it seems we’ve reached a double edged sword. If the internet is free to access the way that it is then we must also allow the ability to monitor sites. It’s not just the government with the ability to do this but really anyone with a computer and internet access. Saying the government can’t do this is directly contradicting our belief in the freedom of the web. So which is worse, too much information or not enough?…

How to Find a Summer Job

A summer job is a great experience for teens. It gives a sense of accomplishment to earn your own paycheck. You can pay for your own expenses and learn to save for larger purchases, like a car or jewelry. Besides money, the maturity and skills you earn makes you attractive to colleges and future employers.

Having a summer job is a smart way to spend your free time. This is the perfect way to explore your career goals. It is also a great time to try something interesting. Do you want to work in a bakery, as a pet sitter, or dress up like a clown? Take risks and treat the summer job as an exciting new experience.

Here are a few tips to help you find a summer job:

• Find your interest. A good starting point is figuring out what you like or want to learn more about. You may want to gain skills in a certain career or simply find out more about an occupation. Perhaps, you just want extra money. Knowing what you expect from a summer job will help you focus your efforts.

• Rely on your strengths. In a slow economy older workers tend to take traditionally teen jobs. An experienced 45 year old motivated to take care of their family can be stiff competition. Make sure you stress what makes you attractive as a teenage worker. Talk up your flexibility and target jobs that need employees on the weekends and at nights when people with outside responsibilities are unavailable. Let them know you are good with computers and social media. Small businesses need people familiar with social media to market their business.

• Meet with school counselors. Your counselor not only has solid advice for a job search they also have contacts. They may even have an internship/ job board with plenty of jobs to pursue.

• Consider the Feds. If money is your main motivation, look into a federal job. Positions with the government start at $10 an hour. Plus they have jobs set aside specifically for teens in places like community centers, YMCA’s and clerical jobs on military bases. To land a gig higher than the minimum wage, check out .

• Rally the troops. You have a built in network of family and friends who want to see you succeed. Enlist them to spread the word that you are looking for a summer job. Finding you the ultimate job can be as simple as a search on their linked account. Or you can even ask them to update their status on Facebook announcing their teen is looking for a job. With six degrees of separation social media is a very powerful tool.

• Hit the streets. Local businesses often need outside help. Go door to door at restaurants and stores and offer your services. Local businesses are also a great way to learn skills. Do you want to become a lawyer or a vet? …

Website Development for Non-Profit Organizations

Not-for-profit organizations are important in today’s society. What makes a non-profit organization different from other types of businesses is that in order to retain their status they are unable to show any type of profit. This does not mean that this type of business does not experience profit, in fact non-profit businesses can and do have profits. However, a profit experienced by a not-profit organization is called a surplus. Additionally, unlike for-profit organizations the surplus can not be used to enrich its shareholders or its owners. Instead the surplus of funds must be used only in the pursuit of its goals. Non-profit organizations are generally exemplary in nature, such as a charitable organization. These organizations are exempt from any type of taxes including income taxes and property taxes. However, non-profit organizations are generally dependent upon grants, endowments and charitable contributions. Because of this it is important that non-profit organizations create and maintain a website that will help to give them a presence in the virtual world. Columbus website development has been successful in helping companies through this delicate process.

The successful creation of a website entails several things. First of all a website must be well-designed. When developing a website, companies must decide what it is that they want their website to accomplish. Websites can be created to be interactive or purely informational in nature. An interactive website is one that allows the user to perform certain actions, such as making a donation, managing an account or sending an email to the company. Conversely, an informational website will only provide information. The website may be several pages longs, but when a company has an information only website the customer or client must contact the company through some other means.

It is also imperative that the website that you are developing be easy to use and easy to navigate. It should be bright and written in a font that is simple to understand. Navigation of the website is very important. Users should find the task of locating information on your site straightforward and uncomplicated. The site should feature navigation links along the top, bottom or sides for easy access. All of the links on your site should be in good working order. Finally, the site should feature technology that is trustworthy and reliable. Do not clutter your website with a lot of annoying pop up ads and make sure that your pages load quickly to ensure a hassle-free experience for visitors.…

Pinterest Pin

With over 21 million visitors a month (and growing), Pinterest has already become a major contender in the social media arena. This powerful tool is a new and exciting way to surge your visibility on the internet. Considering the visual nature of Pinterest pins and that the site is still new enough to be exciting to the younger crowd, there are a lot of possibilities for you to use your Pinterest pin as a marketing tool.

Use your website

Because Pinterest pins are graphics based, the best way to drive people back to your site is to pepper it with interesting videos, photos, infographics – even things such as charts and diagrams. Every time you post something on your website or blog, include a pinable graphic. As potential clients find you via Google+, Facebook, Twitter, and others, your images may be pinned over and over on their Boards.

To make it as easy as possible to get Pinterest repins, include “Pin It” buttons on your site. This encourages visitors to share what they find interesting on the spot. These buttons and the code for them are free on the Pinterest site.

Then, of course, create targeted Boards on your Pinterest account and pin these pages yourself. Once you attract some Pinterest followers, they will begin to further spread your message by repining and liking your posts.

Keep current

While Pinterest is still fairly new, you can tell it is going to continue to grow in popularity by the number of applications that are already in place. Make your site Pinterest repins friendly. Don’t forget the Pinterest site itself – there you will find several resources for building successful Boards.

Get Pinterest followers

The most proven way to attract and retain Pinterest followers is to keep pinning interesting, relevant content with good descriptions and links. This is also the best way to get those Pinterest likes and repins that are so valuable.

If you are just starting out, you may consider purchasing chunks of followers. Buying Pinterest likes and Pinterest followers is different than doing the same on any other social media site in that your new followers will be specifically interested in your Boards. Other social media sites often attract a lot of “junk” followers who truly are not interested in your content so much as they are interested in having high numbers of followers themselves. Pinterest does not have this type of culture, and the users tend to be more interested in new and fun things to repin on their Boards than they are in sheer volume of followers.

The pay-for-followers programs that are now available generally offer a service that connects those interested in your content to your specific Boards. Your potential Pinterest followers have the option of following your entire account or one or more of your Boards. Even if they do not follow you, they may still choose to like or repin one of your pins, which is still valuable. Most services only count …

Business Transparency – Is Your Company As Transparent As You Think?

Each day I read the headlines and often learn something new and valuable. But, the other day, as I was looking over the headlines of the day, I came across a post, What social media words do you want to retire? I found the content of this post to be a bit off. The author of this post, Danny Brown, discusses five of his least favorite social media words and phrases and why he dislikes each.

One of his disliked phrases, which actually stuck out to me as an important phrase, was “Transparency is key.”

Here is Danny’s reasoning behind why this phrase, out of many others, should be “put into the social media retirement home.”

“Transparency is key. Unless it’s okay for us to lie about ourselves and make us sound more interesting than we are with tall tales and over-hyped statistics, then isn’t this a given in everything we do, and not just restricted to social media?”

Now, I understand that when people throw this term around without understanding what this phrase truly means, it can be frustrating. But, by no means do I think that “Transparency is key” should be thrown into the social media retirement home, and here’s why:

I most definitely see Danny’s point about overused social media phrases and words. Many people have the same exact point of view. Sometimes it can get extremely annoying when people throw around phrases without understanding the true meaning behind them.

However, I do think that, if used in the correct context and backed by intelligent ideas, “Transparency is key” holds true. I would have to strongly disagree that transparency is a given in everything we do. Transparency is much more than simply telling the truth about your business and using zero exaggeration. In my opinion, understanding what “transparency” means in a business environment goes way beyond being truthful in your business practices.

Many business owners and entrepreneurs often don’t understand exactly what it means to be “transparent.” The truth is, transparency can come in a variety of different forms. A face behind a brand, a strong and clear business message (on all marketing materials), and even a credo or philosophy section on a website are all forms of transparency. These elements enable your prospects and current customers to connect with the brand on a personal level.

And, often, strategically expressing your business transparency is an acquired skill. In fact, transparency is a branch of marketing. Is everyone educated in the effective practices of marketing? Probably not. So then, why is being transparent in our business practices “a given,” as Danny says.

When you throw “Transparency is key” around without understanding the defining aspects of it, you are setting yourself up for speculation. In other words, transparency is not something you say you are. Rather, it’s something you illustrate through effective brand messaging.

Respectfully, I think to say that “transparency is a given” is an incorrect assumption.…

Social Media Consultants Are Of Great Help

The possibilities for marketing a business seem to be endless and that every turn brings about new ways of improving the way businesses market their products. Indeed, these possibilities give way to so much opportunity for business owners for they would be able to explore the many ways of earning more money for the business and could even think of investing in more ways than one. Social media marketing is one of the possibilities in business marketing that paved the way for businesses to be online and create a stable web presence for their business.

Social media consultants know for a fact that social network marketing has so much to offer. In fact, it is the kind of marketing strategy that can be further divided into different types each one bringing in more chances of earning more than what most business men hoped for. In fact, there sites encourage people to give their businesses a new light and make more people understand how their business works and what they can still do to improve it.

Social media marketing is done only by the experts. These people can help you build up a profile that will knock out all the competition that you have. Social network consultants understand the need for an efficient profile to actually make the whole marketing plan work. They know that a good profile should contain relevant information about the product which can then be their way to link people to visit the main site of the business. This process has worked for a lot of businesses and surprisingly, they credit their web presence and the stable web traffic that is going into the sites to the effort of the social network consultants that they are working with.

Perhaps a business owner who is having second thoughts about spending on the salary of social media consultant should even think twice of doubting it because it might just be the best decision they have ever made for their business. Well, they can let go of these experts once they themselves are able to learn the quirks of doing the marketing.…

Gaming Desktop PCs

People who possess gaming desktop PCs are true gamers. Most people enjoy playing games, but then there are the extreme gamers how spend practically all of their waking life in front of the screen. Having a gaming desktop proves to the gaming community that you’re a real gamer, like a status symbol. Possessing the latest gaming desktop will gain you respect in the community as well as give you the best tool for playing the latest games.

When it comes to deciding on your rig, you will probably be surprised at the amount of choices there are. You could in fact design and build your own machine from scratch which will give you complete control over your requirements. Having said that, there are a wide range of gaming PCs available to suit all needs and prices, so you could just save yourself the bother of building one.

The difference between one gaming desktop PC and another can differ greatly speed and ability which can effect playability. It’s incredible how complex video games are becoming nowadays. Compare how realistic games are today compared to the early years of gaming and you’ll see a huge difference. When computer technology advances, it’s only natural to expect games to do so too.

It’s important to avoid picking a rig which is capable of only playing present releases on the market. You will only find that in less than a year that your computer will not be able handle the new games on the market with high settings. Barriers are meant to be broken and game designers are always going to be pushing technology to the limit.

You want to buy a gaming computer that can play current games on the market as well as future releases. Buying a desktop gaming machine means that you can upgrade parts, so that it is always up-to-date and powerful enough to handle new games. But it makes more sense to buy a new rig that can last a few years before it needs doing so.

If you want the best gaming experience, make sure that you buy a computer which is actually designed for playing games. Don’t just buy a regular PC even if it has high specs. For occasional gamers who don’t need a gaming machine, a regular high spec desktop is fine for most games running on lower settings, but for hardcore gamers avoid this. A regular PC, even if it is expensive will probably not have the best components installed for running games.

This is not to say that you won’t still enjoy playing games, but you won’t be playing them as they were intended to be. Desktops are great for upgrading, but if portability is essential for you, a gaming laptop is an alternative. Dell and Alienware manufacture a number of gaming laptops.

Want to make your gaming the ultimate experience? How about a big flat LCD monitor to bring more life to graphics? Perhaps one of the key components to …

How to Build a Strong Pinterest Profile for Your Food Business

Your food business needs to be on Pinterest. If you’re like most business owners, you probably think Pinterest and social media as a whole is a waste of time. Well it’s not.

If you don’t already know, Pinterest is the newest social site to hit the mainstream and it can be addictive. Most of the users are women, so if your product or service is marketed to women, you need to be on Pinterest now.

Before you get overwhelmed with yet another social media darling, take a few minutes to build yourself a strong Pinterest profile and a strategy for the best way to use it for your food business.

#1 Separate Your Personal Pinterest from Your Business Pinterest

You can have more than one Pinterest account. Simply send yourself an invitation so you can have a personal account and a business one. Do this as soon as possible because it takes a while for the team at Pinterest to send you the invite.

#2 Create a Username That Prospects and Customers Will Recognize

People will search for you on Pinterest. If you already have a Facebook and/or Twitter business profile try to keep them consistent with your Pinterest profile. If you can’t get the exact name try adding “biz” to the end of the name. This will create continuity and make it easier for people to find you on any given site.

#3 Add an Image of Your Logo

Include an image of your logo if it is something people will recognize right away once they land on your Pinterest page. If you don’t have a logo you can create an image of the business name, use the header from your website, or even use a picture of your flagship product. If you’re a service provider or if there is a face to your business (like Martha or Rachel), upload a picture of that person. Just make sure that whatever you use, it is consistent through all social media websites.

#4 Your About Paragraph

Add a short description in your “About” page. Instead of listing your bio or a bunch of website addresses, keep it short and emphasize the benefits of your product or business. For example, if your food business is dedicated to gourmet party appetizers your bio might be as simple as “Gourmet appetizers delivered right to your door.” Or “The easy way to serve hand-crafted appetizers at your next 20 minutes or less.”

#5 Add Follow Buttons

When you’re creating your profile you have the option to add:

A� Your website

A� Your Twitter profile

A� Your Facebook profile

They’ll show up as buttons under your picture on your profile page. Fellow pinners can then click on any button and be taken to the respective site. Bonus: When you “pin” something you can click the Twitter button to tweet it or click the Facebook button and post your pin to Facebook in seconds!

As you’re …

Processor Review – Intel Core i3 Desktop CPU

If you’re looking for a good entry level computer, a good bet is to focus in on systems using the Intel core i3 desktop PC processors. There are a wide variety of these systems and they should generally be towards the low end of the price spectrum. Keep in mind these computers will do all right for basic gaming but any hardcore gamer will probably be dissatisfied with the lack of higher end performance. For basic home computing it’s plenty of processing power though, and can easily handle everything email, web browsing and other common uses.

The Intel core i3 desktop PC processors are also great for office use. Systems built on this platform should breeze through most basic applications and can even handle some of the more processor intensive ones. For artistic work or graphical design though, it might be prudent to move up at least to Intel’s core i5 processor in order to get good performance from the more processor intensive apps. Office applications like Word and Excel are not among these however, and run great on the core i3.

Not all systems are created equal though, even with the same processor. Two different systems might both be built on Intel core i3 desktop PC processors with the same CPU speed but could offer different amounts of RAM, hard drive space, or additional features like re-writable DVD drives or even technical phone support. Don’t shop on price alone, but consider these “extras” and how important (or unimportant) each one might realistically be to you. For instance, if you love to take family photos and bring your camcorder everywhere then that extra hard drive space could be important for storing photos and videos.

Other considerations might be more specific to your situation. If you are looking for an ultra-small desktop PC, perhaps to keep in the kitchen, then that’s an important detail that can help narrow your selection considerably. Likewise if you plan to burn a lot of DVD’s then you should get a writable DVD drive, if you will be doing database processing or photo editing then more RAM could be helpful, etc. There are so many options available these days that it’s almost always in your best interest to take your time choosing a system and be a little picky. Even if you’re not sure what you’re being picky about at first, after comparing a number of similar systems you will get a feel for what one may offer that others don’t. When you get that feeling you know there’s a good chance you’ve found the right computer for you.…

Gaming Computers

HP has introduced his ultra gaming computers BlackBird 002, Dell is well known for the XPS series, and Northwest will give anyone a great wow with the high end configurations for the most exacting gamers. Alienware, the expert in implementing the newest components in laptops or desktops, he could not just stay and watch so Area-51 ALX gaming computers have been launched.

With a NVIDIA nForce 680i SLI graphics card on the motherboard, the Intel Core 2 Extreme with Quad Core technology processor could not miss, which runs at a 3.0 Ghz frequency and having a level 2 cache with 8 MB memory and a 1333 Mhz FSB. And in order to offer more power and performance, the processor was over clocked until 3.33 Ghz, the manufacturer providing a maximum stability in the conditions provided by the warranty.

Alienware Area-51 ALX

In the standard version, the DDR2 RAM memory at 800 Mhz is only 2 GB and can be extended up to 4 GB. For storage in order for you to save movie collections, music and especially games, Alienware prepared a few pleasant surprises. You can choose from 7200 rpm or 10.000 rpm HDDs, in single mode or RAID 0 and 1 matrix, with a Serial ATA2 at 3 Gb/s interface. The surprise is represented by the possibility to mount four hard drive disks, each having 1 TB, reaching an impressive value of 4 TB. The standard optical unit is a DVD RW Dual Layer 20x, but you can choose from the LightScribe technology or even 2x Blue-Ray Reader / Writer. The long forgotten floppy has been replaced by a 28 in 1 card reader.

At what does a gamer first look when buying a system? The video cards of course. The standard Area-51 ALX gaming computers come equipped with two NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTX video card mounted in SLI mode with 2 x 768 MB video memory, four DVI out, two S-Video out, support for the newest DirectX 10 and OpenGL 2.0. The surprises are not stopping here because you can install in SLI the two GeForce 8800 ULTRA, the “doped” version of the 8800 GTX graphic chip.

Not even the sound is below standards. You are provided with a standard Surround card on 24 bits and 8 channels. You can also install a Sound Blaster X-Fi with 64 MB XRAM audio memory. When talking about connectivity, Alienware excels again. Two High Performance Gigabit Ethernet ports, two FireWire 400 ports (one on the frontal panel), 8 High Speed USB 2.0 (two for a fast access on the frontal panel), audio connectors for the speakers, headset and microphone and the video mentioned above.

Alienware Area-51 ALX

The case’s aspect is amazing. The frontal panel presents numerous blue LEDs which can be configured, and the chrome elements, the opening system of the side panel and front panel which hides the optical drive, like the Alienware logo hive a plus of originality, impressing through each detail.

The ALX system is …

Do Twitter Marketing Tools Work?

Do Twitter marketing tools work? Before we ask this question, first we have to ask, “Does Twitter marketing work?” If the answer to the first question is “Yes” then the tool that best utilizes Twitter’s marketing capabilities could yield real results.

The Social Media Marketing Industry Report recently released by Michael A. Stelzner surveyed 900 marketers to determine if social media are resulting in actual increased business for online marketers. According to survey results, the answer is, “Yes!”

When using social media marketing tools such as Twitter (Twitter was ranked #1 most popular among these tools), marketers recorded increased exposure, traffic, search engine rank, and one in two generated targeted leads.

So do Twitter marketing tools work? If marketing with Twitter works to begin with, it stands to reason that a marketing tool that capitalizes on the marketing properties of Twitter could indeed be very effective. But exactly how do these tools make Twitter a profitable marketing platform?

Twitter marketing tools work by using native Twitter techniques, related services and applications to generate a mass of followers, develop niches of those followers to target with content, and use automated feeds to drive targeted traffic to links contained within Twitter updates.

Some Twitter marketers have tens of thousands of followers and can motivate segments of those followers to act based on information contained in their updates. One of the key actions desired by marketers is to get followers to click on links that lead to their sites. If interested people visit their sites, those people are more likely to take further action, which in turn increases conversion rates.

According to some successful Twitter marketers, such as Bill Crosby, creator of Twitter Traffic Machine, feeds can generate 1-2% of clicks to site or affiliate links. With a mass of followers and targeted feeds, this can produce a definite increase in traffic and qualified leads.

Based on these kinds of reports, Twitter should not be overlooked as part of a comprehensive marketing strategy. But which Twitter marketing tool does the best job? What is the best way to compare Twitter marketing tools and select which is the best fit for your online marketing objectives?

A good place to evaluate these tools is a site that has conducted multiple Twitter product reviews and lists important features of reviewed products in a side-by-side comparison format. Review sites can be found by searching Google or Squidoo for “Twitter product reviews” and selecting the sites that review the top marketing products.

The best tool should have an easy setup, utilize free Twitter services and applications, work quickly to generate income, and ultimately develop into an automated system. Most good marketing tools can be purchased at a reasonable price, for around $27.00.

There are an increasing number of marketing tools for Twitter available, and many of them use similar techniques, so regardless of which tool you choose, the most important thing is to get the basic information you need to make Twitter a …

How to Choose a Laptop

You must first determine the purposes for which a laptop will be used, it can be a mini-notebook for travel or gaming laptop for computer entertainment. Functional capabilities of laptops are conventionally divided into several basic types.

The first group – office laptops. Modern laptops of this type were most widespread in many countries. Office laptops, which are important for each successful person, have the typical characteristics of a stationary personal computer, well designed appearance and the necessary software. Best laptops for the office can be used for seminars, presentations and other activities requiring the use of a laptop as a portable device. This may be the cheapest laptop, or the most expensive notebook – depending on the status and needs of the owner. An employee of the company can easily take notebook home to finish the job. Most buy a notebook for their professional company to get absolute independence and more freedom of thought of their subordinates.

The next category of laptops is equipped with a powerful battery, which is achieved through long battery life. This is a necessary condition for using a laptop on a long trip. Choosing a laptop of this type is preferred by people whose work relates to business or frequent relocation. Practical materials from which such notebooks are made, allow to work with them in difficult conditions of environmental exposure. These are the laptops for modern business people, who choose mobility as a way of life.

Mini-notebooks are the cheapest laptops, they also have limited capacity. At present, buying a cheap laptop is easy. Any notebook shop offers a wide choice of devices of this class. If you prefer a budget notebook, it is worth to pay attention to netbooks. Compact size (diagonal screen only seven inches) is a character of netbook devices that occupy an intermediate position between the laptops and compact personal computers. Despite its modest dimensions and low weight, netbook has impressive technical capabilities.

Promo laptops have original design, which distinguishes them in a separate class. They successfully emphasize the social status of its owner. For manufacturing and finishing of fashion notebooks unusual materials are used: leather, steel, aluminum, carbon, precious metals, etc. With their help, the manufacturer demonstrates the exclusivity of a particular model. Quite often, branding laptops are produced in limited quantity. A notebook of this class can be afforded only by wealthy people who choose stylish look and functionality. Also in this class you can often find touch notebooks – one of the latest developments, which are used in computers.

Gaming notebooks allow its owner to fully play computer games. Laptops for gaming are equipped with powerful graphics cards and processors. Their aggressive design often attracts the attention of young audiences.

Notebooks with a touch screen – a new word in the technology development of the new century. This category notebook combines the functions of tablet PCs and normal laptop. Users of a touch laptop can enter the necessary information, using only the …

Confused On Buying A Gaming Laptop? 3 Cheap Gaming Notebooks For You

Gaming laptop is what game lovers are looking for. We know gamers are found of devices like Sony PlayStation and portable gaming consoles. What happens when mobile gaming meets computer, it results in the birth of gaming notebooks. It not only allows you to play your favorite games but also do your professional work. This is the advantage you get with a gaming notebook.

Many people think that such systems are incapable of running high-end games. It is not true because many of the notebooks that are specially designed for gaming come with high-end hardware specifications that not only lets you to enjoy new 3D games but also the games that are going to released in the near future.

HP Envy 14-111ONR

HP Envy is one of the top notch laptops produced by HP. The best thing about this system it not only looks appealing but it also priced well. The features of this system will truly make you purchase this system. The Intel core i5-460M CPU gives a speed of 2.53 GHz. The system comes with 2 x 2 GB (4GB) of DDR3 RAM and you can add up to 8 GB of RAM on this system. Windows 7 Home Premium comes pre-installed on 14.5 inch high definition LED display. What makes this notebook gaming friendly is the ATI Mobility Radeon graphics card that comes with 1GB video memory.

Samsung RF510-501

Samsung has always been known for producing aesthetically beautiful notebooks. The Samsung RF510-501 is one good looking laptop that runs on 2.4 GHz Intel Core i5-450M. The Nvidia GeForce video card comes with 1 GB of video memory. The smooth performance can be felt because of the 4GB DDR3 RAM. All these makes it a very good notebook for playing HD games and multimedia files.

MacBook Pro

MacBook may not be known for gaming but the all new MacBook Pro is powerful enough for enjoy games on it. The 15 inch display screen along with Nvidia GeForce GT graphics card (256MB of video memory), it stands out to be a gaming friendly notebook. The 4GB DDR RAM helps in providing better performance. The system runs on Intel Core i5-460 processor that gives a speed of 2.8 GHz. Other features of this amazing looking gaming laptop include 2 megapixel camera, wifi connectivity, and long battery life.…

The Most Important PlayStation 3 Yellow Light Repair Tips

In this article you are going to learn the most important PlayStation 3 yellow light repair tips that will help you to get rid of the yellow light of death error on your PS3. This frustrating error affects a reasonably large number of PS3 consoles, but it can be difficult to find the right advice to help you fix it. Keep reading to learn what you need to do in order to repair your PlayStation and get back to gaming again- without the yellow light error getting in the way.

• Sony will repair your PS3 for you and get rid of the YLOD error. All you have to do is call them up, give some details, and then follow their instructions to send your console away. The downsides to doing this is that you will have to wait for more than a month to get your PS3 returned, and if you don’t have a warranty (or your warranty has expired) it will cost you $150 to get the yellow light of death fixed.

• Sometimes you can fix errors on the PlayStation 3 simply by turning your PS3 off, leaving it switched off for around 30 minutes, then restarting it. Try this to fix the YLOD on your PS3. A lot of problems on most electronic devices can be fixed by a simple reboot.

• Remove the HDD (hard drive) from your console, and then carefully re-install it. A lot of problems are caused on the PS3 platform by a loose hard drive connection, so doing this will ensure that the connection is stable. Ensure that you don’t accidentally damage anything in the process. If you can get your hands on a spare hard drive then try installing this as well. In the worst case scenario there is data corruption on your hard drive, so you will have to swap to another one anyway.

• Check that all cables and leads are correctly attached to your PS3. Disconnect everything, then reconnect them all one by one.

• Consider investing in a PlayStation 3 repair guide that uses video instructions to show you how to repair the yellow light problem, as well as any other errors which can affect your PS3. One of these will cost you around $30-$40 USD, and will save you a large amount of fuss and difficulty in the long run, not to mention save you the even larger cost of having Sony repair your PS3.…

Social Media Sites Compared

Now that Goggle+ has been added to the pile of social media sites, I think it’s time to re-evaluate each of these sites. As time is limited, I’ll focus on the main one’s. At time of publishing, here’s how each site stacks up user wise according to Wikipedia:

Facebook user base is 640,000,000+;

Twitter user base is 175,000,000;

Google+ user base is 20,000,000

Picture yourself standing on a mountain, okay now yell something about your favourite hobby….

If you are using Facebook – chances are your 200+ acquaintances will hear it. Depending on the hobby, most people won’t care to hear about it. If you do this often enough, you risk being blocked from your “friend’s” feed.

If you are using Twitter – chances are anyone who cares to hear it will hear it – including people you don’t know. If you use hash tags (#), people following your topic will see it as well. Many people publishing on Twitter already lead public lives. They are celebrities, politicians and reporters. If you don’t usually live in a fish bowl, this lack of privacy can be a problem – you can change your settings so that you can control who sees your posts.

If you are using Google+ – chances are that you may choose to share this with a circle of friends who also share the love of this hobby as well. Because there’s no way to opt in to see your posts on a favourite hobby, people must rely on you knowing that you share an interest with them. From what I have read, many people who are using Google+ so far as computer geeks (like me) – so perhaps a good subject to start on.

Google+ is still very new, but I feel that appeals to people who are looking for more privacy. Unfortunately, being late to the party may lead to Google+ dying off eventually. This is Google’s third kick at the can (read Wave and Buzz), so they have had their share of failure’s in the social media game. People are so used to publishing everything to everyone on Facebook and Twitter that the very concept of publishing only to people who might be interested in hearing what you have to say confuses people a little. To me, this way of communication actually makes the most sense in the real world – so why not use this same thinking online (let’s face it, your grandmother probably doesn’t need to see that picture of you at the bar last night and your fishing buddy might not need to know about your work party). Google+ is still in a limited field trial at the moment, so they still have some kinks to work out and hopefully some new features to add. I for one hope they are successful. If you want an invite to Google+, please visit my website and send me an email.…

Fix PlayStation 3 Yellow Light of Death – How to Get Rid of the Yellow Light of Death

Is your PlayStation 3 messing up and pissing you off? Does it keep shutting down in the middle of a game? Is Your PS3 suffering from the yellow light of death? Would you like to know what you can do to fix play station 3 yellow light of death, without having to fork over the required $150 Sony demands and six or so weeks of living without your PS3? Are you interested in getting your play station up and running within the hour?

Then it is important for you to know that there are different ways to do this. This is mostly because when you fix PlayStation 3 yellow light of death, you are fixing a general hardware failure. Here are a few things you can do to get it up and running right away:

1. Get Rid of the Heat

Playing PlayStation 3 causes heat for the components. When it gets too hot, the system will shut down just to protect its fragile components from melting. Therefore, the vry first step is get it cooled down. Don’t force it at all. Just leave it to cool for about an hour or two after which it should come back on. Other things you might want to do to prevent a recurrence is putting your system in an open space where the draft of air will cause the vents to cool.

2. Get a Cooling Device

A laptop cooling device will often do the magic. These help PCs stay cool and therefore prevent system crashes. Use this if you don’t have an air cooling vent at all. Also, you can get a fan -one that goes with gaming devices- to help cool the parts that get hot quickly.

3. Tilt the PS3 Upwards

The third way you to fix PlayStation 3 yellow light of death is by turning the fan upwards. This way, the hot air gets sucked upwards, thus cooling the system in the process.…

Gaming Laptops – Perfect For Playing High Resolution Games

Gone are the days when a laptop was just a simple computer meant for daily jobs such as emailing, writing documents and passing some free time while on the move. Today laptop makers have realized the huge demand that exists for high end gaming laptops that deliver super fast performance and have really good battery backups. Today there are different types of laptops that have been custom made according to their usages. There are some for home use, other for business purposes and many more for gaming. And the gaming sector in particular is growing by leaps and bounds today.

These gaming laptops are meant for super fast performance in terms of game play, graphics and overall processing speeds. They are meant to cater to the high needs of gamers from across the world today in terms of performance and pleasure. Many of them today have high definition performance capabilities that have revolutionized the way one looks at computers and gaming laptops in particular.

The only downside of these beauties is the fact that they are not only much more bulky and heavier in terms of weight but they are also really expensive and not everyone can afford to own one of them. You can get a standard home or business use laptop for around 200 to 250 dollars while any gaming laptops available today will cost upwards of 450 dollars and the prices can even be as high as a 1,000 dollars for a really high end system.

The minimum processor speeds of gaming laptops are 2.5 GHz along with a minimum RAM memory of around 2GB to 5GB. Most of the professional gaming laptops have a Hard Disk Capacity of at least 500GB to 1Tb or Terra-bite. Most of them have a dual core or a quad core processor that makes them perform really fast and accurately. Also, the Graphic Processing Units (GPU’s) or graphic cards as they are popularly known are the heart of any system. Most gaming machines usually come with a 1 gig graphic card or more.

But once you buy any of these gaming laptops, you never have to worry about performance again. These machines will deliver whatever you require from them and even more. Most of these laptops come with specialized gaming keyboards and other interfaces for inputs. But usually gamers prefer to have their own specialized gaming keyboards and mice that have been exclusively designed for the sole purpose of gaming.…

Some Knowledge For People Curious About Gaming PCs

Sooner or later, if you have been playing your favorite shooter game on your desktop computer, you are going to realize that your computer does not support your gaming experience properly. If your game is freezing up or the sound quality is horrible, then you should consider moving your playing to a gaming PC. Gaming PCs are built towards the specific needs of every game to make sure that they have the ultimate gaming experience, complete with the intense graphics. If you don’t know much about what makes a PC different from the usual, check out the information below.

The inside of a PC is very intricate. If you look inside you will find hardware that is the best that you can possibly find. Gaming PCs usually utilize the most high quality technology available. Upon further inspection of the gaming computer, you will see that it has plenty of ports located everywhere for any gamers that may need to plug in gaming peripherals. Often times, gamers will build their gaming computer custom to ensure they get everything they need out of the computer.

You need to have a vast amount of memory on your gaming PC. As in, gigabytes upon gigabytes of storage space available. This will ensure that you don’t have a game that runs too slowly during your game play. However, just as important as memory is, the gaming computer must also have a fast processor. A super fast processor will prevent your computer from freezing up while you are playing. Everyone knows that the game becomes less fun and more frustrating when your computer is constantly freezing on you, so gamers try to prevent this as much as possible.

If you like games that are intense on graphics and sound, then you need to have the best graphics cards as well as the best sound cards installed into your computer. A gaming computer has this. These computers have the top of the line in all hardware, and graphics and sound cards are a necessity to avoid choppy graphics and a poor sound experience during your game.

If you decide to go browsing for a gaming PC, be aware that these computers look a lot different than the computers that you are used to seeing. Gaming computers have decorative casing and lights to make them more noticeable in comparison to other computers. Sometimes you will even see clear casing that showcases what is held inside of the gaming PC itself. A gaming PC’s design is meant to capture your attention, at any rate.

If you’re wondering why gamers sometimes custom build their computers and other gamers do not, then there’s a reason for this too. It depends on the gamers preferences, of course. For the gamers that know exactly what they want and have the funds to build their own dream computer, they do it. Other people who are beginners in gaming often buy pre-built computers and rebuild them or …

Branding a Large Chain With Social Media

Every major corporation with a strong brand name needs to be using social media to help increase that brand name, and to stay in touch with the new digital age of consumers. Failure to communicate with your new consumers in a way that they prefer to be communicated with will be a mistake. The new generation of X’ers, and those that come after them have never known life without a cell phone, and the next generation will never have know a life without an iPhone or a smart phone that was fully interactive, and constantly connected to the Internet.

Any Corporation that believes they can skip social media and still promote their brand name is clearly missing the boat. Any company or corporation that sells to the consumer must realize that the baby boomers are getting older, and the same methods that were used to keep a company’s brand name in their minds will not work in the future. The era of social media is here, and it is time to adjust and adapt, or let the brand name die.

As a former franchisor, we were one of the first companies to embrace the Internet, and it paid off big time for our company. We got our rather not so well known brand name in front of 10s of millions of people. This helped our franchisees catapult themselves into new markets, and maintain strong customer bases, increasing them every day. Although I am retired now, I see the incredible opportunity of social media for franchisors, if they dare to take it. As one recent a top franchise consultant stated in a recent article;

“First of all you need to recognize that the goal for your franchise system is to make new friends ie. Customers, and to keep them for life. In the social media world this requires the same skills used in your personal life to make and keep friends.”

And personally, I couldn’t agree more with that statement, she is definitely correct. Therefore, franchising companies need to understand this, and we think they are social media strategies. Perhaps, contacting a franchise consultant that understands social media, and how to leverage all of your franchisees, their families, and their friends to help spread the word and strengthen the brand name. I hope you will please consider all this.…

The Power of a Conversation

Remember conversations? They were those things we did in the dim and distance past before email, Facebook and Twitter, Blackberries, iPhones and the rest. You know, those days when you could sit in a room together and talk, face to face, without something buzzing, rattling or beeping.

It’s conversations we used to have with customers, when they’d come into your shop and you’d ask them how they were. They’d give you chapter and verse including a few nuggets of valuable insight and the next time they came in you’d have those ‘4 candles’ for them (as a backup for the fork-handles).

As the power of large brands got bigger, and ATL and DM communications became more mass market and all encompassing, this art of conversation was lost. It became a one way street, “Buy this you know you want to!” The message repeated over and over again until we did. And if that didn’t work, try another ad. Not quite the two way conversation we really value as consumers, customers and indeed human beings.

For all the new fangled technology involved and the lexicon of new terms we pre-spectrum generation are still getting to grips with – RT, pokes, #, @ (the list goes on). Arguably the biggest advantage of social media such as Facebook and Twitter is the ability to reclaim the conversation with customers.

The number of touchpoints opened up by these digital avenues is staggering, but what they all do is spark dialogue. The kind of two-way conversations that can bring so much value to any business, asking customers for their input into new services, testing new/existing services or even developing new products. All this is possible once you open dialogue with customers.

Of course, it isn’t always the best idea to act on every word, suggestion or demand, but for every rant or useless idea you will get a valuable piece of advice, experience or gold nugget. But the important part is the conversation.

Social media is a great way for any business to reclaim the conversation. Not just with your clients, but potential customers as well as suppliers, mentors or your network of advisers. Integrated with traditional marketing, digital marketing and social media adds the kind of dimensions that may have been lacking for a while.

Getting customer responses (sometimes in real time) to your traditional marketing is a fantastic way of measuring and testing your campaigns and thereby massively increasing the effectiveness of them.

Of course we should all learn these lessons in our daily life and turn the laptop/iPhone/BlackBerry off and converse.

But then again if we stop now we’ll never evolve that third eye and extra thumb that will make modern life so much easier.…

Facebook Places – Should Everybody Know Your Business?

Yes, it appears Facebook has once again set off the privacy alarms. It only seems like yesterday when shared post after post liked from my news feed took me to instructions on how to change my privacy settings to remove my voice mail number from public Facebook Places barely out off the launch pad, the backlash hit me like the heat from a blast furnace.

If you aren’t aware of this latest alleged attempt for Facebook to reveal everything but your underwear size, Facebook Places is similar to the Foursquare, Loopt, and Gowalla concepts – acting as a GPS agent, Places tracks where you are in the world and posts it to your profile. Gone down the street to Starbuck’s? Facebook is there. Off to see a movie? It’s on your Facebook.

What’s more, unless you change your privacy settings, your FB friends can tag you on Places. So, let’s say you *cough* called in sick to work so you could catch the Vans Warped Tour three towns over. If a friend spots you and tags you, it’s out there. We all know, too, what happens on Facebook could get you fired.

Now, as a businessperson using social media to promote your work and products, you have to ask yourself of what value is something like Facebook Places to you. Opponents of the tool cite security risks; many pointed to the defunct Please Rob Me site as an example of how even Tweeting your activities without a locator device could land you in trouble, so why let Facebook compound problems? If you have a personal Facebook account and a page to promote your company, does Facebook Places add something of value to your social media strategy?

It can, provided your business is a physical location that other Facebook users frequent, and are willing to mark in Places. One way to encourage promotion via this tool would be to offer incentives to anybody who marks your business in their profiles. Half off their dinner order at your restaurant, or 10% off their purchase or other discount on your services.

Whether or not you should use Facebook Places is up to you. Physical store owners, naturally, would be expected to be at work. If you do not feel comfortable with Facebook tracking your every move, don’t feel as though opting out will hurt your business. Yet, for those who choose to use it, keep the offers open, because word of mouth never hurts, no matter where the words are posted.…