Saturday, January 31, 2009

Touch screen

Our technology nowadays has really brought an innovative style of touch screen monitor.

HP L5006tm Touch Screen 15" LCD Monitor

One of the newest additions to HP’s line of flat panel monitors, the HP L5006t 15-inch Touchscreen Monitor is the only HP business monitor to feature touchscreen technology for easy onscreen interactivity in a variety of point-of-sale (POS), hospitality, educational, banking, manufacturing, and kiosk environments.


Features

  • Innovative technology: Surface Acoustic Wave (SAW) touch technology allows accurate input through a finger, gloved hand, or stylus. The glass screen offers a more durable, damage-resistant alternative to film-coated display screens that continues working even if scratched. The display's touchscreen input is designed not to drift for accurate, fast input responses.
  • Sturdy design: The stable removable base is engineered for the physical demands of touchscreen use. The sturdy design helps foster intuitive operator entry and flexibility with a variety of applications to help reduce training time and costs and operational errors, and help increase employee productivity and customer satisfaction.
  • Improved compatibility: USB and serial ports enable easy device connectivity with a variety of peripherals.
  • Maximum technology investment: The touchscreen technology can help minimize hardware investment costs by offering an alternative to separate keyboard and mouse hardware devices.
  • Environmental considerations: HP monitors meet stringent worldwide environmental, ecological and recycling standards as part of our ongoing commitment to growing environmental concerns and regulatory requirements.

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

scrap iron

This is the other side I do not write many of these post so I will throw one in to let you know some about me. One of the things I enjoy and am good at is scrap iron. It is a weird industry but one that has given me and my family spending money for many years. I have seen prices go from a little of nothing to sky high . It is frustrating to watch when prices are high the people who bring in scrap in a wasted state by that I mean I have seen people take an air conditioner and sell it for $6.00 when 20 minutes worth of work they could have made $40.00. But they are there for the easy way out and as weird as it may seem even with scrap iron you get out of it what you put in to it if you just want the quick gratification take it but if you are willing to put in just a little bit of work the rewards will always be there. Everything can be drawn back to life lessons and you can always look at the bad and ask for the other person to step up and do for you but remember just like everything else you will only get out of this life what you put into it so give your life its all and remember bad things happen but if you want to be happy it is your choice to make yourself that way.

Sunday, January 25, 2009

Mardi Gras History

The origins of Mardi Gras can be traced to Medival Europe, though we have no written record of how that really transformed into the current Mardi Gras of today. But the origins of the Mardi Gras we celebrate today -- with Kings, Mardi Gras colors, and brass bands -- are traced to New Orleans.

Although we can trace its history to the Romans, a French-Canadian explorer, Jean Baptiste Le Moyne Sieur de Bienville, landed on a plot of ground 60 miles directly south of New Orleans in 1699 and called it "Pointe due Mardi Gras." He also established "Fort Louis de la Louisiane" (which is now Mobile) in 1702. In 1703, the tiny settlement of Fort Louis de la Mobile celebrated the very first Mardi Gras.

In 1704, Mobile established a secret society (Masque de la Mobile) ... similar to those who form our current Mardi Gras Krewes. It lasted until 1709. In 1710, the "Boeuf Graf Society" was formed and paraded from 1711 through 1861. The procession was held with a huge bull's head pushed alone on wheels by 16 men. This occurred on Fat Tuesday.

New Orleans was established in 1718 by Jean-Baptise Le Moyne. By the 1730s, Mardi Gras was celebrated openly in New Orleans.. but not in parade form. In the early 1740s, Louisiana's Governor The Marquis de Vaudreuil established elegant society balls -- the model for the New Orleans Mardi Gras balls of today.

The earliest reference to Mardi Gras "Carnival" appears in a 1781 report to the Spanish colonial governing body. That year, the Perseverance Benevolent & Mutual Aid Association is the first of hundreds of clubs and carnival organizations formed in New Orleans.

By the late 1830s, New Orleans held street processions of maskers with carriages and horseback to celebrate Mardi Gras. Newspapers began to announce Mardi Gras events in advance.

In 1871, Mardi Gras's second "Krewe" is formed, the Twelfth Night Reveler's, with the first account of Mardi Gras "throws."

1872 was the year that a group of businessmen invented a King of Carnival -- Rex -- to parade in the first daytime parade. They introduced the Mardi Gras colors of purple, green and gold; the Mardi Gras song, and the Mardi Gras flag.

In 1873, the first floats were constructed entirely in New Orleans instead of France. In 1875, Governor Warmoth of Louisiana signs the "Mardi Gras Act" making it a legal holiday in Louisiana, which is still is.

Most Mardi Gras Krewes today developed from private social clubs that have restrictive membership policies. Since all of these parade organizations are completely funded by its members, we call it the "Greatest Free Show on Earth!"

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

TYPE ONLY 1 WORD... IT'S HARDER THEN YOU THINK!!!

1. Where is your cell phone? table
2.Your significant other? ady
3.Your hair? Brown
4. Your mother? opinionated
5. Your father? funny
6. Your favorite thing? ady
7. Your dream last night? nookie
8. Your goal? ady

9. The room you're in? LIVING
10. Your fear? UNLOVED
11. Where do you want to be in 6 years? PHILIPPINES
12. Where were you last night? recliner
13. What you're not? handsome
14. Muffins? blueberry
15. One of your wish list items? CHILDREN
16. Where you grew up? everywhere
17. The last thing you did? nookie
18. What are you wearing? ady
19. Your TV? OLD
20. You're pet? BUBBA
21. Your computer? laptop
22 Your life? HAPPY
23. Your mood? horny
24. Missing someone? ady
25. Your car? truck
26. Something you’re not wearing? underwear
27. Favorite Store? wendy's
28. Your summer? HOT
29. Your favorite color? BLACK
30. When is the last time you laughed? NOW
31. Last time you cried? SUNDAY
32. Who will/would re-post this? FRIENDS

33. FOUR PLACES I GO OVER AND OVER? work, home,work, BED ROOM:)
34. FOUR PEOPLE WHO E-MAIL ME: ady, spam, ebay, spam
35.FOUR OF MY FAVORITE FOODS: lasagna,ady, ADOBO, LUMPIA
36. FOUR PLACES I WOULD RATHER BE RIGHT NOW: ady, BORACAY, PALAWAN, BOHOL
37. FOUR PEOPLE I THINK WILL RESPOND: none,none,none,none

Here's what you're supposed to do....and please don't spoil the fun....Hit 'forward,' delete my answers, type in your answers and send it to a bunch of people. Have fun.

Thursday, January 15, 2009

Most Expensive Coffee in the World

The most expensive coffee in the world does not hail from Jamaica or Hawaii, but instead from Indonesia.

Kopi Luwak the most expensive coffee in the world does exist, and those who drink the expensive coffee insist that it is made from coffee beans eaten, partly digested and then excreted by the Common palm civet, a weasel-like animal.

“Kopi” the Indonesian word for coffee along with “luwak” is local name of this animal which eats the raw red coffee beans. The civet digests the soft outer part of the coffee cherry, but does not digest the inner beans and excretes them.

Apparently the internal digestion ends up adds a unique flavor to the beans, removing the bitter flavor, and then beans are then picked up by locals and sold. The most expensive coffee beans can cost up to $600 a pound, and up to $50 per cup, if you can get over the fact that you are drinking such a strange brew.

You would know if you drank the most expensive coffee in the world, because the quantities of it are tiny amounts.

A US Airways jet crashed

A US Airways jet crashed Thursday in the Hudson River in New York City after a flock of birds struck its engines, but everyone aboard survived.

Passengers were sent fleeing into the icy, 35 degree, waters when the Airbus 320 went down shortly after takeoff near 48th Street in Manhattan.

Two of the jet's engines were hit by a flock of birds, according to government officials. The Federal Aviation Administration said everyone on board survived and was off the plane.

Two of the jet's engines were hit by a flock of birds, according to government officials.

There were eyewitness reports the plane may have flown into a flock of birds," said FAA spokeswoman Laura Brown. "Right now we don't have any indication this was anything other than an accident."

An air traffic controllers union official said the pilot reported a "double bird strike" less than a minute after takeoff and was headed for an emergency landing in New Jersey when he ditched into the Hudson River.

National Air Traffic Controllers Union spokesman Doug Church says the plane reported the bird striked about 30 to 45 seconds after takeoff from New York's LaGuardia Airport and asked to return to the ground. As the controller began to turn the aircraft, the pilot radioed that he saw an airport below him and asked what it was.

Church said the controller in Westbury, N.Y., replied, "That's Teterboro." The pilot asked to land there. The last transmission between the pilot and controller was the controller's order to divert to Teterboro, N.J., for an emergency landing.

Doug Parker, chairman and chief executive officer of US Airways Group, would not speculate on what caused the incident, but said at a press conference that the company will fully cooperate with investigators.

Most of the passengers were held at the New York City ferry terminal at 42nd Street after the crash, though at least two were taken away on stretchers. The New York City Fire Department said 78 people were injured, but the extent of the injuries wasn't immediately known.

Flight 1549 had just taken off from New York's LaGuardia Airport at 3:26 p.m. Thursday when it went down. The flight had 150 passengers and five crew — two pilots and three flight attendants —on board, and was heading to Charlotte, N.C., said Parker, who was leaving for New York.

The plane was submerged in the icy waters up to the windows but remained completely intact. Rescue crews opened the door and pulled passengers in yellow life vests from the plane. Several boats — including commuter ferries — surrounded the plane, which appeared to be slowly sinking.

Passengers could be seen standing on the wings of the jet floating in the water immediately after the crash.

A number of Bank of America Corp. and Wells Fargo & Co. employees were on board the flight.

Wells Fargo spokeswoman Mary Eshet said three employees of the San Francisco-based bank were on US Airways Flight 1549, and all are safe.

At Charlotte-based Bank of America, spokeswoman Nicole Nastacie said the nation's largest bank was confirming the whereabouts of its employees and working with authorities to gather more information.

The U.S. Coast Guard said they are assessing the fuel situation on the plane, and working with several other agencies on a plan to salvage the plane.

The FBI and the Department of Homeland Security said terrorism wasn't suspected.

"There is no information at this time to indicate that this is a security-related incident," Homeland Security spokeswoman Laura Keehner said. "We continue to closely monitor the situation which at present is focused on search and rescue."

Witnesses said the plane's pilot appeared to guide the plane down.

"I see a commercial airliner coming down, looking like it's landing right in the water," said Bob Read, who saw it from his office at the television newsmagazine "Inside Edition." "This looked like a controlled descent."

New York City firefighters and the U.S. Coast Guard were responding to the crash.

"I saw what appeared to be a tail fin of a plane sticking out of the water," said Erica Schietinger, whose office windows at Chelsea Piers look out over the Hudson. "All the boats have sort of circled the area."

A team of US Airways employee volunteers are helping the passengers and crew who were affected, Parker said.

Martin Luther

Martin Luther (November 10, 1483 - February 18, 1546) was a Christian theologian and Augustinian monk whose teachings inspired the Protestant Reformation and deeply influenced the doctrines of Protestant and other Christian traditions. Martin Luther was born to Hans and Margaretha Luder on 10 November 1483 in Eisleben, Germany and was baptised the next day on the feast of St. Martin of Tours, after whom he was named. Luther’s call to the Church to return to the teachings of the Bible resulted in the formation of new traditions within Christianity and the Counter-Reformation in the Roman Catholic Church, culminating at the Council of Trent.

His translation of the Bible also helped to develop a standard version of the German language and added several principles to the art of translation. Luther's hymns sparked the development of congregational singing in Christianity. His marriage, on June 13, 1525, to Katharina von Bora, a former nun, began the tradition of clerical marriage within several Christian traditions.

Luther's Writings

The number of books attributed to Martin Luther is quite impressive. However, some Luther scholars contend that many of the works were at least drafted by some of his good friends like Philipp Melanchthon. Luther’s books explain the settings of the epistles and show the conformity of the books of the Bible to each other. Of special note would be his writings about the Epistle to the Galatians in which he compares himself to the Apostle Paul in his defense of the Gospel. Luther also wrote about church administration and wrote much about the Christian home.

Luther's work contains a number of statements that modern readers would consider rather crude. For example, Luther was know to advise people that they should literally “Tell the Devil he may kiss my ass.” It should be remembered that Luther received many communications from throughout Europe from people who could write anonymously, that is, without the specter of mass media making their communications known. No public figure today could write in the manner of the correspondences Luther received or in the way Luther responded to them. Luther was certainly a theologian of the middle-ages. He was an earthy man who enjoyed his beer, and was bold and often totally without tact in the blunt truth he vehemently preached. While this offended many, it endeared him all the more to others.

He was open with his frustrations and emotions, as well. Once, when asked if he truly loved God, Luther replied “Love God? Sometimes I hate Him!” Luther was also frustrated by the works-emphasis of the book of James, calling it “the Epistle of Straw, and questioning its canonicity. Also irritated with the complex symbolism of the Book of Revelation, he once said that it too, was not canon, and that it should be thrown into the river! He later retracted these statements, of course. Luther was a man who was easily misquoted or taken out of context. While a brilliant theologian, and a bold reformer, he would not have made a good politician. But then, he never aspired to any career in politics.

Martin Luther's Death

Martin Luther escaped martyrdom, and died of natural causes. His last written words were, "Know that no one can have indulged in the Holy Writers sufficiently, unless he has governed churches for a hundred years with the prophets, such as Elijah and Elisha, John the Baptist, Christ and the apostles... We are beggars: this is true."

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Six Remodeling Mistakes To Avoid


Doing it yourself can save thousands of dollars. But making mistakes during your remodel can be costly and dangerous. The key is to plan ahead, use common sense and take some tips from the pros.

Here are a few common mistakes remodeling rookies make.

Failing to locate water cutoffs

Before you start any work, especially in wet areas like bathrooms and kitchens, you need to locate the water cutoff in the house and at the street. This way, if a disaster occurs, you know where to head to cut off the flood.

Not preparing to localize and minimize dust and debris

Demolition is messy. Minimize the impact on your house by containing the mess. Create a work zone and keep tools and supplies inside it. Buy large sheet plastic and heavy duty masking tape to completely screen off doorways and openings. At the end of every work session, use a shop vac to get rid of dust and debris. Then take 15 minutes to organize your tools and supplies. It’ll make it quicker to get started next time.

Getting in a hurry

Sure it’s appealing to rip that wall separating the kitchen and the family room right out, but safe demolition demands planning and forethought. First, turn off all the electricity and water to the demo area. Use a stud finder that is equipped to locate metal to determine where wire and pipes are running through the wall. Then, using a small dry wall saw, cut some investigative holes to see exactly what’s behind the wall. This way, you avoid ripping out most of a wall only to discover it contains a vent or pipe that will be costly to move.
Not protecting surfaces
Mask every finished surface and keep it masked as you work. This means cabinets, walls, baseboards, flooring, and moulding. Cover countertops with interlocking foam tiles to deflect the impact of dropped tools. There’s nothing more discouraging than having to replace, repaint or refinish because of damage, spills or splatters.
Not having a Plan B for plumbing
You may think you’ll get your plumbing done in a day, but jobs have a way of expanding. Supply yourself with end stop fittings to cap off open pipes so you can turn the water back on in mid-job. Home Depot’s end stops are called Sharks; Lowe’s offers a line named Gators. They come in ½”, ¾” and 1-inch sizes and it’s smart to have an assortment on hand. Follow the directions for use.
Not protecting floors when you move appliances
Even builders make this mistake. Put down carpet or masonite (sweep or vacuum thoroughly first to remove anything that could scratch the floor) to roll the appliances over as you are installing them. This will protect new tile or wood flooring from damage.

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

American Idol 2009

There are new surprises and new things in the new season of American Idol. Here's the full details from Fox News:


When Fox's "American Idol" premiered eight years ago, no major media outlet wrote a story about the little summer replacement series that seemed like a desperate attempt to revive the '80s show "Star Search."

Eight years later, "Idol" has seen a drumroll toward tonight's season premiere that has made the presidential primary seem minimalist and low key. Every fluctuation in the format has been the subject of rumors, counter-rumors, leaks and denials. And this season's major changes -- the potentially risky addition of a fourth judge -- have only fueled the frenzy all the more.

At the center of the media whirlwind is the man who arguably has done more to shape reality television than anyone else: Fox's head of alternative programming, Mike Darnell. The executive said he's excited as he anticipates the reaction to the shake-up within America's most popular television program.

I've now seen four of the audition cities cut, and they're really good," Darnell said. "Not only is the talent great, but the introduction of the fourth judge is really creating a great dynamic. Better than I expected, to be honest."

The new judge, songwriter Kara DioGuardi, joins the holy judging panel that has formed the show's backbone since its early days. On-air chemistry can be like lightning in a bottle, something hard to capture or replicate, but Darnell believes that DioGuardi will actually heighten -- not detract from -- the show's original elements.

"She's not shy, so she puts up a good fight," he said. "So what it's doing is really adding to the group dynamic. Just by having a good fourth person in there, everybody's comments are changing. They are saying things they didn't say in years past."

Darnell also promises that the male-versus-female dynamic will become more pronounced this season, beginning tonight with a contestant he refers to as "bikini girl."

But the new judge is one of a host of alterations made to the show in response to last year's midseason stall in the ratings. This season there will be a shuffling of the midround rules -- including a wild-card round -- and the use of more backstage footage to underscore the young contestants' emotional agonies.

"We're going back to sort of a raw feel," he said. In the middle rounds, after singing and being judged, the contestants will immediately be confronted by host Ryan Seacrest rather than being allowed to retreat backstage, as in the past.

"So you see if they're upset with what Simon said, you get to see it right away instead of them going backstage," explained Darnell. "It's really the rawness of what's happening. How do they feel right after? How do they feel stepping off that stage? They can't hide it. They can't cover it up."

The changes to television's lone giant also came about to address another issue: The show is aging. "Change is important. As long as you don't change the core of the show, little changes can make a big, big difference. What it says to the audience is we're not out of gas," he said. "Imagine a scripted show that was in its eighth season, you'd do some fictional changes. Some new characters, whatever it may be, and this is our version of that. We just know it's the biggest show on TV, and we better not rest on our laurels because the audience will become apathetic with you."

Monday, January 12, 2009

How the IMF ( International Mutual Fund ) Promotes Global Economic Stability

The IMF advises member countries in implementing economic and financial policies that promote stability, reduce vulnerability to crisis, and encourage sustained growth and high living standards. It also reviews global economic trends and developments that affect the health of the international monetary and financial system and promotes dialogue among member countries on the regional and international consequences of their economic and financial policies. The IMF now publishes the bulk of its analysis. In addition to these activities, called "surveillance", the IMF provides technical assistance to help strengthen members' institutional capacity, and makes resources available to them to facilitate adjustment in the event of a balance of payments crisis.

Why is global economic stability important?

Promoting economic stability is partly a matter of avoiding economic and financial crisis. Economic stability also means avoiding large swings in economic activity, high inflation, and excessive volatility in exchange rates and financial markets. Such instability can increase uncertainty and discourage investment, impede economic growth, and hurt living standards.

A dynamic market economy necessarily involves some degree of instability, as well as gradual structural change. The challenge for policymakers is to minimize this instability without reducing the ability of the economic system to raise living standards through the increasing productivity, efficiency, and employment that it generates.

Economic and financial stability is both a national and a multilateral concern. As recent experience in world financial markets has shown, countries are becoming ever more interconnected. Problems in one apparently isolated sector, within any one country, can result in problems in others sectors and spillover across borders. And global economic and financial conditions have a significant impact on developments in most national economies. Thus, no country is an "island" when it comes to economic and financial stability.

How the IMF helps

The IMF helps countries to implement sound and appropriate policies through its key functions of surveillance, technical assistance, and lending.

Surveillance: Every country that joins the IMF accepts the obligation to subject its economic and financial policies to the scrutiny of the international community. Conversely, the IMF is mandated by its statutes to oversee the international monetary system in order to ensure its effective operation, and the compliance of each member with its undertaking, under Article IV, to run policies consistent with domestic and global stability. Thus, the IMF monitors and assesses developments and policies at the country, regional, and global levels.

Bilateral surveillance. The core of bilateral surveillance are regular-usually annual-consultations that the IMF holds with each member country. During these consultations the IMF staff discuss economic and financial developments and policies with national policymakers, and often with representatives of business and civil society. In particular, consultations consider potential national and international consequences of domestic policies, and possible domestic repercussions of developments in other countries or regions. Staff also assess the exchange rates of members to ensure they are broadly appropriate. On this basis, the IMF offers advice on policies to promote macro-financial stability and external stability, drawing on experience across the membership.

The policy framework for these consultations was updated in 2007 with a new surveillance Decision that clarifies expectations, enhances accountability, sets out best practice, and introduces the concept of external stability as organizing principle-innovations to improve the focus, candor, evenhandedness and effectiveness of surveillance. These consultations are also supported by membership-wide initiatives to inform bilateral surveillance and promote global economic stability, including:

(i) work to systematically assess countries' vulnerabilities to crisis;

(ii) in collaboration with the World Bank, the Financial Sector Assessment Program (FSAP), which identifies strengths, risks, and vulnerabilities of countries' financial systems and helps formulate appropriate policy responses;

(iii) also in collaboration with the World Bank, development and assessment of countries' observance of a dozen standards and codes of good practice regarding the "rules of the game" for the design and implementation of economic and financial policies

Multilateral surveillance. The IMF also closely monitors economic and financial developments at the global and regional levels.

The IMF's periodic reports on the World Economic Outlook, its regional spin-offs, and the Global Financial Stability Report analyze global and regional macroeconomic and financial developments-to ensure a global perspective to surveillance. The IMF is also well positioned to facilitate multilateral discussions on issues of relevance or common concern to groups of members, and in the process advance shared understanding on policies to promote stability.

Through dialogue with member countries, the IMF is developing voluntary best practices for sovereign wealth funds. This effort is expected to benefit both countries with SWFs and recipients of their investments, helping to allay the potential concerns about these funds, reducing the risks of protectionism, and helping to maintain open capital markets.

Technical assistance: The IMF helps countries strengthen their capacity to design and implement sound economic policies. The Fund provides advice and training on a range of issues within its mandate, including fiscal, monetary, and exchange rate policies; the regulation and supervision of financial systems; statistics systems; and legal frameworks.

Lending: Even the best economic policies cannot completely eradicate instability or avert crises. In the event that a member country does experience financing difficulties, the IMF can provide financial assistance to support policy programs that will correct underlying macroeconomic problems, limit disruption to the domestic and global economies, and help restore confidence, stability, and growth. IMF financing instruments can also support crisis prevention.

Sunday, January 11, 2009

15 of the Hottest Touchscreen Phones

Touchscreen phones are the new “in” device when it comes to mobile phones and it seems that 2008 will be the year when the mobile phone manufacturers really ramp up the releases of these devices to meet consumer demand for smarter, more advanced touchscreen phones.

Here are 15 of the hottest touch screen phones for this year.

  1. HTC Touch Diamond:

    The HTC Touch Diamond is the successor to the Touch Cruise. It will run Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional, with a Qualcomm 528MHz MSM 7201A processor and 256MB ROM/192MB of RAM.

    It has a 2.8″ VGA screen, WiFi, Bluetooth 2.0 with EDR, eGPS (), a 3.1 Megapixel camera with flash and a forward facing camera. It has a Samsung MoviNAND for 4GB of internal flash storage.

    The Touch Diamond also has an orientation sensor that automatically switches the phone output according to the orientation of the phone. The dimensions of the phone are 51 x 99 x 10.7mm.

  2. Apple iPhone Second Gen:

    Not a lot of confirmed information out there about the new iPhone.

    There is plenty of unconfirmed information though:

    It will be similar in size to the current iPhone.

    It will also include 3G, GPS, a glossy black casing, chrome volume buttons and more rounded edges due to less metal used in the case.

    These have not been confirmed by Apple yet, but I am pretty sure they will be with time.

  3. LG Secret:

    It sports a 5 megapixel camera and is only 11.8mm thick, making it the slimmest phone with a 5 megapixel camera currently on the market.

    It is made from carbon fiber and the LCD screen is protected by tempered glass. The touch screen buttons respond to commands with a luminous blue light. The camera is capable of capturing video at 120FPS and DivX certified recording. It comes pre-loaded with Google Package that enables the user to check their Gmail, use Google Maps and watch YouTube videos. It can also open Microsoft documents and it will have 100MB of onboard memory which can be expanded with a microSD card. The screen auto-rotates like the iPhone. It has Voice Clarity software that ensures that sound is always clear no matter what the surroundings are. It measures 102.8 x 50.8 x 11.8 mm.

  4. LG Prada II:

    It features 3G with 7.2Mbps HSDPA connectivity, a QWERTY keyboard, a 3″ WQVGA 400×240 px TFT touchscreen and a 5 megapixel camera.

    It also has a front facing camera for video calls, Wi-Fi b/g connectivity, USB 2.0, Bluetooth, Full HTML browsing, FM-Radio, TV-out and a microSDHC memory slot (up to 8GB).

    The Prada fashion designers will be closely involved in making the custom themes, touch UI, built-in ringtones and cellphone accessories for the Prada II.

    This phone truly is fully loaded.


  5. Samsung Instinct:

    This 3G Samsung is the first Sprint device to have EV-DO Rev support. It features a 2 Megapixel camera, stereo bluetooth, audible caller ID, voice dialing commands and a full HTML web browser.

    It also has a media player that displays album art, Sprint Radio and Sprint TV support, integrated Microsoft Live Search and GPS.

    It supports personal and corporate email access, visual voicemail and has a 262K color 3.1 inch screen with 2GB of memory.

    It measures in at 116 x 55.1 x 12.4 mm and weighs 124.7 grams.

  6. Nokia Tube 5800:

    The Nokia Tube 5800 is equipped with a 3.1 Megapixel camera, and is similar in design as the iPhone. It has a TV-Out port for wide-screen viewing, it has quad band and 3G capabilities, Bluetooth, WiFi and GPS built in to the phone.

    The touch screen is 3.2 inches wide and can display 16 million colors, it will have 140MB onboard storage, with an SD slot for up to 8GB. The phone measures 111 x 52 x 14.5 mm and it will weigh in at 104g. The Nokia Tube 5800 will be launched late 2008 and it will face tough competition from the second gen iPhone, and many of the phones on this list.

  7. Sony Ericsson XPERIA X1:

    The Sony Ericsson XPERIA X1 measures 109 x 52.5 x 16.5 mm, and weighs 145g. It is running the Windows Mobile 6.1 operating system.

    It has a Qualcomm 7200 CPU running at 528Mhz, 128MB of RAM, a 3″ 800×480 tocuhsscreen, a 3.2 megapixel camera, a slide out QWERTY keyboard, a microSD expansion slot and Bluetooth 2.0.

    It also has WiFi and a cool picture blogging feature.

    Acccording to Sony Ericsson, “it lets you enjoy the convergence of communication and entertainment.”

  8. LG Vu:

    It measure 108 x 55 x 13 mm, and weighs only 89.5g. The LG Vu features a 3″ 240×300 262k color touchscreen, Quad band and a software QWERTY keyboard.

    It has a 2 megapixel camera, 128MB of on board memory, a microSD expansion slot, 3.6Mb HSDPA connectivity, Bluetooth 1.2 and USB2.0 support.

    It will support the AT&T mobile TV network and true touch browsing on the web.

    The sleek design on this new LG speaks for itself.

  9. LG U990:

    This is LG’s first 3G phone to be released. It has a 5 Megapixel camera, a 3″ 400×240 pixel, 262k-color touchscreen. The camera can record video at 120FPS.

    It supports audio / video downloading and streaming, plus video calling. It also sports a full web browser, and multiple formats of audio are supported by the media player on the phone. It also has 170MB of onboard memory, but this can be expanded with swappable microSD cards.

    Finally the phone has support for Stereo Bluetooth and USB2.0.

  10. Samsung Anycall Haptic:

    The Sensitive user interface (UI) stimulates the sense of sight, hearing and touch. Its like a living thing. The touchscreen volume button has sound and vibration that make it feel like a real button.

    The UI is adjustable to your personal taste, allowing you to create your own menu on the desktop with widgets.

    It has nice drag-and-drop functionality for ease of use. It also has a 3.2″ 16:9 display, a full HTML web browser, a 2 Megapixel camera and Bluetooth 2.0 stnadard.

  11. Neonode N2:

    The Neonode N2 measures 47×77×14.7 mm, and weighs a very lightweight 70g. Its 2″ 176×220px 65k color touchscreen display features its optical/infrared touchscreen technology called ZForce.

    It has a 2 Megapixel camera, internet radio stream capturing software, a gesture-controlled screen.

    It also has MiniSD for added storage and an mp3 player. The Neonode N2 ActiveSync is used to synchronize your calendar and address book which probably means that the N2 is going to be Windows based.

  12. HTC Pharos P3470:

    The Pharos P3470 is running Windows Mobile on a 200Mhz CPU. It has a 2.8″ screen, Quad band GPRS (EDGE only), GPS, 256MB ROM, and 128MB of RAM.

    The camera on this HTC is 2 Megapixels.

    It comes with Bluetooth and a microSD expansion slot. Some things of note: there is no WiFi or 3G surprisingly enough.

    No word yet, but hopefully they will reconsider about the lack of WiFi support.

  13. Sony Ericsson G900:

    The dimensions of the G900 are 106.0 x 49.0 x 13.0 mm, and it weighs 99g.

    It has a 240×320 pixel, 262k color TFT touchscreen. It is running on Symbian OS, and has 160MB of memory.

    The memory can be expanded through the Memory Stick Micro™ (M2™) expansion slot.

    The give you the option of keypad or touchscreen keyboard. It has a 5 Megapixel camera, Bluetooth, WiFi, a full HTML web browser and video streaming capabilities.

  14. Sony Ericsson G700:

    The G700 is the little brother of the G900, sporting a smaller 3.2 megapixel camera and lacking WiFi support.

    It features a one-touch organizer that can create little “post-it” notes that can be handwritten using a stylus and saved to the phone.

    It also has cool recognition software that recognizes handwriting and converts it into text automatically.

    Not bad if they are calling it the G900’s little brother.

  15. Motorola Rokr E8:

    The Motorola Rokr E8 has modeshift technology which transforms the display of the device to only show the controls for either the the music player or the phone.It features 2GB of internal memory (expandable to 4GB), a 2.0 Megapixel camera and a full HTML browser.It measures 115×53x10.6mm and weighs 100g. It also has class 2 stereo Bluetooth, USB 2.0 and GPRS.

2009 Super Duty 450

The Super Duty line of Ford trucks has long been considered among the most dependable and durable trucks available and the 2009 Ford F-450 Super Duty is no exception. Among its attributes is the fact that the F-450 boasts the greatest towing capacity on the market, at up to 24,500 pounds. This truck also comes in a variety of different configurations, including three unique theme packages. They are the King Ranch, Harley Davidson, and the Cabela's edition. Add this to the number of different cab, bed, drive train, and engine combinations, and you can see that making your choice may take some time.

The Ford F-450 has a few new tricks up its sleeve this year as well, including the above mentioned Cabela's package. This model was introduced to appeal to the many sportsman that drive Ford trucks. Nice features with this package include the themed interior design and lockable storage units for hunting and fishing equipment. The Super Duty will also offer the high tech electronics that are found in the new F-150s. This includes things like voice-activated navigation and Ford Work Solutions, which is a system designed for work trucks to keep track of business information. Also new this year is a sprayed on bed liner.

The look of the 2009 F-450 hasn't changed much since it was redesigned for the 2008 model year. In addition to the theme packages, the Super Duty is available in the regular, crew, or SuperCab configuration. The regular cab is only available with the 8 foot bed, while the crew and SuperCab are available in the 8 or 6.75 foot options.

There are also several choices of interior packages available, depending on which trim option you choose. Whether you are looking for practicality or luxury, the F-450 has an interior design package that will meet your needs. All models offer many of the tech features that are now so common in new vehicles.

With the new Super Duty, you also get a choice of three different power plants and two different transmissions. On the low end is the 300 horsepower 5.4 liter V8, of course, Ford also offers a 362 horsepower 6.8 liter V10, as well as the 350 horsepower 6.4 liter V8 turbo-diesel engine. Each of these can be paired up with either a six speed manual transmission or a five speed automatic. Two and four wheel drive is also available on all packages. Safety features on the Ford Super Duty include anti-lock brakes and air bags. Available options include rear view camera and post crash alert system.

The 2009 Ford F-450 Super Duty begins at around $41,000 and can go up considerably from there, depending on which package you opt for. The performance and durability of this truck has never come into question. One does have to wonder; however, why all of the fancy theme packages are necessary on a truck that is designed for working.

Saturday, January 10, 2009

The Origin of Money


Money. Everybody wants it, and you can always use more. But what is money? Where does it come from? Is it really the “root of all evil” as the Bible and Pink Floyd have said? Do we really need it? How did we all come to value little slips of paper with portraits of dead presidents on them? Why can’t they just give everybody a million dollars and make us all rich? And why is any of this important to those who are concerned about human liberty?

I’ll anticipate some conclusions here: Money is vital to a prosperous society, without it mankind could do no better than a primitive agricultural society. Money originates and evolves privately, in the market, as a solution to the problems presented by direct barter. Governments (in collusion with large Banks) around the globe have forcibly taken over and monopolized the creation of new money, and abolished the natural gold standard for the sole purpose of expanding their own power and confiscating wealth. All other “justifications” for government money are lies based on completely discredited economic hogwash. The unprecedented and artificial “fiat money” imposed on us now represents a grave threat to civilization itself.

What is Money?

Money can be defined as: A generally accepted medium of exchange. Theoretically, money can be anything that people desire to own, not for its direct use, but rather for its later value in trading for things that are useful. In practice, around the world and throughout history, one substance emerged as “the people’s choice” as the best money, and that substance is gold.

In the Beginning . . .

Imagine a primitive village with a fisherman (Mr. Fisher), a baker (Mr. Baker), a wagon maker (Mr. Wagoner) and a berry picker (Ms. Berry ). Even in primitive societies, workers tend to specialize like this, because of what Ludwig von Mises called the two most important facts about humans(!!):

  1. That a group of people can produce more goods by specializing and trading than they can in self-sufficient isolation.

  2. Man’s ability to recognize fact #1.

So trading goods with others is a mutually beneficial, natural way for humans to improve their situation. If Fisher wants bread and Baker wants fish, they will want to trade, say one fish for two loaves of bread. So far, so good. But what happens if Fisher wants bread, but Baker doesn’t like fish? This is the first problem with barter, the so-called “double coincidence of wants.” Fisher has to want what Baker has at the same time Baker wants what Fisher has.

To solve the problem, Fisher might go visit Ms. Berry , the berry picker, because he knows that almost everybody likes berries. He trades his fish for a basket of berries, not because he wants to eat them, but because he thinks that Baker will trade loaves of bread for them. When this happens, berries are beginning to function as money, because they are being demanded not just for their value as food, but for their value in exchange.

So we see that money has a function. It solves problems. And like anything else that has a function, it stands to reason that some items will work better than others. You could pound a nail in with a rock, but a hammer works better, because it has certain qualities (leverage, flat surface) that make it superior to a rock for that purpose. And so it is with money. Some things will possess qualities that make it a better money than other things.

Good Money vs. Bad Money

What are the properties that make for a good money? One we’ve already touched on, and that is that money must be something that nearly everyone values. Another problem with barter is divisibility. Mr. Baker and Mr. Wagoner might agree that a nice wagon is worth 1,000 loaves of bread, but Wagoner doesn’t want 1,000 loaves, he only wants one. He can’t whack off 1/1000th of a wagon, that would be useless. So a good money must be something which is still valuable even when divided into very small amounts. Other qualities that make for useful money include durability and also interchangeability, where one unit is the same as any other.

It’s very unlikely that anything extremely common, like sand, could ever become money because people just don’t value common things as highly as rare things. That’s good, for another very important quality of good, sound money is that it should be costly to produce. Briefly, this is because the ability to create money without cost carries with it the extraordinary power to redistribute real wealth to whoever is allowed to create it. More on this later.

What began to happen, over centuries, in separate societies all over the world, is that people tried out all sorts of things as money - salt, seashells, cattle, etc. This was a spontaneous, natural competition to determine the best money. That is, the best according to function, as determined by the market, not the whim of some tyrant.

Wednesday, January 7, 2009

MacBook


Intoducing the new 13 inch MacBook.

New design. New features. New technologies.

All engineered to standards that don’t even exist yet.



The following are it's features:

Redesigned. Reengineered. Re-everythinged.

To build something truly different, you need to work in a truly different way. Apple designers and engineers work together through every stage of product development. It’s a partnership that makes innovation possible. And it’s exactly how the new MacBook was created. With its breakthrough unibody enclosure, industry-first features, and environmentally sound design, it’s a revolution in the way notebooks are made.

Beautifully engineered, inside and out

From the stunning aluminum unibody to the powerful graphics architecture, the new MacBook makes progress a beautiful thing. Ultrathin 13.3-inch LED-backlit display.

What a quantum leap look like.

Up to 5x faster NVIDIA graphics performance. With a first-of-its-kind integrated graphics processor that delivers up to five times the performance in half the size, the new MacBook changes the game — and just about everything else you do on a notebook.

Cooler creatures. Richer worlds.

All-new, smooth glass Multi-Touch trackpad. It’s redesigned with even more room for even more gestures. Now the entire glass trackpad is also the button, so it’s clickable everywhere.

Only Apple could make a notebook like this. Hardware and software. Design and engineering. Production and manufacturing. They’re all part of a single process at Apple. When you start using your new MacBook, you’ll discover what that means. The light and sturdy unibody protects the components inside. The LED-backlit display — along with the graphics processor that helps power it — gives you faster games and a brilliant canvas for your photos, movies, and more. The glass Multi-Touch trackpad feels as good as it functions. From the smallest detail to the biggest engineering breakthrough, the new MacBook truly is the next generation of notebooks.

Monday, January 5, 2009

Expert: Microsoft earned US$1.5B from Vista Capable program

An expert has determined that Microsoft may have earned more than US$1 billion from its controversial Windows Vista Capable sticker program, which is still at the center of a class-action suit being decided in a Washington state court.

In a court report, Keith Leffler, an associate professor in the University of Washington's Department of Economics, estimated that Microsoft derived revenue of $1.505 billion from its Vista Capable program, in which the company partnered with hardware vendors to put stickers on PCs letting customers know the machines could run Vista reliably.

Though portions of Leffler's statement were redacted, it appears he based his estimate on revenue figures he received from Microsoft. His statement was made public as part of a class-action lawsuit filed March 2007 in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington in Seattle by Washington resident Dianne L. Kelley. She claimed that Microsoft's program was deceptive because a PC she purchased could not run a premium edition of Vista. The case is still pending.

Microsoft's hardware partners began shipping PCs with the "Windows Vista Capable" logo in April 2006 as a way to let customers know if they purchased a new Windows XP PC before Vista was available, their machine could easily be upgraded. However, the designation was potentially confusing because a PC with the label was only guaranteed to run the least expensive, most basic version of Vista, called Home Basic.

A month later, Microsoft launched a Web site to explain the hardware requirements for different versions of Vista, as well as a new PC designation called "Windows Vista Premium Ready." Microsoft used the new designation to label PCs that could run premium editions of Vista -- such as Home Premium and Ultimate -- which have more features than Home Basic. The company also provided coupons for people who purchased these PCs to upgrade to the appropriate version of Vista either for free or for little cost once the OS was made available.

Many see Vista ultimately as a failure for Microsoft, as many consumers have complained about the OS and many business customers have opted to skip it and run Windows XP until Vista's follow-up release Windows 7 is available. This is all in spite of the fact that Microsoft spent more than five years developing Vista and claimed it would be the most successful OS for the company since Windows 95.

Thursday, January 1, 2009

The main difference between http:// and https://

THIS IS IMPORTANT................................
What is the difference between http and https?

FIRST MANY PEOPLE ARE UNAWARE OF
**The main difference between http:// and
https:// is it's all about keeping you secure**
HTTP stands for HyperText Transport Protocol,
which is just a fancy way of saying it's a protocol
(a language, in a manner of speaking) for data to
be passed back and forth between web servers and
clients. The important thing is the letter 'S' which
makes the difference between HTTP and HTTPS.
The S (big surprise) stands for "Secure".
If you visit a website or web page, and look at the
address in the web browser, it will likely begin with
the following:=2 0http://.
This means that the website is talking to your browser
using the regular 'unsecure' language. In other words,
it is possible for someone to "eavesdrop" on your
computer's conversation with the website. If you fill
out a form on the website, someone might see the
information you send to that site. This is why you
never -ever- enter your credit card number in an
http website!
But if the web address begins with https://, that
basically means your computer is talking to the
website in a secure code that no one can eavesdrop on.
You understand why this is so important, right?
If a website ever asks you to enter your credit card
information, you should automatically look to see
if the web address begins with https://.
If it doesn't, there's no way you're going to enter
sensitive information like a credit card number.

WELCOME 2009


WELCOME 2009