I am not really a Top Gear man. Cars are just another tool to get me from A to B, the same as my feet but the series and the presenters seem to have a hold over the “real men” of England with their witty and interesting program.
Now that craze has spread to the playground with the introduction of the Top Gear Turbo Challenge Trading Cards. They are a bit like Top Trumps I guess and as with other games like Pokemon or Yu-Gi-Oh, there are rare cards and special abilities that can be used to help you win the game.
The best place to get them at the moment is on eBay.
It looks like there is yet another shortage of toys this Christmas. Kids will be crying on the morning of December 25th if Daddy has not bagged them a cute, loveable furry creature that rolls around a plastic home, squeaks and does not poo on the carpet or bite you when you try to clean the cage.
Go Go Hamster is the latest toy to suffer from a mass panic purchasing nightmare across the UK. The makers of the toy insist that contrary to recent stories in the news, they are 100% safe and do not contain any toxic chemicals or evil intent. In fact, they don’t even contain batteries! You have to buy them separately. How many parents awake to the cold chill of “I thought you were getting the batteries…?” on xmas morning.
Will you be the one to miss out on a Go Go Hamster?
If there is 1 sure fire way to drive targeted traffic to your website, it is the use of Google Adwords. The Pay Per Click keyword auction system is perfect for attracting new visitors based on search terms you specify.
If you have never used Google Adwords before, it will pay you to look around to get hold of an Adwords Promotional Code. These codes, available in various monetary amounts will allow you to instantly credit your Adwords account and start sending people to your site straight away.
Some Adwords Promotional Code vouchers are sent to business owners and are usually only allowed to be used when starting a new account with Adwords. The best place to get one of these codes in on eBay. There are a wide number of vouchers available to buy and you will often give yourself an extra 50% credit on top, which you can use to create a new keyword campaign in Adwords.
One of the great things about Mac OS X compared to, say, Windows XP is that it requires very minimal maintenance. As a Windows user, you may have to continually defragment your hard disk as well as monitor the size of your registry until it all becomes so slow, the only thing you can do is reformat the damn thing and start from scratch.
OS X is a different beast altogether. Applications reside in their own folder and do not have any entries stored in a central database like the Windows registry, therefore getting rid of them is pretty easy.
Also, defragmenting the machine is not something that you need to do as it is done automatically for you in the background when OS X thinks you are not using the machine that much.
However – not all software is perfect, even OS X.
The more you use a computer and the more files and applications you load onto it, the slower it becomes. This is the same for Mac computers too.
To keep my Macbook speedy, I use a tool called the “CheckIT system performance suite“. This swiss army tool contains 5 separate pieces of software and lets you do many things to keep your Mac operating at tip-top speed:
TechTool Platinum runs in the background and will warn you if any of the hardware in your Mac starts to fail. This will be a godsend if the hard disk decides to develop a bad sector and you lose half your data overnight. TechTool Platinum will warn you of any dodgy happenings well before things become critical.
Spring Cleaning 10 is an amazing file manager that allows you to perform batch changes on files such as photos as well as perform data clean up processes like deleting cookies or duplicate files. The best part about Spring Cleaning 10 is that is will securely delete your files, so you don’t have to worry about them falling into the wrong hands.
EMC Retrospect Express is a part of the CheckIT system performance suite that is a “set and forget” backup manager. This software will allow you to set a backup regime and it will then back all your data up for you, when ever you want it to. It can also do it automatically! Say goodbye to trying to track down that document you just deleted – just get it from Retrospect.
ExecutiveSync lets you keep critical files and folders sync’ed across multiple computers. I use this to create a working backup of my development documents and PHP projects. It means I can work from any computer and have access to them all straight away.
To finish off, Stuffit Standard 2009 is part of the suite. All Mac users must have come across this amazing tool before. It will allow you to handle over 30 different file compression formats as well as compact files with super-strong encryption and efficiency.
You can’t really go wrong with having this piece of software. It keeps my Macbook really speedy and acting as quick as it did out of the box. I would recommend it to any Mac owner.
Buy the CheckIT System Performance Suite by SmithMicro at Amazon for a really low price. Save your sanity and your Mac at the same time!
Need to know how to get free audio book downloads?
For people who are busy and to tired to read a paper book, audio books have filled a great space in their literary knowledge. Enjoying a book to escape the stresses of the day, learn new skills or laugh is something that we can all take part in.
There are many places you can download audio books for free but the best place I have found is the UseNext network. UseNext is a piece of software that allows you to access files, including audio books, movies, music, applications and software at amazing speeds that beat the likes of Bittorrent and Rapidshare hands down.
UseNext is also a good place to find rare audiobooks and things that you are not able to locate through any other file sharing network.
The good thing about UseNext is that you can sign up for free and it lets you have access to 150GB of files before it charges you anything. Therefore you can test the service for nothing and still get all the high speed downloads within your trial period!
Are you confused by Torrents, baffled by Rapidshare and wanting to get good quality MP3 music down loads for free?
Then you have come to the right place.
If you are looking for free MP3 files, movies, music, applications or programs you need to be able to access a reliable source that gives you fast, reliable downloads and does not put you at the mercy of the trickle of data that so many bittorrent files give you.
If you don’t want to pay for Rapidshare or Megaupload any more, you can sign up to a service that is free to use and gives you 150GB of full speed downloads absolutely free!
Take a look at this video that shows the UseNext program in use, downloading a full copy of Ubuntu in a world record time – 674mb in 34 seconds!!
You want in on this service?
It is amazing and totally blows away any other free download service I have used in the past – and I have been using free services since the days of Napster – so I know what I am talking about.
Click the image below to sign up with UseNext and get 150GB of full speed, un-censored, secret downloads FOR FREE:
PS: You will not be disappointed with this service and could save yourself loads of money and hassle. Finding free music down loads could not be easier!
Our household is very excited about the incoming release of Halo 3 ODST (Orbital Drop Shock Trooper)!
I would love to be able to get one of these replica Spartan HALO helmets to show the kids. It almost out ranks my desire to buy a full size star wars stormtropper suit.
The helmets appear to be single mould items made from Smooth Cast 320 polyurethane plastic and are ready to wear out of the box. The ODST helmet is painted in gun metal grey with the silvered visor and grey stripe. The inside of the helmet is padded so that it can be worn securely and comfortably.
There are other helmets for the other Halo 3 and ODST characters such as a green Master Chief replica helmet, complete with clip on Cortana! You can also get the helmets from some of the other ODST marine troops such as Dare’s Recon helmet.
This replica halo 3 ODST helmet would look great in your gaming room or on display in your room. It is also robust enough and light enough to be worn too. Get one in time for Halloween, your next paintball game or cosplay session.
If you are thinking of starting getting into Warhammer or Warhammer 40k, you will need to make an initial investment. This is a cash investment and also a time investment too.
The figures themselves can be quite expensive to buy. If you buy a small set of Space Marines for example, you could be paying nearly half the price of a full set. In the UK a set of 5 Space Marine Captains will set you back around £20 where as a full set of figures, rules, dice and markers only costs £50.
My Son went straight for the Space Marines Starter Pack initially, which gives you 5 marines, some paints and a brush to get started with. This is a good pack to get started with and will help you get into painting the figures, which takes a long time if you do it well.
You can also go to the Games Workshop stores which are all over the world and they will let you paint and keep a figure for free. They will even teach you how to paint it too! The staff at all of the Games Workshop stores I have been too have all been really nice guys. You can also book sessions with them to learn to play Warhammer or Warhammer 40k. Most stores or cities also have a club or team you can join where, after you have learnt the basics, you can go on to have more battles and meet the local players.
For children, Warhammer can be a great way to learn maths, reasoning, logic, fine motor skills when painting and socialising too.
To play Warhammer, you will need to get 2 armies, the rules, some dice and measuring/marking devices.
For beginners, the best option will be to buy either the “Warhammer 40k Assault On Black Reach” boxed set which will give you an army of Space Marines and Orcs plus some heavier troops, Orc helicopters and a Space Marine Dreadnought.
Alternatively, if you prefer a pure fantasy setting you could buy the “Warhamer Battle For Skull Pass” in which you will get 2 armies of Night Goblins and Dwarves with cannons and a troll.
If you want to paint the warhammer figures, you will also need some paints. The Citadel paints starter set is good as it also gives you some tools to cut the figures out of their plastic frames and also some grass and gravel to decorate the bases that they stand on.
There are many different video file formats available these days and the most recent and quite a popular one is the MKV format (Matroska). If you have ever downloaded a Blu-Ray rip of a movie, it will most likely be in MKV format.
Getting them to play on your PC is no problem using an application like VLC or by installing Perian on your Mac, but getting to play MKV files on your TV to enjoy them in full HD quality (they are usually HD rips after all) is another matter.
If you are lucky enough to have either an Xbox 360 or PS3 sitting under your TV then you will be in luck. There are many tutorials on the web that tell you how to separate the file and re-encode the audio and then re-join it back to be an AVI that can be played on either of the consoles.
Xbox 360 MKV tutorial: http://www.afterdawn.com/guides/archive/how_to_play_mkv_content_on_xbox_360.cfm
There are other options that are just as good and will suit people who are not into gaming. You can buy a Digital Media Player or Media Tank that will sit under your HDTV, connect to it via an HDMI cable and quite happily play all of the media files you either copy onto it direct from a USB source, Ethernet connection or transfer over WiFi. These media players also have their own hard disks in them too, so you can copy files on there without any problems. This box will be your MKV Player.
A lot of these devices are “grey boxes” (unbranded), but will serve you well for playing MP3,AVI,DivX,MP4 and will now play MKV files too. The latest versions of the hardware fully support MKV files out of the box.
So what are you waiting for?
Click one of the items below for a great deal on an MKV Player on eBay:
Well, it's not a giant lizard slaying robot and its not a new religion.
It's just a place for me to hang out, store my thoughts and technical musings and stay in contact with my friends. It's purpose may change in the future - who knows!
Our household is very excited about the incoming release of Halo 3 ODST (Orbital Drop Shock Trooper)!
There are many different video file formats available these days and the most recent and quite a popular one is the MKV format (Matroska). If you have ever downloaded a Blu-Ray rip of a movie, it will most likely be in MKV format.
Well, it's not a giant lizard slaying robot and its not a new religion.