Archive for February, 2008

CCTV Security Cameras & PC Security Systems

We recently purchased some surveillance cameras where I work, a set of four network cameras, and I wish I would’ve found these wireless cameras that I found on the 123 CCTV website first. We could’ve purchased the same number of wireless, color cameras for half the price of the ones we bought, or we could’ve bought a set of four, dome, color and infrared cameras for a little over half of the price.

They also have a large selection of hidden cameras, like the wireless cigarette cam

or the clock hidden camera

or even one hidden in a working VCR!

This company manufactures some of their own stuff and they resell surveillance cameras from other manufacturers like Sony. They sell PC security systems, interior cameras, exterior cameras, Digital Video (DVR) Systems, and they even have some dummy cameras in case you want the look, but don’t want to spend the money on surveillance equipment.

Specializing in security cameras, systems & surveillance equipment of various types. Has served the Pentagon to the home owner delivering numerous protection systems for varied needs. Hi-tech surveillance equipment to more reasonably priced equipment is sold to both the retail market, as well as to over a thousand Dealers of ours around the world.

Definitely a website to bookmark and check out if you are in the market for security cameras and surveillance equipment. If I can talk them into it, I will try to get one and do a hands on review.

This is a Sponsored Review.

Gears of War 2 Trailer, Theme and More

Gears of War 2 will be released in November of this year by Epic Games and, even though I probably won’t get to play it much, I’m already excited. Check out the trailer and other goodies already available below.

From our little video section.

Gears of War 2 Extended “Official” Debut Trailer!

Posted to Video Tutorials on February 28, 2008

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Gears of War 2 – Gameplay demo from GDC 08 REAL

Posted to Video Tutorials on February 28, 2008

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GDC – Gears Of War 2 from Joy Stiq on Vimeo.

Providing a dramatic close to Microsoft’s 2008 Game Developers Conference keynote address, lead designer Cliff Bleszinski of Epic Games announced that the heroic saga of Marcus Fenix and Delta Squad will continue exclusively on Xbox 360 this fall withGears of War 2.

This highly anticipated sequel to the blockbuster Gears of War delves deeper into humanity’s struggle for survival against the nightmarish Locust Horde, and takes the high-definition visuals to a whole new level.

“To our team the original game was just a tease, the appetizer to the Gears of War characters and new style of gameplay. We were so amped to get to the next chapter, and dig deeper into the universe of this franchise,” said Bleszinski. “Gears of War 2 is an even bigger, better, and more badass experience than the first game, and we can’t wait to get it in the hands of eager gamers this November.” Source: Gears of War 2 Announced

Here is the teaser trailer from gamevideos.com.

Major Nelson posted this on his blog, they have released a theme for Gears of War 2 to use on your XBox dashboard, it is called “Bare Your Teeth” Theme. They also have the trailer available to watch on your XBox 360, it is called “Duel” Teaser Trailer (HD).

HP Laptop Computer Coupons

Here are a couple great coupons from HP on their dv2700t Special Edition Verve, dv2700t Broadband Wireless, dv6700t Special Edition Influx, dv9700z, dv9700t, tx2000z or HDX notebook computers.

$300 off web-only coupon on select HP Pavilion Notebook PC’s at $1,199 or higher. Ends 3/9/08 Use Coupon Code: NB0300 $300 off web-only coupon when you purchase select HP Pavilion Notebook PC’s configured at $1,199 or higher using coupon code NB0300. Eligible models include dv2700t Special Edition Verve, dv2700t Broadband Wireless or dv6700t Special Edition Influx. Coupon expires on 3/9/08, or while coupon supplies last. Limited supply. Restrictions apply. For complete conditions, see “Coupon Information” in the Customer Service section of HP Home Store.

$400 off web-only coupon when you purchase select HP Pavilion Notebook PC’s configured at $1,199 or higher. Ends 3/9/08 Use Coupon Code: NB0400 $400 off web-only coupon when you purchase select HP Pavilion Notebook PC’s configured at $1,199 or higher using coupon code NB0400. Eligible models include dv9700z, dv9700t, tx2000z or HDX. Coupon expires on 3/9/08, or while coupon supplies last. Limited supply. Restrictions apply. For complete conditions, see “Coupon Information” in the Customer Service section of HP Home Store.

Here are a couple great deals on HP computers from TigerDirect.

HP 530 Laptop Computer Intel Celeron M 520 1.60GHz, 802.11b/g Wireless, 1GB DDR2, 120GB HDD, DVDRW, Windows Vista Home Basic $499.99 Price after $50 MIR, rebate expires 08/31/08.

HP Pavilion m8200n Refurbished AMD Desktop PC AMD Athlon 64 X2 6000+ 3.0GHz, 3GB DDR-2, 500GB SATA II, DVDRW/RAM-LS, TV Tuner, Flash Reader, Windows Vista Home Premium $599.99.

Windows XP vs Vista, 98 and 2000

Who cares, right? I know I don’t. I remember when Windows XP first came out, I don’t go back the CP/M days, but I did start on DOS 3.3 and can very well remember the grumblings about the latest version of Windows, no matter what the version. Of course, in the good old days we didn’t have this big blogosphere that magnifies everything, it was just news sources and some of the first websites. Heck, I can remember being excited about Windows 95, let alone XP. Anyway, the same thing has happened every time, only this time it’s magnified and bigger and it is Windows Vista that is being beat down, not Windows XP. Truth be told, I don’t think I have even read over a handful or articles or blog posts that compared the two, while I may have written a couple, but nothing like some of the ones you see bashing Windows Vista.

This is why I really liked Ed Bott’s latest post, Remembering Windows XP’s early days, in which he compares when Windows XP first came out to when Windows Vista first came out.

Those of us who are willing to supplement our memories with some help from Google can attest that XP was not welcomed with open arms. In fact, it was slammed by magazines like InfoWorld, where P. J. Connolly and the very same Randall C. Kennedy published this not-so-glowing review in the October 26, 2001 issue:

Hopeless optimism must be a fundamental part of human nature, because we want to believe that new operating systems truly represent an improvement on their predecessors. It’s easy to point to certain features in a new OS as examples of progress, but end-users often find that a new OS performs like molasses compared to the version they were using. As a result, CTOs wanting to capitalize on the benefits of a new OS may find that new hardware investments are necessary — and expensive — requirements.

Unfortunately, Microsoft’s Windows XP appears to be maintaining that tradition …

Windows 2000 significantly outperformed Windows XP. In the most extreme scenario, our Windows XP system took nearly twice as long to complete a workload as did the Windows 2000 client. Our testing also suggests that companies determined to deploy Windows XP should consider ordering desktop systems with dual CPUs to get the most out of the new OS. …

Sound familiar? Source: Remembering Windows XP’s early days

Yes it does Ed, yes it does. Should we care? Sure. I want the latest, greatest, fastest, etc just like everyone else, but I also like having a PC that does the same thing for me every time I boot it up. I install, work on, repair, hundreds of computers a year, so for me, XP can get old because it’s now the same old problems every time, lets see some more Vista and some new problems to mix it up. lol Check out his post and the hundreds of comments that are already there for some good cheap laughs.

What I would like to know is, how many Windows haters post comments on blogs and forums using a Windows machine while pretending to be on Linux. Come on, you know it happens a lot….

What is a Domain Name?

What is a domain name? A domain name is a Web address, such as tipsdr.com, that is linked to an IP address (which represents a physical point on the Internet). When someone types a domain name into a Web browser, the requested Web page displays. A domain name consists of a top-level and a second-level domain. A top-level domain (TLD) is the part of the domain name located to the right of the dot (tipsdr.com). The most common top-level domains are .COM, .NET, and .ORG. Some other popular top-level domains are .BIZ, .INFO, .NAME and .WS. These TLDs have certain guidelines but are, for the most part, available to any registrant, anywhere in the world. The part of the domain name located to the left of the dot — “tipsdr,” in this case — is called the second-level domain (SLD) name. The second-level domain name is the “readable” part of the address and refers to the organization or entity behind the Internet address. Second-level domain names must be registered with an Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN)-accredited registrar.

Copyright © 1999 – 2007 GoDaddy.com, Inc. All rights reserved.

Windows XP SP3 RC2 Released Into the Wild

Microsoft has released release candidate 2 of Windows XP service pack 3 into the wild, making it available on Windows update, after you download a small registry patch that will tell your system it is okay to grab it.

Microsoft released SP3 to testers last week, but the general public can now download the service pack via Windows Update. Users have to first download a small registry file from Microsoft which gives them special access to Windows Update to download SP3.

“The script sets a registry key on your system. The registry key is required for Windows Update to recognize your machine as a valid target for Windows XP Service Pack 3 RC2,” states Microsoft. “It is recommended that you apply the resulting update package to an activated, genuine copy of Windows XP, in a test environment.”

Users are also asked to remove any previous beta or release candidate versions of SP3 before proceeding with the latest update. Source: Microsoft Makes Windows XP SP3 RC2 Publicly Available

The final release should be available the first half of this year, SP3 will include Black hole router detection, Network Access Protection, Credentials security service provider and the Microsoft Kernel Mode Cryptographic Module.

Microsoft Pulls Windows Vista SP1 Prerequisite Update

After users starting having problems with a Windows Vista update, KB937287, that is a prerequisite for service pack 1, Microsoft pulled the update from automatic distribution until they discovered what the problem is. All they have stated so far is that it has only affected a small number of users in certain unique circumstances, no cause for the problems have been given yet.

So far, we’ve been able to determine that this problem only affects a small number of customers in unique circumstances. We are working to identify possible solutions and will make the update available again shortly after we address the issue.

Customers who may be experiencing this issue can use system restore to correct it or contact 1-866-PC-Safety for help troubleshooting. Additional guidance will be available via Microsoft’s free Update Support Center soon. Source: Update on Windows Vista SP1 Prerequisite KB937287

Mary Jo has this to add:

Last week wasn’t the first time endless reboot problems were reported by Vista users. In fact, there were reports of endless-reboot-loop problems from some Vista SP1 users dating back to late January, before Microsoft distributed the prerequisites for SP1 — right around the time the company delivered the final bits (in the form of the Vista Service Pack 1 Release Candidate 1 Refresh 2 build). Source: Microsoft suspends distribution of Vista SP1 prerequisite update

Blue Ray HD Players, Roomba Vacuum Cleaning Robot Deals and More

Here are some more great deals from J&R.com.

BOSE SoundDock Digital Music System – BLACK – $269.00 and FREE Shipping

Tomtom ONE GPS 3rd Edition – Silver Bezel – $169.95 and FREE Shipping

Olympus Stylus 1200 12-Megapixel Digital Camera – $229.99 FREE Shipping

Aliph JawBone Bluetooth Headset Cellular Phone Edition – $89.99

Roomba 56001 iRobot 560 Vacuum Cleaning Robot – $299.99

Plantronics Pulsar 260 Stereo Bluetooth Headset Earphone – $49.99

Sony BDP-S300 Blu-Ray High Definition Disc Player Home Theater Component – $399.99 and FREE Shipping

Sharp BD-HP20U Blu-Ray DVD Player – $399.99

Samsung BD-P1400 Blu-Ray Player – $399.99 and FREE Shipping

Second Life Tips, Videos and News

Here are some great Second Life Tips videos and news from some of our best resources.

Latest articles from The Grid Live

Second Life used for virtual recruiting by State of Missouri

Posted to Video Tutorials on February 16, 2008

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Yahoo! Creating Digg Competitor

According to a post on Valleywag, Yahoo! is working on it’s own digg competitor, Yahoo! Buzz. One would think the folks at Yahoo! would be smart enough to not even try this, especially after the way all the other digg competition has fared. Yahoo! does have the most visited site in the world, so, it’s possible they could blow this thing up and have a social that can actually compete with digg, but I doubt it.

The pace of product launches from Yahoo is breathless — and with a whiff of desperation. On February 26, Yahoo plans to beta launch Yahoo Buzz as a competitor to Digg, and a tipster supplied Valleywag with screenshots. Buzz, built under the direction of VP Tapan Bhat, will begin with a limited number of publishers — about 100 — and will rank stories based on popular search results and user voting. Source: Valleywag

Valleywag does go on to say that Buzz will be open to the entire Yahoo! Publisher network, meaning, according to Valleywag, if you use their ads on your sites, they will allow your sites in Buzz. If this was leaked at a different time, maybe this wouldn’t smell a little of desperation, and now, a few members of Yahoo’s board are taking it upon themselves to try to make sure Yang and his cohorts aren’t just turning down Microsoft because they hate Microsoft. Hell, there’s money to be made here.

While Yahoo! chief Jerry Yang desperately seeks an alternative to Microsoft’s $44.6 billion hostile takeover, an independent group of Yahoo’s board members are taking the lead in shaping the company’s future. Source: BOARD BUCKS YANG