Pink Friday

TigerDirect.com and CompUSA, two of the nation’s leading retailers of consumer electronics and technology products, are changing Black Friday to “Pink Friday” in an effort to make the busiest shopping day of the holiday season their most charitable day as well. The Pink Friday drive starts on the day traditionally known as Black Friday, November 28th, and runs through December 31, 2008. TigerDirect and CompUSA expect to donate more than a quarter million dollars from total sales and donations in a cooperative effort for the Susan G. Komen for the Cure fight against breast cancer.

This text was taken from the Pink Friday site and was not written by the Tech Review

Black Friday Deals

Many stores have now started there Pre Black Friday Sales. This is one of the best times of the year to purchase electronics and computers. Go to http://blackfriday.info for a listing of stores and products. Here are some of the ones that caught my eye:

WalMart Pre Black Friday*:

Nintendo Wii Value Bundle-$358.00

1G Ipod Shuffle with Docking Station-$69.00

Phillips DVD Player with Progressive Scan-$34.00

Dell Inspiron 8.9"Netbook Mini Laptop with 1G Flash Drive and Mouse-$418.00

Nikon CoolPix Digital Camera with Bonus 2G SD Card-$94.00

*While Supplies Last

WalMart Black Friday:

Dell Desktop with 250GB HD, DVD Burner And  a 19 Inch Monitor-$598.00

HP Pavilion 15.6" Laptop with 160GB HD with DVD Burner-$448.00

HP Pavilion Desktop with 2G RAM,160GB HD,19 Inch Monitor-$398.00 DOOR BUSTER 

Toshiba Satellite Laptop 15.4",4GB RAM,250GB Ram,Webcam- $548.00

Apple Ipod Touch 8GB Multimedia Player-$227.88

JVC 30GB Hard Drive Camcorder-$249.00 DOOR BUSTER

Magnavox Blu-Ray Player-$128.00 Doorbuster

Garmin Nuvi 200 Nav System-$97.00 Doorbuster

Seagate 500 GB External Hard Drive-$69.00

DOOR BUSTER- Limited Quantity Available At Early Hours 

Picking The Right Web Browser

Picking the right web browser is very important to maintain the highest level of security for your machine. Just because your computer came with a particular browser doesn't mean that it is necessarily the best one for you. If you are using Windows (XP or Vista)or Mac I would pick Firefox. Firefox is the most secure and well designed web browser that I have had the chance to use. My second pick is Safari, Safari comes preloaded on all Mac machines and is a really good web browser. The only browser that I would avoid is Internet Explorer. I have fixed many computers where the only problem was that they were using Internet Explorer and they were experiencing slower internet speeds. 

Great MacBook Pro Deals! At MacMall.com

If you are looking for a good place to buy your new MacBook Pro, but you don't want to go through the Apple store. Head on over to MacMall.com. They have these wonderful notebooks any where from $1,149.99 to $3,144.00. They offer mail in rebates that add up to as much as $200.00. Follow the link below to find a great deal on Macs and Mac products.

http://www.macmall.com/macmall/families/macbookpro/

IPhone 3G Will You Buy It?

Steve Jobs announced last Monday that they are going to release a new version of the IPhone. The new phone will still be on the AT&T network and will be able to access the 3G network. This means faster emailing and web browsing. The 3G service is only available in lager metropolitan areas, but they are working to expand the coverage area. I would suggest checking the coverage map on their website before purchasing. The phone will also include a built in GPS receiver which will make navigation in your car more reliable. Some wonder if upgrading from the first generation IPhone will be necessary. If you ask me it all depends on how much money you have too spend on it. Be aware that the software updates that Steve Jobs made at WWDC 2008 will work on the older phone's and will be free of charge but if you want the new update for your IPod Touch it will cost you just over $9.00. Some of the changes he made will make the already business friendly phone even more compatible with a business network infrastructure such as Microsoft Exchange. I have also heard that if you upgrade your older phone you can still use it as an IPod Touch like device. The new App. Store is a new feature to both the Touch and the phone. This means that you will be able to access a wide array of applications from your device such as games and other programs that will make your phone even more interactive and usable. My advice, think before you buy. If you have some money laying around too take care of the new lowered price and you live in the 3G network area I would buy, but if you don't live in in the network area and you already have the first IPhone I say just keep one you have. Because the new IPhone is basically just a hardware upgrade not as much a software upgrade.  

Become Part Of A World Record

Have you ever wanted to be a part of a world record, well here's your chance! Head on over to SpreadFireFox.com and pledge that you will download the new Firefox 3. Firefox Foundation is trying to set the world record for the most software downloads in 24 hours. So go on over and give your pledge so that you too can be a part of download day 08.

Click on the download day link to the right and get pledging!

More Tips For Online Safety

When our country and world is in the state that it is now you need to protect yourself. Not just in your everyday life but also online. I am here to tell you ways that you can protect you and your family online!

1. When you sign up for any account like You-tube, MySpace, Facebook or any other site, check around and take your time looking at the security and privacy features that each individual site offers. Most sites will have a designated area for these options.

2. Check around for any software that will make your computer more secure. If you would like me to find some that will work for your system just email me. When setting up your wireless router always enable MAC address filtering so that you can tell the router what computers are allowed on your network. I would recommend using Lavasoft Ad-Watch 2007. There is a free version on their site. You can pay to get full access of the program, but the free one does a good job. 

3. Do not ever put information on a site that you are having second thoughts about. If you think that the site looks a little odd just don't use it. 

4. When you are using internet in a public place where you are using a network that multiple people are on, use extra caution too make sure that no one can access files on your computer.

5. When using a laptop in a public setting pay extra attention to people that might be trying to look at your screen too see what you are working on or what sites that you are visiting. 3M offers screen privacy filters for notebooks. They just slide right over the screen and you can only see the screen clearly if you are looking at it directly.

6. When on MySpace set your profile to where you don't have your top friends listed,here's why. Lets say that one of your friends revealed more about themselves on their profile then you care to, such as location etc. If someone went on there profile and saw that you had been let's say "hanging out" with that person, then they would know the location of you and possibly other information. For some this might be a little extreme, but it is just one more step that you can take to become more private and safe online. 

7. When sending an email to multiple people, always put everyones address in the BCC: field. BCC stands for "Blind Carbon Copy", this means that when everyone receives the email they can not see the email addresses of the other people that received that same email. This is just a little courtesy that you could show to the people that you are sending an email to. This is a step that is rarely taken when sending a chain email, but it is very important for the people who would like to keep their email address private. 

Thank You For Visiting  The Tech Review

New Tech Review Merchandise

We are now offering Official Tech Review Merchandise. Products that are available include shirts,hats,bumper stickers,magnets. More products will come. Scroll to the bottom of the page to view the products. Or visit the store at http://zazzle.com/gtecht

New Google Earth Update Gives Users A New Global Perspective

The new 4.3 version of Google Earth will add many new and exciting features to this famous program. You will be able to control the sun and view new 3-D images of cities. Some people have always wondered when a particular satellite photo was taken, now with a new time stamp feature you will know this information. Google said that they update and add more images about every 60 days. So click on over to Google and download the newest version of Google Earth.

Mac Book Air Review On Youtube

If you have been wanting to know what I think about this amazingly small computer, just click the link below to watch! http://youtube.com/gtech22

PDA's To Track Olympic VIP's In Beijing

Modified PDA's (Personal Data Assistants) will be handed out to guests of sponsors, dignitaries and other important guests, that might have trouble finding there way around the city. The devices will be operating on a program called Event Track. Event Track can do many tasks that will make the visit just a little bit simpler. It can send a message to a designated cab company, find information on local restaurants and entertainment. It also can provide directions, which will make navigating the streets of Beijing a little easier. Officials say that the devices will help with there two main issues traffic and security.

The e-Week.com 10 Most Influential IT People

1. Larry Ellison

CEO, Oracle

Ellison's plans to roll up the enterprise applications space show no signs of slowing. Oracle has leveraged its strength in the data center to cement its status as one of the world's most important applications and middleware vendors. For more on Ellison's influence, click here.

2. Steve Jobs 
CEO, Apple 
Apple’s influence is being increasingly felt in the enterprise.

3. Steve Ballmer 
CEO, Microsoft 
Microsoft has certainly seen its challenges of late. But as Microsoft goes, so goes the industry still—with Ballmer at the helm.

4. Sam Palmisano
Chairman and CEO, IBM 
Palmisano has positioned IBM to generate great returns in a mature market by expanding internationally and wherever he’s seen opportunity in the enterprise applications space.

5. Marissa Mayer
Vice president, search products and user experience, Google 
Mayer oversees the way search is constructed and rendered usable by people all over the world.

6. Jean-Philippe Courtois
President, Microsoft International, Microsoft 
Courtois leads global sales, marketing and services for Microsoft International in more than 240 countries outside the United States and Canada.

7. Joe Tucci
Chairman, president and CEO, EMC 
Tucci is taking EMC on a trip beyond storage.

8. Mark Hurd
Chairman, president and CEO, Hewlett-Packard 
Hurd has added to HP’s software division and its services portfolio.

9. John Chambers
Chairman and CEO, Cisco Systems 
IP is increasingly becoming the channel by which all communication travels, and Cisco is providing not only the plumbing but also the applications.

10. Larry Page & Sergey Brin
President of products and president of technology, respectively, Google 
The founders of Google changed expectations for search engines, and now they’re doing the same with a growing suite of applications that have paved the way for a top-down model of technology implementation.

*This list was not created by The Tech Review* 

Email I received about credit card security

Be sure to read Scene 3

 Quite interesting WARNINGS ABOUT CREDIT CARD FRAUD & THEFT.

 SCENE 1.

 This is a new one. People sure stay busy trying to cheat us, don't they?

 A friend went to the local gym and placed his belongings in the locker. After the workout and a shower, he came out, saw the locker open, and thought to himself, 'Funny, I thought I locked the locker.  Hmm, 'He dressed and just flipped the wallet to make sure all was in order. Everything looked okay -- all cards were in place.

 A few weeks later his credit card bill came -- a whooping bill of $14,000! He called the credit card company and started yelling at them, saying that he did not make the transactions.

 Customer care personnel verified that there was no Mistake in the system and asked if his card had been stolen.  'No,' he said, but then took out his wallet, pulled out the credit card, and yep -- you guessed it -- a switch had been made.

 An expired similar credit card from the same bank was in the wallet. The thief broke into his locker at the gym and switched cards.

 Verdict: The credit card issuer said since he did not report the card missing earlier, he would have to pay the amount owed to them.

 How much did he have to pay for items he did not buy? $9,000! Why were there no calls made to verify the amount swiped?  Small amounts rarely trigger a 'warning bell' with some credit card companies. It just so happens that all the small amounts added up to big one!

 SCENE 2.

 A man at a local restaurant paid for his meal with his credit card. The bill for the meal came, he signed it, and the waitress folded the receipt and passed the credit card along.

 Usually, he would just take it and place it in his wallet or pocket.  Funny enough, though, he actually took a look at the card and, lo and behold, it was the expired card of another person.

 He called the waitress and she looked perplexed. he took it back, apologized, and hurried back to the counter under the watchful eye of the man.

 All the waitress did while walking to the counter was wave the wrong expired card to the counter cashier, and the counter cashier immediately looked down and took out the real card.

 No exchange of words -- nothing! She took it and came back to the man with an apology.

 Verdict:

 Make sure the credit cards in your wallet are yours.

 Check the name on the card every time you sign for something and/or the card is taken away for even a short period of time.

 Many people just take back the credit card without even looking at it, 'assuming' that it has to be theirs.

 FOR YOUR OWN SAKE, DEVELOP THE HABIT OF CHECKING YOUR CREDIT CARD EACH TIME IT IS RETURNED TO YOU AFTER A TRANSACTION!

 SCENE 3:

 Yesterday I went into a pizza restaurant to pick up an order that I had called in. I paid by using my Visa Check Card which, of course, is linked directly

 to my checking account. The young man behind the counter took my card, swiped it, then laid it on the counter as he waited for the approval, which is pretty standard procedure. While he waited, he picked up his cell phone and started dialing.

 I noticed the phone because it is the same model I have, but nothing seemed out of the ordinary.  Then I heard a click that sounded like my phone sounds when I take a picture. He then gave me back my card but kept the phone in his hand as if he was still pressing buttons.

 Meanwhile, I'm thinking: I wonder what he is taking a picture of, oblivious to what was really going on.

 It then dawned on me: the only thing there was my credit card, so now I'm paying close attention to what he is doing. He set his phone on the counter, leaving it open. About five seconds later, I heard the chime that tells you that the picture has been saved.

 Now I'm standing there struggling with the fact that this boy just took a picture of my credit card.    

 Yes, he played it off well, because had we not had the same kind of phone, I probably would never have known what happened.

 Needless to say, I immediately canceled that card as I was walking out of the pizza parlor.

 All I am saying is, be aware of your surroundings at all times. Whenever you are using your credit card take caution and don't be careless.

 Notice who is standing near you and what they are doing when you use your card. Be aware of phones, because many have a camera phone these days.

When you are in a restaurant and the waiter/waitress brings your card and receipt for you to sign, make sure you scratch the number off.

 Some restaurants are using only the last four digits, but a lot of them are still putting the whole thing on there.

 I have already been a victim of credit card fraud and, believe me, it is not fun. The truth is that they can get you even when you are careful, but don't make it easy for them.

Why you should only buy physical copies of games and software.

 These days you see many websites and gaming systems that offer quick and easy downloads of games and software. There are many reasons that these companies do this, mostly for cutting the cost of shipping and packaging. This is not always good for the consumer in the long run. Although it may sound good at first, just imagine purchasing a fifty dollar video game from Sony's Playstation Store and then a week later your PS3 crashes and you lose the game. What are you supposed to do? If you purchase hard copies of your games and software you do not need to worry about system crashes or hard drive failures.

Motorola's New Business Deal

On Wednesday the company that is famous for phones like the Razr announced that they will be splitting there failing cell phone operations between two companies. They said that they failed to make a second act since the Razr has lost some of it's popularity. Motorola plans to focus on producing products like modems and business communication systems. Motorola shares climbed 10 cents or 1% Wednesday to $9.86.

New Iphone Design Possible

Unwiredview.com found a Apple patent application for a new clamshell Iphone design. It will resemble what most of us call a flip phone and will possibly have touch capability on the top and bottom of the phone. Patent requests do not guarantee anything, but it can give us an idea of what the company is working on. Below is the patent drawing

Tip Lists

If you have any tips related to tech or even things that aren't tech and would like to share them. Just email them to thetechreview@yahoo.com and I will post them on the The Tech Review and read them in one of my Youtube videos.

New Fitness Partnership

I recently wrote about Nike and Apple partnering up again to make fitness machines and ipods compatible. Adidas and Samsung announced that for the last two years they have been working on a cellular phone that tracks your workout. It is called miCoach a.k.a Samsung F110. It comes with five components that provide audio workout feedback. The components include the phone,a stride sensor clip that hooks to sneaker laces,a heart-rate monitor, adidas compatible apparel,and accesses to the miCoach website where you can track the information and set goals. The product is going to be released in Europe at the end of March, but will not hit the U.S. until next year. Some other features include up to 4 gigs of music storage, audio cues to let you know when you are off pace. So if you are in U.S. you will have to strap on the old pedometer until next year.

Tips for Online Safety

Here are some tips that will help you and your family safe online.

1. Don't talk to anyone that you don't know on chat rooms,myspace etc.

2. Use all of the safety features that these sites offer you. They will all keep you safer.

3. Keep two email addresses, one for personal emails (friends,family,business etc.) and also keep one for sites like youtube,myspace and other sites where others might see it.

4. If you don't feel comfortable with a site or giving information to a site DONT DO IT!

5. When filling out forms online some sites make information optional, if something is optional don't take the risk of filling it out, it is not needed.

American Idol on Itunes

For all of you who enjoy American Idol you can now purchase episodes on Itunes.

Nike and Apple to make ipod compatible with gym equipment

Apple and Nike announced Tuesday that they are making an ipod that can plug into gym equipment and track your workout. The information can be seen on the Nike website. Some gyms and equipment manufactures  have already looked into the product. The two companies haven't announced any other details.

Tips for online research!

Whether you are doing research for school,work or for fun, there is a chance that you might get the wrong information. To prevent this follow these tips:

1. Don't use sites like Wikipedia, because the information can be changed and updated by anyone.

2. Use online encyclopedia's and dictionaries like Webster's. Some computers come with preloaded versions of these.

3. Sites that end in .gov or .edu can be trusted in most cases.

4. Infoplease.com is an all in one site, that offers dictionaries,encyclopedias and a thesaurus. 

The Tech Review Email Address!

If you need some computer support or want to suggest a topic of discussion just drop me an email at thetechreview@yahoo.com

Plasma or LCD?

Some might wonder what is the difference between a plasma TV and an LCD TV. They are alot different than you might think. Plasmas are usually the much larger televisions (65 inch and above) although LCD's are getting bigger with advances in technology. The LCD might pass up the plasma later on. LCD's are much stronger and easier to ship and too hang on the wall. They have a life of about 60,000. Plasmas have a little bit shorter life-span. LCD's do not suffer from picture burn in's like rear projection and plasma's. Burn in's occur when a still picture is left on the screen for a prolonged period of time. LCD's also have a large viewing angle of abut 175 degrees.

The HD DVD Blu Ray Battle

Well most of you probably know that HD DVD has lost. Toshiba announced that they are going to stop production of HD DVD's and the players. Blu Ray has become the industry standard for a number of reasons. Some believe that since the Playstation shipped with a Blu Raycompatible drive that it made the Blu Ray discs sell better because they were playable without purchasing any extra equipment, unlike the HD Dvd's that needed there own player or you could purchase a external player for the Xbox 360. But this is not all bad, you can now buy HD DVD players and HD DVD's at discounted prices. Many online retailers including Tigerdirect ''which is offering a Toshiba player for $89.00,which also comes with seven free movies''are offering many low prices and other promotions. So if you have been wanting one of these players now is the time to buy.

Just a reminder!

If you have a question or problem with your computer just leave a comment with your email address and your question and I will get back to you as soon as possible!

My thoughts on the Macbook Air

The Air was made for a specific group of people. That group of people includes business travelers or commuters and for those who just need a portable computer and not as much storage and power as you would get from the much larger MacBook or MacBook Pro. These computers are setting a new standard for the other companies that are producing portable machines. Some think that they left too many ports off of the Air. It has no firewire which I admit may be a problem for some, but if you need more than one usb port on the road you can just buy a usb hub.

The DVI port is for use with a portable projector, Apple doesn't think that you are really going to carry around an external monitor everyday. If you want to put a monitor in your house and connect it when you are home, you do have that option. Before you buy this machine, make sure you know that this is the one for you.

Playstation 3

This is my review of the Sony Playstation 3. First of all this is a great game system,but it is also one of the most affordable Blu Ray movie players on the market. The video,sound,and game quality is unbeatable. The system also comes with a built in web browser. Inside it has built in Wifi,and it is bluetooth compatible. There are tons of games out for Playstation 3 ,and more on the way. The online play called Playstaition Network is totally free unlike Xbox Live. Overall it is a great system. I now offer email subscriptions look for the bar on the right! Thanks

Tips for Online Gaming

Here are a few tips for playing video games online.

1. Buy a quality microphone,no one wants to hear a bunch of static and garble while trying to play there favorite game.

2. Play in a quiet room.

3. Dont use foul language or harass any other players on the game.

4. Do not use cheats, it is unfair to the other players!

5. Have fun!!

What kind of cable to use?

I was wondering what kind of a cable do I need to use to put video off of a mini dv camera to a program like imovie on my mac. So I did some searching on the web. I found out that you need firewire. Then I felt kind of stupid that I didn't think of that. So if anyone was wondering the same thing, I hope that I answered your question. You will need a 6 to 4 pin cable for most desktops and a 4 pin to 4 pin for most laptops.

Wireless Internet Security

Many of you might think that your network is secure,but there are things that you can do that will make it even more secure. MAC address filtering is one of the ways that you can maximize your security. Every device that can connect wirelessly to the internet has a mac address. It can be found on the bottom of most laptops and in control panel on a desktop. All you have to do is go to your routers settings page and press the mac address tab and then enter the addresses of all the devices that you are wanting to connect to your network. After that the only computers that can connect are yours. Gtech

Ask a Question!

If you would like to ask a question just drop me a comment and I will answer it the best I can. Thanks!

Places to shop online

It is now easier than ever to shop online, but you just have to know the best sites and online market places to look on. I will explain some of the sites that I like. My personal favorite is Amazon.com. The great think about Amazon is that most things being sold are coming from actual businesses or Amazon. So that way you have a better chance of getting good quality products. The prices are always very good and they offer free shipping the majority of the time. The next one I am going to discuss is Ebay. Ebay is good for getting those hard to find items like collectibles because you are ordering these products from regular people. But that is not always good. It is very important to look at buyer feedback. Ebay will no longer let buyers leave negative feedback on a seller. Check back soon for more posts. Thanks!

Welcome

Hey everyone. This is gtech, I hope that everyone enjoys the new blog. In this blog I will be reviewing and discussing things like computers,electronics and technology. I will give tips and other pieces of helpful info. Check back soon for more updates. Thanks!