2010 CES: Consumer Electronics show excites consumers.  The 2010 CES is taking place in Las Vegas, Nevada and there are over 2,000 exhibitors showcasing their amazing inventions.  The show kicked off yesterday (January 7) and will continue on until Sunday (January 10.)

There are many things that consumers are excited about this year.  For one, ever since Avatar hit the theaters, consumers have been talking about 3-D.  Well, at the 2010 CES there are plenty of exhibitors showcasing 3-D devices for both computers and Televisions.

Imagine watching your favorite movie in 3D right in the comfort of your own home. Maybe the technology isn’t as far off as we think.

On the go, and can’t watch TV? Some companies are creating phones that have the capability of streaming your favorite TV shows.  This would make life more enjoyable for those that have long commutes on trains and subways in large metropolitan areas.

Tablet PCs are also somewhat of a big hype. Kind of a cross between a laptop and an iPhone, a tablet PC will make computing even more portable.

There’s also word that Skype could be teaming up with TV manufacturers to bring forth the capability to telecommute right in the comfort of your own home.

Today, innovations are making our lives easier and easier. It is interesting to see the many inventions that are surfacing, and getting insight as to what could be in store for our future.

Google Nexus One: Google’s highly anticipated cell phone will allegedly be sold to the general public for $530 unlocked, or $180 with a two year plan.  The subsidized phone is only available through T-Mobile so customers using other cell phone providers will have to pay the full $530.  There is some indication that the phone which is manufactured by HTC will only work with GSM networks, meaning that Sprint and Verizon customers may not be able to use the phone.

Verizon customers, however, have access to the Motorola Android phone, which is one of the hottest phones on the market today. It uses Google’s Android operating system. Here are some good Android resources to look at:

Andriod Tips
Android Tips #2

According to Information Week, “Specs reported for the Nexus One mention Wi-Fi connectivity, a 5- or 6-megapixel camera, and a 3.7-inch AMOLED touchscreen. Broadcom’s BCM4329 chip, also said to be included in the Nexus One, is capable of providing 802.11n, Bluetooth, and FM technologies.”

There is some word that the Nexus One will represent a unification of the Android phones.  Developers have had difficulties coming up with applications for the Android, as the differences in the phones made developing aps cumbersome. They have since returned to iPhone work.

The FCC is also said to be very pleased with the Google Nexus One, as it will show a diversion of exclusive deals between phone providers and phone companies. For instance, you can only get the iPhone on the AT&T Network and you can only get the BlackBerry Storm on the Verizon network.

Those pumped about the Google Nexus One will have to fork over $530 or they will have to sign a contract with T-Mobile. There will be hefty fees for early contract termination.

SkyGrabber is a download which allows users to intercept text messages, music and movie downloads, and more.  SkyGrabber is said to be the culprit behind insurgents hacking US Drone planes and reviewing footage.

Sounds complex, doesn’t it? While SkyGrabber sounds like a sophisticated government-grade program – it’s not.  In most cases, a SkyGrabber download costs less than a tank of gas.  For just $25.95 you can download information without even having your internet connection on.

According to the Web site,

SkyGrabberis offline satellite internet downloader. It intercepts satellite data( movie, music, pictures ) that downloadind by other users and saves information in your hard disk. So, you’ll get new movie, best music and funny pictures for free.

Wow.

I can’t help but wonder if the tabloids and gossip magazines used programs such as SkyGrabber to get information for their stories.  In the litigious society we live in, I really don’t think that tabloids would run stories without having at least some form of proof that a story could be true.

With the advent of SkyGrabber and reports that it can be used to hack some of our military’s most sensitive information, it wouldn’t be surprising if this type of software will become illegal over time. 

Head on over to www.skygrabber.com to check out this download.  The site was so popular today that there were actually times when the site was completely unavailable.

Best Buy is the latest store to have its Black Friday advertisement leaked online.

Best Buy Black Friday Deals

Black Friday, which is the day after Thanksgiving, traditionally marks the beginning of Christmas shopping in the United States. Many retailers offer doorbuster sales as an incentive for shoppers.

Special deals and doorbusters for holiday shoppers at Best Buy on Black Friday include newly released CDs for $6.99, digital cameras for as low as $49.99, a digital camcorder for $69.99, a PlayStation 3 package for $299.99, a Web cam for $19.99, and much more.   For more on Best Buy’s Black Friday deals, click here.

View/download ad here: Best Buy Black Friday 2009 Ad (PDF).

The following Web sites are dedicated to locating Black Friday deals for major stores such as Sears, Walmart, Toys ‘R’ Us, Target, Kmart, and more:

• BlackFriday.fm
• Black-Friday.net
• BFads.net
• BlackFriday.info
• BlackFriday.com
• BlackFriday.GottaDeal.com

Know of some good Black Friday deals? Leave them in the comments below.

Many people have been wondering when Daylight Saving Time (DST)  is scheduled for this fall.  Mark your calendars (if they aren’t already) for Sunday, November 1, 2009, at 2 a.m.

Daylight Saving Time

There has been some confusion about the “fall back” time for DST 2009. In the past, the time change happened on the last Sunday in October. The time change now happens on the first Sunday in November.

Remember to change your clocks, but be careful as some clocks on cell phones, computers, etc., are programmed to change automatically for DST.  Also, to add more confusion, some computers and electronic devices may have already been programmed to change on the last Sunday in October.  So double-check that your clocks have the correct time.

So what is DST? Here is a description from TimeandDate.com:

Daylight Saving Time (or summertime as it is called in many countries) is a way of getting more light out of the day by advancing clocks by one hour during the summer. During Daylight Saving Time, the sun appears to rise one hour later in the morning, when people are usually asleep anyway, and sets one hour later in the evening, seeming to stretch the day longer.

The reason DST works is because its saves energy due to less artificial light needed during the evening hours—clocks are set one hour ahead during the spring, and one hour back to standard time in the autumn. Many countries observe DST, and many do not.

Note: Between March–April through September–November, it is summer in the northern hemisphere, where many countries may observe DST, while in the southern hemisphere it is winter. During the rest of the year the opposite is true: it is winter in the northern hemisphere and summer in the southern.

Benjamin Franklin first suggested Daylight Saving Time in 1784, but it was not until World War I, in 1916, when it was adopted by several counties in Europe that initially rejected the idea.

It is difficult to predict what will happen with Daylight Saving Time in the future. The daylight saving date in many countries may change from time to time due to special events or conditions.The United States, Canada and some other countries extended DST in 2007. The new start date is the second Sunday in March (previously the first Sunday in April) through to the first Sunday in November (previously the last Sunday in October).

Nancy Drew is one of my current favorite games and the interesting thing is, I remember my family had a great affection for this brand as we had Nancy Drew books strewn around our home all over while growing up.

The fact that they have come out with a video game in itself is very cool. I love playing the game and now I am going to make public some of the tips and advice on how to – I came, I saw, I conqured – this game.

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July 4 which is celebrated by all the Americans as their Independence Day has another chapter added to it in the history of computer attacks. You will be surprised to know that several government websites got knocked off due to a unique widespread cyber attack. I am sure quite a few of us have experienced the problem of cyber attack at some point of time, but that is restricted to the private sites. This is one of its kind, where several official websites were down at varying points.

It came into notice when quite a few of the websites such as the Transportation Department, Federal Trade Commission, The Treasury Department and also the ones that are responsible for fighting against the cyber crime were all not opening up. As a matter of fact, there are various sites that have been experienced major problems even till Tuesday evening. This incident is being linked to the cyber attack on the government and private websites of South Korea.

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This particular project has been about 34 months in the making, but come tommorow the project would officially get released – Mozilla’s open source web browser Firefox 3.

As the company holds out on eager Firefox users until it is deemed software ready, as the time nears, excitement is reaching a fever pitch.

Mozilla is making the most out of its release date, including world-wide parties and the now infamous attempt at setting a new Guinness World Record for most software downloads in one day.

One thing that Mozilla is most proud of is the enhanced speed and efficiency of Firefox 3, claiming to be nine times faster than rival Microsoft’s Internet Explorer 7, and two to four times faster than previous version Firefox 2.

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But guess what. Members from India get first preference when it comes to testing out new changes. Same was the case when Orkut changed its theme to a new CSS layout long time back or when it introduced applications like Facebook.

Its always the users from India who get to try out these changes first. Orkut knows which side its bread is buttered on.

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So today when I logged into Thunder bird to check my email, what do I see but a notification from Orkut asking me to verify my account or else it will be deleted.

Boo-Hoo.

Same old phishing scams which seem to be a dime a dozen these days. The email is pasted below as it is:

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