Chief Prognosticator

I saw the Eee ultra mobile computer the other night in person. It is a pretty cool piece of hardware. Its ultra light and portable. Officially called the ASUS Eee PC, the basic models run a version of Linux-based operating system and have a solid state hard disk drive for storage.
Why the name? Well the three letters E stand for “Easy to learn, Easy to work, Easy to play”. Check it out the next time you at at en electronics store. It could be a great gift to gift that non-techie in your family who still wants a fun computer.

What is the Jaksta Streaming Media Recorder and Converter? Just about the coolest new application I’ve seen! Love online video? Love streaming content? Well the Jaksta Ultimate Streaming Media Recorder and Converter lets you record virtually any online video or audio stream you come across. From MySpace, YouTube, Hulu, Yahoo! Music — you name it! Just click the record button, go to the site, and the software automatically finds and records the streaming content. From there you can convert it into one of many formats (iPod, Zune, PSP, MP3, and more) and use it wherever you want. Imagine the possibilities. You could record your favorite do-it-yourself/how to videos to take with you in the gym or in the kitchen, you can record your favorite video-casts to view on the go — you name it! Go ahead and give it a try — you can download a free trial version from www.jaksta.com and try out the program yourself. This software is not meant for illegal activities, but under the fair-use doctrine you can record streaming online content for private use. Why be limited to just viewing stuff while online? Get this software and be able to take it with you on your favorite mobile video or audio device.

I saw this product at Target the other day. The Peek wireless handheld device is used to access your web-based email anywhere in the U.S. That’s all it does — no web browsing, no phone service. But it a few minutes of setup, you can access up to 3 web email accounts (Yahoo, Hotmail, GMail, AOL, etc) and read/send unlimited data. The cost? Well the handheld unit retails for about $100 and the monthly service is a flat rate $19.95 charged to your credit card. I think this is a great product if you want 24/7 access to your email.
The company, Peek Inc., was founded by former Virgin Mobile USA executives. I think its a cool device for people who don’t want so many features to deal with or the high bills which come with them. Its a classic example of the principle of “divergence” — the separation of typically bundled services. I think its a great product for teens who want to limit bills and cell phone talk time.

For instance, what does the JNLP file extension do and how do you use it on a Windows based machine? The JNLP file format is based in Sun Microsystem’s Java Web Start initiative. It is used in starting some Java applet based applications on the Internet. The trick is that the JNLP file extension does not actually get executed in the web browser application itself, but instead on the remote server. In this sense it is running on the “Internet” itself and not locally. This makes java applets run smoother without lag errors or slow connection woes. It should work fine with a standard web browser and the right java install. But what if it doesn’t work? Well it could be that your java installation is incorrect or that your registry has an error in it. If you have a problem running the JNLP file extension, visit file-extension.com and check out their solution center. You can run a free performance scan of you computer, run a fix for the file extension errors, and scan your computer for outdated or missing drivers. These are the most common causes of file extension execution errors. After the checkup and scan you can decide how to best address these issues. It could be as easy as downloading the missing files and restarting your computer.

Netflix is working hard to make the future arrive faster. I predicted a long time ago that the future of the DVD (or Blu-Ray, as the case is now) is in streaming video from the internet. Why rent or buy a movie when you can watch it on demand whenever you want, from wherever you want. Netflix announced today that it is improving its streaming feature by using a Microsoft’s Silverlight technology. This should speed up the stream and expand the options for videos. They also announced that this new method will allow people using Intel-based Macs to stream Netflix movie. Great idea!

You must have run into this situation before…. You install a new software application and you get an error message. The Microsoft Windows Driver needed by the software is not available on your machine. What do you do? Or how about you go to access an old program you don’t use much and find out it doesn’t work. What to do? Well maybe a driver got deleted somewhere along the way. Find the Windows drivers you need and download them from Driver-Library.com. Driver-Library.com is the ultimate encyclopedia of drivers. It has all the information for each driver, what it does, how to use it, and provides the download of the driver for free! From the ati pci bus master driver to Canon BJ-200 drivers, this website has it all. Look here first for the windows drivers you need and you don’t have to look any further. It has been top rated by Microsoft with the Microsoft Gold Certified Partner Status. Don’t give up when you get a software error — search for the driver you need and get your application running up again. Forget searching around for that lost installation CD for your printer or video card — visit this site and download it for free.

What in the world is Windows 7?

Windows 7 is the new operating system Microsoft has announced slated for release in 2010. It will be the successor of Windows Vista. What is it all about? Well think about it as a stripped down OS. It won’t come preloaded with tons of software applications. It will instead rely on Internet based applications. Think of it as “the Operating System as Web Browser“.You will download access only to the services (applications) you want to use. Interesting? Discuss!

Do you believe in love at first sight? For me, the answer is … maybe. I don’t know if its really possible at first sight, but you can get quite an awesome feeling when you first meet someone. That’s the way it was was I first met my wife. It was at work and she was the new boss. The love part a few days later. If you are still searching for true love, visit True.com. They are all about “happily ever after” stories — hooking you up with the one you are looking for.

True.com is one of the very few actually free dating sites to sign up with. There is zero cost to get a sign in and start searching. No, I didn’t mistype that — search for free at True.com. Their site is full of friendly and attractive singles but it also contains a great tips and advice center. A recent article is titled “Six Great Fall Date Ideas”. My favorite one on the list is “Hit the local fall festival”. Its something my wife and I have done 4 times this year already. Its a lot of fun and you get to be out in the beautiful weather. If you are a newly single parent, looking for a fresh start, visit their advice center for single parents. Its all great info.

True.com is free to sign up and free to search. I can’t say this for many other dating sites out there. Check it out today and maybe have a date (or at least a chat) for the weekend.

What a bizarre story in the news today. Check out the article here:

Midwest high school copes with HIV scare

The strange part is that officials are not releasing info on:
- Who is the person at the center of this?
- How could 50 teens get exposed?
Was this part of a medical lab procedure (like blood testing / donation) or from a sexual epidemic? In the meantime, the Normandy High gymnasium has been turned into a testing center with 6 stations. Crazy! Lets see how this story unfolds and how HIV could have infected so many kids at one school.

LASIK eye surgery has been around for years now and has helped the lives of millions of people. But what impresses me most is how the technology keeps on improving. It’s not just getting more affordable or commonplace — no, its getting even better! Modern LASIK, also known as the iLASIK™, is the latest medical procedure on this trend. It uses two lasers instead of one. Why two? Well the lasers are used not only to correct the lens’ shape (and thus focus), but also is used to amp the surface of the eye and to cut the initial flap. This is a much safer alternative to the original technique to cut the lens flap by hand. It reduces error rate and improves recovery time. Check out this LASIK information and more online and get informed. It is not too late to get it done before Christmas. Imagine a holidays season without the need for glasses. Over 12 million people have benefited from LASIK technology and with the advances of iLASIK, you too can add your name to that growing list. There has never been a better time to improve your vision. Visit the link and learn all you can.

A “safe haven” law is one meant to protect newborn babies from harm. Under most state’s safe haven laws, babies up to 3 days old can be dropped off at a hospital, fire station or police station and the parents will not be questioned, arrested or followed. Sounds good to protect babies, right?

Well up until now, Nebraska’s Safe Haven law had a loophole in it. There was no defined age limit! This has lead to “20 children ranging in age from 1 to 17 years have been abandoned in the state since Sept. 13… Sixteen youths were older than 10.”

“Tysheema Brown, 33, left her child at BryanLGH Medical Center East at 9:50 p.m., said Chief Tom Casady of the Lincoln, Neb., Police Department. [T]he boy has been placed in a residential shelter. Brown traveled the farthest of any parent to date to leave a child in Nebraska. Two other children came from out of state, from Iowa and Michigan.“

When do you need a Tax Lawyer? Probably when you feel you have to ask that question! No seriously, people in normal lives and under normal conditions can sometimes find themselves in need of legal tax help. It could be misfiled tax returns or complex tax situations, but you could certainly find yourself needing a qualified Tax Attorney. This is not something you want to face on your own, up to your own devices. Visit Certified Tax Inc. for the help you need in finding a qualified Tax Lawyer. Sure you could try to handle this situation on your own, but it could end up costing you thousands of dollars in overpayment or tax penalties. Its not like you’ve got extra money laying around waiting for the IRS to claim it — get the Tax Releif you need by using a qualified lawyer. It could easily save you more in tax payments than the cost of the help. Certified Tax Inc.’s staff of former IRS agents, Tax Specialists, and Tax Lawyers who know all the insider actions to take to limit your tax penalty. They really care about you and your tax situation — don’t just get tax help, get help from a company which cares.

I wrote just below about how much I love the PlayStation 2 game Shadow of the Colossus. Do you want to learn everything there is about this game? Well its easy thanks to the following two walk through / FAQs:

• GameFAQs - Shadow of the Colossus Plot & Theory Analysis FAQ
• IGN.com - Shadow of the Colossus

Some of the worst kinds of computer viruses are those which hide in plain site. OK, so maybe “plain” sight is not accurate — they actually hide by using the name of an existing application or utility which sits on your computer. They are hiding because you don’t know that your executable file is really a virus in hiding. When your software calls on that program, like when Windows XP starts up the groovemonitor.exe virus when you open Microsoft Office 2007, its too late. Your are infected and the virus will attack your machine as only it knows how to best.

So what can you do? Well prevention is worth a pound of cure but in some cases you just need to deal with the situation in a reactive manner. Visit websites like Application Error (located at application-error.net) will help you figure out how to disable these virus or Trojans as soon as possible and limit the damage they invoke. I really hate these malicious processes — they lurk in your computer in plain site until your computer tries to use them. Then its game over.Try to do what you can when the trouble hits and limit the damage. Remember to backup your system often so that in the case of a full-blown computer crash, you will still be able to retrieve your valuable data.

Wouldn’t it be amazing if they came out with Shadow of the Colossus 2? I mean, the original is one of the best PlayStation 2 games of all time and that’s just my opinion. In fact, I am playing that game this very moment. It is old but it never gets old. There is a prequel to the game called Ico but it just isn’t the same.

Its the end of the surfing season for many coastal towns in the U.S. — a perfect time to stock up on pro surfing gear. Think about it: Now is the time to get great deals on surfboard fins and bags and be ready for next season when the weather warms back up. The Surfboard Warehouse has all the coolest pro gear available at great prices. Check out their website or give them a call at 1-813-254-6262. They accept Visa, MasterCard and Discover and you only pay sales tax if you live in Florida. They have all the top names in the biz — check them out.

I just wrote about how portable music players could get smaller and smaller in the future. On second thought, I think this trend could be wrong. Instead I see the capability to play music becoming embedded primarily into mobile phones. Why not? ALmost everyone has a mobile phone — why not have a fully functional music player in it? It could go with the same principal — wireless music streamed from the Internet but instead of having its own device, it could be integrated into one we already own.

With the U.S. economy and stock market in the doldrums and the rest of the world bracing for a global recession, there is not better time than now to get your financial house in order. The number one thing you can do is get control of your debts and have them in the most manageable form you can manage. This is all about debt consolidation — consolidating your debts means combining them in a way to reduce the time to payoff and lower the interest you will pay along the way.

To learn more about this important subject and begin your path back to financial order, check out the great information resource of Bills.com. There are many different choices when it comes to debt consolidation and Bills.com has the valuable debt consolidation tips and resources you need to make an informed decision. For instance, did you know that consolidating your credit card debts can save you thousands of dollars of the life of the loan. One way is to take out a home equity loan and use the proceeds to pay off all those credit cards bills. Then, with only one loan remaining (the home equity loan), you can focus all your cash flow into paying off that debt. Once that debt is gone, you are debt free! Benefits of this include lowering your interest rate, getting potential tax incentives (like tax deductions), and speeding up the time to repay. This sort of consolidation and repayment certainly is a better alternative to bankruptcy. Visit Bills.com right now for tons of other useful information!

I think the next move for Apple, from purely a marketing standpoint, would be to replace the iPod Nano line with a new product line, even smaller. What would it be called? Simple — the iPod Pico. A picometer is smaller than a nanometer, by a factor of 1000, and the name is just as cute. There are also several marketing plays they could do for the Pico. Pico as in “hot and spicy” would be an easy one. Pico as in “peek” (hide and seek) could be another. Just think about it — if it happens, you heard it hear first.

What is Mobile Marketing? It is the deployment of Marketing messages over the mobile technology platform! Think about it — how many mobile phones are there in the world? The number is more than the number of televisions. Mobile Marketing is a hot segment of growth in the advertising and marketing arena. How can you get in on this for your company?

This is where a Mobile Marketing Company like Pepperjam comes in. They are pioneers in the arena of mobile marketing. They have developed not only the know-how and services for mobile marketing campaigns but also one best reporting and analysis tools. They can help you in all areas of your campaign from creative design to deployment and tracking. Mobile Marketing done right can yield some of the largest Returns on Investment in the marketing arena — Pepperjam can help you achieve it. Visit their site now and get a free analysis and proposal for your campaign. There is only upside on this proposition — don’t let the mobile marketing channel pass you buy.

Just say the title of my post aloud “VP — Nominee — Shopping Spree“… it totally rhymes. Anyways, news out today is that the Republican Party has spend up to $150,000 on clothes for Sarah Palin! Here are some specifics:

Saks Fifth Avenue - $49,425.74
Neiman Marcus - $75,062.63

Isn’t that crazy?

That’s the thing with virus removal software — you download it, run your scan, and then what? How do you stay updated? Previous software I’ve had never quite worked well with the updates. Something went wrong with the server login and I lever got the right update. So how can you get consistent virus removal protection for your computer?

This is why I’m excited about Cyberdefender. CyberDefender’s security applications provide real-time security updates you can believe in. With their service you get Anti-spyware, Virus Removal, anti-spam, and anti-phishing protection for your computer. They also provide something called the MyIdentityDefender toolbar. This tool helps protect you from online threats. It works with your Internet Explorer to alert you to security threats online. Go even further than regular protection software by using CyberDefender’s Early Detection Center service. This gets you everything you need for online protection including access to live technical support. I’ve tried some free anti-virus, anti-malware programs before but they have failed to live up to my expectations. Spend a little money (but not too much) and get real protection for your computer and the valuable data you store on it. You won’t regret it!

How about a digital music player that could fit in your ear. It wouldn’t store music at all — instead it would stream it from the Internet. All you need to fit into the headphone is a WiFi modem, a music decoder (Digital to Analog), a speaker, and a battery. Think about it — it could be the mini-est, nano-est, pico-est iPod ever. There are many technological barriers to overcome first, but it could be a reality one day.

Have you ever wanted to mobilize your blog but couldn’t figure it out? I have — that’s why I was excited when I learned about Blog4mobile.com. Blog4mobile.com is a free service which syndicates your blog so it can be easily accessed on mobile devices like mobile phones and PDAs.

Think about it — if you ever visited a professional website via mobile device, you probably saw something different than you did on your home computer. I see it all the time on my BlackBerry — websites like CNN.com have a mobile version which is optimized for the smaller screen and slower connection speed of mobile devices. Now you can offer this same look and feel using the free Blog4mobile.com service.

Better than just a simple RSS feed of your content, Blog4mobile.com uses the feed in combination with their content-recreating technology to make your mobile site not only readable but attractive like your regular site. Its the best of both worlds — optimized for mobile devices but with full content and look-and-feel of your normal site. Did I mention that the service is free? Check it out. While you are at it, add your mobile blog to their directory of sites. This boosts your traffic and visibility on the mobile web.

Here is where technology meets capitalism. Imagine private space ventures that fly to the distant moons of the Solar System and mine precious metals. I think this fantasy will become reality within the next 15 years. Why? Because there is only a limited supply of rare elements here on Earth and the demand for them in medicine, technology, and materials science is growing exponentially. Elements like Molybdenum ($65,000 per ton), Platinum ($33,000,000 per ton), Rhodium ($161,000,000 per ton) are getting harder to find and harder to mine. Its only a matter of time where it makes economic sense to fly to space to get it!

Fell like you are drowning in debt with no chance to get ahead. Don’t worry — it happens to the best of us. But what makes the difference between sinking and swimming is how you respond to the financial situation you are in. Seek professional credit and debt counseling and you will be taking the first step back on the road to financial stability.

Here’s a recommendation — visit DebtGuru.com and read up on debt counseling. DebtGuru.com is the online presence of the American Credit Foundation, a non-profit debt counseling and financial support organization. With their specialized credit counseling center of America, they have been helping people like you out of financial trouble since 1994. Over those 14 years, they have seen the worst of the worst in terms of financial messes. No trouble is too big and no debt is too deep for you to be hopeless. How do they do this? Well the process is simple — they help you get control of your debt by improving the terms and conditions of your current debts. This means in many cases lowering the interest rates or removing penalties. They also help by setting up a structured payment schedule for you to repay those debt.

Fill out their simple online form and get a free quote today. There is nothing to lose except all your debt. Their service can help you save thousands of dollars over the life of your debt and can get you back in control. The American Credit Foundation is bonded and insured up to $100,000. They are also certified ISO 9001:2000. This means they have standardized business practices and procedures to support the efficient operation of their organization. Finally, American Credit Foundation is part of the UTAH Better Business Bureau and the BBBOnLine Reliability Program. This makes them a non-profit organization you can trust and I think that their services could not come soon enough!

What is the Personal Genome Project? Well a group of scientists and researchers have announced that they will be sharing their DNA online. That’s right — their genetic information, and not to mention, their medical records too. Why? To help further the study of genetics and research into diseases. The team is so far made up of Harvard Medical School genetics professor George Church, Harvard psychology professor Steven Pinker, Harvard Medical School Chief Information Officer at Dr. John Halamka, and 6 other people. They envision a future where everyone can have their DNA sequenced. The purpose would be to identify latent diseases and begin treatment before they manifest themselves. How soon? I say within 5 years.

Starting a new business is tough. I’m talking really tough — that’s why so many people are intimidated into not following their dreams and starting their own business. But it doesn’t have to be this way. Visit EZUnsecured.com to learn about how you can get unsecured
Business Loans for up to $200,000 without documentation. “EZ-Doc” loans are available for up to $10,000,000. No serious! If you have strong credit, you can get fast and easy business loan funding. EZUnsecured.com’s lenders are focused on great service - they want you to live your dreams!

How about this for a technology story — researchers at several universities have developed a paper made of carbon nanotubes. Carbon nanotubes are tiny arrangements of carbon atoms in tube-shapes, many times thinner than a human hair. These structures give the paper its potentially 500x stronger than steel power. The idea is to stack sheets of this paper together, forming a compostie material, which can be used to build airplanes and cars. What else can this amazing paper do? It can conduct electricity like copper and it can disapte heat like steel. Amazing!

What kind of different video formats are there for your personal computer? Well there are over 100 different digital video formats out there right now but here are the most common ones:

•  .wmv - Windows Media Video File
•  .swf - Macromedia Flash Movie
•  .avi - Audio Video Interleave File
•  .mpg - MPEG Video File
•  .mov - Apple QuickTime Movie

The format I most often see since I’m working on an Apple is the file extension MOV. Developed by Apple Inc (back when it was known as Apple Computer) for the QuickTime application, this format is also used by AutoFlix. While it was developed by Apple for the Apple Operating system (Macintosh, now OS X), the format is also compatible on Microsoft Windows machines. This format is very useful for editing digital video on your computer and is readable in a web browser (with correct plug-in) or using a media player. If you have video shot and stored in another format (like .avi) you can still transfer it into the .mov format using one of many different programs. You can download these software applications for free from the Internet (freeware) or purchase them for expanded use. For information on the other types of digital video formats, check out the website file-extension-library.com.

Read this story on CNN.com and tell me what you think:
Man found guilty in murder of couple tossed off yacht, 1 other

Skylar Deleon was found guilty of murdering three people in California. His first two victims, Tom and Jackie Hawks, were tied to the anchor of their yatch and thrown into the water. The third victim was a man named Jon Jarvi who had worked with Skylar.
Here’s the kicker to the “child actor” part from the last paragraph:
“Deleon, 29, is a former child actor who allegedly boasted that he was a star on the “Mighty Morphin Power Rangers” but apparently had only a small part in one episode.”
What?!?

What’s a better way to relax at the end of a long week at work than a cold drink and a nice cigar? Or how about the way to celebrate a great round of golf with your buddies? Cigars aren’t for everyone and they aren’t (usually) for everyday, but there is something about a good cigar that heightens your senses. For a great selection of cigars at direct prices visit CigarsToBuy.com. It’s a one-stop shop for all your cigar needs — from the intellectual (information on brands, styles, ratings, reviews) to the sublime (exotic cigars, expensive cigars), CigarsToBuy.com has it all. It could be the best place on the Internet to buy cigars. Shop with confidence 24/7 with their online shop and have your cigars sent directly to your home or office within 10 days. All cigar boxes come carefully packaged to maintain their freshness and integrity.

Sure they have some of the finest cigars in the world — top names and expensive lines — but they also have great cigars at low prices. Check out these Partagas 150 cigars. They are being sold at a great price. Check out all the different styles and sizes available. What ever you buy, be certain that your package will arrive safely — ready to enjoy. All shipments are insured and ship via UPS or USPS.

Hey Apple Inc., if you are reading this blog, I’ve got an idea you can steal. How about integrating the “Rating” function into the iPod Shuffle? Here’s why — I listen to my Shuffle all the time. It does two things — 1) play all the songs in order and 2) play them in random order (hence, shuffle). But what about letting me give a rating to each song as it plays so I can customize a playlist on the fly? I mean with a 2GB iPod Shuffle, you are going to be packing a lot of music — why not give us a function to give weight to our “song du jour”?

Isn’t modern medicine absolutely amazing? I mean think about it — to create a medical drug is no easy task by any stretch of the imagination. All the research, the testing, the approvals — its a wonder how it all happens. Well did you know that there are providers of Custom Medications out there? What is Compounding? Well consider this scenario:

You have been taking a specific brand of medicine for 5 years. It is working very well treating your medical condition. All of a sudden, the drug manufacturer stops making it. This could happen for a variety of reasons including economic and market conditions. What do you do? Well you ask your doctor to prescribe another medicine to treat your condition. Well what happens if that medicine doesn’t work? Maybe the formulation is a bit different. Maybe it has an inactive ingredient in it which you are allergic to? Yikes! Well this is where custom medicines, also known as Compounding, comes in.

A company like NECC (New England Compounding Center) will work with your doctor to create the medicine you were originally taking. Using the highest quality ingredients and formulating them in the exact manner of the medicine, you will now be able to continue taking the medicine you need.  Compounded medications offer a continued delivery of what the patient needs.

This service is also used for other situations like when the medicine does not have a long shelf-life (and thus usually hard to stock at your local pharmacy) or if you need a specific dosage not commercially provided. NECC is USP Chapter 797 compliant which means they are licensed to provide this service. Their laboratories are staffed with highly trained Pharmacists and are regulated by the Massachusetts Board of Registration in Pharmacy. NECC provides their services to doctor’s patients and to hospitals for specialty medications. Contact them at 1-800-994-6322 or visit their website for more information on this specialized service.

Check it out. Apple is firing back to Microsoft’s “I’m a PC” ad campaign with this gem of their own. It’s called “Bean Counter” and it lampoon’s Microsoft’s purported $300 million advertising budget for the Vista, I’m a PC campaign. Yikes~! It’s pretty direct in its attack, isn’t it? What do you think?

There are many important decisions to make when setting up or running your e-business. One of the most important, yet often overlooked, is the selection of the right web hosting provider. Why? Here are my top 3 reasons:

• You Want Reliability - your website is your 24/7 presence to the world.  If your site goes down due to a problem at the host, you will miss out on potential visitors and potential customers. This is why reliability is one of the most important factors when considering a web host. Don’t take this decision lightly.
• You Want Enough Storage - outgrowing your host is bad news. You either have to fork up even more money or switch hosts altogether. Make sure your hosting service provides enough storage and enough bandwidth not just for today but for the future.
• You Don’t Want to Have to Switch - although switching is not impossible, you really don’t want to have to switch web hosting providers every year. Make sure you pick the right one and avoid this annoying possibility.

There are lots of things to consider beyond this — from The Benefits of Dedicated Server Hosting to How Many Domains you Want to Host. Make sure you get the inside scoop. Do a little research before you sign up — visit webhostingrating.com and read up. Check out their “Top 10 Web Hosting Provider” list. Depending on your needs and budget, there is the perfect host on this list — just name your tune! Webhostingrating.com has one of the largest directories of web hosts available. They take web hosting rating to a new level of coverage and honesty. Honesty, really? Yes — this is what makes their service so useful. The site is full of reviews from real web hosting customers. These reviews are not edited to make a point — instead they provide an honest look at the perceived pros and cons of the web hosting services provided.

No matter if you are looking for the cheapest, the most reliable, the fastest, or the most storage, visit webhostingrating.com and get the inside scoop you need to make the best decision.

Here’s my prediction — Windows XP and Windows Vista will learn to co-exist in the world. Why? Microsoft can’t go either path alone. They certainly can’t admit failure and abandon Vista. That would be a huge, massive, colossal mistake for the business. They would be the laughing stock of the industry and have on their hands one of the biggest business failures ever. On the other hand, Microsoft can’t kill XP. If they do, thousands of businesses will be left out in the cold. Most businesses I know are sticking with XP. They are using XP in the office and their customers are demanding XP. If XP went away, businesses would still find a way to get it.

What if you are wronged and can’t fight back? Sure criminal court will help but what about compensatory damages? Just can’t afford to sue for damages? Well this is where the area of lawsuit funding comes into play. In this situation you get funding so you can continue your lawsuit and help increase your chances for winning or settling. What if you lose? Nothing! You don’t have to repay the money if you don’t get the settlement. On the other hand, the upside is great — you win and get compensated for your injury or pain. Think about it.

I knew it wouldn’t take long before the media dug up something on this guy. But who knew it would be this basic. Joe the Plumber isn’t a licensed plumber and his name isn’t even Joe. Its Sam. Samuel “Joe” Wurzelbacher of Holland, Ohio, isn’t responding to the media but the Association of Plumbers, Steamfitters and Service Mechanics has come out and stated that this man is not a licensed member of the trade. 15 minutes officially O-V-E-R.

The U.S. real estate market is bleak but there are still some spots of brightness. One such area is Round Rock located 20 miles North of Austin, Texas. Round Rock tx homes are still available for great prices. The whole area is one of the fastest in the U.S. and this makes for a great situation. From Round Rock to neighboring Austin Real Estate, its looking good. On one hand there is actually growth in this area whereas other spots around the country are stagnant. Secondly, real estate in Round Rock is getting scarcer which means prices and home values will rise over time. The U.S. housing market may be in the toilet but there are still some spots of promise out there.

In the past few weeks of market panic, I have often wondered what the world’s greatest investor, Warren Buffett, was doing with all his cash. Now its confirmed (after the fact, of course), that Buffett has been on a buying spree of “cheap” U.S. stocks. In an opinion column in the New York Time, Buffett wrote “A simple rule dictates my buying: Be fearful when others are greedy, and be greedy when others are fearful.” Fear has certainly been the persistent mood on Wall Street these past week as some stellar stocks like Microsoft have dipped dramatically. Buy, Buy, Buy!

Have you become afraid to answer the phone? Are your being harassed by creditors or weirdos? Well arm yourself with the knowledge of who is calling you by using this website to Trace Phone Numbers. Tracephonenumbers.org makes it easy to figure out where those numbers on your caller ID is coming from. Information on every state and area code at your fingertips. When you want to take the next step and find exactly who is calling you, then the website lets you get all the info you need through a phone look up service.

In a first for a Presidential Campaign, Sen. Barack Obama has purchased advertisements in video games. This is a first for politics-meets-technology. The advertisements will be deployed in 18 games from Microsoft’s Xbox Live service. The ads will promote “his online voter registration and early balloting drive in 10 battleground states”. This targeting of 18 to 34 year old males is important and hopes to affect the way young people, especially college kids, vote. There is much confusion at college at how people can vote when they are from another state. This is where Obama’s voter registration and early voting initiative comes in to play. The key to voting in these cases is to send in an absentee ballot to your home state.

No, I don’t love “your” car — I love mine. Its nothing fancy but its mine, its paid off, and it well kept. I keep it clean like 24/7. If you love your car as much as I do (or want to fall back in love with your car), visit AJ Prindle & Co’s website. They specialize in high tech and must have car accessories.

Check out the fitted Air/Sun Shades — they are great to keep your car cool and clean at the same time. They also stock great self-adhesive door protectors for your car. And when you get back to your garage at the end of the day, deck it out with a deluxe Garage Door Seal to keep the dirt out or a high tech wall vacuum to keep your space clean.

Also, with the weather turning cold, check out their great car safety products. If you live in a cold climate area, make sure your car has the right gear in it for emergency situations. From battery heated clothing to the Auto Three-Day Survival Kit, AJ Prindle & Co has high quality products to keep you safe.

Lastly, if you love hanging out with your car or truck at the big game, check out their cool tailgating products. They have Officially licensed NCAA and NFL products like portable fridges and folding chairs. Why not request a free catalog today and check out all the great products they have.

Well certainly their hiring practices are. They brought on a record 2100 new employees back in the third quarter of 2007. The number from this past quarter? 448. That’s about half it was from the preceding quarter and less than a fourth of Q4 07. How will their earnings do in this crazy economy? Well the news will come out today on their third-quarter earnings after the market closes. One thing is certain, Google’s stock has taken a severe hit along with the rest of the market in the past three months. Predicting which way Google will go is tough.

Got a question about computers or software? I sure do — a lot of questions actually. It seems that the more I learn about computers and software, the more questions I come up with. I guess that’s the nature of the game. Well to find answers you can turn to the Internet. It’s free and available 24/7. But the Internet is a big thing - where to look? Well I’ve found a great site for technical computer answers — BackupAnswers.com. The aim of the site is to give useful technical information on the latest topics and trends in computing. Their listing of answers is growing every day — so be sure to go back and visit it regularly.

For example, if you want to learn about tar files in windows, BackupAnswers.com can help. It explain what the file format does (archive one or more files), how it works (the byte structure including header and metadata), and where the future of this format is trending (the UStar format of standardization). One page, one great answer. Give the website a look and see what questions you have which can be answered. I’m looking forward to the site being populated with even more and more answers because I’ve got a lot of questions.

The announcement came this week that a newly planned building will compete for the title of world’s tallest. Currently the Burj Dubai is the tallest man-made structure in the world (not just to mention tallest building). The news this week from Saudi Prince (and billionaire) Al-Waleed bin Talal is that he will build the world’s tallest building. The name? Catchy of course — Kingdom City! How tall? About a kilometer high. That’s 6 tenths of a mile straight up (over 3,280 feet). How much will it cost? The current plan is roughly $26.7 billion. The Location? The Saudi town of Jeddah.

Here’s my personal finance tip of the month — shop for new insurance every 2 years. Why? Well you can save a lot of money of finding a new insurance carrier or, at least, renegotiate lower premiums with your existing carrier. Its that easy and can save you hundreds of dollars a year. If you live in the Washington state or Idaho states area, check out Save More Insurance — one of the best customer-service orientated insurers in the business. No matter if you are a small business or an individual, they can provide comprehensive insurance for less. Which insurance products do they provide? You name it — Auto insurance, Motorcycle insurance, Homeowners insurance and flood insurance. They are also one of the top providers of Idaho renters insurance! (That’s right renters — ecven if you don’t own a house, you need to protect the value of your goods. Get renters insurance for cheap and protect your valuables from theft and fire).

Save money by switching insurance today. After you switch, remember to mark your Yahoo or GMail calendar for a reminder in 24 months to revisit your insurance to make sure you’re still getting the lowest rate possible. Remember, visit their site today and click “Get a Quote” to start the process. Its fast and easy and could save you a bundle.

The Hubble Space Telescope has served the Unites States (and the rest of the world) well over the past 18 years. But after a failure on board disabled the telescope from working two weeks ago, NASA has been left wondering how to fix it. How will they fix it? Well NASA will try to startup an emergency backup computer. Good idea, right? Well the bad part is that this backup system has not been operating since 1990! Let’s see if old computer parts work in space. The future of the HST is depending on it.

Work or play in Chicago? I have been there a few times on business and it was a great city. I have even toyed with the idea of moving there. Its beautiful. I just found out about a really cool thing to do in Chi-town. The Wrigley Field Rooftop Club is the coolest way to catch a Cubs game. Located across the street from Wrigley Field, this multi-level rooftop club has great outfield views of the ballgame.

Work in Chicago or are hosting an event there? Well the Wrigley Field Rooftop Club is the perfect spot to host a corporate party. Its got all the benefit of the ballgame but with the privacy to discuss business between innings. Watch the game from the rooftop at Wrigley or head inside for complimentary food and beverages. Check this out:

[Photo from Wrigley Field Rooftop Club]

Prepare now for the 2009 season by visiting the website and scoping out early dates. The package is all-inclusive. You get the facility from thirty minutes before the start of the game all the way to thirty minutes after the game. Food and drinks are included and so is great service. Your clients and coworkers will be very impressed. Check it out online or give them a call today at 1-773-841-5387.

How excited would you be to buy gas as $2.99 a gallon? I was –this morning I got it for that price and was able to fill up over 16 gallons for $50. Amazing. Well how would you feel if you only paid $1.99 a gallon? Or how about $0.99 a gallon? Impossible you say? Well check this out:

Dozens get gas in Wis. for 35 cents after mistake

At one gas station in Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin, about 40 people were able to fill up for only 34.9 cents a gallon. It was a pricing mistake — the advertised price was $3.43 but the pump was only showing 0.349! The mistake was caught after a short while but the people who filled up were allowed to keep the gas!

If you are a hunter or marksman, check out USA Holster.com. They are providers of the top names in gun accessories. They have tons of products from Ammo Accessories to Leg and Thigh Holsters, Shoulder Holsters to Nylon gun holsters . Check out their selection and find a great new holster.

Their value proposition is clear — provide great products at great low prices. I know a few people who would absolutely love this site and I am passing on the address to them. My buddy Trevor would love a new holster for his BERETTA .45 LC. Maybe I should hook him up with one for the holidays (or go the cheap way and just tell him the website address in a card — ha!). Whatever your piece, they have a size chart to help you pick the perfect holster for it. No more guessing — no more bad purchases. Get exactly what you want and exactly what you need.

Take advantage of their great coupon offer — just type in the code: welcome5 when you checkout and get 10% off your order. No strings attached — just a great deal to welcome you to the site. They have a 30 day Money Back Guarantee so shop with confidence and enjoy your new holster.

Technology is big money. Not just on the stock market but also in the sales companies ring in from high tech products. Which tech stocks are set to gain the most in this market? Well looking at the markets we see a few big names with low PE ratios. Dell closed Monday at 15.21 a share. That’s a PE of 11.37 which is historically low for this stock. Another bellwether is Intel which closed Monday at 16.99, at a PE of 14.12. Start buying these stocks and see a 60% gain in the next couple of years.

Part of growing up and becoming a mature adult is slowly building a respectable furniture collection. I’m almost there and I’m not quite 30. I’ve got a dark wood entertainment center, a formal office, a wine cave… what else do I need? Well a really cool item I want is a big and bold grandfather clock. Its one of those pieces that you buy once and keep a lifetime. I think that grandfather clocks only get better with age. Check out this clock from 1-800-4clocks.com:

Its a Ridgeway 221 Baker Street Grandfather Clock. Isn’t it amazing? Its referred to as the “Sherlock Holmes” Grandfather Clock (get it? 221 Baker Street?). It is constructed of selected hardwoods and veneers with intricate carvings. I really like the astrological display on the top of it — the moon dial moves with the time. It is one of the Top Names of Grandfather Clocks around. Other big names include Howard Miller and Kieninger. Find the perfect grandfather block from 1-800-4clocks.com. They have 0% financing available for 1 year on any purchase of $500 and free shipping in the U.S. and Canada. On top of that, they offer free in-home setup of your grandfather clock in the U.S. and Canada.

Stock markets across the world rose sharply today on news of the coordinated bank rescue plan by national governments around the world. Among the top performers were the UK FTSE 100 index which was up over 4.7 percent, Germany’s DAX which was up 211.63, or 4.2%, the French CAC-40 up 4.8 percent, and more. The biggest gains though were in Japan. The country’s benchmark Nikkei 225 index, surged over 1,170 points, (14%). Why the big spike in Japan? Well the Tokyo financial markets were closed Monday for a holiday and had to catch up to the news this week.

The downturn in the housing market may have left you feeling bad, but now is actually the time to plan the home of your dreams. With property and land values depressed across the country, you can now afford to buy the house of land of your dreams and build! What you need is a partner for your dreams. Tim Moss Home Improvements is the type of company you want to associate yourself with. They are a leader in the North Carolina area for home improvements and custom home building. Some of the services they provide include:

• Garages and Carports
• Exterior Waterproofing
• Kitchen Remodeling
• Home Additions
• Custom Home Building
• Home Remodeling

Tim Moss Home Improvements has been in the remodeling and building business for over 20 years. They are a Lake Norman home builder with the experience to make your dreams a reality. Don’t be scared of the market — embrace it! Find the plot of land or fixer-upper of your dreams (now on sale!) and buy it! Then plan the next steps as a remodel to make it your very own paradise.The stock market will one day recover and so will property values across the nation. Build your dream house today and watch its value rise over that period.