Gold Game Land!

I've been playing at this site called GoldGameLand and found it very entertaining, its a little betting site for e-gold and vmoney users. Try it out, but remember to bet only what you can afford to loose, we all know how games work.

Give Away Of The Day: BufferZone Security Pro

Today's free giveaway is rather nice, and can be said to be a commercial version of a free program called Sandboxie, however claims to have better features. (and, of course, costs money as opposed to being free)

The approval rate is 90%, so many people like this little gadget as it keeps your computer safe when dealing with new software. I personally recommend getting it while its free.

Get it here.
(You have an hour and a half from the time of this post)

Description is as below:

BufferZone Security Pro lets you download files from any website, run any program, and open any email attachment with complete safety. BufferZone’s virtualization technology creates an isolated zone on your PC, which separates your operating system and confidential data from unknown programs, downloads and files.

Unlike anti-virus and anti-spyware software, BufferZone requires no signature updates at all, while protecting your PC against spyware, viruses and adware -even new and yet unknown ones. Moreover, your sensitive data is immune from theft or damage.

BufferZone ”automagically” protects you against vulnerabilities from all sources, such as external media, P2P, instant messaging, Web browsing, email, or network shares.

Online conferencing rant

I admit it. I am a complete addict to web conferencing when it comes to communication. I have MSN Messenger, Yahoo Messenger, AIM, ICQ, something called Rendezvous (I'm not actually sure what it is) all logged into my Trillian Pro messenger. I even have Skype with an unlimited calling subscription. I still use Windows Live Messenger for video conferencing simply because I like the layout. That and Trillian kind of sucks when it comes to video conference features. I mean, even the sounds on Trillian are so annoying that I disabled them entirely. It does a good job at keeping me logged into all those messengers, but lets say the benefits end there. Skype can still be said to be in beta when it comes to video conference features because it still crashes quite often.

As you may have noticed, I'm quite a fan of video conferencing as well since it really is an awesome way to converse over long distances without having to rely constantly on emoticons as facial expressions and instead see how a person reacts. Works best when you have a microphone as well. One company I researched a bit is MegaMeeting which provides a meeting service like Hot Conference (currently very popular for big business conferences). You can try their free trial if you like, doesn't cost anything.

Recovering from Illness

First I had a cold, and then I had some allergic reaction of some sort that caused incredible amounts of pain in my throat. I'm well enough to write something up now, and I want to give a few recommendations based on what helped me. First is Tylenol Cold Extra Strength Day Time.

That helped kill the pain significantly over a short period of time. Within the first half hour of use the pain in my throat died down greatly. This is also something the local Pharmacist at Drug Mart recommended. It tastes kind of minty, and the only side affects that I experienced was slightly occasional dizziness and increased anxiety.

What I used in combination with the Tylenol is called Cepacol, it is a nice little candy that freezes your throat and eliminates a lot of the pain from swallowing. You get nine per sheet and two sheets in each package, so eighteen of them in total. It is more than enough and helps eliminate throat pain in the short term to give the Tylenol enough time to work.

All in all, this was pretty bad. I've seen my doctor and now get some anti-allergy shots which he put me on once a week. Remember that pills usually work short term but should not be used long term, consult your doctor for long term solutions.

Mario Kart for the Wii!

This has to be one of the greatest gamer moments ever! Mario Kart for the Wii has been made specifically for Mario Kart classic fans and Mario Kart DS fans, as it takes all the awesome out of both and puts it into one great game! Check out the screen shots!

Whats that? Is that blue torch flame I see? Thats right! Double-dash is not in this game! Instead they are using the great Hop and Skid method from classic and DS versions!

The new levels look awesome! Not only did the include some of the originals from classic and DS versions but they also introduce entirely new levels here as well!

I have to say, this is a game I'm definitely looking forward to!

Birthday Vacation anyone?

So I was looking through the usual top community portals like Digg and came across this site DiscoveryCruise and their interesting offer for birthday cruises. Here is a snippet from the site:

Discovery Cruise Line would like to wish you a very Happy Birthday and welcome you to celebrate on board with us. Take a day cruise to the Bahamas for FREE* during the month of your birthday when you purchase one full priced adult day cruise.
Pretty good offer I have to say, with my birthday coming up in February, having a cruise is far better than sitting here in the cold in Canada. What I am talking about of course is their Birthday Cruise Promotion that they are currently having. Check them out by clicking the image below.

Give Away Of The Day: Buku Mahjongg

Yet again, another low-ranked game. Standing at only 56%, the game tries to have some originality by changing a few things around in an old classic played by the Chinese called Mahjongg. The game is for those who want to do on-the-fly calculations as it requires players with good numerical skill. You have 16 hours from the time of this post to get the game.

Get it here.

Description is as follows:

A fresh interpretation of the famous Chinese game mahjong – the adventure that requires skill, intelligence, calculations and luck.

Originating in ancient China, Mahjongg is a game that involves both skill and chance. This collection offers four different game modes: Classic, Shuffle, Word, and Math Mahjongg. In addition to this, there are more than fifty different layouts available and new layouts can be created using the built-in Editor. Furthermore, there are at least two different sets of skins for each mode of play.

Features:

• Fun themes with adorable picture tiles;
• Thousands of mahjong puzzles;
• Every skill level, from beginner to expert;
• Four game modes – Classic, Math, Word, and Shuffle;
• International online tournaments.

Give Away Of The Day: Wondershare iPhone Slideshow

Today's free item isn't something to brag about, with a low 27% ranking the WonderShare iPhone Slideshow is clearly a flop. It doesn't have that many features and is way overpriced for what it can do, going in at $29.95. I doubt the application is even worth $10, much less their asking price.

Get it here!

Wondershare iPhone Slideshow is a new and cool way to make photo and video slideshow movies for playback on iPhone. What’s the big deal? You’re thinking. Wait until you check out built-in dazzling effects and powerful video editing. And the program’s simplified three-step workflow enables you to make show-n-tell custom movies for enjoying on the go!

Experience Wondershare iPhone Slideshow now, just 3 easy steps:

• Add your photos or videos. With a single click, you can touch-up, crop, or rotate pictures and videos. It’s that easy!
• Choose from variety of transition & ken-burns styled effects. Add soundtracks, and your own voice narration to your photo stories. Then, personalize them with titles and captions.
• Generate to MPEG-4 format and share your home videos on iPhone anytime, anywhere!

Give Away Of The Day: Invisible Secrets 4

The give away today is a real treat! With a 90% ranking, it is easily one of the best programs available for cryptography and security. It has a wide range of features, from self-extracting encrypted files protected by passwords to making applications open only when a password is entered.

Click here to download!

Description as usual:

Invisible Secrets 4 not only encrypts your data and files for safe keeping or for secure transfer across the net, it also hides them in places that on the surface appear totally innocent, such as picture or sound files, or web pages.

Invisible Secrets 4 features strong file encryption algorithms (including AES - Rijndael), a password management solution that stores all your passwords securely and helps you create secure passwords, a shredder that helps you destroy beyond recovery files, folders and internet traces, a locker that allows you to password protect certain applications, the ability to create self-decrypting packages and mail them to your friends or business partners, a tool that allows you to transfer a password securely over the internet, and a cryptboard to help you use the program from Windows Explorer.

Invisible Secrets 4 is shell integrated and offers a wizard that guides you through all the necessary steps needed to protect your data.

Watched a movie: Team America

I was at a party yesterday and one of the movies we decided to watch was Team America: World Police. (Watch the trailer above) The entire movie is done with puppets! The tag line is also awesome, "Putting the "F" back in Freedom." Is that great or what?

The plot is Popular Broadway actor Gary Johnston is recruited by the elite counter-terrorism organization Team America: World Police. As the world begins to crumble around him, he must battle with terrorists, celebrities and falling in love.

All in all, I give it a 7.5/10. The puppets were hilarious and the story-line was well written, however, some parts were over exaggerated, hence my rating.

Give Away Of The Day: Gaviri PocketSearch

Today's free program is Gaviri Pocket Search, a search program that does something similar to Google Desktop in regards to search but apparently has more features. The rating on it is 77%, though personally I think it deserves lower since it does not do anything spectacular that regular Windows Search can't take care of for the average user. Check out the image on the right:

Click here to get it!
(15 hours from the time of this post it will be gone)

Description is as below:

Gaviri PocketSearch is the universal search engine for all your desktop, mobile and network needs. Find files, email, pictures, songs and other documents on any of the many devices, laptops, desktops and home network drives you use. Gaviri PocketSearch runs on flash drives, SD cards, digital cameras and on many other portable devices.

Features:

• Perform a universal search across devices, networks, smartphones and the web;
• Secure indexing, no traces of your files are left on host PC;
• Archive Indexing and Search;
• Email Indexing. Supported are Mozilla Thunderbird (Portable), Outlook PST files, Outlook Express DBX files;
• Access your emails from PST or DBX files even if no Outlook or Outlook Express are installed;
• Multiple Devices support;
• Multiple standards support. U3, Ceedo, all USB drives;
• Major office applications files support. Such as Microsoft Word, Excel, Power Point, OpenOffice, StarOffice;
• Instant document preview, picture preview.

Keeping Covered

I was speaking today with my friend from the JaguarCXF blog (he writes about the new CXF car concept) and we got to talking about insurance. He has a poor driving record to say the least, however we found that this online insurance policy still tries to offer good rates, and this is something that was important to him as he doesn't have too much money to burn.

I looked over the site and see that they offer coverage for sports cars as well and that fits quite well with the CFX model he wants to get so much in the coming years. The types of insurance they sell are liability insurance, commercial policies, student policies, bad record, and good record policies, so they really cover a big range and probably tailor well to their clients. The company is called AdvantageAuto Quotes.

Free with the M3 Lite

I have to say I am really enjoying my Nintendo DS Lite with the M3 Lite addon, the functionality it adds is simply awesome. Check it out.


The second picture is a close-up of the M3 Lite. The The M3 stands for Max Media Movie Player and it is a Slot 2 cartridge for the Nintendo DS Lite. With it, you can add MP3 music, play movie files and even run homebrew software that is released on several sites. Personally I use it to play my favourite anime episodes, as the video quality is fairly decent.

The next release is the R4 which is supposed to be superior in quality, but the M3 will probably remain the market leader for the DS Lite because of its already-extensive features.

Watched a movie: Sunshine

From the trailer above, you can see it is a very active movie. The director is Danny Boyle and he did a good job with this movie, the wonderful sun effects. Most of the movie is rather realistic.

The plot is that the sun is going to die, so a team is sent on the ship Icarus 2 to re-ignite the sun. The Tagline reads "If the sun dies, so do we."

The movie is one hour and forty-eight minutes long and is rated R.

Here is a quote by the main character:

Capa: Our sun is dying. Mankind faces extinction. Seven years ago the Icarus project sent a mission to restart the sun but that mission was lost before it reached the star. Sixteen months ago, I, Robert Capa, and a crew of seven left earth frozen in a solar winter. Our payload a stellar bomb with a mass equivalent to Manhattan Island. Our purpose to create a star within a star.

Is that epic or what?

Blizzcon: New Starcraft 2 Footage

Some new footage was released recently from Blizzcon of Starcraft 2, the next in the Starcraft series of games after the Broodwar Expansion of course. Watch the video above!

Making a quick buck

I recently came across a nice site called ClixNCash where they pay to click on some links and promote their website. I'm going to write a guide soon on how you can make a few dollars each week promoting their website, for now you can check them out by clicking the button to the right.

Description is below:

ClixNCash is a professional online company that offers a wide range of online services and products. At ClixNCash you get paid to share this site with others and to click on links, and don't forget that we also offer affordable advertising that you can trust.

Give Away Of The Day: Grand Master Chess

Today GAOTD is giving away Grand Master Chess for free for the next 12 hours. It is a pretty good game for chess players, with a rating of 83% by testers. Take a look at the screen shot on the right.

Click here to get it now!

The description is as follows:

Chess for all levels of players including hints for beginners, undo/redo options and flexible AI from Child to Grandmaster.

Features:

• Standard, Fisher Style and Blind game rules to choose from;
• Easy to use interface that includes highlights and button hints;
• Includes a collection of chess problems as well as a Problem Solver and a built in Problem Editor;
• More than 100 high quality chess piece/board skins;
• Includes a built in mp3 player so you can play your own music while playing;
• Network mode lets you play with your friends.