Take a look at these deals and let me know what you think.

Comments welcome.

40″ Toshiba LCD 1080p at Circuit City

32″ Toshiba  LCD 720p at Circuit City

We all suspected that this holiday season would be full of goodies and it looks like we will not be disappointed. Best Buy will be offering an Acer laptop computer, with a 900 Celeron processor, 2 GB of RAM and a 160 GB hard disk for only $249.00. This price reflects what Best Buy and others may have in store for us this holiday season.

According to a recent article it also states that:

This holiday, computing selection at Best Buy spans nine popular brands, and includes over 30 laptops, six netbooks, 17 desktops and four all-in-ones. The assortment, coupled with new technologies and promotional offers like the $249.99 Acer laptop, are intended to help both customers who want to upgrade their own gear with the arrival of Windows 7, and who have computing on their wish lists for holiday.

“For many of us, computers are the center of our digital worlds, and Best Buy is committed to remaining a valued partner in this space,” said Jason Bonfig, vice president of computers at Best Buy. “We promise a broad assortment of quality products at a variety of price points, all the major brands, and smart Best Buy Blue Shirts and Geek Squad Agents to help customers feel confident about the choices they’re making.”

Just last week Walmart introduced a laptop on sale for $299.99, but was only offered in limited quantities. So with Best Buy dropping the price to $249.99, it makes one wonder just how low prices will go.

Consumers now face another problem. With laptop prices dropping down to netbook pricing, which becomes the better deal? A notebook that has a built in DVD and faster processor or a netbook with just the basics?

Which unit offers a better value in your opinion?

Comments welcome.

PS I wonder when Amazon is going to introduce their low price deal?

Source

Best Buy site for the Acer.

But in what can only be described as a last ditch effort for survival, Blockbuster is going to rent movies on SD Cards at $1.99 per rental. The thinking is that consumers who have card readers built into their TVs, which I personally have on my Panasonic Plasma set in the living room, can use the card media to watch movies with.  I also have card readers in my laptop computers so this may be an easy way to watch flicks on an airplane.

A recent article also states:

Other obstacles remain. Many phones use micro or mini SD cardslots, and don’t take full-sized SD cards. Many TVs still aren’t built to play video of SD media, and most laptops don’t have them either, meaning that watching an SD video on the road means taking a long a USB card reader. Another problem: not everyone will enjoy the irony of driving somewhere to pick up a data-card the size of a postage stamp. Still, SD cards do represent a marked improvement over DVDs in durability and re-usability, so if they caught on it’d hardly be a step backwards for movie buffs.

The SD kiosks themselves will be built and operated by NCR corporation, in partnership with MOD Systems. Blockbuster already employs a network of NCR-build kiosks for autonomous DVD rental.

So what do you think? Is Blockbuster on to something or is this a last attempt to stay afloat?

Comments welcome.

Source.

The affected chargers are those manufactured by BYD between June 15, 2009 and August 9, 2009 and with the following model types
AC -3U
AC-3E
and those manufactured by BYD between April 13, 2009 and October 25, 2009 and with the following model type
AC-4U

Model number Identification number Your details Verification

Charger model number

If you have one of these Nokia models I would recommend you get the unit exchanged by Nokia for a new unit.

Comments welcome.

Nokia source page is here.

Though shoppers will still have to wait until 5:00am to get at those door busters and cheap prices, at least the masses will be able to stay warm while they wait.

So what are your plans for Black Friday? Share what you have planned for the biggest shopping day of the year.

Me, I’m staying home nice and warm in my bed. LOL

Comments welcome.

Source.

This should bring some holiday cheer to those who may have a long wait at the airport due to delays or bad weather. I’ll be traveling to CT in about a month, but we are going through Atlanta, which is not on the list.

What about you? What are your holiday plans? Will you be traveling through a free Google Wi-Fi airport?

Comments welcome.

Google source.

On Saturday November 7, 2009, Chris sent to me, via email, a letter from the legal representative of Ascentive, which operates the FinallyFast website. In the letter we were asked for clarification on the ratings I cited using McAfee Site Advisor and also WOT - Web of Trust.

At the time I wrote the original article I stated that McAfee Site Advisor listed FinallyFast,com as being untrustworthy and this was true at the time. 14 months later McAfee Site Advisor now lists FinallyFast.com as being trustworthy. However, WOT still advises users that FinallyFast.com is not a trustworthy site.

One advisory states that FinallyFast.com is a trustworthy site and another states that it is not.

So my question to the readers of Lockergnome is this.

How would you handle this conflicting information?

Comments as always are welcome.

Here’s how Murdoch replied when Speers asked why he hasn’t blocked sites from being seen by search engines: “I think we will. But that’s when we start charging. We do it already with the Wall Street Journal. We have a wall, but it’s not right to the ceiling. You can get the first paragraph of any story but if you’re not a paying subscriber, you get a paragraph and a subscription form.” He also raised the idea of challenging the doctrine of “fair use” in court, then reigned it in a bit. “We’re getting a lot of advertising revenue so we’ll take that slowly.”

Soon after that Murdoch talks about how newspapers may evolve: “Everyone can afford a newspaper. They’re the cheapest things in the world and what you get out of it is fabulous. And it will be even cheaper when you get it electronically.”

Which makes me have to ask. When did the light bulb go on for him to understand that printed newspapers are a thing of the past?  We live in a new world in which the news is delivered to us via the Internet, TV, or on the radio.

But this is what I believe will happen when Murdoch goes dark on his news sites and starts to charge for news content. Someone, somewhere is going to step up and provide the news for free. Not only will the news be free but those who set up the new news sites will make money.

Just my two cents.

Comments welcome.

Source

P.S. Another thought. Why didn’t Murdoch block out his sites from Google before he started losing money?

According to an article over at the N.Y. Times it also states the following:

Analysts estimate that virtual goods could bring in a billion dollars in the United States and around $5 billion worldwide this year — all for things that, aside from perhaps a few hours of work by an artist and a programmer, cost nothing to produce.

I must admit when I first read about virtual products I thought to myself, what a crazy idea. Who would buy something like this? I than recalled another crazy idea that happened many years ago. It was called bottled water. Who would buy something that you could get right out of your tap? Almost all of us do buy bottled water so why wouldn’t we buy virtual products?

What do you think? Would you buy a virtual product?

Let us know.

Comments welcome.

Source

1. AVG anti-virus: 11/08/09
2. Avast: 11/07/09
3. Norton anti-virus: 11/04/09
4. McAfee anti-virus: 11/04/09
5. Lavasoft Ad-Aware: 11/06/09
6. Spybot Search and Destroy: 11/04/09
7. Microsoft Security Essentials: 11/04/09*
8. Nod32: 11/06/09

Updates as of November 8, 2009 6:00am CDT.

*last update - the system would not update today.

Clicking the ‘Update Now’ button takes the user to a purchase page which the bad guys try to sell one of two products. The first for $49.95 is what is stated as a Trial version with another option to purchase a Full Version for $79.95.

Keep your eyes open for junk like this and do not become a victim of these type of scams.

Comments welcome.

Source.

The software is called Vista Start Menu and the author states the following information:

Vista Start Menu is the convenient alternative to the plain Start menu you find in Windows XP and Windows Vista. The program uses your cognitive abilities (visual memory, reflexes,etc.); however, while it is easily understandable for beginners, it is also highly efficient for experienced users.

Go ahead and try replacing your Start menu right now! It is safe because Vista Start Menu does not change your system settings, thus making it easy to install, as well as simple to remove.

Improved interface

Each detail in Vista Start Menu is well thought-out and the program will allow you to accomplish all your tasks with ease and comfort.

Always ready

Vista Start Menu was designed specifically to make it possible for users to quickly access any information simply by using the keyboard or the mouse.

The program is a free download and works with any version of Windows from 2000, XP,  Vista and Windows 7. Give it a try and see what you think. The free version doesn’t support the Aero feature, but the author does offer the Pro version which does at an additional cost of $19.99

A special thank you to Marc for finding this gem.

Comments welcome.

Download Vista Start Menu for free here.

So why do people continue to love their Windows XP?

Simple. It works!

Don’t get me wrong. I am really enjoying Windows 7. But in all honesty it doesn’t really do anything any better than XP did. Or does it?

What do you think? If you are running Windows 7 and have previously been an XP user, what do you like or dislike about the new OS. What about those using Vista compared to XP?

Comments welcome.

Source.

For those who are looking for a low price upgrade to Windows 7, the 3 pack for Windows 7 Home Premium is being offered at Sam’s Club for $129.88. Check you local Sam’s club for further details.

If anyone finds a cheaper price please let us know.

Comments welcome.

Source.

New to version 3 is a tabs feature which can show your email accounts, feeds or new messages can show up as tabs, instead of a new window. This makes T-bird function more like it’s sister Firefox and will be familiar to most of us. A new archiving feature makes saving message a snap and is kind of like what Gmail has been offering for their accounts.

Also new to Thunderbird is a faster search feature for finding stuff you have saved or archived that works very well. The account setup feature can add Gmail account, feeds, newsgroups almost automatically for most users. There is also the ability to manually add accounts as well.

I will continue to try Mozilla Firefox as it enters into the RC stages and will do another review once Mozilla goes gold with the program.  As a side note T-bird works fine in Windows 7.

Comments welcome.

According to the Microsoft release of their figures by the NPD, it also states that:

“A combination of factors impacted Windows 7 PC sales at the outset, but the trajectory of overall PC sales is very strong leading into the holiday season,” said Stephen Baker at NPD.

This morning I was at our local hospital waiting to have some tests done. The hospital provides free wi-fi to their patients and one gentlemen was sitting using his laptop. We struck up a conversation and I learned he wrote an article about wine in our local newspaper. After some chit chat the subject turned to Windows 7 and his opinion was that Microsoft keeps shooting themselves in the foot. He also stated that when Google comes out with their OS, Microsoft would be finished.

This was the opinion of what I would call ‘the man on the street’, who didn’t have an axe to grind, just an opinion. It makes one wonder how bad Vista has actually hurt Microsoft and if Windows 7 will be enough for them to recover.

What do you think? Share your thoughts.

Comments welcome.

Source.

Ninite runs on Windows XP/Vista/7 and works in the background 100% hands-free. We install apps with default settings and say “no” to browser toolbars and other junk. All we do is install the latest versions of the apps you choose. Not even Ninite is installed.

There is browser software like Firefox, Chrome, Opera, plus anti-virus software such as Avast, AVG, MS Essentials, plus more software for burning, messaging, media, imaging, documents, runtimes, file sharing and utilities. All in one convenient location.

Give it a try and see what you think.

Comments welcome.

Ninite source for downloading software.

Click on the chart to open it in a new Window.

I believe we all owe Ed Bott our thanks for his taking the time to put this together. Hopefully it will help us all clarify the licensing maze that is fondly referred to as the End User Licensing Agreement which is presented as we install our favorite version of Windows.

Comments welcome.

Source

In their report they stated the following:

Given the same number of CPU cores, Windows 7 runs circles around both Windows Vista and Windows XP. In fact, the results aren’t even close: In one multiprocess workflow test, Windows 7 outpaced Windows XP by 250 percent — this on an eight-core (dual quad-core Xeon) HP Z800 workstation.

This is Windows 7’s killer feature. It means that, as customers invest in new PC hardware, they’ll be better positioned to reap the improvements in CPU, memory, and chip set performance by deploying Windows 7. It also means that sticking with Windows XP — ostensibly because it is less bloated and performs better — is a fool’s errand.

I found this statement odd when I thought about how this would have any affect on consumers and their home computer systems:

In one multiprocess workflow test, Windows 7 outpaced Windows XP by 250 percent — this on an eight-core (dual quad-core Xeon) HP Z800 workstation.

Is there anyone running this type of configuration on a desktop or laptop system? I know the answer is no, but I thought I would ask anyway. To me twin quads Xeons are in the server league of systems. I seriously doubt that such a system would be running Windows 7. What do you think?

It also means that sticking with Windows XP — ostensibly because it is less bloated and performs better — is a fool’s errand.

A fool’s errand? Who wrote this article, Steve Ballmer? Calling anyone who still uses Windows XP a ‘fool’ is rude. I still have two computers in my home that both run Windows XP just fine. I realize that neither are able to run Windows 7, but they still work on a daily basis without incident.

What do you think?

Comments welcome.

Full PCW article is here.

I signed up for the freebie Hotmail account, which provided me with a live.com email address. Though 5 GB of space limits what a user can do, for the casual user it is sufficient. After viewing the site and what it offers, it has a long way to go in order to compete with what Google offers for iGoogle users. IMHO.

But take a look at the new site and see what you think. Share your thoughts with us.

Comments as always are welcome.

Source