YouTube Downloader Free - Play YouTube FLV Files Using WINAMP

I just found a very cool little application that can download any video file from YouTube and MetaCafe. Just copy the YouTube Video`s web adress into the application`s adress bar, press the Download button and the file will download to your chosen download location. By pressing the MORE button you can choose where the application will be downloaded. Look at the Image Tutorial on the Right to see things easier.

Download the YouTube Video File Downloader.

The downloaded YouTube file has a FLV extension, it`s a flash file, so to play it you simply need to download this free application called FLV Player.

IMPORTANT: start FLVPlayer and click on the SETTINGS (down left corner). In the window that pops up, check the USE VIDEO SMOOTHING OPTION. In this way, your videos will look GREAT when you switch to full screen too.

I find it great especially since it lets me create video libraries of my favourite music videos. For organizing files, WINAMP is one of the best and nicest applications out there. The only problem is that by default, it can`t handle FLV Video Files, but i found the solution and it works great.

How to Play YouTube FLV files using WINAMP

1.First, Download this file. It`s an application called Swish Video wich has included the 2 codecs needed to play FLV files in winamp. When installing choose the CUSTOM INSTALL option and check only the last 2 options to install, the codecs itself.

2.Open WInamp go to Preferences -> Input plugins -> Nullsoft DirectShow Decoder [in_dshow.dll] -> Configure -> Add ;flv to the end of the list of other extensions. See the image tutorial on the right if it`s too complicated.

Using Winamp is really easy to organize and play your favourite YouTube videos. Enjoy!

LCD Display Panel Technology Type and Coating - Buyers Guide TFT

When buying a new LCD Display there are many factors that you should consider before bringing one home. The most important is the Panel`s Type Technology Type and the COATING.

There are 2 types of coating tehnology used nowadays: Glossy and Grainy or also known as "anti-glare coating".

A Glossy Coating displays a more vibrant image,the colors seem richer, more saturated and vivid, the one single problem is that it reflects light more on the panel surface. This occurs when you have a light source in your room, it will reflect it and it can be annoying. Just get rid of any light source in your room and the problem is solved. The glossy coating is best for image editing, playing games, virtually everything that involves image quality.

The Grainy Coating, on the other hand, doesen`t reflect light, but it`s image quality is greatly reduced. compared to the glossy coated ones. It`s like having a fine layer of silk or sand on your display. The images are not that vivid, all plain areas of colour become mottled. Far more noticeable on light shades than dark ones. The coating diffracts light via imperfections on the surface. That's how it's anti-glare and anti-reflection. It is ideal for office work and such, but it will give headakes to those focusing on the image quality. Most of the bigger displays 19"-24" have this type of coating.
Unfortunately, the information about a panel`s coating is most of the times missing from the "features" sheet of the LCD, so it`s adviced that you search on the internet your displays features, including coating, before buying the monitor.

The most important thing when it comes to LCD monitors it`s the Panel technology itself. There are many kinds of panels, here are some usefull information i found:

LCD Panel Technology Type and Characteristics
TN film (Twisted Nematic) - low manufacturing/retail costs - restrictive viewing angles- fast pixel response times - dead pixels display white. Stuck pixels display RGB colors- lower contrast levels means blacks are not as dark as VA based panels- lower color reproduction

IPS (In Plane Switching) - improved viewing angles over TN- very good color reproduction- slower pixel response times than TN- dead pixels display black- lower contrast levels means blacks are not as dark as VA based panelsSuper-IPS (S-IPS)- same as IPS except ...- likely best color reproduction of all TFT- less expensive to produce than IPS- improved pixel responseVA (Vertical Alignment) Technologies

MVA (Multidomain Vertical Alignment) - compromise between TN and IPS technologies- superior color reproduction over TN but not as good as IPS- very good viewing angles but less than IPS- higher contrast than TN or S-IPS means very good blacks- dead pixels are black- slower pixel response than TN or IPS- details can be lost when directly viewing dark areasPremium-MVA (P-MVA)- same as MVA except ...- "overdrive" technology increases pixel response but still slower than TN- may have slightly degraded color reproduction due to "overdrive" processPVA (Patterned VA)- same as MVA except ...- larger viewing angles- higher contrast levels means darkest blacksSuper-PVA (S-PVA)- same as PVA except ...- “Magic Speed” (the Samsung equivalent to Overdrive) improves pixel response- slightly improved color reproduction- slightly improved viewing angles

Purchasing Considerations
TN GamersConsidered a "gamers" panel due to it's fast pixel response times which reduces trailing images know as "ghosting". However, this advantage has been reduced by new technologies to accelerate pixel response times in other panel types. Colors and contrast tend to be weak and blacks are not truly dark. Viewing angles are significantly limited. However, monitors based on this technology tend to be inexpensive.

IPS / S-IPS Graphics Work or Web BrowsingConsidered to have the best color reproduction of all panel types, these panels are well suited for graphics work or web browsing. Pixel response time is also good but slower than the TN "gamers" panel. Contast and blacks are also less dark than VA panels but viewing angles are excellent.

MVA / P-MVA / PVA / S-PVA Compromise for All-Around UseThese panels are a compromise between the fast pixel response times of the TN panel and the excellent color reproduction of the IPS panels. Contrast and blacks are best of all the panel types. Viewing angles are similar but slightly inferior to IPS.

If you consider buying a widescreen LCD display, i would recommend you to consider the following:

When it comes to LCD`s don`t get fooled by the apparent dimensions.. Sure, a 22" widescreen lcd sounds "big", but in reality it has approximatly the height of a 17" 4:3 LCD, it`s only wider. So don`t expect a huge LCD.. The good thing is, at least in the case of 22" widescreen LCD Displays, that on the desktop, the workspace seams really huge compared to any 17"-19" non-widescreen LCD`s. I have a Dell 22" and the grainy coating really annoyed me the first couple of weaks, but after i adjusted it now i got used to it. But still, many times is still bothering, especially knowing the fact that i could have bought a much better LCD if i knew all the things explained above.

NORAD tracks SANTA - Watch Him Deliver Presents in Real Time!

Ever tought that Santa was beeing tracked by government organizations such as NORAD (North American Aerospace Defense Command)? Me neither. Well, now, you can track Santa using satelite view as he makes deliveries all over the world, with the help of a so called "Santa Cam", powered by Google, of course. Click Here to view the Santa Cam. Kid can call toll free at 1-877-Hi-NORAD anytime after 9AM Eastern Standard Time to find out the status of Santa from NORAD.

In 1955, a Colorado Springs-based Sears store ran an advertisement encouraging children to call Santa Claus on a special telephone hotline. Due to a printing error, the phone number that was printed was the hotline for the Director of Operations at the Continental Air Defense (CONAD). Colonel Harry Shoup took the first Santa call on Christmas Eve of 1955 from a six-year old boy who began reciting his Christmas list. Shoup didn't find the call funny, but after asking the mother of the second caller what was happening, then realizing the mistake that occurred, he instructed his staff to give Santa's position to any child who called in. Three years later, the governments of the United States and Canada combined their national domestic air defenses into the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), but the tradition continued. Now major media outlets as well as children call in to inquire on Santa's location. NORAD relies on volunteers to help make Santa tracking possible. Many employees at Cheyenne Mountain and Peterson Air Force Base spend part of their Christmas Eve with their families and friends at NORAD's Santa Tracking Operations Center in order to answer phones and provide Santa updates to thousands of callers. About 800 service members and their families volunteer, and shift run from 2 a.m. MST December 24 to 2 a.m. Christmas morning.

Console Emulators and Game Roms Free for PC

I`m one of those guys that loves older console games. Now, thanks to emulators and uploaded roms, i can play them freely on my PC without any complications. Just the way i like it, fast and easy.
I found mainly 3 great sites where you can download free emulators and roms . First of all, What is an "emulato"r and what`s a "rom"? Well, simply put, an "emulator" it`s a software that mimics the way the video console works on your pc and the "rom" it`s the game itself. The casette or whatever the game was originally, it`s content is ripped, usually there are many files, all zipped together and you load it using the emulator to play it on the PC.

Now, i was saying that there are 3 main sites, that i found best, to download free the best emulators and roms, fast and easy.

1. RomHustler is probably the site that offers the most complete list and variety of roms out there at the moment. They even have PlayStation Roms to download free of charge. No need to register, just click, download and play. Kudos for the PlayStation roms, i couldn`t find these on the other sites from this list.
   
2. The second would be Emuparadise . It has a great library of roms, there are even some roms that you can`t find on other sites, mainly because of copyright issues. This site has some banners that will pop-out when you download, but that`s all. No need to register or anything like this, so it`s all good.
3. The third site i recommend is Romnation. It has an impressive library of supported emulators for consoles and games, which you can download right from the site, with a single click. No need to register, to click on annoying advertising banners or any other annoying thing. Just click, download and play.

Aditionally you can drop by http://www.emulator-zone.com/. It offers a great variaty of emulators. If, for some reason, your emulator offered by one of the sites above is not working corecctly, you can always find a great alternative on this site.

I would recommend the Super Nintendo games and the MAME (arcade) ones primeraly. Those were the greatest games in my oppinion. You can find literally hundreads if not thousands on the sites above, i would recommend games like Mortal Kombat Ultimate, Donkey Kong Country series, Golden Axe, Ninja Gaiden, Dragon Quest, Final Fight, Streetfighter series, Contra III, Wonderboy...but i better stop and let you judge for yourself, there are literally hundreads of games to choose from. I want to thank all the great people who took their time and created the emulators and those who uploaded the roms, all free so we can enjoy it. I personally prefer the SNES-9X emulator (click here to download) , because it has a very user friendly interface, very easy to set-up let`s you save and even play online. It`s great.

Here is a list of working video game console and arcade emulators : MAME (Arcade), SNES (Super Nintendo), N64 (Nintendo 64), Sega Genesis Roms, Atari 5200, Atari 7800, Nintendo Entertainment System, Sega 32x, Sega CD ISO's, Sega Dreamcast ISO's, Sega Genesis, Sega Master System, Sega Saturn ISO's, Sony Playstation ISO's, CPS1 Roms, CPS2 Roms, Modeler, Namco System 12, Namco System 22, NeoGeo (Arcade) Roms, Raine, Sega Model 2, Zinc Roms, GameBoy Advance (Complete Collection), Gameboy Colour, NeoGeo Pocket Colour Roms, Sony Playstation

The X-Files Movie Sequel Officially in Production - photos from the set

I must admit, i`m a big fan of the X-Files and i watched every episode ten years ago, when it was running on TV. Most of the episodes were creepy and extremly interesting, made me wonder about many things. Sadly, they only showed the first 4 seasons of the entire 9 seasons, so, last year, i decided to watch the whole 9 seasons and i fell in love with it again. Overall it`s an amasing experience, a great cast, unique atmosphere, no wonder that the X-Files became a cult in the 90`s. It`s one of a kind and i was most pleased to hear that David Duchovny wants to play in a follow up and it`s cowriting the script with Chris Carter. Although many news stated a year ago that Gillian Anderson was bitching about the entire project, and she didn`t wanted to play in another X-Files follow up, it turns out she changed her mind. The truth is, the two mai stars Mulder and Scully are best played by Dachovny and Gilligan at least in my oppinion, they are irrepleaceable.

Director Chris Carter is up north in Vancouver shooting the X-Files Movie sequel with David Duchovny, Amanda Peet, Gillian Anderson and rapper turned actor, Xzibit. Check out the photos of some of the cast shooting a scene last night for the first day of shooting. You can find more images from the set on this site.

Overall, i hope we`ll see David Duchovny in more movies or TV Shows, as Californication became in a short period one of the best shows out there, and Duchovny seamed to perform very well and fit the role perfectly. Kudos for his Porsche and for the great script behind the Show, wich i was told is beeing sued by Red Hot Chilli Peppers because the shows name coincide with one of their succesfull singles - "Californication", wich is bulls*** if you ask me. Alltho i really like RHCP, it has nothing to do with them or the song, and if the show wouldn`t have been a succes, nobody would have cared, so that was pretty lame from RHCP.

The next X-Files movie is in production, the release date in summer 2008, and i`d die to see it. It`s one of the best news i heard this year.

How to play old 3dfx Pc Games on Nowadays Computers - Glide Emulator using OpenGl Free Download

I must admit it, i`m one of those guys who are suckers for "old" pc video-games that i grew up with, like the early Tomb Raider series, Carmageddon 2, Recoil (that great futuristic tank game i just love) and so much more. Just the other day, i was talking with a friend of mine how empty video games seam like nowadays, and how great they were back in the days, when we played carmageddon 2 and such. So, i got an urge to play this epic game again. I installed it,ran it, but the game gave an error, because these games are so old, my "hyper new computer system" isn`t compatible with thpse early kind of d3d/3dfx games.

So, searching around i found an easy solution. A so called "Glide emulator". You just install it, start any game, and if you have an option, choose 3dfs/glide, but most of the times the game chooses this glide emulation by itself. It even let`s you run the games in higher resolution then they did. You just sit comfortably, and play your favourite games. How does it do it? well, it emulates using OpenGl the 3dfs Glide. That simple.
Oldies but goldies, it`s a clichee, but sometimes, they seam like a breath of fresh air, in this oversaturated video-games jungle of world we`ve come to live in.

Download the Glide Emulator here.
More about the Glide Emulator.

MPlayer - the movie player that does NOT need codecs installed

Are you sick and tired of all those codecs you need to install in order to play the movies on your PC? Well, me too. Luckly i found an application that seams to solve that problem.

MPlayer is a totally free movie player that plays any movies, without having any codecs installed on your computer. Just install MPlayer, and you can watch movies, and furthermore let`s you preview incomplete movies. The only unsupported formats are ram and mov. But most of today encoded movies are .avi s so there you go. You have an application, MPlayer, that doesen`t need no codecs to play movies and also plays INCOMPLETE Movies.

MPlayer works on virtually any pc configuration, starting with 366mhz processor, without any frame rate stuttering. You don`t need to configure or waste your precious time on anything, just open the movie and watch it. Read more on Mplayer`s official site.

Click here to download MPlayer

Quantum Computers - The World`s Fist Quantum Computer

Computers are evolving at an alarming speed. Virtually every 18 months, the number of components which computer-chip makers can squeeze onto a chip for data storage or processing doubles, as design and manufacturing methods improve. If you just think that 30 years ago, the smallest dimensions of a chip, such as the width of the connecting wires, were ten microns (10 millionths of a metre) , nowadays it`s 100 nanometres (100 billionths of a metre) or less is the typical size. By 2020, according to specialists, the circuit elements would be as small as atoms. Long before then, the bits of electric charges that store information and drive processing power will start to leak away. So, scientists tought of taking a radical approach rather then walking this "old" fashioned road. You can see in the picture above (and through this article) is a part of the D-Wave Quantum Computer.

So, what would a quantum computer have to offer compared to todays supercomputers? Devastating processing speed, to "break" many of the cryptographic systems in use today that would take years or decades for a supercomputer, it would take no time at all for a quantum computer. The real applications for this incredible tehnology, are just in their infancy.

What is a Quantum Computer?
Instead of using bits as clasical computers (information is coded either as 0 and 1), it uses qubits, thanks to quantum properties, called superposition. Like a bit, a qubit can have two possible values–normally a 0 or a 1. The difference is that whereas a bit must be either 0 or 1, a qubit can be 0, 1, or a superposition of both.
In an everyday computer, the program has to operate on its stored information in sequence, one bit at a time. Even so, that can allow for billions of calculations every second. A quantum computer can process all the information in all the qubits simultaneously – geeks call this parallel processing. Imagine having millions of desk tops running side by side rather than just one, all working on the same problem. Yet a quantum computer will need only one processor. The consequence of all this is devastating processing speed when compared with the 'classic' computers of today. A really tough problem like the big number factorisation, that would take a supercomputer years or decades to crack, can be crunched – at least in theory – by a quantum computer in very little time at all.

Now, you thinck that i`m talking sci-fi here? Think again!
In 2005, researchers at the University of Michigan built a semiconductor chip which functioned as an ion trap. Such devices, produced by standard lithography techniques, may point the way to scalable quantum computing tools. An improved version was made in 2006.

D-Wave Systems Inc. claims to be the world’s first — and only — provider of quantum computing systems designed to run commercial applications. On 13 February, 2007 they ran an initial demonstration of their Orion quantum computing system, which is built around a 16-qubit superconducting adiabatic quantum computer processor. However, since D-Wave Systems has not released the full details of Orion to the scientific community, many experts in the field have expressed skepticism.

Real actors versus Animated Characters (Beowulf)

I just got home, after watching Beowulf, the movie. It was a sad and unpleasent experience. Overall, the Computer Generated Scenes were pretty ok, but not amazing, and the characters, well, that`s an entire different story, and the point of this article.

Why did this movie fail so miserably?
I could find hundreads of reasons, but mainly, it wasn`t believable alltogether. The characters are halo. Their gestures, their face expression felt auckword in many scenes.
Why an animated character will never be comparable with that of a real life actor, no matter how far the computer graphics will ever evolve?
It`s not about the way an actor looks that makes the movie believable. It`s the way it impersonates the imagined character, the way he breaths life the character. Throu him, the viewer can "feel" the movie, can empathise with that character.
A good actor can make the movie come alive, while a soulles computer generated character will never be able to make the "act" credible, or even more, to make the character unforgattable. Just think of Marlon Brando`s performance in The Godfather. He`s ideea was to put cotton under his thong, so his voice is more deep, and he made the character of Vito Corleone an unforgattable one for generations. Behind a computer generated character there are a bunch of people, like puppet masters, that try to make it "seam" like their puppets are alive, and they usually try so hard that it becomes more then fake, it goes straight to beeing ridiculous.

I hope that most of the people are able to appreciate the performance of talented actors, that make a movie come alive, that make a good story simply shine.
The animators seam to have forgotten that beeing human it`s all about imperfections. Our skin is not perfect, it doesen`t immaculatly shine in the moonlight, nor it`s immune to scratches.

About Beowulf, this new overhyped movie, i can only say that i am extremly dissapointed. Not because i expected it to be a great movie, but because it didn`t manage to be even a fairly good movie. The story is badly told, the script lacks in depth, the scenes are childish, the directing is average. I have all my respect for Ridley Scott, he was the reason i spent my money to see this movie in the first place. I tought that if a great director like Ridley Scott got involved , it can`t go that wrong. Well, it was worse then i imagined. Beowulf is a ridiculous movie, that didn`t manage to deliver, not even by far.

About the movies tehnology and feature promises:
Beowulf’s performances (both bodies and faces) were captured using a Vicon marker-basedContour was introduced at Siggraph 2006, Mova showed the contrast between the few hundred markers used to capture Angelina Jolie’s face compared with the 100s of thousands of points that are captured using Contour, and the difference achievable in terms of enhanced photorealism and reduction in production cost. The first motion pictures using Contour are scheduled for 2008 release.

Lamborghini Reventon - The new 1.4 million $ supercar

I was amazed by this new Lamborghini supercar, called Reventon. The way it incorporates the F22 Rapotor`s fighter jet design, it`s amazing. It has an aggresive look, and by the price of it, of 1.4 million dollars, very few will be able to buy one, especially given the fact that they built 20, and all have been sold allready.

The name Reventón comes from that of the famous fighting bull that took the life famed bullfighter Felix Guzman in 1943.

The Reventón delivers 650 horsepower and 487 pound feet of torque. Lamborghini will only build 20 Reventons, with all being spoken for. 11 of the 20 cars will be U.S.-bound.

Lamborghini revealed its new Reventon supercar at the Frankfurt auto show earlier this year and just last week debuted the Reventon in the U.S. at the Los Angeles Auto Show. Based on the Murciélago sports car, the Reventon is said to be inspired by the F-22 Raptor fighter jet.

Performance: Reventon Tech Specs
Specifications Engine:Type: V12; Displacement cu in (cc): 396 (6496); Power bhp (kW) at RPM: 650(478) / 8000;Torque lb-ft (Nm) at RPM: 487(660) / 6000 Brakes & Tires: Brakes F/R: ABS, vented disc/vented disc; Tires F-R: 245/35 ZR18 - 335/30 ZR18;Driveline: All Wheel Drive Exterior Dimensions & Weight: Length ; Width × Height in: 185 × 81 × 44.7; Weight lb (kg): 3671 (1665) - Reventon Performance: Acceleration 0-60 mph: 3.3; Top Speed mph (km/h): 211 (340)

Lamborghini Reventon Video Lamborghini Revento Photo Gallery

How to Fix "Generic Host Process for Win32 Services" ERROR

A couple of months ago, whenever i connected to the internet, my computer gave the following error: "generic host process for Win32 Services has ecountered a problem and needs to close." At first i tought it`s some sort of virus or wyrm or something like that, but don`t even bother with anitvirus programes. It appears it`s a glitch in the security system of Windows (another one), and after the window with the error pops out, your internet stops working, allthogh your connected to the internet.

The solution is to install the folowing fixes:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/894391 choose your operating system and download this MAIN fix.

Description: " For Windows XP SP2, the Generic Host Process error can potentially occur on any system at any time. Although you receive the error message shortly after system startup, the actual error occurred during the previous system shutdown. Because of the broad nature of this issue, this hotfix was made available through Windows Update and distributed to users who have Automatic Updates enabled to eliminate this problem on Windows XP SP2 systems. For Windows XP SP2, you may experience one last Generic Host Process error upon restart after you install this hotfix. This is from the previous system shutdown before the new version installation was completed. "

ADDITIONALY YOU MUST install these HOTFIXES :

Security HotFix 1 Security Hotfix 2 Security HotFix 3 Security HotFix 4

You can download all hotfixes at once, and install them at once, check the "Do not restart" button at the end of every install window, so this way you`ll have to restart only once your Windows.

Lineage 2 Kamael Private Server Tested and Working

I spent almost half a day searching and testing the so called "private kamael servers".
In the end i came across 2 private servers that at least worked. Well, they "work" as in you can enter the game, make kamael characters, you can test the new armors, but they are bugged, as the weapons as well. Anywayz, if you want to take a look at the Kamael, make some screenshots, see the new shaders at work, it`s a great free opportunity to test the Kamael, alltho mostly visually. So, here are the two servers:

1. Ekath Kamael Test Server
Main features:- 8.0x EXP ; - 8.0x SP
How to Connect: You will need the korean version of the Kamael PTS Client, without any update.
Go to the downloads section of the site, and install the patches in order. At the Register Kamael section , you make an account in order to play. That`s all. Enjoy.

2. SkyDragon Server
Main features: EXP: 200x SP: 200x

To install the patch, download the autoupdater, and just put it into you MAIN Lineage 2 Folder. The autoupdater will download L2updater, start it and let it download all it neads. That s all. With this server i had a problem with gameguard. Yes, Gameguard, that annyoing anti hack/botting system from ncsoft that caused so many problems in the past too. Well, every time i tried to enter my name and password, then to connect, it said hacking attempt.

To solve it, you will have to:
Go to windows/system32/driver/etc and double click on the HOST file. Open it with NOTEPAD.

Your should add these lines at the end of your host file:
77.108.83.206 l2testauthd.lineage2.com
77.108.83.206 nprotect.ncsoft.co.kr
85.214.57.131 l2patcher.lineage2.com
85.214.58.136 update.nprotect.co.kr

Have fun testing the new kamael free of charge. Alltho it can`t be compared with the official full working PTS features, it`s still a great way to mess around with the new race/places without having to pay for it.

PS: IF You Have the ENGLISH PTS KAMAEL CLIENT you can still login to the private servers that require KOREAN PTS, by doing this:
1. Find a torrent with the korean kamael client.
2. Download only the ANIMATIONS file in the animations folder.

THis is how i made it work, cause i had too the english pts kamael clint at first, and didn`t wanted to download the korean one.

CLICK HERE FOR KOREAN PTS DOWNLOAD TORRENT

Tekken 3 Online on PC - download link provided

I was bored to death these days, and tonight i had some free time, so i started to search for some fighting games to play with some of my friends over the internet. I spent hours and hours downloading, navigating from site to site, only to find crappy, stupid games, that didn`t even work well.

Then, i remembered Tekken 3 and i found a good emulator, calles epsx.exe, very easy to use, user friendly interface, basically you just start epsx.exe, load the game .iso file and you play.

Of course, it wasn`t all that easy. I found out that the emulator needs the original psx bios file, wich wasn`t included on the official site of the emulator, and also the graphic plugin was on another site, so i uploaded a .rar file wich includes everything.

So, if you wanna play Tekken 3 Online, just download the .rar file, unpack, start the emulator and play offline or online. Inside there is epsx.exe the emulator u have to start, and the Tekken3.iso file, the game itself wich you load into the emulator after you started it.

That simple.No complications, simple just the way i like it and it should be.

Download EPSX emulator + TEKKEN 3

Click here for the image tutorial if you have any kind of troubles,
alltho i highly doubt it.

Viva Pinata

Viva Pinata it`s all about fuzzy little animals, that have feelings, grow, if you make your garden appealing. That`s right, you have to make an appealing place, to attract these funny little fuzzers so they move at you, romance, have little fuzzy critter babies, multiply, so you can sell them and buy alot of garden accesories or food, or houses for your critters to romance in or dance all day. You will also have to make these little critters stay at your place, so they remain residents. For this, you`ll have to keep them happy. How? well, let`s see..

It`s all about the food chain!
Actually, viva pinata goes something like this: you`ll attract first some wirm looking critters, after that some owls will come and some snake looking weid, but funny critters. If you are lucky, a bunny looking one will come, and i you plant some carrots, another one, and they `ll have babies. The bunny looking ones, will attract the fox looking ones, and so on.
The owls will eat the wirm, the foxes the rabbits, and that will make them happy and they`ll stay at you, and have little critters, that you sell, and keep the remaining ones happy, and so on and on, untill you`ll have the nicest looking garden, with the rarest critters out there.

I recommend this game to everybody, it`s fun, time flies with it, there are endless possibilities and many funny moments.

Internet Explorer 7 for Windows XP

I installed IE7 past few days, and been using it ever since. I love the simple interface, polished look, very stylish and at the same time, it`s very simple and user friendly. It has only two visible buttons on the interface and an adress bar. That`s all, and frankly, this is all that i need. I don`t need all those buttons from opera, nor those millions of add-ons of firefox, i don`t care about the weather when i`m surfing the net, nor the news. If i wanna see the weather, read the news, listen to mp3, i can start the software with one click, don`t need all those crazy buttons and widgets hovering in my browser, taking up precious place.

IE7 uses extremly few resources. THe web pages load and scroll very easily. Compared to Opera, wich many times, after having 6-7 opened tabs uses 80MB of ram, and 20% of CPU, that can be felt, even on my 3.8GHZ dual core, 1gb ddr2 , 8600 gt machine, IR7 seams light as a feather.

Compared to Firefox, wich i never liked for some reason, it still uses fewer resources, but loads pages even faster, and handles all pages good, and Thank God, the download window is still the IE styled little window that just pops in and out. One thing i hated in FIrefox, was the fact that for every download, even a few kb download of a picture, it showed you a progress bar, in a separate "Download" window, wich i found completly useless.

The multi-tabbing in IE7 is easy, it also features a "TAB overview" little button near the tabs, that shows you in a window, all the tabs opened, in thumbnails, just like opera`s fast navigation.

Overall, IE7 is an extremly pleasent, very nice looking browser, with an extremly simple and user friendly interface, that uses very little resources, it feels light as a feather. I`m loving it.
Also, it has the option to RESTORE A SESSION when you close it. If you are tired to click on the option every time you close your browser, there is a little application called IEPlus, that will restore the session every time you reopen your browser, making things even easire, even after a crash. You can Download IE PLus here : http://www.download.com/IEPlus/3000-12777-10702189.html

NFS Pro Street - The Good , The Bad and the Pro

At first there was disappointment. After, i got kinda used to it. Today, i played it a lot. This is how the new entry in the well known NFS series evolved in my life.

My first impression, driving the Nissan was very disapointing. The car camera felt out of place, the car felt too rigid and weightless, the graphics seamed ok, but not at all as impressive as in the pre-rendered trailers.

The cars look very good, not as great as they do in the trailers, but overall they look great. All the tracks lookalike. No variety at all. The game has nothing spectacular. In the end, you`ll end up playing the game because of the good looking cars, and not for the satisfaction of driving, as it should be.

The Good:

1. The cars look extremly good
2. The car - damage looks great.
3. No useless free-roam. GREAT! If i wanna "free roam" i play GTA , thank you.
4. The AI is overall OK. Some of them make mistakes, overall it`s a stiff challenge many times.

The Bad:

1. There are few good looking cars. The customizations for the exotic cars are very disappointing. You have to play with ordinary low budget city cars a couple of hours before gaining access to the nicer looking or some of the exotic ones. The cars don`t have a sense of weight. Just can`t feel the cars weight. The sounds are overall OK. The comments are ANNOYING, i turned it down to 0 after hearing RYAN`s name for the 1233123 time.
2. The tracks look overall all the same. I cannot think of the exotic places in NFS Hot Pursuit 2 or the great level design in the first NFS. And i don`t even wanna start with NFS Porsche, that was the greatest NFS game ever created.
3. NFS is not a classic arcade driving game, but it`s not a simulator neither. I think the developer guys wanted something like Gran Turismo or FOrza Series, too bad it didn`t even came close. So we are left with a 70% arcade/30%simulator game, featuring cars that are just too rigid, don`t have weight, and are not that enjoyable as they could have been.
4. There could have been more cars. I don`t think NFS series has reached 100, when games like Gran Turismo and Forza Motorsport feature a couple of hundreds, i think at least 100 cars would be a good start.
5. Nothing spectacular. No rain/snow/weather effects.
6. Annoying soundtrack.

Gears of War vs Crysis

Crysis

The BAD:
Everything is too stealthy/slow. Alltho` the world looks very good, it`s not spectacular. Overall, It`s an Overrated over-hyped game, an upgraded version of FarCry, with some additional mods to it. Endlees enemys, that take too long to kill, very low amunition, the AI is not that bright.

The Good:
I`ve played Crysis since the demo came out, at first install, i wasn`t impressed at all. Certainly, everything looked amazing, but the gameplay was too annoying. Endless koreans popping out, you having to hide/cloak to kill them, takes a lot of time, end becomes repetitive very soon. It`s like playing Cat and Mouse, you beeing the super high teck mouse, with very limited ammo and endless cats coming to kill you. IT just takes TOO MUCH TIME and gives very little satisfaction. Also, the feeling of the game isn`t impressive at all. SUre the trees will brake in two and fall, but all in the same way, so not

*Note: i played crysis on vista, full details. Between a small difference of the look of the water, there really wasn`t any other noticeable difference, between DX10 and 9 on Xp. SO it`s all HYPE, much overrated.


Gears of War

The Good:
Impressive graphics, way better then farcry in my opinion, and i don`t care about that jungle mambo-jumbo. Gears of War futures the most impressive, clear and neat graphics i`ve ever saw untill that day on the PC.
Make no mistake, this is a FAST paced action game, the weapons feel heavy, the enemys AI is great, every kill makes you sweat a little, the Voice acting is awsome, the characters are believable and memorable, the story is out of this world and will make you crave for more.

The BAD:
Microsoft. When you start playing, the game gives you the impression that you must create an account at Windows Live, otherwise the Game won`t save. If you wanna play online, you`ll have to PAY. Welcome to Micro$oft era. I hate them. The truth is that you can play online, just create an account and pay attention after you created it, don`t go further the process of registering. It`s tricky at first hand, i guess that`s the whole point of it.

It`s the first game this year that impressed me from the first seconds of gameplay. I recall when i saw the room filled with ambient light, how the stones and walls "feel" like they should, the textures and materials in the game really make a big impression.
Alltho the hype of this game on PC wasn`t that high, as on Xbox360, make no mistake, this is the game of the year. ANd Crysis, just another upgraded/modded FarCry clone,that brings NOTHING New.