Anything with a Chip in It

New Years Resolution 2010

Sun, 3 Jan 2010 10:31:22 -0500

My New Years Resolution is to start using an SSD (Solid State Drive) in my MacBook Pro. I have grown tired of Hard Drives especially in my MacBook Pro as at 5400 RPM it drags the entire system down. I have also spent the entire past year hearing from the likes of Ryan Shrout just how amazing it is to get an SSD in your computer. My problem is right now I have a 500GB HDD in my MacBook Pro and could not imagine living without that kind of storage. Since it would cost $1,531 to get that kind of storage I thought there must be a better way. My solution is to replace the optical drive in my computer with my old Hard Drive and buy the Intel X-25m.
The reason I selected the Intel X-25m is for it’s crazy speeds as shown in the
PCperspective review. In this series of articles I will walk through the problems I
have and how I fixed them.

The First problem I ran into was how to divide my data. I have a MacBook Pro running OSX.6 Snow Leopard. At first I thought it would be difficult to separate my user data from my System and applications data as I have never tried this on a Mac. This fear was misplaced. In actuality this will be very simple.

This guide from Chris Pirillo’s site works perfect.
1. Click on ‘Macintosh HD’ in the Finder and open the ‘Users’ folder. In here you will find a folder named after your shortname. This is your home folder. As it is currently your active home folder it will have a ‘house’ icon assigned to it. Copy this folder to the 2nd hard drive by simply dragging it (moving files / folders to a 2nd volume in OS X only copies the content, it doesn’t remove it from its original location). Note: The copied folder will not have the ‘house’ icon as it is not yet recognized as you active home folder. We will change this in the following steps.
2. Open the ‘System Preferences’ application from either the Dock, the Applications folder or from the Apple menu.
3. Click on the ‘Accounts’ icon in the ‘System’ section.
4. After entering your password to unlock the padlock, CTL-Click (or right click if you have this enabled for your mouse) on the active admin account (from the list of user accounts in the left pane) to reveal an ‘Advanced Options’ contextual menu. Select this item.
5. You will be presented with a pane full of advanced settings (and also a warning about how you should only change these settings if you know what you are doing!). Ignore all of these settings except for the ‘Home Directory’ option. This is the path that OS X uses to locate your home folder when you login. It should say: /Users/shortname
6. Click on the ‘Choose’ button, and browse to the home folder in the new location (this will be the folder you moved in Step 1 which will be named after your shortname). After you select the new location, the ‘Home directory’ path should change to something like: /Volumes/shortname.
7. OS X will continue to use the original home folder until you restart. So restart the computer and login as normal. To confirm that the new home folder is now active, browse to the folder you copied to the 2nd hard drive and check it has the ‘house’ icon assigned to it. Now that your home folder is successfully located on your 2nd drive, you can delete the original home folder in the Users folder. It should now have a generic folder icon as it is no longer the active home folder.

Now that I have my user data prepared to be separated from the system drive I can keep my hard drive for my iTunes library and Aperture library which takes the most storage of any data on my computer with my system files on the SSD for fast boot and response time. Granted the next problem will be how to put a Hard Disk Drive in place of my Super Drive. That will be visited in the next article.

Downloading files from MobileMe

Mon, 9 Nov 2009 11:48:40 -0500

If you have received an email with a MobileMe hosted file attached your email should look like the screen shot below. If it does not then please click the show images button on the top of the email. Once the email is fully displayed as it is below you will be able to click the Download link and download your file.

Snow Leopard Review

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 15:47:51 -0400

Snow Leopard or OS X.6 is Apples latest operating system set to compete with Windows 7 which was released October 22nd. Apple has stated that Snow Leopard is not a drastically different from there previous Operating System OS X.5 Leopard but is a refinement. The idea the Snow Leopard is a refinement is shown through the product name as well
as the price. Snow Leopard sells for only $30 which is $100 less
then a normal Mac OSX release. For me the $30 price point was the
right price point as for a normal consumer most of the updates will
not be seen till many months later when 3rd Party developers start
to take advantage of the underlining technologies in Snow Leopard.

After installing Snow Leopard this is evident as on of the only change
to the UI comes from the contextual menus on the dock. Instead of
being white they have a dark translucent look. This is a nice touch as
it continues the stye of the dock to the menus but just like most user
facing features in Snow Leopard not a big deal. These small UI
changes continue to the Finder which has been updated with a small
scroll in the bottom right allowing for the icons to be resized up to 512x512 pixels. After using Snow Leopard for a few months this feature is more useful then I first though. After doing a project with many gigabytes of pictures and Videos I have found Snow Leopard’s new Finder to be of great help. I was able to quickly move through pictures and videos with a combination of Quick Look and the large icon size. In this screen shot you can see the horizontal size control bar in the

bottom right corner of the Finder Window. The Finder UI
changes continue to the new ability to use QuickLook in icon
view. As you can see to the right when you move your mouse
over a video a play pause control appears allowing you to
preview the file. The next UI change in Snow Leopard is the
updated stacks UI allows you to open folders in the grid view
of the stack UI and places a small navigational arrow in the
upper left and corner allowing for navigation through the
folder structure of anything living on your Dock. You can see
an example below of this feature.

The most important UI change in Snow Leopard is Dock Expose. Expose can now be triggered from any dock icon. Just click and hold any icon and all windows associated with that application will be displayed in a grid. This can also be used to move files from one app to another. Just click and drag the files onto the application use wish to move the file and Dock Expose will be triggered allowing you to then drop the file in the desired window within that application. I have found this to be a little slow and would prefer if Dock Expose was triggered faster upon moving a file over an icon. That being said I use it all the time including just now to get this screen shot into my website.

For the most part this is all the major UI changes in Snow Leopard. Beyond these changes the end user will notice faster performance of Applications and in the future even faster video rendering times as applications take advantage of some new core technologies called Open CL. If you would like a detailed look at the underlining technologies send me an email and I will consider it but for the normal user this is all they will notice in Snow Leopard. For me this was a great update allowing for faster performance and a more stable OS then even Leopard but I have had some Application incompatibilities so I would recommend waiting another month till the last of the bugs have been worked out. Apple is expected to release OS X.6.2 very soon with many bug fixes and enhancements. After using Snow Leopard as my main OS for two month I will not be moving back to Leopard and though Windows 7 is good it is not close to Snow Leopard.

Burn an ISO from Mac OS X

Sun, 10 May 2009 16:00:06 -0400

On Mac OS X if you need to burn an ISO disk you do not need any extra software as the OS X will burn that disk with the built-in Disk Utility application. You can use spotlight search or open applications and the Utilities folder to launch the Disk Utility application. After launching put in a blank disk and click on Images and Burn (or type Command B) then select the ISO file you need to burn and click burn. That is it. The one issue is that you cannot rename the disk anything other than the file name of the ISO image file.

Share a HDD over the web

Tue, 21 Apr 2009 15:43:43 -0400

With the latest firmware update on the Airport Extreme and Time Capsule Apple has added a feature which allows you to access your drive over the internet via your Mobile Me account. After registering your AirPort Extreme with your MobileMe account your drive will appear in your Finder sidebar just like any other attached drive.

Here is how to register your Airport Extreme or Time Capsule.

First open AirPort Utility, select the AirPort Extreme or Time Capsule on the left and select Manual Setup.

Now select Advanced and the MobileMe tab. Enter in your username and password and you are done. Any drive that you connect to the USB port on your AirPort Extreme will be sharred over the internet and over your local network.

Is the iPod Shuffle 4th Generation a Step Too Far?

Fri, 3 Apr 2009 19:39:37 -0400

Apple has recently released the 4th Generation iPod Shuffle. The new 4th Gen iPod shuffle is just 1.8 inches by 0.7 inch by 0.3 inch and weighs in at just 0.38 ounces yet if features 4GB of storage and up to 10 hours of audio playback. Apple also introduced a new feature called VoiceOver which tries to remedy the lack of a screen by “reading” the song titles and the playlists to you and while all this is fine a good I believe Apple took the size a bit too small as the 4th Gen iPod shuffle does not include any control buttons other then off, shuffle, and play in order. All of the controls have been moved to the included headphones which means if you own your own headphones that you want to use with the 4th Gen iPod shuffle you will lack the ability to control your music in any way. I think Apple needs retreat on there war on size and allow devices to be large enough to have actual controls at least till Apple introduces mind controlled music players.

iTunes Single of the Week

Wed, 1 Apr 2009 08:27:43 -0400

Every week Apple gives away some free content from there iTunes Store. This can be Music, Music Videos, or even HD and SD TV shows. This free content usually only stays for for about one week and after that you will have to pay full price. All the content I will post will be for the US store only.

[music] John Cage - 4’33”

Download for Free!

[music] Angel Taylor - Make Me Believe

Download for Free!

[video] Peter, Bjorn and John - Nothing to Worry About

Download for Free!

[music] V Factory - Love Struck

Download for Free!

[music] CuCu Diamantes - Mas Fuerte

Download for Free!

[video] The Unusuals - Sneak Peak

Download for Free!

Download for Free!

[audiobook] Dr. Denis Leary - Why We Suck

Download for Free!

[audiobook] The Easter Story Promo

Download for Free!

[video] Truth in 24

Download for Free!

[video] Krod Mandoon and the Flaming Sword of Fire

Download for Free!

[video] Cupid - Various Videos

Download for Free!

Download for Free!

[video] Greek - Various Episodes

Download for Free!

Download for Free!

[video] Roommates - The Roommate

Download for Free!

[video] Sophie - The Tornado

Download for Free!

[video] Bully Beatdown - Ryan: The Family Favorite

Download for Free!

[video] Kings - Goliath (Pilot)

Download for Free!

This is a great TV show that you must download!

[video] Top Gear - Episode 6

Download for Free!

Holiday Gift Guide $100 - $500

Tue, 16 Dec 2008 16:42:43 -0500

Today we will take a look at some more technology gifts that range from $100 - $500. Today I will take a look at the three major game consuls. The Xbox 360, the PS3, and the Wii and help you make a right choice for that person on your christmas list. One thing to keep in mind is a lot of older kids and adults may love a certain game line such as Gears of War which is an Xbox 360 exclusive thus the choice has already been made as a PS3 cannot play Gears of War. So if you want it to be a surprise it will take some investigation into that persons game library to determine which console would be best.

Xbox 360

Holiday Gift Guide $100 - $500

Mon, 15 Dec 2008 20:08:21 -0500

Today we will take a look at some more technology gifts that range from $100 - $500. Today will be a mix of everything.

TomTom GO 930 $399.99 - $499.99

Etymotic hf2 Headset + Earphones $174.99 - $179.99

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T700 $336.95 - $380.39

Canon PowerShot SX10 IS $324.95 - $419.00

Holiday Gift Guide $100 - $500

Fri, 5 Dec 2008 15:27:35 -0500

Today we will take a look at some more technology gifts that range from $100 - $500. Today will be a mix of everything.

Apple TV $229 - $329

Canon PowerShot A590 IS $106.89 - $149.99

Flip Mino $158.21 - $179.99

Canon FS11 $399.99- $539.99

Holiday Gift Guide $100 - $500

Thu, 4 Dec 2008 11:14:40 -0500

Today I will take a look at the best iPod and MP3 Players that range from $100 - $500. These would all make great gifts for geeks and non geeks alike.

iPod Touch $229-$399

iPod Nano $149 - $199

iPod Classic $249

Zune 120 $229.99 - $249.99

Zune Flash $99.99 - $139.99

I did not put any SanDisk, iRiver, or other devices on this list because of the lack of good software for your computer and the fact that these devices are losing favor in the market place under the pressure of the iPod and Zune which is making them less and less relevant. Especial after Microsoft killed the “Plays for Sure” strategy in favor of copying the apple model with the Zune.

iTunes Single of the Week

Wed, 3 Dec 2008 18:35:26 -0500

Every week Apple gives away some free content from there iTunes Store. This can be Music, Music Videos, or even HD and SD TV shows. This free content usually only stays for for about one week and after that you will have to pay full price. All the content I will post will be for the US store only.

[video] Lost - The Fray's You Found Me [HD]

Download for Free!

Download for Free!

Download for Free!

[video] Life On Mars - Ground Zero by Chris Cornell

Download for Free!

[video] Estudio Billboard - Juan Luis Guerra

Download for Free!

[video] LazyTown - Bienvenidos a LazyTown

Download for Free!

[video] Viva Voz con Jorge Gestoso - Especial New York Fashion
Week

Download for Free!

Download for Free!

Download for Free!

[video] Comedy Central Stand-Up - 2008 Brakout Comedians

Download for Free!

[video] The Breakfast Club - Behind The Scenes

Download for Free!

[music] Curumin ft Bnegão & Lucas Santtana - Curumin

Download for Free!

[video] Suede - Beautiful Ones

Download for Free!

[music] Busy Signal - Tic Toc

Download for Free!

[music] Harry Connick Jr. - It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas

Download for Free!

[music] Tony Bennett - Winter Wonderland

Download for Free!

[video] Mom's Cooking - various episodes

Download for Free!

Download for Free!

[audiobook] Susan Miller - Horoscopes

Download for Free!

Download for Free!

[video] Theatrical trailer for LOST

Download for Free!

[video] Sebastian Tellier - Divine

Download for Free!

[music] Eric Bobo - Muevelo

Download for Free!

[music] Boxmasters - Slower Than Christmas

Download for Free!

[music] Melissa Etheridge - Christmas in America

Download for Free!

[video] Handy Manny - Handy Manny Meets Flicker

Download for Free!

[video] Wanted - Behind the Scenes Clip

Download for Free!

Holiday Gift Guide $100 - $500

Tue, 2 Dec 2008 21:23:08 -0500

Today I will cover Smart Phones that a geek would love that range in price from $100 to $500.

Remember if you purchase someone a Cell Phone or Smart Phone you are signing them up for a bill each month so be sure they can afford a data plane and minutes each month.

AT&T Phone

iPhone 3G $199.99 - $299.99

T-Mobile

T-Mobile G1 $149.99

Verizon Wireless

BlackBerry Storm

Currently Sprint Nextel is not selling a smart phone that I would buy. So if you are using Sprint move to a good carrier. I cannot think of a positive point in favor of Sprint Nextel. The cell network coverage is very poor and Sprint’s data network now has the same 5GB cap as the other three major career's. So stay away from Sprint Nextel if you are buying for a geek or just want a good smartphone with an acceptable network.

BlackBerry Storm Review

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 08:00:23 -0500

The BlackBerry Storm is out for Verizon Wireless. The Storm is BlackBerry and Verizon’s answer to the iPhone 3G. I got a chance to play with it for some time. The one
line review is the Storm is good but not great. On paper the
BlackBerry Storm should be better then the iPhone 3G as the camera is
better, the screen is higher resolution, and the battery is replaceable
yet the software that pulls the hardware together is not as polished.
Sure the BlackBerry Storm on a check list sheet is better yet the
iPhone’s software makes it better then the sum of it’s parts. I will give
RIM some time to update the software of the Storm and write another
review in a few months. If you are on Verizon and want a full touch
screen device the BlackBerry Storm is as good as it gets but if you are
open to moving to AT&T the iPhone is still better as of right now then
the BlackBerry Storm.

Dock Icons Transparent

Thu, 20 Nov 2008 14:56:13 -0500

If you use the hide command in OSX with a lot of different applications open it can be nice to at a glance of your Dock know which icons are hidden. It is quite easy to make this happen with a few commands in the terminal.

First open terminal. Go to Application > Utilities > Terminal.

Then type “ defaults write com.apple.Dock showhidden -bool YES “ The capitals are important. Hit return or enter.

Now restart the dock by typing “ killall Dock “ and hit return or enter again. Now when you hide an application the icon on the dock will be transparent.

Your dock will look like this.

iTunes single of the Week

Wed, 19 Nov 2008 18:57:37 -0500

Holiday Gift Guide UNDER $100

Tue, 18 Nov 2008 09:52:53 -0500

Over the next few days I will suggest some technology holiday gifts that are under $100. I will also show a great gift idea that would be cheep to create if you already own a Mac with a recent copy of iPhoto.

Printers and Accessories for under $100.

Digital Photo Frame for under $100

HD TV Accessories for under $100

GPS Card Unit for Under $100

If you already own a Mac computer with a recent copy of iPhoto then you can create a great looking Calendar and have Apple professionally print and bind that Calendar with pictures of your kids or other family relevant pictures in about 30 min. Just open iPhoto and create a new Album. Drag the pictures you want in that calendar to that album. After you have the pictures picked out open the album and click calendar at the bottom of the iPhoto window. Set the pictures up in the different months and customize the look of the calendar. Click buy at the bottom right corner of the windows and you can but the calendars for $19 per 12 month Calendar and only $1.24 per page for more than 12 months up to 24 months.

Holiday Gift Guide UNDER $100

Mon, 17 Nov 2008 10:51:20 -0500

Over the next few days I will suggest some technology holiday gifts that are under $100. I will also show a great idea to make your gadget hound happy when they open there gift.

MP3 Players and Accessories under $100

Compact Camera and Camera Accessories Under $100

One tip I can give is if you know the person will not want to take back the gift and that they may want to use there tech gift right away you may consider opening the gift beforehand and charging the battery. Say if it is a new Digital Camera and they will want to use that camera to take pictures for the rest of the day having to wait for the battery to charge can be a drag. If you buy an apple device most of the time Apple ships there devices pre charged so you do not have to worry about it.

Another way to avoid having to open the gift would be to buy another battery and charge it up and give it to them so not only will they have a charged batter but an extra battery.

Black Friday Shopping Sites

Fri, 14 Nov 2008 23:34:51 -0500

Want to get the best deals on electronics and other gifts on Black Friday. Start your shopping plan now as many of the stores have leaked out there upcoming Black Friday ads. A great site that I use is www.bfads.net. This site will allow you to create an account and create a shopping list which is a great tool to get the most out of Black Friday shopping.

Some of the best deals include Panasonic 42” Plasma for only $899.99 at Circuit City, a 42” Sharp LCD for $779 at Dell.com, and a 1TB Maxtor External Hard Drive to back up your data for $139.99 at Office Max.

I will start a holiday shopping guide next week as well as giving away a free ten min phone call per household about any tech purchases.*

So get your sleeping bag out and great ready to sleep on the sidewalks as Christmas Time is here.

*After the first ten minutes regular rates apply.

Patches Galore

Thu, 13 Nov 2008 20:09:49 -0500

Today there where many many security patches released for Firefox, Safari, and Windows. Windows after the bad hole last month only had two patches, Firefox 2 and Firefox 3 received patches, as well as Safari which had security upgrades.

Windows only had two patches.
Bulletin 1: Critical (remote Code Execution) for Windows and Microsoft Office.
Bulletin 2: Important (Remote Code Execution) for Windows.
For a guide on how to update Windows Vista click here for XP click here.

Safari received update 3.2 which is recommended for all Safari users and features protection from fraudulent phishing websites and better identification of online businesses. This update also includes that latest security updates.
For a guide on how to update Mac OS X click here.

Firefox released security patch 3.0.4 which patched four critical security vulnerabilities and several less serious holes while improving stability and addressing other bugs. To update Firefox just click on help and check for updates on Windows or Mac.

iTunes Single of the Week

Wed, 12 Nov 2008 08:53:50 -0500

More Hard Drive Space, Free!

Tue, 11 Nov 2008 13:12:49 -0500

Are you running out of Hard Drive Space? An easy way to gain more drive space would be to empty your Recycle Bin but wouldn't it be nice if your Recycle Bin did not fill up your hard drive with stuff you do not need. Here is a tip on how to set the maximum size of your Recycle Bin for Windows XP or Vista.

For Windows Vista right click on the Recycle Bin and select Properties.

Under the Setting for Selected Location section you can adjust the amount of space to reserve for the Recycle Bin. If you are out of space on your hard drive then you can lower this number to free up space. When you are done just click OK.

For Windows XP you right click on the Recycle Bin and click Properties.

Under the Global tap you can adjust the size of the Recycle Bin by using the slider. If you want more hard drive space just move the slider to the left and click OK when you are done.

Browse in High Fidelity

Mon, 10 Nov 2008 10:00:45 -0500

If you enjoy browsing sites like Flickr and want to see the colors as they where intended then this is the tip for you. This will slow down your browsing speed because you will have to download more data to view the same pages.

Type about:config in your FireFox 3 browser.

Click on “I’ll be careful, I promise!” as this does not void your warranty nor will it cause any issues if you follow my directions.

Type “gfx.color_management.enabled” in the Filter field. There should be only one result.

Double click on the “false” under the Value field to change that Value to true. Restart your browser and you will be browsing the web in High Fidelity.

Jump to the Address Bar Keyboard Command

Fri, 7 Nov 2008 17:48:31 -0500

In this tip I will show you how to save time when surfing the web by keeping your hands on the keyboard and away for the mouse. This will work in just about an browser on Windows or Mac but it is two different sets on keys on each platform.

For Windows in your favorite browser just hit “Alt + D” and your courser will jump to your address bar and you can start typing you next website address.

For Mac when using your favorite browser just hit “Command + L” and your courser will jump to your address bar and you can start typing your next website address.

Make FireFox Spellcheck Everything

Thu, 6 Nov 2008 15:37:47 -0500

If you are using FireFox then you know that by default FireFox’s built in spellchecker is only turned on in text fields with at least two rows. This can be accomplished very easily with the change of one setting.

First type “about:config” in the URL address bar.

Click on “I’ll be careful, I promise!”. Do not worry if you follow my directions firefox will be fine. Also there is no warranty on firefox so do not worry.

Now click in the Filter field and type “layout.spellcheckDefault”. There should be one result. Double click on the 1 under the Value field.

A new window will appear. Change the 1 to a 2 and click OK. Restart your browser and now FireFox will always check your spelling so type without fear of looking dumb for misspelling a word.

iTunes Single of the Week

Wed, 5 Nov 2008 15:05:58 -0500

Windows 7 Preview from PDC

Mon, 3 Nov 2008 20:35:17 -0500

Windows 7 is under construction but the past week Microsoft held a conference to show off there new operating system that they are pushing out the door to try and get Vista off the shelves. Right now from what I have seen Windows 7 does look like a nice upgrade to Windows Vista yet I will have to wait and see what OS X.6 Snow Leopard will deliver this coming summer. As soon as I get a pre release copy of Windows 7 I will do a multi part in-depth review. Till then here are some screen shots.

Windows 7 is still under development thus some of the user interface features are not complete and will change between now and when Windows 7 is released.

This is the new Show Desktop effect which I assume if it works like Show Desktop does on the Mac it will allow you to hit a button and open up new windows to get some work done then hit the button again and bring all your windows back. This is a very useful feature on OS X so I am happy to see Microsoft porting this to Windows 7.

This is the new Windows Task-bar Previews. This gives you a peek view of grouped open windows.

This is a Windows Media Player interactive preview which does exist in Windows XP and Windows Vista already.

So as you can tell Windows 7 does not look radically different then Windows Vista but to be fair the User Interface is the last thing to be updated in a Windows release.

I will say that Windows 7 does run better then Vista. Also Microsoft is supporting all the drivers made for Vista in Windows 7 so if a device works with Vista it will work with Windows 7 in theory.
More information will come out of Redmond in the next few months about Windows 7.

Update: My copy of Windows 7 has arrived and I will be going through windows over the next few days.

Great deals on Tech

Mon, 3 Nov 2008 11:00:23 -0500

Circuit City announced today which stores will be closing as Circuit City tries to avoid bankruptcy. What does this mean to you? Great deals on tech products for the holidays. Currently there has been no deals announced but there is a list of store closings. To search the list of store closings just hit Control + F on Windows or Command + F on Mac and type your city or state abbreviation so you can quickly find a store closing near you.

Circuit City Stores, Inc.
List of Closing Stores
November 3, 2008

Store # Store Name Street Address City State ZIP

3280 ANNISTON 704 SOUTH QUINTARD AVE ANNISTON AL 36201
829 TRUSSVILLE 3555 ROOSEVELT BLVD TRUSSVILLE AL 35235

3240 FAYETTEVILLE 744 EAST JOYCE BLVD FAYETTEVILLE AR 72703

441 AVONDALE 10140 W MCDOWELL RD AVONDALE AZ 85392
3330 CHANDLER 3456 WEST CHANDLER BLVD CHANDLER AZ 85226
3580 GILBERT 2817 S MARKET ST GILBERT AZ 85295
3760 GOODYEAR 15433 WEST MCDOWELL RD GOODYEAR AZ 85338
436 MESA 1530 WEST SOUTHERN AVE MESA AZ 85202
3337 SUPERSTITION SPRINGS 1515 S POWER RD MESA AZ 85206
3362 ARROWHEAD 7645 WEST BELL RD PEORIA AZ 85382
435 PHOENIX METRO 9801 N METRO PKWY E PHOENIX AZ 85051
3341 NORTH SCOTTSDALE 7000 EAST MAYO BLVD PHOENIX AZ 85054
3426 CAMELBACK 1670 EAST CAMELBACK RD PHOENIX AZ 85016
3558 HAPPY VALLEY 2501 W HAPPY VALLEY RD PHOENIX AZ 85085
4314 QUEEN CREEK 21002 S ELLSWORTH LOOP QUEEN CREEK AZ 85242
437 SCOTTSDALE 8929 EAST INDIAN BEND RD SCOTTSDALE AZ 85250

3301 INDUSTRY 1600 S AZUSA AVE CITY OF INDUSTRY CA 91748
422 COMPTON 120 EAST COMPTON BLVD COMPTON CA 90220
235 CONCORD 2030 DIAMOND BLVD CONCORD CA 94520
236 DUBLIN 7153 AMADOR PLAZA ROAD DUBLIN CA 94568
449 ESCONDIDO 1138 WEST VALLEY PARKWAY ESCONDIDO CA 92025
4303 FAIRFIELD 1560 GATEWAY BLVD FAIRFIELD CA 94533
4230 NORTH FONTANA 16685 SIERRA LAKES PARKWAY FONTANA CA 92336
4243 FOOTHILL RANCH 26542 TOWNE CENTRE DRIVE FOOTHILL RANCH CA 92610
4300 FREMONT 43706 CHRISTY ST FREMONT CA 94538
1628 MERCED 3275 R STREET MERCED CA 95348
3749 MIRA LOMA 6397 PATS RANCH RD MIRA LOMA CA 91752
4228 MORENO BEACH 27610 EUCALYPTUS AVE MORENO VALLEY CA 92555
4229 MORGAN HILL 1007 COCHRANE RD MORGAN HILL CA 95037
3394 MURRIETA 24390 VILLAGE WALK PL MURRIETA CA 92562
3766 EAST PALO ALTO 1731 E BAYSHORE RD PALO ALTO CA 94303
3402 PITTSBURG 4300 DELTA GATEWAY BLVD PITTSBURG CA 94565
3312 POMONA 2735 S TOWNE AVE POMONA CA 91766
3374 HILLTOP 4100 KLOSE WAY RICHMOND CA 94806
426 RIVERSIDE 10255 MAGNOLIA AVE RIVERSIDE CA 92503
238 SAN RAFAELS 330 BELLAM BLVD SAN RAFAEL CA 94901
413 SANTA BARBARA 3761 STATE STREET SANTA BARBARA CA 93105
1629 SANTA MARIA 1535 SOUTH BRADLEY RD SANTA MARIA CA 93454
3303 THOUSAND OAKS 600 WEST HILLCREST DR THOUSAND OAKS CA 91360
4301 VISTA 1715 HACIENDA DRIVE VISTA CA 92081

3380 N COLORADO 7670 NORTH ACADEMY BLVD COLORADO SPRINGS CO 80920
4240 NORTHGLENN 10602 MELODY DR EAST NORTHGLENN CO 80234
4245 PARKER 9851 S PARKER RD PARKER CO 80134

1816 CONNECTICUT OUTLET 130 BOSTON POST RD ORANGE CT 06477

893 ORANGE PARK 6155 YOUNGERMAN CIRCLE JACKSONVILLE FL 32244
4278 OAKLEAF TOWN CENTER 9625 CROSSHILL BLVD JACKSONVILLE FL 32222
4273 NAPLES 13585 TAMIAMI TRAIL NORTH NAPLES FL 34110
3268 WEST ORLANDO 751 GOOD HOMES RD ORLANDO FL 32818
3298 PANAMA CITY 427 EAST 23RD STREET PANAMA CITY FL 32405
4200 TALLAHASSEE 2425 APALACHEE PARKWAY TALLAHASSEE FL 32301
3423 VERO BEACH 6560 20TH STREET VERO BEACH FL 32966

3598 ACWORTH 3384 COBB PARKWAY STE 100 ACWORTH GA 30101
3107 NORTH POINT 6290 NORTH POINT PARKWAY ALPHARETTA GA 30022
834 CAMP CREEK 3755 CARMIA DR SW ST1100 ATLANTA GA 30331
880 AKERS MILLS 2971 AKERS MILL RD SE ATLANTA GA 30339
886 BUCKHEAD 3637 PEACHTREE RD NE ATLANTA GA 30319
3222 PERIMETER 1165 PERIMETER CENTER WEST ATLANTA GA 30338
1615 ATHENS 4110 ATLANTA HIGHWAY BOGART GA 30622
3411 MALL OF GEORGIA 3295 BUFORD DR SUITE 100 BUFORD GA 30519
3416 CONYERS 1540 DOGWOOD DR SE CONYERS GA 30013
4252 CUMMING 320 PEACHTREE PARKWAY CUMMING GA 30041
3406 DOUGLASVILLE 9365 THE LANDING DR STE A DOUGLASVILLE GA 30135
3220 GWINNETT MALL 3850 VENTURE DR DULUTH GA 30096
4279 HIRAM PAULDING 4749 JIMMY LEE SMITH PKWY HIRAM GA 30141
712 TOWN CENTER 1185 ERNEST W BARRETT PKWY KENNESAW GA 30144
3201 MACON 3670 EISENHOWER PARKWAY MACON GA 31206
884 SOUTHLAKE 1906 MT ZION RD MORROW GA 30260
3421 NEWNAN 1098 HIGHWAY 34 E NEWNAN GA 30265
3297 SNELLVILLE 1670 SCENIC HWY N STE 124 SNELLVILLE GA 30078
4319 WARNER ROBINS 2951 WATSON BOULEVARD WARNER ROBINS GA 31093

4234 ARLINGTON HEIGHTS 370 EAST RAND RD ARLINGTON HEIGHT IL 60004
3758 BATAVIA 1980 W FABYAN PARKWAY BATAVIA IL 60510
1818 BLOOMINGDALE OUTLET 152 S GARY AVE SUITE101 BLOOMINGDALE IL 60108
3790 BOLINGBROOK 111 S WEBER RD BOLINGBROOK IL 60490
3122 CALUMET CITY 1747 EAST-WEST ROAD CALUMET CITY IL 60409
3794 NORTH AVE 1030 W NORTH AVENUE CHICAGO IL 60622
4126 COUNTRYSIDE 9950 JOLIET RD COUNTRYSIDE IL 60525
3171 CRYSTAL LAKE 4483 US HIGHWAY 14 CRYSTAL LAKE IL 60014
3123 JOLIET 3150 TONTI DR JOLIET MALL JOLIET IL 60431
3795 KILDEER 20505 N RAND RD BLDG E LAKE ZURICH IL 60047
3118 SKOKIE 5701 TOUHY AVE NILES IL 60714
4268 OSWEGO 1720 DOUGLAS RD OSWEGO IL 60543
4195 HOFFMAN ESTATES 100 WEST HIGGINS ROAD SOUTH BARRINGTON IL 60010
3124 VERNON HILLS 551 NORTH MILWAUKEE AVE VERNON HILLS IL 60061

4109 CLARKSVILLE 1500 GREENTREE BOULEVARD CLARKSVILLE IN 47129
1814 INDIANAPOLIS OUTLET 10235 EAST WASHINGTON ST INDIANAPOLIS IN 46229
3728 LAFAYETTE 2121 SAGAMORE PKWY S LAFAYETTE IN 47905
3802 SOUTHBEND 1290 EAST IRELAND RD SOUTH BEND IN 46614

3829 OAK PARK MALL 12010 WEST 95TH STREET LENEXA KS 66215
3299 OVERLAND PARK 12020 METCALF AVE OVERLAND PARK KS 66213

841 LEXINGTON 2434 NICHOLASVILLE RD. LEXINGTON KY 40503
520 OUTER LOOP 4805 OUTER LOOP LOUISVILLE KY 40219
3704 PADUCAH 3430 JAMES SANDERS BLVD PADUCAH KY 42001

3511 BATON ROUGE 8640 AIRLINE HIGHWAY BATON ROUGE LA 70815
3507 VETERANS 2421 VETERANS MEMORIAL BV KENNER LA 70062
3506 WEST BANK 4945 LAPALCO BLVD MARRERO LA 70072
3552 SLIDELL 61119 AIRPORT RD SLIDELL LA 70460

847 GOLDEN RING 8823 PULASKI HIGHWAY BALTIMORE MD 21237
821 BELTSVILLE 11011 BALTIMORE AVE BELTSVILLE MD 20705
825 MARLOW HEIGHTS 3551 32ND AVENUE MARLOW HEIGHTS MD 20748

3637 AUBURN HILLS 4612 BALDWIN RD AUBURN HILLS MI 48326
4211 BLOOMFIELD 2169 TELEGRAPH RD BLOOMFIELD MI 48302
3604 DEARBORN 5600 MERCURY DR DEARBORN MI 48126
3722 JACKSON 1511 BOARDMAN RD JACKSON MI 49202
1809 MUSKEGON OUTLET 1650 EAST SHERMAN BLVD MUSKEGON MI 49444
1880 PONTIAC OUTLET 550 N TELEGRAPH RD PONTIAC MI 48341
3860 ROCHESTER HILLS 2636 SOUTH ADAMS RD ROCHESTER HILLS MI 48307

534 FERGUSON 3344 PERSHALL RD FERGUSON MO 63135
3210 INDEPENDENCE MALL 18701 EAST 39TH ST S INDEPENDENCE MO 64057
3208 KANSAS CITY NORTH 8440 N MADISON AVE KANSAS CITY MO 64155
4224 SHOAL CREEK 8260 N DITZLER AVE KANSAS CITY MO 64158

3243 TUPELO 3834 MARKET CENTER DR TUPELO MS 38804

3228 CHARLOTTE UNIVERSITY 8215 UNIVERSITY CITY BLVD CHARLOTTE NC 28213

3671 FREEHOLD 4345 US HIGHWAY 9 FREEHOLD NJ 07728
3714 LIVINGSTON 530 ROUTE 10 LIVINGSTON NJ 07039

3763 SPARKS 125 DISC DRIVE SPARKS NV 89436

3661 BAY SHORE 1675 B SUNRISE HIGHWAY BAY SHORE NY 11706
3778 BRONX 1750 EAST GUNHILL RD BRONX NY 10469
4323 BROOKLYN 1610 FLATBUSH AVE BROOKLYN NY 11210
3685 PATCHOGUE 7001 SUNRISE HIGHWAY HOLBROOK NY 11741
3678 SMITH HAVEN 139 ALEXANDER AVE LAKE GROVE NY 11755
3681 MASSAPEQUA 5500 SUNRISE HIGHWAY MASSAPEQUA NY 11758
1697 EAST 86TH STREET 232 EAST 86TH STREET #240 NEW YORK NY 10028
3683 WEST NYACK 2731 PALISADES CENTER DR WEST NYACK NY 10994

3575 BROOKLYN 7349 NORTHCLIFF AVE BROOKLYN OH 44144
3165 WESTERN HILLS 5455 GLENWAY AVE CINCINNATI OH 45238
1813 COLUMBUS OUTLET 4030 WEST BROAD ST COLUMBUS OH 43228
3818 HILLIARD 1881 HILLIARD ROME RD COLUMBUS OH 43226
1806 AKRON OUTLET 1120 MAIN ST CUYAHOGA FALLS OH 44221
3182 ELYRIA 110 MARKET DR ELYRIA OH 44035
3551 GARFIELD HEIGHTS 5642 TRANSPORTATION BLVD GARFIELD HEIGHTS OH 44125
4324 GROVE CITY 4178 BUCKEYE PARKWAY GROVE CITY OH 43123
3712 MANSFIELD 2190 W 4TH STREET MANSFIELD OH 44906
3784 MAYFIELD HEIGHTS 1405 SOM CENTER RD MAYFIELD HEIGHTS OH 44124
3181 MENTOR 7900 PLAZA BLVD SPACE 100 MENTOR OH 44060

3357 UNIVERSITY TOWN 1620 24TH AVE NW NORMAN OK 73069
4501 PENN SQUARE 3625 NORTHWEST EXPY OKLAHOMA CITY OK 73112

920 HICKORY HOLLOW MALL 5221 HICKORY HOLLOW PKWY ANTIOCH TN 37013
4257 COLLIERVILLE 10217 EAST SHELBY DR COLLIERVILLE TN 38017
853 WINCHESTER 6491 WINCHESTER RD MEMPHIS TN 38115
3823 SPRING HILL 1041 CROSSING BLVD SPRING HILL TN 37174

4338 MCALISTER SQUARE 12640 SOUTH FREEWAY BURLESON TX 76028
4310 CEDAR PARK 1335 E WHITESTONE BLVD G CEDAR PARK TX 78613
3501 CENTRAL NORTH 10400 N CENTRAL EXPRESSWAY DALLAS TX 75231
540 SHARPSTOWN 7553 BELLAIRE BLVD HOUSTON TX 77036
4312 LEAGUE CITY 3270 S GULF FREEWAY LEAGUE CITY TX 77573
3809 MANSFIELD POINTE 1551 N HIGHWAY 287 MANSFIELD TX 76063
4248 MCKINNEY TOWNE 2050 WEST UNIVERSITY DR MCKINNEY TX 75071
3808 SHERMAN 4127 HIGHWAY 75 NORTH SHERMAN TX 75090
1611 TEMPLE 3310 SOUTH 31ST STREET TEMPLE TX 76502

1604 CHARLOTTESVILLE 100 ALBEMARLE SQUARE CHARLOTTESVILLE VA 22901
3172 MANASSAS 10640 DAVIDSON PLACE MANASSAS VA 20109
803 TYSON'S CORNER 1905 CHAIN BRIDGE RD MCLEAN VA 22102

1882 SEATTLE OUTLET 34920 ENCHANTED PKWY SOU FEDERAL WAY WA 98003

1811 MILWAUKEE OUTLET 8173 WEST BROWN DEER RD MILWAUKEE WI 53223

Google Tips Everyone Needs to Know

Fri, 31 Oct 2008 14:53:50 -0400

Google is a great web search tool but it is so much more then that when you know some keywords. Google can drudge up exactly what you are looking for without digging through search results. Today I will present a few but there will be more to come.

First type “weather” and then the city or zip code and you will see a five day forecast.

Need to know what the time is in any part of the world. Just type “time” then the city or zip code and wonder no more.

Good is also a dictionary. Just type “define:” then the word you need defined and google will pull definitions from across the web.

Need to convert just about any unit to another. Let google handle that for you.

Need to find flight information just type the carrier and flight number.

Now go work on your google skills and find the information you need lighting fast.

Amazon Kindle

Thu, 30 Oct 2008 12:05:03 -0400

A lot of people have been asking about the amazon Kindle since it’s appearance on Oprah. The Amazon Kindle is a digital eBook Reader which I find to be the best eBook reader currently on the market, but it does have its flaws that could hold some people back from dropping the $359 on this device.

The bottom line:
This is the best eBook on the market with the built-in wireless capabilities and PC-free operation, the Kindle holds an advantage over Sony’s Reader but the price is too high and book prices need to be cheaper then around $10 per book. Also the device looks terrible and the page back and forward buttons taking up the sids of the device forces you to hold it at the bottom near the keyboard so you do not accidentally turn the page. Page turns are also clunky in that the entire screen flashes and is sort of jarring at first but you can get used to it. Personally I am holding off on this device but it is extremely tempting if I read more books.

There is a rumor going around the net that Amazon will be releasing the new Kindle but nobody knows when. Here is the picture of the rumored leaked device.