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Call it the battle of the consoles. For years, Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft have been trying to beat one another as to who can come up with the slicker console and with the better controls that would attract more than its share of game developers. Even to the point of incorporating miscellaneous add-ons that have nothing (well, almost nothing) to do with gaming – like having virtual worlds, supporting Wi-Fi connections, or having the ability to stream movies.

Nintendo Wii is by far the most family-friendly of the three: its games are not all gore and you do not have to wait to have the living room all to yourself to play your favorite shoot-me-up. Also, I find the Wii Remote a great innovaton, getting sedentary gamers off the couch and flailing about in some freaky exercise routine. This console is just great when you play with your family or a group of friends.

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Amazon.com has been promoting their Kindle device for 3 weeks now. It boasts of the ability to read e-books anytime, anywhere. Amazon Kindle is one of the new breeds of gadgets that are currently just being introduced. It’s called e-Paper devices.

e-Paper technology allows for a great display of text. Instead of being backlit, these devices uses reflected light to power its displays. So what you get is a very energy efficient device. More than the savings in energy, reading e-books on an e-Paper device makes more sense because you can read it even under direct sunlight. Yup, no more glare and hard to see screens with e-Paper.

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I love my iPhone. It’s probably one of the greatest inventions of recent years, and it looks nice too. However, ever since Google came out with its own phone late last year, I have been curious if I should switch over to G1.

One of the things challenging the iPhone right now is the myriads of phones using Android OS. The reasons for switching to an Android-based phone like G1 are the same reasons why open source is such a hit today.

Cost-wise, it is literally free. This means that there’s a minimal or absolutely no additional charges passed on to the consumer buying the phone. This also means that the phones are considerably less expensive than the iPhone. Another is that it will be easy-to-spot problems, and to correct them. With the code available for just about anybody’s perusal, a lot of developers would be available to come up with modifications and improvement to the code.

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This post is a continuation to what I’ve started yesterday about the coolest old school games. The items below, the TOP 3, are my top choices because they matter most. Enjoy!

3.) God of War for Playstation 2
Personal rating: 5/5
After CNN glossed over it by saying it’s the kind of game that reminds you why games are made and played in the first place, “God of War” received so many accolades from critics and gaming enthusiasts alike. And it is easy to see why.

God of War, by far, has one of the best battle system ever made (well, at least, in my opinion). For one, smooth and magnificent animation highlighted each attack you made. Base and primal pleasure came over me when I taught the minotaurs just who the boss is, and what they are in the general scheme of things.

The game also has a lot of mini-games or puzzles for us to solve. This gives you ample time to somehow get over the blood and gore and have a nice burger steak dinner, with ketchup.

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Below is the first batch of the coolest and rockiest top 6 old school games. And why 6? Coz we can’t get enough out of 5.

6.) Zone of the Enders for the Playstation 2

Personal rating: 5/5

I admit it. I am a mecha freak. I practically go braindead as I wait for the next episode of Gundam 00 to come out. The thrill of having to fend off scores of enemy mechs while evading hundreds of missiles heading your way while trying to reach the command ship of an armada is every mecha fanboy’s dream. Hideo Kojima-sama has done just that when he gave the world Zone of the Enders for the Playstation 2. Featuring stunning graphics, fast-paced gameplay, and great story telling — this game is a must have. Nuff said.

 

5.) The Suikoden Series for the Playstation

Personal Rating: 4/5

At the time of its release Suikoden was considered to be one of the best RPGs on the Sony PlayStation. It was not groundbreaking in any way, however, the gameplay was very much enjoyable and there was never one moment that I was ever bored. What I loved about it was that the game centered around the political intrigue of this world’s fictional empire and how the struggles of individual people might affect that. This comes with emphasis on how having the right support group can make the difference between (the game boasted of over 90 playable characters) life and imminent bankruptcy. What I found funny was how you were often given choices by some NPCs, only to find out that you are only allowed to make one choice to get the story moving.

 

4.) Metal Gear Solid for the Playstation

Personal Rating: 5/5

There probably isn’t any hardcore gamer in the world that has not played Metal Gear Solid. This stealth action video game directed and written by Hideo Kojima is the third canonical title in the Metal Gear series, and the direct sequel to Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake (which was for the great Nintendo Entertainment System or Famicom to some of you). Although, looking back, the game did have a copious amount of cinematic cut scenes (which was rendered using the in-game engine and graphics); it was a welcome addition to how plots and sub-plots are weaved into a video game. What’s so good about MGS is that it was the first game of its kind that made the gamer truly feel like he was a part of a big-budget action movie — Think: Mission Impossible, without Tom cruise, with bigger explosions, greater thrills, and a better hero (I did say "without Tom Cruise" right?).

TO BE CONTINUED TOMORROW…

Yes it’s true!!!

University of Michigan researchers have created clothes made of nanotechnology. These clothes can check its wearers’ blood and overall health system. The conjecture is that if someone is wounded or had a heart attack while wearing the “nano cloth”, it will alert someone about the incident. It can also be applied instantly to all 911 offices across the United States. However, the so called “fashion of the future” is not yet fully observed and still needs more studies.

This is like on a sci-fi movie. In the future, we will be all wearing hi-tech clothes made out of yarns with Artificial Intelligence on it. Cool!!!

Let me start with some truths.

The truth is, the generally accepted time frame for rolling out new software done in-house is 18 months. That simply is not acceptable in a dynamic and competitive business or industry. What’s more, a recent study has shown that almost a third of all in-house projects fail. Imagine waiting 18 months then getting disappointed by a program that just does not meet your needs or carry out the tasks you want it to, after spending all the money on manpower, new hardware and software, as well as non-tangible things like lost opportunities.

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SaaS has enabled companies to quickly put up solutions, features and functions. This is a far cry from having it done in-house. Sure, you IT department may be composed of top-notch programmers, but usually, most companies’ IT departments have their hand already full. Your new project might take months to get ready, and it might not be as you wanted it. You’d spend time fine-tuning, tweaking and basically ironing out all kinks before you’re confident that it would work the way you want it to. Contracting a SaaS company that has relevant expertise in your needs means that you are able to put up what you need in a matter of days, even hours. And you get technical expertise that you may not be able to find within your company.

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From how I see it, 2009 will be the year of video advertising, but it may not be YouTube’s year at all.

Recent reports have related about the rise of Hulu, which is significant for two reasons. One is that Hulu seems to be getting better reception nowadays and is said to be getting people off YouTube into its own domain.

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Netbooks:
Expect more and more of these smaller notebooks this 2009. Consumers apparently place more value to a Netbook’s size and dimensions – which speak of its practical ability to be carried around anywhere – than they would its storage space, computing power and functionality. Typically under 3 pounds and with displays of only up to 10 inches, this device has a built-in Ehternet, Wi-fi, USB ports and memory card slots. It is also perfect for surfing the World Wide Web and checking your emails.

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Palm Gets Ready to Clobber the iPhone

Things are looking up for Palm. For years, the company has been struggling to keep up with other Smartphone manufactures, most notably against Apple’s iPhone. But the company is hoping to turn the tide and go back to the glory days of the Palm Pilot and Palm Treo with the upcoming release of the Palm Pre.

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Whoa. Barely a week after Steve Jobs downplayed cancer rumors hounding him, he files for a leave due to “health issues.”

Jobs had said that his drastic weight loss over the past year was due to hormonal imbalance, not cancer as has been widely speculated. The news was met with cynicism especially in light of Jobs’ earlier bout with cancer around five years ago. It was, however, enough to keep investor confidence and drive Apple’s share prices up.

Jobs’ medical leave will last until June 2009.

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Online retail sales drop by 3%.

The results for the holiday shopping season are out. Comscore, in its press release, said that online spending during November 1 to December 23, 2008 amounted to $25.5 billion. That’s nothing to laugh at but it is still 3% lower from the $26.3 billion recorded for the same period in 2007. Comscore notes that this is the first decline seen in online spending growth in 8 years.

Meanwhile, media reports quoting ShopperTrak RCT Corp.’s predictions relates that overall consumer retail spending in the holiday season fell by only 2.3%.

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Since July 2008, Wikipedia users have seen the pleas for help on Wikipedia’s site. The people behind Wikipedia have asked its users for $6 million to continue operating the site. You’d think that $6 million from the site’s users would be an easy target to achieve, and for the earlier months it did seem like so.

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Call it my eccentricity.

But as far as I have rummaged around the Internet, I have yet to find an article that features Steve and Bill’s ability to score babes based on their respective merits. News reports and written articles always feature these two characters along with their gadgets. It’s all techno stuff. It’s all business. It’s all money talk.

Well, thank God for idiosyncrasy. I’m pitting these two against each other.

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