Where do you always go when you need to search for something? This will vary from person to person, but most people resort to Google.

Google has been around for several years now and has risen to the top in searches. Not only is it the most used, but it is always being updated and enhanced to (hopefully) be even better each time. Improvements on top of improvements. Every once in a while they come out with something that is a failure. Not a complete failure, but more of an unsuccessful tool. More often than not however, it is always a fine addition, whatever it may be.

This time Google has enhanced our on the go lives! Google is already friendly to the cell phone, but now you can use it just the same as at home. Google was basically the same as searching at home except for one thing, its search suggestions.

Personalized Suggest has been launched in the US, and saves your search history. You can of course deactivate this in your Settings panel in your google account, but if you do want this, it can prove to be quite handy. Let’s say you’re looking for a restaurant and you did a search at home. Maybe you didn’t write the information down, or whatever the case, you’re on the way to the place and can’t find it so you need its phone number. If your account is synced for your mobile phone, you can just go through the search history and find it. Ingenious!

It’s amazing how something so simple could really make searching so much easier.

Good job Google.

On October 22 of this year, Microsoft will be releasing Windows 7 to the world. It’s normal retail price for the Home Premium version is $199. However, if you’re a qualifying student, then it’s a much cheaper 30 bucks! Where there are students, there is a need for cheaper items (speaking from experience).

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Though Playstation’s Slim PS3 has not yet been released, it’s already being discussed and available for preorder on Amazon.com for $299.99!

The PS3 has been suffering here and there with sales. It’s running in third place, trailing behind the Nintendo Wii and the XBOX 360. Sony is hoping that the PS3 Slim will inspire the same excitement as the PS2 did when they released the smaller version of it.

The Slim is more affordable than the normal-sized PS3, and not to mention easier to shimmy into smaller places with entertainment centers. Like its father-system, it has a Blu-ray player, and comes packed with a 120GB hard drive. It has built-in Wi-Fi and a web browser for those who want to browser the internet on their system.

Like the newer releases of the larger PS3, it is unable to play PS2 games, which is part of Sony’s downfall with this system. This could very well have something to do with it running in third place. Backwards compatibility is important with these new systems since they first introduced the concept. It has come to be expected and is disappointing when it is not available. This may or may not continue to keep people away. You can still get the PS2 compact version for $99 if you’re interested in it.

No matter what, this system seems to be a better buy than the currently available PS3. You can save some space with this guy, either laying it down horizontally, or standing it up on its side with the purchase of a stand. Either way you look at it, it’s still one sleek machine.

Cnet Reviews

Twitter went down this morning, Thursday for about two hours due do a denial of service attack. This isn’t the first time Twitter has been attacked by someone, in fact it happens all of the time.

There are hundreds and thousands of bots and people out there that use Twitter to spam everyone. There are strict rules set when you register your account to help prevent this from happening, but people still manage to do it. For instance, one of the things that will happen is if you try to register too many accounts from one IP address, it will lock them all down and make them unavailable to the public. They are deemed spammy and denied access to. To regain control of your account(s), you must file a Ticket within your account, which is a call to their attention that it should not have been blocked. Service happens much more quickly if you file it while you are logged in, rather than filing a ticket outside of the account explaining the issue with all of your Twitter accounts. They send you a response email with your information in it, but unfortunately there is no way to follow up on the ticket when you sent your ticket without being logged in. This creates a few issues, especially when it comes to needing your account back in a timely manner.

This issue doesn’t really come up too often as most people only have a need for one Twitter account. This does however make it a pain for people with the intention to spam all of Twitter, which makes it a cleaner and safer community for us! With all of the spam floating around, there’s no telling when you click on something what it’s going to do. It could go to a harmless site, or to one that is dangerous and you manage to find a virus.

Twitter seems to be a little buggy here and there, but nearly everything is that has that many members on it. It’s bound to run into a few issues, especially with the extensive spamming issues. These alone could bring their whole server system down. It’s commendable that they were even able to get it back up and running as fast as they did.

Makes you wonder how many people were panicking when they couldn’t tweet about their breakfast muffin’s deliciousness.

Google Chrome was designed for people who basically live on the internet. It is optimized for supreme web performance. As it advertises: http://www.google.com/chrome Fast start-up, Fast loading, Fast search. It is completely free to use and has caught the attention of many people, with it becoming their favorite browser. But what is that news of an operating system based off of Google Chrome?

Google has decided to create an operating system with the same goals in mind as Chrome had – optimal web performance. The OS, like the browser, is being designed for people who live on the web. Google explains in their Official Google Blog that the operating systems that run these browsers, whatever they may be, are on operating systems that were not designed for the internet. As a direct result of this, it causes the browsers to act sluggish at times and are bogged down by systems that have too much going on already.

And so, we get their new OS.

Google’s intention is to aim their new OS at netbooks. It is going to be a lightweight operating system and would function perfectly on these tiny laptops. With the popularity of the netbook coming to light, surely people will be interested in an operating system that light just like the netbook.

What about compatibility with the programs you need? Of course! Google fully intends to make their new OS compatible with anything you may need to use on your computer. What’s the point in having an OS that can’t run anything that people already use?

It sounds like Google has a good idea of what they need to do next. They are already the top in search, and keeping people interested in their browser, so why not strive for the top in operating systems as well?

Bring on the OS!

Do you know what you need? Do you know how much storage you want it to supply for you? Do you know what brand to go with? All USB Flash Drives are not created equal.

Start off by assessing what exactly you need this mini storage device for. Do you only transport text documents on it, and maybe a few pictures of friends and family? Or do you need to move movies around with it, lots of music, or large animation projects where the file sizes are ridiculous?

As far as quality items go, it’s pretty decent no matter what you go with. There are obviously superior technologies out there, but in general you’re going to be pretty happy with what you get. You will be more concerned with size. Yes, size matters.

So, if you’re say a college student, and you need to keep your research papers with you at all time in digital form, then you’ll be pretty happy with a 1GB to 2GB storage. Keep in mind you will only be storing smaller files. If you’ve just got text files on it, then it’s going to take you a long time to fill the thing. If you’re uploading all of your music to it, you’ll still be able to put quite a few songs on it, but it’ll run out a bit quicker that way. Remember that Flash Drives aren’t permanent storage devices and you can always delete files off of them to free up some space.
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With all of the internet browser competition out there, it was about time Microsoft did another overhaul on the (un)trusty ol’ IE. With competition like Apple Safari, Opera, Google Chrome and especially Firefox out there, Microsoft needed to do something.

Firefox’s and IE’s browser use had been split down the middle for a little while, but recently, Firefox has been casting a shadow on the meek IE.

The new IE8 has some new features with it, and many that should put the user’s mind at ease while browsing the World Wide Web.
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There’s nothing new about a digital camera, or even one with WiFi connectivity, but the addition of the 3.5 inch touch-screen web browser makes the DSC-G3 something to talk about.

Mike McDonald from WebProNews Videos reported on this Cyber-shot® from CES 2009.

More WebProNews Videos

All you need is a hotspot to connect and login to your favorite photo-sharing website (YouTube, Picasa, Shutterfly, Photobucket, and Dailymotion). In just moments, from wherever you are, you can virtually have a live feed of images. Make your family and friends jealous as you share pictures from your vacation, while you’re on vacation. You can report back to work with the latest images from your assignment while you’re still on it. The Sony DSC-G3 Cyber-shot® Camera is an innovative approach to the photo-sharing world. In fact, this camera won the CNET® Best of CES 2009 award for digital photo and video.

Some other features of the DSC-G3 include the 4x optical zoom Carl Zeiss lens, SteadyShot™ for stabilization of shaky photos, 4GB of internal memory and a smooth 30 fps (frames per second) for video recording.

There is so much power and ingenuity fit into a slim, compact design. Take the Sony DSC-G3 Cyber-shot® absolutely anywhere with you and it is guaranteed to be the focus of attention.

If you’re a PC gamer, you’ve likely wished that you had a controller as versatile as the Nintendo Wii. Look no further, the developers at Cywee (sigh-wee) have created just that!

Check out this video from WebProNews at the CES 2009:

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Cywee Z is a versatile 3-D motion sensor game controller that can be adjusted to accommodate several styles of games. According to the Cywee blog, you can use it in 4 different ways.

• Stick position: for tennis and golf type games.
• Gun position: for shooter and combat games.
• “Inverted” Z, Rotated position: for use as a steering wheel, or a slightly different angle for aviation games.

It seems that no matter the style of your game, this controller will be able to deliver.

The Cywee Z is not just for gamers! It can be used as a mouse as well. You can move away from your desk and the confines of traditional mouse-use to relax. How wonderful to not have to sit in a desk chair! Of course you’ll need a larger monitor for this functionality to be useful at a distance. No sense in stepping back from your monitor if you can’t see it anymore. You’ll also need some place comfortable to sit that is strategically placed in view of your computer.

So, you can be comfortable and use it, and move around and use it, but what about cost? Well, if you don’t have a large monitor then you’re going to have to get one if you want to move away from your screen. This doesn’t sound like a big deal for the more intense technology buffs/gamers/computer users, unless of course you’re strapped for cash. Most people are struggling with money nowadays, given the state of the economy. Even though prices have dropped, large monitors or televisions with monitor capabilities are still not cheap. In fact, the Z itself is not cheap either. At about $120 (NT$3990), it is likely one of the most expensive controllers you’ll buy. Although, if you’re willing to spend a chunk of money on a new game, or drop a couple grand on a superb monitor/television, then what’s another 120 bucks? That’s a drop in the bucket if these electronics are important to you.

As fun as this controller would be to have, the current financial state of everyone really hinders excess purchasing. It’s really hard to say how well the Z will do. Although, since it’s not just for use with one game or system, perhaps people will decide that it is worth buying. As long as the Z is as fluid and easy to use as it looks, I’m sure it will get a lot of hype, and become quite the popular little PC controller.

Good luck to you, Cywee Z!