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Newsgroups Provider Newshosting Upgrades Their Retention to 1750 Days (and growing)

newsgroups6451561156I am always writing my many reviews for various services around the internet, and this one never gets old. I have mentioned them (Newshosting) many times in the past (including one of the most popular posts on this website: “How to use Newsgroups for Downloading Anime (for Beginners)“) as being one of the very BEST newsgroup services to use (without a doubt). They are the fastest, they are the most reliable, most affordable (especially for what you get) and of course they have one of the highest retention windows in the market (now towering in at 1750 days and growing!).

That means it retains post records for 1750+ days compared to the competition which still on average offers about a year…maybe two. So if you run across a post that you just really have to read or download, and it was posted over 4 years ago…it can still be yours. No more of having to set a year limit in your newsgroup reader for searching for posts. Newshosting has offered far more retention for a number of years now and it just keeps growing. Who knows what it will be by next year. Newhosting’s resources are massive and they don’t shed a single tear at sharing it with you.

So if you enjoy newsgroups, and enjoy not having a limitation to what you can find…and say…you want all the anime your heart could ever desire (or pictures, news, art, open source applications and whatever other media exists out there)…choose Newshosting. I myself have been using them for years and you won’t find me with anyone else! A big thanks to them! Keep it up!

…I got a little hyper in my thoughts there out of excitement but well worth it as I already have a post for the day 😀

NH *Specials 300×250 A

Hisense Sero 7 Lite and Pro – Better Than The Google Nexus 7 Tablet

So I have been keeping my eyes open for both friends, family and myself…to find the great options for tablets. Some looking for power, some look for cost and like me, some look for both. Last year’s Google Nexus tablet was pretty nice outside of the fact that it was missing certain features…certain *important* features that in my eyes makes or breaks a tablet.

The biggest of these features was an SD card slot. How could they make such a great tablet but not include an SD card slot?? So naturally I never bought one.  It’s missing some other features like a rear-facing camera and decent speakers, but an SD card slot is a deal breaker for me. I *almost* bought one for my house last year until I read that.

Now! Enter the “Hisense Sero 7 LT ($99!!!) and the Hisense Sero 7 Pro ($149)! These capture everything the Nexus has but also has a camera on both sides (Update: the Pro has both cams, but not the Lite/LT) so you can both take pictures and do video conversations, it has HDMI out so you can connect it to a TV, AND…it has an SD card slot…AND….it costs less.

Sadly it doesn’t have much space on-board as I would like but it definitely makes up for it with the addition of the SD card slot so you can expand your space.

So for those on a budget yet still looking for a killer tablet…you’d be nuts not to give this a try. At the price, you might as well snag one even if you have another tablet already floating around the house.

Now let’s hope when Google launches a new Nexus tablet that they make the right move this time.

 

Here are the links again for the two tablets:

$99 – Hisense Sero 7 LT (Dual Core, base features)

$149 – Hisense Sero 7 Pro (Quad Core, base features +NFC, Bluetooth, larger battery, more space, higher res screen, cams on both sides)

Obviously the Pro is the way to go but if you just need something simple and don’t need the extra options…and want it to be dirt cheap, then the Lite/LT is for you!

As always, every time I see something amazing, I try to share the intel and I will never (hopefully) lead your wrong! I try never to review something I don’t feel *strongly* about! 😀

 

 

Greatest Tool for Assembling Video Projection Screens for Stagehands and AV Techs

A lot of stagehands and AV techs stroll through the day assembling large projection screens that contain these snaps that aren’t always the easiest on the thumbs and fingers to manage when it comes to stretching the screen out to it’s destination. Pulling and tugging, while trying to snap these things down over and over and over. By the end of things your hands and fingers are sore and numb.

Basically this tool eliminates it by giving you leverage. It gives you something to grab the screen with so you can easily pull to stretch it and just snap it into place without damaging the screen or it’s snaps (or your fingers). It can also be used to open the snaps that may be stuck (unusual but an example none-the-less). One of the greatest things I have ever seen in a category of work….that doesn’t have any tools to help you out.

The tool was actually created for boat covers that use the same concept and same size/type snaps. It helps boat owners stretch their boat cover easily and into place to snap it on. Thanks to the fact that the snaps are the same it becomes a hybrid tool 🙂

Click here for more intel!

 

 

Build Your Own Affordable Home Automation System Using Z-Wave

SmartHomeThis is something I have had a lot of fun with and since I took the time to really it break down for a good friend of mine who was interested in doing this as well, I figured I could share the content with everyone.

Currently if you hire a company to come to your house and build out an automation system in your home…it will run you about $5000 to $20,000+ depending on how crazy you want to get with it. That doesn’t have to be the case though. If you are a fan of tech, you could easily build our your own system without even having to run wires through the walls. Best of all, it could only cost you about $500 to $1500 on average with NO monthly costs.

The same goes for security companies. You can hire a company to come to your house and build out an expensive alarm system that they claim to monitor and make life easier for you, which of course you have to pay monthly for…forever. If something happens, they usually study the situation…call in a car to drive by your home (of course they aren’t allowed to enter or intervene), make a decision on if there is a problem and then finally call you to ask if you want to contact the police (meanwhile 30+ minutes have gone by). Or, you can build your own, manage it yourself with intel shot directly to your phone via txt or emails with the ability to respond instantly by calling the police or rushing home (to take care of the problem yourself heh). Once again, no monthly costs.

How do you do it? Z-Wave! Z-Wave is an open-source born approach to wifi/ip based devices that allows you to interconnect all of the devices in your home wirelessly via your home network. It can be used to simply control lighting, a simple alarm system or a full out automated home automation system. Your options are endless (or at least through time grow closer and closer to endless as new devices and approaches are discovered).

All of your devices can be used to communicate with each other to help control security, lighting, energy conservation, disaster awareness (ie flooding/leaks) and more. You can control your home theaters, living rooms or audio setups even (depending on your setup).

Here is a detailed break down of some of the products available to you and your options (prices based on the time I post this article, and may change over time although most likely would go down in price as new devices reach the market):

  • The Brain! (Vera Lite Controller) – This is one of the more affordable hubs that creates a control center for all of the devices (about 50-60 total). currently at $179 (sometimes falls on sale to $150-160)
    • You can also get the upgraded unit (The Vera3) which can control a greater number of devices and has it’s own wifi network so that you can have a sub network within your network that is dedicated just to your z-wave devices.
  • Foscam HD 720p IP/Wifi Cam – They come in black and white and are currently only $80-85 each usually depending on color (down from $159)
    • They also make a new HD/960p version of the cameras as well that runs about $105-120 range.
  • Honeywell Thermostate – Connects your thermostat to the network. Currently $123 (sometimes falls on sale to $103-109)
    • Allows you to view and control it remotely from vera’s control screen, or from an app on your phone or tablet, as well as for it to speak back and forth with other devices if you want to get creative (ie I have ceiling fans on z-wave switches that can be triggered on and off whenever the AC is turned on/off. I also have global scenes that control the power to all of these). Or you can also control the status of your A/C or heater based on the weather outside.
    • They also make more advanced z-wave thermostats that are more pricey but offer more features such as smart learning.
      • Example: Nest is a very popular one although I have never tried it out. It offers a futuristic interface and rocks a lot of advanced features (did I mention it looks cool?)
  • Kwikset Deadbolt – Connects your door lock to the network, comes in chrome, brass or bronze and also has other shapes/models (different locks for different people). Currently $188 (averages about $179-199 usually)
    • Other forms by kwikset: contemporary deadbolt, lever/handle (if you have a storage room, specialty room, etc you want to limit access to),
    • Yale also makes a super cool looking touch screen lock. It’s a little more expensive though but it at least has fallen in price compared to it’s original $400 price tag. Currently $235 (now avg price range of $220-240)
  • Outlet/Receptacle – Turn one of your wall outlets into a z-wave controlled outlet. Currently $29 and GE also makes one for about $40 (avg price).
  • Light Switch – Turn one of your light switches into a z-wave switch. GE also makes one as well that’s a little more. Currently $44 (averages about $38+)
    • Note: There are also 3-way kits (for lights with multiple switches) as well as dimmers. Some companies are working on stylish ones as well such as touch controlled switches and the like (these should be on the market later this year hopefully).
  • Plug Module – For when you don’t want to swap out the receptacle itself but want something that can move around to other plugs or be removed at any time. It just plugs into any outlet and turns it into a z-wave controlled outlet. Currently I use these and the receptacles to shut power to major devices that consume larger amounts of power during standby while away from home. Currently $32 (avg price is $29-39).
    • Let’s say you have a handful of devices throughout the houses such as amps, receivers, TVs, fans, blenders and cookware and other things that consume a power on standby (when they are turned off but still plugged in). Let’s say….in-all, it consumes about 100-150 watts of electricity and only 2 or 3 of these modules and/or receptacles could control them all…within a year or a little more you will make back what you spent buying these to control them and then start saving money from that point on. Sweet!
    • Extra tip: If you need to know how much power these devices are consuming on standby, buy this extremely affordable outlet monitor and plug it in the wall, plug your device (or power strip) into it and make sure the device is turned off. Then click on the “watts” button and see how much power it is still consuming to see if it’s worth controlling. If it’s 10 watts or 40-60+ watts…the 1-watt (usually) it costs to have one of these modules or outlets in use…outweighs the cost well (it pays for itself within 0.5 to 3 years and the rest is savings).
  • Strobe and Siren – So you can have a visual/audible alarm. Currently $40 (avg price $40-50)
  • Door/Window sensor – Can be used on virtually any door or window (some people even use it on their garage door as a way to tell if it’s shut). Currently $52 (avg price is $49-60)
  • Motion Detector – This is a 4-1 detector which has become popular. These sensors can be used where you don’t have camera or you want a different angle for motion detection than you want for the camera’s capture/view. They offer motion, lighting temperature and humidity sensor data which can be each be used in your scenes/triggers to control/trigger other devices with. Currently $60 (avg price $59-65)

They also make z-wave controllable plug/power strips, smart meter readers, moisture detectors (ie for garage floor near your water heater) as well as water shut off valves, light bulbs, light bulb sockets, pool/pump/sprinkler controls, relays, in wall switch converters and so much more. There are also a HANDFUL of tech devices coming out this year and in the future that will support z-wave. For example you can see here on one of the manufacturer’s websites, they have a list of everything they make and all of the things they are working on making possible shortly (including smart film/privacy film for windows and doors). Some of the upcoming devices (as long as they actually do come out and are affordable) can or will change the way we save energy, live or brag about our high tech homes and toys. Garage door control is still fresh territory so hopefully by summer more companies will finally come out with a rock solid solutions (at the moment most of your options are DIY and require your McGuyver skills).

There are also many ways to control other wifi based devices such as receivers (ie Yamaha’s RX series and I think Pioneer’s connected receivers as well), media players and radios, computers (ie remote boot, shut down, opening of applications, playlist control of media players, etc), etc…etc…etc. Some of these options are driven by plugins you can download from the vera lite controller’s app store which are all free but they do require some user interaction, and some other options are driven by custom code. These options of course are optional and would fall into the advanced usage category of z-wave networks but at least act as an example of the crazy things you can accomplish. For example, you can add wifi-based radio that can play back sound files in a playlist so the house can have a voice for certain things (ie, door or window opened, door left unlocked, certain door code users, temperature changes…the options are endless. You just record whatever sound or voice you want for *any* event you want. If you want it to call your roommate a dingle berry every time he turns on a specific light….it can be done. So far the radios I have heard that work best are: Logitech Smart Radio and Sonos devices such as this one.

All of the devices, scenes and triggers can be setup within the controller’s (brain) built-in web based admin center. They can be controlled from there, an app on your phone or various physical controllers like hand remotes (example 1, example 2) (works best for lights on/off as they don’t play nice when it comes to advanced scenes) and wall remotes (example 1).

Also, stay away from devices by “Schlage” and ” Trane” as they are proprietary and want you to use their custom version of z-wave through Schlage which you have to pay monthly for if you want to take advantage of any of the devices (this makes no sense and it’s an insult to the world of open source and z-wave). Also “Ecobee“…although their thermostats are pretty cool looking, I have no intel on if they will work on z-wave yet). Even though some of these devices can be “forced” onto your network…you are limited in access to the features they offer. This paragraph may be biased as I don’t believe you should have to pay to use the services that all the other companies offer for free through their devices and controllers…but I’ll let you determine the best solution 😉

Your options are endless and trust me when I say…it is addicting to keep expanding it larger and larger.

So there you have it. Have fun with your automated house and the things to come that will support it. Name it Jarvis and indulge in it’s awesomeness. When you leave for the day, feel secure in the fact that locking your door now could do more than just…lock the door…but also arm the house…shut off power to your A/C, lights and outlets…and so much more. Then go to your friends and ask tell them: I can control my entire house from my phone. Can you?

 

Update – Nov 2014: corrected some links and added some new examples.
Update – Dec 2014: updated a few links and added new verbiage to better explain a few things. 

Sony VPL-VW1000ES 4K Home Theater ES Projector = AWESOME

The Sony VPL-VW1000ES 4K Home Theater ES Projector is nothing less than amazing. For those interested in the greatest picture you can possibly deliver to your home movie theater, ths is by far something you might want to look into. From mind blowing detail to suprising color quality, this projector brings the most out of the movies you want. What’s really great is that 4K media is right around the corner, where it won’t be long until you can start streaming content to your new projector and enjoying levels of detail no other projector or TV currently on the markey can deliver.

We had the pleasure of watching a private demonstration at CES which showed off the amazing qualities of this device that captured both our attention and our desires all at once. The anticipation to find one of these in our homes was and is still unbearable for most of us. The reaction obtained by the general public was no less vibrant as they showed it off on the exhibit floor.

Obviously, this is a device for those with a higher budget. It has a heavy price because of it’s features so it beefits those who can afford it or tack it onto their loan while buying a new house (when planning out a theater/viewing room into the purchase). For those lucky enough to have one of these at home, you have our congratulations. You are most invited to comment below on how well you love your new projector and share it with the rest of us.

Good job Sony and we look forward to a near-future adventure into the world of tech evolution with Sony at our side. If anyone can push the limits of tomorrow now vs later, Sony can definately pull it off.

Want one now? Here is the best price so far (free shipping and tax-free for most, which is very important).

Newsgroup Special – Win a Year of Free Service

Previously I wrote an article about how to effectively download just about any and all anime, to your hearts desire. In that article I spoke about Newshosting as well as a few other services that you can use to access the newsgroups with (with the greatest speeds and reliability).

I wanted to highlight them over the others at the moment since Newshosting is running a contest where you can win a year of free hosting. Just click on the yellow banner near the top and give it a try!

 

Good luck!

Newshosting.com Review for Newsgroup Access

Under Review: Newshosting

We have used multiple providers in the past, testing both connection and stability and Newshosting has to be one of the best we have seen thus far.

From what we have seen, Newshosting (so far) has had a 0% downtime. Now when I say we put that to the test…I mean we REALLY put that to the test. Since most newsgroup applications record and save their queue information, this really isn’t much of a deal, but for some…it is. It also says a lot about a company’s reputation and pro-activeness to thwart network problems.

One of the biggest selling points of Newshosting, is that they have a retention period that is more than 1000 days!!! That’s not months..that’s YEARS until posts vanish from their servers. Just imagine how much information if just waiting for you. We have used companies in the past that had 60-150 day retentions. You get bored of those companies because you find that you miss out on a lot of stuff. Newshosting eliminates that problem completely.

Next we tested connections. They claim to allow 30-60 connections all at once from your PC. That’s a lot of connections, but is it true? Well, we wound up locking up 3 different machines because we opened all connections at once, and the connection was so strong…it flooded our network/ports and put the PC’s into a total panic. We even had to restart the router because for some reason…it got confused from it and Wifi was totally knocked down. Awesome!

Speed….now there’s an important factor! Tons of retention and enough connections to choke your computer to death…but does it happen quickly? The answer…yes. We tested from 2 different networks. One pulled an average of about 30mbits/s (3.5+MBytes/s), the other a whopping 50mbits/s (6.2MBytes/s). We wanted to go even higher than that but we didn’t have access to a faster ISP connection. This is more than enough to show a result though since I’ve had hard drives transfer information from one to another at a speed slower than that. Got a faster connection to test it with? Sign up with their trial and give it a try. Let us know what your results are and we will post them!

Other benefits? For the most part, pretty much all of their accounts offer unlimited downloads. They have an account where the monthly download is limited to a large number of gigabytes, but to switch up to the unlimited one is such a small difference in price that you might as well go all the way. They also offer encrypted connections which is cool and all of their accounts come with a free trial.

The conclusion: I’m impressed, we’re all impressed and you will be too! Especially if you LOVE to access everything your mind can absorb (and or your hard drives…whichever gives in first). Newshosting has to be the best Newsgroup provider we have ever experienced, and we back it 100% 🙂

My Updated Windows Phone 7 Review

Well I went ahead and bit the bullet and bought a Windows Phone 7….phone. It’s the HTC Surround from AT&T, and I have to admit I am impressed. I have my disappointments but I also understand that Windows Phone 7 isn’t for an extreme techy who likes to treat their phone as more than just a phone/media device.

I like the OS for it’s speed, it’s ability to really take a load while showing little to no lag what’s so ever and it’s deep advantages in multimedia. The is very reliable and so far hasn’t crashed on me. Only certain apps have done something weird here and there (ie Marketplace) but it didn’t effect the OS. It feels very stable, extremely speedy and user friendly.

The user-interface also feels (visually) very happy (unlike the iPhone). Oh, and the GPS (at least on the HTC Surround) is VERY accurate. I was in the dead center of a casino with a giant tower of hotel rooms right above my head and it picked up my exact location. I didn’t have to stand outside and hope it’s not too cloudy or anything. That was great.

Another “VERY” nice advantage of the WP7 phones is that the Xbox integration is really cool. The games on WP7 are finally up to par and quite entertaining.

For normal people looking for a Windows Phone 7, I would recommend it. If you don’t heavily use your phone for business or tcp/ip/port related tasks. If you need a phone that’s a phone yet everything multi-media in one….it’s wonderful.

The disadvantages? Well I am the techy that likes to use and abuse his phone in as many ways as possible. So features I wish it had:

  • File Explorer: I enjoy using my phone as a thumb drive to store common files that I need. They could at least reserve a small space that is separate from everything else on the phone so that you can do this.
  • Remote desktop applications: There are none…WP7 is locked down tight for TCP/IP/Port related tasks so no remote desktop apps (i.e., VNC). There are other apps/services like Skype that cannot be ported over to WP7 at the moment for these same reasons. This really does cripple WP7 from making use of some nice/advanced apps that business users and techies demand for their daily activities.
  • No custom ringtones….wtf Microsoft lol….how can you drop the ball on one of the most common features found in cellphones dating back to…a long time.
  • Voice command no longer covers the media on the phone. Windows Mobile 6.x allowed you to play music by using voice command to pick an artist, track, genre, etc….WP7?…nope. You can dial numbers, open “certain” apps and search with bing via voice command but nothing for music. That sucks when you have a TON of music like I do and don’t want to fiddle around with the menus while using it for work or driving.
  • Sync…..they took out activesync support (except for Exchange Activesync). So when you sync (using Zune now), you can only sync music, videos and podcasts. You can no longer sync your contacts, calendar, etc. Now if they could relax the TCP/IP/Port restriction a little, maybe someone can develop an app to remotely do this at least. I know I’d love to sync with Thunderbird for my contacts and calendar.
  • Office sync: Only syncs “OneNote”….what about the rest? If not via usb then at least via skydrive…common. At the moment you have to email yourself office docs and save them one by one into office.
  • Skydrive…….we should be able to do so much more with it on WP7 🙂
  • We need more full qwerty sliders on the market. AT&T only has the LG and that phone feels and looks like crap. The HTC’s slider looks really nice and has gotten great reviews…..course it’s Sprint only. I hate on-screen keyboards with a passion BUT….I have to say I have been able to compromise a little as the WP7 on-screen kb has to be the best I have ever tried to use.

The “noDo” update is coming soon for WP7 phones that adds a few things like copy/paste (which is why I didn’t add it to the list of things I don’t like). It’s already been rolled out for certain phones/networks. The downside of this update is that it doesn’t fix/add anything that I have mentioned above so …. my list of disadvantages remains the same for now.

Past that, I am beyond happy with this phone. Fastest, nicest looking phone OS I have ever used. Too many restrictions though…feels like MS’s version of the iPhone more than anything. It at least pounds that market very hard proving to be a great threat to Apple.

And that is my review!

My Personal Review on Groupon

Hey Everyone! It’s that time again where I whore out another business based on my experience.

As I always say..I will never steer you wrong. If I feel a business is worth checking out, I will let you know about it. If I feel a business needs to be avoiding, I will most def make sure you know about it 🙂

In this case, Groupon is indeed worth checking out. I waited to jump onto the train of things until I heard feedback from friends. There is a lot of commotion around the net about this website about how popular it is, but I wanted to hear it from people I trust. When they told me how much they loved it, I jumped right in and since then have enjoyed a lot of great deals.

How it works is you register and choose your location. Then, every day they have a special/deal for a local business near you. The “groupon” is usually around 50-70% off (which is awesome). They shoot you an email each time and if you don’t want it, ignore it but if the deal of the day is something that snags you interest, you login and buy one of them. It takes a couple hours max and they send you a link to print the “groupon”. It becomes valid starting the following day after you bought it and most don’t expire for 6-12 months.

I have been mostly using it every time a sweet deal on a local pizza shop pops up. I am an obsessed pizza fan and love trying new places. So when they send me a groupon that costs about $7-10 but it worth $20-30….I jump on it. I have gotten 80% off a local ice skating place.

So Groupon has my two thumbs up 🙂

Click here for more information!

Movie Review: Kick-Ass (2010) – A MUST SEE!!

Kick-Ass, the movie (2010)

This movie is nothing less than amazing for it’s genre type. The movie leaves you laughing from start to finish, and at parts…possibly even applauding (despite your age). I don’t know what is so entertaining about a little girl with a gun bringing bad guys to their knees…but it makes me want to go out and train my little step sis how to kick some rear (not that she isn’t perfect the way she is).

This movie offers a little fun for everyone. The younger crowd will simply think it awesome, and the older crowd may be brought back to their younger days and what it feels like to enjoy a tongue-and-cheek super hero presentation. It’s isn’t realistic, yet it isn’t too over-board. It finds a nice happy place in the middle. The audience I watched it in…grunted, laughed, applauded, burst out with comments like “OH HELL YA!!!” and started socializing with each other after the movie to talk about it amongst each other. You would think you’re at some kind of social movie convention.

So I say, get in your cars, trucks, bikes, skateboards, blades, running shoes, parachutes, power wheels, teleporters…whatever it takes…and get down to your local theater and give this movie a watch! Do it quick before Kick-Ass comes for YOU! And….tell your friends.

The movie obviously contains some language (as if the title doesn’t give that away), so that is something that should be noted (if you plan on bringing your kids).

Over-all Rating: 8/10
Rating within it’s Genre: 9/10

Cast:
Aaron Johnson as Kick-Ass
Christopher Mintz-Plasse as Red Mist
Chloe Moretz as Hit-Girl
Nicolas Cage as Big Daddy