I’ve just received my new Acer Aspire One; the most popular Netbook available. Netbooks are a new category of personal computers, that only evolved with the launch of the Asus Eee PC a few months ago.
My Acer Aspire One only took a few moments to set up, and I’m pretty happy with it. I can browse the internet, write Office documents, play games, chat on messenger and even install more open source software (after a small tweak is applied to enable the advanced mode).
The OS is Linux Linpus Lite, which is very easy to use; perfect for even the computer illiterate. The system is very quick and responsive, and the built in Webcam is a nice addition. The keyboard is almost full size, and really easy to use; (this was a worry of mine). However, for the advanced user, ‘tweaks’ need to be applied. This is something Acer has done to the extreme, locking the OS down.
The Netbook is an interesting development; Intel has said that is pretty much a ‘fad’, but I disagree. What could be better for checking your emails or a little bit of internet shopping while in a cafe or on the train (where WiFi is available). The experience on the Aspire One is 100 times better than on a 3g phone; this is the real internet-YouTube and the BBC iPlayer, things which don’t work that well on a mobile, or even on the iPhone.
Alexandra Burke is this year’s winner of the nationwide talent search, the X Factor.
Her first single, a cover of Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah has already reached the number 1 spot, and out sold Leona Lewis’ Run.
But some are not happy. Hallelujah is a special song, that took Cohen 5 years to write, and the late Jeff Buckley’s version, (which is currently number 2), is regarded as the definitive version of it. How dare Simon Cowell manufacture the song?
I disagree with their arguments. Hallelujah is an amazing song, but I think anyone has a right to sing it. That is the intended point of a song; to be sung. The song gives praise to God, and I believe this is something to be shared.
Why should she not sing it? Just because it has brought the song to the public’s attention. It’s a good version too; perhaps not as simple but effective as Buckley’s, but still a good cover. And the nation agrees.
The Net is home to hundreds of millions of websites, ranging from Wikipedia, Google, Facebook, to the taboo, illegal, murky side of the Web.
Should the government be able to stop us accessing this content? What about Torrent sites etc? If the government has power to block any site it wishes, perhaps it will start blocking sites that are critical of it, that speak out negatively about new policy?
What is the limit? Could we start living in a Chinese-Communist society, where our internet is firewalled? I believe this is against our human and civil rights. We should have freedom of speech, and that means accessing any sort of web content that we wish to.
In Australia, the Government has asked the major ISPs to participate in a trial of filtering over 10,000 websites that are deemed to have illegal content on them.
Rightly so, Telstra, the largest ISP has denied this, and other ISPs are following suit. My worry is could we see the same sort of thing over here in the UK? Could we be monitored? 1984 may become 2009. I hope not.
When was the last time you went to a Casino? Have you ever played from home over the internet? This blog shows some great game ideas. Poker is probably one of the best online games, and part of the fun is having nicknames. Without this, it wouldn’t be poker! Poker can be very high stake too; with prizes in the millions, such as the World Series of Poker Europe, offering 40 million USD. Check out that blog for more posts.
The BBC is reporting today that there is a new virus affecting Facebook users, known as ‘Koobface’, (great name!). Now, when I saw this I thought déjà vu. I blogged about this a month ago on November 2nd.
Apparently the virus send out messages acting like a friend, linking to a virus. Hundreds of websites are now reporting the same, see here. In fact, Google returns 5,580,000 results. If only people had listened to me lol.
I’ve just bought a new keyboard; a Mac one. You might ask why; I’m using Vista on a PC. Well, it’s because of the keyboard’s design. It looks amazing, and typing on it is really easy; the keys size, angle and spacing is perfect for my fingers. Well done Apple! Another great product. All I need now is a Mighty Mouse!
Money Casino is one of the most popular online casinos, and it’s new product is especially interesting.
It has now added a new game to its repertoire; 4 hand Blackjack. If you’re an experienced player of the game, you’ll know that paying with more than one hand is really fun; being faster and more challenging than the traditional game.
This version of the game has a ‘Strategy Table’, which gives the player advice on what moves to make, and whether or not to Stand, Hit, Split or Double, depending on your hand and the card the dealer is showing. This is completely embedded into the table, and shown by clicking a small tab at the bottom of the table, which reads “Basic Strategy”.
Money Casino offer other benefit’s to its members, including its very popular magazine. It offers top tips, techniques and guides on how to play the game, plus other general advice for other games.
Currently the website is offering a 100% welcome bonus to new members, and the jackpot at the minute is over $100,000. If you’re using Windows you can download the software, or for Mac users, you can play through your browser with flash.
Britney’s performance on the X Factor last Saturday has been heavily criticized in the press. To some extent I agree; the performance wasn’t as good as it could have been. It was disappointing that she didn’t sing live, and she was thinking a lot when she was dancing, which disrupted it’s “natural flow”. However, I think she should be given a break. She’s had a tough year, and it’s great to see that she’s coming over the hill from that. Her confidence will surely grow again, and we’ll see her back on top soon.
When she performed Womanizer on Star Academy in France, her performance was better I thought. See it below:
UPDATE: This video has now be removed because of TF1. See the X Factor video instead.
The BBC is reporting 
