Relieve Some Stress

This time of year is extremely stressing. It's when we have so many tests and are bombarded with homework. Although I can't run away from all the stress I did find a way to lessen what I already have. It's a website called OMGpop that offers a diverse range of games. They are so addictive and sadly for me the website tells the amount of hours you have played (So far 14 hours and 10 minutes; that's a lot of stress relieving huh?). Two of my favorite games are Balloono and LetterBlox. They are the games that I have spent the most time on and what keep me the most entertained.

Balloono was the first game that I found on the site. You act as a little monkey that drops balloons that break crates; when some crates break there are power-ups that are revealed. They allow you to drop more balloons, go faster, and have a farther range. After getting as many power-ups as you can, you start going after the other monkeys. The last monkey standing is the winner.

In LetterBlox, you are given six different letters that you have to make into as many words as possible.If you get stuck and don't see any words you can hit space to shuffle the letters. You have a set amount of time so you have to type really fast. Although Balloono is the most fun game this is the most addictive. I played for an hour trying to get in first place and it only happened once. The key to winning is knowing how to touch type and of course having a gigantesque vocabulary. Needless to say I am working on both.

Check out the site and tell me what your favorite game is... and while you're there

ADD ME AS A FRIEND.

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Something New for Someone Old

As you get older you start losing more and more things. It starts with your sight, goes to your memory and then ends with your hearing. Although this TV doesn't give you back all of these things it does enhance what you have left of them.

As you lose your sight it gets harder and harder to see your remotes. The buttons are small and there are just so many. The TV Ears TV comes with a remote that has only six buttons (Power, Volume up, Volume down, channel up, channel down and mute). It also has a slide down panel that reveals a traditional number keypad to get to a channel faster. TV Ears takes great pride in their remote and they have every right to.

Usually the farther you sit from your TV the harder it is for you to hear... but not with this TV. As long as you are in range you will have no problems hearing from anywhere you're sitting. This set comes standard with a comfortable set of wireless headphones. This move was was made to cut down on volume blasting when switching from channel to channel.

The best feature, in my opinion, is what the creators included for those that fall asleep while watching TV. After 4 hours the set will automatically turn off so as not to waste any money on your electric bill and not surprise you when you wake up in the morning. The TV's timer resets whenever you press a button on your remote so it won't turn off while you're actually watching TV.

The price is steep at $1,199 but all that money doesn't just go into the set. To maintain their senior friendliness the company offers White Glove Services. They deliver the TV, hook it up, program the remote for all of your external devices, and they initiate one on one instruction for the owner. If the price hasn't turned you away and the features interest you the set will be available to consumers in March. You can find more information about this set HERE

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The First Surprise of 2010

Yesterday in technology class we had to find movie animation software. I know about movie-making software but not animation so I went on the #1 ranked website in the world and I screamed when I saw the screen.

For some reason I thought that the Google Nexus One was going to come out later on in the year and all of the videos and pictures were just leaked to get the hype up from consumers. The idea really stuck in my head because for me it was the most ideal. The Google phone coming out later in the year would give me an ample amount of time to save for it.

As I dug into the site I was even more impressed. The videos and pictures of this device did not lie. It seems that Google did enough work to beat out Apple's iPhone on almost every front. The iPhone has a 3.5 inch screen and the Nexus One boasts a 3.7 inch screen. The Nexus One costs $529.00 with no contracts and the iPhone costs $599.00. The iphone allows 5 hours of talk time and the Nexus One allows 7 hours of talk-time... and the list goes on and on.

The features of the actual device aren't even what push it over the edge. It's the fact that this phone is open to almost every carrier; not one sole carrier who's network isn't even that great (Ahem, ahem iPhone). It's now available on a plan with VodaFone and T-Mobile. If you buy it unlocked it can be used on any GSM carrier except you will not be able to get 3G connection, just EDGE. It will also be available for Verizon in the Spring time of this year.

The NY Post called this device a 'Superphone' and I totally agree with them!

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My Keyboard is Dusty!

These past 2 and a half weeks have been so busy! I've had an enormous amount of homework, a few projects here and there, some Christmas shopping that I had to get done, and I went on a 4 day cruise to the Bahamas with a program that I'm in.

Days turned into weeks and because of all the things that I was doing I totally forgot about my blog; I forgot about you, my readers, and I'm sorry. I was drowning in a sea of work but I have risen above it all and I have so many ideas that you're going to be hit with a barrage of posts!

I'm back and I'm not going anywhere anytime soon!

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Beat Your School's Proxy

We do a lot of advanced things in my Technology class so my teacher is always giving free time as a treat for doing so well. We get to surf the web and check our e-mails, it's really fun until I get a screen like this...

It gets me upset when websites like this, or other needed websites are blocked and I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one. To all of my readers that have the same problem, I have compiled a list of websites that allow you to bypass this filter.

• Learncalculus
• Studyhallhelp
• Proxify
• Mathtunnel
• Ninjaproxy
• The-cloak
• Greenrabbit
• Diyrollercoaster
• Melloyello
• Saselinux

You don't have to change any settings or download any plug-ins, and they're all free which is the best part. You just visit one of these sites and type in the blocked URL and it will bring you to it without any hint of the Websense screen above. Happy Surfing!

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Commentary: Apple owns up to a Snow Leopard bug

Having watched Microsoft (MSFT) go through a weekend from hell for wiping out the personal data of thousands of T-Mobile (DT) customers, Apple (AAPL) finally acknowledged a data-swallowing bug that Snow Leopard users have been complaining about since September.

"We are aware of the issue, which occurs only in extremely rare cases, and we are working on a fix," an Apple spokesperson told CNET's Erica Ogg on Monday.

According to several hundred messages on Apple's discussion boards, the Snow Leopard problem is triggered when users log in and out of an old Leopard guest account and then try to log back in to their regular account. One victim described the effect as follows:

"Not only did Snow Leopard wipe out ALL of my documents, my email accounts, my address book, it broke the dynamic spell checker in yahoo messenger, caused random problems with Safari, InDesign, and others, caused lockups, spinning beach balls, loud fans… and it was just getting worse. I am restoring Leopard (sans snow) as I write this."

(via BrainStormTech)

Commentary: I came across this article and I wasn't surprised. It was something that many people have talked about: their problems with Snow Leopard. I have heard it from bloggers, I've heard it from Youtubers, I've even heard it from non-techies... Apple seriously did something wrong with Snow Leopard. From the minor glitches to the major ones like the one above Apple definitely didn't come out with the most innovative operating system this time. Yes, the upgrade came with a few features that made me smile for a few moments but when you really look into it they're not good enough to cover up the bad that Snow Leopard causes.

Although I am mad with the lack of innovation and abundance of problems with this product I am really happy with Apple as a company. It may have taken them a long time but they actually owned up to their mistakes. They didn't hide them like some companies... AHEM AHEM Microsoft... It shows that they listen to their customers and are trying to amend the problems that they are having. It shows that they actually care.

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Blackberry Desktop Manager for Mac

The Blackberry Desktop Manager for Mac was just released Friday of last week. It's the easy way to sync and backup your calendars, contacts, tasks, notes and music... or so they say. The actual program is very user friendly but what it does to your Blackberry is HORRIBLE, or at least what it did to mine.

After a very short installation period, the program asked for me to plug my Blackberry in to verify that I actually have one. As soon as I did, it told me that I don't have the latest software and asked if I would like to download. I answered yes, my first mistake! As soon as i upgraded my software it deleted my browser and everything else that I had involving data. I had to call Verizon to get everything back and it wasn't fun.

To make sure that something like that would never happen again I decided to backup everything that I had on my phone. It was a pretty smart move considering what happened next!

Syncing with my Mac was easy but once again the consequences were not desired. When I pressed the button it told me that I had information that was repetitive on my Mac and Blackberry. It asked if I wanted to erase the information that was on both machines so I pressed yes for all of the options because like anybody else I didn't want anything to be repeating on either my Mac or Blackberry. Once again I made a drastic mistake. This time, instead of erasing all of my internet based applications it erased everything else. My notes, my tasks, my contacts, my calendars and my bookmarks. I called Verizon once again to see what was going on and they said that it's just a glitch that the program is having, that there's nothing that they could do now and it will probably be resolved within a few weeks.

Now this is what I know everybody has been waiting for, the moral of the story: Never EVER download and/or use a new program without checking it out even if it's from a trusted company. Read reviews and watch tutorials on Youtube just don't be one of their unpaid Beta testers.

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2 Billion Downloads Celebration!!

Today Apple has achieved yet another amazing feat. Their App Store- the world's largest and most revolutionary- has just reached 2 billion downloads in less than a year.

I thought that this achievement was so amazing that I should celebrate with you, my readers, and giveaway the latest edition of Mac|Life's very own iPhone Handbook that not only includes hands-on how-tos but also reviews of 44 APPS, external battery packs, speakers, cases, headphones and more.

So, if you have an iPhone or are just interested in getting a brand new iPhone magazine here's how to join:

MANDATORY ENTRY- You must do this before you recieve any extra entries:

Subscribe via e-mail or feed. Subscription options can be found on the right-hand side. If you’re already a subscriber, let me know! If you subscribe by e-mail, you must validate your e-mail address. You can do so via the e-mail sent by Feedburner. If you do not validate your e-mail address the entry will be disqualified.

EXTRA ENTRIES:

1. Leave a comment on any other blog post.

2. Follow me on Twitter (@TeenOnDaRise) and tweet about the giveaway. Your tweet must include my name, @TeenOnDaRise and RT. One tweet a day until the giveaway ends, so tweet it up!

3. Fave me on Technorati or Digg for 2 extra entries (you must leave 2 separate comments with your username if you enter this way).

**********

GIVEAWAY ENDS OCTOBER 5, 2009 11:59 P.M. EST

Open to US and Canada residents only

**********

I will be using Random.org to choose the winner so in order to qualify for the giveaway you must leave a separate comment for each entry that is completed. You will not be counted otherwise.

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There's Still Room For More...

I've been hearing the same question over and over again: "Why did Apple give the Nano a video camera and not the Touch?" I think the answer's simple. It's to make sure that the world's best selling mp3 player stays around for just a bit longer. If you really look at it Apple has crammed everything that they can into the little guy. A pedometer, FM radio with live pause, a mic and speaker, accelerometer, voice over and a video camera. At this point, what more could they add?

The iPod Touch is a different story, there's still room for more. Everybody just has to remember that Apple is a company and they want to make this touch screen phenomena stay successful for as long as possible and adding a camera in this generation would have just made it that much harder to top themselves. But, pictures have already been released so we definitely don't have long to wait for the next refresh.

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In Case You Missed It!

For all of you who like me were stuck at school (or work) and missed out on the apple keynote event and don't know the latest on what's going on with their products I have compiled a list of all of the refreshes that they have made.

• The iPod Classic received a capacity bump from 120GB to 160GB but is still being kept at the same price ($249).
• The iPod Touch received a price drop, a cut and a hardware upgrade. The 8GB is now $199.00 (down from $229), the 16GB is now nonexistent, the 32GB is down to the price that the 16GB once was ($299) and there is now a 64GB model priced at $399. Both the 32GB and 64GB are also supposed to be 50% faster than previous generations and will run OpenGL ES 2.0. A 3.1 firmware is also now available free of charge, for those that already run 3.0, and is only $4.95 for those that don't.
• The iPod Shuffle is now being sold in pink, green, blue and limited edition stainless steel (only sold on the Apple online store and Apple Stores) along with the original black and silver. A new 2GB edition also joins the mix at $59. Apple is also working with third parties to make headphones compatible with the Shuffle's features.
• The iPod Nano received the best (in my opinion) price drop and hardware upgrade. It now comes standard with a video camera, speaker, FM radio, the new Genius Mix, Voice Over, a built in pedometer and a larger 2.2 inch screen. The 8GB version stayed at the same price of $149 but the 16GB version has dropped from $199 to $179, which makes me wonder who would buy the 8GB when they can get the 16 for just $30 more?

If you still want to see the whole Keynote you can click HERE.

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Grand Theft Apple

It still boggles my mind how these 5 goons were able to take off with 23 MacBook Pros, 14 iPhones, and 9 iPod Touches (equivalent to $32,470) in just 31 seconds!

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Back To School: Top 5 Best Apps

School is just around the corner, if not already started for some people, so I thought that it would be appropriate to have the top 5 best Mac apps for school that don't already come pre-installed with your mac. My list doesn't have an order, so you can ignore the numbers.

1. Task List is essential for those that take their laptops to school but is still great for those that don't. It allows you to track your assignments, grades (and converts them into your GPA), notes, and goals. The newest version 5.2 allows you to keep everything handy on your dashboard with a widget, can be locked with a password, has graphs, statistics, 5 levels of priority for each assignment and a school overview for at-a-glance information.

2. Quicksilver is a program for all of those people that don't like taking their hands off of their keyboards. You can launch and do almost anything with this app with just a few keystrokes.

3. Google doc isn't an app but should be made into one. This website is for all of the people that don't want to dish out money for a word processing suite. This site allows you to type up anything you want, and save it as almost any type of file. You just need to make a Google account.

4. iClip is an amazing app that automatically records everything (that includes pictures, regular text, and even apps) that you copy and/or cut into it's little 'hub'. It's great for people like me who are always losing their much needed notes because there is no such thing as 'Copy 2' or 'Paste 2'.

5. Desktop Curtain does exactly what it's named. It makes a curtain fall over everything on your desktop to give you privacy, whether it be while presenting a Keynote presentation in front of your teachers or just to hide whatever clutter you usually have on it. You could also format the app to cover just certain apps and leave others unhidden.

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Better Than Willy Wonka...

LG's powerhouse, the Chocolate, is back and better than ever. Now boasting a 4 inch display I must say that this is the nicest looking LG phone I have seen yet.

The phone is very similar to the iPhone whereas it has very little buttons. Only volume control/zoom (they're the same button), an assigned camera button and a power button. Everything else is done on the huge 4 inch HD display that is basically the whole front of the phone.

The device is extremely narrow but also very thin. It has a 3.5mm audio port, 5 megapixel camera, accelerometer, and wifi built in. What most people love is the user-friendly interface. It acts as a 3-D 'cube' that you can flick through to see desktop-like sides that allow you to achieve different tasks. It also has customizable widgets that you can place on any of the sides.

The device is extremely sensitive so there is no need for you to press down on the screen just tap. It's really responsive so there is not much lag when you switch to the different sides of the 'cube' and to the different apps/widgets. All of these features have made this Chocolate even tastier than ever! Much better than Willy Wonka's!

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Upgrading From Tiger is illegal!

From the EULA (Joe Kissel)

"If you have purchased an upgrade for Mac OS X Leopard license, then subject to the terms and conditions of this license, you are granted a limited non-exclusive license to install, use and run one (1) copy of the Apple software on a single Apple- branded computer as long as that computer has a properly licensed copy of Mac OS X Leopard already installed on it."

Don't worry Apple is still giving all of their Tigers a chance to upgrade with the all in one deal, the Mac Box Set, for $169.00 It includes:

• Mac OS X 10.6
• iPhoto '09
• Garageband '09
• iMovie '09
• iWeb '09
• iDVD
• Numbers '09
• Keynote '09
• Pages '09

Although it is illegal you could still walk into the store and buy the upgrade, so use your own judgement, and make the right decision!

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Premature Birth: Snow Leopard

Yesterday one lucky Japanese man received a Snow Leopard start up disk with the purchase of his Mac Mini. Although the story is believable, this slip up has added even more confusion to the release date that Apple has set for it's new Operating System. Just a few weeks ago, it was said to be August 28th but now it's more than a week away. Many say that the delayed release date is for the sole purpose of competing with Windows 7. Nobody, but Apple employees are positive of that but whatever it's for, we now (assuming that Apple doesn't change their release date yet again) don't have too long to wait!

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Airport Extreme-ly Incompatible?

While I was researching what MacBook Pro I wanted I saw the Airport Extreme and all of the neat feaures that come with it. It has the latest "N" technology, you could connect a wired printer or hard drive (both if you buy a USB hub) that become wireless, it allows you to make a guest network so your guests dont need to know the primary password for the router, it has dual-band support so it's faster on handheld devices (ex: iPod Touch, iPhone, Nintedo DSi etc.) and has a greater range, it has an automatic firewall that doesnt need to be set up so your conected hard drive wont be attacked, it has parental controls, allows up to 50 users without slowing the router down and finally is compatible with both a Mac and PC... Or so they say.

I only checked out the Apple site before I brought it and saw all of the rave reviews for the product. I was so excited about getting a new Apple product that I didn't do as much research as I should have. I only looked at the Apple site, and of course I thought that that was good enough but it wasn't. I failed to remember the fact that I would be connecting it to a PC so I should be looking at forums and how well it connected to a PC. So eventually, I remembered that small fact and did more research, after I had brought the product, and boy was I surprised. Everything on Google that popped up was how bad the Airport Extreme is on PCs especially those that run Vista. I'm a little scared now that I have a product that i spent so much on that may not be compatible with my computer. I'm going to take a leap of faith with Apple and keep the product and when i eventually connect the Airport Extreme hopefully it will work like a charm. We don't know yet, but soon enough we will! So, keep an eye out for an update on my blog.

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