Category Archives: Computers & Electronics

Games: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3

Call of Duty Modern Warefare 3 is realeased on 8th November and is now available for pre-order. There is still a lot of buzz about this third installment of the Modern Warfare branch of the Call of Duty video games, which is available on PS3, XBox 360.

The game, which is a first person action warfare game which mainly involves US troops against those of a fictional Russian Federation, adds some improvements to the previous Modern Warfare 2 game to which it is a sequel, which include much improved multi-player games and an expanded toolkit to increase your choice of play style.

Check out further details of the improvements in Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 by checking out the links below and pre-order now for a guaranteed lowest price.

   

Gadgets Priced the Same in Pounds and Dollars

So recently we have been comparing the prices of some gadgets in pounds and dollars and there seems to be a great discrepancy for some reason. So why are a lot of gadgets priced the same in pounds as they are in dollars? (if not more).

One particular item in question is the new cheap Kindle. In Amazon in the US you can get hold of this Kindle for $79 yes in the UK you have to pay £89. Why is this? If you use the current exchange rate of pounds to dollars  of around 1.6 dollars being equivalent to a pound then £89 equates to $142 – which means that the price is 80% higher than in the States – which is pretty ridiculous.

            

If anyone has any input about why the prices of gadgets and technology in the UK are so much higher than in the US then please leave your comments below as we would be interested to hear.

This is just one example but if you look at other gadgets then they also seem to have a similar pricing structure so why are people int he UK suffering with higher prices?

Getting Screenshots in Picasa

When you want to take a screenshot for whatever the reason, one of the easiest ways to do it or to actually edit the screenshot is by using Picasa, the photo editing software from Google. There is a whole lot of changes that you can do in Picasa to enhance your images or just to change them a bit and the software is free.

So, to get your screenshot in Picasa there is one essential thing that you must do. To get the screenshot you would normally just click on the print screen button on your keyboard (located between the keys and the numbers on a standard keyboard or often to the right of the function keys on a laptop keyboard), however to get a Piacasa screenshot you actually need to have Picasa open before doing so.

Once Picasa is open then you can flick back to the page that you want to get a screenshot of and hit the print screen button. Immediately that you do this you will see the pop-over appear in the bottom right corner of your screen that shoes that picasa has another image loaded. If you click on this image as it pops over it will take you straight to the screenshot, or, if you are not quick enough then you can go to picasa and in the search bar enter ‘Screen Captures’. This will take you to the screenshots that you have taken so that you can edit them.

Screenshots in Picasa are initially saved as bitmap files but you can crop and change them and then export them as jpgs without leaving Picasa.

Steve Jobs Resigns from Apple

Steve Jobs was one of the founders of Apple and had been active in it’s management since the start. He had previously worked for other high profile companies including HP and Atari (the biggest maker of computer games and consoles in the 70’s) and also went off to form his own company as a kind of spin off from Apple.

He worked as the CEO of Apple until he was unfortunately struck with cancer in 2004 –  although it appeared to be a non-aggressive and rare form of pancreatic cancer that was treatable.

He was seen at various conferences and keynote speeches for Apple after his treatment and although he appeared thin and gaunt, continued to work for the company. There are many of Steve Jobs keynote addresses and presentations that can be found on Youtube so that is a great place to look to see what Steve Jobs is about.

In August 2011 Steve jobs resigned from Apple on health grounds, after a period of medical leave but continues as the Chairman of the Board of directors as he had requested in his resignation letter.

Postscript – so the sad news came through on 5th October that Steve Jobs had passed away peacefully at home with his family around him at the age of 56.

HP Touchpad

The HP Touchpad was HP’s venture into the world of the tablet PC. When Apple brought out the iPad this led to a wealth of new tablet PCs being introduced by various major players in the market. The HP Touchpad was integrated with Microsoft products and was one of the products that Microsoft had in its arsenal for it’s battle against Apple.

Reviews were good for the HP Touchpad and so many people were surprised when HP announced that they would be no longer manufacturing the tablet PC but would only be continuing production to keep up with any outstanding orders.

It may well be that HP will sell off certain parts of the business so that someone else can continue what the touchpad has started but at the moment that is just a possibility. When the financial climate is hard then tough decisions need to be made and it seems that is what HP have done. The tablet PC market is a tough one with a lot of players now so maybe the lack of sales of the HP touchpad have sent ti to it’s death.

In any case it seems that HP will keep making the touchpad until very late in the year (2011) to fulfill the demand and then we will just have to see what happens to it after that.