If you want a bare bones web host with good support, A Small Orange may be your best option. However, if you want a little more bang for your buck, HostGator should be your choice. They offer competitive rates ($7.95 per month) and quite a bit of storage space, to the tune of 600GB, as well as 6,000GB of bandwidth (that’s 6 terabytes) and a bunch of extras.

I’ve uncovered a working (at the time of this writing) coupon that will give you a 20% discount on your order. The code is hgc25, which you can apply at checkout. To sign up, use the 300×250 banner at the top of the sidebar or click on THIS LINK. MoreTech is now affiliated with HostGator, so by signing up through the aforementioned links, you’ll be supporting MoreTech as well.

Popularity: 66% [?]

There are certain aspects of a RPG (Role Playing Game) that will either make it wildly successful or a disastrous flop. Those are the learning curve, the graphics and lastly - originality. No one wants to spend hours learning to play a game. If the controls are too complicated, the interest will quickly be lost. Graphics are a big part of any game for a lot of gamers - especially me. I want a game to be beautiful. Baldur’s gate graphics were good for a RPG made 5 years ago, but with Direct X10 recently released, new games should have graphics that look real and set a mood. No one wants to play another Morrowind clone, either. Game content should be unique and original.

The Witcher by Bioware and Atari incorporates the best of the qualifications I mentioned above and wraps it all into a single player RPG that’s easy to play, yet complex enough to offer a challenge, sports beautiful graphics with extremely detailed models, entertaining cinematics, fluid combat maneuvers and magical effects, as well as a concept and story line that I haven’t seen anywhere else.

Character progress is measured in levels. Every level you’re allotted points to distribute between core abilities (strength, dexterity, stamina and intelligence), which offer bonuses and special traits for other abilities, and/or magical “signs” and fighting styles. You determine what role your character will play in combat by how you assign your progression points.

One thing to note is that this game is not for children. Aside from it’s dark tone, there’s adult content that wouldn’t be suitable for kids. Geralt, your hero, has slept with three different women in the course of my playing thus far. The game cuts to a blurry cinematic sequence when your character has an encounter. It’s not pornographic, but it’s still not something you would find in most RPGs. Characters in The Witcher curse. I’ve heard sh**, bit** and fu** so far in the course of play. Since all sequences are cinematic, you hear it all as well as see it in the subtitles. This doesn’t bother me, but again for children it may be too much.

Playing The Game

In The Witcher, you play a genetically enhanced mutant, a magically inclined monster hunter - a Witcher. You begin the game with amnesia, which is a little cliché, but it fits. You’re found unconscious in the wild and taken to the Witcher castle, which is subsequently attacked and ransacked. You triumph over the bandits and set out to find the cause of the attack. This is when Chapter 1 begins. There’s a good two hours of play before you begin the actual game. As of this writing I have just started on the second chapter, and already I’ve spend a good 5 hours on this game.

Combat is not haphazard like other non turn-based RPGs. You click on opponents to attack, but clicking too fast may actually cancels your offense. You have to wait for the cursor to change icons before you can execute more advanced tactics in combat. This is a good thing, because it means the game doesn’t turn into a click fest - think Diablo. Your forefinger will never get tired while play The Witcher. You can easily pause the game and queue potions to drink, change fighting styles and select signs, which again means you’re not in a frenzy to click icons in combat. Geralt can perform a coup de grace on stunned or immobile opponents, which is a lot of fun to watch. He’ll hop on top of an opponent and slice his sword down through his/it’s head, decapitate the opponent, sever limbs, slit throats and other novelties. You see your character do this, rather than read it in subtitles. This feature makes combat seem very real and makes you feel a little bit like god when fighting lesser combatants.

Fighting styles are chosen during combat and should be selected for the appropriate opponent. One is useful against single powerful opponents, another is used when facing off against smaller, more agile enemies and the last is used when facing groups of lesser foes. The last is a brilliant concept. It saves a lot of time when you need to plow through an army of smaller opponents, rather than clicking on each one individually. Fighting styles are different for steel and silver weapons. Silver is best used on monsters and incorporeals, while steel should be used on humanoids and animals. This is one aspect of the game I didn’t like. It would have been less complicated to use the same fighting styles with both types of weapons.

That’s all I can say about the game at this point. I’ll modify this post or post a follow-up once I complete the game. All-in-all, this is a superior single player RPG and one worth picking up. I would recommend a decent system for this game, however. It would be a shame to lose the ambiance if you were forced to play The Witcher on older hardware with mediocre graphics.

Popularity: 73% [?]

The topic that comes up the most when people ask me about computers is wireless networking (also known as Wi-Fi - Wireless Fidelity, or WLAN - Wireless LAN). What does 802.11g mean? How do I configure my router? How can I leech off of my neighbor’s wireless network? Since I’m running a technology blog, I thought I’d impart my knowledge on the technically-unsavy (or the WLAN beginner). These tutorials are not for the super advanced networking guru, mind you, so don’t take it as such! This will be a three-part article, broken down into the following parts:

1. What you’ll need to setup a wireless network (the part you’re reading now).
2. What the standards mean and how to physically setup the wireless network.
3. How to configure your wireless network once it’s been setup.

We’ll be practical here. I’m not going to bore you by going into detail about the out-dated wireless standards. You don’t want to know about old technology that you can’t buy anymore. Saying that, I will give you a single paragraph rundown on the origin of the terms IEEE and 802.11, because you’ll see them throughout this three-part article.

What do the terms IEEE and 802.11 mean?

The incremental wireless standards are designated by a letter (e.g. b, g, n) after the numbers 802.11. It’s called 802.11 because that was the name of the group formed to create the standard. You’ll see the acronym IEEE as well, which means ‘Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers’ - the organization that ultimately oversaw the 802.11 group and the creation of the wireless standard. The average consumer doesn’t need to know anything more than that. Pretty straight-forward, no?

Shopping for your wireless network.

Now, lets talk about what you’ll find when you shop for a wireless router. We’ll start with what you’ll need to setup a wireless network in your home - the basics. First, you’ll need a wireless router. There are plenty of makes and models, but generally they do the same thing. I won’t get into which is best, but I’ll tell you what I use. My wireless router is made by D-Link, using the ‘n’ standard (more on standards later). The other major router manufacturers are NetGear, Linksys, Buffalo, Belkin and TRENDnet. Like I said though, they all do generally the same thing. Don’t worry too much about the brand.

The next piece of equipment you’ll need (or won’t need) depends entirely on the computers you’re going to be connecting to your new WLAN. If you’ll be connecting a laptop, chances are you won’t need any additional hardware for it, unless your laptop is more than 5 years old (in which case I’d suggest using it as a door-stop or anti-theft device, instead of a computer). Laptops come with built-in wireless NICs (network interface cards), so chances are you won’t need to buy anything additional.

If you have a PC, you can either connect it wirelessly, or if it’s in close proximity to the wireless router, you can use a network cable and plug it directly into the back of the device. If it’s not close to the router, you’ll need to purchase a wireless NIC. The brand doesn’t absolutely need to be the same as the router, though I’d recommend it for compatibility sake. What you do have to watch for, however, is that the wireless NIC and the wireless router share the same standard. Most likely this will be ‘n’ or ‘g’. Routers and wireless NICs are usually backwards-compatible. Meaning, they’ll work on both standards (and previous standards as well).

You will need at least one network cable. This will be used to connect your router to whatever broadband device you’re using (cable or DSL modem). You’ll need a second cable if you want to connect your PC directly to the router. That’s all as far as hardware goes. Just two - possibly three - pieces of hardware. It doesn’t cost much to setup a WLAN. As I described above, the next article will be focused on the current Wi-Fi standards and what they mean. We’ll get a little more technical there.

See other articles in this series:
Part Two

Popularity: 100% [?]

I decided to break down and buy one of the hottest items on the market in 2007, a portable GPS unit. After reviewing different brands, models and such I decided on the TomTom GO 720. I’m not much of a GPS guru - in fact I don’t know much about them other than what I researched. Given that, I’ll share with you my opinion on the TomTom GO 720.

This is quite a handy little gadget. It’s made well, with a rubberized casing that won’t easily slip from your fingers and a bright 4.3 inch LCD display. Text on the screen is easy to read. I didn’t realize how useful it would be until I set it up and stuck it to my windshield (with the included suction stand). I used it for the first time the following evening. The TomTom took me the same route I would have taken myself - it preferred the highway. When the voice is set to pre-recorded human, you won’t hear street names or highway numbers, just “turn so and so after so and so miles/feet”. When the unit is set to use the phonetic computerized voice, you’ll hear street names, road signs and highway numbers. The computer voice doesn’t sound obnoxiously computerized. In fact, it sounds somewhat normal - most of the time.

Other features include speeding alerts, FM-transmitter for your iPod, an anti-glare screen, points of interest, Bluetooth, additional voices and something I learned by researching this article - voice address input. You can speak the address of your destination to your Go 720. This would probably be the most useful basic feature, because admittedly inputing an address through the touch screen is not all that intuitive. The TomTom comes with decent software that lets you control just about every feature of the GPS through your computer. For a nominal fee, the TomTom will redirect you through traffic, point you to the cheapest gas station, give you the weather and even list where traffic cameras are located. Some of these “Plus Services” may be useful to certain owners.

All in all a fantastic little unit that does exactly what it’s supposed to do, with a number of cool features that make it a neat toy in addition to a sophisticated navigation device.

Popularity: 83% [?]

Popularity: 70% [?]

Good for you, Dell. Way-to sucker poor MMO addicts out of $4,450. The new Dell XPS M1730 WoW (World of Warcraft) laptop is a complete joke. The technical specs on this monstrosity are very high-end (at the time of this writing). It sports an Intel Core 2 Duo CPU, 4 Gigabytes of memory, dual NVIDIA GeForce 8700M GS video cards (that’s right, a laptop with SLI video), a 17 inch wide-aspect display, 5.1 channel audio, an option for two SATAII drives in a RAID 0 configuration or a 128 Gigabyte Solid State hard drive (seriously) and a Blue Ray Disc. For the non-technical, this laptop is about as high-end as you can get. Any geek would go into an orgasmic frenzy if they were presented with such a powerful PC – and in laptop form no-less.

What’s laughable, however, is the fact that the game this laptop is marketed for, World of Warcraft, can be played smoothly on a computer that’s 1/20th as powerful as the super, self-aware Dell XPSM1730 WoW edition notebook. On my previous AMD 5000+ based PC, with an 8800GTS and 2 Gigabytes of memory, World of Warcraft played flawlessly on the maximum graphic settings. It’s beyond me why anyone would need a Solid State hard drive for this 4 year old game, much less SLI video. This is a blatant gimmick on Dell and Blizzard’s (the company behind WoW) part to sucker unknowing and/or WoW addicted consumers out of almost $4,500. Shame on you Dell. Shame on you Blizzard.

You can read my totally biased (and slightly less agitated) review of the World of Warcraft HERE.

Popularity: 86% [?]

I can tell you with certainty that a good web host is hard to come by. They’re a dime-a-dozen now; some new and up-coming, some older and more established. I’ve tried the service of quite a few in my time and for the most part I’ve been dissatisfied. After all, I just wanted someone to host my small websites! I didn’t need some provider that touted all their bells and whistles. Who needs 500gb of storage space? Do I really need 1tb of bandwidth and 100 MySQL databases? I needed a host that catered to the little guy, without all the additions that I would never use.

A couple years ago I found A Small Orange. It’s a small, very solid web host with an odd name. There aren’t many bells and whistles with A Small Orange (henceforth referred to as ASO) but what you do get is stellar customer service. Their membership plans are cheap, ranging from $25 a year to $30 a month. Granted, you don’t get the loads of storage space, or that 1tb of bandwidth you’d never use, or the 100 mySQL databases you don’t need, but what you do get is a stable web host that responds quickly to problems. Quickly is an understatement, actually. I’ve gotten response times of 2 minutes in the past through their online ticketing system. 2 minutes! 120 seconds! Replies are always helpful. With ASO’s vanilla website, prompt service and non-corporate feel, you get the impression that you’re joining a friendly mom-and-pop shop, rather than a large, uncaring corporation.

In my experience, ASO isn’t a host that will clog their servers with accounts to save space and a little money. In fact, ASO stopped accepting new accounts for a time when their servers became clogged - until they were able to add new hardware to accommodate the influx of new customers. Servers usually have a light load, while new or upgraded hardware is added regularly. New accounts are placed on the most recently added servers. All-in-all, ASO is a very dependable, no frills web host with fantastic support and a non-corporate feel. In the list of hosts I’ve tried, they’re definitely at the top of the heap.

Disclaimer: No, I am not getting compensated for the above review, nor am I getting any kind of affiliate benefit. I know there are a lot of crappy web hosts out there and I simple wanted my readers to know which one I consider to be the best!

Popularity: 76% [?]

Chances are you’ve gotten a link in an e-mail to a YouTube video, followed the link, and spent a few moments watching a video of paper turkeys eating a pumpkin pie. Okay, so maybe not paper turkeys, but it was something funny, dangerous, cute, or just plain stupid.

The big question to be asked is - why? Setting aside the obvious joy of passing an afternoon watching potato wrestling, a dog driving a car or any number of people hurting themselves, as well as the guilty pleasure of surfing the net at work, why do we feel the need to make ourselves into instant worldwide stars and collect our 2 minutes of fame? Why do we feel the need to watch?

I’m of the “wasting-time-at-work” variety myself, but I did some asking around just to see what people would say. A couple of people like to watch music videos, most people prefer the funny and outrageous videos. No one had any idea why anyone would post a video of themselves falling off a skateboard and landing hard on a stair railing, though a couple people suggested that posting videos of friends hurting themselves would be funny.

Whatever the reason, YouTube has become such a part of popular culture that politicians are jumping on the bandwagon and using it to promote themselves. Last Thursday, the Republicans threw a debate and we were all invited to come ask questions. The same thing was done last summer with the Democrats. It’s a modern day version of the town hall meeting, set up for a much larger village. On the surface, it’s a good idea. Real people asking real questions to get a feel for who these politicians are when they aren’t reading from a prepared mental script. Catch them off guard, we think, ask them if they wear boxers or briefs, see how fast they think on their feet.

The problem comes when a few thousand questions are sent in and there is only time for 34 of them to be answered. Surprisingly, all of the questions that were sent in were serious, versus the Democratic debate that featured a question asked by a snowman. Maybe it’s my doubting soul, but I’m very curious when the only people who had questions to ask were serious, conservative voters.

I’m interested to see what will come in the future as the internet becomes more and more the media of choice to reach voters and if it encourages more people to be interested in the running of the country. By the number of videos I found featuring stunts gone wrong and people applying themselves to the pavement with force, YouTube certainly encourages some sort of action. Then again, I’m not sure if it’s YouTube or gravity that’s having the most impact.

Article by Jenn

Popularity: 36% [?]

Popularity: 26% [?]

For the complete Internet Marketing beginner, this information may be new and useful. For the seasoned Marketer, you may find it somewhat drab, but hey, opinions are always good to read.
Google Adsense and Text Link Ads are very different monsters, aside from the fact that they both generate revenue. The biggest difference (and the reason why I like Text Link Ads better than Adsense) is because Adsense (and other contextual ad companies) pays out on a by-click basis, whereas Text Link Ads simply pays you to publish their ad(s) on your website or blog. Much more simple, eh? With the latter, there’s no click-through scheme to determine the amount of your monthly check. The money you earn through TLA is directly related to the popularity of your website (and possibly your Alexa rating). If your site brings in a lot of traffic, you’ll be paid more for the privilege of advertising on your website.
You’re paid 50% of the money the advertiser pays to TLA. If you run a popular blog, for example, with 6000 unique visitors a month, a link on your website may cost an advertiser $40, which they pay to Text Link Ads, who in turn will pay you $20 to publish the advertiser’s link. Ads are run for a span of 30 days, at which point the advertiser must pay TLA’s fee again for another 30-day period.

Why are Text Link Ads better than Adsense?

1. Google Adsense and other contextual ad providers only pay out when someone clicks an ad on your website, whereas with Text Link Ads there’s no click-through scheme. You’re paid a set amount if you display the advertiser’s link. This is a great model for low-traffic websites.
2. Adsense is stale. It’s so common, people have become desensitized to the “ads by Google” code. Personally, I tend to disregard sites with a lot of Google ads.
3. Because contextual ads require click-throughs, there’s less pressure for Webmasters to place ads in the perfect locations, as recommended by Google and their Adsense Heatmap. With TLA, just place your ad code in a visible spot and you’re good-to-go.

There are many ways to generate revenue through your website and while Google Adsense is the most prominent at the moment (and likely will be for a while, just because everyone knows Google), I think it’s hype and popularity is overshadowing other revenue-generating companies, such as Text Link Ads, who’s model may be better suited for certain websites.

Popularity: 37% [?]