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Twing gets you to real talk

Wednesday, July 01, 2009

Web surfers preferring to find real people talking about a particular subject -- as opposed to info provided by companies, online stores or news sites -- might find value in a new search engine called Twing.

Twing is a specialized search engine created as a quick and easy way to search and discover opinions, conversations and communities that match your interests. It also features its own blogs and forums.

"Online forums are an established medium people have been using to communicate since the early days of the Internet, even predating the Web," says Kevin Shea, general manager for Twing, in a company release. "Our goal is to help Internet users participate in discussions, ask questions, get answers and offer advice by providing a resource that organizes this category of online content and uncovers the discussions that interest them."

Currently in beta, Twing says these online forums have been growing year after year, with recent estimates of U.S. users alone exceeding 50 million. The search engine uses proprietary software and algorithms to find relevant online communities and forums. Users can register for free to participate in forums and personalization options.


Condemned 2 delivers serious scares

Monday, June 29, 2009

Unlike Hollywood, video game sequels are usually better than their predecessor -- and Sega’s frighteningly fun Condemned 2: Bloodshot is no exception.

Gamers once again play as Ethan Thomas, a down-and-out Serial Crimes Unit (SCU) investigator called back to duty to track down his missing partner. While this visceral and atmospheric dark tale involves some forensic analysis and character interaction, combat is the name of the game in this first-person thriller with a greater emphasis on melee weapons this time around.

Be forewarned that the game has some gruesome (and graphic) moments including bashing heads, complete with bone-crunching sound effects and high-pitch violin crescendos that peak before impact.

Thanks to its slick graphics and clever lighting techniques, Condemned 2 (available for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3; rated “Mature” by the ESRB) delivers plenty of nail-biting moments. After all, it was created by Monolith, who brought us the creepy F.E.A.R. series, Aliens vs. Predator 2 and the Blood titles.

Multiple online modes for up to eight players also deliver some chills, thrills and spills.


Change UPPERCASE to lowercase...on the fly

Friday, June 26, 2009

How many times has this happened to you? You’re writing an email to a friend and not looking at the monitor. After a minute or so, you look up and realize you accidentally hit the Caps Lock button on your keyboard and wrote three sentences ALL IN UPPERCASE, which now looks like you’re yelling at your buddy.

It happens to all of us. Here are two quick fixes:

  • In Microsoft Word or Outlook (email), highlight all the text you want to change and then tap Shift + F3, and it will change all the text back to lowercase letters. This is a lot faster (and less aggravating) than typing it all over again!

  • Or you can have your computer tell you when you've accidentally hit the Caps Lock key. In Windows XP, click the Start button, select Control Panel and then open the Accessibility Options icon. Here, you’ll be able to check off if you’d like to hear your computer beep or screen flash whenever you hit the Caps Lock key. Similarly, in Windows Vista, click the Start button, then Control Panel and select Ease of Access.

Get a fair taxicab fare

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Ever get the feeling that a cab driver is taking you the roundabout way to your destination in order to bump up the fare? Actually, this has happened to me a couple of times over the 12 years I’ve been traveling as a journalist. In one instance, I called the driver on it and he first played dumb about getting lost. He then came clean and told me passengers should pretend they’re from that city so other drivers will be less likely to take advantage of naive visitors.

But the Web can help you out, too. You can find out how much the cab fare should be before you even step into the car by using a tool on a site called WorldTaximeter, available for free on your PC or mobile phone.

This clever "mash-up" site combines directions from Google Maps with local cab fares to give you an estimate of the cost of a cab ride in cities worldwide. Currently, the site offers support for New York City, Paris, San Francisco, London, Toronto, Rome, Barcelona, Madrid and Prague, with many more cities in the works. Each city listing also provides two or more local cab numbers to call.

The site claims to have more than 85 percent accuracy, and growing.

New FM transmitter has trick up its sleeve

Monday, June 22, 2009

You’re probably familiar with FM transmitters, those small devices that plug into your MP3 player and let you listen to your music wirelessly on a nearby FM radio, such as a car stereo.

But you’re probably also aware it can be difficult to find an unused spot on the FM dial (especially in big cities) to hear your music clearly. Belkin has integrated a new technology called ClearScan into its TuneBase wireless FM transmitters, which can automatically seek out the clearest FM frequency to play your tunes.

So, for example, it might find that 93.7 FM is the best possible spot to hear your iPod music, while in another city it might be 101.1 FM, and so on. This is a much better idea than having to make your way down the FM dial, manually, through trial and error, to find a suitable frequency.

The Belkin TuneBase FM transmitters with ClearScan sell for about $59.

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