For the last few weeks I have been going through my stored items and electronics that I have sitting on my shelf for a while. Some of them are very useable and some I don’t think have any use at all for them. I really don’t like throwing electronics away, it feels like a complete waste when I know there is a use for them still but I don’t have a need for them. I usually cannibalize PCs so I always know what to do with the next part but with normal electronics they either sit on a shelf and gather dust or go inside my closet. Is there any place in Kuwait that genuinely recycles electronics? I would want to make sure that they go some where they really do recycle items or take care of them at least for other use. I have too many items over the past decade just sitting in the corner and I don’t use any more. I don’t have the heart to throw electronics away but I don’t want things piling up.

I think at this rate there are over 100 cases for the iPad if not 1000 but I was looking for something specific. I didn’t want a notebook or sleeve type case, I wanted something with decent side protection and a stand so that I can place on a table or couch to watch shows. When I saw the Griffin case I knew it was the perfect case for my use, I bought it while I was in the states and I have using it everywhere ever since. I can easily hold the iPad while walking around, or toss it in the car, always ready to be in use and I don’t have to worry about it with this case, it doesn’t slip off the seat while I’m driving.

Pros:

• It can stand vertically or horizontally
• Can easily slip in a bag
• Buttons are easily accessible
• For $50 its an excellent product
• Rubber pieces on the back provide traction when its flat on the table
• The horizontal piece can be used as a handle, or a way to prop up the ipad and it has a locking mechanism to keep it up which is very useful
• The vertical stand is very simple and stable, works great for AirDisplay and if you want to use the iPad as an extra monitor

Cons:

• No Screen Protection
• Adds a little bulk to it

Link: Griffin
Rating:

Apple has just launched new ultra-thin Macbook Air laptops at the Back To Mac event in California. Two new Announced were a 11.6-inch Macbook Air and a 13.3-inch Macbook Air. I do enjoy when Steve Jobs talks crap about other company’s products, he said that netbooks were cheap weak powered PCs, with the launch of the iPads they took a decent hit in netbook sales and I think with the new Macbook Air it’s a nail in the coffin for Netbooks.

The new Macbook Air notebooks have been redesigned and all feature SSD drives ranging from 64GB to 256 GB which are very quiet and long lasting, they weigh almost nothing and are less an then inch thick. Both laptops maxed out with the best hardware aren’t too pricey in comparison to the other apple products, $1507 for the 11 inch and $1907 for the 13 inch.

Link: Apple

SSD Drives have improved performance of machines over the past few years but there is still a few kinks to be worked out including decrease of price. A 500 GB SSD is extremely expensive in comparison to normal drives but you are somewhat guaranteed that the drive won’t fail. Now OCZ has taken it to a different level with PCI-E SSDs, which now you can use to boot and its insanely fast. The PCI-E SSD is a new edition and available from 50 GB up to 480 GB which is pretty good but then there is the high price of this technology which ranges from $300 to $1500.

SSD HD

• Read: up to 285MB/s
• Write: up to 250MB/s

PCI-E SSD

• Read: Up to 540 MB/s
• Write: Up to 450 MB/s

Recently I was in need of making an electronic purchase for a gift, I decided that the best option was getting in Kuwait since waiting for a delivery from Amazon would take too long. I need to get a Wifi iPad 16GB and decided to check out all the different pricing from Eureka, Xcite, and Electrozan. After calling around Xcite was the most expensive and Eureka was the cheapest, then a friend of mine told me to check out Blink and they were even cheaper but I was worried about delivery since I was traveling the next day. For delivery next day shipping to your house is free but for an extra 2.5 KD you can get it same day and in my case it was still cheaper then Eureka. They have a nice assortment of items and if you don’t feel like going to the store to pick it up Blink does offer some competitive prices. After looking at different products the cheapest pricing is between Blink and Eureka, it differs from product to product but Electrozan & Xcite are mostly on the more expensive side.

Link: Blink

Internet throughout the house, thats one of the biggest annoyances people have when at home. You are usually stuck where the router is, and that is probably where you have the most powerful signal. In my case I went to an insane extent to wire up different rooms throughout the house so I can spread the wireless signal coverage. Most cases your stuck with the wireless signal you have, but in this case you have powerline networking. I have always been a bit skeptical about this technology, it usually doesn’t produce that speeds that I am looking for and I’m always thinking that it just won’t do. But there have been a lot of successful kits and this is just the latest development. If you are having internet coverage problems and putting ethernet cables through what little space you have in your walls is not possible then the WD Livewire Powerline Networking Kit is your best option.

There are drawbacks with powerline networking but it’s a simple solid solution when don’t have a wired option. You have four ports with the WD Livewire, the throughput is around 200MB/s which your machines will interpret as 100 MB/s since it’s not a Gigabit connection which is 1000MB/s. Sometimes with sound there is interference but if you need to this get your network where you need it to go. You would have to buy it from Amazon UK to get the right plug with it, but you can change it you buy it from the US as well.

Check out the Review at WeGotServed.com
Link: Amazon

For that wireless speaker you have been looking for the Libertone Beat has the answer. I really like the style of this speaker and its different forms of connectivity. A wireless speaker with a 50W bass and two 25W tweeter/midrange drivers. Just plug in the USB transmitter to your PC or the bundled 30-pin connector to an iOS device and you’re good to go. Plays audio from iPod, iPhone or iPad using the wireless 30-pin transmitter (range 10 m) or from a USB equipped MAC/PC using the wireless USB transmitter (range 30 m).You can even have a wired option if you would, you can play wirelessly over your iPad, iPhone, or iPod and controller multiple Beat Speakers. I think this is the best wireless speaker I have seen yet, and for $595 it’s worth for those who need a speaker such as this.

Link: Libratone

There are lots of iPad addicts out there and I know I am one of them, you want it everywhere, in your bedroom, living room, office, kitchen and even your bathroom. I always wondered about mounting the iPad to the wall with some information for me such as temperature, or the music playing on the system, or any other information presented on it. Until now there wasn’t a simpler mount then Wallee, you have the case on your iPad with multiple mounts in your kitchen, office, bedroom, and even outdoors next to your bbq if you’d want. The Wallee uses a patented wall plate with locking “X” that you can put almost anywhere and a hard protective shell for the iPad itself. I purchased four mounts and two cases since I want to install it in a few places to present information for me or play back family pictures for me. This is the perfect simple mount, and its very clean with a just one draw back is that you have to drill into the wall to install the mount but its small and I don’t mind seeing. If you are looking for a mount then this is the mount for you.

Link: TheWallee

AirAttack HD

For the regular arcade airplane shooting game then this is your best choice, lots of upgrades, different kinds of enemies with a nice fast pace. Its the perfect game to play for a short time you want to kill, great graphics and lots of fun plane upgrades to work with, and when you stop in the middle of stages you can continue later which is great.

Time Consumption: Short

Highborn HD

If you like fantasy turn based games where you have different characters to fight for different reasons and you have to make sure your troops are positioned stratigically then this game is for you. Sort of like Might & Magic but much much simpler and pretty fun, I have had my frustration when I lost a few times but still a lot of fun and you can kill a lot of time playing this game.

Time Consumption: High

Conquist

Simply put this is the iPad version of risk with multiple maps and its a hell of a lot of fun. The concept is the same, you want to take continents to build troops and attack others. For some reason I keep getting my butt handed to me, the bots always know how to position themselves to beat me or the odds are really against you with the dices so I think there is some cheating going on but maybe I’m just not that good yet.

Time Consumption: Medium

My Blackberry Curve 8900 is reaching the end of its life, I have decided that I need to transfer to a new phone soon but first I have to back up the phone. First thing I did was plug it into my laptop with Desktop Manager install to back up all my contacts and details.

I plugged in the phone and left it to back up and left the computer for bit. I came back and it was stuck on “BB Groups” so I left it for another 30 minutes only to find it still stuck there. So I upgraded from Desktop Manager 5.0 to Desktop Manager 6.0 and tried it again and it got stuck again at “BB Groups”. I remembered a few times that I did a Back Up and Restore for a few people that their were issues restoring the BB Groups so I’m assuming that there still is some sort of issue.

The next step is to try to leave the BB Groups out of the back up which I will try with the advanced connection but I’m hoping that will solved the issue once I activate the other phone.

I think the only thing I have to do now is leave all the groups and then try the back up and restore again. I have about 10 groups in total so I just have to get reinvited to them once I’m done with the back up, I just hope that it is the issue and not something else, or then I’m not sure what to do.