Watch all 6 Star Wars Movies on SD compliant Device

SanDisk microSDHC Card reaches 12GB. It's getting pretty exciting seeing all these memory chips explode in capacity, while almost vanishing in size. If you have an actual Micro SD card now then you will be just as impressed as I am while reading this; SanDisk at CES 2008 just released the 12GB microSDHC Card for mobile phones.

The 12GB card gives a 4GB boost in capacity from SanDisk’s current 8GB microSDHC card which can be found online right now anywhere from $110-$150USD.

The SDHC card is based on the new SD 2.00 spec, so we can see these puppies go up to 32GB in the near future

Free Wi-Fi, Upscale Coffee Bars at McDonald's

Ronald McDonald is taking off the gloves and brewing the good grind in hopes of supplanting Starbucks as the wireless hangout of choice.
McDonald's promised last week to outfit 14,000 of its locations with upscale coffee bars accompanied by expanded Wi-Fi service as the fast-food chain inches closer to offering the wireless technology free of charge. Currently, McDonald's provides Wi-Fi service to 15,000 of its 30,000 U.S. and international locations. The service is available most often through a credit card purchase or through Internet service provider Wayport.

To help McDonald's goals, Sony Electronics announced Sunday that its Mylo COM-2 communicator users will receive free Wi-Fi service at more than 9,000 McDonald's locations. Wayport, which supplies Wi-Fi service to McDonald's restaurants, said Mylo users will be able to easily log on to the service and won't need even to enter a user name or password.

The announcement comes in the wake of McDonald's October decision to offer free Wi-Fi service at 1,200 locations in the United Kingdom. By expanding Wi-Fi service, combined with its plans to build upscale coffee bars with baristas, McDonald's is moving toward direct competition with Starbucks, which has slightly more than 13,000 U.S. locations.

A major appeal of Starbucks among laptop users has been its Wi-Fi service offered through T-Mobile. The service is available in various payment plans starting at $30 a month.

However, the latest trend is to move toward free Wi-Fi, and the Sony-Wayport-McDonald's deal is a major move in that direction.

Wayport said it will provide free service to restaurants, hotels, and retail locations for Sony's Mylo in addition to the McDonald's locations. The back-lit Sony device features a QWERTY keyboard, and its video play capability is designed to appeal particularly to younger audiences accessing YouTube and other Flash-based entertainment sites.

Spare batteries now banned on air planes

Lithium batteries are now banned on air planes - in the United States that is.

They have reasonable doubt to believe that batteries are the new weapons of mass destruction. So for frequent travelers to the US, your spare batteries shall not be spared!

Lithium batteries are those that power up your mobile phones, laptops, most music devices, and other gadgets.

Effective January 1, 2008, the following rules apply to the spare lithium batteries you carry with you in case the battery in a device runs low:

*Spare batteries are the batteries you carry separately from the devices they power. When batteries are installed in a device, they are not considered spare batteries.

*You may not pack a spare lithium battery in your checked baggage

*You may bring spare lithium batteries with you in carry-on baggage - see our spare battery tips and how-to sections to find out how to pack spare batteries safely!

*Even though we recommend carrying your devices with you in carry-on baggage as well, if you must bring one in checked baggage, you may check it with the batteries installed.

The following quantity limits apply to both your spare and installed batteries. The limits are expressed in grams of “equivalent lithium content.” 8 grams of equivalent lithium content is approximately 100 watt-hours. 25 grams is approximately 300 watt-hours:

*Under the new rules, you can bring batteries with up to 8-gram equivalent lithium content. All lithium ion batteries in cell phones are below 8 gram equivalent lithium content. Nearly all laptop computers also are below this quantity threshold.

*You can also bring up to two spare batteries with an aggregate equivalent lithium content of up to 25 grams, in addition to any batteries that fall below the 8-gram threshold. Examples of two types of lithium ion batteries with equivalent lithium content over 8 grams but below 25 are shown below.

*For a lithium metal battery, whether installed in a device or carried as a spare, the limit on lithium content is 2 grams of lithium metal per battery.

*Almost all consumer-type lithium metal batteries are below 2 grams of lithium metal. But if you are unsure, contact the manufacturer!

I think airports around the world will also follow this new protocol. I always carry with me one spare battery for my nokia 6233. Plus, i’m also planning to buy a spare battery for my laptop.

Good thing that some researchers have found a way to increase the battery life of lithium batteries!

Stanford researchers have found a way to use silicon nanowires to reinvent the rechargeable lithium-ion batteries that power laptops, iPods, video cameras, cell phones, and countless other devices.

Read more about it here.

I hope they’d be able to get Nanotechnology yield a breakthrough battery life this year! :p

FREE Wii Remote Jacket Accessory Offer

Recently a very good friend of mine told me about a mishap that involved his 8 year old son, a Wii remote and a large, expensive flat-screen LCD TV. Needless to say he wasn't happy. And it turns out he's not alone. Several people have reported problems with the Wii remotes, and as my girl friend recently got one I've also been a little concerned. Fortunately Nintendo is a great company. They have invented a rubber non-slip jacket for Wii remotes, and they're giving them away free to current owners of Wii systems.

Nintendo is now including the Wii Remote Jacket for the Wii Remotes in all new hardware being shipped. For Wii owners who purchased their systems prior to this addition, they are offering to send free Wii Remote Jackets for their existing Wii Remotes. If you would like to request a Wii Remote Jacket, please start by completing the information form on the website.

Once your Wii Remote Jacket has shipped, you will receive a confirmation email from Nintendo. After that point, it may still take another 5 to 10 days for delivery depending on your location. Please do not contact Nintendo regarding your Wii Remote Jacket order until after that time period has passed.

You can also call Nintendo customer service at 1- 866-431-8367. I'm putting my call in first thing in the morning. I just can't get the picture of a smashed widescreen TV out of my head!

World's Cheapest Car for $2549

Tata Motors, India’s largest automobile company, unveiled the world’s cheapest car today - according to a press release on the company’s website. This brand new two-cylinder vehicle is priced at INR (Indian Rupee) 100,000 equivalent to $2549 US dollars.

Honestly, when I heard about this concept more than an year ago, I thought the project will sort of fizzle out eventually because of cost inflation and gross underestimation of technological challenges. Now, I stand corrected.

By the way, on a side note, Tata Motors is also in talks with Ford to buy Jaguar and Land Rover businesses.

If you think oil prices are high now, wait till this $2549 car becomes popular. It should be noted that “popular” has a totally different meaning when we are talking about a country with 1 billion people. But it could have been worse …. we are fortunate that China isn’t making any $1000 cars …. yet.

FREE Bowling Balls - Just Pay Shipping

Bowlersparadise.com is currently giving away FIVE of it's beginner balls completely free. They say they usually cost around $60, like I say I'm no bowler but that sounds about right. All you have to pay is the shipping fee, which is under $20. Considering how heavy these balls are, that seems quite a deal to me. Right now it looks like they have size 15 and 16 in stock, so these are the heavy suckers. They come with a high-gloss polish finish and the following features.

FREE offer valid on the following Balls
Elite Star Green/Yellow
Elite Star Teal/Purple/White
Elite Star Blue/Red/Yellow
Elite Star Red/Gold
Elite Star Green/Yellow/Blue
Coverstock: Polyester
Hardness: 80-82
Core Dynamics:
– RG Max: 2.715"
– RG Min: 2.696"
– RG Diff: 0.019"
– RG Avg: 8.7
Hook Potential: 25
Length: 235
Breakpoint Shape: 30

To contact them, please use the following methods:
Phone customer support at 1-888-969-2695 (United States)
If outside U.S. call 916-643-9827 8am - 4pm Pacific Time (M-F)
E-mail customer service at customerservice@bowlersparadise.com

Happy bowling!!!

Make money from Games with sexually explicit unauthorized hack

Purchasers and original owners of the 2005 Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas are in for an unexpected treat. The game, notorious for a sexually explicit unauthorized hack present only in its original release, is the subject of a recent class-action lawsuit filing and settlement against its maker, Take-Two Interactive and Rockstar Games.

The original Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas release was rated Mature. While common themes of the game included gang warfare, pimping, and home-invasion, it was only after it was discovered that a special feature could be unlocked, allowing players to participate in a sex simulation game, that parents and lawmakers became fully engaged. The sex game, also called Hot Coffee, was denied by Take-Two, before they officially changed the rating from Mature to Adults-Only. Store owners responded by recalling many of the games, and it was later re-released with a patch to avoid access to the explicit materials.

The Lawsuit – On November 8, 2007, Take-Two announced it was facing a class-action lawsuit involving the original version of the game. It continued to deny wrongdoing, and as a result, settlement occurred.

Here’s what eligible consumers may be entitled to if you own an original copy of the game:

1. If you submit your original copy, you will get a replacement game.
2. If you submit your original detailed store receipt, you may get cash up to $35.
3. If you submit a credit card statement or check and game, you may get cash up to $17.50.
4. If you submit purchase details and the game, you may get cash up to $10.00.
5. If you just submit purchase details, you may get cash up to $5.00.

What does this mean for you? Assuming you own, and still play GTA: San Andreas, your best bet might be to keep the disc, as it is a collector’s item in many markets. If all of this Hot Coffee stuff is news to you, and you’re genuinely offended, then trade the game in for a slightly less offensive version of the game. For everyone else who bought a game but no longer has it, I’d try for the five bucks.

Complete lawsuit information can be found at gtasettlement.com, including the requirements for sending in your claims before the May 16th deadline.

FREE Upgrades and more

Next time you book a hotel room, how would you like to stay in the presidential suite? Or drive that sleek convertible down the coast with the sun smiling down at you?

And of course, how would you like it all for the cost of the most basic economy option? All you have to do is ask…

Free Car Rental Upgrades
When you are renting a car, and they ask you if you want to pay an extra $20/day for the upgraded fancier version, say no. Then turn around and ask if they have any free upgrades available. Not only will they take the request in stride, but oftentimes they'll actually produce some amazing results.

I recently reserved the smallest cheapest car I could find. When I was at the counter, I did exactly what I outlined above. Without batting an eyelash, the woman checked to see what they have in stock, and for the same price as my cheap crappy compact car, she gave me a beautiful convertible Solara, with free gas to boot.

The secret: car rental agencies have a certain number of free upgrades available to give to customers…who ask. They won't advertise this little secret (because everybody will ask - duh!), but trust me - it works.

Free Hotel Upgrades
The premise above for car rental upgrades also applies to hotel upgrades. All you have to do is ask if they have any free upgrades available. At worst they will snigger and say no. Oops - nothing except possibly a little blush on your cheeks to show for it. At best: you will be relaxing in your king sized hot tub in your full suite upgrade…for free.

If you are checking in (especially later in the day), the hotel already has an idea of how many suites are booked. Larger suites are usually pre-booked in advance, so if the room is available, they may well upgrade you. It shows well for the hotel (hey - if you got a free upgrade, you'd be talking the hotel up too!), and it doesn't reflect any additional cost to them. They may say that you can't have access to the mini-bar, or that the fruit bowl won't be forthcoming, but since it's a gratis upgrade, I don't tend to complain.

First Class Airline Upgrades
Heck - it even works with airline seats. Sidle up to the boarding gate agent when the time is right (not when the flight is boarding, please!), and after simply asking, you too may be relaxing with three times the leg room of economy class…for free. I can attest to this too…I've successfully been upgraded before.

So now that you are flying, driving, and sleeping in style, may your next trip be an epic one. Ask, and you just may receive.

Make money in Construction Skills

Construction is the UK's biggest industry, with 2 million people already at work in more than 700 different types of jobs. There's always a demand for new people to join this industry. Once working in the industry there are many opportunities to develop skills and abilities throughout your career.

CSkills, a partner of the sector skills council for construction is the one stop shop for all information on Construction industry council. The site provides information for people employed in or around the construction industry on topics including how to become certified in your trade by 2010, the latest health and safety legislation, and career development within the industry.

They provide details on how to get involved in Card Scheme which shows one has passed the Health and Safety Test and is qualified in your trade or profession. That usually means having an NVQ or SVQ certificate. They have tons of health and safety tips on site that helps to reduce accidents, and has a positive effect on business profitability, reduces downtime and lessens the risk of litigation.

As the UK's largest industry, they need a skilled and qualified workforce. Whether you need to train your staff, you want to develop your skills, or you're looking to start a career, you'll find a range of courses and qualifications to help you reach your goals.

You can search for job summaries showing the diverse range of careers in the construction industry and thereby help you make the right choices before you embark on a career in construction.

Keep up-to-date with news, information and policies on training and skills in the construction industry. The News section also includes a range of further resources - from presentations and speeches to events and campaign overviews.

They have many publications, videos and CDs help to deliver effective training and development across most subjects within the construction industry. Now they are featuring 20% off Special Offer and Safe Start Publications offered at discounted rates. Free UK Delivery for all UK customers.