Idaho Spuds: etcetera

Showing posts with label etcetera. Show all posts

Saturday, February 01, 2014

Review of 4 Drill Kits: Dewalt, Makita, Black & Decker, and Genesis

Here we compare four of the best cordless drill/driver kits for 2014: Black & Decker BDC120VA100, Dewalt DC970K-2, Genesis GCD18BK, and Makita LXFD01CW. The review power tool reviews the best drills with a range of prices and best cordless drill brands, like the pricier Makita LXFD01CW and the more affordable/inexpensive Genesis GCD18BK model.

Review of Best Energy Efficient Space Heaters: Lasko Ceramic vs Holmes Fan vs Vornado Vortex vs DeLonghi Mica

Reviewed here are some of the best energy efficient space heaters for 2014, including heaters by Lasko, Holmes, Vornado, and DeLonghi. The heaters come with a range of different features to meet your heating needs.

Review of Best Tablets For Kids Buying Guide: InnoTab 3S vs LeapPad Ultra vs Fuhu Nabi 2 vs Kindle Fire HD

This review will look at some of the best tablets for kids in 2014, including the VTech InnoTab 3S, the LeapFrog LeapPad Ultra, and the Fuhu Nabi 2. We'll also compare these tablets to the Amazon Kindle Fire HD, as an alternative to a purely kid tablet that your children are less likely to outgrow quickly. If these, tablets still don't fit your needs, others you might want to look at include the Kurio Kids Tablet or the Tabeo 7 Inch Kids Tablet.

Review of the Best Digital Multimeters for HVAC and DIYers in 2014: Fluke, Fieldpiece, and Extech

Reviewed here are some of the best digital multimeters (DMM) for 2014, including multimeters by Fluke, Fieldpiece, and Extech. Digital multimeters come with a range of different features whether you are a professional or student working in heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) or a hobbyist or interested in do-it-yourself (DIY) projects looking for a quality multimeter rather than a cheap alternative. Reviewed here are true RMS (root-mean-squared) multimeters, unlike more affordable "average responding meters", true RMS (TRMS) meters are more accurate at taking voltage and current readings. Quoting the Stedi-Power website, average responding meters produce correct readings on linear loads such as standard induction motors, resistance heating, and incandescent lights. But when loads are non-linear, those containing semiconductors, the average responding meters typically read low. You can find more information on the benefits of true RMS meters on the Stedi-Power website. If a multimeter does not describe itself as a true RMS meter, you are probably dealing with a averaging responding meter.

Review of Streaming Media Players: Roku vs Boxee vs Apple TV vs Chromecast

Reviewed here are streaming media players; the Boxee Box vs Roku 3 vs Apple TV vs Chromecast allow users to play media from internet web services, like HBO Go, Netflix, Vudu, Pandora, etc. on HDTVs. These are some of the best media boxes around, and each device has its own advantages and disadvantages that are reviewed and depending on what services you're most interested in these devices may help you get rid of your cable bill for good.

Review of the Best Smartwatches: Sony MN2SW, Nike Sportswatch, Motorola MotoACTV, Pebble Watch, and LunaTik/iPod Nano Watch

There has been a lot of recent buzz regarding smartwatches. There are several promising alternatives, a couple of which are geared towards exercise buffs. Reviewed here are several top smartwatches for 2014: Sony MN2SW SmartWatch, Nike+ SportWatch, Motorola MOTOACTV, Pebble Watch, and the LunaTik Wrist Watch Strap for the iPod Nano 6G.

Review of Android Gaming Consoles: Ouya vs Gamestick

Both the Ouya and the GameStick are Kickstarter-funded Android gaming platforms being released in 2013. These two consoles show the power of Android for gaming and how far mobile gaming has come in recent years. These two consoles push Android gaming to the next level over devices like the Moga Pro game controller for smartphones. There are a lot of similarities between the Ouya vs Gamestick, but there are several key differences, especially, in the hardware that potential buyers should keep in mind. The Ouya and the GameStick reviewed here are competing as alternatives against the PlayStation 4 and the Xbox One that are already being pre-sold.

Reinvested Dividends: Growth of 8 Simple ETF Portfolios

Dividend reinvesting helps increase the total value of an investor's portfolio; here we look at the effect of dividend reinvesting on the total returns of eight simple exchange-traded fund (ETF) portfolios discussed in a previous post on portfolio diversification for lazy investing. These eight portfolios allow investors to be diversified, while keeping the number of necessary transactions low, as well as the overall expenses of the portfolio.

Portfolio Diversification: Asset Correlations of 8 Simple ETF Portfolios

Portfolio diversification helps investors balance risk and reward in their portfolios. Here we look at the investment diversification of eight simple exchange-traded fund (ETF) portfolios. ETFs are gaining a growing following among young investors interested in portfolio diversification, but who often shun actively managed mutual funds. ETFs come with several benefits over mutual funds, such as lower costs; in fact, several brokerage firms offer commission-free ETF trading, like Schwab, TD Ameritrade, and E*Trade, which further adds to their benefits.

Watch a Random Episode for Any Show on Hulu

Sometimes you just want to watch a random episode of a show on Hulu. Select a show and a link to a random episode will appear; click "Get Random Episode" to get a different random episode.

Thursday, August 30, 2012

Installing and Setting Up HaxeFlixel on Windows

HaxeFlixel is a Flixel port for Haxe the "universal" programming language and the NME application framework to support applications on iOS, Android, webOS, BlackBerry, Windows, Mac, Linux and Flash Player without requiring code changes for each target; Flixel is a popular library for developing 2D Flash games. This tutorial will teach you how to install Haxe, NME, HaxeFlixel, their dependencies, and try out one of the HaxeFlixel demos using Flash.

How to Install CWCheat for PSP and CWCheat Databases

What is CWCheat?

CWCheat for PSP is a cheat system like "Action Replay", "Game Genie", "GameShark", etc for gaming consoles. CWCheat allows gamers to search and edit cheats with an in-game menu.

Download CWCheat

To install CWCheat, download CWCheat and the CWCheat database.

How to Install CWCheat

Follow the steps below after connecting your hacked PSP to your computer via USB, if any of the instructions don't make sense, watch this "How To Install CWCheat On 6.60 PRO-B10" YouTube video.

Make an "SEPLUGINS" folder in the root directory of the memory stick
In the "SEPLUGINS" folder, create another new folder called "CWCHEAT"
Place the extracted cwceat prx file from the downloaded archive and move it to the “cwcheat” folder
In the "SEPLUGINS" folder, make 2 text files. One "GAME.txt" and "GAME150.txt"
Copy (without the quotes) and paste one of the following entries into the two text files depending on your PSP model. The 1 after the PRX file is to turn CWCheat on, 0 will turn CWCheat off.

PSP 1000/2000/3000: "ms0:/seplugins/cwcheat/cwcheat.prx 1"
PSP GO: "ef0:/seplugins/cwcheat/cwcheat.prx 1"

Download and extract the CWCheat database files into the CWCHEAT folder
On your device, hit Select choose "Reset Device" from the VSH menu
In a game, open the CWCheat menu by holding the Select button for more than 3 seconds
Once in the menu, change "[N] Enable Cheats" by hitting the X button
Then go to "Select Cheats" to enable specific cheats for the game

Saturday, November 19, 2011

Which Day Has Better Sales: Black Friday or After Christmas?

So which day has better sales: Black Friday or the day after Christmas? Here is a comparison using Fry's Electronics ad scans for the two sales events from 2010; the ad scans are from Fry's Black Friday. There wasn't a lot of overlap in the items in the ads, but the simple conclusion, at least just from looking at these ads, is that Black Friday has the better prices.

Item	Black Friday	After Christmas
LG 20" LCD Monitor	$89.99	$129.99
Lenovo Computer	$299.98*	$279
Blue Ray Boxsets	$19.99	$24.99
"Major Brand" 32" Plasma HDTV	$197	$299
Samsung Washer and Dryer Pair	$579.98	$949.99
Sony W370 Digital Camera	$129	$149
JVC Everio 16GB Camcorder	$199	$199