Do Blogger users need a web hosting?

One of the benefits in using Blogger for your blog is that you can add scripts such as Google Adsense to your site. So the question is, if you have a Blogger account do you still need to have your own web hosting?

Well the short answer is maybe no. Unlike Wordpress, you cannot install a Blogger platform to your hosting site.

What good is it to have a hosting site for Bloggers then? The only thing I can think of is that you can host scripts that you use in your blog and not rely on others in case they are no longer around. But Google Code is their so why bother?

Having your own host is still good if you have a non-Blogger site. You really can’t rely on free hosting sites because their resources for free users is limited. Then sooner or later when you’ve already committed too much on them they will eventually find a way to make you pay for their services.

So from the start, it is best have you own web host for your site. Webhostingrating is a nice resource place to start hunting for your web host. They have suggestions on different types of hosting such as colocation hosting, unix web hosting and dedicated servers. They also have some nice articles to help you get started.

What's your douchebag name?

You've probably know your LOTR name, your Harry Potter name so here's another fun site you may want to forward to your friends.

The Douchebag Name Generator does exactly what it says, find your douchebag name based on your answers to a few questions.

Check it out you douchebag. You know you want to Hehehe.

Create an old yearbook with your photos

Want to make fun of you or your friend’s photos? Why not put them in a yearbook and see how they will look like with the style in 70’s up to the 90’s?

Yearbook Yourself is a site where you upload your photo/s then tweak them so that it will match the look of decades ago. Look at what I did. Do you recognize the girl in the photos?

It’s so easy to use. Upload the photo, go through each year then adjust the settings. You can adjust the size, skin tone, direction and angle of your photo. Try it out, it’s fun!

Apple tablet seems like not a rumor anymore

The Apple tablet which has been going around the rumor mill for quite some time now will probably start debuting as early as next year.

AppleInsider says that Steve Jobs is finally happy with the product after repeatedly being thrown back to the drawing board and has given it the go-signal.

What looks like a jumbo iPod Touch, the Apple tablet will have a 10” screen, 3G data and a customized ARM chip instead of the initially reported Intel Atom.

[AppleInsider]

Which netbooks are compatible with Mac OS X

Sometimes when you’re tired of your netbook, you may want to tinker with it. Maybe make it a Unix box to play around with or better yet, have Mac OS installed onto it.

Mac OS is very picky when it comes to your system. You can install it but some components of your machine won’t be functioning. Things like wifi driver of the Mac OS not being compatible with the hardware.

Here’s a table for reference of popular netbooks today can have Mac OS X installed and limitations you would encounter.

For more information or discussion and probably an updated list, head to BoingBoing.

Free copies of King of Fighters XII

King of Fighters is probably one of the greatest fighting games out there. I remembered playing it when it first came out more than a decade ago with the Fatal Fury characters, Andy, Terry and Mai.Well I haven’t been following the game so I was surprised that it’s already in its 12th series.

King of Fighters XII is available on the PS3 and Xbox 360 and Destructoid, Ignition Entertainment and Rocket XL are giving away free copies for both platform. On their KOF12 Twitter page, they will be giving away one copy a day until the end of the month.

What you need to do is make sure you’re following our Dtoid account on Twitter when the party starts. Then, get yourself into some King of Fighters XII discussion with us while using the tag “#KOF12.”

The game received a major graphic overhaul with 22 hand-drawn 2D high-definition characters that will replace all those pixel sprites that we’re used to.

Check out this video interview with the developers to get a glimpse of the game.

Mafia Wars Cuba Politico Corrupto

Mafia Wars introduced something new recently called the Politico Corrupto. You will find it as a requirement in doing some jobs in Mafia Wars Cuba.

So what is it and where can you get them?

Politico Corruptos are consumable items that aren’t earned through jobs nor bought in the item shop. Instead, they are produced by a new business called the Bribery Ring. Upgrade your Bribery Ring to produce more Politicos every 3 hour. Consequently, you can spend 500,000 pesos to buy 10 of those.

Here’s the list of jobs where you will need a Politico Corrupto:

• El Jefe - Bring The Local Teamsters Under Your Control (1)
• El Patron - Establish A Loansharking Business (3)
• El Padrino - Set Up A High Volume Smuggling Operation (5)
• El Cacique - Help Get An Associate A No Bid Contract (8)
  

It’s pretty useless if you’ve mastered those jobs already. Just send your Politico Corruptos to those who need them.

Omer Bhatti, Michael Jackson’s first son?

News of Michael Jackson having a love child has been circulating the net right now. It is said that 25-year old Omer Bhatti of Oslo, Norway is Michael Jackson’s first son.

He was seen in the front row of Michael Jackson’s July 7th memorial wearing sunglasses sitting next to MJ’s sister Rebbie. It was thought that he’s just a good friend of the family and an MJ imitator. But he seems to be more than that.

Omer Bhatti was born in 1984 after MJ had a one night stand with her mother Pia Bhatti. Omer is now seeking a DNA test to confirm that he is indeed Michael Jackson’s first child.

It was reported in various media that Omer Bhatti's birth to Pia Bhatti prompted the singer to send staff to Oslo in Norway to help Pia Bhatti raise Omer.

A PC for Php10,800?

Yes, Intel just introduced a low-cost PC yesterday called “Nettop ng Bayan 2.0”. The most basic configuration of the nettop will only cost you Php 10,800.

Why nettop? Well nettops are small PC’s that is mainly used for internet activities such as web surfing, e-mailing, chatting, social networking, etc. Nettops are usually powered by cheap, low energy consumption processors and this is where Intel comes in. Intel’s Atom processor which is prevalent in netbooks today is cheap but can still power PC’s for basic computing.

So what is the most basic configuration of the Nettop ng Bayan 2.0?

• Single Core Intel Atom processor
• 80GB HDD
• 1GB Memory
• Mouse and Keyboard
• LCD Monitor

That’s a good deal already considering the price of the motherboard and processor is already around 4k and the LCD monitor is another 4k. The only thing you need to worry about is your broadband plan.

The Nettop ng Bayan is suitable for students who don’t need a lot of computing power to do research on the internet and type reports. You would be saving a lot from your electricity bill as well compared to your typical desktop PC’s.

Would you get one?

Manny Pacquiao is ESPY 2009 Best Fighter

Our very own Manny Pacquiao is the best fighter in this year’s ESPY (Excellence in Sports Performance Yearly) Awards held last July 19. The Pacman bested Mixed Martial Artists Lyoto Machida and Anderson Silva as well as another boxing great, Shane Mosley.

His KO of Ricky Hatton was also nominated in the Best Play category which was awarded to the touchdown from Roethlisberger to Holmes to win the Super Bowl.

The ESPY Awards is a yearly sports awarding event created by ESPN. Click here for the rest of the winners.

Microphone for the iPod Touch

The OS 3.0 firmware for the iPod Touch now allows you use it as a voice recorder. However, you need to have a microphone accessory to make use of it.

Ozaki, one of the world’s leading accessory maker for the iPod has just released the iPill. It is a small capsule-shaped microphone that can be used for the iPod Nano and iPod Touch. Just split the capsule and plug the other half to the 3.5mm jack of your iPod to have your makeshift microphone.

Right now mics aren’t widely used in the iPod Touch. But when the time comes when there would be voice activated apps, you might want to get one of these iPill. Be careful not to lose it though (or worse swallow it).

The Ozaki iPill will be available by August.

Pirate Bay is not going to be free anymore

If you’re a torrent downloader then you’ve probably heard of The Pirate Bay. It’s one of the best and biggest site offering torrent downloads ranging from movies, music, apps, games, etc.

Similar to Napster, the site’s owners went into a legal battle for violating copyright laws. Last month, it was acquired by a Swedish company called Global Gaming Factory to keep it alive.

However, there are reports saying that they would start implementing a monthly fee for its users. Sucks huh? We’re down to mininova and isohunt now I guess.

Is the new Monkey Island game worth playing?

For all you Monkey Island lovers out there, our favorite pirate Guybrush Threepwood is back and is now in 3D. Telltale Games just released a reincarnation of the hit adventure, RPG game that we’ve grown to love during the 90’s.

Tales of Monkey Island: Launch of the Screaming Narwhal is the first of the five episodes of Monkey Island games that we’ll have. The other 4 episodes will be released one by one in the next 4 months.

Basically, there’s only 2 things that was changed in the game. 3D graphics have replaced the cute pixel art that was adorably cute in its own way. The second thing is that the navigation controls have been changed in a way that you have to click and drag Guybrush to move him. I don’t know if that’s a bad thing or not.

The good thing is the nice sound, the just-right-complexity puzzles and most of all, the humor is still there. So if you’re a fan of Monkey Island, be sure to collect and play all 5 episodes. I’m feeling nostalgic right now.

For a review of the first episode, here’s one from Geek.com.

Train online with Learn.com

I am a graduate of Computer Engineering but somehow, I ended up working in the ELearning industry. But if you’re gonna ask me what my  dream job is, it’s game development. I would love to take part in designing games not in the artistic sense but more on the concepts, gameplay, interface and mechanics.

So where am I going with this? Well going into that dream job, a good leverage or edge that you could have is through Elearning or online trainings. Looking into the future, aside from a snazzy resume, companies will also look into the trainings you have acquired and your Skill Score.

If credit card companies look at a Credit Score in making their decisions, hiring companies can look at your Skill Score as basis of their choice. This is wear Learn.com comes in. Learn.com Personal Edition offers you hundreds of courses that encompasses different fields and types of training. From degrees, certifications or simply personal development courses, you’re sure to find it in Learn.com Personal Edition.

I signed up and took one of their free courses entitled Stress Management: Stress on the Job. It talks about stress as being part of your job but it’s up to you on how to handle it. You will learn tips and advices on how to manage and eliminate office-related stress. Something to look at if you’re an employee.

Minimalist concept wall clock design

Here’s a nice concept for a wall clock from Kibardindesign that you might want to have in your minimalistic inspired living room.

This digital wall clock consists of 4 self-powered digital number figures. Each has independent control and can be fixed to any surface. It has a light sensor that will invert its color depending on the absence or presence of light in the room.

Cool huh? The designers are still looking for manufacturers so these aren’t for sale yet.

Win a 42” LG Scarlet LH70 LCD TV

Here’s one online contest that I’m gonna join.

National Geographic and LG is having a contest wherein they will be giving away a 42” LCD HD TV (Scarlet LH70). All you need to do is visit NGC Asia and vote for your top 10 favorite HD program from their site.

Each unique vote will be counted so you can have at most 10 entries. Just make sure that you write a good reason why you chose that program since it will be the deciding factor to win prizes.

Each resident in South East Asian countries (Philippines, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Vietnam) can join and each country will have 1 winner of the LCD TV. There will also be 10 National Geographic windbreakers to be given away as consolation prize.

Voting ends on August 9 and winners will be announced on September 14.

HTML and CSS Help Sheet printout

For web developers or web designers out there, here’s a couple of help sheets for HTML and CSS that you might want to print out courtesy of GoSquared.

CSS Help Sheet: Get the PDF [1.9MB] HTML Help Sheet: Get the PDF [1.9MB]

Of course, popular editors like Dreamweaver have built-in intelligent helpers for your code but for on-the-fly online editing, you need a quick reference without googling for it.

Click on the images for the PDF file. I’m gonna print ‘em out!

Sony officially entered the netbook market with the Vaio W

When Sony released it’s Vaio P mini-laptop, we know that it shouldn’t fit in the netbook category. Well, they just released the Vaio W which looks like a netbook now. It’s a bit late though.

The Vaio W has the same old specs as you see with on other netbooks:

• Intel Atom 1.6GHz
• 10.1” inch display
• 160GB HDD with Windows XP
• 1GB RAM
• Bluetooth, WiFi b/g/n
• 2 USB ports, webcam, memory stick/SD card reader

What’s hot?

Well this piece of netbook has a maximum resolution 1368x768 which is really nice for its size. It also comes with a software to interface (stream content) wirelessly with other DLNA devices like your PC or PS3.

What’s not?

The chiclet keyboard is only 86% the size of a normal one. Other netbooks’ keyboards are at the 92% to 96% range. It’s 3-cell battery life is fairly average at 3 hours but you have the option to use a 6-cell battery.

The Vaio W will be available by mid-August with a sweet price tag of $499 which is not too expensive for a Sony product. It comes in berry pink, sugar white and cocoa brown.

Cashing out on WaoIndia

At last, after how many months clicking their links, I’ve reached the $199 minimum payout for WaoIndia. Now, it’s time to check whether they are a scam or not by waiting for their payment.

WaoIndia is a Pay-to-Click (PTC) site with a high pay-per-click price at $0.10 with about 8 ads per day. So that’s almost $1 per day. However, they also have a high minimum payout rate of $199.

With the help of 3 active referrals, I was finally able to reach that $199. I have to wait 60 days for the first payout though and paying through paypal will incur a $50 charge. That $50 hurts but can’t do anything about it.

Let’s wait and see if they’ll pay.

Need help with color themes?

If you’re a designer (web, graphics, interior, fashion) who works with colors and cannot come up with a color to complement or to match a specific color that you want, let Kuler from Adobe help you.

Kuler is a free online tool from Adobe that allows you to choose a color and know what other colors work with it. You can choose from different set of rules such as Analogous, Monochromatic, Triad, Shades, etc.

I use this tool when designing web sites to help me out with coloring my links, headers and other elements of my design.

Sell gold online?

People have been selling things everyday online via virtual marketplace such as eBay. It will soon become a common thing to sell more valuable commodities like gold over the internet.

Sell gold online?? Is it really safe or even legal? Is it really worth doing it online instead of the traditional way? I don’t even know how gold are sold or bought except from jewelry shops.

Seems that it is safe to sell gold online and if you’re interested and want to know how to sell gold online, do a lot of research on secure and established dealers. They usually provide envelopes and gold kits to hold your package. A good dealer also assures you that your valuables are fully insured by a government agency.

Watch the famous Cash4Gold video at Hulu for more information on how to sell gold online. Check out the online Cash4Gold commercial for more details. As for me, I’ll probably stick with pawnshops.

Machine to make you a brilliant self-portrait artist

Do you suck in art? Do you feel that a 5-year old draws better than you? Even if you can’t draw a straight line, this machine will help you be a self-portrait artist master in no time.

Jen Hui Liao has created this Self-Portrait Machine that aids the user to draw his own portrait. It will take a picture of the sitter who will strap his wrists to the machine and hold the pen for the machine to guide.

Pretty cool actually and it will totally surprise your friends that you were able to draw a nice rendition of yourself. However, a 5-year old can also use the same machine and achieve the same result. Hehehe.

Microsoft considers offering Windows 7 in thumb drives

Windows 7 on a thumb drive? Yes please! Microsoft is still considering whether they will push through with it though.

With the massive appeal netbooks are garnering these days, it would be a good move for Microsoft to also offer their latest OS, Windows 7, on a thumb drive.

It’s been tested already that Windows 7 runs well in netbooks but the only way to upgrade the usual Windows XP it comes with is through an external optical drive, external hard disk, or download the installer in a separate partition and run it from there.

I’m sure netbook owners will be more open to upgrade to Windows 7 if they can easily upgrade their existing OS without shelling out for additional devices and the thumb drive is a good solution.

Recovery community online directory

It is a known fact that a lot of people needs to join a recovery community. You might even know someone who desperately needs to join one of those anonymous meetings. Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), Narcotics Anonymous (NA), Overeaters Anonymous (OA), and Gamblers Anonymous (GA) meetings.

We should not be ashamed in accepting that we need help for our addiction. We also shouldn’t neglect our responsibility in encouraging our loved ones who needs counsel to join those anonymous meetings.

If you’re having trouble locating a recovery meeting near you or if you’re too shy to ask people, you might want to check out InTheRooms Meetings Wiki.

InTheRooms is one of the top recovery sites in the web. It is a community The site is mainly a Wiki with a database listing where you can look for places of different anonymous meetings by state, city, drilled down to its address and schedule.

You can also register as a member to help build and update the Wiki. If you’re an administrator or a moderator of a recovery meeting and yours is not listed there, go ahead and add it.

Right now the database only includes those in the US and Canada but the Wiki’s aim is for a global recovery community.

Mafia Wars Lottery, what does it do?

Mafia Wars has just introduced a lottery system last week. It’s a cool addition to the game that gives it a new dimension. But what does joining the lottery entail you?

There will be a lottery drawing every week and you will have a free lotto ticket per day where you could choose 5 different numbers out of 70. You can also buy a ticket for 5 reward points.

To get to your Lotto page if it’s not available from the Home page, click Godfather then you would see a Lotto section.

So what can you win in the Mafia Wars lottery?

• 5 matching balls – 1000 reward points
• 4 matching balls – 30 reward points
• 3 matching balls – a lotto collection piece
• 2 matching balls – another lottery ticket
• 1 matching ball – An energy pack

Don’t get too excited with the energy pack prize since you can only still use 1 pack per 24 hours. So if you won an energy pack, you can use it only if your mafia members somehow forgot to send you one.

For the lotto collection, once vaulted you will receive a +10% bonus on loot drop. Not bad but not worth the difficulty of completing the set either.

Hopefully, you’re playing the lotto everyday.