Dual Boot Windows 7 and XP system won't boot-up

Okay so I'm writing this down to help those with similar problems and also to serve as a guide for me in the future in case I forgot what I did. I have a dual boot XP and Windows 7 System on the same hard disk but on different partitions. It was working well for several months until I suddenly got a BSOD and when Windows 7 attempted a startup recovery, I got a black screen and I can't even see the boot manager.

I tried repairing it via the Windows 7 install disk but I still get the black screen after BIOS startup so I tried repairing the other partition with XP although I rarely use the latter. I loaded up my Windows XP install disk and chose repair (not through the recovery console) and THANK GOD! I was able to boot to XP. So now my only problem is getting the Windows 7 side to boot.

I installed easybcd (google it), deleted the boot entries and then manually added everything one and by one and Ta-da I finally got the boot manager and successfully loaded Windows 7.

Cool looking Computer Cases

Fancy an industrial computer? Well to achieve that look on a desktop PC, the simplest thing to do is to change cases or your desktop's chassis. If you're comfortable putting together PC components, achieving a desktop PC with an industrial feel will be easy. Here are my top choices for desktop chassis/cases to help you achieve the industrial look.

ThermalTake Level 10 GT

The Thermaltake Level 10 Modular case is designed by the BMW Group. The design may not be pretty for some but it screams power. It houses 3 200mm fans and one rear 140mm fan, five hot swappable hard drive bays, and is already USB 3.0 compatible. Rest assured that if you're bringing your PC with you to a LAN party, the Thermaltake Level 10 will definitely get you some attention.

Cooler Master HAF



Though the Cooler Master HAF is not as radically designed as the Thermaltake Level 10, it still retains that science fictiony look with an industrial edge to it. It's the traditional rectangular box with mesh design for extra cooling. This case is built to accommodate seven cooling fans, designed also to accommodate a water cooling kit, 5 5.25" drive bay, 5 3.5" drive bay, and 7 expansio slots. It's also cheaper than thermaltake's offer.


Antec Dark Fleet

The Antec Dark Fleet chassis looks like something straight out of Star Wars. It doesn't have the bells and whistles as Thermaltake but it does offer 9 drive bays and accessible knobs to adjust fan speeds.

Well, that's my list. You can find more items from Amazon but Newegg offers more options.

Future Proof your T-Mobile G2

T-Mobile has a lot of Android mobile phones under its sleeve and more to come but probably the most under appreciated phone under its wing is the T-Mobile G2. Looking at its specs, people might shy away from it since it only has an 800 MHz processor while all the new phones nowadays have 1GHz processor and the current trend is dual core processors. But before you completely write-off the G2 or sell it to buy a newer model, there are some ways that can actually future proof your handset.

Overclocking the T-Mobile G2

800 MHz is actually pretty fast and I haven't actually gotten any kinks while running the G2 at stock speed but if you're all about numbers, you can actually overclock your handset to up to 1.4GHz. Overclocking your handset requires rooting but if you're still under warranty you can overclock the T-Mobile G2 with temporary root. Instructions can be found at the link and you can unroot any time. With 1.4 GHz processing speed, the G2 is noticeably speedier and you can now rest assured that your phone is faster than the 1GHz android phones being currently released by Sony Ericsson.

Install FPSE

Sony Ericsson has currently released the XPERIA Play and will be introducing Playstation games in the Android Marketplace for playsation certified handsets. If you want to get in on the action, purchase the FPSE App instead which lets you play PS1 Roms on your handset. You can map keys so you can make use of the G2's physical keyboard and I actually think you're better off with the G2 rather than the Xperia Play esp. if you overclock the latter and you'll have an actual physical keyboard.

Install Custom ROMs

If you don't care about the warranty, you can go all out and permanently root your handset. If you permanently root your T-Mobile G2, you can install custom ROMs. With Custom ROMs you can customize your handset anyway you please; don't like vanilla android? You can install the HTC Sense ROM on the HTC Desire Z. Don't like to wait for the latest version of Gingerbread to be rolled out by T-Mobile? There are Gingerbread ROMs at xda-developers.com. Anything is possible with custom ROMs.

These are just but a few ways to future proof your T-Mobile G2. In the future, more hacks will be possible that would bring out new features on the G2 that you can be sure it will be able to compete with the latest and greatest in a year or two.

iPhone Nano true or false?

The latest iPhone news is that Apple is about to make a smaller version of the iPhone to appeal to the mass market. Now before you get excited, some anonymous sources were quick to debunk those rumours. 

Now while an iPhone Nano sounds delish, these sources do have a point in stating that an iPhone Nano won't be produced. First, developers would have to rewrite their apps in order to play nice with a smaller screen and the last thing Apple wants is for the iPhone to be fragmented since they've been calling Android that for years.

It is however, more likely that Apple is looking for cheaper components to make the iPhone appeal to the masses. Well, even though it won't be an iPhone Nano we would definitely see a new iPhone this summer.

Best mobile phones to buy this 2011

So you've been lugging around that brick of a mobile phone you have had since the 90s and you're thinking of finally upgrading to a better mobile phone this year. Well congratulations because this year you'll have the latest and greatest the mobile phone world has to offer. Here are the top mobile phones to watch out for.

AT&T

Motorola Atrix 4G

This year, Motorola isn't just cozying up with Verizon but decided to make a killer phone for AT&T as well. The  Motorola Atrix 4G has certainly turned a lot of heads at the recent CES. Not only does it have a dual core 1GHz ARM Cortex A9 processor, 1GB RAM, fingerprint sensor, high resolution 4 inch screen, WiFi 802.11 n, but also a dock that turns your phone into a smartbook once connected to any TV or monitor. Check out this Motorola Atrix review to see what I'm talking about.

iPhone 5

Yes, there will certainly be an iPhone this Summer, it's as sure as Steve Balmer hates Steve Jobs. There's not much info yet but word has it that it will have a new design as well as 1080p video recording maybe? Well, whatever it has, I'm pretty sure Apple fans will make this phone a hit.

Samsung Infuse 4G

I'm debating whether to put this in or not since I thought this might be the Captivate with the added feature of a front facing camera but my mistake. This is definitely more souped up than T-Mobile's version. It has a 1.2 Ghz processor and capable of 1080p video recording not to mention it's one of the three mobile phones that will be compatible with AT&T's 4G Network.

T-Mobile

T-Mobile Sidekick 4G

Yes, expect the Sidekick to make a comeback. Of course, there's nothing concrete to go by except for a few leaks. Word has it that this will be an Android phone and will be made by Samsung. Aside from that no concrete specs but hey, it's the sidekick, I'm sure some people are excited.

Verizon

iPhone 4

Yes, half of us in the US already have the iPhone 4 but the other half, particularly those loyal to the big red, have been patiently waiting for a CDMA variant of the iPhone 4 and finally, this year, their wait has been rewarded. Do I have to delve into the details? Come on! It's the iPhone 4, I'm pretty sure you've heard of it.

Motorola Droid Bionic

And Droid still lives on. If you think the iPhone 4 is so last year (which it is), you'll find solace in the Motorola Droid Bionic which does blazing 4G speeds on Verizon's network. Aside from that it packs a 1GHz dual core processor, HDMI out, high resolution screen, 512MB RAM, and has the feature of simultaneous video streaming on your device and TV.

So that's it. For our international readers, read this list. Of course there'll probably be more coming but they're either under lock and key with the big manufacturer's or still in the minds of their great engineers but rest assured that come the second half of 2011, we'll see better mobile phones, after all, Moore's Law states that it'll only get better.

T-Mobile Samsung Vibrant Review

Although Apple's new iPhone 4 is the one making waves here in the US, T-Mobile won't just let AT&T hog all the glory that's why they've released the Samsung Vibrant to compete with Apple's finest. So, can the T-Mobile Vibrant bring it? Let's find out.

Design


The T-Mobile Vibrant probably won't win in terms of design. Although this mobile phone is thin, it lacks any style that would grab anybody's attention. It's made of all plastic with silver lining around the edges. With its 4 inch screen, the phone is somewhat huge but surprisingly, it's way lighter than the iPhone 4. The phone is so light that some might mistake it for a toy. The only thing that would make this phone appeal to the fashion conscious is that it comes with two back covers although the colors available is only gray and purple. Overall, even though the phone would seem cheap with its all plastic materials, the weight of the phone is actually a plus factor for me.

Features


The T-Mobile Samsung Vibrant comes with Android 2.1 but will be upgradeable to Android 2.2 in the near future. It also comes with Samsung's touchwiz interface for Android. With the 1GHz processor, navigating Android is a breeze. Scrolling through menus is fast and responsive and Samsung's touchwiz interface made it possible for horizontal scrolling through the main menu, just like on the iPhone.

Missing HTC Sense for Android? Samsung has also made some of their widgets available for Android. Accuweather and Buddies Now are reminiscent of HTC Sense's Weather and Friend Stream widgets.

The T-Mobile Vibrant comes with Swype interface, combined that with the big screen and typing messages on this thing is a breeze and any mistypes would be very minimal.

This mobile phone comes with a 5 megapixel camera and 720p video recording. Like most mobile phone cameras, the camera on this thing is gorgeous in daylight shots but since there's no useable flash, night shots are all washed out. 720p video recording is also good but again, only in well it areas.

Perhaps what I like best about the T-Mobile Vibrant and the feature that trumps the iPhone 4's is the web browser. You can use multi-touch on the browser or tap to zoom, there's text reflow, and flash support. I really like the web browser, it's top notch.

Multimedia wise, the Samsung Vibrant delivers. It's able to play DivX videos as well as MP4, H.264 and H.263 video files. Watching the preloaded Avatar video on this thing is really enjoyable. Audio quality is good plus the Samsung music player is better than the stock Android. You can see a cover flow like interface when you hold the phone in landscape mode.

As for the Vibrant's phone functions, well, callers on the other end of the line can hear me well and voice quality over the speakers is also good. My only gripe is that the phone seems to have signal issues. Signal strength on my phone is only one bar compared when I transfer my sim card to another mobile phone which has full bars. Maybe it's because the Vibrant is trying to prioritize catching T-Mobile's 1700/2100 signals over the GSM signals.

Conclusion


Overall, I think the T-Mobile Samsung Vibrant is a good smartphone choice for T-Mobile users. Those who envy people at AT&T with their iPhone 4s can grab the Vibrant which is a really good alternative, maybe even better if you're an Android lover. The phone is pretty user friendly, as great features, and with T-Mobile's current promotion of getting another Vibrant for free, well, you can't beat good value for money.

Hollywood Hospital iPhone App Review

I've only been revently addicted to app downloading on the iTunes store. I've bookmarked some websites that alerts you when some paid apps have become temporarily free and it's thanks to one of these websites that I've downloaded Hollywood Hospital.

Hollywood Hospital is a time management game for the iPhone. All you have to do is tap on the patients and let the doctors check them without losing the patient's patience. It sounds easy enough but don't be fooled. Getting a gold star is not that easy.

There's nothing new about the gameplay exceptbsome insertion of mini games in the middle of the game. The minigames are okay if things are not hectic but I would recommend turning it off in the options menu because it can become annoying at higher levels. Once you get all gold stars, turning on the minigames can provide good replay value. The characters can move quite slowly which could be annoying, I hope they speed things up a bit with an update.

Graphics wise, Hollywood Hospital doesn't have that much to offer, it's cartoony and q bit pixely. The sounds be loud and annoying at times.

For 99 cents, Hollywood Hospital can provide you with hours of fun, really good value for money if you like time management games. I would have given this five stars but I scraped 1 star because of the bit slow gameplay.