How to Get Money Laundering Collection Mafia Wars

If you're an avid Mafia Wars gamer like me, you might have noticed the dirty bra under your wish list if your wish list has been empty. And when you go to your collections and vault tab, you'll notice that there's a new collection called the "money laundering collection" and items listed include: Money Iron, Dirty laundry, Dryer sheets, Money Line, Roll of Quarters, Death by Detergent, and Dirty Bra.

So how do you get the Money Laundering Collection items? Well, according to Mafia Wars Blog:

"Money Laundering is a new feature whereby when you are doing a job, there's a chance of hitting a bigger payday than usual. When this happens, if you can get your friends to help you launder this big payday, you can keep the cash and gain additional experience points. Your friends in turn will also benefit by getting a cut of your stash and a special collection item."

One of my Mafia wars friends happened to publish this money laundering feature. The text on the published post reads:

"____ hit the jackpot, but needs helps laundering their money! The Feds are watching! _____ is offering a cut to all their friends who help!"

I clicked on the link and I got a $5,000,000 cut but unfortunately, I wasn't lucky enough to get a money laundering collection item. One of his friends got it though one of them received a "money line" and another received "roll of quarters".

So basically, you need to have a lot of friends in order to complete the money laundering collection. Since you won't get it on your own. Sounds hard. According to Mafia wars wiki, vault bonus includes 10% more money laundered.

Samsung S3650 Corby goes by Genio in the UK

I don't know what it is with Samsung and the names they dub their mobile phones over in the UK. The Samsung Star went by Tocco Lite, the Samsung Soul B went by Lucido and now the Samsung Corby is going by the name, Samsung Genio.

Honestly, they should just stick with one name for the rest of the world as a lot of people in the UK are importing unlocked mobile phones and all these different names might confuse some people. Anyways, the Samsung S3650, or Corby, or Genio, whatever you might want to call it is Samsung's newest cheapo touchscreen mobile phone. It's supposed to be geared for teeners because it has different colors (what is it about teeners and different colors anyways?) but with the Samsung Star still very much selling like hotcakes, we'll see if the Corby will be able to penetrate its target market.

RELATED LINKS:

Motorola Milestone UK

Cheap PS3 Games

I LOVE the PS3. Honestly, I think it's the best gaming console out there. The only downside is that PS3 games don't come cheap. You can find cheap PS3 games on your local retailers but they're not really that good. However, if you're an avid gamer and you want to buy the latest PS3 games at a discount, here's a tip: Coupons. Never underestimate the power of coupons. I got some pretty good deals shopping online with the use of coupons. Anyways, the cheapest place you can find PS3 games are bestbuy and gamestop.

Gamestop.com sells some PS3 games cheaper than Bestbuy. Their Call of Duty IV retails for $49.99 compared to BestBuy's $59.99 price. Also, with gamestop, you can even save $5 more since they have an online coupon which let's you slash $5 off an PS3 games worth $49.99 or more as per couponchief. CouponChief has pretty reliable coupons and over the years, I've managed to save a few bucks, thanks to coupon websites like CouponChief. They have other retailer coupons too, not just gamestop. If you happen to want to buy other stuff from bestbuy, CouponChief also has some Bestbuy coupons.

So I guess Gamestop.com's a good place to shop for cheap PS3 games. Of course, there's always eBay. If anybody of you knows cheaper places to buy PS3 games, please let me know via comment. Thanks.

Recreating a SPA atmosphere in your bathroom

I've been missing my Tiffany Kim Institute SPA sessions since due to the recession, I have to cut back on some pampering. However, I did find these really cool gadgets that would make your bathroom SPA-like so you don't have to go to the Downtown Chicago Spa in order to get your much needed rest and relaxation.

SPA Lights



Candles are so five minutes ago. Why not decorate your bathtub with these SPA lights. These lights are sold in pairs and powered by AA batteries. They're compeletely waterproof so you can stuck them using the rubber suckers on your bathtub. They come in blue, white, and pink colors and provides a soft yellow glow to your bathroom.

Rose Bath Lights



If you don't feel any love for the circular design of the SPA lights, then why not the Rose Bath lights? Just like the SPA lights, the Rose Bath lights are design for your tub, however, they're mainly for floating around your tub and not for underneath it so you might want to combine the two for a more relaxing ambience.

Of course, the SPA lights and Rose Bath lights don't have limited use to your bathtubs. You can always use them on your pools or ponds. The SPA lights sells for £6.95 and you'll get two while the Rose bath lights sell for £9.95 for a pack of three. Both gadgets can be bought from Firebox.com.

Vodafone UK offers Blackberry 8520 Curve

In a country where 2G phones are slowly being phased out, it's a surprise that the Blackberry 8520 Curve still managed to find its way on Vodafone UK.

Anyways, the Blackberry 8520 Curve is now available on Vodafone UK and it's probably one of Blackberry's cheapest models. The Blackberry Curve 8520 offers an optical D-pad, WiFi, dedicated musicy keys, onboard 3.5mm headset jack, and 3.2 megapixel cameras.

Hopefully, Vodafone would launch the Blackberry Storm 2 pretty soon.

RELATED LINKS:

Vodafone iPhone Tariff

Creating Your Own Guild Website

With the growth of MMORPG, comes the growth of different clans/guilds. And when you create a guild, you would need a website. Now because of the popularity of online gaming, niche web hosting services like guild hosting has cropped up. The only difference guild hosting services have over ordinary web hosting services is that the former has specialized software and scripts so that you can build your guild website out of the box. However, if you think that the services offered to you by the guild hosting services are not enough, you can always create your own guild website from scratch.

Now the first thing you need to do is choose your web host provider. Web hosting Geeks has a lot of list you can choose from ranging from quality providers to those that offer the cheapest web host services.

Now a lot of novice builderes would probably choose godaddy as it is the most popular domain name reseller but I really won't recommend their site builder. Most would probably recommend Yahoo web hosting as it is reliable.

If you need more help building your guild website, you can visit guildhelper.com as they offer a lot of resources. With your own guild website, you're only limited by your imagination.

Samsung i8000 Omnia II gets pictured and reviewed

So, the much anticipated follow up of the very successful handset from Samsung, the Samsung Omnia II gets some pictures and reviews.

The owner of cellphone-reviews has always been a fan of the Samsung Omnia but it seems that she's not a fan of the update. According to the reviewer, the Samsung Omnia II suffers from the occassional lags although battery life of the mobile phone seems great at 2-3 days.

I would love to own either the Samsung Omnia II or the Samsung i8910 HD but both mobile phones are still not available here. I guess I have to wait a while.

I'm addicted to Flash Games

Okay, so I know that I've steered clear of any social networking sites since I got addicted to Friendster a few years ago but then I keep hearing about Facebook and all my friends have been pestering me to join the website.

Honestly, I’ve held off joining Facebook because I felt that it’s like another Friendster. I’m tired of getting testimonials and stuff, so what does Facebook have that could entice me to it? Well, the answer came when I saw my sister playing a flash game in Facebook: Barn Buddies.

Barn Buddies is like a Harvest moon type mini game and you have to grow plants and stuff. The beauty of this game is that you can steal plants from your other friends and then ruin their crops by planting weeds and putting bugs on their plants. So when my best friend told me about this other flash game in Facebook, a typing game, I readily signed up.

Well, to make a long story short, I got addicted to typing mania. No really, I spent the next five hours trying to get into the top 100 and I think I may already have developed carpel tunnel syndrome.

Fortunately—or unfortunately for me, Typing Mania currently does not seem to be loading on my PC. So being the addict that I am, I tried searching for similar online games. I went over to gamevance, hoping they have a similar game, and if they do, maybe I could win cash prizes at the same time since I’m TOTALLY awesome at typing games. No such luck.

Oh well, I guess I just have to content with Professor I.Q. I hope gamevance would add some typing games in the near future. Those games are really addictive. Yahoo games has a similar paid game called typing shark though I don’t know if that’s available on their online games repository.

I have yet to compete on gamevance, I’m not yet that good on Professor I.Q, well if I’m addicted enough, I might be able to compete soon.

Cool Construction Tools

Have you ever seen some TSE Pullers and thought to yourself, if I had a mini version of that, I could make like Batman and launch myself up a building. Well, the Warn PulzAll may do something similar.

The PullzAll can lift or pull around 1000 pounds of weight with a variable motor. The PullzAll has a 15 feet cable with an integrated swiveling hook. Of course, you can't really use it as a grappling hook since the device's hook can't be launched out of the device but you can use it as some sort of Rescu Reel and rappel ourself down a building. It's a nifty construction equipment to use in auto shops or farms but of course, it really can't replace those TSE pullers I've mentioned which is designed for heavy construction.

HTC Hero

So HTC has released their 3rd Android device: the HTC Hero. This device is really sexy looking and HTC has sweetened the Android UI with their own HTC Sense.

The HTC Hero will be available in the UK around July from Orange. No word if it will reach US shores.

Specs of the HTC Hero includes: HSDPA, capacitive touchscreen, accelerometer, 3.5mm headset jack, microSD, 5 megapixel camera with autofocus, GPS and WiFi.

How to get Office 2003 Menu on Office 2007

I must admit, although Microsoft Office 2007 is more pleasing to look at than Microsoft Office 2003, I really hate that it doesn't have the old Menu bars. The first time that I used Microsoft Office 2007, I literally took 30 minutes to finish a task that would have been finished in 15 minutes time on the old MS Office 2003. The reason? Because Microsoft decided that instead of making their menu bars visually appealing to complement office 2007, they decided to replace it with the Ribbon.

Anyways, it's because of this that companies that uses Microsoft Office 2007 have to train their employees because there's a very steep learning curve in using MS Office 2007. Of course, shortcut users won't have any problems since shortcuts on Office 2003 and 2007 are basically the same, it's the menu users who will have a problem.

Anyways, if you want to bring the menu bar of the Office 2003 to the Office 2007, you can use Classic Menu for Office 2007 from addintools.com. Now you don't need training and tutorials for Microsoft Office 2007 any more since Classic Menu will bring back the Menu toolbar that everyone who first used MS Office has been used to.

Classic Menu can be used for Word, Excel, Access, Outlook, and PowerPoint 2007 and it still retains all the new features of MS Office 2007 and features easy switching between the Ribbon and the classic menu bar. Nice. Think of all the money your company can save to avoid training on MS Office 2007.

Samsung S8300: Nice screen, poor audio?

I've been eyeing the Samsung S8300 as my phone of choice as it has an 8 megapixel camera and a gorgeous AMOLED screen. From the Samsung Tocco Ultra Touch Reviews on the net, all are unanimous in saying that it has indeed a gorgeous screen and perfect for watching HD videos. The problem is the audio quality.

There are those who say that the speakers are not so loud and a bit tinny while others say it's okay. I'd really love to get one of these though I don't know which carrier will get the Samsung S8300 in the states. I don't want to have to import one just for the video quality and even though it's 3G/HSDPA capable, the European versions won't be compatible here in the states and since it doesn't have a WiFi, spending $500 for a phone that doesn't have fast internet connection is a waste. I might just as well wait for the Sony Ericsson W995 which will hit US shores in July.

FruitfulTime Task Software

I'm a very busy person I run a lot of errands as well as have some write-ups that I need to submit so it's hard to keep track of all of my tasks for the day and juggle which errand/task to do first. Outlook's built-in task/to-do list is not really that effective especially since its functions are limited.

Thankfully, there's a lot of task software available on the Internet. The first one I tried is the first software that offers full trial version: FruitfulTime. The first thing I liked about Fruitful Time is that it has reminders especially when you have a deadline. You can minimise the software on your desktop so that it wouldn't clutter your windows toolbar. You can also clone similar tasks with just one click and if you don't want anyone viewing your tasks, you can easily password protect it.

FruitfultTime offers much more functionality than Outlook's regular TO-Do list. I just hope that the developers would create a Pocket PC version so I can transfer my tasks on my PDA and still be reminded of deadlines even when I'm away from my Desktop PC.

Advantages and disadvantages of a Dedicated Server

Most cheap webhosting are hosted on a shared webhosting service. While shared webhosting service are often times reliable and is an excellent choice if you're just running a small business website or a personal blog but problems will arise once you find your website becoming popular and there is a jump in website traffic. Common indicators that your website needs to have a dedicated server is if it takes a Looonng time to load. Of course, this may be attributed to your shared hosting service in which case, try contacting your webhost provider and see if there's any problem. If it persists, it may be time to migrate to a dedicated server hosting.

Another advantage of a dedicated server hosting is that you will have more control over your server operation. You can upload yoru own programs or add extra features, something which can't be done on shared hosting services.

As for the disadvantages, one of the main disadvantages is the cost. The cheapest dedicated server hosting today is around $199. Another disadvantage or it may be an advantage is that you need to have your own technical team to manage your dedicated server. While some hosts provide technical support, they can only provide basic support and it's a good idea that you should have your own IT team to manage your servers.

If costs and manpower is not an issue, then buying a dedicated server is definitely a right choice for companies who are serious about their online presence.

Toshiba's New Automotive System

I've never pegged Toshiba to be in the automotive business, I've always equated their name with laptops or notebooks but it seems that Toshiba is making an intelligent automotive system that detects inattentive drivers.

With so many in-car gadgets today, most drivers don't always keep their eyes on the road. Toshiba's automotive system can detect the driver's face and eye movements using camera images. The system recognizes 8 areas which the drivers commonly look at like the side mirrors, left, right and center windshield, the dashboard, etc so that if a driver's face or eyes deflect from these 8 areas, the aumotive system will give out a warning. In the future, Toshiba hopes that it would also detect drowsy drivers.

Via: NMCNNIC

Battery Brain: How brainy is it?

I was tasked to do a promo post for this innovative gadget for your car: the Battery Brain. So what is the battery brain? Battery brain is a little electronic device which you place between your battery and battery cable. Basically, as what it says on their website, Battery brain monitors your battery power and when it detects that the power needed to start your car is falling below the required level, Battery Brain will isolate the battery from your electrical system so you can be assured that you will always have enough power to start your engine.

I did a bit of research and visited the different car forums that I’m frequenting. It seems that Battery Brain has been popular with car enthusiasts although reviews about it are mixed. While it does what it says it does which monitors your car power and disconnects it from the electrical system, it may have some glitches with some cars that run too hot or those with problems with their car electrical system in the first place.

Some swear that the device works and they’ve been using it for years which I actually believe considering that one of those who had a problem with Battery brain says that he still uses the device since it actually saves the battery power but he just turns it off when his car is running so as not to create glitches with his car electrical system which he has yet to have fixed.

As for an anti-theft system, the Battery Brain with remote can actually be a good idea. You just press the remote so that Battery Brain can disconnect your battery from the electrical system and your car can’t be started or hot-wired.

If you want to try out Battery Brain, try going to their .net website instead of the .com to get 25% discount on their products.

Opening PPS and DAT files without purchasing any applications

Files with the file extension PPS is associated with Microsoft's powerpoint application. If you purchased your laptop or desktop PC without any Microsoft Office Application bundled, chances, are, you can't open PPS files. However, before you head on over to Microsoft's website and waste a LOT of money buying their office application, there's a software which can open PPS files for free and it's all thanks to the OpenSource Project.

OpenOffice.org is an open source software that allows you to open any type of Microsoft Office applications. The best part is that you can download this software for free. Yes, FREE. How can they do that? Beats me but if you search Google for the Open Source project you can probably get the answer.

On the other hand, files with file extension DAT is a bit complicated. DAT Files can be associated with a variety of different programs but you can easily open DAT files using Notepad, an application that comes bundled with Microsoft OS. Once you've opened the file in Notepad, you can check the program associated with that file. Chances are, you probably don't need to open DAT files since these usually are metadata files.

Printing Funny, Custom Made Shirts

So, ever wanted to create one of those Type T-Shirts with funny and witty one liners? Those kind of shirts are all the rage these days, you’ll see all kinds like “get it here” (and then an arrow down symbol), “I’m with stupid”, etc.

Although Type tee shirts / Funny Tee Shirts, or whatever they call it these days are simple, they’re very popular especially if the quotes or slogan is VERY funny. A Simple black shirt with the words “Bill Clinton for First Lady” would turn everyone’s eyes on you. A funny T-shirt can make you popular or even make someone’s day.

You can get T-shirts with witty quotes from a lot of sources on the Internet, or you can make your own. If you have some sort of fund raising activity for your school or charity, diss the usual bake sale or car wash and why not try selling funny T-shirts.

You can create your own custom shirts from Vistaprint and you don’t have to be contented with a simple text, you can even add your own logos or design.

True, Vistaprint’s database of designs is somewhat old school considering that most of them are clipart images you can find for free on the Internet but with a little bit of creativity with the colors and fonts, you can actually make an original, custom-made shirt.

What’s great is that, Vistaprint’s prices are cheaper as your orders increase so it is really a perfect idea for any fund-raising activities. You can get their custom shirts for as low as $6.99 if your orders are above 200. For that price, you only get a white shirt but if you $1.99 you can get an ash colored shirt or a black colored one for an additional $4.99. Prints on back are also available but again, there’s an additional $4.99.

50% Off on Trend Micro Internet Security 2009

The good news: there's a 50% discount for those who wants to purchse Trend Micro's Internet Secirty 2009. The bad news? It's only for Asia Pacific Customers. Bummer!! But for those from Asia Pacific: Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia, India, Thailand, Philippines, you get a HUGE discount. You can buy it for only $28. But here's the caveat: you're subscribed to the Auto-Renew service so it means that if you don't cancel your subscription, your credit card will automatically get charged so be sure to read: How to cancel Trend Micro's Auto Renew service.

I personally like Trend Micro's Internet Security over Nortons because the former doesn't take a lot out of my sytem and has a very easy user interface. Oh yeah, you should insert the promotional code: housecalldiscount before checkout to avail of the discount. Otherwise, you'll be paying full price of $56.

How to Print Professional Looking Postcards with VistaPrint

While Internet marketing is increasing even though we’re experiencing a financial crisis, it may not be for everyone. There are still small businesses that need to make their presence felt in their local community and a very simple advertising campaign that these businesses need to resort to is posters, flyers or postcards.

Yes, you can make a postcard by using Microsoft Publisher or some fancy third greeting card maker but no matter how good your design will look on the PC, once you print it on an ordinary paper on your inkjet printer, all your hardwork will be flushed down the drain. Postcards or flyers printed on inkjet printers would not scream “professional”, instead it will look cheap and it may not be good publicity for your business. So what’s the other alternative? Printing your own designs on professional printing websites like vistaprint.ca.

The Vistaprint website is pretty user-friendly. I’ll walk you through the process of creating your own postcard. First, point your browser to the postcard making section of vistaprint.ca or just click the postcard link above.

Next is you select which postcard size would suit you. Then you can either choose the design from Vistaprint’s ready made postcards or upload your own postcards using a third party software. There are three design categories to choose from Vistaprint’s ready made design. You can either choose to browse by industry, by style or by type/kind of design.

The process is pretty straightforward. After checking your template you can register if you’re a new user or log-in and place your order. Postcards can range form .29 cents to .072 cents per postcard. So you see? Marketing your business doesn’t have to cost a lot. All it takes is a little creativity and the power of the Internet.

The HTC Magic to be released by Vodafone in May

So, if the HTC Magic will be released by Vodafone in May, when will T-Mobile release the G2 phone here in the states? Anyways, according to Cell Phone Reviews, the HTC Magic was initially planned by Vodafone to be released in April but an Anonymous commenter said that they've pushed back the release to early May (typical Vodafone).

Based on the HTC Magic Review done by Cell Phone Reviews, I'm quite amazed by the Cupcake OS on this baby. Very, very nice, almost comparable with the iPhone. I do hope that T-Mobile will let G1 users experience this kind of interface by releasing a firmware upgrade for the G1. Anyways, jump to the link and drool over how good the HTC Magic interface is.

Cold Fusion Hosting

Cold Fusion, one of the most powerful programming languages by Adobe, is fast becoming popular amongst webmasters. With Cold Fusion, you can create dynamic and interactive websites and applications. However, even though Cold Fusion is powerful, it's not always as popular as ASP or PHP so you won't find it in cheap or free webhosting services.

The good news is that even though it's not that popular, it doesn't mean that it's not widely available. If you're willing to spend money on your webhost , then check out webhostinggeeks.com's blog post about Cold Fusion Hosting and the things to consider when trying to find a Cold Fusion Web Host.

However, as webhostinggeeks.com mentioned on their blog, though Cold Fusion provides some powerful tools, some shared hosting services would limit some Cold Fusion tags so you even if you find a webhost that provides Cold Fusion hosting, you may not be able to make full use of the programming language. Try to ask and research whether that particular webhost limits the use of Cold Fusion so you won't be stuck with a webhosting plan that you have no use for.

Ultimately, it all boils down to whether Cold Fusion can provide you with everything that you need for your website or whether PHP or ASP could provide alternatives.

Video Games May Improve Your Eyesight?

So there are a lot of studies claiming that video games is bad for your health and seldom do we encounter one that studies the benefits of video games. Well, according to Yahoo News, playing shoot em 'up games may improve your eyesight.

Though some might say shooter games may make some people violent, a study conducted by the University of Rochester say that action based video games can improve the contrast sensitivity ratio in test subjects. Contrast Sensitivity ratio affects how you see at night or how you pick up on facial expressions.

Test subjects were made to play Call of Duty 2 and Sims 2 and the results show that those who played Call of Duty 2 had an improve CSF compared to those who played Sims 2.

So the lesson? If you're going to play video games, skip the sissy games and go for shooter games.

Acobay: the Consumer Network

Social networks are all about meeting new and reuniting with old friends. With MySpace, Facebook, Friendster, etc, you brag about how many friends you have. The more friends you have, the more it seems that you're popular. And if you're lucky enough to be added to a famous person's friends list, then the more bragging rights you have.

Well, Acobay, is a new social network with a different twist. It's not so much as a social network but a consumer network. At Acobay, it's not how many friends you have, it's how many stuff you own that matters. I actually like the site as it allows me to connect with people who have the same stuff as I do. Like say, I own a specific mobile phone, I post on Acobay that I own it and I can make friends with other people who own the same model. We can thus exchange tips and how tos and even help each other out troubleshooting a person's problems with the device.

Yeah, there's CNET and other forums which will allow you to do that but it's not the same when you can't post pictures of the stuff you own.

Fujitsu's E-Newspaper

With all the paper-thin display being developed by Samsung and Sony, one wonders what good will it do. Well, Fujitsu may have found good use for those paper-thin displays with their E-Newspaper. Fujitsu is testing out their e-newspaper at the Termina Kinshicho Fujiya Restaurant.

The customers can pick up the e-newspaper and they can browse newspapers and advertisements fed wirelessly to the e-newspaper terminal. Fujitsu and four other companies testing this out will try to evaluate whether the e-newspaper can boost sales and customer satisfaction.

Via: Tech On.

Drive a Luxury Car

I love cars. Ever since I first laid my eyes on a Corvette I've been in love with cars. That's why I love rent-a-cars since that's the only time I get to drive those luxury vehicles. I mean, sure, you can probably test drive newer cars with your local car dealer but with a rent-a-car, you're on your own and you have full control. Renting a car while I'm traveling is one of the few luxuries that I allow myself. Yes, I could scrimp on my hotel room but I would never ever scrimp on my rent a car. That's why I always try to look for enterprise coupon before I travel so that I could save on my rent a car but still splurge a little bit so that I could rent those luxury vehicles that Enterprise have.

You should try it sometime. Luxury cars make you feel really important.

Google's New Favicon

Okay, so what is up with Google's New Favicon? Has it been a year since they changed their last favicon? While it's cute and all that Google tries different designs for their Google Logo on their main homepage it's another thing when they constantly change their favicon. I for one opens a lot of tabs on my browsers. Now favicons of my favorite sites are pretty useful when I try to navigate between tabs so it's quite frustrating when I try to look for the now familiar G favicon only to find that its been replaced by a colorful version.

I don't know if some of you are on the same boat as me. You might think that it's also cute and all. Anyways, I'm just venting here. I hope Google will just stick with one favicon next time.

Never Lose Your Remote Again

With only 1 day before the much awaited Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Motorola has released several press releases about its new products, one of which is a remote control equipped with radio frequency so you can find it.

Motorola's remote control has a base station and a press of the switch will trigger a sound and some flashing lights to let you know where the remote control is. Of course, now your only problem is when the base station is missing too...