Tech news, gadget reviews and how-tos on just about anything and everything.

Saturday, May 30, 2009

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

Friday, May 22, 2009

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.