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.