Have you tried the new Media Smart Server from HP? We, at the BC Blog have been looking at a better way to back up both our personal and professional data and are looking at this. We found a great website that has cool tips, tricks and add-ons for it here.

But before we make the jump have you ever tried it and what did you think?

Looking at their information, here it looks likes it should work for us.

We also found a great review on it here.

But before we make the investment, have you tried it? Does it work for you?

We don’t have the stats for the US but, ChartTrack published the numbers of sales and stated that Grand Theft Auto IV has just become the best selling title ever released in the UK on a 24 hour basis.

The game sold 609,000 copies, over 100,000 more than the previous record holder, another title in the GTA franchise: San Andreas (with 24 hour sales of 501,000). Also, ChartTrack said that Xbox 360 copies of the game outsold the PS3 ones by 61,000 (in other words, the Xbox 360 version got 55% of the sales, while the PS3 only got 45%).

So, as it was expected, Grand Theft Auto IV is bringing the big bucks to the developers.

If you have not heard or don’t know. All full-power broadcasters must complete transition from analog to digital broadcasting by February 17, 2009 at 11:59pm, as mandated by Congress in the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005.

So why are Broadcasters Switching? Digital TV is a more flexible and efficient technology than the current analog system. It can provide interactive video and data services that are not possible with “analog” technology.

Converting to DTV will also free up parts of the scarce and valuable broadcast airwaves to be used for other important services such as public safety (e.g. police, fire and rescue squads) and advanced wireless services.
DTV allows broadcast stations to air multiple channels of programming simultaneously (called multicasting), offering viewers a broader depth of programming choices and information. Television viewing will be transformed with images and sound capable of a movie-quality experience.

The advantages of the digital transition are clear. But there are many questions surrounding the impact to viewers and local broadcast stations. How will households with analog television sets get digital programming? What can homes with antenna reception do to retain the ability to view their local broadcasts?

 Here are some links to information that mght help.

Analog TVs Will Need Additional Equipment to Receive Over-the-air Television When the DTV Transition Ends

Consumers who rely on antennas (including outside antennas and "rabbit ears") to receive over-the-air broadcast signals on TV sets having only analog tuners will need to obtain separate digital-to-analog set-top converter boxes to watch over-the-air TV. These boxes receive digital signals and convert them into analog format for display on analog TVs. Analog sets connected to such converter boxes will display digital broadcasts, but not necessarily in the full, original digital quality.

Converter Box Coupon Program

Between Jan. 1, 2008, and March 31, 2009, all U.S. households will be eligible to request up to two coupons, worth $40 each, to be used toward the purchase of up to two, digital-to-analog converter boxes. The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) has responsibility for administering the coupon program. More information can be found at https://www.dtv2009.gov.

Cable and Satellite TV

Cable subscribers may need new DTV equipment to view DTV programming in digital format. You should ask your cable provider what you will need and when.

Satellite subscribers may need new DTV equipment to receive and view high definition digital programming. You should ask your satellite company what you will need and when.

Digital television Quality Levels

There are many quality levels of digital television programming. The most common are:
Standard Definition TV (SDTV) - SDTV is the basic level of quality display and resolution for both a nalog and digital. Transmission of SDTV may be in either the traditional (4:3) or widescreen (16:9) format.
Enhanced Definition TV (EDTV) - EDTV is a step up from Analog Television. EDTV comes in 480p widescreen (16:9) or traditional (4:3) format a nd provides better picture quality than SDTV, but not as high as HDTV.
High Definition TV (HDTV) - HDTV in widescreen format (16:9) provides the highest resolution and picture quality of all digital broadcast formats. Combined with digitally enhanced sound technology, HDTV sets new standards for sound and picture quality in television. (Note: HDTV and digital TV are not the same thing — HDTV is one format of digital TV.)

So you want to find out more here are some links and PDF’s that will explan this all in more detail.

 Impact to the Viewer: The Digital Transition (PPT)
      Includes overview of DTV and HDTV, who will be affected, what consumers can do to prepare.
 Assigning Digital Call Letters

Local Station Digital Transition Initiatives
 PBS Announces DTV transition Consumer Awareness Campaign (B&C PDF posted 2/08)
 South Dakota Stations Mount DTB Campaign (TVNewsday PDF posted 2/08)
 Flash! DTV Transition is on the Way, Says Michigan Association of Broadcasters
     (Broadcasting & Cable PDF posted 2/08)
 Harris: Stations See Greater Ad Options with Digital TV
     (MediaDaily News PDF posted 2/08)
 WNBC to Air “Get Ready for Digital TV” special (TVNewsday PDF posted 2/08)
 New Multicast Digital Networks: Boon or Yawn? (Media Post PDF posted 2/08)
 Digital Networks Vie for Affiliation Deals (TVNewsday PDF posted 2/08)
 DTV Multicast Net Strikes Deal with Sony (Broadcasting & Cable PDF posted 11/07)
 KWCH Wichita Seizes DTV Education Initiative (TVNEWSDAY PDF posted 11/07)
 Local Watertown Station Educating Public through Blogs
     (Online TV Marketing PDF posted 11/07)
 FCC Oct. 15 2007 DTV Hearing: Broadcasters Announce $697Million Campaign
      (PDF posted 10/07)
 NAB DTV Marketing Overview (PDF posted 10/07) 
 There’s more to Local HD than Hardware (TVNEWSDAY PDF posted 10/07)
 Quincy Gets Jump on Equipping Viewers for DTV (PDF) 
 CBC Stations Launch DTV Transition PSA Campaign (PDF)

DTV News
 Digital Switchover to Create Tons of E-Trash (BusinessGreen.com PDF posted 2/08)
 Centris Study on DTV Glitch Called ‘Misleading’ (Mediaweek PDF posted 2/08)
 Study: Signal Drop Glitch Exists in DTV Switchover Plan (Mediaweek PDF posted 2/08)
 Failure of Microsoft Device Could Damage White Spaces Campaign
    (CNNmoney.com PDF posted 2/08)
 Martin Plan: Must Carry for Class A – LPTV Stations (Multichannel News PDF posted 2/08)
 NBC Seeks a Sweep Shift (Hollywood Reporter PDF posted 2/08)
 Broadcasters Get Leeway on Digital TV Switch (Reuters PDF posted 1/08)
 For LPTV, DTV is a Countdown to Disaster (TVNEWSDAY PDF posted 11/07)
 NAB DTV Press Conference / Starcom Mediavest Sees Broadcasters Generating
    98 Billion Impressions (PDF Broadcasting & Cable 10/07)
 Beijing Olympics to Kick-Start Mainstream HD Adoption (PDF Broadcasting & Cable 10/07)
 FCC Sets 700MHZ Auction Rules, Moves Date to Jan. 24 (PDF Broadcasting & Cable 10/07)
 NTIA Approves First DTV Converter Boxes (PDF TVNEWSDAY 9/07)
 Verizon Lawsuit Looms Over DTV Transition (PDF Multichannel News 9/07)
 Groups Organize Opposition to Unlicensed Devices in White Space
    (PDF TVTechnology.com 9/07)
 White Space Proponents tell FCC to Take it Slow
     (PDF TVNEWSDAY Focus on Washington 9/07)
 Senator Kohl (D-Wis.) Hammers Government DTV Transition Education for Seniors
     (PDF Broadcasting & Cable 9/07)
 DTV Education – White Space Style (PDF Broadcasting & Cable 8/07)

Here are some other helpful links that talk about the digital TV transition.

For some reason Globat.com thinks they can get away with poor customer service and treating their customers badly!
I don’t know why they think this,  but check this out!
We tried to use their service to simply change a [shal]domain[/shal] name for us.

What they did instead was to create a completely new domain and then charge us over $200.00 to do so!

When we told them they messed up and to cancel the change they said they would. BUT they said  “your refund is already scheduled to be processed on the fourth week of June” that is over 60 days from the date they charged us! What a scam! Their ads says:

30-Day Money-Back Guarantee - Web hosting that’s right for you or your money back! - You can feel safe about choosing Globat.com with our 30-Day Money-Back Guarantee.

We have this 30-Day Money-Back Guarantee because we want you to know we’re serious when we say you won’t find better Web hosting services anywhere else. Sign up now and we’re sure you’ll agree, but if you don’t, you have a full 30 days to cancel and get a refund*.
Notice they do not say how long it will take to get your money back.

Then if you take a look at some of their reviews you will find them like this”

Service is horrible, they talk down to you and they dont even know what they are talking about. Techs always have to ‘contact’ a higher up support person and the servers are running antiquated software and hardware..

Buyer beware. It takes days for them to respond to support tickets, and their servers are crashing. I.E. mysql keeps restarting and forum get corrupt with as many as 4, count them, 4 queries at once.. that is sad. I cant even backup a database becouse it crashes every 24 seconds.
and they wont address the issue
no ssh or other usable utilities

Be afraid, be very afraid. Terrible service, technical issues left unaddressed, unathorised charges to your credit card and then taking 1 to 2 months to refund your money.

I have had nothing but trouble with Globat. Prices are too high, customer support leaves a lot to be desired.

Only positive thing is that they are reliable.

The only thing I bought from globat is domain name for my website. Then I get web hosting with another company and parked my domain name there. That was like more than 2 year ago.

Then on November 2007, suddenly they just CHARGE me $95 for a web hosting. That time they cancelled it right away and I even told them I don’t need two web hosting for one domain name.

THEN….On december 2007 and January 2008, they charged me again.
I was told to call “DEDICATED” line for cancellation. But they did not dedicate any people to manage that department. After calling several times, sending tickets, emailing, etc. Finally they responded to me by saying they will refund the money in MAY, due to their automated system.
Why would they depend on their automated system instead of focusing on good customer service. Hopefully I can get my $190 back in May!!!!

Conclusion:
1. Never ever ever give your credit card to this company.
2. Best yet, never have any contact with them.
3. My friend recommended filing any issues to BBB

Side note:
If possible, I would give a rating of 0 for this company instead of 1

So don’t use Globat, stay away! We are sure that they won’t care about these bad reviews, but you should!

Even if you’ve never studied textiles, you’ve still probably heard the term mircofiber, but do you know what it means? Let me educated you (here’s where a semester of textiles studies comes in handy): The density of polyester fibers used in fabrics are meausred in deniers, the lower the denier the finer the threads used to make the fabric. This is similar to thread count, which measures cotton fabric density.

What is the ultimate benefit of microfiber? Well, because of its ultra-fineness it is often used in polishing and cleaning glass poducts because it wipes away clean, without the residue that paper towels and even terrycloth linens can leave behind.

JAVOedge has developed this thumb-sized, microfiber “swipe” that can be used to quickly clean the screen of your cell phone, portable gaming device, or… you guessed it, your Sansa mp3 player! I even used it on my eyeglasses with super-clear results. It’s the perfect size for your pocket, purse, desk, it even has a small elastic cord you can loop around headphones or a small notch on your compact devices.

I often wondered where I could buy these (I recieved a similar product with my Motorola Razr a few years ago and loved it until I lost it). Well, I just so happened to learn from a friend that JAVOedge.com sells these things at $5.95 for a four-pack that includes one of each color (black, silver, blue, and white). Four is more than some people need, which is why I just  snagged one.

It can be a pain to keep your Sansa free of fingerprints and hand oils, but this simple little “swipe” takes care of it without wasting paper products and without damaging your mp3 player.

Here are some great how to videos for Sansa MP3 players.

Click on the Link and it will open and start playing the video.

	Sansa MP3 Player
Adding music files to your MicroSD card of your Sansa MP3 player (Windows XP | Vista)		Deleting music files from your MicroSD card in your Sansa MP3 player (Vista)
Adding album art to your Sansa MP3 player while connected in MSC mode (Windows XP | Vista)		Adding album art to your Sansa MP3 player while connected in MTP mode (Windows XP)
Adding music files in MSC mode (Windows XP | Vista)		Adding music files in MTP mode (Windows XP | Vista)
Formatting your Sansa MP3 player in MSC mode (Windows XP | Vista)		Formatting your Sansa MP3 player in MTP mode (Vista)
Formatting your MicroSD card (Vista)		Deleting files in your Sansa MP3 Player while connected in MSC mode (Windows XP | Vista)
Deleting files in your Sansa MP3 Player while connected in MTP mode (Windows XP | Vista)		Updating the firmware of your Sansa MP3 player (Windows XP)
	Napster
Adding songs to your Sansa MP3 player using Napster (Windows XP | Vista)		Adding songs to your library from your computer using Napster (Windows XP | Vista)
Adding a playlist to your Sansa MP3 player using Napster (Windows XP | Vista)		Deleting a playlist from your Sansa MP3 in Napster (Vista)
Delete songs in your MP3 player using Napster (Windows XP)		Delete songs in your library using Napster (Vista)
Deauthorizing an old device, and authorizing a new one in Napster (Vista)		Adding subscription songs to your library in Napster (Vista)
Rip audio tracks from a CD and add it to your library in Napster (Vista)
	Rhapsody
Adding Rhapsody channels in your Sansa Rhapsody MP3 player (Windows XP | Vista)		Import songs to your library from your computer in Rhapsody (Windows XP | Vista)
Deleting songs in your library in Rhapsody (Vista)		Creating and adding a playlist to your Sansa MP3 player using Rhapsody (Windows XP | Vista)
Deleting a playlist from your Sansa Rhapsody MP3 player in Rhapsody (Vista)		Adding songs from your library to your Sansa Rhapsody MP3 player (Windows XP | Vista)
Adding subscription songs from Rhapsody into your library (Vista)		Deleting Rhapsody channels in your Sansa Rhapsody MP3 player (Windows XP | Vista)
Deleting songs from your Sansa Rhapsody MP3 player using Rhapsody (Windows XP | Vista)		Authorize your PC to work with Rhapsody (Vista)
Authorize an MP3 player in Rhapsody (Vista)		De-authorize your PC in Rhapsody (Vista)
De-authorize an MP3 player in Rhapsody (Vista)		Rip audio tracks from a CD and add it to your library in Rhapsody (Vista)
	Sansa Media Converter
Adding videos to your Sansa MP3 Player using Sansa Media Converter (Windows XP | Vista)		Adding pictures to your Sansa MP3 Player using Sansa Media Converter (Windows XP | Vista)
Adding pictures to your Sansa MP3 Player using Arcsoft’s Sansa Media Converter (Vista)		Adding videos to your Sansa MP3 Player using Arcsoft’s Sansa Media Converter (Vista)
	Windows Media Player 10
Adding music to your Sansa MP3 player using Windows Media Player 10 (Windows XP)		Adding music files to your library using Windows Media Player 10 (Windows XP)
Deleting music on your Sansa MP3 player using Windows Media Player 10 (Windows XP)		Deleting songs in your library using Windows Media Player 10 (Windows XP)
Editing music track info using Windows Media Player 10 (Windows XP)		Adding a playlist to your Sansa MP3 player in MTP mode using Windows Media Player 10 (Windows XP)
Rip audio music cds and add them to your library using Windows Media Player 10 (Windows XP)		Formatting your Sansa MP3 player using Windows Media Player 10 (Windows XP)
	Windows Media Player 11
Adding music to your Sansa MP3 player using Windows Media Player 11 (Windows XP | Vista)		Adding music files to your library using Windows Media Player 11 (Windows XP | Vista)
Deleting music files from your library using Windows Media Player 11 (Vista)		Deleting music files on your Sansa MP3 player using Windows Media Player 11 (Windows XP | Vista)
Editing music track info using Windows Media Player 11 (Windows XP | Vista)		Find track information for tracks in Windows Media Player 11 (Vista)
Adding a playlist to your Sansa MP3 player in MTP mode using Windows Media Player 11 (Windows XP | Vista)		Deleting a playlist in your Sansa MP3 player using Windows Media Player 11 (Vista)
How to format your Sansa MP3 (Vista)		Rip audio music cds and add them to your library using Windows Media Player 11 (Windows XP | Vista)
	Yahoo Music Services
Adding a playlist to your Sansa MP3 player using Yahoo Music Services (Windows XP | Vista)		Deleting a playlist from your Sansa MP3 player in Yahoo Music Jukebox (Vista)
Adding songs to your Sansa MP3 player using Yahoo Music Services (Windows XP | Vista)		Adding subscription songs from Yahoo Unlimited into your library (Vista)
Adding songs from your computer to your library using Yahoo Music Services (Windows XP | Vista )		Deleting songs from your Sansa MP3 player using Yahoo Music Services (Windows XP | Vista)
Deactivating the computer in Yahoo Music Jukebox (Vista)		Deleting songs from your library in Yahoo Music Jukebox (Vista)
How to format the Sansa MP3 player in Yahoo Music Jukebox (Vista)		Rip audio tracks from a CD and add it to your library in Yahoo Music Jukebox (Vista)
	Audible
Adding audible books to your MP3 player using Audible Manager (Windows XP)		Adding books from an online library to your computer using Audible Manager (Windows XP)
Adding your MP3 player as a mobile device in Audible Manager (Windows XP)		Deleting an audible book in your MP3 player using Audible Manager (Windows XP)
Deleting a book from your library using Audible Manager (Windows XP)		Purchasing an audible book from Audible.com (Windows XP)
	Base Station
Connecting Sansa device to your Base Station		Base Station features
Connecting your Sansa device to your computer via the Base Station

The Sansa Fuze, which we heard word of earlier, has just turned up at Amazon. Price: $99.99.

The listing confirms the PMP will have a 1.9″ screen, voice recording function (that works via the built-in microphone), microSD / microSDHC slot and will offer support for MP3, WMA and MPEG-4 encoded content. Retailing at $99 for a 4GB edition, the internal battery will squeeze out 24 hours of audio playback and 5 hours of video on a single charge. Checkout some more shots of the PMP below, click on photo to enlarge.

Amazon lists red, black and pink models, but there are no images of the pink or black varieties as yet.

Standing in at 2.2 x 1.5 x 0.6 inches, it is a little thicker than the fruity equivalent, but if you were thinking of settling down with an iPod nano, you may want to wait for the verdict on the Fuze before you make any hasty decisions.

From gizmodo

Sony said on Tuesday it will add the Skype telephone service to its slim PlayStation Portable handheld console in Japan this month, enabling users to make free or low-cost telephone calls.Sony will start selling microphones for the PSP-2000 in the Japanese market on March 19 as part of its efforts to broaden the appeal of its video game consoles amid fierce competition with rival Nintendo.

After a system software update planned for March 18, PSP users will be able to chat for free to other Skype users and, for a charge, call landlines and mobile phones anywhere in the world, Sony’s game unit said in a statement.

The service was started for the PSP in Europe and the United States in January but Sony was forced to delay the launch in Japan because the microphones did not meet the Skype specifications.

Skype, which was bought by eBay in October of 2004, uses a peer-to-peer (P2P) network to enable users to make free Internet telephone calls to one another through their computers.

Users can also use the service to call landlines or mobile phones at low rates.