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Do you remember your 16th birthday celebrations? I certainly do. I was stuck at home studying for my national examinations, but I reckon other people would have more exciting 16th birthdays. Well I couldn't have been more right, especially in the USA, where a teenager's coming-of-age is such a significant milestone. In fact, it is so significant that it is possible to create an entire television series purely on 16th birthday celebrations. Allow me to introduce to you MTV's My Super Sweet 16.

The first season aired in 2005 and it was so popular that it produced a total of 5 seasons to-date and spawned numerous spin-offs like My Super Sweet 21 aired on MTV's Spring Break.

All the 16th birthday celebrations documented here are not just any plain Joe's or Jane's. Featured celebrations are lavish and outlandish; some are so wildly extravagant that it would leave audiences gaping. Evidently, the main stars of the show are sufficiently affluent (their parents' fortunes, mind you) and have a penchant for flamboyance. Each week, MTV chooses a Sweet Sixteen-er to feature on this series. Cameras, lights and the works would follow every step that these Sixteen-ers take to plan and execute their birthday celebrations. Beginning from the excitement during the planning and brainstorming phase, to the frustration of the preparatory phase, and obviously, the actual day itself, accompanied with the usual nervousness and jitters.

This series offers the audience a peek into the lifestyle of the uber-rich. In almost all of the shows, parents give free rein to the Sweet Sixteen-er, on the mere fact that it would be their 16th birthday in a matter of days. Other than the seemingly limitless expenditure budget, parents make all the effort to placate the teenager, no matter how ludicrous and unrealistic the requests might be. And in accordance with the fairytale hype of the show, these 'unrealistic' requests are usually fulfilled, much to the delight of the birthday boy/girl and to the glee of the invited guests.

In one episode, a girl named Alyson from Arkansas wanted a military-style theme for her party and specially catered a fleet of Hummers specifically for her grand entrance into the party venue. Custom-made dog tags were handed out as invitations, and a faux volcano was installed at the party site for the ominous atmosphere. On the actual day, when the Hummers were delayed, Alyson threw a huge fit and went into a rage, as her guests already started partying without her. The whole episode was peppered with many other tantrums when Alyson didn't get what she wanted.

This entire series gives us a somewhat depressing insight on extravagant parties that we, the ordinary, would never be able to afford. This is purely brainless visual candy, watch-and-forget "bimbo" entertainment, and has no re-watch value whatsoever, but it does guarantee you a visual treat. Also, be ready to meet teenagers spoilt beyond imagination, too indulgent in the superficial lifestyles that their parents brought them up in. I believe most audiences would gawk and look in awe at the spectacle, as did I on several occasions, but beware - watch more than 2 episodes and it's likely that you will build up a certain disdain for the teenagers and their families for being so needlessly wasteful, and disgust at the way they whine and throw tempers when things don't go their way.

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ZoneAlarm, a name familiar to many. In its many years of service, ZoneAlarm has already protected many against malicious programs and hacking attempted on our computers. Saviour to many, it has defended bravely in the face of the ever-growing strength of hacking attempts. Protecting its clients is what ZoneAlarm does best.

Still wondering what ZoneAlarm is, it is actually a firewall which protects the user's computer from invasion of malicious softwares and hacking attempts. Security levels can be set at a level suitable for the users themselves, from simple program access to the computer to assaults from programs to the network, ZoneAlarm is effective in preventing such programs from gaining access to your computers and networks.

To put it simple, ZoneAlarm protects the computer by putting it behind a firewall. Ever heard of the term "Prevention is better than cure"? Simply, ZoneAlarm prevents such issues from happening. For those who wants more from ZoneAlarm besides the standard firewall function, it also provides other services such as Anti-Viruses and Anti-Spyware detection programs. Hence, the ZoneAlarm security suite provides an all-rounded protection from malicious programs.

Even the most common programs would have to ask for permission in order to function. If permission isn't granted, the programs would not run and would simply freeze in the boot-up scene. Allowing time for the user to consider whether to allow it or not. If any unknown programs want to gain access to the computer, the user has the choice to deny access first and go online to check the security of such programs. Then, if the program is found to be safe for usage, users could access the firewall and allow such programs to function.

However, there's this tiny drawback. When the security level of the firewall is shifted up to maximum, issues like cookies and other tiny background programs also have to go through the system, making running programs take much longer as security alerts and asking of permission for access to the computer would make many pissed with the constant permission alerts and confirmation alerts.

ZoneAlarm is a very good substitute for the Windows Firewall. Personally, I never actually bothered about the Windows Firewall when i used ZoneAlarm. I just feel that there's no need to have both on at the same time and the firewall that Windows provide is pretty vulnerable to attacks and doesn't seem to have much freedom for the user to control the programs' eligibility to have access to the computer/network. It also doesn't show which programs are blocked and which are not. Moreover, Windows Firewall doesn't seem to have the ability to allow programs to function properly behind the firewall but in the case of ZoneAlarm, it allows programs to work properly behind it as long as the individual details of the programs are set up properly to do so.

All in all, for those who are in desperate need for a firewall or a security system that is guaranteed to work, ZoneAlarm is the choice for you. Best of all, Zone Labs (the developers of ZoneAlarm) provides a free edition of the firewall for personal usage. So, ZoneAlarm is not only effective, but also pretty much a full-coverage firewall which takes care of almost all program access.

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Marie who? I am willing to wager a good portion of my savings that majority of readers have not heard of Marié Digby. She's a singer living in Los Angeles, California. What makes her stand out from the whole wave of pop singers is that she plies her trade in the online world, in communities such as MySpace and YouTube.

Marie Digby is a country/pop/soft rock singer who shot to stardom after she posted homemade videos of her singing on the popular video-sharing website YouTube. Singing acoustic versions of mainstream pop songs like Rihanna's 'Umbrella' to the soulful 'You Give Me Something' by James Morrison to even rock tunes like 'What I've Done' by Linkin Park, she garnered near-overnight fame. Legions of fans and admirers left many favourable comments and encouragement and also brought about many hits on her MySpace page.

This highly-versatile singer could be seen playing instruments like the acoustic guitar as well as the piano, belting out beautiful cover versions of popular songs. By far, her most popular video was that of her strumming her guitar, singing a cover of 'Umbrella' (as attached). This YouTube video attracted 2.4 million views up till the end of 2007.

According to Marie, this was a desperate attempt on her own part to gain some much-needed publicity for her fledgling music career. The record label that she signed for in 2005, Hollywood Records, did not manage to provide her the visibility that she wanted. Fortunately her persistence paid off and shortly, Hollywood Records released a high-quality studio recording of 'Umbrella' onto iTunes and other online stores. She also was invited to perform live on 'Last Call with Carson Daly' in August 2007, and is now currently on tour, performing at various locations in the United States, much to the delight of her online fans.

A big break for her followed, when her 'Umbrella' was played on radio and subsequently featured in an episode of the MTV serial 'The Hills'. Eventually, her songs were chosen to feature on popular serials like 'Smallville' and her self-composed single 'Say It Again' was released to American radio stations earlier this year.

The brand of soulful music that Marie Digby delivers can be easily identified with. The melodious crooning of her takes on modern pop songs are a refreshing sight and a joy to hear. It is a welcome and delightful change to the sleaze and glitzy glamour of MTV - it offers a very stripped down insight into a musician's world. What really impressed me, aside from her excellent vocal ability, was that she was a perfect role model of a musician. She separated herself from the sensationalism and glam, using solely her songwriting and singing skills to impress. Her videos are in sharp contrast with typical MTV music videos. Visit Marie Digby's MySpace page for snippets of all her songs, do leave a comment of appreciation for a commendable singer/songwriter who focuses on music more than the hype that it brings.

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Warcraft has been around for more than a decade now and despite its age, it is still a competitive game played during the annual World Cyber Games (WCG). It has continued to improve and fascinate the fans of Warcraft through its various series and expansion pack. In its newest sequel, World of Warcraft (WoW), the storyline is derived from the story of Warcraft III.

World of Warcraft is perhaps the most successful sequel of the Warcraft series yet, with perhaps more than hundreds of thousands playing on its different servers. It is a Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game (MMORPG) and it is also a Pay-to-Play game. This means that requires players to pay a fee every month in order to gain access to their accounts to play the game.

The game consists of 2 different factions, the Alliance and the Horde, but technically, one character can only be in a single faction. In each faction there are 5 races, namely the Humans, NightElves, Gnomes, Dwarves and Draeneis for the Alliance and the Orcs, Taurens, Undead, Trolls, and Blood Elves for the Horde. Players can choose to play from these 10 different races, each race having its own unique profession skill and ability. In its latest expansion, World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade, The Draeneis and Blood Elves were introduced to the games and these 2 races join the Alliance and Horde respectively. In addition to that, the races have the choice to choose between 4 to 6 different classes. These include Druids, Hunters, Mages, Paladins, Warlocks, Priests, Rogues, Shamans, Warriors. (i.e. a character can be a Human Priest or a Dwarven Hunter).

Like any other MMORPGs, there are also computer controlled AIs (Artificial Intelligence) which are also known as NPCs (Non-Player Characters). These characters are not controlled by the players and can only interact with the human players in the event of storyline purposes. However, the unique thing in WoW is that the NPCs are not invulnerable, that means that as long as you have the ability to kill it, it is technically possible to attack a city of another faction through killing the NPCs inside.

My experience in playing WoW is that unless you are able to afford the monthly fees required for the game, it is not advisable to start playing because it can be quite addictive, especially those who have already experienced playing the previous Warcraft instalments. No matter how you think you will be able to resist the temptation and not give in to the addict of playing WoW, it is still very difficult to not be addicted to it as studies have shown that over 40% of youths playing WoW are severely addicted to the game. These numbers do not include those who are just slightly addicted.

All in all, World of Warcraft is a very unique MMORPG that works well to one as long as one is able to afford the monthly payments for the game.

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