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Nokia N95 is a smartphone that is part of the Nokia Nseries line. Some of the features that are included with the Nokia N95 include the adoption of S60 third edition platform, along with the feature pack 1, running on the Symbian operating system. The screen is 2.6 inches in size and provides a 240 x 320 pixel screen resolution on a 16 million color TFT display.

This smartphone uses a two-way slider mechanism that allows access to alphanumeric keypad when you slide it up (open) and exposes the media playback controls when you slide it down (close). The dedicated media playback controls are a nice touch, but they are hard to press at times. Besides, the front flap of Nokia N95 just doesn’t feel like it’s securely locked into place and it somehow can easily slide open the phone when you put it into your pocket.

The Nokia N95 comes with an integrated Global Positioning System (GPS) navigation system, which is found below the 0 key on the keypad. This new GPS feature displays the maps in clear detail on the 2.6-inch colour screen and it supports maps for more than a hundred countries. Maps can be downloaded over the air through a carrier data packet network or through the built-in Wi-Fi system. You can also download maps through a PC using the MapLoader program. In addition, you can also access city guides and voice navigation for a one-time fee. This advanced feature will undeniably assist users who are always on the go to find their desired location.

One of the most notable features for the Nokia N95 is the built-in 5 megapixel digital camera that comes along with Carl Zeiss Optics lens. This includes digital zoom, autofocus and flash option. You can use it to take awesome pictures and record videos at near DVD quality! You can even one-click upload the pictures to Flickr. There’s also a second camera, the front CIF camera, for face-to-face video conference calls. Because of this feature, Nokia N95 was awarded the “Best Mobile Imaging Device in Europe 2007″. However, the camera sometimes seems to load very slowly. Another draw back is that it only can record videos for about 3 minutes, so it definitely won’t replace your regular video cam.

Nokia N95 also comes with a stereo FM radio, visual radio and a full fledged music player that supports WMA, RealAudio, SP-Midi, MP3, M4A, AMR, AAC+, eACC+, and True Tones. Users can use the music playing features in Landscape mode when you slide open the phone, but you may find it annoying as it doesn’t switch back to portrait mode automatically when you slide close the phone. You can use the standard 3.5mm jack, which is found on the left side of the phone and connect your standard headphones to listen to the music. Alternatively, the built-in stereo speakers let you forgo headphones and listen to your music directly through your phone. Both your video and music can be output to a TV or any similar device through a composite cable for a great photo and video viewing experience on a big screen.

A 3G capability is unarguably the very essence of a smartphone, and Nokia N95 offers 3.5G high speed wireless Internet connectivity. However, U.S. users may find it disappointing as it doesn’t work on the U.S. 3G networks nor HSDPA bands. To overcome this, U.S. users may consider unlocking it for use with Cingular and T-Mobile SIM cards through Nokia’s flagship stores. Nonetheless, there’s also a built-in Wi-Fi capability that lets you access the Internet through 802.11 b/g wireless networks. You can also connect to the net through EDGE. With Nokia’s promising web browser, it can display complete and full web pages, unlike other phones that only show simplified web pages, which is why I always prefer Nokia’s web browser. Best of all, you can view the web pages in landscape or portrait mode, your choice!

Talking about the size, Nokia N95 is sort of bulky, but it is compact when compared to other flip phones. However, it weighs only 120 gram which is unbelievable considering all the built-in technology and capabilities. One big disappointment is that it has short battery life.

All in all, Nokia N95 is a superb all-in-one smartphone with total combination of video, camera, map locator, WIFI capability and the sliding capability. No other phone, as of yet, has all these same capabilities combined in one neatly compact package. I really like the phone and it would be a perfect smartphone to me if it’s a touch screen. Overall, this phone is a great buy.

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(7 votes, average: 4.71 out of 5)
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Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End (2007) could be the most fun you have at the movies this summer. If you liked the first two movies at all, there’s a pretty good chance you’re going to like this one.

This movie truly has something in it for everyone: action, comedy, twists and turns, and even a sappy love story. Young and old will find this movie appealing. The actors have refined their roles to near perfection by the third time. Johnny Depp gives a great performance as Captain Jack Sparrow. He is as funny, quirky, and down-right as weird as ever. We even get a glimpse as to why he is so strange at times. I’ll give you a hint…it has something to do with a mental condition. Jack’s entrances into the first two movies were great and this one is probably even better. You’ll be surprised as he somehow manages to get the Black Pearl out of the middle of the desert.

Elizabeth Swann and Will Turner fall in and out of love throughout the trilogy, and even more so in the third installment. They both do a wonderful job of portraying their characters. We even get to see some of the back story to the infamous Davy Jones. Apparently, he wasn’t always a tentacle-faced freak. He even loved someone once, but we don’t want to spoil the movie for you., that’s for me to know and for you to find out.

The movie weighs in at about three hours. So be sure and go to the bathroom ahead of time. Chances are you won’t want to miss a second. There really isn’t any part of those three hours that is boring. The plot goes one direction and then back to another. There’s a high likelihood that you will get confused at some point. You’ll wonder which side most of the characters are on. However, throughout the changes in direction, the action and irreverent humor never stops. It all leads up to a climactic battle in the center of a whirlpool. The Flying Dutchman and The Black Pearl stage a battle for the ages.

Even Keith Richards, the rock legend, makes a wonderful cameo appearance as Jack’s father. The resemblance is uncanny. Seeing his performance makes you wish that he wasn’t drunk all the time. Then he may have had a bigger role in the movie. Nevertheless, it is a very nice addition. The one thing that was kind of anti-climactic in the movie was the appearance of the goddess Calypso. She really doesn’t do nearly as much as you expect her to. However, she is pretty cool regardless.

Be sure and stay until after the credits also. They give a little more closure to the story and increase your hopes for another sequel. Just be prepared for the longest credits in the history of the world.

Overall, I would highly recommend this movie. There’s a good chance that you and your family will love it. I’d like to see it again already. Disney has put out another great movie that nearly everyone will enjoy. It’s not just for kids and it’s not just for adults. Be prepared for a really entertaining time at the movies.

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(4 votes, average: 4.75 out of 5)
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Google always surprises us with something unique and first-of-its-kind. This time Google wows us with a stunning application called Google Street View. Although Amazon’s A9 and Microsoft were the first to release street-level mapping two years back, Google Street View manages to outshine them all. Google Street View is a new feature on Google Maps and it is the latest phase in Google’s endeavors to organize the world’s information on the Internet. This feature is excellent in that it makes finding directions from one location to the next very easy. You can simply log online, type in the starting address follow by the ending address and get the exact detailed directions on how to get there.

To help you even further, you have live-feed cameras that will show you exactly how the streets and roads will look when you get near your destination. This helps tremendously in getting there in a timely manner, and avoids getting lost and confused by just dry text directions.

This tool can make life easier in many ways, but it also raises some serious questions. Google Street View shows live images of people of the locations shown on its maps without blurring their faces. Although Google Street View is not primarily geared to pedestrians, it will definitely make many people feel that their privacy is being invaded. There are photographs taken and they are provided by Immersive Media (a company located in Calgary, Canada that works in conjunction with Google). The images on Google Street View are no different than what people see in their every day lives, so make sure you don’t pick your nose while on the street, do it in a closed room instead.

One thing for sure, it has responded quickly to parents calling in with their concerns about the publication of images of their kids on the street. These statements have failed to appease privacy advocates. Director of Privacy International, Simon Davies, criticized Google because it failed to consult widely before launching their newest tool. He said that Google tries to excuse privacy invasion by claiming openness and that this is just one of many excuses.

Overall, the implications of this tool are serious because someone could lose their job, experience a broken marriage, or get hurt because of this Google Street View. Perhaps the idea of blurring out people’s faces and body images could help in giving individuals more privacy, while at the same time offering a very excellent service.

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(3 votes, average: 4.33 out of 5)
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How Buffett Does It - 24 Simple Investing Strategies From The World’s Greatest Value Investor is a simple guidebook for starters in the equity trading field. This book by James Pardoe, a Warren Buffett follower, focuses on an important and successful technique, used by the second richest man on Earth: value investing, which basically refers to the trading of stocks according to an enterprise’s intrinsic value.

For a starter like me, this book is simple yet resourceful. All those complex numbers, formulas, and so called “get rich fast” methods are nowhere to be seen in this book. Diction used is easy to understand, without all those Wall Street jargons. All you need to do is to read page by page, understand all the ethics, steps and the attitude needed to become a successful value investor.

Why read a value investing guide that teaches you a slower way to get rich instead of those guides that contain all those formulas that “promise” you big bucks in no time? Well, the answer I can give you is simple. Warren Buffett used value investing and has thus became one of the richest men in the world. Can you name me any other investor that uses all those high end tickers, formulas and even stocks analysing tactics whose net worth can be compared with Buffett’s?

The 24 strategies within in the book are easy to follow. The reason why people have such a tough time making money out of the stock market is simply because of their attitudes, as the chapters keep highlighting the ethics of value investing. The book exposes all those myths such as buying a few stocks as reserve, selling when the market is falling, getting insider tips, reading stock trends, buying and selling frequently to get the most out of it, etc. Because as far as Warren Buffett is concerned, they’re all not true.

This book also recommends a few other books on the same topic, such as The Intelligent Investor by Buffett’s mentor, Banjamin Graham and BerkshireHathaway.com, the official site of Warren Buffett’s company. Value investing, as pointed out in that book, is contradictory with other major investment books out there so you’ll have to choose if you want to read up on this particular technique.

However, I find that the elaboration on some strategies get repetitive at times and a lot of it is merely there to fill up the 24 tips. The most significant tip is the 24th one which is a conclusion of all the other tips. You really need to have enough nerves in order follow the guides stated as the book keeps telling you to trust yourself and to ignore everyone else.

How Buffett Does It is definitely a good book but whether the advice given is to be heeded is totally up to you. However, one good reason to heed it is that the man who followed these steps made billions out of the stock market.

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Conventional wisdom in Hollywood movies suggests that it really doesn’t matter what you do in the first two-thirds of a movie story as long as it has a strong ending, right? The commercial success of any major series such as Spider-Man should demand the opposite to be true. Spider-Man 3 (2007) refutes those ideas and did not let itself be defined by the sum of its parts. Some people may be skeptic over the possibility of a third film being able to tie up all of the loose ends in the previous films, but Spider-Man 3 is definitely the trilogy closer that all the fans have been so desperately waiting for!

The only thing that the movie did not do a good job was the ending in this last one. In the end, Spider-Man has to contend with multiple villains in this huge action climax. It seems to be a reoccurring theme from another long lost Spider-Man episode.

Despite, I think this movie has some awesome effects and engaging story line. Unlike other series, Spider-Man 3 picked up right where the last one left off, and it also included new characters with complex story lines. All too often, after 2 or 3 series, most movies end up being big disappointments to me. Not so with Spider-Man 3! The movie did a good job of drawing you into the drama, and I advise Spider-Man fans to go watch this at an IMAX theatre with THX sound. The visual effects had me wide-eyed all throughout the movie.

This movie surpasses the perfect balance of real world action and comic book physics in a balanced way. The film is playful and appealing to more than just hard core Spider-Man fans and comic book followers, it can be a favorite of just about anyone. The movie trailers are already jam-packed with enough story lines and new characters that it would seem that the film would not be enough to fully explore them all. It’s undoubtedly the best comic book trilogy in film history!

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