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	<title>Review Column &#187; Blogs &amp; Websites</title>
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	<link>http://www.reviewcolumn.net</link>
	<description>reviews everything else</description>
	<pubDate>Thu, 04 Dec 2008 14:05:22 +0000</pubDate>
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			<item>
		<title>BunchOut.com</title>
		<link>http://www.reviewcolumn.net/2008/08/01/bunchoutcom/</link>
		<comments>http://www.reviewcolumn.net/2008/08/01/bunchoutcom/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 01 Aug 2008 14:06:59 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>doi_nk</dc:creator>
		
		<category><![CDATA[Blogs &amp; Websites]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[bunchout review]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[website review]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.reviewcolumn.net/?p=351</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[It creates the opportunity for you to meet interesting group of individuals all in one place...]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><strong>ReviewColumn&#8217;s rating :</strong><br />
<img src="http://www.reviewcolumn.net/wp-content/3stars.png" alt="3 stars" /></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><img class="size-full wp-image-631" style="margin: 5px; float: left" title="BunchOut.com" src="http://www.reviewcolumn.net/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/bunchout-com.jpg" alt="BunchOut.com" width="286" height="320" />The number of opportunities for meeting new people slowly diminishes as age catches up with you. You find your usual group of friends deviating from your life, one at a time. Your favorite hang-out haunts become boring. Day in day out, your interaction is only with the same people at work. You find yourself socially stranded in the sea of loneliness. What do you do next?</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">If you find yourself facing any of the above problems and want to make a change to your social life, try out <a title="BunchOut.com" href="http://www.bunchout.com" target="_self"><strong>BunchOut.com</strong></a>.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><em>BunchOut.com is somewhat similar to a dating service</em>. If you are raising an eyebrow to that thought, pause for a moment and allow me to change your mindset. You do not go on one-to-one dates with users of BunchOut, unlike some dodgy dating websites. Truthfully, I had that first impression when the <a href="http://kl.bunchout.com/">BunchOut Kuala Lumpur</a> version was launched in January 2008. After dwelling deeper into the concept for a month, I think this website has good potential. Come, follow me to the journey of discovery with BunchOut.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>BunchOut.com</strong> at present, spans 6 locations around the world; San Francisco, New York, Los Angeles, London, Singapore and last but not least Kuala Lumpur. Locations will grow when the listing of groups reach to 20. Now, how does this listing work and most importantly how will the listing work for you? Let&#8217;s tackle the former question first.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><em>A city needs to have 20 group listings to launch</em> - a pioneer batch of people get on it first, so it will be populated and useful by the time other people from the same city sees it. In a simpler context, you create a listing for your group(s) of friends. This listing will get you in touch with people you want to meet. How? Simple, just hit the &#8220;Contact Them&#8221; button when you browse through the listing that you like and then, you initiate a contact point with that group. However, the party on the receiving end can choose to ignore the call.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">So, now, how does the listing work for you? The keyword is &#8220;group&#8221;. I&#8217;m sure you may have heard of meeting criminals and other shady characters via the Internet. It is indeed a scary world out there. However, by going out in a group of friends, you lower this risk. I&#8217;m not implying that there&#8217;s no risk at all. There&#8217;s risk to everything you do. So, an arranged outing with a new group of friends, this I refer to as a &#8220;friendly outing&#8221;. Imagine the worst scenario, you meet a group that was out of your expectations with no common interests, you can always flee the scene with your friends. A harmless and most polite way to excuse yourself is to leave with a group. Since a city requires 20 groups to exist, you&#8217;ll still have 19 groups to meet if the first one does not meet your expectations. Whoever has had the complaint of meeting new people, surely had not heard of BunchOut.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Next, another discovery about <strong>BunchOut.com</strong>. As defined by the founder of BunchOut, &#8220;<em>BunchOut is a list of interesting groups of people in your city!</em>&#8221; Finding the right people who share your passion and hobby is like finding a needle in the haystack. Finding like-minded individuals in today&#8217;s hectic society is no doubt a considerable challenge. For instance, you may like a variety of extreme sports, thus you need to join a specialized club/organization that organizes such events to meet people. Where on earth do you find the time to do that? It is definitely not impossible but extremely cumbersome. BunchOut.com creates the opportunity for you to meet this interesting group of individuals all in one place. Best of all, it is free!</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">So, whatcha waiting for? Start BunchOut&#8217;ing now!</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><a title="BunchOut.com" href="http://www.bunchout.com" target="_self">Click here to visit BunchOut.com</a><br />
<strong>Rate this website, give us your rating:</strong><br />
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		</item>
		<item>
		<title>xkcd.com</title>
		<link>http://www.reviewcolumn.net/2008/05/05/xkcdcom/</link>
		<comments>http://www.reviewcolumn.net/2008/05/05/xkcdcom/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 05 May 2008 08:32:47 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>criimson</dc:creator>
		
		<category><![CDATA[Blogs &amp; Websites]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[website review]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[xkcd]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[xkcd review]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.reviewcolumn.net/?p=486</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[ReviewColumn&#8217;s rating :


We all know how monotonous a long day at work can be, and we all know how easy it is to get caught while surfing the Web or doing anything else other than work at the workplace. If you get drained out and find yourself nodding off at the office, try www.xkcd.com for [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><strong>ReviewColumn&#8217;s rating :</strong><br />
<img src="http://www.reviewcolumn.net/wp-content/4stars.png" alt="4 stars" /></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-493" title="xkcd.com" src="http://www.reviewcolumn.net/wp-content/uploads/2008/05/xkcd-com.jpg" alt="xkcd.com" width="314" height="195" /></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">We all know how monotonous a long day at work can be, and we all know how easy it is to get caught while surfing the Web or doing anything else other than work at the workplace. If you get drained out and find yourself nodding off at the office, try <a title="xkcd" href="http://xkcd.com/" target="_self"><strong>www.xkcd.com</strong></a> for something to perk you up. Just as long you manage not to laugh out aloud.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">xkcd.com is a comic webstrip that is updated thrice weekly and usually with one strip per update. It is titled &#8216;xkcd - a webcomic of romance, sarcasm, math and language&#8217; and is written by Randall Munroe. The main page shows the latest strip published and it provides us with navigation buttons. The very useful &#8216;random&#8217; button is self-explanatory and the one I click on all the time. When you are at work, sneak a peak at one strip here and go back to work. Most of the time, I find the comic strips exceedingly hilarious and it never fails to perk me up from impending slumber.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">The unique characteristic about xkcd is that it focuses on, what I like to call, intellectual humour. Most conventional comic strips make use of visual humour, with exaggerated depictions of characters. In contrast, xkcd employs simple stick figures as the characters and instead, relies on text to deliver the punchlines. Drawings are usually simplistic (I say usually, because there are times when comic strips are published in all their visual glory) but ample to draw a laugh out of the reader.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">The crux of xkcd is the writing and mostly it does not fail to shine. Personally, I had a good time trawling through the archives and enjoying a good guffaw at work, as I understood most of the references. Mainly, the inspiration comes from American pop-culture, relationships and even mathematical concepts. However, there were some times when xkcd had me scratching my head in front of the monitor. Some references were rather obscure and I failed to understand the joke completely. This may happen quite often to you if you are not as familiar with American culture or computer terminology as Randall Munroe does have quirky &#8216;geeky&#8217; inclinations. Many references, although obscure, can still be comprehended by the masses.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>xkcd.com</strong> does not possess any real storyline, although they are recurring characters. This trait makes it a very good site to pass time in office - you can randomly go in to read a strip or two when you feel like it and you would not be missing anything if you missed an update or two. I would recommend this site to you; if you do have time, try browsing through some of the older strips in the archive, some are really hilarious. The cynical humour and sarcasm is a very delightful change from the conventional Baby Blues and Foxtrot.</p>
<p><a href="http://xkcd.com">Click here to visit xkcd.com</a><br />
<strong>Rate this website, give us your rating:</strong><br />
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]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>Newegg.com</title>
		<link>http://www.reviewcolumn.net/2008/04/19/neweggcom/</link>
		<comments>http://www.reviewcolumn.net/2008/04/19/neweggcom/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 18 Apr 2008 17:39:11 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>criimson</dc:creator>
		
		<category><![CDATA[Blogs &amp; Websites]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[newegg]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[website review]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.reviewcolumn.net/?p=477</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[ReviewColumn&#8217;s rating :


One of the more important bookmarks, Newegg.com is the one-stop solution to all my electronic shopping needs. Ranging from specific computer parts to general electrical peripherals, Newegg.com stocks a massive variety of brands and products to fully satisfy the needs of demanding customers of this day and age. As this is an online [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><strong>ReviewColumn&#8217;s rating :</strong><br />
<img src="http://www.reviewcolumn.net/wp-content/4stars.png" alt="" /></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-479" title="newegg.com" src="http://www.reviewcolumn.net/wp-content/uploads/2008/04/newegg.jpg" alt="newegg.com" width="353" height="238" /></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">One of the more important bookmarks, <a title="Newegg.com" href="http://www.anrdoezrs.net/click-2857230-10444948"><strong>Newegg.com</strong></a> is the one-stop solution to all my electronic shopping needs. Ranging from specific computer parts to general electrical peripherals, Newegg.com stocks a massive variety of brands and products to fully satisfy the needs of demanding customers of this day and age. As this is an online store, there is easy accessibility and ease of use. This is the place to look if you are having difficulty finding specific electronic hardware.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Newegg has a multitude of categories of electronic hardware, ranging from computer memory modules to plasma television sets to game consoles like the Playstation 3; there is close to nothing that cannot be found here. There are literally millions of products that can be purchased. Prices are rather competitive, although not low all the time. However, one thing that the buyer can be sure of is the high standard of quality. Products shipped are guaranteed to be shipped in good condition and promptly and they do offer standard exchange policies for most products.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">One impressive point is that Newegg has a huge base stock of older models of products that are not available in many places. For example, I was looking for older modules of DDR1 RAMs (DDR2 being the most widespread, DDR3 being newly launched) but there was little choice and exorbitant costs in retail shops. Even at places like eBay and Amazon, I could not find available stocks for such memory modules. However, at Newegg I was entirely spoilt for choice. They had countless modules readily available from the major manufacturers.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">A very helpful feature of Newegg is that it has tie-ins with many prominent tech review websites like <a title="AnandTech" href="http://www.anandtech.com/">AnandTech</a> and <a title="Tom's Hardware" href="http://www.tomshardware.com/">Tom&#8217;s Hardware</a>. Frequently, reviews are done on newer products that are being launched and Newegg links these reviews on their site for the buyer&#8217;s easy access. On top of this, Newegg has a feature for buyers of their products to write their mini review on pros and cons of the products for other customers to see. The reviews are an invaluable help to customers who are unsure of the most suitable type of product for their needs.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">One cumbersome feature about Newegg, though, is their acceptance of <em>only</em> American credit cards as payment. I feel that this defeats the purpose of an online store - international buyers are excluded from reaping the benefits. Buyers, like myself, have to make extra effort to purchase products through services like V-Post (a postal service in Singapore). Another aspect that Newegg can improve on is on package tracking. Tracking numbers can be provided to allow buyers to track the status of their products after it has been posted by Newegg. This would be very convenient and reassuring for customers, who do not have to worry needlessly about problems during delivery.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">I feel that Newegg should seek to explore possibilities of including the international buyers market and accept international credit card payment. No doubt, the website has its legions of fans outside of the USA and it would be in best interests of both sides if Newegg does eventually accept international purchases. Other than this point, <strong>Newegg.com</strong> is basically every tech enthusiast&#8217;s haven.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.kqzyfj.com/click-2857230-10439988" target="_top">Click Here for Newegg.com Clearance Items.</a><br />
<strong>Rate this website, give us your rating:</strong><br />
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		<item>
		<title>FanFiction.Net</title>
		<link>http://www.reviewcolumn.net/2008/03/25/fanfictionnet/</link>
		<comments>http://www.reviewcolumn.net/2008/03/25/fanfictionnet/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 25 Mar 2008 03:01:08 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>carzla</dc:creator>
		
		<category><![CDATA[Blogs &amp; Websites]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[fanfiction]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[website review]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.reviewcolumn.net/2008/03/25/fanfictionnet/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[ReviewColumn&#8217;s rating :


Fan fiction (fanfic for short) is a term for fiction about characters and/or settings written by fans of original, published works and such works are usually uncommissioned and not published professionally. Fan fiction can be based on anything, from books to movies and even fictional accounts of real-life celebrities. These stories are most [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><strong>ReviewColumn&#8217;s rating :</strong><br />
<img src="/wp-content/3stars.png" alt="3 stars" /></p>
<p style="TEXT-ALIGN: center"><img src="http://www.reviewcolumn.net/wp-content/uploads/2008/03/fanfiction.jpg" alt="FanFiction.net" /></p>
<p align="justify">Fan fiction (fanfic for short) is a term for fiction about characters and/or settings written by fans of original, published works and such works are usually uncommissioned and not published professionally. Fan fiction can be based on anything, from books to movies and even fictional accounts of real-life celebrities. These stories are most often found on websites nowadays, and <strong>FanFiction.net</strong> is arguably the largest and most popular site where fan fiction is published and archived.</p>
<p align="justify">The site is easy enough to navigate as the stories are clearly categorised. Upon reaching the main page, a list of eight main categories are presented to you. Clicking on any of the main categories&#8217; link will take you to a page that lists all the sub-categories under it. This page usually specifies the exact series you are looking for, and you can now filter the page by the first letter of the series you are looking for. Want to find a Harry Potter fanfic? Check under <em>Books </em>and filter to the letter &#8216;H&#8217; to find the appropriate link.</p>
<p align="justify">To make it easier to search for a fanfic to read, FanFiction.net has several functions to help the user. You can sort stories by the date it was updated or published, genre, rating, language, length of story and even status of the story - whether the story is complete or not. For the larger categories, you can even search for stories based on characters. You will also be shown the title of the story, the author and a short summary which is written by the author. Additionally, one can also access the Communities link, located on the top right of the page. Communities are created by authors of the site and they archive select stories. The basis for such archives can be genre, specific characters or even pairings (romantic or otherwise). If you have an account on the site, you can even subscribe to the community and receive email notifications when new fanfics are added to the community.</p>
<p align="justify">However, quantity does not always mean quality. It is quite common to hear laments that it is becoming increasingly difficult to search for a good read on FanFiction.net, and as a user of the site for close to 4 years, it is a sentiment which I share. The reason for this is likely to be due to the fact that FanFiction.net allows anyone to create an account to start writing and publishing their works. There is no minimum age for creation of an account, so you may come across the works of pre-teens as you are browsing and see a lot of Internet speak. Also, the only form of quality control - if it can even be called such - is through the review system where readers are able to leave comments and reviews after reading the story. Thankfully, it is often easy to tell which stories are likely to be more worth your time by looking at the story&#8217;s title and the accompanying summary, although the summary might not always show whether the characters will be in-character.</p>
<p align="justify">Other than being a site for publishing and archiving fan fiction, <strong><a href="http://www.fanfiction.net">FanFiction.net</a></strong> has, over the years, expanded its services and improved existing ones. The newest service to hit the shelves is the &#8220;Beta Reader&#8221; service, where authors of the site can advertise their services to other authors on the site. A beta reader, in short, proof reads a story and makes amendments or gives suggestions for improvements before it is published. This can be seen as another way to improve the standards of fan fiction on the site, although it depends on the author if he/she wants to use the service. Relatively new to the website is also the forum, which allows for anything pertaining to a particular original work to be discussed. Other services include private messaging between authors, a dictionary, a search function and a profile page for each author which is often used by authors for updating readers on their current on-going works.</p>
<p align="justify">All in all, FanFiction.Net is a good place to start your journey in the world of fan fiction, as well as for interacting with fellow authors. So if you&#8217;re new to reading fan fiction and planning to start, why not try out FanFiction.net?</p>
<p><strong>Rate this website, give us your rating:</strong><br />
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		<title>ESPNsoccernet.com</title>
		<link>http://www.reviewcolumn.net/2008/02/29/espnsoccernetcom/</link>
		<comments>http://www.reviewcolumn.net/2008/02/29/espnsoccernetcom/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 29 Feb 2008 06:17:12 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>criimson</dc:creator>
		
		<category><![CDATA[Blogs &amp; Websites]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[espn]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[soccernet]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[website review]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.reviewcolumn.net/2008/02/29/espnsoccernetcom/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[ReviewColumn&#8217;s rating :


You know about the world&#8217;s most popular sport. Now, allow me to introduce to you the world&#8217;s most popular website (in my opinion) about the world&#8217;s most popular sport - ESPNsoccernet.com. Missed a live match on the television? Here, you can find pictures, reviews, match reports and team information about football from almost [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><strong>ReviewColumn&#8217;s rating :</strong><br />
<img src="/wp-content/4stars.png" alt="4 stars" /></p>
<p style="TEXT-ALIGN: center"><img src="http://www.reviewcolumn.net/wp-content/uploads/2008/02/espnsoccernet.jpg" alt="ESPNsoccernet.com" /></p>
<p align="justify">You know about the world&#8217;s most popular sport. Now, allow me to introduce to you the world&#8217;s most popular website (in my opinion) about the world&#8217;s most popular sport - <strong>ESPNsoccernet.com</strong>. Missed a live match on the television? Here, you can find pictures, reviews, match reports and team information about football from almost anywhere on the globe.</p>
<p align="justify">ESPNsoccernet is a website fully dedicated to the sport of football. Football played with a round ball, mind you. It publishes the latest reports about happenings in the world of football all over the world. Major incidents are reported within minutes of the event taking place, for example the sacking of Chelsea&#8217;s coach Jose Mourinho last year. Reporters from the widely established ESPN are spread out in the numerous countries with major football leagues to provide up-to-date information and gossip in the respective host countries. Galleries of photographs from matches played are updated regularly, giving users a visual feast after reading through the wordy reports.</p>
<p align="justify">The website also has a massive database of team information, ranging from titans like Manchester United in the English Premier League to minnows like Xerez from the Spanish Ligue 2. Information about teams includes players, managers, recent form, past achievements and so on. The list is so comprehensive that I still have not managed to browse through all the information available for Manchester United. This is definitely welcome news for hardcore supporters of various teams who want to dig out detailed information about their teams. The use of this wealth of information can be further expanded - by registering for free on ESPNsoccernet, you can actually customize the welcome page, with a toolbar on the right with the latest information about your favourite team. Keeping track of your team&#8217;s progress, both on and off the pitch, has never been so easy.</p>
<p align="justify">The feature I appreciate most about ESPNsoccernet is the &#8216;Live Scores&#8217; update section. Ever experienced being stuck in the office while your team is playing live? Stuck at home but your mum refuses to budge from watching her favourite Cantonese drama serial? ESPNsoccernet comes to the rescue. The &#8216;Live Scores&#8217; feature gives updates on live matches, refreshing every 3-5 minutes. Cautions, bookings, set pieces and goals are all chronologically documented within minutes of it actually happening on the field. Now fans can follow the match even without a television, but of course, without the exciting graphical presentation.</p>
<p align="justify">ESPNsoccernet is a very useful website, with a host of informative features. However, the multitude of features and add-on&#8217;s make the site cumbersome. Due to the massive volumes of information, the page usually takes quite long to load, especially during peak periods like after a live match. Also, one annoying thing is that the reports lack pictures, or in a few cases only containing one. The reports can be rather lengthy and wordy, and sometimes it can be quite a chore to go through it. I felt that the picture gallery could be incorporated into the respective match reports - at least reading won&#8217;t be such a dreadful bore.</p>
<p align="justify">All in all, this website is really worth the read. The opinions and insights from the resident analysts are interesting reads and it would make good discussion topics. Everything about soccer under the sun can be found here, and its structure makes it child&#8217;s play to track a team&#8217;s progress through a cup or the league. I would recommend <strong>ESPNsoccernet.com</strong> to all football fans out there who have not heard about this yet.</p>
<p>ESPNsoccernet.com can be accessed <a href="http://www.espnsoccernet.com">here</a>.<br />
<strong>Rate this website, give us your rating:</strong><br />
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		<title>HardwareZone.com</title>
		<link>http://www.reviewcolumn.net/2008/01/27/hardwarezonecom/</link>
		<comments>http://www.reviewcolumn.net/2008/01/27/hardwarezonecom/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 27 Jan 2008 07:39:41 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>criimson</dc:creator>
		
		<category><![CDATA[Blogs &amp; Websites]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[hardwarezone review]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[hardwarezone.com]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[website review]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.reviewcolumn.net/2008/01/27/hardwarezonecom/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[ReviewColumn&#8217;s rating :


Before making purchases of computer hardware, it is my habit to pay HardwareZone.com a visit. First, to seek some advice on the forums as to whether my purchase is good value for money and if it is appropriate for the intended use. Second, to make use of the comprehensive price guides available for [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><strong>ReviewColumn&#8217;s rating :</strong><br />
<img src="/wp-content/3stars.png" alt="3 stars" /></p>
<p style="TEXT-ALIGN: center"><img src="http://www.reviewcolumn.net/wp-content/uploads/2008/01/hardwardzone.jpg" alt="HardwardZone.com" /></p>
<p align="justify">Before making purchases of computer hardware, it is my habit to pay <strong>HardwareZone.com</strong> a visit. First, to seek some advice on the forums as to whether my purchase is good value for money and if it is appropriate for the intended use. Second, to make use of the comprehensive price guides available for Singapore. HardwareZone is an invaluable source of information and is a much-needed helping hand for the hardware-illiterate like myself.</p>
<p align="justify">HardwareZone is essentially a global online community that discusses anything that has to do with, as the name suggests, hardware. This is not limited only to the realms of computers, but also to gaming consoles like Xbox, PlayStation and Nintendo GameCube. There is actually also a lot of useful information on software, especially for Operating Systems. HardwareZone is further split into regional &#8216;portals&#8217;, namely Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Philippines and Australia. Each of these portals have their own separate site and separate forums in their respectively native languages.</p>
<p align="justify">As mentioned earlier, price guides are one of the most useful tools available on this website. There are price guides for Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and Philippines and these are available for download, if you register as a member of the forum. This registration is free and open to all. The price guides are extensive, to say the very least, covering a myriad of products from cameras to graphics processing units. The guide is divided into categories of the IT products and further divided by brands and models. For example, for graphics cards, it first lists down the different types (PCI-E or AGP) of graphics cards, as well as the brand (NVIDIA GeForce or AMD ATI Radeon), followed by the model series. Then it is further split into Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM) like Asus, Gigabyte and MSI.</p>
<p align="justify">Another supremely helpful feature is the HWZ forums. You can basically learn anything and everything fundamental about hardware from these forum discussions. From assembly of &#8216;rigs&#8217; (the common term for computers) to choosing power supply to overclocking rig performance, the innumerable discussion threads will be a blessing to those less learned in this field of expertise. Most forumers are friendly and extremely helpful, responding to queries and requests from me promptly and patiently.</p>
<p align="justify">The &#8216;marketplace&#8217; on HardwareZone is a place for users to advertise their wares - usually personal items that people want to sell. This is the place for users with a budget to find functional hardware, but at prices lower than retail.</p>
<p align="justify">In my opinion, the forums are a big plus point on this website due the mammoth amount of information available, as well as the presence of experts to provide advice on hardware selections. However, what irked me was that the HWZ forums are frequently offline, meaning that I get many &#8216;database error&#8217; messages when trying to access the forums. This was a persistent problem and it was really annoying. Beware, also, not all forumers have good intentions on the marketplace, and many have been blacklisted for dishonest trades. There is still the iTrader rating points to help a user gauge the integrity of a seller, and hopefully that would be sufficient. Technical flaws aside, <strong>HardwareZone.com</strong> is indeed a haven for hardware &#8216;noobs&#8217; all over the world.</p>
<p>The website can be accessed <a href="http://www.hardwarezone.com">here</a><br />
<strong>Rate this website, give us your rating:</strong><br />
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		<title>GameFaqs.com</title>
		<link>http://www.reviewcolumn.net/2008/01/09/gamefaqscom/</link>
		<comments>http://www.reviewcolumn.net/2008/01/09/gamefaqscom/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 09 Jan 2008 02:16:15 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>shabbies</dc:creator>
		
		<category><![CDATA[Blogs &amp; Websites]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[gamefaqs]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[gamefaqs review]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[gamefaqs.com]]></category>

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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.reviewcolumn.net/2008/01/09/gamefaqscom/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[ReviewColumn&#8217;s rating :


&#8220;Ah crap, I&#8217;m stuck at this part of the game again. Where should I proceed from here?&#8221; Ever encountered such a scenario before? The saviour&#8217;s here. GameFaqs.com provides game guides, FAQs and all the other random game information that one needs for the game. It is a comprehensive site which has almost every [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><strong>ReviewColumn&#8217;s rating :</strong><br />
<img src="/wp-content/3stars.png" alt="3 stars" /></p>
<p style="TEXT-ALIGN: center"><img src="http://www.reviewcolumn.net/wp-content/uploads/2008/01/gamefaqs.gif" alt="GameFaqs.com" /></p>
<p align="justify">&#8220;Ah crap, I&#8217;m stuck at this part of the game again. Where should I proceed from here?&#8221; Ever encountered such a scenario before? The saviour&#8217;s here. <strong>GameFaqs.com</strong> provides game guides, FAQs and all the other random game information that one needs for the game. It is a comprehensive site which has almost every game&#8217;s information on the block. It serves games from all consoles, from the Xbox to Sony&#8217;s Playstation. It is, the information counter for all you gamers out there.</p>
<p align="justify">Gamefaqs works on the basis of peer-to-peer sharing of information. Players who have passed that part of the game post ways to solve that problem. With the interactive commenting ability, players could post question and comments similar to that of a forum. It also has links to the best deals, ratings from reputable gaming sites and to the official game site by the developers.</p>
<p align="justify">Players could also assist others by writing out guides and walkthroughs for all the other players who got stuck in some part of the game. Being part of <em>GameSpot</em>, GameFaqs get regular updates on the games, such includes game demos, official patches and demo videos for the masses to view and try out the game before actually purchasing them.</p>
<p align="justify">How about those other sites which provide cheat codes? Some of them may not be reliable and give misleading information which can cause players to screw up their games badly. GameFaqs provides many guides typed out by different players. This allows players to cross-check the information given by different players to ensure their reliability. Codes provided are also constantly checked and if negative feedbacks are received about the codes, they would be double-checked by the moderators and if found to be incorrect, they would be deleted. This ensures that the cheats provided will be as reliable as possible.</p>
<p align="justify">However, some games may not be in GameFaqs&#8217; database. These games are mostly those that are not in English and hence, will not likely be very popular since the majority of gamers are used to seeing games in English. Nevertheless, even if the original copy is in other languages, as long as there is an English version, the game would still be featured on the website. Some games, although not in English, could still be found on GameFaqs because of its popularity and through popular demand, GameFaqs would still have them on their website.</p>
<p align="justify">For those who are not able to understand the English version, some games also had players posting guides of different languages to accommodate those who are not English-speaking. The availability of such foreign language guides makes GameFaqs a popular website even amongst those who do not understand English.</p>
<p align="justify">All in all, GameFaqs can only be successful through the constant support given to it by its members who frequently update the website with the relevant information and only through the users&#8217; comment that GameFaqs will continue to improve.</p>
<p>GameFaqs can be accessed through: <a href="http://www.gamefaqs.com">www.gamefaqs.com</a></p>
<p><strong>Rate this website, give us your rating:</strong><br />
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		<title>GaiaOnline.com</title>
		<link>http://www.reviewcolumn.net/2007/12/20/gaia-online/</link>
		<comments>http://www.reviewcolumn.net/2007/12/20/gaia-online/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 20 Dec 2007 05:21:19 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>spvn</dc:creator>
		
		<category><![CDATA[Blogs &amp; Websites]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[gaiaonline]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[gaiaonline review]]></category>

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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.reviewcolumn.net/2007/12/20/gaia-online/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[ReviewColumn&#8217;s rating :


My personal avatar
The internet has certainly made it a lot easier for individuals to interact with people all over the world, through things such as instant messaging, VOIP, forums, etc. It allows people to better understand the world around them and also make new friends online when they discover like-minded individuals. For people [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><strong>ReviewColumn&#8217;s rating :</strong><br />
<img src="/wp-content/5stars.png" alt="5 stars" /></p>
<p style="TEXT-ALIGN: center"><img src="http://www.reviewcolumn.net/wp-content/uploads/2007/12/picture-1.png" alt="Gaia Online" /><br />
<em><small>My personal avatar</small></em></p>
<p align="justify">The internet has certainly made it a lot easier for individuals to interact with people all over the world, through things such as instant messaging, VOIP, forums, etc. It allows people to better understand the world around them and also make new friends online when they discover like-minded individuals. For people looking for a great way to meet new friends online, <a title="Gaia online" href="http://www.gaiaonline.com/">GaiaOnline.com</a> is definitely a site worth checking out.</p>
<p align="justify">For those who still don&#8217;t know what it is, Gaia Online is a forum-based website where everyone&#8217;s avatars are anime-styled characters which are able to don different pieces of clothing and accessories which can be purchased either using virtual gold or paying for it with real cash. The reason why it&#8217;s called a &#8220;forum-based&#8221; site is because back in 2003, when the site was first opened to the public under the name Go-Gaia, it was initially just made up of a forum and an avatar customization feature. However, since then, Go-Gaia has evolved into Gaia Online and added a ton of new features. So many in fact that I wouldn&#8217;t even know where to start.</p>
<p align="justify">When I personally joined the site in 2004, they had lesser features than they do now. Back then, the only game which you could play was Fishing, which got boring quickly. Which is why most people still mainly stuck to the forums and marketplace where you could sell or buy items to customize your avatar with. However, they&#8217;ve added games like slots, blackjack, jigsaw and a few others to entertain users.</p>
<p align="justify">It doesn&#8217;t stop there, they&#8217;ve also added things such as the Gaia Towns feature which basically brings your avatar into a Flash application and you can then move around and talk to people in real time, kind of like in Habbo Hotel for those who know that site. It&#8217;s really great to be able to see your avatars come to life and actually move about instead of having them merely standing beside your messages in forum posts. They&#8217;ve also recently added a virtual theater where you can actually watch movies with other users in a virtual cinema. Of course, they don&#8217;t have any of the latest Hollywood blockbusters, but they do have great movies like Space Jam and even The Matrix.</p>
<p align="justify">However, despite the radical changes that have been implemented, Gaia Online still holds true to its original goal: to allow people meet and interact with one another in a virtual environment. That&#8217;s why even with the addition of Gaia Towns, there are still a ton of people in the forums since it&#8217;s basically what Gaia Online first started off with and what everyone has grown accustomed to. The great thing about Gaia Online is also the way in which you earn gold. That&#8217;s done by doing simple things, such as exploring the site by clicking around, posting in the forums or even polling in any poll. It&#8217;s that simple, and with that gold you can buy items to outfit your avatar with. While this sounds extremely shallow, it can get extremely addictive. The problem is that Gaia Online keeps on adding new items all the time and by now it&#8217;s really impossible to keep track of how many items they&#8217;ve added to the site. So much so that www.tektek.org has been set up to aid users with Gaia Online. There are so many items that no two avatars will ever look the same because there are an infinite number of possible combinations of items. That&#8217;s also another great thing about Gaia Online, you are able to have a unique avatar which can truly represent yourself in a virtual world.</p>
<p align="justify">Gaia Online is obviously a great place to meet like-minded individuals, especially by joining Guilds. Users are able to set up Guilds based on a specific topic so that all users are able to congregate in that specific forum to discuss about that particular topic. For example there are quite a few Star Wars Guilds out there and even Guilds based on Final Fantasy where users even role play characters in forums. It really becomes a very immersive experience after awhile since there are definitely a ton of people with whom you can role play with. Also, you can rest assured that no matter what topic you&#8217;re interested in there&#8217;ll be a guild set up for it. Of course, even if there isn&#8217;t one, you could easily start one yourself. The great thing about having these guilds is that you are able to hang out with people who have similar interests to your own.</p>
<p align="justify">Gaia Online is a really great site, though some might be turned off by the anime theme. However, there are tons of features that will keep users coming back for more. For example they&#8217;re planning on introducing a whole MMORPG game to Gaia Online so that users can play using their very own avatars. Still, it&#8217;s not like there aren&#8217;t already enough features to keep you occupied. With forums, games, movies and a great community, there&#8217;s no reason for me to not give this site the best 5/5 rating.</p>
<p align="justify"><em>P.S: If you&#8217;re thinking about signing up, I suggest you do so soon. Gaia Online is giving away a unique special item everyday from the 12th to 24th of December as a Christmas special. These special items can really increase in value over time. Also, when you&#8217;re signing up, please include &#8220;spvn&#8221; as the referrer.</em></p>
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		<title>ShopPromotions.us</title>
		<link>http://www.reviewcolumn.net/2007/11/02/shoppromotionsus/</link>
		<comments>http://www.reviewcolumn.net/2007/11/02/shoppromotionsus/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 01 Nov 2007 16:07:25 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>spvn</dc:creator>
		
		<category><![CDATA[Blogs &amp; Websites]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[shoppromotions.us]]></category>

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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.reviewcolumn.net/2007/11/02/shoppromotionsus/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[ReviewColumn&#8217;s rating :


Shopping is considered to be a very popular past time among many people, yet it is not as easy as simply purchasing items over the counter. For example, there are quite a few things to consider when shopping at larger shops such as Walmart, which is one of the world&#8217;s largest corporations and [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p align="left"><strong>ReviewColumn&#8217;s rating :</strong><br />
<img src="/wp-content/3stars.png" alt="3 stars" /></p>
<p style="TEXT-ALIGN: center"><img src="http://www.reviewcolumn.net/wp-content/uploads/2007/11/walmart.jpg" alt="Walmart" /></p>
<p align="justify">Shopping is considered to be a very popular past time among many people, yet it is not as easy as simply purchasing items over the counter. For example, there are quite a few things to consider when shopping at larger shops such as <a title="http://shoppromotions.us/" href="http://shoppromotions.us/">Walmart</a>, which is one of the world&#8217;s largest corporations and the largest grocery retailer in the United States. However, it doesn&#8217;t simply sell groceries, but practically everything else, from toys to computers as well. It has swept across America, expanding to becoming a ubiquitous sight in the country, till the point where there are now Wal-Mart stores in other countries like China. Such a huge corporation is obviously anything but simple, thus there are several sites out there that provide information about this huge corporation. One such site would be <strong>Shop Promotions</strong> (<a title="Shop Promotions" href="http://shoppromotions.us/">http://shoppromotions.us</a>).</p>
<p align="justify">Despite the fact that the name of the site has practically nothing at all to do with Walmart, practically the entire site is about it. On the front page, the history of Walmart is detailed since it was founded in the 1940s. It includes a huge number of pages that all provide interesting and yet useful information about Walmart, for example <a title="walmart credit card" href="http://shoppromotions.us/creditcards.html">Walmart Credit Card</a>, <a title="walmart employees" href="http://shoppromotions.us/associates.html">Walmart Employees</a> and even Walmart on the Stock Exchange. For shoppers, the site also provides advice for shopping at Walmart as well.</p>
<p align="justify">The information it provides are all extremely detailed, for example the site lists every single detail about the Walmart Discover Card such as the special privileges that it entitles the holder to. Also, it even provides information about all the different forms of payment available at Walmart, making it a lot easier for shoppers to purchase their items.</p>
<p align="justify">Even though Walmart is already a very big corporation, it doesn&#8217;t seem like it has stopped growing yet. Over the years it has surpassed other cooperations (such as becoming the biggest toy retailer in the late 1990s after surpassing Toys R Us) and it doesn&#8217;t seem to be ready to stop yet. We might even see Walmart stores in other Asian countries in the near future since they&#8217;re already practically everywhere in the US. Therefore, such a site will definitely come in useful for many people since a large portion of the American population shops at Walmart at one time or another.</p>
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		<title>Craigslistt.us</title>
		<link>http://www.reviewcolumn.net/2007/11/01/craigslisttus/</link>
		<comments>http://www.reviewcolumn.net/2007/11/01/craigslisttus/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 01 Nov 2007 07:39:37 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>spvn</dc:creator>
		
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		<category><![CDATA[craigslistt.us]]></category>

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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.reviewcolumn.net/2007/11/01/craigslisttus/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[ReviewColumn&#8217;s rating :


In my opinion, Craigs list is probably one of the largest and yet unknown sites out there on the Internet. Despite the fact that its roots date back to around 1994 when Craigslist Newmark (a software engineer) first got the idea for such a website. Soon, Craigslist.org slowly grew to become a huge [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><strong>ReviewColumn&#8217;s rating :</strong><br />
<img src="/wp-content/3stars.png" alt="3 stars" /></p>
<p style="text-align: center"><img src="http://www.reviewcolumn.net/wp-content/uploads/2007/11/craigslistt.jpg" alt="Craigslist" /></p>
<p align="justify">In my opinion, Craigs list is probably one of the largest and yet unknown sites out there on the Internet. Despite the fact that its roots date back to around 1994 when Craigslist Newmark (a software engineer) first got the idea for such a website. Soon, Craigslist.org slowly grew to become a huge database of information. Now, it even includes information about 450 cities worldwide and also lists of articles on all sorts of topics like Google or even romance. Obviously, it&#8217;s a really useful and informative site, yet the problem is that tons of people still have no idea how to fully make use of such a powerful website.</p>
<p align="justify">Hence, there are sites out there like <strong>Craigslist Overview</strong> (<a title="Craigslist overview" href="http://craigslistt.us/">http://craigslistt.us</a>) that will guide anyone along as to how to make use of <a title="Craigs list" href="http://craigslistt.us/">Craigs list</a>. In fact, such sites are not uncommon nowadays since so many people are unsure of how to use Craigslist. It offers all sorts of information about Craiglist, for example it details the history of Craiglist on the front page and goes more in depth in the other pages by teaching you how to effectively make use of Craigslist and even goes so far as to offer tips about how to advertise on Craigslist.</p>
<p align="justify">There are many interesting bits of information about Craigslist on the site as well, such as its development over the years as well as any controversies that it has gotten itself into. It also has several side categories such as <a title="Craigs list jobs" href="http://craigslistt.us/jobs.html">Craig list jobs</a> and <a title="Craigs list Housing" href="http://craigslistt.us/housing.html">Crag list Housing</a> which offers more specific information about such topics. Of course, being such a huge site there will definitely be scams and frauds related to it, and Craigslist Overview also has tips on how one should stay away from such scams involved, which will definitely prove highly informative and useful for anyone planning to make use of the site.</p>
<p align="justify">Despite already winning multiple awards and growing to become such a huge site, Craigslist has not reached its saturation point in my opinion. There&#8217;s still space for it to grow since there&#8217;s just so much information for it to document and store. Thus, one really needs to learn how to use the site as it will undoubtedly benefit you in one way or another, and Craigslist Overview is probably one of the best places to start learning more about this site.</p>
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