Today's Top Hardware

This Just In: HP ProBook 5310m

2010-04-18T23:51:00.000-07:00

We've looked at quite a few CULV laptops of late, including our CULV roundup. HP's ProBook 5310m is CULV with a twist: it doesn't have to be a CULV laptop, as regular CPUs are also available with significantly more performance on tap. Worth particular note is that the ProBook 5310m is a business laptop rather than a consumer model, which means there's a matte LCD option for a change. (And there was much rejoicing….) HP launched the 5310m late last year, so it's lost some of its shiny newness, but the ProBook still gets a lot of areas right.

The ProBook 5310m comes with an aluminum cover and palm rest, though the LCD bezel remains glossy. This is a very thin and light laptop—less than an inch thick and weighing in at 3.8 pounds. We really like the spacing on the keys, and the keyboard has been comfortable for use in limited testing. The default battery is a bit thinner than a AAA battery and the standard configuration ships with a 4-cell 41Wh battery good for up to ~6.5 hours of mobility (testing still pending). An optional $20 upgrade gets you a 6-cell battery, which should boost battery life quite a bit. Most of the other features are the same as other CULV laptops, but the 5310m does ship with a DisplayPort output instead of the common VGA/HDMI output.
There are a few potential gotchas you should be aware of before taking the plunge, perhaps the biggest being that there's only a single SO-DIMM slot, so getting 4GB will incur a price premium. We'd like to see 4GB options with 64-bit Windows as well; at present, you're going to have to install a 64-bit OS separately if that's what you want. Like many other CULV laptops, the 5310m uses Intel's GMA 4500MHD IGP—good for working in standard Windows applications, watching most movies, and not much else. But then, it's doubtful anyone buying this type of business notebook is going to have gaming as a high priority. Finally, we expect to start seeing CULV versions of Core i5/i7 start showing up (at last!), and while prices are likely to be higher they should also provide better performance. Hopefully we'll get one for review sooner rather than later.

We've got a bunch of other laptops to look at in the near future, including some new AMD-based models, but if you're looking for a thin and light 13.3" laptop the ProBook might have what you're after. The preconfigured models are the way to go, as pricing is much better. If you want a CULV Celeron SU2300 (1.2GHz 1MB L2), you can find the 5310m for just $607 online. That will get you 2GB DDR3 memory and a 160GB 7200RPM hard drive—there's no optical drive on the 5310m. An upgraded model with a Core 2 Duo SP9300 (2.26GHz 6MB L2) will run $759; it also bumps the HDD up to 320GB 7200RPM. The preconfigured models ship with Windows 7 Professional 32-bit (with an XP downgrade if you want it).
http://www.anandtech.com

Apple's 15-inch Core i5 MacBook Pro: The One to Get?

2010-04-18T01:30:00.000-07:00

If you've followed our Mac coverage over the past year you know I've been telling everyone to wait until Apple brought Arrandale into its MacBook Pro lineup. The time has finally come and this week Apple updated its entire MacBook Pro lineup.

While the 13-inch models still sport Core 2 Duo CPUs, the 15 and 17-inch models now ship with your choice of Core i5-M or Core i7-M processors. In a somewhat unexpected twist, all of the new models ship with discrete graphics courtesy of NVIDIA's GeForce GT 330M.

Intel gets to sell Apple some chipsets again and NVIDIA gets its GPUs in the new systems (possibly making even more money than before). But do you all benefit? Read on to find out!

http://www.anandtech.com/

ASUS G73Jh: Today's Top Gaming Laptop

2010-04-17T01:01:00.000-07:00

ASUS has made it a goal to increase their retail presence in the mobile market, with an eye on becoming one of the top brand names. There's no doubt that Dell, HP, and Acer continue to sell more laptops overall (especially if we leave out the Eee PC netbooks), but walk into any Best Buy, Office Depot, etc. and you're likely to find quite a few ASUS laptops for sale. They have everything from entry-level netbooks and laptops through long battery life CULV designs and a bunch of midrange offerings. At the high-end, you'll probably have more luck finding ASUS laptops online, but the ASUS G73Jh definitely makes such a search worthwhile.

The G73Jh is of the "bigger is better" variety of gaming notebooks, but it's not quite up there with the giant 18.4" offerings. Instead, ASUS has dropped down to a slightly smaller 17.3" chassis, but they've still packed in a lot of compelling hardware. Do you want to play games? How about getting the fastest current mobile GPU, and unlike the latest NVIDIA mobile solutions you get DirectX 11 support! The Radeon Mobility HD 5870 is a potent little chip, and it matches up nicely with the 1080p display. Sure, it pales in comparison to the top desktop GPUs (it's really based off the 5770 "Juniper" core with 800 Stream Processors as opposed to the 1600 Stream Processor "Cypress" core), but short of multi-GPU solutions like SLI and CrossFire, you won't find a faster notebook graphics chip.

Matched up with the GPU are a supporting cast of components that are powerful in their own right. For the CPU, the G73Jh-A2 that we received for review includes a quad-core i7-720QM (1.6GHz with Turbo Boost up to 2.8GHz). The notebook uses an HM55 chipset, so support for i3 and i5 processors is also available and we expect to see other SKUs down the road. Thanks to Turbo Boost, the only dual-core CPUs that should clearly offer better single-threaded performance are the i5-540M and i7-620M, but for multi-threaded loads even the "low-end" 720QM bests all of the dual-core options. Besides 1TB (2x500GB) of storage and the other typical accessories, ASUS also stuffs a full 8GB of DDR3 memory into the G73Jh. It's interesting to note that they do this via four SO-DIMM slots, so potentially you could put 4x4GB in the system but ASUS officially lists only 8GB support.

The only serious omission (for some) is a Blu-ray drive; other models are likely to include such a drive, but costs are going to go up. If you want Blu-ray support, you might find it easier to just add your own for $100. For those that want it, eSATA, ExpressCard, and FireWire support are also missing, and unlike the N61Jv there's no USB3 port either. Digital content purveyors will be disappointed but if you're just after a mobile gaming solution the missing items aren't likely to matter.

When you add everything together, the G73Jh—particularly the A2 version that includes a nice mouse and backpack—is an excellent value, provided of course that you're interested in a gaming laptop. This thing is a beast to lug around, and it won't fit in my standard 17" laptop bag, so you'll want the ASUS backpack if possible. Availability is perhaps the only sore spot, with stock disappearing rapidly at most of the online vendors we've monitored. As such, a few sites are bumping up the price… and still selling out. (Newegg, we're looking at you and your $1750 A2 model.) The MSRP for this particular configuration is supposed to be $1600, and if you shop around you can probably find it at that price or slightly less, but as with any popular model you may need to work a bit to find one.

Next-generation, high-performance processor!

2009-04-20T04:57:00.000-07:00

The prototype for a revolutionary new general-purpose computer processor, which has the potential of reaching trillions of calculations per second, has been designed and built by a team of computer scientists at The University of Texas at Austin.
The new processor, known as TRIPS (Tera-op, Reliable, Intelligently adaptive Processing System), could be used to accelerate industrial, consumer and scientific computing.

Professors Stephen Keckler, Doug Burger and Kathryn McKinley have been working on underlying technology that culminated in the TRIPS prototype for the past seven years. Their research team designed and built the hardware prototype chips and the software that runs on the chips.
"The TRIPS prototype is the first on a roadmap that will lead to ultra-powerful, flexible processors implemented in nanoscale technologies," said Burger, associate professor of computer sciences.
TRIPS is a demonstration of a new class of processing architectures called Explicit Data Graph Execution (EDGE). Unlike conventional architectures that process one instruction at a time, EDGE can process large blocks of information all at once and more efficiently.

Current "multicore" processing technologies increase speed by adding more processors, which individually may not be any faster than previous processors.
Adding processors shifts the burden of obtaining better performance to software programmers, who must assume the difficult task of rewriting their code to run well on a potentially large number of processors.
"EDGE technology offers an alternative approach when the race to multicore runs out of steam," said Keckler, associate professor of computer sciences.
Each TRIPS chip contains two processing cores, each of which can issue 16 operations per cycle with up to 1,024 instructions in flight simultaneously. Current high-performance processors are typically designed to sustain a maximum execution rate of four operations per cycle.
Though the prototype contains two 16-wide processors per chip, the research team aims to scale this up with further development.

Dexter:Season 3, Episode 12

2009-04-01T05:43:00.000-07:00

Do You Take Dexter Morgan?
Original Air Date—14 December 2008
With Miguel Prado now out of the way, Dexter thinks all he has to worry about is his wedding. Life isn't so simple however. Ramon Prado, who had been acting as Miguel's bodyguard, is now out to get Dexter. So is the Skinner, though Dexter doesn't quite realize it until he's taken prisoner. Debra is told by Angel Batista that he has recommended her for her detective's shield. That is until he learns that she spent the night with Anton when everyone thought he was a confidential informant. Dexter learns that Rita has been married twice before, her first marriage when she was only 16 followed by a divorce six months later.

Supernatural

2008-10-13T05:50:00.000-07:00

Supernatural is an American horror television series regarding the paranormal. The series, which is filmed in Vancouver, BC, Canada, debuted on September 13, 2005 on The WB, and is now part of The CW's lineup. The second season premiered on September 28, 2006, and the third on October 4, 2007, though its run was interrupted by the writers' strike. Supernatural returned for a fourth season on September 18, 2008.

Plot

The series follows the brothers Dean and Sam Winchester, played by Jensen Ackles and Jared Padalecki, who travel across the country in a black 1967 Chevy Impala investigating and combating paranormal events and other unexplained occurrences, many of them based on folklore, myths, and American urban legends as well as classic supernatural creatures such as vampires, werewolves, and ghosts. Eric Kripke, the series' creator, cites Neil Gaiman's The Sandman and American Gods as influences on Supernatural, along with American Werewolf in London and Joseph Campbell's The Hero's Journey.[2]

The plot of the series has evolved over time, beginning initially with the Winchester brothers, Sam and Dean, looking for their father throughout most of season one. Once they find him, the show becomes about killing Azazel, the yellow-eyed demon responsible for the death of their mother. This is accomplished, but not until after Azazel's plans are completed and a door to Hell is opened, although only momentarily, releasing a horde of demons into the world. This event also sees the death of Sam, who is subsequently resurrected by Dean selling his soul at the end of season two. In the third season, the plot of the show focuses on trying to save Dean from his deal. Along the way, they meet a demon named Ruby, who has an interest in Sam and claims to be able to help save Dean, as well as Bela Talbot, an "acquirer" and seller of occult objects who is constantly a thorn in their side. The brothers eventually manage to track down the demon who holds Dean's contract, a powerhouse named Lilith who also wants Sam dead. However, Sam and Ruby ultimately fail to save Dean, who is killed and sent to Hell. Season four begins with Dean, miraculously returning from Hell, awakening dazed and confused in a grave. He was apparently rescued by a supposed angel named Castiel on orders from God. Sam on the other hand, has further developed his abilities with the help of Ruby during the months that Dean has been dead. It is soon revealed that Dean was revived to help stop Lilith's plan of breaking the 66 seals, which would let Lucifer walk free once again.

Dexter

2008-10-07T11:04:00.000-07:00

Dexter ia viata. Pe bune. Sub tagline-ul "Takes life. Seriously", Dexter ne tine in sah de mai bine de un an. Serialul a inceput in 2006, in octombrie, si este la a treia serie.

Dexter este Michael C. Hall, pe care l-am vazut in Six Feet Under (Sub Pamant S.R.L), in rolul lui David Fisher, antreprenorul de pompe funebre homosexual si cerebral.

Spoiler alert!

Ce este deci Dexter? Un serial politist categorisit de imdb drept thriller si drama, dar cu un umor foarte fin si cu accese de comedie.

Cine este Dexter? Un medic legist, specializat in teoria tasnirii sangelui, care are... "nevoi speciale" si instincte de ucigas. Ca sa si le canalizeze, periodic hacuieste pe cineva, dar "victimele" sunt alese numai dintre alti ucigasi. Dexter este un om bun care face lucruri rele... sau invers?

Numele sau este foarte sugestiv si reprezentativ: dexter in latina inseamna "(mana) dreapta", de unde a derivat "indemanatic". Dexter este dibaci, dar este el si drept? In orice caz, mainile sunt un simbol recurent in serial - atasate sau nu posesorului original.

Sezonul 1 (12 episoade) se axeaza pe joaca lui Dexter, criminalul cu mutra inocenta de soarece de laborator, cu un ucigas in serie autentic, fara considerente "etice", dar cu un spirit ludic similar. Fiecare victima reprezinta inca o enigma de rezolvat, inca un centimetru ridicat la stacheta cursei catre o crima perfecta, curata, eleganta si inventiva.

Ideea nu este originala - nici a doppelganger-ului (sau a fratelui cel rau), nici a personalitatii bipolare (vezi Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde), nici a ucigasului in serie de ucigasi in serie (vezi Suspect Zero), nici a monstrului cu chip de om ziua (vezi American Psycho si Shrek I).

Ceea ce da o nota aparte acestui serial este printre altele felul in care este tratata moartea - cu aceeasi raceala si detasare pe care o intalneai in Six Feet Under, de exemplu. Nu este nimic dezgustator, repingator sau revoltator intr-un Dexter mazgalit de sange pana la urechi, pentru ca Dexter este The Dark Defender.

Si aici intervine acea tenta de comedie despre care am vorbit. Serialul se vrea distractiv; si este. Personajul lui Dexter, desi are nuante de supererou (la un moment dat chiar apare in mantie si cizme), nu este chiar atat de usurel. Discursul interior al lui Dexter urmareste neincetat actiunea filmului, dubland aparenta cu adevarul, ipocrizia normalitatii sale cu sinceritatea ("I'm a neat monster"). Dexter este un personaj pozitiv, detasandu-se categoric de imaginea de psihopat tip Patrick Bateman, la care exista multe aluzii in serial.

My pain is constant and sharp. I want my pain to be inflicted on others. I want no one to escape. But even after admitting this, there is no catharsis. My punishment continues to elude me. And I gain no deep knowledge of myself.

Nu este un citat din serial, ci din discursul final al lui Bateman din American Psycho - si aici se face diferenta: Dexter nu cauta decat criminali, nu se lanseaza urland psihopat cu toporul, ci are un ritual foarte meticulos. Iar la sfarsitul zilei, cand isi pune trofeul in colectie, simte ceva. Dexter, ca si Bateman, trebuie sa simta, pentru ca este gol pe dinauntru, "gol ca o cutie de gogosi".

Sezonul 2 schimba putin foaia. Tonul nu mai e jucaus - Dexter (sau mai degraba "realizarile" alter ego-ului sau) intra in centrul atentiei sectiei de politie unde lucreaza. Dexter devine vanatul. Intriga se crispeaza, povestea accelereaza...

Serialul "John Adams" - rasfatatul premiilor Emmy 2008

2008-09-23T11:00:00.000-07:00

Sincer nu ma asteptam ca serialele "House md" si "Dexter" sa nu ia nici un premiu... pentru astia care nu au auzit de ele "House" e despre medicina, medici, boli... prostii de astea , iar celalat este despre un criminal in serie, foarte bun serialul il recomand tuturor.

Serialul de televiziune "John Adams" a fost recompensat cu 13 premii in cadrul celei de-a 60-a editii a premiilor Emmy, echivalentul premiilor Oscar in televiziunea americana, care s-a desfasurat duminica, la Los Angeles, informeaza Mediafax.

"John Adams" este un serial produs de postul de televiziune HBO si are ca subiect povestea celui de-al doilea presedinte american. Serialul TV a obtinut, printre altele, premiul pentru ca mai buna serie de televiziune, premiul pentru cel mai buna actor, care i-a revenit lui Paul Giamatti, si premiul pentru cea mai buna actrita, Laura Linney.

Serialul TV "Mad Men", produs de AMC, care se desfasoara in New York si are ca subiect industria publicitatii din perioada anilor ''60, a devenit primul serial de televiziune, produs de o alta retea decat HBO, care sa castige premiul pentru cel mai bun serial - drama.

Totodata, telespectatorii au votat parodia dupa industria televiziunii "30 Rock" drept cel mai bun serial de comedie, pentru cel de-al doilea an consecutiv. Actorii serialului, Tina Fey si Alec Baldwin au castigat premiul pentru cea mai buna actrita intr-un serial de comedie si, respectiv, premiul pentru cel mai bun actor intr-un serial de comedie.

Tina Fey, creatoarea si producatoarea serialului, a castigat premiul pentru cel mai bun scenariu la un serial de comedie. Astfel, "30 Rock" a obtinut, in total sapte premii, situandu-se pe pozitia a doua dupa "John Adams".

In ceea ce priveste dramele TV, Glenn Close a obtinut premiul pentru cea mai buna actrita intr-o drama, pentru rolul avocatului din serialul "Damages", al retelei FX. Premiul pentru cel mai bun actor intr-un serial - drama a fost adjudecat de Bryan Cranston, pentru serialul "Breaking Bad", produs de AMC.

In cadrul celei de-a 60-a editii a premiilor Emmy, organizatorii au decis sa recompenseze si progamele reality show, oferind premiul pentru cel mai bun prezentator al unui reality show, premiu obtinut de Jeff Probst pentru "Survivor", produs de reteaua CBS.

Totodata, reality show-ul "American Idol", cea mai urmarita emisiunea din SUA, a pierdut in favoarea "The Amazing Race", in competitia celor mai bune serii de tip reality.

Premiul pentru cel mai bun actor in rol secundar intr-un serial de comedie a fost obtinut de Jeremy Piven, pentru cel de-a treilea an consecutiv, acesta fiind recompensat pentru rolul din serialul "Entourage", produs de HBO. Pe de alta parte, premiul pentru cea mai buna actrita in rol secundar intr-un serial de comedie a fost adjudecat de Jean Smart, pentru rolul din serialul "Samantha Who?", produs de ABC.

Hackerii ar fi patruns in reteaua ce permite accesul la acceleratorul de particule LHC

2008-09-21T06:45:00.000-07:00

Hackerii au reusit sa patrunda intr-una dintre retelele informatice care permite accesul la cel mai mare accelerator de particule din lume, LHC, aflat in Elvetia, la Centrul european de cercetare nucleara (CERN), si care a fost pus miercuri in functiune pentru un controversat experiment.

Hackerii au reusit sa introduca o pagina internet pe site-ul CERN, pe care au semnat-o "The Greek Security Team" (echipa greaca de securitate), luand in deradere securitatea informatica a site-ului si afirmand ca cei care l-au conceput sunt niste "scolari", au relatat sambata cotidienele britanice The Times si The Daily Telegraph, care nu citeaza sursa articolelor lor, conform Newsin.

La CERN a inceput miercuri un experiment stiintific a carui ambitie este de a recrea primele momente ale universului. Hackerii au spart site-ul chiar miercuri, in ziua in care se desfasura experimentul istoric, dar ei precizeaza ca nu au avut intentia de a perturba evenimentul.

James Gillies, un purtator de cuvant de la CERN, a declarat celor doua ziare britanice ca nu stie cine sunt piratii informatici. "Dar se pare ca ei nu au provocat nici o stricaciune. Se pare ca este vorba despre persoane care vroiau sa demonstreze ca CERN poate fi piratat", a adaugat purtatorul de cuvant.

LHC trebuie sa ciocneasca protoni care circula in sensuri inverse, eliberand particule elementare care pana in prezent nu au mai fost observate. Sistemul va recrea, pentru o fractiune de microsecunda, conditiile care prevalau in univers imediat dupa Big Bang, inainte ca particulele elementare sa se asocieze pentru a forma nuclee de atomi.

Doua prime fascicule de particule au efectuat miercuri un tur complet in inelul de 27 de kilometri aflat la 100 de metri sub pamant, de o parte si de alta a granitei franco-elvetiene.

Piata financiara traieste propriile efecte ale experimentului Geneva

2008-09-18T09:39:00.001-07:00

Stirile legate de noua rabufnire a crizei financiare din Statele Unite umplu paginile ziarelor de astazi. Se pare ca experimentul LHC de la Geneva de saptamana trecuta nu a adus sfarsitul lumii, ci sfarsitul unor giganti din lumea financiara americana. Cotidianul utilizeaza aceasta tema in titlul din prima pagina: „Gaura neagra inghite banca dupa banca”.

Pe scurt, evenimentele arata astfel: Lehman Brothers, una dintre cele mai importante banci de investitii din State, cu o istorie de aproape 160 de ani, a dat faliment, Merrill Lynch, o banca de acelasi calibru, a fost cumpara de Bank of America, pe 50 miliarde de dolari, pentru a evita falimentul, in timp ce gigantul asigurarilor AIG a solicitat Fed un ajutor de 40 miliarde de dolari, pentru a face fata revizuirii negative a raitingului din partea agentiilor si a-si majora capitalul. Si toate aceste evenimente s-au petrecut intr-o singura zi.

Efectele de peste Atlantic s-au resimtit si in Europa, scrie Cotidianul, acolo unde bursele au inregistrat pierderi de 4-5% la jumatatea zilei de ieri, iar actiunile celor mai importante banci europene (precum BNR Pariba, Societe Generale, Dexia, Fortis sau UBS) au pierdut 6-9%. La noi, indicele BET-C al Bursei de Valori a pierdut 3,67%, iar leul s-a depreciat cu 1,81 bani fata de euro, pe fondul cresterii aversiunii fata de risc.

La o astfel de intorsatura a lucrurilor in Statele Unite, mirarea a cuprins lumea financiara din Romania. ZF scrie: „Bancherii de la Bucuresti nu-si cred ochilor: nici cele mai solide banci din lume nu sunt nemuritoare”. Pe moment, noteaza publicatia, acestia nu anticipeaza consecinte dramatice pentru piata financiara din Bucuresti, insa considera ca amploarea noii crize din State si schimbarile pe care le va genera ar trebui constientizate de mediile de afaceri.

„Intrebarea este cand va incepe criza sa afecteze si companiile nefinanciare, spune in ZF Rasvan Radu, presedintele executiv al UniCredit Tiriac Bank. In Romania, arata acesta, efectul al crizei americane se resimte clar pe piata imobiliara, unde „investitorii financiari straini aproape au disparut”.

Patrick Gelin, seful BRD, spune in ZF ca prabusirea Lehman Brothers are doua invataminte: „ca trebuie pus punct dezvoltarii necontrolate a economiei financiare si ca institutiile, chiar si cele mai solide, sunt muritoare”. Presedintele Raiffeisen Bank, Steven van Groningen, avertizeaza asupra unei noi cresteri a costului creditelor, pe fondul lipsei de incredere in sectorul financiar si al perceptiei de risc crescut.

In toata aceasta furtuna de peste ocean, in Bursa apare stirea ca „Banca Carpatica se vinde”. Informatia este data „potrivit unor surse din piata financiar-bancara”.

„Ofertele indicative se pot depune pana la sfarsitul acestei saptamani, dar se pare ca cea mai interesata este banca ungara OTP”, scrie Bursa. Nicolaie Hoanta, directorul general al bancii, infirma insa declaratiile surselor, in timp ce reprezentantii OTP au declarat ca nu comenteaza.

In Business Standard, Ilie Carbulea, principalul actionat al Bancii Carpatica, nu neaga intentiile de a vinde banca, insa spune ce spune ce suma vrea sa obtina. „Carabulea: Nu vand banca pana nu ajunge la valoarea reala”, titreaza Standard. Estimativ, aceasta valoare ar fi de 500 mil. euro, in ce in prezent capitalizarea ei a scazut la 94 mil. euro.

„Trebuie sa ajungem la o valoare reala a bancii, si pe urma discutam de vanzare. Valoarea reala a bancii este de cinci ori mai mare decat cea din piata bursiera”, declara Carabulea in Standard.

Cashflow 101 si 202

2008-09-12T03:03:00.000-07:00

Cine a citit Robert Kiyosaki stie la ce ma refer. In cartea “Rich Dad, Poor Dad” Kiyosaki dezvolta ideea “cursei sobolanului” in care se afla majoritatea oamenilor. De mici sunt crescuti cu ideea ca trebuie sa creasca, sa faca o facultate, sa gaseasca un job bun, si sa primeasca un salariu de pe urma caruia sa isi plateasca datoriile.

In realitate putini oameni primesc o educatie financiara reala, si tocmai de-asta nu cunosc ce inseamna termenul : independenta financiara. Viata lor depinde de salariul de la sfarsitul lunii. Vine salariul, iti platesti datoriile, chiria, telefonul, internetul, cablul Tv, faci aprovizionarea si vezi cu ce ramai. De cele mai multe ori ramai cu nimic.

Unii cred ca solutia este sa muncesti ca sa primesti un salariu mai mare. Insa un salariu mai mare nu face altceva decat sa te bage mai mult in datorii. Esti legat in cursa sobolanului pentru ca esti stimulat sa cheltuiesti mai mult.

Crezi ca daca ai un salariu mai mare esti mai bogat, cand de fapt asta e o siguranta foarte subreda.

Kyosaki aduce in discutie in cartea lui ideea : “veniturilor pasive”. Esti independent financiar atunci cand poti sa iti parasesti jobul si fara sa iti micsorezi standardele de viata reusesti sa traiesti inca 3, 6, 9, 12 luni.

Cu alte cuvinte, esti independent financiar cand realizezi niste profituri sau venituri, care iti vin constant fara ca tu sa muncesti pentru ele.

Exemplu de venituri pasive : drepturi de autor, ai un teren si il inchiriezi, network marketing, programe de afiliere, …….etc.

Pe baza acestei “teorii” kyiosaki a facut un joc numit Cashflow. De fapt sunt doua variante Cashflow 101 si Cashflow 202 diferite doar prin complexitatea mai mare a lui 202 (include investitii pe bursa..etc). Insa daca ai jucat Monopoly vreodata si ti-a placut, cu siguranta Cashflow te va prinde de 10 ori mai rapid. Pentru ca provoaca dependenta.

Scoala de afaceri

2008-09-11T08:56:00.000-07:00

Am fost plecat cateva zile si uita ca nimeni nu a intrat pe site :D.... aproape nimeni am avut 7 accesari in 2 zile. Dar imi pare bine ca am avut si atatia. Am avut mai mult de 98 % din cei care intra zilnic.

Azi va prezint o carte pe care am citit-o pe drum spre bunici si inapoi. Excelenta cartea din punctul meu de vedere si o sa citesc si altele scrise de Robert T. Kiyosaki. Cartea se numeste "Scoala de afaceri" dar mai important este ce scrie sub acest titlul "Pentru oamenii carora le place sa ii ajute pe altii". Citind cartea o sa intelegeti ce vrea sa spuna. O sa citesc in seara asta "Cadranul banilor", carte ce apartine aceleiasi serii numite "Tata bogat". As putea sa va zic mai multe despre acesta carte dar nu vreau sa va stric placerea.

„Datorită faptului că nu mi-am câştigat averea din întemeierea unei afaceri de marketing în reţea, am avantajul de a fi puţin mai obiectiv în privinţa acestui subiect. Cartea de faţă descrie adevăratele valori ale unei afaceri de marketing în reţea — valori care depăşesc simplul potenţial al dobândirii de venituri uriaşe. În sfârşit am găsit o afacere cu faţă umană.“ Robert T. Kiyosaki

Maine murim!!!

2008-09-08T12:40:00.000-07:00

Doua scenarii de cosmar, doua apocalipse. Sunt ideile care au facut inconjurul lumii odata cu preconizata lansare de miercuri, 10 septembrie, a unei masinarii capabile sa aduca nu atat disparitia Terrei, cat distrugerea totala a intregului Univers, anunta ziaristii britanici de la DailyMail.

Nu este un scenariu SF ci pura realitate. Cauza unor astfel de scenarii? - o masina gigantica, ce reprezinta cel mai scump si cel mai mare experiment stiintific din istorie, “Large Hadron Collider”, o masina ce va fi pusa in functiune in cursul zilei de miercuri. Desi a fost creat pentru a raspunde celor mai arzatoare intrebari ale omenirii, aceasta ar putea, in egala masura, sa distruga intregul Cosmos. Impresionanta masinarie, care a costat peste 4 miliarde de lire sterline, are 29 de kilometri lungime si se afla la o adancime de 92 de metri. A fost construita in apropierea Genevei si este cel mai puternic aparat creat vreodata pentru a deslusi misterele atomului, a fortelor si particulelor care alcatuiesc universul, in speranta ca mecanismele interioare ale materiei si energiei vor fi revelate..

Nu toti cercetatorii sunt, insa, de acord cu pornirea acestui aparat. Tot mai multe voci sustin ca exista sanse ca aparatul sa nu functioneze corespunzator. Doua scenarii posibile au fost elaborate: primul ar fi crearea unei mini gauri negre, care va inghiti pamantul din interior, iar cel de-al doilea este o catastrofica reactie in lant, care va distruge intregul Univers. Inca din 1994, de cand a inceput constructia aparatului, au existat protestatari care au sustinut ca reconstructia Big Bang-ului, care a avut loc cu 13 700 milioane de ani in urma, prezinta riscul ca un cataclism de proportii cosmice sa se produca.
Specialistii de la CERN (Organizatia Europeana de Cercetare Nucleara) resping, insa, aceste scenarii, sustinand ca proiectul a fost elaborat nu pentru a distruge universul, ci pentru a-i afla cele mai ascunse secrete. Singura lor grija este ca aparatul este prea mic pentru a putea sustine un asemenea proces. Insa daca proiectul ar fi un succes, saltul stiintei va fi unul uimitor.

Pana miercuri, cand vom afla cine a avut dreptate, nu putem decat sa tinem degetele incrucisate si sa speram ca oamenii de stiinta implicati in proiect si-au facut corect calculele.

Sursa: Daily Mail

Fast And Furios 2009

2008-09-08T01:19:00.000-07:00

In sfarsit o sa apara mult asteptata urmare din Fast and Furios. Unii spun ca o sa joace si Vin Diesel (Fast and Furios 1) altii spun ca nu o sa joace.

Filmul are si site oficial : The Fast And Furios (veti gasi pe site trailerul)
Mie imi place de accentul lui Vin Diesel, chiar aseara am vazut un film cu el, Babylon A.D. Restul vreau sa vad ce mai stiti voi.

Filmul va fi lansat in vara viitoare.

Amendat de CNA

2008-09-07T09:29:00.000-07:00

In josul paginii veti gasi o bara video cu niste filmulete. Un click pe unu dintre ele e de ajuns sa vizualizati filmuletul. Enjoy!!!

(astept pareri .... mie mi-a placut, sper ca si voi o sa aveti aceiasi parere, daca nu asta e)

Twilight (novel)

2008-09-06T05:47:00.000-07:00

Twilight is a young adult vampire novel written by author Stephenie Meyer, originally published in hardcover in 2005. It is the first book of the Twilight series, and introduces seventeen-year-old Isabella "Bella" Swan who moves from Phoenix, Arizona to Forks, Washington, and finds her life in danger when she falls in love with a vampire, Edward Cullen.

Plot summary

Isabella "Bella" Swan moves from sunny Phoenix, Arizona to rainy Forks, Washington to live with her father, Charlie. She chooses to do this so that her mother, Renée, can travel with her new husband, Phil Dwyer, who is a minor league baseball player. Even though Bella never had many friends in Phoenix, she attracts much attention at her new school in Forks, and is quickly befriended by several students. Much to her dismay, several boys in the school compete for shy Bella's attention.

When Bella sits next to Edward Cullen in biology class on her first day of school, Edward seems utterly repulsed by her. He even attempts to change his schedule to avoid her, leaving Bella completely puzzled about his attitude towards her. After tricking a family friend, Jacob Black of the Quileute tribe, into telling her the local tribal legends, Bella concludes that Edward and his family are vampires. Although she was inexplicably attracted to him even when she thought Edward drank human blood, she is much relieved to learn that the Cullens choose to abstain from drinking human blood, and drink animal blood instead. Over time, Edward and Bella fall in love. Their foremost problem is that to Edward, Bella's scent is a hundred times more potent than any other human's, making Edward struggle to resist his desire to kill her. However, despite this they manage to stay together safely for a time.

The seemingly perfect state of their relationship is thrown into chaos when another vampire coven sweeps into Forks and James, a tracker vampire, decides that he wants to hunt Bella for sport. The Cullens plan to distract the tracker by splitting up Bella and Edward, and Bella is sent to hide in a hotel in Phoenix. Bella then gets a phone call from James in which he says that he has her mother, and Bella is forced to give herself up to James at her old dance studio, where he attacks her. Edward, along with the rest of the Cullen family, rescue Bella before James can kill her. Once they realize that James had bitten Bella's hand, Edward sucks the venom out of her system before it can spread and change her into a vampire. Upon returning to Forks, Bella and Edward attend their prom and Bella expresses her desire to become a vampire, which Edward refuses to let happen.