Get Your College Outlook

http://www.collegeoutlook.net/index.cfm

College Outlook is the newest and fastest way to locate nearly any university or college in the United States. A simple yet intuitive interface allows any user to locate a school they are interested in. College Outlook provides a Google map with the geographical location, a Google camera view of the campus, and the opportunity to sign up for brochure information to be sent directly to you via mail. Another feature that may be of some help to those still not sure on the college of their choice is the recommended school listing that shows about 20 other locations that may be of interest. The only problem with the recommendations is there seems to be no rhyme or reason to how those schools are chosen. College Outlook is quite useful and will help early on in a college search. For someone nearing their decision on a college this may not be the place to look as details on universities are not found here. The map is great as all other schools near yours as well as cities are shown on the standard Google map. All in all this is a useful mash-up that provides simple information and a way to get more, but still has room for improvement and could be made a great resource for college searches with a little more work put into it.

Fighting Back

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13860_3-10045384-56.html?tag=TOCmoreStories.0

For the past couple years we have sat back and watched the numerous Apple commercials making the PC look like a weak little child that has no place in the computer industry any longer. What's more is many consumers have been left believing that Apple has taken over the computer the PC market and Microsoft has been crushed. In the mean time, Microsoft and PC manufacturers continue to dominate the landscape with upwards of 90% market share. So why has it taken Microsoft so long to fight back against a company that relies on Microsoft for numerous applications while backstabbing them with ad after ad proclaiming Apple supremacy? There is OS X on macs and there is windows on nearly every other computer out there. The Iphone and its software is great, but there are ten times the number of phones running Windows Mobile. Microsoft Office sure does look good on a Mac doesn't it? That's MICROSOFT Office. Itunes and Ipods changed the way we listen to music; funny how they work on every PC out there. How many gamers do you know that have a Mac computer? Few and far between. The Olympics, possibly the biggest event in the world, just ended but not with out using Window's based Lenovo computers to show more coverage online than ever before. The list goes on with how much Microsoft permeates our lives. Why did it take two or three years to respond to such criticism? Microsoft, Dell, HP: quiet the pop culture frat boy that is Apple and let us all move on without constant criticism of a computer system that has yet to fail and continually rewards those that stick to their guns.

Nano and Classic hit homerun, Touch strikes out

http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/analysts-say-apple-did-expected/story.aspx?guid=%7BA5063C3F-354D-4936-88F1-2DA0F1732774%7D&dist=hplatest

Tuesday, Apple unveiled the latest and greatest of their signature IPod line. The new Nano is sleeker and holds twice the memory of its predecessor all while keeping the prices, for you, down. The IPod Classic is now a standard 120 GB and has seen a significant drop in price. Apple has followed through with many consumer expectations and analyst predictions. Why can Apple not see the writing on the wall and make these changes to the IPod Touch line. El Jobso (Steve Jobs) has tried to convince us that Apple does not want the IPhone to replace the IPod Touch, but it seems more could be done to follow through with this. The IPod Touch is a great little device for music, movies, internet, and a vast array of other apps. Problem: its memory is limited and the price is higher than the IPhone, which oh by the way can be used as a phone. At the appropriate price and similar storage to the IPod Classic, the IPod Touch could dominate the mp3 landscape and still allow the IPhone to have its own market share. Touch screens are the future and Apple is generally at the forefront of innovation. Until they make adjustments to how they handle the IPod Touch other companies (SanDisk, Sony, Microsoft) will have the opportunity to seize the market and provide hardware that is a worthwhile purchase.

The Mini PC makes a charge

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2329399,00.asp
The novelty of the mini pc is looking to wear off and soon. At one time the thought of a computer the size of a woman's handbag was thought impossible. Then it was thought not worth the price for such little power. Little known companies like ASUS and MSI entered the market a few years back and I am sure you never even knew. The fact that now Dell and the other largest pc manufacturer HP have entered the "netbook" arena goes to show the new found use and productivity that can be seen in a pocket sized (albeit kinda big pocket) computer. Dell's Inspiron Mini 9 has the latest Intel chip the Atom and comes standard with a solid state drive. While the SSD capacity may be lacking, the Window's XP based Mini 9 packs the punch you need for a commuter laptop. Dell has created a computer that rivals any other available netbook on the market and throws great prices at you as well keeping any configuration under $500. For the older crowd, remember you glasses for that tidy 8.9" screen. And of course warm up the fingers for a keyboard that is screaming to be a little bigger. But in the end the Dell Inspiron Mini 9 is a stroke of genuis for Dell and two maybe three strokes (ehm) of fun for you and me.