Amazon: Etymotic Research ER6i Isolator In-Ear Earphones $72.24

For a limited period only, amazon is doing a wonderful deal on this Etymotic Research ER6i Isolator In-Ear Earphones for $72.24 (List $99.99) . It comes with all the accessories you could ever ask for.

You can view the deal here: Amazon Etymotic Research ER6i Isolator In-Ear Earphones

Head First Python by Paul Barry

Ever wished you could learn Python from a book? Head First Python is a complete learning experience for Python that helps you learn the language through a unique method that goes beyond syntax and how-to manuals, helping you understand how to be a great Python programmer.

You'll quickly learn the language's fundamentals, then move onto persistence, exception handling, web development, SQLite, data wrangling, and Google App Engine. You'll also learn how to write mobile apps for Android, all thanks to the power that Python gives you.

We think your time is too valuable to waste struggling with new concepts. Using the latest research in cognitive science and learning theory to craft a multi-sensory learning experience, Head First Python uses a visually rich format designed for the way your brain works, not a text-heavy approach that puts you to sleep.

Click here to buy

My Passion for Design by Barbra Streisand

A successful woman with oodles of money and time creates her own world to live in, down to the last bud on the last flower. Not since Joan Crawford published her advice books 40 years ago have we had a book written by someone so out of touch with the "real" world.

My Passion for Design is indeed stuffed with colorful photos and spreads to illustrate her gardens, rooms, closets, etc.; passages of comments from the author pop up throughout. Does she know what she talks about? Yes. Names, dates, and searches for what she wants are ponderously detailed. The issue is that only 0.02% of people can use this information. Can I whip out my checkbook and spend millions on chickens to lay green eggs? Or hire gardeners to come over and debate the nature of the color red for the perfect rose? In this economy, few people outside her fanbase of rabid fans are likely to buy this book.

One wonders if she makes her husband maintain his white hair so as not to clash with the decor. . . .

What could have saved the book from the cutout bin? Tone down the author's search for the perfect doorknob (hip readers will get my AbFab reference) and instead feature sections on "here is what you can do to spruce up your home and gardens with a limited budget. If I can do it, so can you with my help!" That way the average reader could relate to her and her book.

Ultimately, this is a handsome-looking book about. . . nothing at all.

I won't buy this book

Latest Nintendo Wii Hardware Bundle

I just order a red Nintendo Wii Hardware Bundle for my sister and it just took two day to get to my house.I opened and was amazed on how nice this console looks I played the new super mario game for a little bit and its so fun I didn't wanted to put it away Also i like it so much I had to order a second one I'm a game pro and i give this game 5 stars and the console

I recommend everyone to purchase from Amazon.com itself because they are so good on any defects or issues that the item could have that they will send a label for return but to return its hily not likely Amazon number 1

See the game here

How I messed up the week playing games

I can't believe how fast this week just flew by... I still haven't finished all the things I planned on doing. I recently bought a copy of Seven Languages in Seven Weeks and wanted to start reading it. Even if there's still time for that, what bothers me is not being able to stick to my scheduled takes.

Beside the book, I also wanted to join a few of the programmes as discussed on the 5 Guaranteed Ways For a Developer to Make Money This Christmas . If you have not seen it yet, now's the time to go check it out. It essentially shows you what you need to make some residual income as a software developer. I have only managed to join the hub party - and already have 2 post to my name.

Another thing that has been keeping from finishing my side project is the Call of Duty: Black Ops. I recently joined facebook and with a great facebook set up by call of duty fans, I have been playing in a multiplayer mode. Meaning that I spend most nights with other core players well into the wee hours of the morning. This game is terribly addictive. If you want to get something done, please take my advice and do not play this game on empty stomach and pile of tasks waiting on your to-do list.

Spring Persistence with Hibernate

Persistence is an important set of techniques and technologies for accessing and transacting data, and ensuring that data is mobile regardless of specific applications and contexts. In Java development, persistence is a key factor in enterprise, e-commerce, and other transaction-oriented applications.

Today, the Spring Framework is the leading out-of-the-box solution for enterprise Java developers; in it, you can find a number of Java Persistence solutions.

Spring Persistence with Hibernate gets you rolling with fundamental Spring Framework 3 concepts and integrating persistence functionality into enterprise Java applications using Hibernate, the Java™ Persistence API (JPA) 2, and the Grails Object Relational Mapping tool, GORM.

• Covers core Hibernate fundamentals, demonstrating how the framework can be best utilized within a Spring application context
• Covers how to use and integrate JPA 2, found in the new Java EE 6 platform
• Covers how to integrate and use the new Grails persistence engine, GORM

What you’ll learn

• How to use Spring Persistence, including using persistence tools in Spring as well as choosing the best Java Persistence frameworks/tools outside of Spring
• How to work with Spring Framework features such as Inversion of Control (IoC), aspect-oriented programming (AOP), and more
• How to work with Spring JDBC, use declarative transactions with Spring, and reap the benefits of a lightweight persistence strategy
• How to work with Hibernate and integrate it into your Spring-based enterprise Java applications for transactions, data processing, and more
• How to integrate with legacy databases, as well as use best practices for developing web services and handling Hibernate proxies and lazy collections
• How to the integrate the Spring/Hibernate persistence tier with RIA technologies like Ajax and Flash
• How to integrate JPA for architecting a well-layered persistence tier in your enterprise Java application
• How to move a persistence tier into JPA
• How to use and integrate the Grails persistence framework, GORM, and how to leverage it within a standard Java Spring MVC application

Who is this book for?

Spring Persistence with Hibernate is ideal for developers interested in learning more about persistence framework options on the Java platform, as well as fundamental Spring concepts. Because the book covers several persistence frameworks, it is suitable for anyone interested in learning more about Spring or any of the frameworks covered. Lastly, Spring Persistence with Hibernate book covers advanced topics related to persistence architecture and design patterns, and is ideal for beginning developers looking to learn more in these areas.

                            You should buy a copy NOW!

I just joined Facebook to Play Call of Duty: Black Ops

I didn't think I would in a million years join Facebook. Even after joining last week, I still don't like the idea of publishing and uploading every little thing I do on that site for all my friends and old school mates to see what I'm up to.

What made me sign up was how easy it was to find groups of other hardcore Call of Duty: Black Ops players. If you haven't played Call of Duty: Black Ops in a multiplayer mode, I would recommend you get someone to play with. There are people out there on the internet who are always online playing, but the majority of them are on Facebook groups.

If Call of Duty: Black Ops is not your thing, then check out World Of Warcraft as well. It's another multiplayer game with a huge community behind it. This is one of the biggest games on the internet with 100s of millions of monthly players. The community is HUGE...but the latest release of Call of Duty is the daddy right now.

I'm still getting to know my way around, until then I will just stick to the game and no uploading of pictures and other nonsense.

Call of Duty: Black Ops racks up sales record

Call of Duty: Black Ops generated more than $360m (£223m) on the first day it was on sale, publisher Activision says.

In the UK, first day sales of £58m made it the all-formats record holder, says research firm Gfk/Chart-Track.

In the US and UK the game is thought to have sold more than 5.6 million copies, of which 1.4 million were bought by British gamers.

The previous record holder for first day sales was the Black Ops predecessor Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2.

Independent figures for US sales are not yet available but UK figures suggest Black Ops smashed the sales record set by its forerunner.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 sold 1.23 million units in the UK on its first day in November 2009, says Gfk, but Black Ops racked up 14% more. Revenues generated by sales of Black Ops were 22% higher.

Publisher Activision said it expected Black Ops to beat the $550m (£340m) in revenue generated by Modern Warfare 2 in its first five days on sale.

The majority of sales were for the Xbox 360 version of the game, figures showed.

On the first day of release Josh Olin, community manager for Black Ops' creator Treyarch, said more than one million people were online playing the Xbox version at the same time.

Decision Points by George W. Bush

This fascinating account of the life and crimes of former US President George W. Bush in Decision Points, is a riveting insight into one of the world's greatest criminal minds and mass murderers. Having remained silent for two years following his ousting as President, Bush now lifts the lid on the Whitehouse Murders and an array of other criminal activities that have blighted his past.

From his own admission as "the costliest mistake I have ever made" relating to his decision to not admit a 1976 conviction for a drink driving offence when running for the Whitehouse, to his friendship with fellow killer Tony Blair, whom Bush once alarmingly likened to Churchill, it's all here, the lies, the deceit, the condoning of water-boarding torture methods on Iraqi prisoners, the illegal invasion of foreign lands and the massacre of innocents in what has to be the cornerstone of any library dealing with True Crime.

The best read since "The Jeffrey Dahmer Story: An American Nightmare"... but it's not recommended as bedside reading when alone in the house. A truly chilling book!

Broke: The Plan to Restore Our Trust, Truth and Treasure Broke: The Plan to Restore Our Trust, Truth and Treasure

I don't know if the mid-term election earlier this week has anything to do with with Glenn Beck's books shooting to the top of most bestseller lists.

This morning, my kindle app just alerted me that his latest work - Broke: The Plan to Restore Our Trust, Truth and Treasure Broke: The Plan to Restore Our Trust, Truth and Treasure; has made it back to the top for the second time. If you are a regular visitor, you will have noticed that I blogged about this book awhile back. Even then, it was on the way down. So, I'm surprised to see how things have seemed to change yet again.

So, what does this mean for him? From the sales figures on Amazon.com, one can get an clear idea of how many of his books and DVDs have been sold in the last couple of days.

To give you an idea, here's last month sales figure , and here's the latest figures - you judge the difference.

Programming Google App Engine: Build and Run Scalable Web Apps on Google's Infrastructure

As someone who has been working with Java for the best part of 7 years, I recently took up Python programming. So, in a effort to drive that learning further, I have ventured in Google App engine with Python. What better way to get to know how it works than to get a good reference book and work from there!

I had been working with various online tutorials on programming google app engine, but none of them actually focused on good quality examples and working samples to set you up on writing your own with little difficulty.

So, if like me you too have been piecing together different materials, now is the time to get a book like the Programming Google App Engine: Build and Run Scalable Web Apps on Google's Infrastructure which not only shows you how to use Python on Google App, but also includes Java sample apps for those who use Java as well. Now that's cool because it will appeal to both camps.

To give you an idea of how cool this book is, have a look at the Amazon.com review to see what comments other readers have left.

How to search for Cheap Van Hire

One of the few things that gets me angry is when companies advertise one thing but charges you something else. This was exactly what happened this last weekend from one of the local Van Hire companies around my area. A quick online search pulled up several van hire operators, which I narrowed down to a few that looked promising.

I decided on one and booked with my credit card. The service was supposed to cover insurance, the van itself, fuel and man - (van and man). I booked it for two days, meaning that it should be delivered to my door first thing Saturday morning and returned Monday morning. As it turned out, things didn't go according to plan.

First, the driver arrived late well into the mid-morning on Saturday with the van. Not only was he late, the van was not clean...you could see that it needed cleaning before you. I gently suggested that they should have brought a cleaner van, which he rudely replied that if I didn't want the van I should let him know. Of course, I should have turned down the van hire, but I had to move out to my new house that weekend, so I was not prepared to waste any more time.

The problem did not end there. One of my treasured paintings was torn and ripped from its frame. If this was any other painting, I would not have bothered in the slightest. But as it happened this was a painting that was passed down to me by my father. It has been in the family for over 90 years. So, you can understand how I felt that this van man did not think anything of it.

To make matters worse, my credit card was over charged for the van hire with tax and made to use their chosen insurance company, made to pay for full tank of fuel and late delivery charge. In all, I was not only ripped off, I lost a treasured painting, over charged and had a terrible experience. It later transpired that there was no company - it was the man himself who ran the business from his home. I initially thought of naming and shaming the company, but decided against it as I didn't want to give them any undue publicity.

So, my advice is to never rely on what these little dodgy  companies post on their website, ask around from friends, neighbours and even colleagues for any reputable Van hire service. Chances are they will have used one themselves and should be able to recommend one. And if possible, avoid van and man, and go for van only of you have someone to help with the heavy lifting.

wxPython in Action

This year I decided to take the plunge and try to learn how to program GUI interfaces. As I'd been learning Python for a couple of years on and off I looked at the available options - which seemed mainly to be just four - Tkinter, PyGTK, PyQt and of course wxPython.

I discounted Tkinter as it is frequently said to not be good enough for large programming projects, and PyQt because it isn't Open Source and briefly looking at the license details put me off straight away.

I then tried to find information on PyGTK and wxPython. PyGTK is probably a good option but doesn't have any books on the subject and the online documentation can be a bit confusing at times - its a pity that someone who knows PyGTK hasn't written a book on it yet !

Even though the wxPython book was written four years ago and therefore doesn't necessarily include full details of the current version (v2.8.11 at the time of writing) I decided to try the book. And I am very glad that I did - it turned out to be one of my best programming book purchases for some time. It is easy to follow (assuming that you know Python and object oriented programming) and has good examples for many if not most of the things which you are likely to want to use for GUI programmimg.

It has very good sections on creating Frames, text windows, menus, drawing to the Screen Device Context, Buffered Device Contexts where necessary to avoid constant redrawing of the screen, all the standard button and widget types, printing, many types of sizers to automatically arrange your widgets without having to know exactly where they all are on the screen, dialogs (I couldn't believe how easy it was to use the standard File Chooser dialog !) and a great chapter on keeping your code tidy - and after coding a few GUI programs I can see why :)

I have been a programmer for many years (COBOL mainly !) and all in all this book make learning GUI programming as easy as I could ever have imagined. I don't know if a new version of this book is planned but until then if you need to learn Python GUI programming then get this book ! After 2 to 3 months in your spare time & weekends you could be programming Python GUI's reasonably competently !

The Twelfth Imam - Joel C. Rosenberg

Reading "The Twelfth Imam", political thriller, is very plausible, it's like reading today's headlines especially with the tension between Iran and Israel and the United States.

This novel is set forth on two "what if" plots. The first is, what if the world drags their feet too long and Iran really acquires nuclear weapons?

And, what if the so-called Islamic messiah known as the Twelfth Imam by Joel C. Rosenberg actually appears on earth? How would Iran respond? How would the Israel and the United State handle this?

This fits into Bible Prophecy as the antichrist beast of revelation 13, will probably claim to be the 12th Imam just like this novel... it is thought provoking!

This book should be a best seller and I highly recommend it to everyone! It is action packed that will keep you on the edge of your seat.

KaChing: How to Run an Online Business that Pays and Pays

When I bought this book there wasn't too many reviews and so I relied a little on the title to sway me 'How to Run an Online Business that pays and pays'. That was what I was after and so I was hooked.

Initially I was a little disappointed, not much, but a little hence the 4 stars. I say this only because I felt the book largely centres around blogging your passion, your expertise or what interests you. Many of the tools, techniques and advice that Joel Comm discusses tie back to making money from blogging. Sure you can make money from your online business via blogging, but I just felt it was a little too one dimensional, as Joel Comm didn't look too much past this (blogging). Some online businesses are not just about blogging! Having said that Joel does discuss affiliate marketing and ways to make money from your site via membership and coaching programs but again its geared around your knowledge and doesn't touch on other online business strategies for those who may be trying to make money online via other initiatives i.e. selling products.

That said this book is easy to read and isn't overly complicated. Joel Comm delivers by providing a number of models on how to make money, most of which are geared around Google AdSense. He does though delve into AdSense discussing the importance of ad layout and formatting.

At times I found I couldn't put this book down and was getting carried away with how I, someone who has never considered blogging, could maybe make a living from it. Joel Comm inspires you and makes you believe you can. I've never heard him talk, but he writes passionately, which I believe gives what he says credibility. If he believes it then I will too. Importantly he is a realist, advising making money from an online business takes time, effort in building networks and then more time. It doesn't happen overnight.

If you blog and want to make money from it, then I'm sure this book will help as many of the tips, tools and techniques suggested are clear and easy to understand. If you run an online business selling a product then I believe there are better books on internet marketing, searching engine marketing etc.

 Get a copy here >>

worth the money when its on sale

I purchased this microSDHC Flash Memory Card to add more memory to my Archos 5 IMT 16gb. That great things about the Archos is that it integrates this SD Card, so it's like I have 32GB of memory, instead of 2 separate storage devices like most MP3 players with expansions bay have. Simply put, a great buy for what I needed it for.

I thought I would blog about it in case someone else wants to take the opportunity to quickly grab one whilst the sale lasts.

The Book of Python: A Real-World Reference

The Book of Python is a complete reference to the Python programming language. It begins with a discussion of Python's programming environment (data types, packages, and modules), then moves on to more advanced topics, including object oriented programming, interacting with operating systems, creating GUIs and database interfaces, network programming, XML, and web programming.

Functions and modules are cross-referenced throughout and multiple examples illustrate how to use Python. The authors have extensive experience with large scale, mission critical Python applications-real world experience that forms an unusually solid foundation for a book of this sort.

The Ultimate: Fable III Limited Edition

Ascend to the throne and become Albion's next ruler in Fable III . "The Fable III Limited Edition Signature Series Guide" picks up the story of life in Albion over half a century after the events of Fable II. Your quest is to overthrow a megalomaniac sibling and save a continent on its knees. This limited edition guide tracks the decisions you make, determining the type of ruler you become. Exclusive quest guides and maps provide an unprecedented knowledge of the games dig spots, gnomes and secrets.

Included is a stand alone art section, with a limited edition dust cover and multiplayer tactics for co-op and competitive modes. Fable III and The Kingdom of Albion have never been explored in such detail, but how will you gain and control the wealth and power you crave?

Here's a trailer to get your tongue wagging!

Noise-Cancelling Earbud Headphones

My 'normal' headphones are earbuds and I like the loose fit. I was skeptical about getting noise-cancelling earbuds due to the 'tight' fit in the ear, but these Noise cancelling Headphones are DEFINELY worth it! Amazing the difference these make in noise reduction. Loud AC unit in my living room becomes 'silent'.

Took the headphones on a trip recently -- sitting at the airport gate, the headphones got rid of the din of noise yet let me hear the intercom messages. And once we were on the plane/in flight, greatly reduced the engine/air noises. Had one instance (in the airport) where I couldn't hear a gentleman talking to me when the headphones were on, but I can live with that!

Looking for Noise Cancelling Headphones, then check out this lot. There's definitely something there for every one.

Building Android Apps with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript

If you know HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, you already have the tools you need to develop Android applications. This hands-on book shows you how to use these open source web standards to design and build apps that can be adapted for any Android device -- without having to use Java.
You'll learn how to create an Android-friendly web app on the platform of your choice, and then convert it to a native Android app with the free PhoneGap framework. Discover why device-agnostic mobile apps are the wave of the future, and start building apps that offer greater flexibility and a broader reach.

• Learn the basics for making a web page look great on the Android web browser
• Convert a website into a web application, complete with progress indicators and more
• Add animation with jQTouch to make your web app look and feel like a native Android app
• Take advantage of client-side data storage with apps that run even when the Android device is offline
• Use PhoneGap to hook into advanced Android features -- including the accelerometer, geolocation, and alerts
• Test and debug your app on the Web under load with real users, and then submit the finished product to the Android Market

This book received valuable community input through O'Reilly's Open Feedback Publishing System (OFPS). Learn more at http://labs.oreilly.com/ofps.html.