Google have announced an upgrading tracker for their analytics web stats. http://analytics.blogspot.com/2007/12/announcing-new-graphing-tools-gajs.html

 This will allow additional functionality and will pick up on new features in analytics when they become available. The most useful feature is the ability to track metrics against one another such as conversions for an ecommerce site.

People looking to invest money in property may well be thinking twice with the recent trends in the UK housing market which is showing signs of a slowdown. Landlords are typically the first to pull out if they feel there is going to be an appreciable loss on their portfolio. [Read more →]

With the advent of the high definition screen and arrival of Plasma and LCD screens that exceed 40 inches you will start to realise how poor the picture quality is from the average DVD or even a broadcast signal. [Read more →]

There are some great new gadgets from Firebox - our favourite online gadget shop! A great mobile web application, a fun robot and series 3 of the moon beams.

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The following post is one of those blinding moments of inspiration that hits us once in a while and all I can see are benefits.

 Standby mode uses a constant drain of power and the older the device the more the power drain. The total cost to the average household has been reckoned to be up to 10% of the total electricity cost that is lost while devices are in standby mode.

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Delta Insurance have recently had a revamp on their website. They aim to provide good quality cover for people over the age of 65. As a broker they have a wide range of policies on offer and can cover activity holidays and even accommodate medical problems and medical conditions, sometimes at normal terms. [Read more →]

I enjoyed the first 2 films. As I saw them in the wrong order I probably rate them differently to most people with the 2nd being far better. To recap the story so far. Jason Bourne has had his identity wiped, suffering from amnesia his memory has been lost and he has flashbacks of assasinations he had carried out.  

This 3rd film answers a lot of the questions raised in the first films. Essential elements of this film include evasion of a grab squad, gripping car chase and plenty of close call situations. Its nice to see old characters back in this film and the pace of the film is such that you are completely sucked into the story from beginning to end. This is better than both of the previous films and brings the Bourne story to a satisfying ending.

When this comes out on DVD I will certainly be buying it - I’m sure I missed so many subtle plot twists like I did with the first 2 movies. They may be a fourth installment but they have wrapped up so many elements of the story we will need to develop a new character.

Monsters inc is refreshingly original and very funny.

The monsters city is powered by the screams of children collected when Monsters Inc special agents go out in to the children’s world but modern children are getting harder to scare.

Children are harmful to the Monsters and the monsters are scared of the children - one day a child comes through the doorway into the Monsters Inc Factory - causing widespread panic in the Monsters world.

Although this movie is about monsters there is nothing sinister of scary in it and the plot is actually pretty good for a title aimed at kids. The video cd starts with an animated scene with some birds on a telegraph wire - it’s pretty funny and there is a trailer for the upcoming disney release - Finding Nemo looks quite funny probably similar in style to a little mermaid.

This film is very entertaining - don’t miss it!

Which technology is best for you and what are the advantages and disadvantages of each.

LCD has long been around in the form of laptop screens. Recently innovations in design technologies have made panels faster to react to colour changes without the blurring or smearing associated with older ones. This has led to an obvious application as a television.

LCDs are compact and light and come in affordable sizes up to about 32-34 inches and at contrast ratios of 1000:1. LCDs consume less power than an equivalent CRT based screen.

Plasma screens are often percieved as the luxury end of tvs. The advantages are the sizes available upto 50 inches with larger ones in production already. The colour rendition is sharp and bright and contrast ratios are typically much higher than the average LCD screen. The downsides of Plasma screens are the facts that they produce a lot of heat and consume lots of power.

For most people an LCD screen would be the ideal choice but for afficionados who really need the larger screen areas and the higher contrast ratios then Plasma is the choice for you.

Which things do you need to remember when you buy a Plasma TV?
Flat Screens avoid distortion to the picture are less straining on the eye and do not reflect light as well if the Cat knocks the curtain slightly open!

Dolby surround - best with a 5 or 6 speaker set up really immerses you into the film jack up your DVD player to best quality sound system you can afford. - the virtual dolby is getting good from just 2 or 3 speakers but the sound is rather flat and somewhat muffled. 20RMS is about minimum acceptable for DVD ignore PMPO measurements as these are rather vague.

A subwoofer is really good for enhancing the sound range and means that the other speakers in the room can be quite small.

Picture in picture - keep up with the footy scores while the husband watches a cookery or fashion tips programme !!!!

Aspect ratio - watch films as the director intended typically go for a 16:9 aspect ratio but make sure there are a number of stretch options for TV broadcast in 3:4 ratio or peoples bums will look FAT in this screen & Wide or have their heads cut off - some TV’s stretch the outside portions more than the centre. The important thing is that you have a number of options open to you so you can pick one setting for the newsreader and another for a documentary on snakes.

Inputs - SCART, Composite Video or better still HDMI - essential for best image quality but only if you have a VIdeo and DVD player that supports it. If the screen takes computer RGB input you can play your latest games in cinema scope but the resolution is usually quite low around 990 x 600 or 1280 x 720 pixels unless you get a Hi-Definition model which supports 1080p and 720p.

To be honest I wasn’t expecting much from this movie. I had played with the toys as a lad - ah those were the days. I didn’t really see how they could make a movie from a collection of toys but a movie they have made.

It is a heady mix of action, adventure sci-fi and a big helping of humour stirred in for effect. The special effects are really something else and the nearest film to it in technical terms must be I-robot.

I can’t wait to get this one on DVD and may even splash out for the limited edition box set version.

Official site with trailers etc..