Tuesday, May 15, 2012

10 Things… Tech heads are irrationally scared of

  • Unwanted PC seizure
  • Vintage tapes being found
  • Phone loss
  • Micro face cancer
  • The toilets of others
  • Children who know tech
  • Emailing the CEO
  • Cash machines
  • The Airport
  • Webcams

Unwanted PC seizure
You’ve never done anything other than work, buy Blu – rays online and play QWOP on your office computer. But you also know its previous owner was that sweaty guy with the Red Dwarf t-shirt who smelled of boiled lamb and left in a hurry. Could it be that any second now the “special police” will burst through the window, find a buried folder and send you down for a lengthy and disagreeable stretch in nonce town? Yes, in a word.
Vintage tapes being found
You were a bit of tormented singer-songwriter when you were a teenager, and recorded all your yearning balladry onto cassettes. Then you left them behind when you moved out. So where are said tapes now? They’re still sitting there, waiting for your children to find them. Then they’ll listen to Love is Killing Me ( reprise ), Window Pain, Requiem for my Loneliness and An Eternity of Misery and subsequently never look you in the eye again.
Phone Loss
If there’s one thing that’s more painful to lose than a close friend, it’s your beloved smart phone. The 24 hours before you find it in the fridge are filled with sweaty terror, stomach – churning dread and dark malaise: “How will all the people contact me?” Finally, you see The Precious sitting under that industrial block of cheddar and notice you have 22 missed calls, Job offers? Invites to parties? No. it was you ringing from the house phone.
Microwave face cancer
Cooking food in the old “potty ping” is responsible for your headaches and that lump on your neck, sure as your phone is killing your every sperm. Luckily, the microwave will not have time to kill you. The lasagne sat-fat fests meant for two that you scorch inside it every night will see to that.
The toilets of others

More specifically, those of potential in – laws. You just know it won’t be able to deal with what you’ve just done. Oh yes, it may have a doily on its head and delightful pine seating, but an effective flush ? forget it. Here goes 3-2-1… Nothing. So to refill, then try again. Oh dear. After an hour of this, and long after the dessert course arrived downstairs, you start to weep, before finally slopping off to bed and hoping for the best.
Children who know tech
They’re all over the internet, jumping on anyone who dare mistake their quadcore for a dualcore, or who mentions digital zoom ratings when everyone know only optical zoom is relevant, pausing only to lambast tech publications for their “Apple bias”. If only there was a way to lean through their monitors and clip them round the ear. Get off our virtual lawns, you pesky kids.
Emailing the CEO
A “personal” mailing from the boss to you and the 7,300 other people you work with has made clear there’s to be no pay rises, and counselled. “Feel free to email with any concerns.” So you reply with some detailed queries about his or her “road map”. Fear grabs you as soon as you hit send. Will you now be seen as a troublemaker? Or could it be you’ll get the promotion for your chutzpah? Neither, you’ll just be told a month later that a “company – wide review” is in place and times are tough, to which you should always reply with a thumbs – up smiley.
Cash machines
Up there with toilet rims , hand rails in hospitals and most trains, cash machine keys look like they’re laced with a cocktail of sweat, spit, blood, flu, E-Coli, herpes, bubonic plague and cholera.
The Airport
You know you haven’t got TNT in your blog; you know your passport is in your jacket pocket; you know your briefcase is in your hand. Still, this doesn’t stop you checking all three every 30 seconds or so. You’re also sure this is the time you’ll finally succumb to that childish urge to say, “No, I asked the Taliban to pack it for me,” as your laptop and camera cables poke suspiciously out of your carry bag.
Webcams
Even wonder if that little camera built into your laptop is beaming your image to some far off land, or to everyone you know while you’re busy “relaxing”? No? Oh good, Just us then…

LENOVO U300S: PORTA PARTY

Ultrabooks are finally a category that isn’t just the purview of Apple-loving hipsters, extending to people who well, actually do something with their laptops rather than just look fashionable at coffee shops. To prove its point, Lenovo has thrown its hat into the ring with the U300s. The first thing that hits you is its slim, borderline anorexic looks. Carved form a block of aluminium, it is quite striking. Decked with grey accents, it has an appearance that’s quite unlike other ultrabooks in its category. Its appearance is quite befitting the discerning business class who yearn for some added style while working on presentations. This notion is further heightening by the 13.3-inch-screen – more than enough room to multi-task between documents, emails and spreadsheets. It’s a welcome change from the usual fare that’s an inch or two shorter on display space.
In terms of specs, the U300s is available ini5 or i7 variants. Battery life is decent, clocking around five hours. That’s just about enough to get you through a long flight, if used judiciously. Its equipped with a 128GB solid state drive, which is by no means generous but should suffice if you don’t plan on storing movies or music. This is strictly a professional affair and it shows, what the ergonomic Chiclet-shaped keys that allows a modicum of comfort to ease you through a harrowing day of computing. While the U300s is a solid piece of kit, we feel a tad short-changed by omissions such as backlit keys and a LAN port. For the price, it should have these features-something the non-hipster ultrabook-seeking folk would definitely clamour for when the inevitable refreshed, revamped model hits.
SPECIFICATIONS
PROCESSOR- Intel core i5 245M up to 2.3GHz
MEMORY- 4GB STORAGE -128GB SSD
GRAPHICS- Intel HD3000
DISPLAY-1366*768 13.3-inch
CONNECTIONS- USB
SIZE/WEIGHT -324*216*15mm/1.32kg

Aussie Struggles on the Forex Market

Australian dollar is struggling on the Forex market, especially against the US dollar. Concerns about what’s happening in Europe are affecting risk appetite, and sending Forex traders away from riskier assets like the Aussie and to low beta currencies like the US dollar and the Japanese yen.

Risk appetite is playing a big role in the Australian dollar’s performance today. Concerns that the Greece might actually leave the eurozone are increasing, and there are worries that Spain can’t handle its debt. This risk appetite is leading to losses by high beta currencies like the Australian dollar against low beta currencies like the US dollar and the Japanese yen. Australian dollar is, however, higher against the euro, since the euro is in such a bad state.

The Aussie’s case isn’t being helped by the situation with gold, either. Gold prices are falling right now, and the Australian dollar is a commodity currency that derives a significant amount of support from the precious metal. Aussie also gets help from China, since Australia is one of China’s major trading partners. However, China hasn’t been seeing such stellar growth recently. The result is that Aussie is having trouble finding support against some of its counterparts.

At 13:12 GMT AUD/USD is down to 0.0082 from the open at 1.0019. EUR/AUD is down to 1.2859 from the open at 1.2869. AUD/JPY is down to 79.59 from the open at 80.18.

US Dollar Gains Against Euro in Forex Trading

US dollar is heading higher against the euro in Forex trading right now, gaining as concerns about Spain and Greece come into sharper focus. Greenback is also higher against the Canadian dollar and other commodity currencies as oil prices and gold prices drop. UK pound, though, is gaining against the US dollar, as is the Japanese yen.
US dollar is turning in a mixed performance today, gaining against the euro and many commodity currencies as Forex traders look for safe haven against the volatility brought on by troubles continuing in Greece and Spain. In Greece, difficulties about forming a government, and the future of the austerity measuresagreed to for the bailout, are causing uncertainty. In Spain, the financial sector continues to struggle, and doubts remain about Spain’s ability to repay its debts. All of this is weighing on risk appetite and the euro, as well as keeping commodities down and prompting the greenback to gain against the Canadian dollar and the Australian dollar
However, there are other currencies gaining against the dollar. Great Britain pound is showing some strength, and the Japanese yen is higher as risk appetite grows. Concerns are that a higher pound will hurt the British economy, while Japanese leaders fret about the economic impact of a higher yen.
At 12:30 GMT EUR/USD is down to 1.2856 from the open at 1.2901. GBP/USD is up to 1.6077 from the open at 1.6066. USD/JPY is lower at 79.8045, down from the open at 79.9900. USD/CAD is up to 1.0052 from the open at 1.0002. AUD/USD is down to 0.9974 from the open at 1.0014.

US Dollar Gains Against Euro in Forex Trading

US dollar is heading higher against the euro in Forex trading right now, gaining as concerns about Spain and Greece come into sharper focus. Greenback is also higher against the Canadian dollar and other commodity currencies as oil prices and gold prices drop. UK pound, though, is gaining against the US dollar, as is the Japanese yen.
US dollar is turning in a mixed performance today, gaining against the euro and many commodity currencies as Forex traders look for safe haven against the volatility brought on by troubles continuing in Greece and Spain. In Greece, difficulties about forming a government, and the future of the austerity measuresagreed to for the bailout, are causing uncertainty. In Spain, the financial sector continues to struggle, and doubts remain about Spain’s ability to repay its debts. All of this is weighing on risk appetite and the euro, as well as keeping commodities down and prompting the greenback to gain against the Canadian dollar and the Australian dollar
However, there are other currencies gaining against the dollar. Great Britain pound is showing some strength, and the Japanese yen is higher as risk appetite grows. Concerns are that a higher pound will hurt the British economy, while Japanese leaders fret about the economic impact of a higher yen.
At 12:30 GMT EUR/USD is down to 1.2856 from the open at 1.2901. GBP/USD is up to 1.6077 from the open at 1.6066. USD/JPY is lower at 79.8045, down from the open at 79.9900. USD/CAD is up to 1.0052 from the open at 1.0002. AUD/USD is down to 0.9974 from the open at 1.0014.

Euro at 3-Month Low as Greece May Leave Eurozone

The euro fell today, reaching the lowest level in more than three months against the US dollar, as speculation that Greece may leave the eurozone drove away investors from the shared 17-nation currency.
Greece is still unable to form a coalition government after a week of talks and negotiating. Even if the a government would be formed, the country may still leave the currency union as the Hellenic Republic is reluctant to implement austerity measures that are very unpopular among Greeks. Experts say that in the long term an exit of Greece from the eurozone may benefit both the country and the euro, but in the short term an impact could be very negative.

EUR/USD fell from 1.2901 to 1.2866 as of 8:50 GMT today, while the intraday minimum of 1.2860 was the lowest since January 23. EUR/JPY was down from 103.17 to 103.04.

Euro at 3-Month Low as Greece May Leave Eurozone

The euro fell today, reaching the lowest level in more than three months against the US dollar, as speculation that Greece may leave the eurozone drove away investors from the shared 17-nation currency.
Greece is still unable to form a coalition government after a week of talks and negotiating. Even if the a government would be formed, the country may still leave the currency union as the Hellenic Republic is reluctant to implement austerity measures that are very unpopular among Greeks. Experts say that in the long term an exit of Greece from the eurozone may benefit both the country and the euro, but in the short term an impact could be very negative.

EUR/USD fell from 1.2901 to 1.2866 as of 8:50 GMT today, while the intraday minimum of 1.2860 was the lowest since January 23. EUR/JPY was down from 103.17 to 103.04.