Symbian Mobile Phone Blog

The Rare Electronics Marketplace

No matter what market you’re in, there is an increasingly important movement toward the small business environment. People want to be able to trust the source of the products they buy. Buying anything online is as simple as a few mouse clicks, and meatspace merchants must now lower their prices or increase the value or their products in some other way to compete with the endless variety offered by internet sales.

 

Taking it a step further, sites such as EBay put the buyer directly in touch with the seller. Some enterprising individuals have transferred this notion to other sectors- some sites offer peer to peer micro-lending. “Homestay” is a way to stay for free at someone’s house instead of paying for a hotel room.

 

How about rare items? Are you looking for an antiquated or rare Electronic Parts?? You’re probably not going to find a store in your hometown that specializes in Obsolete Integrated Circuits. One advantage of shopping through online retailers is anonymity- all you need is an avatar and a Paypal account and B-I-N-G-O, your problems are solved.

 

Whether you’re building a lightsaber or just trying to fix your cell phone, you’re probably going to need a semiconductor. Rather than ordering your component from a manufacturer, why not go to the after market and get it on the cheap? Hard to Find Semiconductors can be shipped to your doorstep within a few days.

 

These sites are also great if you have a bunch of components you need to offload. Forget about the pawn shop- step out on a limb and you might just get the best bang for your buck.

Thinking outside the search box

I remember when the idea of a search engine was a novelty. Maybe 12-15 years ago, when a new search engine (like dogpile or ask jeeves) came out it would generate a pretty substantial buzz, maybe even making it onto mainstream news sources. Now your website is basically trash if it doesn't include at least an internal search engine. The technology has just exploded to encompass multiple world wide web search engines, some with a specific focus or features that others don't have.

One thing that's missing from most of the engines I've checked out, however, is a graphical interface. Digg Labs has some great visualizations but they're not really a search engine and, although the visualizations provide much-needed respite from the monotony of text-only listings (that's one reason I dis prefer reddit as a news source) they don't really add functionality to your search options.

What about a fresh approach, something new?  Check out the Your Ergo! It's actually a download-able program. Mostly I prefer to keep my bits and bytes on the web, with the notable exception of Google Earth. But Ergo's search engine is worth installing an extra program. It's a perfect match between eye candy and functional efficiency. The download is free, but if you need support you'll most likely have to fork over some cash. But it's so easy to use, unless you confuse a laptop with a waffle maker you probably won't have any difficulty.

This is truly a revolutionary program and if you use it to its full potential it has the potential to enhance the way you interact with the world wide web and your home PC. Unfortunately, no Mac or Linux version seems to be available, but perhaps that will change in the future. Happy searching!

Cellular Ringtones

We've come a long way since Tupac Shakur wrote the prophetic line: "They get jealous when they see you witcha mobile phone." Back then he was probably talking about a car phone, and I doubt he had any cool ringtones to sample in his rap. Now, the traditional ringtones that come bundled with your phone are just not sufficient- you'll want to personalize, right down to the point where if someone calls you they'll be able to listen to a song instead of hearing digital bleeps.

What's all the hype, you might ask?  There's a good article on wikipedia if you need to answer the question "What is a ringtone?". It has basic information and goes into a bit of depth in the technical aspects. The line is blurring between ringtones and music as phones such as the iPhone gain stake in the market and more people feel the need to express their personalities through their cellular phones.

Did you know that you can download a ringtone that some people can't hear?  It's called a mosquito ringtone, I suppose because mosquitos emit very high-pitched sounds that are sometimes difficult to hear. The best application I can think of for mosquito ringtones is to send and receive text messages in class, although the vibrate function works for the most part. If you frequently miss calls and/or text messages because you don't pay attention to the vibrations, you can get a free ringtone that other people can't hear!

There are various categories of mosquito ringtones based on your age group. Younger people can most always hear sounds that are higher than older people, so if your cell phone is equipped to handle a mosquito ringtone you should check it out- there's no reason not to. It will make your life a lot easier when you get a call you've been waiting for and, instead of disturbing a meeting or classroom, you can stealthily sneak to the bathroom and answer the call.

Free Spyware and Virus Protection

Lots of times our problems in life are linked to one another.  Maybe one night you were feeling lonely and you decided to sign up for a free online Texas Hold ‘em Dating Service.  Trust me, there are plenty of those out there.  So you downloaded a program that had a nasty virus on it. The dating service mined all your personal data from your computer and now your arch-nemesis knows where your girlfriend lives.  He is planning to send her a box of wilted roses with your forged signature on the card for Valentine’s Day.  He has frozen your credit cards from an offshore location, and there’s also a flaming bag of dog poo on your front porch. 

Have you ever wondered where to download free Norton anti-virus programs?  If you had wondered that a little sooner your life would be in much better shape.  One thing leads to another, and if you don’t have your technological ducks in a row you can go from a bright, sunshiny day to a dismal day in the medieval Balkans very quickly.  Don’t let your skepticism or self-reliance stop you from downloading free Norton anti-virus software.  It will make your browser perform faster and your brow can take a break from its furrows. 

Alternatively, you could put your faith in open source firewalls or anti-virus protection.  Some of the programs even update their software from time to time, although there is no guarantee that you’ll be abreast of all the latest booby traps that hackers have cooked up. Our recommendation: if you use Windows or Macintosh, you’ll definitely want some commercially distributed security software. 

To Print, or Not to Print

I remember when the Dot Matrix was the hottest product on the market for home printing. Although I had one, I regret it- the printouts had characteristic streaks and the paper jammed.  Now that technology has evolved and a plethora of options currently abound for printer hardware, the notion of printing at home has become much more attractive.

The main problem is that when your inkjet cartridges run out, you have to go to the supermarket and you might find that you don’t want to spend the $50-$60 to replace your black and color cartridges.  Not to mention that you might not find the right cartridge for your model.

Let’s consider the alternatives.  If you are printing a standard size page with standard ink, the copy shop down the street will probably charge you $0.10 for a black and white copy or $0.15 for color.  Let’s say you print off 500 pages at this rate, for black and white printing you will spend a whopping $50.00!  Sure, Kinko’s might give you a discounted rate if you are a master negotiator, but they’re obviously pulling in plenty of profit by this scheme, since they are buying ink and other supplies in bulk.  In fact, there really is no better alternative than using your own equipment for your average printing needs.

Now, consider the convenience factor.  Printing from your home or office saves you a trip downtown, increases the privacy of your operations, and allows you the flexibility of using your own computer to customize your printing processes.

The icing on the cake is that you can do even better buy looking for inexpensive inkjet cartridges online.  The selection is bound to be adequate and many sites also offer free shipping because cartridges weigh so little. Bottom line: if you can afford to invest in some reasonably high quality home printing hardware, why pad the copy shop’s pockets?