Technology Guides

CONTEST IS NOW OPEN! (Sorry, I decided to change the start date because I couldn’t contain my excitement)

This is my first contest ever since I hit the world wide web and I’d like to do something different. Something no other website (at least I hope) has ever done before. Since I’m fairly new to parts of the game, i.e. Twitter and YouTube, I want to encourage my readers to sign up and get others to sign up to increase my visibility. Right now the prize is minimal and it’s just to get you guys interested but based on how well all of you do, I will up the ante accordingly for the holiday season starting mid-November. Here is the outline for the Bring The Heat Contest.

Prize: Grand prize of a $25 Best Buy gift card

Eligibility: Open to everyone.

How to Enter: I couldn’t wait to start this contest, so I decided to start it now. Here are the steps you need to take to enter the contest.

1. Go to my YouTube channel which has just been created with a brand new video (you can subscribe when you watch the video, How to Share Large Files For Free).

2. Go to my Twitter page and follow me at TechGuides Twitter Page. Note: Since Twitter is very open, I’ll need a direct message sent to me to verify that you are enterting the contest (i.e. @TechGuides I love www.yourworldwired.com check it out)

3. If you refer someone, get them to send me a message on Youtube and/or Twitter to let me know that you referred them. With this message, the referrer will get 2 extra entries into the next contest which will be in mid-November, so remember to check back.

4. Everyone who enters in this contest will get an extra 5 entries up to a max of 10 (5 for Twitter and 5 for Youtube) in the next contest.

Now you ask, how am I, one lonely person, supposed to track all of these entries? Well my friend, with the help of Gmail I will track all the notifications Twitter and YouTube have sent me and then load every entry onto Microsoft Excel including the extra’s for those who refer. For the next contest I also note who entered the first one.

So to summarize how many entries you get for each action:

1 entry per YouTube subscription

1 entry per Twitter follow

2 extra entries per referral

5 entries into the end of the year contest for each YouTube Subscription and/or Twitter follow (max. 10 extra)

I will also confirm all entries with a message to each respective user account along with the amount of referrals at the end to give you guys a peace of mind.

How Will I Choose the Winner?: That’s simple, after loading all the entries onto Microsoft Excel I will then go onto www.random.org and tell it how many entries I have and it will determine the winner. I will make a video of me choosing and publish it on YouTube and here as well as putting links to the videos on Twitter. I will announce the time of when this video will be published to.

The next contest will be as big as YOU, the readers, want it to be. Based on how many YouTube subscriptions I get and how many Twitter follows I get I will increase the prize value and I may use an actual product instead of a gift card depending on your votes.

100 Subscribers and 100 Follows = $50 Prize Value

200 Subscribers and 200 Follows = $100 Prize Value

500 Subscribers and 500 Follows = $200 Prize Value

1000 Subscribers and 1000 Follows = $500 Prize Value

If you get more I’ll update it to give you more incentive.

Contest will close 11:59pm August 23rd 2009 and the winner will be revealed approx. 24 hours later, probably less. Please feel free to comment or message me if you have any questions, concerns or suggestions. Good Luck!

Popularity: 2% [?]

The media has been abuzz lately about a new version of the Apple iPod Touch. Now in all honesty it’s nothing we haven’t seen before but what Apple is doing is trying to revolutionize the mp3 market by adding cellphone specs to a mp3 player such as a built-in camera and microphone. Obviously those two features aren’t something new and it will probably be the highlight of the new features packaged with the new Apple iPod Touch but what it will do is allow Apple iPod Touch users to download apps only useful to iPhone users such as Shazam. Granted, users will need to be in a WiFi zone but what’s stopping people from subscribing to personal hotspots offered by companies like Rogers and Verizon that will allow them to be always on the grid.

TruPhone

Now what might even further revolutionize the mp3 industry is the fact of the availability of some applications such as Truphone and Fring which allow Apple iPod Touch users to call other users with the same application for free once they are in a WiFi zone and with the built-in microphone you’ve now got a working phone that makes VoIP calls.

Now all of you must be asking when will this new Apple iPod Touch be coming out? Sources say the timeframe would be around the next two to three months which matches up with the new releases of other Apple products. This is all just around the time when school starts and students, who are usually the trend setters, go back to school and want to have the newest gadgets. Look for this mp3 player to change a small part of the world.

Update: Not only will the Apple iPod Touch have a camera but the Apple iPod Nano will have one too. “My company had got full information and dimension,” wrote a Chinese distributor in an email to a U.S. reseller. “Enclosed some image and instruction for your reference. Most of the sample available now. If you need some sample check quality please freely let me know.”

The cameras on the Apple iPod Nano will be placed in the bottom left corner whereas the Apple iPod Touch’s camera will be surprisingly in the center of the device at the top (not dead centre which I first thought when I read it). Going with what Apple traditionaly does, it will be a safe bet to say that both these devices will get double the storage at the same price.

• iPod Nano (fifth generation): 16GB for $150; 32GB for $200
• iPod Touch (third generation): 16GB for $230; 32GB for $300; 64GB for $400

Apple iPod Nano 5th Generation

Now although the Apple iPod Nano looks the same there are small changes it will have. There will be a slightly wider screen with a 1.5:1 aspect ratio up from 1.33:1 (I know, a small jump) and a smaller click wheel that will move down the device.

On top of that, I just found out that the Apple iPod Touch will most likely be able to take video whereas the Apple iPod Nano will not. Even so, with the Apple iPod Touch being such a huge success, it will deal a blow to the compact video recorders like The Flip (My review on The Flip) but it’s not like they were that great to begin with.

Popularity: 19% [?]

Everyone knows that we are in a recession at the moment and spending is coming to a halt. Although we are seeing signs of a climb back to prosperity, we all really need to think long and hard about our spending habits. Maybe you talk a lot on your cell phone when you’re at home, or you never look for good deals when buying stuff. It seems we all have room for improvement and I’m here to give you some tips on how you can put some extra money in your pocket.

First off I’d like to talk about one of our most prized possessions. No, not your significant other, I’m talking about your cell phone. It’s been there through thick and thin and it’s always helped you connect to your friends and loved ones. But how much is it taking from your wallet? Sometimes it seems too much. Well you have two options if this is true. If you are at the end of your contract you can look for a new, more value based contract that suits you better. Or, like me, you have a contract that you signed that isn’t going to end anytime soon and you’d like to get out of it without paying any extra fees. I have solutions to both those problems right here.

Someone Without/Almost Expiring Contract

If you have the luxury of being able to choose a brand new contract you’re in luck because right about now in Canada, more than 3 new companies are going to be offering new cellphone services such as DAVE, Public Mobile and Globalive. This will bring lower prices and different plans so personally I’d wait till they start releasing their plans which would be around the 2nd half of 2009. If you’re an eager beaver and can’t wait then there is a wonderful site dedicated to helping you find the best plan suited for you. Granted this site is for the U.S. only but it is still a good tool. First off it’s not only for cell phones but it’s also for gas and credit cards but we’ll get to that later.
The cellphone aspect of this website deals with you entering in your monthly usage by either estimating or by importing your bill. On top of this it asks for your zip code so it can find local deals. With all this information it gives you a result for the best deal in your area from all of the carriers in the United States. While BillShrink didn’t find me a good deal in the area, it doesn’t mean it won’t for you. I have an Employee Pricing Plan so I have a good deal to start with but you might not be as lucky so it’s worth a shot.

Someone Still in a Contract

This section is applicable to Canadians, Americans, Australians and the good old English. If you are someone in the unlucky position of still having a contract for a good chunk of time like me (I have 2 years left on my plan) then you have a savior. CellSwapper is a site dedicated to helping people like you and I find people who want to take over our contract in exchange for theirs. You just list your plan details and any incentives you’d like to give so people will more likely exchange plans with you and then you post. All you do is wait until a good offer comes up and you can message people and discuss ways you can work out a deal. I got an offer but turned it down because it wasn’t what I was looking for but it was a great experience and I highly recommend it.

Coupons

When shopping online it’s always good to try and get a deal when you can. That’s why I always search on Google to find any coupons that might be offered. One of the popular ones is RetailMeNot. They even have a Canadian version of RetailMeNot. There are numerous other ones including:

Current Codes
Coupon Cabin
Coupon Mom
Fat Wallet
Coupons
Coupon Code
Coupon Chief
Deal Catcher

Save on Gas

Gas is not as expensive as it was during the Summer of 2008 but it’s still up there and it’s important to be able to save every dollar that you can. That’s where GasBuddy comes in. It is a network of numerous local sites that you can go to, to look up gas prices in your area. Users update gas prices constantly so you usually get the most up to date price. If you live in Ontario, we are even more lucky because we have someone who will tell us the price of gas for the coming week at Tomorrow’s Gas Prices, Today. If you know of any other state or province that does this, please let me know.

Popularity: 4% [?]