Friday, August 17, 2012

usbmemorydirect.com is giving away free flash drives!

Flash drives are an essential back to school item! Why not get one for free? USBMemoryDirect is sending out free flash drives to anyone who promotes them by means of google+, facebook, or their website!
For more info: http://redd.it/ybo7l

Thanks,

Magikaltech.

Sunday, July 8, 2012

What's been going on?

Hello Readers,

Sorry for not making any posts for the last 2 months. My personal life has been very busy, and I have simply not been able to write. My affiliation with Google's AdSense program is now over, which I will not cover in detail. In the next month or so, you will see an i5 3570k build.

Enjoy your summer!

-MagikalTech

Saturday, April 21, 2012

LG IPS235v Review

Hello Readers,

Today I will be talking about my new monitor, as a follow up to my last article about bigger monitors giving higher productivity. This review will be very basic. Some of the specifications of this HD 23 inch IPS LED monitor include: 1 VGA port, 1 HDMI port, and 1 DVI port. I appreciated the convenient input switcher built-into my monitor.


The Good:
High quality stand
Amazing Color
IPS panel for less
Feels bigger than 23 inches
Sufficient connectors

The Bad:
5 second start up time
8ms response time (Doesn't show in games)
Brightness may need some lowering

I recommend this monitor for anyone who needs high color accuracy, a good resolution, and has a budget.

I've been busy with school and trying to get into a good college. Pictures will come, but don't expect them for a while.

Thanks,

MagikalTech


Monday, April 9, 2012

Bigger Monitors= Higher Productivity

Hello Readers,

Today, I noticed my monitor was beginning to fail, it does things like artifact (doesn't happen on other monitors, definitely not a hardware problem). It's a tiny 18.5" Dell monitor that I picked up in 2007 for $99.99. I feel like editing this HTML  to bring you guys a better reading experience is coming with a toll to my eyes. I did some research, and found that bigger monitors yeild higher producitivity. Check out this statistic from the University of Utah.

"Researchers at the University of Utah tested how quickly people performed tasks like editing a document and copying numbers between spreadsheets while using three different computer configurations:
  1. single 18-inch monitor
  2. single 24-inch monitor
  3. two 20-inch monitors
Here's what they found:
  • People using the 24-inch screen completed the tasks 52% faster than people who used the 18-inch monitor
  • People who used the two 20-inch monitors were 44% faster than those with the 18-inch ones.
  • Productivity dropped off again when people used a 26-inch screen."
I do believe getting a 24 inch monitor may be a better choice for my optical health. I am spending more time on my computer now that I run this site.

Have you had any similar experiences?

Thanks,

MagikalTech

Friday, April 6, 2012

iDevices made into Braille writers



It wasn't too long ago where we saw a student create a tablet braille writer, and now some researchers from Georgia Tech University have done the same thing for smaller touchscreens, too. The professors/scientists produced a prototype app, called BrailleTouch, that has six keys to input letters using the Braille writing system and audio to confirm each letter as it's entered. To use the app, you simply turn the phone face down, hold it in landscape mode and start typing. As you can see above, it's currently running on an iPhone, but the researchers see it as a universal eyes-free texting app for any touchscreen. Early studies with people proficient in Braille writing show that typing on BrailleTouch is six times faster than other eyes-free texting solutions -- up to 32 words per minute at 92 percent accuracy. I think it is marvelous for the visually impaired to get a chance to text. 


Thanks for reading today's article, Tell us what you think below!
-MagikalTech



sources: engadget.com, google.com, georgiatech image search on google.com/images

Sunday, April 1, 2012

Windows 8: Failure for PCs, Winner for Tablets.

Hello Readers,

Me as well as some other techies have diven deep into the realm of the Windows 7 Consumer Preview.
Through my experience with this new OS, it is clunky and highly tailored to fit Mobile Devices.
Read on for the full scoop:

Microsoft has a vision. It wants to be running the same operating system running across all its devices. It’s a laudable goal, with many advantages for both Microsoft and its customers. The thing is people use different gadgets differently — you don’t do all the same things on a tablet that you do on a PC, and when you do, the experience is different.

Microsoft knows this, so Windows 8 is advertised as "highly adaptable". It responds differently to touch than it does to a mouse. For example, to bring up your Settings menu with your finger, just slide in from the edge; if you have a mouse, you aim for the corner.

Making the corners the key points when operating Windows 8 with a mouse is a smart choice — they are pretty hard to miss and you don’t need to be precise. However, some of the subtle things in the interface appear to be poorly thought out.

To begin, the icons don’t follow standard web “mouseover” rules. Take one example: When you point toward the lower left corner, Windows 8 (either Metro or desktop) calls up the Start screen. Or rather, it calls up an icon for the Start screen, but if you hover your mouse over it, it disappears. This goes against what websites have trained people to do for a decade: call up menus by holding your mouse over icons, then navigating through the menu by staying on top of it.

It sounds like a minor point, but it’s actually not, and the same problem comes up agaim and again from Windows 8: unintuitiveness. Metro is a beautiful and powerful interface, but it’s hard to get used to, sometimes needlessly so. Another example: the Start screen allows you to scroll left and right simply by pushing your mouse icon right up against the edges of the screen. Yet several apps (like Photos) incomprehensibly don’t do this, instead forcing you to use a scrollbar (or the mouse scroll wheel). Again, it sounds minor, but it’s everything.
There are many bugs, I don't live in Anaheim and I can't
change my location, there is also some stray
code in the news tile.
Also, Metro is all about scrolling left and right. Apps like Finance look beautiful, with amazing layouts and great landscape pictures. So why have the top and bottom edges do nothing at all when you mouse against them? We’re all used to calling up docks or menus when pressing against the edge, and Metro even lets you do this using touch. It would have been helpful to keep some of that functionality when using the mouse. For the university of the mouse/keyboard, you would think that MS would have done a better job for devices this common.

Working with a keyboard was better, with intuitive navigation via arrow keys. There are some nice keyboard shortcuts (like screengrab) that you can’t replicate via touch, so the basic human-interface devices definitely open up the realm of possibilities. There was occasionally a little lag with the wireless keyboard I had, but it was something I could live with.

I think it was worth a download. Have you downloaded the Windows 8 preview? Tell me what you think below. (You can comment with your name or anonymously below).

sources:google,com/new, mashable.com, engadget.com
Thanks,
Magikaltech


Thursday, March 22, 2012

Free Android Apps With Ads May Not Be Safe


Hello  Readers,

Nowadays digital devices and apps goes hand in hand, so it seems. If you have a digital device you'll need an app for productivity, and the same is true with app that it needs to run on smartphones and tablet computers, for example, in order for the apps to work.
I'm pretty sure that a huge number of people are using and downloading apps all the time, especially free Android apps from the Android Market which is now Google Play. But beware of free apps with ads. You may be wondering why, I suppose.

The North Carolina State University researchers behind this theory suggest that these apps download and run codes from online sources without the users knowing about them, and just like that, their contact lists and other important informations have been already stolen and compromised. The team also discovered that nearly half of free apps had "libraries that track a user's GPS locations and one in 23 apps allowed that data to be passed back to the advertisers.
However, some North Carolina State University researchers said that the individual apps themselves are harmless and safe, but there's a possibility that the ads they run could download malware into your device and control it because it has the same permissions that the app does.

source: google, technorati.com

Thanks,

MagikalTech


nVidia GTX 680: The world's fastest GPU benchmark results released!

nVIDIA's next-gen GPUs took a lot of time to arrive, but the first of the Kepler crew is finally available in stores and its 28nm silicon is just dying to show off what it can do. You may be wondering what the 2GB GeForce GTX 680 brings to the gaming table, and whether it'll put an end to AMD's free run at the top of the food chain. Well, NVIDIA now claims it has "the fastest GPU in the world", with both lower power consumption and a 10-40 percent performance advantage over AMD's single-GPU rival, the Radeon HD 7970, at a full-hd resolution. Bluff or reality? Ultimately, all results come from independent benchmarks (coming soon in our review round-up), but in the meantime we need to look at NVIDIA's new architecture for clues.
First, the GTX 680 has a GPU Boost feature that automatically increases the clock speed when the GPU isn't fully taxed. You see, GPUs are designed with a thermal power limit (TPL), and they often operate well beneath that limit - the new boost technology simply leverages that TPL headroom to increase the clock speed, while still keeping the card running within its tolerances. (Picture Cred. Engadget)





NVIDIA no longer has to factory-set its cards to a fixed clock speed that will work in all enviroments. For example, the GTX 680 has a base clock speed of 1GHz, but GPU Boost can increase that by 10 percent when needed, while packaged overclocking utilities will let you notch up the clock / voltage curve even further to readily achieve 1.2GHz, so long as your over-sized fans or water pipes are doing their job. To a certain degree, this amount of speed is useless. You will only be using this much in multi- monitor setups.


I hope my readers are enjoying the longer posts I am putting out, I have been able to do so due to an injury that has left me bed-ridden.


Thanks,


Magikaltech


source:engadget.com

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

The new iPad hits 3 million sold in it's first weekend!

Is Apple losing its touch? Read my analysis of Apple's flaws in the past year.

Press Release:
CUPERTINO, CaliforniaMarch 19, 2012Apple® today announced it has sold three million of its incredible new iPad®, since its launch on Friday, March 16. The new iPad features a stunning new Retina™ display, Apple's new A5X chip with quad-core graphics, a 5 megapixel iSight® camera with advanced optics for capturing amazing photos and 1080p HD video, and still delivers the same all-day 10 hour battery life* while remaining amazingly thin and light. iPad Wi-Fi + 4G supports ultrafast 4G LTE networks in the US and Canada, and fast networks around the world including those based on HSPA+ and DC-HSDPA.**

"The new iPad is a blockbuster with three million sold
the strongest iPad launch yet," said Philip Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing. "Customers are loving the incredible new features of iPad, including the stunning Retina display, and we can't wait to get it into the hands of even more customers around the world this Friday."

The new iPad is already available in the US, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, Puerto Rico, Singapore, Switzerland, UK and the US Virgin Islands and will be available in 24 more countries starting at 8:00 a.m. local time on Friday, March 23 through the Apple Online Store (www.apple.com), Apple's retail stores and select Apple Authorized Resellers, including Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Macau, Mexico, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden.

The new iPad Wi-Fi models are available in black or white for a suggested retail price of $499 (US) for the 16GB model, $599 (US) for the 32GB model, $699 (US) for the 64GB model. iPad Wi-Fi + 4G for either AT&T or Verizon is available for a suggested retail price of $629 (US) for the 16GB model, $729 (US) for the 32GB model and $829 (US) for the 64GB model. iPad is sold in the US through the Apple Online Store (www.apple.com), Apple's retail stores and select Apple Authorized Resellers. Additionally, the incredible iPad 2 is now offered at a more affordable price of $399 (US) for the 16GB Wi-Fi model and just $529 (US) for the 16GB Wi-Fi + 3G model.


---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
There are many complaints stating that Apple hasn't issued any major design refreshes in the past year. Two examples of this happening are the new iPad and the iPhone 4S. It leads people to speculate that Apple has lost its design touch, even though Apple's stock has gone up by 2 percent to 604.50 per share. I would link this drought of renovation to Steve Job's death, who was a vital element to the trademark design practiced by Apple in most of its product.

What to do you think, comment below!


-Magikaltech

Friday, March 9, 2012

The all new iPad!!!

Hello Readers,

Today I would like to talk about Apple's new announcement, the all-new iPad. Yes, that is the name, "The all new iPad". After seeing that name, I wondered how it was possible for Apple to give this new device such a generic name. Maybe a new name will come along with time? At this point we may only speculate this trivial matter. I will be covering all the changed aspects of the new iPad, starting with the display. 

Display
The new iPad's QXGA display now has a resolution of 2,048x1,536 pixels. That's an important change given that it exceeds any current tablet or laptop currently on the market. 
Sure, the new resolution is substantially higher than the current Retina Display on the iPhone 4 and 4S (960x640 pixels), but that's largely to be expected given the iPad's larger screen size (9.7 inches vs, 3.5 inches). Yet, if Apple does what is should and increases the display size in the iPhone 5 I'd look for the resolution to improve, as well. It likely won't be a big jump, and I think that Apple will stick with the "Retina Display" concept, but a change would be in order. Apple, after all, continues to bank its mobile devices partly on display resolution so there's no reason to expect that it's going to stand still.
Form factor, and design
Some users my gripe that the new iPad sports the same design as its predecessors, but that's fine with me. And outside of adding the aforementioned larger display, I'd say the same about the iPhone. We've heard a lot of rumors about a thinner iPhone or handset with a tapered profile, but I'm not aching for either. A thinner iPhone is a possibility, I guess, but Apple will trim it down only if it can still fit a long-lasting battery.

LTE
By all accounts, the presence of LTE in the new iPad foretells real 4G in the next iPhone. That will mean, of course, significantly faster data speeds beyond what current iPhones offer (and that includes the HSPA+ network on AT&T's "4G" iPhone 4S). Though it's not surprising that Apple is late to the LTE party--typically, the company waits to implement a new technology until it can offer the user experience it really wants--but given the flood of LTE handsets over the last few months it is lagging quite behind its rivals. So in other words, it's overdue.
A big question, though, is whether all carriers will get an LTE iPhone. Verizon Wireless and AT&T will have it for sure, but Sprint is uncertain at this point.

More battery life
Apple made a pretty bold promise when it said that the new iPads will deliver 9 hours of battery life on 4G. As any LTE smartphone owner can tell you, the faster data networks don't do wonders for battery life. The Motorola Razr Maxx, however, changed that equation so Apple will have to keep up. Hopefully, the LTE iPad is a sign of long LTE battery life to come.

Processor
The new iPad's processor remains dual-core, but Apple upgraded it to an A5X and ramped up the graphics processor to quad-core. The iPhone 4S already has a dual-core CPU so I don't expect a big change there. Yes, we just saw a slew of new quad-core phones at Mobile World Congress, but for the reason stated above (Apple wanting the "right" experience before adding a new technology), I don't see a quad-core chip ending up in the iPhone 5. On the other hand, better graphics are a possibility so that may follow.
As with any Apple device, we'll have to wait until the actual unveiling to see what wonders the next iPhone will hold. But after this week's news we we can tell that the company is heading for a faster, longer, and more vibrant iPhone future.
P.S: My local GameStop is sold out of Mass Effect 3, that article may take a while to come.

What do you guys think?
Comment Below!
Thanks for all the support.
-Magikaltech

Source: cnet.com        

Friday, March 2, 2012

Samsung Galaxy III


Hello Readers,

I have some interest news today, that shows just how far technology has come.  Today’s  news is about a cellphone, namely the Samsung Galaxy SIII. This phone is the successor to the Samsung Galaxy SII, which was an amazing phone, but I shied away from it, and went with the Atrix 2, (See my Review, Just look in January Archive). Here are some specs.

It is rumored that the Galaxy S III will have:

     A Quad-Core CPU at 1.5 Ghz Exynos
     A screen of 4.8 inch full HD. Yes, a 4.8-inch      display with a 1080p resolution.
     8 megapixel rear camera, 2 megapixel front
     Android 4.0

Pretty interesting features, but 1080p in 4.8 inches? Furthermore, it appears that the terminal will be built in ceramic, an interesting change after seeing so much plastic in recent years with Android smartphones.

Also, a Quad-Core CPU?  That’s AMAZING! Imagine the gaming, rendering, and video editing possibilities, with the 4.8 inch screen.

I personally cannot wait for this amazing phone to come out.


Thanks,

Magikaltech

Saturday, February 25, 2012

New Build, it's up and running!

Hello,

Today I would like to tell you about  my new PC that I built! I faced many troubles throughout the building period of this computer. At first, I couldn't get my PC to POST, I tried everything, removing sticks of ram, the graphics card, and removing the hard drive. Through some experimenting, I found out what was wrong. It was a very trivial thing, but it caused my Computer to not POST. The I/O shield was loose, shorting the whole motherboard and causing my problems! After I got my PC up and running, I played Skyrim and Battlefield 3 for around 7 hours, both games would run slowly on my old computer. With my OC'd graphics card, coupled with my hex-core CPU, I am able to run these games smooth as butter. Below this post, I will put pictures of the finished build, as well as specifications for my old and new computers.

P.S: Kindly ignore the dates on the bottom of the pictures, the date in the camera is wrong.

Specifications of my new PC:
G.Skill 2x4GB DDR3 1333, OC'D to 1337 :)
AMD Phenom II x4 960t @ 3.0 GHz ----> AMD Phenom II x6 1605t @ 3.2 GHZ @ 43 Degrees Celsius idle, and 55 degrees under load.
ASrock 970 Extreme3
Cooler Master Storm Scout (AMAZING!!!)
XFX Radeon 6790
Apevia JAVA 650W PSU

Old PC:
4x2 Samsung DDR2 RAM @ 800 mghz
AMD Phenom I 9750 @ 2.4ghz
RADEON 4650
Foxconn 880g
LITEon 300w PSU (caused alot of random shut downs)


Be sure to admire the plethora of cables stuffed in to my HDD bay. I have managed to fit them behind the motherboard tray now.



Boxes of all my parts, to give a visual representation.

Monday, February 20, 2012

Android 5.0 is coming soon!

Most mobile manufacturers haven't even started to send out updates to Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, and we reached the news that Google may come with Android 5.0, Jellybean, this summer.

Now you should probably take the rumors with a grain of salt, since they seem to come from sources within the manufacturing industry. There seems to be plenty of leaks that claim to know everything about everything. But even if Android 5.0 is not presented in June, there are some interesting details.

One of the changes in Android 5.0, which will be known as Jellybean, is that Google integrated its operating system, Chrome OS as dual-boot. This feature will be available for surf boards and laptops.

For users this means you can choose to boot with either Android or Chrome OS. In time, Google will probably try to merge the two systems to make one, ultimate, versatile, and unique OS.

Chrome OS has not got any major success, despite many column kilometers written about this effort. It is based fundamentally on a slimmed down Linux that boots directly into their browser Chrome. The idea is that you should only work on the web, so you install any software on your computer or store files on it - instead it's web applications and storage in the cloud that apply.

Android 4.0 has not been a great success. Several manufacturers have announced that it is going on with updates for their newer smartphones, allowing users to upgrade to Ice Cream Sandwich, but so far it seems Android 4.0 ICS only run at about 1 percent of Android devices. Most runs Android 2.3.x Gingerbread.

How will Android 5.0 run on PCs?

According to a source, (SlashGear) we also see computers that have both Android 5.0 and Windows 8 installed, and you can switch between operating systems without having to restart the computer. From a user perspective it is difficult to see any great benefit in this. Why should ordinary people be interested to switch between operating systems?

If we look at some historical facts Android 2.3.x is the version that is most popular for smartphones, while Android 3.x is for tablets. With Android 4.0 hit you combine these two systems to make a joint that works on all devices. With Android 5.0, Google is planning to target the PC market.
 

I will report back as my Sources have more information.
My next blog will be about my new PC, it's up and running!

Thanks for reading, 

MagikalTech
 

Tuesday, February 7, 2012

Are video games addictive? Thanks for your support!

Hello Readers,

It has been a while since my last blog. Today I would like to talk about video-game addiction. I am an avid gamer my self, but I have never felt like I NEED to play. According to some recent research, it has been shown that video games cause the brain to release dopamine, the same chemicals that must drugs cause the brain to release. Dopamine is basically a pleasure receptor in the brain, when you do something fun, like swim on a hot day, it makes you feel happy. When a players tactics, or strategy work in a game, the same thing happens, the body releases dopamine to make the play happy. High amounts of dopamine release for fixed amount of time can cause problems. To much can make your regular level, when the player isn't playing video games, low. Which will cause the player to feel dull, but when the person picks up their gaming paraphernalia, they feel happy again. This series of events will eventually lead to addiction, when the player decides he need the video juegos to be happy.
What do you think? Tell me in the comments below.

Other thoughts:
I am planning on redesigning my blog, to have more visual appeal. I also would like to thank all my readers for the tremendous support I have gotten in this month. magikaltech.blogspot.com has reached: 10,762 page views. Don't refer to the counter on my page, as that only counts home-page views, but it will still give you a fair idea of how many people read my blog.

Thanks, you guys are the best!

- MagikalTech

Saturday, January 21, 2012

Random Thought: Why do we say bless you when someone sneezes?

Hello Readers,
Even though my blog is mostly about technology, we all know that one set topic can get a bit boring after a while. So today, I would like to introduce something that has puzzled me for a while now: Why do we say, "Bless You," when someone sneezes?

When I asked my friend he said,"Sneezing is usually a sign of sickness, so when someone is saying bless you, they are hoping you have long life."


When I asked my brother, he said,"When a person sneezes, their heart skips a beat, which is why we say bless you."

After I researched, I summarized that the heart doesn't when you sneeze. My friends theory seemed like the correct one.

I visited a few more websites and found out that, "bless you," is linked to the Bubonic Plague.
When a person sneezed at the time, it was considered that they had the bubonic plague. A person would say,"bless you," to wish the sneezer a long life.

Do you think there are any other reasons for saying, "bless you"? Tell me in the comments below.




Thanks,

Magikaltech



Saturday, January 14, 2012

Almost Finalized Gaming PC Parts.

Hello,

Today I will be laying out my plan for my new build. This blog serves two purposes. The first one is for me to collect ideas for parts from my readers, the second purpose is for this post is to educate those looking for a amazing budget PC.
Let's Begin:

Ram: G.SKILL Sniper 8GB (2x4) DDR3 ($47.99) 
Link: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231416

Power Supply: Apevia Java Blue LED PSU 650 watts ($29.99 After Mail-In rebate)
Link: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817148041&Tpk=apevia%20java

Case: NZXT M59 ($49.99)
Link: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811146058

Graphics Card: XFX Radeon 6790 ($119.99 After-Rebate)
Link: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150534

Motherboard: AsRock 880g ($54.99)
Link: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157199

CPU: AMD FX- 4100 ($109.99)
Link: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103996

Hard Drive: WD 500 GB ($139.99)
Link: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136856

DVD DRIVE: MSI DVD DRIVE ($17.99)
Link: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827100066


================================================================================================================================================
Total: $570.94 w/o tax or shipping
================================================================================================================================================
Closing Notes:
A similar store bought computer could run you up to $1000. Here you have it, it may cost you 570 dollars, but I will do anything you throw at it for at least the next 3 years.

Photo Credit goes to thinkcomputers.com

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Plans for my Blog

This post will serve as an closed forum.

I plan to create some tutorials, some reviews, and a news page. What to do you think I should add to my blog?

Look at this Case!

This is the case I hope to purchase for my new gaming PC. It is amazingly priced, and looks like a PC from the future. What are your opinions on this case? This case is the Xion CyborGx. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811208034&Tpk=xion%20cyborgx


Time for a new gaming PC...

Today, my gaming PC began to fail. I bought it as a Gateway DX4300. Underwhelmed by the GPU, I upgraded to a XFX Radeon 6790. I also bought an Apevia Java 650 watt power supply to accommodate the beefier graphics card. As of today, my computer will run for around 5 minutes, and shut down. The fan sounds like a B-52 bomber. I think I will replacing everything except for the GPU and the PSU. If you have any ideas on what my parts should be, please tell me in the comments.

Privacy Policy

Hello Blog readers,

The privacy policy for my page is now live and running. This privacy policy is a required on all websites. The url: http://magikaltech.blogspot.com/p/privacy-policy.html

Privacy Policy for magikaltech.blogspot.com 

If you require any more information or have any questions about our privacy policy, please feel free to contact us by email at magikalhobo@gmail.com. 

At magikaltech.blogspot.com, the privacy of our visitors is of extreme importance to us. This privacy policy document outlines the types of personal information is received and collected by magikaltech.blogspot.com and how it is used. 

Log Files
Like many other Web sites, magikaltech.blogspot.com makes use of log files. The information inside the log files includes internet protocol ( IP ) addresses, type of browser, Internet Service Provider ( ISP ), date/time stamp, referring/exit pages, and number of clicks to analyze trends, administer the site, track user’s movement around the site, and gather demographic information. IP addresses, and other such information are not linked to any information that is personally identifiable. 

Cookies and Web Beacons 
magikaltech.blogspot.com does use cookies to store information about visitors preferences, record user-specific information on which pages the user access or visit, customize Web page content based on visitors browser type or other information that the visitor sends via their browser. 

DoubleClick DART Cookie 
.:: Google, as a third party vendor, uses cookies to serve ads on magikaltech.blogspot.com.
.:: Google's use of the DART cookie enables it to serve ads to users based on their visit to magikaltech.blogspot.com and other sites on the Internet. 
.:: Users may opt out of the use of the DART cookie by visiting the Google ad and content network privacy policy at the following URL - http://www.google.com/privacy_ads.html 

Some of our advertising partners may use cookies and web beacons on our site. Our advertising partners include ....
Google Adsense


These third-party ad servers or ad networks use technology to the advertisements and links that appear on magikaltech.blogspot.com send directly to your browsers. They automatically receive your IP address when this occurs. Other technologies ( such as cookies, JavaScript, or Web Beacons ) may also be used by the third-party ad networks to measure the effectiveness of their advertisements and / or to personalize the advertising content that you see. 

magikaltech.blogspot.com has no access to or control over these cookies that are used by third-party advertisers. 

You should consult the respective privacy policies of these third-party ad servers for more detailed information on their practices as well as for instructions about how to opt-out of certain practices. magikaltech.blogspot.com's privacy policy does not apply to, and we cannot control the activities of, such other advertisers or web sites. 

If you wish to disable cookies, you may do so through your individual browser options. More detailed information about cookie management with specific web browsers can be found at the browsers' respective websites. 

Thanks,
MagikalTech


Monday, January 9, 2012

Do your screened-devices need a screen protector?

The answer to that question is a Yes & No.
It depends on material of LCD screen on the device that you are buying. Most devices such as the iPhone screen, and many new Android devices, are made of Corning Wares' GorrillaGlass. This glass does not shatter, and is highly resistant to scratches.  I noticed that Plastic screens and regular glass are VERY easy to scratch. My old iPod nano and my old Samsung Solstice has countless scratches on it's plastic screen, but my HTC Inspire never had any scratches on it's Gorrilla Glass 4.3" LCD. In my real-world tests, smart-phones have never needed screen-protecters, except if you put them in the same pocket as keys (may leave hairline scratches on smartphone).
Unless the phone belongs to a 7-year old or to a construction worker, no smartphone will need a screen protector, but you may need an anti-glare cover. Plastic screen smartphones, very low-end phones, and iPods, probably will be needing a screen protecter, my glasses and Samsung Solstice were in the same BAG with my glasses and manged to scratch each other.


-MagikalTech

Motorola Atrix 2: Review and a Comparison with the Galaxy SII

Through this article, The Moto Atrix 2 will be represented as A, and the Galaxy SII as G.

       This weekend I went to San Jose, I hopes of picking up my first Dual- Core phone. One sleeper-phone that caught my eye was the Motorola Atrix 2.

Price:
It was very modestly priced, at $19.99 with a 2-year contract on ATT. Stealing all the attention from the Atrix 2, was the Samsung Galaxy S2. I compared the specifications, the only advantage was the Galaxy S2's faster processor, only by .2 Gigahertz. I thought to myself, is .2 Ghz worth my extra $179.99?
Price had become a main selling point with the Atrix 2.

Score: A-1 G-0

Specifications:
The Atrix 2 has a Texas Instruments Dual Core processor clocked at 1.0 GHz. The Samsung Galaxy S2 has a nVidia Tegra 2 Chipset running at 1.2~1.5 GHz (depends on which carrier.

Score: A-1 G-1

Operating System:
They also seemed to be running the same version of Android OS, 2.3.5. 

Score: A-1 G-1

Form Factor:
The Galaxy SII is thinner, but feels unnatural to the hand. The rubberized and curved contours on the Atrix 2 make for a much more ergonomic using experience.


Score: A-2 G-1

Camera:
Both phones have similar camera specs, but the Galaxy SII takes better pictures at night.

Score: A-2 G-2

UI:
Motorola has upped it's game with the redesigned Motoblur UI. In my opinion, this beats Samsung's Fisherprice UI.

Score: A-2 G-2

Screen:
Altough the Galaxy SII uses a Super Amoled Plus display, which has a very nice contrast, the Atrix 2 is no slacker. The Atrix 2 is using a qHD display which has a 20% resolution advantage on the Galaxy SII.

Galaxy SII (Left) Atrix (Right)


Score: A-3 G-2

Winner: Motorola Atrix 2
Both phones were a hair away from being superior, but the Atrix 2 delivers the most potent formula for it's price point.


When should you upgrade Mac?

Many Apple Computer owners ask themselves: When should I upgrade?

 My stand-point: I personally own a Early 2007 15" Macbook Pro. It is running 3GB of Ram, and a Core2Duo processor. When I got it, this Macbook pro costed around $2000. Now in 2012, an average Macbook Pro is running a Quad-Core i7 Processor, And around 6 GB of DDR3 Ram. Am I willing, as a consumer, to pay $2000, for a PC only used for browsing the web? Short Answer: No.

My advice to all you Mac Users thinking about upgrading your system: What are you using your Mac for? Are you video editing? Are you gaming? The sad reality is that most softwares (other than Apple's) are usually is not optimized for more than one core.

What is your side on the topic? Let me know in the comments :)

-MagikalTech


Sunday, January 8, 2012

Welcome to Magikaltech

Hello, and Welcome! This blog was made to take a more simple and approach to your tech news.
On this blog, we will be covering news in the ever-changing land of tech, reviews for products, and a questions about upcoming or current technology. I will try to write atleast twice a week.

Upcoming Posts: Macs, When Should you Upgrade? I will also be doing a Motorola Atrix 2 review.

P.S: Remember to Follow Me, so you can get the latest tech news!


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