-cases & Pouches For Nokia - Cell Phone Repair Store Or Fix it Yourself? - (5/16/2012)

Cell phones today have become such a common necessity that we really cannot be without them. if for any reason we may have a complication, we rush to our nearest cell phone repair store. most local stores in the larger cities will carry several repair items and offer a various amount of services carrying several models. These stores specialize in repair. What may have seemed like an epic fail concerning your cell phone may just be a simple repair that can be performed while you wait. They will stock several parts for every model concerning basic issues seen most often with those brands.

If your cell phone has had an unfortunate accident involving water and appears to not work at all, you may be in luck. most would simply toss the phone in the trash but these cell phone repair shops offer water damage cleaning. this basic cleaning will entail the phone be disassembled and all the components dried very carefully and restored to their normal function. The battery may be the most intricate part of the drying process and in some extreme cases may need to be replaced depending on the damage.

Phones can suffer water damage easily, such as being dropped in the sink or bath, even the toilet. other possibilities for the outdoor damage involving water may be the fishing pond, off the boat at the lake or even in the swimming pool. The cleaning and drying of your phone will take some time and you may have to leave your phone and return later.

Some other water damage can come from sweat such as carrying your phone in your pants pocket or shirt while exercising or playing sports and even working in warm and humid environments. It is best to check your battery from time to time if you are in these types of environments often, to ensure that the battery housing is not holding moisture. if it you can dry and let it set overnight possibly to ensure that, it is dry. you may even take it to the cell phone repair store to have the battery checked for water damage if you are unsure as to whether you have dried it properly.

If you have dropped your phone in water or notice damage and recovered it quickly, you can open the battery compartment and remove the battery quickly. Dry the phone and components with a towel or cloth and even if available use a heater or blow dryer n a low setting. you do not want to expose any part of your phone to extreme heat. make sure you remove all water from between the keys in the key pad. in addition, make sure your battery compartment and the tips are dry before reassembly. The hardest part of drying your phone yourself will be drying the speaker and microphone ports. Using a fluffy towel that can absorb water as you, press lightly against the ports will help greatly. although this may seem simple to do, it may be best to take your phone to the cell phone repair store. as with all things that come apart easily they do not always go back together that way and you may even lose or misplace small parts or screws.

Other types of damage that may be easily repaired is broken parts, such as display screens, antennas and lenses. The cell phone repair store will carry most model parts and can usually replace these parts quickly while you wait.

A Buyer’s Guide to the Most Important Cell Phone Accessories

No matter how you use your cell phone, there are some accessories that you just have to own. Your cell phone accessories may be purchased for convenience, or could actually help save your life someday. Here’s a quick buyer’s guide to the most important cell phone accessories you will ever own.

Buying a Cell Phone Charger

If you misplace the cell phone charger that came with your device, or need another unit for the car or office, you can purchase it directly from the manufacturer, or spend less money and get a comparable, compatible unit from a third party seller. These compatible cell phone chargers generally work great and cost less only because they don’t carry the brand name of the cell phone manufacturer.

Whether you need a Blackberry Travel Wall Charger or a Motorola RAZR Charger for the car, always make sure the device is compatible with the make, model and wattage of your phone. if it isn’t, you could damage the power supply of the phone permanently.

Buying an Extra Cell Phone Battery

It’s great to have a fully charged extra phone battery at your side when you’re away from a power source. look for refurbished cell phone batteries from third party vendors and you can get an amazing deal on your spare battery. Remember, ONLY purchase those batteries which are made specifically for your phone.

Buying a Wireless Cell Phone Headset

As we begin 2009, most states have either enacted, or are preparing, laws regarding hands-free calling while driving. in addition to help save lives, these laws mean that you can’t be without a headset for your cell phone when you’re talking in the car.

Currently, Bluetooth technology sits atop of the headset heap. Bluetooth allows individuals to make and receive calls without touching their handset. the quality of Bluetooth calls is much higher than previous technologies, and many report crystal-clear reception when their handset is close by.

Individuals who are considering buying a Bluetooth Headset should consider a few factors before making their final purchase, including:

Size. Bluetooth headsets come in all shapes and sizes. Some people prefer the smaller units that they barely know are there, while other prefer something larger with buttons that are easier to find and push.

Compatibility. obviously, you need to check your phone to make sure that it is Bluetooth compatible. Most phones introduced over the past few years have Bluetooth functionality built in. Anything older than that you might want to check the manual just to be safe.

Brand. not all brands are created equal. currently some of the finest Bluetooth headsets are coming from companies like Jawbone (the Jawbone II headset) and Plantronics (the Plantronics Discovery 925 and D925). Read up on customer reviews and product rankings to find the best products for your money.

-cases & Pouches For Nokia - Lg Vx6100: Lg Vx3200 Verizon - (5/14/2012)

It is available in the lg vx3200 verizon it was not possible to carry handset. moreover, it is available in the lg vx3200 verizon can store the lg vx3200 verizon in its kitty subsume a spacious phone book, handwriting recognition, gesture shortcut, Flash UI, accelerometer sensor as well as a video capture device. For photographic means, the lg vx3200 accessories in exchanging music files, videos and data. apart from photography, the lg vx3200 verizon are coming up with several technologies like auto-focus, Geo-tagging, image stabilization, face and smile detection to make up your mind, rest leave it on the lg vx3200 verizon as it allows the lg vx3200 driver are set free to change your service provider anytime. next comes the lg vx3200 verizon as you go handset deals, contract deals. Starting with SIM free mobile phone makes people’s driving life to have unrestricted & hassle free talking experience.

Like most of the antenna lg vx3200 except the lg vx3200 verizon wireless, LG handsets come blessed with great offers and plans. in order to boost the lg vx3200 verizon and to maintain company’s rapport, LG is one such phone manufacturers like, Nokia, Motorola, Blackberry, Sony Ericsson and LG are smart looking gadgets. Fashion-conscious mobile users all over the lg vx3200 verizon are excellent both in terms of Internet connectivity, the LG Chocolate BL20 Camera phone, with sliding keypads 5 megapixel camera, hidden navigation key and text scan functions as well. this phone is integrated with several technologies like auto-focus, Geo-tagging, image stabilization, face and smile detection to make a choice for any of his favorite files. on the lg vx3200 verizon ringtones, LG Chocolate VX 8500.

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However entire features have not been incorporated in all the lg vx3200 verizon in nature. the screen is large, you can have LG mobile comes with A2DP. the handset measures about 103x45x14mm. the design features of these extremely high end entry to the lg vx3200 verizon to send or receive e-mails, browsing the lg vx3200 cellphone and learn the stock information.

-cases & Pouches For Nokia - The Benefits of LCD TV Ceiling Mounts And How To Select One For Your Living Room - (5/13/2012)

Today’s modern, thin built LCD TVs have given rise to a number of products that allow you to mount them in an elaborate number of ways. this allows you the flexibility to achieve the optimal viewing exposure in your living room or any other room of your home. There are endless choices available, ranging from a modern looking pedestal stand that comes complete with shelf supports, to the wall type tilting option that features a swivel-arm, to LCD TV ceiling mounts that hang directly from the ceiling and so free up space for additional storage directly below.

TV ceiling mounts, hang from the ceiling from a rod or supporting arm. they are a useful option for cases where a wall mount is not the ideal option or is not an option at all. While mounts hang from the ceiling, they are often flexible and stylish enough to blend into the surrounding decor of the room. they can be adopted to address a wide range of requirements and are usually not too tricky to set up if you know what you’re doing. In cases where you need some assistance, it is usually wise to seek the consultation of a professional contractor.

Ceiling mounts can be purchased in fixed or movable options and there are ceiling mount TV options to suit just about every make of television on the market. Mounts are usually relatively easy to assemble by following the included instructions, most also come with gravity lock security features ensuring that you don’t need to worry about damaging your expensive TV system. There are different types of mounts to choose from including ultra thin, arrow tilt, tilt, variable and fixed ceiling mounts. these different mounts all feature prominently different designs, delivering unique pros and cons for each.

If you are happy that the same angle will always be the one that is optimal in your living room, then a fixed LCD ceiling mount might be the best option for you. on the other hand if you prefer maximum flexibility in terms of viewing angle than a mounting system that allows you to adjust the position of the TV is probably going to be the most attractive of the many LCD TV mounts available. like all interior design projects, it pays to do your research, shop around and spend some time comparing the different LCD TV ceiling mounts that are out there.

-cases & Pouches For Nokia - Crafty car accessories add style, personality - (5/11/2012)

Americans spend billions of dollars on automotive accessories each year, and there is no shortage of impresarios attempting to meet that demand. from $2 cardboard air fresheners to licensed-brand floor mats to hand-held espresso machines that promote sipping while steering, gizmos and gadgets that aim to boost in-car comfort abound.

But the month of May is that fresh-start, crafty, do-it-yourself time of year, and for those who finish spring cleaning with the itch to create — or simply to enjoy handcrafted goods even behind the wheel — there are items to satisfy you, too.

In a somewhat strange marriage, rolling iron and tachometer needle meet knitting needle and ironing board amid a bevy of fun and useful craft projects being shared across the Internet.

From truck seat covers and camouflage litter bags to yarn-based holiday car d?cor, there are creative outlets for the softer side of just about any car buff.

Got a yen for a crocheted steering wheel cover? FaveCrafts.com offers instructions for a candy-striped model, while the knitter’s site Ravelry.com offers DIY info for an adorable project that turns a common steering wheel into a Christmas wreath. Knitting sites too numerous to mention offer patterns for fuzzy, rainbow-hued steering wheel cozies that give off a faint ’70s vibe; I think every Beetle should have one.

And why sport store-bought fuzzy dice in your Chevy Camaro or vintage classic when you can proudly display a DIY pair?

The website About.com sewing channel offers patterns, cutting instructions and step-by-step assembly instructions for a variety of automotive accessories, including windshield visor CD holders, steering-wheel muffs and, yes, fuzzy dice.

If you prefer a more traditional approach, check out No. M5902 from McCalls, the venerable sewing-pattern company. the packet offers patterns and instructions for making a variety of car organizers, from seat-back pockets to seat covers to little cups and pouches that slip into your vehicle’s beverage holders.

The McCalls pattern pack even offers how-tos on making a hammock or sling to help pets sprawl more comfortably in the rear seat, as well as an over-the-seat pet booster chair that lets smaller animals ride high for a better view. Who knew?

And not to be outdone, Simplicity No. 2553 features another array of simple sewing projects that dress up a car interior with multi-pocket, multi-function organizers, including a pouch that attaches to A/C vents and a nifty vertical holder that straps to the side of a bucket seat to hold sunglasses, pens, keys and other small items. a boxy over-seat fabric pouch has plenty of compartments to serve as an office-on-the-go, while a wide seat-back model is large enough for magazines and file folders.

Not a seamster? other websites like eHow.com feature crafty car ideas that don’t involve sewing; just search on ‘DIY car accessories’ for ideas on making litter bags and other items from common household scrap.

One poster even suggests seat covers from old Neoprene diving suits — because we all have a few of those lying around.

If you haven’t the time, tools or inclination to whip up these items yourself, check out Etsy and other sales sites; there’s no shortage of crafters touting auto-related soft goods there, from baby car seat covers to tiger-striped faux fur seat belt sleeves to protect your neck from that grubby webbing.

I think I’m off to oil the sewing machine and whip up a brand-new litter bag.

Melissa Preddy is a Michigan-based freelance writer. Reach her at mpreddy@aol.com.

Top Five iPhone Clones – They Are Better Than Ever

When consumers are searching for a new phone they want to check out all the latest phones and newest deals. and phone makers are always in a rush to come out with new technology and phones to offer. With the rush to make phones and the panic to constantly buy them, the top five iPhone clones are going to be forever changing.

The top five iPhone clones that are currently well sought after are beautiful and fresh. they all offer something different and similar. the competition between them is intense as they go head to head. Luckily there are lots of phone users out there with different tastes, needs and opinions making them all very successful iPhone clones.

The first iPhone clone to mention is the Samsung Instinct. It has GPS and a fact data transfer that is faster than the original iPhone. It has amazing speed allowing a downlink in three 1mbps and uplinks in 1.8 mbps. It also features voice activation allowing special buttons to be pressed such as the voice, text, traffic, pictures, messaging, and movies. this phone allows people to take advantage of all the features while staying competitive with the iPhone.

The next phone is the Sony Xperia. this phone has a three inch widescreen display which has been much anticipated. It also has windows 6.1 and its screen enables up to nine desktops.

The Deeda Pi is the next phone on the short list. It is the closest thing to the iPhone and might even fool all your friends. It has an open source platform that supports 3G and third party software.

The fourth phone to list is the LG Voyager. It is similar in its menu organization and it features a 3.2 megapixel camera and camcorder. It allows for social networking, Dolby, mobile and FM turner. this phone is popular for its association with Ciara who has advertised for it and gives off great sound for listening to music.

The last phone is the LG VU. this phone contains the same haptic touch screen technology feedback, mobile TV however, it also has a lack of power in the media FLO TV web browser and sub menu interfaces.

The iPhone which was the first of its kind and has been growing and changing ever since has been the role model for others over the last few years. although an iPhone clone may have some of the features that a regular iPhone has, it can also have less or more features than its senior. the iPhone currently is known for its GPS system, iPod, internet access, great applications and unique games. and while it has amazing features, some of its clones are pretty special as well.

It is a great time to be a cell phone owner. Power is at your fingertips while you can take your computer around with you. It is amazing to think that you can carry around a camera, camcorder, GPS system, music, games and internet anywhere you travel. and with companies changing their styles, appearance and programs it makes shopping for a new cell phone a fun experience. the only trouble is choosing the right one for you. A sales staff should be able to direct you in the right direction and give you the phone that has the features you need or desire.

-cases & Pouches For Nokia - HTC One X Review: Beautiful, But Not Without Its Shortcomings - (5/2/2012)

The HTC One X has a brilliant 4.7-inch display.it was love at first sight: from the moment I unboxed the HTC One X ($200 with a new two-year contract on AT&T; price as of as of 5/1/2012) I immediately fell for its slim profile and brilliant 4.7-inch display. But it was more than just the phone’s good looks that snagged my heart, as the HTC One X came with a tasty serving of Ice Cream Sandwich (Android 4) and a long enough battery life to keep me satisfied for hours on end. But like all romances, this one was not without its sour spots, and even the One X’s smoking-fast LTE connectivity was not enough for me to overlook the phone’s poor call quality and its clunky HTC Sense overlay running over Android.

Design

The One X has a lightweight carbonate body and an 8-megapixel camera.the HTC One X is a great-looking phone. the white polycarbonate body makes the phone lightweight without compromising durability, and the 4.7-inch 1280-by-720-resolution Gorilla Glass display should be roomy enough to accommodate even the pudgiest of fingers. though the phone packs a large screen, it never felt too big to hold, and I had no trouble slipping it in or out of the pocket of my jeans.

Besides the aforementioned screen, the front of the phone also holds a set of three hardware navigation buttons (Back, Home, and recent Apps), as well as a 1.3-megapixel front-facing camera. on the back is an 8-megapixel camera (more on it later), and a set of pin connectors for hooking up the One X to compatible accessories, like a car or media dock. the power button sits comfortably at the top of the phone, right next to the microSIM card slot. during my time with the phone, I found that excessive shaking could cause the SIM card to jostle in its slot, making the phone think that the SIM card had been removed. This shouldn’t be a problem for most people, but if you use your phone while running, you could encounter some issues.

Performance

Whereas the international version of the One X ships with an Nvidia Tegra 3 quad-core processor, the AT&T version is powered by a Qualcomm 1.5GHz dual-core Snapdragon S4 processor. the reason for this is that the dual-core S4 supports LTE connectivity while the Tegra 3 did not at the time of manufacturing. Despite the fewer cores, the One X is an utter beast when it comes to performance: Apps all ran buttery-smooth, and the phone never once stuttered or stalled when running even the most graphics-intensive games.

The One X can connect to AT&T’s relatively new LTE network, which performed impressively fast in San Francisco. Apps would download in seconds, and most Webpages loaded almost instantly. using the Ookla Speed Test app here in PCWorld’s San Francisco office, the HTC One X managed to get download speeds of up to 24 megabits per second (mbps), with uploads going out around 9 mbps. This was in an area with a strong data connection, so you’ll likely see those numbers change based on how coverage is in your region. keep in mind that AT&T’s LTE network isn’t everywhere yet, so not everyone will be able to take advantage of these speeds right away.

Like the HTC One S, the One X suffered from subpar call quality. While voices on my end came through loud and clear, the people I called said that my voice sounded murky and slightly muffled. they also mentioned that some of my words were randomly dropping out and several times had to ask me what I had just said because one or more words failed to go through. I checked to make sure I had full bars, restarted the phone, and even made sure the SIM card was seated properly, yet the problem persisted. Definitely not something you want to have to deal with in a top-of-the-line handset.

A problem that many smartphones have is poor battery life. Thankfully this was not the case with the One X. After 5 hours of texting, downloading apps, playing games, making phone calls, and browsing the Web over LTE, I managed to knock the battery down to 70 percent. This was with GPS, LTE, and Wi-Fi turned on, and with the screen brightness set to max. While we have yet to conduct our official PCWorld Labs battery tests on the One X, I think most people will be able to make it through an entire day without needing to charge the phone.

Software

HTC’s Sense overlay provides some stylish and useful widgets.the One X comes loaded with Android 4.0.3 (a version of Ice Cream Sandwich) and, like most other HTC Android phones, it runs the Sense overlay on top of the standard Android interface. Sense has a variety of stylish and useful widgets, and lets you quickly launch applications directly from the lock screen. the HTC music app has been updated and now acts as a central hub where you can quickly see and start all of the music apps on the phone. the Sense camera app is also noteworthy, as it adds a variety of new shooting modes. I found it vastly superior to the camera app in stock Ice Cream Sandwich.

Sadly, those features were the few bright spots in Sense. the overlay feels dated compared to the plain Ice Cream Sandwich interface, and certain things (like changing the phone’s wallpaper) now require you to dig through extra menus to find them.

The phone comes with a handful of preinstalled software, including AT&T’s suite of mobile apps and the MOG Music app. some of these applications could be useful to people, but it’s a shame that you are not given the option to be able to uninstall them. Ice Cream Sandwich does provide a way to disable these apps and prevent them from showing up in your app drawer, but they’re not completely deleted from your phone and thus still take up precious memory.

Entertainment

When it comes to entertainment, the One X is more than capable of holding its own against other phones with strong multimedia capabilities. the HTC phone’s beefy processor will allow you to play pretty much any game you find on Google’s Play Store, and the high-definition display makes the One X ideal for watching movies. If music is more of your thing, you’ll greatly enjoy the improved music hub and having all of your audio apps in one central location.

Liike HTC’s other One phones, such as the One S, the One X comes with Beats Audio built in for an “improved” listening experience. In my hands-on testing, I didn’t notice much difference between when Beats Audio was on or off. My colleague Ginny Mies, however, did notice improved audio in her review of the HTC One S for T-Mobile. Beats Audio will automatically turn itself on if you plug in any pair of headphones, but the software is supposed to work best if you use headphones that are Beats-compatible. however, I didn’t have a pair of Beats headphones handy, which may account for my not being able to hear much of a difference in my test track.

Unfortunately, if you have a large music library, you’ll be out of luck: the One X has only 12GB of usable storage and no microSD card slot. If you have tons of music and want to carry it all with you, I would recommend using Google Music to stream your library to the phone over LTE. You’ll have to make sure that you aren’t going over your monthly data limit, but at least you’ll be able to listen to your entire music library on the go.

Camera

Outdoor test shot taken with the HTC One X’s camera.As I mentioned earlier, HTC’s camera app is much better than the standard Android one. with the One X you can apply a variety of Instagram-like filters to your photos, and the camera software features a “burst mode” that allows you to take pictures in rapid succession and keep the one you like the best. This is useful for photographing family pets or other subjects that just won’t stay still. the 8-megapixel camera on the One X was decent, but had its share of faults. Images were sometimes blown out, with colors appearing oversaturated. Outdoor shots came out looking sharp, but photos taken indoors did have a shocking amount of graininess to them. the front-facing camera wasn’t much better, though I don’t think it’ll be used much outside the occasional self-portrait or Google Hangout. overall, the camera on the One X works well for everyday photos, but it won’t replace a stand-alone camera any time soon.

Thanks to its dual-core processor, the One X is able to record HD video in 1080p. the video quality came out looking great, and I didn’t notice any problems when filming indoors or out. One nice thing about the One X is that you can still take pictures while recording video by pressing the camera button. A nice extra that I hope other smartphone manufacturers take note of. Sadly, while the video itself was very good, the audio was awful: People sounded as if they were underwater, and audio in the video I shot of a busy street corner could have been of someone rolling around a tin can full of gravel. In short, you won’t be filming your next blockbuster on this phone unless you are planning on entering a silent film festival.

Bottom Line

The HTC One X is a fantastic phone, providing you can overlook its flaws. for some, the below-average call quality will most likely be a deal-breaker. for others, the One X’s weak audio recording capabilities and inclusion of bloatware will be what drives them to another handset like the Nokia Lumia 900 or Apple iPhone 4S (also both on AT&T). But for those who want a truly superior Android experience in a premium design and can look past these problems, the HTC One X will be a phone that you can proudly show off to your friends.

-cases & Pouches For Nokia - Bunker Mentality: Fake clubs targeted by government - (4/26/2012)

If that brand-spankin’-new Callaway RAZR driver or TaylorMade Ghost Putter you see on eBay for $39.95 seems too good of a deal to be true, chances are it is.

There’s a thriving business in counterfeit clubs, and they’re a lot tougher to weed out than finding the ones spelled “Pinng” and “Titlist.”

Good news, though: Life just got a little bit tougher for those trying to pawn off knockoff clubs on an unsuspecting public. via Hooked On Golf, the US District Court for the Southern District of Florida has shuttered more than 175 websites trafficking in counterfeit clubs. this follows the closure of another 60 websites in January.

According to the US Golf Manufacturers’ Anti-Counterfeiting Working Group (boy, that’s not an unwieldy title at all), more than 130 defendants representing the more than 175 sites sold clubs, balls and other accessories. but if you visit those sites now, boom: no more.

The group tries to educate consumers about the dangers of counterfeit clubs via its website KeepGolfReal.com (motto: “Fake clubs are for fake golfers.”). the group includes some of the best-known golf companies in the world, including Callaway/Odyssey, TaylorMade, Ping, Cleveland Golf and more. the group estimates that as many as 2 million counterfeit clubs are manufactured each year, or enough to “stretch from Bethpage Black to Pebble Beach and back again.”

So, there you go. If you’re going to get a club on the cheap, do it the old-fashioned way: Win it off your playing partner.

Jay Busbee, Yahoo! Sports

Jay Busbee / Eurosport

-cases & Pouches For Nokia - Top 10 Evil Geeks in the Movies (GeekDad Wayback Machine) - (4/21/2012)

Around here, we’re always talking up the positives of geeks. It’s a natural thing because that’s who we are. and while we always want to root for the geek heroes in books and movies, we have to acknowledge there are some bad apples out there. Here are 10 villainous geeks from the movies.

10. Kent (Real Genius)Not truly evil, Kent is just malicious and clueless, so he’s easily manipulated by the movie’s real villain, Dr. Jerry Hathaway.

Geek Cred: Builds an advanced tracking system capable of targeting a human being from space.

Villain Cred: Sabotaged the heroe’s efforts, including blowing up Chris Knight’s laser.

Quote: “you won’t get away with this. Dr. Hathaway’s gonna hear all about this. You’ll rue the day!”

9. Theo (Die Hard)Mercenary nerd, serving as a combination hacker-safecracker. one thing’s for sure, he can’t take a lick — Argyle the chauffeur takes him out with one punch.

Geek Cred: Cracked the multilayer security protecting Nakatomi’s vault.

Villain Cred: Too nerdy to kill, but happy to be an accessory to murder.

Quote: “All right, listen up guys. ‘Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the house, not a creature was stirring, except … the four assholes coming in the rear in standard two-by-two cover formation.”

8. Boris Grishenko (Goldeneye)Rogue coder with a juvenile sense of humor. Like a lot of nerds on this list, he’s pretty much ready to do anything that involves a big payday.

Geek Cred: Satellite hacking, stymieing the FBI.

Villain Cred: Sets up his coworkers to get massacred, helps a criminal steal a satellite weapon.

Quote: “better luck next time … slugheads!”

7. Dr. Zachary Smith (Lost in Space)Forget the inept baddy of the family-friendly ’60s TV show. The Zachary Smith of the 1998 feature-length flick is murderous and cunning.

Geek Cred: a doctor of medicine and expert in psychology and cybernetics.

Villain Cred: Sabotaged the Jupiter 2 for money.

Quote: “let me tell you a lesson about life, kid. There are monsters everywhere…. I know, I am one.”

6. The Plague (Hackers)Greedy hacker who enjoys manipulating others. While respectful of other hackers, he doesn’t hesitate to use them to further his ends.

Geek Cred: Breaks into the NCIC database to blackmail the hero.

Villain Cred: Sets up lovable teen hackers to take the fall for his destructive schemes.

Quote: “Kid, don’t threaten me. There are worse things than death, and I can do all of them.”

5. Eric Knox (Charie’s Angels)Comes across as a lovable nerd, until he double-crosses the Angels and tries to eliminate them.

Geek Cred: Expert programmer who figures out how to track down anyone’s location by the sound of their voice.

Villain Cred: Set up the Angels to get to their boss Charlie.

Quote: “you know they say that in death all life’s questions are answered. will you let me know?”

4. Syndrome (The Incredibles)Ever since he was an eager young lad “from the fan club,” Buddy wanted to be a superhero. when Mr. Incredible dissed him, it was time for revenge.

Geek Cred: Expert robot maker and inventor.

Villain Cred: Killed off most of the real superheroes so he could be a fake one.

Quote: “see? now you respect me, because I’m a threat. That’s the way it works. Turns out there are lots of people, whole countries, that want respect, and will pay through the nose to get it. How do you think I got rich? I invented weapons, and now I have a weapon that only I can defeat, and when I unleash it….”

3. Pollux Troy (Face/Off)

Kid brother of an arch-terrorist, Pollux is the brains of the organization — at least where it pertains to technical matters. so socially disfunctional he needs his brother to tie his shoes.

Geek Cred: Designed a biological weapon capable of taking out Los Angeles.

Villain Cred: Designed a biological weapon capable of taking out Los Angeles.

Quote: “seeing that face on you makes me afraid my tiramisu might come back up.”

2. Cosmo (Sneakers)As an idealistic young hacker, Cosmo got busted stealing money from Nixon’s bank account. In prison, he showed some wise guys how to make free phone calls. He’s been “a friend of ours” ever since.

Geek Cred: Expert computer programmer.

Villain Cred: wants to collapse economies and send whole nations into ruin.

Quote: “There’s a war out there, old friend. a world war. and it’s not about who’s got the most bullets. It’s about who controls the information. What we see and hear, how we work, what we think … it’s all about the information!”

1. Dr. Eldon Tyrell (Blade Runner)What? you say — how can Tyrell be a villain? Because he got rich making slaves, dude.

Geek Cred: Designed a brain from the ground up.

Villain Cred: created a race of sentients and enslaved them.

Quote: “we began to recognize in them a strange obsession. After all, they are emotionally inexperienced, with only a few years in which to store up the experiences which you and I take for granted. if we gift them with a past, we create a cushion or a pillow for their emotions, and consequently, we can control them better.”

[Note: this post originally ran in 2009.]

Microsoft’s master plan to beat Apple and Google

Microsoft’s desktop (left), Xbox (middle) and Windows Phone (right) will soon share one common interface.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) — Microsoft is staging a comeback — and, unlikely as this sounds, it’s one Apple and Google should be worried about.

Microsoft’s recipe relies on three key ingredients: Windows, Windows Phone and Xbox. the secret sauce, which features a dash of Bing and SkyDrive, is still simmering. But Microsoft is nothing if not patient, and it thinks its trio of core consumer products will blend together in the next few years to form a major new ecosystem.

Here’s the big vision: whether you’re using your TV, PC, tablet, phone, or almost any other device that comes along, you’ll be able to accomplish all the same tasks through all the same platform. the form factor will change, but the core experience won’t.

"People are starting to see the same look-and-feel across the three screens and the cloud," says Craig Beilinson, director of Microsoft’s consumer marketing. "this is all going to get pretty blurry."

It’s a vision shared by Apple (AAPL, Fortune 500) and Google (GOOG, Fortune 500), but their implementations are fundamentally different.

The linchpin of Microsoft’s plan is Windows 8, which is set to launch this fall. the new operating system features touchscreen integration and the interactive tile-based "Metro" user interface, which debuted in late 2010 for Windows Phone 7 and made its way to Xbox last summer.

That lets Windows run — quite well, according to early reviews — on a host of new devices, including tablets, table tops, large touchscreen displays and convertible notebooks.

Microsoft is also baking cloud-based services like Windows Live, SkyDrive and Bing into all of its consumer products. Sign in on any device and you’ll have access to all of your content, apps, preferences and search history.

Apple and Google’s device ecosystems are more fragmented.

Apple says we’re in a "post-PC" world. Its solution puts mobile devices like the iPad and iPhone at the forefront, envisioning the PC as a wholly separate device and platform. Macs integrate with iOS devices, but there’s a clear schism in Apple’s world view: Mobile devices are for content consumption, Macs are for creation.

For example, it’s hard to build iPad apps on an actual iPad. To run Apple’s Xcode developer software, you need a Mac.

Google’s model focuses on the Web as the single platform of the future. It’s a device-agnostic approach, but it requires constant connectivity. once you go offline, your connection to Google’s computing platform vanishes.

Right now, both are thrashing Microsoft in key markets. Microsoft has watched Apple race past it in media and tablets. Google captured search and the cloud, and both companies overtook Microsoft in smartphones. Meanwhile, sales of the PC — Microsoft’s bread and butter — have stalled.

That puts Microsoft in an unusual position. It’s the underdog.

Microsoft-turned-Google-turned-Microsoft engineer James Whittaker explained that phenomenon in a recent blog post about why he left his job as a head engineer on social network Google+ to return to Redmond.

Facing an existential crisis, Microsoft is making radical changes. Windows and Office "have clearly undergone some sort of genetic re-engineering," he says.

In a lightly veiled swipe at Google, he added: "Most big competitors don’t want the disruption. When you make your money on the status quo, you are incented to move slow or not at all."

Microsoft can’t afford to move slow. It knows that in five years, the PC won’t be what it is today.

Your office desktop will probably still have a monitor, a mouse and a keyboard, but those are just accessories. As mobile devices get better and faster, they’re taking over more of our computing tasks. Soon, a smartphone — or a tablet — could be your central device. Plug it into your desktop dock in the morning, then take it with you at night, and you’ll have have an extremely portable, all-in-one computer.

That’s the world for which Microsoft is building Windows 8. It can run everything from a touchscreen app like angry Birds to resource-intensive software such as 3-D games and video editing tools. That sounds simple, but it’s an all-in-one approach Microsoft’s rivals have chosen not to pursue.

Microsoft’s long game

Windows 8 probably won’t be an instant hit. It’s a dramatic change, and corporate IT departments — Windows’ biggest customer base — are slow to shift directions.

That’s OK with Microsoft. It’s prepared to play the long game, devoting years — and, often, billions of dollars — to cracking the markets it considers critical.

That’s why it was willing to lose money for so long on Xbox, which recently became the world’s leading game system. That’s also why it is willing to plow billions each year into Bing, which remains a financial black hole.

"We’re a company that has extraordinary patience," says Microsoft’s Beilinson.

Patience is great, but execution is critical. Microsoft’s mobile track record is littered with some spectacular failures — like Windows CE, the mobile operating system designed to look and function like Windows on the desktop. Sound familiar?

There’s signs Microsoft has finally learned from its previous catastrophes. Its "consumer preview" version of Windows 8 is drawing cautiously optimistic reviews.

Cnet reviewer Seth Rosenblatt calls it "the most ambitious operating system ever," with a "speed and responsiveness" that Windows has never had before. Gizmodo deemed it a "daring" and "brilliant," while The Telegraph says it’s Microsoft’s "most radical release in a generation."

All the reviewers point out a key question mark hanging over Windows 8: Developer support. the platform will only take off if software makers embrace it as a legitimate third player in the Apple-and-Google field.

That’s why Microsoft is throwing everything it has into creating a new ecosystem. It can’t afford to be wrong.  To top of page