Category: Ideas

Bill Gates, formally the richest man in the world, is also known as a great philanthropist. He’s also known as the founder of Microsoft. Bill Gates was a drop out of school, specifically Harvard. After reading the January 1975 issue of Popular Electronics that demonstrated the Altair 8800, Gates contacted Micro Instrumentation and Telemetry Systems (MITS), the creators of the new microcomputer, to inform them that he and others were working on a BASIC interpreter for the platform. In reality, Gates and Allen did not have an Altair and had not written code for it; they merely wanted to gauge MITS’s interest. MITS president Ed Roberts agreed to meet them for a demo, and over the course of a few weeks they developed an Altair emulator that ran on a minicomputer, and then the BASIC interpreter.

Demos at MITS’s offices in Albuquerque was a success and they had a deal with MITS to distribute the interpreter as Altair BASIC. Paul Allen was hired into MITS, and Gates took a leave of absence from Harvard to work with Allen at MITS in Albuquerque in November 1975. They named their partnership “Micro-Soft” and had their first office located in Albuquerque. Within a year, the hyphen was dropped, and on November 26, 1976, the trade name “Microsoft” was registered with the Office of the Secretary of the State of New Mexico. Gates never returned to Harvard to complete his studies.

Gates began to appreciate the expectations others had of him when public opinion mounted suggesting that he could give more of his wealth to charity. Gates studied the work of Andrew Carnegie and John D. Rockefeller, and in 1994 sold some of his Microsoft stock to create the William H. Gates Foundation.  Gates and his wife combined three family foundations into one and they created a charitable Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which is the largest operated charitable foundation worldwide.

The foundation allows benefactors access to information regarding how its money is being spent, unlike other major charitable organizations such as the Welcome Trust. The generosity and extensive philanthropy of David Rockefeller has been credited as a major influence. Gates and his father met with Rockefeller several times, and modeled their giving in part on the Rockefeller family’s philanthropic focus, namely those global problems that are ignored by governments and other organizations. As of 2007, Bill and Melinda Gates were the second-most generous philanthropists in America, having given over $28 billion to charity, the couple plan to eventually donate 95% of their wealth to charity.

Bill Gates is known for his Philanthropy and riches. Indeed, this is a lesson, a lesson that says, “if we work hard, then we will succeed in life. Bill Gates proved that a school “drop out” can literally be the richest man in the world if he applies skill, hard work and talent all together. The brilliance of his achievements are admirable and indeed a stroke of “genius”. Time magazine named Gates one of the 100 people who most influenced the 20th century, as well as one of the 100 most influential people of 2004, 2005, and 2006. 

Carlos Slim is a Mexican business magnate, investor, and philanthropist. Known as currently the richest man in the world. Carlos Slim has a witty mind and a true businessman. Today, Slim is the chairman America Movil. His money as of June 2013 is at US$66.8 billion. He is the world’s richest man and has beaten Bill Gates, he holds the record of the most wealthiest person worldwide. His extensive knowledge in the business world made him number one. His assets are unbelievable and his business ability skills are admirable.

He had humble beginnings, but in 1972 Carlos Slim had established or acquired a further seven businesses in these categories, including one which rented construction equipment. By 1976. he branched out by buying a 60% interest in a printing business. In 1980, he consolidated his business interests and he formed the Grupo Galas as the parent company of a conglomerate that had interests in industry, construction,mining, retail, food, and tobacco.

The Mexican economy in 1982, relied on oil exports, contracted rapidly as the price of oil fell and interest rates rose worldwide. Banks and other businesses were nationalized, crippled or collapsed and the peso was devalued. However, during 1985 Carlos Slim started to invest again. With his growing investments, he’s able to make himslef more richer everyday. Being business minded and having the right “perspective” is really imperative to be successful. Carlos Slim’s ability to “foresee” is also one of the reasons of his success.

He bought outright, or a large percentage of, numerous Mexican businesses, including Reynolds Aluminio, General Popo (General Tire’s trading name in Mexico), Bimex hotels and Sanborns, a food retailer. He also acquired a 40% interest in the Mexican arms of British American Tobacco and 50% of that of The Hershey Company. He moved into financial services and made profits. His money grew and evidently invested in huge businesses.  The tobacco business was a very profitable move for him too. 

Carlos slim was also recognized by Guinness World Records as having the most participants of any such tournament in the world, a record which it extended in 2008. A lot of people were astonished, being in the book of records is indeed a huge achievement. Carlos Slim was also known as a man of thinker, he thinks ahead. Maybe that’s the  reason why he knows a lot about business. Being successful in business is indeed a huge victory.

Slim was mentioned in Forbes’ World’s Biggest Givers after donating $4 billion to his foundation. He wants to help in any way he can to others who are in need. Indeed, it’s a very admirable move, well, as all “rich people” are fond of doing. Carlos Slim is not only one of the richest people, he is also a philanthropist. A lot of medical researches were funded because of these rich people. It helps people all around the world. Carlos Slim, is one of those people who truly helped not only in his area of responsibility but he helped the whole world. A businessman and a Philanthropist, that he is.

Running Jackets are highly essential especially if you’re into sports or a runner. Not only does it make a runner feel comfortable but it also makes him endure harsh weathers. Running Jackets are really handy when it comes to these things. Here you’ll see one of the best jackets for running. Go ahead and take a look.

1. Salomon GTX Active Shell Jacket

Best Running Jacket For Extreme Weather: Wear a comfortable jacket and have fun. Featuring a super-light Gore-Tex active membrane, the GTX active Shell by Salomon should be your weapon of choice for cold, wet, winter running. This two layer membrane is breathable enough to keep you from overheating but easily sheds precipitation. Lightweight construction features include elastic cuffs, welded seams and zippers and Salomon’s Skin Fit hood. If your idea of a good run includes getting out for a few miles in the middle of a Nor’easter then have no worries. The GTX Active Shell is more than up to the task of fighting off even the worst blizzard to keep you on the road.

2. Merrell Torrent Shell

Best Jacket For Ultra-Distance Racers: Are you one of those crazy runners who is just getting warmed up at a marathon distance? then this jacket is for you. Feel the comfort during your long runs. If you’re regularly putting in training runs for that next 50- or even 100-miler, every ounce in your pack or race belt counts. The Torrent Shell is your ultra-light answer for protection from the elements on even the longest runs. 20-denier ripstop material is wind proof and water resistant. Stretch mesh panels down the sides allow for ventilation should your run warm up quickly. The entire jacket packs into the chest pocket, making it packable into any race pack or even a pocket on your running shorts.

3. Nike Vapor Jacket

Best Urban Running Jacket: If you live in the city then you will certainly love this jacket. If you’re more of an urban adventurer, then the Nike Vapor jacket has all the features you need to not only brave the weather but some of the obstacles you’ll encounter on a run through dark city streets. Lined with Dri-Fit microfiber polyester and strategically placed mesh vents, it keeps water out with the best of them. An adjustable and removable hood allows you to tailor the Vapor to the conditions without carrying extra weight. Reflective hits on the sleeves maintain visibility if you’re out after dark.

4. Brooks LSD Lite III Jacket

Best Budget Running Jacket: Challenge harsh weathers with this jacket. Maybe you’re a little tapped out after splurging on a couple new pairs of running shoes, but you still need that “all weather” gear for some good training. The LSD Lite III has all the features you’d expect from top-tier offerings, water resistance, wind proofing, venting, reflective hits and light 4.3-ounce construction for a fraction of the price. It also features a storm guard and zipper garage to keep you comfortable when you have to button up for harsh weather.

5. The North Face Animagi Jacket

Best Running Jacket For Cold Weather: Having a comfy jacket for cold weather is very important. For a more insulated solution when the weather turns cold, the Animagi jacket from The North Face features body-mapped Primaloft Eco insulation for your core along with stretch knit sleeves. A lighter back panel bleeds off any excess heat after your sprint that pack of cute girls out for their morning jog. An internal MP3 pocket, thumb loops on the sleeves and a secure chest pocket for keys and wallet round out this cold weather piece. You could always double down and just run in your favorite down jacket, but you’ll be more comfortable if you just stick with the Animagi.

Google’s latest Android OS is certainly an improvement. KitKat will allow you to use any third-party text messaging app on the Google Play store as your primary SMS conduit. KitKat has a slimmed down memory footprint by doing things like removing unnecessary background services and reducing the memory consumption of features that aren’t necessary. Changes to the Android interface include an updated Phone app, which adds integrated searchable contacts, directories in other Google apps, and even nearby businesses. Watching a video or perhaps reading a book, the “immersive mode” will hide all of your other open elements to allow you to focus on the content you’re actually using. A revamped Hangouts app will also throw all of your text messages and video calls into the mix, so you’re not backing out to find them in another app.

It’s really interesting because google’s operating system is improving as time goes by. Many consumers are very excited for this product. Android phones are really popular nowadays, better look for android phones that have useful or improved operating systems. The Kitkat is definitely an improvement in mobile OS. A lot of people are into these types of gadgets and indeed it’s really very handy in society. The more powerful processor the better, and a more faster and fluid application is always imperative for seem less transition.

Google’s  new application is indeed up to date. Google’s intelligent digital assistant and smart search, Google Now, has been given much larger prominence within Android 4.4 Kitkat, integrating an always listening feature, which will instantly respond to voice commands triggered by the phrase “OK Google”. Instead of having to launch a separate app, your searches can be made directly from the homescreen without having to tap any buttons, just by starting your commands with “OK Google”. This always-listening feature was first introduced with Google’s smart glasses Google Glass, which is voice-activated by the phrase “OK Glass”.

Features and more features are always a “GOOD THING”. Google has taken steps with Android 4.4 Kitkat to make the experience of using apps like ebook readers or web browsers a much more immersive experience. It has changed the way the system-level interface elements are presented, including the status bar at the top of the screen and the Android menu buttons at the bottom. Instead of permanently bracketing your screen with two black bars, the top notification bar is now transparent, allowing more of your “homescreen” wallpaper to shine through. The menu bar at the bottom of the screen can now also disappear when an app is put into a full-screen mode, allowing content to take up the full real estate of the screen. Dragging your finger down from the top of the screen or up from the bottom of the screen now reveals the notification or menu bars when in full screen applications.

Android fragmentation has been a big problem for app developers ever since the operating system’s inception. Essentially it means that multiple versions of Android that aren’t up to date exist on various devices. While that’s not an issue in and of itself, for developers it presents a massive challenge as they have to programme their apps to support multiple versions of Android, all with differing capabilities. Google has already taken steps towards minimising fragmentation through the decoupling of its own applications and services from the operating system into separate downloadable apps. That allows users on older versions of Android to update these apps separately through the Google Play store and gain access to the new services and features.

We all know that Panasonic is one of the best in making Plasma TVs but in today’s age Plasma TVs are clearly on their way out the door, according to Panasonic, they are officially discontinuing its plasma flat panels  in an effort to “accelerate the growth strategy of the company.” We all know the LED TVs and OLED TVs are the most popular TV’s today, even 4k TVs are making its way to consumers soon. Panasonic will end its production in December, and completely fold its plasma manufacturing operation in March of next year. The Panasonic Viera ST60 is arguably one of the best HDTVs on the market, despite its plasma panel in an era of LCD and LED dominance. So it’s really sad that Plasma TVs will “end” soon.

Plasma TV’s may go but they will always be remembered as one of the most popular HDTVs. Sony and Samsung have been leading the mainstream of HDTVs but Panasonic isn’t far behind. 4ks and OLED TVs are on its way too and it’s going to be something new for consumers to sink their teeth into. Truly, technology has its way of “improving” itself as time goes by. In the end, whether it’s LED, OLDED or even 4k it all boils down to personal preference. It’s sad that we have to say goodbye for Panasonic’s Plasma TVs, but at least we will see something new from them in the future.

Nokia unveiled their latest product, the Lumia 1520. This phone device boasts with sheer quality and portability. Announced at Nokia World in Abu Dhabi, the full-sized Lumia includes powerful hardware, a few software tweaks, and, unsurprisingly, a powerful camera. The 1080p LCD screen is a good start for this phone and it’s clear that it is indeed a powerful electronic device, the Lumia 1520 packs a 2.2GHz Quad Core Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 processor, 2GB of RAM, a 3,400 mAh battery with wireless charging, and 32GB of storage plus micro SD card support. On the photography side of things, Nokia’s latest is equipped with a 20-megapixel PureView camera with Carl Zeiss optics and image stabilization.

This high end feature of the Lumia 1520 is indeed quite impressive. For sure, a lot of people will love Nokia’s new phone. This is indeed good news for those who desire a powerful phone. The camera’s quality is even enough to attract new and old customers. Technology is really progressing as time goes by, and this may be very useful to everyone. Innovation is the key to progression, the Lumia 1520 really is a testament of improvement in technology. If you’re one of those who love gadgets and phones then better check Nokia’s latest product. It’s safe to say that the Lumia 1520 phone is really an impressive piece of technology.

There are a lot of discussions or even debates that talk about which is better, Triple A games or Indie games. Normally, a budget for Triple A games won’t be lower than a million. In fact, the overall cost for Triple A games are worth millions. However, do triple A games have consistent quality? Sure, there are some games who do that but there are also other games that don’t. Sadly, there are some Triple A games of today that lack in quality. In contrast, most Indie games today have quality and truly worthy of the title of  “game” or “video game”.

Examples of Indie games that have great quality both in terms of gameplay and graphics are Journey and Brothers: A Tale of Two sons. These games only last 2-3 hours but the experience you’ll get in Journey and Brothers: Tale of Two Sons are priceless. It just proves that there are a lot of creative minds out their, even though they have low budget in developing games compared to Triple A games, they are able to create a quality experience to the gaming community.

On the other hand, there are Triple A games that have millions of dollars in budget but in the end, gives the gamers a mediocre game. A perfect example of a mediocre or bad game is Resident Evil 6. Some developers think that when a franchise is well known they can SCREW it and make money. So they won’t exert more effort in the game. That’s my honest opinion about the game. Much of an opinion, I think it’s also a factual because a lot of people dislike the game as well. Resident Evil 6 is more of a “FRUSTRATING” game. It seems that the people who developed the game didn’t care at all and just gave us a crappy game. They have poor gameplay mechanics. An example of that is the clunky controls and the never ending “Shooting”. The shooting mechanics are also clunky and the “cover system” is completely flawed. I would rather spend my full $60 in buying Indie games that have quality.

It seems sad that some Triple A games are really taking advantage of its “name” because of the popularity of the franchise. Developers must realize that gamers are not senile. We know when you give us crap. Hence, your sales will drop down. Resident Evil 6 was again a perfect example of  “QUANTITY OVER QUALITY”. The game is very long, but instead of having a good experience through these long hours, I experienced frustration. I even played and completed other games and I still haven’t finished Resident Evil 6.

Another example of a mediocre game is Darksiders 2, again it’s frustrating and annoying. Its puzzle elements are fun but I believe they over do it. In Darksiders 2 you control Death one of the four horseman of the apocalypse. It’s rather disappointing for such a cool character to keep on solving puzzles instead of killing demons and stuff.

Overall, It’s safe to say that Indie games today are improving in terms of gameplay, graphics and narrative as compared to other Triple A games. I realized that if you have limited resources and limited time or materials, you’ll do your best in creating something beautiful. That’s the reason why Indie games are well received because of sheer quality. I even wished that Indie games should have longer “hours of gameplay”. Games like Brothers: Tale of Two Sons could benefit from this and I also wish that Resident Evil 6 to have a shorter “hours of gameplay” since it has really repetitive and bad gameplay mechanics. Nonetheless, games are games at the end of the day. It just depends on the developers if they want to make quality over quantity or quantity over quality. We hope for quality over quantity with longer hours, now that’s an encouraging thought.

Back in the days, video games were simple but fun. During the time of the NES gameplay was very important. I’m not saying that the games of today have dull gameplay but back in those days, gameplay is really important. Graphics aren’t that “good” back in the NES days, so in order for games to sell, its gameplay elements must be fun. That’s the core factor of video games in the first place. Super Mario bros. for the NES was a great example of “fun” gameplay. As time goes by, the hardware for gaming improves. After a few years, the Super NES was introduced. Many people loved the games of this new console plus the graphics have improved. In the early 90’s, video games become more popular. Nintendo was topping the charts in sales. Sega was mostly second but it’s always good to have competition in the industry because if there’s competition there’s quality in products.

As time went by, the Playstation and Nintendo 64 were born. Many were amazed by the CD Rom technology that the Playstation introduced. Cartridge was still evident but it seems that CD based games are more realistic because the material costs less and you can put more data than in a normal cartridge. The sound quality for CD is way better than cartridge based games. Playstation was truly a hit back then. Although Sega’s Atari Jaguar had its CD based games, it didn’t sell as much. The Playstation because of its quality of games indeed sore high during the late 90’s. Playstation became number one despite being Sony’s first video game console. It was indeed a gamble when they went head to head against veterans like Sega and Nintendo.

After a few years, we were introduced to the Playstation 2 and Xbox. There’s no doubt that the Playstation 2 was the leading platform in its generation. Even up to today, the most successful console is the Playstation 2. The Playstation 2 has a lot of games. It has a library of games, this proves many people love Playstation 2. The Xbox was just there to “fill” up the competition. Although, the Xbox was deemed as the rival of the Playstation 2, it never went near to the Playstation 2’s success.

As technology evolved in these years, games become more and more cinematic. This is evident in this current generation. The PS3 and Xbox 360’s games are mostly “cinematic”. During the Playstation 1 and 2 days,  pre rendered cutscenes were mostly done but in this current generation the cutscenes are mostly in game. Of course, there are still pre rendered cutscenes for the PS3 but not so much compared to the Playstation 1 and 2. This shows the evolution or gaming so to speak. It is evident that video games today are improving graphically. The narrative aspect of video games today have also improved as well.

The transition of video games are really astonishing. Video games improved overall but this doesn’t mean that the games in the past are inferior than the games of today. In fact, there are games today that are “pure rubbish” compared to past games but overall games today improved a lot especially in both gameplay and graphics. There’s a sense of cinematic quality and the use of “open world” or sandbox type of gameplay. As we venture into next gen, expect that we will experience more new innovations and improvements in the video game industry.