Monthly Archives: October 2009

Articles/Editorials, Freelancing/Reviewing

Update and linkage time!

by  • 

Been a long time for an update, I’m just a very busy person, and my down time is spent just relaxing and watching some Netflix..  I used to play games to relax but now I’ve got several games for review, it’s still fun, but it’s still work because I’m taking screenshots and recording in-game videos.. anyway, here’s some links to my latest stuff:

–TestFreaks:

Spyder3Express Monitor Color Calibration Device

Jabra BT3030 Stereo Bluetooth Headset

Kingston SSDNow V Series 40GB Boot Drive Desktop Upgrade Bundle

An Unofficial History of The Unboxing

23″ Hannspree HF237HPB Widescreen 1080p HDMI LCD Monitor

Upgrading to Windows 7

Thrustmaster Tennis Duo Pack NW Dual Racket Pack for Nintendo Wii

–Bona Fide Reviews:

NZXT BETA EVO Classic Series PC Case Review

PowerMobile Advanced Emergency Charger

NZXT CRYO S Notebook Cooler Reviewed

–iGadget:

Extra DVD to All MP4 Ripper Reviewed

–DragonSteelMods:

Bluetooth Mini Mouse

Kingwin F-35 3.5″ SATA Enclosure Reviewed

NZXT PANZERBOX Aluminum Chassis Reviewed

–MobilityDigest:
Logitech Cordless Bluetooth Headset Reviewed

Articles/Editorials, Rants!

Texting and Driving needs to be illegal everywhere.

by  • 

The other day I’m driving and I look in my mirror and I see this car right behind me swerving back and forth into the next lane and into the oncoming traffic lane. It’s woman as I found out when we came to the stop light, but then I see she texting, she’s holding the phone on top of her steering wheel and typing. If I didn’t know what she was doing I would have thought she was drunk by the way she was driving, she was behind me for about a mile, but thankfully I had to turn off. She came very close to hitting me several times at stop lights and stop signs, and I watched as she would just sit there still typing as the rest of the traffic continued on when the light changed green. The cars behind her would beep and she’d go and speed up of course. The point is though that she was blatantly texting while driving and she could have caused a very bad accident, and maybe she did, I don’t know as I said I turned off to my destination, but what is so important that you’ve got to endanger your life and the lives of other people around you?

I hate texting, I hate talking on the phone while I’m driving, when I’m in the car I always have my Bluetooth headset on to answer any calls, and I’ll never make a call while I’m driving. If I need to make a call my passenger, if I have one, can dial my phone, if I’m by myself I’ll wait till I get to where I’m going. Usually though there’s no one that I need to talk to that can’t wait a few minutes..

There’s enough I’ve got to pay attention to like people running red lights and going through stop signs, and any phone call I’ve got to make can wait until I get to my destination.

None of you are that important that you must have a phone glued to your head at all times, and surely you’re not that important that you must text while driving..

Articles/Editorials, Product Previews/Reviews

FTC Blogger Ruling.. Blogger Must Disclose Freebies and Payments

by  • 

So as of December 1st this rule goes into effect.

The whole article is here: http://finance.yahoo.com/news/FTC-Bloggers-testimonials-apf-468964868.html?x=0

but the gist of it is that we must disclose the things we get for free for reviews..

I’ve had it listed on my site for well over a year now that any products received for review are my property, but not in the reviews themselves. I’ve got a separate page on my site that mentions How We Test Etc and it’s listed right there…

I can say that I’ve never been paid by a company to review their product, I’ve been asked yes, but I’ve said no because it could lead to a bias towards the company… I don’t want the company thinking that if they pay me then they’ll get a good review. The point of the review is to be objective and honest, to let people know what’s good and bad about the product and of course toss your own personal opinions in there as well.

I don’t think getting the product for review and keeping it is considered something under these guidelines really..

I mean I get products for review to test them, and sometimes testing requires taking them apart, and actually destroying them.

I personally prefer to get products to keep, mainly because if it’s a loaner product then I’ll be held responsible and have to pay for it if something happens to it while it’s in my possession.. I man I’ve got three kids and well, accidents happen.

Getting and keeping the product for review isn’t really a perk in my opinion, it’s part of the job, you need the product to do the reviews.. well ok maybe it is a perk, but it’s still part of the job plain and simple and I don’t consider it a bribe or payment for the review, it’s what it is, you need the product to do the review.

Now I can see how this applies to those that receive gifts after the review, or special things from the company, but I’ve never never got those kinds of things so I can’t really comment on it…

I can see a problem coming for those companies like ReviewMe and SponsoredReviews that pay for reviews… some of them actually mention NOT to say that you are being paid for the review, and in my opinion that is plain wrong and has always been…

All I can say it’s going to be interesting to see how this splays out..

it’s a shame that a few bloggers/reviewers spoil it for others that do it honestly like I/We do on the sites I write for..

I’ve noticed that if I review something and my results differ then I’m accused of being paid for the review, but it’s just not true, I’m reporting my opinion and my experiences with the product. Those that have been caught getting bribes or being paid for a review have spoiled it for the rest of us that try and be honest… I’ve never been paid by a company to review their product, nor have I ever received any other compensation from a company besides the actual product being reviewed, but again you need the product for the review…

Oh well, we’ll see…