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The MacBook Pro Is Dead! Long Live The MacBook Pro!

Apple, oh Apple. What hath thou done. Fine, I realize that I’m being a little over-dramatic, but I think its very well worth knowing that Apple has gone and taken the Pro out of the MacBook Pro line-up. Not by word, have they done this, but by act. Apple has removed from the MacBook Pro the [...]

[UPDATED] Belkin Pays For Positive Product Reviews

[UPDATE] I received a note from my PR rep at Belkin indicating her disappointment at my post (which follows this added paragraph). The disappointment stems from the fact that I stated that the rep was from Belkin PR. The individual by the name of Michael Bayard is actually not in PR but is a Business Development Representative whose job it is to sell Belkin products to buyers. I understand her want to defend her department, but I still cannot defend the unethical choices made by Mr. Bayard, regardless of how common it is in the industry. You can find additional details here.

I have to say that I’m very disappointed to hear of this. Apparently, a PR rep at Belkin (not mine, fortunately) has been named as the individual blatantly offering $0.65 per fake review of Belkin products on social product review sites. That’s not all, however, as the fake reviewer was also required to find reviews to competing products and mark the reviews as negative in hopes that it would “delegitamize” them. This kind of baldfaced, scandalous, anti-competitive marketing is about as bad as it can get for people like me.

I’m a blogger. I started PDA Handyman in January of 2001, which means I’ve been doing this for 8 years now. I’ve had large and small readerships (I currently draw around 130,000 readers a month) and I created the site and maintain it because I wanted to carry my love of neat little gadgets to anyone interested in my opinion. With that in mind, I determined early on that I would be careful about how I would review products.

Continue reading [UPDATED] Belkin Pays For Positive Product Reviews

Craig’s List Now Officially Useless

It might as well be called Craig’s Lost now, of course Craig has already made his money from the failed endeavor, so I don’t imagine he really cares any more. If you don’t understand what I’m talking about, just poke around on Craig’s List and see if you can’t find some scam amongst all of the categories. My wife, who speaks several languages fluently including French, Hebrew, and Spanish, offered to tutor the daughter of a man seeking assistance.

Of course, it turns out the be a check cashing scam and my wife and I can see it coming a mile away, plenty of time to avoid the scam. Of course, not everyone will be able to sniff out the rat. If people had gotten wind of how it works then the scammers around the world, including the notorious Nigerian gangs, wouldn’t still be at it. In case you don’t quite get it yet, this is organized crime, dear readers. Here’s the ad itself:

Continue reading Craig’s List Now Officially Useless

Review: Insignia Blu-Ray Player

Insignia Blu-Ray PlayerInsignia, if you didn’t know, is a brand name of Best Buy. Think of grocery stores and their in-house brands and you get the idea of how Insignia works for Best Buy. Of course, Insignia doesn’t make peanut butter and their products should not be considered generic. Insignia’s new Blu-Ray deck is an excellent example of this fact. When I removed it from the box I was struck by how sleek it looks. The front panel is almost entirely featureless and is glossy black. There are power and eject buttons and a basic control pad and, of course, the disc drawer.

Continue reading Review: Insignia Blu-Ray Player

Posting Paused In Honor Of 9/11

Yesterday was 9/11, a very dark day in American history. 2,975 people died that day as terrorists flew hijacked airliners into the World Trade Center towers and The Pentagon, while United Flight #93 crashed in Shanksville, missing its intended target. The actual event took place in 2001, but few people will ever forget the horror Americans [...]