CheckAppointments - Online Appointment Calendar

I always used to think that companies or small businesses, or doctor's offices could save so much cost and overhead if they had an automated system to maintain appointments, rather than have an office staff keep a tab on all of them, making new appointments, rescheduling them, as well as calling people 24 hours before, reminding them to show up for the same! Finally, I am so happy to see checkappointments.com, an online tool that does just that, and much more! But the best part, its FREE!

Check Appointments is basically an online Automated Scheduling software, that takes the burden out of an individual on manually setting up and keeping tab of appointments. It is specifically designed for small-business owners or individuals, and is more like your personal website, where your clients or customers can login, enter their details, view availability of schedule, and book their own time slots. Appointments can be booked for a year in advance, and the software sends a confirmation email once the appointment is confirmed. not only that, it also sends a useful reminder to your clients so they know when to show up!

Its a not-very-fancy, yet pretty useful application, that comes with all the necessary features. Its safe and secure, and can be installed and managed from anywhere, as long as you have internet connection. The ease of use and ability to navigate are other plusses. They have a complete list of features, as well as an Online Demo that would walk you through the process. For a free software, it definitely bundles quite a lot, including online support! So hop over and give it a try - there's no charge to sign up, and you might just find it handy in scheduling your appointments, whether they are with clients, or with your favorite friends!

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World's Smallest Single-Person Helicopter

Ok, so there's no doubt in my mind that most of you must have dreamt about owning a private jet sometime in your life! Whether you need a quick spin in the air, wish to take a surprise trip to Puerto Rico or the Carribean, or just propose to your girlfriend "in air", owning a private jet or helicopter has been an expensive dream for quite a lot of us. But looks like technology and luck is on our side! With this smallest private helicopter that you can actually buy, here's your chance to turn your fantasies into realities!

Leonardo da Vinci, the famous painter, was also a great & controversial scientist, whose thoughts and ideas were way ahead of his time, and hence could not be materialized. But his famous notebook drawings from 1493 show an "ornithopter" design with a screw-like rotor, which was actually similar to a helicopter that could actually fly! inspired by Da Vinci's design, Yanagisawa's GEN H-4 was created. It has no tail, and instead works on twin counter-rotating propellers that cancel out the torque that requires single-rotor helicopters to have a perpendicular tail rotor, and can fly at a maximum speed of 50 kilometres (31 miles) per hour.

The GEN H-4 from Gene corporation comes with a seat and landing gear so all you have to do is strap on and you are ready to go. The rotors have a length of only 4 meters (118 inches) so they don't cause any parking problems. It is powered by 4 lightweight 125 cc 2 cylinder engines which use standard gasoline. The GEN H-4 can fly to a maximum altitude of 1000 meters at a top speed of 90 km/hr (59 mph) for upto 30 minutes. And the best part, you dont require a license to fly the GEN H-4 in Japan and the inventors claim it is easy as riding a bicycle and with just 2 hours of practice you can master it. I wish they would get the "no-license" rule in US too!

Yanagisawa(the inventor)runs a company in Matsumoto, north of Tokyo, where he designed and built this first smallest single-person helicopter that weighs 75 kilos(165 lbs). The 75-year old inventor will make a demonstration flight in the city of Vinci, near Florence, on May 25; and only after a trial run in the dessert, he has already sold five units in Japan and two to US customers. The cost for one is a reasonable $58,250; with an average flight speed of 31 mph, its still better than most cars! I'd love to fly everyday to work, but that would cause even more problems with flight and aviation department, not to mention the tonnes of helipads that companies would need to build!! Well, maybe our grand-kids would see that aspect of the world, but for now, I'm just happy with this single-person private helicopter that can fly me to places catering to my whims!

AceCraft is the licensed distributor in the US for this single-person helicopter and their website can answer most of questions and queries, with loads of information and photos.

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HP's TouchSmart TX2 - The Multitouch Laptop

Everyone has been talking about multitouch technology since some time now. Its like the techie in us can never be satisfied! First we needed voice-activated, then we needed everything touch-screen-capable, and now, we need Multi-touch capable! As the tech world scrambles to keep the consumers happy, HP answers your requests with their latest TouchSmart tx2, the first consumer laptop to feature multi-touch functionality. If you haven't seen the cool promos on TV, you've really missed something! The new TouchSmart is not only sleek and cool, it indeed comes with a lot of functionality to satisfy your geeky-techie side! [image credit - Gizmodo]

HP's Touchsmart tx2 is a 12.1-inch convertible tablet that provides iPhone-like ability to scroll, zoom, flick, and drag and drop by using your fingers on the screen. For example, you can scroll up and down by using two fingers on the screen or zoom in and out by using a pinching motion.

Aside from its multitouchness, the tx2 looks like a standard convertible tablet with a center hinge that lets you twist the display to switch between notebook mode and slate tablet mode. Pricing starts at a reasonable $1,149. For that price, the TouchSmart tx2 features a 2.1GHz AMD Turion X2 CPU, 3GB of memory, a 250GB hard drive, integrated ATI HD3200 graphics, and 32-bit Vista Home Premium. Unfortunately, Core 2 Duo processors and discrete graphics are not offered. The Mediasmart 2.0 software lets you watch movies, look at photos, play music, listen to radio and watch TV on demand. HP is also partnering with MTV networks to bring IPTV content in from MTV, Comedy Central and Nickelodeon.

HP accomplished this feat, right in time for the holiday season, by partnering with an Israeli company called N-trig. Yes, you don't always have to wait for Microsoft to come and lend you a hand! I think its great that HP announced this new laptop, as it gives a nice option to those trying to choose between a Macbook and a PC.

It might not be able to lure away hard-core Mac followers, but the new Multi-touch TouchSmart tx2 surely has potential to attract a few consumers, especially those in their 20's or 30's, who want to look cool with their laptops! Efficiently designed, stylish, and affordably priced, HP might just see some sales this coming Holiday season!

To learn more about the features, functionality and configuration, visit HP's store and check out the buzz on TouchSmart tx2!

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Google's GPhone G1 vs iPhone 3G

For those who haven't heard yet, Google and T-Mobile introduced the world to Android and the first Android device, the T-Mobile G1 yesterday evening. And with the much-awaited GPhone out, the natural comparison of how it fares vs the iPhone has become a hot topic! As expected, the T-Mobile G1(device by HTC) boasts of a lot of features & controls that look impressive, but the device is definitely not as good-looking as the iPhone. While people have been buzzing and raving about Android, the Google ODS that powers the gPhone, let's take a look at how the actual G1 devicee compares with the industry-leader iPhone 3G.

Apple and Google employ different strategies, different ideals, and different means but the goal is the same—to take as much of the cell phone market as they possibly can. Is either of them a clear winner? Read on to see if you can tell!

Henry Blogdet has a concise article that compares gPhone with the iPhone, as far as features and hardware is concerned. This should be a good starting point for your comparison. He's been testing the new G1, and considers it a worthy competitor to the iPhone. "But the two devices have different strengths and weaknesses, and are likely to attract different types of users", he adds.

While the iPhone is much more sleeker, stylish, lighter and thinner, the G1 aims to get an edge for its features like a user-friendly design, a keyboard, a 3M Auto-focus Camera, a changeable battery, a built-in navigation compass, the ability to copy/paste and others that iPhone lacks. Add this to the fact that its cheaper ($179 vs $199), and is not tied to just one carrier (though you'd have to pay a huge price to switch!), it does have some edge over the iPhone.

The iPhoneBlog also has a cool hardware comparison for both the phones. While its no eye-catcher, the first version og Google Phone is way better than what others generally offer, and Android is really up on really raving reviews! Google says the G1 is just a device to introduce people to the power of Android, and not to serve as an iPhone competitor. And hence there are mixed reviews about the device. While iPhone was a trend-setter, the gPhone aims to accomplish a different objective, making people embrace the power of Android - and I think it is successful in doing so! As Engadget says : "It’s a fine, solidly designed device that has enough style to please most users — but it won’t win a ton of beauty pageants."

Here's another article on gPhone reviews, which shows that while it doesn't set things on fire, it surely superceeded a lot of expectations. Where stalwarts like Samsung and RIM came out with devices that couldn't even come close to the iPhone, HTC has done a decent job of making a gPhone that is attractive and commendable for a first edition! T-Mobile has set up a page for G1 Emulator which allows you to become familiar with the G1’s basic functionality. I think it looks impressive, but hop on to play with one yourself, and you can decide who wins the gPhone vs iPhone wars!

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