Software: 10 Minute Mail

So you wanna sign up to some service that offers you some free downloads but you don't wanna bit hit with a crapload of spam? Well, my friend, you gotta try 10 Minute Mail. Not to be confused with Missy Elliot's One Minute Man, 10 Minute Mail is a temporary e-mail address given to you for those very purposes. It basically throws itself out after the 10 minutes is up. But, of course, you could opt for another 10 minutes, if you need to. You could even use this as an e-mail to leave an anonymous comment here, or somewhere else, if you're worried about your privacy. Yes, websites do and will sell your information to third-parties when and where they can. So protect yourself!

I must say I was a little cheeky and made a few fake Facebook accounts using 10 Minute Mail. And I totally came across this link. It's not like anyone would have a name like the fake accounts I made. It's like when Phoebe's boyfriend, from that oh-so-popular sitcom, Friends, Mike called himself "Crap Bag".

Review: Mad Catz Wiimote

Ever since the Wii made its launch in 2007, people have been wondering whether there would be third-party accessories. Now I'm not usually the type to go around third-party accessories but I took a punt with the Mad Catz Wiimote when it went on sale for $30 at Mighty Ape. And here are my thoughts:

Design
First off, the Mad Catz Wiimote looks and feels like the original Nintendo Wiimote. Well, pretty much. I even swapped the battery covers to see if they would fit into each other. I can say, nice click. The D-pad is a little different - it's enclosed in a circle. I would say however, the plastic finishing is a bit rough around the edges (no, literally - I found this random piece of plastic that was sticking out the side which I pulled off) compared to the ever smooth and well-defined original Wiimote. I never thought that I'd ever say that about a remote. And I guess I took the workmanship quality of the original Wiimote for granted. Although there's this piece that says that there are no differences in weight between the two makes, I would say that the Mad Catz Wiimote feels lighter and somewhat slimmer.

Winner: Original Wiimote

Compatibility
On the package, it states that the Mad Catz Wiimote is compatible with all Nunchuks and controllers, as well as Wii Motion Plus. I was able to fit my original Nunchuk into the Mad Catz Wiimote to do play some boxing in Wii Sports, as well as go wakeboarding and whatnot on the Wii Sports Resort Island. So, I can say, it seems to work well. Oh, and even though I said that the Mad Catz Wiimote feels lighter and smaller, it fits into the original Wiimote silicone sleeve perfectly. It didn't seem to have any weird tracking/communication issues at all.

Winner: Tie

Sound
I guess I might've forgotten to mention the fact that the Mad Catz Wiimote has 5 rows of 3 speaker holes as opposed to 6 on the original Wiimote. And I think this is the difference between sound quality. I'm not exactly sure whether the Mad Catz Wiimote gives out sounds that are more louder or just muffled, but to me, it just sounds more muffled.

Winner: Original Wiimote

Conclusion
So, really, I guess this all comes down to is price. The 'normal' price difference between the original Wiimote and the Mad Catz one is a mere $10. At that price, I would normally go for the original Wiimote but at $30, I'd go pick up a Mad Catz one instead for a spare remote and some multi-player fun.

Software: Snippy & MWSnap

You might've just realized that Windows 7 Starter is so basic (like in my recent netbook review of the HP Mini 110-3138TU) that it doesn't come with the ever-so-useful Snipping Tool (yes, been there, done that and found nothing in the Accessories folder - I even tried copying the program from another computer but it looks like it has to be installed or something). But no need to fear! There are free options over the Internet that do pretty much the same thing, such as Snippy and MWSnap.

The thing is with Snippy though, is that it works a little different from Snipping Tool. What you do instead of selecting an area of the screen to take a snapshot of, you actually use a lasso-like red pen to select what you want to capture and that gets saved to your clipboard. You then open a program like Microsoft Word and paste it there to look at it. And it pretty much looks like the picture that's on their website.

MWSnap, on the other hand is more closer to Snipping Tool, in that you would usually take a snapshot of a screen using a rectangle (as a default setting) - like in the sample snapshot below, as advertised on their website. Either way, I would say both programs fit the bill nicely, although I usually take screen captures of my whole desktop more frequently than I do of a selection of text and images.     

Review: Toshiba Mini USB Optical Mouse (PA3765U-1ETG)

First off, just like to wish everyone a happy new year! No, seriously. I hope that it's actually happy. Anyway, you may have remembered that I mentioned the Toshiba Mini USB Retractable Mouse (Model Number: PA3765U-1ETG) in my review of the HP Mini 110-3138TU. Well, that's because I actually have the mouse. So how is it?

Here's the basic specs:
-Dimensions: 3.0" x 1.7" x 1.2"
-Weight: 1.6 ounces
-Power requirement: 5V<30MA
-Cable length: 31"

It's a basic mouse that comes with 3 buttons (left, right and scrolling wheel) that plugs into a USB port. It's an laser optical mouse that runs at a resolution of 1000 dpi. And on the package it says that it works with pretty much all Windows operating systems (Windows 7, Vista, XP) and even Linux (Ubuntu). Though it doesn't say that it works with Mac OSX, I've tried it and can confirm it does, though it seems that it's slightly laggy when compared to the Macbook's trackpad. And it comes with a retractable cord, which is handy because you can use more or less of the cord depending on what you need. It also means it takes up less space in your bag when you're travelling (which is why I guess was the purpose of this mouse). I've got small hands (or so I've been told) and I find no problem using the mini mouse, even if it feels like my normal mouse shrunk. I do think that those with bigger hands may have a little trouble, though. It's really light too, so it goes well with netbooks and laptops. And with the touchpads on netbooks usually being cramped and not very easy to use sometimes, an external mouse definitely helps out. Retailing at $19.99, this certainly is quite a good companion to your netbook. But those with bigger hands may prefer to use something a little bigger.