Review of ZoneAlarm anti virus

The world of online hacking and malware has grown from being the playground of children to a very organized criminal enterprise. There’s a lot of money being made on the back of normal users, thanks to infected computers transmitting them credit card information, payment information, logins and passwords. Infected computers are numbered in the millions worldwide, and they are constantly being used by criminal organizations to steal and cause online chaos. That’s why there’s a number of companies that make all sorts of protection software that they sell to users so that they can protect themselves. ZoneAlarm anti virus is one of them, and in fact one of the more popular ones. But how good is it really, and do you need to spend the money on it?

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ZoneAlarm is actually one of the oldest security options out there, but they started as a firewall. This kind of software used to be critical to protect computers from unauthorized access. However in recent years, thanks to home routers and recent systems coming with firewalls built in, there hasn’t had a need for an additional software firewall. So ZoneAlarm now offers a full security suite, including an anti virus, which should protect your computer from any malware. To see if an anti virus is good or not, it’s very hard to just count the number of viruses that they find, because there’s new ones all the time. Instead, anti virus software is typically classified in two categories. There’s the standard type, which knows about a long list of viruses, and will block them. This is the old way of doing things. Modern software now use heuristics, which are complex mathematical equations to detect new viruses, and hopefully block any malware from infecting your system.

So is ZoneAlarm a good anti virus? Yes, it is. But that’s also not entirely the point. Every modern anti virus out there uses heuristics, and is pretty much the same from an effectiveness point of view. Instead, they difference themselves based on how easy to use they are, and how much they cost. And this is where ZoneAlarm falls short. While it’s fairly easy to use, much more than some other paid solutions, ZoneAlarm has a tendency of displaying an alarming number of popups. Often, it seems like this kind of software just lets you know that it’s there, it’s running and it’s doing a good job, just so you remember to pay the annual fee next time it comes up. There’s no real reason for so many popups and warning messages. As for the price, ZoneAlarm is also not bad, but it’s not free, in fact it does cost a substantial amount of money, when there are free solutions out there. Getting a free anti virus, as long as it’s a modern heuristic one, will give you the same effectiveness as this one.

Overall, what’s the bottom line on ZoneAlarm anti virus? My suggestion is not to go for it. Instead, Microsoft publishes its own anti malware solution called Microsoft Security Essentials, which you can find on their site or by just searching the web for it. The good thing is that it’s free, and it’s very quiet, two features that ZoneAlarm is missing. Just get that one instead.

Decide for yourself visit the ZoneAlarm web site

Watch the ZoneAlarm review video from YouTube. It’s pretty amazing all the features ZoneAlarm packs into their software package.

Nokia Lumia 710 Review by CashSherpa.com

The Lumia 710 delivers Nokia’s very first Windows Phone 7.5 smart phone within the United States, even though the more expensive Lumia 800 design is for sale in other areas around the globe for a while. It shares numerous characteristics with the Lumina, nonetheless its quite evident the newest smartphone may share quality but as far as price, it is in a league of it’s own.

Due to a quick processor chip and Windows appealing and sharp user interface, the Lumia 710 is quite amazing and the phone gains advantage from strong call quality, reasonable battery lifespan, along with a workable camera. Continue reading to find out whether or not the Lumia 710 can create a buzz within the jampacked U.S. smart phone industry, or if it simply one more common hand held phone.

The Lumia 710 features a 3.7-inch, WVGA (480 x 800 pixel) screen with Nokia’s ClearBlack personalization. In contrast to the Lumia 800, the LCD screen for the 710 doesn’t have countless viewing angles. The colors on the Lumia are extremely precise and the display executed very well in direct sunshine. The conventional, smooth style of the 710′s display doesn’t compel the consumer to run their finger on the

display screen in the exact same manner how the Lumia 800′s curved screen does, however the touch responsiveness was extremely precise and spot on. The the very top of the 710 contains both micro-USB charging/syncing slot and also the 3.5mm earphone jack port. It’s also where power/sleep/unlock key’s situated. The rear of the Lumia 710 is covered with a

soft-touch rubberized surface that offers an excellent proper grip when holding the unit. The back cover to the Lumia 710 is completely removable, and consumers can change the battery pack whenever they wish.

The Lumia 710 is incredibly slim at 12.7mm (.5in), something numerous shoppers rave about. Additionally it is very light-weight at 125g (4.4oz), very likely because of the generous utilization of plastic material included in the design.

The Nokia Lumia 710 is run by single 1.4GHz Qualcomm processor chip and 512MB of Ram memory. Just like other gadgets, this cpu and RAM blend enables a fast consumer experience, and there’s hardly any delay through the entire system. The Windows Phone user interface will get out of the way very easily, and applications are fast to open up most of the time.

The People hub that organizes all of your current associates and incorporates with social media products and services including Myspace, LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook is clever and useful.

In just about all areas, the Nokia Lumia 710 offers smartphone consumers a pleasurable experience. The Nokia Lumia 710 isn’t a state of the art cellular phone in regards to specs, but consumers are saying that they delight in holding and using the smartphone for day to day usage. If the public find the phone comfortable to use, they will eventually grow to love the Lumia 710 for all it’s amazing features.

HubSpot Review by CashSherpa.com

Getting an online business to make profits, and to grow, can be a serious challenge. There’s more competition every day on the web, and getting those viewers to click on your ads and engage, spending their money on your products, becomes more difficult. That’s why so many site owners turn to many different SEO and marketing techniques, but with so many choices of what to do out there, it’s hard to find the right strategy. That’s why sites that group up all your marketing needs are starting to become more popular, and among them, HubSpot is one of the most liked and used in the industry. Here’s an overview of what they offer.

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HubSpot is a small company that started a few years ago, and aims to provide all the online marketing and SEO (search engine optimization) techniques that you may want. While the goal is pretty big, do they really deliver? In many ways they do, although they still won’t guaranty success, but they do provide all the tools you may need to succeed by yourself. HubSpot provides search optimization through keyword charts, allowing you to compare how well you rank with your competitors. It features blogging software so you can easily share content on social media. It has landing pages and lead generation tools. It provides marketing and email tools to facilitate ad campaigns. It has multiple analytics pages to allow you to see how well your site is doing. It also integrates with many CRM, Salesforce and NetSuite so you can keep using those professional services.

As to how well all those tools will help you, that can vary a lot. Certainly, HubSpot provides a vast wealth of information. Depending on which package you buy, you’ll have access to a lot of tools to do your online marketing right. For example, the Enterprise package even allows you to do A/B testing of various lead generation pages, which is crucial to find out what works and what doesn’t. So for a business owner that actively uses these tools, there’s no question that HubSpot does work. Many customer reviews report increased sales and a better understanding of their clients when using HubSpot. Comparing this service with other similar offerings can be difficult. Each business is unique, and you may have better success with another offering. But comparing something like HubSpot with doing everything yourself, there’s no question that this site makes it a lot easier and simpler to get started. Doing everything they’ve done as far as information gathering and services by yourself would be quite an undertaking.

Overall, HubSpot is likely to be well worth it for any new online business that wants to grow its sales, and go from no strategy, or an in-house strategy, to something that makes sense. However, if you already have a working plan, or you use a competitor system, it’s unsure whether or not HubSpot is for you.

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MyCorporation Review by CashSherpa.com

Want to start a business in 2012? Starting a business can be an involved, and complicated process, especially when it comes time to register it with the state, and filling in all the necessary documents. There’s so many types of corporations, and so many things to think about when creating your company. Fortunately, there’s people out there that can help you, which is the basic idea behind MyCorporation.com and the services they offer. The site provides a lot of information about starting a business, and sells simple packages that will handle the whole process for you, customized to your needs. Here’s how their services look like.

First, there’s no question that a new business owner can quickly become overwhelmed with all the terms and requirements that they have to fulfill. For example, do you know whether you should register your business as a C, S or LLC, what should be included in your annual reports, or what a member transfer ledger is? The first thing you can find on the site is a lot of information about these things, that explain them in a way a new business owner can understand. Browsing the top menus leads you to such information that is both free and useful. It takes you step by step between the various stages of business creation, and tells you about all of these concepts, with comparison charts and informational videos. Their learning center, for example, is filled with answers to common questions new business owners may have.

But the core of the site is a series of packages that they sell for each type of new company. There’s the basic package, and it goes up all the way to a professional, all inclusive plan. With these packages, anyone can start a business, and the people behind the site will handle a lot of the process for you. How much is handled depends on how much you’re willing to pay. Some of the included features include things like name research, filling up an article of organization, operating agreements, member transfer ledgers, annual reports, business maintenance, and so on. They also take care of fees like the publication fee, the state filing fee, along with shipping and handling on any paperwork. Customer support is always available to help you out should you have questions or concerns. Whether you pick the basic or the premium package, you get access to many useful features that can help anyone who wants to start a business, by providing information and services that they would otherwise need to do themselves.

Overall, MyCorporation.com is a nice idea, and a useful service for those who want to start a business but don’t know all the details on how to get started. Certainly, you could spend the time to learn all of this yourself, and if you knew people who have done it before, they could help you along, but this is a quick and easy way for anyone to get it done online.

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Review of the Sensics SmartGoggles by CashSherpa.com

The Consumer Electronic Show, or CES, is the place where new hardware and gadgets get introduced all the time. This year is no different, and CES 2012 was home to a lot of new releases. One of which was the Sensics SmartGoggles 3D, a massive helmet and screen combination that reacts to your movements to provide real time display feedback from your own actions. But will this prove successful, even useful at all? Not everything from CES ends up as an actual product.

The Sensics SmartGoggles looks like a big helmet, along with a visor. Except that this visor is actually a display, providing 1280×800 resolution for games or other applications. The company describes it as entertainment goggles, providing 360 degree view and tracking. Indeed, when the system is on, moving around or turning your head is registered. Even jumping will produce the desired effect. The way it works is an array of cameras are mounted on top of it, and scans the environment around you. Then, the virtual world you see, whether that’s a game or other, is updated in real time as the world around you changes from your movements. Even your hands can be recognized and integrated into the display. This would allow someone to control a virtual avatar simply by spinning around, rather than spinning a mouse. It could bring Minority Report style technology to the real world, which could be pretty useful.

However, the technology isn’t without it’s problems. First, these goggles, which are really more like a helmet, are massive. They weight a lot, although the weight is well balanced. You probably couldn’t wear that for a long period of time without feeling it. Then, when you do all kind of movements with this on, you do look very weird, and it also takes a lot of space around you to do those movements safely. It wouldn’t work in any small or crammed home. Finally, it would require specialized software to go along with it, since the input methods are completely different. Still, it does have the advantage of being completely self contained into the device, along with a 1.2GHz dual core processor and a 3D accelerator graphics chip, which is pretty powerful. There are use cases when it may be useful. The helmet may look gigantic, but in the proper work environment, like for training pilots, it could replace much bigger devices.

Overall, while this isn’t exactly new technology, it’s been implemented in a new way that makes it fairly easy to use and could potentially become useful. It might not catch on amongst gamers or home users, but there could be specialized use cases. There’s still no hint at a price or release date, although it’s doubtful a lot of software would support it quite yet.

Points.com Review by CashSherpa.com

The world of reward cards, miles and points is now filled with every company trying to get our loyalty with these little programs. Whether we go grocery shopping, in a clothing store, or on a trip, we always have some type of point or mileage system to keep track of. They are great, as they bring us free gifts and rewards for shopping at these locations, but now that nearly every company does it, it’s a nightmare to keep track and handle. Plus, if you stop shopping somewhere, you can end up with a lot of unused points. This is where Points.com comes in. This site is the solution to a lot of problems when it comes to these reward systems.

Points.com is a web site that provides a central management system for all of your reward programs. To start using it, all you need to do is register for a free account. Then, you can log in, and start keeping track of your points. Their system is quite versatile and can link with many reward programs including American Express, Aeroplan, Airmiles, Priority Club, and more. When you first sign on, you’ll be asked to select which points you use, and then enter your information for those systems. After that, you can always refer back to your personalized home page to see a list of your points. But this site goes much further than just letting you track points. When it comes time to redeeming them, you can click on the redeem button and get a list of retailers, and the cost of gift cards is translated automatically into the points you have. Then, simply have it shipped home, and Points.com does the rest.

When you go past the tracking and redeeming process however, you start seeing the real power behind Points.com. On top of letting you look at your own points, you can also buy, sell, or trade them with other people. This is great for those who tend to move around between stores and companies a lot. For example, if you have a rewards card that you no longer use, you may have extra points left, that will never amount to anything. Instead of wasting them, you can trade them for points on another system, one that you currently use. This is great because it allows people to get rid of points they don’t need, and get points they do. The marketplace on Points.com is easy to use, and very simple. All you need to do is register a reward program, and then sell or trade these points for more.

Overall, Points.com is a very simple site that’s easy to use and quick to register for. It has a very specific purpose, and can be a great help to those who like to keep track of points, or for anyone looking to convert their past rewards into something useful. While there’s other systems similar to this one out there, enough people do use the site to make it useful, and it may be something you may want to look into.

In the world of Android, it seems a new phone is being released almost every week. Between the various companies, we’re always seeing new models that provide new and interesting innovations. Motorola didn’t let up with the release of the Motorola Atrix 2, its latest offering in the realm of smartphones, available since late October. But how does it compare with its predecessors and the other Android offerings out there? Here’s a quick review of what the Atrix 2 is like, what it offers, and the best features this phone has.

The Motorola Atrix 2 is the follow up to the Atrix, a model that was released not that long ago, but is already obsolete with this new version. The Atrix 2 provides a 4.3 inches screen, which is slightly bigger than the previous model, it has 1GB of memory, just like the Atrix did, and the screen uses qHD technology at 960×540 pixel resolution. This handset however changes which chips Motorola uses. Instead of a Tegra 2 processor, here the company went with a TI OMAP dual-core CPU. And for graphics, instead of a GeForce chip, it uses a PowerVR SGX. Also, the camera is improved from 5MP to 8MP. All of this means that the new Atrix 2 is slightly faster and can provide crisper, more realistic graphics. Indeed, the first thing you notice when using this phone is how fast it is. The interface is MotoBlur on top of Android Gingerbread, which is the company’s customize Android version, and provides a very intuitive and fast experience. Scrolling through the pages doesn’t produce any lag, which isn’t the case with a lot of older models.

When it comes to the build itself, the Motorola Atrix 2 is a solid device, made of hard plastic, with a dedicated shutter button, a volume rocker, headphone jack, and a mini-USB and HDMI port to provide mirror capabilities on a large screen. The 8MP camera provides very clear and crisp images, and will satisfy most photography needs, while the front of the phone also features a VGA camera for video conferencing. This phone can take full HD videos, and the included 8GB SD card can be upgraded to store longer videos. Motorola also included a lot of its own software on top of the operating system, including some that businesses will like, including desktop sharing and media transfer options. Interestingly, this phone has less clutter than some previous models by the same company, with most of its added apps being uninstallable, and completely optional.

Overall, this smartphone is a great addition to the Android family, and a proper upgrade over the previous model. With the large 4.3″ screen, crisp display, and fast response, it’s everything a phone user would need, and with the high end camera, you couldn’t ask for much more from a modern phone. This device is available now on AT&T through a contract, and can be found in most stores.

Fat Burning Furnace Review by CashSherpa.com

In the spirit of the New Year I wanted to do a review of one of the top selling fat burning programs online. It’s called the Fat Burning Furnace created by Rob and Kalen Poulos. If you plan to buy this product please read this review first. It’s hard to get unbiased reviews for the products since everyone is selling the product on their web site. Even searching YouTube many of the ‘testimonials’ seem biased.

Here is one YouTube testimonial that seems legit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9rJ43isw3gk&feature=related

Program breakdown:

- Boost metabolism
- Diet program is rather basic
- Program is mostly based on increasing exercise
- Increase metabolism by doing basic strength training at least 20 min. a day
- NO CARDIO REQUIRED
- More muscle means increase in RMR (resting metabolic rate)
- There are multiple versions of the program (Deluxe, Ultimate, and Blowtorch)
- System is sound, but does it really require the purchasing of this material? If you want to find work out plans for free I’d recommend BodyBuilding.com. Also, I diet that has worked for me search Google for the Paleo Diet it’s further explained in the book 4-Hour Body by Timothy Ferriss. If you do want to purchase this program visit here: Fat Burning Furnace

The Fat Burning Furnace is a web site and product that’s sold for people trying to lose weight. It’s currently a very popular product online, and sold through affiliate marketing by many web owners. But is it a good product? Will it do what it claims, and help you actually lose fat? There’s so many scams out there, especially with those kind of products, so how do you know your hard earned money goes to the right people? Here’s some actual facts about the Fat Burning Furnace.

First, it’s interesting to note how amazingly difficult it is to find real, actual consumer feedback about a product like Fat Burning Furnace. A simple Google search brings up pages of sites with the name in the URL, such as fatburningfurnaceguide.org or fatburningfurnacereviews.com and so on. All of these sites have almost identical reviews, using the same graphics, and fill in the first 20 pages of your Google search results. Some of the top results include words like ‘scam’ and ‘does it work’ yet all come back to an amazing, glowing review, clearly not written by an actual customer. I for one wish these products would provide more actual, balanced feedback, instead of investing in buying dozens of domains to spread articles and fill the results of anyone trying to find real information about the product. Now that isn’t to say the product itself isn’t good. In fact, when you do find consumer reviews, it’s actually all pretty positive as well.

While the main web site for Fat Burning Furnace doesn’t specify what exactly is included, it turns out that this package comes with an ebook that explains Rob Poulos’ plan, the creator of the Fat Burning Furnace, along with various sheets for exercise routines. The product also has an optional series of videos, in which you can see a lot of what you’re expected to do to lose weight. The basic principle of the program is to do daily exercises, around 20 minutes a day, along with getting a specific diet. It’s clear from looking at the material here that it’s highly science based, and there’s few doubts that should someone follow this system correctly, they will lose weight. There’s various levels to this program, aimed at different people and their specific needs, and while it covers the exercising part well, there’s less material when it comes to nutrition. You’re expected to do a lot of preparation by yourself. Also, the text is filled with product recommendations, which may go over more like a sales pitch than a true weight lost product.

Overall, is it something that’s worth the money? At $39 for the base price, and $69 for videos, it’s hard to say. For a new user, someone who wants to lose weight, and doesn’t know how to go about it, then yes it’s probably very likely that they can get what they’re looking for out of this system, especially if they are able to stick to the schedule. However, if you already have good knowledge of nutrition and exercising, then investing in actual training videos may be a better buy. I’d lean to the side it’s not worth the price. I’d purchase a $10 book such as Timothy Ferriss’ 4-Hour Body for real results. In his book best part you get a “cheat day” where you can eat as much as you like to boost your metabolism.

Review of BigCommerce by CashSherpa.com

When you run a business, and want to embrace the Internet, you can quickly find that it’s not as easy as it sounds. You need so many things to be successful only, like a shopping cart solution, a way to sell on multiple social sites, mailing list management, and more. You need a solution that’s simple and integrated, from a company that can help you and your business make their online presence both enticing and profitable for you. This is where BigCommerce comes in, and how it can help you succeed on the Internet.

Visit BigCommerce now. No set up fee.

BigCommerce has the tag line ‘The easiest way to sell online’ and in many ways it’s true. They offer a large array of services that are integrated, and made especially for businesses to succeed where others failed. At the heart of this is their web site, along with all of the services available there. From a single menu, you can get access to all the services you would need. This includes SSL certificates, so you can setup a site that’s secure and encrypted, design services, in case you don’t want to hire your own designer, credit cards services, along with shopping cart options, so that you can have full merchant services online, just like you may already do offline, and affiliate services, so you can become a partner and make more money by using the site.

One of the big advantages of BigCommerce is the complete creative control that they give you. You aren’t crammed into a preset system that forces you to do things their ways. You can get your own website with its own unique look, and have all your services integrates into it. Another advantage is how the site provides integration on many popular platforms, like Facebook or eBay. By using a single click, you can sell directly on Facebook, and provide your goods or services to the millions of users of the social networking site. They also have a lot of additional services like automated email marketing, flexible photo displays, and mobile options.

On the finance side, BigCommerce is also fully equipped. They have full inventory control, in cases where you sell and ship physical goods. They allow returns with a full return system as well. They also have services to create ads, coupons and promotions, so that you can fully control the kind of marketing you’re doing for your products. Thanks to their credit card services and shopping cart integration, when a customer is ready to buy, they can do so in confidence as well.

Overall, BigCommerce is a great solution if you need a one stop shop for everything. It doesn’t offer as much customization as if you were to go off on your own and do your own system from scratch, but few services do. If you want an easy to use, complete solution, then this is really a site to try out.

Testimonials from users:

“If you want a quick overall assessment of it’s quality, I’d say 4 1/2 out of five – but from the attitude of the staff and the constant innovation that is taking place I have a feeling it is going to get a lot, lot better (ReviewBigCommerce.com).”

“BigCommerce is also far better than that of the Yahoo shopping cart and Volusion shopping cart. In terms of monthly price, BigCommerce offers the lowest monthly price (AndrewBleakley).”

YouTube Review of BigCommerce:

Gamemine.com vs. GameFly.com Review by CashSherpa.com

Video games have become a huge, profitable industry, worth billions of dollars. But most of that revenue comes from expensive games that players are expected to pay for, sometimes $60 for every title. It’s no wonder that many people then look for alternatives, such as buying used games or even renting them. This is why a few companies have started offering these services, and are becoming quite popular with gamers. Gamemine.com is one such site, offering games for sale, used games, and renting. Here’s a quick review of the features they offer.

GameMine.com

GameFly.com

When we talk about renting games, we have to talk about the incumbent, the largest player in the industry, Gamefly. They popularized the process, and offer a wide selection of games through their stores and web site. So how does Gamemine compare? Well, first of all as you go through the web site and look at the various features, it’s easy to see how this company inspired itself from Gamefly. They offer a lot of the same features and plans, along with a similar navigation for new users, which is good since people are unlikely to get lost in a completely different way of doing things. However, Gamemine also innovates in various ways. For one thing, they offer trade-ins right on their site, buying and selling used games. When you go to buy a game, you have the option of buying it new or used, and it shows right in the interface whether they have the game in stock. When it comes to renting, they offer two plans. The first is a one game plan for $6.99 on the first month, then $13.95 per month after that. This allows you to have one game out at any time. The second plan allows two games and costs $10.95 the first month, $20.95 the following months.

Visit GameMine.com

The price structure seems to be kept purposely cheaper than Gamefly, which is another advantage. They are competing on price, and offering a better value. So if money is an obstacle for you, then Gamemine may have the edge. The sign-up process is fairly painless, and you can pay in a variety of ways. Then, once you’re a member, you can rent games and they deliver it to you, without any shipping fee, which is nice. The site offers most popular titles for all the consoles like XBOX, Wii, PS3, and so on. However, there’s also negatives to using Gamemine. First, the selection isn’t as wide as the top players. There’s a lesser number of titles, although since they focus on the top sellers, you’re likely to find something that you’ll like. Also, games don’t always appear to be available as fast as other sites. But once you get past these hurdles, there’s no reason not to give this service a try. It doesn’t take long to become a member and to start buying or renting games.

Overall, Gamemine.com is a fairly new player, but looks like a solid option in the gaming industry. They have all the big companies and titles covered, and they offer enough options between their selling, trading and renting features, to please most gamers. The addition of free shipping is a nice plus, and if they have titles that you’re interested in, then it’s worth trying them out, if only for the first month.