The movie Paranormal Activity was one of the biggest profit-making movies of 2009. With a budget of only $15,000, it grossed over $9 million its first week. As my family viewed it on directstartv.com, we couldn?t help but make comparisons to the Blair Witch Project of 10 years prior. For instance, it was filmed nontraditionally: a hand-held camera, impromptu dialogue and a script withheld from the actors. So Paranormal Activity has similar concepts, but does it have the same thriller impact as has been implied?

The off-the-cuff dialogue helps create a very natural feel. The two primary actors do an excellent job of creating a comfortable on-screen relationship and largely believable characters. Likewise, the paranormal activity is well done with some particularly creepy parts and quite a few jump-and-scream moments. The noises and Ouija board are bad enough, but the footsteps in the powder still give us chills when we talk about it. Another spot is the attic scene. Who would have thought finding an old picture could be so disturbing? The disappointments overall are few. The two minor characters are unnecessary, even distracting, their only apparent purpose to lengthen the movie. Some of the plot holes are rather large, as well. The refusal to leave the house and turn off the camera at times loom as ridiculous elements.

But the biggest disappointment is the ending. None of the three predictable conclusions are completely satisfying.

Part of what makes the Blair Witch so entertaining is its startling while not unexpected end. Although Paranormal Activity attempts the same, the impact is not. Overall, however, the movie is a fun 100 minutes. We enjoyed it the second time just as much as the first, a hallmark of any good movie.

With so many gadgets (3 TV sets, 2 DVD players, a sound system, a set-top box for IPTV) at home, each of them with their own remote control, it can really get anooying to figure which one goes with each remore, not to mention clicking on the remote to turn it on, switching to the set-top box remote to switch channels to finally orchestrate between both remotes and the 5.1 sound system to control the volume. The same goes when trying to watch a movie using the DVD player.

But there’s a solution to this chasing game: the Yamaha neoHD is a complete media control system that simplifies your entertainment experience by asking you what you want to do: “Watch, Listen, or Play”. By simply selecting one of these choices you can control your whole entertainment system. One remote. Tons of fun.

You can add support for up to 6 sources to to the Yamaha neoHD and since remote control codes from most manufacturers are embedded into the neoHD media controller, you should have no trouble in setting up your devices to work with the controller.

There is not a home that would not find this product as a godsend, as most homes have some combination of TV sets, Cable or IPTV set-top boxes, DVD and/or VCR playes, game consoles, etc. each of which has its own remote. Yamaha neoHD promises to solve this problem for you. And it delivers! You can either get the media controller alone, or you can order along with a 2.1 sound system for an enhanced sound experience.

You can get the Yamaha neoHD at absolutely no cost too, thanks to the Yamaha neoHD Sweepstakes contest. You have 2 ways to enter the contest and get your own neoHD.

• Tweet about the contest, and gain an entry. You have to tweet exactly as follows: “I just entered to win a #neoHD b/c I have too many remotes, visit (blog.izea.com) to enter” (no quotes, of course).
• Or you can enter the contest by visiting blog.izea.com, and following the instructions there.

I’ve already entered the contest to win an neoHD for free, and to be honest, it sounds really exciting. How about you? Drop me a comment and let me know.

By the way, you can also find neoHD on Facebook. Add it as friend and get every news on this amazing, life-changing product.

If you’re a sports fan like me, I’m pretty sure you’re aware that Direct TV has secured the NFL Sunday Ticket for another five years. Earlier this week, the National Football League announced an agreement to extend DIRECTV’s rights to carry NFL Sunday Ticket.

The company will continue to have exclusive television rights to broadcast Sunday afternoon games through 2014. The agreement also significantly broadens the reach of NFL Sunday Ticket by enabling NFL fans that cannot receive Direct TV satellite service to get NFL Sunday Ticket via broadband. This service will begin no later than 2012.

This mean, of course, that regular cable fans are out of luck. To be fair, I have had Direct TV for many years and don’t see myself going back to cable. Of course, that might have a lot to do with the fact that my country’s cable franchises have become one of the worst in many years.

In addition, the NFL will offer its fans (also no later than 2012) a new called, to be named “Red Zone Channel” that shows crucial live action cut-ins of all Sunday afternoon games starting at 1 p.m. (Eastern Time) all the way through the end of the 4 p.m. games. The “Red Zone Channel” will be available to cable operators, telcos and satellite tv systems, wireless devices, and the Internet, making it a massively watched sports channel.

Direct TV also has extended its carriage agreement with NFL Network which airs seven days a week, 24 hours a day on a year-round basis and is the only network fully dedicated to the NFL and the sport of football. NFL Network will continue to be offered in Direct TV’s CHOICE package.

I am sure that by now, everyone knows that Halloween is 2 days away and like most Americans, me, and my wife are crazy about it. We are huge dorks when the end of October comes and the “date” is near. What really makes us go crazy is designing fun, colorful themes for all of us (I’m including my brother and sister) so we literally sit to devise each year’s “killer costume”.

In the past, we bought all our costumes in local stores but we had many problems, either trying to find costumes to fit all of us or simply because they were out of costumes like the ones we were after. That’s why we started shopping for costumes at halloweenadventure.com. They have a great selection of so many costumes for all ages (and sizes), so I am always sure I can find something for everyone in the family.

This year we got our halloween costumes online again and, again, we got the coolest costumes. On top of that, there was no rushing, no waiting in lines like we had to endure in other places. Just point-and-click action.

Now that our costumes are ready, we don’t have anything to worry about except… how much treats we’re gonna get

Happy Halloween to everyone!!!

If you have ever wanted a list of ways to lose in your fantasy sports leagues then this is the article for you. I suppose you could probably avoid most of these and perhaps help your odds of winning as well.

Although I’m not a big fan of Fantasy Football, I must admit I’m growing fond of it. But this post is not about whether I like Fantasy Football, it’s about a great website I stumbled upon while trying to improve my scores by getting some insider’s information.

The website I’m talking about is called WaiverWire Beta and it has everything you need to make informed decisions about your fantasy football team, such as trades, keeping up to date with player stats and mostly everything there’s to know about the game.

The site features several tools that will be very welcome by all FF fans, tools that when used wisely will really soup up your chances of getting the Dream Team together and win the championship. Aside from basic stats, the site provides advanced services (albeit not free but prices are really affordable) such as a Real Time Player News Service, Player Comparisons and Rankings… In short, everything there’s to know about every player, game and pass.

And if this isn’t enough for you, just wait until the launch their next tools: The War Room, where you get paid to share your advice with others and the Draft Tool, coming in 2009.

In other words, if you are a fan of Fantasy Football, you will find this website very useful and although some of their services come with a price tag, they’re reasonable and what’s best, will give you that extra edge you need to build the best FF ever.