Reviving Old CPUs

During my 2 years in Residency, I was able to revive an old PC gathering dust in the female resident's quarters...I installed Ubuntu in it and from then on, we've been using it to surf the net and some occasional document creation. Just last week, I bought a new Keyboard and an optical mouse for this Ubuntu box, and with Karmic Koala installed, it feels snappier. I also replaced the monitor with a bigger one which came from another old CPU.

Speaking of this another old CPU, well, it so happen that it already go Windows XP installed...just tonight I bought another set of Keyboard and Mouse and will probably dress up that PC so it could be use for document creation and web surfing....

Prepaid Mobile Internet

I think the Filipinos are lucky when it comes to mobile broadband. It's cheap...compared to the US and the neighboring countries. I am very proud of it...well even the prepaid service gives one the best buck for the money. 

One good example is SUN Broadband Wireless...I'm an avid fan. Even if the coverage is Metro Manila-wide only, well, it gives the best result and speed compared with Globe's Tattoo and Smart Bro.

Now, in response to the more expensive plans of both Globe and Smart, SUN has given their subscribers better value for their money. Just by loading Sun's special mobile broadband prepaid card, the P50 worth prepaid card can now give one a day's full of unlimited internet...now don't you think that's a very good deal? Well I do!

Gizmo5 now owned by Google

Gizmo5 has been acquired by Google and will be integrated to Google Voice in the future. Gizmo5 engineers have now transferred to Google. Current users can still use the service but new sign-ups has been suspended.

Let's go wait and see...

Globe's SuperDuo and SuperSurf

Today, Globe launched a new service...the SuperSurf...for P2000 on
top of one's Monthly Service Fee...the subscriber gets unlimited
surfing power on their phones...though I don't know yet if it can
also be used when the phone is tethered to a laptop/notebook.

Globe's SuperDuo is a spin-off or a evolution of their Duo service
but this time is not limited to Landline alone, this time, the
SuperDuo subscriber can call with no time limit any Globe subscriber
where ever he/she is in the country. I have subscribed to this and so
far, it's not a 100% good service, but it's ok...perhaps I'm just an
understanding subscriber.... since I subscribed, I've experienced a
lot of difficult instances where I can't dial out of my phone or the
caller can't right away call me. But it has more advantages than
disadvantages.

With the SupeSurf...at P2000 I don't think I'll be getting one. I
already have both Globe's Tattoo prepaid mobile broadband (and so
far, has not used it for a while) and SUN's Wireless Broadband, also
prepaid (which I use most of the time if I don't have access to a
free wifi access point). But most of the time, with the places I
frequently go to, I get access to the internet, at home, the hospital
and coffee shops.

Most of the malls today offer free wifi access, so what's the point
(well, that's my opinion). But at least, now, telcos are making these
services available to the public.

The Trip Thru the Storm

Going home to bicol regularly has been deferred since I started
residency training, which means road trips are also postponed.

But this week came in as one of those days. We had the go to Daet for
the burial of the father of the wife. Though impromptu, it has to be
planned and thought of properly.

We scheduled it on a friday so that class schedules of the kids will
not be affected. Good thing I was able to convince a friend to come
with us, or else it would be just me and the two kids which is going
to be very very stressful. And on the day of the trip, good thing my
uncle decided to come with us too, so that's 5 of us in the car.

We left house at 645pm, it was a Friday, I took the wheel and expected
heavy traffic, sure enough we lost around 2hrs in traffic.

All the way, it was raining, but the rain wasn't too strong to hamper
our speed, but what slowed us down was the slippery road. About 45mins
from our destination, there was this bridge under construction, the
truck in front of us told us to back up, it gave me a bad feeling,
then we found out that cars, heck even trucks can't cross through
because of the strong current. Ok, now, there's a problem, it's either
we wait there 'till people in charge deccide to open the bridge or go
back and use the long way to the destination which will delay us for
around 6 hours. And to top it of, there was no cellphone signal and I
can't get anyone in the VHF radio. We decided to drive back perhaps
until we get a good cellphone signal. Good thing going back, we met
this car, and the driver asked us to go back to the bridge and hope
that we can pressure the person in charge to open the bridge. So we
went back, after about 45mins of convincing, we were able to cross the
river using the new, unfinished bridge.

The next day we were shocked to learn how devastating the storm was
here in the metropolis.

Sent from my iPod Touch

My New iPod Touch part 2

I love it, especially the internet device function, but I guess I can't have it all, Sean and Colleine are fighting over it for the games...hmmmm

My New iPod Touch

It's been 2 days and I'm still enjoying this new toy of mine. I use it
more as an MID (Mobile Internet Device) than a PMP (Portable Media
Player).

I've set-up all my Google accounts (Gmail, Google Calendar, and Google
contacts), and even added my Yahoo! Mail and Hotmail. Setting up all
these was very easy. All i had to do was to put in my email address
and the corresponding passwords.

Since the hospital is mostly wireless enabled, I didn't have any
problems keeping the connection and push notification is a wonder in
this device, even social networking sites such as facebook and Twitter
gives me push notification. That's why updating my status is a breeze.

Some of the qualms I have with it, well, the predictive text is
sometimes annoying, but one can get used to it. Also, it's very thin,
holding it the wrong way can give one some discomfort during prolonged
use. It's day 3 of this device and I still haven't bought it a case.
Also the scree and the stainless back is one big fingerprint magnet.

Watching Youtube is also a wonder (as long as you have a fast
connection). I like this device because in coffee shops, and in the
malls, I don't have to bring my laptop just to update my status in

Facebook hehehe.

There's still some quirks with editing and viewing Word and Excel documents, but what excited me was the syncing of notes from my Outlook.

Will post more information about my use of this wonderful device.

Sent from my iPod Touch

Mobile Prepaid Service in Malolos Bulacan

I'm here at Malolos Bulacan today, tested if SUN's mobile broadband
will have a good signal, unfortunately, NOT!!!! Didn't get any 3G
signal.

Then I tried Globe Visibility using the ZTE modem, hmmm, got a good
3G signal and the speed is ok. I'm actually posting this using
Globe's Visibility