WiFi at Home

Last night, I've officially tested my Wireless Network at home, and the signal is impressive. Due to wiring constraints, my Wireless Router/Modem, Speedtouch 580, is in my room. I then went to the recieving, the basement and the car port to check for the signal strength and the results where very impressive. The signal loss in the basement was just around 20% considering that the house has mostly concrete walls. The signal in the carport though was a little weak, but still the link between the notebook and the router was still strong. I guess an access point near the main door would give me a better signal than what I have right now.

VoIP

Ever since I asked my DSL provider to change my DSL modem from a USB type to an Ethernet type, my adrelin to put up a wireless network at home never went down. I planned to get myself a wireless router, it was supposed to be a Linksys, but the Speedtouch 580 is very much welcome. After which I began searching for the right Access Point to provide wireless signal all over the house. Then I began looking at VoIP after I tried Yahoo! Messenger's Voice call. Damn! Potential with Broadband is way too many. I was glad though that the Philippine goverernment has released the guidelines for the launching of VoIP in the country. Now, it's just a matter of months before major companies start selling VoIp services and bet you, it's going to be a call frenzy to every country in the world.

WiFi Network: ON!

Today, I've officially turned on my Wireless Network at home. Supposedly, I was to turn it on next week, as I haven't bought my Linksys wireless Router yet. But, with some miracle, the wireless router just landed in my hand (although not a Linksys). Now what are the odds of that?

Yahoo! Messenger Voice call

After having my DSL modem changed from USB to Ethernet capable one, I started exploring the different possibilities that I can do with my PC. I even explored VoIP. Thus leading me to the BETA version of Yahoo! Messenger. It is capable of calling another YM user! And bet you, the voice reception is pretty good (just make sure the other person has broadband as well)! At first I tried the Voice Chat function, yeah it was good, but not good enough, choppy voice and irritating most of the times. Then I tried the Call function and got hooked to it from then on. How about you try it?!

Gmail Talk

Everyday, I make sure I go to http://news.google.com to check on what's new in the Tech world. Just the other day, I read that Google will be launching an IM client in a couple of days. And lo and behold, when I opened my Google News today, there is was, Gmail Talk. It's basically and IM client based on Jabber technology. One disadvantage of it is, you can only call and chat with Gmail account holders. But still the possibilities are there.

Something's Cooking?

I don't know if it's my sister's untechnologically savy thing and she was able to unearth something in Outlook Express that is somewhat helpful, or it's part of Microsoft's updates. Nonetheless, I liked it.

It's pretty much like Gmail's feature of stacking up emails as a conversation type of filing system. Again, I like it!

Singing Plants

This blog has been long overdue. I was supposed to write this way back June when I started passing the Manila City Hall route. No, I'm not in anyway related to any transport group or anything, I started passing that place because of the location of mu current job.
Anyways, since I don't a car to work, I am a regular passenger of FX/AUV colorum vehicles. I'm from Bacoor, Cavite and it's the fastest and most convenient way to work for me. So, now back to the blog. I always go down at Manila City Hall to get another ride to Morayta and it's there while waiting for the next ride that I noticed something peculiar.
Every morning, the Manila City Hall staff plays some music from the PA system, but when I look around, I don't see any speakers at all. I spent sometime (the consequence of which was I was late for my morning class) looking for any evidence of the speakers in the area, which proved to be a futile attempt. And everytime I get closer to a pot of plant, the music gets louder. Then, it took me sometime to realize what an ingenious way that they have hidden the speakers. They've placed it under the flower pots! And there were a number of flower pots scattered in the said area.
I know this is also done in other countries, but this is the first time I've experienced/seen this kind of innovation. And I was really amazed!

From USB to Ethernet Modem -- FINALLY!

The other day, my DSL Provider, Globelines, finally replaced my SPEEDTOUCH 330 USB ADSL
modem after 2.5 weeks of waiting. But the good news is, they did not charge me a single
cent. They replaced it with a SPEEDTOUCH-Alcatel 511e Ethernet ADSL modem. Though the
Globelines CSR told me that the modem change will just take a week and it took more than
what they promised, the personnel that replaced the modems were very professional and
arrived on the set time that I asked them to come over. Nonetheless, I am presently
impressed on how the new ethernet modem is working so far.
The differences between the USB from the Ethernet modem are: No more setting up DUN (dial-up
networking) with the ethernet, no software driver to install and sort of runs faster and
better than the USB thing. Although when I tried to search the internet for information
about my "new" ethernet modem, it turned out that the modem model itself is 2 years old. As
per the box which still says it's from Speedtouch-Alcatel while the new ones are already
from Speedtouch Thomson.
Well, the reason why I asked my modem replaced is because I'm planning to set up a wireless
network at home. See YAH!

To buy or NOT to buy!

I have two printers at home, one is a very old HP Deskjet 420C (my very first printer) and a somewhat old Epson C20 double-cartidge inkjet printer. Both has served me well, right now I' using the HP solely for black printing while the Epson for colored printing. I haven't gone into printing digital hard copies of the pictures I have in my hard drive yet. Still not worth it in my opinion.

It's that time of the year to replace the inks in both of my printers, the problem is, as with the HP inks, they're expensive, so expensive that there are printers out there that is at the same price level just for the ink itself. I am not a fan of ink cartridge refills, as I think they're not of the best qualities. With the Epson, well, I've been using replacement inks with it for sometime now, but with the last two cartridges I've used, well, I was disappointed. And then again, though cheaper than HP inks, it's still a tad cheaper than a whole printer set. So now, I'm in a dilemma, to buy just the ink or buy a whole new printer for that matter? What to do?!

Sony Ericsson BT PC remote Control (HID)

I consider this generation pretty much hi-tech. These kids grew up without knowing that before one has to go up to the TV and change the channel with a clicking knob. What they grew up with is the ever powerful remote control. Most of them has not seen those red payphones and those black, heavy, rotating analog home landline phones.

But, this week, I started using my cellphone, a Sony Ericsson K700i, to control my Powerpoint Presentations. Everyone of them was awe-struck at the marvel of the thought. They were used to professors, staying beside their notebook computers and pressing either the spacebar or the arrow buttons to move to the next slide and vice versa.

With the current technology, and it's free if I may add, I can move around and still change the slides at will, without asking any of my students...."next slide please!"