No more disconnections from Globe

After calling hotlines from Globelines, I don't get that frequent disconnections that we read a lot in the forums. Unfortunately, I can't say the same with the Selective Browsing problems. Although, it's not as frequent, there are still websites that takes forever to load up. But is resolved by simply restarting the modem/router.

Chronicles of a new HDTV owner

An HDTV is always in one of the wish lists of people who are really into watching TV and movies. That's why when the opportunity to get one arrived, I did not hesitate and decided right away to buy myself the TV.

The Samsung 32" LCD HDTV completed my home theater set-up. Less than a year ago, I bought a Yamaha 5.1 Home Theater System. Now it's all complete, and of course the make-over of our basement/den/home theater. Although there are still some small details missing, the immersion to the movie experience is complete.

DAY 1:
I connected the HDTV (I really can't call it a simple TV anymore), to my DVD player and my Home Theater System. I expected the regular cable signal not to have that Hi-Def feel, then I popped in a DVD into the player (Transformers the movie to be exact), but was disappointed to see that the details didn't come out as I expected. The pixels where so huge that details are not lost perhaps in a deserted island. I thought maybe, it was my connection, I thought perhaps I need an HDMI connection between my player and my HDTV, as I am currently using a COMPONENT connection. But then I realized that there is such thing as PROGRESSIVE SCANNING and it's printed right in front of the DVD Player. I researched a bit about it and dug up the user's manual for the DVD player. Lo and behold, after reading the manual, I was able to change the setting of the DVD player so it will output a progressive scan of the disc and should deliver a clearer and crisper picture to the HDTV. And to my liking, when I played the same DVD again (this time the PROGRESSIVE icon is lighting up on the player), the details were coming out as expected. Now, I told myself, this is High Definition experience. Even the DivX shows have improved a lot since I tested it a couple of hours earlier.


DAY 2:
I connected my Playstation 2 to the HDTV and, again, to my dismay, the pictures where again, pixelated. Though, of course, this is because I was using the regular AV cables that came with the console. So I decided to look for a COMPONENT cable that is compatible with the PS2.

It was on this day too that I tried to hook it up to my notebook pc's. I really wanted to hook it up, permanently, to my desktop PC but was constrained with not having a VGA cable that was long enough to connect the two devices. So I just connected an iBook and an ASUS eeePC to the HDTV, and again, to my utter liking, both gave out a stunning picture on the HDTV.

DAY 3:
I went to the mall to look for the PS2 Component cable, and of course, I wasn't able to find one. All the stores in the neighborhood mall had were Component cable for either the PS3 or the PSP. So, I guess I have to be contented with what I have at the moment and just pray that somewhere, on a different mall, I will be able to find that elusive cable.

DAY 4-5:
Were just days to appreciated the beauty of both the HDTV and the movies that I watched from it. These days were also spent in contemplating on either wall-mounting it or just leave it on it's stand.

DAY 6:
Finally, I was able to find a COMPONENT cable for the PS2. Good thing I tried to browse around the toy store even after the sales girl told me that they don't have the said item. She even insisted that it was for the PS3 and not for the PS2, even though it was clearly written on the packaging that the cable is compatible to both. Though I was still not sure if the PS2 and the PS3 has the same type of connectors, I still bought the thing.

When I got home, I right away hooked the cable to the console and the HDTV and gave a sigh of relief after I saw the high definition pictures come out on the HDTV from the PS2.

DAY 7:
People from Samsung came over to "install" the HDTV, then I decided to have it mounted on the wall. Now I've got enough space on the table for other stuffs.

The eeePC + an HDTV

I got this new HDTV for Christmas, and every time I have a new toy, I make sure I know how to squeeze out the full potential of the product. This time I tried to connect my ASUS eeePC to the flat tv, and it worked! The small notebook was able to handle the massive resolution output of the TV, which means I was able to fully utilize every pixel of the set. It was beautiful, now I have a 32" external monitor for my tiny eeePC.

Target #1 Achieved! -- Target 1 of 3

This is my target #1. My newest toy, a SAMSUNG 32' LCD TV. And I'm liking it. Now my home theater is complete, and watching DVD movies is a blast.

Hmmmm I wonder how Blueray Discs or HD DVD would look like on this TV? Hehehehe

Merry Christmas!

Season's Greetings to all! Merry Christmas!

GizmoCall

After installing my new VoIP adapter and trying it out with a couple of different solutions, I have discovered a faster way for others to reach me without the hassle of downloading an application into one's computer.

It's GizmoCall! GizmoCall is another extension of the Gizmo Project. But instead of installing an application on a PC/Mac, it uses the browser for that. What the user will just do is to install an applet into the web browser, and type in the Gizmo number or the Gizmo Username and it connects flawlessly to the other line.

In fact, when I tested it, the Gizmo Call made a much better line resolution than from that of the stand-alone Gizmo client.

Linksys PAP2T Out of the Box

I got this today, the Linksys PAP2T VoIP Analog adapter. I will be using it to call our home in the province. This will definitely bring down the long distance charges for our frequent calls. The only cost will be from the MSF of our broadband connection.

I spent around 30 mins to check from the interweb the correct settings to make this thing work. I used Gizmo Project's SIP settings on it. I was successful to call from the hardware (PAP2T) to a Gizmo Softphone and vice versa. There was a slight echo but overall the line reception was very good. Although I am not sure if I place the other PAP2T on a slower broadband connection since I am using a 2Mbps line.

Microsoft hit with $2.4 million copyright suit in the Philippines

In an unusual situation for a company so vocal about protecting intellectual property rights, Microsoft is being sued for allegedly distributing material copyrighted by a Philippine college -- despite the fact that the material in question seems to have only been given to fellow educational professionals. Southeastern College in Pasay City is suing Microsoft and Microsoft Philippines for 100 million Filipino pesos ($2.4 million) for handing out at least 700 CDs in 2005 and 2006 containing the 379-page "SEC Microsoft Office XP Manual," which had been copyrighted by SEC director Conrad Mañalac in 2005 (although work on it reportedly began in 1999).

Engadget

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iPhone integral part of Land Rover LRX concept

In a press release issued by the automaker, it notes that the concept vehicle will boast a couple of touchscreens, one of which is used to "control the LRX's iPhone facility." Additionally, you can catch an iPod docking station and a set of removable speakers on the tailgate, though we can't say that's the most convenient location we've ever heard of for such a device.


Engadget

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Vista gets wrangled onto the Eee PC

it already seems pretty clear that there are few OSes that won't at least be attempted to be installed on the Eee PC, and it now looks like you can chalk up another of the big ones in successful column, as one fearless user has managed to squish Vista onto the diminutive laptop. To accomplish that feat, Paul O'Brien used the vLite tool to cut out as much bloat as possible before putting the custom disk image onto a USB stick, after which he then installed the OS on the Eee PC and, perhaps most notably, moved the Side by Side (or SxS) directory onto an 8GB SD card, freeing up some much needed space on the laptop itself.

How-to is found here.

Engadget

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Engadget

Fresno schools buy 1,000 Eee PCs, Asus launches 2G Surf modelPosted Dec 14th 2007 5:07PM by Donald MelansonFiled under: LaptopsThe OLPC and Classmate PC may be getting most of the attention these days with their attempts to win over as many schools as possible, but it looks like Asus' Eee PC is starting to make some moves of its own, with the Fresno Unified School District recently snagging 1,000 of the laptops in an attempt to boost student scores. As The San Francisco Chronicle reports, the schools also went the extra step of getting the laptops pre-installed with Windows and other Microsoft software, which apparently brought the total cost to $464 a seat. Also according the Chronicle, it seems that Asus has officially launched its $299 2G Surf model a little ahead of the January date we first heard about, although it still seems to be nigh impossible to come by, at least at the moment.

Engadget

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DivX is offering DivX Pro for Free

DivX is offering their DivX Pro software bundle as a free download just for the holidays. So head on up to their site and start downloading the software.

Fire in Canada disrupts Smart’s Blackberry service in RP - INQUIRER.net, Philippine News for Filipinos

MANILA, Philippines -- A fire has damaged Research in Motion (RIM)'s Blackberry e-mail server link in Canada, affecting the push e-mail services of Smart Communications, the local mobile operator said in an advisory.

"The incident has affected the leased line connecting RIM's e-mail server in Canada to Smart's GPRS platform in the Philippines, which continues to operate normally," the company added.

In the Philippines, only Smart's Blackberry service has been affected.

Smart said the problem was detected Wednesday morning. The company added that RIM's technical personnel are currently working to re-route traffic and expects normal services soon. Another advisory said that Smart and RIM are testing a solution to bring the push e-mail service back online.

Fire in Canada disrupts Smart’s Blackberry service in RP - INQUIRER.net, Philippine News for Filipinos

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ASUS Eee PC is America’s Most Wanted Christmas Gift

The ASUS Eee PC is once again in the limelight. This time, it has been billed as America’s most wanted Christmas gift among notebooks products. Several large American shopping websites have started investigating what the average American would want as a Christmas gift in lieu of the fast approaching Christmas buying season; and the result from the American Amazon shopping website and CNET based on 14th of November unanimously places the ASUS Eee PC at the top spot on the wish list.

ASUS | Eee PC

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Internet kahit saan? Just plug it - SmartBro's New Product

Smart has launched a new product under their Smart Bro line. Smart Bro is a series of wireless broadband offering, riding on Smart's 3G services.

This new product is in actuality, an extension of Smart's 3G services on their cellular phone products, but is purely for data. At the moment anyone with a Smart SIM card and a 3G capable phone can use this service by simply attaching their phone to their computers, either thru USB or wireless such as Bluetooth or InfreRed. At the moment, Smart is charging P10 for every 30 minutes, which for me is a very good deal, (as long as I get more than dial up speed, compared to the P100/hour in WiFi Hotspots).

Using a device called a USB modem that can easily be plugged to a laptop or a desktop computer, users will be able to access the Internet with speeds ranging from 384 to 768 kbps. This latest offering of the wireless broadband subsidiary of leading wireless services provider Smart Communications, Inc. (SMART) is initially available under Smart Bro Plan 799. The plan includes Internet usage of 60 hours per month, and P10 every 30 minutes in excess thereof.

The kit comes with a data modem, PC software and a user guide in a DVD casing and a cool denim sock for storing the modem. The modem will work in Windows 2000 and XP. Before the end of the year, the modem will be compatible with other operating systems.

As of end-September 2007, Smart Bro has over 259,000 users, adding about 138,000 new subscribers in the first nine months of the year. Smart now has 2,678 wireless broadband-enabled base stations providing high-speed Internet access to over 625 cities and municipalities nationwide. Smart Bro is an integral part of the PLDT Group’s strategy to be at the forefront of “broadbanding” the country

I would love to get this and use it with my ASUS eeePC and have total wireless connectivity and mobility.

4GB lang? EeePC

4GB lang?! This is the top remark I get when I tell them about my new toy. "Ang liit naman ng capacity?" and "walang windows?". This makes me laugh.

Everytime someone asks me what a good notebook computer is, I always ask them back, "what you going to use it for?". Unfortunately, most of them would rather buy an expensive notebook pc, without considering the different factors. Most would be looking at the processor. They would like to have the "best" the "newest", "kailangan Core2Duo!", yeah right! "Tapos dapat Windows Vista" or "why not buy a MacBook?" oh ok! "You should get the one with the biggest hard drive capacity" said one, "oh and that wide screen is much better to look at" said another.

Ok so you bought that spanking new notebook PC with Core2Duo, 1GB RAM, 160GB hard drive, Windows Vista Home Premium, glossy 15 inch screen. Ok what now? What are you going to use it for? Uhm, let me see, oh ok, update my Friendster and Multiply account, I have to blog my "new" notebook. Hehehehe HELLO! OK KA LANG! CORE2DUO and the first thing you'll be doing is to update your profile?! nyahahaha

Then what? "Oh and I have to install iTunes, I now have a laptop to sync my iPod with" ok, then? "Uhm, oh! I have a report on Thursday, I can show my classmates my new computer while I use PowerPoint for my presentation!" Yeah right! Hehehe I would bet that that Microsoft Office didn't come with your new notebook? Ha! Huli! hahaha

Ok then, let's say, let's meet up at Starbucks in Greenbelt, just to hang out, and did I mention that's a hotspot? Yeah, you can bring your laptop and we can talk and surf there. I'm ok with my ASUS EeePC, it fits in my backpack, heck, I can even bring it as it is, no bags, because it has it's own sleeve. How about you, will you bring your notebook as is, not inside a bag? You wish! Most notebook PCs at the moment are heavy, plus you have to carry around that very BIG power brick! Excuse me, my power brick is small and light, I'm using a MacBook. Yeah right again! The EeePCs power adapter is as small as a cellphone charger, beat that!

The point, most people consider the features a big factor in buying a laptop, and yet, they don't utilize the features at all. Most would just be using a web browser, powerpoint and document editor, oh and picture viewer and that's it! And yet they want the latest and most expensive notebooks out there. Just like what they do with mobile phones, they want the most expensive, but as them what they do with it, it boils down to texts and calls (that is kung may load! Nyahahaha nakakahiya, worth P35K ang phone mo tapos naka prepaid ka lang? SHYET! Smart Buddy pa! Nyahahaha what JOLOGS!) hehehe oh and taking pictures of me in the car with my teeth and tongue out! Hehehehe galing.

Notebooks are meant to be portable, mobile, easy to carry and light. The ASUS EeePC is all that. If you don't edit videos and pictures, why get an expensive laptop that will be obsolete in 6 months time (this reminds me of the early adapters of the MacBook, in less than 6 months, there gadgets became obsolete with the coming of the Core2Duos at the same price NYAHAHAHAHAAHA!).

These laptops, mostly has 13, 14, 15 inch screen size are HEAVY! Not too portable. Eh excuse me, I have a car so I don't worry about the weight, yeah right AGAIN, then what, most of the time you leave it in the car because it's heavy. With the EeePC, I can replace it in 6 months to one year, because it's not that expensive. Heck it's cheaper than my mobile phone.

So stop being a prick and drool over. If I'm a student, and laptops are not allowed in the library, I would just get this one and I can sneak it in and enjoy surfing and updating friendster and multiply inside the library. Take that hahaha

Modifying the OS of eeePC

This is very fun. Much fun than when I first tried UBUNTU. I now have modified the ASUS eeePC Easy Mode to the Advanced Mode (desktop).


The EASY Mode is the default screen of the ASUS eeePC. I understand ASUS for doing this, to stick to the gizmo's motto EASY to work, EASY to Learn, EASY to Play.
Anyone who has used a mobile phone will find the icon based user interface of the eeePC, very useful. But for serious users, this is a bit boring. They want more usability. Thus, being Linux the base architecture of this operating system, in just a few days, users now have figured out how to transform the icon-based EASY MODE to the typical desktop ADVANCED MODE. Much more, users can shift from one user interface to another.


I warn you though, it's not that simple and some newbies have "broken" their units (which was recovered simply by pressing and holding F9 after pressing the power button), doing the process. Although just like me, when the process is successful, there is joy felt all throughout (what a geek nyahahaha).

For detailed instructions on how to do it, just click here.

Wow! SRP for the EeePC Locally from ASUS

"Asus Philippines Sales Manager Peter Chua said the Eee PC will be targeted at extremely mobile executives, students and home users who have neither the space nor budget to have a notebook PC.

Chua said the Eee PC comes in 2 Gb, 4 Gb, and 8 Gb models. The 4 Gb model will be rolled out in the market in November and will be priced at 19,800 pesos. The other models will be introduced in early 2008." -- Inquirer.net

If this is the case, then I guess I got mine at a very good price. It's going to be a grand more than I got it. Hopefully PC Corner will not change their prices. It will still be a deal.

Resigned on Leopard

After convincing myself to upgrade my lowly iBook to Leopard (Mac OS
10.5), I never thought I was up for disappointment.

I always end up with an error saying that the "ESSENTIAL FILES" or
something like that cannot be found from the install disc. Which led
my iBook to loosing all it's data (good thing I did a back up before
the procedure), even my TIGER. Which means that I have to reinstall
TIGER after the series of failed LEOPARD UPGRADE.

Even the TIGER reinstall was tiresome. Because I had to re-install my
applications and the worst thing was the updates!

Then I found out that I was not alone (no thanks to the local very
"helpful" mac users group, all I saw was all praises for LEOPARD
without any hitch, YEAH RIGHT!), from apple forums around the world.
There were installs that led to bricked macs. The reason that they
are pointing to is the dual layer disc of LEOPARD, looks like, some
old mac (running PowerPC processors), it's optical drives, have some
issues accessing the 2nd layer of data from the DVDs.

Still, up to the present, APPLE has not issued any resolution on this
problem.

My New Toy: ASUS eeePC sub-notebook

Every since they announced this last summer, I was very eager to get one. What tempted me from getting this was the price point. Then, it was announced to be in the area of $200, that's just in the area of P15T with taxes in. At first, they said it's going to be released sometime August, then it was postponed a couple of months more. Of course, I was not expecting it to be available locally right away (it's not like Apple you know). What made the wait more exciting was the fact that a local PC store kept on teasing me (website), of it's pending release. Add the fact that I kept on reading from the interweb that a lot of users are getting their hands on with their new EeePC and they are all liking it (DAMN what a punishment!). Although all these while, the prices have shot up to more than Php15T. I don't mind, as long as it's portable, and within my price range, it's all ok. One of the top factors I consider in getting a portable computer is, of course, portability. That's why, even though made obsolete by the new MacBooks and MacBook Pros, I am not thinking of replacing my iBook, because it's portable, at 12" wide, that's a deal.

Anyways, PC Corner's website said that the ASUS EeePC will be released on the 5th of November. But when I called them at their Gilmore store, they said that it will commercially be available on the 8th at 6pm instead. Considering the distance of the store from my place and the time, I opted to call the next day. And was very excited to know that it's already available. But having stuff to do on that friday, I opted to go the first thing in the morning on the 10th that's a Saturday. On my way to the store, I was praying that there will still be a unit for me. Good enough I was able to get one. Actually, it is available from the PC Corner website, for delivery, which will take two days, but I'm the hands on person, I want to experience holding the unit right away (I know pretty geeky hehehe).

Just like a kid with a new toy, I was so excited to use it. And just like what I've expected, the booting up is fast, and I was able to use it (surfing) out of the box (of course, that was after I connected to my wireless network at home).

At of the moment, only the 4G Surf is available locally and in white. With the following configurations to follow suit.

	Intel® Celeron® M (256Mb) / 02Gb Media Flash Drive
	Intel® Celeron® M (512Mb) / 02Gb Media Flash Drive
	Intel® Celeron® M (512Mb) / 04Gb Media Flash Drive -- 4G Surf
	Intel® Celeron® M (1.0Gb) / 04Gb Media Flash Drive
	Intel® Pentium® M (512Mb) / 04Gb Media Flash Drive
	Intel® Pentium® M (512Mb) / 08Gb Media Flash Drive
	Intel® Pentium® M (512Mb) / 16Gb Media Flash Drive
	Intel® Pentium® M (1.0Gb) / 16Gb Media Flash Drive

This is the simplified specifications of what I got

Model Name	Eee PC 8G	Eee PC 4G	Eee PC 4G Surf	Eee PC 2G Surf
Display	7"	7"	7"	7"
Intel CPU & Chipset	●	●	●	●
Operating System	Linux Windows XP compatible	Linux Windows XP compatible	Linux Windows XP compatible	Linux Windows XP compatible
Ethernet Communication	●	●	●	●
WLAN	●	●	●	●
Memory	1G (DDR2)	512 MB (DDR2)	512 MB (DDR2)	256 MB (DDR2)
S.S.D. Storage (Solid-State Disk)	8G	4G	4G	2G
Camera	●	●	-	-
Audio	Hi-Definition audio Stereo speaker Microphone	Hi-Definition audio Stereo speaker Microphone	Hi-Definition audio Stereo speaker Microphone	Hi-Definition audio Stereo speaker Microphone
Battery	4 Cells: 5200 mAh, 3.5hrs*	4 Cells: 5200 mAh, 3.5hrs*	4 Cells: 4400 mAh, 2.8hrs*	4 Cells: 4400 mAh, 2.8hrs*
Weight	0.92 kg	0.92 kg	0.92 kg	0.92 kg
Launch Date	End of November	10/16 Global Launch	Mid of November	End of November
* Specificatioin changes are subject to different models * Actual battery life will depend on actual operations and other settings. * Product contains software under GPL license agreement

A little review of the unit after a few days of usage:
IN THE BOX:
- the unit (pearly white)
- charger (a little bigger than an ordinary mobile phone charger, smaller than my iBook power adapter)
- Printed user's guide
- DVD of Windows Drivers
- battery 5200 mAh
- soft case/sleeve (black)

THE UNIT
It has a 7 inch screen. At first I thought, based on what I've read, is small and now resolution at 800 pixels only, but I was wrong, when I pulled up images, it came up as crisp and clear, colors are vivid and comes out much better than the larger LCD screens, this is perhaps to the compressed pixels.

The body is quite sturdy, with the buttons firm on the touch and push. This is much better from the buttons I saw on those NEO laptops. I did not hear any squeaking sounds when I slightly twisted the unit. The latch that attaches the monitor to the body is not flimsy. No latch that will lock the lid when close (pretty much like the other notebook pc's out there). The design is well, not like what I've expected. Personally, I have never been a fan of ASUS laptop designs, but this one is nice.

There is a removable panel at the bottom, from what I've read, when opened, it will expose another RAM slot for upgrades, but unusually, there is a warranty sticker that is blocking one of the screws. ASUS made it clear that they are not positioning this as a laptop replacement (yeah!), so if one wants an upgrade, he/she has to purchase another unit with a higher hardware specs (as if that will stop us right?).

The back is bare, because it's occupied mostly by the battery pack. The left side contains an RJ45 port (LAN), supposedly there's an RJ11 port beside it (modem port), but in my unit, it's blocked by a rubber stopper. From what I've read, there is a port and connections, but the modem or one of it's component is missing. One USB 2.0 port and jacks for headphones and mic. There are four LED indicator lights in front. Power, Charging, SSD and WLAN indicators. On the right side, there is a VGA port, two USB 2.0 ports and a card reader that can handle SD, MMC, SDMC.

The keyboard is the catch. Well, I don't think it is. It's small. But I was able to write this article from it, so I guess I don't have a problem with it. Maybe those peeps with humongous fingers will. The response is good and tactile feedback is impressive. The touchpad is responsive as well, though I'm used to the a single button touchpad (because the iBook has only one button), it's on the hard to press side. The layout of the keyboard is the standard layout albeit the small size.

THE OPERATING SYSTEM and SOFTWARE
It's running an ASUS tweaked XANDROS distro of Linux. Others might be turned off upon hearing that it's running on Linux, but believe me, even a 5 year old kid could use this computer. Using it is a no brainer. The applications are arranged into tabs (much like the cellphone that you're using) and in each tab, there are lots of large icons, that even people with Presbyopia will appreciate.

I'm not too familiar with Linux applications, but I will mention those that, I think, people will be using the most.
- Firefox - web browsing
- OpenOffice - counterpart of the usual Microsoft Office suit (Word, Excel, Powerpoint) and the good thing is, it's compatible vice versa
- Pidgin - it's a unified instant messenger where the user can enroll all his/her IM accounts from Yahoo! Messenger, AOL, MSN, Google Talk
- Thunderbird - for those who would rather use an email client in the computer than use the web counterparts
- Acrobat Reader
- Skype

It also has a PIM application, a counterpart for Microsoft Outlook. On the FUN tab, it has a photo viewer, media player (which can detect and iPod), voice recorder and a video recorder from the on-board webcam.

Most of the icons are just shortcuts to websites. There are icons for popular webmails such as Gmail, Yahoo! Mail, Hotmail and AOL. You will see a lot of Google-ish here, as there is a dedicated icon for iGoogle (which will just open up Firefox and bring you to Google.com/ig.

It's not unusual too that they thought of kids when developing this product. As there are lots of kid-ish applications and links available.

OVERALL
I like the product because of it's size, it's functionality and the price. I got it for almost Php18T. Hey, my mobile phone is more expensive than this hehehehe. It's so portable that you don't need to buy a laptop bag and virtually telling the world, go ahead and mug me because I'm carrying a laptop. Also, it's not that heavy. Laptop users (especially windows laptops) will have the power adapters to add to the weight of the whole thing. With this one, it's just like having a communicator in your bag.

I have an iBook, and (i know I'll get flack from Mac users), I only use it for surfing the web, and making my lectures and presentations. I like my iBook because of it's instant on, but now, the EeePC is challenging that.

I think the sub-20K price is the sweet price point. Because for me, once you cross the 20K mark, better get a full-fledged notebook computer instead. Besides, for less than 20K, it's easy to get another one after a year. Hehehehe I guess I've exposed my intentions.

Reinterating why I like the Mac

Why i like my iBook or perhaps all Macs, maybe because of OS X, focuses only on one reason, the immediate boot up. It's not techinically booting up since is just waking up from sleep. But it helps a lot. If I want to do something right away, I don't have to wait for a minute or two for my laptop to wake up. Windows notebooks have the same feature, it's called Hibernate, but it's not as fast the Mac OS does. This is the main reason I stay with Mac but other factors considered, I wouldn't turn my back completely on Windows.

Unboxing: HP iPAQ 512 Voice Messenger

I have a new toy, and it's in the form of the HP iPAQ 512 Voice Messenger. It's a Smartphone. Powered by Windows Mobile 6 with some HP additives.

I usually change phones in one or two year's time. I am also a solid Sony Ericsson fan (my very first Ericsson phone was an A1018). So why get a non-SE phone?

My current, er, "previous" phone sa a Sony Ericsson M600i, has UIQ for it's platform, white (goes with my iBook) and slim with of course the rocker thumboard. I had it for 6 months and I might say, I am well contented with it. Problem is, it doesn't have two functions that I want, a camera and WLAN (WiFi).

Then came the Sony Ericsson P1i. Of course, there's also the Nokia E61i, but I am not really a fan of Nokias (for the same reason that I don't like Windows Mobile, they're both SLOW and BUGGY!). Anyways, the P1i is still too expensive for my taste. I still have to convince myself to buy a phone worth more than a generic desktop PC or half a Flat Panel LCD 32" TV. Plus the fact that I'm looking for an OS (smartphone) that will accommodate my profession's applications (at the moment, only Palm has fulfilled that need).

Some will say, why not get a Treo or the latest Centro. Well, I've entertained both, then again, Palm handhelds still lack wireless (wifi) capabilities. I will grab a Palm phone right away (even if the OS is aging) once they have included WiFi capabilities on any of their products.

Now, why the iPaq line? Well, what really caught me was the price point. It's mid-range, with a very nice feature-set (I'm the type who wants to get the most out of a gadget). I also like how it looks like. The built (for having it for three days already) is solid. Although I'm afraid the paint will eventually erode as use becomes more frequent, especially the logos at the backside. The keys have good tactile feel, but coming from a thumboard, I had a difficult time re-adjusting to the one hand texting. Also, even if I don't have quite a big set of fingers, I often mis-press the adjacent keys.

The OS. Ok it's Windows Mobile 6. It looks good...on the Home Screen. But when you dig deep into the OS, it's a boring flat, no eye candy what so ever. Responsiveness? Nada! It's down there. Once I started to use multiple applications, the response is crawling. That's even after I closed all of the applications from the Task Manager. Also, multitasking, although available (since it's Windows Mobile), will definitely screw everything up. If for example, an application is open and a text message comes in, the processes will stop to almost to a hanging state. Heck this is the cause of most hangs with this phone.

The manual is not very helpful. It's more of a generalized user guide than a detailed one.

Let's go to the WiFi connectivity. It's supposed to be easy, but for some reason, I have a hard time connecting it to my network. It takes some time for it to get it's IP address. I also got a couple of errors with regards to DHCP. But once connected, everything is doing good. I have yet to try VOIP services on this phone. I used GIZMO settings.

Bluetooth? It has it, no problem with pairing with my Jabra headset. Though I experienced some problems with transferring contacts from my SE M600i in bulk to this phone. It did not accept it. Still on the process of test if file transfers (i.e. pictures, music, etc) from the iPaq 512 to another device.

Camera is so, so. Being it only a 1.5 MP shooter. It's mediocre. But it will do. I now am having a hard time looking for a FREE blogging client that will let me post the pictures I've taken to my blogger account.

The screen is ok, but not impressive. There will be some pixelations, but overall, it's ok.

So far, I have not experienced any problems with ActiveSync. It works! That's the surprising fact.

It did not come with a real charger, but instead, it has an USB adapter which is plugged into an electric socket and a USB cable is used to attach and charge the phone.

Voice Messenger:
This phone is being touted as a Voice Messenger. Meaning, a lot of functions can be started/used just by using voice. And what's nice about it is, it does not need any training. If I want to call Rob in my contacts, all I have to do is say "CALL Rob at MOBILE" then it will ask you to confirm. Pretty neat! I can also read back text messages (but with how Filipinos text, a simple message can take a long time to read out).

UPDATE: email set-up is a breeze in this phone. Email is integrated with the messaging client, together with the text messaging. Setting up an email through the built-in wizard was so easy that I was getting emails from my Gmail, Hotmail and believe it or not, Yahoo! Mail in less than a minute of entering the required data.

I have a rough time configuring my email client on my SE M600i a while back. Though I got it to work on the Sony Ericsson phone, configuration is not as easy as this one. Also, what's so surprising is that, I am now able to get Yahoo! Mail on this phone, even if my Yahoo! account does not have POP3 access.

The first thing I did was to enter my email address, then the second part was the wizard auto-checking for available configurations for the email, then it asked for, of course the log in details and the frequency of pulling email from the servers. And that's it! Email on the go.

Overall: I think I will still use the phone, but majority of the reason relies on the presence of Wireless access. But I don't think this will last me a year before I get a new phone. Oh and did I tell you that this is my very first WINDOWS MOBILE device. Yes it is.

Safari on Windows Faster than Firefox but...

Safari on Windows is really fast in loading wedpages than Firefox but, initial load of websites (right after opening Safari) is longer, way too longer than Firefox. After everything has loaded up and I go to other pages, it's a snap.

New Yahoo Mail Out of Beta, now with Text Messaging

Yahoo! has brought the new mail interface out of beta and it now includes the capability to send SMS (text) messages to mobile phones. At present, only four countries are included to have text messaging included in their Yahoo! mail, Philippines, US, India (I think) and Canada (or is it Australia). Will update if I have my facts straight already hehehe.

Globelines Down

Yesterday, when I got home, I wasn't able to connect to the internet. When I checked my modem (PROLINK Hurricane 9300G) the internet light was not on. So I did the routing on-off cycle to no avail. Then I decided to call Globelines. The guy told me that the modem is syncing with their servers, and that the problem is on my end, meaning the modem. He said he will send someone to look at the problem today. While awake I desperately tried to do the cycle but that LED internet light did not light up. So I accepted the fact that they might replace the modem.

This morning, it's more of a withdrawal symptom than anything else, I turned on the modem hoping the internet LED would light up, lo and behold, it did!

I'm wondering, perhaps the problem was not on my side, but there really was a problem with the Globelines network and the guy that I talked to did know it yet. Perhaps I'm one of the lucky ones that get good service from the company, although I think there are more dissatisfied customers with PLDT.

Nonetheless, I did not report that my internet is ok now, it's better for their people to check on the devices.

What's the use of PIM applications on the Desktop?

There are instances that one will need a PIM (Personal Information Manager) application in his/her lifetime and there are lots of them out there. In fact, there's one in every phone that comes out today, and perhaps there's one in your desktop or notebook installed.

Outlook is one of the most commonly used, especially in the enterprise arena. But there are people that use it even at home to help them organize schedules and events.

Nonetheless, with the advent of broadband connections and the widening coverage. The penetration to homes has increased, and the point is, it is the time to look at web-based applications, this time web-based PIMs. One advantage is that, it does not occupy a big space in the hard drive, and being on a remote server, it does not need that much processing power, meaning, the processing power can now be used for some other work.

Instead of opening multiple applications at the same time (e.g. web browser and PIM application), one has to do is to open only one, the browser. And with the popularity of tabbed-browsing it is not hard to shuffle thru different websites.

Try for example what Google has to offer. It has Google Calendar, Gmail, Google Docs, Google Photos. All under one account.

A Doctor and a Technician in one

I love technology! I am a self-proclaimed techie, well, yeah! Anyways, though I can think mostly of advantages, there are some disadvantages in being the only one that knows the "know-hows".

I "coerced" my fellow faculty in one of the schools that I'm teaching at to get their own wireless router for the faculty room. Before, I lent my Linksys WRT54GC compact wireless router, to give them the feel of the comfort of having one. Then, just when they were raring to get on to the wireless bandwagon, I pulled the unit out and installed it in the other school that I'm teaching as well.

Anyways, this was part of the plan, now, I convinced those who have notebook pc's to get their own router. And true to form, we pitched-in and I got them a NETGEAR wireless router. And the number of users shot up! And today, I helped around 4 faculty member setting their computers up. Well, I guess, I will still be doing this stuff as "gratis" for still quite some time. I don't mind, I love being an evangelist of technology.

Microsoft Announces Office for Mac 2008

Microsoft just announced their upgrade to the Office suite. It's been almost a year before Microsoft committed to a launch date of their product. And Mac users will surely be happy for this. Apple's own version of Office, iWork is pretty but lacks most of the functionalities of the Microsoft counterpart (with the exception to Keynote, Apple's presentation software, where it overtakes PowerPoint in different areas).

There will be three packages for Office 2008 when it's finally released: Office 2008 for Mac, Office 2008 for Mac Special Media Edition, and Office 2008 for Mac Home and Student Edition. As expected, the core package of Office will include Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Entourage sporting both support for Automator and "full" Exchange support. This package will go for $399.95, the same price as the current Office suite ($239.95 for an upgrade license).

Special Media Edition will come with all of the above, plus Microsoft Expression Media—a digital asset management suite that will help media-crazed users import, annotate, organize, archive, search, and distribute their media files. Special Media Edition will retail for $499.95 ($299.95 upgrade), which the Mac BU says reflects a $200 savings compared to if you were to buy the parts separately.

Finally, Home and Student Edition is the same as the full version of Office 2008, except minus the Exchange and Automator support that comes with the regular version of Entourage (if you're truly using it at home, then you probably don't need that Exchange support anyway). It allows for three licenses for non-commercial use, and will retail for $149.95. 

Yahoo! Mail on my Phone

I was able to configure my Sony Ericsson M600i to get and send emails from my Yahoo! Mail account. This may sound a big deal because it is. I am not subscribed to Yahoo's Premium service where POP3 access is possible.

I used the IMAP configuration with the following settings:
incoming server: imap.mail.yahoo.com
outgoing server: smtp.mail.yahoo.com

MIME encoding is on and using TSL encryption with logon authentication checked.

I lost my iTunes songs!

Three iPods sync with the main PC at home. All my music files are on an external drive to keep it from being worn much like the internal hard drive of the PC. That means I made iTunes to get the files from that drive. No problem really except that, perhaps, one of the iPod users made a booboo or perhaps it's just the Windows "environment" (although I'm not sure if this could happen on a Mac), but after I plugged my iPod, I got the "not recognized, Your iPod is synced with another device, warning" and it took around 5 seconds before I realized that the iTunes is not showing any songs.

SHIT! There's really no problem because, as I have said, I store my songs in a separate drive for safe keeping. But what's really frustrating is the thought that I have to re-sync all my iPods (considering that some have playlists specifically for the device). Oh well, nothing else to do but to "comply"! Hehehehe

Opening uTorrent Port in Prolink 9300G

I have been using uTorrent from my torrent "needs", but ever since, I have never gotten over to really open up the ports for it. I always get the "exclamation point" sign at the bottom of the application. I tried Port Forwarding to no avail. I still get that exclamation point icon. then I stumbled upon a solution.

All I have to do is to enable UPnP in my router (PROLINK 9300G) and use the port specified and whala! The red icon is now green and I'm getting the speeds I'm supposed to get. Happy me!

Instructions:
1.) type 192.168.1.254 (original settings) on any web browser
2.) click CONFIGURATIONS
3.) click ADVANCE
4.) click UPnP and check ENABLE
5.) copy the port specified
6.) open uTorrent preferences
7.) CONNECTIONS and enter the port from the router
EXIT and ENJOY!

What "toys" can be bought with...

What can I buy with...

Php15,000

1.) add Php2000, a 1.5 hp split-type airconditioning unit
2.) an 8GB iPod touch
3.) add Php1000, an HP iPaq phone
4.) add Php2000, a SE K810
5.) PSP for Php9000
6.) add Php7000, an iPhone


Php50,000
1.) a 32" LCD TV
2.) a MacBook

Deceptive Button Labels

Today I was supposed to get an iPod integration for my car's stock radio. It's a Fujitsu Ten radio (stock) on a Toyota Revo 2000 GL model. All the while, I thought that there is a port at the back that I can use to attach to a Disc changer or for this matter, an iPod integration unit.

All the while, I was using the tape deck solution to get the music from my iPods to the stereo of the car. A crude solution yet, gives a much better sound reproduction that the famous FM radio transmitter option. Then from one of the local forums for iPod users, I read that there's now a "cheaper" and better way to get my music to my radio without the wires/cables hanging and potentially hazardous obstacles of driving.

So I went to the dealer/installer, MAXX-Energie so they could check if my stock radio is compatible with their solutions. After checking my headunit, the guy I talked to told me that it might be possible, considering that the radio has a CD button, which we presumed is CD changer capable.

Unfortunately, after dismantling the dashboard, and unscrewing the screws, we all found out that there's not available port to attach their solution to the radio.

Well, that's life. Now my options, either I change my headunit to something that will have an iPod integration or, just be satisfied with the tape deck solution. Decisions, decisions!

No Freeze Panes in iWork 08 Numbers

I use Excel for computing grades and the Freeze Pane feature has helped me a lot. Having more than 40 students in one class, more than 5 quizzes, three long quizzes, the major exams, two sets of grades (lecture and lab) and three grading period (prelims, midterms and finals), it's not easy scrolling left to right and vice versa so with scrolling up and down a spreadsheet.

When I saw Numbers in iWorks, I was very excited for it (Apple having know to release cool versions of boring applications), but when I tried it, I didn't find this important (for me) feature. Well, back to excel for me.

iPod touch, iPod classic and the "new" iPod Nano

This is the new iPhone! Actually, it's part of the new set of iPods. Featuring the iPod Touch. It's more like the iPhone than the iPod. It's got both, except for the phone part. Well, sort of.

You see, it's a brand new music and video player with a twist. It's got WiFi, meaning, you can surf the interweb (that is, if there is a WiFi signal around), and listen to your albums at the same time (now I wonder what will be the toll on the battery life, I don't usually believe the claims of the manufacturer when it comes to these deets). I like this part. I've been looking for a portable internet device. Lots of choices but have not found the right one for me. I guess, I'll check this out.

Am I going to get one? Let me see, well, I have a 2nd Gen iPod Shuffle, a 1st Gen iPod Nano and a 5th Gen iPod Video. I guess, I have one of each, hmmmm, maybe I will get one, but not this 1st Gen, I think it's a bit low on the storage side. 16GB flash is not big enough if I'm going to put videos on it (my iPod video is not much fun to watch at, considering the size of the screen, but it serves it's purpose).

I love watching video podcasts (DL.TV and Diggnation specifically) while driving alone. Keeps me awake. And the iPod Video fits snugly on my Dashboard meter cluster (not your ideal driving tips), I don't know with this iPod Touch, but I guess I can always make something up to accommodate the new "toy", but then again, it's still months away from the purchase.

Here are some details about this new gadget:

Multi-touch interface

Gorgeous 3.5-inch widescreen display.

Touch your music in Cover Flow and watch video on a stunning, widescreen display

Wi-Fi web browsing.

Browse the web with Safari and watch YouTube videos on the first-ever Wi-Fi iPod

Music downloads from iTunes.

Search, preview, and buy songs from the iTunes Wi-Fi Music Store on iPod touch

Capacity

• 8GB or 16GB flash drive¹
• Holds up to 1,750 or 3,500 songs in 128-Kbps AAC format²
• Holds up to 10,000 or 20,000 iPod-viewable photos³
• Holds up to 10 hours or 20 hours of video⁴
• Stores data via USB flash drive

And the "new" iPod Nano!
Well, I don't think it's nice, not too pretty for me, I don't know for other people either.

With the following specifications:

Size and weight

• Height: 2.75 inches (69.8 mm)
• Width: 2.06 inches (52.3 mm)
• Depth: 0.26 inch (6.5 mm)
• Weight: 1.74 ounces (49.2 grams)

Display

• 2-inch (diagonal) liquid crystal display with blue-white LED backlight
• 320-by-240-pixel resolution at 204 pixels per inch

I don't think I will be very keen in watching videos in such a minute screen. But it sure is cute.

And of course there is the new iPod classic, having almost the same design as the typical iPod video, except that this time, the whole body is made of metal. No more white iPods too!

iPod Shuffle Cannot Sync Because Drive cannot be found

After a fews of not being able to sync an iPod Shuffle (2nd Gen), when I tried it today, my computer sees it, then drops it. Now, iTunes won't sync. I tried some "fixes" from some forums in the net, until I downloaded the Shuffle reseter program and then that was it.

Now my Shuffle is working and is syncing.

Palm Centro

Better and clearer picture of the "rumored" Palm Centro, details still sketchy, will definitely have a touchscreen, obviously with a QWERTY thumboard and most likely still running Palm OS Garnet.

Forum Attitude? Respect? Rude?

I am a member of at least 4 major tech forums in the country. I have been a part of the tech community even before the they all switched to the "forum" mode from the ever reliable Yahoo! Groups.

Although there seems to be progress in moving from an email list to a "forum-specific" website, there's seems to be less progress in the attitude of most posters.

There are "moderated" forums, and there are public forums, and there are moderated-public forums. Yeah I know, it's confusing. Try going into some of these forums and you'll see what I mean. An innocent post can become an insulting discussion which can span several pages which can equate to several hours to days to months of unending exchange of righteousness.

What puzzles me, just like the "conversation" in this thread from a local user's group, some posters would "virtually" insult (but most of them will just tell you that they're just being "frank" and "straightforward") the initial poster. I would say, rather than calling it "straightforward", more like, RUDE!

Claiming they want "quality" postings, why then can't they reply or answer politely. But with AIRHEADS who think they know everything just because he/she has some "authority" in the forum, I guess that's too difficult to do.

What do you think?

LOCKED POWER POINT DOCUMENTS

I borrowed a set of powerpoint documents from a friend and stored it in my iBook. I was surprised to see a lock icon at the lower right corner of the main icon. At first I thought it was harmless and that it merely makes the document read-only.

Then I tried deleting the file, I got an error message saying that the document cannot be deleted because it's locked. Whatever I do, drag the icon in the trash bin, or right click it, the same error message appears. Then I tried hiding it, I dragged it into another folder, only to find out that it will instead, make a new file making the files double.

This frustrated me knowing at I have redundant files in my notebook and the obsessive compulsive in me just can't get over it. So I played around with the settings, finally I went into the "get info" component, one by one, I opened it, until I unchecked a "lock" tick box.

That is when I was able to delete the file.

LG's KU990

This is the LG KU990, with the following specs: 5.1 megapixel camera with Schneider-Kreuznach lens, image stabilization (likely digital), auto focus, 120fps video, and ISO 800 sensitivity. Sure, the camera is nice and all, but this pup is packing a 3-inch, 240 x 400 touchscreen riding on 3G HSDPA data.

This toy will be very much at home with the Philippines with HSDPA dominating our network market. Though it doesn't have the ooohh and ahhhh of the iPhone, this baby still has something on it.

Michael Bay Doesn't Want to make Transformers 2 --YEHEY!

When Paramount abandoned Blue-Ray (High Definition DVD format) for HD-DVD, Michael Bay threatened not to make Transformers 2.

In a forum post titled "Paramount pisses me off!", he states, "I want people to see my movies in the best formats possible. For them to deny people who have Blu-ray sucks! They were progressive by having two formats. No Transformers 2 for me!" -- Engadget

Well, that's good news to my ears. I never liked how he did the movie in the first place.

Pownce

If you are the type who wants to blog something but there's really not much to say about it, then you can try mini-blogging. Yup, it's much like Twitter and Jaiku, but now, there's a new mini-blogging app and it's Pownce.

Created by Digg founder Kevin Rose, Pownce is a way to send messages, files, links, and events to your friends. You'll create a network of the people you know  and then you can share stuff with all of them, just a few of them, or even just one other person really fast.

So what are you waiting for, come on and let's Pownce! Visit me at my own Pownce here.

Chikka 2.0

There's a new web 2.0 app and it's not from an American software company, it's local. Chikka the pioneer in internet to SMS communication has released a new version of their SMS application in Web 2.0 style. Before, one either has to download their application or use their Java applet to be able to use their service. Problems? Well, the application is for Windows only, and if you're using a Mac you're left with using their Java applet which takes time to load and respond. Now, anyone, with an internet connection can use their service with ease.

The web 2.0 app is still in alpha stage (meaning it's super buggy). Much like Meebo, it's now an all-in-one messaging application, where users can log on, not only with their chikka accounts but also with Yahoo! Messenger, MSN Messenger, Google Talk and ICQ.

Nokia Recalls Battery from Panasonic

It's the first time I've heard of a recall coming to the shores of our little Islands of the Philippines. Nokia is in full blast to recall BL-5C batteries. But take note, it's not going to be easy. One has to go to their website and input the serial numbers of the battery for confirmation if indeed the battery is part of the recall. It does not end their, after which, if proven valid, he/she will be forwarded to another website and will be asked to fill out an electronic form. Talk about paranoia, well, I guess we can't blame Nokia for being such, considering mobile phone batteries are "abundant" in our part of the world, and it all comes cheap!

I wonder though, it's a new battery if proven genuine, but how about those who does not know how to get into the interweb or have no money to call the Nokia hotlines? Well, by the looks of the options left, he/she is force to go to the nearest Nokia Business Center. Works for me!

Newspaper Fingerprints

I like reading the news. It keeps me updated with current events. Every morning, while having milk and before breakfast and doing anything at all, I fire up my computer and read all the local Net versions of the major broadsheets. It's the same reason why I don't subscribe to newspapers anymore. What for? I'm getting the same news articles and the added bonus of the Breaking news from the monthly bill that I get from my ISP. But whenever I have the chance, even though I already know 80% of the contents, I still read the physical broadsheets. My reason is simple, there are stuff on the physical newspaper that is not on the digital version, and those are the ads! Hahahaha I know, shallow reason, but still it's a reason.

Now, I get all too fussed up whenever I get to read these newspapers then use my notebook afterwards, I get fingerprints all over the thing. You see, I have an iBook, and it comes only in white.

Undeniably Slow or Lazy?

When ever I am challenged by something or someone, I would make sure that I won't make the mistake the 2nd time. I don't know if it's the present generation or me, but there's this class of mine who seem not too interested in passing the subject. I gave them a practical exam today and their scores were uhm, undesireable. Take note, these are a series of tests, only a few minutes apart. They consistently getting the same score, very few improvements. I wish them lots of luck though, because by the looks of it, most of them aren't going to make it.

FINALLY! Gmail on my phone

It's been months since I got my phone but since then I haven't had the fortune to figure out how to make Gmail work with the phone's email client. Tonight, while surfing, saw this blogsite that gave another twist in the settings that I have been trying before. Lo and behold, IT WORKED!

Now, the next thing that I'm going to worry is, how much will this cost me in data rates. Perhaps I would experiment on the always on PUSH EMAIL (technically it's pull email), if it's going to burn a hole in my pocket then maybe I'll just use it for important matters such as blogging! nyahahahaha

WiFi Hotspot in a school

Technology is imminent thus, what ever we do, it will come and will force itself to us. Why not just embrace it right? Well, I consider myself as an early adapter. I love technology. I am also a "pasaway"! Put one beside another and you have WONDERFUL CHAOS!

Well, anyways, I have a Linksys Compact Wireless Router lying at home (I only use it, when I go for long trips and make my own wireless hotspot in my destination), I decided to install it in one of the schools that I teach (well, this same router was installed in the other school before, the faculty was enjoying it, but it seems that they were relying on me for it, and decided not to get one for themselves, which prompted me to pull it out), anyways, here I am at the library, wirelessly connected to the interweb.

Of course there's a password, so not everyone can enjoy it, besides, I said earlier that this is made possible by a "pasaway" faculty hehehehe, it purely means that the higher ups doesn't know about it.

Now I don't have to stay at the back most of the library to get that open signal from one of the buildings close to ours. Although I'm thankful for him/her for keeping his network open for me to use. He/she need not worry, I'm not going to hijack his/her signal, I am just "sharing" their wireless network.

Enjoy!

TRANSFORMERS The Movie -- Disappointing

DISAPPOINTING! Yup, that's what I felt when I saw the movie, I don't care if it was directed by Michael Bay, well, he didn't give the movie much effort, if you're going to ask me.

I love the TRANSFORMERS! I love how they transform and of course, I love hearing that iconic transformation sound. Unfortunately, in the movie, that sound was not often heard of.

But not all was disappointing. Having to see my favorite robots interact with real human is a blast, and of course to hear OPTIMUS PRIME'S voice after missing it all these years is definitely EXCITING to the EXTREME!

Speaking of OPTIMUS PRIME, why the hell did they put lips on him?! That RESONATING voice is there because of the FACE PLATE! It's just not OPTIMUS PRIME with his lips moving!

And the transformation? Heck I can't figure out how the hell these robots transform! The kids then (that includes me), were so amazed at the cartoon series then because they (us) were able to figure out how the AUTOBOTS and DECEPTICONS transform into robots and vice versa. Now, I can't even follow how BUMBLEBEE and OPTIMUS PRIME transform, considering they're two of the easiest way to figure out. Jazz (the original Porsche) together with RATCHET and IRONHIDE are a bit tricky even in the original series.

And what's with the PROTOFORM? Heck, if they can just choose what form they want when they get to earth, then why do they have to stick with one form? I don't get it!

Oh and the names, why not just stick to the original names and their original forms? If they have to make up a new character, why not give it a new name instead of using older names that is not match with the original ones. I'm talking about, DEVASTATOR, hey, that's the CONSTRUCTICONS merged together, he's NOT A TANK! FRENZY I would understand because he's originally a robot tape of SOUNDWAVE (who I read somewhere will be in the next movie).

MEGATRON is ok, since he really has been changing shape in different generations. And how about BUMBLEBEE, he's a VOLKSWAGEN BEETLE for crying out load, that's him. According to Michael Bay, he would be compared to HERBIE, NOT! Nothing can be compared to HERBIE! But BUMBLEBEE is a robot that transforms into a BEETLE! That's it!

Oh and where is the "...AUTOBOTS, TRANSFORM AND ROLL OUT!"

Whew, what a disappointment! Although, I will surely get a DVD copy, why? Well, just for the sake of having the live action TRANSFORMERS movie!

Safari Browser for Windows

Apple's Safari Browser is now on Windows (now, that's another browser for me). Although I might say that I am not a Safari fan on the Mac OS (I frequently use the Camino Browser from the Mozilla Foundation). Anyways, there's no harm in trying it out, I would like the check out what Steve Jobs is boasting in the WWDC 07 held a couple of days ago and that is the speed. 

I did not run any sophisticated benchmarking software, but by comparing it with Firefox on my WinBox, I can definitely say that Safari is indeed faster. And the speed is noticeable too! Check it out yourselves.

There goes my Digital Camera

I love my digital camera, it's a SONY Cybershot that pumps out 5.1 megapixel images. It has been with me for I think more than 4 years. I also love my mobile phones, I'm a SonyEricsson fan and has a handful of mobile phones in the closet, still functional and still in prestine conditions. When the Cybershot phones came out, I refused to be pulled into the foray, for I have not seen a perfect convergent device, that is perhaps until now.

SonyEricsson released a set of new mobiles and one of them is the K850i, it's the latest iteration of their Cybershot phones, what's good about it is, well, it's got a 5MP camera at the back. Damn! I was eyeing the P1 for my next phone, but this thing is irresistable. It's got a Xenon flash to boot, not those LED faux-flash on other phones, this one really works.

Well, I'll be checking out the other sites to check for early reviews, and perhaps, I will be one of those who can get my hands on the first versions of the phone in the country. Well, I did it with the K700 and the K610 so why not with the K850i.

The fuss with the Foleo

Since Palm announced it's new product line, the Foleo, a big fuss around the tech community of it's purpose? What for? What is it?

Looks like those people who are skeptic of this device are starting to have 2nd thoughts. Why would I want one when I already have a notebook PC that is more powerful than that? Then again, my notebook maybe powerful but is too big and bulky and heavy at that.

Ok then let's try to compare a laptop with the Foleo, in the real world. This means that average notebook PC users are those that use it mostly for Email, Document editing, Presentation and surfing the web (which includes watching videos in YouTube).

Email: Foleo - yes; notebook PC - yes
Document Editing: Foleo - yes; notebook PC - yes
Presentation (Powerpoint): Foleo - yes; notebook PC - yes
Internet: Foleo - yes; notebook PC - yes

By the looks of it, it's a tie! Maybe, but let's see, a typical notebook PC (windows) will have an approximately 10-20 secs to boot up after a hibernate (most windows notebook users out there doesn't even know that their laptops are capable of hibernating, they would just turn their machine on and off per session), but the Foleo has in instant on and off feature, that means, no waiting time. Apple users will argue that most macs are instant on as well, well, yeah, ok. Then there's the seamless synchronization with your smartphone, no one notebook at the present time can do this.

Whatever the argument would be, I think Palm is not trying to push the notebook computer out of the scene. This is the same reason they gave before with the Palm Pilot device, people thought that it's the laptop replacement, and eventually it made it to the top in it's category for some time. I think the Foleo is being groomed as another device (not even an accessory), that's why they called it as another "product-line".

People have been very disappointed with this device, but still it made more people think twice. Do we need to bring the notebook when we will not be using most of it's power, so why not bring the Foleo?

Perhaps it's still difficult to gauge what the device's impact until it is released to the market. We also for that matter don't know what Palm is trying to prove at this moment. But I have this feeling that there's still more to this device than meets the eye.

Foleo -- the Next Palm Pilot

We may all be fussing over the fact that the name comes with a tag line, "Smartphone companion". Yes, as the name implies, it's a device that will complement a smartphone's productivity, but it can also function as a standalone device.

If I understand the device's details clearly, then it is being positioned for mobile workers. In my profession for example, not all needs the full weight of a notebook computer, in fact majority of physicians, both young and old, uses their notebooks only for a few tasks, such as: Presentations, Word document creation/editing, some Spreadsheet work and of course checking emails and surfing the net. Heck most of us does not even use an email client, but instead uses only the available famous web-based emails ( i.e. Yahoo, Hotmail and Gmail).

Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but all these can be done by the Foleo. Many of you might say, the notebook computer can do that and much more! That's my point, the "much more" is seldom utilized. I always make myself as an example. Considering that I'm more technology savy than other physicians. I have a yearold iBook, at first yeah, it was exciting to use a mac, but after a while, the hype fades out and is left only with some aesthetic reasons. Some of the reasons I like about the iBook is that it turns on almost instantly (although it's more of putting itself to sleep), now this feature I like very much, I don't have to wait for the thing to boot up, if I want to show someone something from within the notebook, we don't have to have coffee first before veiwing the document. Take note, one of the features offered by the Foleo. Then I use my iBook to lecture (of course, I get a lot of ooohs and ahhhs on my Keynote presentations, but all those begins after I bring out my iBook from the bag) but then again, I can always do that in Powerpoint right? And once in a while edit word and excel files, and browse the web and that's it.

How about the "much more" in my notebook? Well, I seldom (and it really means SELDOM) use it. iTunes? nope! I have iTunes on my Windows desktop PC (this is where I do most of the work), and I listen to my music when I'm out of the house on my iPod. Hmmm what else, movie editing -- desktop! Then there's the size and weight, every mobile professional knows that size and weight counts a lot. Plus the fact that one has to bring the power brick almost always. I guess that's about it.

So, if I'm someone who will not be using most of the "much more" on the notebook computers, then I would, by all means, get myself a Foleo, smartphone or not. Besides, with our country's "wireless broadband" speed yet to be desireable, I would rather look for a WiFi hotspot and do my computing there. And don't mention the charges. Paying 2T on my DSL at home then another 2T for mobile internet? Now that's another story hehehe

Increased Gmail Attachment Size

If you're the type of person who loves sending large files as attachments to your emails, and feels restricted by the usual 5MB limit, then fret no more, Gmail, Google's email service, has increased it's attachment size to, guess what, yes, 20MB!

I'm thinking that is one way Gmail is getting a step ahead of Yahoo! who is planning to go unlimited on it's email storage quota. Which is a way is upping up from what Google has at the moment which is an increasing storage capacity everyday (presently at around 2.8GB).

So what are you waiting for, sign up now! Gmail previously is only available on invitation only, but has since modified the sign-up process and anyone can now get their own Gmail account just by visiting Gmail.com

FREE WIFI AT ROBINSONS ERMITA...NOT!!!

It was one of those days that I get to go to Ermita these days, some of the few reasons are the traffic, no interesting place to go to and I'm not a Robinsons guy.

Anyways, I'm here because I don't have to go to and I still don't want to go home (come on, it's a friday!). I told myself that this will be the best time to try out the FREE Wireless Internet connection (WiFi) that Robinsons Malls are trying to use to entice shoppers.

I went to the TASTE BUDS, Robinsons version of the Food court. This is where the "FREE" WiFi is. I'm so excited, I can't wait to get online. I ordered a Strawberry shake and a clubhouse sandwich from San Francisco Coffee and fired up my notebook.

The first access point that was detected was that of AIRBORNE ACCESS, I'm pretty sure this wasn't it, so I asked the BARISTA and he pointed me to those things on the table that they use to advertise their products, a small paper is stuck to it with instructions on how to log on the "free" WiFi. Of course, I followed the instructions but I kept on getting rejected (I hate that feeling! Well, who does in the first place?).

I sent an SMS to the hotline on the paper, but up until I had finished typing this article, I am just getting the AIRBORNE ACCESS SSID. Goodluck to me :(

The Dreaded Globelines Broadband Erratic Connection is Here!

I have been reading quite some complaints about Globelines' erratic behavior, the way it will disconnect and re-connect after a few minutes of being logged-in. All the while I thought that this was area-related, since all the years I've been using Globelines broadband, I have never encountered the said incidence. But since a couple of days ago, whenever I use Yahoo! Messenger, I noticed that the line was acting differently, I know that get disconnected because, every time I get logged on into my Yahoo! Messenger SMS. This should only happen if I log off from YM, but in a single session, my phone keeps on getting the notice that I have been logged on into YM SMS.

Couple this with uTorrent as the download speed goes to zero every once in a while, then goes back up to it's normal speed after a few minutes. I also checked my modem/router's configuration page and much as I expected it, there are lots of errors and disconnections. I have emailed Globelines' customer support and I am still clueless as to what their explanation would be.

No more Ad-Aware on Google Pack

As I recently went back to Windows XP from Windows Vista, I one by one downloaded the applications "essential" for a Windows desktop to work, and one of these software is an Anti-spyware program. Before my short-lived migration to Vista, I was using Lavasoft's Ad-Aware, which was also part of Google Pack. On Windows Vista, I was using Microsoft's own Windows Defender. Now that I'm back to XP, I was surprised to see that Ad-Aware has been replaced in Google Pack with SpyDoctor.

As a standalone application, SpyDoctor is not free. But if you download it from Google Pack, one gets a starter edition, that almost has the same properties as the paid version. Maybe I'm going to try it out for a while, and if I'm not satisfied, I might try out, AVG's Free Anti-spyware program. Now, if you're going to ask why it seems that I have confidence on AVG's software, well, that's just for the fact that I am an avid AVG Free Anti-virus user (who isn't) and that I am very well satisfied with it's performance, never had a viral infection in my desktop ever since.

Back to Windows XP

I've reinstalled Windows XP the other day. My desktop was running Windows Vista for sometime, since Microsoft released Vista Beta to RC1 to RC2. But after the notice that all pre-release softwares will "expire" on May 18, I decided to revert back to XP. I am still contemplating on really "upgrading" to Vista, but not yet. Perhaps I will wait for a year to a year and a half before totally dumping Windows XP.

Can't Use Email on my New SE M600i

I got myself a spanking new Sony Ericsson M600i, a UIQ 3 device. Got almost everything up and running with a few exceptions.
- Email (can't get it to work with Gmail and my local ISP)
- Agile Messenger (can't log in to network)
- Gmail app (can't see the connection)

Other than these, it's working fine and wonderful. Only thing I'm missing from my old SE phone (K600) is the HID Bluetooth Remote.

Rumor: Dell to Buy Palm

Here's another rumor on the mill. Dell, after shelving it's PDA Axim line, is rumored to acquire Palm as it thinks that the future is toward smartphones.

New M600 firmware

All you SE M600i owners (including me of course), Sony Ericsson has updated the firmware and can be downloaded thru SE Update Service. It fixed some bugs and made the system a bit faster. Here are most of the changes seen:

• Faster
  
• WMA supoprt!
  
• Transitions option found in control panel, device. Default is OFF
  
• Updated build of opera which seems more stable
  
• Louder through speaker
  
• 20.8mb free ram

Sony Ericsson PC Suite 1.3.11 is out

Sony Ericsson has just updated their PC Suite for Smartphones and is now version 1.3.11

Treo 750 with Windows Mobile 5 (huh?)

Recently, Palm Singapore together with Microwarehouse the Philippine Palm distributor launched the Palm Treo 750 Windows Mobile 5 thru a sassy event at the Embassy bar at the Fort Taguig city. It was attended by the Philippine Palm Users Group (MaPalad) mostly, and at some point members of the Pinoy Windows Mobile and the Philippine Mac Users Group (PhilMUG). The place was jam packed with members and was overflowing with drinks.

Palm gave the Windows Mobile platform some tweaks to "Treo-rized" it. Comparing it with other Windows Mobile Smartphones, the Treo 750 can find a contact directly from it's Today screen as compared to others which will need at least 4 steps. Overall the Treo 750 is a very nice addition to the Treo line, but the problem that I see with it here in the Philippines is in the OS itself. Microsoft just launched Windows Mobile 6, a snazzy eye-candy OS that is comparable to Vista in the desktop arena. It's usually offered as an upgrade by Networks in the US or UK to it's subscriber, but locally, I have not heard of OS upgrades from our major networks Globe and Smart. Thus, if one buys the Treo 750 today, in less than a couple of months, that OS will be old and basically the phone too. Unless Palm would offer them upgrade packages which I highly doubt.

Blogging with Flock doesn't work!

Flock is a web browser from the innards of Mozilla that has some social networking thingies working inside it's gut. One of the features being boasted by Flock is the easy blogging of sites. No more cut and paste and memorizing those kilometer long URL's. I used Flock before, but that was before Google migrated my account to the "new" Blogger engine, now blogging with Flock simply does not work. When I set up my account, it just stays at the "just double checking if your account is set up correctly" uhm hellooooo, I'm blogging right now, so I guess it's working?

It's unfortunate that it doesn't work anymore, it's been really very easy and simple to blog thru Flock, but now I guess I have to go back to the old, blogger website or email blogger for my blogs.

The CRUMPLER Launch Part

Last night, computer accessories king of the Philippines Charlie Paw together is his brother Howard "Bogs" Paw launched their first CRUMPLER store in the country at the Fort. CRUMPLER is a brand of computer and camera bag accessory. Lots of people came with three of the most prestigious user's group in the country as the major attendees, MaPalad (Philippine Palm User's Group), PodCentral (iPod User's Group Philippines) and PhilMUG (Philippine Mac User's Group). Food and drinks were overflowing and games was so excitiing, prizes where of course CRUMPLER bags. Three of CRUMPLER founders where present including their mascot, PINEAPPLE JUJU.

Yahoo! Messenger for VISTA

Under development, this is one cool interface worthy of the shiny AERO interface of Windows Vista. You can sign up to be one of the first few to be notified when it's ready for download here.

Here are some of the supposed features:

Built from the ground up specifically for Microsoft Windows Vista, this all-new version combines the reliable and easy-to-use features you've always loved from Yahoo! Messenger with the cutting-edge experience of this new operating system.

• Instant message, voice, webcam video, and more
• Use the integrated Yahoo! Messenger Sidebar gadget to keep up with the friends that matter most
• Also add Windows Live™ Messenger friends to your contact list to see when they're online and IM them
• Keep conversations organized by dragging and dropping them into one tabbed window
• Brand new emoticons, program icons and alert sounds
• Instantly change the look and feel of your Yahoo! Messenger interface
• Automatic groups are created in your contact list based on your Yahoo! interests (i.e. Yahoo! Sports Fantasy Football league)

Yahoo! Widgets 4.0

Yahoo! Widgets 4.0 is now ready for download at http://widgets.yahoo.com. With the following new features:

• Speedier than ever

  • We heard you, and we've made big improvements in performance
  • Uses up less of your system memory compared to past versions

• Live, at-a-glance view

  • Mini Widgets bring updates and live info to you in a compact package
  • Keep your widgets neatly organized with the new Widget Dock

• New Widgets by Yahoo!

  • Gallery Widget: Browse the Widget Gallery without opening a web browser
  • Flickr Widget: Hooray! Upload, tag, and display Flickr photos.

• And, some things are the same as ever...

  • The most Widgets available anywhere online... over 4,000 and still growing!
  • Works on both Macs and Windows PCs