Geek Nymph

Moving to wordpress...

2006-07-11T21:22:00.000+08:00

I don't know why either...

http://hunny.wordpress.com

I can feel again... But I still can't sleep.

2006-03-24T00:47:00.000+08:00

Today, my whole body felt numb. Ozzie even pinched me hard in the face and I felt nothing. Well, I felt the pressure, much like when you feel the pressure if you have anesthesia. But still, it doesn't hurt. Not one bit.

This was due to too much caffeine. YES, there is such a thing.
[Well, this maybe due too much caffeine and lack of sleep]

Now, I'm not like other guys I know who drink triple Americanos in a tall glass. To keep myself awake for long nights, I buy an Espresso frappe (yes, I like Starbucks) or Javakula and have an extra shot or two added. This will keep me awake until around 6am in the morning.

3 shots of espresso is nothing compared to 2 sachets of San Mig Extra Strong Coffee.

I really wanted to stay awake last night to finish some work, so I made a cup of coffee using 2 sachets of San Mig Cafe. I was able to drink the coffee only after an hour (I forgot about it), and took 3 gulps. Now that I come to think of it, I didn't even finish my coffee!

After a few hours, I noticed I couldn't feel my legs. I couldn't feel my hands, but I could control them. I couldn't feel my lips. On trying so hard to feel my lips, I was biting on them too hard. My lips are now chapped and sore. I couldnt taste my food very well. I felt drugged. I felt as if I was floating.

I know this floating feeling. I usually get this when I haven't had a decent sleep in 3 days. But this one, it was exaggerated.

I never would have thought that someday I'd force myself to sleep.

I forced myself to sleep this afternoon at around 5pm. After 30 minutes, I woke up, but I tried to sleep again. After 30 more mintues, I woke up again. I couldn't sleep. The weird thing is, when I woke up, I felt like I've had a decent sleep. (But still, I couldn't feel anything)

After dinner, Ozzie fell asleep (he also lacked sleep due to an exam earlier). With nothing better to do, I again forced myself to sleep. I was able to catch a few minutes of sleep, but it was hard to stay asleep.

Everything's just starting (after ~24 hours) to get back to normal. I'm starting to feel my legs and hands again. I don't feel as 'drugged' as a while ago, but I still can't sleep. Well, that means I can do more work.

Something's telling me I won't be drinking that coffee again any time soon. When they say extra strong, they mean it.

Has anyone here tried San Mig Coffee?

Ozzie said he drinks San Mig Strong Coffee and just realized that he couldn't sleep afterwards. This is from a guy who drinks a triple Americano in a tall glass, just like water, and still sleeps peacefully afterwards.

Si Paul kaya?

Cozy, Level Up!

2006-03-22T23:48:00.000+08:00

I noticed that after waking up from hibernate mode, Cozy (my laptop) gets a bit sluggish. Cozy's tortiose-like mode is rather obvious when running Netbeans and a large query on pgSQL. I have no time to restart everytime, I hate restarting! I just put cozy on hibernate mode.

I asked Ozzie how much sodimms (DDR2 PC3200) cost nowadays. He said they cost at around P3300 for 512mb. Pretty cheap, I said. I checked out the prices from other shops. I even called PCEvotech, my favorite PC store. Too bad they were already closed, I really wanted to upgrade my RAM.

Oh well. Tomorrow nalang.

My Ozzie came to the office with a C2 in hand, minutes later. "Himala ata, nakita mong may C2 ako, di ka humingi ng pasalubong".
"Hehe, sige... pahingi."

And from his pocket was a sodimm 512mb chip.
Soooooo happy! ^________________________________________^ Happy, happy, happy, happy!!

When we were installing it, we found out that there were 2x256mb instead of the website posted specs of 1x512mb. (Actually, I've already read that in a forum somewhere, I just never got to confirm till now)

We both realized 768mb is not enough. We rushed to Villman to have the 512mb exchanged for 1G (plus cash, of course). We came just as the guard was closing the shop and we had the RAM exchanged.

Cool shoeshine! I now have 1.25G of RAM!

You should see Netbeans on Cozy!
WWWwwwwwwwweeeeeeeeeeeeee............ Happy, happy, happy, fast Cozy!

Well, still not as fast as large as Jerm's 2G RAM, but I'm ok with 1.25G for now. :)

Thanks, Ozzie, for the gift, even if there's no occasion.

Finally!

2006-02-14T15:32:00.000+08:00

Bayantel upgraded our line to 1.5Mbps! At last!

A few months ago I've been ranting how Bayantel used to be the fastest provider (compared to my ex-teammates DSLs), since PLDT upgraded their bandwidth but Bayantel's stayed the same. At least now Bayantel is at par.

I don't see much of a difference, but it still feels good that you have a 1.5Mbps DSL line. :D

Tested it today:

Nice. :)

*Well, here in the Philippines, that is fast enough.

Poor actor wants his gmail

2006-02-08T02:21:00.000+08:00

Sorry, Sean Penn... but I really do find this funny. <Sean Penn Demands to know what asshole took SeanPenn(at)gmail.com>

What took you so long to get invited to Gmail anyway?
How sure are you that the person who registered seanpenn@gmail isn't actually named... wait for it... "Sean Penn"?

And... huh? How are you similar to the poor, war-battered youth of the Middle East again? Hehe.

Quick! Register SeanPenn at Blogger or WordPress now... or else you'll get SeanPenn123456789 and then you'll have to create another 1,900-word blog post about not getting the username SeanPenn. Teehee!
(Note:Apparently the blogger one is already taken)

I'm mean.

make you happy tonight

2006-01-23T17:14:00.000+08:00

Let's just hope this will never happen to me.

Make You Happy Tonight

Tripod: Doo doo, doo doo,
Doo-doo doo-doo.
Doo doo, doo doo,
Doo-doo doo-doo.

Scod: Baby,
Tripod: Gonna make you happy tonight.
Yon and Gatesy: Gonna make you happy tonight,
Scod: Oh, sugar.

Tripod: Give my love to you,
Oh baby.
Gonna make you feel so right.
Yon and Gatesy: Gonna make you, make you happy,
Oooh, sugar.
Scod: Yeah!

Tripod: Spend some time with you,
Do the things you want me to.
Scod: Gonna make love...
Yon and Gatesy: Gonna make some sweet, sweet love, sugar.

Tripod: So get ready,
Oooh, get ready, get ready.
Scod: Get ready for lovin',
Tripod: Tonight.
Yeah, oh.

Before we get down to love,
Yon and Gatesy: Before we get down...
Scod: ... I just gotta finish this level.

Yon and Gatesy: Doo doo, doo doo,
Doo-doo doo-doo.
Doo doo, doo doo,
Doo-doo doo-doo.

Scod: You see, I got a high...
... score tonight.
Tripod: And I just want to save my game.

Yon and Gatesy: Doo doo, doo doo,
Doo-doo doo-doo.
Doo doo, doo doo,
Doo-doo doo-doo.

Scod: Well, I'll be with you in a minute,
Sweet darling, baby, honey.
Tripod: I love how you dance for me.

Scod: Oooh, la la la la la la la...
Yon and Gatesy: Could you move a little to the left, baby?
Scod: I can't see the TV.

Yon and Gatesy: Doo doo, doo doo,
Doo-doo doo-doo.
Doo doo, doo doo,
Doo-doo doo-doo.

Tripod: Baby, I can't want 'till we start,
Scod: It's just that the save points are quite far apart,
In this game, baby.

Yon and Gatesy: Doo doo, doo doo,
Doo-doo doo-doo.
Doo doo, doo doo,
Doo-doo doo-doo.

Scod: Oooh, la la la la la la la...
Yon and Gatesy: Doo-doo doo-doo.
Scod: This bit's got a multi-player section, honey,
Maybe you can operate a turret with me.
Would you like that, baby?
Yon and Gatesy: Doo-doo doo-doo.

Scod: Games give you hand-eye co-ordination,
And spacial intelligence, together with...
Tripod: ... map-reading skills.
Scod: Oh, sugar.

Yon and Gatesy: Turn the lights down low...
Scod: Turn the lights down, just a little bit lower, baby.
Yon and Gatesy: Turn the lights down low...
Scod: Turn the lights down low.
Yon and Gatesy: Turn the lights down low...
Scod: It's just that it helps me feel like I'm in a spaceship.

Tripod: Sweet, sweet love,
Yon: Honey...
Scod: Sugar...
Gatesy: Baby...

Tripod: Oooh, you look so great to me.

... Baby.
Have you brushed your teeth yet?

Take your time, no hurry.
It's just that I'm not tired.
Are you tired?

I'll see you in the bed, then.
You might want to take a book.

Scod: Baby...
Yon and Gatesy: Ooo ooo ooo,
You're so fine, baby.

Scod: You know I can't stop thinking about you, baby.
And all of the magic coins that I need to collect.

Yon and Gatesy: Doo doo, doo doo,
Doo-doo doo-doo.
Doo doo, doo doo,
Doo-doo doo-doo.

Scod: See, I just gotta find one more point of armour class,
And then I can take on the robots of Zirgon B,
And then we can make love...

Yon and Gatesy: Doo doo, doo doo,
Doo-doo doo-doo.
Doo doo, doo doo,
Doo-doo doo-doo.

Tripod: I think this X-Box,
Scod: Is the best present I ever bought for you,
Baby!

++ctr;

2006-01-20T16:15:00.000+08:00

I recently added a counter at the side. It's not reliable. Refresh like crazy and it will increment every refresh.

I added that because I saw an ad(sense) on Joe-e's blog and I wanted to help make him rich so I clicked on all the ads.

He earned 8 cents so far.

What's new?

2006-01-19T18:55:00.000+08:00

From a Slashdot article, Computer Science Students Outsource Homework.

What's new? Ive seen it happen in our University, gazzilion times already. What's sad is that I contributed to this problem.

The first time I was asked to "help" out on an MP (Machine Problem) for CS 11, I gladly complied. It was for the experience. I found their MP to be challenging, so I did it. Also, mainly because they were my friends.
I did the MP and handed it to them. I can't even remember if I tried to teach them or if they were interested enough to learn.

Makes me wonder if what happened was all my fault? One shifted to another course, and two of them did not graduate on time (but graduated nevertheless, from CS). All of them, I think... hate programming.

Recently I've been asked to create a program for an undergraduate project. I knew what I had to answer.
"Turuan nalang kita."

To bid, or not to bid...

2006-01-17T09:10:00.000+08:00

To bid, or not to bid: that is the question
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
Not possessing that laptop which doesn't cost a fortune
Or take it into my arms, but means a sea of troubles,
But in fighting hunger, help them

To venture: to purchase;
No more; and by a purchase to say we end
The hunger and the thousand natural shocks
That flesh is heir to, 'tis a consummation
Devoutly to be wish'd. To venture, to purchase;
To purchase: perchance to dream: ay, there's the rub;

Thoughts:
Ok, I know I'm not much of a poet or spoofer.
Anyway, I pity Sony and America's Second Harvest. The laptops are going for a couple of hundred bucks below the original price. They should have sold it as-is.

Gosh. They're really so cheap. Sooooo tempted......
Impulse buy? :D

But what do I need it for? *scratch head*

Argh.
Kinda reminds me of the joke:

A man will pay $2 for a $1 item he needs.
A woman will pay $1 for a $2 item that she doesn't need.

Jessica Alba's laptop is, at this rate, the most expensive of the 5. It might go double the original price.
Oh... and guess what? Looks like a lot of most of the bidders are guys. Teehee.

What's really behind a MacWorld Keynote Address?

2006-01-11T02:47:00.000+08:00

What's really behind a MacWorld Keynote Address?

Ozzie, Joe-e and I stayed up late (early, rather. 1am to 3:30am), waiting for the big announcement at MacWorld.

I was refreshing like crazy at Engadget and MacRumors as the sites were being updated almost real time. I know, I know. I should have refrained from pressing that friggin' F5 key. I just can't help it....

Joe-e fell asleep as soon as the keynote started. Funny. Ozzie and I were discussing stuff all the while we were waiting for that "and one more thing..." moment.

And the rumors are true! Apple released an Intel-based dual core PowerBook. Only now it isn't called a PowerBook anymore. They changed it to a more declasse product name, somewhere in the line of "Joybook". Let's just thank goodness it's not as jologs as Jolex. Introducing the new Intel-based, dual core PowerBook, the MacBook Pro. Quoting Jobs:

It's a new name because we're kinda done with power, and we want the name the Mac name in our products. The same dual-processor as the iMac in every model. This is hard to believe: 4-5x faster than the PowerBook G5. These things are screamers.

The MacBook Pros will ship on February. Below are the noteworthy specifications:

15.4" 1.67 GHz Intel Core Duo
$1,999.00
* 15.4-inch TFT display with 1440x900 resolution
* 1.67GHz Intel Core Duo processor with 2MB shared L2 Cache
* 667MHz frontside bus
* 512MB (single SO-DIMM) 667MHz DDR2 SDRAM (PC2-5300)
* 80GB 5400rpm Serial ATA hard drive
* Slot-load SuperDrive (DVD±RW/CD-RW)
* ATI Mobility Radeon X1600 with 128MB GDDR3 memory

15.4" 1.83GHz Intel Core Duo
$2,499.00
* 15.4-inch TFT display with 1440x900 resolution
* 1.83GHz Intel Core Duo processor with 2MB shared L2 Cache
* 667MHz frontside bus
* 1GB (single SO-DIMM) 667MHz DDR2 SDRAM (PC2-5300)
* 100GB 5400rpm Serial ATA hard drive
* Slot-load SuperDrive (DVD±RW/CD-RW)
* ATI Mobility Radeon X1600 with 256MB GDDR3 memory

See the complete specs. Pretty, isn't it?
See the streaming video here.

Gosh. I can't afford it. I already have a laptop. I love my laptop! It's just those persistent zombie pixels (they're undead) are annoying.

*edited:
Deleted a comment that might have hurt or offended. I'm so sorry. ='(
Previously "The PowerBook is dead", spin-off of an article I read (something like The PowerBook is dead, Long live the MacBook Pro). The previous title didn't come out right.

No live webcast? Even a podcast?

2006-01-10T23:57:00.000+08:00

I'm not so sure, but according to the sites I have googled, there will be no live webcast or podcast of the Macworld Expo 2006 keynote. I wonder why that is the case?

In any case, there are text updates here and here.

I wonder why I'm so excited I can't wait until tomorrow to get the news?
Quite possibly because my Ozzie, Joee and I have been waiting for this since the other day. We were mistaken, we thought the keynote was yesterday. Well... that only heightens the excitement of wanting to know what that "and another thing..." thing is.

"The keynote is due to start in 38 minutes.", says Macrumors.
Yeah, I know they and they so politely asked not to refresh the browser every so often, but I can't help myself. (Yes, I know it refreshes automatically. But seriously... what geek can wait 3 mins?)

There are geek girls too, you know?

2006-01-10T14:56:00.000+08:00

It's a pretty, pretty tote. Not just any tote, it's a laptop tote! I fell in love with this when I saw it a year or two ago at thinkgeek. It's pretty and stylish with a dash of pink.
As I sometimes commute, I need a bag that doesn't look like a laptop bag. (Hello! It's like asking for trouble) This one is perfect, it just looks like a normal girly-bag.

When you buy this, you have something for yourself, and at the same time you donate 10% to a breast cancer foundation. What girl would not love to buy this?

Oh, don't get me wrong. I love my current laptop bag.
Oh, make that bags.

But hey, I'm a girl. Bags are our thing.

Hmmm... now, where do I find trendy geeky shoes?

Another crazy idea for the lazy gamers... (like me)

2006-01-09T02:37:00.000+08:00

This just made me laugh. The review from Gizmodo is just hilarious:

Some of us have real lives with jobs and families to tend to. But that doesn’t mean we aren’t in touch with all you gen-gamers. I mean, playing World of Warcraft for 11 hours straight and then selling the gold on eBay is the job of the future, right? So, we present to you the executive desk chair for the hardcore MMORPG set: the head-propping pillow for gamers. It only costs about 550 gold (or $36 from Yahoo! Japan). Yeah, it makes you look like you’re ready to give oral to a humpback whale, but your neck and head can slacken up and focus on the screen. Added bonus: you will get that slouched-over posture that announces to all the world, “I am a level 10 Mage.”

A Digital Reading Experience - "like.no.other"

2006-01-08T23:31:00.000+08:00

I've long been interested on the e ink technology and where it would advance.

Last 2004, Sony launched Librie, an e-book reader that utilized the e-ink technology. This product, however, failed to take off. This could be credited to the high retail price and the draconian antipiracy technology. This technology lets the user rent the book from Sony. After 60 days, the e-books deleted themselves. I can see why this didn't click. Plus, Librie was only released in Japan.

This year, Sony is making another attempt at the ebook reader business with the Sony Reader. (Yes - that's what it's called. Sony Reader. Amazing... no fancy, artsy-fartsy names!). Thank goodness they released it to other markets! The Reader can read BBeBs (Sony's proprietary [anyone surprised?] Broadband Electronic Book format), PDFs and JPEGs. It can even play MP3s. Cool.

According to one review I've read, the Sony Reader has a very good display, which is extremely similar to a page with real ink.

I'd love to have one of these. I hate staring at my laptop for long periods of time when reading a paper or an ebook. However, I'd have to wait until other low-cost e-ink readers are out on the market. I still love you Sony... but the pricetag is pretty hefty. E-paper technology couldn't vary among readers anyway.

The Sony Reader is already on sale for $349.99. It was recently featured on the Consumer Electronics Show, along with similar readers such as the Iliad from iRex Technologies which will be available April 2006.

Yet another MMORPG

2006-01-07T23:55:00.000+08:00

So much hype is on Rising Force Online (RF Online), a MMORPG game from Codemasters Online Gaming (locally managed by Level Up Games), that I decided to try it out. The game is currently on open-beta here in the Philippines, and will go live on January 10, 2006. The game is identified as the "most anticipated MMORPG" at mmorpg.com.

According to GameSpot:

RF Online will take place on an alien planet inhabited by three different playable races. These are the Accretia Empire, a race of robotic characters that command highly advanced technology; the Bellato Union, a race of human-like tinkers that specialize in powerful gadgets; and the Cora Holy Alliance, a race of elflike beings that prefer magic to machine guns. Each race has distinctive abilities, including at least one unique power that distinguishes them in battle.

I chose the Cora Race due to a very obvious reason... because they're cute. Teehee. I play games mainly because I just want to play dress-up. Second to that is the story and gameplay experience.

I played the game for 3 hours. I got bored. I'm not sure why exactly, I just did. This is the first time that I got interested in a game, but after playing it, I just got bored.

Hmmmm... maybe because my character runs so slow... around 3x as slow as my Elementalist in Guildwars. Or maybe because the quests weren't that exciting. Or maybe it was due to the recurrent lags. Or maybe it was due to the 'jologs' in the game (I was told by Dan that the high monthly fee for RF online would reduce the amount of kanto people in the game. But anyway...).

Maybe it's just dragging at the start. Maybe I need to play a little more. Maybe... but I won't.

I'll just go back to Guildwars. It's been a while since I played.
I wonder what's new?

My Newly created Cora character on the left and my character after a few hours on the right. (Saying buh-bye because I'll never see her again)

*disclaimer: It's just me. I just don't like it. Don't take it against me. :P

Will this never end?

2006-01-07T18:21:00.000+08:00

The same black spots are back.
I'm getting tired of this.

They're gone!

2006-01-06T02:09:00.000+08:00

Thanks to Sir Rommel for the advice, the dead pixels* on my laptop are gone! (Well actually, they're at the bottom of the LCD, they can still be seen if the LCD is viewed at an angle). Anyway, they're hidden from sight and that's good.

It may sound silly, but 'massaging' the dead pixels kind of worked. :) Thanks sir!

*I don't think they're dead pixels per se. It might have been some liquid trapped inside my LCD. How they got there, I have no idea. I take really good care of cozy.

Is it time to switch?

2006-01-03T01:46:00.000+08:00

Found this link that compares Blogger and Wordpress (along with other blogging tools)

Wordpress is definitely way ahead of Blogger.
Two of the features I would really love to see on Blogger are categories and password protection. Fortunately Wordpress has those features. I even got hunny.wordpress.com.

Soooo tempted...

Writer's Block

2005-12-13T19:04:00.000+08:00

I'm currently creating the related literature for my thesis proposal. I can't seem to start because I don't find my topic interesting (sad). I want to change my topic but I can't think of one right now. My current topic is QoS in mobile ad-hoc networks (no specific proposal yet).

I stumbled upon this link, a thesis topic generator. Most of the topics are composed of buzzwords. Some topics don't make sense, but most of them are plausible thesis topics.

I hope I can derive a new topic.

Macro Photography on a budget

2005-12-13T14:05:00.000+08:00

Pretty cool results, Ozzie might want to try this. :)

Stereogram galore

2005-12-12T19:45:00.000+08:00

I loved stereograms. A stereogram is an optical illusion of depth brought into appearance by focusing one's eyes in front of (crossing one's eyes) or behind the image one is looking at, often done with a device. The slight differences in repeated figures or random dots create the illusion of depth in the 2D image, just as the slight difference in perspective between one's eyes creates the perception of depth on 3D objects and scenes.

Here's a text-based stereogram maker I found on the web. Neat!

I made a sample: (There's a 3D heart)

OzzieOzzieOzzieOzzieOzzieOzzieOzzieOzzieOzzieOzzieOzzieOzzie
HunnyHunnyHunnyHunnyHunnyHunnyHunnyHunnyHunnyHunnyHunnyHunny
OzzieOzzieOzzieOzzieOzzieOzzieOzzieOzzieOzzieOzzieOzzieOzzie
HunnyHunnyHunnyHunnyHunnyHunnyHunnyHunnyHunnyHunnyHunnyHunny
OzzieOzzieOzzieOzzieOzzieOzzieOzzieOzzieOzzieOzzieOzzieOzzie
HunnyHunnyHunnyHunnyunnyunynyunyyunyyusnyyusnyyusnyyusnyyusn
OzzieOzzieOzzieOzzeOzzeOzzeOdzeOdzeOdzeOmdzeOmdzeOmdzeOmdzeO
HunnyHunnyHunnyHunyHunyHunyHunyHunyHunyHJunyHJunyHJunyHJunyH
OzzieOzzieOzzieOzzeOzzeOzzeOzzeOzzeOzzeORzzeORzzeORzzeORzzeO
HunnyHunnyHunnyHunyHunyHunyHunyHunyHunyHounyHounyHounyHounyH
OzzieOzzieOzzieOzzeOzzeOzzeOzzeOzzeOzzeOKzzeOKzzeOKzzeOKzzeO
HunnyHunnyHunnyHunnyunnyunnyunnyunnyunTnyunTnyunTnyunTnyunTn
OzzieOzzieOzzieOzzieOzieOzieOzieOziepOziepOziepOziepOziepOzi
HunnyHunnyHunnyHunnyHunnHunnHunnHuMnnHuMnnHuMnnHuMnnHuMnnHuM
OzzieOzzieOzzieOzzieOzzieOzieOziVeOziVeOziVeOziVeOziVeOziVeO
HunnyHunnyHunnyHunnyHunnyHunyHvunyHvunyHvunyHvunyHvunyHvunyH
OzzieOzzieOzzieOzzieOzzieOzzieOzzieOzzieOzzieOzzieOzzieOzzie
HunnyHunnyHunnyHunnyHunnyHunnyHunnyHunnyHunnyHunnyHunnyHunny
OzzieOzzieOzzieOzzieOzzieOzzieOzzieOzzieOzzieOzzieOzzieOzzie
HunnyHunnyHunnyHunnyHunnyHunnyHunnyHunnyHunnyHunnyHunnyHunny
OzzieOzzieOzzieOzzieOzzieOzzieOzzieOzzieOzzieOzzieOzzieOzzie
HunnyHunnyHunnyHunnyHunnyHunnyHunnyHunnyHunnyHunnyHunnyHunny

If you can't see it, try copy-pasting to a text editor.

Yumyum... =P~

2005-12-12T07:55:00.000+08:00

Drool... can't wait till it gets here (Hope it gets here soon!)
What a nice way to get your caffeine rush.

Oh, wait. I don't like carbonated drinks. Hurts my throat.
Teehee... well then will just have to shake or stir before drinking... :D

First Ever Wristwatch on E-paper

2005-12-03T23:58:00.000+08:00

Seiko has finally released the e-paper watch, A watch that utilizes electronic paper as it's display. The e-paper displays a constantly-altering mosaic pattern, in addition to the conventional time display (of course).

It's pretty cool and kind of geeky (the way I like it)... but it has such a hefty pricetag for a watch. Fine it's the first watch on E-paper, but would you buy a whopping US$2230 watch?

I'm happy with my current wristwatch.

URL: http://techon.nikkeibp.co.jp/english/NEWS_EN/20050401/103334/?ST=english

Errr... Moving dead pixels?

2005-12-01T12:34:00.000+08:00

I recently had a post about dead pixels on my Sony Vaio.

What's weird is that the 'dead pixels' are moving. I swear that they were right above the time on the taskbar. Now, they're on the time's right side.
Ok, so they aren't really dead pixels. It brings me relief!

But what are those, really?
Dirt? But how the heck did they get in there and how in the world will I remove it?

Update on Pimp my PC: Help Fight Hunger with Style

2005-11-30T14:47:00.001+08:00

I recently saw all the laptops that some celebrities made for Sony Vaio FJ-series.
Goodness! Now I know why Jessica Alba's design was the one on display. At that point, it was the least horrible-looking laptop.

Pimp my PC

Jessica Alba

Mark Ruffalo

Elijah Wood

Wilmer Valderrama

Nicole Richie and DJ AM (bravo to them! They made the least damage to the laptop!)

How in the world will you help fight hunger with these?
With style? What syle?!?!?

Anyway, if for some reason you would want to buy these laptops, here's the link to bid on eBay (bid starts January 9, 2006)

I didn't see this one coming...

2005-11-30T02:06:00.000+08:00

Geez, I haven't done an entry yet on my laptop, Cozy (Sony Vaio S460P), and I have found several dead pixels already. Yes! Several. There are around 7-10 dead pixels bunched up on the bottom right hand corner of my LCD screen. It's somewhat annoying.
I don't have worldwide warranty and I don't think my Dad extended the warranty for the laptop. I hope he still has the receipt because I'm returning this when I get there. That's around June-July 2006. My wappie would still be covered by the warranty by that time.
Annoying.

Hot Air Balloon

2005-11-22T01:45:00.000+08:00

How true...

A man in a hot air balloon realized he was lost. He reduced his altitude and spotted a woman below. He descended a bit more and shouted: “Excuse me, can you help me? I promised a friend I would meet him an hour ago, but I don’t know where I am.”
The woman below replied, “You’re in a hot air balloon hovering approximately 30 feet above the ground. You’re between 40 and 45 degrees north latitude and between 9 and 60 degrees west longitude.”

“You must be in Information Technology,” said the balloonist. “I am,” replied the woman, “How did you know?”

“Well,” answered the balloonist, “everything you told me is technically correct, but I’ve no idea what to make of your information, and the fact is I’m still lost. Frankly, you’ve not been much help at all. If anything, you’ve delayed my trip.”

The woman below responded, “You must be in Management.”

“I am!” replied the balloonist, “but how did you know?”

“Well”, said the woman, “you don’t know where you are or where you’re going. You have risen to where you are, due to a large quantity of hot air. You made a promise, which you’ve no idea how to keep, and you expect people beneath you to solve your problems.”

“The fact is you are in exactly the same position you were in before we met, but now, somehow, it’s my fault.”

Funny Domain Names

2005-11-22T01:23:00.000+08:00

You would hope companies would think about possible misconceptions before registering an address, apparently not…

http://whorepresents.com/ - a database for agencies to the rich and famous

http://expertsexchange.com/ - The Experts Exchange, a knowledge base where programmers can exchange advice and views

http://therapist.com/ - Need a therapist?

http://www.molestationnursery.com/ - The Mole Station Native Nursery, based in New South Wales

My favorite:
http://penisland.net/ - Looking for a pen? Look no further than Pen Island

Geek Girls can also have some fun...

2005-11-20T02:34:00.000+08:00

Being a female and a geek does not necessarily mean that you are un-cool, un-pretty or un-sexy. There is a steroetype though.

You know, geeks can be sexy too.

Proof? Well, aside from me, there's a calendar, Geekgorgeous.com, which feature women in the hi-tech industry that are not only smart, but also beautiful and sexy. The sample picture at the site shows a model clad in TP cable. Now, how cool is that? :D

The calendar showcases young ladies who are not only beautiful and stylish, but can also fix your computer, normalize your databases, discuss the advantages of polymorphism, and beat you at Doom.

Hmmm..... Maybe I should apply for next year's... :D

Would you ever buy this laptop?

2005-11-19T11:17:00.000+08:00

Sony Celebrity Vaio for Charity

It might be for a good cause and it may have great specs (Pentium M 2GHz, 1GB RAM, 120GB hard drive, GeForce™ Go6600 128MBDDR, 17 in. WXGA), but I don't want to own a crappy looking-laptop.

From the ooohhh-shiny... to eeewww... hairy.

I know I won't buy this.
I'm happy with my shiny Vaio, thank you.

My resurrected webcam

2005-11-14T02:11:00.000+08:00

I decided to resurrect my old webcam, SiPix Blink II. I bought it around 3 years ago when I was in the US. It cost around $50, if I remember it right. I planned to use it with Yahoo Messenger's webcam feature so I could send my Ozzie some kisses (Unfortunately, their network had firewall, so no Yahoo webcam for us. :( ). When I came back, I used the webcam rarely since the UP network also had a firewall. I just used the webcam to take some random pictures of friends. :)

The selling point of this camera is that it is so small and cute. Measuring at about 0.5x2x2 inches, it's pretty small for a webcam. Another selling point for me was that it could be detached so that you could take pictures without a computer (Camera phones were still waaaay too expensive back then). The camera is powered by an AAA battery and the internal memory is about 8megs. Pictures can be transferred via the USB attachment, of course. Back then, this was little gadget was pretty amazing.

The resolution for images could be either 640 x 480 or 320 x 240 pixels. For video, resolution could be either 320 x 240 (up to an 80-second length) or 160 x 120 (up to a 160-second length).

Picture quality? Well... not that good. I took pictures of Wuzzie when I was at the airport. Will post them later here. They're viewable, but don't expect too much.

This device isn't exactly a "real" digital camera. The pictures taken from this camera are useless as prints, but they're good enough for silly spontanoeus pics, mementos, email pics and even blogger pics, I guess. As with the old camera phones, pictures taken without much light look crappy. No flash, no focus, no nightmode, no nothing, it's just a nifty little webcam you can play with. For me, it's enough for a webcam.

If I want to take quality pictures/prints, then I'd better go buy that Canon Ixus I've been wanting to get.

Everybody makes a boo-boo once in a while.

2005-11-09T00:18:00.000+08:00

I borrowed my roommate's PC when I woke up today. I had episodes of Nip Tuck, House, Desperate Housewives, Numb3rs, Myth Busters and other favorite shows stored on my roomie's PC. Since Delta (the PC) was running low on disk space, I deleted some of the files I knew I backed up on Cozy (my laptop). Since I was still quite groggy, I accidentally deleted the whole folder of Myth Busters which I just finished downloading! I always do Shift+Delete when I delete files. This means the file immediately gets deleted instead of going through the recycle bin. Gosh. I was sulking the entire day.

Good thing it was on Windows. As we all know, Windows uses the File Allocation Table (FAT) to keep track of it's files. When a file is sent to the recycle bin, the file is not really (physically) deleted or moved, it's just marked as hidden so that the file management tools do not consider them as files in that particular folder. When a file is deleted (removed from recycle bin or shift+deleted) the entry of that file is deleted from the FAT, but the file is still physically there. It's just that the physical address of the file is not protected anymore, so any time a file gets written, it may or may not overwrite the deleted file.

Good thing Delta is partitioned!

Would have been a problem if not, since I was downloading other stuff. These were downloaded into a different partition. Hard disks w/ partitions are marked off to differentiate one partition from another. So if a file was deleted from a different partition than the Windows directory and other partitions that you are writing into, the deleted files are still safe.

I'm currently restoring all the episodes, I managed to retreive 22 out of 23 files. I accidentally wrote a file into the partition that's why 1 file is unrecoverable. Err... just make sure the files that you recover are copied to a different partition, otherwise the 'deleted' files will get overwritten, causing other files (including the file you're restoring) to be unrecoverable.

Oh well... at least it's better than wasting bandwidth trying to download the whole thing again. At least I only have 1 file missing and an hour or two wasted trying to retreive the files. That's good enough for me. :D

What got me into really loving Sony

2005-11-05T03:27:00.000+08:00

We've had Sony TV's, camcorders, playstations, phones and other gadgets. They were all nice, but I never really loved them. Sony wasn't always the first choice in buying appliances and gadgets. I never really took notice until I saw Sony Vaios.

The first time I saw a Sony Vaio was at my Dad's home in Texas. He had a Sony Vaio desktop set. I really can't remember which model it was, but when I used the PC, it was jaw-droppingly amazing.

Fine, the PC could have been cloned (and would have saved a lot of $), but what really amazed me was the screen. I never could believe the quality of the display. It was like something was printed and then placed strategically inside the monitor. The images were bright and sharp. It was even better than our TV at home. At every angle I look, the screen could still be seen clearly. I vowed to get one of my own - it's as if the screen hypnotized me. Years later, I got my own Sony Vaio VGN S460-P.

Sony Vaio's are pretty - but they come with a such hefty price tag. Well, Sony products are of good quality anyway. I think it's well worth it.

My phonie "Peachy"

2005-11-03T04:29:00.000+08:00

As mentioned in my first post, Peachy is my current mobile phone, a Nokia 3230. It was T3's (a local gadget magazine) best smart phone a few months back.

But of course, as all fads come and go, a month or so later, my phone ranked only 17th. Gosh.
Here where I live, others think that your phone is your status symbol. Own a flashy phone and they'd think you're rich. Still own a N3210 - they'd think either you stole it or you don't have money.

Anyway, here are some of the good features of my phone:

Nokia 3230 Smartphone

* 1.3 megapixel camera (1280 x 960 image resolution)
* 65,536-color screen
* Expandable memory (32 MB RS MMC card included)
* IR/Bluetooth
* MP3 / Realplayer
* Symbian OS
* Java™ MIDP 2.0

The nicest feature of this phone is the camera (There are other phone w/ 2MP but I'm happy with mine). On good light, the pictures are ok and can be developed as 3R photos. Downside is there's no flash. Without enough light, pictures are grainy.
The phone is a little slow. It might be because the OS is Symbian, but what the heck... there are more advantages than disadvantages for Symbian OS (One of my master's degree reports). I would rather not go into details, just trust me on that one.

I was never a phone person. I just buy the best one on the market - ONLY when I need it. The best phone - so it could last me years.

I only had 4 cellphones in my life. The first was a Samsung Analog phone, which was replaced by a sms-capable phone the Nokia 3210 (which got broken), replaced by a Sony Ericsson T68i (which got 'stolen'), then a Nokia 6220 (which I returned to the office) and my current one, Nokia 3230.

Billionton Bluetooth Dongle

2005-10-31T04:30:00.000+08:00

I got my Bluetooth dongle from my friends as a birthday present.
Thank you!

Although I do have a few comments regarding the product.
Pros:
1. It's Class 1. 100 meter radius. Cool.
2. It's black. It matches my laptop! :)

Cons:
1. It's kinda big. Well, compared to other dongles, this one is huge.
2. It has an annoying antenna that I think I already broke.
3. It's useless without bluesoleil. I've seen dongles which doesn't need this software. (I don't like bluesoleil)
4. My phone and laptop can discover each other but my devices can't connect/send files to one another. Weird.
5. I've seen the price tag, and it's really expensive. I would have opted for the cheaper dongle

I really appreciate the gift, I really wanted to buy a bluetooth dongle. But this product isn't really worth the hefty price tag. Well... you only wanted the best. Who would have known?

Thanks NEC losers for the gift!

On naming our gadgets...

2005-10-30T02:23:00.000+08:00

Someone once asked if we ever named our computers. It came to me as a silly question, honestly. Call it (my) naiveness, but I never really thought there was someone who didn't name their gadget. A CS major, at that. Well, maybe it's because I'm very much attached to my gadgets.

The naming started with Bea, our eldest kiddo. Ozzie and I have 14 cute little cubs. As gadgets come, the next name will be taken from the next kiddo. The computer Bea is my ever-dependable desktop from college. Kenny is another desktop Ozzie and I used during college. Wuzzie is Ozzie's laptop, also from college. Otis is Ozzie's laptop from HP (My laptop from HP is named hunny. How selfish!). Peachy is my current phonie(Nokia 3230). Then there's Cozy, my new wappie. And Huggy is my current desktop at work. Kimbie is my Ozzie's new PSP.

What happens if we run out of kiddo names to give our new gadgets?
That's easy. Then we'll make new kiddos! :)