Category Archives: Techie Geek

When Boredom Strikes (Episode 1)

Ever since the Blog Parteeh, I noticed that my blog’s traffic increased. I blame it on meeting new people who are actually interested in reading other people’s blogs because they own one. I’ve been finding more motivation to blog and to find interesting things to blog about (I actually have a list of things to blog in my planner, so I won’t forget). It’s nice to be able to practice my writing and learn about new things through this.

Since I can’t possibly visit every blog every day, I decided to go ahead and use an RSS feed reader which I can access everywhere. I used to have Feed Reader installed in my laptop but I couldn’t install it in the office so I couldn’t exactly make use of it anymore. I decided to go web based, and among all feed readers I chose, it’s hello to Google Reader. :)

But I won’t be talking about Google Reader here because it’s pretty much straightforward (just like Gmail, only it’s for RSS) and I don’t want to bore you. Earlier today, I added some Google feed bundles and here are some of the interesting stuff I found (which is hereby christened: When Boredom Strikes :P):

  • Intermittent Internet? Here’s Five Six Things To Do With a PC When You Have No Internet Connection. Interesting and quite useful. I should do those one of these days, even if my Internet’s normal. [Digg]
  • Did you know that more water is used in the production of a plastic bottle than the water it contains? Pablo Calculates the True Cost of Bottled Water. [Digg]
  • February 14 is fast approaching, and by next week, we’d be seeing the color red all over…why is the color red so powerful anyway? Learn more about it by clicking on the link. [Digg]
  • I want to do the same thing to my roof in the future. But maybe I’ll choose another cartoon character. Rainbow Brite? [Google Sightseeing]
  • How about this? The World’s Smallest Parks. Mills End Park is kind of…well, small! How did they even classify this one as a park being that small? It’s like a small section of a sidewalk in our village. [Google Sightseeing]
  • I love the Snickers chocolate bar, but since I live in a place where there is no Snickers commercial or Superbowl, I didn’t know about their controversial commercial being pulled off air. Interesting but IMHO the commercial’s kind of weak in terms of enticing the consumer. Or maybe it’s just me, since I’m not amused with these kinds of things. If you want to watch the commercial, just search for it yourself. :P
  • This isn’t from Google Reader technically, but I read his post there first. :P So wait, it is from Google Reader. Anyway, Elber posted some interesting links in his Link Love post for February 6. As opposed to the other people I know, I’m not an 80’s kid since I was born late 80’s…most of my memories were in the 90’s, and Back to the Nineties is the perfect site for me to reminisce! Read about old TV Shows such as Full House (as in Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen), Sailormoon, Gimik, TGIS, old places such as Glico’s or even old bands and magazines such as BOP! There’s even something about Choki Choki! Come on, don’t tell me you don’t know that! :P My mom used to buy a box of that at Makro. :)
  • Dropping by Apples‘ site one time (through Google Reader, yes) led me to this: Sunday Reflections. It’s a blog filled with reflections for every Sunday of the year. Inspiring stuff, makes you learn more about the Gospels and Filipino Catholic traditions.

I hope by the time you’re done with this, you’re not bored anymore. :P Aaaah, this was fun! I’m going to make this link post a regular. :P

Oh yeah, and I now have an answer to this question I posted before. :) I’ll reveal what I chose in the next few days, when I get and pay for the unit. :D Yay yay! But for now, bed time! Thursday tomorrow, yay! It’s almost Friday!

Good night! :)

And yet another phone

So yesterday I was supposed to renew my Smart line (the 24-month retention thing) and get a new phone, a Nokia 6233. After all the thinking I did the last time, plus your comments, and after playing with Miguel‘s phone last Friday, I decided to go for the said phone. So off my mom and I to Smart Wireless Center in Sta. Lucia Grand Mall. I stupidly forgot the list I got from Robinson’s Galleria with the list of phones for the 24-month retention thing (I brought the new connection list), so we asked for another one…

…and there was no Nokia 6233 in the list. :(

Now I noticed some discrepancies from the list I brought to the list given to me, mainly on the dates. The one I got from Galleria last Monday was as of December 28, whilst the one my mom and I got was dated December 13. And since I wasn’t in the mood to ask about it, my mom and I decided to wait, because they said there’d be new handsets coming next month.

I was kind of sulking inside because I couldn’t get a new phone that day (my mom and I already set a perfect payment plan for the both of us, wherein we both win. The phone was Php5,800, and I would only pay Php800 for the entire thing, since my mom owes me Php10,000). I was texting my brother who was on his way to the mall to eat dinner with us when he said: Mag-high-end ka nalang kasi ‘tol (“Get a high-end phone instead, sis”). I told him the “high end phones” on the list doesn’t appeal to me; besides I don’t think the N-series is good since I’ve heard a lot of complaints about them. He then told me that the N-series is okay, they just happen to be big.

While my mom was paying for some of her decorative rocks at the cashier, I wandered out the department store and went to the nearby cellphone store to see the phones there. And then I saw the Nokia N73.

Before you think I’m such a doofus for not knowing about this phone while working in a telecommunications company, I’d like to say that yes, I know this phone. Thing is, I’m not good with remembering high-end ones because I usally don’t look at them. Main philosophy in this: if you can’t afford it, don’t look at it. So I don’t. I know it’s a great phone (it’s one of the first ones I’ve heard being raved about here in the office), but I know it’s out of my league so I don’t look at it.

Anyway, I saw the N73, and told my brother about it, who told me it’s a great phone and I should get that instead of the 6233. Now I must say it’s really tempting, especially now that I think I can afford it (with a few months of payment to my mother dear, of course). I like how the N73 looks — it’s not as bulky as the other phones from the N-Series, plus the camera looks great and there are so many nifty things to do with the phone…but is it worth it?

…It’s the first time I’ll be splurging on something this expensive for myself (P17,700 if I get it with the 24 month retention thing).

…It’ll be my first high-end phone ever. As in really high-end.

…Think of all the nifty things I could do with the camera and the other apps inside the phone!

…But people say the N series is slow.

…And I like the 6233. I like how it’s small, not snatcher friendly…and it’s affordable! I won’t have to pay anything else after buying it except for the P800 I have to shell out.

…But the N73 looks soooo nice. And…

Hmmm.

As you can see, I am faced with some sort of dilemma: Which phone, which phone? I don’t want to buy something I’d regret later. I tend to look at phones that will go the long run and will stand the abuse I give it. ;) If you see how my 6020 looks right now, you’d know what I mean.

So now, my dear friends from the blogosphere, I seek your help (wow, so formal!). Which phone do you think is better? :P I’m such an ignoramus with these things; it’s time I get educated with this too. But first…which phone?

Specs comparison is here, by the way.

Okay, I’m off to meet my friend Pinky at Starbucks. Goodbye Monday! :D

Word overflow on a weekend

I realized lately that working in a telecommunications company wipes out the fun for me about anything related to mobile technology. For example, last Friday, I was holding SIM cards and cellphone load all day to prepare for this User Acceptance Testing I was conducting. A few months ago, I would’ve been really amazed at the amount of credits and SIM cards I was holding then…but at the end of the day last Friday, I was sick of it. Being the one who goes through the UAT of the promos we have, by the time the promo comes out in the market, I have no intention of taking advantage of anymore because I have used it a lot of times before it was released and I know every bug I’ve encountered that other people might see too.

Or like one of my officemates, who holds different kinds of cellphones everyday to test. She gets to see and hold and play with the latest Nokia, Ericsson, Samsung and Motorola handsets, and she can tell you which phone is the best to suit your lifestyle. But when we talk, she tells me she’s tired of seeing all those phones because they’re all the same and there’s always something missing with the new unit. Being around new cellphones everday wiped out the amazement and wonder she used to get whenever a new unit comes out.

Hay, this is the work life, I guess.

I’ve made up my mind to go on gimmicks every weekend as this year started, and so far, I’ve been doing just so. Last year, I preferred staying at home during the weekends so I could rest, but I end up bumming around all day. For the past month, I’ve managed to go out every weekend and not be a party pooper. :P

Continue reading Word overflow on a weekend

Speaking of…

Wow, it’s already February. Where did January go?

My thumb hurts. I’ve been texting the entire time since the time I commuted from the office just to finish off the free SMS of the test SIM cards I brought home. I am only at my first SIM which still has 30+ free SMS and I have about three more to go.

What shall I do for that? Anybody want a textmate until tomorrow lunchtime? I just need to send messages to someone until it runs out…but I’d use those to get a good conversation. :) My textmates right now are silent…I wonder why? Did they get tired of my texting? I hope not. Or is the signal just weak?

Speaking of SMS, I just heard of Globe’s new scheme for their Unlimited SMS service, and all I know is that people are going to complain (in fact, I got a message earlier about boycotting this new scheme), especially for those who bought a Globe SIM just because of their Unlimitxt service (namely, me). Comparing the highest and longest rate for all day unlimited texting, the old Php50/5days is now Php80/4days. From Php10/day to Php20/day! That’s not right. Okay, so they also have the unlimited day and unlimited night texting…say I turned the Day Unlimited, that’s Php30 for 2 days, and then Night Unlimited, that’s Php20 for 2 days…that’s Php50 for only 2 days! HELLO?!

Sorry, I just want to rant.

Speaking of phased outthe floppies have flopped. I remember playing with some speed-reading programs and decathlon games on our PC from time kopong-kopong days (translation: PCs with green and black screens running on MS-DOS :P), but that’s with mini-floppy disks, the one you can fan yourselves with and get a considerable amount of air. What I do remember about the microfloppy disks (3.5″) is that my brother and I used to play Jeopardy and Prince of Persia in my dad’s borrowed laptop. That’s with the black and white screen, still running on MS-DOS. :p I remember owning a lot of 3.5 floppies for backup of files, school work and even up to college, passing it for machine projects! I don’t know how to feel about it saying goodbye, since I hardly use diskettes anymore (too many corrupted diskettes and files lost because of mishandling…how sad). But it sure has a lot of “fond” memories associated with it somehow.

And speaking of memories…here’s something that would put the Blog Parteeh ’07 into the memories of more people: Bo SanchezPreacher in Blue Jeans episode of the Blog Parteeh ’07, featuring interviews of Jun, Noemi, Aileen and Sorsi, plus Marcelle‘s magic show for Bo. :) Sorsi told me after she was interviewed to get myself interviewed too, but I’m not much in front of the camera. I’m more of the behind-the-scenes person…but still, I was mentioned there! :D Now go watch it; I can’t embed it here without losing the text after the video.

Speaking of can’t…my test SIM that I’m supposed to be emptying of balance is not receiving any text messages. I can send, but I cannot receive anything at all. No wonder my textmates are now silent. Argh. Now how can I get rid of all those free text tomorrow?! All day texting until 5pm?! My poor thumb! :(

Maybe this means I shouldn’t bring “work” home.

Speaking of home…I better hit the sack. I want to get to work early tomorrow so I can get out at 6:30 for a blogger’s dinner at Makati. :D Good night everyone!

Intermittent Internet

New layout was supposed to be up last night, but because of the Taiwan Earthquake, Internet connectivity was intermittent. I couldn’t retrieve the directory list for my domain at all during FTP, and loading sites was a pain because it was just as slow as dialup. I ended up fiddling with my site’s layout, adding new plugins in my local server, which are all ready to be uploaded while talking to my friend on the phone. I sure hope that I will be able to access my domain via FTP tonight so I can upload the new theme.

Anyway, today’s the last day of work for the YEAR! Wow. Somehow the idea of work for the next year kind of scares me, like all I’m seeing for the coming year is a year full of work work work, unlike back in school where there’s summer vacation to look forward to. Hay, the costs of adulthood. But then again, it’s useless to look around and wish I am somewhere else because I believe I am here for a purpose, and because God has been faithful and is still faithful, I will stick to this until He tells me to move on. Lord, just give me a God-listening heart so I know when it is time to let go.

Anyway, because there’s nothing else to do, here’s one of the 2006 year-end surveys that can be found around the Internet.

What did you do in 2006 that you’d never done before?
Get a proper job and get paid for it. Turn 20 years old. Go to a Hillsong United-led worship. Go to Davao. Be really accountable to people.

Did you keep your new years’ resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
I made 10 and I successfully fulfiled 4. ^^; The others are done in half, like I did it sometimes or did it for the half of the year then stopped. I will make resolutions again next year, but this I’m going to make them different. More specific and such. :P

Continue reading Intermittent Internet

Hello, Java

JAVA! (image courtesy of eia.udg.esI’m doing something I never thought I’d be doing again (until I get a new and faster laptop that is): I’m downloading the latest Java SE Development Kit (JDK 5.0). And when this is done (hopefully within the day before I run out of Internet), I’ll be downloading the latest NetBeans too.

Now to those who know me since college, you know that if there’s a programming language that I don’t like, it’s Java. It’s been almost two years since I last touched Java, and the last time I did that, I was crying my eyes out because of darn frustration (Hello WEBDEVE and JSF days). Though I did kind of liked JSP (which reminds me, I’ll also get Resin installed here), I still disliked the entire Java thing. It made my computer slow, and there’s so much that you have to know to be able to make a program that would run okay on a normal computer (like mine). Ever since then, I swore off Java and I told myself that I’d stick to PHP and whatever other language there is, as long as it’s not Java.

But here I am, eating my words. As I was thinking about it yesterday, most companies today are in search for people who know Java. I know a bit of it, but I won’t choose it over other languages that I know of. However, I figured that it wouldn’t hurt me (as much) if I go and re-learn Java all over again. I have two choices with this: I could go on and hate everything about Java, or at least try to make friends with it again (after swearing it as an enemy around junior year in college). The latter would be a better choice, and I have nothing to lose anyway. And, you know. It’s more productive than just surfing around everyday and looking at websites like www.bestwaytoloseweight.org or something.

My first project: I shall revive my OBJECTP days and try to remake my old Battle City Machine Project. :) (FYI: Yes, we had to make our own version of Battle City, that Family Computer game, back in freshmen year. I finished it halfway, but it’s not working well. Haha. I can shoot the enemies but they don’t disappear. :D Oops. ^^; ) And since I don’t have a copy of the old one, I’ll be doing it from scratch, I think. :P

Even if I’m done studying and I’m still unemployed, who says I should stop learning too? So with God’s grace, I will learn Java and eventually, I will learn to like it as well (no love first, that’s too soon :p). Yeahbah. :)