In this post I talk about Mobile Phones
July 26, 2008I’ve been trying to steer clear from mobile phones since I wanted to make this blog PC-centric but I must admit there’s nothing really new with softwares nor hardwares as of late (that would capture your attention, at least). With that, I went ahead and wrote a mobile phone post, which should be more appropriately entitled, “Phones I’m Saving Money for for Christmas.”
Nokia E71
Forget about your brick-sized business phone and gaze at the 10mm thick E71. Yep, you read it right - 10mm, making the E71 the world’s thinnest full QWERTY keyboard phone. Its frame doesn’t limit its capabilities though, having bluetooth, WiFi, HSDPA, A-GPS and even a 3.2 megapixel camera and a front-face camera for video chat under its belt. Other cool features include:
- Auto-completion and error correction for better email management
- Capable of connecting to office intranet via secure VPN
- Two customizable home screens that lets you switch from work to play as quickly as you change your mood.
More info about the Nokia E71 and its equally sexy and sliding cousin E66 at Engadget Mobile.
The What-to-do Series: Sluggish PC Performance
July 16, 2008Despite your awesome 3Ghz quad-core processor teamed up with 7200 rpm hard disk and 1Gb ram, you still find your system’s performance a tad bit slow off the mark. What might be the culprit? Or more importantly, how can this be rectified? Here are some possible causes of slow windows performance and their respective fixes.
Startup Overload
Startup programs are those that load automatically in the background as Windows starts (and manifests as icons in the right-hand corner of the system tray). Some of which are truly unnecessary and just hogs valuable ram. To disable these unwanted startup items, just click on Start > Run, type ‘msconfig’ and go to the ‘Startup’ tab. You’ll be presebted with a check list of all the programs that automatically runs everytime your computer boots - and it’s safe to un-check Windows messenger, iTunes, or Azureus. You may also deselect programs that give you errors during startup. After reboot and Windows tells you about the changes, just uncheck the notification box then click Ok so it won’t bother you again. (more…)
A Delayed Update: Software Highlights
July 11, 2008So I failed to keep my promise to update this site every Friday (actually, I missed by just a couple of hours). To compensate for such complacency, I’m going to dump not just one, but three (3) featured software highlights on you for today. Oh, and have I mentioned these awesome softwares can all be downloaded for free? So LET’S GO!
LemonScreen
Also known as KeyLemon, this app is basically a free face recognition tool for your Windows-based webcam-capable computer. To setup this cool piece of software, simply create or “enrol” a face model, then enter a predefined amount of time of inactivity (or simply hit ALT + L to manually lock at anytime). Once Windows is locked, Lemonscreen will automatically activate the system’s webcam and will keep an eye on the faces of everyone who comes in front of the camera. When the pre-enrolled face pattern matches yours, it will automatically unlock your computer. In the most unforeseen event of your face getting deformed to an unrecognizable extent, you may also unlock Windows by entering your user account password. (more…)
In Memoriam: Microsoft Windows XP (2001-2008)
July 6, 2008After more than a year of cheating death, Windows XP has inevitably been taken to its final resting place on June 30th to give way to its harshly disputed successor, Vista.
Possibly Microsoft’s most venerable OS as of date, XP has been peddled as the longest shipping and most widely-accepted operating system, and has received the most number of public outcry from end-users who proposed its temporary pardon from being laid to rest alongside Windows 95, 98, NT, and 2000. (more…)
Keep it Covered: Wi-Fi Security
June 30, 2008Checking office notebooks for any potential software or virus issues is part of my job as an IT engineer. As I was checking the laptop of a close colleague named Marcus (which, for the purpose of anonimity we shall call Dillbert), a unique icon labeled Data 3.5G had caught my attention. Turns out that Dillbert’s new apartment building does not yet have any internet infrastructure so he had to sign up for this service which basically lets his laptop transmit data via GPRS network. For 195 aed (roughly $55) a month, he could surf the web anywhere using a 3.5G wireless data card. The only downside is that the package he chose provides him with data download limit of up to 120mb. Which, for a man of his age, should be enough for him to be able to check his email from time to time.
His first month’s bill was for 25,000 aed ( $7142).
What the fuck, I thought. That’s ludicruously batshit crazy!
“What the fuck”, I exclaimed. “That’s ludicruously batshit crazy!”
Turns out that someone was able to leech off his connection for some reason, probably by cracking the encryption of his 3.5G card. That, or it just sucks to be him at the moment.
We hear loads of stories like this. A person opens his window pane, turns on his laptop’s wi-fi card, and basks in the chockful amount of delicious bandwidth and invisible data streming through his room from the neighbors’. It’s not that these people make a concious decision to become leechers, but unsecured wireless networks more often than not gives them a hard time not to become leechers.
After hearing Dillbert’s dilemma, I decided to post some ideas that can help ease your mind with your wi-fi’s security standpoint.
1. As unnecessary to point out as it may be, use a password. And a strong one at that. A sufficiently strong password which comprises of numbers and letters, both uppercase and lowercase, will most likely make password cracking impossible. Regularly changing your password is as good as choosing a strong one. (more…)
Utilizing Google: Link, Define, Currency Conversion, etc.
June 25, 2008About two years ago, I published an item on The Man Blog that listed several customization procedures in Google. While these fun features seem downright cool, many people are yet to discover the vast potential of the world’s most famous search engine. That said, I give you Google advanced operators (or other things Google is good for besides doing Olivia Munn image search).
Thanks to Google, the government found the whereabouts of the suppressive leader just by hitting “I’m Feeling Lucky”.
- Define - Need to know what Antidisestablishmentarianism is? Google can immediately provide definitions if you key define: antidisestablishmentarianism in the search bar. (more…)
Killer Product: Corsair Flash Survivor GT
June 16, 2008My 4Gb flash drive has this unusual habit of getting into the strangest places where it shouldn’t be – in between a sandwich, in my shoes, in a car compartment (I don’t even own a car). Yesterday, it somehow managed to find its way to the washing machine. How it got there was completely beyond me. I guess while I was too darn wasted last Friday night, the damn thing crawled out of my shirt pocket and jumped right into the washer. With my shirt!
I was so eager to plug said flash disc into my laptop to check if my precious files were still present, but I decided to let it dry. The chance of the flash disc getting fried will rise up to 80 percent if electrical current gets into the wet internal circuitry. After waiting while cursing and cursing some more, I plugged the flash drive into my laptop and LO AND BEHOLD! It’s still in one piece! It was as if the two-hour long period of getting tumble-washed, bleached, and spin-dried did nothing to it, except perhaps getting rid of a Trojan virus or two. I have no clue about its manufacturer, nor from which country it was made (I got it on sale from CD-R King), but I bet the letters i, b, and d inscribed on its surface stand for “Invincible Badass Device”.
It swam through a puddle of beer, laundry detergent, and probably vomit, got spin-dried, and all it said afterwards was “Whatever.”
Software Highlight: GoneIn60s
June 12, 2008So you were working on a 500-word blog entry about the rise and fall of communism and its effect on global warming, right? Your ideas were so vivid that words just flowed naturally from your mind to the keyboard. Must be because of the separate browser window that showed hot damn scantily-clad photos of Olivia Munn in it. Awesome.
Then you instinctively felt two holes burning on your back. Turns out your boss, who sprung out of nowhere and somehow managed to ninjically appear right behind your back, has been staring at your screen for minutes. You did what can only be described as a reflex action: you X’d out your blog window (instead of that of Olivia Munn) with your near complete article unsaved. Zomgrite?
Ninja boss is watching you work
Fortunately, thanks to a special freeware called Gonein60s, there’s a chance to recover recently-closed applications within a specified timeframe (60 seconds, by default). When running in the background, this software just hides the window until it completely closes after 60 seconds. This means if you accidentally shut down an app by mistake, you can still recover it by double-clicking the GoneIn60s system tray icon. What’s more, you won’t have to go through a rigorous setup process to run this application. Just save the exe file anywhere in your hard drive, then double-click to activvate it. You can even alter the settings to any number of seconds you prefer. Apparently, not only stealing cars can be achieved in 60 seconds time.
Double-click on the blue bathroom-tiles exe file to activate GoneIn60s. Right: Recovering a closed app from the system tray
Settings options
You can download GoneIn60s from here.
Killer Product: VAIO TP VGX-TP1G
June 10, 2008Next to cars and Olivia Munn, HDMI flatscreen TVs are the sexiest thing to ever come into being. With the introduction of DVI/HDCP and HDMI technology, the overall viewing experience on DLP, Plasma, and LCD televisions was never the same.
While shopping around my favorite Sony outlet, I got stunned by a super-sexy 40-inch Bravia HDMI television. And before I could get back to my senses, I noticed a round-shaped peripheral attached to the set that made me very weak at the knees.
The VAIO VGX-TP1G Vaio desktop allows your plasma TV to double as a computer monitor. Now that doesn’t sound impressive at all since most HDMI TVs allow connections to PCs through its DVI port. What fascinated me the most is the long range wireless keyboard which will let you switch from your favorite TV show to your favorite website without moving an inch away from your sofa. Not to mention the adorable and hip rig that boasts of its 1.66Ghz T5500 Intel Core2 Duo processor, 1 Gb RAM (upgradeable to 2Gb), a colossal 500Gb hard drive, dual layer DVD-writer, wi-fi capability, and a nifty Remote Commander. Hardcore users might not find the abovementioned specs lavish but it is guaranteed to blow minds when teamed up with a monster HDMI Bravia TV.
With this super-sweet rig combo’d with your box, you can always check your email without missing your favorite TV show, and you can always toggle from the painfully unfunny local sitcoms to YouTube for your daily comedy fix.
Killer feature(s): The super cute white cylindrical rig with minimal wire connections.
FTW Website: Weird converter
June 7, 2008Have you ever wondered how much dead Shaquille O’ Neals far you are from home? Or how many kegs it will take to fill your bathtub with beer? Or how heavy your eyeballs are (amount of last night’s sleep notwithstanding)? Then wonder no more, my mathematically challenged friend, for WeirdConverter can help you in your daily conversion needs.
As the site author simply claims, WeirdConverter is just like a normal currency converter, but with dump trucks, rhino ejaculate, and human saliva production among others as measurement units.
A couple of new things I found out through this site:
- Urine produced by an average person will fill 4 cans of beer.
- Tom Cruise is equivalent to 453 average bowel movement (sometimes more)
- A giraffe’s neck is as long as 19 flaccid penis (although in my case the ratio is 1:1 whenever I watch a Jenna Haze video)
Click to enlarge
So go ahead and amaze your friends with your mad conversion skillz! Because 5 out of 4 people are just not very good in Math.
