Insightful, Hopeful

Despite the various things I am into these days, I still did not miss the chance of trying out as contributor of Pinoy Tech Blog(PTB). This is my second time to try out. Last time, I wrote tech-related articles and the regular contributors would check out the aspirants' blog. This time, the format was changed and an "Open Mike" was introduced. I had no idea what an open mike was. Turns out, it is a live show where audience members may perform at the microphone, and the term was just used.

Anyway, I was lucky that two of my articles were chosen to be published on the site. These are about my new mp3 player and a cool stock photo site I found on the internet.

There were of course others who tried out (and I guess, again, I am the only woman), and I checked out their blogs. Some are definitely more tech-savvy than I am. I have not really written tech-related articles here or perhaps I should create a tech blog. The new contributors have not been announced, but nonetheless, I am happy for opportunity of having my articles published on PTB.

I was surprised to see a verification box upon sending an email from my Yahoo account to another Yahoo account. The verification box is the same as that when you register an account to a site or a forum. But upon sending another email, the box didn't appear. I am guessing it only appears in emails that contains generic subject lines. My first email's subject was "Re: hello".

I appreciate Yahoo's effort. At least I am now confident that my emails would not end up in the bulk folder of its recipients.

The open-source productivity suite made its debut last week, October 21, 2005. This new release boasts of advanced XML capabilities, a database module, and improved PDF support. It also supports the internationally standardized OpenDocument format.

The project was built by volunteer developers and backed by bigtime sponsors such as Sun Microsystem, Intel, Novell, and Red Hat. They collaborated to create and market the Open Office suite, together with an independent group of professionals.

The new software supports the following OS: Windows GNU/Linux, Sun Solaris and Mac OS X.

Download Open Office 2.0 at http://www.openoffice.org/.

Source :
Tech News World

Finally got new mp3s :) Thanks to Mims for downloading my requests and sending it to me via YouSendIt . This was a file sharing site she was fond of, despite my prodding that she send the files to my gmail account. Instead of sending files as email attachments, file sharers would upload the files and an email would be sent to the file recipient containing a link where the file could be downloaded. The link is active for 7 days, enough time to download a file.

The site brought into mind a similar service I used some time ago: Streamload. I used it to swap anime mp3s, back when I was addicted to anime soundtracks. The difference is I had to download a Windows application for me to be able to upload and download files. I also had to create an account to be able to share files with other streamload users. It can also be used as a backup storage for your files. I found this review from PC World which gives the pros and cons of this service.

I would like to share a tip for Windows 2000 users (this is my OS in the office).

Sometimes, you would want to get a file from a website, most probably a video or audio clip but the file is embedded and is not visible on the page. Or the case maybe that the Save As button is not available from the menu when we right click the item.

One way to get the clip would be to right click on the page, click View Source, and search for the link of the file amidst the html tags.
But the easier way to get the file is by going to your Internet Explorer temp folder and searching for the file since everytime we visit a site, the files loaded are automatically saved in the Temp folder. 

This is the folder of the Temp files :
"C:Documents and Settings\YourLoginName\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files\Content.IE5"

Note: YourLoginName is the one you use when logging on to Windows.

Everyone seems to be mesmerized by the new toy from Apple - the Ipod Nano. One of my friends, Rai, is even torn between buying a cellphone and this new gadget.

I found this link in another friend's blog. Read it and judge the Nano :

http://arstechnica.com/reviews/hardware/nano.ars

I'm so happy to have accidentally found a USB Cable for my Sony Ericsson k500i. I saw it on my way to Landmark. The shop was called BKC, inside Glorietta 2 near Goldcrest. I came from Park Square that time coz I bought blank ink for my printer.

At first I was not sure if I should buy it because it was an unplanned purchase. But it was only P700 (quite cheap for an I.T. gadget), and the shop owner said it was almost closing time. So I gave in to the gadget-temptation hehe.

Upon arriving home, I tested it to see if it works well. I installed the software that comes with it, then plugged the cable to my phone and the other end to the USB port. It was weird that my phone also charged when I plugged the USB to my pc. A MyPhones folder appeared in my desktop and it served as a virtual folder containing my phone files so all I had to do was copy and paste the files. I also tried it with Float's Mobile Agent that can be downloaded HERE. This was the software I used when I was using an IR cable I borrowed from the office. Good thing it worked with the cable I bought. :)

Now I can sync my messages, contacts and files. Ah, the wonders of technology.

xtras :

1) For those using Sony Ericsson, you can convert your recorded files which are in AMR format to WAV format by using the AMR to WAV software. Download it HERE.
2) It's pays to convass before buying. I admit I don't do this at times but when I learned that Epson inks had different prices at different computer shops, I just had to find the best price. Some shops sold it at P680, I saw one that sold it for P620, and the cheapest selling price was P580.

Last Tuesday, I had coffee with two of my old officemates, Tolits and Lorns, from DCI. We went to Starbulks in Equitable PCI Tower I, corner of Makati Ave and HV dela Costa. I liked this Starbucks branch coz there's not too many people (or maybe because it was a Tuesday), and more so because people outside can't see you and vice-versa which is conducive to private conversations.

It's nice to be with people from your industry (i.e., I.T.) because I had experienced being with my college friends who were accountants. And for a time, I had no clue on things they were discussing that were accounting-related. These were mostly issues on the trends in their fields, acronyms, companies, etc. So now I had the chance to had some discussions about what's happening on the field I am in. But again, I hear about people going abroad. As for me, I'm really not thinking about that right now. But who knows, we can't say what could happen next week much more after a few years.

Of course we also had some serious talk, especially about the favorite topic of all time : LOVE. My friend Tolits is obviously in love, so he was in the hot seat hehe.

I like seeing people I met in the past, an old schoolmate, classmate, org(anization)-mate  or officemate. Then you discuss the present and plans for the future. It's ironic sometimes coz we don't always do that with people we often see. It's time that we do.

I feel a sense of achievement having added an additional memory to my PC. My memory is now up from 256mb to 512mb. That means faster computing for me. Woohoo :D

And I did it all by myself, well ok I called a friend, Evangelo (my ever-reliable PC how-to guy) to ask some questions and I prayed a lot for my PC not to crash (never fails :) )

I've always had fears tinkling with PC hardware. I was afraid I won't be able to put it back together. It probably traces back when I was a kid and I'd play with old (broken) game and watch and a toy that had a part which produced sound (it was like a phonograph, I don't know how to describe it well). I was not able to fix those so that started my frustration with electronics.

 But now at least I know I'm not too bad at it. I still may not be so good at it but hopefully I'll be able to learn how to fix my PC to save my friends from too much trouble and gain confidence as well :)