Wednesday, August 27, 2008
My Technology Past
Obliging Tin with this entry. She posted this "Tech Survey" on her side of multiply and urged me to do the same. So, here are my answers:

Mobile Phones
First: Nokia (Yuck!) 5110. Back when texting was free and Nokia was the only viable brand.
Favorite: I've only had my new mobile for 4 days. Jury is still out if I'm totally in love with it. But I have got to say that my favorite phone so far is my Sony Ericsson z610i. [edit] Oh, who am I kidding, I {heart} my iPhone! ^_^
Current: Apple iPhone 16GB (White). Why, hello there. I'm an Apple Fanboy.

Handheld Consoles
First/Favorite/Current: Sony PlayStation Portable. Sad but true. I don't really count those "brick games" as hand held consoles. Never owned a Game & Watch either. My folks wouldn't buy me a Game Boy back in the day. Now that I'm earning, I'm buying all the crap my parents never got me when I was a kid.

Desktop PCs Macs!
First: XT Desktop PC with DOS I-forgot-what-version. Ah, the good old days of floppy disks. None of that fancy GUI bullcrap we have today. dir/s all the way, baby.
Current: iMac 24" Aluminum. 2.4GHz Core 2 Duo. 4GB RAM. 320GB HDD. ATI Radeon HD 2600 PRO with 256MB GDDR3 Memory. Running OSX 10.5 Leopard.
Dream Mac: A Mac Pro with maxed out specs with 2 30" Apple Cinema Displays and 3 Drobos. Ooh, I wet my pants.

Notebooks
First/Current: MacBook Pro 15" 2.2GHz Core 2 Duo. 2GB RAM. NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT with 128MB of GDDR3 SDRAM.
Dream Notebook: The high end 15" MacBookPro. The 17-incher is too unwieldy for me.

Game Consoles
First: Atari 2600. Played Kaboom! all day long until my brother plugged the thing into the 220v outlet and really went Kaboom!
Favorite: Sony PlayStation 3 60GB Launch unit. Blu-ray/UpscalingDVD player, HD & Online Gaming, DivX Player, and can playback all my old PS2 and PSOne games. Best of all, no Red Ring of Death.
Current: Nintendo Wii and a PS3.
First PC Game: Hmm, don't remember the first. But the first one I remember enjoying was Day of the Tentacle.
Favorite PC Mac Game: World of Warcraft. The Eater of Souls.
Last PC Mac Game Played: World of Warcraft. What part of "Eater of Souls" didn't you understand?
Palm or Pocket PC? iPhone.
Music Player of choice: Apple iPod 5G 80GB (White). The iPhone is a close second.
Aside from your mobile, PDA and laptop, What other gadget you can never be without? My SLR.

*Skipped the watch parts... don't care much about watches.

Ultimate Dream Gadget: The DeLorean Time Machine. 1.21 Jiggawatts!

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Wednesday, December 12, 2007
Four Down. Last One to Go.

The Greed List™:
Sony Bravia KLV-32V200 LCD TV
Wacom Intuos3 6x11 Widescreen Tablet
Nintendo Wii
8-Core Apple Mac Pro (15" MacBook Pro 2.2GHz)
Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM Lens (Sigma 24-70mm DG Macro)

If you've been following this list, you'll know that it is a list of compromises. As much as I lust for an 8-core Mac Pro, practicality states I need something that can be moved around. But in a sense, I did get a Mac Pro, just the one with "Book" in the middle.

In the last major event that I covered for work, I had to lug around my office iMac so I can do designs on site. While the iMac is an all-in-one device, 24-inches isn't exactly mobile. So using work as an excuse, I took out a computer loan and got myself (and my family — another excuse) a MacBook Pro, a powerful compact machine to do my design work on the go.

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Saturday, October 06, 2007
ThWii Down. Two to Go.*
The Greed List™:
Sony Bravia KLV-32V200 LCD TV
Wacom Intuos3 6x11 Widescreen Tablet
Nintendo Wii
8-Core Apple Mac Pro
Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM Lens (Sigma 24-70mm DG Macro)

That's right, people. My 13th month pay just kicked in and I got me a Wii, b!+(#es! ^_^

I originally planned to buy this in December— when I thought I'd receive my 13th month pay—but I guess Christmas came a little early this year! ^_^

* This foolhardy purchase may or may not be related to the previous post.

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Thursday, June 21, 2007
I Killed my iPod.
Well, it happened. My trusty 40GB Third Generation iPod is dead. It snagged on the audio cable it was hooked up to in our sound system in the office, slipped out of my hand then a sudden drop then a sudden stop.

The whole room gasped as they saw it happen. My face started contorting as if a hollow block dropped on my foot. I quickly grabbed it off the floor and tested to see if it was still okay. For the first few minutes it was. I even got to play a song out of it. Then it stopped. Then my Playlists disappeared then all my songs were gone. Panicking, I reset the iPod. Then I heard the worst thing to ever come out of an iPod besides boy band music... clicking. It wasn't the clicking sound when you use the Click Wheel, it was the hard drive. It sounded a lot like this. That sound is one the first signs that your hard drive is dead or dying. I had killed my iPod.

I was planning on retiring the old girl when the touch screen one comes out (the iPhone sans the phone). But as my luck would have it, it won't even reach a fourth year with me. I thought about salvaging it by having the hard drive replaced at the Apple Center, but I was told that the replacement drive would cost PhP11,000, almost as much as a 30GB Fifth Gen iPod. So all hopes of spending one more year with my baby, the first iPod I bought. The first iPod in my barkada, way before people knew what iPods were.

The drive to work won't sound the same anymore.

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Sunday, June 17, 2007
Two Down. Three to Go.
My Coveted Toys*
Sony Bravia KLV-32V200 LCD TV
Wacom Intuos3 6x11 Widescreen Tablet
Nintendo Wii
8-Core Apple Mac Pro
Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM Lens (Sigma 24-70mm DG Macro)

Yup. Bought another expensive frivolous toy. I just finished setting it up a few minutes ago then my brother takes over to watch some cartoons. Oi vay. Me? What am I going to do with it? Umm.... play some videogames.

For those unfamiliar with my Greed List, read my first post about it here.

P.S. Arian... yogamat!

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Sunday, April 15, 2007
An Exercise in Rapacity
My Dad's 40" Sony Bravia LCD TV arrived yesterday and I've finished the first series of tests. And what's the verdict so far? Damn it, I want one. It's currently sitting in our den whilst my dad figures out where it will reside. So my PS3, naturally, is down there with it.

Since I'm lazy, I'd rather not want to have to go down to the den to get my gaming on, not to mention all the TV traffic we're bound to get with it. Now, the wheels in the greed center of my brain started turning and now I'm saving for one for my own. But then I thought, why stop there? While my greed is at its usual high levels, I compiled a list of my coveted gadgets of the moment.

Do I really need these? Not really. Are they essential as breathing? Perhaps not. But do I have an unhealthy lust towards them? Maybe just a little.

So here they are, in no particular order:
Sony Bravia KLV-32V200 LCD TV. So I can have HD gaming from the comfort of my own room. Besides, my bed is there.

Wacom Intuos3 6x11 Widescreen Tablet. My trusty old Graphire tablet is due for a replacement. I've had it since my college days and has served me well. But ever since I switched to the Mac, the small 4:3 aspect ratio is causing some minor, albeit, annoying issues. The larger working area and widescreen layout will be a better fit for my Mac and the angle sensitivity will definitely help with my digital painting.

Nintendo Wii. Yes, I already have a PS3. But the Wiimote controls compels me to buy one. Not to mention that the Legend of Zelda franchise is on it.

8-Core Apple Mac Pro. 8 Cores! That's 4 times more than what I have! I never said that this list was rational, did I?

Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM Lens. I've given up on the 70-200mm monster I've previously coveted but I really need to replace my standard 18-55mm lens with something more robust. I'm told this one makes for nice pictures.

That's all I can think of on the top of my head. None of those are exactly as cheap as yoga mats, but they do so much more than yoga mats (at least for me). But mark my words: these will be mine, oh yes, these will be mine*.

* Okay, maybe not all of them.

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Sunday, March 25, 2007
Folding@home
I've decided to help Stanford's Folding@home project using my PS3. To those uninitiated with the Folding@home project, it's an international effort to share processing power of idle computers to simulate "folding" of proteins. Why fold proteins? Well, to quote the official Folding@home site:

Proteins are biology's workhorses -- its "nanomachines." Before proteins can carry out these important functions, they assemble themselves, or "fold." The process of protein folding, while critical and fundamental to virtually all of biology, in many ways remains a mystery.

Moreover, when proteins do not fold correctly (i.e. "misfold"), there can be serious consequences, including many well known diseases, such as Alzheimer's, Mad Cow (BSE), CJD, ALS, Huntington's, Parkinson's disease, and many Cancers and cancer-related syndromes.

By simulating folding proteins, the brilliant people at Stanford can then study these and try to determine what causes these "misfolds" and come up with ways to prevent and/or reverse them.

Sony and Stanford recently released a client for the PS3, so I thought to myself, what the heck. It's not like I'm gaming or watching Blu-ray Movies 24/7. But you don't need a PS3 to share some of your own idle processing power. You go to the official website and download a client for your operating system.

So how does it work? Each participant is given a protein to fold, then once the protein has fully developed the sample is sent back to Stanford. Simple enough, but to simulate the almost infinite randomness of proteins requires lots of time. Even with my PS3's hefty Cell Processor, one sample takes 8 hours to complete. But that doesn't mean you need to let your computer run for 8 hours straight, you can always turn if off then the program should continue where you last left off. At least that's what my PS3 does. Dedicating 2 hours a day for your computer to fold should be enough. It may take longer for you to finish a sample, but every little bit helps.

It feels good that I'm able to help with something I bought for selfish reasons. Just paying it forward I guess.

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Tuesday, March 20, 2007
The Big Switcheroo
It's been a week since I switched ISPs from the Evil PLDT to Globelines. The rates are roughly same, probably cheaper. Installation was fast, but not exactly painless. Slight tweaks needed to be done to my home router. Nothing major. They installed this little box to activate their new Voice Over IP landline telephone. It sounds fancy but really isn't. Voice quality is the same as a mobile phone. One major pitfall is when the DSL or electricity goes out, so does your phone as it is dependent on your internet connection.

For me, the VOIP box was more trouble than it was worth. The box itself can only support up to 10Mbps when my router is capable of 100Mbps on cable and 54Mbps on wireless. Everything bottlenecked at the lousy box causing severe surfing issues. Whenever I load multiple tabs at once, the server stops responding forcing me to restart the modem and the box to regain access but only to lose the connection again after I load the same amount of tabs, regardless of what sites I'm viewing. When I decided to just rip out the box, everything worked fine. Thought the customer service agent assures me that the VOIP issue is isolated in our area and will be resolved soon. Though I wouldn't hold my breath.

Customer Service is a little bit more bearable. Though it still takes FOREVER to talk to a customer service agent. They have Josh Groban playing when you're on hold, slightly less annoying than the Kenny G tripe they have over at PL-fucking-DT. But after an hour of listening to Groban, you'd want to skin him alive. But I digress. Once you do get through, the agents are SOO much better than the retards at PL-fucking-DT. They are courteous, nice and they know their stuff. When they say that there'll be a technician within 24 hours. They will be a technician within 24 hours. My only gripe is when you try to make a schedule when they should come (maybe to schedule at a time when you're home to assist them), they pretty much don't follow it and just arrive when they please.

As for the download/upload speeds, I'm very happy with it. Quite speedy since I opted for the fastest plan. No major loss of connection ever since I removed that VOIP box.

So if you think you want to switch, I would say go for it. But I wouldn't rely too much on the VOIP phone. I expect things to be the same with PL-fucking-DT's bullshit NxGN phoneline crap. They're both VOIP, so don't be fooled. They rely on the same technology. And if we're talking about PL-fucking-DT, you know it's gonna cause you more troubles than they let on. But to be fair, it's still a relatively new technology, so bugs will be present. Things should work out better as the years pass. As much as I want to be free of PL-fucking-DT, I still wouldn't recommend getting rid of your plain old telephone just yet.

Final words: Globe's Internet service and Customer service? Great. VOIP phone? Not so much. Want to Switch? By all means.

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Friday, February 02, 2007
I've seen the Light, and it's in HD
I hadn't the slightest idea what High-Definition content would look like. I've always thought DVD was the best picture quality we'll ever get. Boy, was I wrong.

Oh. My. God. DVD ain't got nothing on HD.

HD truly can't be described to you. You really have to see it yourself. Running my new toy on a measly 1080i resolution has already impressed me, it boggles the mind what 1080p would be like. I'm just relieved that I've justified my impulse purchase.

If all this HD Resolution jargon made you go cross-eyed, read more here.

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Friday, January 12, 2007
[Semi-RANT] Why You Should Care about the iPhone
Most of you might be sick to your spleens with the endless news about Apple's new iPhone. What's so special about it? It's nothing more than a glorified iPod or an overly expensive PDA or even a rip-off of a prototype as some would suggest. It's more significant than everyone thinks.

Ask yourself, when have you been really been excited about a mobile phone? Okay, now when has the whole WORLD been excited about a mobile phone? Really? Never? Think about it. No real mobile phone got this much buzz from mainstream media. When Nokia launches a new phone, will Europeans telco's fight for an exclusivity deal? Did the P990i boost Sony Ericsson's stock when it was announced?

Why is it so important? No real mobile has this much advanced technology behind it. Not Nokia, not Sony Ericsson. Most mobiles coming from those companies are evolutionary not revolutionary.

This may sound like hot air coming from a Mac fanatic. But watch the Macworld Keynote. Skip to the 26m 50s mark for the iPhone announcement. Watch the demo. See for yourself how much technology is in it. And ask yourself again, does any current or announced mobile have all of this functionality? Forget 3G for a second, and think about it. What phone has a highly advanced touch interface? What phone can detect whether it's rotated to landscape or portrait and adjust the screen orientation accordingly? What PDA-phone has Google Maps built-in? And what music phone has the ease of use of an iPod?

If you still don't believe me, just watch the Keynote or if you can't just go to the official site here. If you still don't then honestly, you're just lying to yourself. It's not a perfect phone, not by a long shot. It doesn't have 3G, which is a minor thing in my opinion. It only has a 5-hour talk time and the battery is not user replaceable. And we won't be getting one until 2008. But even with those flaws, you have to get your head wrapped around the idea on what Apple has done. They have truly reinvented the mobile phone. I will guarantee that other mobile phone manufacturers will incorporate all, if not, some of the technologies of the iPhone in some form in the near future. And that's the nice way of saying that they'll copy the iPhone.

In conclusion, Scott Kurtz said it best in his PvP comic strip:

[Click to view Larger Version]

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Monday, January 08, 2007
It's Geek Week™!
I didn't realize until recently that Geek Week™ happens every second week of January. Why? Because of Macworld San Francisco and the International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) happens (usually) on the second week of the new year! It's during these event that Apple and other Consumer Electronic companies announce their latest products (read: Toys for geeks)! It's a great week to be a Geek!

Oh, and pay no attention to the floor, it's just covered in geek drool.

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Name: Jin
Occupation:
Graphic Artist/Pirate
Geek Toys:
20" iMac Core Duo, PSP, iPod (3G), EOS350D
Special Attack(s):
La Serpiente Strike
El Gato Fist
Being the mindless drone of fashion that I am, I decided to jump on the Blogging bandwagon. This site contains all my rants and raves about current events, technology, video gaming, cinema and the occasional snippets of my own geek life. (Yeah, quite original, I know.)

Best viewed at 1024x768 on Firefox or Safari. Internet Explorer 6 sucks donkey dick.







© 2006. All rights reserved.
Illustrations and Character Designs: Jin.

The Sims. © 2006. Electronic Arts, Inc.