Tech Update

I've just signed up for Adobe Photoshop Express which is a free photo editor over the net. It's pretty sleak coz you can edit photo just like what you normally do in its desktop version, but of course you only have limited features. What I like about this is that if I need to make quick touch up of a picture on a machine without Photoshop, this is the solution. It comes with 2GB free disk space. Right now, it's only available in the US.

Check it out: https://www.photoshop.com/express/index.html

Oh, and it's earth hour tonight in google, so I guess it's my turn to turn off the lights.. Good night peeps!



PS: For tech updates, go to logictv.com. Darwin blogs there =P

My new gadget for 2008

I bought the Sony DSC-T2 at SonyStyle in Vegas last weekend. My Fuji Finepix Z1 is busted and I can't live without a point&shoot camera. I know, I have an SLR camera but I only use it for travel and artsy photography only. I still need a camera for casual use like family gatherings, gimik with friends, etc =). I'd like to capture every single moments/events in my life. I've been taking pictures since I was a kid and I still print 'em and put it in an album. I actually have a digital photo frame that Darwin gave me for Christmas, but I still want to look at pictures in prints.

My verdict? I love it! It takes good pictures even in low light and it has image stabilization. and best of it all, it's touchscreen and has 4GB internal memory =) I will also get a $130 credit because I used my SonyCard. Good deal huh?

Sony DSC-T2 photos from Vegas: http://siaz.multiply.com/photos/album/53/Vegas_2008





Specs from Cnet.com

Techie finds

Perfume vending machine

PS3

Sony laptops

Library checkout machine

Tech update

$100 credit to early iPhone users
You might have heard the news that Apple slashed the price of the iPhone last Wednesday from $599 to $399 after 69 days when they released it. A lot of iPhone users got really upset (including me) because the price markdown was drastic and really fast. The next day, Steve Jobs sent an open letter on their website saying that he'll give $100 store credit to all iPhone users. Better than nothing. Once we get the store credit, I'm planning to get the new iPod nano in red.




Movie cube
We saw this DVD rental vending machine on our way out to the grocery store. It only costs $1 to rent a dvd but you have to return it the next day or else it will incur $1 per day. For the sake of curiosity, we tried how it works. So first, you select a movie and most of it are the new ones, then pay through your credit card, then you'll get the dvd. We rented Black Snake Moan coz I already saw most of the movies on the list.



Dual screen
We do most of our training online through Interwise. I'm really bored when I took this picture. I have my laptop on so I can still work and read my email while on training. This is how my desk looks like =P I'd like to keep it as neat as possible.



Geek Squad
I went to Geek Squad at Best Buy to have my laptop checked. I already know what's wrong, the battery doesn't charge, but I'd like to make sure first before I buy anything. They did some troubleshooting and when the tech guy recharged my battery with a universal AC adapter, it didn't work. I got really worried coz the motherboard might be the one that's failing, so I went to Toshiba authorized service center the next day. They figured out that I only need to replace the AC adaptor. So I went to Fry's and Circuit City but it costs $75 for an AC adapter. I checked ebay and they only have it for $25. I bought it online =P But since it will take a week before I get it on eBay, I bought the one on Circuit City so I can use something over the weekend. Once I received my eBay order, I returned the one from Circuit City and got 100% refund.

Weekend shopping

Pix taken from iPhone

My iPhone experience

Pre-iPod launch, I told myself that I would rather wait for the 2nd gen iPhone instead of getting it right away because of 2 reasons: first, bugs and lots of 'em and second, it's too big for me and it looks soo heavy. On June 28, I saw this video from youtube about this tech guy's review on iPhone. It's all positive reviews except for a couple of things that are unecessary, like AT&T is the only one who offers it (we're on AT&T so we're good) and the battery isn't replaceable and you have to bring it over to Apple to fix it (this is not a really BIG problem). It sort of changed my mind a lil bit into buying one because of it's sleak feature and you'll get a phone + iPod with internet. How cool is that?

June 29 @ 7pm (Launch day), I came home from gym and Darwin told me to watch Attack of the Show and check out more iPhone reviews. It talks about anything techie and the host wants to get an iPhone too but he can't leave coz he has to do his job first. He's sooo funny when he begged for an iPhone from Steve Jobs. Nobody got any special treatment from Apple, even celebrities didn't get any free gifts from them. If you want it, you have to get it... =P Which I did!!! I'm 100% sure that I really REALLY like it. I asked Darwin to come with me and get an iPhone at Fashion Square mall. There was no line when we got there but we do not know if they have any in stock coz it's been 3 hours since they released it. They only have the 4GIGs left and it's Ok for me since 4gig is too much for a phone. So I got it for $499. I asked Darwin to get one too and I'll give it to him as a gift but he'd like to get the 8gig.. you know guys, they want the best out there... the bigger the better.. so we went to Santa Monica and they still have a lot in stock.. so we both have iPhones!

We got home around 11pm and we stayed up all night just to play around with our new toy. Here's my review:

1) LOVE the main menu screen. All you see are the things that you need like SMS, Calendar, Map, etc. On some phones, there's a lot of things cluttered that you dont really need and sometimes, they are confusing.

2) LOVE how you can view pictures by tilting the iPhone so you can have a larger view of it Also, it's cool how you can zoom in the photos just by sliding two of your fingers outwards. If you want to go to the next picture, just slide your finger left or right. Oh yeah, it's all touch screen.

3) LOVE the way you can search any business lets say.. Starbucks, which will show all listings near your area, how to get there and the option to call them and ask what time they close.

4) LOVE the traffic report. I've been wanting to have a this feature since I started driving here in LA. I take the freeway everyday and it helps to get an idea how heavy the traffic is so I can take an alternate route.

5) LOVE the way you browse the REAL internet using Safari. It's the way you see websites on Internet Explorer and not the distorted ones like WAP, etc. This is the main reason why I bought the iPhone coz I have limited internet access at work. Rigt after lunch, I accessed yahoo mail and friendster. Sweet!

6) LOVE the way you get alerts when you get NEW email. It's hooked to my yahoo mail.

7) LOVE the way you can listen to mp3 while doing anything like say, browsing the internet. It does multi-tasking.

8) More later.. I'm sure there's still more to discover.

LOVE IT!!! It has changed the way I use a phone. It has definitely stepped up the level on phone standards. I'll give it a year or two and this will become a standard phone for everyone like what Apple did with iPod as the mp3 player that everybody wants to have. =P

I had my 4th Gen iPod for 3 years now (it's an anniv gift from Darwin last 2004) and an upgrade to iPhone is worth the wait. Good job Apple.

WOW!

I wish I can have this someday... =P

iMeem

Hmm.. let's see how this works....

Wikimapia

Coolness.. I didnt know the aerial view of my hometown.. until now!! Nice! Naku, halatang wala akong ginagawa.. ok.. back to work =P

Link:
Cabuyao, Laguna

The Power of Trillian

Ok, I had Trillian since 2005 but I only used its FULL feature last week. =P What I love about this program is that I can use AIM, YM and MSN all at the same time. Here's what happened.. we're only allowed to use MSN at work ok.. but since most of my friends/contacts are either on Yahoo or AOL, I installed both chat programs on my computer.. then my boss caught me.. OOooops.. He asked me who I'm chatting with.. I just told him that I'm asking a question on one of my colleagues but really, it one of my friends on YM. So I installed Trillian and it looks similar to MSN. Oh, and MSN always kicks me out every time I'm idle, so if my boss asks me why I'm using Trillian, I'll just tell him my MSN doesnt work.

I love the archive feature too.. coz only YM has archives right.. so when I accidentally close a window or need some info, I can just look for the log files.

=)

Youtube to FLV to MPG

This is the best tool I ever have. I can now capture videos from Youtube, save it to my PC as flv file (Flash video) then convert it to MPEG. First, you must have PimpFish which will grab video(s) from a website. The file is then saved as FLV which you can play using Wimpy or any FLV player. Now if you want to share this to your friends so they can watch it on Windows Media Player without accessing the internet, convert it to MPEG, AVI or any video format using SUPER

Sources:
PIMPFISH - www.pimpfish.com
WIMPY - www.wimpyplayer.com
SUPER - www.erightsoft.com/SV23.html#A023

I have music videos of Hale at Youtube and I received a lot of reviews on how they can DL my videos. Here it is!!! =P

Have you seen Maria Sharapova's latest Nike commercial? I like it.. She's so PRETTY!!! and she can KICK ASS!!! I dont know if she's really dating Andy Rodick but they look good together. Sharapova just won the US Open and this is her 2nd grand slam, next to Wimbledon last 2004. I tivo'd her match with Hardenne (2nd seed) last Saturday and she won both sets. What about her signature grunt? It is sometimes distracting but is it a tactical move to put off her opponents or is it simply a natural release of energy as she hits the ball? Oh well, she's still good.. I read tennis statistics last night coz I want to know more about "Grand slam" and ONLY Steffi Graf won all four Grand Slam singles titles and the Olympic gold medal in the same year. WOW!!! Here's Maria's video..

ADDENDUM
I find VideoDownloader easier to use than PimpFish. You have to use Firefox as the browser though coz it's a Mozilla add-on.

https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/2390/

Great Finds

Blog Collector
I really want to back-up my posts here in blogger.com but the problem is they don't have that tool. So I went to the blogger forum and found this. =P



In order to access my site, I have to revert back to the default design of blogger. I got too excited and I forgot to create a backup of my template =P I lost all links of my friends' blog. Anyways, there's an option to convert the posts to PDF file so you can make a book out it. Neat huh! I might get its full version to support images in PDF.

Print Anywhere
You can access your printer anytime, anywhere. With a few configs, I was able to test it with my friend (who's a computer geek too hahaha). He was able to print on my computer and I was able to print to his. Neat!



Abilon
I can now display all headlines from my collection of RSS (Rich Site Summary or Really Simple Syndication) channels in one window. I'm a heavy internet user and this tool saves me a lot of time to surf the net and get the the updates that I need.

Wifi hotspot

Hola! I'm at Rancho Park Public Library and I'm using their free wifi internet. I returned one of the books because I can't renew it anymore. I decided to stay and hangout for awhile to check my email and my friends' blogs. I got the "sweet" seat coz it's strategically located where nobody walks pass it. But my laptop run out of battery and now I'm just sitting on a couch. It's a comfy couch though so it's ok. What I like about LA's library is that I can do eveything online... renewing and reserving a book is really easy. Before, when I need something and it's only available at the downtown library, I have to go there and pick it up. Now, I have an option to reserve it online then deliver it here.

Weekend? stayed at home most of the time and I watched 3 movies in one day... Drumline at brunch, IL Mare at siesta time (3ish) and Munich at dinner.

Friday? I had a dentist appointment for some filling (pasta) and cleaning (propylaxis). It was a lucky day for me coz there's not that much patient at that time. Usually, there's a loooong wait and I get in after 30mins. That's how bad it is. Then I went to Qualitative Insights for some marketing survey on fabric softener which they need for research or some sort. I heard this song playing from this guy's phone while I was answering the questionnaire.. it's sooo good but I dont know the title. On my way home while I was listening to KIIS, it played and it's U and Dat by T-pain with E-40.. I DL'd it right after I got home. It keeps playing on my ipod now.

Going Bluetooth

I've just successfully created a shortcut that will enable my bluetooth in 3 steps rather than 8 looong steps. FYI, you won't be able to hear your personalized mp3 ringtone when the bluetooth is enabled. The ring tone is replaced to a boring ring-ring. So, when I want to disable my bluetooth, it takes me forever to do that. Also, I wanna here the ringtones I personally edited (thru Mobile Phone Tool) and that way, I'd also know who's calling coz I've assigned different tones to my friends that matches their personality.. you know, sumthin for fun. The most played ringtone is Stickwitu and Your Beautiful. Oh, there's this one time when my boss heard Your Beautiful and he said... "Mitzi, is that for you?" Like he's telling me.. Are you for real? hahaha

I use my bluetooth at work and while driving and I'd say it's really helpful. You know, it would keep my eyes on the road and I'd prevent myself from getting a $20 fine. Also, I can sneak using it at work coz they recently sent out a memo on cellphone usage =P

Wifi game

Right after hearing mass, I went to Mickey Dees for dinner coz they have wifi internet. That way I can play Animal Crossing or Mario Kart DS while I'm eating... It's like hitting two birds with one stone. Nice =P

Jill called me that night and I found out she's leaving for Manila on Tuesday. We did a lot of catching up. While we're on the phone, the CHP officer pulled her over for speeding. She called me afterwards and she told me that the police didn't even bother to ask her why she was pulled over. She's really funny. I know it's the month-end and these guys need to reach their quota. We talked until she gets home. I miss you girl. Take care!