I haven’t posted for quite sometime now since my PCs been acting up lately. It’s been a bit slower than usual and upon a little investigation, I found out that my HD is almost full and fragmented. Coupled that with an old pc problem, booting and no display on the monitor, it kinda sucked.

Flashback to when I assembled it a few years back, after a few months of using it, it suddenly hanged and refused to work. I rebooted it only to find out that it won’t display anything on the monitor. I thought it was a video card problem. I took it to a friend and his tech just cleaned the memory chip with an eraser, slipped it in another slot and it worked back just fine again.

So everytime this thing happens, I only have to clean the memory chip and the slot and it would work again. I’m suspecting either the memory chip is faulty or the slot on my motherboard is. I even took it to where I bought the parts and have them check it out but they couldn’t find anything wrong with it, since it was working, even though I wanted to replace the items, I couldn’t.

Anyway, through the years, I have been accumulating files such as pdfs, docs, jpgs, csv and even flv files that my disk space is now down to about 2-3 gigs of free disk space. Some files I transferred to CDs and flash drives but in just about a day or two of adding or downloading more files it goes back to just around 11-16% free disk space. I even uninstalled several apps that I don’t use just to free more space but what it boils down to really was the need for more disk space.

Only thing to do is either get a second drive or get an external one. I’m still weighing my options since the other problem – no display on the monitor, seems to come out of nowhere and continuous to be a pest.

The past couple of days though, my pc seems to work fine. So I’m back to saving files to CDs and freeing a few disk space here and there. I hope things go well from here so that I’ll be able to probably get an external usb drive, maybe a western digital passport perhaps to finally solve my disk space problem.

Flash Drives- USB external drives

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HD Space and other PC Problems

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How many of us can do what this guy has accomplished? Retiring at the ripe young age of 52 with a hundred or so billion dollars at his disposal is probably just a dream for most of us in this planet but this guy has made his mark in history.

The head of the so called “Evil Empire” is finally retiring at age 52. If you still haven’t got a clue to which person I’m referring to, it’s non other than the gazillionaire Bill Gates of Microsoft. Not bad for a Harvard dropout. He has been on the top 10 billionaire list for the past years and continues to do so.

Now that he’s retired, he will now focus his attention to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. A foundation he spearheaded to help worldwide poverty, education and global health. Well, we can really benefit from the foundation, how ‘bout sending me a few millions in my bank account for starters? My account number is …….

Going back to year 1975, together with his school mate Paul Allen, they started their very first company with just 11 employees. Their main focus at that time was to produce software that would run in every PC, in every home. “Windows” was eventually created with that idea. From then on to the present, the OS is still being used in about 90% of PCs in the world.

Although they found success with their endeavor, in the late 90’s they also incurred the ire of the Justice Department and charged Microsoft with engaging in anticompetitive and exclusionary practices designed to maintain its monopoly in personal computer operating systems and to extend that monopoly to Internet browsing software. It was a long lasting battle, but since Microsoft had more than enough financial resources at their disposal, they opted to just settle the cases which got them off the hook legally.

Microsoft’s position today is not as big as it was prior to the internet. They were late in jumping into the net bandwagon in the mid 90’s that’s why Microsoft lags behind Yahoo and Google in the search engine market battle. Its latest OS version, Vista, isn’t doing any better than its predecessor, Windows XP. One reason is that the OS has become too large to accommodate the ever growing capacity needs of current hardware in the market. They might need to overhaul the entire code or might as well start with a new one from scratch to make it more adaptable to newer technology.

Be that as it may, don’t put Microsoft down and out as yet. They might come out with a big surprise in the near future. Microsoft is aiming its guns now on “cloud computing”. If you’re not familiar with the term, I wrote about it a month ago – “Cloud computing, what’s it all about…..” This area is where breaking new grounds could also bring in big profits for anyone landing on top of the heap.

In the meantime, Bill Gates is now headed on a new journey as a philanthropist with his foundation - from the head of the “Evil Empire” to the “Giving Empire”? Hmmm…. Maybe I can end this post with the slogan – “Where do you want to go today?”

Resources:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=91912859
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/27/technology/27soft.html?_r=1&ref=business&oref=slogin

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Retire At 52

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I don’t usually post videos here but when I chanced upon this one, I couldn’t help myself laugh at his antics. He’s non other than Rowan Atkinson aka Mr. Bean. If you have heard of “air guitar”, this is his version of “air drums”. Enjoy!

If you can’t get enough of him, here’s something I just added on my iMac post I wrote a few months ago. Just click on this link – New iMac.

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Air Drums by Mr Bean

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Last month we gave our moms’ gifts and goodies on her special day. And this second week of June, it’s time to give Dads the same token. But if you find yourselves too busy to look for gifts or have no clue what Dad wants on his special day, maybe you can just give him a gift certificate instead? That way, you’ll hit two birds with one stone. Here’s one:

It may be a little bit taxing on the part of the parents in this part of the globe (Philippines) since it’s just about the start of a new school year and the price of oil and gas is in its all time high, it’s scandalous! I think it’s high time we look for other alternatives for fuel. This way, we can make oil extinct and let these oil producers drink all their oil, since no one will be using them anymore anyway. That will be day!

I was watching David Letterman the other night, I forgot the name of his guest but they were talking about other sources of energy being introduced by aliens from outer space? Hmmm…. I hope it’s true, so we can get rid of these oil companies holding the world hostage with their ‘precious’ commodity.

Around the world gasoline is priced around $3-6+ a gallon while in Saudi Arabia it’s just around $0.91. Now we can clearly see who’s holding the short end of the stick. You can see here - http://money.cnn.com/pf/features/lists/global_gasprices/ for yourself.

But since it’s Father’s Day, despite gas’ ridiculous prices, we can always find something to give Dads of all ages, simple gifts like watches to hobby tools as a simple gesture of our appreciation. Just click on the links below. You’ll be glad you did!

Happy Father’s Day!

Dremel Rotary Tools

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Gifts for Father’s Day

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Here’s something I came across while looking for FREE image editors. I usually use Macromedia’s Fireworks or Photoshop to edit pics. An example would be Firework’s gif animation on the right with the radio tuner gif.

But if you don’t have any of the ones I mentioned, here are a few FREE image editors that you can download and use. Oh btw, if your browser is Explorer it won’t animate. Use Firefox instead to view the animation on the right.

Here’s one that lets you edit pics:
Gimp 2.4

• photo enhancement
• digital retouching
• uses available formats - jpeg, gif, tiff, png psd

If you want to try a different image viewer or want to use your own pics for a screen saver go to:
IrfanView 4.10

• nice way to view images
• paint option, color depth (edit)
• create slideshows
• batch convert images
• image capture

Here’s something I use if the site doesn’t want you to right click and save pics. Ok, I know website owners do this to protect their precious pics. But as long as you give credit to where you snatched the pic i.e. post the link on your site, and NOT claim it as your own, at least you give courtesy to the real owner and give backlinks to their site. I think they won’t mind a little boost in their PR ranking.

For this, I use Captura 1.0 screen capture:
You have 3 options to take the screenshot

• Capture a section of the screen
• Capture the full screen
• Capture the full screen after 10 seconds

To download go to:
http://www.hernansoft.com/products.html or to
http://www.brothersoft.com/captura-17571.html

Lastly, if you want to edit gifs but don’t want to download any application to your desktop, here’s the site to go to: GifWorks
Upload the pic to the site, edit it and save it to your desktop. Most of the editing uses dropdown menus. It’s basically straightforward so it won’t be that hard to do.

I hope you have fun with these apps, happy image editing. Cheers!

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Image Editor, Viewer and Screen Capture Applications

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If you think gaming turns you into a couch potato, think again. Nintendo has just come out with its latest release, the Nintendo wii-fit balance board. Wii–fit will change the way you think about gaming. It is intended to give gamers fun while keeping them fit at the same time.

Although games primarily target the younger generation, Nintendo’s wii-fit now targets the not so young generation that still wants to play games while keeping them fit as well.

Among Nintendo’s features are 40 aerobic exercises designed to improve strength, balance and complete fitness. Nintendo describes Wii Fit as a combination of fitness and fun while promoting good health. Users can take a test each day by using the Wii Balance Board accessory to measure their Body Mass Index (BMI) and body control. With a nice price tag, it sure beats other expensive exercise equipment in the market.

Read more: Nintendo’s Wii-fit Balance Board

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Nintendo Wii Fit Balance Board

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Ever heard of cloud computing? It’s basically a loose term that refers to a combination of software application and services from PCs to centralized data centers available through the internet and can be accessed on demand 24/7.

At the forefront using cloud computing technology is Amazon, Yahoo, Google, Sun, IBM and as of late, Microsoft, among others.

Microsoft recently introduced its “Live Mesh system”. Microsoft views this as a software platform in the data center for an evolving array of services, ranging from remote control of computers and electronic devices to data storage.

IBM on the other hand, has a system dubbed as “Blue Cloud”. This enables banks and other customers distribute their programs across large numbers of machines to deliver faster, more sophisticated data analysis.

Amazon, Yahoo and Google use their APIs to help users integrate their own sites seamlessly with the various services they are offering.

So if you’re interested in catching the next big wave, now is the time to join the bandwagon, who knows, you might have an idea or two that could radically change the way we do things online.

If you want to learn more about cloud computing, just visit this link.

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Cloud Computing, What’s It All About?

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It’s the month of May and in this part of the globe(Philippines), it’s mid summer and mostly it’s time for barrio fiestas, santacruzan and you’ll see lots of fruits being sold and halo-halo on street corners. I like to eat or drink our very own sweet mangoes. It such a treat! And before I forget, it’s the month specially dedicated to one of the most important person in our lives, our Moms!

Although most of the time we tend to forget that she’s always been there for us especially when we were kids, and now that we our already grown ups or maybe we ourselves are in the same boat(parents), we now realize how difficult it must have been for her.

One advice I’d like to give to kids is - Don’t be such a pain to your parents, especially to your mom. Even though sometimes your relationship may not be all too perfect, someday you’ll realize that she is just looking out for you the best way she knows how. Just give her some slack, you’ll be glad you did.

So to celebrate the occasion, here are some gifts you might want to give her on this special day.

Happy Mother’s Day, Ma!!

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Happy Mother’s Day!

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If you’re fond of downloading mp3s on the net, be aware of the latest findings by Mcafee on Trojans and adware that trick users to download fake mp3 files with names such us :

preview-t-3545425-adult.mpg
preview-t-3545425-changing times earth wind .mp3
t-3545425-just got lucky.mp3

They are not real mp3 files but trojans and when you run the file, it installs a media player that infects your pc with the Mirar and NetNucleus program. There are other mp3s with different names being distributed so be careful on which site you download mp3 files.

Here are some of the names on the list: http://www.avertlabs.com/research/blog/index.php/2008/05/06/fake-mp3s-running-rampant/

Just when you thought you’re free from these cretins, they now discovered a new way to ruin your mp3 download habit. Oh well, at least you’ve been warned. Time to update the virus detection signatures on your anti-spyware/adware program.

Read the full story at:
http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/145567/trojan_adware_hiding_in_mp3s_mcafee_says.html

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McAffee on Latest Mp3 Trojans and Adware

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After Adobe Systems debuted a new media playing software, Adobe Media Player 1.0 (AMP), a couple of weeks ago, Adobe Systems has now partnered with leading device manufacturers, content developers, and telecommunications carriers, media networks as well as Sun and Microsoft to spearhead their latest Open Screen Project that would provide a consistent platform for development across PCs, mobile devices, set-top boxes, and other platforms.

Although Flash is installed to about 99 percent of most PC’s, its restrictive licensing prevents it from being prevalently used in mobile devices and other non PC platforms. That will all change with the development of Adobe® AIR™ with the Open Screen Project.

Adobe® AIR™ offers an exciting new way to engage customers with innovative, branded desktop applications, without requiring changes to existing technology, people or processes. The consumer market’s demand for video and rich content across all of platforms is now being addressed.

According to Adobe, Adobe® AIR™ will be able to run applications that are easier, more powerful, and more fun to use on all platforms and devices. Consumers will now be able to shop on eBay, manage music and all cyber related activities with any device available at their fingertips.

Also, Adobe® AIR™ runtime lets developers use proven web technologies to build rich Internet applications that deploy to the desktop and run across operating systems.

So if you’re into web development and your business could benefit from using Adobe’s latest technology, go ahead, download Adobe® AIR™ and the free SDK that comes along with it from Adobe’s website - http://www.adobe.com/products/air/. You can also read all the necessary requirements and other related information from their site.

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Adobe Air from Adobe Labs

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