Lab 27

I am currently testing Opera Mobile.

I’m typing this on my Samsung i780 with Opera Mobile. So far I like this browser. Quite fast and it can display a webpage like on a desktop. It also supports tabbed browsing.

I tried opening a few websites, so far no major problems except flash can’t be displayed. I even tried editing Joomla! website. So far so good.

This is the best browser on a mobile device I have ever used. I have a few more tests I need to do before I’m completely satisfied with this browser. But looking at it I’m sure its all good.

I just installed a new theme.

It’s called iTheme by N.Design Studio. I have downloaded this theme for quite sometime already but just decided to use it for this blog.

Even though I am a Mac user, I’m not using this theme because I’m an Apple fanatic, but simply because its a nice and clean theme. It wont be long before I got bored of it and change to another theme.

My first post on this blog was on the 20 January 2008. That was more than a year ago.

I haven’t been updating this blog as much as I would want to. Main reason is I always got caught up with other things. Others would be plain lazy and lack of motivation.

When I started this blog, I wanted to make it a venue where I can practice and improve my writing and at the same time hoping that it will last longer than any of my previous blogs. I will not limit the contents or topics on this blog like I previously did. Only this way I can write just about any topic.

The tag cloud above is the words that I use the most on this blog. It is generated by wordle.net and I think its a good way to get me inspired to type more words on this blog.

All the frogs are in the box.

I am moving to another office. That is why the frogs are in the box.

After about 4 years, finally  something happened. As much as I am comfortable with the current place, I think this move is good for me. I always knew I needed some change before I become too comfortable.

All these years I’ve seen people around me come and go, now it’s my time. Don’t really know how to describe the mixed feeling. Not sure whether I’m being positive or the opposite. Whatever it is, I’m glad it’s still in the early part of the year where we usually planning stuff for the rest of the year.

I am hoping by moving to a different office, I can get out of my comfort zone and at the same time reboot my office life. Who knows, I might get new inspirations or attitude for my creative work.

As for the frogs in the box, I still haven’t really decide what to make of them. Considering the change that I need, they might just remain in the box for now.

I have been using my current phone for almost two years. It was the most expensive phone I have ever bought. In fact, it was the most expensive single purchase i have ever made my entire life. It is my most prized possession.

I bought the phone as a gift for myself to make me feel good about myself after being hospitalized for almost one week. I did a lot of research before buying the phone. I read a lot of reviews on the internet, did a lot of comparisons with other similar phones to make sure this phone is really worth getting. At that time, the main question was “do I really need a PDA phone?” and I can’t answer it at that point of time.

After a long consideration (actually just about 2 days), I decided to buy it. And I never regretted that decision. It has everything I want in a phone and does pretty much everything. I spent the next one and a half years customizing and perfecting the phone to my liking. Now I no longer use the stylus; I navigate, type and operate the phone using my fingers, just like iPhone users.

Now, after 2 years, I need to upgrade the phone to a more current one. The problem is, I depend too much on touchscreen and Windows Mobile. I don’t think I could comfortably use a normal phone. So I need to get a Windows Mobile phone with touchscreen. These phones are expensive and I don’t think I have that money to spend.

To justify a new phone purchase, I need to find a phone with the most current features including 3.5G and GPS and one reasonably priced too. A qwerty keyboard would be fine too. There a a few recently launched phones that meet my requirements, but I need to work out a budget first.

My birthday is just around a corner, wonder if there is anybody kind enough (or rich enough) to buy me a new phone.

I guess not.

I have installed a new hard disk to my laptop.

Now its a 160GB compared to only 40GB before. It’s quite difficult to get an IDE hard disk nowadays. Everyone’s selling SATA since it’s the current standard.

So far I restored Windows and reinstalled most of the softwares I need. I haven’t installed Ubuntu  back yet. Right now I only need to get my laptop working as I have lots of things to do. Can’t afford to have it crashed again or anything like it happen. Ubuntu will be running once again after I completed all my projects.

Right now I am quite relieved that my latop is up and running again. Come to think of it, how I overworked and eventually crashed the laptop, I have to say that the reboot is timely.

Need to remind myself to reboot my life once in a while.

My laptop crashed!

The hard disk is dead. It wont start anymore. No sound, no movement at all.

There goes 2 years of my life and work. Everything that happened in my life are in the hard disk. I did backup some data, but I haven’t got the time to backup everything.

Well I guess this is the time to restart everything. Get a new hard disk, reinstall the softwares, start all over again.

Just like Tyler Durden said, "It’s only after we’ve lost everything that we’re free to do anything."

I installed Hardy Heron 8.04!

After nearly 8 hours downloading the upgrade, I finally completed upgrading to the latest version of Ubuntu, 8.04. I didn’t use the torrent, for reasons I am not sure of.

The upgrading process took almost an hour, but everything run smoothly. Even my previous settings are intact. I haven’t gone through everything yet. But I will explore once I have time.

I’m just a little too excited.

Cheers!

I cant’t wait for Hardy Heron to be released. Ubuntu 8.04 will be released in 13 days time.

I’ve been using Ubuntu on my laptop since 6.10 Edgy Eft. The current version installed is 7.10 Gutsy Gibbon. Even though I used Ubuntu for quite some time, I’m in no way an expert. I don’t even have the technical knowledge to perform advanced tasks using command line in Terminal.

Since the first installation, I haven’t had any major problems with Ubuntu. Everything seems to be working fine. I did have some issues with wireless connection, but I found the solution on community forums. Community support is one of the reasons I like Ubuntu. You can find answers to anything. There are also thousands of softwares available online, free of charge. The freedom of not having to worry about software licence.

My 2 years old laptop could have advanced desktop effects similar to Vista and Mac OS X with the same standard hardware. Hardware upgrades are not neccesary. Reliability is also a big factor. Never found any virus, trojan horse or any malicious attack on my system.

The best thing about using Ubuntu is that I can brag about it to my friends and family. I would show the desktop effects, multiple desktops, office and design applications, and tell them its all free of charge. For a regular guy like me, to be able to do that is quite an impressive feat. Of course later I would be explaining to them about open source and the concept behind it.

Ubuntu is one of the best Linux distribution available. I like it so much and I want to share this with everyone. Others also need to have the freedom offered by Ubuntu and at the same time reduce software piracy among PC users.

These are the things that I always keep handy in my car (in no particular order):

1. Flashlight
2. Pen (lots of them!)
3. Pencil
4. Notebook
5. Post-it Note
6. Multi-function penknife
7. Masking tape
8. Cellophane tape
9. Tissues
10. Non-woven bag
11. Rubberbands
12. Comb
13. Mobile phone chargers
14. Mineral water
15. Umbrella
16. Baseball cap
17. Clothes hanger
18. Skull cap
19. Extension cable
20. Blanket
21. Batteries
22. Spoon
23. Panadol
24. First aid kit
25. Wet wipes

These are the things that I should’ve had in my car but I didn’t:

1. Lighter
2. Sewing kit
3. Map
4. Jumper cable
5. Pepper spray

Call me paranoid, but you’ll never know what could happen.