Software engineer by day, gadget geek 24/7

Moving blog to Wordpress

2005-05-11T22:48:00.000-07:00

I have finally done it - I have setup my own Wordpress blog over at http://gadgetdude.dkldomain.com. The visual design is my own, with CSS techniques based on others. I have ported all my Blogger entries and comments over, following a well-documented tutorial. Join me there, won't you?

[Internet] Traffic conditions in RSS

2005-05-10T14:44:00.000-07:00

Here is a writeup on how to customize Yahoo Maps' traffic condition RSS data for a specific location and radius. In the comments there is another link to a page that integrates this data with Google Maps.

It's amazing how RSS can be used beyond blog publishing. I have added this traffic conditions RSS feed to My Yahoo.

[PDA/Cellphone] Windows Mobile 5 announced

2005-05-10T12:15:00.000-07:00

Today Microsoft announced the new Windows Mobile 5, formerly known as Windows Mobile 2005 or Magneto. Many sources are reporting this, so I will just pick one and link to it.

For now Windows Mobile 5 is only available to hardware partners, so individual consumers like me will have to either wait until a new device with this OS is released, most likely in Q3, or for O2 to offer a software/firmware upgrade for my XDA Mini. As for the software upgrade route, since HP and Dell have already announced upgrade paths for their devices, I don't see why O2 couldn't, especially since Asian companies are less set on forcing us to buy brand new devices as their Americans counterparts. I am keeping my fingers crossed.

And lastly, WebIS has announced that their PocketInformant 2005 PIM software will support Windows Mobile 5. That could be great news for me since I already own a copy of PocketInformant 2005. I haven't used its contact photos feature due to the lack of integration with the desktop Outlook, but I hope that would change if I manage to upgrade to Windows Mobile 2005.

[Moblog] Dog having a good time

2005-05-08T21:30:00.000-07:00

Posted by Hello

He is having fun rolling around on grass. We are helping to take care of our friends' dog while they are abroad.

[Moblog] Random photo

2005-05-07T14:12:00.000-07:00

[Personal] Reconnected at home

2005-05-05T18:36:00.000-07:00

Last night I finally plugged in the computers and setup Yahoo DSL. And now I have Internet access at home.

Yahoo DSL is awesome, easily providing the best content among the previous broadband ISPs I had (Earthlink, Comcast). Now I have access to the enhanced My Yahoo, LAUNCHCast Plus, and Mail Plus. These are the ones I care for and actually use, there are also other perks like bigger Briefcase space and Unlimited Photo Storage. Essentially I got Yahoo Plus with Yahoo DSL.

Before Yahoo DSL I had hoped that Yahoo Mail status could be integrated into Yahoo 360, but now I wish that Yahoo 360 status could be integrated into My Yahoo. Goes to show how fast my portal choice switches!

My monthly due is $20 for a one-year contract. I do worry how Yahoo/SBC will charge me after the term. I really don't want to pay $40+ for broadband, I mean, that's why I moved away from cable.

[Personal] I am still "online"

2005-05-03T17:00:00.000-07:00

A few things have happened in the past few days that kept me from posting to this blog. For one I finally moved into my new house over the weekend. It didn't go 100% smoothly, but everything eventually got into the property, so I can't complain. Then there was the apartment cleaning which I absolutely hated, but judging by the apartment manager's response, we should be getting most of our deposits back. But ultimately the reason why I didn't catch up on my online activities is because *gasp* I don't yet have network access at home!

[Personal] Happy day not so happy

2005-04-29T10:39:00.000-07:00

Today is the day when I finally move into my new house. I am supposed to be happy and excited, but I am not, at least not at this moment. A couple of reasons:

- My company is in the bottom of the sewer right now. Earlier this week an official announcement has been made about layoffs. Today there is news that talks of sellout is in progress.

- My movers were supposed to arrive at 9:30AM. They didn't. Instead they will come at 12:00PM due to a truck scheduling probably.

That's it for this post. Lack of a keyboard on my PDA impedes my "inspiration".

[Misc.] Funny funny "Dangerous Hacker!"

2005-04-26T18:14:00.000-07:00

Must read. Be patient and read till the end, you will be awarded: Total Illusions - The Forums -> Dangerous Hacker!

[Internet] Condensed history of China

2005-04-22T11:57:00.000-07:00

My main workstation is still down and waiting to be picked up by IT. Feeling bored, I decided to refresh my Chinese history. I was looking for a more in-depth version in Chinese (the language), but my laptop (PIII 700mhz, 256mb RAM, good for checking emails only) didn't have the Chinese IME setup, so I ended up searching in English and found The Birth of Modern China. It's a good short read, mainly facts with few opinions sprinkled in between. Near the end I found one paragraph I especially like. I have quoted two paragraphs, the first just leads into the forementioned one.

On the other hand, they did do their best to prop up the ailing Qing, the most notable example being the crushing of the Boxer Rebellion in 1900 by foreign troops (primarily U.S. Marines). What the Western powers were interested in was the carving up of China for their own purposes, and that, paradoxically, required keeping China together.

But two things happened to prevent that. First, in 1911, the Qing dynasty collapsed and China plunged headlong into chaos. Second, in 1914, the Archduke Ferdinand told his driver to go down a street in Sarajevo he shouldn't have, and Europe plunged headlong into chaos.

Ok, it's been fifteen years since my last real grammar lesson, but is this some kind of parallelism?

[Internet] Great design: iampariah.com

2005-04-21T15:26:00.000-07:00

I came across this blog site designed and owned by Pariah S. Burke. The site's use of color and layout is unique and pleasant. It's definitely not the Kubrick theme, which is now the default theme for Wordpress 1.5.

I admire those with creativity, something that I am sadly lacking.

[Misc.] All powerful professor and his laptop

2005-04-21T09:54:00.000-07:00

It's great to be connected. Regardless of whether that's true, at least one can bluff using the right terminologies. From my experience it seems that no one should ever mess with a professor from a major university, as this laptop thief has learnt.

Update: It was a bluff and didn't work.

[Personal] “可笑”的律师公司

2005-04-20T19:44:00.000-07:00

我有一位同事正通过公司的律师办他的绿卡，“可笑”的是律师公司把文件递了上去但忘了交钱，而这钱却是我同事几月前自己出的。今天为这事我那同事气得头都疼了。

[Misc.] The way to play Dance Dance Revolution

2005-04-20T16:47:00.000-07:00

Think the "Easy" setting in Dance Dance Revolution (DDR) is hard enough? Well, I for one do. The toughest songs I could ever complete are those with predictable beats from the "Moderate" setting. I have never even tried "Difficult" in my whole two years of owning my DDR game.

Anyway, there is a video of a kid who can play DDR on its hardest setting while juggling three pins! There is inspiration for you. I often wondered if those tough songs were humanly possible to complete. I guess now I know, really know.

[Moblog] BSOD

2005-04-20T12:08:00.000-07:00

I came to work this morning and was greeted by a Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) on my main workstation. Multiple reboots only resulted in multiple BSODs. Only the "Safe Mode" worked but I didn't know my local login - we normally log in using network domain username/password.

My theory? Last night I left the machine to do a full compilation. Without our knowledge the IT department also pushed a patch requiring machine restart. These two must have collided in a BSOD sort of way.

I am just glad that I didn't come to work at 9am this morning (10am is typically the acceptable starting time for engineers). Otherwise I would have wasted one extra hour of beauty sleep.

[Personal] Official home ownership

2005-04-16T14:01:00.000-07:00

As of yesterday I am officially on record as the owner of the house. It will just be another two weeks before we move in since we gave the seller free rent-back. Our apartment is a mess with all sorts of things packed half way. Oh did I mention my bank account is pretty much empty?

[Singapore] Funny laser gun army story

2005-04-15T21:27:00.000-07:00

I always get cracked up when reading these army stories over at Days were The Those. This one is no exception:

me:"ZIU!ZIU!ZIU!"
platoon commander:"what the fuck are u doing?!"
me:"erm..."
platoon commander:"u were told to make the sounds of gun fire! wat were u doing?!"
me:"erm sir, my gun can shoot lazer."

[Singapore] Reward or punishment

2005-04-15T14:26:00.000-07:00

Disclaimer: I didn't physically hear this happen over the radio but instead only read it through this blog entry.

I can't believe that Singaporeans are being awarded for things like sleeping with girlfriend's mother. True, the radio show gives awards for the best ("deepest, darkest") story it gets, regardless of the nature. And true, it's not the DJ's responsibility to judge what is right and wrong. But doesn't instances like this just send out the message that doing wrong things can still be rewarded somehow?

[Portal AV] Cowon iAudio X5 pictures

2005-04-15T09:27:00.000-07:00

Cowon iAudio X5 - Originally uploaded by gadgetdude.

As usual, Engadget provides the scoop on latest gadgets. This time it pointed me to DAPreview, which has more pictures of Cowon's iAudio X5. Some say they don't like the "bump" at the top, but I kinda like the resulting curve. That color screen is just beautiful. Did I mention it's the size of a 40GB iPod?

[Personal] Decision at work

2005-04-14T23:32:00.000-07:00

This afternoon a colleague told me over the phone that his group has 5 openings and asked me if I am interested. Should I attempt an internal transfer?

For transfer:

That group is working on the next generation product, therefore the work would be more challenging and fun.
More interesting stuff on my Resume.
My current work is boring.

Against transfer:

Our company is not doing too well. The current product line I work on has customers and is therefore more stable. The next generation product won't have customers in the near future, so its future is uncertain.
I am doing pretty well in my current group. It's very likely that my manager will decline the transfer request.
It will be busier over there. I just bought a new house and need some free time to settle in.

I know it seems that the "against" list is longer, but then each point is not weighted equally. What to do, what to do?

[Misc.] Sharper Image Ionic Breeze Air Purifier may make air worse

2005-04-14T09:38:00.000-07:00

I was going to buy two of Sharper Image's Ionic Breeze for my new home after hearing a friend say how effective these air purifiers are. They certainly aren't cheap at $450 each (although second one is only at $225). Now I read that Consumer Reports claims these purifiers actually pollute air more by emitting "unhealthy amounts of ozone". Luckily I read this before putting down $675 for two of them. Guess it's back to old fashioned dusting.

[Moblog] Comfortable Frosty

2005-04-10T18:51:00.000-07:00

Our dog Frosty resting comfortablely at home.

[Personal] Blog anonymously?

2005-04-10T00:01:00.000-07:00

Something has been on my mind ever since I started blogging in 2003: should I reveal my true identity in my blog? If I do then I can probably make my blog more interesting and personal. I can write more freely and not worry about what to censor. On the other hand revealing my name can severely limit what I write online. One of the topics I like to rant about is work, and I just don't think I can write freely about work if I feel that the blog endangers my job security. Other types of complaints would probably be cut as well. This may not be bad for readers, but it does take away some of my blogging pleasure.

The mental debate continues...

Update: Here is a guide on blogging safely (aka anonymously).

[Moblog] Speed trap?

2005-04-09T18:33:00.000-07:00

Speed trap? Neh, it's just me sitting in my parked car waiting for my wife to return. Windows Media Player is playing some music, PocketIE is running in the background, and I just thought a picture is due.

[Personal] Furnitures are mine

2005-04-09T17:10:00.000-07:00

We bought a set of furnitures from a guy who is leaving the country. Today we hired movers to transfer them to a storage location. Everything went quite smoothly, and best of all, it didn't rain!

Three more weeks before I move into my new house. Yippy!!