technick | tips for the rest of us

2012-02-14T08:17:00.000+08:00

Pinterest is essentially a virtual pinboard, where you can organize stuff you find in the internet in pin it on virtual boards. Looking at the core functionality, it is an information gathering tool and if you are like me you would most likely have an account with such a service. But while others whisk your information away into your personal storage, this one gives you a graphical display which you can also share with others.

To learn more about Pinterest, visit their website. I have just registered a couple of days ago and was accepted only a few minutes ago. I am excited to try this out, as I do prefer having a graphical view of things I collect from the net.

So you need a typeface

2012-02-08T07:51:00.004+08:00

(Click on the image to get the bigger picture)

by Graphic Designer Julian Hansen:
"It's an alternative way to choose fonts (or just be inspired) for a specific project, not just by browsing through the pages of FontBook. The list is (very loosely) based on top 50 of Die 100 Besten Schriften by Font Shop

How do Glow Sticks work? Now you'll know

2012-01-20T07:00:00.000+08:00

Magic 89.9: pushing the envelope in broadcasting

2012-01-18T07:29:00.002+08:00

Just thought I'd share this fascination I have with my favourite Philippine radio station, Magic 89.9. The content for one is really great, but in this case I am amazed with how they are using technology to make radio relevant in this internet age.I am talking in particular with the 6-9AM radio show, Good Times with Mo. One of the show hosts Mo Twister, needs to be in the US and so they are now using the current advancements in connectivity, with the DJs in Manila and Mo Twister in LA running the show.

Couple this with a live video feed of the show and you have something radically more than your usual radio show.

The podcasts are also an added bonus which is really great to have in your portable device to listen to whenever, wherever.

Good Times' format involves taking calls and interacting with various topics, which is hugely successful. Very interesting how discussions can turn to unpredictable results.

Coupled with this is the use of social media which expands the presence of the radio show. Give Magic 89.9 a try, if you are not a fan yet. I love Magic Madness on Fridays too!

What's that font?

2012-01-06T11:10:00.000+08:00

I was helping out with a website project of some friends and wanted to re-do the logo. Unfortunately nobody has a PSD or AI file to work with and I was not sure what font was used. A friend suggested using the What the Font service of the website myfonts.com. All you need to do is basically upload an image of the font in question and the system will try to identify it for you.

Was it able to identify the font I needed?

It was a bit close, but there were some unique traits to the font that the suggested alternatives did not quite possess.

Undaunted, I tried to check whether the system is indeed capable of making an accurate identification. I created an image file, which can be seen below.

I used Times New Roman, bold, for this test. The height is 109px (the system recommends 100px).

I uploaded this file, and the system asked me to help identify some of the letters

I could only properly identify 3 and t at the bottom row so I indicated those in the boxes provided for an clicked Continue.

I was then given some suggestions on the font to use

'Times New Roman' was not on the list, however. The suggested fonts list point to resources where you can purchase the font suggested. I wonder though if the system is programmed to exclude fonts that come with operating systems?

I have not yet come across any similar service as this. Any suggestion?

YouTube Rewind 2011

2011-12-27T07:38:00.000+08:00

I am only a very recent YouTube viewer so - surprise! - the top 2011 videos listed here do not ring a bell. Except for the number 1 spot: Friday music video by Rebecca. This made its way into mainsteam radio and that's where I learned of its existence.

But here's a good one for us Filipinos: Maria Aragon made it to the list!

Merry Christmas everyone!

Vangie, the Pinoy Siri

2011-12-24T09:47:00.000+08:00

Hilarious!

YouTube for Schools

2011-12-22T03:50:00.000+08:00

In retrospect, the Philippines did have a TV program that can be shown in the classroom in the mornings. It was called Sineskwela which is a contraction of two Filipino words: Sine (movie) and Eskwela (school). An internet-hosted equivalent makes sense because it can be viewed on demand and there are more avenues for interaction. The hardware and internet connection requirement might be a hindrance to some areas though...

A Personalized Video from Santa, courtesy of Google

2011-12-21T11:18:00.000+08:00

Spread holiday cheer to friends and loved ones with a personalized video or phone call from Santa. Create your own at http://sendacallfromsanta.com.

I just made a video for my son. I thought this will feature a text recognition system which can read any name. Unfortunately it is not so. You have to choose from a limited number of names that closely matches yours. So my name (Nick) became Nicholas and my son Jo-Lo became Joel! It a nice feature nonetheless. Hope you can get a better name match.

What Facebook knows about you

2011-12-19T11:39:00.000+08:00

A wake-up call to those who like placing loads and loads of personal information and spends loads and loads of time on Facebook.

Connect Blogger to Google+

2011-12-16T06:57:00.000+08:00

The above popup which appeared when I logged in to blogger.com was a welcome sight. I had been wondering when Google will start integrating its other services to Google+, and Blogger is an obvious choice to be among the first in line.

There are two major reasons why you will want to connect your Blogger account with Google+:

Consistent Profile. You will now have just one profile for these two services. The Blogger profile will have to be discarded though, so if you love what you have in there, make sure you save your profile photo and blurb first before making the switch. You will have about a month to revert to your Blogger profile though, but what's the fun in that?

Post your blog post in Google +. Yay! Although you can actually do this already by copy-pasting the url, but this integration keeps mouseclicks to a bare minimum. The system will now ask you if you want to display your article on Google+ after you hit the Publish button. You can also change the sharing settings before committing to it. Or you can decline sharing if you want to. But what's the fun in that?

To connect: the notice should show up on your dashboard when you log-in to Blogger. Just follow the easy steps and you'll be done before you know it.

Android-powered Ukulele Chords

2011-12-13T10:53:00.002+08:00

I installed a couple of apps on my Android phone to help me with checking out ukulele tabs without having to scan through the books. This one's the best so far because of the straightforward interface and chord illustration. It is intended for ukuleles prepped on the G-C-E-A tuning.

There are a couple of setbacks though. First, the sliding bar at the left and top do not react as smoothly as expected when a sliding gesture is made. Secondly, the illustration does not point out which finger goes to where. Good thing I have learned how the chords are played from the books so I am familiar with how the chords are played from the photos, but it may confuse others.

For A Major (above photo) for example, the first (pointing) finger rests on the third string of the first fret, and the second (middle) finger rests on the fourth string of the second fret. The other two strings are left as is. Without having prior knowledge of the chords, the above illustration can be a puzzle.

Nonetheless, I find this Android app very useful.

Get your free copy of Ukulele Chords (LE) from the Android Market
(photo credit: from the same site)

Learn a new language for free

2011-12-10T13:04:00.000+08:00

With Duolingo you learn a language for free, and simultaneously translate the Web.

This is in connection with the video in my previous post regarding Captcha.

This site has not yet been launched though, but it's good to have a headstart. Register for Spanish or German, with French, Italian, and Chinese in the works. Sign up at the Duolingo website.

There's more to Captcha than meets the eye

2011-12-08T07:38:00.000+08:00

Chromatic Tuner app for Android

2011-11-25T06:26:00.001+08:00

I shared a website resource some time back to help tune your ukulele. But wouldn't it be nifty if you can have a device you can carry around with you to help with the same task, short of buying a chromatic tuner? I wondered if there is such an app for the Android, and a quick search revealed there is quite a number.

But the best one I have found so far is DaTuner. Using it is really easy. Activate DaTuner, place your mobile device near your ukulele (or guitar for that matter), then strum the desired string (repeatedly if needed, such as in the case of the ukulele where the sound does not get sustained as long as a guitar's). DaTuner will pick the note and display it. Adjust your string tension accordingly. Now I don't have to worry about my son messing up the tuning of the ukulele!

The Free version works perfectly, but you can also get the Pro version worth only NZ$3.02.

Get DaTuner from the Android Market

Google Music

2011-11-17T07:44:00.001+08:00

There's another way to buy, share and listen to music. Try it now at http://music.google.com (currently available only in the United States. bummer)

Online Chromatic Tuner

2011-11-15T05:12:00.000+08:00

I've just bought a ukulele last week because I got this sudden urge to learn to play an instrument. I thought guitars were to complicated for me because there's too many strings, and pianos have too many keys. But that's just me. So I opted for a ukulele because it is associated with 'fun' and Hawaii, which I think is a really nice place (even though I've never been there) and it has 4 strings!

My son has started becoming interested with it as well. And now my dilemma is he might start fiddling around with the pegs and I might lose the perfect tuning the shopkeeper made for the ukulele! Therefore I need to have a tuner handy. Research had lead me to the term "chromatic tuner" but before I went off to buy one, I thought I'd search for a software equivalent.

And there is! Presenting, the Chromatic Tuner from SeventhString.com. Quite handy for tuning your ukulele to G-C-E-A harmony.

Download video from Dropbox

2011-11-10T10:20:00.000+08:00

I recently attended a social media webinar and requested for a link to the recorded video for further reference. I was given a url (referenced to dropbox) that loaded the video onto the browser (I use Chrome) for playing. Unfortunately the video would not start after a couple of attempts. I believe it's because of the slow download speed.

So I decided to download the video instead. How to do this? Simply append ?dl right after the url and the download should start automatically.

The Breathing Earth - view the world in a new light

2011-11-08T05:52:00.000+08:00

In essence, the Breathing Earth site displays a real-time simulation of C02 emissions of every country in the world, as well as the birth and death rates.We often find it difficult to imagine how such global statistics can be pictured. These numbers do not really stand out if they are merely displayed as tabulated numbers on a page. This site helps us come to terms, so to speak, of the world's human population and our carbon emissions.

This site is especially significant as the world approaches 7 billion in population. And there are lots more people born every second than people passing away. Aside from population, our carbon emissions are changing the way we interact with the Earth. Pollution is undeniably changing the landscape and Earth's capability to sustain us. This site is a very powerful tool that can be used in schools, and by the general public, in learning how we affect the world. It can be the first step towards making changes to our habits and reducing our carbon footprint.

Visit the website

YouTube Space Lab - What will you do?

2011-11-05T07:00:00.000+08:00

From the YouTube Space Lab channel:

We're excited to announce YouTube Space Lab, launching with Lenovo and Space Adventures in cooperation with NASA, ESA and JAXA.
Watch amazing space and science videos and, if you're 14 to 18 years old, submit a space experiment idea for your chance to win out-of-this-world prizes.
Find out more at http://youtube.com/spacelab.

GMail has a new look

2011-11-03T07:00:00.000+08:00

Definitely not a random post about random.org

2011-11-02T06:27:00.001+08:00

We occasionally run raffles at work and at each occasion we need paper, pen and scissors. We write either the names, or assign numbers to the names, cut these into strips, roll these up, place these in a bag, then make a random draw. Really old school. Of course we really do not mind doing this inspite of the many action items needed to accomplish the task. Must be because of all the excitement this entails.

However, I just found a faster alternative to the requirement of randomness. Introducing random.org. They're not a new service actually; they've been around since 1998. Still, I learned something new today. Most random number generators are not actually random. They're pseudo-random, owing to the fact that the results are generated by a mathematical formula. So in a sense the result was calculated, but in a random way. Random.org, however, offers true randomness courtesy of atmospheric noise.

Don't ask.

There's a huge number of free services, plus some paid ones. I'm sure you can find something to suit your random requirement (there's even one for lotto). If, for example, you need to pick a name from 6 selections, assign these a number each and use the dice (die?) app! Or, use an actual die if you have one! Oooh, now there's an idea.

Astrid: Social to-do-list

2011-10-28T11:43:00.004+08:00

Astrid is a to-do-list app for your Android phone (with a browser-based counterpart). It is free, and apparently very popular (as stated in its description in the Android Marketplace). This was a side project by a Google Engineer which became a downloadable app. I came across Astrid because I was looking for a to-do-list app to install in my phone to manage my increasingly complex office life, and its popularity rank (coupled with the name being similar with a character from my favourite TV show Fringe) made me download.

I have been using it for quite some time now, and as a standalone app it very easy to use. Just type in your tasks, and when you're done, just strike it off the list. You can also set deadlines, alarms, and priority rank to help you manage your schedule.

It's in the social media functionality that Astrid shines. You can make a list and assign tasks to others. And when they're done, they update their list, which also updates yours! Obviously they need to use Astrid as well in order for this status synchronization to work.

The browser-based interface can sync with the Android mobile phone app.

If you are looking for a to-do-list either for your sole use or as a group, give Astrid a try. Visit the Astrid website for more information.

Share YouTube video in Facebook

2011-10-25T17:24:00.000+08:00

This seems quite an easy enough task, but that's where it can become frustrating. With so many changes Facebook is making to its interface, it is also changing the way other applications interact with it. YouTube, for example, has a Facebook button right under the Share options. But when you use this, what comes up in your profile is only the url and not the video itself.

I discovered by trial and error how to circumvent this. And this one works now; who knows, it won't work in the next Facebook facelift? But until then, on to this very easy method!

As I mentioned earlier, the Facebook share button does not really work as expected because it merely displays the link on Facebook and not the video itself. So what you do first is click 'Share' and you will see YouTube's url shortening service at work.

To the right of this url is a checkbox for 'Long link'. Tick this. The shortened url will then be transformed into the full address for this video. Click inside of this url box and copy this link (Ctrl-C for PC, Cmd-C for Mac).

Go to your Facebook Wall and click 'Update Status'. Paste the url into the status field. Wait for a few seconds, and the display will update itself to show the video window. You can then change the address you pasted into a more descriptive title if you wish. Then Post.

The result is a Wall Post with an embedded video you can play directly from within Facebook.

Pop-ups using CSS

2011-10-18T07:19:00.002+08:00

I have been looking for a code that will enable us to have pop-ups in our website. I immediately thought of CSS and decided to Google for the code. Most of the answers I came across made use of a combination of Javascript and CSS. Also, I needed the CSS code to be inline as I am making the pop-ups within the editing window of the CMS.

This one's the best one I have found so far. Best of all, Drupal is accepting the code.

Here it is:

Click <a onmouseover='this.style.cursor="pointer" ' onfocus='this.blur();' onclick="document.getElementById('PopUp').style.display = 'block' " ><span style="text-decoration: underline;">herespan></a>
 <div id='PopUp' style='display: none; position: absolute; left: 50px; top: 50px; border: solid black 1px; padding: 10px; background-color: rgb(255,255,225); text-align: justify; font-size: 12px; width: 135px;'>
 This is a CSS Popup that can be positioned anywhere you want on the page and can contain any test and images you want.
 <br />
 <div style='text-align: right;'><a onmouseover='this.style.cursor="pointer" ' style='font-size: 12px;' onfocus='this.blur();' onclick="document.getElementById('PopUp').style.display = 'none' " ><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Closespan></a>div>
 </div>

Unfortunately, the pop-up would not work here in Blogger, so you have to test it in your own page.

This code is from Joyents. There are suggestions for minor tweaks in the comments area. Worth a look.