technick | tips for the rest of us

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.

What is the size of the Twitter profile photo?

2011-10-14T06:07:00.000+08:00

This question looks deceivingly simple. Actually I had spent a better part of the hour trying to fit in the company logo to the space allocated for. There are two sizes to look out for in Twitter: the bigger profile photo, and the smaller icon displayed beside your Tweet (and this gets even smaller if viewed on small screens i.e. mobile phones). For convenience I Google for an answer and came up with 73x73px for the bigger profile photo. It seems, though, that this is no longer the case. The new size is 128x128px based on my measurement.I tried using 73px square for the logo and on the profile page, it looked small compared with the arrangement of the Twitter name and description beside it. The smaller icon is also something to look out for, as it resizes the photo into 48x48px (too small to recognize the details in the logo). I may be violating all sorts of marketing guidelines on how to display the logo for consistency purposes and so I chose to display a photo instead. And that is when I discovered the change in the Twitter profile photo size.So that's it. Try for 128x128 for the profile photo, and check how it looks like on the smaller version. It's a bit of trial and error, actually. Enjoy.

Blogger Dynamic Views

2011-10-12T05:55:00.000+08:00

Now, there's another reason to use Blogger for your blog(s): Blogger Dynamic Views. Very, very interesting!

An overview of the seven new dynamic views in Blogger that use to customize your blog. Built with the latest in web technology (AJAX, HTML5 and CSS3), Dynamic Views is a unique browsing experience that will inspire your readers to explore your blog in new ways. The interactive layouts make it easier for readers to enjoy and discover your posts, loading 40 percent faster than traditional templates and bringing older entries to the surface so they seem fresh again. - description for the YouTube video below

Learn more from the Blogger Buzz Blog.

(so you might ask... why have I not implemented these to my blogs yet? Because I haven't tested yet if it is possible to still retain some of the widgets). But I have already used the Dynamic View on my photo blog. Check it out!)

Steve Jobs on Apple's core values

2011-10-10T06:07:00.001+08:00

Steve Jobs, back in the day, telling us how simple brands really need to be.
He made this presentation to his employees at Cupertino shortly after he returned to Apple in 1997 to bring the brand back on track.

Want to know what personal information is shared with Google (and the public)? Try Google Dashboard

2011-10-09T07:00:00.000+08:00

The Google Dashboard is a systematic way for you to know exactly what information Google has for your account, especially if you use a number of Google products (such as, in my case, GMail, Docs, Sites, YouTube, Maps. It is also a handy tool to see which details are private, and which are public.

The video below effectively describes what the Dashboard is all about and how to access it.

Here's a tool that will come handy when you want to know what people see when they search for you on Google. It's called Me on the Web, and it's available within the Dashboard. You can set up an Alert when your personal detail - email address or phone number, for instance - gets published online.

To create Alerts:

Sign in to your Google Dashboard.
In the 'Me on the Web' section, click Set up search alerts for your data.Select the checkboxes beside the alerts (such as your name or email address) you'd like to receive.
- (Optional) Enter additional information (such as a home address) in the text field, then select the checkbox for that alert.
- (Optional) Click Add another alert to create alerts for additional personal information.
In the 'How often' drop-down box, choose the alert frequency.
In the 'Deliver to' drop-down box, choose which email address your alerts should be sent to.
Click Save alert preferences.

You can learn more about Me on the Web at this Google Accounts Help page.

Link Facebook to Twitter, and other link-ups

2011-10-06T07:41:00.000+08:00

This is old news I know, but in case you are still not aware of it, this may be a good thing to have for your social media efforts.

You can link your Facebook Page to Twitter. Sorry, your personal profile is not supported. I am working on this as part of an online project at the office. So now I can link our Facebook Page to Twitter. We might try linking up the website to Twitter as well; right now the solution I know for that is via Twitterfeed.

I just might do this with my blogs too! Right now, my blogs 'feed' to Twitterfeed, which posts to Twitter and Facebook. I will limit my blog to posting to Twitter via Twitterfeed and let NetworkedBlogs display my blog posts in Facebook.

It can get a bit confusing, but this is actually a much better dilemma than the one I was faced before when there were no options available! :-)

Do you have a preferred solution you use to link-up?

And I haven't touched Google+ yet...

To link your Facebook Page to Twitter, visit this site in Facebook.

Rapportive installed - twice

2011-10-03T10:26:00.002+08:00

I have finally gotten around to installing Rapportive. Something was so obvious, though, that I failed to notice it is that it's an add-on to your browser. Meaning if you install it on your home computer, it will only latch itself to your browser on that computer. My office computer required an installation as well. This is not really a biggie, just an observation I wanted to point out.

I also realized that majority of the people I converse with by email are not my contacts at Facebook. Now that's interesting. Although there is also the possibility of my friends using different email addresses, hence the system is not able to correlate my Facebook / Twitter friends with my Gmail correspondences. Barring Facebook / Twitter updates, Rapportive shows you their most recent emails to you instead.

At any rate, I think Rapportive is a good way of checking how you are linked with others, and it's a great at-a-glance notification of their statuses.

Give it a try. It's fast and free. http://rapportive.com/

Google Cloud Print

2011-09-28T07:49:00.001+08:00

A friend tested this one for me and according to him, it works great. We were discussing some tech stuff and he was wondering about how resources such as printers can be shared. So we talked about the set-up and some scenarios.

I remembered reading about Google Print so I advised him to check it out, that might be something he can experiment on to further understand shared resources.I met him last weekend and he was happy to note that he is personally using Google Cloud print now.

Want to check this out as well? See the video and link below.
Visit the Google Cloud Print website

Rapportive

2011-09-25T07:00:00.000+08:00

This one looks like a very interesting Gmail add-on! Will definitely install this, once I get some sleep. :-/

Rapportive shows you everything about your contacts right inside your inbox.You can immediately see what people look like, where they're based, and what they do. You can establish rapport by mentioning shared interests. You can grow your network by connecting on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and more. And you can record thoughts for later by leaving notes.Imagine relationship management built into your email. For free.

Get Rapportive here

Boomerang for Gmail

2011-09-22T07:00:00.000+08:00

Schedule an email to be sent later. Easy email reminders.Boomerang for Gmail is a Firefox / Chrome plugin that lets you take control of when you send and receive email messages.
I am not using this (yet) but thought I'd store this info here to come back to for when I need it!

Edit your videos with YouTube

2011-09-19T07:00:00.000+08:00

Additional information can be found at the YouTube blog.

The future of books?

2011-09-16T09:08:00.000+08:00

Twitter To Support Filipino, Malay, Hindi, and Chinese in coming weeks

2011-09-13T11:43:00.003+08:00

After surpassing the milestone of 100 million active users worldwide, the San Francisco based social networking giant Twitter has announced that it will be adding support for five Asian languages including as Hindi, Filipino, Malay, and Simplified and Traditional Chinese in the coming weeks. That will bring the total number of supported languages to 17.

continue reading at Penn Olson

WYSIWYG Editor disappearing in Drupal

2011-09-07T12:59:00.000+08:00

In a couple of occasions, the WYSIWYG editor at the editing window of our Drupal installation would disappear (we are currently in PressFlow, installed a couple of months ago). It's there for those with admin roles, though, so we suspected it might be a permissions thing.

Here are the fixes that worked in our case:
- the first time it happened, we ticked "administer filters" for the roles where the WYSIWYG window disappeared (which was for everyone except admin)
- in the second instance, I ticked "bypass filter restrictions" and the editor came back on. This was when we migrated to PressFlow and had WYSIWYG problems.

Others suggest removing the buttons of apps that you have recently installed (from site configuration - wysiwyg profiles, full html input format) and see if the editor returns. I actually removed all the buttons and added them one by one when I was trying to troubleshoot the second instance (this did not work for me though, so it meant I did not have apps conflicts).

You might also want to check out the TinyMCE FAQ for other suggestions. Hope this helps.

Drupal's block weight control missing

2011-09-02T12:00:00.000+08:00

I have just created another Block in our Drupal CMS and I needed this to appear as the first in a column of blocks. The problem is, the block weight option has somehow disappeared.

Apparently, if you have lots of blocks, the weighting system would act up and "walk out" on you. I searched around for a fix and found one that's easy to implement. It requires turning off Javascript capability of your browser.I use Google Chrome heavily and would not like to dabble with its settings and forget later on what switches I turned off. So I used Firefox 5.0 in this case.The solution involved turning Javascript off.

Here is a sample block with weight control gone:

Click Firefox - Options

Uncheck "enable Javascript" tick box

Click OK.

Voila. Weight control visible. Now I just have to remember to use Firefox if I want this feature.

Where was I able to get this fix? At Drupal.org. Thanks guys.

PostSecret app - soon!

2011-08-31T06:34:00.002+08:00

For more information, visit postsecretapp.com

Tumblr: an easy and fun way to microblog

2011-08-29T07:00:00.003+08:00

Planning to start your own blog but you find the huge, blank canvass intimidating? Tumblr just might be the service you are looking for.

Tumblr is a microblogging platform. It's designed in such a way that you can post a snippet, a quote, a photo, a link, or a video, without feeling that you have to expound further. Just post, and go.

Another big plus is that it has loads of themes to choose from, some with a minimal fee, a lot are free. And connecting it to Facebook and Twitter is a breeze. Just approve the necessary authorization and you're good to go. No advertisements. Your content is yours. And it's free!

You can also acquire your custom domain name and use it instead of your tumblr url.

Tumblr was launched in 2007. I discovered it 4 years late. I could have used this platform for one of my blogs. I've been playing with it for a couple of weeks now and I love it!

If you plan to use Tumblr, feel free to look me up and follow me! http://nickballesteros.tumblr.com

Cut out a person from a photo using Photoshop

2011-08-24T07:36:00.002+08:00

I'm tired of using the Magic Wand when extracting people out of various backgrounds so I searched the web and came up with this. I am going to try it out as soon as I finish posting this. I have Photoshop CS3.

My verdict: loads better than using Magic Wand! While the initial highlight part will most likely miss out some parts, you can recover these using the Edge Touchup and Cleanup tool while previewing the crop.

The procedure (in case the above video goes missing):
Open the image
Click Filter - Extract
At the left hand side is a series of buttons. Use the topmost to highlight around the edges of the image you want to crop, forming a closed shape
Next, use the Fill Tool to highlight the entire image for cropping
Preview the image and use the Touchup and Cleanup tools to enhance the crop.
You can zoom in and out, which is handy.

There are also additional adjustments to how these tools will act at the right hand side.

Make sure that you have finished all the touchups you need before pressing the OK button. I found out that there's no turning back once this is clicked and the cropping will be executed, removing the background completely.

Twitter how-to

2011-08-18T12:23:00.000+08:00

Today's the third time in a month that I searched for instructions on setting up Twitter for the mobile phone, so I thought I might as well place it here so it will be easier to retrieve next time!

Create an account by SMS

Send a text message to 8987 (TWTR)* with the word START
8987 is the code for New Zealand. Telecom provider 2 Degrees might not yet support Twitter.
Twitter will send you a reply and ask you to reply with the word 'SIGNUP' to create a new account. Send 'SIGNUP'.
Next, Twitter will ask you to pick a username. Your username must be unique and less than 15 characters, with no spaces or special characters (underscore is the only exception). Reply with the username you want.

If the username is taken, Twitter will give you three attempts to select a unique one.

If you're out of ideas, Twitter will suggest and assign you an alternate username. If you want a new one later, it's easy to visit Twitter.com and change your username from the web settings.
You will get a confirmation message when you pick a unique username (Twitter will tell you to pick a new name if someone else has the username you wanted).
Choose a password.
You're all set! Send a message and it will post as your first Tweet.

Set-up your Web Profile

Simply go to www.twitter.com and click Sign in, then click Already using Twitter on your phone?
Read our article about accessing your web profile for more information.

Share an image on Twitter

2011-08-12T07:00:00.003+08:00

This screenshot says it all :-)

Warning: phone information available on Facebook

2011-08-10T09:18:00.000+08:00

I've just received this information from a friend on Facebook. I checked it out and it is true. This can become a significant problem, especially for those who add every Dick, Tom and Harry who requests to be their friend as they may be sharing more information than they bargained for. Here is the message:

PHONE NUMBERS OF ALL YOUR FRIENDS are now on Facebook! No joke - go to the top right of the screen, click on Account, then click on Edit Friends, go left on the screen and click on Contacts. All phone numbers are published. Please repost this on your Status, so your friends can remove their numbers and thus prevent abuse.

The only place I know where you can remove your phone number is in Profile (top right), Info (lefthand menu). Contact information is the last section on this page. You can delete your phone number from there. I think this is activated when you opt for getting updates and password retrieval via mobile phone. If you can do away with the said features, then by all means remove your phone number.

The system does not state that your number will be shared to your contacts, nor is there a way for you to make this visible only to select people.

There is actually a message at the bottom of the left hand menu stating:

Visit your privacy settings to control who can see the information on your profile.

Click on that and you get to the privacy settings. Note that "Contact Information" is set to "other". I tried to see what this exactly meant and change it if possible by clicking on "customize settings", and there is no option for "Contact Information". I'd think that this bit of information should be configurable, and is definitely more important, than your birthday info, whose privacy option can be set!

Hope this helps.

Free Microsoft Office via SkyDrive

2011-08-03T10:54:00.000+08:00

Did you know that you can now have access to Microsoft Office for free? The said application is now available online through Microsoft's SkyDrive service where - aside from Office - you can also have 25GB free online space!

Sure, the online version are scaled down, but are very functional nonetheless. Included is Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote. And since it's running on a browser, Office can run on any brower-capable device. Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Safari are supported. It does not mention Google Chrome (the reason of which is pretty obvious), but I use Chrome and it works just fine.

Here is a screenshot of Microsoft Word:

My wife couldn't quite get how Google Docs work, so this could be a great alternative for her. Plus, we didn't really bother to purchase MS Office for the home computer and I like using Google Docs a lot, so my wife can choose to use this even if we're running Ubuntu!

If you have Microsoft Office installed in your computer, you can upload your documents to SkyDrive (Office 2010 is nicely integrated with this cloud service), and you can also open your SkyDrive document on your local Office installation.

If you already have a Hotmail or an MSN Messenger account, you already have access to this service. Just look for the SkyDrive link right next to Hotmail and Messenger.

If you don't have an account yet, sign up for free at http://office.live.com.

What Do You Love?

2011-07-28T08:42:00.000+08:00

For one thing, I love how Google thought of consolidating their various services into one panel as a search result! 'What Do You Love' gives you results from Google Maps, YouTube, Sketchup, Blogger, Translate, Google Books, Google Images, and GMail among others.

I love robots and so I tried that out and came up with this:

That's a lot of information to trawl through! The result from YouTube, Books, Images, and Blogs are spot-on. I suspect though that looking for a person you love (uh... would this be called stalking?) will generate mixed results, some spot-on, others not quite who you're looking for. Unless that person's hugely popular!

Check out the video below about this service and start your search!

Create a Face Movie using Picasa

2011-07-25T07:00:00.001+08:00

A Face Movie is a slideshow for a person with his face as the focal point in the transition. This feature is currently available in Picasa, Google's free photo management software. To show you how it is like, I have made a Face Movie of my son.

The photos span six years. The first thing you might notice is that the photos are not in chronological order date-wise. Unfortunately, the system is currently unable to sort photos by date. It works by sorting through your selected photos and making the smoothest possible transition between each face.

One tip, if you are concerned about having a smooth transition, is to have solo photos only. Picasa will include the faces of other people into the slideshow (therefore, a photo with three people in it will appear thrice). You may remove the other photos in the stream, but this disrupts the transition. Well, I have multiple faces on some photos because I like to include those, which is why I noticed the difference.

My Picasa albums are not really that organized so what I did was to add a new album in my Pictures folder in Windows (which Picasa automatically detected and added to the gallery). In Picasa, I selected all the photos in this album (click on one photo then press Ctrl-A), then click Create - Video - From Faces in Selection (see screenshot at the start of this article).

This will bring you to a big preview screen with thumbnails of the faces at the bottom. This is where you can right-click and delete the odd photo in the stream. Deleting here does not delete the photo itself, just its appearance in the slideshow.

Then place background music if you want to. I got my nice bg music from Danosongs.com.

When you're happy with the test run, click on "Create Video" at the right-hand side. Or if you want to upload it to YouTube as well, click on the YouTube button to automate that extra step! Login required, of course.

This is a nifty application to use for birthdays, or just to play around with some photos and share with relatives and friends. I hope they come up with date sorting; that will be really cool.

Enjoy!

Find people on Google Plus

2011-07-23T05:57:00.000+08:00

Curious about who the "top people" are on Google Plus in terms of following? Curious if your friends are in this new social media? Curious if your name is showing up at all? Then welcome to Find People on Plus, an alternative (and better looking interface, I might add) to finding people within Google Plus itself.

And who tops the list? Mark Zuckerberg! Surprise, surprise. I searched for a couple of friends but one of them did not turn up. I guess he's using an alias or something. And my name? Yep, it turned up too!

There are also some interesting stats per country. US is number one of course in terms of membership... the Philippines still has a long way to go if it wants to catch up.

Visit Find People on Plus

How to convert your image into a favicon

2011-07-21T07:00:00.021+08:00

Most graphics programs are not able to generate .ico files, and renaming the extension to .ico will not work either. Good thing there are free services online who will do the conversion for you.

One such service (and one I have tried so I'm sure it works great) is iconverticons. To create your favicon, simply generate one using your favourite graphics editor and save it as either jpg, gif, or png. Then upload it to iconverticons. The system will then process your upload and churn out various icon sizes.

You will want the 16 x 16 pixel favicon, which is at the bottom of the list. I recommend that when you make your favicon, try to see how it will look like when at this size to save on time and effort.

Visit the site at http://iconverticons.com/

Add a favicon to your Google Sites website

2011-07-19T09:25:00.036+08:00

A couple of days ago, I wrote about how you can further customize your Blogger/Blogspot website by adding your very own favicon. Now here's how to add one as well in Google Sites.

Create your favicon using your favourite graphics imaging software, making sure it is 16px x 16 px. Name it favicon. Now, a favicon actually needs to have an extension of .ico. Your graphics software might not be capable of making the conversion, in which case you might want to tune in and wait for my next post, or Google for a solution instead :-).

With your favicon.ico file on hand, visit Google Sites and (making sure you have admin rights), do the following:

Click on the "More actions" button at the right-hand side, followed by the "Manage Site" option

Click on "Attachments at the right-hand menu.

On the next screen, click on "Upload" and search for your favicon.ico file. Remember, your file should be named favicon!

Click on "Upload" and when it's done, go back to your site. Your favicon should appear beside the name of your website.

Google News Badges

2011-07-19T08:45:00.000+08:00

Libe Goad (ZDNet) has some compelling arguments about the Google News badge. As for me? Too busy to comment on this feature...

Trim your mp3 file using RealPlayer

2011-07-17T07:00:00.000+08:00

Let's say for example you have an mp3 file of a music mix and the DJ got overboard with the intro. You love the rest of the mix; if only you can remove the intro then it'll be perfect. Or you need to take only a certain section off an mp3 file. How do you trim the mp3 file?

If you already have the free RealPlayer app installed, then you're in luck. It is not very accurate but at least there's a free option!

Open the file in RealPlayer. You will most likely have a visualization display going on like mine. Place the mouse pointer over this and you will see a number of options appear at the bottom. Click on "trim" (see screenshot above).

The Trim window will appear. You can now close the main RealPlayer window. Play the file and take note of the time where you want to trim off at the start (or at the end).

I wanted to trim off the first 5 minutes of my mp3 file, so I start dragging the slider at the left. See the orange slider at the left? The screenshot would not include the mouse pointer, unfortunately, but I was dragging this slider to the 5-minute position. Likewise, you can also drag the slider at the right side to trim the end portion. Not very accurate, like I said, but a better alternative than listening through the intro which I do not like over and over and over every time I play this file.

When done, click on the "Save Trim" button at the lower right. Give your new file a name. That's it!

Toggle "Promoted to front page" in Drupal

2011-07-15T07:00:00.001+08:00

We are building a community-based website at work where we will have a number of people uploading content, be it a news item or a blog post, or a calendar event. Drupal is really powerful for this sort of thing. However, with all the options available, it is easy to get lost in the system. Which is why I have this blog to keep track of things!

We do not want everyone to have the power to promote their content onto the home page; only the relevant ones should, and only the admins and select people should be able to do this. The best way is to install the Override Node Options module. "Publish", "Promote to front page", and "Sticky at top of list" is always bundled together so you can really have a problem with promoting stuff by lots of people. The said module gives you the power to separate these into distinct abilities.

And for people who have admin or similar access, it is a hassle when "Promoted to front page" is turned on automatically. What if they do not want their article to appear on the home page?

Here is where you toggle this feature.

Go to admin - content - types. In your address bar, it will look like this:
[your domain name]/admin/content/types

You will then see a list of your content types. Click on "edit" at the right-hand menu.

Click on "Workflow settings", uncheck "Promoted to front page", and click the "Save content type" button.

All done.

Favicon now available for Blogspot/Blogger blogs

2011-07-13T12:44:00.000+08:00

I saw this just now... a favicon option under the Design tab!

Yay! Thanks Google!

(In case you do not know yet, a favicon is a small icon that appears beside your website address, and is used to identify you also when your site is bookmarked. Real nifty, rather than having the generic globe icon)

plus.ly: Google+ URL shortener

2011-07-13T07:00:00.012+08:00

Here's another contender for Google+ URL shorteners: plus.ly. Very similar with the previous shortener mentioned in this blog, you need to input your preferred name and your Google+ ID, and you're off to a personalized url to point to your account using plus.ly!

The site: plus.ly

3D printing

2011-07-11T09:16:00.000+08:00

3D printers are now a reality. A bit on the expensive side, yes, but a reality nonetheless. View the video below and be amazed.

Clip to Evernote app for Google Chrome

2011-07-08T07:00:00.015+08:00

Here's a good reason to have Google Chrome on your computing device if you're using Evernote. There's an Evernote app for the Chrome! Makes it easy and convenient to clip a selection, a page or the url off a web page. Just head to the Google Chrome Store to download and install the "Clip to Evernote" app for free.

The app seems to acting up though on Macs, based on the discussion thread on the page...

gplus.to: shorter url for Google+

2011-07-06T08:41:00.000+08:00

In your Google+ account, you will see that the url for your profile is rather cryptic, similar to Facebook's before they offered to provide customised urls. The link would look like this:

https://plus.google.com/102230086458952412430/posts?tab=mX

A third party service can make this url easier to remember by asking for your desired nickname and your unique code (the string of numbers located in your profile url. If your name is available, then it's yours! Head to gplus.to and claim your nickname (Google+ account required).

Evernote: remember everything

2011-07-05T10:21:00.000+08:00

I have been using Evernote for more than a month now and it's been great! Evernote is an online service that enables you to save web pages, or sections of pages, or urls, make notes, include photos... bits of information you need to hold on to. Needless to say, it's great when you have a bunch of research to do.

You need to download the application, and the Evernote app will then reside at your Windows taskbar (there's a version for the Mac too). A big plus for using Evernote is that you can sync it with your mobile phone or your tablet, making your research work portable without having to drag a bunch of paper around (great for the environment!).

If you find yourself bookmarking lots of stuff, you will find Evernote very useful. Even just the free version (which I have) is very useful. The Pro version gives you higher limits per month, as well as fancier ways to deal with PDFs (all the features are listed in the website), but if you're starting with the service, Evernote's free edition is already loads useful by itself.

Register an account at evernote.com

Your online personal branding through Gravatar

2011-07-02T07:00:00.029+08:00

Have you ever wondered how people are able to comment on blogs and sites where commenting is enabled, and they would have their photo or personalized icon beside their entry?

This made possible through the magic of Gravatar. I have been using this service for a long time now, four years or more I think. And it's been great seeing how my comments would leave a customized photo behind instead of the randomly-generated avatar generated by the system in case you don't use Gravatar. I think I came across this service during my foray into Wordpress some years ago. The system works seamlessly with Wordpress. In fact, you can use your Wordpress login credentials to access Gravatar. (Blogger uses their own system, where your profile photo is the one that gets displayed when you comment in Blogspot blogs)

Best of all, the service is free! All you need is to provide your email. And then you need to verify that you have indeed requested access to Gravatar. Once you're in, you can immediately upload and start using a photo of your choice (subject to reasonable regulations, of course).

Visit Gravatar and start personalizing your internet brand.

The Google+ Project: are you ready for another social media?

2011-06-30T07:00:00.056+08:00

So they say, we are only waiting until the next best thing comes around. In social media, we had the hugely popular Facebook (in the Philippines, at least, Bebo and Orkut in other areas), eclipsed by MySpace, and now Facebook. Will the Google+ Project be the next best thing?

I visited the Google+ Project website to learn more and sign up (and as always, never got around to getting registered as a beta user). A little bit of digging around revealed that your existing Google Profile will be used to identify yourself in Google+. And that there will be five applications that will be available in this service. The icons are displayed below, and I will attempt to describe each (from left to right), and post my initial, personal reactions.

1. Circles - group your contacts using a drag and drop interface. The graphical nature will make it easier to categorize your contacts, which will be an improvement over other menu and folder-driven systems.

2. Hangouts - video chat. I do not make a lot of video chats because... well, I'm not really a chatty sort of person. Even with this feature available in Yahoo! Messenger, I haven't really been using it all that much, even the chat feature. It's great that it's going to be available for the times that you feel like using it, but I don't see it having much mileage out of my internet usage.

3. Instant Upload - This will make uploading and sharing of photos easier. This one I'm interested to see.

4. Sparks - It's like your personal search engine, scouring the web for the latest updates based on your interests. I have a feeling the +1 button will have a major role in this service.

5. Huddle - for group messaging on the mobile network. Google Wave comes to mind, only in this case it's via SMS. It also reminds me of the chat feature Nokia phones once had where you have a conversation going and you can trace the timeline of the SMS.

The cool thing I like with Facebook is the Wall where I can scroll through and get a glimpse of what people in my network are doing, and stop and read more if something interests me. I'm sure a lot of people also use the Wall for its convenience. I wonder how the interaction at Google+ will be done. It's all speculation for now.

Add the Notes App on your Facebook Page

2011-06-29T07:24:00.016+08:00

I was helping out an organisation put up their Facebook Page and was asked to place a welcome message. Unfortunately, there is a character limit on the Wall, so the next best thing is to add it as a Note. But Notes is not one of the default Apps on the Page. Here is the easy procedure to add the Notes App.

Visit your Page, then click on the Edit Page button located at the right-hand side.

The left-hand menu will change to your list of options. Click on "Apps", which will bring up the screen below.

Click on "Edit Settings" under Notes. A pop-up button will appear. Click on (Add), then click Okay.

Ta-daa! The Notes App is now available for your Page. You can write your lengthy messsages here, and an excerpt will appear on your Wall with a link to the entire message.

Share buttons not appearing in Blogspot blog

2011-06-26T07:00:00.095+08:00

It's strange that I learned about Google's +1 button in my other blog, and then I realized that this, and the Share buttons are not at all appearing in this blog. I expected this to be at the bottom of every blog post, right beside the comments link. I have been using Twitter and Facebook buttons in other sites to share information so there is real value in having this in your blog. I thought using Template Designer would be smooth sailing for all standard widgets, but I guess it's not.

So I Googled for the answer and came up with a quick fix. I owe this one to The Real Blogger Status blog. Head on to his blog for the fix, or read on for my explanation of the procedure.

At the Blogspot Dashboard, click on the Design link. Then click on "Edit HTML".

Before doing anything else, backup your template. The top option on this page is "Backup/Restore your template. I downloaded my template from here. But being paranoid about making changes to the code, I also placed a copy of the code on Notepad.

Search for the phrase "Blog Posts".

Now highlight the entire line of code containing this phrase and CUT it (ctrl-x). Remember also the widget before this, as you are pasting the Blog Posts widget back anyway.

Click the "Save Template" button. You will see a warning saying that a widget is missing. Click the "delete widgets" button. Your template is thus saved.

Now, search for the name of the widget right before the one you deleted. In my case, it was "Adsense2" so I searched for that. And then I pasted (ctrl-v) the "Blog Posts" widget code right after it (which is its original location).

Then save your template. The reset is complete.

There's one other thing to do. Your browser normally saves a copy of your browsing data into your computer to make surfing faster. You might not see the change because of this. To delete the cache in Google Chrome (my preferred browser), click on the wrench at the right of the address bar, then click Tools - Clear browsing data.

Make sure "empty the cache" is checked. Click on the "clear browsing data" button. Cache deleted.

Go back to your Design window in Blogspot and click on the Blog Posts widget. You will see that "Show Share Buttons" is unchecked. Tick that and Save.

Voila! Share buttons are now in your blog posts.

Rotate video in Windows 7

2011-06-23T07:00:00.029+08:00

A colleague emailed me a video that needs to go to our website. Unfortunately, the orientation was wrong (in landscape mode when it should be in portrait mode). I had a feeling this was taken using a mobile phone.

But this was a challenge that needed solving and I was not about to back down. I Googled a solution and came up with one for VLC Media Player (which I have) but I think it's for an older version and the menu system has changed a lot since then. The other solution is to use Windows Live Movie Maker (which comes as part of Windows 7).

So I went through that route!

I opened the video by right clicking on it and choosing "open with > Windows Live Movie Maker"

I immediately recognized the Rotate button on the toolbar, so I clicked that...

And voila! The video is now on the correct orientation.

I saved my file by clicking on the File button at the top left then clicking "save Movie > for Computer". This saves to only one format, the Windows Media Video file (.wmv) which, thankfully, can be played by VLC Media Player.

I believe the Windows Movie Maker of the older Windows OS versions is also capable of this little trick, the location of the menu might be slightly different. Though I hope not as changed as that of VLC's.

A side-effect to this process is file size. My 3MB video file ballooned to 10MB!

Angry Birds at the Chrome web store

2011-06-20T07:00:00.006+08:00

I don't think I have to explain what Angry Birds is all about, as this is one of the most popular games there is today. It is originally an app for mobile phones and tablets so you can have a play anywhere you go. My son and I got caught up in the frenzy as well when I downloaded the app on my Andoid phone. But I got stuck on a level and that was the end of that.

I was having a look around for Chrome apps and was surprised to find Angry Birds as a game that you can now play on your PC! You can either play it online (no need to download anything!), or download it for offline gaming.

My son and I had a play one weekend afternoon. Really nice to play it on a bigger screen this time around! But we got stuck again, so we're back to the Wii.

Tweet away with Silver Bird

2011-06-17T07:00:00.071+08:00

My Twitter account had been dormant for a couple of years, but was resurrected due to a plan at work to have our own organisation's Twitter account. So I started following various people and entities (it's amazing how it has evolved!), and tweeted too, to test the waters so to speak. But I did not use my mobile phone to tweet as SMS here in New Zealand is quite costly. It's $0.20 per text for Vodafone. That's roughly P6.00 in Philippine pesos, where it's only a peso to send a text message there! Sure, there are promos to send more SMS for lesser amount of money but my texting habits here is just not the same in the Philippines. I will surely be unable to consume 200 SMS messages in a month. Plus, the promo expires in a month! Down the drain your unspent SMS goes.

Telecom provider 2 Degrees is loads cheaper but they do not support Twitter as of this writing. Which makes me wonder, because they just might be able to make the Twitter service more usable by providing it in their network, and make a profit from it. But I digress.

I downloaded Silver Bird (originally Chromed Bird) for Google Chrome because I am already a user of the said browser and integrating a Twitter app in it will be the convenient way to go! I have been using this app for a couple of months now and it's just been great. Its usage is quite straightforward. Just click on the Silver Bird icon (which is actually coloured Blue, which turns Red when you have new tweets) located at the right end of the address bar of Chrome and out comes your Tweets mixed with the accounts you follow.

You can see your direct messages, as well as messages addressed to you in the other tabs. You can also name other tags for your favourite Tweeps.

I have also installed TweetDeck for Chrome last week but I find the interface overkill for my purpose. If you want to consolidate your updates from your other social media accounts such as Facebook, then TweetDeck is the way to go. But Silver Bird suits me just fine. Besides, I shouldn't be spending too much time on Facebook anyways!

Try out Silver Bird

QR Code

2011-06-14T07:00:00.000+08:00

Most likely you have seen one of these pixelated squares either in print or on the web and wondered (or maybe not) what it is all about... some random computer-generated 'art'?

These are actually called QR Codes. QR stands for Quick Response which is like the bar code you see in supermarkets that make it easy to scan the items for pricing. QR Codes belong to the matrix barcode (two-dimensional code) classification can contain more information than the conventional bar code system. For example, you can have your name, url, and email address into your QR Code. You can store additional info such as your phone number and address, but you have to be careful with the quantity of data you encrypt into the system, as the display becomes complex and it might become difficult to scan and read. But I'm getting ahead of myself here...

QR Codes have been popular in Japan since 1994, but is seeing popularity beyond the Land of the Rising Sun only in recent years. Today, QR Codes have found other applications such as in marketing promotions where scanning a code on a poster or on a product will lead you to a page in the internet to join contests and what-not. They're also quite good as vcards (electronic business cards); you scan the QR code of a person and you are able to store their business information onto your phone / camera-enabled device without having to type all that data in. Due to this flexible application, you can now get a QR Code reader for your mobile phone (equipped with a camera), just do a search in your phone's apps store.

You too, can have your own QR Code. I had a quick search in the Net and came up with QRstuff.com. I like their service because they give you loads of options on what you want to store in your QR code. Just remember about the stuff I said awhile ago regarding putting in too much information...

Just select and type in the information you want, choose the colour (I'd stick to the basic black and white), then select output type.

In my case, I chose "Send QR Code by email"

Here's the quirky part. You are presented with an email screen where you input recipient and sender details. Well, I am the sender and the recipient in this case, so it felt wierd emailing myself.

Email sent... I checked my inbox and voila, a .png file of my QR Code!

By the time this post is published, I would have my QR Code as part of my blog title design (I was thinking of a good logo for this blog and came up with a QR Code!)

domains4less: value for money

2011-06-11T07:00:00.001+08:00

I came across this company when I volunteered to do the website for a not-for-profit organisation via Google Sites and subsequently, I also helped them out with getting their domain name registered. I was recommending to them another domain name registrar, but then they found domains4less which was even cheaper (in a good way!) than the one I was offering.

I asked domains4less first if they were able to help us with the DNS configuration in case I was not familiar with their system, to which they favourably replied. And so we had the domain name registered with them and sure enough, they helped us set-up the domain name to point to Google Sites and even to GMail.

Very friendly, response is within 24 hours. I highly recommend domains4less for value-for-money and excellent service. Their website it at http://www.domains4less.co.nz/

Angry Birds Live!

2011-06-10T09:12:00.000+08:00

Today is World IPv6 Day

2011-06-08T01:00:00.002+08:00

Changing alignment of Pages Tab for Blogspot blogs

2011-06-07T07:00:00.037+08:00

I have been using Blogspot's Template Designer for my blogs and have been great so far. But while the GUI interface will enable you to get almost all things done, there are things that require you to go to the back-end and tweak it up a bit. The good news is that Template Designer allows for additional coding to change the CSS on which the design is interpreted.

In my case, I created a banner for my blog gofilipino.net. I'm using the horizontal pages tab in this case. When I uploaded my banner, I realized that the top left section has become too crowded, what with the graphic banner and the horizontal pages tabs in the same area. So I decided to align the Pages tab to the right.

A quick look at Template Designer revealed that it's not a simple click-a-button fix. So I Googled for an answer and arrived at Blogger Sentral. The fix suggested worked! And it's easy-peasy.

In my case, I needed to go to Dashboard - Design - Template Designer - Advanced - Add CSS.

And then I added the following code in the space provided for:

.PageList {text-align:right !important;}
.PageList li {display:inline !important; float:none !important;}

The preview pane instantaneously showed me what the change would look like. I clicked "Apply to Blog" and presto, a right-aligned Pages tab.

If you need to have your Pages tab centered, or if it's vertically laid-out, you need to head over to Blogger Sentral and see what fix is needed for your case.

Thank you Blogger Sentral!

The Google+1 button

2011-06-03T07:00:00.033+08:00

I was updating my food blog when I noticed something out of the ordinary... a new service had joined my share buttons with a "+1" on it. I soon found out it's Google's +1 button with website at plusone.google.com.

Essentially, it's a way of recommending website content. You came across a certain page or product online that you like, for example, but would not spend too much time blogging or tweeting about it. So you can "+1" it instead. It's like "digging" or "liking" an article I guess.

But, based on the video on the homepage, this one is tightly integrated with Google Search, the most powerful search engine there is currently. Which makes me wonder, will this also have bearing on their algorithm for generating search results?

Oh, and you need a Google Account to use this service.

Generate website layouts the easy way with Artisteer

2011-05-30T06:09:00.001+08:00

For the record, I have not personally tried out this product yet but it might come handy someday when I need to generate a template for Drupal or Joomla. I have been working mainly with Blogger and Google Sites (and sometimes WordPress), and their system for developing your own layouts are quite straightforward (and if you're in a bind, there's always the Forums!). Plus, there are tons of free templates in the net.

There's a video on the homepage of the Artisteer website that shows you how easy it is to generate the layout you want then customize it further. First, you will need to choose a generalized layout, then tweak it from there. Sounds very similar in procedure with Blogger's Template Designer.

You will need to cough up some cash to use this product: US$49.96/year for Home / Academic Edition, and US$129.95 for Standard Edition. The main difference between the two is for the latter, it gives you the options to export the template to more Content Management Systems and applications (the Home / Academic Edition is for Wordpress, Blogger, or as XHTML/CSS only).

Maybe I can use this when I'm heavily into website development. But even if this looks like a convenient way to develop websites, I still recommend knowing HTML and CSS, as these really come in handy when the code generated by such systems are not exactly what you had in mind. You can then wade through the code and fix it up!

Love the Ubuntu font

2011-05-27T07:00:00.029+08:00

I've taken a liking to the Ubuntu font. It's easy to read and stylishly simple! Wondering if I can actually have a copy of the Ubuntu font in my system (Windows system that is, as I still use Microsoft products at work), I tried a quick Google search which lead me to font.ubuntu.com.

And the font, as I expected, was freely distributable! So I downloaded my copy and installed it in Windows 7. The installation process is simple: unzip the downloaded package, then double-click each instance of the font and click the Install button.

Another good news is that the Ubuntu font can be used in websites using the CSS font-family property coupled with the Google Font API code. The instructions are clearly written in the Ubuntu Font site.

Clearly, I cannot do this here in Blogspot, nor in Google Sites. But I wish it can be included in the choice list soon!

Ubuntu 11.04 installation success!

2011-05-23T17:09:00.001+08:00

I have installed Ubuntu at the office computer, this one within Windows as I have some applications that I need for work that runs only under Windows. However, I seem to have come upon a stumbling block as I am able to connect and browse the Internet, but the Software Center is not able to download apps.

Back here at home, I had better success. Since I have a 4GB thumb drive, I created the Installer plus copied the ISO in this drive as well, so it is in the same place as wubi. That worked perfectly fine. I installed Ubuntu alongside Windows for this occasion and have been playing around with it for a couple of days now.

I have installed Chromium as my preferred browser, and I am currently using this on the Ubuntu platform to write this blog entry.

One of the things which I found confusing with Unity is the GUI itself. After some hit and miss, I discovered that the Applications installed in Ubuntu can be found by pressing the ... Applications button. Well, the button wasn't really that apparent! It had nothing but a plus sign on it. It didn't help either that the button was at the lower section of the vertical bar.

Click on Applications, then click on the drop-down menu at the top right to view installed apps by classification.

And by default the Control Panel was not in the menu bar either. I accidentally came across it when I searched for monitor controls under Applications. But once I found System Settings again, I tried to see if I can drag it onto the vertical bar to add it. And it did. Good thing.

So far my foray into Unity has been good. Though I think I will have a go at Gnome as well which, judging by the experience of others, is a much better interface.

One problem I am having is the monitor is stuck with a 1024 x 768 resolution. My monitor is not one of those new, widescreen versions but it is capable of a higher resolution as demonstrated by Windows XP. But currently it is stuck to 1024. Still researching on how I can increase the resolution. I need to find an updated driver perhaps...

Ubuntu error: cannot download the metalink and therefore the ISO

2011-05-19T07:00:00.004+08:00

I started installing Ubuntu 11.04 from a thumb drive into my home computer. This installation will be within Windows, as I am not sure if my wife will be happy about the change. I used wubi as instructed, but came up with this error message: "cannot download the metalink and therefore the ISO".

It just might be the Windows XP acting up, I thought, and so I decided to try it at the office computer which runs on Windows 7. Same error message.

A bit of research on the web resulted in a solution: place the ISO and wubi in the same folder. And so I created a folder in Desktop which contained the ISO and wubi, and left the thumb drive which contained the system generated by the Universal USB Installer plugged in.

I double-clicked wubi and it started reading off the thumb drive. And voila... installation successful!

I rebooted and when the system came up again I chose Ubuntu for my OS and it continued its installation. After another reboot, Ubuntu was live!

From a novice's point of view, the Unity interface is indeed a bit confusing. For one, I wanted the fonts to be smaller and my screen can display at a higher resolution. I also tried installing Chromium but could not figure out how to do it.

At least it's installed now. Will try it at home too so I can play with it a bit more.

Ubuntu 11.04 Natty Narwhal: awesome

2011-05-16T18:25:00.001+08:00

I think my journey with Linux is turning full circle.

My first foray into Linux is the Red Hat distro in the mid-90s. It is memorable because we got our CD installer in the US when we were there in training. And then back in Manila, we were tasked with installing a Linux Server and run the company's email service from there. I was part of the team who installed Linux and managed the mailing system. Every now and then the server would clog up and refuse to send and receive new mail, and I would log in and delete old messages. I felt quite geeky typing away in the command prompt, as we did not have X-Windows at that time.

The company eventually moved to Windows Servers and my responsibilities shifted from staring at monitors to talking with people. Such a move can dull your mind a bit technology-wise, and I contented myself with handheld tech.

So it's almost 15 years since I worked with a Linux system (save for around 4 years on a Mac). I was quite hesitant to start now with dabbling into Linux again, to be honest, because I have this perceived notion that it will still be too techie, and I'm too busy with Google Sites projects to allocate time for this.

I originally downloaded Ubuntu 10.10 as a bootable USB for both desktop and notebook. The primary reason I did so was because our small EeePC laptop was already crawling to a standstill and I suspect Windows XP was no longer stable. Time to change. The Ubuntu conversion was a success but after installing, I set the laptop aside and did not open it again.

Wanting to try out the desktop version, I started trying to test running Ubuntu from the thumb drive a couple of weeks ago. But for some reason it does not want to continue. Sure, I was able to choose between Ubuntu and Windows from a menu after rebooting, but the screen just shows the word Ubuntu with the "progress bar" moving... but after half an hour, still nothing. I suspected it should take much less time than that. After a couple more tries I gave up.

When I visited the Ubuntu website last Friday, I learned that 11.04 was out! So I downloaded that. And yesterday, I was able to run it off the USB drive. And I liked what I saw. Very clean interface. We do not use the desktop for any special application anyway, and if we have a browser (preferably Chrome) and editing software working, then that's fine. Word processing would be a bonus (I use Google Docs).

Now that I know Ubuntu will run on our desktop, I felt excited to be using Linux again. I feel so relieved it's now easier than ever to install! Well, technically speaking, I will do the installation this coming weekend but to see it running off the thumb drive and with the internet connection recognized and running, it was just so easy to make the decision. Although I think I will install it alongside Windows for this time... my wife might not be comfortable with the interface (although she does use this computer mainly with a browser, so I do not see any problem with Ubuntu adoption).

Of course, it also helps a lot that the Ubuntu website has instructions on how to install the OS, and explains it in a very understandable tone.

As I planned on writing this, I started searching for the screenshot of Ubuntu 11.04 I made yesterday. Unfortunately it seems to have disappeared and so I started searching for one on the Net. I discovered that there were as much people who hated the new interface (called Unity) as those who liked it. The interface is merely a bar with icons at the left-hand side, so you click on the app you would like to use. No "Start" menu like the one in Windows. I have yet to read on Unity is not well-liked, but decided to skip that and just see for myself!

The screenshot above is from DarkDuck, who talks about an alternative from the controversial Unity interface... revert to GNOME! So I'm linking to that article. Oh, and thanks DarkDuck for the above screenshot!

Until then, why not give Ubuntu a try yourself? You can run it off the thumb drive (or CD) if you would just like to give it a try and not decided on installing it yet. Until then, I'll share my adventure this coming weekend!

Related link: Ubuntu website

A Day Made of Glass, made possible by Corning

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

Hope I'm still around when this stuff becomes commercially possible!

Adding a sidebar navigation on your Google Sites - hosted website

2011-05-08T07:00:00.001+08:00

I'm currently creating a website in Google Sites "from scratch" - meaning it's a blank canvass. I started working on it using the admin access which was made by another person. Eventually I assigned edit rights to myself because all the work was being logged under the admin account, and I needed to know which ones were done by myself and which ones were not (makes it easier to troubleshoot just in case something goes wrong).

I proceeded to making a menu for the website and learned that I could not actually do it. I can only access the "page listing" widget which lists pages only for a section of the website. Which is a pain because I learned that the "page listing" widget actually lists down your page alphabetically. I tried rearranging the pages through the pages tab and it would revert to its original arrangement, until I resorted to numbering the pages (which is ok but not ideal).

The primary problem I experienced was I could not see the "Site Layout" tab which is mentioned in this Google Sites Help page: configuring your sidebar and navigation gadget.

I learned later on that you need to have full access to the site, including the right to change the layout. Which means admin access! So I'm going back in as admin to create this part of the website. The Navigation bar is great for rearranging the page order. I'm glad I figured this out after only about a couple of hours' worth of trying to see what's wrong.

Convert documents to PDF online

2011-05-04T06:08:00.000+08:00

It's cool and snazzy to have a new laptop assigned to me in the office. However, I've found out that there is something wrong with my Acrobat installation. I could no longer generate PDFs! Of course the preferred solution is to get it fixed by IT but they're busy on other, more important things. So I turned to Google Search and came up with online solutions to creating PDFs. I am currently using two services. They are free and works great!

Note: This is not a paid advertisement

PDF Converter (http://www.freepdfconvert.com/)
This is the first site I came to and it works great. All you need to do is upload your document and wait for the corresponding PDF. You may include your email address so your document is emailed to you, or you can just wait for your PDF to be generated at the website itself. I have been converting simple Word documents only so my wait is short.

How the email looks like:

One time I had to edit something in the document and convert it to PDF again. I learned that you have to wait half an hour before you can do a conversion again. So I looked for another online solution and found this:

PDF Online (go here directly: http://www.pdfonline.com/convert-pdf/)
Service is also great. PDF is sent via email, with email containing ads for their wide range of services.

These services are great for when you find yourself in an internet cafe and they have no PDF converters. There are loads of similar services online but I'm sticking to these in the meantime as they work nicely.

Google Apps Standard Edition to limit number of users

2011-04-29T05:57:00.001+08:00

Google had announced recently that Google Apps will be undergoing improvements which will give users access to over 60 additional applications. I'm sure I, like many Google Apps users will welcome this change.

However, I received another email just now with this important information:

As of May 10, any organisation that signs up for a new account will be required to use the paid Google Apps for Business product in order to create more than 10 users. We honor our commitment to all existing customers and will allow you to add more than 10 users to your account for [domain name] at no additional charge, based on the limit in place when you joined us.

I am using the Google Apps Standard Edition, in case you're wondering. This is basically the free service. At 10 users, it is still great value considering that it is free (I believe the original limit is 50). But even better is the fact that those who signed up before May 10 will still get the original quota!

If you own a Google Apps account, you may start transitioning your users. In the week of May 12, Google will automatically do it for you.

I plan to do mine this weekend.

Thanks Google.

How to create an image with transparent background in Photoshop

2011-04-28T11:41:00.001+08:00

I was quite happy with the result when I changed my food blog's layout. However, from a bright and cheery orange and red theme, it is now cool blue and black. While I can easily change the background to something else, I find the new colour scheme easy on the eyes. But I'd still like it to have a welcoming feel to it and so I decided to add a couple of smiling faces to it. But how do I integrate these seamlessly and not interrupt the flow of the background? The answer: make the background transparent.

So I started by cutting out the persons from the photos using the Magnetic Lasso and the Polygonal Lasso tools. I copied and pasted these onto a new layer, ready for transfer.

And then I created the canvass by clicking File > New and indicating my desired dimensions. It is important to make "background contents" transparent. The resolution is 72dpi.

(The width and height below is not the one I used for the image, in case you're wondering)

When the canvass is created, you will see a checkerboard pattern. This is what you want, as this means that the background is transparent.

Next, I dragged the images onto this canvass and resized them accordingly. See the screenshot below; notice on the Layers pallete at the right hand side that the two images are on different layers. Do not flatten the image as this will remove the transparency and create a white background instead.

Finally, click File > Save for Web and Devices...

On the right-hand menu, choose PNG-24 to keep the colours intact. After choosing PNG-24, a Transparency checkbox will appear immediately below this. Tick this box.

Choose a filename and save. Voila, an image with a transparent background. You can view the result at my food blog.

Internet's Time Machine

2011-04-23T14:54:00.001+08:00

I suddenly decided a couple of nights ago to go ahead and change my food blog's template using Blogspot's Template Designer. After a couple of hours, Adobongblog was running on a spiffy new layout. I decided to post here how the old template looked like, and then I realized I forgot to take a screenshot!

Good thing I remembered that there's a website that can take you back in time, so to speak, and show you how websites were like. So I visited Internet Archive Wayback Machine, typed in the url, and crossed my fingers.

I was able to get a March 2009 screenshot of my food blog! Here's how it looked like before:

And here's the new layout using the Template Designer:

I like.

Google's Template Designer: powerful

2011-04-20T07:00:00.074+08:00

I've been having this nagging urge to change the template of my website (www.nickballesteros.com). There are a couple of reasons why I want to make the change:

the "read more" feature is a hack, and sometimes when I don't need it the "read more" link still appears
I had a word-linking ad campaign embedded in the code and I was not keen on sifting through the code to remove it (it was not exactly profitable)
I wanted to use Google's share functions. I tried putting it manually but the customized template would not accept it
did I mention I had this nagging urge to change the template?

So yeah... there were more than a couple of things I wanted to get done. So for around 4 nights I was scouring the net for new templates, saved some and tried them out on a test site. But I was not really feeling great about my choices.

And then I decided to give Blogger's Template Designer a try. It has come a long way since those times when you can only choose a limited number of preconfigured templates. Now, you can select from a wide variety of layouts and even adjust the widths of the columns. The fonts and colours are customizable as well. I decided it was time to use this feature. Besides, I do not really have a complicated requirement for my template, just space for my blog posts and easy integration of widgets.

It's been a week now since I have made the change and I am quite happy with the result. One caveat though is that my Webmaster Tools report says there seems to be a robots.txt file that is generating errors with how my blog is being accessed by Google for indexing but discussions from forums (and also from Google itself) say just to leave it at that. So that's that.

Here's how my blog originally looked like:

And here's how it looks now:

One thing I liked about my old layout was how simple it looked. Just plain white background. So that is carried through to the new layout. What I am amazed about this exercise is, in order not to have a run-of-the-mill layout, you need to search for a customized template. Either that, or you encode the template yourself. That was a couple of years ago. Now, Template Designer does a real great job at giving you loads of options. Plus, you can now add pages to your blog as well!

Have a go at Blogger's Template Designer if you want to create your own blog. And let me know so I can visit! Actually, I'm thinking of using Template Designer for this blog as well...

How to make your Google Docs Form appear in Google Sites

2011-04-17T07:21:00.041+08:00

This particular problem also gave me a few nights' worth of wondering why the form would not appear on my Google Sites - hosted website. The instructions were simple enough: create your form at Google Docs, then at Google Sites, Edit the page, then Insert > Spreadsheet Form, then choose from the list.

But what happens is that I get the Google Docs login screen instead of the form. I've tried inserting the page, and then the html, tried various sharing options, and still no success. I also Googled for the answer, but came up with nothing. That is, until I tried to go to the form itself. Here's how to do it:

Click on the title of the document at Google Docs home. This will bring up the spreadsheet. Click on Form > Edit Form.

At the top of the form are some checkboxes. Make sure that "Require [your group's name] sign-in to view this form" is NOT checked. I must have ticked this option at some stage (security paranoia)

Save the spreadsheet, then go back to Google Sites. Remove the non-functioning Form and insert the new one. It should work now.

PS. It is good to have at least two browsers in your computer. Logging in to one browser does not automatically log you in to the other browser. So you can check your work in the other browser as seen by a visitor as you go along with your configuration.

Secure connection for your Facebook session

2011-04-15T07:00:00.001+08:00

Security Tip : While on FB, look at your URL address (the very top box on your screen.) If you see "http:" instead of "https:" then you DO NOT have a secure session and can be hacked. Go to Account - Account Settings - Account Security - click Change. Check box (Browse Facebook on a secure connection), click Save. FB has automatically set it on the non-secure setting.

(this is a tip that has been making its way around Facebook. I've done this about a month ago and I have been on a secure connection ever since)

How to sort files in Google Sites' File Cabinet

2011-04-12T06:58:00.001+08:00

This particular problem drove me crazy. There's a series of newsletters that needed to be placed in the site, and so I placed a File Cabinet in the page and uploaded the files. I learned that the files are automatically arranged based on File Name, which was not much help because the documents had the months included in the names. Therefore the titles were arranged as such:
Apr
Feb
Jan
Mar

It would be great if we can arrange the files too by date uploaded but no success.

The best way then is to rename the files. In my case, I wanted to keep the original file name because it is part of the organisation's naming convention. And so what I did was to add numbers instead.

To rename your files, click
More Actions > Manage site
Manage Site page appears
Click Attachments at the left hand sidebar.
Files uploaded to the system appears
Tick the checkbox beside the file you want to rename and click the Rename button above.
Click the Rename button when done.
Do the same procedure for the rest of the files.
Return to your File Cabinet page and refresh.

PS I'm keeping track of this Help Forum just in case Google Sites update the File Cabinet features

How to move your website under Google Sites from one account to another

2011-04-08T08:19:00.001+08:00

This was a problem that I had been thinking of for some time now, because I have created a couple of websites to help out not-for-profit organisations here have their own web presence through Google Sites. I have made the websites under my own personal account. But then things can become complicated, as I realized that 1) these will take up my personal disk space allocation, and 2) it can become a problem sorting out Google Docs and Calendars.

And so I have decided to research on how to move the Sites from my account to theirs. I thought it was going to be a difficult task but it wasn't. This help page was the key:

http://www.google.com/support/forum/p/sites/thread?tid=4bea3530c271be42&hl=en

In the discussion, lawfuljustice mentioned that Google Sites is independent of your Google Account in response to wagas708's instructions. That is the key to moving the site. So after reading the discussion along with inputs from Steegle, I did the following:

(before all these, I have already created a Google Apps account for the organisation, with gmail working)
1. Logged in to Google Sites and performed:
More Actions >> Share this Site >> Under Invite People to Share this Site
2. I added the email address of the organisation and selected this as owner
3. I logged off, then logged in as that organisation at gmail
4. I saw the email I sent, then clicked the link that opens the website.
5. And that's it. I clicked Sites and the website is listed there.

So it was not so much as copying the files, but only transferring the ownership (or I can still be an owner of the site also if I want to!).

Update 4 hours later...
I discovered that for some reason, the website does not register under Sites for the new owner. However, when he opens the email sent him and clicks on the link, it gives him access and shows up under Sites.

Something's wrong there. But to complete the copying process (and not just the provision of rights), go to More Actions > Manage Site
Click General under Site Settings
At the bottom of the site is Site Actions
Choose Copy this Site
Assign the name and url for the website to be copied to.

Finally, delete the domain name references from the old site and update this new one.

I am not following through on these final steps, though, as I still want to be able to access the website from my own account. So they'll just have to bookmark the link provided them from the mail.

Adding Facebook button / like box in your Google Sites

2011-04-07T09:43:00.000+08:00

I wanted to add a Like Box at the sidebar of a website hosted at Google Sites. However, I learned that Google Sites sidebars do not accept custom codes. I have verified that myself because I tried to place the Like Box onto the sidebar before Googling an answer for it when I found that it won't work.

However, the Like Box might just work on a page itself through a Google Gadget Editor, as discussed in the Google Sites Forum. But I do not want to place the Like Box on a page....

In the meantime, I have found out that a Facebook Banner will work on the sidebar. I'm just not sure yet if the "status" line will update itself, because I've found out that this does not update in Blogspot.

If that does not work, then I will just chuck in a "Find us on Facebook" button instead.

Google Motion

2011-04-02T19:21:00.000+08:00

With the Kinect getting a lot of interest lately, I thought Google was able to develop a similar technology and adopt it to their apps when I came across Google Motion.

And then I started viewing the demo.... and I could not help but laugh at the ridiculous gestures which, amazingly, was being translated into a perfect business-oriented e-mail!

Nice one, Google. Oh, and late as it may seem, Happy April Fool's Day!

How to make the Bookmark bar appear in Google Chrome

2011-03-28T09:18:00.002+08:00

My work requires me to regularly visit a number of pages (example: the CMS admin area for the website) and so having one-click access to these urls are really very handy. In IE or Friefox, all it takes is a simple drag of the favicon to the bookmark bar.

I decided to install Chrome (version 10) as well then saw that it is missing the bookmark bar! I know that the point of Google Chrome is to make browsing a fast and easy task, but without this feature, I will be needlessly clicking through the bookmarks just to get to my frequently-visited urls. Undaunted, I looked through its menu system and found out how to make it appear. Simply click on the wrench at the rightmost side of the address bar, then click Tools. The topmost item on the next sub-menu is "Always show bookmarks bar". Lo and behold, the Bookmark bar appears!

Oh, and the keyboard shortcut is Ctrl+Shift+B

Enabling Drupal webform to send email to registrant

2011-03-17T12:01:00.007+08:00

I spent a considerable amount of time trying to figure this one out. The webform I created would not send an email out to the registrant, but the test webform I created worked nicely. I finally found out that the field "email" must not belong to any fieldset. I placed "email" at the top of the list and it worked just fine.

However, in order for this to work, you also need to place the following code in the Additional Processing field under Webform Advanced Settings:

$to = $form_values['submitted_tree']['email'];
$from = "your email here";
$body = drupal_html_to_text($node->webform['confirmation']);

$message = drupal_mail('webform_extra', 'reply', $to, language_default(), array('body' => $body), $from, TRUE);

function webform_extra_mail($key, &$message, $params) {
$message['subject'] = "your subject here";
$message['body'] = $params['body'];
}
?>

Customize $from and 'subject'

Thanks to drupal.org for this fix. Very helpful.

Here's another link from drupal.org with an alternate solution.

Sending confirmation email in Drupal Webform

2010-11-18T11:42:00.001+08:00

Drupal's webform module does not natively send confirmation email. However, I found a workaround that works well and is found here:

http://drupal.org/node/323666

I have yet to look for something though that will send back a copy of the response to the fields.

CTC with a bot?

2010-08-20T20:07:00.001+08:00

Do you sometimes have the urge to talk to someone but you don't really feel like making long conversations? You'd like to have a chat and then finish it up when you feel like it? Well, it can be a bit of a hassle if you're talking to a fellow human being, because it comes with a certain amount of tact and decorum to carry a conversation. Ditch them in the middle of something and you're bound to be blacklisted from the next party.

And talking to your fish just isn't the same.

Thank goodness technology has caught up. Have a chat with cleverbot at www.cleverbot.com. It's fun. And unnerving.

Gmail Buzz

2010-02-10T11:44:00.002+08:00

I was surprised to find this new development within Gmail. Gmail buzz is another step towards making interaction more automated (and intuitive?). I thought it was a spillover of Google Wave... and I think it is.

But this facility being so closely related to Gmail has made me more sensitive about stuff I write... words tend to flow more freely in email so I have to be more careful and have more control over who's following me and what I write... the web has become an even more public place.

Apple's iPad

2010-01-28T17:25:00.003+08:00

Tablet computing has a new face: the iPad. The internet is abuzz with news of this news product from Apple, so I am not going to repeat specs here. My personal opinion is I am not a big fan of the design, though. It looks like an enlarged iPhone. The name is also not something to jump excited about. iPad? It's like the most obvious name and yet I'd think a better name would have been imagined for the product. I expect people will tend to exaggerate pronouncing the letter "A" when referring to this product, so as not to confuse with the iPods.

However, the thing that surprised me (and a LOT of other people I'm sure) is the price. It looks ridiculously affordable at US$499 for the 16GB model. Plus, it's not locked to any carrier! At long last!

The design and name notwithstanding, I still expect that this will be a hot commodity when Apple starts shipping in the next 60 days.

YikeBike

2009-11-01T07:00:00.001+08:00

Looks like the wheel is here to stay for a long while yet and levitation used mainly on rail-based vehicles. The YikeBike is another innovation that's set to turn heads. With a top speed of 20kph, this electric bike is a sustainable solution to mobility. Plus, it folds up (transform!) so you can carry it with you into the office! No more stolen bikes! Unless you forget where you placed it...

Uno: changing the face of motorcycles

2009-10-19T16:57:00.004+08:00

Is it a motorcycle? It may very well be a close cousin, but with an environment-friendly feature: electric motors. The out of this world design is an amazing feat from the 18-year old mind of Ben J. Poss Gulak. It is a 54.4 kg machine that only has an off-on switch for control. To move forward, just lean your body weight forward. To move back, just lean back. Now here's the cool part. When the Uno accelerates, the two wheels which are originally parallel to each other would move and adjust to take the form of a motorcyle. Transform!

Learn more about this wonder at the Uno website (photo credit also for this site).

Google Wave

2009-10-15T10:52:00.004+08:00

UPDATE: Google Wave has been discontinued.

Google wave is Google's next wave (eh?) of online collaboration and communication service. It is touted to be open source, and thus opening up a lot of possibilities for enhancements and features. In a nutshell (at least, from what I can gather from the 1+ hour youtube video presentation I have partly watched) , Google Wave is a mixture of chat and email with a whole lot of media capability built in. A "wave" is basically a conversation thread in which people included in the group can add comments and rich content anywhere in the timeline. And even if you have just joined the wave long after it was created, you can "turn back time" and see how the wave progressed and insert your own content into, well, anywhere you please onto the wave. Groovy, eh?

Google Wave is still in its early development and some lucky folks were able to get invitations to test (just like Google Mail in its early stage). If you scour the net for news about Google Wave, you would get mixed reactions but it's still too early at the onset to see what it will evolve into. But still, you gotta love the way Google innovates.

Myvu personal media viewer for the iPhone and video-capable iPods

2009-10-09T07:12:00.005+08:00

A personal video screen and stereo playback for your iPhone! Now that is something I would love to have! Myvu (photo credit also to this site) offers three different personal media viewers which you can use not only for the iPod but for other devices as well, such as the Zune, DVD players, and even video game consoles. All you need to do is plug in the necessary connector and you're done!

The Solo Plus EV Bundle costs US$124.85. That's a whole lot cheaper than a similar product I saw at a mall in Makati last year (with basic AV connectors). It's available in select countries, so if you want one too, lucky you if it's available in your part of the world!

Efren Peñaflorida is my hero

2009-10-05T14:07:00.000+08:00

Voting continues until Thursday, November 19, 2009 (6 a.m. ET). There is no limit on the number of times you may vote for the Hero of the Year.