Category Archives: Computers

Deja vu

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MVP logo

I was excitedly waiting for news about whether I would be awarded the Microsoft Most Valuable Professional (MVP) award exactly one year ago (it’s all here) This year I wasn’t as optimistic, seeing that I had been going through a lot of stuff and before I knew it, my MVP award was up for renewal at the end of December 2010. One thing about the big M—they are very punctual when it comes to informing recipients about this.

So I came home from work last night, turned on the lappy as I’ve always done, and went to brush my teeth. I went into my room after that and checked my emails and oopsie, there was an email from Microsoft HQ—and the subject said it all: “Congratulations, 2011 Microsoft MVP!” Whoa, I was really taken by surprise. Anyway I am speechless—thanks again, Microsoft!

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No hang-ups about backups

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My, it seems that I have a contest going with my good friend Crystal, seeing that we’re both geeks in the computing department. I’ve already blogged about both of us having the same Logitech C510 HD webcams, and recently I learnt that she had bought a Seagate 500GB external hard drive to backup her data. Dunno why, but something was already poking me and asking, “How come you don’t have one?” Resistance is futile (as I’ve always maintained) but such is my geeky nature that I always need to justify myself before I part with my hard-earned dollars.

To cut a long story short, I’ve been running my Windows 7 desktop for over a year, and have never had any trouble with the OS. It purrs really smoothly on my system with an Intel dual core processor and 3GB of RAM. It was only recently when Crystal told me about her latest Seagate purchase that I realized I had never backed up my data before! Umm, minor course correction there—of course I’ve occasionally stored some important files on a flash drive, that sort of thing. However, (and this is the scary part) I’d never ever backed up my whole C: drive. What if my OS goes belly-up tomorrow? It’s not a case of paranoia but it will and can happen. It happened to my previous Windows Vista OS. OKOKOKOK, that seals the deal. I had to get an external hard drive (so don’t say I’m a copycat, Crystal LOL)

WD MP_Essential RedThe next question—what external HD should I get? I dislike Seagates; I’ve had problems with their hard drives in the past. Strike one. I’ve had pleasant experiences with Western Digital hard drives, in fact I have a WD 500GB internal HD churning away in my desktop. I finally settled on a WD 500GB Passport Essential external hard drive for $70. They’re available in a variety of colors and I chose red (can you guess why, my friend?) As the name implies, this baby is passport-sized and only 0.6 inches thick. It’s now found a place on top of my desktop and connected permanently to it.

Moreover I like the backup program that comes with the Passport; it’s WD Smartware and it’s very easy and intuitive to use. All I have to do is connect it to my desktop and it automatically handles the mundane backup chores. Every time you create a new file or modify one, Smartware automatically backs it up to the Passport, seamlessly. If you disconnect and connect the drive later it will resume from where it left off. Piece of cake.

Needless to say Smartware comes with a whole host of features, which I won’t elaborate on here. Oopsie, I feel I should state that it does not backup Windows system files and folders, only your data. If you intend to backup your whole hard drive you’d have to do a disk image and I’m not going to touch on that now (perhaps I’ll image my C: drive when I’m in the mood). In case of a system meltdown you’d still need to reinstall the OS and applicable programs. However, after that you just need to do a restore of your data and things should be fine. So there!

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The Logitech C510 HD Webcam

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Logitech C510

I have to admit that I’ve been a Logitech fan for quite some time. I love their keyboards and mice, they’re stylish and have never let me down. When I hopped on the Windows Live Messenger bandwagon around four or five years ago, my first webcam was the Logitech Quick Cam Chat. It was cheap and made of plastic, but it did get the job done (the video quality was nothing to shout about though). When I moved on to Windows 7 the Quick Cam Chat unfortunately (or fortunately?) didn’t have drivers for it, so I decided to get a newer webcam, the Logitech C120. This was another basic cam with a 1.3 megapixel lens and no built-in microphone. The picture quality was slightly better than my old Quick Cam Chat and for a while, I was happy (read my review here on Amazon’s website. You can still get the C120 for around $25 new)

Fast forward to the present and…ahem, us geeks—we’re always trying to justify new purchases, aren’t we? I decided to up the ante one more time since I’d installed the latest Windows Live Messenger which enables users to have full-screen video chats using a high definition webcam (just remember that whoever you’re chatting with also has to have a HD webcam hooked up to their computer) More information is available here.

Moreover my good friend Crystal was also thinking of getting the same webcam so I said to myself, oh why not, let’s go for it. And then a week ago I discovered to my chagrin that the C510 still wasn’t available here! The computer guys at the Logitech store here didn’t have a clue when it would arrive so that left me disappointed, to say the least. However, a few days ago I happened to pass by the store so I went in and what do you know, it had just arrived! I was very tempted to grab the flagship C910 HD webcam with Carl Zeiss lens but at around $99 it wasn’t exactly cheap. The C510 was a step down and only cost me $41 so I bought one on the spot. It comes with a 2-year warranty so no worries there. The C510 retails for $54.82 on Amazon’s website.

Here are the specs of the C510:

  • HD video calling (1280 x 720 pixels) with recommended systems
  • Video capture: Up to 1280 x 720 pixels
  • Logitech More HD technology
  • Photos: Up to 8 megapixels (software enhanced)
  • Built-in mic with Logitech RightSound™ technology
  • Hi-Speed USB 2.0 certified (recommended)
  • Universal clip fits laptops, LCD or CRT monitors

And here’s the Logitech webcam software included in the package:

  • Logitech Vid™ HD
  • Logitech RightLight™ 2 technology
  • Video and photo capture
  • Magix™ photo and video editing software
  • 1-click Facebook™ and YouTube®  HD upload (registration required)
  • Logitech Video Effects™: fun filters, avatars, face accessories, video masks and mask maker*
  • Face-recognition auto-login (60-day trial)

The C510 comes with a generous 5-feet cable, user documentation, and a cute carrying case. Setup and installation is a breeze and I had it running in a matter of minutes. The Logitech Vid HD program is a very handy chat program and it works very well (good to have in case WLM decides to choke) Sound and picture quality is vastly superior to my old C120, even when viewing at full-screen. You can also have fun and go over the top with the video effects (yes, you, Crystal…heh heh) Taking 8 megapixel pictures with the C510 also resulted in sharp pictures. You can even record and post videos directly to Facebook and YouTube. I liked the Fast Access Facial Recognition program and so I bought a license ($24.99)

So there you have it. I’m a happy camper, at least for now. You can view the full range of Logitech HD webcams on their website. It goes without saying that their webcams work with any of the instant messaging programs. Now excuse me while I go play with my latest acquisition.

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Plants vs. Zombies

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plants-vs-zombies

I happened on this game at the Big Fish Games website and have been hooked on it for the past few months. The object of the game is simple—zombies are invading your home and trying to eat your brains. Your only hope is an arsenal of plants which include peashooters, melon-paults, cherry and chili bombs, etc. You have to strategize, think fast and plant your weapons in order to prevent them from invading your home and finishing you off. There are obstacles like a setting sun, creeping fog at night, and a swimming pool. Hilarious characters abound, including one resembling a pop singer (they pulled that one out, I think)

And if you get tired of invading zombies, there’s always a Zen garden to find some peace in. There are also mini games, puzzles, and even a survival mode (yeah, see how long you can last, buddy) If you make it to the last stage you’ll encounter the evil Doctor Zomboss in his giant robotic machine who controls the zombies—I managed to clobber him, heh heh.

This is a great game to play and it’s amusing. It’s available for only $6.99 at the Big Fish games website. You can even try out a demo first.

Last but not least, check out this great video the plants and zombies made, just for you. Now if that doesn’t bring a smile to your face, I don’t know what will!

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The new WLM (Windows Live Messenger) is coming soon!

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Microsoft boss, Steve Ballmer, just gave a fantastic preview of the new Windows Live Messenger as part of a discussion with students at the Universidade de Sao Paulo. This marks the first official look at Windows Live Wave 4, with additional disclosure moments happening around Hotmail and Essentials in the coming months.

At the event, Steve highlighted some of cool features of the new Messenger. Some of my favorites include:

  • World’s best IM.  Letting you enjoy rich, beautiful chat experiences that enhance your conversations with photos, videos and your webcam.  Our goal is to improve those personal interactions with your close friends, so that you continue to connect in even richer ways with the people you care about most.
  • Best way to stay in touch with close friends and what they’re doing across the web. The new Messenger is the most complete view of what your friends are doing across the web with a specific focus on prioritizing and helping you stay in touch with the people that matter most and delivering this in a rich and enjoyable fashion.

For more information, check out the links below:

Tweet: Ballmer just previewed the new Windows Live Messenger. Check it out! http://bit.ly/9sszG7

WLM logo

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Life’s like that (part 2)

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So this morning I was seated in front of my computer as usual, doing stuff like checking my emails, Facebook, Twitter, etc. I’m Mr. Predictable. It has become second nature for me to check my blogs on a daily basis as well, looking at my stats, comments if any, and so on. And hmmm, it’s been some time since I explored some new WordPress themes, so away I go. Ah, here’s one that looks interesting—I preview it but the preview doesn’t show (I should have smelled something fishy). But since the theme looks quite enticing I decide to let WordPress download and install it into my blog. Then I activate it, and Boom! my blog’s disappeared! In its place was this ominous and cryptic error message:

Parse error: syntax error, unexpected ‘)’, expecting ‘(‘ in /home/username/public_html/blog/wp-content/themes/producer/functions.php on line 9

That could have been written in Klingon or Romulan, I couldn’t care less. But my blog just vanished and the page was all white—just like my face. I tried refreshing the page—no luck. I tried logging in to access my admin panel—no luck, just that same damn message appearing, as if to spite me for activating the theme. It was like an enemy torpedo had blown up my blog ship.

Fortunately, I calmed down soon enough. Took some deep breaths, walked around, pondered…out of desperation I check the WordPress support forums. I look for functions.php (what the heck is this?) but there are hundreds and hundreds of threads. Better to post a new thread myself, and so I did. I started to get anxious again and paced around—can you imagine the distress arising within me? My patience was rewarded soon enough (around 15 minutes) when a Clayton James from New York replied and gave me the simple solution which I’m going to share here (thanks again, Clayton!)

So what do you do when a newly installed theme thrashes your WordPress blog? Here’s the answer:

  • Use an FTP program and navigate to your WordPress theme directory. Locate the rogue theme folder and delete it. Don’t even think about it, just blow it to kingdom come!
  • Open your browser, go to your blog site and refresh it. The default WordPress theme should show up again. Choose another installed theme if you want to. That’s all there is to it.

I learn something new everyday!

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A nice way to start the New Year

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MVP logo New Year’s Day saw me planted in front of my computer as usual—it’s a public holiday anyway, but I was also feeling a little nervous and excited at the same time. Why? Because about two months earlier I received a surprise email from Miss Lilian Quek (MVP Lead from Microsoft Singapore) informing me that I had been nominated for Microsoft’s Most Valuable Professional (aka MVP) award. Shortly thereafter, I was informed by Lilian that based upon my contributions to the BigBlueBall forums, she had decided to push for my MVP nomination for Windows Live Messenger. My nomination would now be evaluated by Microsoft in Redmond, Washington and the results would be out on January 1, 2010.

I didn’t expect the email to come so soon—after all due to different time zones it was still New Year’s Eve in the States. But there it was, in my Hotmail inbox. The subject header gave away the good news: “Congratulations 2010 Microsoft MVP!” I was totally ecstatic (I almost fell out of my chair) I’ve been helping BBB members with Windows Live Messenger (if you’ve been living under a shell, WLM is one of the most popular Instant Messaging clients available today and it’s free of course) ever since I joined BigBlueBall way back in 2006. I’d like to thank Jeff Hester (the boss of BBB) for taking me on as a staff member and believing in me. See, kindness is like a butterfly, it may not return to you instantly, but after a while it will. I still participate in BBB, always lurking and looking out for anyone who needs help in the WLM department; of course my good friend and fellow MVP Doris mans the helm too (and she’s been such a great help) We assist because we love helping people with their WLM problems and queries. Besides, the staff are great, and there’s much more than just IM there, go ahead and check the site out. Registering is free!

So what exactly is an MVP? Glad you asked. According to the MVP website, Microsoft Most Valuable Professionals are…

…individuals who are recognized by peers as well as by Microsoft for past credible participation, highest quality answers and a demonstrated willingness to share their Microsoft technical expertise with others while providing guidance and assistance in peer-to-peer technical communities worldwide.

While these individuals represent a wide variety of backgrounds and professions, MVPs share the basic characteristics of possessing very strong technical skills in one or more Microsoft products or technology areas. Microsoft MVPs also possess the willingness to share that knowledge with others.

Selected contributors earn their MVP status by being nominated by their peers in the community, Microsoft Support Professionals, or Microsoft Product Group members who have seen consistent, professional and accurate technical answers or guidance in response to customer questions.

Here’s my profile on the MVP website. It’s nice to be acknowledged by the great M like this. Now I can add one more bunch of letters to the end of my name, LOL. Thanks, Microsoft!

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