Technology

The Fedora Experience

| General, Technology | , , , , , , , ,

FedoraI’m currently in fedora. And I’m starting to like it.

My taste of Linux started with the Ubuntu experience. Then when my wireless card failed to work with the latest version Hardy, I tried PCLinuxOS and then OpenSuse. Some more disappointments with Suse and I found myself downloading the latest release of Fedora (Fedora 9, Sulphur).

My wireless card didn’t initially work with the live media booting from the cd, but worked like a breeze when it was installed into the harddrive. And now I’m liking the interface (with GNOME). Two concerns:

  • Installing Adobe Flash Plugin for Firefox – which you really can’t install from within Firefox. You’ll need to install it manually. No problem, though, with some tutorials in the web like this link, which also includes other items one may want to install.
  • Desktop Effects – It looks like my hardware (NVIDIA) does not work with the new xorg. No problem, though. I just can’t have that eyecandy effect yet, which I don’t really care. It’s just aesthetic.

So, for all ye Linux fans out there, the new Fedora is surely a great fresh release distro to try out.

Your Battery Could Overheat While Charging

| General, Technology | , , , ,

Nokia BL-5CNokia released a product advisory regarding Nokia BL-5C batteries manufactured by Matsushita Battery Industrial Co. Ltd. of Japan between December 2005 and November 2006. More than 100 incidents of overheating of the said battery while charging have been reported globally.

I’m reposting the advisory from Nokia website here in verbatim:

Dear Nokia Customer,

This is a product advisory for the Nokia-branded BL-5C battery manufactured by Matsushita Battery Industrial Co. Ltd. of Japan between December 2005 and November 2006. This product advisory does not apply to any other Nokia battery.

Nokia has identified that in very rare cases the affected batteries could potentially experience over heating initiated by a short circuit while charging, causing the battery to dislodge. Nokia is working closely with relevant local authorities to investigate this situation.

Nokia has several suppliers for BL-5C batteries that have collectively produced more than 300 million BL-5C batteries. This advisory applies only to the 46 million batteries manufactured by Matsushita between December 2005 and November 2006. There have been approximately 100 incidents of over heating reported globally. No serious injuries or property damage have been reported.

Consumers with a BL-5C battery subject to this advisory should note that all of the approximately 100 incidents have occurred while charging the battery. According to Nokia’s knowledge this issue does not affect any other use of the mobile device. Concerned consumers may want to monitor a mobile device while charging that contains a BL-5C battery subject to this product advisory.

While the occurence in the BL-5C batteries produced by Matsushita in the time-period specified is very rare, for consumers wishing to do so, Nokia and Matsushita offer to replace for free any BL-5C battery subject to this product advisory.

The BL-5C batteries which are subject to the product advisory were used with the following Nokia models or separately as accessories:

    Nokia 1100, Nokia 1100c, Nokia 1101, Nokia 1108, Nokia 1110, Nokia 1112, Nokia 1255, Nokia 1315, Nokia 1600, Nokia 2112, Nokia 2118, Nokia 2255, Nokia 2272, Nokia 2275, Nokia 2300, Nokia 2300c, Nokia 2310, Nokia 2355, Nokia 2600, Nokia 2610, Nokia 2610b, Nokia 2626, Nokia 3100, Nokia 3105, Nokia 3120, Nokia 3125, Nokia 6030, Nokia 6085, Nokia 6086, Nokia 6108, Nokia 6175i, Nokia 6178i, Nokia 6230, Nokia 6230i, Nokia 6270, Nokia 6600, Nokia 6620, Nokia 6630, Nokia 6631, Nokia 6670, Nokia 6680, Nokia 6681, Nokia 6682, Nokia 6820, Nokia 6822, Nokia 7610, Nokia N70, Nokia N71, Nokia N72, Nokia N91, Nokia E50, Nokia E60

“Nokia” and “BL-5C” are printed on the front of the battery. On the back of the battery, the Nokia mark appears at the top, and the battery identification number (consisting of 26 characters) is found at the bottom. If the battery identification number does not contain 26 characters, it is not subject to this product advisory.

If you have a BL-5C battery, I advise you to visit the Nokia website as you can check there particularly your battery whether it is one of 46 million batteries affected. You might want to submit your battery’s serial number and the site will return whether your battery is affected or not. Then, if your battery’s affected, you might want to proceed with the process of requesting for a replacement battery online.

Note, however, that although Matsushita is in Japan, this advisory does not apply to batteries with labels “Made in Japan” only. I submitted mine’s serial number and it was “Made in China”, and it said that mine’s as well affected.

The Wonders of Wordweb

| General, Technology | , , ,

My office laptop’s hard drive crashed the other week, and that helped me realize how useful as an office tool wordweb to me really is. I have been yearning for it while it was out of my reach. No, it can’t just be an office tool, it can also be a blogging tool.

The thing is, even the free version of this application is fully utilizable for your office needs.

Wordweb

Gone are the days when you used to flick and fumble through the pages of a large Webster’s dictionary in your library, creeping through the small fonts, recalling the order of the alphabet, looking for that word you have in mind, and just to find out it’s not exactly the word that you needed. You might have even needed a thesaurus if you wanted the similar word/s.

With wordweb, you can simply highlight the specific word in your computer, may it be in your internet browser, word, excel, etc., and press the hotkey, and you have the meanings that you needed. Plus, it will offer you synonyms, antonyms (if any), past-present-past participle tenses as well as plural and singular forms of the word, and it even suggests the nearest word if you have it mispelled in your mind.

What’s more, you can refer to its sound files if you’re not sure about the pronunciation. You can bookmark words whose meaning you keep forgetting.

With about 150,000 root words, you’ll have enough arms at your disposal for your office, business writing, blogging and all around needs. Download the free version.

Note: I have no commercial interest in promoting this tool. I just find this a great utility that I would love to share to my dear readers.

Technology At Hand

| Photography, Technology | , , ,

nokia-n-and-apple-ipod-post.jpg

Me and my housemates are as well consumed by the latest technology trends,especially when it comes to Nokia mobile phones and Apple Ipods. None of us, though, has yet seen the “cool” factor in an Apple iphone. Otherwise, it should have been in the picture.

In the picture above are two Nokia N95, a Nokia N83 N80, a Nokia N71, an 80Gb Apple Ipod with casing, and three (3) 30Gb Ipods.

Taken with a Canon EOS 30D, EF-S 17-85mm f/4-5.6 IS USM, and Canon Speedlite 430EX.

4GB Pocket Flash Drive

| Technology | , , , ,

pic_pocket.jpgJust got myself a new Imation USB2.0 Pocket Flash Drive, a 4GB one, as a replacement for my old 256mb generic flash drive I bought 2 years ago from CD-R King in Glorieta, Makati.

The old flash drive malfunctioned after I pulled it off the usb port while my notebook was busy writing/reading it (another lesson learned!). I grew impatient and pulled it off without following the safety removal process of the hardware.

Anyway, this new one (Imation), with its 4gb capacity, I can use to hold my Uniserver, as well as tons and tons of my documents. Yet, it’s compact and lightweight.

But what I liked most about this pocket flash drive is the password protection and drive partitioning software provided within the product. Unlike truecrypt, it doesn’t require an administrator privilege anymore to access the secured partition of the drive.

The NBA Live 2007 is Gaining Speed

| Games, General | , , , , ,

It can be noticed that my entry on NBA Live 2007 – The Final Straw is gaining speed in my Most Popular Posts. It is now third on that list.

I was even surprised to have an unknown commentator trying to voice out his disappointment with the game. Unknown in the sense that I don’t know him personally. But of course, everyone is most welcome (except spammers) to comment here!

This wonder led me to investigate more how did he find out about my site. Then, I found out that:

  • If you google search for a keyword “NBA Live 2007 bugs”, you’ll find my site third in the google search results page.
  • If you google search for a keyword “NBA Live 2007 glitches”, you’ll find my site seventh in the google search results page (fifth, if you exclude the indented lists).

So, how does this make sense? Is my site really that popular? (Hehe) Well, I can offer a reason for this though. Maybe I was just the only blogger to touch on the topic of the glitches and bugs of NBA Live 2007, plus some makulit commentators and die-hard NBA (Live) Fans like Lou Franz and Percival who are leaving those comments, adding to the popularity of the post.

Anyway, thank you to all who have left comments! And Happy 2007!

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