Archive for the 'tech stuffs' Category

My ümobile sim card

Published on August 25, 2008 in Freebies and tech stuffs. 1 Comment

Finally, i got ümobile sim card last August 11. At first, i got mad at EXPEDITORS c/o Speedpost (the hired third party to deliver ümobile sims) because it was clear and they confirmed that they would deliver it at my home address on August 9 Saturday. However, nothing came and i was really not happy about it. So by Monday morning, i texted the contact person again and they were sorry for the non-delivery of my sim as they have promised. I just told them to deliver it to my office address then. And that same morning before lunch, my sim arrived :)

Actually, it’s just a sim card and as long as it will be delivered to me, i’m okay. The only thing i’m not happy about is the fact that they confirmed to me a specific date and yet they didn’t live up to it and i didn’t even receive a notice telling me they won’t be able to deliver it and even when i texted them thrice, i got no reply until Monday morning.

Anyway, i got my ümobile sim now. But i can’t use it much yet. Connection to Globe and Sun are not available yet and most likely you can only connect to ümobile and Smart only. Well, we’ll see what will happen. I’m still experimenting on the first free P100 load i got. Hope ümobile will be okay soon. I still have invite code, so just ask me if you want some.

Related post: free ümobile sim card

Firefox 3: How to disable the Smart Location Bar

Published on August 25, 2008 in tech stuffs. 0 Comments

After downloading the stable version of firefox 3 during the firefox download day, i had a problem with two things. First goes to the themes my sister and i use. Most are not updated and compatible with firefox 3 and so we had to delete them. Good thing one of my favorites which is the blue cats flavor is updated and very much compatible. Second is the smart location bar, a feature that automatically adds other urls upon typing something in the address bar which really annoys me. I tried searchingthe options and all menu just tp find how to disable it but i found nothing. So i checked the Firefox Support website and there - among the top topics in the main page is “How to disable the Smart Location Bar“. Finally, i found the solution to my problem :)

Here are the steps i found and followed to disable it:
1. In the Location bar, type about:config, and press ENTER. The about:config “This might void your warranty!” warning page may appear. Click “I’ll be careful, I promise!” to continue to the about:config page.
2. Search for the preference browser.urlbar.maxRichResults.
3. Double-click the browser.urlbar.maxRichResults preference and enter a value of -1. (initial value is 12)
4. From the menu at the top of the Firefox windowbar, select FileFirefox and then select the ExitQuit FirefoxQuit menu item.
5. Restart Firefox again.

Now when you type in the Location bar, no list of results will be shown. To re-enable the autocomplete list, follow the steps above, but set the value to 10 (which is the default value).

Windows Update Agent 5.8.02469

Published on August 23, 2008 in tech stuffs. 0 Comments


“A critical update is needed. To continue this installation, you need to install Windows Update Agent 5.8.02469 or later..”

Some people may have encountered this message during installation of Windows Live Messenger downloaded from websites other than that of MSN’s. Like what happened to me, I download my softwares from FileHippo and when i tried to install Windows Live Messenger, that message showed up.

Upon doing some Google search, i realized that this will really happen especially if your OS is not being updated with Windows Updates. Since i usually have my Windows Update turned off, then this scenario is expected.

So how can we upgrade to or install the latest version of Windows Live Messenger? I’ve listed two ways i found:

1. The quickest and easiest way is to download Windows Live Messenger from the MSN website (This is I did and it worked!hehehe ). The installer there already comes with the installation agent Windows is looking for.

2. Turn on Windows Automatic Updates and download everything needed up to the latest patch. That would include the installation agent already after which you can already install Windows Live Messenger using an installer from other sources.

3. This is a step that would allow you to download everything up to latest patch as a package without turning on Windows Automatic Updates.

a) Download http://update.microsoft.com/redist/wuredist.cab from microsoft site.
b) Open the cabinet file and you will find an xml manifest wuredist.xml. Open it using notepad or any text editor.

c) Check the DownloadUrl attribute for your OS architecture (x86, x64, ia64) for the download url from where you can get the download file. To know you OS architecture, right click on My Computer on your Desktop and choose Properties. In the General tab, under the Computer section, you’ll see it beside the Motherboard name. (e.g. AMD Athlon(tm) 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 4000+)

So for the x64 platform, the download url would be: http://download.windowsupdate.com/WindowsUpdate/redist/standalone/7.0.6000.381/WindowsUpdateAgent30-x64.exe

d) Download the file and install.

Messenger Plus! Live - the Messenger add-on, remixed.

Published on August 22, 2008 in tech stuffs. 0 Comments

I’ve learned to use Windows Live Messenger (an upgrade to the old Windows Messenger/MSN Messenger) when i started working since it is what is used in the office. At first i had a hard time using it because i’m used to Yahoo! Messenger but after a couple of months i became comfortable with it. My Windows Live Messenger life is pretty much plain until last week when my sister introduced to me Msg Plus. Its been around for quite some time already but presently with the latest 4.7 version, i could say its really very powerful and a great add-on to make Windows Live Messenger the best IM.

Messenger Plus! Live is an add-on for Windows Live Messenger (MSN Messenger 8 and above), the popular Instant Messaging software from Microsoft. It is also known as “msg plus” and incorrectly as “msn plus” (MSN being a trademark of Microsoft). Messenger Plus! adds different features to Messenger to make it more enjoyable, day after day. It has messenger lock, account polygamy, log search, messenger skinning, tabbed chat, quick texts, personalized status, a cool interface, and a lot of great features. A list of the main features can be found in the features section of the Messenger Plus! Live website.

Extend the possibilities of Messenger and make your experience a lot more entertaining! Best of all, it’s FREE!

free ümobile sim card

Published on August 9, 2008 in Freebies and tech stuffs. 1 Comment

ümobile is the first ad-funded mobile network in the Philippines. It’s an exclusive mobile community for 15-35 year olds. So you get a mobile experience that’s rich, exciting and most of all, surprisingly free. Invites are limited so that every member can enjoy these benefits:

* Get free P100 monthly load for the first 6months if you get approved on or before Aug 31, 2008
* Enhanced communication with fring™ (mobile VoIP)
* Nationwide coverage
* Earn rewards with every ad you see
* Mobile broadband surfing
* PC calling with Virtual Phone (coming soon)

How to get your free sim card?
1. Get a free invite code (there’s limited supply to get one now!)
2. Visit ümobile and submit your invite code to register and answer a quick survey.
3. You will receive an email informing you if you’ll get approved or not. If you’re approved, you’ll receive another email from a ümobile courier service about the delivery details.
4. Once you get your sim card, you can login already in the website and/or start enjoying ümobile services.

Get an invite code from a friend or ASK ME for some or request for one at ümobile free code giveaway

Free ümobile sim card and delivery from June 1 to August 31, 2008!!!

Related post: My ümobile sim card

Say it in Six Words

Published on July 2, 2008 in tech stuffs. 0 Comments

I recently came across a blog that has a post about the six words project. Its the story projects of SMITH Magazine that let people share their stories for a specific topic with an essay or with only 6 words.

continue reading…

Firefox Download Day 2008

Published on June 17, 2008 in tech stuffs. 1 Comment

Since I’m an avid Firefox user, I already pledge to download Firefox 3 during Download Day to set the Guinness World Record for Most Software Downloaded in 24 Hours. The official date for the launch of Firefox 3 is June 17, 2008 Tuesday 10:00 AM San Francisco time (that’s around 1:00 am Wednesday Manila time).

Download Day 2008

The secret lives of blogs

Published on April 26, 2008 in tech stuffs. 0 Comments

8 hours ago, Wordpress 2.5.1 has been released. Ofcourse it  includes a number of bug fixes, performance enhancements, and one very important security fix.

One highlight you can read upon visiting the page is about the SECRET_KEY.  It is a new constant allowed in the wp-config.php file since WP2.5 which is meant to introduce a little permanent randomness into the cryptographic functions used for cookies in WordPress.

To get one, just visit this link and you will get a randomly generated unique key for every page load. Just grab one and add it to your config file to get that additional security.

Microblogging Websites

Published on March 30, 2008 in tech stuffs. 16 Comments

Microblogging is currently a big hit to bloggers and other web users. Its like a mini blog that lets you post an update for around 140 characters more or less. Updates can be done via the web, IMs, SMS, email, and desktop clients. The usual feature is allowing you to see and reply to other’s posts and let them see and reply to yours too. Add on features would be posting pictures, videos, sounds and other stuffs aside from the usual text post. Features vary depending on which microblogging platform you’ll be using. The current most popular one is Twitter followed by Jaiku and Pownce.

I’m a Twitter user and has been an avid twitterer since then. I even put up my own Twitter blog and directory for my fellow Filipinos. Twitter has been the most popular microblogging platform and with its popularity and success a lot of microblogs popped out from every corner of the web. They described themselves as twitter-likes, twitter clones, or twitter plus more. Some offer the same service as Twitter’s and some offers even more features. So i guess its up to the users on which microblogging platform they’ll want to use probably depending on the design, the features, and the people. As for me, though i already tried to sign up on some just to check them out, Twitter will still be my main microblog. I’m still very satisfied with it and since i started with it already, it will be very hard to leave everything behind. Besides, i’m already used to calling my microblog updates as tweets/twits ;)

Here’s a list of some microblogging platforms out there (in English content). You may sign up and start trying out their service though there’s some that require invites to get an account.

…continue reading

Gmail, Hotmail, or YahooMail?

Published on February 24, 2008 in tech stuffs. 4 Comments

I have recently read a lot of reviews/post comparing the three email giants with all the upgrades these three went through in the past months. I do have an account on all of them but i primarily use YahooMail and Hotmail. Anyway, here’s my user point of view on the three:

 :: speed
gmail = 3
yahoomail = 1
hotmail = 2

I usually experience YahooMail being the one to load faster. Gmail and Hotmail always take time to load. This is based on my experience at home and at work.

:: ads
gmail  = 1
yahoomail = 2
hotmail =  3

Opening my mailbox on my browser, i could say that Gmail has barely any intrusive ads. I hate YahooMail ads on the frontpage and the one that comes in the signature while in Hotmail, i hate the huge banner add ontop of the page and the one on the frontpage too.

:: user friendliness
gmail = 3
yahoomail = 1
hotmail = 2

On matters of organizing my emails and other content, i find it easiest to do in YahooMail, very fast and hassle-free. Hotmail and Gmail comes next.

:: layout/look
gmail  = 3
yahoomail = 2
hotmail = 1

Taking a look at the present layout/look and how you can manage it, i like Hotmail best. The look is so nice, elegant and clean and its very manageable. YahooMail looks fine while i think Gmail needs some improvement coz it looks  dull for me.

:: security
gmail  = 3
yahoomail = 2
hotmail = 1

When it comes to spam protection, i observed that Hotmail works best based on my own experience. I barely get a spam/junk mail on my inbox with Hotmail though sometimes i can’t figure out why some emails coming from my safe list sender are still goingto my junk folder. In Gmail and Yahoomail, i still get spam/junk mail on my inbox daily and most of the time they are the same spam/junk mail i get from time to time.

:: storage space
gmail  = 2
yahoomail = 1
hotmail = 3

Currently, Gmail offers 6GB+ of space while Hotmail offers 5GB and then YahooMail offers a virtually unlimited amount of space. Hmmm.. but anyway it doesn’t matter much to me since i’m used to emptying my trash often coz i like keeping my mailbox clean :)

In summary…

Gmail - I barely use my gmail account coz i find the layout dull and boring plus there isnt much to do inside the mailbox and i dont feel comfortable using it.

YahooMail - This the one i use primarily. I love YahooMessenger thats integrated within the mailbox. I feel comfortable browsing around since everything is easy and fast to use and the layout is fine.

Hotmail - I love its elegant, clean look and easy way to change the layout color. What i love about Hotmail is the multiple email account integration that allows me to open my other hotmail account without having to logout and login from one account to another. Its pretty helpful and convenient.