Doodling
Boredom + paper + pencil + music = doodle!
See hi-res photo here.
Random. Just random.
Published articles related to Technology:
I [heart] Genius
I rediscovered my media library geniusly! Find out more about Genius or try it yourself and see how you can rediscover your songs geniusly.
Web Designers are Misunderstood as…
Most web designers are misunderstood (or stereotyped) as programmer, network administrator, helpdesk, or even PC technician. At least that’s how I and this designer feel.
The diagram above is smartly done by The Man In Blue
Firefox 3: Dislike #1
Have you heard about Firefox 3 from the news or your friend’s blog? I bet you have.
Following the hype about Firefox 3 Download Day, I tried Firefox 3 on its release date and was pretty much disappointed by series of crashes. I dumped Firefox 3 shortly after the repeated crashes and chose to stick to my browser of choice: Safari.
To sum up my experience, there are three things I like about Firefox 3, and three things I dislike.
Let’s start with my first dislike, which is also the first thing I saw: browser chrome.
Compare that with my Safari:
Seeing such big difference urged me to trim unnecessary stuff from Firefox 3 default toolbars. The rule is simple:
- Analyze every single item in browser chrome. It must have a good reason to be there.
- No good reason? Remove it.
There are stuff I don’t need but cannot be removed via Customize menu. This is where extensions like Stylish and Hide Menubar play a big part to trim it even more.
Anyway, the weird-looking back button reminds me of recent Microsoft’s products. I’m wondering why Mozilla is following into that direction…
Back button remedy: set toolbar customization to “Small icons”.
I was pretty pleased with the final looks of my simplified Firefox 3:
That’s my first dislike, and it’s partially solved. Firefox looks so much better, clean, and neat now! Sweet!
Two more dislikes and three likes in the next blog posts! 
Firefox 3
Every geek I met talked about it.
Every geek’s blog I read featured it.
Following the buzz about Firefox 3, I joined its Download Day and tried it only for a few hours before I got tired seeing this:
Disappointing: Firefox 3 on Windows XP crashes everytime it loads certain websites.
It’s disappointing to note that despite of its new features, which I like a lot, it failed to serve its basic functionality to display websites.
I’ll post the full coverage in my next blog post…
Seeking Salvation and Profit in Greentech
“I don’t think we’re going to make it,” says John Doer, in an emotional talk about climate change and investment. His daughter even said, “I’m scared and angry. Dad, your generation created this problem; you’d better fix it.”
Will my children say so? Will they even have a chance to say it?
Morph
Take a look at this cool video (it’s just a concept!) about Nokia Morph. A great concept about future phone with nanotechnology and how it can change the way we interact with mobile phone.
I like the idea of battery self-recharge using sunlight and possibility of using it on building surface.
Distributed Computing
Sometimes I need to leave my computer on while I’m away. Some friends and colleagues do the same thing for many reasons, such as:
- downloading big files or torrents overnight.
- leaving it in “ready” state so when the owner back to use the computer, it can be used immediately without waiting for start-up/loading process.
- the computer is left on to process certain task such as backup, scan, or other maintenance tasks.
- the computer is left on so its owner can access it remotely from another computer.
- and so on…
Most activities listed above only take a small fraction of computer’s processing power, often leaving the processor idle for hours. Not many people know that there is a better way to utilise the unused processing power: donate it for grid computing.
Some might have heard the term “Grid Computing” or “Distributed Computing” and relate it to scientific projects and geeky stuff in labs. Some think about DNA mapping and analysis. Some think about difficult mathematics or physics formula. Some even think about military project, UFO, and the outer space.
Before going deeper into the subject, let’s take a look of what Wiki says about grid computing:
Grid computing is a phrase in distributed computing which can have several meanings:
- Multiple independent computing clusters which act like a “grid” because they are composed of resource nodes not located within a single administrative domain.
- The creation of a “virtual supercomputer” by using a network of geographically dispersed computers. Volunteer computing, which generally focuses on scientific, mathematical, and academic problems, is the most common application of this technology.
Continue reading grid computing’s wiki…
In a simpler concept, grid computing is about lending unused computing power to a collective cause, ranging from climate prediction to DNA analysis to UFO search.
Join GridRepublic, a non-profit organisation that allow home users to be part in grid computing to solve various research projects such as climate prediction and DNA mapping for cancer study. I use GridRepublic to help research on climate changes, cancer study, and DNA mapping. It runs in the night time when my computer is on and unused.
If you occasionally leave your computer on overnight for certain tasks, I recommend you to install GridRepublic to donate your unused computing power for good causes. It is secure, does not interfere your privacy, and does not degrade your computer performance. Learn more about GridRepublic or see research projects you can take part in.
Of course energy conservation is the best way. Turn off your computer when you don’t use it at all. Pass the positive influence to your friends and colleagues!
DreamSpark
Having access to developer tools at no cost is a good opportunity for IT students, like me :D. DreamSpark is currently available to students residing in eleven countries. Cross your finger; DreamSpark is possibly making its way to this country soon…
You can visit Channel 8 website to see what’s inside the offer.
Who can get this right now?
We are kicking this off in 11 countries/regions, giving DreamSpark to millions of students in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, China, Germany, France, Finland, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and Belgium. If you are not residing in one of the countries listed keep checking back, we will be adding more countries throughout the year.Does that mean that I might not get in?
Possibly, if you are not residing in one of the countries listed, not attending an accredited university or not a member of one of the student organizations that we’re connected with. But keep checking back, as we’re working on adding more ways to verify your student status all the time.
