To The Moon And Back

Want to know what my latest obsession is? LCD computer monitors. Since I can’t afford an iMac YET, I’ve decided to just upgrade my current 17″ ViewSonic LCD monitor to 21″. It would make me feel like I’m using an iMac (deluding myself here I know) and I can now view and test my website designs in the highest resolution available. It’s also great for coding css or encoding contents because I no longer have to switch from one document to another. Two or three documents will just fit right in a 1600 x 1200 monitor. I’m so excited just thinking about this. It’s still pretty expensive but if I can sell my current LCD, I’d just have to shell out a couple hundred dollars more. However, my husband has been dropping hints that he wants to have my old LCD for his play station. As soon as he learned about my plan, he started making plans of his own including buying an lcd mount which he will install in the office/recreation room. Well, I’d have to think about it. It really boils down to whether I can find extra $500 to upgrade. At least, that’s about $1500 cheaper as opposed to buying a new iMac.

I recently purchased a portable hardisk just to accommodate my overflowing files. It’s cheap and small, with a capacity of 160GB. However, I’ve been taking 100 photos daily and scrapping all the time so I’d probably run out of space in a couple of months. What I really need is a 300-400GB hard disk that I can use for my desktop. I saw some cheap drives at Discountechnology.com worth $119.95. They have a capacity of 400GB so it’s a great deal. I’m a firm believer of keeping multiple copies of our photos, videos and projects in multiple hard drives. One can never be too safe when it comes to years of personal and work files.

For those looking to upgrade their laptop hard drives, the best deal that I can see is the Fujitsu 5.4K SATA Hard Drive. For only $69.00, you can get a disk space of 120GB, with speed of 5400RPM. Its size of 2.5″x9mm can fit in all laptop. If you want something bigger, then the Fujitsu 250GB is perfect for only $105.

Discountechnology does not only sell discount drives but also cables and adapters, networking, laptops and notebooks, computers and servers, audio and video equipments, and LCD / CRT monitors. They focus on enterprise-class hardware and best-of-breed products. Even if the items are not the cheapest in the market, they guarantee that it has the best value.

I just finished designing a table top display for our company’s exhibit on August. We’re hoping that we’d be able to get lots of good leads here just like last year’s. We’re really counting on this event to bring in new clients which eventually will fund our version 2 projects. The initial plan was to use a 10′ curve graphic display like the ones from Camel Back Displays but realized that it would be too big for what we have to offer. We opted for their simple table covers instead because of the size and the fact that it’s so much easier to setup.

If you’re looking for your next trade show exhibits supplier, CamelBack Displays is a great place to start. They don’t only offer factory priced trade show furniture but also director chairs, literature holders, lighting and table covers too. If you don’t think you can handle the design, CamelBack Displays have many skilled designers that can work on your designs from website to logo to brochure to trade show graphics. Everything that you need for your next exhibit and tradeshow can be found from their site.

I learned by visiting Yugateh.com that Globe Telecom will now exclusively offer iPhone in the Philippines. These iPhones are legit unlike those being sold in Virra Mall at around $800.

I got this online from Walt Mossberg’s review.

But the iPhone has a major drawback: the cellphone network it uses. It only works with AT&T (formerly Cingular), won’t come in models that use Verizon or Sprint and can’t use the digital cards (called SIM cards) that would allow it to run on T-Mobile’s network. So, the phone can be a poor choice unless you are in areas where AT&T’s coverage is good. It does work overseas, but only via an AT&T roaming plan.

Since Globe already acquired the rights to offer iPhone here, I bet loads of people will want to switch their providers just to get their hands on it. However, I doubt if they will offer the new 3G iPhone considering how long it took them to bring the famous iPhone here. It’s also possible that the offer will only be extended to high end, Platinum Globe users. Meaning, you’d have to shell out more than Php5000 ($119+) a month for two years when you can get it for about $800. So really, it all boils down whether you want to be legit or not. I personally have been waiting for iPhone to reach the Philippines but after reading tons of reviews, the only advantage that I can see is how sleek it looks. I’m starting to feel like I could benefit from an HTC instead.

I’ve been rambling on and on almost all my posts about how I love the Internet. But really, it can’t be all about love right? So I moved away from my computer for a couple of hours and thought about the things that I don’t like about the World Wide Web. It’s hard because I’m so addicted to anything that has to do with online so if you want to add anything to this list, tell me!

1. Perverts. They are all over the Internet disguised in so many ways. They could be a so-called agent who needs your almost nude photos for their website. It could be the 32-year-old sweet man from the chatroom but was actually a 55 somethings who badly needed alcohol rehab. Worse, I’ve heard of sick men snagging photos of children from parenting blogs and replacing their bodies with naked pictures so they can sell them to equally sick clients.

2. Spam all year round. Whether it’s through email, blog comments, website contact forms, they will flood you with messages so you can visit their website for much needed hits and sale.

3. Lack of personal connection. As much as I love meeting new friends over the Internet, there’s just something weird about a room full of people who doesn’t even smile or nod at each other because they’re so busy looking at their machines. I’m talking about Internet cafes. Isn’t it supposed to be a place where people can hang out, meet new friends over coffee, etc?

4. Piracy. I don’t really hate this because I can’t say that I haven’t, in my whole life, enjoyed a nice warez or two. Still, software companies are losing money from piracy. I know this for a fact after working for several companies for eight years.

5. Related to above. Plagiarism. Everyone can steal your content, artwork, music, and photo and pass it off as theirs.

6. Identity Theft. Nothing worse than having someone steal your identity just because you used your credit card, etc. Remember the movie THE NET? Everything is so advanced I’m starting to feel that that the movie could happen in real life.

7. Scam artists. It’s so much easier to cheat on people in the virtual world. You don’t have a physical address where people can hunt you and ask for their money back. Whenever you do a transaction online, you are accepting that you can get scammed 50% of the time.

8. Virus, Browser Hijacks, Porn. Visit a not so legit site and voila! You’ll have porn banner ads whenever you load a new browser. Of course, you can always do your best to secure your machine by installing every anti virus, pop up blocker, spyware sweeper, etc. Still, the virus makers are getting smarter each day that as soon as you feel safe, you’ll find new virus names on your computer next month. Thank god for constant software updates!

9. Thanks to email lags or server problems, it’s so much easier to pretend that you didn’t receive an important email or message. Slackers and plain lazy people grab at this opportunity every chance they get. I’ve heard about this conversation many times: “boss - where are the new changes to the website, employee - oh, I didn’t get that email? Can you please re-send?” This will give the slacker another 24 to 48 hours to slack off before he work on the changes.

10. Stalkers. See #1 for related info. People can find you in Friendster, Multiply, MySpace, and Facebook. That’s a good thing. But not if it’s a psycho ex-girlfriend / boyfriend whose main purpose in life is to ruin you by hacking your emails and blogs, join the same community you’re in and spread lies about you, be-friend or steal your online friends, and many more. No, it never happened to me but I know two people who had.

So you see, Internet could be bad. But don’t let these things stop you from enjoying the Internet. Just be informed on what you can do to protect your identity, your kids and your machine from these threats.

Here’s what I got last Sunday.

Maxtor One Touch III, Mini Edition.

Portable Work and play on the go. This lightweight, portable drive lets you bring important files with you.

Rugged Design Built in shock-resistent design ensures durability

USB Interface Connect using the USB 2.0 cable. The Mini draws power from the computer, to help free you from carrying around an extra power cord.

160 GB Capacity Add capacity quickly. Stores more than 51,200 photos, or 160 hours of DV video, or 2,665 hours of music.

5400 RPM, 8 MB cache buffer For fast drive performance and instant access to your files.

System Rollback Restores your system to a point in time just before your system crashed, while keeping your current data safe and up to date.

Sync your files Automatically synchronize your files between two computers every time you connect or disconnect the drive so you are always working with the most current data.

Easy to Use Interface Get up and running fast. Simplifies drive management, security, and backup scheduling.

Maxtor DriveLock™ Password protect the contents of your drive for an extra measure of security.

Simple set up Plug it in, connect the USB 2.0 cable, and your Maxtor OneTouch III automatically appears on your desktop.

I’m soooo loving this purchase. And it’s cheap too! I only paid a total of $107 with a 0% interest option for six months if I want to. I feel so good and organized now. All my photos worth 45GB and scrapbooking kits worth 28GB are now moved to the new hardisk and they are all labeled and tags accordingly. What’s left for me to do now is to make two backups on DVD just in case my new hardisk fails.

When planning to travel, you make sure to pack all the necessities from bottles to toys to baby wipes to quick snacks. But how can you really keep a toddler happy and content on long drives? There are tons of creative answers that you can find on baby books and baby blogs but mine would be as simple as getting a VCD/DVD player for the car. It won’t be as simple if you don’t have a budget but this is something we’re very much willing to invest on. My daughter just can’t take 1-2 hour drives without her two favorite DVDs - Hi5 and Harry Potter.  Aside from her questions every 10 minutes, it keeps her happy for more than an hour that I can simply lie back, relax and enjoy the drive. This is the reason why she loves riding her grandmother’s car. The mere thought of a trip to the grocery excites her because not only she can get out of the house, but she can also enjoy her movies while at it. So buying one for our car is just inevitable. 

I found two portable DVD players within our budget:

Sony DVP-FX820 8″ Portable DVD Player Black
$179.99

8″ LCD Widescreen Monitor
High-Resolution (800 x 480 resolution)
180 Swivel and Flip monitor
Up to 6 Hour of Battery Life
Dual Sensor for Remote Control
Product Dimensions: 1.3 x 8.9 x 6.3 inches ; 2.4 pounds

OR

Philips PET702 7″ Portable DVD Player
$101.50

7″ TFT LCD 16:9 widescreen
Built in stereo speakers for quality sound
Car adapter and remote control.
Up to 2 hour playback on rechargeable built-in battery
Product Dimensions: 6 x 7.8 x 1.5 inches ; 1.5 pounds

Both can play the following formats:DVD, Picture CD, SVCD, Video CD, DVD-R/-RW, MP3-CD, CD-R/CD-RW, DVD+R/+RW, CD. Phillips is so much cheaper and lighter but the playback time is giving me second thoughts.

Now this is something I can’t decide on just by reading online. The reviews will help but a lot but I’d have to see them working firsthand and check warranties and such. At least, I know which items to ask instead of accepting the first expensive item that the salesman will offer.

Have any of you had a bad experience with refurbished Apple products? A friend will be coming home this May so I want to take advantage of the free shipping.

Here is what I’m eyeing:

Refurbished MacBook Pro 2.2GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
15.4-inch widescreen display
2GB memory
120GB hard drive
8x SuperDrive (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT with 128MB of GDDR3 memory
Built-in iSight Camera

Imagine, you can have a Macbook Pro for only $1499? I wonder how good (or bad) refurbished products are?

I can also go for something cheaper.

Refurbished MacBook 2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo - White
13.3-inch glossy widescreen display
1GB memory
80GB hard drive
Combo drive (DVD-ROM/CD-RW)
Built-in iSight camera

This one is for only $799.

They are both certified Apple refurbished products and covered by Apple’s one year limited warranty.

Apple Certified Refurbished Products are pre-owned Apple products that undergo Apple’s stringent refurbishment process prior to being offered for sale. These products have been returned under Apple’s Return and Refund Policies. While only some units are returned due to technical issues, all units undergo Apple’s stringent quality refurbishment process

It’s not that I don’t trust Apple. In fact, I love them to bits. I just need to research on what other customers say about refurbished products because even if we’re talking about $800 here, it’s still a huge amount of money.

Our company needs virtual management software really bad. We are a virtual company so keeping track of what everyone does is highly important to succeed. You see, we don’t really have an HR/Accounting department. The other CEO is the one handling all of the billing issues and hiring is through forums and word of mouth. I could say that we’re not doing badly, to be fair. The thing is, after hiring 5 new people last year; I found out the hard way that telecommuting is not for everyone. Two of the new hires slept on the job, while the other two pretends to work by getting online but they are actually working in another company at the same time. The last one wasn’t technical enough which is already a different story. My point here is we really need to take this company to the next level by buying softwares that can help recruit and manage the employees, track project status, automate expense reimbursement processes and many more. We could also use an employee evaluation software so we can provide monthly or quarterly appraisals. Even companies with physical office find it hard to manage people so what more if you have to do it virtually. Aside from the fact that we hired the wrong people, we could definitely used an extra hand in management.

I’ve been sick for the past three days with colds and a bit of fever. Thank God for my husband who made it sure that I get enough rest by putting the little one to sleep himself. I know it’s just colds but I was having a hard time to move and keep my eyes open. That didn’t stop me from reading ebooks on my phone though. I was left alone in the room most of the time so I can rest without interruption. Being alone has its merits but what I didn’t like about it is that you need to do stuff on your own too, i.e. turning off the lights or getting up to find the remote for TV or air conditioner. There are plenty of times when I wonder how it would feel to automate our home. I’ve read from a home automation company website about this automated home or “smart home” wherein you can control everything in your home with a touch of a single button. Being OC that we are, we’d appreciate equipment such as this so we can make sure that all lights, electronics, windows, are turned off/closed.