Develop INEO 353

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

A couple of weeks ago our office purchased a new copier, its the new Develop Ineo 353 which according to our supplier is the latest model available in the country for state of the art copiers.

Since our office requires a lot of photocopies which needs to be sorted and stapled, I requested to add a finisher, so that papers are not only sorted but stapled as well. This feature is very convenient for bulk copying.

Then we do not want to constantly pull the cover up and down every time we copy documents, not only does it strain our arms but its also time consuming and is not recommended for quick copying of documents for those crucial moments. A feeder was installed not only for easy copying but also to allow back-to-back scanning and copying, according to the technician who installed the feeder, the safe volume of paper would be 100 but of course I would like to try if it can handle more.

Ineo 353 features monochrome as well as colored copying, touch screen colored console, scanning with electronic copies stored on a PC, RJ 45 plug for connection via Local Area Network (LAN), fax machine, can act as a network printer, fast output at 35 ppm for colored and b/w (we have yet to test this one), password protection, can enlarge or reduce images, control the density of print, compact design which perfect for space consious offices, accepts up to A3 size papers and scans, and other features of a normal copier.

Since its a colored copier and scanner, it has four toners Magenta, Cyan, Blue and Black. The imaging units are also of four types based on the colors mentioned. I think the only disadvantage that the machine has is the price. It cost around $7,500 and up depending on your supplier and the consumables would cost around $1,300 for each of the imaging unit and $220 for each of the toners as a rough estimate. But according to our supplier the consumables can produce around 100,000 copies but ofcourse that is still a rough estimate since you can control the density of the colors and would also depend on what are you actually copying.

Blogging, Microblogging and social networks

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Its amazing how the world seems to be a lot smaller thanks to our present technology, communicating regardless of distance or language. A lot of people has taken advantage on what our technology now has to offer, and that includes myself. We can tell what we want and sometimes earn a couple of bucks in the process. Blogging is an online entry of any topic and usually it tells the feelings of the writer. Microblogging is simply a shorter version of Blogging, since some entries or feelings or topics can actually be written in a few words.

Social Networking Sites allows people to create a place to see their friends, acquaintances and people they dont even know and connect with them and share with them a part of their life as well. For every symbol that we press into the keyboard, for every word that comes out of our screen, and for every entry that we publish, someone eventually reads them and makes and interpretation on their own of what the group of symbols mean.

We have these technologies that are acctually opportunities to connect and create a feeling of freedom to say and be who we are to everyone.

Jennifers Body

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Definitely one of the movies Id love to see again. At first I thought it was just another ordinary movie and that the only aspect that made me and my girlfriend watch is the fact that Megan Fox was in it, well we'd like to see if she has more to offer than what she did in Transformers and we saw that she did.

The story is about two best friends with very different worlds, Jennifer the sexy hot chick and Needy the book worm. It all comes at a concert in the local bar when the bar burns the band who plays there suddenly takes Jenny and offers her to Satan. Since Jennifer is not a virgin which the band members did not know, turned into a flesh eating chick who preys mostly on boys.

As the story goes Jennifer confessed to her best friend Needy. Needy shocked tried to keep her boyfriend away from her, but unfortunately Jennifer caught Needy's boyfriend and tried to eat him. Needy came to her boyfriends rescue and injuring Jennifer in the process. Needy's boyfriend dies and Needy herself was bitten, what she didnt know is that anyone bitten by the monster and survives absorbs some of the monsters abilities. Needy kills her bestfriend and ends up in a mental hospital, she eventually escapes and hunts down the band members that initially killed her bestfriend, and kills them.

A very cool movie, with a very cool sound track and ill be grabbing a copy of the songs.

Typhoon Ondoy a.k.a Ketsana

Wednesday, September 30, 2009

last September 26 the Philippines witnessed one of the worst calamity man has had to endure. Typhoon Ondoy a.k.a Ketsana was barely as strong as the previous storms but brought far more havoc than anything we have ever witnessed. I was on my way to my Girlfriends house and it was already raining but suddenly the water began to rise. The rain was not that strong but it did continue to rise at such a fast pace that the water started to go up through the floor of the bus in less than two hours.

Then as fast as the water came, it went away with just the same rate, but unfortunately the bus that I was riding had its engine damaged due to flood water so I had to walk a few meters to look for a new bus (the water was still ankle deep). The new bus went forward, it was a bit higher but by the time we were on the overpass we saw the extent of the flood which was a bit scary.

After 12 hours of travel I arrived at my Girlfriends house bringing with me a couple of canned goods, candles, bottled water and biscuits as they do not have any foods stored. We ate what we had and hoped that the rain would stop and that the water do not rise any further as the water was already chest high. We stayed at the second floor hoping for sunshine.

Flowers from Alfonso

Wednesday, September 2, 2009

last August 31 I went with my Girlfriends family to visit some of their relatives at Alfonso, Cavite. The place was far and on high ground, the temperature was mild and humid, that was probably the reason why my girlfriends grandparents choose planting flowers as their past time. I personally don't know what these flowers are but they are pretty, here are some of these beautiful plants:


Nice purple and violet colored flowers that seem to hang upside down.



I guess this is an orchid of some sort.



Another orchid, this was pretty high so I had to tip toe to catch a good shot.


I find this vine interesting since the leaves only grow on one side and grow in a spiral manner.


Bright yellow flowers that have been damped by the humidity.


Another flower at the top of a tree, it seems to have a smaller flower within.


The violet leaves makes the flower glow, or might just be the flash of my camera.


Like all gardens, insects play a vital role to help flowers bloom.

Im not sure about this insect, some say a type of cockroach but Im not sure, all I know is that it has a hard exoskeleton and is huge.

Jewerly and Watches

Monday, August 24, 2009

Precious items needs precious time when your looking for them, good thing there is the internet to help us and I just found a great website for such items, its Jewelry and Watches Buying Guide from Shopwiki.com. The website features a load of information for people who are having trouble looking for the right jewelry for that special moment or for those who are just looking around.

For Engagements and Wedding Jewelry Guide they help you in choosing Engagement rings, Diamonds, Wedding Rings and even Wedding Day Jewelry. The Guides they provide are very useful and informative providing excellent information when choosing the right accessory for that very special moment. Personally I liked their Engagement Ring directory, because it does not only provide images but filters as well to help me choose in the future the right ring for that magical moment.

The site also has information about Women's Jewelry Buying Guide, Men's Jewelry and Watches Buying Guide. They also has information on Buying Gemstones which gives you everything you need in choose the perfect stone

USB LAN

Sunday, July 19, 2009

I have here a very interesting, very useful and very practical gadget, its a Local Area Network (LAN) device which can be plugged to your Universal Serial Bus (USB) in short its a USB LAN.

This is very usuful for those who have damaged LAN cards or to those who use old computers that needs a bit of upgrade or parts replacements, and its best for those who are not really that knowledgeable when it comes to computer devices plus its cheap, around 250 to 300 bucks or 5 to 6 US dollars.

What you get when you buy one basically are these two items, the USB LAN itself and the CD which contains the driver for the device.

I used an old Compaq Presario which is kinda ancient in the laptop world but the device still works fine. I used it because the laptop doesnt have a LAN card good thing it has a single USB port, i can use a USB hub later, but for now its nice to know that I can connect through the USB LAN. By the way my old laptop doesnt have wifi, and why didnt I just buy a USB wifi device, well even though I have a wifi router its still better to use wired connection, specially for my old laptop.

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

One of the biggest movies this year Harry Potter and the half blood prince is the sixth movie from the Harry Potter movie franchise based from book of the same title. The movie continues the struggle of Harry against his enemies in the world of magic. I dont really want to tell much about the story as I have not yet made any synopsis of any Harry Potter Movie in my blogs, so I would suggest you read the book or watch the movie since it has an excellent story.

As you would expect from any movie adaptation, there are missing chapters and edited story lines, but I must say the producers of the movie did a good job in keeping things in-line with the book so to speak. Even if there were missing chapters you would not feel as if your having a hard time understanding the story that much, you might feel you don't need to read the actual book (but I suggest you do...). The characters were also great, maybe because they are more mature and more at ease with their characters (they are doing the movie franchise for the sixth time...), seeing them grow is fascinating indeed, from the first movie till this one.

Effects, cinematography and all the stuff that makes the movie is really superbly done, they maintained that quality that was seen on the previous movies. There weren't really that much action as it told in the book but i would have loved the movie even more if more chapters were included the movie. Its like you can watch it for the movie and not just because of the book, it was a balanced film as far as action, story and effects were concerned, in all it was a great movie and my opinion one of the best among the Harry Potter Franchise.

The Notebook Movie Quotes

Friday, July 17, 2009

"The Notebook" a 2004 love story movie about an old couple where the man tells his wife about their story but the wife does not remember anything not even him. The man who never lost hope continues to read their story until one night his wife finally remembers and died sleeping together. I love this movie which I watched together with my girlfriend, despite the condition of his wife, the man persisted on staying with her, I rarely like love stories but this is one of a few films that I liked, maybe because the story was told in a different way or how the story tells how an ideal couple would be in a somewhat realistic society. Here are some of the quotes that I liked:

Noah: I am no one special. Just a common man with common thoughts. There are no monuments dedicated to me and my name will soon be forgotten. But in one respect I have succeeded as gloriously as anyone who ever lived. I've loved another with all my heart and soul and for me that has always been enough.

Allie: most of the time I have all these thoughts bouncing around in my head, but with a brush in my hand, the world just gets kinda quiet.

Noah: Well thanks doc, but you know what they say, science goes only so far and then comes God.

Anne: 'Cause I might know you a little better than you think. And I don't want you waking up one morning thinking if you'd known everything you might have done something different.

Allie's mother: Sometimes when I'm in the area, I just stop here and I watch him, trying to picture how different my life might have been.

Line from a letter of Noah to Allie: The best love is the kind that awakens the soul and makes us reach for more, that plants a fire in our hearts and brings peace to our minds. And that's what you've given me. That's what I'd hoped to give you forever.

How to install NVIDIA graphics driver to Ubuntu 8.10

Thursday, July 16, 2009

After thinking of a way to maximize my U-Box i noticed that Ubunutu 8.10 seem to have a bug on NVIDIA graphics driver, whenever I try to install the driver via hardware drivers. Eventually I managed to install the my graphics driver here is what I did:

1. Enter the NVIDIA website, www.nvidia.com, go to download drivers and select Linux, FreeBSD and Solaris Drivers under other downloads and support.
2. Download the driver that suites your harware in my case i used Latest Legacy GPU version (173.14.xx series).
3. download the driver NVIDIA-Linux-x86-173.14.20.pkg1.run
   
4. Press ctrl + alt + f1
5. supply the username and password if asked.
6. enter sudo /etc/init.d/gdm stop this will stop your x-server in preparation to install the driver
7. enter sudo sh /path of your package/NVIDIA-Linux-x86-173.14.20.pkg1.run
8. enter sudo reboot
9. enjoy your ubuntu 8.10!
   

Nokia 5800 XpresMusic Phone

Sunday, July 12, 2009

The Nokia 5800 XpresMusic Phone dubbed by some as the "iphone killer" is Nokia's almost all touch screen smart phone. Released on the first quarter of 2009, the phone boast both a hand full of features and some shortcommings. A High-end Phone for an above mid-end price is something that would surely entice any gadget lover.

Here is what you get from the box aside from the phone, the stylus, battery and memory isnt in the picture but it is included in the box. I liked the fact that the Nokia gave a lot of stuff included in the box, considering its price, which is not but nor was it that expensive for this type of phone.

You can see at left side are two slots one is for hot swapping of memory cards ( the phone includes an 8GB memory card, very nice....) and the other is for the SIM card, although unlike the memory card you can only insert it in this fashion if you want to pull it out, you need to remove the battery. The slot of the SIM card slot in my opinion isnt really necessary, why put it in that fashion if you cant use it that way? This is also the location of the speakers which is the best (quality wise) I have heard so far, its also pretty loud and despite its loudness sounds played are still clear.

Here is a view on top, almost all external connection are made here, which include, 35mm audio jack, charger slot, USB slot and power switch. I findit convinient that all these connections are placed here,it just made the phone look neat even you connect the USB cable and power jack in. Nokia also made good adding the 35mm Jack since it allows users to use their standard headset. You cant however, charge via USB, dunno why they didnt inlcude that feature, it would have been great to have that included.

The right side of the phone has the volume control, keypad lock and the camera button, these buttons are conviniently placed for easy access.

The back is where you find your 3.15 Mega Pixel Camera (why didnt Nokia used a 5MP camera?..) also you'll find your stylus which is again placed nicely.


The phone uses symbia S60 Operating System and runs beautifully except for a few instances of lags and slow responses, its very much acceptable. The phone works like any phone the only difference is that its obviously a touch screen device. Nokia also gave its users options on entering text either qwerty or alphanumeric and even a hand writing feature. It also has Wifi and bluetooth so you stay connected if there is an available network. The device also has an accelerometer which allows the screen to change based on how you hold the phone, this can breed softwares that can be very entertaining, Nokia made a sample of this with their racing game, where you need to steer the phone to steer the car, neat! GPS is also included and with its ultra wide screen, im sure you wont loose your way.

I liked the phone, it has a stirdy well developed design combined with Nokia's Symbian Operating System. I think Nokia could have made it better though, but I guess in order to compete with the market they just cut short a few of the features that they could have put in.

Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen

Thursday, July 2, 2009

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen is the sequel to the first movie released in 2007. Just by watching the trailer you would know that this was a movie to watch in the silver screen. It tells about the story when the decepticons return to Earth first to revive Megatron leader of the decepticons and to fulfill the revenge of the Fallen. The fallen is said to be one of the oldest transformers who visited Earth, alongside with other Primes with the goal to harvest the Sun. The Fallen made a Sun Harvester despite the disagreement of other primes since they saw early humans living in Earth. The other primes stopped the Fallen by hidding the Matrix of Leadership the key to the Sun Harvester.

Present day, Sam found a shard of the all spark and receives some of its energy and knowledge. Hunted by the decepticons he is evtually helped by his autobot buddy bumble bee and his girl friend Mikaela, Optimus Prime also came to the rescue but was killed in the process by Megatron. After learning of the meaning of the symbols Sam has seen since he found the shard he goes to Egypt and after a heavy strugle revives Optimus Prime kills the Fallen and Megatron retreats.

The movie is one of the best I have seen and really keeps you on your seat, effects were spectacullar and they introduced new transformers into the movie from the original Cartoon. There are several inconsistencies with the movie but I really didn't watch the movie and expect things to be "that" realistic, as long as I am entertained and kept me in my seat then its a good movie for me. Words cant describe what they have done with the movie, it was money well spent.

Dengue

Saturday, June 20, 2009

According to the World Health Organization Dengue is transmitted by the bite of an Aedes mosquito infected with any one of the four dengue viruses. It occurs in tropical and sub-tropical areas of the world. Symptoms appear 3—14 days after the infective bite. Dengue fever is a febrile illness that affects infants, young children and adults.

Symptoms range from a mild fever, to incapacitating high fever, with severe headache, pain behind the eyes, muscle and joint pain, and rash. There are no specific antiviral medicines for dengue. It is important to maintain hydration. Use of acetylsalicylic acid (e.g. aspirin) and non steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (e.g. Ibuprofen) is not recommended.

to sum it all up, its a very nasty virus from a mosquito. Here in the Philippines Dengue is quite common and to prove that today my brother was diagnosed with type 1 Dengue, the second in our family, I'm not sure where the mosquito came from but it was definitely not from our home.

here are some tips from http://www.rediff.com/news/2003/oct/10deng.htm on how to avoid and detect dengue:

The fever comes within eight days of the mosquito bite.
How to detect if you are infected:
1) Serological test to detect IgM, IgG antibodies: IgM antibodies appear in blood at the end of eight days and persist for 1-3 months. It indicates acute infection. This is the test that most people undergo. It has an accuracy of 80-90% and is referred to as the preliminary test.
2) Isolation of virus in blood: This is a sophisticated test, conducted only by the Pune-based National Institute of Virology. Can be undertaken 10 days after the first blood test. Quite expensive, but it can confirm if the person is infected by dengue.
3) Polymerized Chain Reaction: This test involves amplification of the DNA (Deoxyribo Nucleic Acid). Very expensive and hence, undertaken only in rare cases


Dengue is also known as Break Bone Fever. If the infection is treated on time, the mortality rate is less then 15%.
How to avoid it:
1. Water from flower pots should be changed at least once a week
2. All containers storing water should be covered with a tight lid
3. Water stored in barrels, drums etc should be replaced by fresh stock (at least) once a week
4. All large water tanks, like those in buildings, should have single piece cast iron, tight fitting cover. A suitable ladder should be provided to enable civic staff to climb and examine the tanks at frequent intervals. The overflow pipe should be protected by a net that can keep away mosquitoes.
5. Discarded container-like objects like tyres, coconut shells, bottles, etc should be disposed off or destroyed.
6. Water fountains should be kept dry once a week
7. Surface wells should be well-maintained so that mosquitoes do not breed in the vicinity
8. Rain water collected on terraces/roofs should be cleared (at least) once a week

How to Change Workgroup name in Ubuntu

Thursday, June 11, 2009

I am assuming that the version of Ubuntu being used already has Samba Installed otherwise please refer to www.ubuntu.com

1. Go to Applications > Accessories > Terminal
2. At the Terminal type the command
sudo gedit /etc/samba/smb.conf
3. Scroll Down and at the workgroup = workgroup, simply change the workgroup name and press enter
4. Restart Samba, at the terminal type
sudo /etc/init.d/samba restart

and your done!

Restaurant: Sizzling and Grilling

Sunday, June 7, 2009

I always try to look into places where you dont have to spend a lot for good food and good service, and it seems i have found another one of those places, its a restaurant called "Sizzing and Grilling".Its found somewhere in Manila, its a bit hard to find but once your stomach is grumbling you'll see where your nose wants to point you, in this case good food.

You may notice a change in the picture quality, this one is taken from a 3.5 Mega pixel camera phone where the others were standard VGA camera phone's, sorry about that. Now, this is what we ate, we ordered sizzling sissig and mixed seafood (crabs, oysters, shrip and fish) plus garlic rice which i forgot to take a picture of.

here is another picture of our food, half way to being done, the sizzling sissig is gone by now. Budget wise the place is very affordable for the type of serving they provide. If you plan to eat by yourself 200 - 300 bucks will do, thats a good amount if you want good food.

If your on a date simply double the amount. They dont have any service charge so I gave them a nice time (to my standards anyway...) for the food and for the service they gave.

Well, my plate said it all, I had a great dinner, good food, quality time with my girl friend and felt that my money was well spent. They do have to improve their ambiance though, but except that, the place gets an A.

Bali 2009

Monday, June 1, 2009

25 May 2009, Its 7:45 in the morning, and I just arrived last night, I was too tired to type anything. The hotel was nice, but not that great, staying at some of the hotels in Manila made me compare, but that did not matter last night, I was tired and all I could think of was a hot shower and sleep at the nice bed. Breakfast was not that great also, with very few food selections, I did like the local music being played while taking breakfast, the music made the difference. Being a Filipino here in Bali made me feel at home, the climate, the locals skin tone, some similar words, similar in a lot of things, but one thing I did find interesting is that they unlike us, has not been that much influenced by western countries such as the United States.

As days passed, I tried to enjoy myself despite the fact that I was sent there to work, I enjoyed the beach in the morning before breakfast, then after an hour or two, I'll be at the meeting venue and before I know it I was back at my room trying to tell my body to rest and recharge for the next activity. Our host was kind enough to give us a tour to enjoy the place, which was nice and very enjoyable indeed but not that spectacular.

As soon as I arrive, I leave Bali, treasuring the moments passed, despite the work, the fun, the experience, I will still miss my home.

Josephine's water camp

Sunday, May 31, 2009

Just before I went to Indonesia, I spent some time with my Girl friend and her family at Josephine's water camp in Cavite. The place was not that popular to me but as I roam around and swam I saw why they choose the place.


Before entering the place you'll notice a fish pond with a restaurant on top, i would assume that orders are freshly taken from the pond, which is very nice,knowing what your eating is actually very fresh.


Pools have play grounds making a perfect place for kids, the water was not deep possibly around three feet. The area was big enough for you to and your kids to roam around and yet still have time to have fun on you own.


The amenity which me and my GF spent most of our time was a river like pool, which amazingly has a current on its own. People only go on one direction since there are parts of the river with strong current, the water is also clean and is not that cold, perfect to cool of the heat.

I dont remember the exact price but its probably around 180 per person and cottages range from 200 to 1000+, again i'm not sure, but what I am sure is that this is really a very nice place for you and your family, its located in Cavite a few hours drive from Manila.

Punto Miguel

Monday, May 18, 2009

From time to time its nice to visit a place away from the noisy city streets and pollution yet is still a drive away from the Metro and here is one of those places. Punto Miguel is about two to three hours drive from the Manila, depending on traffic, you would also have to travel by boat which is roughly five to ten minutes away from port.


The place isn't well known such as boracay or Puerto Gallera but it still is pretty nice considering the location and it does have clear waters. The sand is not powdery white but its better than black or dark sands, which is common to the place.



But looking closely to the sand you'll notice that there are more rocks bits than sand at the shore, plus the occasional sea urchins and crabs, so I needed extra care while walking specially at night.


The resort does have a function room which overlooks the islands and waters that commands the beautiful beach, but since we went there with a bit of rain, we were wet before we even took a dip at the water since its very open.