My Wish on April 9

It's my birthday!

 

Here's my wish list:

 

A Sonyericsson W960i or P1i  phone (it's ok if you want to give me a Motorola V9 ;-) or a PSP Piano Black with at least 4G memstick (fat or slim will be fine)

Top 10 Problems in IT Certification in 2008

Here's a great article from informIT by Warren Wyrostek regarding some problems/issues that you may want to consider in taking IT certifications.

 

Click here for the article.

I Thought

I thought a thought but the thought I thought wasn't the thought I thought I thought. If the thought I thought had been the thought I thought I thought, I wouldn't have thought so much. And you would have had an answer. Now you'll just have to ask me.

Sun Acquired MySQL

Sun previously announced that it is aqcuiring MySQL AB, the company behind MySQL. Big news for the open-source community. See Jonathan Schwartz's blog on Sun's website for more details.

And just today, Sun announced that MySQL is now an official part of Sun .

Morph -- Concept Phone

Hi-tech Dick Tracy gadget -- a bendable phone that can be used like wristwatch. Surely, Dick Tracy would want to have this instead of his two-way wrist radio. The device is called Morph, a concept cell phone co-developed by Nokia Research Center and the University of Cambridge.

 

Here's some pictures from news.com.

Goodbye Sisi Palm

After one hundred and seventy years two wars and one relocation and also outliving the Austro-Hungarian Empire , Sisi Palm of Vienna finally got the ax on Monday.

 

Hundreds of thousands of tourists lined up each year to view the tree, which was already 44 when it was moved indoors in 1882 and named in honor of the enigmatic Elizabeth of Bavaria(nicknamed Sisi), the wasp-waisted wife of Emperor Franz Joseph I.

 

With cameras clicking, the Chinese fan palm was chopped down because it had grown too tall and risked punching through the glass ceiling of Europe's largest greenhouse — the Palm House on the grounds of Schoenbrunn Palace.

 

Click here for more on the MSNBC Website.

PSP Tips and Tricks

Great link from TipidPC for PlayStation Portable newbies and everyone else who need to know more about PSP®. This forum post includes not only how to identify the firmware version without turning on the PSP and find what region the PSP was released but also some tips on running homebrew applications and installing custom firmwares.

Click here for the link to TipidPC post.

Secrets of the Great Seal of the United States revealed

Conspiracy theorists take note: the myths surrounding one of the United States' oldest and most enduring national symbols are about to be debunked...if you believe the government, that is.

 

The keepers of the Great Seal of the United States, the familiar emblem on the back of the $1 bill, want you to know what it is not. It is not a sign that Freemasons run the country, it has nothing to do with the occult and it does not contain clues to a fabulous hidden treasure.

 

Click here to read more on CBC Website.

Free IP Telephony, Videoconferencing and Instant Messaging

I found a new free IP Telephony Service called ineen. ineen lets you talk to all your friends and family through the Internet for free and has cool features like unlimited conferencing and video!

 

Go ahead, give it a try.

Extensible Object Markup Language Resource Kit

This quick reference links to tips and articles related to XOML, the Extensible Object Markup Language in Microsoft's Windows Workflow Foundation.

read more | digg story

My X51R Notebook

I purchased an ASUS X51R Notebook computer and Installed Vista Ultimate. So far, I have enjoyed the cool looks. It really is an eye candy. Also the DVD Maker is awsome! Here's picture of my laptop:

And here's a link to full specification and some personal impression on my new machine.

Problem with Standard Charted Bank (SCB)

Oh my, just when I am seriously considering to apply for a Classic Visa Card from Standard Chartered Bank, I found this link. My, oh my. Have any of you encountered such problem?

Flashlight That Can Set Fire or Melt Plastics

This is wicked cool!

The Torch (click here for Engadget article) flashlight is now the world's brightest and most powerful flashlight. The Flashlight is capable of melting plastic, lighting paper on fire within seconds, and if you like, fry an egg or a marshmallow on a stick. At 4100 lumens, The Torch is 100 lumens more powerful than The Polarion Helios, the former most powerful flashlight, and retails for around $300. The Torch is apparently also undergoing review at the Guinness Book of World Records. It's wicked cool but the battery life is down to 15 minutes of use. Hello techno-geeks, time to design a better battery.

 

Click here for The Torch video on YouTube.

Update on Heath Ledger Death

Ledger masseuse, Diana Wolozin, made four calls to Mary Kate Olsen, a "Full House" actress, three calls before she dialled 911 and another one after the paramedics arrived. Click the link below for Yahoo! News article:

 

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080125/ap_en_ce/heath_ledger

Actor Heath Ledger dies at 28

Heathcliff Andrew Ledger (April 4, 1979 - January 22, 2008) was an Academy Award-nominated Australian actor. After appearing in television roles during the 1990s, Ledger developed a Hollywood career. He starred in both critical and financial successes, including The Patriot, Monster's Ball and Brokeback Mountain, and completed the role of The Joker in the forthcoming The Dark Knight. Ledger was found dead in a New York City apartment on January 22, 2008.

Click here for CNN News Article.

Rest in peace, Heath.

Browse Securely on Public Hotspots

Check out XeroBank Browser, a free anonymous web browser.

From the ZeroBank website:

"xB Browser is the free anonymous web browser. You're just a click away from anonymous surfing right now! The benefits of xB Browser is that it allows you to securely and anonymously surf the internet, bypass firewalls and website censorship. For enhanced privacy, xB Browser clears history of browing and deletes cookies when you close the browser.

The main advantages compared to other anonymous web browsers is that xB Browser requires no configuration, technical knowledge, or installation in order to achieve anonymity. xB Browser is open source so you can feel safe knowing what goes into xB Browser. Additionally, it is even portable on a USB stick so you can take it to work, school, or on vacation."

This is very useful for those who use public hotspots where the connections are not encrypted. I just got this link today when I was searching for public hotspots where I can connect my laptop. I am definitely going to try this one. And I hope you find this information useful. (hey! don't forget to leave a comment if you do, or if you find some better alternative)

New Advertising Lure: Let the Audience Be a Part of It (interactively)

A new advertising lure: Software developer Reactrix Systems have unveiled a gaming system made for LCD TVs that mimics the Wii game console in that people punch in the air to hit a boxing opponent or swing their arms to return the ball in a game of volleyball.

 

The design was actually to draw people to become part of the advertising by playing an interactive game. The technology is called WaveScape. Click here to read more on the article on Yahoo! News.

 

 

One of the Persons "who knocked the bastard off" dies

According to the news, Sir Edmund Hillary, one of the first persons who reached the summit of Mt. Everest, died today at age 88. Sir Edmund Percival Hillary,  was born on July 20, 1919. He was a New Zealand Mountaineer and explorer. He and a Sherpa named Tenzing Norgay became the first persons to ever reach the summit of Mt. Everest on May 29, 1953, telling companions after the climb: "We knocked the bastard off.". They were part of the ninth British expedition to Everest, led by John Hunt. 

 

The cause of Hillary's death was not announced, but he had been ill for some time and local media reported he had been suffering pneumonia.

 

News links below:

• http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/10/world/asia/11cnd-hillary.html
  http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7182376.stm
  http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080110/ts_nm/newzealand_hillary_dc

 

Rest in peace, Sir Edmund. There aren't many "first person to ...." left these days.

Dr. Ikarwisit Online: Give Yourself an Advantage

Check my entry on paid blogging: Dr. Ikarwisit Online: Give Yourself an Advantage.

Click Here to Advertise on My Blog

New Word Definitions

• Divorce : Future tense of marriage.
• Cigarette : A pinch of tobacco rolled in paper with fire at one end & a fool on the other.
• Lecture : An art of transferring information from the notes of the lecturer to the notes of the students without passing through "the minds of either"
• Conference : The confusion of one man multiplied by the number present.
• Compromise : The art of dividing a cake in such a way that everybody believes he got the biggest Piece.
• Tears : The hydraulic force by which masculine will-power is defeated by feminine water power.
• Dictionary : A the only place where success comes before work.    
• Conference Room : A place where everybody talks, nobody listens and everybody disagrees later on.
• Classic : A book which people praise, but do not read.
• Smile : A curve that can set a lot of things straight.
• Office : A place where you can relax after your strenuous home life.
• Yawn : The only time some married men ever get to open their mouth.
• Etc. : A sign to make others believe that you know more than you actually do.
• Committee : Individuals who can do nothing individually and sit to decide that nothing can be done together.
• Experience : The name men give to their mistakes.     
• Atom Bomb : An invention to end all inventions.
• Philosopher : A fool who torments himself during life, to be spoken of when dead.
• Diplomat : A person who tells you to go to hell in such a way that you actually look forward to the trip.
• Opportunist : A person who starts taking bath if he accidentally falls into a river.
• Optimist : A person who while falling from Eiffel tower says in midway,"See I am not injured yet."
• Miser : A person who lives poor so that he can die rich.
• Father : A banker provided by nature.
• Criminal : A guy no different from the rest... except that he got caught.
• Boss : Someone who is early when you are late and late when you are early.
• Politician : One who shakes your hand before elections and your confidence after.
• Doctor : A person who kills your ills by pills, and kills you with his bills.