A couple of days ago there was this awesome deal on the Gateway M-6827 laptop. It was sold for $549 instead of the regular price of $699 (at Office Depot).  If you haven’t seen the pattern in most of the things I reviewed, it’s the fact that I like good deals. So what makes this laptop awesome? Let’s start with the spec (I promise you, it gets way more interesting):

• 15.4″-diagonal widescreen WXGA (1280 x 800) UltraBright™ LCD screen
• Intel Core 2 Duo processor T5750 operating at 2.0GHz 2MB L2 cach
• 3GB of PC2-5300 DDR2 SDRAM memory (2GB + 1GB)
• 160GB 5400-rpm Serial ATA (SATA) hard drive
• Multiformat DVD drive with Double Layer support (reads/writes DVD±R/RW, DVD-RAM, DVD±R Double Layer, CD-R/RW); supports disc labeling on Labelflash media
• Intel Pro/Wireless 3945ABG (802.11a/b/g) wireless LAN
• Integrated 1.3-megapixel webcam, for live video chat and still photos
• 5-in-1 memory card reader: reads SD, MMC, xD, Memory Stick, Memory Stick Pro
• Intel Graphics Media Accelerator X3100 with up to 384MB shared memory

And on top of that, it has a pretty slick and new design. Which leads me to wonder why it was so cheap.

The Design and functionality.

The design of the laptop is composed of glossy plastic, normal plastic and some brushed metal around the keyboard. Like you all know the glossiness will attract fingerprint. But beside that, I love the design. On top of the keyboard there is a power button, a quick launch button (to launch media center) an array of media button and a volume slider. All of them are tactile except for the volume slider. And on both of side of the buttons are speakers. Which are pretty good and loud for a laptop.

The quick launch button and 2 of the media button (a music player and a dvd player symbol) can also be used to turn on the computer. The difference with it is that it automatically launches the respective media player after launching windows. On another note, I think it’s pretty weird that there are 3 buttons which basically takes you to the same place. Beside these buttons are your usual play, stop, rewind and fast forward button. The technical design of these buttons are pretty cool. There is a little slit in the shape of a zig zag between the buttons which allows you to press the button down. But like I said, the build is sturdy enough and it won’t feel like you’re going to break it. It basically feels like the buttons on a razr. Not very complicated but it’s unique none the less.

To the right of the media buttons are the volume slider. Which as I mention are touch sensitive. Although it’s not very sensitive. I had to really push it down to use it. And it’s also weird because the only indication of your changes are at the end in the + and - signs. So although the touch is a slider, sometimes it feels like it’s not working. And you have to slide it pretty slow to make sure it captures your movements.

The keyboard feels pretty comfortable. It doesn’t feel cramped at all. Not as good as a real keyboard but it should be fine.  Like every laptop keyboard it has an array of “fn” buttons. they’re all pretty useful such as a shortcut to turn off some of the led lighting on the laptop (no, the keyboard does not have a led backlight, but the power, wireless, caps lock, activity indicators and etc. does),  one to turn of wireless (although there’s also a physical slider on the side of the laptop), a sleep button and another button which I haven’t figured out what it does. There is also a bluetooth button, which does nothing apparently. There is also a button to switch the laptops brightness from 2 setting (bright and dark) and another array of media button along with the usual brightness, volume and etc. controller.

The touchpad is your basic one with 2 buttons, a “Y axis” scroller and optionally a fingerprint reader which I do not have. And it works like any other touchpad as well.

For connectivity you have an Ethernet port, 2 usb port, a 5 in 1 memory card reader, an ExpressCard slot and a wireless slider on the left. On the right you have another usb port and a DVD RW with Label Flash (an alternative to light scribe). On the back you have a vga port, a modem port, and a Kensington lock slot. On the front you have a headphone, microphone jack and 2 indicator lights. One which indicates whether the laptop is on or not, which also pulsates when it’s in sleep mode. The other which indicates whether the computer is charged or not. Which also turns pink when it is charging. So depending on your preference, this may rock or not.

Did I mention there is a 1.3 Megapixel camera on the screen?  The only other thing on the screen are a blue light that indicated whether the camera is active or not and a pinhole microphone.

On the technical end, the laptop seems nice and sturdy with no cheap feeling in it. All the button seems nice and sturdy and it doesn’t wiggle. Thumbs up for their construction.

The Cons

So far I haven’t found anything really faulty yet. The only really weird thing I notice is that when I unplugged the AC adapter there was a tiny but unusual sound coming out. It’s not really noticeable unless you’re in a pretty quiet enviroment. But it turns out it came from the fan. So I’m guessing it’s the fan working harder to keep the batter from overheating and burning your lap. Or even worse, blowing up!

The other thing I didn’t like was the ExpressCard and memory card reader slot cover. Both of them are completely detached from the laptop which means you can lose it easily. And it was a pretty tight fit which means it’s not very easy to put back in. On the other hand this will make sure it doesn’t fall out or let dirt get in. Of course, it’s not a deal breaker or anything. So if you’re clumsy, you might want to be careful.

The Conclusion

The Gateway M-6827 Notebook is a good overall notebook which I would reccomend. I give it an 8/10. You could see more pictures at my flickr set

Did you buy this laptop? What do you think.

Like every aspiring designer (read “wannabe”) one must have a business card to hand out. So a couple of weeks ago, I decided to get some of my business card design printed. Self print that is. I wanted to try and see the outcome myself before I go out and bought a whole bundle of professionally printed one. Not the best choice, but I think the print quality itself isn’t that bad. Although one of my set of cards are turning yellow for some reason (used to be gray). Not that big of a deal, but I’ve never seen anything like that happen before, so it was interesting. Well as interesting as a business card can get

So I decided to print 4 kinds. One with a big type, a blank one with the logo in the background, a ruler one, and one with a bunch of random but useful information (conversion etc.). My personal favorite is the latter two. Although I’m probably not the first to think of either one. I’m also proud of titling the random info one “Everything you ever need” followed by my name and information. Get it? *laughs obnoxiously*. Check it out at the bottom of the post.

OK, I know that was lame but it is pretty hard to come up with something original in this business card filled world. Below are some useful links that I used to design my business card.

• Best Practices in Business Card Design
• 24 Creative Business Card Designs
• Cool Business Card Designs
• 6 Creative Business Cards
• Top 20 Buisness Card Designs
• And of course, the way to hand out a business card.

[update] More link via malenehald

• 18 Smokin’ Hot Business Card Designs
• Inspiration : Creative Business Cards
• 36 Beautiful Business Card designs
• 36 Cool Business Cards You Should’ve Seen
• More Cool Business Cards
• Yet Another Post With Unique Business Cards
• Coolest Business Cards
• Cool Business Cards
• 70 Amazing Business Cards
• Flickr Set

[update 3] Some more from commenters

• Business Card Design
• Creative business cards

For more pics check out my business card design flickr set.

I would like to share with you my latest work that you are free to download. I dubbed it PureFront because it runs off PureEdit and FrameFront. This is my first time running on either platform as they are still fresh of the oven. And no this is not another CMS, it’s just a theme/website template. In case you didn’t know, PureEdit is basically a back end CMS solution that doesn’t touch the front end at all. While FrameFront only touches the front end and doesn’t touch the back. This makes them a powerful combination. Michael Dick is behind this awesome creation. I suggest you check it out. The great thing about PureEdit is that it is really flexible and customizable. You can create your own plugin, add fields, create a theme for the CMS, write a translation, and even rework the whole thing to your liking. In his own word:

Framefront. The most simplistic front-end framework you’ll ever meet.

PureEdit is the first CMS that dramatically simplifies the back-end development of your website while giving you full control of the front-end design and programming. By allowing such uncommon flexibility, PureEdit empowers you to design web sites from the ground up, without forcing you to follow the narrow template rules you’ll find elsewhere.

Why?

So why PureFront? Well for one the PureEdit community asked for a sample of PureEdit and FrameFront working together. So I decided to pitch in to the project and help out. It also kept me busy for a while. You also get a “fixed” Help Center which had a bug in the release I downloaded and you also get a new field during the install asking for the site’s description to call later and for a better SEO.

To install all you have to do is install PureEdit normally then import the mySQL database supplied (pure.sql) using phpMyAdmin. Then you should have it nice and running.

Screen shot

Disclaimer

Note that this is an as-is product. I’m sorry if it doesn’t work for you. You can try to ask for help at the PureEdit community or here. I’ll try my best to reply if you have any question. But I make not guarantees You may use it publically and even for small commercial project. As long as you give credit where it’s due. By that I mean the footer intact or at least a linkback here.

Update

Also this was built on PE 1.4. Which seems to turn outdated yesterday. Although there is no major changes. And you should still be able to use the theme anyway (I haven’t personally tested). Just copy and paste the “FrameFront” folder and “index.php” to the new PE.

You also probably need to add:

<?php
// Site Settings.
$settings['site'] = array
(
“title” => “(Site Title)“,
“url” => “(Site URL)“,
“desc” => “(Site Description)“
);

to “pe-admin/library/settings.lib.php” and

<?php
// Define settings.
define("SITE_TITLE", $settings['site']['title']);
define(”SITE_URL”, $settings['site']['url']);
define(”SITE_DESC”, $settings['site']['desc']);

to “pe-admin/library/definitions.lib.php” to get the “site description” which you call by using “SITE_DESC“.

Hope you enjoy!

Download

So yesterday I turned 15. My life hasn’t been all that bad so far. I’ve learned many things along the way. So today, I would like to share with you what I’ve learned in my short life so far. And since I am a high school student, my goal is to fit in. In other words, be cool. So alternately I could’ve titled this, “How to be cool”. Just kidding. But I hope you can take away something from this. So here we go.

1. Everything is as cool as you act it is.

I believe that if you are doing something with you full mindset, or at least like you know what you’re doing, it will be cool or at least accepted. In other words don’t let other people tell you that what you’re doing is weird and not cool. I mean after all, how many 15 year old do you know have a blog like this?

2. Coolness is not being cool, but making others feel cool.

Acting cool will not make you cool among your peers, only to yourself. In fact, most of the time it will make you look like a douche bag. But if you make other feel cool, to them you will be cool. And in return they’ll help you when you need it because everyone wants to help the cool guy.

3. Always think low about your unseen result.

This is probably one of my best philosophy. This way even if you fail, you won’t feel bad because you saw it coming. On the other hand, if you succeed, your happiness in succeeding will multiply several times. And plus if you do fail, you won’t have to eat your words. That’s always a plus. But think “low” moderately. Low enough that you’ll work harder, but not to low that it will bring you down.

4. Always think high of yourself and believe that you are not vulnerable to anything.

Most of the time we don’t do things because we are afraid of repercussion. Whether it be “what if I’m going to miss this shot” or “I am not good enough for ____”. So the way I see it, if you’re invulnerable, you can take more chances which leads to more opportunity. And remember most regrets are from things you didn’t do. Few are because you did things.

5. Always have a retort/statement ready for common question or insult.

One of the things I find useful is to have a comeback or a remark handy. No not like “that’s what she said” or “your mom”. But it’s basically the same principle. Not only will it make you seem witty and cool, you’ll look smart. This is also useful if the person is trying to make you look bad or insult you.

For example: A pants B and makes fun of B. The smart thing for B to do is not try to pants him back but instead say something along the lines of “Woah! I didn’t know you like to check out a man’s boxer!”. With this remark B has safely safed him self from further aggregation and embarasements.

Here’s some of mine

A ask B what kind of a job he has. Sadly B has an uninteresting job. B should remark “Well I work at _______. I know that sounds boring but at night i turn into _______ (insert a ridiculous super hero name).

A tells B how much of a loser he is because he doesn’t watch a certain sport. B replies “Well I’m sorry but I don’t like to watch sweaty man run around and touch each other too much”.

A tells B to go F— himself. B replies “Well I would but then ______ (name a person related to A) would feel lonely”.

And rememeber use everything moderately. Do you have any philosophy you would like to share?

Ladies and gentleman presenting Slimmy++ (formerly known as DIY: slimmy 2) a DIY wallet inspired by the awesome Slimmy Wallet. If you read my last DIY Slimmy Wallet post you probably noticed that the last one was vers. 1.5. Well that one was suppose to be vers. 2. The reason it was 1.5 was that there was a few cutting errors which resulted in a lower than satisfaction result. For this tutorial, I’ve made another one just for you guys so you can see what it’s suppose to look like. If that didn’t make sense at all, don’t worry about it and just read on.

So the reason this is called Slimmy++ was so I don’t have to write “diy slimmy” anymore and because I’ve added my own “improvements” to it. I’ve taken the liberty of adding a quick pocket outside for your ID card and 2 pockets with a cover on top (for coins from change, receipts, and what not). But the wallet still follows the Slimmy principle of being a slim and “front pocketable” wallet.  I still recommend not using coins and keeping to many things in your wallet to keep it from bloating, but sometimes it is inevitable. As for the name it is a play on C++ and Notepad++ and the fact that it isn’t really a slimmy anymore although it serves the same purpose.

Also, keep in mind this is only a blue print. You should take it as far as you can go. Try using other stronger materials such as tyvex, duct tape, or other materials. Modify it as much as you want, I would be happy to see your creation. Post a link in the comments if you give it a crack. So enough talk, and lets get down to it.

What you need

• Scissors
• 2 sheets of paper or material
• tape/glue/stapler
• hand eye coordination
• Folding skills

Once you’ve got the required material, you can download the shell (L shaped piece) (svg/png) and the divider piece (long panoramic piece) (svg/png). In the pictures you will see, the shell is in purple and the divider will be in yellow.  Once it’s been printed you can go ahead and cut out all the pieces. Cut around all the edges and then cut along the red lines on both piece.

Once you’ve got both pieces you can watch the video below on how to construct them together. Or if you’re the reading type, I’ll try my best to explain it below the video.

So what you want to do first is start with the shell piece and fold all the flaps. Then fold the right panel to the left and fold the bottom panel to the top one. So that’s basically going to be the outer part of the Slimmy.

Now to make the divider inside connect the 2 pieces of the divider piece side by side so you crea one really long panoramic piece. Make sure that the flaps are on top on both. Then do an accordion fold (the thing that looks like a zig zag from the side of the paper) along the lines of each panel with the first fold going up ( \/\/\/ is how it should look like from the side). Then fold the flaps down toward the center (width wise) so that it covers the “pocket” (On the left flap fold it on the right, and on the right fold it to the left).

Now that you have both pieces, slide the most left panel of the divider piece into the left panel of the shell piece. Fold the flaps of the shell piece on top of it. You may choose to leave it like that or secure it with tape, glue, or stapler depending on your preference (I recommend securing it ). Then fold the right panel of the divider piece on top of the folded accordion of the divider piece. Then fold the bottom panel of the shell piece up. Do the same thing and fold the flap so that it covers both the back of last panel of the divider piece and the right piece of the shell.

There you go, your Slimmy++. Remember if you don’t understand a step, you can refer to the video above. Happy wallet making Thanks.

If you still remember, a while ago I wrote about my DIY: Duct tape Slimmy wallet. Looking back, I’m pretty impressed with how it turned out. But over the course of it last time, it sure did die out. Mostly because the lints from my pants began sticking to the duct tape. So after many patches and rips, I’ve decided to make another one. But as you can see, this time I’ve decided on going through the faux leather route instead of duct tape. It may not be as Geeky, but I’m sure it won’t have as much lint sticking to it.

Luckily, this time I remembered to take pictures along the way. Hopefully I can write up a short tutorial on it soon. I’ve made some design changes and anded to the basic slimmy, but overall it’s still the same concept. For now you can enjoy pictures at my flickr pool

Teaser after the break

Also as you can see I’ve taken the liberty of adding another small pocket in the front for a quick id card holder. That’s all for now

Unlike your usual bunch of USB watches, Timex Ironman USB Data Link System is not a usb storage on a watch (it only has 31424 bytes of memory). Instead, it is a prime example of geekery (Binary time anyone?). In fact it is advertised as “the watch that thinks it is a PDA”. And unlike other smart watches (notably Casio’s databank), it is not completely ugly and looks relatively normal. The watches even have a dress, sport, and normal version. The ~$70 watch allows you to install apps from your computer via USB. But of course, Almost like everything I buy, it was on sale. It was a steal at $20 from Walmart.

The Hardware

The watch is controlled is mainly controlled by a crown that you can spin (scroll), pull out (edit), and push in (light). It is accompanied by a large start/split button, a mode button and a stop/reset button. The button arrangement is different than your usual watch so it might take a day or 2 to get use to (ex. other watches I have combines the start and stop button instead of the start and split combination). Although after using the watch, I realized that the button arrangement on the Ironman makes much more sense.

The watch uses a proprietary USB connector to connect to the computer. Probably to give it a good water resistant number (100 meters). If you are skeptical, let me tell you first hand that it IS water resistant. I’ve swam with it a few times already. I’ve even heard that some people wears it while having a light scuba diving session. Although if it’s not necessary to wear I wouldn’t risk it. The Connector itself is pretty sturdy and doesn’t seem like it’s going to break. Although it is quiet big. It connects to the bulge on the left side of the watch using a 4 big pins (presumably corresponding to the USB’s 4 transistors).

Although not really a feature the back of the watch has a shiny stainless steel back. It impressed me to see it because I’ve never seen one on  a non-suit watch. And plus, if you are narcissistic you can use it as a mirror. Or if you really need to, you probably can use it as a reflector.

There is also a simple but effective locking “mechanism” in the band so that the watch is more secure. It is a pretty smart design trick and more watches should use it. Presuming it isn’t patented.

The Apps

You can freely develop the apps (known as wrist apps) for the watch or download them from several sources. Apps ranges from games such as Black Jack, Space Invaders, Tetris and Pong, utilities such as counters, metronome, contacts, scheduler and appointment to geekeries such as a scientific calculator. There are even apps that replaces the watch’s time “Time of Day” app. Beside the downloadable apps, there are the usual ones such as countdown (the lowest it could go is 1 minute though), stopwatch with memories, multiple alarms, time zones, and indigo auto-light (known as night mode). Some of the watch’s apps even synchronizes with Microsoft outlook. It’s worth noting that there aren’t much apps out there. But there are a bunch of useful and interesting ones.

The watch also allocates how much memory a certain app can use. For example you could allocate more room so you can add more appointments, alarms and more memories for the stopwatch. Ex. from 200 laps memories to 250 laps. So this is probably one of the most customizable watch yet.

You can also add entries to contacts and appointments etc. on the fly so you don’t always need a computer with you. Although it is probably easier to add stuff on the computer because spinning the crown isn’t always the most practical way to type.

The watch also comes with a personal tracker that probably uses the watch lap memories. I’m not sure because I don’t use it. Although from what I’ve seen, it is not the greatest thing. And no, I don’t use it not because I’m a couch potato.

My Favorite Wrist Apps

The UI of the “Time of Day” screen is not the greatest looking one. It doesn’t even use the whole available screen. If you’re going to buy or if you have this watch I suggest you get the “My Watch” wrist app. The app allows you to use a bigger and custom font (not font files such as .TTF). The fonts are drawn inside the application. But don’t worry, you can download the special fonts if you’re lazy). The app looks multiple times better than the factory one. The bad thing about this app is that it can’t replace the watch’s Time of Day screen. So you will have to switch to it manually (but it won’t revert so it’s not a big deal).

Probably one of the most useful ones beside the My Watch app is the “SciCalc” apps. It does what the name says, give u a scientific calculator on your watch. Of course it won’t replace a real one, but it is mighty useful if you need to calculate something and don’t have a calculator around. It is also useful in your daily life application because it has a tip calculator, and converters.

Not all the apps are serious though. There are a few good games. Some fine examples are like I said earlier, Tetris, Paddle (Pong), Black Jack, and invaders. The Tetris is a bit different that your normal Tetris because of the layout of the screen. But not to undermine anything, it is a fully working and fun game to play. Although the block does fall sideway so you probably have to take of your watch. But probably the best game to play on it is Paddle. It is simple to start and control. The goal is to get to 5 before the computer. But don’t take that lightly. It is a hard game to beat. The AI is pretty smart.

The Achilles Heel

Unlike other watches which are advertised as being able to run on a battery for 10 years, this watch’s Achilles heel is probably its battery life. It’s rated between 1-2 years. So if you don’t like changing watches so much this watch is not for you. Also note that a lot of watches are ruined because they didn’t change the battery properly. So you might want to be careful when changing the watch’s battery. The watch uses CR-2025 which are not the cheapest battery ever. It goes for about ~$1. Of course, your mileage may vary.

Verdict

Timex Ironman USB Data Link System, I dub thee a geek’s watch. If you have some money to spare and like customizing things, I recommend this watch for you. Especially if you use Outlook to keep track of things. Even if you’re not in the technical know how, this watch is simple to use and easy to customize. Although if you’re the lazy guy, i wouldn’t buy this watch. Although it doesn’t take much effort to add stuff into the watch, the watch itself is probably not worth it if you’re not going to customize it. But overall this is a good buy whether you are a geek, a businessman, or an athlete.

Links for Wrist Apps

• MyWatch
• SciCalc, Calendar
• Wristapp Database and Help
• Simple SoundSet (To change tones)
• More pictures