Crunchy

Get your jeans from Amazon.com!

2009-11-09T20:32:00.000+08:00

Amazon.com just launched 'Denim Shop' which offer jeans from various brands like Levis, Quicksilver, Lee and many more. Personally, I have not purchased any clothing online before. But if it's the same brand and product, I may just place an order for my favourite jeans.

With Amazon's current promotion, you can return (shipping paid by Amazon) and get a full refund. Good news is U.S delivery addresses qualifies for free shipping. Orders outside U.S does not get free shipping. Too bad I'm not in the U.S or I'd place my orders this minute!

Checkout Amazon's Denim Shop here.

CoolerMaster 390 watt Power Supply

2009-11-02T00:22:00.000+08:00

Just bought this CoolerMaster 390 watt power supply to replace an iCute 450 watt power supply which lasted 7 years!

This new power supply is for my AMD Sempron system with a DVD-ROM, LAN card, Sound Blaster Live sound card and AGP graphics card. Anything more than 390 watt for this setup is overkill.

How much power is enough?

I use this online power supply calculator to estimate and get a general idea how much power I need for a system.

Here are some photos of the CoolerMaster Extreme Power Plus 390 watt.

Some Papercraft Fun

2009-10-23T00:19:00.000+08:00

My five year old son spends a lot of time with his huge collection of little die-cast car models when he's at home. Instead of asking him not to play with them, he'll be making paper models with my help! The paper models can and hopefully introduce better roleplay, let him learn and recognize words.

So, I went ahead and downloaded some paper models designed by Hiroji Chiba. Took out the colors and printed only the outlines on the models, so my son could color them. Models are scaled down to match the size of his die-cast cars. In this case it was 1:78 scale.

Here's his first proper model of a hospital. His other model which is a fire station got destroyed because his little sister took on a role as godzilla and squashed it flat!

Download Youtube Videos with Jdownloader

2009-10-22T22:20:00.001+08:00

To save Youtube videos with Jdownloader, you'll need to install Flashgot ( which is an add-on for Firefox ) and Firefox browser( if you don't have it ).

You can install Flashgot in a click by going to Jdownloader, 'Settings>Extensions>Flashgot for Firefox.' Then press the Install button. Firefox will need to restart after this.

Once you have Flashgot installed. Goto any Youtube video page. When the video starts loading, you will see a 'film strip' like icon at the bottom right of Firefox browser. Click on it and Jdownloader will start the video download.

Watermarking multiple Photos with Fast Stone Image Viewer

2009-10-21T01:50:00.001+08:00

Before we start, download and install Fast Stone Image Viewer if you don't have it yet.

I recommend Fast Stone Image Viewer for watermarking your photos and images because it has all the features that Irfanview and Xnview( both are also free image viewers ) is lacking. Here's how u watermark images with Fast Stone.

From the menu goto 'Tools' choose 'Open Batch Convert/Rename Dialog' or press F3 which opens up the same window. Highlight and choose the photos you want and press 'Add'. Or you could press the 'Add All' button to include all photos in the folder. Next click on 'Advanced Options'.

Choosing between text overlay or watermark image

At the 'Advanced Options' window, you can choose a simple text overlay as your watermark or an image as your watermark. After you're done with the settings, click OK.

At the 'Batch Image Convert/Rename' window, click the 'Convert' button near the bottom and all your photos will be watermarked.

Install only FastStone Photo Resizer

If you have other viewer already installed, and you just want the watermarking functionality just download FastStone Photo Resizer without the Image Viewer.

Best Free Download Manager for Rapidshare

2009-10-19T19:32:00.054+08:00

Jdownloader is probably the best free download manager for Rapidshare and many other file hosters like Megaupload, Hotfile, Mediafire. Although program startup is much slower than most download managers, it's functionality, good support and useful frequent updates makes it worthwhile.

Jdownloader is written in the Java programming language, so you'll need Java Runtime Environment installed on your operating system. Download and install the latest JRE ( Java Runtime Environment) here.

Choosing specific Rapidshare servers

Some servers may actually offer better download speed consistently for some of us. Jdownloader let's you set those specific servers and here's how.

Goto 'Settings', scroll down to 'Plugins & Add-ons'. Then click on 'Host'. Look at the right window and find rapidshare.com on the list. Click and highlight it, then press the 'Settings' button near the bottom.

Untick 'Use preselection'. Choose the mirror servers from the drop down menu. In my example, I have chosen Globalcrossing server 1 and 2, and Teleglobe.

(Click for a bigger image.)

Disable auto unpack of RAR files

One thing I didn't like is the auto unpacking of rar files which is installed as a default. Here's how you disable JD unrar.

Goto 'Settings', scroll down to 'Extensions'. On the right window, untick 'JD unrar' and restart Jdownloader.

(Click for a bigger image.)

As for saving streaming videos from websites like Youtube, follow my instructions here.

Blogger image placement jumping to the top of page?

2009-10-15T01:57:00.001+08:00

Ever had that annoying problem where the photo you added goes up to the top in Blogger.com's post editor? Posting and placing a photo from where you left off is impossible. Solution to this problem is switching to Blogger's new post editor. Goto Settings>Basic . Scroll down and select Updated editor ( at the 'Select post editor' section ). When you're done, press Save Settings.

Managing photos in blogger new posting editor

Best feature is the improved photo management. The photos no longer jump to the top when adding them. Another nifty feature is the inclusion of a little menu under a photo whenever you select one. This little menu let's you align the photo to the left, right or center, and dragging the photo onto a paragraph of text will float it to the left or right. The menu also let you choose between small, medium or large size ( original size ) in a click.

A window pops up when you upload photos. It displays thumbnail view of photos as you upload more. Very nice feature.

Old vs New post editor visually

There are many other new features implemented with the new post editor. Head over to Blogger's overview of the new post editor.

Adding Customized Placemark icon on Google Maps

2009-10-10T21:29:00.009+08:00

Ok, so you've got a Map saved in 'My Maps' on Google Maps and you want to share some interesting places you visited last holiday. You probably want to categorize them and put a different placemark icon(other than the standard blue icon) for each category, for example restaurant or shopping.

There are two ways for the placemark icon customization. One, you could use the available designs provided by Google Maps. Or you could show off your artsy skills, design and customize the placemarks yourself.

Method One : Using icon designs provided by Google

1. Click on 'My Maps' at near the top left of the page.

2. Next click on 'Create new map'

3. Now look at the top left of the map. There are 3 icons. Click on the balloon-like icon to start placing your marker. Then click anywhere on the map to place the marker.

4. A white 'conversation cloud' pops up where you can fill in title and description. Click on the ballon-like icon at the top right. Choose any default icons there by clicking on it.

5. You should see the new icon at the top right.

(Click for a bigger image)

Method Two : Using your own design or custom placemark icon

1. At the 'conversation cloud' popup, click on the ballon-like icon to start placing your marker.
2. Then click on 'Add an icon'.
3. At the window popup, fill in the address of the image/icon you uploaded elsewhere. Google Maps do not save your customized placemarks icon on their servers. There are a lot of free image hosting sites where you could upload your icon to, for example, Picasa Web, Photobucket, Imageshack, Flickr and many more. Your placemark will disappear from your maps when the customized placemark icon is deleted from your chosen free image hosting site.

(Click for a bigger image)

MV Doulos visits Kota Kinabalu

2009-09-01T05:15:00.013+08:00

Last Sunday was a memorable one for me, my wife and my son because we were aboard the world's oldest active ocean-going passenger ship, MV Doulos! As we approach the ship along the wharf, it doesn't look like it's a ship built in 1914. MV Doulos has done re-modelling and upgrades over the years, that's probably why.

Doulos was purchased in 1977 by GBA Ships (known as Good Books for All) a non-profit, charitable organisation registered in Germany and the organization behind this idea is the international Christian NGO 'Operation Mobilisation'. All crew members of the ship are volunteers with no salary.

Only the 'boat' deck is opened to public and that's where the bookshop is. There are loads of books especially children's books and family related ones. All books and medias are priced by units, and 50 units is equivalent to RM4(Ringgit Malaysia). The wife bought a deluxe box gift set by Disney for the kids. The box includes 4 books, a music player and movie projector all for 500 units. Not bad at all. On board the ship, ice-cream and cold drinks are also available to complement the hot and sunny afternoon.

This may possibly be MV Doulos last and sixth visit to Kota Kinabalu, as it could be de-commissioned in 2014 and sail under certain restrictions after 2010 due to some regulations set by International Maritime Organization. So, if you're in Kota Kinabalu now, don't miss this chance. Those who are in West Malaysia, MV Doulos will be arriving at Pasir Gudang on 2009-9-24, which is her next port visit.

MV Doulos visit to Kota Kinabalu

Arrival: 2009-8-29
Departure: 2009-9-21
Opening: 2009-8-30
Closing: 2009-9-30
Opening hours: 10.00am to 10.00pm (Tuesday - Saturday); 2.00pm to 10.00pm (Sunday and Monday)
Entrance Fee: FOC

I was given a postcard-like souvenier just before I got off the ship. I'm impressed and inspired by the ship's history and most importantly the purpose of Doulos that is to bring knowledge, help and hope to communities around the world. Bon Voyage MV Doulos and all it's crew members.

Here are some photos I took while onboard the ship ( click on the photos for a larger version ).

Bow of MV Doulos

Getting on board the MV Doulos.

Ship registered in Valletta, Malta. Taken on the starboard of MV Doulos.

GBA is short for 'Good Books for All'.

General information : The engine room.

Satellite dome.

View of the beautiful Mount Kinabalu from the 'port' side of MV Doulos.

The bridge with a plane in the background that just took off from Kota Kinabalu international airport.

MV Doulos technical data.

Night view of MV Doulos.

Related links.

MV Doulos official website : www.mvdoulos.org
OM Ships : www.omships.org

First safe H1N1 vaccine

2009-08-19T16:23:00.003+08:00

A Chinese firm produced an effective and safe H1N1 vaccine it seems, and that's really good news for all of us. Not so good news is it may take months before it becomes widely available and produced. At least that's something to look forward to after a period of stress, worry, paranoia and fear about H1N1.

Source: Malaysian Insider

Mitsubishi DVD+R 16x

2009-08-11T02:45:00.004+08:00

Bought this box of Mitsubishi DVD-Rs from some guy off the internet about three months ago. Let's see if my friend's recommendation is a good one :D.

Here's some information about PIE and PIF readings.

The main criteria used to assess the quality of a DVD burn here are the total count of ‘Parity Inner Errors’ (PIE) and Parity Inner Failures (PIF) that the drive reports as errors as it reads the imperfections distributed across the disc surface. Whilst these are by no means the only factors which determine a good quality burn, they are useful surrogate markers which can be straightforwardly obtained by home users. As with all surrogate markers (for example, blood pressure as an indicator of general human health), their usefulness is limited, but we believe that there is a proportional and reliable relationship between the number of PIE and PIF counts and the general ‘health’ of a recorded DVD. Therefore, for completeness you should be advised that Disc Quality Scanning which reports PIE/PIF on a burned media is neither an exhaustive nor completely objective measurement but will show us an important part of the full picture.
Source: cdfreaks.com

The lower PIE and PIF reading the better. According to cdfreaks.com what determines a good disc is, PIE reading should not exceed 280 and PIF not more than 4.

A good quality disc means it can last longer. Well, at least until the next affordable tech emerges.

I tested 18 Mitsubishi DVD-Rs ranging between one to three months old discs. All discs are burned using LG's GH22NS30 firmware version 1.01, and scanned/tested with Lite-On DH20A4P firmware version 9P59. Software used to scan is Opti Drive Control ( which is also the maker of PlexTools and Nero CD-DVD Speed ). Not all drives are supported, so check their faq section here.

Disc information.

Test PIE and PIF.

Results for all the discs were more or less about the same. Those are good results and I am a happy customer.

D-Link 2542B - 4 Port Modem Router

2009-08-03T13:53:00.025+08:00

My old and trusty Aztech 4 port modem router (DSL1100R) gave up on me last week. It has served me for more than 5 years under harsh conditions. So, I had to get a new one as soon as possible because everyone in the house need their daily internet 'fix' including me.

Got a D-Link DSL-2542B 4 port modem router (wired) that's cheap with basic features. What's in the box? ADSL2/2+ Modem Router, power adapter, RJ-11 telephone cable, RJ-45 ethernet cable, quick install guide, installation CD and a splitter.

Getting the D-Link 2542B up and running is easy. Just pop in the installation CD and follow the steps in the wizard, and you will be connected to the internet in less than 10 minutes.

At first glance, it's much smaller than my Aztech router. The silver strip across the sides of the D-Link 2542B is replaced with black which is different from photos provided on the D-Link official site. Although it looks much better and smaller compared to my Aztech router, it runs much hotter. So a good ventilation for this little D-Link router is important.

Just like any other routers in the market, settings and configuration is web-based. That means you'll need a browser to configure and change the settings in the modem router. Logging in the router is done by typing 192.168.1.1 in your browser address bar. Then it will prompt you for a username and password. The default username and password is admin/admin.

The appearence of the router console may differ, for example the UK version looks slightly different.

Port forwarding

Port forwarding can be done by going to 'Virtual Servers' section of the router console. Goto Advanced Setup>NAT>Virtual Servers .

On a side note, it says 'MAC Filtering is only effective on ATM PVCs configured in Bridge mode'. So, if you can't find the MAC Filtering section don't be alarmed. There are no official firmware or drivers upgrade at the time of posting.

The equivalent model in the US is the DSL-2540B which has a higher upstream capability and a slightly different LED and ports layout. Take a look on Amazon.com .

*Update 28 October 2009.

I found a personal site offering a firmware update download. My advice is 'do not download from unknown sources', other than D-Link official website. So far I've found a firmware upgrade(dated 4th December 2008) on the UK D-Link official website.

Ikariam version 0.3.1 : Occupation, Garrison Right and Others

2009-05-11T17:04:00.018+08:00

Gameforge have rolled out and updated Ikariam.org to version 0.3.1 almost a week ago. I've listed some major changes like occupation and garrison rights and also some other minor changes.

Warfare will be more interesting with the occupation and garrison right addition. Let's take a look at the new features.

Garrison Right

If a player has a garrison right with another player's city, he can station his troops there and use the city as a bridgehead.
You can now deploy troops to your alliance members towns, which is an automatic garrison right.
Sender need to research Diplomacy and 11 diplomacy points. The host needs an embassy with 2 free diplomacy points to accept the 'garrison right'.
Where does the cargo/loot go when you pillage from the host's town? Easy, cargo will sail back to the host's town and then back to your town of origin where your troops came from ( or you can select which town the cargo will go from a drop down menu ).

Occupation

Players can occupy other cities now and thus use it as a bridgehead for other missions. The units however, will cost double the upkeep, like in other missions too. If you pillage from a bridge head, the occupied city will receive 10% of the looted goods. A player can only occupy as many cities as his palace has levels. However, occupied cities can also be used as a bridgehead for allies.

What the occupying player can do?

Can launch attacks from the occupied town.
Can station troops for unlimited time with double upkeep.
10% loot will go to the owner of the occupied town and 90% goes to occupier.
If the occupied town owner rebels and overthrow your occupation, and your army are out pillaging, what happens? Simple, your pillaged loot remain in the occupied town and army sent back to occupier's town of origin ( army will be scattered and takes about 4 hours to clear )
Can offer garrison rights to other people from the occupied town
Can still occupy if the occupied town has no barracks.

What the owner of the occupied town can do?

Sell and trade goods on the market
Will still get income ( gold ) normally
Continue building structures ( buildings )
Destroy or downgrade buildings
Can free town if army is strong enough
Building units and ships in the town will cost double
Demolishing the barracks won't stop the occupier's army ( occupation process )

Other minor changes

Timer in Tab - indicator: A countdown timer indicates how much time is left until the next building is finished in your current city
New island graphics: There are five different island shapes for the island view now, that also correspond with the world map
Island view revised: The harbour blockages, battles and occupying of cities is now also shown. This feature is visible for all players who have a city on the island or respectively have an an ally who owns a city on the island or have spies on the island.
Basic-storage capacity has been adjusted. It is 1500 (units) for all types of resources now.
A status notice informing that cultural has arrived when accepting cultural treaty.
Transporting cargo no longer takes you to the destination island view. You'll be taken back to the port of origin view.
Cultural treaty takes 3 days to cancel

Premium or Ambrosia related

Composition of approaching fleets: For 1 Ambrosia, a player can find out more information about the army/fleet line ups of attacking troops
Building list: Players with premium accounts can only put up to four building jobs on the list. These will then be built one after the other. Jobs in the building list can be cancelled at any time. The building costs will only be taken from your account when the building has begun.
The complete overview pages of the premium accounts have been revised. They contain more information, e.g. how long the wine supply in the city will last.

Update ( 13 May 2009 ): There will be a silent update/hotfix on the server anytime soon. One of the most important fixes is troops can no longer go through a sea battle. So, if your army is turned back, do not be alarmed.

For those who think you might put off attackers after that bug fix, you're in for a big surprise. Why? Even though you have a big fleet, people can occupy one of your island mates town to bypass your mighty fleet and stomp your mediocre troops. Occupation also favors the attacker treating it as another escape option. For example, you can blockade the attacker's mobile colony all day long but he/she can occupy another town on the same island to flee.

LG W1943S vs LG W1942T

2009-05-08T05:55:00.015+08:00

A friend wanted to get a 19 inch widescreen to replace his aging CRT monitor when he saw my LG W1942T widescreen monitor. Since the newer model LG W1943S is also a 19 inch widescreen, he was confused and clueless.

So what's the difference between these two monitors? Let's look at the specs.

LG W1943S and LG W1943T widescreen monitor specs.

	LG W1943S	LG W1942T
Panel	TN	TN
Resolution	1366 x 768	1440 x 900
Contrast Ratio	30000:1 DFC(Original 1000:1)	8000:1 DFC(Original 700:1)
Response Time	5ms	5ms
Viewing Angle	176˚/170˚(CR≥5)	170˚/170˚(CR≥5)
Connectors	D-Sub	D-Sub,DVI-D
Power Consumption	On (21W )	On (36W )
Photo

The newer model has better contrast ratio and therefore produces better image quality. Viewing angle is slightly better, more stylish design and power consumption is lower than the W1942T. So, what's good about the W1942T? More workspace and additional DVI-D connector.

From the comparison, we know that the LG W1943S is a 16:9 ratio screen and the LG W1942T is a 16:10 ratio screen.

Which to choose?

It all boils down to personal preference really. If you use the monitor mainly for work purpose then I'd say go for the W1942T because of the extra workspace. If you watch a lot of movies, then go for the W1943S.

On the LG official website, the 16:9 marketing pitch is quite misleading especially for someone who is a newbie. The black bars on a 16:10 monitor does not block part of a movie like that.

Forgo some workspace and get better image quality on the W1943S. Choose more workspace and get slightly lower image quality on the W1942T.

Acer V203H 20” LCD monitor

2009-05-03T01:48:00.015+08:00

Just got this budget Acer LCD monitor last week. It is connected to a PC which is mainly for watching movies on the TV and the occasional web browsing and word processing. I thought of getting a used CRT monitor for this purpose, but topping up a little more money for a budget LCD monitor is irresistible.

Acer V203H specs

Size: 20” Widescreen
Resolution: 1600x900 @ 60Hz
Pixel Pitch: 0.276x0.276
Brightness: 300cd/m2 ( Typical )
Contrast ratio: 10000:1 (ACM)
Viewing angle: 170 (H) 160 (V) (CR=5)
Response time: 5ms
Display colors: 16.7M colors
Horizontal Frequency: 30 – 80KHz
Vertical Frequency: 55 – 75KHz
Connectors: 15Pin D-Sub
Power Consumption: On 25.4W, Sleep Mode 0.52W , Stand-by/Suspend 0.42W
Button: 6 buttons
Dimension(W x H x D): 474.8 x 350.16 x 177mm
Weight: 4.197kg
Stand: Tilt
Panel type: TN

What's inside the box? Power cord, VGA cable, User guide CD, Quick start guide booklet, product warranty booklet, and the LCD itself. The box came with VGA cable only because the LCD has a D-Sub (Analog) input only.

The monitor works with windows default driver, but I went ahead and installed the driver provided by Acer. I find the ADM software that's bundled in the CD to be useless and loads quite a few programs at startup. I wouldn't recommend installing the ADM software. The OSD (on screen display) menu and Nvidia Control Panel ( or if you're using ATI graphics card, ATI Catalyst Control Center ) is sufficient to control the display on the monitor.

Acer don't have the driver for the V203H for download on their official website, I wonder why. Like I said before, the monitor works with windows default driver. But if you insist on getting it because you lost the CD that came with it, let me know. I'll see if I can upload the driver for you. The manual can be downloaded at Acer's official website.

Too bright?

If you still find it abit too bright for reading after adjusting through the OSD menu, try to lower the gamma level using Nvidia Control Panel( if you're using a Nvidia graphics card) or ATI Catalyst Control Center (if you're using a ATI graphics card ).

The text may be too sharp or crisp when looking at them. If you're on Windows XP/Vista you can download ClearType Tuner for free from Microsoft website. Clear Type Tuner improves readability on LCD displays, which is some sort of an anti-aliasing or font smoothing program.

On a side note, someone said the monitor is 1440x900 resolution on some forums which isn't true. It is surprising he/she didn't read the manual before complaining what's not working. The Acer V203H is a 16:9 ratio screen.

Below are some screenshots of the Acer V203H.

Can't play rmvb files with Media Classic Player?

2009-05-01T16:32:00.004+08:00

Everytime someone will post up on the forums saying that Media Classic Player bundled in K-Lite Codec Pack won't play rmvb ( real player ) files. Most of the time, people have downloaded and installed the wrong version.

If you want to play rmvb files, download K-Lite Mega Codec Pack which includes Real Alternative.

Alternatively, you can just download Real Alternative alone to work with your current version of K-Lite Codec Pack.

Goodluck!

Bigger fonts on Microsoft Windows

2009-05-01T03:32:00.006+08:00

Last week I assembled a new PC for my mother-in-law. Looked around for a budget monitor and finally bought a Acer 20” widescreen monitor. It was a drastic change for her because fonts were much smaller compared to her previous 17” CRT monitor on 1024x768 resolution.

Most widescreen monitors operates optimally at their native resolution. Changing the resolution on a widescreen is not as easy as switching from 1024x768 to 800x600 on a 4:3 ratio monitor. Certain graphics card or older ones may not support certain resolutions. When you try to change, somehow the screen will look stretched. Some monitors may have '4:3 ratio in wide' function but that is a waste of space.

So, how do you make the fonts bigger without changing the monitor's resolution?

It's easy and here's how you do it. This should work on Windows Xp and Vista. Right click on your desktop, goto properties. At the 'display properties' window, goto 'Settings' tab and click on the 'Advanced..' button.

Next, goto 'General' tab and adjust the DPI settings. You can simply choose 'Large Size(120 DPI)' from the drop down menu to increase the font size. Or you can choose to customize it if you find the text too big. It is advisable to restart windows for changes to take effect.

The effect can be seen on icon text, window status bar text, menus, My Computer, Windows Explorer, Microsoft Office applications and etc.

How to limit the number of posts on clicking a category or label

2009-05-01T01:24:00.006+08:00

Whenever you click on the label(or Category in my case) link on Blogger's default templates, it will display 20 posts. It may be a good idea to limit the number of post displayed if your posts are all lengthy and contains alot of images. Here's how you do it.

From your Blogger dashboard, goto Layout>Edit HTML. To see all codes tick 'Expand Widget Templates'.

Next, find the code data:label.url and replace it with data:label.url + "?max-results=n". Replace n with the number of posts you want to limit. For example, if you want the label link to display 6 posts at a time, the code should be data:label.url + "?max-results=6".

You may need to do this in two or more places depending on the template that you're using for your blog.

Transfer Posts to Another Blog on Blogspot

2009-03-23T01:41:00.002+08:00

Recently, someone I knew wanted to combine his two existing blogger blogs into one. He wants to transfer all posts from one to another without re-typing and adding all the posts manually.

Well, I think he's probably lucky because Blogger.com introduced this neat feature a few months ago. We can import and export our blogs now. Here's how you do it.

From your Blogger dashboard, goto Settings>Basic>Blog Tools. You can see three links here; Import Blog, Export Blog and Delete Blog link.

1. Go to your blog that you want to transfer. Export your blog by clicking the 'Export Blog' link. Blogger will let you save your blog in xml file format on your hard drive. Remember where you saved the file to.

2. Go to the existing blog that you want to keep and transfer all posts from the previous blog. Import the xml file you have saved earlier by clicking the 'Import Blog' link. If you do not want Blogger to automatically publish all the posts please untick the box. This can be really useful when you want to publish only the relevant ones from the previous blog.

3. Wait for a moment after hitting the import button ( wait longer if you have alot of posts to transfer ). I find it amusing Blogger doesn't re-direct to a proper page after importing. Just click on the Blogger logo at the top left and you will be back at the dashboard.

Internet Explorer 8 is officially released

2009-03-21T00:37:00.006+08:00

Microsoft have officially released Internet Explorer 8. To everyone who are using Internet Explorer 7 currently, should consider upgrading to Internet Explorer 8.

IE8 reminds me of another 'playing catch-up' with other browsers like Firefox, Opera and Safari. Most new IE8 features are somehow 'borrowed' from others and renamed. However, it is still a welcomed change especially to loyal Internet Explorer users.

Get Internet Explorer 8 at Micosoft official website.

Blogger comment feed stopped updating

2009-01-02T22:40:00.002+08:00

In the past few weeks, alot of blog owners complained that the Blogger Comment Feed is not updating. What was working for a long time, suddenly stopped updating. Some even claimed that it stopped working or update at the 5000th comment.

Blogger's developers are aware of the problem since more than a week ago, and there's no news on the fix yet. Must be the long holidays =) . Meanwhile be patient, I'm sure they will solve this problem soon.

Want to watch better quality YouTube videos?

2008-12-29T18:16:00.010+08:00

I found out that I could watch better quality YouTube videos by inserting some code at the browser address bar.

For example, if the address is
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-tw6jcfuD_k

Just add the code &fmt=18 at the end.

Now it should look like this
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-tw6jcfuD_k&fmt=18

Let's compare with this video clip of Charice Pempengco ( singing sensation from the Philippines )

Normal quality ( looks pixelated )

High quality ( less pixelation )

Another thing I've noticed is that it loads much faster than normal quality. So whenever you watch a video on YouTube.com paste the code at the end if there is no link to the higher quality version.

Another social widget, this time by Google

2008-12-10T02:54:00.009+08:00

Recently, Google just launched a social networking widget called Google Friend Connect for your blogs and websites. It's similar to MyBlogLog but with a lot less features.

With Google Friend Connect(GFC), you get to put the members gadget, wall gadget, review/rate gadget. Members gadget is where you could sign in and out of GFC, see members pictures and profiles, and invite people to join your site.

Wall gadget is similar to a 'shoutbox' where people can post comments and share stuff. As for review/rate gadget, you can put it anywhere on your page and let visitors put a star rating.

Good thing about GFC is you can sign in with your Google, Yahoo, AIM or OpenID account.

Since it's still in beta stage, we'll wait and see if nice features are implemented in the near future. For the time being, I think it's not worth the clutter. Let's see if Google can win me over and get me to dump MyBlogLog.

Can't find those images posted from Blogger.com?

2008-12-07T00:50:00.007+08:00

Ever wondered where all those photos and images you uploaded to Blogspot/Blogger.com end up? The answer Picasa Web Albums. I did mentioned something about this a few months ago here. So now, they have announced it officially on Picasa site. The developers must have been testing and ironing out problems during the past few months. Those people who have registered for Picasa Web Albums using the same email as their Blogger.com account, would know about it.

Whenever you upload photos from Blogger.com, the title of the album will match the title of the blog. The album title will not change, if you re-title your blog. Any deletion of photos on Picasa Web Albums will cause the same photos to be deleted from your blog.

Any photos you upload to Blogger.com or Picasa Web, will contribute towards the limit of 1 GB space provided. No more unlimited space for you photo posting freaks :p. The good news is they have increased the limit for an image file from 10MB to 20MB, but how many of us would upload such large images.

For more information, head to Picasa Web Albums. Make sure you register the same email account as your Blogger.com account.

How do you submit or make a sitemap for blogspot?

2008-12-05T15:49:00.004+08:00

For blogger.com users, we don't have the flexibility to upload files to the server. So basically, Blogspot users got to use their RSS or ATOM site feed as sitemap. How you do it?

Simple, just make sure you have registered for Google Webmaster Tools.

How to add site in Google Webmaster Tools

Skip this part if you have added and verified your site. Once you're logged in to Google Webmaster Tools, at the dashboard, type in your website address and click the 'Add Site' button.

Next, you need to verify the website. For blogger.com users, you can only choose 'Add a meta tag' method to verify. Next you need to copy that code to your Blogspot html layout. Open another tab/browser window, and login to your Blogger.com account.

At, your Blogger dashboard, goto Layout>Edit HTML. Then paste that verification code right after the <HEAD> tag. Proceed to save the template.

Go back to Google Webmaster Tools, and click on the verify button and you're done.

Adding a sitemap when you're using Blogspot's original feed

Goto the Sitemap link on Google Webmaster Tools. Type rss.xml or atom.xml in the empty text box right next to your Blog's address. Click 'Submit Sitemap' button and wait for about an hour for the sitemap status to appear.

Adding a sitemap when you're using Feedburner on Blogger

If you're using Feedburner as your site feed, you'll notice that the Sitemap returns an error if you use the original feed. That's because all site feeds is redirected to Feedburner. So, what you need to do is insert another code into the text box if you have Feedburner. Type this code 'feeds/posts/default?redirect=false' in the text box and press the 'Submit Sitemap' button. Wait for about an hour and you should get the sitemap status.