GPS and the iPad 3G

I'm taking a trip to Kalibo, Aklan soon and I was thinking of borrowing a handheld GPS device for some task. I was about to post the request online when I remembered that the iPad had some location capability. So after some google searches, I ended up surprised at what this device can do. It does have GPS and A-GPS. Note: GPS is only available on models with 3G/4G chips.

After enabling most of the Location Settings and downloading the "WhereAmIAt?" app, I think I'm ready to track GPS coordinates.

(Numbers and street names intentionally mosaic'ed for my safety :P

With the default Maps App, the accelerometers and such show what direction I'm facing:

Problematic Yahoo Pingbox [Solved]

A friend of mine was having problems with her Yahoo! Messenger Pingbox since it's Flash(swf) file only loads if the user has visited other yahoo! sites. Yahoo! failed on this one by requiring a cookie that is not guaranteed to be there.

Looking around the interwebz, I found a couple of suggestions, but the best one only worked after loading the page again. This solution requires jQuery to be included. Using some jQuery fu, I cooked up some code to:

1. Load yahoo! terms page in an iFrame. This will load the cookie that pingbox requires.
2. After that page completes, writes the Pingbox code.

<script type="text/javascript">
   $(document.body).append('<iframe id="myId" style="visiblity:hidden;display:none;" src="http://info.yahoo.com/legal/us/yahoo/"></iframe>');
   $('iframe#myId').load(function(){
      $('#pingboxhere').append('<object data="http://wgweb.msg.yahoo.com/badge/Pingbox.swf" height="420" id="ZZZZZZZ" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="240"><param name="movie" value="http://wgweb.msg.yahoo.com/badge/Pingbox.swf" /><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always" /><param name="flashvars" value="YYYYYYY" /></object>');
   });
</script>
<div id="pingboxhere"></div>

I'm not sure if this solution is the best practice, but it works for me. Any thoughts?

Best Combo Jutsu... Evar

Neji + Rock Lee = Jet Lee!

AVG Free Mishap

I've been using and recommending AVG for a few years now, but after it updated today (2012-05-16), I'm not so sure anymore. I rebooted since avg requested it, but after working for an hour my system felt really sluggish. My browsers (FF3 and Chrome) had "AVG Do not track" sneakily installed and avgidsagent.exe was eating up 800MB of RAM!

I uninstalled the browser plugins and disabled AVG identity protection. Bad AVG! Bad!

The Two TeraByte Test

Having noticed that a good chunk of my time is spent on managing files(downloads) across 4 hard disks, I opted to canvas/look for a reasonably priced 2TB HD. I was eyeing this WD 2TB from PCX but its price went up from 5300php to 5620php, and it wasn't available in sm north. After looking around I spotted that model in another shop for 6k (neg 5800). In another shop, I chanced upon this 2TB HP SimpleSave for 5,500php. I pondered a bit, and decided to go with the HP. Weird thing is, looking at the support website, it's hpsupport.wdc.com ... so it's essentially a WD too.
I've had bad experiences with HP/Compaq as Laptops, but I do recall that a Hard Disk from that is still running quite well. I'll torture this 2TB as much as I can and report here my findings.

Initial Impressions:

• USB 3.0 but is backward compatible to USB 2.0
• Relatively Fast: RapidCRC speed of 38.28MB/s
  vs Combi (Seagate 7200rpm 80GB:CDRking 3.5" USB2.0 enclosure) 26.33MB/s
  vs Seagate 7200rpm internal SATA 48.38MB/s
  
• Upright, with Blue Blinky Light thingy
• Not too hot (temp)
• Separate power source/adapter with long cord.
• USB 3.0 cable, half meter-ish.
  

Wednesday The 11th

As much as I like to practice Constant Vigilance, booboos always happen when you let your guard down. Ok, so I lost my phone and sim(circa 2k-ish).

I was feeling down about it and dreading having to inform everyone of my new number. But thanks to the tips of facebook friends and the blog entry here, I was optimistic that I can get my old Prepaid number back.

So here's the breakdown:
100 - Affidavit of loss
40 - micro sim (regular sim was unavailable)

After acquiring my affidavit of loss (the place didn't seem too reliable though), I went to the Globe Center at SM North Edsa Annex and lined up for 15minutes. I explained the situation, filled up a form, gave the AoL and 40php. After a few minutes, I got my new sim with my old number.

In less than 2hrs, the sim was active and my previous load was intact. Thanks Globe!

Black Friday

Mental Note: US Based Businesses go loco on Black Fridays. "Falls on the Friday after the fourth Thursday in November". Insane prices on hosting, domain names, products, etc. I should have waited to renew/buy stuff :(
Mark your calendars Nov 25, 2011 (Nov26 Manila).

Verify my ... Foot

I'm finding it irksome that my online purchases paid via paypal requires me to send an image of my passport.

It's even done after they've already received the amount. WTH?!