If you remember an older post here, I talked about this headlamp. Well, I found one for sale in the philippines. Well, at least it looks similar.
Friday, January 8, 2010
Thursday, January 7, 2010
altec lansing ahs 515 fix
I bought this 2-3 months ago. 1500 pesos from PC Options. Its comfortable and the sound quality is good but I got a lemon. Its because the sound of the Right earpiece cuts out. I have to jiggle the volume dial to get sound. Over time, its more and more difficult to jiggle the dial so I decided to bypass the volume knob. Fortunately the wires were color coded and the circuit board is labeled (R, L and G for right, left and ground). I first tested by temporarily shorting the R channel with a piece of wire. I eventually decided to short both L and R to get even sound volume.
After everything, I epoxied the wire stress relievers to the lower casing and taped the upper casing closed.
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
PLDT NGN DSL and non NGN DSL
PLDT DSL plan 999 or experience plan is supposed to be 1 mbps. I used to have one from year 2000-2009. Its rock stable. BUT its slower than advertised. I started out at around 250 kbps then over the years it suddenly it became faster, 350 kbps then 500 kbps then 700 then 500 again.
Of course the advertised speed was not always 1 mbps
However the time my actual speed was 500 kbps coincided with the first picture. By actual speed, I mean ACTUAL. Tested with speedtest.net, torrents and HTTP downloads using a download manager.
AFAIK this is how it works. You can see all the plans in the pictures, actually each plan has 2 subtypes, namely NGN and non-NGN, sometimes called legacy. If your DSL is not NGN, expect a 50% drop in speed. If you are NGN, expect 100-75% of advertised speeds.
Sometimes an area has old equipment, as in the equipment and servers in the PLDT substation. Some areas have new equipment. Usually this means that the area did not have PLDT DSL/telephone service until a few years ago and PLDT built a new substation. Now if your area has new equipment some or all of the PLDT DSL subscribers in that area will be NGN, depending on the number of slots available.
You know if you have NGN because NGN plans have no login/password. Just plug the LAN cable to the router.
So my PLDT plan 999 was actually plan 999-legacy. At least when I asked the PLDT office, they were honest enough to admit that the entire area was NGN. This is sampaloc manila, within Metro Manila, not some place way out in the boondocks. Its kinda disheartening to know that within the capital of the country, PLDT has OLD equipment and infrastructure. Its an old joke in the forums I frequent that it would take a fire or something to force PLDT to buy new equipment. I was stuck with legacy for 9 years.
This is so unfair. As an example, lets say you see an ad for a Jollibee value meal. The ad says it comes with a burger, large fries and large softdrink. You go to your local branch and buy one but they says that this only applies in selected areas so they can give you a burger, reg fries and reg drink for the same price.
cree headlamp
CREE Q4 High Power Headlamp LED 300 Lumens Flashlight
Seller was smartshop.123. Took 39 days for the package to arrive in the mail from hongkong. It cost me US $0.99 or approximately PHP 45.46 + Postage US $12.99 and php 35 pesos handling fee at the post office.
Ok this is a generic, as in no brand light. Wait, didnt I promise that I wont buy generic lights anymore? Yes. Well am I breaking my promise? NO. Why? Simple, this isnt mine. I bought it for my bro in law.
Packaging was austere but OK. No manual though.
Now for build quality. The body is the usual cheap plastic. The lens and lens cover are made of plastic. The threads on the lens cover are plastic.
As you can see, the entire front of the unit detaches to gain access to the 3x AAA battery compartment.
The hinge is stepped and constructed of plastic. There are many steps so you can adjust the angle well.
The button is a bit small but it works. There appear to be 3 modes. Press once for high mode, press again for low mode then again for flashing. The ebay description says 6 modes. The lens casing can be pulled forwards for zoom or back for wide angle.
Here are side views of the beam at wide and zoom settings. I think I would advise covering the red band with aluminum foil to avoid spillage of light to the side.
The wide mode has a clean and clear 71 cm diameter round beam at 1 meter. No artifacts. At zoom, its an 11 cm wide square at 1 meter with minimal spill. Its square because thats the shape of the LED emitter. Its supposed to be a cree.
Compared to my led mini maglite 2nd gen 2 AA on the Left, its actually a bit brighter specially on zoom.
I dont have any rechargeable AAA batteries so there will be no burn times. All pics with the light on were done using 3 unomat AA batteries in a battery holder and the battery holder was connected to the headlamp's contacts with alligator clips.
So to summarize
build quality - plastic, but everything fits and works, 3/5 stars
price - 4/5 stars
light quality - its strong and the zoom is good - 5/5 stars
speed of delivery - 2/5 stars
update: My bro in law is a doctor like me. He's a urologist. Now, as surgeons compared to say hunters or spelunkers, the zoom is very important because, specially if we are using loupes, we need a very very concentrated beam of light of high intensity focused at around hand length. Too low of an intensity and you would not even notice that the beam is on because it is drowned out by the operating room light. A hunter of a spelunker would need a less focused beam with a little spill over to illuminate peripheral vision. In the operating room, the spilled light would be a waste and would interfere with your assistants.
Let me give an example to illustrate. Imagine A mound of dirt that is waist high. You have a tall tin can buried flush to the ground. Its night so you have 1 strong spotlight that illuminates the mound of dirt. You are standing right next to the mound so the tin can is at wasit level. You can see the ground well but the bottom of the tin can is in shadow. You cant position the spotlight to illuminate the bottom of the can because your head blocks the light. Now in situations like that you will need a headlight. Actually a weak one will do but only if you turn off the spotlight or direct it somewhere else. If the ground around the tin can's mouth is illuminated by the spotlight, then your irises will contract so you can't see the inside of the tin can unless your headlight is also strong. Photographers should be familiar with this problem.
Update: You can buy a model very similar to this except for the color for 1,500 pesos in local malls. I forgot the name of the store but its a small kiosk decorated in camoflage colors. It sells camoflage clothes, airsoft accessories and some generic and class A china LED flashlights. There are branches in Robinsons malls like Robinsons San Fernando Pampanga and Robinsons Ermita.
This particular model once modded with an external AA battery pack (for longer lasting AA nimh batteries) and an external switch (So a surgeon can turn it on and off without breaking sterility) is personally recommended by me for use as a surgical headlight. See this other blog post for more about surgical eadlights.
Seller was smartshop.123. Took 39 days for the package to arrive in the mail from hongkong. It cost me US $0.99 or approximately PHP 45.46 + Postage US $12.99 and php 35 pesos handling fee at the post office.
Ok this is a generic, as in no brand light. Wait, didnt I promise that I wont buy generic lights anymore? Yes. Well am I breaking my promise? NO. Why? Simple, this isnt mine. I bought it for my bro in law.
Packaging was austere but OK. No manual though.
Now for build quality. The body is the usual cheap plastic. The lens and lens cover are made of plastic. The threads on the lens cover are plastic.
As you can see, the entire front of the unit detaches to gain access to the 3x AAA battery compartment.
The hinge is stepped and constructed of plastic. There are many steps so you can adjust the angle well.
The button is a bit small but it works. There appear to be 3 modes. Press once for high mode, press again for low mode then again for flashing. The ebay description says 6 modes. The lens casing can be pulled forwards for zoom or back for wide angle.
Here are side views of the beam at wide and zoom settings. I think I would advise covering the red band with aluminum foil to avoid spillage of light to the side.
The wide mode has a clean and clear 71 cm diameter round beam at 1 meter. No artifacts. At zoom, its an 11 cm wide square at 1 meter with minimal spill. Its square because thats the shape of the LED emitter. Its supposed to be a cree.
Compared to my led mini maglite 2nd gen 2 AA on the Left, its actually a bit brighter specially on zoom.
I dont have any rechargeable AAA batteries so there will be no burn times. All pics with the light on were done using 3 unomat AA batteries in a battery holder and the battery holder was connected to the headlamp's contacts with alligator clips.
So to summarize
build quality - plastic, but everything fits and works, 3/5 stars
price - 4/5 stars
light quality - its strong and the zoom is good - 5/5 stars
speed of delivery - 2/5 stars
update: My bro in law is a doctor like me. He's a urologist. Now, as surgeons compared to say hunters or spelunkers, the zoom is very important because, specially if we are using loupes, we need a very very concentrated beam of light of high intensity focused at around hand length. Too low of an intensity and you would not even notice that the beam is on because it is drowned out by the operating room light. A hunter of a spelunker would need a less focused beam with a little spill over to illuminate peripheral vision. In the operating room, the spilled light would be a waste and would interfere with your assistants.
Let me give an example to illustrate. Imagine A mound of dirt that is waist high. You have a tall tin can buried flush to the ground. Its night so you have 1 strong spotlight that illuminates the mound of dirt. You are standing right next to the mound so the tin can is at wasit level. You can see the ground well but the bottom of the tin can is in shadow. You cant position the spotlight to illuminate the bottom of the can because your head blocks the light. Now in situations like that you will need a headlight. Actually a weak one will do but only if you turn off the spotlight or direct it somewhere else. If the ground around the tin can's mouth is illuminated by the spotlight, then your irises will contract so you can't see the inside of the tin can unless your headlight is also strong. Photographers should be familiar with this problem.
Update: You can buy a model very similar to this except for the color for 1,500 pesos in local malls. I forgot the name of the store but its a small kiosk decorated in camoflage colors. It sells camoflage clothes, airsoft accessories and some generic and class A china LED flashlights. There are branches in Robinsons malls like Robinsons San Fernando Pampanga and Robinsons Ermita.
This particular model once modded with an external AA battery pack (for longer lasting AA nimh batteries) and an external switch (So a surgeon can turn it on and off without breaking sterility) is personally recommended by me for use as a surgical headlight. See this other blog post for more about surgical eadlights.
LED dome lamp
DOME 6 LED CAR INTERIOR BULB LAMP LIGHT 42mm WHITE 12V < 1 watt
NOTE: I have no Idea whats happening but I cant seem to get the fonts right. It looks like its in ALL CAPS but when I edit the post or I copy paste it to notepad, it isnt. So sorry for the ALL CAPS.
I bought this on ebay 36 days ago. Seller's name is cenyonline. It just arrived now in a simple airmail envelope from hong kong. Price was US $0.99 or Approximately PHP 45.48. Postage was US $1.19. Total of $2.18. Plus php 35 peso handling fee at the post office.
So the post office is a bit slow.
Anyway, the product is ok. But next time I'll get a higher wattage because its a bit dimmer than the old incandescent light. But of course the white color is better. I'm using this in my car BTW if you dont know what a dome light is.
NOTE: I have no Idea whats happening but I cant seem to get the fonts right. It looks like its in ALL CAPS but when I edit the post or I copy paste it to notepad, it isnt. So sorry for the ALL CAPS.
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the 2010 MINI
OK, I mentioned this car in my previous blog post "why philippine car companies are stupid". This proves my point.
Sticker price is 1.8 - 2.99 million pesos.
pros : styling, nostalgia value
cons: expensive, small, parts
Again, Filipinos are practical. They have to be because we're poor. For 2 million you could go and get a luxury BMW or mercedez benz or a SUV or maybe a prius. Again I expect this to not sell well because style and nostalgia are not enough to sell a car to the majority of filipinos. Sorry MINI, you dont have bang for the buck.
If you want to make it more attractive, offer it in diesel format, with no change in price.
in reference to: Business - Make mine a MINI - INQUIRER.net (view on Google Sidewiki)
Sticker price is 1.8 - 2.99 million pesos.
pros : styling, nostalgia value
cons: expensive, small, parts
Again, Filipinos are practical. They have to be because we're poor. For 2 million you could go and get a luxury BMW or mercedez benz or a SUV or maybe a prius. Again I expect this to not sell well because style and nostalgia are not enough to sell a car to the majority of filipinos. Sorry MINI, you dont have bang for the buck.
If you want to make it more attractive, offer it in diesel format, with no change in price.
in reference to: Business - Make mine a MINI - INQUIRER.net (view on Google Sidewiki)
I need a full size, long battery life laptop
I'm just thinking about replacing my old lenovo r51e
requirements
* full size keyboard
* 13-15 inch screen. Preferably 4:3 but widescreen will do. I dont want a small screen so netbooks wont do. Actually I will be using this more for surfing the net and reading ebooks so vertical height of the screen is important
* any cpu, any gpu
update: i'm partial to an i series cpu, the low power models. Why? because an i series (for intel at least) guarantees its a new model
* actual 6 hours or more of battery life while surfing the net with wifi. We know that the batt life in advertisments is BS
* 2 gigs or more of ddr3 sodimm. must be expandable to 4 gigs ddr 3. Or as an alternate, ddr2 but already 4 gigs once bought.
* any optical drive
* local warranty
I'm not in a hurry. I'm just testing the waters so when I buy in 1 or 2 years i know what to get
budget : < 50k
use: surfing the net in malls, reading ebooks, typing
requirements
* full size keyboard
* 13-15 inch screen. Preferably 4:3 but widescreen will do. I dont want a small screen so netbooks wont do. Actually I will be using this more for surfing the net and reading ebooks so vertical height of the screen is important
* any cpu, any gpu
update: i'm partial to an i series cpu, the low power models. Why? because an i series (for intel at least) guarantees its a new model
* actual 6 hours or more of battery life while surfing the net with wifi. We know that the batt life in advertisments is BS
* 2 gigs or more of ddr3 sodimm. must be expandable to 4 gigs ddr 3. Or as an alternate, ddr2 but already 4 gigs once bought.
* any optical drive
* local warranty
I'm not in a hurry. I'm just testing the waters so when I buy in 1 or 2 years i know what to get
budget : < 50k
use: surfing the net in malls, reading ebooks, typing
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
No alternative fuel-fed vehicles for RP
Like I posted before, philippine car firms are stupid.
The article says there is little infrastructure for CNG. Thats BS IMHO. There are lots of CNG gas stations in metro manila catering to taxis.
The article says there is no demand. BS again IMHO. There's a demand, we just cant afford it. The Philippines is a poor country, DUHHH! Read my previous article HERE in my blog. Filipino people want a car that has both a low running cost AND a low purchase price. Who wouldnt want a Toyota Prius that sips gas? We all want one but the 2 million peso price tag is too much and it takes to bloody long to recoup the investment specially if you dont commute that much anyway. Who except the rich has 2 million pesos lying around? We could take a car loan but the interest will eat up our money.
in reference to:
The article says there is little infrastructure for CNG. Thats BS IMHO. There are lots of CNG gas stations in metro manila catering to taxis.
The article says there is no demand. BS again IMHO. There's a demand, we just cant afford it. The Philippines is a poor country, DUHHH! Read my previous article HERE in my blog. Filipino people want a car that has both a low running cost AND a low purchase price. Who wouldnt want a Toyota Prius that sips gas? We all want one but the 2 million peso price tag is too much and it takes to bloody long to recoup the investment specially if you dont commute that much anyway. Who except the rich has 2 million pesos lying around? We could take a car loan but the interest will eat up our money.
in reference to:
"No alternative fuel-fed vehicles for RP"
- Business - No alternative fuel-fed vehicles for RP - INQUIRER.net (view on Google Sidewiki)
Smart broadband users hit 1M
As a smart bro plan 999-2 (share it user), Its good to know that my ISP is popular
in reference to:
in reference to:
"Smart broadband users hit 1M"
- Smart broadband users hit 1M - 1/03/10 (view on Google Sidewiki)
Less firecracker injuries this year - Duque
As a surgeon I'm happy with this news. I've treated my share of victims before.
in reference to:
in reference to:
"Less firecracker injuries this year - Duque"
- Less firecracker injuries this year - Duque - INQUIRER.net, Philippine News for Filipinos (view on Google Sidewiki)
May polls seen to shake up equities mart
Ok, we knew this would happen. As an owner of sunlife equity funds, the value may go up or down depending on what happens during the election.
in reference to:
in reference to:
"May polls seen to shake up equities mart"
- Business - May polls seen to shake up equities mart - INQUIRER.net (view on Google Sidewiki)
Monday, January 4, 2010
Live action version of Space Battleship Yamato
Holy Crap!
I hope this pans out. I loved the original anime when it was showing on Local TV back in the 80's.
in reference to:
I hope this pans out. I loved the original anime when it was showing on Local TV back in the 80's.
in reference to:
"Space Battleship Yamato"
- Live-Action Star Blazers Trailer Gives Us Goosebumps - star blazers - io9 (view on Google Sidewiki)
Sunday, January 3, 2010
A geek/nerd website
This website is full of nerdy stuff and news. You wont understand unless you're one of us
in reference to: Wolf Gnards (view on Google Sidewiki)
in reference to: Wolf Gnards (view on Google Sidewiki)
Recent comments widget
I tried a few and they didnt work
but this widget does work
I put it in my blog because I'd like to see what comments were posted recently
in reference to:
but this widget does work
I put it in my blog because I'd like to see what comments were posted recently
in reference to:
- Recent Comments Widget For Blogger - MAD TOMATO (view on Google Sidewiki)
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