12/21/2012 or december 21 countdown timer

This is all rubbish pseudoscience superstition anyway. But if you insist, here's a coundown clock. Its set at Greenwich mean time


The Official Countdown


source

the end

QR code quality in the Philippine Daily Inquirer

The Philippine Daily Inquirer is a major Philippine newspaper that I read every day. A few days ago I posted a blog post about QR codes.Then a funny thing happened. I started seeing QR codes in ads in the Inquirer. Maybe 6 or so and one in real life in my local SM mall on a big sign. I dont know if its coincidence or I my consciousness is just primed to notice QR codes.

Anyway, maybe 25% of the QR codes in the Inquirer can't be read by my phone. My phone, a samsung galaxy Y, only has a fixed focus 2MP camera so it may be partially to blame. However, most of those that can't be read are either small (around 1 inch square) or are printed with low quality. HP ink cartridges have a QR code that is clearly printed but at 1cm square, my camera cannot read them.

My phone and its camera may be low spec but to include more of the reading public, advertisers should take into account that not all readers can afford a high end smartphone.


Suggestions: Advertisers should design the QR codes to be of sufficient size and they should borrow a few low end smartphones so they can test the QR codes to see if the print quality is sufficient. I dont know if the newspaper presses can do a test print before the actual issue is printed, but its always a good idea to test.

the end

QR codes for advertising in the Philippines

What is a QR code? Well a QR code is like a bar code but instead of lines read in one direction, there are dots arranged on a square. A bar code stores less characters than a QR code. A QR code can store lots of stuff from text to product information to a web page address to contact information.

Here is the QR code for my blog's web address





If you have a smartphone, download any one of many free QR scanners and scan the code. Many smartphones have QR scanner apps like android, iOS and blackberry. To educate the public who are not familiar with them, small text encouraging them to download QR scanning apps for their phone should be printed with any posters.

In the philippines not all people have smartphones but the number is growing. In fact the Philippines is fastest growing smartphone market in SEA. {source}

So, maybe local Philippine businesses should start to use this to their advantage. Its cheap, just some cost for printing.

• A QR code containing the contact information can be printed onto flyers, business cards and posters. 
• Maybe you can make a QR with your businesses' facebook page and ask them to like it
•  You can use them to announce specials and sales

Honestly, even in the malls of the capital Metro Manila, I have only seen a couple of QR Codes.

Generating a QR code is easy. Google for "create QR code" and you can find many. I've used http://goqr.me/ and I found it nice with lots of functions. Below is its QR code.






The End

which is faster: file transfer via LAN+wifi or wifi+wifi

I got one of these, a USB wifi N adapter

Source


So, I was thinking, what would be faster between my laptop and my desktop via my belkin wifi N router: the desktop connected via LAN and the laptop connected via wifi or vice versa


So i tried transferring some files from my desktop to my laptop. And here are the results

both connected via wifi = ~3 MB/s
laptop connected via wifi, desktop connected via LAN = ~8 MB/s
laptop connected via LAN, desktop connected via wifi = ~8.5 MB/s

this is unusual since wifi-N is supposed to be 150 mbps or 18.75 MB/s

the end

94% off Amazon digital sale

Here is a great pack composed of square enix games on Amazon.

1. Deus Ex: Human Revolution - Augmented Edition [Download]
2. Deus Ex: Human Revolution - The Missing Link DLC [Download]
3. Hitman: Blood Money [Online Game Code]
4. Just Cause 2 [Download]
5. Just Cause [Online Game Code]
6. Quantum Conundrum [Download]
7. Supreme Commander 2 [Download]
8. The Last Remnant [Online Game Code] 

Total price would normally be $131.52 but the sale price is $9.99. A Steal!

Notes:
* sometimes the error "This item is currently unavailable" is seen. If you see this, wait say half an hour and try again
* These games are digital downloads and/or online game codes. So no DVD's
* As usual, amazon will not let you buy a digital download unless you use a US address.

link



the end

Fake eneloops in the philippines

Here's an ad in the October 7, 2012 Issue of the Philippine Daily inquirer warning about fake eneloops. Small resized image below.

For a full size 1998x2999 pixel image, click on the picture below.

The end.

smart bro prepaid always on - is it really faster?

Hi, Long time no post. Sorry but being busy in real life and having nothing unique to post sometimes happens. Anyway, lets talk about smart bro prepaid, specifically smart bro power plugit and the Always on plan which is supposed to be faster.

Go to the smart bro power plugit page. You'll see that both for the prepaid and postpaid, it says:

Speeds of up to 7.2 Mbps*

 Notice that there is an "*". That means there's fine print. Now scroll down to the "*". It says

*Upgrade to Always On to experience speeds up to 7.2 Mbps.

The smart bro starter plugit page has something similar but in this case, its only up to  3.6 mbps and they make no mention of pre or postpaid.

 Ohhhhkay, lets upgrade to the Always on plan and see what happens. As a background, using  the normal 10 peso per 30 min or the 50 peso/24 hour prepaid plans I get the same speed. Its variable maybe 300-800 kbps DL and 500-600kbps UL, well below the claimed 2mbps. Testing is actual downloading and with speedtest.net. I live in Pampanga so I though maybe its slow in the provinces. Since then I've tested it in other places like Quezon City, Cubao and Mandaluyong with similar results of 300-600 kbps DL, 500-600kbps UL. Signal strength doesn't seem to be a factor since Cubao and mandaluyong had a slightly higher 4-5 bars versus 2-3 bars in the other places but the speeds were slightly slower even with the better signal.



Go to the smart bro Always on page. You'll see several plans. I tested the ALWAYS ON 10 plan which costs 10 pesos and give me 5 megabytes. Mega not Gigabytes.

So here's how it went. First I disabled images from firefox to maximize the time and number of webpages that would fit the cap. I then ran a bandwidth monitoring program. Specifically I used Netpersec. I reset the counter on Netpersec so that it would start at zero, counting how many bytes were uploaded and downloaded. Then I plugged in the power plugit. The software dialer automatically loaded and once it started to dial I canceled it. I went to the text messaging tab and sent the appropriate text to smart. I then received a reply stating that the always on plan was active. I started a speedtest.net test. My result was around 350kbps DL and 300kbps UL. Sorry, forgot to link the result picture since images were off. Looking at Netpersec, I downloaded a bit over 1 megabyte.

I continued to surf on smart bro's webpge and opened blogger to start this post. I received a text later on stating that 4 out of 5 megabytes of my allowance was used up. Looking at netpersec's total, I show 3.6 megabytes downloaded and 0.8 megabytes uploaded for a total of 4.4 mb. Pretty accurate IMHO if we allow for the fact that the text message probably took a few seconds to arrive and I took a few seconds to check the text and netpersec. Later on I received a text message stating that the 5 gigs were up and I'm reverting to the usual 10 pesos per 30 min. Looking at the smart bro dialer, it has a timer showing how long the current dial up session is active. I used up 5mb in around 8 minutes.

CONCLUSION

Is always on faster in my location (pampanga) compared to the usual smart bro prepaid? No.

ANALYSIS

So, does this mean that the claim is false? Unfortunately there is still room to doubt my results.  Since I only tried one power plugit unit in one location at one time, its not impossible that there may be other explanations such as:
* I was unlucky because I got a defective power plugit
* I was unlucky because smart's network was slow then

And my favorite possibility
* there is no difference in my test because smart's network is so congested in my area that any difference would be swamped by the congestion. Analogous to trying out the speed of a normal car and a multi million peso sports car on roads with traffic, you'll get similar lap times.

RECOMMENDATIONS

Yep, more tests. At the very least I should try areas that are non congested. Maybe if I go to a major metroplitan area, I'll look for areas where the regular smart bro prepaid can go a full 2 mbps. If it goes at 2mbps I assume its not congested. After that, I need confirmation from other testers.


the end

Alpha Protocol review: interface and performance

Alpha Protocol NON-Review

I'll be concentrating on the user interface and the performance. I know that this is slightly unfair and biased since I concentrate on only one aspect, BUT other people/websites have reviewed this game before so go to them if you want a balanced and thorough review. So be warned, this is not a real review. Its more of a rant about the performance and interface flaws. The graphics and story and gameplay are OK though.

Okay. I have a decent system, 4 gigs ram, geforce 560ti, core 2 duo e8200, maybe a little light on the CPU but its ok.  I tried all the video options on and also tried the game with them all off. As with most console ports, the video options are a bit limited. I'm using the version I bought on Steam.

I see that this game suffers from consolitis and lacks polish. The loading times are too long, even for something as simple as loading a checkpoint then dying then reloading the last checkpoint. Loading time is also too long for such simple stuff as opening the map or opening one of the menus such as weapons or gadgets. When loading a save or loading a new level at least there's a spinning AP logo on the screen but  otherwise, the game looks like its frozen.

Then there are lots of pauses. Example, you are running forwards then make a 90 degree turn to your left to a stair or ramp, after turning a few degrees there is a split second pause then you find yourself turned 270 degrees so you have the stairs behind you and you're face into the wall or sometimes its 180 degrees and you're going back the way you came. The scrolling is horrible in menus. The mouse wheel works but if you have say 2 windows like in the email window, scrolling the mouse wheel only scrolls the list of emails on the left while the message on the right window cannot be controlled by the mouse wheel. You can always click on the scroll up and down buttons but they are soo small. Plus there are pauses scrolling to an email or a weapon that's on the next page of a list.

The menus like the PDA and the weapon menus don't recognize the ESC key. So for example if you are in the map to go back to the game you have to mouse click on the "back" button then press TAB. For the weapon/skill/gadgets menu you can only jump from say the weapon to the skill menu only by mouse clicking on a small left-right arrow. You can't use the keyboard shortcut keys. And for exiting those menus going back to the game you can't press ESC, you gotta press the key assigned to it. Clunky and difficult if you're stressed out fighting in game.

Very Very poor interface design. A shame since the RPG system, the story and the combat is OK. Like mass effect your choices and actions determine how the story branches. I blame this on consolitis.

Oh and there are checkpoints, I hate checkpoints. I want save slots.

Overall I would  give this game 5/10. For the gameplay, maybe 7/10. For the interface and performance 2/10 each.

the end

Reloading smart bro using a smart buddy card

Reloading smart bro using card

Load smart bro another smart cellphone

You can load a smart bro 3g/3.5g prepaid internet account using another smart cellphone if you use a smart bro prepaid card. Yes we know that works. Other websites have documented it. For completeness, I'll quote the procedure

On any Smart GSM cell phone, text Reload <Smart Bro Prepaid number> and send to 1510.

Okay, what if you DON'T use a smart bro prepaid card. Instead, what happens if you use a smart buddy card, the normal card used for prepaid cellphones? Well lets see. I'll use the term "smart buddy" to refer to any smart prepaid cellphone plans.

I bought a 500 peso smart buddy card (actual cost for me is around 490 pesos) in my local SM from the SM kiosks which sell prepaid cards. Forgive me for the blurry cellphone picture below.

It came with small stapled cardboard strip which contains another PIN number good for 15 pesos load. Sorry but I don't have a picture. This is supposed to be a limited promo according to the saleslady so get one while supplies last. The promo is supposed to be over but there are some left over in my local SM. The text on that small cardboard strip says that the 15 peso load is good for both smart bro prepaid and smart buddy cellphones.

OK. I tried the above procedure with the 15 peso load on my smart bro prepaid. It worked. I later on tried it with the 500 peso card, it didn't work. I got an error as a text message from 1510

VD# 0002 Invalid keyword, cannot be processed. REF: xxxxxxxxxxxx.

I then replaced the smart bro prepaid number with my smart buddy cellphone number. It worked

CONCLUSION:
I am unhappy to report that indeed, the smart buddy prepaid card does not work with smart bro prepaid. I was disappointed since I began the experiment as I was writing this blog post and I fully expected it too work.

I wonder why SMART decided to have 3 kinds of load, one for smart bro prepaid, one for smart buddy and one for both. For efficiency sake, having a universal load might be better. Also, the error message seen is another example of a non-user friendly error message, since it does not give any indication of what the problem is.

So I'll just use PASALOAD to transfer load from my smart buddy to my smart bro or use E-load

the end

how to load smart bro, how to reload smart bro, smart bro load, how to load smart bro prepaid, how to load smartbro, smartbro load, smart bro reload, how to load smart bro prepaid card, how to load smart broadband, smart bro load card, how to load smart bro card, how to reload smartbro, smart bro prepaid load, reload smart bro, how to reload smart bro prepaid

S&R Pampanga sale 2012 part 2

< Back to Part 1

OK here is a list of some interesting items. I did not list any not worth it too expensive items except for a few. For most of these, I give a per piece or per liter or per kilogram price. Some items may actually be non-sale items but I include them anyway because it's a good deal. Items with a x2 are buy one take one items. Also some prices are rounded off, i.e. php 39.95 becomes 40 but I did not round off the per gram values

Tissue paper rolls

Kirkland embossed bath - 1150/36 =Php41/roll

Scott 1000 - 1200/36 = Php33/roll

Charmin ultra strong - 900/24 = Php37.5/roll

Member's selection - 500/20 = Php25/roll

S&r - 450/20 = Php22.5/roll

Velvety soft - 489.95/48 =Php10.2/roll. 220 sheets/roll = 0.0464/sheet

Velvety soft - 250/24 =Php10.4/roll

Extra - 399.95/24 = Php16.67/roll, 600 sheets/300 pulls/roll = 0.0555/pull

Pure - 399.95/12 = Php33.33

note: deciding which to buy is difficult. First of all, I am ignoring the quality. Second, each roll is a different size so I did eventually realize that a per roll computation might be inaccurate. Ideally I would like to weigh individual rolls but that is not possible here. So as a compromise, I looked at the number of sheets/pulls per roll. Unfortunately, some brands interchange the terms sheets and rolls. A single square of tissue paper is a pull. If it is 2 ply then 1 pull is made up of 2 sheets. 

Due to lack of time I was not able to write down all the per sheet data. On a per roll basis the 2 cheapest are Velvety soft and Extra. On a per pull basis, I had a little problem because Extra did not say how many pulls it had, only sheets. Judging from a quick visual estimate, the rolls of Velvety soft are slightly smaller in diameter so if velvety soft made a mistake and reported sheets instead of pulls, a value of 220 pulls per roll seems accurate. So on a per pull basis, velvety soft is the cheapest.

Cereal

Frosted mini wheats - 679/1.98 = Php342.93

grape nuts - 400/1.81kg = Php221

Koko crunch - 185/0.5 = Php370

Raisin bran crunch - 700/1.6kg = Php437.5

Raisin bran - 370/1.98kg =  186.87

Kellogs special k red berries - 480/1.05kg =  Php457.1

Post cranberry almond - 170/0.368 = Php462

Kashi go lean crunch - 700/1.27 = Php551

Nestle clusters almond = 100/0.240 = Php416

Nature's path pumkin flax granola - 550/1 = Php550

Quaker granola - 150/0.2 = Php750

Quaker oatmeal - x 52 = Php550

note: raisin bran is the clear winner, but it doesn't taste too good alone.

Cereal bars

Nature valley oat & honey - 144/6 = Php24/pouch

Nature valley sweet salty peanut - 900/48 = Php18.75/pouch

Kirkland variety - 900/20 = Php45/pouch

Planters - 630/25 = Php25.2/pouch

Frozen food

Southern valley mixed veg 1kg  = Php100

Nonpareillis frozen broccoli 0.907kg = Php165

Sunny select leaf spinach 10oz/283.5g = Php60

Parklane hash brown - 200/1.27kg = Php157.48/kg

White river cobbler fish fillet = Php160/kg

Fast fixin chicken burger - 250/1.02kg = Php245/kg

toiletries

antabax soap - 85g  x 5 x 2 = 140/10 = Php14/bar or Php 0.16470/g

Safeguard with aloe 113g x 8 x 2 = 350/16 = Php21.875/bar or Php 0.19358/g

Colgate total whitening 170g = Php100

Miscellaneous

Kirkland fish oil 400cap = 500/400 = Php1.25/cap

Kirkland daily multi vitamins 500 caps- 700/500 = Php1.4/cap

Tramontina saute pan teflon platinum 8 &10 inch bundle = Php1200

Tramontina fry pan 20cm x 2 eclipse coating = Php1000

Tramontina fry pan 30cm - Php1200

S&r deluxe mixed nuts = Php700

splenda 1000 packets = Php1140

Member's selection canola oil 5L = Php550

S&r palm oil 5L = 430 = Php86/L
olive pomace oil 5L = 1000/5 = 200/liter * did not get the brand

Krklnd tomato Basil bisque 530g = Php65

Healthy choice chicken with rice x 2 = Php100

Amy's organic soup x2 = Php170

Soyfresh soymilk 1L = Php40

Carnation bfast essentials x 22 = 550/22 = Php25

Act 2 butter lover's popcorn x 28 =400/28 = Php14.29

Orville redenbacher butter popcorn - 500/28 = Php17.86

Kirkland weight loss shake - 325ml = Php45

S&R Pampanga sale 2012 part 1

.

Disclaimer: I am in no way connected to S&R or any of its subsidiaries. I have not been paid by anyone to write this. Like all entries in this blog, its is an honest record of what I have experienced. Mostly this blog is about computer or tech related stuff so this is one of the few non-tech related posts.


So, from the picture above, you know that S&R's sale is going on. I am going to explain what S&R is, why shopping in S&R is worth it and how you can save money in S&R. In part 2, you will see an list of some interesting good buys that I saw during this sale. I wrote them down on my smartphone as I was perusing the merchandise.

This is S&R's website. This is their Facebook page.



OK, S&R, unlike other supermarkets is not open to the general public. You need to apply for membership before you can buy anything. Membership usually costs < 1000 pesos a year. If you apply within the store, you immediately get a temporary card so you can immediately go shopping. You pick up your official card after a few days.

Why does S&R require membership? Well one reason is psychologically, you feel that you have sunk several hundred pesos into the membership, you might as well shop there to make it worth it. Another reason is, presumably, the cards are used to statistically analyze shopping behavior. I have no proof as to whether or not this is done but all the big retailers do it. It might sound like a creepy invasion of privacy but AFAIK its not illegal and you have the choice to shop somewhere else. Also, I heard somewhere before that due to a loophole in taxes, if you sell to the public, you are taxed so and so but if you sell to only members, they are not considered the "public", i.e., its not a retail store. So you get taxed less. I have no idea if this is true or not or whether it applies to Philippine laws or not.

So, what makes S&R potentially cheaper? First of all, its not an ordinary supermarket, it's a warehouse club.

A warehouse club is a retail store, usually selling a wide variety of merchandise, in which customers are required to buy large, wholesale quantities of the store's products, which makes these clubs attractive to both bargain hunters and small business owners. The clubs are able to keep prices low due to the no-frills format of the stores. In addition, customers may be required to pay annual membership fees in order to shop.

wiki

You can see it in the way the building is laid out. In S&R a large number of items are available in large quantities like 50 items or more per bundle. So you do save sometimes due to buying in bulk. Warehouse clubs save money by not having 2 buildings, a warehouse and a retail store. They just have one big warehouse. The shelves may be 2-4 stories high and the bottom shelves are the retail store. The top shelves are where the items are stored. So they don't have to pay for 2 buildings. And they pass the savings on to you.


I read one article once in the inquirer where a financial analyst gave advice on what to invest in if you had some extra money. One minimal risk investment is to buy in bulk stuff that doesn't fluctuate in price much (or only goes up in price) and can be stored for a long time. Its hoarding essentially and yes it usually works.You buy stuff at a discount, how can you lose?

These are all theoretical but do I see them in practice? Well, sometimes. Personally, yes there are a few items that are cheaper than in other supermarkets because they are in bulk, specially during sales. But I decided to get an S&R membership for other reasons. The main reason is S&R stocks a lot of brands and items not found anywhere else. Another reason is their great reasonably priced pizza which can be bought from their in house cafeteria style restauraunt. I figure that by shopping a few times specially during sales and carefully choosing what I buy, I can recoup the cost of the yearly membership fee. Unfortunately, sometimes I find myself buying more expensive bu tastier brands, lolz.


OK, end of part 1. Go to part 2 for a list of interesting items that I found during the sale.


the end

Opening PWI files

.PWI files are files created by the notes application in windows mobile cellphones.

You can open them on a desktop PC by using MS word. I tried word 2010 only though so i'm not sure if older versions would work.

First, prepare word 2010. Open it. Go to file > options > advanced. Now scroll the right pane down to the bottom and check confirm file format conversion on open.

Now open the .pwi file with ms word 2010. In the convert file dialog box, choose Recover text from every file.

Its not perfect, there may be a few stray formatting marks like line breaks but at least the text is there.

paypal on cellphones

source

This is a card swiping accessory that attaches to an iphone which enables a seller to accept credit card payment. This one is for paypal but there are other similat companies that provide the same thing. This has been my dream for a long time, for ANY business in the philippines to be able to accept credit cards, including theoretically a fishball street vendor, all you need is a net connection.

But my dream has a part 2. Part 1 actually has been possible for some time, just use a card swiper with a battery and the guts of a cellphone inside.

But this violates part 2 of my dream, affordability. Because afaik such card swipers have expensive monthly fees. So its no good for a seller unless credit cards are used frequently.

Part of making it cheaper is for the chinese to copy it (even though the paypal one above will be heavily subsidized) since it increases competition and user base and gives us many feature choices.

source


the end

cdrking earbud review

Model SE-107 e cdrking earbuds

I was in the market for cheap backup headphones for my laptop. So I looked around. These seemed OK. I chose them since at 180 pesos, they were at the higher end of the low quality earbud price range and I was hoping that the quality would be better. I also chose these for the symmetrical cords. I don't like asymmetrical.

I've only had them for one day and I know that they are cheap. So I didn't have my hopes up and my rating is skewed to the fact that its cheap.

Build quality - its OK. Cord and the rubber at the tip is less flimsy than some of the 100 peso counterfeit sony or beats by dr dre headphones. Cord length is ok but on the short side. I'd give it a 3/5.

Accessories - no pouch. No tip protector. With 2 extra rubbers of different sizes. I'll give it a 3/5.

Sound quality - muddy, bias towards base. I prefer crisp tones. Markedly worse than my Altec Lansings. 2/5

Verdict - I wouldn't buy these again. I should have saved 500 pesos for some Sony earbuds. Lets round off the final score to 2/5.

the end

Update: forgot to say that the comfort and fit of the rubber is quite good. Added the Altec Lansing part.

altec lansing ahs 515 cord repair

Headphone cord repair
My headphone has been repaired before in this previous blog post. Now the wire insulation is fraying right after the volume control.

Since the volume control is useless anyway, I opted to cut it out and re attach the wire. Step 1 is to knot the wires together, remove the insulation, and splay out the wires.

Next step is to Identify which wire goes to which. Fortunately, the mic cable only has 2 wires and the while speaker cable has 3 so there's no mixing them up. And the wires are color coded with what looks like varnish. It also serves as insulation.

It was a simple matter to tin the ends of the wires and solder them together. After this, I checked the headset on my PC. I used the audio driver's settings to check if both left and right channels were working.

Next, carefully cover the blobs of solder with electrical tape. I ended up using 3 layers in total.

Last step. I added an ID clip so I can clip the cord or cable to my shirt. This way the cord isn't dragging my head down via gravity.



OK that's it. Instead of buying a new pair of headphones, I just repaired mine. Saved me some money.


the end

Lenovo Ideapad z470 Review - Part 4: hard drive benchmarks

< Back to part 3: 3d benchmarks

OK welcome to part 3 of my review. Hard drive benchmarks. I'm limiting it to synthetic benchmarks. We are comparing my desktop's hard drive, a WDC black 1 terabyte model WDC WD1002FAEX-00Y9A0 with the laptop's 750 gig WDC drive model WDC WD7500BPVT-24HXZT1.

For all the results, the first result or picture will be the desktop's hard drive, followed by the laptop.



1. Passmark performance test 7 build 1025 (Disk test only, copied from part 2 of the review)

• desktop: disk = 735.6
• laptop : disk = 623.5

2. Atto disk benchmark v 2.46

3. Crystal disk mark 64 bit v 3.0.1

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
CrystalDiskMark 3.0.1 x64 (C) 2007-2010 hiyohiyo
                           Crystal Dew World : http://crystalmark.info/
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
* MB/s = 1,000,000 byte/s [SATA/300 = 300,000,000 byte/s]

desktop

           Sequential Read :    85.584 MB/s
          Sequential Write :    83.812 MB/s
         Random Read 512KB :    34.964 MB/s
        Random Write 512KB :    53.631 MB/s
    Random Read 4KB (QD=1) :     0.438 MB/s [   106.8 IOPS]
   Random Write 4KB (QD=1) :     1.056 MB/s [   257.9 IOPS]
   Random Read 4KB (QD=32) :     0.647 MB/s [   158.0 IOPS]
  Random Write 4KB (QD=32) :     0.892 MB/s [   217.8 IOPS]

  Test : 1000 MB [C: 80.6% (430.3/533.7 GB)] (x5)

laptop

           Sequential Read :    85.577 MB/s
          Sequential Write :    83.692 MB/s
         Random Read 512KB :    26.986 MB/s
        Random Write 512KB :    33.727 MB/s
    Random Read 4KB (QD=1) :     0.307 MB/s [    75.0 IOPS]
   Random Write 4KB (QD=1) :     0.608 MB/s [   148.5 IOPS]
   Random Read 4KB (QD=32) :     0.655 MB/s [   159.9 IOPS]
  Random Write 4KB (QD=32) :     0.644 MB/s [   157.3 IOPS]

  Test : 1000 MB [C: 76.3% (186.3/244.0 GB)] (x5) 

  4. HDTune pro v5 trial

Well pretty much all the tests show the desktop's HD to be faster, but they are quite close. Perfectly acceptable performance for a 2.5 vs 3.5 hard drive.

OK that's it. I'm planning a part 5: wifi file transfer benchmarks

the end

lenovo z470 magnetized spots

magnetized spots

In response to a comment made in my lenovo z470 review, there was a coment about magnetized spots. Using a paperclip I have confirmed that yes there are magnetized spots. I could find 3, all shown as red on the pic above.

Without opening my laptop I really can't tell why there are magenets there. Its far away from the speakers and there are no obvious motors there. Any fan should have shielded magnets.

This probably poses no hazard since magnetic media like floppy discs and cassette tapes are rare these days.

smart bro share it with smart bro prepaid sim

Remember the smart bro share it? If you don't remember, well, the share it modem is essentially a myfi device which has no battery and is powered by a 220v adaptor. It's a combo 3.5g modem and wifi router. It has a sim card slot and it gets 3.5g signal from the smart cellsite and Pc's can connect to it via LAN cable  or wifi (I thing its wifi-G but not sure).

There are some drawbacks compared to smart's current myfi device (see pic above).

• Larger
• Needs a 220v mains power supply
• Only uses one frequency, 850mhz while other more advanced devices can use HSPA+/HSPA/UMTS 2100/1900/900/850 MHz. This is a theoretical limitation since some areas may have congestion. Smart uses 850 and 2100mhz so if the 850mhz band is congested the smart bro modem-router cannot switch to the uncongested 2100mhz band
• This is region locked. However I don't know if the lock is done via the sim card that comes with the device or the device itself. Busted! The device works in my province and metro manila.
• Being an old model (up to 3.5g only) which is incompatible with HSPA+ (sometimes known as 3.75g), the max speed is only probably 2-3 mbps

Advantages:

• Has a connection for an external antenna
• Being physically larger than a usb plugit, the internal antenna is much better. During tests, I could get a 5 bar signal versus a 2 bar signal with my smart bro power plugit (zte mf190).
• Has a LAN port

I used to have one, and the speeds were variable. 500kbps-1400kbps depending on the local congestion level. I had it cut and it was gathering dust in my closet. The original sim doesn't work anymore, so I tried to use it with my smart bro power plugit prepaid sim and, guess what, it worked! Speeds were modest since my area was congested. I was getting around 500-700 kbps but around 1 am on the days when there is no congestion, I was bursting to 1.8 mbps. So in my area its quite rare to get over 1.5 mbps. I tested using a combination of direct downloads, torrents and Steam.

So if you need wifi sharing and can't afford a myfi device, then reusing this is an option.

Anomaly: Warzone earth cheat

orcs must die cheat

orcs must die cheatengine

orcs must die cheat engine

orcs must die cheat codes

orcs must die trainer

orcs must die steam cheat

orcs must die steam cheatengine

orcs must die steam cheat engine

orcs must die steam cheat codes

orcs must die steam trainer

Anomaly warzone earth is a reverse tower defense game. I bought it on STEAM.

I have not found any cheats or trainers so I'll teach you how to use a program called cheatengine to cheat. Cheat engine is a game utility that can search for values in ram that are used by the game. These values typically are used by the game to denote player attributes like money or health. Once you find it you can change the value. 

First you have to go to my previous Orcs must Die cheat page. The procedure for cheating is more or less the same so study the procedure there. But there is one added step. In the cheatengine program, look for the thing called "value type". The default setting here is "4 bytes". Change it to "Float".


And that's it.