Everything Binary

Enter the Dragon

2012-01-31T02:36:00.000-08:00

Hello Readers,

It's the new year, and the year of the Water Dragon. This year, we shall probably witness more tablets than ever, and a slew of new "Ultrabooks" amongst other stuffs. Kindle will probably take some more market-share and mind-share of eBook readers.

Android will no doubt be as aggressive as ever to try and win more market share from iOS devices. As more Apps become more Androidapable and hardware becomes insanely cheaper from vendors in the lights of Samsung and LG, we shall see more people migrate to the Android platform. Although some portion of the iOS population are locked-in and will not migrate. These are the die-hard fans, Apple fan-boys and folks that have invested in alot of software and accessories that only work with their favourite iDevice.

As for monitors, I see 27-inch sizes becoming more a common ground - and hopefully some of them will become 2.5K pixel density (aka 2560x1440 pixel resolutions). As monitors become 2.5K, TVs will become smart and slowly migrate to 4K resolutions.

With the invasion of tablets, home automation will become increasingly common. the iGeneration babies will grow up and adopt a more automated home with motorized curtains, lightings and room temperatures. When will there be an automated vacuuming robot that do house work? !! ke ke ke ( giggles)

This blog has been left more or less inactive for quite a while, as I work a hell of alot and gets little time for it. But I hope this year, I can recruit some of you to help with content.. so if there are any volunteers, do contact me !

Cheers
Steven

iMAME

2011-12-21T19:32:00.000-08:00

Multiple Arcade Machine Emulation ;)

I wonder what classic games are available - am installing iMame into my iPhone 4 as I blog away here.

Here are some screenshots. Enjoy

Parrot Air Drone

2011-12-11T16:03:00.001-08:00

An augmented reality video game with live action Air Drone?
Check out their official site

My printer saga. HP Officejet 6500 Wireless

2011-12-11T15:22:00.001-08:00

I was about to print some customize wrapping paper to wrap a birthday present only to realise that my PC couldn't print the design to my HP Officejet 6500 printer.

I thought it may be due to the unstable wireless communications. I even tried to reinstall the PC drivers. But ended up with errors.

Then I found out that the printer couldn't even print locally a status report. To make matter worse, I accidentally touch a film strip and it came off from the left side. Took me 30 mins trying to hook it back. Almost gave up. Later I found that ire strip is called the encoder strip that helps the printer cartridges align themselves.

After hooking back the strip, I looks at all the places for jammed paper, but there was nothing. However, by doing that, the printer's error moved from the cryptic code of 0x6100004c to yet another cryptic code.

One of the solutions offered on google search, was to plug the power source directly to the wall. So I removed my power line LAN connection for my router/TV combo. Still not working.

I removed all the print cartridges and r-seated them back but still no go.

I finally took out the print head assembly and clean the print head with some water. Wala. It worked. I haven't turn back on the power line LAN yet.

However, now my drivers on my windows7 x64 are not working and reinstalling them seems to get error at the last step (trying to configure printer). The printer can print and scan now. Just couldn't fax - I don't see the fax driver on control panel any more.

So I guess I'll figure this out later this evening.

Beef Hor Fun

2011-12-02T03:47:00.001-08:00

geylang lor 9 beef Kway Teow九港牛河.

Man cannot live on binary numbers alone. So here is some all beef goodness to boost our energy levels.

Samsung wins legal appeal

2011-11-29T22:04:00.001-08:00

Samsung can start selling it's Galaxy 10.1 tablet in Australia. The temporary ban is lifted, and Samsung can now jolly well sell it's tablets over the Jingling Xmas season. Surely, this will give a boost to Samsung's stock price.

But perhaps many Australians have already bought the iPad from Apple, and may not be in the market for another tablet. We will have to wait to see how well received is the Galaxy 10.1 ;)

Meanwhile, I'm waiting for Galaxy Note to become more mainstream - a hybrid size between a phone and a tablet. Can it satisfy both types of usage pattern simultaneously ?

Ultrabooks

2011-11-29T21:33:00.001-08:00

I saw a list of notebooks published at this Ultrabooknews site. It lists the "True Ultrabooks" and "Ultrabooks Alternatives" lists.

The definition of what an Ultrabook is :

Sizing that enables ease of portability. 11.1″-13″ being the main target screen sizes. 1-1.5KG being the target weight.
SSD Storage
Fast boot, long standby, fast resume.
Not a Netbook

My favourite would be Asus & Lenovo at the current time. Samsung is also looking more attractive as time goes by. What is your favourite Ultrabook?

Stock market on Black Friday

2011-11-25T00:11:00.001-08:00

What a day on Singapore's Stock market. With the STI index down 23.5 points (2652) are the time of writing this block.

Germany just came online not long ago and is at +15. The only green line on the board.

The quest for publication

2011-11-23T21:04:00.001-08:00

Blogs are fine for rumblings and adhoc "tweet"-ing of stuffs we like on our blogs. But blogs do not have the feeling that magazines usually invoke. Something to do with the feeling of the flipping of the paper in your hand.

With the introduction of tables and mobile eReaders today, e-Magazines are starting to flood through to everyday consumers. With the digital age, creating a magazine is no longer the sole proprietary rights of the professionals. You and I can also create our very own e-Magazines for relatively low cost thanks to digital tools and services that are available today.

I've been just toying with the idea of creating such a "magazine" just for the fun of it. My research showed that I may need the follow software tools to fulfill my desire :

1. Photoshop - for manipulating images for the publication
2. InDesign - for creating the eMagazine by exporting to ePub format or PDF. The newer version 5.5 can even publish to iPad or mobile devices. Cool

3. A repository to put my publications and to deploy to my fans and followers. I have just started to look at Scribd and Issuu.

My research stopped here for now... I would like to poll to see what is everyone else doing out there... Are there better or cheaper tools ? Leave a comment please.

Google Chrome

2011-11-13T15:36:00.001-08:00

Move aside Internet Explorer and Firefox. Google Chrome's popularity is growing rapidly. It's speed at which it renders and execute flash games on Facebook such as FarmVille or Cityville is an order of magnitude faster than IE or Mozilla.

Even if you are not into Facebook games, the web store where you can download and run various productivity and creative apps (not just extension) is an interesting proposition.

One such Chrome app is called devianArt. Kind of a doodling tool. Way cool for something that's free to use.

Bangkok Floods affecting prices of HDD

2011-11-09T16:32:00.000-08:00

The severe floods that plague Thailand had affected many businesses/manufacturing there. Companies with less outsourcing that is based in Thailand are ripping the benefits of competitors who are affected gaining more business - selling goods at higher prices since there is now a shortage.

For the Hard disk drive business, precision parts within the HDD from various HDD manufacturers may come from the upstream suppliers who are affected by the floods.

In Singapore, we are noticing that internal SATA HDDs are selling at the shops for double the price compared to pre-flood prices. So building a system right now will be more expensive thanks to more costly HDDs.

Best Archival Utility for Windows

2011-10-21T08:03:00.000-07:00

I used to use Arc, Lzh, then pkzip and eventually Winzip came along.
Then came PowerArchiver...

They are all great, but they all became commercial.

However, now there is something free and relatively easy/powerful to use for everyone, and it is free. It's called IZArc - visit their website at http://www.izarc.org/

Give it a try - we would love to hear your comments about what you think about this free tool.

Yet another browser?

2011-09-11T20:03:00.000-07:00

Just came across yet another browser. Chrome Plus. It seems to be a fork of the Chromium project and added some gestures features as well as some IE compatibility.

Anyone to give it a try ?? Let us know what do you think of it?

http://www.chromeplus.org/

LCD - LED Backlid Monitors

2011-07-27T19:56:00.000-07:00

There are so many manufacturers of LCD/LED-backlit monitors these days. But few of them actually have IPS-panels offerings. Even fewer have 27" models that spots a higher color depth and higher resolution models (2560x1440 compared to 1920x1080).

So far only Apple produces the Apple Cinema Display that is both IPS and also 2560x1440. Dell's Ultrasharp monitor is not yet offering LED-backlight, and hence spots a thicker physical profile.

NEC, HP and possibly EIZO probably has some offering, but is too expensive to consider. Samsung hasnt move on to IPS panels yet.

However, LG seems to start pushing it's new IPS series of monitors as shown on their website http://www.ipslcd.com/en/
They currently offers a 23" model which looks fairly attractive. Let's wait a little while to see if they will eventually offer a 27" model.

Investing(Early Adopter) in OSX Lion

2011-07-24T19:55:00.000-07:00

Apple has released its flag-ship OSX Lion together with some refresh of their MacMinis and Cinema Displays featuring Thunderbolt I/O.

Serveral early reports seems to reflect compatibility problems with Network Attached Storage. So if you guys are using NAS, you might want to steer clear of Lion until the storage companies can supply new firmwares to rectify the issue.

For myself, I'm waiting to get my hands on a monitor that is 2560x1440 capable (IPS panel).. but they are all pretty steep in prices. The newer Samsung 1920x1080 3D monitors are going cheaper.. so kinda hard to make a decision there. Any suggestions? Hopefully Thunderbolt will pickup on the monitor front.

As an insurance, I have to keep waiting for the new tech to mature.. but by the time are are mature and affordable, the next new thing is out.. sigh.. I hate to be a spec chaser..

Power hungry iphones/ipads/ipods meets portable power

2011-07-23T10:45:00.000-07:00

With Duracell and Energizer both offering portable rechargeable battery packs for the iphones/ipads/ipods.. there is no excuse for running out of power. They are also affordable...

Will go source for one in Singapore and see if there are just as affordable here as compared to US. Sometimes these imported stuff are sold for much more here...

Free calls to anywhere? (PC-to-PC, PC-to-Phone)

2010-06-13T20:56:00.000-07:00

I guess most people know what Skype is by now. However, Skype do have a cost associated with it's use, especially when calling a landline or mobile. And most recently, if you are calling Skype over 3G. This become silly, since you're already paying 3G connectivity, so why should there be cost of running Skype over 3G. One way to go around this is to have a jail-broken iphone and have special apps to convince the voip apps that they are talking to Wifi when they really are talking to 3G.

But wait, now there is a new kid on the block, that challenges the Skype paradigm. It's called Callarc . It is supposedly supporting Symbian, iPhone, Android and Windows Mobile devices. I look at the website, and have not seen where to get access to the downloads/apps. Time will tell how CallArc will stack up against all the existing VoIP apps.

WDTV Firmware update 1.03

2010-06-11T00:27:00.000-07:00

I haven't visited Western Digital's website for so long that I've missed this WDTV firmware upgrade for such a long long time. But note that now there are 2 generation of the device, so choose your version carefully.

http://www.wdc.com/en/products/wdtv/

What's New?
Release 1.03 (11/9/2009) (includes all previously released updates)

Added video playlist support
Added support for the drive lock function on the new My Passport and My Book external storage devices
Improved metadata support for music. For example, browsing by genre is broken down into artists, then albums, then tracks
Enhanced cover art, album art, and thumbnail support for media files and folders
Fixed bugs reported by the WD TV user community

For those of you who are brave and adventurous, here is the link to the custom firmware. It's enhanced and interesting... it is now called : WDLXTV. It is based off of the 1.03.01 firmware, but with many extra features.

http://b-rad.cc/wdlxtv/

Features included in WDLXTV:
external dvd drive capability with cd-manager-0.7 **fixed**
ext2 & ext3 filesystem support ** (un)officially supported now **
ext2 & ext3 hotplugging
all media (including network shares & optical devices) can be viewed in ‘All Videos’
USB Hub support
mounting of WDTV Optware package (if available) at boot, for access to ~1300 additional programs
mounting of app bin packs (if available) at boot, for plugNplay addtional functionality
mounting of OSD overlay (if available) at boot, for full theming (sample)
limited USB Ethernet support
IP via DHCP (by default, configurable)
Samba/CIFS support aka windows share mounting (requires Samba app pack)
Experimental wireless adapter support (thx to Zorander) (requires wireless-mod-wdlxtv app pack)
Ximeta NDAS device support (requires ndas app pack)
Telnet server
pure-ftp server (requires pure-ftpd app pack)
configurable to automount NFS shares (requires nfs app pack)
user customizable background & screen saver images ** new **
selectable 4/8/10/12/21 video thumb view (see Changelog)
selectable 4/6/8 file list view (see Changelog)
sleectable 10/15 photo/music thumb view (see Changelog)
user customizable init.d scripts for full os customization ** new **
emergency flash recovery

And for the EXTREME upgraders : WDLXTV-Live http://b-rad.cc/wdlxtv-live/
This is based on earlier WD firmware

Features included in WDLXTV-Live:
Movie Sheets
external dvd drive capability with cd-manager-0.7
Web Server
Python, Perl, and PHP
Deluge Bittorrent client w/ web interface
nzbget NZB downloader w/ web interface
SSH server
Telnet server
FTP server
NFS share mounting in local folders and Network Shares
sshfs for mounting a remote server as a local directory
curlftpfs for mounting remote FTP server as a local directory
unionfs for consolidation of multiple directories/locations/servers/etc as one entity
patched samba configuration for better detection of Windows shares
user customizable background & screen saver images (3 backgrounds to choose from)
extra subtitle size options of 44, 48, 50, 56, 60, 64, 68, 72, 76, & 80
selectable 4/8/10/12/21 video thumb view (see Changelog)
selectable 4/6/8 file list view (see Changelog)
sleectable 10/15 photo/music thumb view (see Changelog)
ext2 & ext3 filesystem support ** (un)officially supported now **
device hotplugging
all media (including network shares & optical devices) can be viewed in ‘All Videos’
USB Hub support
mounting of app bin packs (if available) at boot, for plugNplay addtional functionality
mounting of OSD overlay (if available) at boot, for full theming
user customizable init.d scripts for full os customization
emergency flash recovery

Want to create a fancy looking website fast?

2010-06-08T01:32:00.000-07:00

Bought your web hosting? Want to quickly get up and running with a website that looks great and ready to rock?

Most web-hosting companies now come with "Simple Scripts" which is a service to install opensource applications quickly and painless for most people. It even creates the mySQL database and do the linkages from the app to the database.

Usually, there is a whole bunch of applications to choose from, but if blogging is your thing, there is Wordpress. For something more sophiscated, there is always Joomla or Drupal.

But installing a fresh copy of Joomla just give you the basic shipped look that most people get bored!!.. Afterall, you want your own personality to be stamped across all aspect of the site. Thats where pre-built templates come in. There are many sites with free templates available for Joomla, but they are mostly fairly basic.

Then comes paid templates, there are also many choices on the internet.. but I must say I'm most impressed with RocketTheme . They are awesome, especially the newer 2010 ones which are powered by their Gantry framework.

Make my PS3 the ultimate media center

2010-06-01T18:23:00.000-07:00

Having a PS3 in the living room is great for gaming and bluray movies on the big LCD TV. However, sometimes the media you can get your hands on do not match the format that PS3 supports.. which makes PS3 media center experience somewhat jaded for the average consumer.

But behold the PS3 Media Server open-source software ( http://code.google.com/p/ps3mediaserver/)

It is DLNA compliant which means that you simply install this on your PC, Mac or Linux machine where all your media/videos are located at and PS3 will auto detect the existence of the server (if on the same local network/router)... and you will be able to browse all your content like folders on your PS3. Not only that, you can virtually play any video content - yes, even those that PS3 do not support. This is because the software on the PC/Mac/Linux end actually re-encodes the video in real-time to stream to the PS3... yummy..

One disadvantage so far is wireless connection may not be able to handle HD content smoothly... so I'd suggest a wired network connection.

Apps for My Mobile Phone

2010-05-31T17:56:00.000-07:00

With the popularity of the iphone and various new smartphones, I've decided to spin off a new blog called "apps for my mobile phone" or http://afmmp.blogspot.com
This new blog will focus on iPhones & Android phones - as I believe Windows mobile & Symbian will likely die a natural death not too long into the future.

iWant a new iPad

2010-01-27T16:52:00.000-08:00

iPad - the new offering from Apple to attack another revenue stream.
The offering comes in two varieties (one with just Wifi connectivity, and one with 3G to boot), and 3 memory sizes 16GB, 32GB and 64GB. Sadly no SDHC slot to expand memory.

The form factor is target for media/newspaper/magazine based applications. Which means more revenue from these areas can be sold readily to consumers owning the iPad. Kudos to Apple - more stock options to Apple employees!

LED backlit LCD monitors or TV (borderless?)

2009-10-22T09:14:00.000-07:00

Well well.... as usual, Apple launched a bunch of new products just before Microsoft's Windows 7 launch... heh... I must say Apple's new offerings sounds interesting... they're the first to actively push LED backlit LCD displays for all their products from laptops to the iMac - and even a 2650x1440 resolution one for the high-end iMac.

Very nice indeed. The PC arena hasn't even began to push LED technology for LCD displays. Some newer models were supposed to come out from Samsung and Viewsonic are all smaller sized versions (like 22") and certainly no where near 2650x1440 resolutions. Most are HD (1920x1024) at best.

And since Windows 7 is launching tomorrow, we'll see a whole range of touch-enabled screens coming our way too... so... will there be one LED-backlit touch-enabled 27" monitor capable of 2650x1440 resolution? One can hope!

Meanwhile I've come across LG launching the LG SL9000 LED backlit TV.... it's the world's first borderless TV.. looks very nice indeed. It's at least 40" though, so I dont think we can use it as a regular monitor any time soon. The specs of the TV is such :

Specifications SL9000 LED TV

• BORDERLESS™ Design
• Slim 2.9cm
• 3,000,000:1 Mega Contrast Ratio
• TruMotion 100Hz
• Full HD (1920 x 1080)
• Picture Wizard
• AV Mode
• 24p Real Cinema (24p 5:5 pull down)
• Expert Mode (ISF Ready)
• Bluetooth
• HD DivX
• USB 2.0
• Intelligent Sensor II
• Smart Energy Saving Plus
• Clear Voice II
• Invisible Speaker

Windows 7 woos

2009-09-04T21:43:00.000-07:00

Windows 7 is going to be launched soon. I wonder if the HDMI-audio problem will be resolved by then. I've tested beta build 7000 and it worked with older drivers but when moved to beta build 7100 and later, the audio failed to function..

It's certainly a show-stopper for folks having ATI HDMI motherboards and intend to use Win7 for a media-center.

New stuff coming this-and-next month (Sept/Oct) 2009

2009-09-02T04:08:00.000-07:00

The highly anticipated Google Wave is supposedly going to take the world by storm this month - perhaps the next Killer App we've been waiting for. (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Wave for more information.

Microsoft's Windows 7 will hit the streets in October while Intel's new Centrino chipset (Calpella platform - sixth-generation Centrino platform) will supposedly launch on the same date as Windows 7.

HTC's new Hero wif Android ;)

2009-06-24T09:19:00.000-07:00

This is sweet... how will it compete with iPhone which already has tons of apps.

WDTV firmware

2009-06-16T00:45:00.001-07:00

*Update* New version 1.02.07 now available

The Western Digital TV media player is a small and interesting addition to your living room's arsenal of audio/video equipment. I find it to be an adequate performer to play HD content. No need media center PC in the living room any more.

Not only does Western Digital constantly add new stuff to their firmware which is currently found at http://www.wdc.com/en/products/wdtv/, you can also find ENHANCED third party firmware for the device at http://b-rad.cc/wdlxtv. The 3rd party firmware add network capability to the device (assuming you have the necessary hardware to enable it)....

3 thumbs up! ;)

Sony's OLED TV

2009-06-14T21:20:00.001-07:00

Most efficient HD TV yet... XEL-1 by Sony. Uses Organic LED to deliver greatest color depth and efficient power usage ;)

Place to post and share photos...

2009-06-12T10:20:00.000-07:00

I just created a website using Coppermine - folks can use it to manage their own photo albums (private, viewable by registered members or public). Reason why I did it was I ran into the restrictions of number of photos in Flickr, and thought I just put it in my own hosted space.

So for anyone who wants to post and share their photos, give my gallery a try. The URL is http://gallery.aptusventures.com

USB 3.0 and SATA 3.0

2009-06-11T08:32:00.000-07:00

This year it seems there will be technology refresh for major I/O interfaces. Namely the SuperSpeed USB 3.0 and also the SATA ver 3.0 specifications.

USB 3.0 brings speed performance as well as more power to USB devices. SATA 3 will enable 6Gb/s devices, most notably for high capacity hardisks.

We should see USB 3.0 consumer devices some time in 2010 and I certainly think SATA 3.0 will probably hit the market sooner in 2009! ;)

Get ready for high speed IO ;) zoooommmm

Panasonic launches worlds first Class 10 SDHC cards

2009-06-10T01:30:00.000-07:00

Panasonic has launched the worlds first 'Class 10' series of SDHC cards. Class 10 is a new speed specification developed by the SD Card Association, it inherits the attributes of the current 'Class 6' line with further enhanced speed performance of up to 22MB/s. In addition to its Gold series Class 10 cards, it has announced a Silver series of Class 4 cards with a maximum speed of up to 20MB/s. The Gold series will start shipping by the end of this month in 4, 8, 16 and 32 GB capacities.

What is Class 4, 6 ? here is a table :

The following table lists some common ratings and their respective minimum transfer rates.

Rating	Speed (MB/s)	SD Class
6x	0.9	n/a
10x	1.5	n/a
13x	2.0	2
26x	4.0	4
32x	4.8	4
40x	6.0	6
66x	10.0	6
100x	15.0	6
133x	20.0	6
150x	22.5	6
200x	30.0	6
266x	40.0	6
300x	45.0	6

Adamo laptop by Dell

2009-06-07T11:09:00.001-07:00

http://www.AdamoByDell.com

Certainly look stylish and thin... Anyone has one to make a review on?

Asus eee PC prototype running Android on Qualcomm's processor

2009-06-01T04:50:00.000-07:00

Are you in the market for a wireless Router?

2009-06-01T04:34:00.000-07:00

Need to get wireless in your home? Not sure which wireless router to get?

Most people know about wireless a/b/g and even the newer draft-n. Also known as 802.11a/b/g/n

However, not so many people know that Wireless-N can come in 2 varieties.. the 2.4GHz or 5GHz to be exact. Most wireless N routers out there belong to the 2.4GHz version, as it can be downward compatible with the older and slower wireless-G.

Some other routers supports both bands, but can operate only one band at a time (meaning you can choose in firmware, which band 2.4GHz or 5GHz). But if you pick the 5GHz, you no longer have download compatibility to your a/b/g devices.

Now enter a new breed of routers, which can operate with both bands simultaneously. a/b/g devices obviously will go to the 2.4GHz radio, while wireless-N have a choice of two bands to choose from. For low-bandwidth applications you can route it to the 2.4GHz radio while for HD video streaming, go with the 5GHz radio.

Such Dual-band devices are available from most vendors now, like Apple's range of wireless devices Airport Extreme or Timecapsule. Dlink's offering is DIR-855 while Linksys coined up the model WRT600N or WRT610N.

Note that to operate at 5GHz, your devices must also be transmitting in 5Ghz. So in the case of notebook computers with wireless-N (maybe you're out of luck), they will likely be in the 2.4GHz versions. If you are looking for USB wireless-N, be sure to look out for those with dual bands support too!

Windows 7 experience

2009-05-27T08:10:00.000-07:00

Today I'm going to talk about my experience in installation of the Windows 7 platform... Microsoft's next flagship Operating System

Before I dive into the Windows 7 thingy, here is the background of my PC :

I wanted a media center machine, that sits next to a HDTV to play videos so I bought parts and assembled a PC based on the Gigabyte motherboard GA-MA69GM-S2H (cant remember exactly), but it's a AMD platform using X2. It also comes with integrated HDMI port due to it's 690G chipset. I furnished the motherboard with only 1 GB of memory at that time and simply installed XP on it.

However, since then, maybe Hardisk-based mediaplayers has emerged, and they are cheap and noise free. So I wanted to replace the mediacenter with a smaller standalone device. But what do I use the PC for then? I decided to toy with Windows 7.

I decided on Windows 7 beta 7077 x64, and so I went ahead. The installation was pretty straight forward, and the system rebooted a few times during the whole install. After it finally booted up, most things worked except for my DLink USB wireless device, and the audio. Both drivers were easily found on Dlink's and Gigabyte's websites. After installation, the devices worked and I could also get audio from my HDTV.

Then came Windows 7 RC1 x64... so I upgraded the system to the newer RC1... the upgrading process is a little daunting and long... almost like the full install - except you do not have to reinstall all the software. Sadly, after the system finally booted up, I found that the audio no longer worked. Looking at the Device manager, the audio drivers and devices seem to be working, but there is simply no sound output from the TV.

And this stage, I tried re-installing all the various drivers from ATi/AMD and Realtek... all not helping to resolve the issue. I scout the internet, googled to death the words "Windows 7 x64 HDMI audio"... but I do not see any fix or people with my exact issues...

So at last, Windows 7 RC1 x64 has audio problems which kinda surprised me since the Beta version worked flawlessly.

I will post most if I can get the problem fixed!

until then.. adios!

List of useful / must have applications/websites

2009-05-14T20:27:00.000-07:00

The list can be found at the forum .

Sony HDR-TG5 - Smallest full HD camcorder

2009-04-05T03:34:00.000-07:00

Sony will make available the HDR-TG5 full HD (1920x1080) 10x optical zoom camcorder in May 2009 starting from the hefty price tag of around US$1000. The device comes with built-in 16GB of memory and also spot GPS for geo-tagging - neat!

The unit although pricey may steer high-end customers away from Flip devices (now owned by Cisco) or Creative's VadoHD offerings. This is true for Sony die-hards who wants true HD resolution and optical zoom to boot. 16gb will certainly add more recording time to the device as well.

Brand New iPhone Forum

2009-04-01T07:08:00.001-07:00

There is a brand new iPhone ideas forum at Aptus Ventures.

The forum serves as a scratch pad to get ideas for new Apps that iPhone users may want.

Projection on mid-air

2009-03-31T18:51:00.000-07:00

What do you want for your iPhone/IPOD Touch?

2008-11-06T05:48:00.000-08:00

What kind of applications do users want for their new IPhone or IPod Touch? We know that Apple's SDK has some restrictions on what a programmer can or cannot access. For example, a Profile Manager to handle Ringtones, Volume controls etc is out of the question for now - unless you use a jail-broken iPhone/iPod touch.

So are you a proud owner of one of such devices? What kind of killer Apps do you want for your device? Please comment, as I am planning to assemble a small team to produce the application you want! Come share with us what you want.

Hardisk Recovery

2008-10-29T03:21:00.000-07:00

Today I'm going to talk about hard-disk failures. More and more people are storing important data into huge hard-disks in excess of 200gb in sizes. And when the drives fail (and trust me - they eventually do fail), most people do not have backups and cry over the data-loss.

So what can we do about it? Several things:

1. Backup,backup and backup
2. Drive maintenance and monitoring

1. You can just do file backup - just backup your data into another hard-disc or DVD-R
or you can do image backup where the whole hard-disk is copied bit for bit into an image file where you can store elsewhere.

2. Drive maintenance comes in many forms
a. Defragment your files - reduces wear and tear - hence good for the drive.
b. Monitoring drive error rate and also to strengthen the magnetic signal on the drive.

So what kind of software tools we can use to get the results we want?

1. Macrium Backup <-- I'm testing the free version of this so far. Some people say Norton Ghost would do the job. I do not have a definitive answer to this yet.

2a. Windows have a built-in defragment tool, but if you want something more fancy, try out Diskeeper, OO Defrag, Perfect Disk etc

2b. SpinRite <- a friend swears by this tool, small yet effective.

G1 Love Rap

2008-10-20T22:39:00.000-07:00

Everything 64-bits

2008-10-11T21:11:00.001-07:00

It's been quite a while since Vista has been launched and enough time for the OS to mature and iron out some of the major flaws. I am just curious whether is it time to bite the bullet and move to Vista Ultimate 64-bits.

The main advantage is probably the memory addressing capability. I would like to start a discussion group and perhaps even come out with a "reference" Vista x64 setup with a default suite of must have software :

So far, I think the setup should be something like

1. Vista Ultimate x64 SP1
2. Graphics drivers (Nvidia or ATI)
3. MS Office 2007 ( <-- not sure about this one, need comment)
4. Adobe CS4
5. Norton Antivirus x64
6. Nero x86 (32-bit)
7. K-lite mega codec pack (32-bit)
8. K-lite codec pack (64-bit)
9. uTorrent (32-bit) or maybe Artic Torrent (64-bit)
10. isobuster (32-bit)
11. PowerArchiver 2009 (32-bit)
12. ........ more to be added

Starhub blocking/shaping Bit-torrent traffic

2008-10-09T10:03:00.001-07:00

This is probably old news, but have anyone compare download speeds of Singtel vs Starhub for their broadband service?

http://www.hardwarezone.com.my/news/view.php?id=10759&cid=8 reports that study shows that Starhub blocks or throttle network traffic for BT.

and when HWZ reached them for comment, the response was

"It is a known fact that P2P traffic is bandwidth intensive and can use up significant network resources. Hence, all ISPs employ bandwidth management tools to ensure that all traffic is given equal priority such that the service expectations of their online users are met. We do not specifically block P2P traffic. Like all ISPs in the world, we do, however, employ bandwidth management tools to ensure that all our customers receive an optimal surfing experience."

which sounds like the long answer to YES, they do block traffic, not just P2P SPECIFICALLY.
hmm.. maybe I should rethink my ISP choice

OLED keyboard - Optimus Maximus

2008-10-08T05:53:00.000-07:00

The multi-talented Optimus Maximus keyboard by Art. Lebedev Studio is finally available for ordering - though not at an affordable price (USD1742+)for the everyday Joe.

A demo of how the keyboard can/will function can be found at this URL. A must for the serious Photoshop fan!

Another upcoming product from the company is called the Upravlator. I think it may be more affordable and perhaps be more successful than the expensive Optimus Maximus - yet to be seen but I think by mapping important keys to the device, a professional user can get to frequently used function quite rapidly - while still having the standard keyboard at his disposal.

Color of Chrome

2008-09-03T11:02:00.000-07:00

Yes.. Google has launch it's beta browser called Chrome. Usage of Chrome seem to be doing very well for a first launch product.

First impression of Chrome? Speedy.. browser startup time is impressive, and also java-script execution seem too be snappy.

Where can you get Chrome? http://www.google.com/chrome ... where else did you think?

Why do we need yet another browser? Well, Google wants Chrome to run applications in this new browser... applications such as Google Docs..

Go test it out, and see if Chrome will replace your Safari, IE or Firefox browsers....

What is PWN ?

2008-08-07T03:32:00.000-07:00

PWN is a word that is derived from "OWN". It could be that PWN was created by the frequent typo if the word OWN since the p and o keys are next to each other on a standard keyboard.

Engadget reported that the Pwnage Tool 2.0.2 will be ready for the iphone3G. More information about the tool can be found at http://wikee.iphwn.org/

So what is Pwnage?

Pwnage is based on an exploit found in the lower levels of the iPhone/iTouch bootloader.
With the Pwnage tool, we can now patch iPhone device to allow unsigned code. What this means is that once pwned, you will be able to install custom mad .ipsw files from iTunes into your device.

More info on Pwnage is found here http://wikee.iphwn.org/s5l8900:pwnage

Blu-ray Entertainment Systems from Pioneer

2008-06-26T02:05:00.000-07:00

LX01BD: Blu-ray Disc Home Cinema System with Omni-Directional Speakers
LX03BD: Blu-ray Disc Home Cinema System with 5.1 AV Receiver and Satellite Speakers
LX08BD: Blu-ray Disc Home Cinema System with 5.1 AV Receiver
LX03: DVD Home Cinema System with Satellite Speakers

All these systems will debut in Oct/Nov 2008.

But for folks who just want a rock solid Blu-ray player ? How about the Profile 2.0 compliant BDP-LX91 ?

Features include 1080p24, HDMI 12-bit Deep Color Support. DTS-HD Master Audio / Dolby True HD compatibility and professional-quality Wolfson Digital Audio Converters. Looks like Europe may get a taste of this monster before any part of the world.

For you movie buffs in Singapore , cheaper Blu-ray movie titles can be had !! If interested, leave comments with your email for enquiries.

HTC Diamond

2008-06-18T10:09:00.001-07:00

Sony Ericsson C905 Cyber-shot

2008-06-18T09:47:00.000-07:00

Quadband GSM with EGDE and HSDPA/UMTS slider phone with 8.1megapixel camera with Xenon and LED flashes! Drool. It even has an image stabilizer, face detection, and autofocus to boot. And for all you GPS fans, you can even "geotag" photos you take with the phone. Other features include a 2.4-inch scratch-resistant display, an included 2GB Memory Stick Micro, and Wi-Fi and Bluetooth (with A2DP support).

Will the camera on this phone be a viable replacement for a pocket digital camera?

But will folks still be swayed to the Apple Iphone camp ? The touch interface is certainly a compelling proposition. If only the IPhone has a 6mp camera to compete. The choice is yours!

Music compositon on a computer

2008-06-05T09:55:00.000-07:00

I haven't dabble with music composition for a while. And I just came across "Tube It" - a homemade song made by Renetto of YouTube fame.

The video was made entirely with a Mac with the built-in iSight and the music composed/made using GarageBand.

So it made me remember some of the tools that the PC world has too. Like Sony's Acid Pro or PGMusic's Band-in-a-Box. Seems like music is converging to Loops.. ha ha

It'll be interesting to see what the new Band-in-A-Box version 2008.5 can produce... I've seen the 2004 version and was quite impressed by the software. Now many years later, I'm sure there are lots of new features to keep everyone happy.

I've done one "loopy" piece which I called "PurePlay", it's more like a short medley.

boomp3.com

Mathematical Equations

2008-06-01T10:54:00.001-07:00

Equation 1
Human = eat + sleep + work + enjoy
Donkey = eat + sleep
Therefore,
Human = Donkey + work + enjoy
Therefore,
Human - enjoy = Donkey + work
In other words,
Human that don't know enjoy = Donkey that work
============ ========= ========= ========= ========= ===
Equation 2
Men = eat + sleep + earn money
Donkeys = eat + sleep
Therefore,
Men = Donkeys + earn money
Therefore,
Men - earn money = Donkeys
In other words,
Men that don't earn money = Donkeys
============ ========= ========= ========= ========= ====
Equation 3
Women = eat + sleep + spend
Donkeys = eat + sleep
Therefore,
Women = Donkeys + spend
Therefore,
Women - spend = Donkeys
In other words,
Women that don't spend = Donkeys
============ ========= ========= ========= ========= =====
To Conclude:
From Equation 2 and Equation 3
Men that don't earn money = Women that don't spend.
So, Men earn money not to let women become Donkeys! (Postulate 1)
And, Women spend not to let men become Donkeys! (Postulate 2)
So, we have?
Men + Women = Donkeys + earn money + Donkeys + spend money
Therefore from Postulates 1 and 2, we can conclude
Man + Woman = 2 Donkeys that live happily together!

Apple IPOD 2nd Gen with GPS

2008-05-19T03:17:00.000-07:00

So we've got it on authority that the second-gen iPhone is already well into testing, and numerous units are floating around in super secret pockets. A trusted source got a chance to check one out, here's what we've heard.

* The first thing people will notice: the 2nd gen iPhone will be about the same size and shape as the first gen.
* It will, of course, have 3G. And proper GPS!
* The most noticeable physical difference is back of the phone is no longer metal -- the whole thing is glossy black, from top to bottom. The volume buttons are now chrome.
* Because it's got a little less metal to deal with, it doesn't have quite as many angular edges. The battery is (still) not removable.
* The phone itself will be slightly thicker than the first gen device.
* The headphone jack will no longer be recessed, and will finally be flush with the body.
* The device itself uses roughly the same size and resolution screen as the first generation product.
* No solid word on battery life or storage capacity.

It could ship (or be introduced) as early as July -- but it's worth noting that none of this is necessarily finalized, and any of it could change between now and its introduction. You really never know with Apple!

News from Engadget

Creating video slideshow with your digital photos

2008-05-17T00:50:00.000-07:00

Are you a photography buff? Want to share your photos to your friends in a creative manner, but do not have the time to do it?

Here comes a tool on the web that will create that animated video for you instantly and automatically. Just upload your photos, your music, and the sequence is created for you.

What is the website? http://www.animoto.com Whats more, they have a referral program that gets you free access if your downline signs up. Here is a demo of a sample slide I did :

http://animoto.com/play/gVv21m4GS9jZGy18ogUOew

Here is my referral code :redqwuna

Iphone coming to Singapore via Singtel

2008-05-17T00:38:00.000-07:00

Thats Right, the Apple IPhone is coming to Singapore officially via Singtel. I wonder what kind of plans Singtel will try to rip Singaporeans off with! We'll wait and see.

Something not binary

2008-04-30T20:06:00.001-07:00

Here is something that is non-binary... but certainly Juicy. It is a fruit that is called Mangosteen, also coined as the "Queen" of all fruit!

New IPOD Touch - now for VoIP ? (or not?)

2008-04-14T10:29:00.000-07:00

Hello IPOD Touch owners,

Recently some of my good friends got me an 8-gb IPOD Touch for my birthday. I started to wonder if the music playing device can do much more - like doing voice notes or even Voice over IP (eg. like Skype). Then I realise that the IPOD Touch does not have a Microphone built-in like the IPhone. As I was searching around the web, I come across a group of hackers who have successfully mass produced Mic dongle that fits into the IPOD docking socket... very cool. http://touchmods.wordpress.com/
As you can see from their website, they even have software that would allow your IPOD Touch to interface to SIPs and hence about to do VoIP calls.

As I did more research.. I've discovered a EVEN better method of VoIP WITHOUT the need of the Microphone. And it will work great for folks in Singapore. I'll detail this out in my next article once I've perform sufficient tests - so stay tune!!

Binary Clip, watch the chair

2008-04-14T01:19:00.000-07:00

Can a hot chick charge your GADGET?

2008-04-09T08:28:00.001-07:00

If you have a hot and sexy GF, just bring her to the beach, and let her put on the Solar Bikini, then you can simply charge any gadgets that you want by her. One of the cool business idea is that you let your girl walk around the beach to attract other geeks to come over for charging their gadgets, which you can then ask for a pretty high fee for doing that.

The Solar Bikini is covered all over with solar cells, which it can soak up sunlight and make use of solar power to charge your USB gadgets. It’s got a USB connector near the hip part, which you can just plug in your iPod or any USB gadgets. One pretty good use for hot chicks, is wearing it and lying on the beach, connect a USB beverage chiller to it to keep the already cold drink from getting warm!

Hot Girl to Satisfy any Blogger

2008-04-08T20:26:00.001-07:00

See this photo of this young and hot girl right here :

What has a hot girl got to do with everything binary? It's an experiment to verify what T3 and other technology magazines have been doing is workable. Besides, Binary means One and Zero. You go figure out what One means and what Zero means in this instance! haha

Only the results of the popularity will tell me one way or another. Will the results sway my publishing methods? Perhaps... getting pretty girls to hold UP electronics gadgets focus everyone's attention on the gadget... ya.. right!

Singapore StreetDirectory move aside!!?!

2008-04-08T20:02:00.000-07:00

Here comes http://sg.shownearby.com/ , a competitor? Something to search for your favourite food in the neighbourhood? Give it a try and comment your experience!

Creative supports Apple's IPOD

2008-04-08T19:44:00.000-07:00

http://sg.creative.com/products/product.asp?category=209&subcategory=668&product=16185

The XDock, what if you want your music playing all around the house? That's something multiple Ipods (one in each room) would not help. So in comes the Xdock, a device that can wirelessly transmit to the X-Fi Wireless Receiver units that can send the music signals to powered speakers in each room.

Panasonic DMC FX500

2008-04-08T03:00:00.000-07:00

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/specs/Panasonic/panasonic_dmcfx500.asp

This camera spots a ultra wide 25mm lens with up to 5x optical zoom (125mm).

The Touch screen is one innovation that takes photography to the next level - not just for menu control, but for focusing. Very cool.

I'm waiting to hear about image quality. Some people say that Fujifilm brand of cameras using their unique CCD sensors can offer better looking images at the end. I wonder if regular sensors can matched the so-called High Dynamic Range sensors from Fujifilm.

Amazon.com Widgets

The smallest microprocessor from the largest chipmaker

2008-04-03T07:41:00.000-07:00

Intel Corp is rolling out five new Atom microprocessors and a collection of chips designed for portable gadgets that access the Internet and for other uses, as the world’s largest chipmaker uses its marketing muscle to help create a new market. The low-power, tiny Atom chips will come in speeds of up to 1.86 gigahertz and Intel says that speed, plus other technologies designed into the chip, make it the fastest processor that consumes 3 watts of electricity or less. The recently named Atom family of processors is part of Intel’s effort to have chips designed with Intel Architecture — the fundamental blueprint of its semiconductors — in myriad computing devices — from what it calls mobile Internet devices, or MIDs, all the way up to high-performance computers.

That is where the Atom and Centrino Atom, come in. The Centrino Atom also includes a single-chip with integrated graphics called Intel System Controller Hub that allows for PC-like capabilities and long battery life for devices that fit in a user’s pocket. Major device makers are already planning to adopt Atom, with more than 20 manufacturers coming out with products using the processor. As far as MIDs, those will start shipping in May. Intel expects about 30 percent of those MIDs to have both WiFi — short range high-speed wireless Internet access — and WiMax — longer-range high-speed access designed into them. MID device makers include Asus, Fujitsu, Lenovo, NEC, Panasonic, Samsung, Sharp and Toshiba, among others, and prices will probably average about $500, with some priced higher than that or lower, depending on the functions.

Wideband deployment - when will Singapore do the same?

2008-04-03T07:27:00.000-07:00

Starhub has been touting DOCSIS 3.0 cable modems for some time now, but obviously we do not see the type of bandwidth that the speed monster can deliver. It is called WIDEBAND rather than typical broadband. Look at the news below from US:

Although we just heard that Comcast's DOCSIS 3.0 rollout was on track for 2009, folks in the Twin Cities region now have exclusive bragging rights for an undisclosed window of time. Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota have become the first markets to have access to an all new "extreme" broadband (or wideband, as it were) connection, which promises 50Mbps down / 5Mbps up. As expected, the carrier isn't being modest about the launch, claiming that users can suck down a 4GB HD movie "in about ten minutes," compared to "more than six hours" on a 1.5Mbps DSL connection. The newfound speed won't come cheap -- for residential users, look to lay down $149.95 per month for the privilege. Even if you aren't springing for the good stuff, current customers in the area will have their existing broadband connections hastened gratis, with 6Mbps / 384Kbps users moving up to 1Mbps uploads and 8Mbps / 768Kbps users seeing 2Mbps uploads. Kudos, Twin Cities -- you just made most of America sick with envy.

Photoshop Express Live

2008-03-27T21:26:00.000-07:00

https://www.photoshop.com/express

Yes.. Photoshop on the web. Perhaps a Flickr competitor? Who knows. It is based on Flash-9 and can do simple stuff like cropping and resizing. However, no layers or really heavy stuff that the Photoshop proper can deliver.

Good for simple blog photos I guess!

New 8.9 Inch Eee PC from Asus

2008-03-26T01:36:00.000-07:00

Here we have it, confirmation that the second generation Eee PC will in fact feature an 8.9-inch (resistive) touchscreen display. Kevin Lin, ASUS VP of Sales, says that the US$500 (starting price) Eee PC will begin shipping in May or June in 8GB to 12GB options with "possible GPS support." That's the same time ASUS plans to begin shipping its $200 Eee Dekstop, aka the E-DT. Look, we're happy with your success with the Eee brand ASUS, but when are we getting our $200 Eee PC?

BenQ 24 stealth LCD monitor

2008-03-17T04:09:00.001-07:00

Really sleek looking "bomber" inspired design. Let's see what price this baby will fetch when it is released.

Marketing Pond - Sink or Swim

2008-03-16T21:41:00.000-07:00

Marketing Pond shows You how to do Forward Marketing.
You'll learn How to Swim in the online marketing world
instead of sink. An easy, almost effortless system that
works Smart. After all, it IS about working Smarter, not
harder. Get the Pond Today...Totally FREE!
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That little Froggie went to Market.
That little Froggie went Broke.
THIS little Froggie got the Pond and
Made Money FREE At Home.
http://www.marketingpond.com/ref.cgi/38356/

Do you feel like You are Drowning in a lake of bills?
Every time you turn around someone is charging you a fee?
The New Generation is here...... EVERYTHING FREE!
http://www.marketingpond.com/ref.cgi/38356/

You Want to Make Money.
You Are Broke.
It Takes Money to Make Money...OR does it?
NOT at the Pond.....No Money Needed!
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Quest for the best Media Center for your living room - and beyond

2008-03-14T22:26:00.000-07:00

What are your choices for a computer-based Media Center (MCE) in your living room?
The most standard and obvious ones are
1. Mac with FrontRow
2. PC with Windows MCE or Vista
3. Windows with 3rd party MCE software
4. Linux with opensource MCE software

In the quest to find out what is the best, I came across LinuxMCE which promises lots of bells and whisles including Home Automation features like connecting to Z-Wave devices for appliance or lighting controls.

So I decided to be brave and try to install LinuxMCE on my existing Windows XP computer sitting in the living room running on a Dual-core X2 AMD CPU with the 690G chipset.

I will not go into details of the install, but the conclusion is the install is not straight forward and has just too many non-working components. I cant even get the install to go into the right resolution(720p) that I wanted, and the text were too tiny to proceed.

Bottom line - LinuxMCE is not ready for deployment yet, not until they can sort out the install and at least certify the software on a few standard video and audio capabilities.

LCD news

2008-03-09T18:54:00.000-07:00

I've saw this HANS-spree LCD monitor in one of the shops in Sim Lim Square (SLS). It's a 28-inch 1920x1200 model. It's going for $999. Sounds interesting, considering a 24-inch at Dell is going for $559.

DELL has 24" LCD monitor on sale for IT show 2008

2008-03-08T07:41:00.000-08:00

For only S$559, a 24" LCD with 1920x1200 resolution can be had. But note, the offer is only until 10th March 2008! so act now!

24" LCD monitor

2008-01-16T17:54:00.000-08:00

The 24-inch Samsung SyncMaster 2493HM, which features a 1,920 x 1,200 resolution, 10,000:1 (dynamic) contrast ratio, five-millisecond response time, 400 cd/m2 brightness, 160-degree viewing angles and DVI / HDMI inputs to boot.The unit also include built-in multimedia speakers and stunning good looks, and best of all, it can become yours right this moment for US$599 or S$900 although it's doubtful such pricing will be so attractive in Singapore

Macbook Air

2008-01-15T21:09:00.000-08:00

Apple's latest ultra-portable notebook retailing in Singapore starting at S$2988for the 1.6ghz model and S$5088 for the 1.8ghz model(with 64gb SSD).

Note : No user replaceable anything (eg. battery, memory, HDD). No Ethernet por, No Optical drive. Only ONE USB port - go figure!

Logitech diNovo keyboard

2008-01-05T02:45:00.000-08:00

diNovo Edge
Many of you must have heard about Logitech's premium wiress hi-tech and stylish looking keyboard called diNovo Edge which sparks features such as Rechargeable and TouchDisc Scroll Pad.

Logitech is not stopping there, they plan to launch dNovo Mini, which is more portable and possibly will sit in your living room more comfortably and acts as a remote for your media center PC.

CES

2008-01-03T03:58:00.001-08:00

Wah.. Dell with it's Crystal display and LG/Philips with their Electronic paper?

These displays are extremely energy efficient, only using power when the image changes. Additionally the displays are extremely thin, less than 300 micrometers(㎛). The images displayed are comparable in quality to printed pages.

Nokia N80 IE update

2007-12-29T10:47:00.000-08:00

After (re)flashing the firmware, the "please insert SIM" error message didnt appear yet. So I'm keeping my figures crossed and hope that solved the problem!

Nokia N80 IE

2007-12-29T01:04:00.000-08:00

My Nokia N80 Internet Edition phone started to give me trouble today. The phone mysteriously say that there is No SIM card in the phone and insist that I insert a SIM card.

My first reaction is to "reboot" the phone by powering off and on. That seem to rectify the problem - or at least I thought it did. Moments later when I wanted to use the phone, it again showed the same "Insert SIM card" message. I was annoyed, and hence not over power off the phone, but removed the battery and SIM card, and re-assemble them back together again.
This time, the power up looks ok again and I thought the problem is resolved once again - perhaps a loose SIM?

Another 20mins later when I wanted to use the phone again, the same error occurred. I'm really annoyed now - I repower the phone and it appears ok again. When I went home, and was looking at the phone, it mysterously rebooted - and after rebooting, it says no SIM again. I rebooted a few times and the problem is resolved temporarily.

I've just backed-up the data on the phone (just in case), and then re-flashed the Firmware even though I've already got the latest firmware V 5.0719.0.2 dated 24 May 2007 RM-92.
I'll give further updates is the phone continues to give problem. To check your firmware, just key in *#0000# code.

Favourite Gadget

2007-12-28T05:53:00.000-08:00

What is your favourite gadget? ipod? iphone? zune? webcam? gps?

EverythingBinary Wishes you a very Merry Christmas

2007-12-25T08:15:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas. It has been almost 3 months since this Blog started.
The readership hasnt reach any level yet. In any case, it is the holiday season, and we all can be thankful for what we have.

What will this "EverythingBinary" blog evolve to? I'm not sure. I'll probably try to get this into a more specific forum type thingy rather than a blog. Any comments welcome.

Interesting list of Graphics software

2007-12-24T05:35:00.000-08:00

http://forum.thegamecreators.com/?m=forum_view&t=112059&b=3

The interesting ones to me so far are :

http://www.artofillusion.org - ART OF ILLUSION - Open source program used for modelling, animation and raytracing that has many features contained within high-level commercial software. Well worth checking out.

http://www.leadwerks.com/ - 3D WORLD STUDIO - $59.95 For Standard Edition - The absolute best world creating program available.

3D Animation Software

2007-12-23T08:20:00.000-08:00

I would like to poll the population to see what 3D package is the easiest to pick up for a beginner :

1. 3D Studio Max

2. Maya

3. Daz 3D

4. Others

Please leave your comments. I've been toying with the free Daz 3D, but can't figure out how to use it.

Power over Ethernet (PoE)

2007-12-21T05:50:00.000-08:00

Homeplug for your home?

2007-12-21T00:25:00.000-08:00

Anyone interested in gettng 200Mbps Homeplug (powerline networking).

HomePlug AV compliantISO/IEC 802-3 (ANSI/IEE802.3i) 10 BASE-T EthernetIEE802.3u, 100BASE-TX Fast Ethernet

200 Mbps HomePlug AV1. Power:100~240V AC, Universal2. Power Consumption: 4.5W (Maximum)3. Dimensions: 103 x 72 x 39mm

---

DimDim to challenge WebEx?

2007-12-20T07:11:00.001-08:00

http://www.dimdim.com/ A free web-based conferencing software?

US$400 35x optical zoom DV camcoder?

2007-12-20T04:20:00.001-08:00

If you're still shooting MiniDV then you'll be stoked by this, the budget GD-D850 DV camcorder from JVC. This "Baby Movie" cam features a 2.7-inch LCD with auto-adjusting brightness, 16:9 or 4:3 NTSC recordings, and the ability to capture your little Poopie Puddles in as little as 1-lux of light without the eerie, green glow of a spoiled debutante. It also features a 35x optical zoom for peeping things you probably shouldn't. Expected to hit Japanese retail priced at ¥45,000 (about $397) in January -- then the US quickly thereafter we presume.

Apple website

2007-12-20T04:15:00.000-08:00

If you're an Apple fan, check out http://www.9to5mac.com/

Nanowire Battery 10 times better than Li-ion cells

2007-12-19T06:27:00.000-08:00

Stanford claims its latest advances in silicon nanowires have it building batteries with 10 times the capacity of existing Li-ion cells. Apparently people have been trying to stuff silicon -- which has a much higher capacity than existing materials -- into a battery for decades, but since it swells when charged with positively charged lithium and shrinks during use, the silicon has a tendency to "pulverize." Who knew batteries could be so dramatic? Oh, right. The advancement at Standford, led by Yi Cui, builds the battery in the form of silicon nanowires, giving the silicon room to grow and shrink without damage. A patent is being filed, and Yi Cui is already considering forming a company or licensing the tech to a manufacturer.

D-Link DIR-655 Wireless N Router update

2007-12-19T02:22:00.000-08:00

D-Link Singapore just released the firmware for it's Gigabit Wireless-N Router DIR-655 bringing the version number to 1.10. The firmware is available for download in it's website at http://www.dlink.com.sg/ . Please note that firmware for US version of the router is not to be used for Singapore bought routers. The most current US firmware is at version 1.11

Product Description:

BEST-IN-CLASS FEATURES

The D-Link Xtreme N™ Gigabit Router (DIR-655) is a draft 2.0 802.11n compliant device that delivers up to 14x faster speeds* and 6x farther range* than 802.11g while staying backward compatible with 802.11g devices. Connect the Xtreme N Gigabit Router to a cable or DSL modem and provide high-speed Internet access to multiple computers, game consoles, and media players. Create a secure wireless network to share photos, files, music, videos, printers, and network storage.

Powered by Xtreme N™ technology and equipped with three external antennas, this router provides superior wireless coverage for larger homes and offices, or for users running bandwidth-intensive applications. The DIR-655 also includes a 4-port 10/100/1000 Gigabit switch that connects Gigabit wired devices for enjoying lag-free network gaming and faster file transfers.

XTREME N™ ROUTER BENEFITS
Intelligent Wireless Prioritization Technology.
Xtreme N technology allows for farther home coverage*.
Secure your wireless network using advanced WPA™ or WPA2™ encryption.
Easy to get started with D-Link’s new Quick Router Setup Wizard.
Supports Good Neighbor Policy – will not interfere with other wireless networks.
Backward compatible with 802.11g devices including game consoles and digital media players.

The Good Ear Boy

2007-12-18T09:58:00.000-08:00

Finally, you no longer have to mess with annoying bone conducting headsets to get your message heard in noisy environments. A Japanese company called NS-ELEX has created a new type of earpiece / microphone called the "e-Mimi-kun" (good ear boy), which utilizes air vibrations in the ear to deliver your voice to the other end of the line. Apparently, the design reduces outside noise by a factor of six, and a Sanyo chip used in the device further reduces sound levels, making things up to ten times quieter. The earpiece can be tethered to a phone, or work wirelessly via Bluetooth. No release date or pricing info available right now, but we're pretty sure stock brokers will snap these up like hot-cakes.

-From Engadget

Can Ear Phones go Wireless?

2007-12-17T03:12:00.000-08:00

Apparently YES, Look at this product from Kleer (another fabless semiconductor company) :
http://www.kleer.com/pages/wirelessearphones.html

It's suppose to provide up to 10 hrs of listening pleasure out of these tiny burgers!

Photodex's Proshow Producer 3.2

2007-12-13T03:46:00.000-08:00

Launch just recently, this version of the slide-show making software takes another leap forward. See the demo of one of it's new advanced features : http://www.photodex.com/sharing/spotlight/demoshows_advancedmotion.html

Blu-ray BD9

2007-12-13T03:10:00.001-08:00

You can burn your HD content on a regular DVD media, and still be able to play back the HD conent using your Blu-ray player. The format is called BD9. Nero 8 should be able to create such a format for you.

Windows 7

2007-12-12T22:24:00.000-08:00

Windows 7 (formerly codenamed Blackcomb, then Vienna) is a future version of Microsoft Windows. It is expected to be the successor to Windows Vista. Microsoft has confirmed that the planned development time frame is at least three years, putting the release date around 2010. On July 20, 2007, Microsoft confirmed that Windows 7 is "the internal name for the next version of the Windows Client OS".

On December 11, 2007, Hilton Locke, who worked on the Tablet PC team at Microsoft and is currently working in the Windows PowerShell reported that Windows 7 will have new touch features.

“ I will say that if you are impressed by the "touch features" in the iPhone, you'll be blown away by what's coming in Windows 7. Now if only we could convince more OEMs that Windows Touch Technology is going to drive their sales.

Ricoh Camera

2007-12-12T03:44:00.000-08:00

Singapore Post is having a Christmas promotion right now. One of the offer is the Ricoh R5 featuring a 7.24 megapixel CCD and a whooping 7.1x Optical Zoom (28mm - 200mm).

The Offer price of S$348 even includes freebies like 2GB SD card, mini tripod, cleaning kit and screen protector.

The 1st 500 customers may even get a free Binoculars (worth $19.90)

Whats the catch? Cant cash and carry. The camera will be delivered!

Any comments on this offer?

Merry Christmas

2007-12-11T05:54:00.001-08:00

http://www.thecompassgroup.biz/merryxmas.swf

Toshiba's SCiB by March 2008

2007-12-11T01:59:00.000-08:00

Press Release

The main merit of SCiB (Super Charge Ion Battery)
1. High safety

SCiB is difficult to cause the internal short circuit and the thermal runaway with the new cathode material and the adoption etc. of the electrolyte of the high flash point whose thermal safety is high, it is the electric battery whose possibility of explosion and ignition quite is low.

2. Long-lived efficiency

After approximately 3000 charging and cycles due to quick charge condition, capacity decrease is under only 10%. Approximately, repetition charging and which exceeds 5000 times being possible, 10 years or more it can use over again with the charge of 1 day 1 time.

3. Boosting charge efficiency

It can guarantee high safety and because heavy-current charge (50A) it is possible, the SCiB cell, both standard module, it can complete the charge of 90% or more of battery capacity in 5 minutes.

4. Takaide power efficiency

We have the input/output efficiency where like the electric double layer capacitor is high, it is optimum to the use whose big power is necessary.

5. Low temperature efficiency

Minus 30 ℃ and sufficient discharge is possible with low temperature environment, it is suitable in the use where use at cold area is anticipated.

2007-12-10T08:47:00.000-08:00

ARTiGO, the fancy name given to the new barebone by VIA will give the world another ultra-compact desktop PC to the consumers.

The "ARTIGO Pico-ITX " builder kit, is a complete VIA-based system that you can snap together in the privacy of your own home. The bundle includes a Pico-ITX motherboard with a VIA C7 1GHz CPU, support for up to 1GB of RAM, IDE and eSATA connectors, VGA output, four USB ports, audio line in / out jacks, and 10/100 ethernet. The package includes everything but a hard drive and memory, and is available right now for around US$300.

http://www.via.com.tw/en/products/embedded/artigo/index.jsp

Blue Screen Compositing

2007-12-08T21:27:00.000-08:00

Youtube selection

2007-12-08T20:42:00.000-08:00

Hi guys,

http://sinlg.dlinkddns.com:8000/base/forumdisplay.php?fid=25

Here is a forum where selected youtube videos are posted. You may wish to post videos that you think the community would be interested in.

Cheers
Steven