3D Printing is the Future

3D TVs and cameras were a dud. But there is another 3D technology that will more likely be successful and have far-reaching repercussions in the future - 3D printing.

A 3D printer is like your inkjet printer on steroids. Instead of printing an image or text on a paper, a 3D printer will can create a three dimensional object. And instead of an image out of ink on paper, your final product is the molded item that is made of plastic or other materials like metal or vinyl.

Out of paper clips? No problem - print your own paper clips. Need a case for your iPhone? Find an iPhone case, and customize and print one for yourself. 

Mini 3D Printer

The average consumer may not yet embrace this technology as it the printer itself and the raw materials are currently cost-prohibitive for practical use, but the business enterprises will more likely adopt this technology first. It will speed up and help easily customize production.

But as 3D printing becomes more prevalent, it is not far fetched to see this technology in homes as well. Printers will most probably decrease over time, and 3D layouts can possibly become more ubiquitous that anyone can gain access to.

Where to get Paid and Free Ebooks

I discussed ebook readers in a previous post, and I would like to expand on where to get or download digital books.

You can purchase ebooks in sites such as Kobo, Barnes & Noble, and Amazon books, and once paid, the digital books will be sent to you.

However, there are many sites that offer free ebooks in various ebook formats that you can download from (these are actually what got me started on ebooks).

The top site is Project Gutenberg, which stores over 40,000 books that have become part of the public domain.

I also frequent Manybooks.net. Like Project Gutenberg, it provides public domain books as well as new authors who wish to distribute their books for free.

If you have a Kindle or Kindle app in your phone or tablet, you can download free Kindle books as well. Sites such as Hundred Zeros and One Hundred Free Books show an updated list of Kindle ebooks that you can download for free and later on read in your Kindle or Kindle app.

Dual Sim Android Phone Recommendation

Mobile phone capabilities have come a long way. I am particularly happy that dual sim capabilities of mobile phones have grown leaps and bounds.

Dual sim mobile phones of the past usually ended up in compromises for the consumer. In some phones, you could only make one sim active at any one time. In other phones, their capabilities were compromised to accommodate the dual sim functionality.

Right now, there are a number of Android phones that offer top notch dual sim capabilities without sacrificing the full functionality of the Android ecosystem.

One phone I particularly like is the Alcatel OneTouch Idol.

I have two sim cards for two separate carriers, and I got tired of carrying two phones with me all the time. That is why I took the plunge and bought OneTouch, and I have not once regretted the purchase.

Right off the bat, I was liberated from carrying two bulky phones, while the phone's hardware (it is quad core already) rivals the top Android phones in the market.

The dual sim capabilities are seamless - both sims are always active at the same time. I can can receive, make, or send calls and messages from both sims without any additional configuration on my part. I can also assign the default sim for texting, for calling, and for mobile data.

The only drawback from using the phone is its mobile data. It does not offer LTE yet. Also, as you may know, when you use the phone to send an SMS or to call someone, the mobile data gets cut off momentarily. Having two sims and potentially receiving twice as much texts messages or phone calls mean that the mobile data gets cut off more often.

Despite the drawback, I am very satisfied with my phone. I have used the Alcatel OneTouch for about half a year now, and I have no plans of replacing it any time soon. To sum up my experience, it's like having two Samsung Galaxy S4 phones for a fraction of the price.

Price Gap on Androids and iPhones

There is a recent article on phoneArena detailing the widening price gap between Apple iPhones and Android phones.

The gap is understandable, considering that there are more and more cheap and cheap Android phones being released nowadays.

However, even comparing the new Apple iPhone 5s with the high-end Android phones such as Samsung Galaxy Note 3 or HTC One, the iPhones end up more expensive.

The question is, what will you choose between iPhone and Android phone, if they have the same having the same specs?

I really like the iPhone's and its apps' polished look and the simple interface. But I'd rather have the Android's customization it offers. I like the fact that I can root my phone, the customization of the look, and the freedom to choose which launchers keyboards to use, the option to place useful widgets, among others.

Choosing one over the other may depend on the user, but I personally like Android phones because it offers more functionality-wise.

Word Processor Recommendation - Q10

There are so many distractions when it comes to writing using the computer. The is only just a click away to pry you away from what you are doing. Even the solitaire or minesweeper beckons every once in a while, making you want to procrastinate for a few minutes.

When it comes to writing, my default word processor of choice is the Microsoft Word. It offers a plethora of bells and whistles for any of your writing needs.

Alternatively, LibreOffice is a free word processing software, albeit with fewer capabilities. I have it installed in my computer, but I use it only when Microsoft Word or my other preferred word processor - the Q10 - acts up.

But when I need to write without distractions, my go to word processor is Q10.

Q10 is a minimalist word processor - the moment you open it, you will see a full screen of black space. No additional buttons or tabs, little to no diversions.

Another feature I like about Q10 is the typewriter sound effect (which you can turn on and off). It may be just placebo, but the sounds it makes pushes me to type more. I was still able to use a typewriter when I did my school projects, and I associate the typewriter unadulterated typing. But unlike typewriters, I can do touch typing with Q10.

The sound and the absence of clutter has definitely helped me concentrate on my writing. Needless to say, Q10 is highly recommended for writers who need to focus on their work.

Taking the Plunge on a Dedicated Ebook Reader

I love traditional books. Reading a book is an experience in and of itself: feeling the texture of the paper, flipping each page as you go along, hearing the sound that the pages make as you flip them, smelling the irresistible scent of paper.

However, having your books stored in one gadget is can be a real convenience. Sometimes, I want to jump from one book to the next. I really cannot do that with traditional books, especially when I am not at home, unless I bring all my books with me. That is why I am drawn to ebooks.

Before, I used to read ebooks through my laptop. But reading from the computer was not really comfortable for an extended period. I was better off reading traditional books.

I then discovered that I could read ebooks from my Palm Pilot (and later, Treo), but the apps and ebook formats were limited.

When I had my Android phone, I read my ebooks from there, thanks to a growing number of apps and ebook formats. Right now, the larger screens of tablets offer more real estate for ebooks.

However, there are drawbacks from reading ebooks in your phones and tablets. The battery life of these gadgets are limited, so you have to constantly plug these. The multifunctionality of these gizmos can also be a distraction from your reading, as it is very easy to switch from one app to the next.

That is why if you really want to enhance your reading experience, having a dedicated gadget such as an ebook reader like Kindle or Nook is the way to go. It may only do one thing, but it serves its purpose very well.

Right now, the best ebook reader for me is the Kindle Paperwhite.

It has a long battery life, it is lightweight, and it lets you read under direct sunlight (something that you really cannot do with phones or tablets without cranking up the brightness to max, draining your battery in the process). You can also read at night, thanks to its built-in light.

Amazon has had a lot of experience in what consumers look for in an ebook reader; its Kindle Paperwhite has ticked all the requirements of what an ebook reader should be, making it the best out there.

A Look Back at 3D Technology

The last post that I did featured 3D cameras, with the optimism that it would be the next big thing.

Fast forward four years: obviously, it was not.

It did not even enter the consciousness of the average consumer for the home entertainment system, and for good reason.

First off, 3D technology requires specialized equipment - a camera that can shoot 3D images, a television or projector that has the ability to show 3D images, and DVDs and files that can play 3D videos and images. In other words, watching and producing 3D films were expensive.

It's not purely about the cost.

3D tech could have possibly entered mainstream consumer consciousness - there was a time in the early part of this decade when a slew 3D movies were heavily promoted, and television manufacturers tried pushing 3D TVs as the next big thing.

The movie-goers may have gone to see 3D movies, but it did not translate to 3D TV sales.

Why so?

The technology tries to bank on the novelty of watching 3D films.

As many movie-goers attest, watching 3D videos can be literally nauseating. I watched Avatar twice in a row, and at the end of the second run, I just had enough willpower not to throw up. Also, when I chanced upon 3D TVs on display, I was curious for a few moments, but quickly lost interest.

3D technology has been around for a long time (the first commercially released 3D movie was way back in 1922), but once the initial novelty wore off, people stopped watching 3D movies.

So at the present, 3D technology will remain a niche, and will probably continue to do so in the near future.

3-D Cameras. A Wave of the Future?

In the world of Harry Potter, photos of people in newspapers and posters seem to have a life of their own. For muggles like us, our technology has a long way to catch up to the wizards to have moving photographs. But with the new camera of Fuji, muggles may have taken a wee step closer in terms of photography.

As per NY Times:

Fujifilm just took the wraps off its long-awaited 3-D camera and photo frame, which can capture and display 3-D (and 2-D) photos and video. The technology is sometimes amazing, but it seems likely to appeal primarily to a small group of stereoscopic photo enthusiasts.

Since it is a new technology. it is obviously not perfect yet. It is observed that the people will be fascinated because of its novelty, not because of the quality or the "realness" of the photos. But I think it has a lot of potential. Who knows, maybe 3=D pictures will be the norm in the future, just like 3=D films today! Er... or maybe not...

Yearning for a Standard eBook Format

I like reading books, whether it is in printed or digital form. Sometimes, it is better to read a book on paper. The look, feel and smell of the paper just adds to the reading experience. But reading digital books has its advantages too. I read books through my Palm Treo phone, and the fact that the books are in my phone is a very convenient thing. Whenever I commute, or I am about to sleep, I just whip out my phone and read. Also, since I have everything on my phone, I can store my favorite books, minus the weight and bulkiness of an actual book.

But one gripe that I have with digital books is that there is no universal format as of yet. For my phone, I have three different readers in order to read my books, because of incompatibility of format. For those who want to try digital books, deciding which ereader (like Kindle) to purchase may turn them off. Since there is no dominant format yet, will not be resolved for a long time, until one ereader stands out from the rest.

Photo: oskay, Flickr, Creative Commons

Protecting Your Virtual Brand

Do you have a website and you want to protect your "brand"? Protecting your brand is obviously important, especially when you are about to make it big. You don't want to be in a situation where you are in the throes of (relative) internet success, only to find out that others have already taken advantage of what you have sowed.

 

Here are some tips, taken from Dan Schwabel's article entitled "5 Ways to Control Your Brand":

 

1. Claim Your Google profile - Google has quietly released a feature allowing you to claim your profile when your name/brand is googled.

 

2. Reserve your name on social networks - You don't have to go to each networking site one by one, you just have to using Namechk.com or Knowem.com to see where you can claim your brand name on the more recognized social networks.

 

3. Establish your personal hub - For instance, Nombray.com allows you to display all of your social networking profiles, blogs and websites under a single domain name (yourname.com)

 

4. Have a reputation management strategy

 

5. Promote you expertise.

 

Click here for the full article.

Shooting Frenzy

I've always wanted to have an SLR camera - you know, those bulky, professional looking camera with lenses obscenely protruding. i have a friend who sa one, and I always borrow it whenever I get to have a chance. In those rare times that I handle his camera, I always try to practice the intricacies of focusing, zooming and shot composition.I haven't mastered them. I think it will take years for anyone to really master photography. Just like poker, photography takes minutes to learn and years to master.

 

A New York Times article has reported that Panasonic is releasing a camera ahead of its time: it can capture SLR-quality pictures with the ease of a point-and-click camera, and more.

 

But considering that this is a relatively new technology, it necessarily comes at a steep price of $1,500. What's more, the size of these first generation cameras are just slightly smaller than SLR cameras. But no matter, the potential of the technology alone will make any camera enthusiasts and wannabe-photographers will make them salivate.

A Valentine Card

 

 Photo: thegreatgeekmanual, Flickr, Creative Commons

Gorey and The Recently Deflowered Girl

I chanced upon this book scan of The Recently Deflowered Girl. At first glance, it looks like your ordinary etiquette book, albeit of a weird topic. But it isn't so. Consider this, for example:

You meet an old bachelor friend of your family who has known you since birth. He takes you to his apartment promising to show you old tintypes of your parents. After deflowerment, you ask to see the pictures. He says, "There are no pictures, but your parents are in the next room."

You say: "Golly, I love surprises."

Obviously, this should not be taken seriously; the pieces of advice tongue-in-cheek, all. This shouldn't come as a surprise if you had known beforehand that it was authored by Edward Gorey, an author known for macabre literature/illustrations. Check out the book, worth a look.

If you want to see more of Gorey's works, check this out.

Photo: aussiegall, Flickr, Creative Commons

Crowdsourcing 101

Suppose Jimmy Wales decides to create an encyclopedia all by his lonesome self. Sounds hard, if not impossible, right?

Well, this Jimmy Wales is the creator of Wikipedia. He did not do an online encyclopedia on his own. In fact, he asked everyone who can access the Wikipedia website to contribute and collaborate on the content of the site. The result: over 10 million articles written collaboratively by volunteers around the world. I have edited some Wikipedia articles in the past myself - although my contribution is limited to correcting typographical errors - just so I can say that I have made some contribution to Wikipedia.

 

Wikipedia typifies crowdsourcing. Coined in 2006, the term crowdsourcing is defined in Wikipedia as:

[T]he act of taking a task traditionally performed by an employee or contractor, and outsourcing it to an undefined, generally large group of people, in the form of an open call. For example, the public may be invited to develop a new technology, carry out a design task, refine an algorithm or help capture, systematize or analyze large amounts of data.

The term has become popular with business authors and journalists as shorthand for the trend of leveraging the mass collaboration enabled by Web 2.0 technologies to achieve business goals. However, both the term and its underlying business models have attracted controversy and criticism.

Other well-known crowdsourcing sites are Digg, Delicious, StumbleUpon and Flickr. But the concept of crowdsourcing is not new. According to Wikipedia (where else?), in the 19th century, the Oxford English Dictionary was written from volunteer contributions of millions of slips of paper. In the early days of the internet, the concept was already being applied by computer programmers and scientists.

The Emperor's Virtual Clothes author Dinty Moore forayed into the (then) mysterious world of internet back in 1995. Thirteen years ago, you had to make do with Bulletin Board Systems (BBSs) for social networking. Search was not made through Google. Netscape was still the number one browser. A picture file would take minutes to download.

But even during the "primitive" era of the internet, the idea of crowdsourcing was already alive. BITNET, CSNET and Usenet allowed for discussion of computers, computing issues, scientific disciplines and controversy. Usenet, in particular, was famous in universities, research labs or other academic institutions. Usenet originated with a link between two universities, and the exchange of ideas and information is what such institutions are all about. It created huge amounts of information that would have been hard to obtain had there been no Usenet. Collaboration  and exchange of information among early Usenet users made it possible.

According to wiseGEEK, it seems that the potential of crowdsourcing has yet to be tapped. "There is an enormous creative and technical population in the world, many of whom have interesting ideas or skills, and crowdsourcing allows companies to profit from their work — often giving them a healthy living in return — at a fraction of the cost of a more traditional business model."

For more information about crowdsourcing sites, you can visit crowdsourcinglinks.com.

Comic strip: xkcd

Spot the Spammer

Lately, my email has been flooded with spam. It is mighty irritating, to say the least. 

To top it off, I almost became a victim of phishing.

There was this one email purporting to be from PayPal. It said that I purchased something via my PayPal account. I'm pretty sure that I haven't bought anything through PayPal for the last 6 months, so I was about to go to the PayPal website (rule of thumb: I never click on any link in any email, except if the email comes from very close friends or if it's an activation code) to check it out. Then I suddenly realized that I wasn't using that particular email for my PayPal account. 

So how do we avoid spam mails? If Yahoo, Hotmail and Gmail can't solve the spam problem, we sure as hell can't.

But we can settle for the next best thing. mikealao has a great tip for Gmail users: 

It is absolutely impossible for us to find out who sold our email address to those spammers who choke our inbox with unwanted emails. But now there is a solution to find out people who sell our confidential information to others. Gmail provides a not so explicit feature which you can use to find out which website is giving out your email address to spammers. This will not work for the previous websites where you have already registered but you can use it for future registrations.

 Here is how to use it:

1. While signing up for any new website enter your Gmail address as your_user_name+website_name@gmail.com.

 2. Don’t worry, you will receive the mails as usual because Gmail doesn’t recognize any combination of words or numbers after the “+” sign.

 3. Whenever you get any spam message just click on the “Show Details” link to expand the email header and find out the email address to which it was sent. The images below show a test which I did with a “+” sign on my email address.

 4. If you had signed up according to the step number 1, you will be able to find out who gave your email address to the spammer.

Use this to find out which websites are selling your email addresses, check out their privacy policy and sue them if they lied. If you found this useful, don’t forget to share it with others.

I don't know if there is a similar code for other email providers, though.


Photo: Michal Zacharzewski, SXC

Photos for Your Website

Blog posts and websites without photos sometimes look drab. I admit, there are times when I don't even read the whole post. I just look at the pictures.

That is why blogs and sites which have photos usually have an edge over those that only have text in them.

But what if you suck at taking pictures? Or if your pictures aren't appropriate for your particular post? Or if you don't have a camera at all?

No problem. There are thousands of photos over the web.

However, you can't just copy a picture from a website and simply put it in yours.You'd have to contend with copyright infringement and royalties. In a worst case scennario, you can even be subjected to civil or criminal sanctions.

Good thing there are websites that offer free use of photos at no charge.

My favorite is Flickr Creative Commons.

Many Flickr users have chosen to offer their work under a Creative Commons license, and you can browse or search through content under each type of license.

 It has a huge collection of great pics, that is why I go to this site very often if I need a picture for my blogs.

Another website that I usually use for my pic needs is Photobucket. Its terms of service provide:

By displaying or publishing ("posting") any Content on or through the Photobucket Services, you hereby grant to Photobucket and other users a non-exclusive, fully paid and royalty-free, worldwide, limited license to use, modify, delete from, add to, publicly perform, publicly display, reproduce and translate such Content, including without limitation distributing part or all of the Site in any media formats through any media channels, except Content marked "private" will not be distributed outside the Photobucket Services. Photobucket and/or other Users may copy, print or display publicly available Content outside of the Photobucket Services, including without limitation, via the Site or third party websites or applications (for example, services allowing Users to order prints of Content or t-shirts and similar items containing Content).

In short, the publisher of the photo has virtually relinquished his copyright. So anyone can use it for whatever purpose. But I tend to be wary of using Photobucket pics because some photos are obviously taken  from other sites as  well (presumably without permission).

My third favorite source is openphoto.net. It has a collection of amazing pics, but the selection is limited. Here is a sample.

Another one is Stock.XCHNG. It claims to be the leading FREE stock photo site. However, you must sign up in order to use the photos in the site. But the sign up is worth it. 

Just a quick note: When using photos from the sites I've mentioned, please take note of the terms for their usage. It's only but proper. And hey, you're using their photos in the first place.

What Happens to Swallowed Chewing Gum?

This question has been nagging mer for a very long time now. Obviously, I've had my share of swallowed gums (mostly because I had to avoid getting caught by my teachers).

The usual answers (e.g. it will stay in your stomach forever) are not acceptable to me, for obvious reasons.

I had time to search for the answer over the web, and the most satisfactory answer is by Mayo Clinic:

Although chewing gum is designed to be chewed and not swallowed, it isn't harmful if swallowed. An old wives' tale suggests that swallowed gum sits in your stomach for seven years before it can be digested. But this isn't true. If you swallow gum, it's true that your body can't digest it. But the gum doesn't sit in your stomach. It progresses relatively intact through your digestive system and is excreted in your stool.

In other words, you just poop it out. However, the explanation offered by Thunder Dragon may also be another plausible explanation. Here is the illustration:

Mosquito Hearing

Heard about mosquito ringtones? Free2surf.org says:

In medical science there is a condition called “presbycusis”, when most adults over the age of 24 lose the ability to hear high frequency sounds like the mosquito sounds. Some people know this fact and creating a mosquito ringtone so high schoolers and college students are able to receive cell phone calls and text messages even at the classroom.

Which means that a person loses the ability to hear high frequencies as he gets older. Therefore, a mosquito ringtone can be heard by the (young) student but not by the (old) teacher. But beware, I read that a story about a young teacher who reprimanded a student because the teacher, in her mid-twenties, heard the student's mosquito ringtone loud and clear. Needless to say, it was straight to detention for the student.

The technology is even used as an anti-vandal system to deter teens who like to hang out at malls.

I tried this out with my mom. When I played the mosquito ringtone, and she couldn't hear a thing. She thought I was pulling her leg. Only when she listened closely that she heard the high-frequency sound. Try it out for yourself.

You Have Super Hearing!!

You have great hearing and you are probably pretty young, rock on! The highest frequency you can hear is: 18khz

Try the The Mosquito Ringtone and see how well you can hear

Photo: tanakawho, Flickr,Creative Commons

Mind block! Now what?

Sometimes, you desperately want to write about something but you simply just can't. It happens to the best of them. So what to do next?

Maybe Lorem Ipsum will do the trick. Generate a string of words and hope to the gods that someone doesn't notice that it's in Latin.

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Donec auctor ullamcorper lorem. Etiam gravida vulputate lacus. Nam ultricies tempus ipsum. Quisque ullamcorper viverra libero. Cras sodales metus non sapien. Ut aliquam, felis id sollicitudin fermentum, metus augue scelerisque lectus, vitae ultricies arcu urna sed metus. Ut egestas. Donec eget tellus. Sed non elit ac pede adipiscing interdum. Etiam at erat eget erat pharetra vestibulum.

Generated 1 paragraph, 64 words, 447 bytes of Lorem Ipsum

How to Add a Recent Comments List

Sometimes, reading the comments of a blog is half the fun, because you can follow the dialogue between the blogger and the commentators. Even better, I like to get into the mix and have a friendly discussion. That is why I prefer blogs that have a conspicuous Recent Comments list. Such a list is good for both the blogger and commentator because they can both keep track of the most recent discussions.

If you have a Blogger account and you want to have a Recent Comments list too, just go to Blogger Buster. You'll see there a box which asks ask for the heading, your blog address, the summary size, etc. Fill in the necessary info in the box. Click apply, and then click Add widget to my blog. 

You will then be directed to another page. Just choose the blog account, then click Add widget. It will then direct you to the layouts page. You'll then see the Recent Comments gadget in your blog.
Mine was placed at the top right side of my layout by default. Just place the Recent Comments gadget to wherever you want it to be and voilà! You now have your own Recent Comments list.