racoma.com.phJ. Angelo Racoma on technology, economics, writing, problogging, and getting things done

I was surprised that one of my favorite Mac-related blogs has recently quoted a previous article of mine.

Low End Mac quotes a bLaptops article I wrote last year in a section entitled Veteran PC User Falls for PowerBook Pismo.

To sum it up, it just works. I’ve been working with PCs all my life and I pretty much know the ins and outs of Windows (having explored even the obscurest of versions, including NT 3.51 and also NT 4 Server), and it was always quite a cluttered and complicated affair. I can say that simplicity is one virtue of the Mac OS X, and even my three-year old daughter can navigate her way around the Mac’s UI.

Lately, though, I’ve been using more of Linux rather than OS X. Still, Macs are really really great IMHO.

It’s been a busy week, or rather a very busy two weeks. So if you’re wondering why I haven’t been posting here lately, it’s because I’m either posting elsewhere (like the Blog Herald, JOAB and my other network blogs), building up a blog empire (soft-launched, but not yet officially launched), or taking care of some offline things. So for now, I’ll post in the good ol’ bullet points, like the usual when I’m busy.

My mother bought a MacBook. She almost bought another brand laptop (HP, which is not bad, but hey it’s not an Apple). But I told her for that price, she could already get a MacBook. PhP 62K for a Core 2 Duo Presario V2000 with a DVD-RW vs PhP 64k for a Core 2 Duo MacBook with Combo drive Not as high spec’d, when it comes to the add-ons/peripherals like the optical drive and the card readers but the Mac is still a better buy, in my opinion.

We checked out stores at SM Cyberzone, but ended up at Ynzal instead because of the really big discount their Business Dev Manager, Mr. Jojo Magallanes, gave us. We got it for PhP 60K plus some freebies.

Here’s her story.

Lesson learned: mothers, listen to your sons!

WeRoam saves the day. When I first tested PLDT’s WeRoam service in 2005 when I was still with dotPH I thought the speed was really crappy. We were at the Ortigas area then, and we couldn’t get an EDGE signal. So that means regular GPRS speeds, at 30 something kbps (sucks, I know). These days though, I think they have faster, 3G speeds. And you could always go for Globe Visibility HSDPA. You could theoretically get 1.8 Mbps (and 400 to 800 Kbps in real world applications).

But I’m a penny pincher at times, especially these days that I foresee big expenses upcoming.

So I bought myself a used Sierra AirCard 775 from a fellow BNC member so I could surf while mobile. I do have an unlimited Airborne Access account, but there are places I visit that don’t have hotspots of any kind. And since I foresee the need for untethered Internet access, I thought of this option instead.

It doesn’t come with a subscription. I just plug in a prepaid Smart SIM card, and I can enjoy surfing for PhP 10 per 30 minutes (PLDT WeRoam uses the Smart network). It’s really slow, but when you need to get things done, these things are a life saver. (And yes, I was able to configure my PowerBook to use the AirCard. The PC laptop was easy enough.)

Thing is, I usually only get a GPRS signal, and not EDGE. So it’s 30+ Kbps instead of the marketed 200 Kbps of EDGE. I guess I could have opted for a 3G phone instead, or a faster AirCard (or other brands), since Smart also offers the same rate for 3G access. But that would be loads more expensive in terms of equipment cost.

I initially wanted to buy a used WiFi-enabled PDA so I could surf at the malls without having to bring my laptop (or even at home—in the bathroom, perhaps?). But then I thought I would have more utility from being able to surf practically anywhere than having a more portable device for surfing at hotspots.

Last January, Max Limpag was also thankful for WeRoam saving his day. So I guess it goes the same for me. WeRoam is my last resort—I’ll use it when there are no other connectivity options. It’s for those emergency days. It’s like a backup parachute. Or a side-arm (when my primary weapon runs out of ammo, so to speak).

But if there’s anyone out there with an old WiFi-enabled PDA for sale (or loan, or donation, heheh), give me a good deal, and I’ll see if I’ll bite.

Bayantel DSL is Slow. Bayantel DSL is slow these days. I’ve been getting very bad speedtest.net results, like 500+ ms ping times, and 100kbps speeds. And I’m using a 384kbps connection (which goes up to 768 because I use a really nifty trick to increase my speed).

Car expenses. I got my AdSense check in the mail a couple of weeks ago, but I ended up spending most of it in car repairs and maintenance. Who knew that a new battery + alternator replacement would cost so much. They’re not from the casa or OEM Toyota, but they’re still expensive.

Oh, and I had an oil change, to boot. The mechanic at the Caltex service station corner of Kalayaan and Kamias was good—he pointed out to me the stuff I had to replace with my suspension (whereas some other shops wanted to change it all, which would cost me a whopping PhP 15k). I’m not really a Caltex guy (I prefer Petron Blaze), but this time I think I’ll come back to them come maintenance/repair/tune up time.

Community Blogs to Launch Soon. Three out of four of the community blogs I’m setting up are already up and running. Do check them out. I will make a formal announcement on the Blog Herald when the fourth one is up. Froodee is for lifestyle, living, news and business. Gadzooki is for gadgets, software, technology, and cars. Blog Tutorials is for blog design, reviews, writing tips.

... And it’s got most of the features I wanted in an Apple Gazette post I wrote a couple of months ago.

It does run OS X (a stripped down flavor, I would say). It has an interesting interface (no keypad, just a touchscreen, which I think would be nothing like the clunky touchscreens of today’s mobile phones from other manufacturers). It would play music—integrated with iTunes. And it will run widgets!

Abe cites the highlights here.

Engadget has the full details.

Sweet, glorious specs of the 11.6 millimeter device (that’s frickin’ thin, by the way) include a 3.5-inch 480×320 touchscreen display with multi-touch support and a proximity sensor to turn off the screen when it’s close to your face, 2 megapixel cam, 4GB or 8 GB of storage, Bluetooth 2.0 with EDR and A2DP, WiFi that automatically engages when in range, and quad-band GSM radio with EDGE. Perhaps most amazingly, though, it somehow runs OS X with support for Widgets, Google Maps, and Safari, and iTunes (of course) with CoverFlow out of the gate. A partnership with Yahoo will allow all iPhone customers to hook up with free push IMAP email. Apple quotes 5 hours of battery life for talk or video, with a full 16 hours in music mode—no word on standby time yet. In a twisted way, this is one rumor mill we’re almost sad to see grind to a halt; after all, when is the next time we’re going to have an opportunity to run this picture? The 4GB iPhone will go out the door in the US as a Cingular exclusive for $499 on a two-year contract, 8GB for $599. Ships Stateside in June, Europe in fourth quarter, Asia in 2008.

And here’s a good read from Time about how great Apple is for designing the iPhone.

I’m wondering how Cisco will react to the iPhone moniker. They own the “iPhone” trademark.

I want one!

According to my NetStat widget, my PowerBook has been online for 28 days, 6 hours and 13 minutes. And since that time, the notebook had been running without a hitch—perhaps save for some mishaps that caused Firefox to freeze up and require a restart (sometimes happens to such a memory hog like Firefox).

Meanwhile, my Windows-powered Compaq Presario has likewise been running for approximately that same duration. And I occasionally experience losing my wireless connection, and I sometimes get “virtual memory low” messages.

Of course, I don’t really have my laptops running powered on all the time. With the Mac, I close the lid and keep it in a sleep state. With the PC, I use hibernate. This way, I get to save on power and extend my computers’ lifetimes, without having to lose the state I’ve been in. Yes, sometimes I get back to a cluttered desktop, but hey, at least I don’t lose track.

Why do I hate Windows?

I don’t hate Windows per se. I know XP is a solid operating system (as solid as Swiss cheese!). But with OS X I seem to be able to do my work more efficiently. I feel more productive on the Mac than on the PC. This is simply because I don’t have to deal with the minor annoyances that usually come with running Windows, like:

• Antivirus programs popping up notifying me of updates.
• Antivirus programs suddenly running full tests in the background while I’m doing some important processor-intensive stuff (like copy CDs into my iTunes library!).
• Lag times due to the system accessing virtual memory.
• It takes an eternity to go into hibernate mode. It takes an even longer time to wake up from hibernatestate.
• It also takes forever to go to and wake up from standby mode.
• Some other stuff I can hardly remember but does happen.

Something tells me all my issues with Windows lie with the memory management. And to think my old PowerBook is still running on a G3 and has about 50% less system RAM than my Presario.

Sigh.

OSX86?

That’s why I wanted to install OS X 86 on my Presario—somewhere along the way, I felt it too tedious to have to backup all my important files (lotsa MP3s), resize the partition and install X 86. Oh, wait, I think I’ve already done that, up to the point of resizing the partition using PartitionMagic and activating the second partition for booting. Only my OS X 86 installer did not push through with the installation. Lucky me!

I’ll try again next time.

Meanwhile, I think it’s time to do a restart on my PowerBook. It does help to run the system from a fresh start once in a while. And it’s mostly to clear the desktop of all the clutter so I can move on with whatever work I’m doing (I’m too lazy to individually close everything!).

I just started writing for another new blog, and I’m pretty excited. Why? It’s about Apple!

The Apple Gazette just launched as the newest member of the Bloggy Network family. What’s great is that we’re just into our first few posts and we’re already getting dugg frontpage! And we hope to keep you MacHeads out there happy with our posts about Mac-related news and tips on how to maximize your Mac experience.

I know it probably won’t get as wide an audience as BloggingPro or Forevergeek, since Apple users are still a minority. However, what we will lack in sheer numbers will be made up for by the quality of readership. There’s the passion that comes with being a Mac user. And remember, each purchase of a Mac comes with a free license for a holier-than-thou attitude.

Don’t underestimate the Cult of Mac.

Incidentally, do also check out the latest about BloggingPro. We now sport a fresh, brand-new design (well, David did all the work, actually).

And guess who just earned his own link on the frontpage!