Annoying Vita Pop-ups

This is one vista pop-up I really don't like -_-"

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Adding the Golden Village RSS onto your iGoogle Page

Golden Village (a cinema operator in Singapore) has created three RSS feeds for their shows. They list the shows that are "now showing", "sneak preview" or "coming soon". iGoogle is a Google page which allows you to customize your home page to display content that you are interested in. This tutorial teaches you how to display the Golden Village feed on your iGoogle page.

1. Log in to your iGoogle page.


2. Click on the "Add Stuff" link
   


3. Click on Add Feed or Gadget
   


4. Then, open a new tab or window and navigate to http://www.gv.com.sg/rss.jsp, the page with the RSS feeds from Golden Village.
   


5. Select the RSS feed you would like on your iGoogle page and right-click on it and select Copy Link Location (Firefox), Copy Shortcut (Internet Explorer) or Copy link address (Chrome) (depending on your browser).
   


6. With the URL now safely in the clipboard, go back to your other tab/window with the iGoogle screen and paste the URL in the box.
   


7. Click on "Add" and return to your main iGoogle screen. You will see your gadget up now.
   


8. You will see that only the last three Movies are listed. This is because the gadge's limit is set at 3. To change this, click on the triangular shaped button to the left of the minimize button and click on "Edit Settings".
   


9. Now select the amount of records to show.
   


10. Click on "Save" and voila, your Golden Village RSS is done.
    

Do contact me if there are any questions.

Robots: Showing Emotion

Technology has now improved to a point where it seems that our dreams of having humanoid robots are coming true.

[R]esearchers at the University of the West of England’s Bristol Robotics Laboratory (BRL) have begun investigating ways to make robots seem more human.

Indeed.

They published two videos with their prototype, and one of the videos is just creepy. It's slightly funny, but creepy all at the same time. They really seem to be getting a kick out of scaring people >_<

Don't worry, the words aren't really coming independently from the robot's 'brain'. It was recorded by someone else.

But still... Hm.

To see the full original article, click here.

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Converting Videos For the iPhone/iPod Touch (avis or video files)

Hi all, ccjx here. I'm pretty sure that I've been introduced sometime in the past but I haven't found the time to write or the time to think of what to write since then. Well, today I have finally thought of what to share with the people reading this site.

For those of you who have an iPhone or an iPod Touch (which I will refer to as iPhone from now on as it is probably more common) and would really like to get some videos that you have on your computer onto it, you've found the right place =).

For the others who wish to convert DVDs into a format that the iPhone will be able to read, do look forward to future guides from me. =)

OK, I will be covering how to use Videora Video Converter in this guide. You can get it at www.videora.com. The author has tons of versions (iPhone converter, iPod touch converter, iPhone 3G converter) and I'm pretty sure he's gonna come out with an iPod touch 2G converter soon but all of them are the same program (from what I know). So just pick one that you like and download it. I'm assuming you know how to install it so I'll skip straight to the program.

1. Firstly, click on Convert. Then click on the Video File tab.


2. You could choose Normal Mode but you wouldn't learn anything about video conversion so pick Power Mode. You should see the following screen.


3. The options displayed below are:

File - The file that you want to convert. In other words, your source.

Output Directory - The folder that you want your video (mp4) to output to. In other words, your target.

Title - The title that you want displayed on your iPhone's screen when this video is displayed on the menu.

Device - Select the device that you are currently converting for. Note that the format will most probably be compatible over all iPhones and iPod touches if you pick the right settings.

Profile - This is the profile that will be used to convert the video. I will explain what the whole stretch of letters mean.

One profile that you can select is: MPEG4 480x320 768kbps Stereo/128kbps

MPEG4 - This is the codec that you will be converting to. Another choice is H.264. Just know that MPEG4 is lossy and H.264 is lossless, MPEG4 converts faster than H.264 and that H.264 looks better than MPEG4. All of the above only apply when the bitrates are the same.

480x320 - This is the size of the video. 480 pixels wide by 320 pixels tall. The iPhone screen is exactly this resolution so it should be sufficient. If you are using a TV output cable, you might want to select a profile that says VGA (640 x 480).

768kbps - This is the bitrate of the video. The kbps here refers to kilobits per second, not kilobytes. Basically, this is how much "space" the video has per second to store its data. Simply put, the more "space", the better the quality. Of course, it depends on the source of the video as well. Choose a lower bitrate than 768kbps to lower the filesize (and quality at the same time).

Stereo/128kbps - This is the part that talks about the audio. Stereo is self-explanatory. 128kbps is the bitrate of the audio stream.

Certain profiles also have 2-Pass or Advanced. I'm not quite sure about Advanced. 2-Pass stands for 2-Pass encoding. Which means that the encoder will go through the movie twice. Once to calculate which parts of the video has a lot of motion or movement (which will probably need more bitrate) and lower or increase the bitrate for that part of the video accordingly. Then only during the second pass will the encoder actually encode the video.

4. All right, now that I've explained the various parts, go ahead and click on Select File to pick your video. Then click on Browse if you want to change where the video output goes to. Then click on Start Converting.

You will now get a screen that says Conversion In Progress. With two options, View Conversion Progress and Convert Video File. The latter choice will bring you back to the previous page where you can select another video to queue behind the currently converting one. The former will bring you to the status page.


5. If you check Show Conversion Details you will get the same screen as mine with all the various bits of information which you don't really have to know. But I will explain them anyway.

Completed - The percentage that the video file has completed converting.

Time Remaining - How much time left before the video finishes converting.

Pass - It should be 1, unless 2-Pass is selected, in which case it will show you which pass the converter is on.

Time Elapsed - How much time has passed.

CPU Usage - The priority of the CPU for the converter. You should probably leave it at Normal. Lower it if you need to do something else and the converting is lagging your computer.

Filesize - The filesize of the output file.

Bitrate - The bitrate of the current output.

Frame - The frame that the converter is converting. For those who don't know, frames are also known as pictures. For a 30fps video, each second has 30 frames.

Total Frames - The total number of frames the video has.

Processed - The length of video processed, in seconds.

Video Length - Total length of the video being converted.

6. Finally when the converter says that it is complete, go get your video file =).


It should have an .mp4 extension. This concludes the iPhone video conversion guide. =).

You do know how to put it into your iPhone right? ... ... Right......?

Don't Disable Right Click!

I just stumbled across a webpage entitled: Don't Disable Right Click. It lists the reasons why you should NOT disable right-clicking in your website no matter how scared you are of people copying your images and work.

I happen to be one of those who really get annoyed when I right-click and get a pop up that says "Right clicking has been disabled", so I thought I'd share the reasons listed out in that page in case you're one of those who does disable right-clicking.

Reason 1: Annoying

Sometimes you just want to use the right-click menu, for simple operations like Print, or perhaps you just want to quote something from the website, and cause you're so used to always just right-clicking, that's what you do when you get to this website too.

It's EXTREMELY annoying when you do that as a habit and the first thing you get is a pop-up.

Reason 2: Pointless

The main point of disabling right click is to stop people from stealing your work/images. If that person really wants to steal your stuff, disabling right-click is not going to stop them. All those options are still available in the browser menu.

Once they get to your source code, they can easily find the exact location of your images and get it straight from there. Some of those things can actually be retrieved from your cache too.

Also, there's something called disabling javascript in browsers. Once that's turned on, there ain't gonna be no disabled right click no more!

Reason 3: Disabling

"Mouse gestures that enable quicker navigation are starting to become a feature of browsers"

I don't use that, but other people do. This stops your users from accessing their user-friendly add-ons.

And there's always the simple want to open a link in a new tab or window. Not everyone has a mouse with a middle click, and not everyone knows the shortcuts to do those. (I have many friends who always right click and open a new tab)

Disabling people from doing all these just leads us back to Reason 1.

Reason 4: Unprofessional

I think the title is self-explainatory.

Reason 5: Insulting

"Most of your visitors will come to your site looking to buy something, or to find information. Only a small percentage of your visitors will land at your site with the intention to steal from it. By trying to protect yourself from the minority, you effectively insult the majority, who will use the right-click menu for legitimate reasons. Do you really expect your visitors to trust you when you offer them "helpful reminders" that imply you can't trust them?"

After seeing all these, it makes you wonder why people decide to implement such a thing, doesn't it? I mean, seriously, why would you want to do something that annoys your users, and if your website sells some product, chase your customers away, when what you're doing ultimately does not even protect you from thieving visitors anyway?

If you never thought about it this way, now you know. =)

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ThinkGeek

Attention to all the geeks, gamers, programming-interested people and people interested in technology! ^^

ccjx and I have been visiting a website selling tech-y clothing/toys etc. Introducing... THINKGEEK!

They sell a wide range of products, including T-shirts, toys, electronics, gadgets, books etc... All tech-y.

In this entry, let me give you a rough idea about ThinkGeek products-

T-Shirts

They have different categories of T-shirts, such as 'Gaming', 'Illuminated Tees', 'Science and Math', 'Generic Geek' etc... I'll be introducing a few kinds of shirts that caught my eye =) My categories do not necessarily correspond to that in the site, though.

Slogan Tees
They have Slogan t-shirts that are really quite funny... Though some you might not understand unless you pretty much know your IT stuff. The below is one of the shirts that I found quite funny: No Place Like Home ^^;

Another item I really liked is the 'No, I will not fix your computer' T-shirt =D Heh.

Animated Tees
They have a section called 'Illuminated Tees' as well, that basically animate while you're walking around =) The Wi-fi Detector Shirt really detects the wi-fi signal where you are, and displays the signal strength on your T-shirt by lighting up the corresponding number of bars.

There's also something like a couple T-shirt. If your idea of a couple T-shirt was just this boring same T-shirt that a boy and girl wears, this should change your mindset. This shirt has got 6 hearts on the front of the T-shirt. Normally, there will be only 2 or 3 hearts lit up, but when someone with another shirt comes within hugging distance (their approximate distance is about 5m), all the hearts will light up.

Gadgets, Toys and Gifts

Helpful Gadgets

Apart from MP3s, digital cameras, solar chargers, digital frames and what-nots, they also have something called a Ion USB Cassette Deck where you can convert your old cassette tapes into mp3 files =)

Sophisticated Gadgets
This is something you can have for your home if you envision your future home to be extremely hi-tech and automatic: The RFID Digital Door Lock. It comes with a few RFID smart keys, as well as an installation guide so that you can get it working as soon as possible.

Novelty Gifts
I thought this was good for someone who's crazy about novelty gifts: the Bi-Color LED Blow On-Off Candles. You know how the physical candles work right? They go off when you blow the flame out. This works similarly. When you blow the candle, it goes off. The trait that makes it different from a normal candle would be that it turns on when you blow it too ^^;; There are two different coloured lights that you can toggle on the candle, so that you can create a different atmosphere according to your wishes. ^^

I found that pretty cool, along with the Sun and Moon Jars. The Sun and Moon Jars don't run on batteries, but are solar-operated. So it's energy saving too ;) Works as a great night light for kids =D

Toys
Remember the 20Q toy I was talking about in my previous entry? It's on ThinkGeek as well =D

And no, this is not an advertisement post. I just honestly felt that this site was interesting, so I thought that I'd share it with everyone =D

I hope you find these interesting~


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Download Firefox 3 Day!!

Firefox 3 is now officially out!!

Be part of the attempt to set a record in the Guinness Book and download Firefox 3 here by 17:00 UTC on the 18th of June, 2008.

I have just downloaded it and it looks different from the previous versions.... From the one-click bookmark feature to the change in icons (such as the back/forward and refresh buttons), the image is slightly different from the previous version's. =)

It's already been 9 hours in since the release, so hurry hurry hurry! =D


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Firefox Download Day

Firefox 3's download day's out!

17th of June

Refer to this post if you have no idea what I'm talking about ^^

For those who wish to be part of the attempt in setting a Guinness Book Record, do mark this date down so that you can join the world in downloading Firefox 3 on the day of release!


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Firefox 3

Click here

Join the world in setting a Guinness World Record for Most Software Downloaded in 24 Hours.

Are you a Firefox user?

I am. =)

I saw this on my friends' blogs and, obviously, decided to join in. I've pledged to be one of those who will be downloading the software on the day of release. The exact date of the release of Firefox 3 is not out yet, but it is said to be sometime in June/July.

Do join in! You could be part of a Guinness World Record~ ;)


What's new in Firefox 3?

• New Features

  New features, including one-click bookmarking, the smart location bar and faster performance, will be added.

• Security

  Firefox 3 includes phishing and malware protection, plus a new instant site ID info.

• Productivity

  With features like built-in spell checking, session restore and full zoom, Firefox 3 makes it possible to work faster and more efficiently on the Web.

• Customization

  With Firefox 3 you can choose from over 5,000 add-ons that help you customize your browsing experience.

- Taken and edited from the Firefox 3 website.


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