Thank You

A few posts later comes another thank you note. This blog has finally surpassed the 150 count after being revived today. With the internet connection more stable now, I hope to breathe more technology into your life. So once again, Thank You for visiting my site!

FLL Run 2

Hey people, I wonder if I will be able to post this before keeping my computer because it is significantly larger in terms of file size as compared to the previous one. Maybe I should compress the videos before uploading it since the blogger video rendering engine is going to compress it in the end. I have to say that my Nikon S1000PJ is doing really well from photos to videos. I am particularly impressed by its ability to correct shaky photos. Back to the video. It shows the robot on its second run (Aligning the bone, inserting the stent, activating the arm, activating the ball-kicking mechanism). The initial plan was to do the bone cast as well as the cardiac patch/pacemaker combination. However, the robot was unable to cope with the added weight at the front so that plan had to be scrapped. Currently, the video is only 45% done so I will leave this here to upload while I work on other stuff. Also, I will be dropping by at the lab again tomorrow so do expect another video if my progress is as planned and my internet connection works fine. Thank you!

FLL Run 1

Hey guys, first time uploading a videos so I have no idea how this is going to turn out. Nothing much in this video though, Just shows my FLL robot completing the first run (inserting the bone bridge). I hope that I will be uploading the second video soon because the second one is way bigger. Did I mention that the base design has yet again been changed? After all the builds with the NXT wheels, I have officially decided that tracks will do a way better job in terms of accuracy so I went with the tracks. The results have been positive so far, with the accuracy being extremely good until some heavy weight goes on it. That means more runs and more videos to upload. The upload is done already so this is going onto the blog first. Thanks

OSelector

Hey guys! haven't managed to post any photoshop works lately because of my awesome internet connection. Anyways, have a look at my OSelector mockup. Wouldn't it be so much better if everything had a GUI? Just my opinion. This would be by dream UI though, with easy access to all OSes, one click updates to replace Windows Update as well as individual Linux updates and of course, the all new Chrome OS has been included. Some information included would be the version of the OS (e.g. Windows 7, Vista, XP), the last modified date as well as the user who accessed it last. The OS is selected by clicking its icon on the dock which can be customized under settings. Please comment. Thanks!

Whoops! I realized that there is a typographical error in this mock-up. This will be corrected tomorrow.

ASUS bloatware

Hi guys, as some of you might already have known, ASUS ships with some pretty interesting bloatware which has discouraged me from fresh-installing an OS over the default one but rather, run a dual-boot. So Today, I shall cover all the bloatware which can be found under the ASUS utility on the start menu.

1. AI recovery burner

This would probably be one of the first sights that greet a new ASUS user. Running on every boot by default, this program allows you to create a recovery disk like its name suggests. For those who do not know what a recovery disk is, you can read up more by searching 'recovery disc' on Wikipedia. But in short, it is a disk that allows you to restore the factory state of your program and in this case, the default ASUS customized Windows. This utility is rather useful as most users would not already have a Windows installation disk when they buy a new PC or laptop, causing inconvenience when recovery is needed. Although a third party disk can be created (such as the one from EasyBCD), it would be great to be able to restore to the original version to avoid a void of warranty or any such servicing problems.

2. Virtual Camera

There is really nothing under this program. However, if I am not mistaken, it installs the drivers for the ASUS default web-cam found on your laptop so if you happen to have problems accessing the ASUS webcam, trying downloading this program and tell me if it helps. One thing I have to say though, the ASUS built in web-cam is very sluggish and does not have a particularly high FPS count so taking videos with it is virtually impossible.

3. Control Deck

This is pure eye candy. So you thought the Mac dock looked cool? You haven't seen the ASUS control deck. Think 6 docks lined upwards from the bottom to the top of the screen that allows you to change options from battery mode to brightness to volume to screen resolution to boot options to ASUS applications. Essentially, these collection of docks give you access to every possible setting you would want to change. This eye-candy, as with all eye-candy comes with a price though, lagged response. You would have to wait several seconds, even on the X42JR, before the docks will unveil in an overlay on your screen. However, I wouldn't mind a little lag for something this nice. So good job, ASUS, for the awesome graphics.

I have just realised that none of my posts are getting posted because of the extremely bad internet connection here so I will post them bit by bit and hope that works.

to be continued...

Merry Christmas

Hey guys, have been very busy so I did not update this blog for a few days. Here is my Christmas wallpaper!


I will try to post the tutorial soon but I am not going to guarantee anything. Thank you!

"There are only 10 types of people in the world. Those who know binary and those who don't"

Didn't exactly do anything very interesting so I'll spare you the details and just come to the important points. So everything was all boring as I went, and messed around in City Square mall. Then while waiting for the MRT to arrive on the way back, I saw this guy wearing a cool shirt that said "There are only 10 types of people in the world. Those who know binary and those who don't". Isn't it just amazing that people can come up with this kind of catchy things to put on shirts. In fact, this should be one of those Facebook groups that said 'like if you get it'. I'll see if I can get something like that on the Infocomm Club shirt next year. Then nothing unusual again until just a few moments ago. I was really bored and decided to install an older distro of Ubuntu onto my X42JR so I plugged the drive in and restarted the computer. Asus boot screen. Pressed f2. Changed boot option on BIOS. Restart. *blink blink blink* -10 minutes later- *blink blink blink*. I'm guessing that Asus does not allow you to boot from USB drive if the complaints littered all over the net are to be trusted and I think that that is seriously a waste. After all, what is a computer without 7, Ubuntu, Fedora, XP and possibly iAtkos running alongside each other? I will be trying to get the multiple boot to work soon since I am currently dual-booting Windows 7 Home Premium (with Asus bloatware) and Windows 7 Ultimate (clean install). But that is only because Windows 7 has an .exe file that comes together on the disk, much unlike Linux which does not even support .exe. So wish me good luck and hopefully, I will be posting about my successes tomorrow.

Quick Stats

Pageviews by Countries Singapore 99 United States 15 Malaysia 4

Pageviews by Browsers

Chrome 79 (66%) Internet Explorer 16 (13%) Firefox 13 (11%) Safari 6 (5%) Mobile 2 (1%) BonEcho 1 (<1%) Opera 1 (<1%)

Pageviews by Operating Systems

Windows 106 (89%) Macintosh 6 (5%) Linux 3 (2%) iPhone 2 (1%) Other Unix 1 (<1%)

Back to blogging

Hey guys! Sorry about the long wait for the FLL updates. Was feeling very tired yesterday and it is pretty much the same today although I will just make an effort to post since it is too early to be sleeping. Essentially, I did another rebuild, which is just so characteristic of me. Here are some photos since I did bring my camera to the lab.

Wow I have finally finished uploading the photos after such a long time. This thing has taken much time to build and much effort thinking of how to charge and change the battery so the programming progress is slow. However, the bone bridge is complete as well as the syringe. The bone is now aligned but the cast is not applied yet because I am doing the pacemaker and patch first. Unfortunately, that is still under works so once the first part is complete, I'll upload the videos. Thanks guys and I would really appreciate if you would share your ideas with me.

Also, somewhere along the time when I was missing in action online, this blog has reached a 100 visitors. Excellent stuff there and thanks so much for supporting me.

5-minute PSD: Stick Man

Hello to all my Photoshop fans out there! I am really sorry but I have no time to create a beautiful PSD today. Instead, I will introduce a new series called '5-minute PSD' for the days that I am short on time. Hope you enjoy my cute stick man! Please leave some comments. Thank You!

Talk about customisability. Red edition is out!

Blog Trends

Wow. Visiting the stats page on my blog completely baffles me. Thus, I am going to dedicate a post to looking at some of these statistics.

Browser Wars:

Chrome 49 (74%) Internet Explorer 11 (16%) Firefox 2 (3%) Safari 2 (3%) BonEcho 1 (1%) Mobile 1 (1%)

Chrome: 1st

This position really shows how much progress Google has made in the great browser war. With its minimalist interface, there is more screen estate for displaying the webpage itself. Also, it has been adding customisability options like the ability to change themes, add applications among others. Speed is also one reason why most choose Chrome over others.

Internet Explorer: 2nd

This is a real shocker. One explanation of why Internet Explorer managed to make it this high on the list could be the fact that some people do not bother installing a separate browser on a Windows operating system. Also, according to my experiences, it crashes less than other browsers like Google Chrome. However, I feel IE will lose this spot soon.

Firefox: 3rd

I would have expected Firefox to come in second after a close fight with Safari but I was wrong. In fact, 2 hits from Firefox just shows how this browser fares on popularity. I am a customisability freak and Firefox was the perfect browser to customise. So why am I against Firefox? One problem, and that is the immense lag that it presents. Lag is and will always be the biggest deterrent when choosing a software.

Safari: 4th

What did I just say about a close fight. In fact, these 2 browsers are on equal standing at just 2 visits a piece. Firefox is by far the most beautiful browser I have ever seen and that is why I believed it can compete with the likes of Chrome and completely drown Internet Explorer to the bottom of the list. One gripe however, would be the slightly bigger file size which might have put some potential users off.

BonEcho, Mobile: 5th, 6th

Personally, I have never heard of BonEcho before and that could be a reason for its low popularity. Also, I don't think people are so into my blog that they will access it from their phones so that explains the low hit count.

Conclusion: The browser war is currently extremely swayed towards Chrome and they will just be extending their lead if the others fail to catch up with its standards, the likely case.

OS Wars:

Windows 60 (90%) Linux 2 (3%) Macintosh 2 (3%) Other Unix 1 (1%) iPhone 1 (1%)

Windows: 1st

This does not exactly need much explanation. After all, most computers come preloaded with Windows. Windows beats Macintosh in terms of usability but loses out in the aesthetics department. Still, it is the usability that is more important. Macintosh OS can only be installed legally on a Macintosh computer while all computers including Macs support Windows. Early dominance will always triumph.

Linux: 2nd

Yet again, my second favorite operating system because of its customisability. Apart from that, it is extremely light weight as compared to other systems and thus loads at blazing speeds. GRUB also allows for booting into Windows and would be an ideal choice for a dual-boot along with Windows. Modifications are aplenty and although I feel that this operating system will never catch up with Windows, it is the perfect complement.

Macintosh: 3rd

Macintosh is for the rich and blind. Or at least that is my opinion. The first impression one gets would be that this operating system is beautiful, as with anything that comes out of Macintosh. However, looking under the Graphical User Interface, things are not as rosy. Macintosh is not user friendly, uncustomisable, unsupported, limited and expensive. It is akin to buying a cool looking umbrella with holes.

Other Unix, iPhone: 4th, 5th

This is amazing. What exactly is 'Other Unix'. As a result of this extremely clear description, I am not able to provide additional information. Maybe Blogger would like to look into that. And last but not least for iPhone, refer to Macintosh. I mean, even Windows Mobile is better, not to mention Android and Blackberry.

Want to know more about the new Chrome OS? Visit http://www.engadget.com/2010/12/09/google-cr-48-chrome-laptop-preview/ to find out more. Alternatively, you can apply to test this product by registering at http://www.google.com/chromeos/pilot-program.html. Please tell me if you get into the closed Beta. Also, if you do not feel like getting the new hardware, the software is available here: http://thepiratebay.org/torrent/5937463/Chrome_OS_RC_0.9.570_x86_Live_CD_[Multilang][ISO].