Google Gears

Posted on May 31, 2007
Filed Under Internet, Daily Notes, Software | 2 Comments

I’ve been using Google Reader for reading feeds in these past few months. Formerly I’ve used Feed Demon. The reason that I switch from a stand-alone to web based feed reader was simple I want a simple access to my feeds anywhere I want.

However, one of the weak sides of using a web-based feed reader is in its performance. Relatively speaking. Google Reader would probably excel for those who happen to have a reliable, fast or steady internet connection. In here (read: Indonesia) where Internet connections are still expensive and unreliable, Google Reader usage were not so comfortable yet. But I can live with it, somehow.

This morning when I opened the Reader, I notice a new link at the upper right corner of the homepage. It’s Google Gears, the application that enables user to read feed offline. Without any hesitation, I install it.

Google Gears provided one installation file that requires the closing of all browser windows. Yet the installation failed with this message popping up:

Then what they say was true:

Google Gears (BETA) is an open source browser extension that enables web applications to provide offline functionality using following JavaScript APIs:

Store and serve application resources locally

Store data locally in a fully-searchable relational database

Run asynchronous Javascript to improve application responsiveness

This is an early release of Google Gears (BETA). After installation, please pay attention to the warning dialogs and grant access only to websites that you trust.

Does anyone have the same problem as I am?

100% Smoke-free

Posted on May 31, 2007
Filed Under Daily Notes | Leave a Comment

To: manager of public places

Scientific research about the harms of second-hand tobacco smoke has been accumulating for over 20 years. There is no doubt that breathing second-hand tobacco smoke (SHS) is very dangerous to human health, causing cancer and many serious respiratory and cardiovascular diseases in children and adults, often leading to premature death.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has concluded that there is no safe level of human exposure to second-hand tobacco smoke, and the upcoming WHO policy recommendations on protection from exposure to second-hand tobacco smoke clearly state that the establishment of 100% smoke-free areas is the only way to protect the public to such exposure and its consequences.

The right to clean air, free from tobacco-smoke is a human right.

Therefore, we ask you to defend and protect the health of employers, workers and the public by implementing the necessary legislation that will make all public indoor working places, including bars and restaurants 100% smoke-free. We think this is a critical step to protecting our health and that of our children.

Sincerely,

Patrick Gerard van Diest

World No Tobacco Day 2007

That Time When Ubuntu was Number Two

Posted on May 28, 2007
Filed Under Linux, Daily Notes, Software | Leave a Comment

My ass would probably be kick because of this by some Ubuntu zealots. Fine, I only want to write what I think without any bias. Yes, I used Ubuntu for some time. Nevertheless, I’m not a blind fanatic with it.

One of the interesting news on this past month is when Ubuntu declared not the number one distro in Distrowatch’s Page Hit Ranking.

Ubuntu, the over hype distro of all-time getting ass kicked by PCLinuxOS. So what? Sometimes we had to understand how it felt to be number two. How it felt down there…

But what is this has to do with us, I ask? Nothing! Nada! None! Would you change your lovely distro if it drop rank in Distrowatch? You wouldn’t, right? Therefore, this fact is somewhat meaningless. This kind of things happens and in my opinion, this means nothing at all.

Yet there were people who uphold Ubuntu with every breath they take. I felt sorry for them. Ah… the great religion war, you sure know what to expect…

Okay that was that. For now, Ubuntu has return back to its throne to be number one in Distrowatch. Don’t know what will happen in the upcoming days or months, well just wait and see…

In the meantime, let me go back to my Etch…. (wtf?)

Blog,Upgraded!

Posted on May 25, 2007
Filed Under Wordpress, Daily Notes, Software | Leave a Comment

Finally, after a week of testing I’m quite satisfied with the fact that I’ve upgraded the Wordpress to version 2.2 for this blog. The upgrade went smoothly. I had no problem whatsoever. I’ve installed some plugins to make your visit here more comfortable. And of course, the Adsense, well I had to do it eventually. Somebody has to make a living right? hehe. But don’t worry; it won’t affect the content of my post. I put it there just to fill in the white spaces.

Just some minor glitch with the Popular Post plugin’s list in the sidebar. It seems that it display the same post repeatedly. Somebody had an idea how to fix this?

Moreover, I’m planning to change the Ultimate Tag Warrior plugins to Simple Tagging. Because the UTW plugins had an error where it delete the tags that I have made in some of the posts.

Oh yeah, I almost forgot. The theme! Yes, I have changed it a little bit. Now the menus are in the sidebar, you don’t have to go to the bottom of the page just to look at the menus. I don’t do an extreme makeover, so the theme name still called “Your Silent Face”

So, enjoy this blog!

On Remote Working

Posted on May 24, 2007
Filed Under Internet, Daily Notes, Software | Leave a Comment

Last night, we had some kind of a glitch. The server somehow down again. And the fact that I received this news at 1.00 AM in the morning while waiting for the Champions League Final was a bit annoying.

Imagine you had an extreme headache caused by less sleep and you notice that the one thing you had to maintain all day was acting wild. Yeah, I’m a standby one-man-army web server administrator. No matter where, no matter when, I have to be ready if something happens to that thing.

So what I had to require is remote admin tools. This is the problem. Here in Indonesia, internetworking hasn’t reach us all. The meaning of the word “reach” here means two thing, monetary and coverage. Internet is still expensive and was not covered many areas yet. I’m fortunate to had internet access in my house. So last night I just plugged my Powerbook to the phone line, use that slow dial-up connection, open up SSH and do some remote task right from there. (Don’t ask about the Mac and SSH combo, please…it’s a very long story)

Okay the problem solved. But what If I were in the middle of nowhere and something happen to the server that I had to quickly resolve? Well, this can be a problem. I’m a very determinant curious geek. So when there’s something wrong with what I developed, then I would use my entire mind to resolve it.

For example, there’s this time where I was enjoying myself in the weekend, then my boss told me there was a problem with the server. Right that instance I stop my pleasuring moments and find a computer that can connect to the internet. I have to go to an internet cafe, use the computer and do a remote administration from there. That is not very comfortable.

I dream of a Jakarta that has covered with Wireless access with cheap price. So people like me whom needs instant Internet access can fulfill my needs to do my job. Then my long time fear of helplessly disconnected while there’s trouble in the cyberspace could be erased. (I’m feeling kinda “Neo” right now, hehehe!)

Finally! A Whopper!

Posted on May 23, 2007
Filed Under Movies, Daily Notes | 5 Comments

The quest is over, I don’t have to wait in a blistering 3 hours worth of queue, I don’t have to wait for the opening, and here it was:

One thing to say, It’s worth every damn penny that I spend to bought this menu… It’s taste as good as it looks.

On another thing, today I was lucky enough to went to the screening of “Pirates of The Caribbean: At World’s End”. It’s about time! I’m so desperately curious since the second episode. This movie has it all, good character, good storyline, and of cource a great ending to finish a trilogy. Plus…Keith Richards! yes, Keith Richards ladies and gentleman.

The funny thing is there wasn’t any mass-moviegoers outside the studios queueing up to watch the premiere like the one when “Spider-man 3″ came up. Because, hands down this movie is much much better than that last Spidey movie… :)

Dragonforce Live At Senayan, May 19th 2007

Posted on May 21, 2007
Filed Under Music | 3 Comments

It has been a while since I went to a good rock show. Last Saturday was one of them. A couple of month back, I heard great news that Dragonforce, one of my newly favorite band would play here in Jakarta. Back then, I was like WTF. Is this some kind of hoax or what? But no, this is a sweet fact.

The first time I have heard about them was back in December. My friend Panjie recommends this band via text message. I’ve known Panjie all my life, we’re like brothers, and his taste of music is my taste of music too. The album that I first heard was “Valley of the Damned”, their first album. I was blown away with that. Imagine Helloween on Kai Hansen era but 20 times faster! But I guess you won’t believe what I’m saying until you heard it yourself.

So I made a deal with Panjie that we would definitely watch them playing at Senayan. Last Saturday we went to Tennis Outdoor Stadium at Senayan. We arrived there at 4.30 PM, but the crowd wasn’t full yet. One of the reasons that get me exaggerated about this show was the fact that the event organizer had successfully lining up some great bands (including a legendary band) as an opening act for Dragonforce. Where else I could see Roxx (yeah, for you old school Indonesian Metalheads, I’m not lying to you, it is true, Roxx!!) lining up with Seringai, Painkiller, Edane, and Netral? It’s almost a dream.

Ubuntu Problems in Virtual PC 2007

Posted on May 15, 2007
Filed Under Internet, Linux, Daily Notes, Software | 5 Comments

Yesterday, Dodi need help from me about a problem. He wants to install Ubuntu inside his Vista using Virtual PC. This is for an article that he wants to write about Virtual PC. Okay, we know that in order to install Ubuntu we must first use the Live CD then choose the installation process. The problem occurred whenever we went to graphic modes. The display would go fuzzy, garbled and unusable.

Therefore, he went googling for an answer and found out a small workaround to solve this issue:

Switch to a console via ctrl-alt-f1
Login with user/pass
Run “sudo sed -i “/DefaultDepth/ s/24/16/” /etc/X11/xorg.conf” and then reboot.

(via zdNet Blog)

Then I help him with this, (Because he didn’t want to touch console-based stuff). The problem solved, so I leave him, because I have to go somewhere else. That evening I came back again to found out that he cancelled the experiment. “What’s the problem?,” I asked. It seems that Ubuntu has problem with mouse recognition using VirtualPC. And with some googling, he found out that as of today this problem had not been resolved yet. (though there is a workaroud where you can use the keyboard as a mouse)

This is the fundamental problem with Linux in general. I know that Linux is a best solution for me. But not for everybody, at least not for now. Though it is more user-friendly nowadays, but when it comes to bug, you need a little bit effort to find a workaround yet a solution. The kind of effort that do not reside in every average users. This eternal problem would always creep in Linux. No matter how friendly it becomes.

I don’t know, is it just me and my pessimistic aspect of Linux or is this the reality of Linux after all this year?

So why am I that bummed out? it’s because I’m planning to use Virtual PC as a testbed for Ubuntu and other distros that I got. I want an alternative for VMware.

keep looking »