Steve Jobs: The Resignation Letter

To the Apple Board of Directors and the Apple Community:

I have always said if there ever came a day when I could no longer meet my duties and expectations as Apple’s CEO, I would be the first to let you know. Unfortunately, that day has come.

I hereby resign as CEO of Apple. I would like to serve, if the Board sees fit, as Chairman of the Board, director and Apple employee.

As far as my successor goes, I strongly recommend that we execute our succession plan and name Tim Cook as CEO of Apple.

I believe Apple’s brightest and most innovative days are ahead of it. And I look forward to watching and contributing to its success in a new role.

I have made some of the best friends of my life at Apple, and I thank you all for the many years of being able to work alongside you.

Steve

(via Steve Jobs’ Resignation Letter)

Source: Mashable

Tita Cory

jaredramos:

Project Pilipinas 020 - Cory

August 1, 2009 - Former Philippine President Corazon C. Aquino, the first female president in Asia, dies at the age of 76.

(via itstrixiacruz)

“copyleft”

Everybody knows what this symbol  © means.  It’s that type of symbol that says, “Don’t mess with me, unless I allowed you to.”  But if there’s such a word as “copyright,” is there an antonym of the word similar to right having its opposite, left?

I was reading a blog from Mashable about “The Last True Hacker” when I chanced upon “copyleft.”  The word does exist but not in Microsoft Word’s vocabulary.

And logically, it's symbol looks like this.  No kidding!

Face-off: Nikon and Canon

I’ve always wanted to get into photography the minute I laid my hands on my father’s trusty Nikon FM2 SLR a few years back.  What held me back was the accompanying cost in dealing with film and prints.  Then came the digital age of photography with the advent of what we call the “point and shoot” type of cameras that eventually resulted to the conversion of SLRs to Digital SLRs.  With DSLRs, no more worries about spending on film, shoot as much as you want and you may choose not to print your work and instead upload it to photo sharing sites up in the cloud. 

Filipinos here and abroad are crazy over photography.  A few years back, the common camera gear you’d see in the streets are point and shoot cameras, DSLRs are mainly reserved for photojournalists and their big bad lenses.   That’s not the case today.  With the creation of different market segments for DSLRs, there’s a particular model/brand out in the wild that would meet everybody’s performance and budget requirement.  I attended a christening a year ago and the DSLRs in the room totaled to 6: 5 Nikons and 1 Canon, including 2 from the official photographer…  I’m just saying :).  It’s a shame though that Nikon doesn’t have a local service center in the Philippines!  Boohoo!

Nikon or Canon?

I’m a little biased when it comes to brand and I blame my father for that.  But in all honesty, I have no issues with Canon, Pentax, and Sony etc.  I apologize for the question excluding the other brands but let’s face it… most users are either into Nikon or Canon.  But let’s not forget, as every seasoned photographer (I call myself a hobbyist by the way) would say… taking great pictures does not depend on the brand/model you use… it depends on whose eye is behind that viewfinder!

And the reason we ended up with the uber-popular Nikon D90 (according to Flickr), simply… it was the latest released model at that point in time we decided to get one.  And there’ve been no regrets since.

Nikon vs. Canon

Here’s an interesting take on the rivalry between Nikon and Canon.  I got this info graphic below from Mashable  and our Canon friends won… yipppeee? :)  I’d be delighted to hear your own take on this one!

3G: Sun versus Globe

An anonymous fellow commented on my article “How to unlock your Huawei 3G USB modem.” Below is what he/she posted on my article:

“I use a ‘Redbox’ Globe tattoo. It is called such as it came from a red box. Its a Huawei e1552, 3G/HSDPA-capable modem that performs well anywhere. It even reached a max of 2mbps (using the Supersurf service of Globe-the 1-day no limits {almost-it has an 800mb/day LIMIT} surfing service), and 1mbps (using the tunneling service Tor++) But the thing is, it can't be unlocked. I can't use a Sun SIM (in some areas, I detect a Sun signal in 3G. This will work well with those using the SmartBROKE kit (almost all mobile broadband users I know find that SmartBROKE sucks). For Sun users, its good if you're from Metro Manila or in urbanized areas and will travel in the province.”

@Anonymous :)

Unlocking the E1552 modem

The next time I met my sister who uses Globe Tattoo, which I believe is the same “Redbox” variant you’re referring to, she asked me to have her modem unlocked. In her case, she wants to have it unlocked so she can use her Globe Tattoo modem with a Sun Broadband SIM or SmartBro SIM card. I tried to unlock the E1552 modem the way I did with my E160… and I failed. There’s no problem with the unlock code I got from the website. What I got after inserting the Sun Broadband SIM is a popup message that says, “action not allowed.” The thing is, the wise people from Globe might have disabled or used up the 10 attempts for unlocking the modem. Haven’t heard of any work around yet.

Globe unlimited 1-day service

Globe calls it “unlimited” for marketing purposes only. To be fair, it is unlimited if you’re going to surf the net lightly which involves opening web sites and not downloading large chunks of files. But nonetheless, it sucks to have an unlimited service only to find out that you have in reality a 800MB limit. I learned about this when I downloaded a 700MB movie in just 25 minutes and then after a while got a message that I reached my 800MB limit. Then my connection went ppfffttt. The speed though was remarkable compared to other 3G providers and so I went to a Globe center and asked whether their postpaid unlimited scheme also have a cap. To my dismay, the limit is set at 1GB per day. Not enough for heavy downloaders like me. Not switching to Globe anytime soon.

SmartBro, SmartBroke, SmartBulok

If you’re smart, you’re not going to go with SmartBro. This I learned a few years back when I used their canopy service. Back then, I usually get 15 percent of their advertised speeds. Surprisingly the other day, I looked at some SmartBro plans and I noticed that they have lowered their advertised speeds. And if I apply my 15 percent expectation of the service, I might be better off with a dial-up service.

Speed at 2Mbps

May I know where were you and what time of the day/night when you reached 2Mbps? Because if that was during the day, then it is awesome! The E1552 I believe is newer than the E160, however the E160 is also capable of reaching up to 3.5Mbps. Wireless connectivity is really a tricky business. Unpredictable number of clients in an area tends to degrade service but telcos are partly to blame too. Most of their installations are not optimized to handle heavy traffic; their slow back haul links are to blame.

Tor++

I haven’t used tunneling as I am much satisfied with Sun Broadband. But I’ll definitely try it out and play with it in the future.

As of press time

Sun Broadband is still the best 3G service versus cost and data limit. Sun Broadband is, for me, truly the “unlimited service.” Globe may have the largest coverage and the fastest network but they suck because of data limitations. If you’re a heavy downloader like me, you can leave your rig after midnight ‘till morning and enjoy 200+ kBps torrent download speeds (B is to bytes: b is to bits), which you won’t get with Globe.

Good news or very very bad news

Sun Broadband subscribers’ won’t be happy with current developments though. Sun was acquired by Smart recently. Will the service stay that way? Or dark days are upon us? Our last hope is Sen. Joker Arroyo but if he fails… Good thing my lock-in period with Sun is about to expire! Kampai!

Hero Time: The Faceless 50

excerpt from the article...

They crawl through labyrinths of equipment in utter darkness pierced only by their flashlights, listening for periodic explosions as hydrogen gas escaping from crippled reactors ignites on contact with air.

They breathe through uncomfortable respirators or carry heavy oxygen tanks on their backs. They wear white, full-body jumpsuits with snug-fitting hoods that provide scant protection from the invisible radiation sleeting through their bodies.

They are the faceless 50, the unnamed operators who stayed behind. They have volunteered, or been assigned, to pump seawater on dangerously exposed nuclear fuel, already thought to be partly melting and spewing radioactive material, to prevent full meltdowns that could throw thousands of tons of radioactive dust high into the air and imperil millions of their compatriots.

for the complete article... click here!

How to unlock your Huawei 3G USB Modem

I've never thought it would come to the point I’d be unlocking my 3G USB modem… but it happened. I was on vacation last December at my hometown of Iba, Zambales. I brought along my Sun Broadband USB modem believing I’d get a 3G signal since our house is located at the heart of our town and for the fact that they have been advertising their nationwide coverage plus my hometown is considered Digitel territory. And boy I was devastated to see my modem signal indicator turned “green,” meaning it is only able to detect a 2G signal. Still, I tried to connect to the net using SUN’s EDGE network and it totally sucked! Knowing I have to unlock my USB modem first I tried to insert my Globe Tattoo SIM thinking maybe those guys from SUN forgot to lock it! But they didn’t. As soon as the Mobile Partner app appeared, a dialog box appeared prompting me to enter the “unlock code!” With that… “Light Bulb!” (borrowed from “Despicable Me” hehehe) I had an idea that I don’t have to go to some cellphone repair guy and have them unlock it for me… I can do it on my own!

Luckily, my sister who is also home for the holidays brought along her Globe Tattoo USB modem which I’ve used before and quite satisfied with it. Most Globe Tattoo users in Manila have shelved their modems for other providers but in my hometown, Globe Tattoo is king! It provides a decent service better than what I get with SUN Broadband in Manila in terms of 3G signal strength! So I borrowed my sisters modem fired my browser and Googled “how to unlock your 3G USB modem.” I wasn’t happy about the search result because most of the sites listed required me to download some software for unlocking my modem. Aside from the fee, I feared that I might download some kind of malware. I rephrased my query and with a little bit of patience, stumbled upon a not so eye catching site that turned out to be “the way!” that lead me to “the site!”

the way!

the site... eureka!

So… How to unlock your USB modem?

All you need is your modem’s IMEI (International Mobile Equipment Identity). I thought I’d have a “Metal Gear” moment in finding my modem’s IMEI where I would exhaust all my energy just to find it when all of the time it was under my nose (play Metal Gear on the Sony PS1 so you’ll know what I mean). My modem’s 15-digit IMEI was printed on the backside of my modem. Entered it on the “unlock code calculator” of the site then BOOM!... returned a 10-digit unlock code! It’s that easy!

The only problem now is that the sites I’ve mentioned are sometimes down so just be patient :) The unlock code calculator might not cover all Huawei modems so be sure to check your modem model number with the modems covered by the calculator first.

Below are the pictures of my Mobile App with SUN Broadband SIM and Globe Tattoo SIM. And… Let me know whether you’ve unlocked yours :)

Johns Hopkins Update – Very Good Article

got this from my e-mail… just sharing :)

AFTER YEARS OF TELLING PEOPLE CHEMOTHERAPY IS THE ONLY WAY TO TRY (‘TRY’, BEING THE KEY WORD) TO ELIMINATE CANCER, JOHNS HOPKINS IS FINALLY STARTING TO TELL YOU THERE IS AN ALTERNATIVE WAY .

Cancer Update from Johns Hopkins :

1. Every person has cancer cells in the body. These cancer cells do not show up in the standard tests until they have multiplied to a few billion. When doctors tell cancer patients that there are no more cancer cells in their bodies after treatment, it just means the tests are unable to detect the cancer cells because they have not reached the detectable size.

2. Cancer cells occur between 6 to more than 10 times in a person’s lifetime.

3. When the person’s immune system is strong the cancer cells will be destroyed and prevented from multiplying and forming tumors.

4. When a person has cancer it indicates the person has nutritional deficiencies. These could be due to genetic, but also to environmental, food and lifestyle factors.

5. To overcome the multiple nutritional deficiencies, changing diet to eat more adequately and healthy, 4-5 times/day and by including supplements will strengthen the immune system..

6. Chemotherapy involves poisoning the rapidly-growing cancer cells and also destroys rapidly-growing healthy cells in the bone marrow, gastrointestinal tract etc, and can cause organ damage, like liver, kidneys, heart, lungs etc.

7.. Radiation while destroying cancer cells also burns, scars and damages healthy cells, tissues and organs.

8. Initial treatment with chemotherapy and radiation will often reduce tumor size. However prolonged use of chemotherapy and radiation do not result in more tumor destruction.

9. When the body has too much toxic burden from chemotherapy and radiation the immune system is either compromised or destroyed, hence the person can succumb to various kinds of infections and complications.

10. Chemotherapy and radiation can cause cancer cells to mutate and become resistant and difficult to destroy. Surgery can also cause cancer cells to spread to other sites.

11. An effective way to battle cancer is to starve the cancer cells by not feeding it with the foods it needs to multiply.

12. Meat protein is difficult to digest and requires a lot of digestive enzymes. Undigested meat remaining in the intestines becomes putrefied and leads to more toxic buildup.

13. Cancer cell walls have a tough protein covering. By refraining from or eating less meat it frees more enzymes to attack the protein walls of cancer cells and allows the body’s killer cells to destroy the cancer cells.

14. Some supplements build up the immune system (IP6, Flor-ssence, Essiac, anti-oxidants, vitamins, minerals, EFAs etc.) to enable the bodies own killer cells to destroy cancer cells. Other supplements like vitamin E are known to cause apoptosis, or programmed cell death, the body’s normal method of disposing of damaged, unwanted, or unneeded cells.

15. Cancer is a disease of the mind, body, and spirit. A proactive and positive spirit will help the cancer warrior be a survivor. Anger, un-forgiveness and bitterness put the body into a stressful and acidic environment. Learn to have a loving and forgiving spirit. Learn to relax and enjoy life.

16. Cancer cells cannot thrive in an oxygenated environment. Exercising daily, and deep breathing help to get more oxygen down to the cellular level. Oxygen therapy is another means employed to destroy cancer cells.

*CANCER CELLS FEED ON:

a. Sugar substitutes like NutraSweet, Equal, Spoonful, etc are made with Aspartame and it is harmful. A better natural substitute would be Manuka honey or molasses, but only in very small amounts. Table salt has a chemical added to make it white in color Better alternative is Bragg’s aminos or sea salt.

b. Milk causes the body to produce mucus, especially in the gastro-intestinal tract. Cancer feeds on mucus. By cutting off milk and substituting with unsweetened soy milk cancer cells are being starved.

c. Cancer cells thrive in an acid environment. A meat-based diet is acidic and it is best to eat fish, and a little other meat, like chicken. Meat also contains livestock antibiotics, growth hormones and parasites, which are all harmful, especially to people with cancer.

d. A diet made of 80% fresh vegetables and juice, whole grains, seeds, nuts and a little fruits help put the body into an alkaline environment. About 20% can be from cooked food including beans. Fresh vegetable juices provide live enzymes that are easily absorbed and reach down to cellular levels within 15 minutes to nourish and enhance growth of healthy cells. To obtain live enzymes for building healthy cells try and drink fresh vegetable juice (most vegetables including be an sprouts) and eat some raw vegetables 2 or 3 times a day. Enzymes are destroyed at temperatures of 104 degrees F (40 degrees C).

e. Avoid coffee, tea, and chocolate, which have high caffeine Green tea is a better alternative e and has cancer fighting properties. Water-best to drink purified water, or filtered, to avoid known toxins and heavy metals in tap water. Distilled water is acidic, avoid it.

No plastic containers in microwave. No water bottles in freezer. No plastic wrapin microwave.

Johns Hopkins has recently sent this out in its newsletters. This information is being circulated at Walter Reed Army Medical Center as well. Dioxin chemicals cause cancer, especially breast cancer. Dioxins are highly poisonous to the cells of our bodies. Don’t freeze your plastic bottles with water in them as this releases dioxins from the plastic. Recently, Dr Edward Fujimoto, Wellness Program Manager at Castle Hospital , was on a TV program to explain this health hazard. He talked about dioxins and how bad they are for us. He said that we should not be heating our food in the microwave using plastic containers. This especially applies to foods that contain fat. He said that the combination of fat, high heat, and plastics releases dioxin into the food and ultimately into the cells of the body. Instead, he recommends using glass, such as Corning Ware, Pyrex or ceramic containers for heating food. You get the same results, only without the dioxin. So such things as TV dinners, instant ramen and soups, etc., should be removed from the container and heated in something else. Paper isn’t bad but you don’t know what is in the paper. It’s just safer to use tempered glass, Corning Ware, etc. He reminded us that a while ago some of the fast food restaurants moved away from the foam containers to paper The dioxin problem is one of the reasons.
Please share this with your whole email list.

Also, he pointed out that plastic wrap, such as Saran, is just as dangerous when placed over foods to be cooked in the microwave. As the food is nuked, the high heat causes poisonous toxins to actually melt out of the plastic wrap and drip into the food. Cover food with a paper towel instead.

Benigno (Ninoy) Aquino’s Letter to his son Noynoy

August 25, 1973

Fort Bonifacio

11:30pm

Mr. Benigno S. Aquino III

P E R S O N A L

My dearest Son:

One of these days , when you have completed your studies I am sure you will have the opportunity to visit many countries. And in your travels you will witness a bullfight.

In Spanish bullfighting as you know, a man – the matador – is pitted against an angry bull.

The man goads the bull to extreme anger and madness. Then a moment comes when the bull, maddened, bleeding and covered with darts, feeling his last moment has come, stops rushing about and grimly turns his face on the man with the scarlet “muleta” and sword. The Spaniards call this “the moment of truth.” This is the climax of the bullfight.

This afternoon, I have arrived at my own moment of truth. After a lengthy conference with my lawyers, Senators Jovito R. Salonga and Lorenzo M. Tanada I made a very crucial and vital decision that will surely affect all our lives: mommie’s, your sisters’, yours and all our loved ones as well as mine.

I have decided not to participate in the proceedings of the Military Commission assigned to try the charges filed against me by the army prosecution staff. As you know, I’ve been charged with illegal possession of firearms, violation of RA 1700 otherwise known as the “Anti-Subversion Act” and murder.

You are still too young to grasp the full impact of my decision. Briefly: by not participating in the proceedings, I will not be represented by counsel, the prosecution will present its witnesses without any cross examinations, I will not put up any defense, I will remain passive and quiet through the entire trial and I will merely await the verdict. Inasmuch as it will be a completely one-sided affair, I suppose it is reasonable to expect the maximum penalty will be given to me. I expect to be sentenced to imprisonment the rest of my natural life, or possibly be sent to stand before a firing squad. By adopting the course of action I decided upon this afternoon, I have literally decided to walk into the very jaws of death.

You may ask: why did you do it?

Son, my decision is an act of conscience. It is an act of protest against the structures of injustice that have been imposed upon our hapless countrymen. Futile and puny, as it will surely appear to many, it is my last act of defiance against tyranny and dictatorship.

You are my only son. You carry my name and the name of my father. I have no material wealth to leave you. I never had time to make money while I was in the hire of our people.

For this I am very sorry. I had hopes of building a little nest egg for you. I bought a ranch in Masbate in the hope that after ten or fifteen years, the coconut trees I planted there would be yielding enough to assure you a modest but comfortable existence.

Unfortunately, I had to sell all our properties as I fought battle after political battle as a beleaguered member of the opposition. And after the last battle, I had more obligations than assets.

The only valuable asset I can bequeath to you now is the name you carry. I have tried my best during my years of public service to keep that name untarnished and respected, unmarked by sorry compromises for expediency. I now pass it on to you, as good, I pray, as when my father, your grandfather passed it on to me.

I prepared a statement which I intend to read before the military commission on Monday at the opening of my trial. I hope the commission members will be understanding and kind enough to allow me to read my statement into the record. This may well be my first and only participation in the entire proceedings.

In this statement, I said: Some people suggested that I beg for mercy from the present powers that be. Son, this I cannot do in conscience. I would rather die on my feet with honor, than live on bended knees in shame.

Your great grandfather, Gen. Servilliano Aquino was twice condemned to death by both the Spaniards and the American colonizers. Fortunately, he survived both by a twist of fate.

Your grandfather, my father was also imprisoned by the Americans because he loved his people more than the Americans who colonized us. He was finally vindicated. Our ancestors have shared the pains, the sorrows and the anguish of Mother Filipinas when she was in bondage.

It is a rare privilege for me to join the Motherland in the dark dungeon where she was led back by one of her own sons whom she lavished with love and glory.

I ended my statement thus: I have chosen to follow my conscience and accept the tyrant’s revenge.

It takes little effort to stop a tyrant. I have no doubt in the ultimate victory of right over wrong, of evil over good, in the awakening of the Filipino.

Forgive me for passing unto your young shoulders the great responsibility for our family. I trust you will love your mother and your sisters and lavish them with the care and protection I would have given them.

I was barely fifteen years old when my father died. His death was my most traumatic experience. I loved and hero-worshipped him so much, I wanted to join him in his grave when he passed away. But as in all sorrows, eventually they are washed away by the rains of time.

In the coming years, I hope you will study very hard so that you will have a solid foundation on which to build your future. I may no longer be around to give you my fatherly advice. I have asked many of your uncles to help you along should the need arise and I pray you will have the humility to drink from their fountain of experiences.

Look after your two younger sisters with understanding and affection. Viel and Krissy will need your umbrella of protection for a long time. Krissy is still very young and fate has been most unkind to both of us. Our parting came too soon. Please make up for me. Take care of her as I would have taken care of her with patience and warm affection.

Finally, stand by your mother as she stood beside me through the buffeting winds of crisis and uncertainties firm and resolute and uncowed. I pray to God, you inherit her indomitable spirit and her rare brand of silent courage.

I had hopes of introducing you to my friends, showing you the world and guide you through the maze of survival. I am afraid, you will now have to go it alone without your guide.

The only advice I can give you: Live with honor and follow your conscience.

There is no greater nation on earth than our Motherland. No greater people than our own. Serve them with all your heart, with all your might and with all your strength.

Son, the ball is now in your hands.

Lovingly,

Dad

The Dell Controversy

“Dell didn’t make those capacitors, but once the company knew they were faulty, it obviously had a duty to its customers to recall the affected machines. It didn’t. Instead it covered up the problems, relying on ridiculous excuses and blaming its customers.”

—

The ignominious fall of Dell | The Industry Standard - InfoWorld hmmm I remember my brother-in-law’s Dell XPS overheating last year… he switched to HP… i know a company in Laguna used to supply them with optical drives… they shut down the whole line because of quality issues… then the whole department was closed down… last week… I saw a lady who just bought a Dell laptop… good luck to her! :)

The LEICA FREEDOM TRAIN

An interesting fact ... Why Leica has good Karma.

The Leica is the pioneer 35mm camera. It is a German product - precise, minimalist, and utterly efficient. Behind its worldwide acceptance as a creative tool was a family-owned, socially oriented firm that, during the Nazi era, acted with uncommon grace, generosity and modesty. E. Leitz Inc., designer and manufacturer of Germany 's most famous photographic product, saved its Jews.

And Ernst Leitz II, the steely-eyed Protestant patriarch who headed the closely held firm as the Holocaust loomed across Europe , acted in such a way as to earn the title, "the photography industry's Schindler."

As soon as Adolf Hitler was named chancellor of Germany in 1933, Ernst Leitz II began receiving frantic calls from Jewish associates, asking for his help in getting them and their families out of the country. As Christians, Leitz and his family were immune to Nazi Germany's Nuremberg laws, which restricted the movement of Jews and limited their professional activities.

To help his Jewish workers and colleagues, Leitz quietly established what has become known among historians of the Holocaust as "the Leica Freedom Train," a covert means of allowing Jews to leave Germany in the guise of Leitz employees being assigned overseas.

Employees, retailers, family members, even friends of family members were "assigned" to Leitz sales offices in France , Britain , Hong Kong and the United States

Leitz's activities intensified after the Kristallnacht of November 1938, during which synagogues and Jewish shops were burned across Germany ..

Before long, German "employees" were disembarking from the ocean liner Bremen at a New York pier and making their way to the Manhattan office of Leitz Inc., where executives quickly found them jobs in the photographic industry.*

Each new arrival had around his or her neck the symbol of freedom – a new Leica.

The refugees were paid a stipend until they could find work. Out of this migration came designers, repair technicians, salespeople, marketers and writers for the photographic press...

Keeping the story quiet

The "Leica Freedom Train" was at its height in 1938 and early 1939, delivering groups of refugees to New York every few weeks. Then, with the invasion of Poland on Sept. 1, 1939, Germany closed its borders...

By that time, hundreds of endangered Jews had escaped to America , thanks to the Leitzes' efforts. How did Ernst Leitz II and his staff get away with it?

Leitz Inc. Was an internationally recognized brand that reflected credit on the newly resurgent Reich. The company produced range-finders and other optical systems for the German military. Also, the Nazi government desperately needed hard currency from abroad, and Leitz's single biggest market for optical goods was the United States .

Even so, members of the Leitz family and firm suffered for their good works. A top executive, Alfred Turk, was jailed for working to help Jews and freed only after the payment of a large bribe.

Leitz's daughter, Elsie Kuhn-Leitz, was imprisoned by the Gestapo after she was caught at the border, helping Jewish women cross into Switzerland . She eventually was freed but endured rough treatment in the course of questioning.

She also fell under suspicion when she attempted to improve the living conditions of 700 to 800 Ukrainian slave laborers, all of them women, who had been assigned to work in the plant during the 1940s.

(After the war, Kuhn-Leitz received numerous honors for her humanitarian efforts, among them the Officier d'honneur Des Palms Academic from France in 1965 and the Aristide Briand Medal from the European Academy in the 1970s.)

Why has no one told this story until now? According to the late Norman Lipton, a freelance writer and editor, the Leitz family wanted no publicity for its heroic efforts. Only after the last member of the Leitz family was dead did the "Leica Freedom Train" finally come to light.

It is now the subject of a book, "The Greatest Invention of the Leitz Family: The Leica Freedom Train," by Frank Dabba Smith, a California-born Rabbi currently living in England .

Thank you for reading the above, and if you feel inclined as I did to pass it along to others, please do so. It only takes a few minutes.

Tech Repair 001: Annoying cooling fan!

Having experienced what I call the “black death” (for windows, you have the “blue screen of death”) of my computing gear early this year, I am not going to gamble the second time around and decided to buy a cooling pad. After scouring the net for user reviews and seeing all available cooling pads in the market, I’ve settled for the cooling pad made by Belkin. It was a bit pricey but I was totally sold with the clear-cut design. Unfortunately, I stumbled upon a knockoff a third of the price I paid for grrrrrrr! Where else?... At CD-R King.

Anyway, I learned to appreciate the use of cooling fans as they really serve their purpose. From a “bottom enclosure” temperature of 33 degree Celsius and above, it was able to lower the temperature and maintained at a range of 30 to 32 degree Celsius. The change doesn’t look drastic but I learned to appreciate the Celsius scale again as one degree Celsius is not a puny number.

I’m a power user and after a month of using my cooling pad, I noticed an annoying noise emanating from the cooling fan. The noise however only occurs upon switching the fan lasting for about a few minutes. At first I thought it was normal and the fan might not be receiving enough supply current since I attached it to a very cheap USB hub (which I bought at CD-R King… already learned my lesson this time and worthy of another story by the way). Then the situation switched from bearable to really annoying. I thought of sending it back to the shop where I bought it but that would be futile for it’s been a month that passed. I thought of also replacing the fan myself as the pad only has a few screws, it wouldn’t be a big problem. I realized that my unit is new and it should not be the case. These days where people must reduce contributing waste, especially electronic devices, replacing the cooling fan was my last resort.

Luckily today, most questions can be answered by typing a phrase or sentence on Google. “How to repair a noisy cooling fan” lead me to ZD Net UK (http://www.zdnet.co.uk/talkback/0,1000001161,2135514-20039487o,00.htm) with the how-to guide here complete with pictures (http://news.zdnet.co.uk/hardware/0,1000000091,2135514,00.htm). It totally solved my problem with just a mere drop of oil!!!

I remember I had this problem before with my first personal computer back in ’94. Google wasn’t around that time and not too many tech-perts to talk to. Come to think of it, my old PC still works back home!

Thanks Google! Thanks ZD Net! A drop of oil goes a long way…

gma.. all in!

Got this from a friends Facebook account. Whoever took this picture is freaking sick!!! Not that it's bad hehehe... 'cause upon close examination... it's got good depth of field!!! I just wonder whether the one who took the picture made use of a zoom lens?!?

I guess this is how she handles things; shady dealings with people in amassing an alleged unexplained wealth...

open wide, tongue out.... ALL IN!!!

mbps? you must be kidding me!?!

After seeing the latest advertisements of Sky Broadband, theoretically the fastest Internet connection for home use as I haven't tested it, I cringed on my seat after seeing the last part. I tried to check on YouTube.com whether somebody already uploaded the ads. Unluckily there were none. Instead, I was able to find the old ones and to my surprise, with the same issue!

Below are the old advertisements.

Just in case you missed it... due to quick pacing of the video... here is what I was talking about in the first place.

Who would want an Internet connection already advertised at 12 mbps? They might have mistaken "m" for "M!" As "m" is for milli (x10 raised to the -3) and "M" is for Mega (x10 to the 6)!!!