Life’s Lessons

It was late last year when my laptop started acting up. Suddenly I cannot connect to the internet using a broadband stick that I normally use when my smartbro canopy is not working or if I am out of town. Such a disappointing scene and I panicked! Uninstalled and installed the program more than a couple of times but to no avail. I tried using other broadband stick from other network but I still can’t connect. So the problem is with my laptop, not on the plug-it. BIL said my laptop needs reformatting. I cannot just do it immediately because I have tons of files in this laptop. When my EHD arrived, I transferred all photos and digiscrapping files but for some reason I cannot just reformat because of work files, work emails (that I don’t know how to back-up or transfer to the EHD), bookmarked sites, and all other nonsense things.

Earlier this month, I was forced to have the laptop reformatted and install another OS. Finally! Thanks to Donald for doing it for free! Goodbye headache-laden Vista, hello Windows 7! I am loving Windows 7 to bits!

For those who are music and entertainment enthusiasts and just loves to download tons of music, videos and movies on their PCs, laptops, MP3 devices, iPods or mobile phones, then discover these three amazing open source software.

1. KMPlayer MultiMedia Software. This is a powerful video player with a wide range of features that will allow the user to view videos or movies in different formats and it also has various playback options. There are also processing tools that allow filtering and sharpening images and change the picture properties.

2. Media Player Classic Software. It’s a free audio and video media player for all Window users. It is also a fast player and has a small learning curve and uses multiple video formats.

3. MPlayer Software. This is for all that are using Linux operating system but can also run on many supported operating systems.

For the chat and instant messaging addicts, then Miranda IM is for you. It is different from the other instant messaging applications because it allows the user to customize the look and function of the instant messenger. Miranda IM has various security and privacy settings that save history and doesn’t have pestering pop-ups.

For those who are into writing and code editing, Notepad++ is one of the best open source software around. It runs in the MS Windows environment and yet it uses less CPU power, and has a wide collection of user plug-ins to suit the individual needs. With its sustainability practices, it is clearly the choice for all editing needs.

Try all these and see the difference.

Ace was prodding me to get a high-end desktop before my ever reliable laptop that has been working long hours a day will give me a headache. At least with a desktop computer, I can left it on for 24 hours. I wasn’t so sure what specific brand to get but I definitely don’t want a clone one. Last night, I’ve read a friend’s twit and she mentioned her other friend’s iMac. I’ve no idea what is that (of course, I am not well versed on gadgets and computers though I am facing my laptop everyday!) so I asked Mr. Google what is an iMac. The search result gave me this….

• 21.5 inch
• 3.06GHz Intel Core i3
• 1920-by-1080 resolution
• 4GB (two 2GB) memory
• 500GB hard drive1
• 8x double-layer SuperDrive
• ATI Radeon HD 4670 with 256MB

that made me drool big time! I even woke up Ace in his deep sleep and told him I want an iMac. That woke him up from being half-asleep half-awake because he knows how much it costs.LOL. Oh well, I just want the smallest – that is 21.5″ with the lowest specs…but that will still cost me around PhP64,990.00 (roughly $1445 at PhP45 exchange rate). Wohooo!!! Where on earth could I get that huge amount? I want an iMac so soon!hahahaha