OSIST

This blog was posted at http://archangel-025.blogspot.com/2009/02/osist.html last February 16, 2009

OSIST stands for "One Stop Information Shop of Technologies in the Philippines". The web site is a project of the Philippine Council for Industry and Energy Research and Development (PCIERD) of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) from the Philippines. The website is basically a way for PCIERD to present to the public the number of technololgies available from the Department, whats interesting to note is that these technologies are products of researches and is now ready to be presented and be used by the public, also the website has been nominated as a finalist in the WSA Global Contest and the 11th Philippine Web Awards (PWA) e-Government Category.

The general appearance of the website is very neat, with a very clean look, there is not much clutter and shows only the information relevant to its purpose in a very clear manner. The main options are very visible at the left panel of the site which offers the available technologies, guest book, related links, and a web forum. The left panel also contains the search option of the website, which is very useful since the site contains a lot of technologies making searches easy for any user who wishes to visit the site.

The site shows at the front page the News & Updates and Success Stories, which allows visitors to read the things that are happening about the technologies being presented at the website. This adds credibility to the website and a good source of information especially to first time visitors. The right panel contains the "Most Visited Technology" section, this is a great section for showing all those topics and technologies that are usually being asked by the public, this gives visitors an idea of the content as well as a tool to help visitors look for the technologies that they need. Aside from the basic options, another feature of the site that is really helpful is the option to increase the font size of the content, allowing users to see the content at a font size of their liking.

Access to the website is easy the url si http://www.osist.dost.gov.ph or you can click here to visit the site. I tried to access the site from home and at the office, using different browsers and connection was a breeze, provded of course you have good internet connection and a decent computer.

In all, the site is very well built, Its nice to visit a website that does very good on what its supposed to do, and the OSIST website a very good example. Though not the most fancy of websites with minimal graphic designs that is pretty much acceptable as it removes weight in browsing and showing only the things that you need to see. A very functional website I recommend this website to be a sure winner.

You can vote through the url http://www.philippinewebawards.com/pages/register.asp.

How to add a password to a guest account in Windows XP

This blog was posted at http://archangel-025.blogspot.com/2009/02/how-to-add-password-to-aguest-account.html last February 23, 2009.

In the today's world security should always be your top priority and that includes one of the most indispensable machines in everyday life, our computers. Here is simple step to add security in your beloved personal computers who uses windows xp as their operating systems, specially if your connected to a network.

Here is a common workplace scenario, your at an office who shares not only computers but files as well through the shared folder of each computer. This is a good way to save cost and at the same time improve efficiency through networking, but of the draw backs is the security issue, since all in the network can see you and all can use your computer whenever your not around. The solution, create a guest account and add a password, this allows you to let people use the guest account if they dont have any account on a particular PC, and also it allows you to choose which people in the network can access your PC, here are the steps:

1. Go to start and choose control panel;
2. Select User accounts and turn on the Guest Account
3. Go back to the control panel and choose Administrative Tools and select Computer Management;
4. Click on the folder "Local Users and Groups"
5. Right click on the Guest and select set password
6. Add the password of your choice and let the people you want to know the password.

Samsung SC-MX10 Digital Camcoder

This blog was posted at http://archangel-025.blogspot.com/2009/01/samsung-sc-mx10-digital-camcoder.html last January 3, 2009.


It's so nice to have a new gadget around and this little critter is just perfect for gadget lovers and even for those who just want to keep a record of the good ol' holidays. This device maybe small but packs a couple of nice features.


Aside from the camcoder itself the package includes battery charger, battery (not shown), cleaning cloth (not shown), software installer via cd (not shown) usb cable, usb to video-audio jack and pouch bag.

This small device is pretty nice since it provides both 4:3 and 16:9 aspect ratios - 4:3 and 16:9 which ensures that recorded media can be played on wide-format HDTV screen and olderTV sets. It also has a 34x optical/1200x digitalzoom and 680,000 pixel CCD with electronic image stabilization providing clear pictures with matching 2.7 LCD display for your recording pleasure.

The Camera records all your precious moments using a standard SD or MMC card, I got a free 512 MB SD card but you can also use memory cards with higher memory say 8GB perhaps, the 512 MB gives me around 15 minutes of recording time, so 8GB would probably give you an estimated 4 hours of recording time the only catch is that according to its manual the battery can only give you two hours of juice, so i suggest you plug it if you consider recording higher than 4GB.

To wrap things up here's my personal experience: The device is small cute and easy to carry, perfect for those who is always on the go, for two hours or less that is, since this baby can only give you roughly two hours of recording time, otherwise you'll need to plug it. The software wasn't that great since it just like your standard movie maker nothing too special. The quality of the recorded video is nice, and recording on a memory card is very convenient since I can swap out fresh card if my memory runs out. I hate the fact that it doesn't have a viewing lens, to save battery life, since you'll be recording on your LCD all the time. All in all, its a great device but Samsung could have done better...

Joomla! CMS Review

This blog was posted at http://archangel-025.blogspot.com/2008/10/joomla-cms-review.html last October 9, 2008.

Joomla! is a Content Management System (CMS) Introduced to us at the Department of Science and Technology to easily manage the websites of the Department. I was reluctant at first to try this system since I was more of a static type of person, who always want to have full control of the website, but I soon found out that I might need a little upgrade.

Installing Joomla in my opinion might need an intermediate knowledge in IT since it entails a few tinkering to your server, if this is the first time for you install an open source CMS, I suggest you seek a little help just to make sure. Luckily for me, it's not the first time, and I already have some of the requirements in my server such as Apache, Mysql, etc..., you may also use XAMPP, you search XAMPP at any decent search engine and follow the instructions at their site.

Working with Joomla isn't really that difficult onceyou get the hang of it, if you've tried editing your profile at your favorite social site, then you've probably have little difficulty using this CMS. You may also need a little background in HTML and CSS, specially if you want to make changes to the codes of the templates.

Joomla uses CSS templates, and can use various modules, mambots and components which are readily available at a search of a button, and there are lots to choose from. I however uses, components for Galleries, modules for login menu, mambots for text editors just to name a few.

Creating articles is also fairly easy, you can cut/copy text directly from MS word and paste it to your text editor. It also alows you to create an info text to be placed at the front page of your website.

Over all, Joomla! is a great way to improve your website specially if your moving out from the old statict website management and administration, but might just have to get a little technical background on a few stuff, and most specially you'll need a bit of patience learning the tools. And as far as security is concerned, Joomla! seems to be good enough to keep those nasty beings from tinkering the website.

Google: Chrome Web Browser

This blog was posted at http://archangel-025.blogspot.com/2008/09/google-chrome-web-browser.html last September 13, 2008

Being a google fan myself, I felt excited when google finaly released it's own web browser and it it's pretty obvious how they really wanted to dominate the internet industry.

After downloading the browser I installed it immediately and installing was a breeze without much to thinker about, after installation, the next best thing to do is actually use the browser. looking at how google presented the new browser, I was impressed to see how much space my 14" inch LCD monitor really was. With Chrome you only get to see whats actually important...a lot of space for your internet life.

The address bar which also acts as a search box is a good way of thinking out of the box, saving space and getting all those searches for you, and for google to indulge in, this feature removes other search engines to be used, since its already part of your browser, pretty neat. Tabs are a bit of a standard in todays browers and all the rest of your options are packed in the corner, I guess this is also a part of cleaning up the browser.

downloading items seems to be faster but in terms of opening sites, I'm not that impressed yet, some sites still open just like you would when using other browsers, specially to heavy sites that use a lot of videos and stuff. Another thing that I really don't like is the lack of customizing the browser. It's just a plain blue clean browser for me, but I guess that's just fine considering it's just a beta version.

I hope that next version would be a lot better.

bluerayer.com: Latest in Gadgets and Technology

This blog was posted at http://archangel-025.blogspot.com/2008/09/bluerayercom-latest-in-gadgets-and.html last Sept. 20, 2008

Being an IT professional I usually browse and search for the latest news in IT. and the gadgets that pop up every now and then. As you know the IT industry is a very fast paced industry with technologies and innovations appearing suddenly from nowhere, supplying the hungry demand for new ways to make life a little bit simplier and better.

Here is a place that suites those needs, bluerayer.com features some of the latest news in Gadgets and Technology, with categories ranging from Accessories to News, bluerayer provides good information not only to individuals like myself, but even to ordinary individuals who just want to know about something.

I honestly and simply like the fact of putting gadgets and technology into one space, I love gadgets and I need to be informed. You can check out bluerayer at www.bluerayer.com.

A fresh new look on my cell phone

This blog was posted at http://archangel-025.blogspot.com/2008/06/fresh-new-look-on-my-cell-phone.html last June 21, 2008

I have already tried a number of phones but this phone stood up the most. Its a nokia 5200 mobile phone, It's not high-end but definitely reliable and dependable. I have this phone for over a year and I'm a bit surprised that it lived that long, considering the kind of battering that I do. Its a bit late for me to make a review about this phone since this phone has been in the market for quite some time, and I would simply like to make a tribute to the phone and to the company that made it (not that they needed one...)

The nokia 5200 is a mediocre compared to its cousin the nokia 5300, it only has a VGA camera, symbian OS, long battery life, can play mp3's and radio. These are the exact features that I was looking for when I bought the phone, and after more than a year, I got more from my money.
First was the type of battering that I did in a list and the result

1. fallen from two (2) meters high - minimal damage to exterior, phone operation has not changed

2. over charged, and emptied the batteries - battery life is still amazing, at full charge the battery can stay for 4 days, with texting, calling and gaming included.

3. played games, - free and trial symbian games only, still works perfectly

4. Used as a back up memory - works just like my thumb drive

5. Thrown around - still works perfectly

off all these punishments the 2 meter fall made the biggest impact, and I decided to buy new housing for my phone and the results are from the pictures above. From the original blue and red strips I got an all black rubberized housing and partnered it with a fresh new theme I got from the Internet (free ofcourse...) and look I think my phone got a bit younger...