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BG-Teline: Free Wordpress Theme based on JA-Teline

businessgeeks — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 10:07:27 +0000

BG-Teline is a wordpress theme I created from scratch based on Joomlart’s JA-Teline. I originally wanted to use Joomla as my primary CMS because of theme. Later on I finally mustered the guts to try to build my own wordpress theme based on this theme. This is actually a lite version of the theme I am currently using for this site.

Theme Features

XHMTL Strict 1.0 Validated
CSS Validated
Support for WP-PageNavi.
Fixed Width at 1024×768
Tested on Firefox 2.x, IE7 & IE8, Safari, Google Chrome.
4 Widget ready areas in the Sidebar
Drop-down menus for Page and Categories in the Navigation
Archives Page template to display most recent posts in a page.

BG-Teline theme Screenshot

Get BG Teline Wordpress Theme!

Download the Theme From HERE

Preview BG-Teline Wordpress Theme

BusinessGeeks 2.0 Launched – Now using Wordpress!

businessgeeks — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 07:49:33 +0000

After nearly a month of tweaking and experimenting. I finally decided to launch the latest version of BusinessGeeks.org! This time around it uses the Wordpress.org as its primary content management system. I originally debated on whether I am going to use the original Joomla CMS or moving on the Wordpress. It wasn’t an easy decision since I liked the features of Joomla.

Google Ventures – Google invests in your Business

businessgeeks — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 04:52:14 +0000

Google Ventures is now online! A new move by Google that seeks to boost promising startup business by investing in them. Seems like Google is showing again that they are “Not Evil”. Google Ventures is something I’d really want to get involved. problem is I still don’t have a business they can invest in.

Here is a quick snippent from Google Ventures’ website.

Google Ventures seeks to discover and grow great companies – we believe in the power of entrepreneurs to do amazing things. We’re studying a broad range of industries, including consumer Internet, software, hardware, clean-tech, bio-tech and health care. We invest anywhere from seed stage to mezzanine and embrace the challenge of helping young companies grow from the garage to global relevance.

Read more about Google Ventures in their FAQ

Thinkpad Full Size Keyboard for the Desktop

businessgeeks — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 15:47:36 +0000

If you are like me, a Thinkpad Fan then you sure must be one who will greatly appreciate the high quality and classy design of a thinkpad laptop’s keyboard. The standard keyboardish layout, the nice feel of chunkiness when you type on the keys. Even the ever popular trackpoint is sure to be part of your best thinkpad features list. But ever wished you had a similar keyboard for your Desktop computer?

ThinkPad Full-Size UltraNav USB Keyboard

Welcome the ThinkPad Full-Size UltraNav USB Keyboard! This wonderful piece of peripheral mastery provides you not only look and feel of a standard thinkpad keyboard, but it also gives you the Trackpoint and the Trackpad builtin. No more optical mouse beside this baby.

This Thinkpad Keyboard for Desktops also packs some additional features that more than makes up its price. Features like:

Adjustable keyboard feet provide for three levels of typing comfort; flat (folded under), level-1 and level-2.
ntegrated keyboard cord wrap lets you adjust the length of the cord for use or storage.
Function (Fn) key provides access to key ThinkPad notebook features such as (depending on model) speaker volume, LCD/external monitor select, LCD brightness, system sleep and suspend controls
2 USB ports to connect multiple USB devices reducing the need for an external hub
ThinkPad UltraNav, an example of ThinkVantage Design, lets you choose which pointing device to use: TrackPoint, touchpad, or both. And, it eliminates the need for an external mouse and saves desktop space

For more information and pictures you can visit geek.com.

For more details and to buy directly from Lenovo, click here.

Setup OneOrZero Open Source Helpdesk

businessgeeks — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 13:52:29 +0000

A good helpdesk system is quite important for any company who relies on IT services either internally or externally. OneorZero Helpdesk provides an Open Source PHP/ MYSQLHelpdesk ticketing service all from a web based interface. Since it is web based it essentially accessible from any system that has a web browser installed. This guide provides easy to follow steps on how Setup OneOrZero Open source helpdesk on your own web server.

The OneOrZero Web Based Task Management System can be installed and run successfully on PHP enabled web servers with MySQL version 4.1 and higher.

The following outlines the required components to run OneOrZero MySQL Edition

PHP 4.1 or higher. – PHP 5.2.5 in this tutorial
MySQL 4.1 or higher – MYSQL 5.1.22 in this tutorial
Web Server (IIS/Apache/other) that supports PHP – Apache 2.2 in this Tutorial
Optional Email Server
Optional SSL for secure web transactions
Optional Forum Software
Optional LDAP server for LDAP authentication

Some assumptions:

This guide assumes that you have SSH to your server’s console most of the tasks here are associated to working on the command line.
And some working knowledge of console commands and their principles.

Helpdesk – Download OneOrZero Helpdesk

OneOrZero makes the latest version of OneOrZero only to paid subscribers. However, non subscribers can download the next available version from sourceforge.net. You can download it from here:

http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=123701

Once downloaded you will need to extract the files from the archive and move it to your webserver’s document root.

unzip ooz1654.zip mv ooz1654/ oneorzero/ mv onerorzero /home/host/httpdocs/helpdesk/

In the above commands, I first unzipped the archive file using the unzip command. Unzipping the archive will give you a directory filled with files named ooz1654. For consistency’s sake, I renamed it to oneorzero using the ‘mv’ command. I then use the mv command again to move the oneorzero directory to its permanent place in the webserver ‘/home/host/httpdocs/helpdesk/’ you should change this to suite your own webserver.

OneOrZero Helpdesk Installation Documentation

OneOrZero developers provide the complete documentation with the archive. This is accessible after you have moved the files to the document root. Similar to below:

http://www.yourdomain.com/directory/docs/Install_and_Upgrade_Manual.pdf

To access your documentation, simply replace “yourdomain.com/directory/” with the path for your installation.

NOTE: The instructions in this guide are nearly identical to once provided in the documentation, I merely added some screenshots and some annotations.

Set the Correct Permissions of Helpdesk files

cd /home/host/httpdocs/helpdesk/ chown -R www oneorzero/ cd oneorzero/ chmod -R 775 * chmod 777 attachments/ chmod 777 configuration/

It is important that the whole directory is readable and writable by your webserver and the attachments and configuration directory to readeable and writable by everyone.

Check PHP Setttings for OneOrZero Helpdesk

register_globals = off – earlier versions of PHP (version 3 i think have set this to On) But this have been turned of by the developers of PHP for security reasons. There is a good reason for this so make yours is also OFF
Ensure your session.save_path is valid – OneOrZero uses sessions all through its system. so make sure that this part works.
error_reporting = E_ALL & ~E_NOTICE – Not setting this to the correct value will cause you to see weird output so it would do you well to set this.
File Uploads section – Make sure this section has adequate limitations/directory paths set.
Mail function section – If you select the OneOrZero SMTP option ‘PHPConfig’ then OneOrZero will use the php.ini settings to send email. You can configure such things as SMTP server here. For this installaiton I will be using PHPConfig

NOTE: You can view all of your current php.ini settings by clicking the ‘Check Your PHP Settings’ link in the setup server page. See the coming section ‘Run the OneOrZero Setup Server Page’ for more information.

{mospagebreak title=Preparation Part 2}

Server Settings Used for OneorZero Helpdesk of OneOrZero

Oneorzero Open Source Helpdesk provides various tools to setup itself. This includes tools for the server where you will setup OneOrZero Open Source Helpdesk as well as a tool to configure the system administration panel.

The first tool is the Server Settings Page, you can access it by going to the following URL:

http://www.youroneorzero.com/oneorzerodirectory/utilities/setup_server.php

You will be presented with a screen similar to below:

Here is a summary of all the items listed in the Server Settings Page of OneOrZero Opensource Helpdesk

Server DNS Name – The full domain name of your web server e.g. the name the whole world uses to get to your web server. Make sure that you are using an existing domain or atleast that has a record in your local DNS Server. In our case the domain is:
host.pinoy-compuworld.com
OneOrZero Web Alias (OneOrZero Directory) – If you extracted the contents of the ozh16 file to the root of your web server leave this empty otherwise enter the name of the OneOrZero install directory relative to the root of the web server. For example:
For host.pinoy-compuworld.com/ozh16 enter “ozh16″ For host.pinoy-compuworld.com simply leave the field blank For host.pinoy-compuworld.com/testwebs/ozh16, enter “testwebs/ozh16″

In our installation, oneorzero will be located on

http://host.pinoy-compuworld.com/helpdesk/oneorzero/

So I will simply indicate – “helpdesk/oneorzero”
Maximum Attachment Size – The largest attachment that can be uploaded to OneOrZero (megabytes). This must not exceed the value set in the File Uploads section of the php.ini file
Database Type – Select the database you wish to use either Mysql 4 or 5. In this installation I will be using Mysql 5.
Note: If you have MySQL 5 and have used the old_password() funtion to make passwords MySQL 4 compliant use the MySQL 4 or Earlier option
For Mysql HostName, Username and Password – If you already have these information at hand just fill out the fields with the appropriate values. Otherwise here are some useful steps on how to set it up.
NOTE: you will need to have console access for this to be possible.
- Login into Mysql – In this case I am using the “root” username and password combination.
  mysql -u root -p
  
  You will be logged on into the Mysql Administrator console similar to the screen below:
- Create the Database – Use the following command to create the data
  base:
- Identify a user that will be used by OneOrZero to access the database.
  grant all privileges on helpdesk_oneorzero.* to helpdesk@localhost identified by “h3lpd3sk”;
  
  The statement above tells MYSQL to give the user “helpdesk” all access privileges to the database named “helpdesk_oneorzero” by using the password “h3lpdesk” the hostname “localhost”.
OneOrZero Tablename Prefix – this is useful if you share OneOrZero with a other applications on the same database. In our installation since we are installing one or zero on the same database this will be insignificant but it is recommended that you keep the default “ooz_” entry.

{mospagebreak title=Installation Proper}

Installation – OneorZero Opensource Helpdesk

Actual installation will be done by accessing the install script. use the following URL:

http://host.pinoy-compuworld.com/helpdesk/oneorzero/utilities/install.php

You will find a screen similar to the one below.

This is the license screen. READ THIS very carefully. It is still useful to know what your license is then click on NEXT

Next will be Administrator Details setup (see screen below). Just fill up the fields as you see fit then click “Next”.

The installation is now COMPLETE!

You can now access the administrator control panel by accessing the URL:

http://host.pinoy-compuworld.com/helpdesk/oneorzero/admin/control.php

and your users can access the helpdesk interface by accessing:

http://host.pinoy-compuworld.com/helpdesk/oneorzero/

One thing remember: Make sure to remove the “utilities” directory from your oneorzero installation as a security precaustion. I usually rename it to an obsscure name so that I can use it as need. For example:

mv utilities/ removed/

And you are now done. I will be providing an in depth review within the next week

Activate the Thinkpad Trackpoint blue middle button in Linux

businessgeeks — Sun, 14 Dec 2008 13:48:31 +0000

The Thinkpad series (both Lenovo and IBM) has been well known for the its Trackpoint pointing device. On its low end to mid range system, this is the the only way to navigate / control the mouse cursor unless you use an external pointing device such as a mouse.

Using it may take some getting it use to but once you master it, you will find it more efficient since you dont have to move your hand away the general area of the keyboard.

Ideally, most standard Thinkpad units come with Microsoft Windows installed so the trackpoint should work fine. But if you opt to install linux as in my case, most likely the trackpoint will work out of the box but NOT the blue middle button.

The blue middle button is very helpful when one need to scroll down a long document. This is good because you dont have to move the mouse cursor to a scroll bar just to scroll up or down a document.

But there is hope! By following this guide, you will be able to activate the trusty trackpoint. In this example, I am running Ubuntu6.10 Edgy Eft on an IBM Thinkpad x30. The procedures outlined below will generally work on any system that uses Xorg.

To use the blue middle TrackPoint button as a scroll wheel (using the red TrackPoint itself to scroll up and down), do the following. In a terminal, enter these commands:

sudo cp /etc/X11/xorg.conf /etc/X11/xorg.conf-original
sudo gedit /etc/X11/xorg.conf

In the editor, find the section headed Section “InputDevice” / Identifier “Configured Mouse” and the following lines above the “EndSection” line:

Option “EmulateWheel” “true”
Option “EmulateWheelButton” “2″

Save the file. Logout, restart X with Ctrl-Alt-Backspace, and log in again. Enjoy using your trackpoint pointer!

Setup a Linksys WPC54G v3 PC Card on Ubuntu Linux

businessgeeks — Sun, 14 Dec 2008 13:36:56 +0000

Ubuntu Linux have a come along since it Warty Warthog days. The desktop is now really really refined and its packages despite some being bleeding edge, are very very stable. While Ubuntu 6.06 or fondly called as Dapper Drake is known to have Long Term Support (hence the LTS in its name), I still prefer using the latest build, in this case, is Ubuntu 6.10 Edgy Eft.

Now, while most of the functionalities of my laptop, worked out of the box, I found out that my wireless PCMCIA card, a Linksys WPC54G version 3.0 card, did not work out of the box. So i triffled through the Ubuntu Community Support Forums and I found this entry — How to: Broadcom Wireless card.

Assumptions

This guide assumes that:

Wired Internet access on the machine with the wireless card on it, in my case i had a 10/100 LAN card that i was using as i couldn’t get wireless to work which gave me full access to internet – although it is possible to put the files required on a CD and then add that CD as a repo in synaptic on the wireless machine, how to do this is not covered here, you could even extract the firmware on a different PC and place it in the right location on a remote PC using a CD/Pen drive taking a .deb of network manager with you.
A CLEAN install of dapper or edgy, most of the problems/failures in the responses to this guide have been because of unclean installs giving configuration that gets in the way of this guide and stops it from working, my dapper was installed during the Flight 5 stage and updated from there to knot 2 so its not necessary to reinstall from 6.0* or even if it has been updated from breezy but you might want to think about reinstalling if you’ve messed around with Ndis prior to this.

Procedures:

Ensure that you have access to Ubuntu’s extra repositories are enabled in your APT-GET sources.list. A detailed outline on how to do this can be found in the Ubuntu Guide Website. You may also access it directly by going here (How to Add Extra Repositories).
Install the Broadcom Firmware Cutter (Dunno why they called it a such)

Open a terminal emulator by going to Applications > Accessories > Terminal (the Terminal program should open) and simply enter the following command

You will then be ask to enter your password. Just type your password(note that the password itself wont be displayed) then press ENTER

Alternatively, you may use Synaptic Package Manager to install the packages via a Graphical User Interface (GUI). To run Synaptic, Click on System > Administration > Synaptic Package Manager and the program should load.

Click on the Search Button and search for bcm43xx-fwcutter (see image below)

Right Click on its entry on the packages window and select Mark for Installation (see Image Below)

Ubuntu will then download the program with all of the necessary files that it needs to make it run. So this goes without saying, make sure that you are connected to the INTERNET!

Extract / Process the windows driver to make it usable under Ubuntu Linux

If you still haven’t so, open the Terminal (see steps above) and run the following command

sudo bcm43xx-fwcutter -w /lib/firmware ~/Desktop/wl_apsta.o

This will create lots of new files in the /lib/firmware directory, this is the firmware part of the driver that will make your card work with ubuntu! And to be safe, lets place the same files in the Kernel folder too!

sudo bcm43xx-fwcutter -w /lib/firmware/`uname -r` ~/Desktop/wl_apsta.o

You may have to repeat this step each time the kernel is updated or you may not, your results may vary.

Note The location and name of the .o file for this command may differ in your case, if you really get stuck type bcm43xx-fwcutter and then hit space, find your file using the GUI and then drag and drop it into the terminal.

Install Gnome NetworkManager

The Gnome NetworkManager has made it easy for GNOME users to seamlessly use / switch between different network connections. To install it simply run the following command from the Terminal again:

sudo apt-get install network-manager-gnome

It may ask for your password and may ask you to press y to install, but dont worry its really easy

Reboot your system and start using NetworkManager!

After the installation, simply reboot your computer and you will find a new icon on your system tray! (see Image Below)

If it doesnt, right click on it and tick “Enable Wireless” then left click on it and select the wirless network of your choice.

Possible Issues

Ensure the router you are connecting to supports 802.11 B connections as this is what the card is now set up to use, check if your router has a “mixed” setting rather than a G only setting which it should as G is backwards compatible with B.

The Daemon Calls: Embrace the FreeBSD Life

businessgeeks — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 13:21:43 +0000

I started using Linux (Redhat 8 ) around 2003, and I was completely impressed that a fully functional desktop operating system can be experience without purchasing or pirating Windows. I began my journey through the Linux experience changing from different distributions like Mandrake (now Mandriva) and Ubuntu Linux and working with their respective communities led to believe that Open Source and the ideals behind it can contribute enormously to reducing piracy.

GNU/Linux: Green Comfortable Pastures

In delving in the GNU/Linux innards, I gained the knowledge and know-how to build systems that can be otherwise require much training in Windows. These mystic knowledge are freely shared among the Linux Guru in various online communities. With quick advancement of GNU/Linux as a alternative desktop, I started focusing on building skills other than system and network administration. And the past several months indicate that one can do Internet Marketing, Web Design and Web Development using Open Source Tools and I am thriving well in this environment. My skill set has now expanded with web design and web development skills but system and network administration has remained my passion.

Looking back, I realized that open source, Ubuntu and its fantastic community to be more specific, has allowed me to expand my horizon. Now I wish to do the same for another operating system – FreeBSD.

FreeBSD – unkown Giant, the new frontier

FreeBSD has always been known to be server only operating system and for much of the time, I had split preferences — Ubuntu for Desktops and Laptops and FreeBSD for servers. but now I feel that the Daemon calls. Not a lot of people know that there is another operating system alternative to Windows other than GNU/Linux. For many years, I had wanted to start fully using FreeBSD as my primary operating system but has been putting it off for a long time.

Embracing FreeBSD – Out of my Comfort Zone.

Now here is the thing. I will be formally moving from Ubuntu Linux to FreeBSD on November 22, 2008. This is unconditional, whether i find some things are missing or not. I need to start somewhere. And on that faithful day, I will leave comfy Ubuntu Linux, for FreeBSD. wish me luck!

Don’t Leave It on the Desk

businessgeeks — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 13:33:37 +0000

I received this story in my email through the thoughtful heart of a friend in a community. Although, I am not fond of reading forwarded messages, I took the time to read this This is kind of long, but it is a good read. You will soon see a parallel as you read this. This is just sooooooo good. So good that I wanted to share to everyone. But it has been my personal decision not to forward emails so I decided to put this inspiring article here in my blog. Hope you guys like it because i sure did. God Bless!

There was a certain Professor of Religion named Dr. Christensen, a studious man who taught at a small college in the western United States. Dr. Christensen taught the required survey course in Christianity at this particular Institution. Every student was required to take this course his freshman year, regardless of his or her major.

Although Dr. Christensen tried hard to communicate the essence of the gospel in his class, he found that most of his students looked upon the course as nothing but required drudgery. Despite hi s best efforts, most students refused to take Christianity seriously.

This year, Dr. Christensen had a special student named Steve. Steve was only a freshman, but was studying with the intent of going onto seminary for the ministry. Steve was popular, he was well liked and he was an imposing physical specimen. He was now the starting center on the school football team, and was the best student in the professor’s class.

One day, Dr. Christensen asked Steve to stay after class so he could talk with him. ‘How many push-ups can you do?’ Steve said, ‘I do about 200 every night.’ ‘200? That’s pretty good, Steve,’ Dr. Christensen said. ‘Do you think you could do 300?

Steve replied, ‘I don’t know… I’ve never done 300 at a time.’

‘Do you think you could?’ again asked Dr. Christensen.

‘Well, I can try,’ said Steve.

‘Can you do 300 in sets of 10? I have a class project in mind and I need you to do about 300 push-ups in sets of ten for this to work. Can you do it?

I need you to tell me you can do it,’ said the professor.

Steve said, ‘Well… I think I can…yeah, I can do it.’

Dr. Christensen said, ‘Good! I need you to do this on Friday. Let me explain what I have in mind.’

Friday came and S teve got to class early and sat in the front of the room.

When class started, the professor pulled out a big box of donuts. No, these weren’t the normal kinds of donuts, they were the BIG, extra fancy kind, with cream centers and frosting swirls. Everyone was pretty excited it was Friday, the last class of the year, and they were going to get an early start on the weekend with a party in Dr. Christensen’s class. Dr. Christensen went to the first girl in the first row and asked, ‘Cynthia, do you want to have one of these donuts?’ Cynthia said, ‘Yes.’

Dr. Christensen then turned to Steve and asked, ‘Steve, would you do ten push-ups so that Cynthia can have a donut?’

‘Sure.’ Steve jumped down from his desk to do a quick ten. Then Steve again sat in his desk. Dr. Christensen put a donut on Cynthia’s desk. Dr. Christensen then went to Joe, the next person, and asked, ‘Joe, do you want a donut?’

Joe said, ‘Yes.’

Dr. Christensen asked, ‘Steve would you do ten push-ups so Joe can have a donut?’

Steve did ten push-ups! Joe got a donut. And so it went, down the first aisle, Steve did ten push-ups for every person before they got their donut. Walking down the second aisle, Dr. Christensen came to Scott. Scott was on the basketball team, and in as good condition as Steve. He was very popular and never lacking for female companionship. When the professor asked, ‘Scott do you want a donut?’ Scott’s reply was, ‘Well, can I do my own push-ups?’

Dr. Christensen said, ‘No, Steve has to do them.’

Then Scott said, ‘Well, I don’t want one then.’

Dr. Christensen shrugged and then turned to Steve and asked, ‘Steve, would you do ten push-ups so Scott can have a donut he doesn’t want?’ With perfect obedience Steve started to do ten push-ups.

Scott said, ‘HEY! I sai d I didn’t want one!’

Dr. Christensen said, ‘Look! This is my classroom, my class, my desks, and these are my donuts. Just leave it on the desk if you don’t want it.’ And he put a donut on Scott’s desk.

Now by this time, Steve had begun to slow down a little. He just stayed on the floor between sets because it took too much effort to be getting up and down. You could start to see a little perspiration coming out around his brow.

Dr. Christensen started down the third row. Now the students were beginning to get a little angry. Dr. Christensen asked Jenny, ‘Jenny, do you want a donut?’

Sternly, Jenny said, ‘No.’ Then Dr. Christensen asked Steve, ‘Steve, would you do ten more push-ups so Jenny can have a donut that she doesn’t want?’ Steve did ten….Jenny got a donut.

By now, a growing sense of uneasiness filled the room. The students were beginning to say ‘No’ and there wereh all these uneaten donuts on the desks.

Steve also had to really put forth a lot of extra effort to get these push-ups done for each donut. There began to be a small pool of sweat on the floor beneath his face, his arms and brow were beginning to get red because of the physical effort involved.

Dr. Christensen asked Robert, who was the most vocal unbeliever in the class, to watch Steve do each push up to make sure he did the full ten push-ups in a set because he couldn’t bear to watch all of Steve’s work for all of those uneaten donuts. He sent Robert over to where Steve was so Robert could count the set and watch Steve closely.

Dr. Christensen started down the fourth row. During his class, however, some students from other classes had wandered in and sat down on the steps along the radiators that ran down the sides of the room. When the professor realized this, he did a quick count and saw that now there were 34 students in the room . He started to worry if Steve would be able to make it.

Dr. Christensen went on to the next person and the next and the next. Near the end of that row, Steve was really having a rough time. He was taking a lot more time to complete each set. Steve asked Dr. Christensen, “Do I have to make my nose touch on each one?’

Dr. Christensen thought for a moment, ‘Well, they’re your push-ups. You are in charge now. You can do them any way that you want.’ And Dr. Christensen went on.

A few moments later, Jason, a recent transfer student, came to the room and was about to come in when all the students yelled in one voice, ‘NO! Don’t come in! Stay out!’

Jason didn’t know what was going on. Steve picked up his head and said, ‘No, let him come.’

Professor Christensen said, ‘You realize that if Jason comes in you will have to do ten push-ups for him?’

Steve said, ‘Yes, let him come in. Give him a donut.’

Dr . Christensen said, ‘Okay, Steve, I’ ll let you get Jason’s out of the way right now. Jason, do you want a donut?’

Jason, new to the room, hardly knew what was going on. ‘Yes,’ he said, ‘give me a donut.’

‘Steve, will you do ten push-ups so that Jason can have a donut?’ Steve did ten push-ups very slowly and with great effort. Jason, bewildered, was handed a donut and sat down.

Dr. Christensen finished the fourth row, and then started on those visitors seated by the heaters. Steve’s arms were now shaking with each push-up in a struggle to lift himself against the force of gravity. By this time sweat was profusely dropping off of his face, there was no sound except his heavy breathing; there was not a dry eye in the room.

Professor Christensen quietly asked, ‘Steve, would you do ten push-ups so that Linda can have a donut she doesn’t want?’ Grunting from the effort, Steve did ten very slow push- ups for Linda.

Then Dr Christensen tu
rned to the last girl, Susan. ‘Susan, do you want a do nut?’

Susan, with tears flowing down her face, began to cry. ‘Dr. Christensen, why can’t I help him?’

Dr. Christensen, with tears of his own, said, ‘No, Steve has to do it alone. I have given him this task, and he is in charge of seeing that everyone has an opportunity for a donut whether they want it or not. When I decided to have a party this last day of class, I looked at my grade book. Steve here is the only student with a perfect grade. Everyone else has failed a test, skipped class, or offered me inferior work.

Steve told me that in football practice, when a player messes up he must do push-ups. I told Steve that none of you could come to my party unless he paid the price by doing your push-ups. He and I made a deal for your sakes.’

‘Steve, would you do ten push-ups so Susan can have a donut?’ As Steve very slowly finished his last push-up, with the understanding that he had accomplished all that was required of him, having done 350 push-ups, his arms buckled beneath him and he fell to the floor.

Dr. Christensen turned to the room and said. ‘And so it was, that our Savior, Jesus Christ, on the cross, pled to the Father, ‘Into Thy hands I commend My spirit.’ With the understanding that He had done everything that was required of Him, He yielded up His life. And like some of those in this room, many of us leave the gift on the desk, uneaten.’

Two students helped Steve up off the floor and to a seat, physically exhausted, but wearing a thin smile.

‘Well done, good and faithful servant, ‘ said the professor, adding ‘Not all sermons are preached in words.’

Turning to his class, the professor said, ‘My wish is that you might understand and fully comprehend all the riches of grace and mercy that have been given to you through the sacrifice of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. He spared not His only Begotten Son, but gave Him up for us all, for the whole Church, now and forever. Whether or not we choose to accept His gift to us, the price has been paid.’ ‘Wouldn’t you be foolish and ungrateful to leave it lying on the desk?’

If you like this article you can link to this article or send the link to a friend. It’s bound to touch their heart and demonstrate Salvation in a very special way.

Google Ad Manager Invitation Email

businessgeeks — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 13:31:44 +0000

I just received my Google Ad Manager invitation email and I am very excited about it. For those who are still unfamiliar with what Google Ad Manager is all about, Google Ad Manager is a free service that allows website publishers like ME to manage the Ads/banner inventories on their site. This generally means having advertisements not only Adsense but from other ad networks. It is a direct competitor of OpenX ads management system but the good thing about it is that its a hosted service unlike OpenX which is software that you need to install and maintain on your servers

It is a direct competitor of OpenX ads management system but the good thing about it is that its a hosted service unlike OpenX which is software that you need to install and maintain on your serversI just opened my account and will be looking into the features! Here is the whole Google Ad Manager Invitation Email. Woohoo!

Hello,

Congratulations! We’ve activated your account for early access to the beta release of Google Ad Manager.

Please note that this product is currently available in English only. If English isn’t your preferred language, you can switch to Ad Manager in your local language once we make this option available.

Ready to start using Google Ad Manager?

Visit http://www.google.com/admanager and sign in with your AdSense username and password.
When you sign in, you’ll be asked to select a timezone and currency. We suggest that you select your local timezone to schedule ads on your site. We also recommend selecting the same currency you use to bill your advertisers. Your timezone and currency choices will be permanent, although they won’t affect your AdSense language and payments settings.

For immediate assistance, visit our Help Center at http://www.google.com/support/admanager/publisher. You can also join the Ad Manager Help Forum (http://groups.google.com/group/admanager-help), where you can share questions and information with other Ad Manager users.

If you need help setting up your account, refer to the Getting Started Guide located in the help center:

https://www.google.com/admanager/static/pdf/getting_started_guide.pdf

We hope you’ll take advantage of this exclusive beta launch.

Thanks,

The Google Ad Manager Team

Is your development process like this?

businessgeeks — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 13:29:12 +0000

I came across this funny comic/cartoon that describes (quite accurately) how most companies carryout their development process. And a huge majority of these company, never realize that they are using the same development process as the one described in this picture.

Windows Vista Ultimate A Review from an Ubuntu linux User

businessgeeks — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 13:15:42 +0000

I’ve been an Ubuntu Linux user since the Breezy Badger days of Ubuntu and ever since that day I installed Ubuntu Linux, I never looked back into using Microsoft Windows or any its variants. Ubuntu then evolved to quite capable alternative to MS Windows. However, the latest incarnation of Microsoft’s operating system – Windows Vista is the main contender in the operating system arena. Many believe that Windows Vista is a poor predecessor for Windows XP and that Linux and its derivatives are the best upgrade for Windows XP.

I personally have little experience in using Windows Vista apart from providing troubleshooting tech support in the office laptops and desktops. And old buddy of mine decided to provide me a license of Windows Vista Ultimate SP1 since he didn’t want to use it. With a license copy in my possession, I figured I’d take Windows Vista on a drive for the next couple of weeks and see if it really what people say about it.

Windows Vista Ultimate Review Introduction

You might think I’m crazy to actually try out Windows Vista but Microsoft’s efforts to really put Windows Vista in a good light really got me curious. Websites like the Mojave Experiment really to try sway public opinion about Windows Vista. My review of Windows Vista will be from a Desktop users point of view. I will be avoiding looking into more technical aspects and will focus more on Usability.

Windows Vista Ultimate Installation

For this review, I will be forcing myself to using Microsoft Windows Vista as my primary and ONLY operating system on my laptop, a Lenovo Thinkpad z61m. This laptop is quite responsive with Ubuntu Linux installed so I’m looking forward on how Windows Vista performs in it.

Installation itself is pretty straight forward. The Setup program ask a few questions which will help it configure the operating system according to your need and requirements. One thing I liked about Windows Vista is that it supports SATA based hard drives out of the box. This has been a show stopper problem for Windows XP which require you to install the SATA drivers from a floppy disk (so imagine your desktop or laptop does not have a floppy drive). Also unlike the previous versions of Windows wherein the is a text-based portion and a graphical portion of the installer, Windows Vista’s Installer is purely graphical so from partitioning to selection of options, everything is graphical. This is a nice plus for usability in my book. Overall, the installation is very intuitive and straight forward although it took me around an hour to from start to finish. Most of the time spent waiting for the installer to finish copying and setting the system.

Windows Vista Ultimate – First Impressions

The first Windows Vista Ultimate loads, all I can say is, that is one sleek looking interface. Microsoft was able to pull of a dark theme and still look quite good. Of course without saying that the theme used in Windows Vista known as Aero is quite a big leap for Windows XP default theme. Its a good thing that my laptop’s integrated graphics adapter can handle the requirements of Aero, otherwise I’d be stuck with the less eye candy version. Here are stuff that I noticed that differentiated Windows Vista from Windows XP in terms of Graphical User Interface.

Windows Desktop – the only major change I see in the desktop is that you can now have really HUGE icons. Perfect for those people having trouble finding icons in a cluttered desktop.
Windows Start Menu – the start menu no longer has the word “start” menu but instead was replaced with an orb containing the windows logo. Clicking on the start menu will bring up what it may seem a nearly identical start menu of Windows XP. But once i placed my mouse cursor in the “All Programs” item, I expected a fly out menu will pop on the side of the current menu but instead the list of programs appeared on the same place as the Quick Icons. Not entirely bad but it takes getting used to. Free here you can drill down to the application you want to run and click on it.
Windows Sidebar – a portion of a desktop designed to host gadgets – Microsoft’s version of the popular desktop widgets concept. There is quite a few gadgets you can install by default but if there weren’t enough you can go online and get some more. I personally dont find any use for these things whether in Windows or otherwise so lets leave it there.
Internet Browsing – Vista comes with Internet Explorer 7 which is good rather than having Internet Explorer 6. I never could get used to the layout of Internet Explorer, the stop and refresh buttons are on the right side of the address bar. Most browser have it on the left. It also took me off guard when I couldn’t find the menu! I later found out that it automatically pops out bellow the address bar when you tap the ALT key. Saving space? bad place to start if you ask me.
Windows Explore – The default look of Windows Explorer in Windows Vista is nearly identical to Windows XP. Aside from the rearranging of the some elements I do agree its almost the same. Also, like in Internet Explorer 7, the menu is by default hidden and will appear when you tap the ALT key. Checking out the options in the menu, I discovered an interesting feature is that when you are in the documents folder, you can toggle a Preview pane from the menu such that if a file has an associated program to it, a preview will display in the pane. Im too sure if this feature exists in Windows XP but its the first time I found it in a Windows System.
Movie Playback – First thing I tried is get a DVD and VCD movie disc and try it out on the System. Immediately after popping the discs into the tray, I was presented with an autorun dialog box asking me if I want to open the disc by either playing in Windows Media Center or Windows Media Player. I opted for media player and to viola! Vista played both Movie Discs! Codecs installed and ready to use! Excellent!
Send/Receive Email – I used web based email clients but I still decided to try using Windows Mail which I later found out is nearly identical to Outlook Express. If you are familiar with Outlook Express, windows Mail will be right at home. Poking around i found out that Windows Mails has few new tools in its sleeve to improve user experience. These include things like Improved Email Searching, Junk Email and Phishing protection and access to “communities” also known as newsgroups. Since I really dont use desktop email clients, I’ll just have to here and say. It’s outlook express with a vista face.
Movie Maker, DVD Maker and Windows Gallery – these will likely work together. When you plugin a camera or a USB flash drive with pictures or videos in it, Vista will prompt you with the most appropriate actions. In the case of a Sony Video cam, an “import video” option was provided. All types of medias are placed into the proper types of folder like photos and other graphics end up in the Pictures folder etc. I also found out that all media’s whether videos or sounds or pictures, are all viewable from the Windows Gallery. Making Windows gallery more of central way of browsing through your media.
Laptop centric functionalities – For my laptop, Windows Vista provides the Windows Mobility Center. It looks like a small control panel containing common functions for Laptops such as, Display Brightness, Wireless Connection and Options to connect my laptop to another monitor or a projector. Nic
e utility but I hope it was placed in a more accessible part of the menu. It currently sits hidden within the Accessories program menu.

Overall there were a lot of nice things I found in Windows Vista. So next is the missing parts I found.

Windows Vista Ultimate – Missing Parts

As good as Windows Vista is, I found some spots or holes in its functionality that may need attention before one decides on using it. Here are some of the most glaring holes I found:

PDF Reader – a default install does not have the capabilities to view PDF files. Which is disappointing since a lot alternative Desktops operating system already have this capability built in. For this purpose, I had to use downloadable PDF reader like Adobe Acrobat Reader or Sumatra PDF to read my favorite PDF ebooks.
Complete Media Burning Utility – Window Vista Ultimate has built in media burning facilities built for making Data CD/DVD’s or audio CD’s however, it lacks the capability to handle ISO files which is quite essential when you download and test open source opearting systems. Sure you have Nero lying around but what if your computer does not come with a free license of Nero? For this purpose, I use an open source program called InfraRecorder to these chores for me.
Graphics Editing Tool – Windows Vista has a built in graphics editing program called MS Paint. But using it for serious graphics editing is a JOKE. So I had to download another open source graphics editing program called The Gimp. The Gimp provides graphics editing capabilities that is similar to Adobo Photoshop.
Archive Management – Windows Vista has a builtin functionality to handle zip files. However it is unable to handle more exotic archive types like rar and ace archives. For this purpose, I turn to either Peazip or 7zip for my archive management needs.
Advanced Text Editor – I do a lot of code editing in my job and hobbies so an advance text editor is essential. Windows Vista’s Notepad is just too simple for these tasks so I use either Geany IDE or Notepad++ for my code editing needs.

Windows Vista Ultimate – Essential Security tools

I think it should be worth saying that Windows Vista by itself cannot keep you protected from various malwares that scatter the internet so antimalware utilities should be installed. These include a firewall, antivirus and antispyware utilities. I personally use the following:

For firewall utilities, I recommend the free version of Zonealarm Firewall and Comodo Firewall Pro. Zonealarm is free for personal use but you will need to purchase a license if you will need to use it corporate setting. Comodo Firewall Pro on the other hand is free for both personal and corporate use.
For Antivirus protection, you will find AVG Free Edition provides ample protection in most cases. It should be noted that starting on Version 8, AVG also provides anti spyware capabilities.

Windows Vista Ultimate – Speed Considerations

After installation, I shutdown the laptop. I wanted to time the bootup process from pressing of the power button to the login screen and I was impressed. From the time I pressed the power button until i saw the login screen, it took my laptop 36.27 seconds. pretty snappy if you ask me. And from logging form to the actually desktop, it took another 15 seconds.

It must be noted that this is a DEFAULT install. This means no updates, drivers and security utilities have been installed yet. Upon installing these stuff, things got really slow. Bootup took me atleast 2 mins. And using multiple applications (read: multitasking) eventually drove my fingers to do a whole song’s worth of tap dancing. If you are looking to use Windows Vista Ultimate, be prepared to invest in a system with alteast 2 GB of memory.

Windows vista Ultimate – Ubuntu user’s Conclusion

Overall experience with Windows Vista is quite pleasant albeit a little on the slow side. Although there was a need to download certain software, this is not much different from some operating systems I have used. But if you already have a license for Windows XP and you don’t want to invest on some hardware upgrades. I suggest sticking to Windows XP.

5 great IT websites for newbie IT Professionals

businessgeeks — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 12:28:12 +0000

Building a career in Information Technology can be a dizzying fast paced way of life. With the rate of new technologies emerge everyday, today’s hot stuff can be obsolete in a matter of couple of months. Being up to date on the latest trends and skill sets is the key to success in information technology. I’ve been an IT Professional for almost 3 years now and I found that the Internet is a great resource in keeping yourself up to date. Here are some of the websites I usually watch/read to help me “sharpen my saw”.

	OSnews – OSnews is my favorite Operating System Portal. It provides news and articles for almost all major operating systems as well as the lesser known ones. It also tackles quite a bit of other IT related topics.
	PC World – PC World on the other provides even broader selection information from news, howtos. It primarily focuses on consumer level products and services. Pcworld also hosts a forum for its members to collaborate and share information. For enterprises or businesses, PC World has its Business Center. Since its network of news providers is quite sizable I usually refer here for most recent IT news.
	Tech Republic – is my main recommendation for both newbie and veteran IT professionals. It is a thriving community of helpful of people who are willing to help each other whether you are a newbie or guru.
	FreshMeat.Net – Freshmeat is an astonishly HUGE listing of various software available for download in the internet. It does not directly hosts these programs but acts as a great directory where users can search for almost any software they need.
	Symantec Security Response Blog – Symantec (read: Norton) has been in the PC Security business for more than I care to remember and the guys here are quite knowledge in their field. I regularly refer here for security issues that may possibly threaten the networks in my care.

Most of these sites have RSS Feeds you can you get updated by subscribing the them.

Google Chrome – Will Google’s new Browser be Linux Friendly?

businessgeeks — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 12:24:50 +0000

Google Chrome. I recently got news that Google is indeed planning to release its own Web Browser. Rumors have been flying around but it seems that this new kid will bring a whole slew of features that will definitely change the Web Browser industry. But will it support the Linux platform?

Google Chrome Features

Blogoscoped has published a good list of Google Chrome’s upcoming features. Here is a quick rundown:

Google Chrome uses WebKit – Google’s new browser will be using the web brower engine used by Apple’s Safari web browser.
V8, Cutting Edge Javascript Virtual Machine – “chromey” will be using a new Javascript VM build from scratch. This version emphasizes great performances gains and features a “task manager” which can users identify offending processes within the browser.
Google Chrome’s take on Tabs – acknowledging the usefulness of tabs, Google Chrome will sport an alternative way of using browser tabs. Instead of the usual below the address bar, the Tabs will be above the address bar, whether this will provide better usability remains to be seen.
Omnibar in Google Chrome – This feature can be found in Firefox 3.0. It simply tries to help the user find previously visited sites when the user types something in the address bar. Instead of associating the text to the URL, the browser finds all text matches in the previously visited sites’ title tags. I like it in firefox, so im sure it would be nice to have in Chromey too.
Singing with Opera with the Speed Dial – Chromey also features a speed dialish feature similar to the one use by Opera but adds a ilittle more extra’s like a recently bookmarked section and some other stuff.
Privacy Mode – I am INVISIBLE – following the latest industry concerns on privacy. Chromey implements an “incognito” window which acts quite similarly to Internet Explorer’s InPrivate.
To know more about the features of Google Chrome, I like to call it Chromey, feel free to visit Blogoscoped or The Official Google Blog.

My ony wish is that.. THEY MAKE SURE TO PROVIDE A LINUX VERSION! If they dont, well im going to pissed… or umm… sad. waaaahhh!

UPDATE September 3, 2008: Google Chrome for Windows has been released. And still no Linux Version. You can download the Windows Version here: Google Chrome for Windows.

Cuil Search Engine tries to wack Google

businessgeeks — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 01:48:47 +0000

Cuil Search Engine was recently launched by a group of former Google employees. Found by husband and wife team – Tom Costello and Anna Patterson, Cuil (pronounced “cool”) takes a different approach in sorting through all of the web pages on the web. Rather than using PageRank and its principles, Cuil was designed to primarily analyze the content of the websites.

Cuil also highlights the fact that they do not “study” their users as Google does to increase user experience and search relevancy. Cuil boasts that it “remembers nothing” as they state in the Cuil Privacy Policy:

When you search with Cuil, we do not collect any personally identifiable information, period. We have no idea who sends queries: not by name, not by IP address, and not by cookies (more on this later). Your search history is your business, not ours.

What does it mean to us End users? Well doing a “vanity search” for my targetted keywords displays weird results. Here is a screenshot. Click on the Image to Enlarge

According to Cuil, it found 4,307 results for the search term “filipino business technology blogger” but its only displaying one result — Mine. Well I guess i should be thankful that its my site that pops up but the weird thing is, where are the other 4,306 pages? is Cuil filtering it? I tried turning of the safe search but still ended up with the same results.

Also, please note that the graphic thumbnail that cuil displayed for my entry is NOT mine and you will not find it ANYWHERE in my website. So how come Cuil used it for my site?

Just for comparison, here are the search engine results for the same keywords using Goolge, Yahoo! and MSN/Live.

Conclusion? Well I’d rather not make one right now since it would be unfair for Cuil to make one this early on. But one thing for sure, they need to get their engine to show better and more accurate results (ie do not use the wrong thumbnail) if they hope to challenge the Big G or even middle Y and little M/L. But for now, Google stays as my preferred search engine page.

Anybody getting better results than I have?

Aquarium Philippines – A blog for Arowana Lovers

businessgeeks — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 13:26:05 +0000

An officemate in my current work place has decided to start a blog about Arowanas and is very eager to share his knowledge about the world. This guy, Ermand Laborte, knows a fantastic amount of stuff about this type fish. All I know about it is that you can sell a fully grown arowana for quite a considerable amount of money. So I guess thats a business opportunity in itself. To know more about Arowanas feel free to visit Aquarium Philippines.

What is like to burn bridges?

businessgeeks — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 01:45:23 +0000

Today I have a really strong urge to burn bridges. There is a deep want to just leave the past and leave it buried. And probably jump up and down and stump on it just to get my anger out. But alas someone once told me that it is NEVER wise to burn bridges.

Sometimes in your life you hear things that you never realized would MAKE YOU SO MAD. Like when you do your best to console a female friend get over a jerk of BF but she keeps going back to him or business associate who always asks for advice ALWAYS does the opposite. I am having that right now, and it is very frustrating. So frustrating that make me wanna smoke a cig…(nah not a chance)

I guess there is something to learn here. Like maybe it was how I gave the advice? or was it the person did not trust me at all? Funny, I always thought we were friends. So when people ask me about it. I’ll just have to make my template smile and say…

Besides, a good bridge is pretty hard to build so buring it would be like throwing an investment away. so maybe I’ll just hide it from my map until I need it again.

Learning HTML: Reimplementing JA-Teline in HTML

businessgeeks — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 01:43:02 +0000

I wanted to learn how to build my own wordpress themes but I realized that i didn’t have the skills nor the experience to make one. Yes, I do possess working knowledge on how to tweak and edit existing HTML / CSS code but to build one from scratch is something I always wanted to learn and do.

Going straight into building a Wordpress theme maybe too ambitious so I decided to build a HTML template first. I choose to re implement a simplified Joomlart’s Ja Teline Theme for Joomla as my practice template. So after a couple of weeks of nose bleeding and hair pulling, I have made considerable progress. Here is what i was able to do so far

Still a lot of work but for sure, this is a very good learning experience for me. Any feedback will be greatly appreciated.

Update: As of August 21, 2008. I was able to cleanup the overall layout of my template. Next step would be to tweak the typographies.

How Name Calling can hurt Open Source

businessgeeks — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 01:33:13 +0000

I have been using opensource software for quite some time now. And goes without saying that I spent my fair share of time reading through community forums and blogs related to the software I use. And in all of the sites i went to, there is always a selected few who namecalls alternatives. For example, I browse a linux community forum and i find some posts wherein members “poke fun” of Microsft and Microsoft Windows (calling them Windoze, Microsucks – you get the picture). Why all the namecalling? isnt this some kind of habit preschoolers do?

Well I personally know two people who has this habit of name calling Microsoft in the forums and I do understand why they have that attitude, its their past experience with the MS products that pissed them off. Now, I am sure that a lot of people would say “im just expressing myself” and for that I respect them. But how about we look at this from a different point of view?

Don’t you think that all this namecalling can negatively affect your favorite open source software’s visibility / image on the Internet? Here are two ways namecalling can affect Open source software.

Namecalling can project a level of childishness. Granted not all communities do this but project leader of opensource software or forum moderators encouraging this type of behavior only shows the attitude of these leaders about the other alternatives. A mature open source community will always respect other people’s work even if it sucks big time.
Missed Opportunity in Terms of SEO - For those of you who knows a little a bit of Search Engine Optimization (SEO), namecalling (read: misspelling) other products make you miss opportunities to target these keywords. For example, if your group is dicussing about “Windoze Alternatives” you are missing the opportunity to reach to people who are looking for “Windows Alternatives” in the search engines.

So what do I suggest? Well there is the Golder Rule to follow. But this is just me. What do you think?

HTC Diamond – iPhone alternative for Professionals

businessgeeks — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 01:29:04 +0000

The HTC Diamond PDA cellphone brings new meaning to iPhone killers. Prided by HTC as the ultimate iPhone killer WITH 3G capabilities, HTC Diamond provides a very slick cellphone, camera, GPS device in a very elegant and professional looking package.

HTC Diamond – Quick Overview

The HTC Diamond brings together a wealth of features that a lot of iPhone lovers will greatly appreciate. While the iPhone during its launch awed the world with its slick and elegant user interface, the HTC Diamond promises the same ground breaking effect with a look to will appeal to professionals and businessmen (I personally think an iPhone are more for fashionista’s than professionals).

Sporting the latest technologies in connectivity such Bluetooth 2.0 with EDR, WiFi capabilitiy (IEEE 802.11 b/g) and USB connections, HTC Diamond allows you to stay connected regardless of your preferences. And with GPS capability, road warriors are sure to keep themselves on track anywhere they go. The HTC Diamond also touts a specialize User Interface built on top of its Windows Mobile 6.1 operating system (darn! not linux-based) called the HTC TouchFLO 3D. The HTC TouchFLO allows a sophisticated and elegantly way of navigating the cellphone’s various features. Here is a quick overview of the HTC TouchFLO 3d interface.

Overall, HTC Diamond is a promising smartphone and is a capable competitor of Apple’s iPhone.

HTC Diamond – Technical Specifications

Here is a detailed account of the HTC Diamond’s technical specifications taken from HTC’s website.

Processor	Qualcomm® MSM7201A™ 528 MHz
Operating System	Windows Mobile® 6.1 Professional
Memory	ROM: 256 MB RAM: 192 MB DDR SDRAM Internal storage: 4 GB
Dimensions	102 mm (L) X 51 mm (W) X 11.35 mm (T)
Weight	110 g (with battery)
Display	2.8-inch TFT-LCD flat touch-sensitive screen with VGA resolution
Network	HSDPA/WCDMA: Europe/Asia: 900/2100 MHz Up to 384 kbps up-link and 7.2 Mbps down-link speeds Tri-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE: Europe/Asia: 900/1800/1900 MHz (Band frequency and data speed are operator dependent.)
Device Control	TouchFLO™ 3D Touch-sensitive navigation control
GPS	GPS and A-GPS ready
Connectivity	Bluetooth® 2.0 with EDR Wi-Fi®: IEEE 802.11 b/g HTC ExtUSB™ (11-pin mini-USB 2.0 and audio jack in one)
Camera	Main camera: 3.2 megapixel color camera with auto focus Second camera: VGA CMOS color camera
Audio	Built-in microphone, speaker and FM radio with RDS Ring tone supported formats: MP3, AAC, AAC+, WMA, WAV, and AMR-NB 40 polyphonic and Standard MIDI format 0 and 1 (SMF)/SP MIDI
Battery	Rechargeable Lithium-ion or Lithium-ion polymer battery Capacity: 900 mAh Talk time: Up to 270 minutes for WCDMA Up to 330 minutes for GSM Standby time: Up to 396 hours for WCDMA Up to 285 hours for GSM Video call time: Up to 145 minutes for WCDMA (The above are subject to network and phone usage.)
AC Adapter	Voltage range/frequency: 100 ~ 240V AC, 50/60 Hz DC output: 5V and 1A

Golden Triangle gains Higher CLICKS for Ads

businessgeeks — Thu, 22 May 2008 01:22:46 +0000

Ad positioning is very important for blogs or sites that use ads as a source of revenue. While there are many “Adsense optimized” templates out there on the Internet, I believe that there is a pattern in all this strategies.

Consider the following post about Ad Positioning: Tactics to increase you Adsense Earnings Overnight by Darren Rowse where also outlined his little experiment about changing ad positions which was also further explained in Where To Put Adsense Ads And A Dynamic Ad Placement Plugin by Jozzua. In Darren’s article he illustrates the before (left) and after(right) ad positions. The change in position actually yielded a 40 % increase in his CTR.

Another example is the the recommended ad positions by Google Adsense. Here is a sample:

If you compare the images provided by Darren and the one from adsense it seems that areas with the higest click through rates are in the upper left area of the site somewhere just below the header / top navigation. Why is that? The answer may lie on how human eyes usually navigate a web page.

A few years ago, Eyetools Eyetracking Research published an interesting image on how many web users perceive a web page. Here is the image from their site.

The image indicates where the users eyes focus more (indicated by the red areas). You may notice that the concentration of eye focus and clicks are gathering in a triangular shape on the upper left part of the page which incidentally very much similar to Darren’s findings and the Google Adsense heatmap. You can find the article from Eyetools Eyetracking Research here. This triangular area is fondly know as the Golden Triangle

What does this mean? Well if we are going to base it on Darren’s results, Google adsense heatmap and the Eyetools Eyetracking research, It would be best to place your ads within this “Golden Triangle”. But my opinion is that this can be used to attain higher CTR’s for call to action buttons like a buy now or signup now type of link / button. I am currently doing some similar tests, Ill see what results will turn up. How about you guys? does the Golden Triangle for Ad Positions apply to you?

Take control of your Life with THE SECRET

businessgeeks — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 01:18:33 +0000

Ever wonder why some people seem to be getting all of the blessings while you’re getting all of the trials? Or are you still waiting for your life to get better since one of the other things in your life seem to be falling apart. No this is not a sales pitch. I am just trying to make you think. But I am going to tell you something. Something that has worked for me, my wife Maia and my son Johann. curious?

My family has “The Secret” a concept of life that many find very hard to understand. But has been working ever since time was conceived. The Secret is a book that I bought as an advance Valentines Present for Maia and through this book we learned how to reach your DREAMS! To understand The Secret, you can watch this video:

When you are convinced enough, buy the BOOK or Movie VCD/DVD and learn how to apply The Secret into your life.

Business Cartoon PICS in BusinessGeeks.Org

businessgeeks — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 14:33:39 +0000

Pictures, cartoons or any graphics material is very important for anyone writing online. These pictures allows any writer, whether professional or not, to capture the attention of their readers. In my course of looking for good pictures, Business cartoon pictures to be precise, i found CartoonStock.com, an online shop of very high quality and funny cartoon pictures.

Diving through the online library of different types of cartoon pictures, I found out that they have made available a great selection of cartoons of various topics including business related cartoons. I liked the selection so much that I decided to have some of those cartoons posted daily in a special page here in BusinessGeeks.org. You can find the Cartoon Page of businessgeeks.org HERE.

Bord’s Tip: 30 Second Elevator Speech

businessgeeks — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 14:30:19 +0000

30 Second Elevator Speech – Helps you Focus More. I find today’s professional world quite demanding. A lot of industries are dog eat dog industries wherein a person can only succeed if a competitor fails. In the office, you need to be on your toes and stay on the cutting edge so that you will not become obsolete. For many business persons, staying ahead of the competition is no longer a want but now an extreme need. Therefore, any person who wants to keep up in today’s dizzying pace needs to keep himself sharp. Not only skills but his mind also. To be able to stay ahead of the competition, one is required to have laser beam focus on his goals.

To follow your goals means you need to know what your doing to reach those goals. I have read a lot of books on how to become an effective person, whether it employee or businessman and generally they have a common advise — Know What You’re Doing. You see, in the course of running our projects, duties and lives, distractions come about which sometimes derail us on our path to our goals. That is why we need ways to remember “what we need to do” so we can stay focused on our goal. This is were the 30 Second Elevator Speech comes in.

30 Second Elevator Speech – What is it all about?

The 30 Second Elevator Speech was designed as way for people of all walks of life to be able to “remember their path”. The idea behind it is that by “memorizing” a couple of lines describing what you do, and being able to say it in 30 seconds or less, you will be able to better internalize the answer to the question “what do you do?”.

One way to fully understand about this concept is to imagine yourself inside an elevotor going toward the ground floor in a very high building. All of the sudden, a person whom you know is the president of FORTUNE 500 company steps into the elevator and joins you going down. He glances at you and says “Hi, I am ___________. You seem to be an interesting chap, what do you do?”. Naturally, you would want to put your best foot forward so what do you say? Note that since you’re in an elevator you only have at most 30 seconds to reply and give a good impression. Now if you have you’re 30 Second Elevator Speech ready at hand, you will be able to deliver it and possibly impressing mr president. So to make it short, the 30 Second Elevator Speech is a business / professional “pickup line”.

The Benefits of having a 30 Second Elevator Speech

So what if you have a 30 Second Elevator Speech? What good will it do to you? Plenty! First, you will find out that by memorizing your 30 second elevator speech is like reminding yourself that you are doing these things because they are steps towards your goal. Consider the following scenarios:

In the elevator with the Director of your department – Out of the blue he asks you: “How is your project about the synthesis of metaloid compounds? (Yeah I just made it up, the point is he is asking the status of your project!). Woundn’t it be better if you can answer with a

Oh, the project has already reach its second milestone and we are currently 3 days ahead in the production of the second component.

than saying “uh, its going pretty well”. The CEO will definitely be more impressed with the former responds. POINT: By knowing your project status and putting it as your 30 second elevator speech you are always ready to let people know about. It projects an aura that you are in control and aware of your projects details. And by “memorizing” your speech you subconsciously allow yourself to focus on your project.
In a Computer Expo with a lot of potential clients – You’re walking around looking for possible clients to offer your freelance services. You shake hands with a few business owners and they ask you. “So what do you do?” Do you answer “I am a freelance system administrator” or would you rather say

I am System Administration Consultant specializing in Web Server / Database server optimization. I currently provide server optimization services for FreeBSD / Linux, Apache, MYSQL and PHP web application platforms.”

Guess which lines gets most attention?
You bumped into a business partner who happens to be with a possible investor for business – If the investor asks you about your business, does the line “My business is about provide training services” sound better than

I am currently invovled in business and leadership development. We provide people Leaderhip and business development strategies to people who wish to upstart their own business”

30 Second Elevator Speech – The Principles Behind it

Picture this: A burglar breaks into your house and points a gun a you. He will only spare your life if you are able to tell him what do you do in less than 30 seconds. In life, there are instances that require you to make quick responses. And you are able to use your 30 Second Elevator Speech in a bat of an eye, then you are already on your way to be successful. Whether its in your Job, studies or even in your business. The 30 Second elevator speech may be the only line that keeps you from the bigger opportunities in life.

Urduja – Filipino Full Featured Animated Film

businessgeeks — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 14:26:15 +0000

Urduja. I love watching Full Featured Animated films! From those kiddie Disney films to the other more serious Spawn type films I love watching them. I even dreamed that someday i’d make my own Full Featured Animated Film. You know, create my own characters render them and finally put them in the movie houses!

Alas, as I grew up I realized that animation isn’t my talent. But I am still hoping that someone will be able to churn out a Full Featured Animated Film that will rival the industry giants! Enter Urduja a Full Featured Filipino Animated Film produced by Tony Tuviera’s APT Entertainment.

Urduja features an impressive array of top notch (well not all) voice artists:

Regine Velasquez – stars as Princess Urduja
Cesar Montano – stars as Lim hang the lover of Urduja.
Johnny Delgado – as Wang.
Eddie Garcia – as Lakanpati.
Michael V and Allan K – as the comical Kutkut and Tarsir.

Watching the Teaser Trailer of Urduja is quite promising but I feel that it was heavily influenced by Disney movies. Urduja in my opinion seems like a cross between Disney’s Pocahontas and Mulan. This isnt necesarily bad and I feel it was beautifully done. I am looking forward to this Full Featured Film in the movies. Feel Free to watch the trailer here.