a bit of a gadget freak

November 25, 2011 1 Comment

When it comes to knowledge about the latest gadgets, I consider myself advance compared to a regular housewife. I don’t have to have the best of the new electronics but I want to have a decent kind of (some of) each—a decent smartphone, a decent laptop, a decent tablet, etc. And I don’t buy these things just to “have” them. I really use them and I use them in a way that they become something really beneficial for me to have. For example, I use my laptop for work related stuff. My iPad has apps for recipes, children books, emags, ebooks, newspapers, my blog subscriptions, my notes, organizer, etc. I use my phone not just for calling but also for checking my emails when I am on the go, as navigation, as camera, etc. I can’t name all the uses but believe me when I say I did not waste my money on them. I didn’t buy them just to have something to flaunt.

Being a bit of a gadget freak means I am always connected to the Internet. It’s my main library, my resource for all the information I need. I consider myself “wired” to it and I read the so called “news of the wired” to learn and track the latest gadgetry on the market. I don’t have to have the latest but it is always good to learn about new technologies.

Filed Under: Electronics and Software Tagged With: , ,

abusing our new internet plan

March 25, 2011 1 Comment
our internet provider logo

our internet provider

We are not expecting our high-speed internet until the end of this month but it was installed and activated much earlier than we expected. The fastest internet connection being offered here in Austria is the Fiber Power Broadband Internet but that kind of connection is just available in the city (we live in the suburbs).

What we have is called xDSL High-Speed Internet. I am not really an expert but they say that xDSL High-Speed Internet is half as fast as Fiber Power Broadband Internet. My gosh, if the internet speed we have now is only half as fast as Fiber Power Broadband Internet, FPBI should be really really really fast.

I am very much contented with our internet connection. I can stream videos, music, and movies without interruption. I don’t have to wait. Buffer time is done within milliseconds. It’s really fast and since it is unlimited, I am sort of abusing it. Haha. Since its activation three days ago, I already watched six movies and loads of YouTube videos. Having this connection enables me to save some bucks. I don’t need to go to the cinema anymore and I also don’t need to rent DVDs anymore. I can watch movies online for free. So cool!

The only thing is, I spend so much time watching movies that I can’t work anymore so I am not expecting a decent amount of money coming in from my freelance jobs this week.

Filed Under: Hobbies and Interests Tagged With: ,

turtle speed internet connection

March 22, 2011 2 Comments

I do have an unlimited internet plan. Here in Austria, you can get a decent internet plan for 15Euros/month. According to the latest currency conversion, that’s about 926PHP. Pretty cheap compared to the expensive but oh so slow internet connection back home in the Philippines. I use a USB dongle that I can connect to our WLAN when I’m at home and when I go out, I simply take the USB dongle with me, so I can have internet access anywhere.

So anyway, with the internet plan I have now, I can surf with the speed of 128Kbits. That is fast and I am quite contented with it. The only small imperfection with this plan is: once I reached 15GB, it slows down to 20-50Kbits (that’s still fast compared to SmartBro’s speed during peak hours, i think). I can still surf “unlimitedly” but with a slower speed.

I rarely reach my 15GB/month internet data volume limit so it rarely bothers me that I have a limit. But last week, I was watching a lot of CNN news online about Japan and Libya that I used up all my internet data volume. I know that I have a limit but I was not able to help myself from watching last weeks’ news.

To cut the story short, I now have a slow internet connection and I really can’t work with this kind of connection. It slows me down and it irritates me.

I am glad that our 2-years contract with this internet provider is going to end next month. We are switching to a High-Speed Fiber Power internet cable. It will be a bit more expensive but it will be truly unlimited. No internet data volume limit, and the speed can reach up to 100MBPS. With this connection, it will be possible to watch TV online and stream movies and music. My husband thought that since we now have a permanent place, we can get a fixed internet connection. Cool. BUT, I already see a problem with this type of internet connection—I can’t take it with me. :(

It’s really too bad that we can’t have an internet plan that has it all. Of course I can get another plan but two internet plans will be too costly.

And since surfing is just too frustrating this time, I decided to spend the morning playing with Photoshop. Noticed the new banner? I think it is much better than the old one.

old mypinknotes header

the previous header

new mypinknotes header

my new, simple, easy-to-make header

Filed Under: Hobbies and Interests, Internet and Blogging Tagged With: , ,

reaching home via internet

September 22, 2010 1 Comment

It’s been a long time since I left home to work and live abroad. If I am not mistaken, it has been almost five years now and to me, it feels very natural already. Maybe that’s because I am really not the type who experiences intense homesickness. I do feel homesick sometimes but my homesickness can be easily cured by eating Filipino food or simply by calling my family back home.

Long distance calls are quite expensive and that is one reason why I am so thankful that there is internet. Before I left home, I taught my mom how to write emails and use messengers to make sure that we chat, talk, and exchange emails while I am away. The only set back of this is that we don’t always catch each other online. There are times when I badly need to tell them something but they are not online. When that happens, I simply send my mom or my sisters an SMS that says they should go online because I have something important to tell them. Thanks to Free SMS services from net2mobiles.com, I can send text messages to my family back home without spending a dime. Long distance communication nowadays is actually almost for free. The only thing we have to pay is the monthly internet fee.

Filed Under: Daily Life, Home and Family Tagged With: , ,

my cousin’s wedding

March 18, 2010 Leave a Comment

The main thing I am thankful for about the internet is the face that it offers me means to get in touch with my family back home. I would go home often if I could but that is not simply possible so needless to say, I have to be content with communicating with them over the net. At the beginning, we emailed each other and used messenger software to chat. If they want to show pictures to me, they have to send the pictures to me via email. Now there’s Facebook, of which most of my family and friends are members. It is way cooler because we can chat, message each other, share videos and photos.

I was invited to attend my cousin’s wedding but I was not able to attend. Over chatting, I told her I was sorry and that I wish I was there. She said she’ll upload some of her wedding photos so I can have a glimpse of what it was like. After a few minutes, the photos were live and I was viewing them. It was a lovely wedding. The motif and the wedding accessories used were really pretty and unique. We chatted more about her wedding and after the chat, I felt like I was there and that I didn’t miss a thing.

FB is cool. I am always updated with what’s new back home and this is something I consider really important.

Filed Under: Home and Family, Internet and Blogging, Occasions Tagged With: , , ,

A helpful web hosting services comparison site

April 4, 2009 Leave a Comment

Other than this blog I am also running 6 other blogs plus a small blogging community and I have to say that I am quite happy and contented with my web host. I did encounter a few mishaps with my web sites but they were immediately fixed with the help of my webhost’s client support.

When looking for a web host, it is also important to check all the particulars of the hosting and not just the price. Finding a cheap web hosting is not difficult but finding a web hosting service worthy of the price could be specially because there are hundreds of web hosting services available. This is the reason why there are websites that compare web hosting services from different companies to help you decide which web hosting plan is perfect for your needs. WebHostingReport.com is one of such and not only does this website help you decide on which webhosting service to avail but they also offer guides to web hosting beginners, tips on finding on finding a good web hosting company, and other helpful articles that could help new webmasters.

Filed Under: Internet and Blogging Tagged With: , , ,

Spring Break Ideas

February 10, 2009 Leave a Comment

My brother in law is thinking of visiting us here in Shanghai for his spring break vacation. He said that instead of going to Tunisia with most of his classmates, he’d rather spend his vacation here in Shanghai because he has been to Tunisia several times.

I don’t have anything against my brother-in-law coming to stay with us for a week but I don’t understand these travel agencies in Europe that offer the same destinations for spring break vacations. I am sure that there are interesting places other than Tunisia and Turkey for students to spend their spring break in. Why can’t these agencies just go online and look for some other places because there are a lot of websites that offer resources for spring break ideas.

Xtremetrips.com is a very good example of an online resource about the best places where students can spend their spring break in. This website also offers some great deals that are surely affordable for students.

Filed Under: Internet and Blogging Tagged With: , , , ,

Meeting People Online

February 10, 2009 Leave a Comment

I know a lot of couples who met online and I am quite impressed by most of these couples because despite of many negative things that result from people meeting online, these couples seems to be doing really well in their relationship.

I personally don’t have anything against online dating and meeting people online because based on my personal experience, I’ve met quite a lot of real nice people through the World Wide Web who share the same interests like mine. These people later became my friends.

One of our friends (who is a bachelor) once said that it’s getting more and more awkward to approach a girl in a bar or in restaurant simply because the people in these places doesn’t seem to be “looking for something” or that most of the girls in there are aiming for something else other than a possible relationship. I believe he has a point there. Why not just go somewhere where you can be sure that the people you’ll be meeting have the same interests like yours. In the net where chatting is offered, you’ll immediate know where to go because there are different “Chat Rooms” for different people. If you are a single parent and would like to meet and talk to other single parents, you can go to “Single Parent Chat”. It’s as easy as that.

Filed Under: Daily Life, Friends and Strangers, Internet and Blogging, Marriage and Relationship Tagged With: , , ,
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