"Zen To Done" Impression

I have finally gotten around to reading my previously acquired ZTD ebook and I have to say that I am truly impressed. It is very much like a GTD Lite Edition. I have included a link below for those who may be curious interested. It seems like 90% of the ebook is freely on his blog.

I'll blog as I go along. This new system might have my OC side printing a planner page for my circa notebook but I don't know yet as it may get redundant with my Palm.

I hope to post my GTD System soon.

Related Link:
ZTD on Zen Habits Blog (Chapter 1 & 2)
ZTD Minimalist Setup (Chapter 3)

Smart Bro-ken

I think Smart Bro is screwing with me. The first time we availed of their service was on the Php 777 promo I think which was for their 300+ kbps connection. They then promoted their new higher connection speed (768 kbps for Php 998) by allowing us free usage for about 2 months. Naturally, after the promo expired, we upgraded to more thn double our bandwidth. It went ok for a year or so.

Recently, however, things seems to have changed.

* Connection has become intermittent. Occasionally, the connection will be lost for a few minutes and would be back up before you could complete a call to their customer service number.

* Download speeds tops at 30 kBps these days. It used to be 42 kBps.

I wonder how I can file a complaint that they will actually on. I mean, let's face it. Their customer service / technical support aren't really supportive technically.

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Converting PDF to PDB, the hard way

Yesterday and today, I spent sometime converting some pdfs to text and then to html and then to pdb, which is a file for the Palm TX, particularly Isilo. Here are some of the tools I used.


iSiloX



A-PDF Text Extractor is a free tool that of course extracts the text from pdf (duh). There is a bit of problem on this part because there is no guarantee that all "text" are text. Some text may actually be pictures of text.

* This means I actually edited the document on Kompozer while simultaneously looking at the PDF to ensure I had everything. I know it sounds too much, but I really wanted to have my favorite productivity books on hand at all times via my PDA.

Kompozer Portable is an open source WYSIWYG HTML Editor. I occasionally have problems with it not receiving keyboard commands after a few hours of work. Closing and re-opening the document solves the issue.

iSiloX can be quite a powerful tool. Here is a tutorial page for converting an online site to an ebook. I am not really sure how it will handle the sidebars and ads but it is very promising. There are a lot of other features I haven't even began to explore.

Related Links: (IsiloX Tutorials)
Convert an HTML Document from the Web
Convert a Text Document from Your Local Hard Drive
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Ken Rename

There are a times when you have to rename a bunch of files. For such occasions, I use a windows freeware called Ken Rename. As of 2008.12.19, the program is at V0.68.

I also need to mention that a Portable version is also available. For those not in the know, "portable" here means it does not need to be installed. You just click on the app and off you go, making it perfect for your USB Swiss Knife. Hmm, there's a geeky thought.



One of the uses I have for this app is to rename backed-up (yeah right) mp3s as shown on the image above (click for larger picture). After it is properly renamed (i.e. using '-' as a delimiter), I use MusicMatch JukeBox v7.5's "Right Click --> Super Tagging --> Tag From Filename" function. (Maybe I should tag this post as Obsessive Compulsive Disorder Tools, hehehe.)

Thanks Ken for such a wonderful freeware. (Parang close kami ah. Hehehe.)
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Knight Rider

I remember as a child when I was held in awe on the hi-tech car that was the Knight Industry Two Thousand (or KITT) as it is more frequently called on the popular show, Knight Rider. The story would start by their familiar theme music and then the narrated intro...

Knight Rider: a shadowy flight into the dangerous of a man... who does not exist.

Michael Knight: a young loner on a crusade to champion the cause of the innocent, the helpless, the powerless, in a world where criminals operate above the law.

Michael Knight was portrayed of course by David Hasslehoff. Back then the trademark sensor light that runs up front the car was so popular, it seemed like each jeepney was trying to get one even if it meant improvising.

Anyway, the nostalgia began when my brother in law watched a few of the episodes of the old series i have downloaded from the net a long time ago. Since I have seen the pilot episode of the new 2008 series, I thought I could download it so they can catch up and be updated.

Unfortunately, I kinda got hooked.

The Knight Rider from the 80s

It can think. It can talk. It was virtually indestructable thanks to the Molecular Bonded Shell as its skin. For the weird stuff, in the later episode, it can attain super speed using the Super Pursuit Mode and even weirder, it can control other vehicles remotely (without a scientific explanantion I can remember). Still, it was a cool at the time.



above: The Knight Rider from the 80s.

I found it funny having watched the pilot episode and heard David Hasslehoff comment as he got inside the car for the first time, "This looks like Darth Vader's bathroom!". I can't help loving the Star Wars reference.

The Knight Rider of 2008

The new Knight Rider makes more sense in a sci-fi way. Instead of being one man backed by a foundation, the new season is one man backed by a special division of the FBI. The car seems to employ advanced nano technology. The "indestructible" armor actually gets damaged but is almost instantly repaired by the computer controlled nano machines. This of course allows it to be vulnerable when the computer is Off. The new KITT has access to the Prometheus project (a super satellite connected to the US Defense system) which allows it to access vast information it uses on a regular basis.

And below is the "new" Knight Rider, Knight Industry Three Thousand (or, KITT again).



Oh and I love the projected output that of course is projected on to the windshield.

Bottomline

I wish my PC had the same AI as the new Kitt. And he doesn't even have to be connected to the US Defense System. I just wanna be able to tell it, "Kitt, download the following shows and archive as I describe for later viewing", "Kitt, sort all of my mp3s", or "Kitt, please prepare an audio version of this ebook". I'm thinking it won't do me any good to add KITT to my wishlist. LOL.

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Mozilla Songbird

I found out about Mozilla Songbird at LifeHacker. They even recommended some Plug-Ins. The one that caught my attention was LyricMaster. I tried out the Plug-In and was simply delighted. I spent the next hour singing out to my MP3s (ok, not a sight you'd like to imagine) as their lyrics are automatically taken from some resource on the web.

It does have it's downside. I experienced some problems playing mp3 files with Variable Bit Rate (VBR), although MP3 Pro format seems ok.

Future stuffs I wish they'll add is something like the "Super Tagging" on the old MusicMatch JukeBox. For the unfamiliar, this features allows you to "Tag from Filename" and "Rename based on Tags". Very handy, if you ask me.

Anyway, just thought I'd share my littel experience with you.

What do you use to play or manage your mp3s? Let me know.

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Dancing Student Nurses

Today I've got my 4 minutes of shame. Not that anyone probably noticed in a Mental Institution. Our group was tasked to choreograph (sp?) a dance we can teach the patients and the people in group thought the easiest would be Average Joe from Mark Herras' Dance Hits.

Well, I survived. For a moment, I thought the earth would open up and swallow me. On the other hand, it was nice to have a non-judgmental crowd of onlookers. I guess Dancing was never really my strong point.

Tomorrow, they will be having their Christmas party. It's all well and good, except that we have to present another dance number. Hooo boy....

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P.S. I passed by a dead body on the way home. Guy was side lying on the street shoulders still on his bike. Apparently, someone used a gun on the guy.

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