Switchblog

I have all the ROMs I need thanks to one site I accidentally stumbled upon.

"The FreeMameRoms Project was dedicated to making MAME roms available to anyone that wants them. Mame itself is free. The Roms are free. The only costs are shipping, packaging materials, and blank DVD's. After the Tombstone project stopped offering a burner page the torch was passed to FreeMameRoms.com which holds the same high ideals and believes that mame roms should be available to anyone that wants them."

You just need to look for a burner near your area and contact him/her. After payment has been sent (I paid $27.30) the DVDs will be sent to you. My burner of choice is Mameburner.

Posted by Joel at 10:27 PM | Permalink

One of the teachers was absent today so I had to substitute for snack and lunch. As a result, my free time was further reduced to 40 minutes. It's a good thing that Senator Jesse Lujan dropped by to give a talk to the students during my 3rd period class. That was really a welcome break because I was not only able to take pictures for the webpage but was also able to fix some bank matters too.

My classes thankfully flowed through without problems. There were the usual noisy students but nothing that's too difficult to handle. Some of my 8th grade students were unusually hyper after they finished their storyboard projects and were browsing the web. I went to my computer to check on what they were doing and discovered that they were in a poor-taste joke site. Of course I had to make them shut down the browser.

Later on, I was able to finish drafts for the Academy spring play ad (Once Upon A Mattress). I was able to resize the original master design to quarter and half page versions. Hopefully these will be approved for later use.

Posted by Joel at 03:24 PM | Permalink

NewsMac 3.0.4 "is a versatile RSS news aggregator that lets you view news headlines and story descriptions before you have to even touch your web browser. With over 120 built-in news feeds NewsMac gives you fast and convenient access to all kinds of news sources, covering computing and technology, world news, religion and spirituality, entertainment and more. You can easily add any news website or weblog to NewsMac that offers an RSS feed."

An extra bonus is that it syncs with Palms and iPods. Since RSS feeds are all text, it's perfect for those who use dialup -- just download the news, sync, and you've got the news ready for offline viewing or on-the-go reading!

Posted by Joel at 08:07 AM | Permalink

Google is now testing Froogle. It's a search engine for all things for sale. If it's run by google then this must be something to watch out for. Some people still prefer to use Amazon's in-store search engine though. Amazon not only offers searches for their products on sale but there's a keyword search that looks for words within books.

Posted by Joel at 07:42 AM | Permalink

In the past few days, I've encountered sites which issued plugin errors when I click to view embedded movies. As it turns out, these pages were made in a Windows environment. As a result, the movies won't click-and-play on a Mac.

The solution is to do a View Source. Search for the ".wmv" string and copy the URL of the video. Then just paste it in the address bar of the browser to view the movie. One more thing, Windows Media Player for OS X should be installed beforehand.

Posted by Joel at 08:43 AM | Permalink

My students are having their teacher evaluation session. For this year, Arlene created a database program where the students would just have to mark boxes or type in their answers.

Posted by Joel at 02:02 PM | Permalink

I'm done with the first draft of the Honk Jr. tickets. It's cutting and pasting from the poster in Photoshop CS and in Pagemaker based on the picture above. Pagemaker is still in classic mode though. I want to upgrade to the InDesign but that would mean incompatibilities with the Yearbook files. I'm still waiting for the printout of the tickets. It usually takes a while with our aging Laserwriter 12/640 printer.

Posted by Joel at 09:16 AM | Permalink

I'll be adding these new badges just to let everyone know that this blog is now powered by ecto among other things.

Posted by Joel at 07:17 PM | Permalink

I've been trying out iBlog and ecto this weekend and I can't really decide which to use. On one hand, iBlog supports my .mac account however, ecto does not. But if I use ecto, I have access to my free account (this one). I'm still testing many things in ecto and iBlog but I hope to decide sometime this week which blog to maintain.

So far this blog is back to its original form. Certain events in my life are now being blogged in here. I was hoping to keep this blog as a tech spot for all my Powerbook needs but I found out that it's tech nature cannot exist without a sprinkling of personal events.

Posted by Joel at 07:05 PM | Permalink

I was editing my .mac site. It seems that there's a bug in the location script they're using because for some reason, I'm pegged as a user in Japan. I can still understand how to go through the .mac site though. It really does have the easiest web creation tools compared to other sites.

If I can find a blog option for my .mac account, I'll transfer there. Maybe I'll post a question at philmug to see if I can get suggestions.

Posted by Joel at 08:27 AM | Permalink

Just logging in that I'm done with my 3rd Quarter marks. I'm saddened by some of my students who have chosen not to work. As one of my comments went "I expect him/her to do better next time. He/She is really capable of more."

Hopefully from here, I can really enjoy our Easter Break!

Posted by Joel at 09:42 PM | Permalink

From Cliesource member Streamhawk... who I think got a good explanation regarding the rumored Apple PDA...

"I talked to a friend in CA who has ties to Apple, and asked him what the deal was with Palmsource not backing up Apple in Palm 6... I told him about the rumors for a new Apple PDA (he also uses Clié)... He said he would find out all he could."

"At the same time I got in contact with another friend who also has strong ties to Apple, and asked him the same thing.

They both got back to me and told me the SAME THING... their Apple friends just laugh at them! the reason why Palmsource is not supporting Mac in palm 6 it's because it won't have to... Palm will still Synchronize with Mac, just that it will not be with palm Desktop, but with iSync and iCal and the Mac's Address book... The need to make a Palm Desktop software for Mac is no longer necessary. That's why Palmsource is backing out... because Mac wants their users to have it all in one place... iSync will be able to synchronize every cell phone, handheld, and other gadgets to have the same info, all in one place...That's Mac's goal.

They also said that I had to know some history about Steve Jobs (I think that's how you spell it) and the Newton to know that as long as Jobs is in charge there will never be an Apple PDA on the market... They also said that the PDA market is saturated and Apple only likes to do innovations, the PDA market has done a lot of innovations already, putting cell phones and cameras, and WIFI, and Bluetooth all in one place. I was very disappointed in hearing this news... I also told them about the rumor...and they replied with 3 more different rumors...not to mention like 50 or more that had been out there since Newton was taken out to the driers. The sad truth as the told me is that Mac (for now) has no plans to release a PDA."

Posted by Joel at 06:24 AM | Permalink

I've been going through the 8th grade iMovie projects until late this afternoon. There's a lot of talent that has cropped up and I think some of my students will pursue further development of their skills. The iMovie projects are nothing but simple "cut-and-paste" of footage and audio. However, these kids have just encountered digital movie editing and the results are nothing short than amazing for their age. I can't stop wondering what kind of work they would come up with if they just stop doing last-minute work.

I plan to use my iMovie and iDVD version to create a DVD... as soon as I'm finished with my grades (but that's another story.)

Posted by Joel at 10:48 PM | Permalink

I've been googling for a good blog app for .mac and stumbled upon ecto. ecto is the latest version of kung log and is basically an application that allows me to send an entry here. I'll try this out for two weeks and see if I'm going to purchase it.

Posted by Joel at 10:28 PM | Permalink

Here's a copy of an email I sent to the dev team:

"I feel like a traitor at the moment because I'm posting this using Mail and I've been browsing for the past hour using Safari. Opera has frozen more than three times today too. The simplest way I can describe it is that: Opera could not keep up with what I can do. I click links, switch pages, do page scrolling then there's a sudden freeze. It has happened while I was typing an email too. I know this is not helpful, it's not even measurable because I can't provide any bug report . But that's my experience for today... It's frustrating to say the least... but I'm still here to try things out again on the next build."

Posted by Joel at 07:43 PM | Permalink

It's probably because of the earthquake yesterday. There was another islandwide power outage today which lasted for about three hours. When the power outage hit at around 8AM, I began to panic. The problem was how to teach my students in a class where electrical power is essential.

My 6th Graders are currently doing word games using their computers. In fact, I was set to expand a new lesson today: how to create Word Hunt puzzles in Appleworks Spreadsheet. With still no power, I decided to introduce creating board games instead. The plan was for the students to begin drawing their board game designs on a sheet of paper using just a pen or a pencil.

All went well, but I pitied my second period class because they just came from PE. Hot and sweating, the students found it difficult to sit still throughout the board game planning session. By 9AM, all of the windows and blinds were open in the computer room because some students were already in danger of fainting.

By 9:45 we were told that classes were called off by the Chancery. Students began calling their parents but with only three open lines and only one pay phone available, it was no easy task. Most were eager to go home, but I caught some sly glances between some students who I'm sure had plans to go to the Mall.

Power came back by around 11AM. As I went back to the computer room to check on the aircons and power supplies, the speakers blared an announcement: "Teachers you may take your lunch... but please come back."

I don't know where to take lunch yet but hopefully there's food in the cafeteria. After lunch, it's gonna be back to the newspaper ad design, yearbook design, and grades "design."

Posted by Joel at 11:31 AM | Permalink

A 5.0 earthquake shook Guam yesterday at around 6:30. Dash and I have just finished watching the Dragonball Z episode where Buu and Vegito were playing catch using Buu's immense energy sphere. (More specifically this episode is entitled Meet Vegito, episode 254). Anyway, the first action I did when I felt the earthquake was an attempt to close the Powerbook's lid. I was ready to grab it and Dash and run out of the apartment, even if I wasn't wearing any shoes. Fortunately, the earthquake didn't do any damage and lasted only a few seconds. Last night at home, I was thinking of the Powerbook again, and if I should have it sleep with a lid open or closed -- in case of aftershocks. The Powerbook has become a part of my life now. It's my main computer at work and at home. Though my first impulse yesterday was to protect it, my family and friends would come first in any calamity.

Posted by Joel at 06:35 AM | Permalink

I just had to post this article from Gizmodo...

"Studio 2f has a short and sweet illustrated howto on removing that Hitachi MicroDrive from the Creative MuVo. If getting an otherwise-$400 4GB Compact Flash MicroDrive for only $200 sounds like a good deal, but you've been reticent to tear the little bugger apart without a hand to hold, this tutorial might take some of the edge off. Really, it doesn't look terribly hard, and just think: when you're done, you'll have a 4GB MicroDrive and the lifeless body of an MP3 player. Murder by screwdriver and internal organ theft; these are the makings of a solid day."

Posted by Joel at 06:13 AM | Permalink

Emulators never cease to amaze me. Imagine running arcade games or consoles right in your desktop computer or notebook! The latest emulator I've downloaded is SNES9X. This allows me to run Super Nintendo games. Right now, I'm playing Chrono Trigger. I'm restarting because I've forgotten where I left off about three years ago when I was playing the game in my PC. Back then, I was using ZSNES.

Anyway, the graphics have improved in the latest version of SNES9X. This newest version smoothes out jaggies in the images more than it used to. This version is a welcome application in my emulator collection.

Incidentally, my first Super Nintendo game was a Super Mario game. I remember I also borrowed a Final Fantasy cartridge from one of my senior students.

Posted by Joel at 10:25 PM | Permalink

I've just seen the Casshern trailer and I'm in awe! It's like a "live action anime" as Slashdot has described it. Casshern looks great and I can't wait to see it in its subtitled version.

Posted by Joel at 10:32 PM | Permalink

I have finally decided to order a TH55/E from Amazon UK. The price was the lowest I've seen at GBP269.99 and that comes with free shipping too. I requested for it to be delivered to a friend in England. We will decide what's the best and fastest way to send it to Guam.

The TH55 comes with Bluetooth which is essential as an alternative iSync method, for some texting and file transfers, and most importantly, for Salling Clicker.

Posted by Joel at 10:49 PM | Permalink

At long last, Opera for OS X has been released to the public. Though this is still in beta, it IS a very good beta. It's 99% stable and most importantly -- fast.

Opera strictly uses web standards. Safari would attempt to fix sloppily coded websites but Opera is not quite so forgiving. So if a certain website does not render properly, blame the shortsightedness of the webmaster.

Opera and its built-in email application, M2, are now my defaults. Here are more details of what to expect

Posted by Joel at 08:06 AM | Permalink

I was able to finally play around with iDVD and have created my first 52-minute DVD! Burning time took more than hour. I began at 6:20AM and left at 7:30AM but iDVD wasn't through yet. When I arrived after lunch, the DVD was already ejected so I excitedly took it to our home DVD player to test it. Well, it worked!

I used the free blank DVD that came with the Powerbook. (I had a 10-pack DVD+R but found out it does not work with the Powerbook's Matshita drive. I hope K-mart would give me a refund.)

I used iMovie for the the main editing portion because I just needed some simple transition and effects. My next project is to figure out how Final Cut Express works.

Posted by Joel at 04:16 PM | Permalink

I've just updated to 10.3.3 and so far so good.

I had to do a force reset when the Powerbook wouldn't properly wake up after it went to sleep. I haven't tested all of the programs yet but currently, I like the way the network icons show on the desktop and in the sidebar.

Posted by Joel at 10:58 AM | Permalink

I have an external USB multicard reader. I have used it successfully in my WinXP and with the various Macs in school. The problem is, I could not access a Memory Stick Pro with my Powerbook.

The MS Pro is one of the newer Memory Sticks designed by Sony. With new technology comes new drivers which need to be installed. Sadly, there were no new drivers for my old multicard reader.

So what did I do? I scoured eBay for a PCMCIA multicard reader. I was surprised that there were many models to choose from but in the end I settled for an MSPro, SD, and MMC reader.

The multicard reader is now snugly inserted in my Powerbook's PCMCIA slot. Inserting the MSPro in it shows a new drive on the desktop as expected. I have yet to test the SD and MMC capabilities but just having quick access to my MSPro is more than enough.

I can now quickly store Palm applications and have an extra emergency storage area too. I have also used the card slot which would otherwise not be used at all.

Posted by Joel at 08:55 AM | Permalink

Getting iPulse that is...

iPulse is a system monitoring device designed by Iconfactory. Basically, it's a series of meters embedded in a circular design. Every important system meter is there and most important, it can be skinned.

There are a variety of skins (called "jackets") but I've finally settled on Zion Control. I've already removed or turned off the menu bar icons of Panther in favor of iPulse.

Posted by Joel at 08:44 AM | Permalink