Ads in Windows 8 !

Seeing ads on this blog should not cause an outrage, just about any newspaper, or blog site has them. On my Android device, I have blocked ads, so do I in browser with Adblock Plus.

There is some irony this post. I cannot say that ads provide me any revenue : I have not yet met the minimum number of page views to claim revenue. Microsoft mission is to provide tools to improve productivity. They have succeeded with Windows, office suites and a whole range of products. As for having ads in the weather app, I am not insulted, but a little surprised. I rarely have to make my way to the last section of the weather report, but a phantoms lurks in the background.

Amazon.com Promotional Credit Scam

If you have received a message from Amazon.com for a 5$ of promotional credit, be very very careful.

I just got burned.

The selection to which the credit can be applied is limited to a single product, which I encourage you to look up. There is a 5$ credit that can be used towards a purchase of a product priced at 4.99$ : lo and behold, there is only one product priced at 4.99$.

I should have read more carefully but something really did not seem right. Now I know.

Airports, shops and spending a little bit more than you should

Although you may not meet that many people that you know while at the airport, there is "high school" aspect to the environment. While some may be sleep deprived from flights, other are searching for bragging rights of their travels and other recent material purchases. I am a little bit of hypocrite : I have my 5 year old laptop pulled out to type this post. My reaction to write this post is practicing writing observations with minimal delay. I could in fact just use pen and paper to get it done as quickly.

If smartphones, tablets and other devices are symbolic representations of progress and the advancements of technology, in my opinion they are incentives to initiate a sentiment of envy, make us consume things which are taxing on our lives and the planet.

The phrase "being connected to nature" sounds like a cliché, and it is, however there is some truth to it : it is possible to be stressed in a natural environment due to freezing, yet one can be amazed, and will continue to be amazed for millennia with plants growing, birds singing, animals rutting (including humans), and learning, for the greater part of our interaction with devices is low tech. 

We read, listen and now touch; all these actions are part of basic human existence. We appease to our senses - hopefully we'll continue to do so in the future.

No microphone on Toshiba Satellite - Solution

Some time last year I bought a Toshiba Satellite laptop for my parents. Unfortunately, a change in the software or hardware prevented the internal micrpphone from working.
A headset or external mic plugged in would work, but no dice when going to the Control Panel (in Windows 7) to change the settings of the microphone/recording devices.

SOLUTION : Update the BIOS

Go to the Toshiba Support Centre, choose your model ( you may have to look under the computer, or use the Windows Key + Break), choose the Drivers tab search for BIOS and download the update.

I am not sure if it is a good thing to have the mic re-enabled. I may now have to speak with them over Skype.

TSL Audio File - Extraction and conversion

While the format is not that common, someone may have sent you an audio file with an TSL extension.

When I acquired the Headway ESL books, but had no access to the audio CDs, I searched the Internet for the audio files. I came across a site that hosted the Headway audio files, but was asking a prohibitive 75$ for the software which can read TSL files.

The TSL files are in a format which can be read by Cenix's Power Voice II - It can be downloaded here http://www.cenix.co.kr/cenix/?doc=bbs/gnuboard.php&bo_table=e_customer_data_vr.

The internet, drinking and writing to your ex

The first and last items of the title are the most important. Perhaps I would not be writing this now, had I not consumed a couple glasses of wine, however, I know I think about my ex on a daily basis. We didn't leave on bad terms, however there was a partially mutual agreement that we would not communicate once I found myself in a different geographic space. ( Writing without gender is tricky - should I present my character or the plot and conflict first?) Regardless of the technical challenges of the writing style, I admit that I still have strong feeling for my ex even if almost three years have passed since we have seen each other.

Does that mean that I haven't managed to meet anybody new? Yes and no. Yes because nothing has lasted, and no, because some romantic embraces are in my memory.

Steam's Big Picture - Perfect transition to Window 8

I am surprised with Steam's Big Picture :

• Fast - really fast
• Resembles the Start screen in Windows 8
• More of an icon/app environment, like mentioned in the point above.
• The browser is even quick
• Less is more - not as many details about the games in by viewing the icons

I like it.