Echo Binary

I really can’t fathom why the Lancer badge/sticker/decal at the back cost more than the side window visors. I bought the 4-piece visors this afternoon for only P1,500. Then I asked how much is the “Lancer” sticker at the back because I wanted to replace the worn-out letters. To my surprise, it costs more than the visors! P1,900.00 for a damned simple sticker. Then I asked if I can just buy the “L” and the “E” — nope, it’s impossible. One must buy them as a set, told the sales person. Whatever material that sticker is made off, I’m pretty sure that the reflective shiny material makes it expensive or it rather makes the sticker look expensive. But then, it is still a sticker for crying out loud! Why does it costs more than a set of 4 visors? Is it because the stickers have 6 letters? Six is greater than 4. WTF.

Why bother replacing it when I can just peel it off…

LMAO.

We all know there’s no such thing as 100% protection or security. With recent exploits in the loose, even using Firefox does not guarantee you’ll be safe from vulnerabilities. Use with caution.

You can also check this out:
http://www.mandolux.com/archive/2005/0327.html

[via Digg]

Since we only had cable TV in less than 1 year it’s understandable that I have not seen this documentary in 2006. It’s National Geographic: Fight Science. It’s great that Nat Geo played a replay of this documentary.

What interested me is not how they compared the martial arts. In fact, the documentary hardly compared which martial art is the best. It only distinguished what are the qualities of the best martial art and what techniques delivers the most damage. They also proved that legendary techniques are true such as the legendary death punch. The goal is to separate fighting fact from martial myth.

The engineers used a $150,000 Hybrid III biofidelic crash test dummy filled with sensors. It can determine the strength of the impact and the damage to the tissue relative to the blow. In weapon testing, they used human torso made of a material that mimics the density of human flesh. They also used motion capture to simulate the action in full 3D.

Martial arts featured: boxing, tae kwon do, kung fu, karate, muay thai & jiu-jitsu. Weapons featured: kali (Arnis), bo staff, nunchaku, three-section staff, bow & arrow, shuriken (throwing star), dao (Chinese broadsword), jian (Chinese straight sword) and katana.

Link: http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/channel/fightscience

There’s a lot of buzz going in the internet about the so-called “Gphone” since late December 2006. Google is yet to reveal a true Google phone. For now, we get the Android platformwhich is part of the Open Handset Alliance (OHA) that was announced yesterday.

What is Android? From what I know so far, it is an OS, middleware and key mobile applications. In other words, it’s a software stack. It’s open source. It’s based from Linux kernel. It should be able to optimize and maximize the potential of the mobile phone’s hardware resources. There’s an SDK to be released so users (more or less developers) can customize the phone in different ways they can imagine. It will enable the phone to access the web. It can combine information from the web with the individual’s mobile phone to create relevant user experience. Android can also provide access to many libraries and tools that can be used to develop rich applications such as a P2P social application on your phone.

Now that you have a platform, partner that with a stunning touch-sensitive mobile phone and you’ve got a true iPhone competitor. Way to go Google. I’m not a fan of Apple iPhone so Android is definitely welcome. It’s just disappointing that after all the hype, news and raves about Google finally releasing the “Gphone,” that we only get to see the tip of the iceberg. If Android becomes a success, and if the Open Handset Alliance lives up to its expectation, I’ll buy it.

I think what’s more exciting is how many enthusiasts will create application for OHA, and will OHA create a new revolution in cellphone industry much like how Linux competed with Microsoft in desktops and servers? Only time will tell.

Source:
Open Handset Alliance
Google Blog: Where’s my Gphone?

Where is the Google love? I still haven’t seen the new UI for Gmail in my inbox. Apparently, my account has not received the upgrade yet. Maybe it’s randomly assigned. I’m using my Gmail account everyday — an avid user — why I haven’t seen the new version yet? I’ve been waiting for it ever since the first rumor came out.

While everyone is discussing the new features and showing off screenshots, I’m still here, waiting anxiously. I really hope that the new UI will be activated in my account soon.

Update:
I’m surprised to see that the “loading…” message in my account in Gmail had changed from red to yellow so I knew right away that my account is already using the new version. From what I have ‘felt’ so far, what I’ve read is true. There is a slight slow down when scrolling page. However, I noticed that there opening email from inbox listing is now faster. I think that the javascript is pre-fetching the content of the listed email so it now loads faster.