A few months back Google had a special to promote one of their products. It was for Google Storage, their service that allows you to increase your online storage for Google products, such as Gmail, Picasa and Google Docs. Currently, Picasa only offers up to 1 Gb of storage for your photos. If you’re like me who takes lots of pictures (especially of my son) and likes to share them with family and friends, 1 gig goes by real fast, even at low resolutions. Gmail offers around 7 gig, but you can only use them for Gmail and not for other Google services.

Google had been offering extra storage for a yearly fee, but initially I thought they were a little pricey. I was already paying for web hosting for my websites so I could just use my storage there. But then Google offered 200 gb of storage for $50, along with a free Eye-Fi card, which made me reconsider. An Eye-Fi card by itself was already selling for around $80, so this was a really good deal. My plan was to get the deal, then after a year downgrade to 20 gb of storage which would only cost me $5 a year. This would be plenty of space for me, even for full-resolution pictures.

For those not familiar with Eye-Fi, it is basically an SD card with Wi-Fi capability built-in. It is intended to be used with a digital camera so that after taking a picture, it gets automatically uploaded to a server or an online photo sharing site, such as Picasa (assuming you have a Wi-Fi signal available that you can connect to). In addition, the Eye-Fi card geo-tags your photos using Wi-Fi triangulation, giving you an estimate of your photo location. Normally the service for uploading to an online service will incur a fee, but as part of the promotion, Google will waive the fee as long as you subscribe to Google storage.

Using the Eye-Fi card has been good so far. Whenever we take pictures at home they are automatically uploaded to Picasa and to my file server. The main drawback is that you can’t turn off the camera right away because it takes a few minutes for the pictures to be uploaded. And you can forget about videos, you’ll probably drain your battery just to upload one video. But this is because the card that was bundled was a wireless-b card; Eye-Fi now has a wireless-g card that should upload much faster. I hope Google bundles that next time

After all my other posts, I thought I’d do a technical one this time. Having used SQL for the past 14 years, you tend to pick up some useful tips here and there. I’d like to share one that I read in an online article some years back (would’ve linked back to the article but couldn’t remember where I read it).

Any programmer who has worked with databases would (hopefully) know at least basic SQL. And, as with other programmers, they would typically construct their SQL queries “from the top down”, meaning they would start with SELECT and end with ORDER BY. Although this method follows your flow of reading, it doesn’t really follow the flow of logic. Think for a second–how many times have you started writing a query but had to stop in the middle to regroup your thoughts? This other method that I read about aims to minimize those instances.

The key to this alternate method is the sequence of how you write the query. In a nutshell, you write the query clauses in the following order:

1. FROM
2. WHERE
3. SELECT
4. GROUP BY (if applicable)
5. HAVING (if applicable)
6. ORDER BY

At first glance, it seems a bit disorganized, doesn’t it? But there’s good reason behind the ordering–it makes completing the query easier and helps you spot potential errors too.

1. FROM

Why start with FROM? Because before you even think about what columns to select, you first need to know where they are coming from. This gives you a good idea of the scope of your result set which will help you later with joins and aggregates. Plus, many SQL tools will typically “auto-complete” column names as you type them, but it can only do that after you have identified the tables.

2. WHERE

Next is WHERE, because you want to immediately (1) join your tables, and (2) filter your data set. (Note that I am not using the JOIN clause here, but you can; I’m just old school). An important rule here: if you have X number of tables, then you should have at least (X – 1) join lines so you don’t end up with a cartesian product. For example, for 4 tables you’ll need at least 3 joins. It doesn’t matter how the tables are related to each other; you will always end up with a cartesian product if you don’t follow this rule. After finishing the joins, add the other WHERE clauses to filter your data set. Having started with earlier versions of Oracle (7.x) that still required optimizing, we were taught to construct WHERE clauses in a particular order: join all tables first, then add each filter based on the number of records it filters out, from the most to the least. Nowadays though Oracle’s optimizer has gotten to the point where it’s not necessary to do this anymore, but it’s still good discipline to do so.

3. SELECT

Only now do you put in the columns to select. By doing it at this point, you minimize any errors with ambiguity because you have already laid out your tables. Also, as mentioned above, your SQL tool will probably auto-complete your column names, saving you time. If you’re doing any grouping, you’ll also include your aggregates here.

4. GROUP BY

Because you have already laid out your SELECT columns, you won’t need to think of what columns you need to group; you can just copy your SELECT columns, excluding any aggregates.

5. HAVING

This is where you filter your data set based on any aggregates, which is easy because you’ve already listed your aggregated columns.

6. ORDER BY

Finally you order your data set. This has typically been the last step anyway, but the key here is that you get a better idea of how to sort your result set after you have defined it.

Of course there are always exceptions, but for the most part this method has made it easier for me to conceptualize and construct SQL queries. I hope this makes it easier for you too

Now a days I am not getting computer when I need it  and was thinking to buy laptop for last 6 months. In the mean time I bought Acer laptop for India for $300 and my 5 year old Dell is not charging any more. Finally ended up again two.  Chandini bought Sony laptop during Thanksgiving,  but I have given to friend as he came from India and again left with tow. Today I got Gateway laptop for $499 and Chadnini Planning to go India and again will left with two. Now I have to look another laptop for Chandini, probably for me because she will take this one If I don’t buy sooner.

This is Laptop was unexpected buy, because of deal and thanks Satish.  On Sunday I when I am ordering tried to buy through Bing and I didn’t see and ordered one. After 1 hour I saw Best buy in Bing and ordered another one  didn’t cancel because first one waiting for confirmation of orders. Finally Tuesday I got confirmation for store pickup for both the orders.  Today evening I went to pickup and there was only one for store pickup and I was there for one hour and they couldn’t find. Finally they asked me to find another laptop with that price. Then I demanded for same configuration Laptop and found one which is $630, they asked me to share 50% of extra money, I said NO. They agreed to take care of 100%, but found that it  doesn’t have blue-ray. Then I said NO. They said they can’t offer any more and asked me to contact Best Buy.com as I bought it there.  As I offered Gabe that Laptop, I tried to bargain to get decent one, but  that store doesn’t have comparable Laptops in around that price.

Now I am writing this post on this Gateway  Laptop.  I didn’t like the material of Laptop and also mouse pad. Key board buttons are soft and good. I don’t see that speed with that good configuration. One more interesting thing is that it has labeled as i3 but it has i5 processor.  I liked Sony Laptop better than this Gateway even though Sony configuration is not comparable and lower end. I feel this is worth for that money but not great deal. Finally Sorry Gabe.

Much waiting apple tablet PC finally released today, it named as iPad. It has 1024 x 768. resolution, 91/2 inches screen, feels like bigger size iPhone, runs on iPhone OS 3.2, no camera and priced ranging from $499 to $829 depending on the capacity and with optional 3G.

Cool features of this is browse web, read and compose email, view and share Photos, watch Video, listen to Music, play Games and read ebooks.

It is between smart phone and laptop. All the above things can be done on smart phones and of course on Laptop too. It is like Net Book and has better performance. Here I can consider iPhone, Palm Pre, Motorola Droid and Nexus one are smart phones when compare with iPad.

Laptop: It is bulky to carry but you can do every thing

Smart Phone: With this we can do all the things iPad can do except eBook reading.  No extra gadget to carry and very handy, Of course it is not comfortable as iPad/Laptop/Net Book

Net Book: It is handy compare to Laptop when traveling for pleasure. But the performance is not great when browsing.

iPad: It is handy compare to Laptop when traveling for pleasure and performance is amazing. I feel main draw backs are no multi tasking, no camera and no video conference. Plus points are eBook reading and amazing experience and excellent performance. Various capacities available are 16GB($499), $32GB($599), 64GB($699), with 3G it costs $130 more for each of the above model.

Conclusion: It is good to have,  if you have fashion and looking for amazing experience or rich.

I always loved Dell computers and peripherals during My stay here in United States of America. My first Dell machine was of 5 years old. I think I spent about 1200 USD for a powerful PC. Still My Dell rocks, except few humming noises from hard drives. My machine is accessorized with 24 inch ultra sharp monitor, 4GB RAM, 1GB Video card. Since I need a powerful machine because of the nature of My extensive photo related batch processes, I have been thinking for an upgrade to next level.

I did a post on October 2008 on this upgrade confusion. I can’t believe I waited this long for an upgrade. Finally 2009 holiday season broke the ice and I finally placed My upgrade with Dell again. Its an awesome machine and I would like to share the specks here.

• Intel Core i7
• 8GB RAM
• 1GB nVidia card
• 1TB 7200 HDD
• 22 inch Full HD Monitor
• 2 yrs warranty
• Windows 7 Home Premium 64Bit

And all for 1000 USD + NY tax. Right now the price of this machine is at least 1400 USD. I placed My order on Dec 9th 2009 and waited for a week expecting that it would get delivered in a week time. I waited for 2 weeks and status is still “In Production” Waited for 2 weeks and its still in production. Finally called the support and the rep updated me that Dell received a lot of orders for the holiday season, I need to wait for few more days. Finally after 4 weeks, 4th Jan 2010, the status got updated to ‘Preparing for shipment’. Finally! I am receiving the shipment on 14th Jan and I can’t wait to test the monster.

Today marks my official entry into the world of the 21st Century. Sure, I’ve done a decent job of keeping abreast with technology–a lot of it heavily influenced by my day-to-day interactions with information technology. Web 2.0, texting, voice transcription: some technologies that were just a few decades ago considered science fiction but I now utilize on a daily basis.

But as life(style)-changing as these technologies may be, I have never really treated them as “ground-breaking” advancements; to me they have been more like ingenious inventions that have proven to be very useful. Nothing major.

Well, until now. For me, nothing speaks science fiction or 21st Century as Artificial Intelligence. And when you speak of AI, Robotics can’t be very far behind. Once you embrace these technologies, then to me you have severed the last of ties that still bound you with the 20th Century. That is what I have done today. I have welcomed into our home a 14″x18″ box that represented the future:

Roomba Package

Yes, I am now one of the proud owners of a Roomba. I have done some research and if what I’ve read is accurate, it will prove to be a time saver for what we intend to use it: day-to-day cleaning. Nothing thorough, but just decent cleaning akin to the nightly sweeping we used to do in the Philippines. Having also seen the nice deal they had on this model in Buy.com, I decided to take the plunge.

Opening the package, I can’t help but feel a whiff of excitement, like a child opening a Christmas present that he knows is impressive but is a bit unsure of what it actually does…

Roomba Package Contents

Inspecting the main unit, I saw this sticker, which made me realize even more of the wide-reaching potential of this technology:

Roomba Sticker Note

I can’t wait to test it.

I have been looking at the mobile devices here in my village and they are all outstanding. Each one have a bright awesome screen, mp3 player, video player, blue-tooth with A2DP, dual SIM Cards, dual video, TV, WI-FI, above 3 inches screen and so many other exciting capabilities, all of these for just 3000 Indian rupees or $65. What can I say, I just could not resist myself to get one. My plan is to get a mobile and use it as media player. With in my small village I could see at least 10 mobile shops who are selling these china mobile. I was able to find a device I like but with out TV. When I asked them about the TV capability, the answer is ‘Its a old model and no stock’

My search for the mobile device with big screen and TV capacity could not succeed but I found a similar device for $35 in one of the 10 stores. That is called, I-PAD not I-POD. This little cute point and shoot camera style device has the following

1. Clear 2.8 inch screen with 2GB internal memory and expandable SD card memory up to 8GB
2. Audio player
3. Video Player for MP4, AVI and more
4. Digital Camera
5. Digital camcorder
6. Video recorder
7. Voice recorder
8. E-Book Reader
9. Other utilities.

I could not control and bought it. When I took home, I have realized that it has a separate charger not a USB charger and the charger has pins compatible to India. I had to request a electrician to change the round pins to flat pins so that it can be charged in USA. The cost for this big change was $0.50. I actually wanted to bring a handful of these devices but unfortunately there is only one piece left.

Last time I wrote about some useful websites that Time listed in their Top 50 websites for 2008. Here’s a few more that I thought were also useful and/or entertaining:

Wikitravel

Wikitravel is just like Wikipedia–except that it’s about travel. It’s basically people writing about places they know about, giving information and tips so that other people who are planning to visit the place will make the most of their visit and avoid common pitfalls.

Mint

If you’ve ever used a financial management software such as Microsoft Money or Quicken, then you know the value and convenience they give you come tax time. Make it an online tool, throw in some analysis tools and you have Mint, an online tool that downloads your financial data from your different bank, credit card and financial accounts and gives you a summary of your cash flow and expenditures. Of course, since it’s online, your financial data and login information will need to be saved in a server somewhere, so regardless of the built-in security there will always be some amount of risk involved.

Ffffound

Have you ever seen a photo or a picture that made you say “wow” or “that’s interesting?” Well head out to ffffound.com and you’ll see a whole site full of these unique pictures/photos that were submitted by different people. If anything, it’ll help you get by a slow afternoon at the office

FreeRice

Here’s a win-win situation: improve your vocabulary while helping stamp out world hunger. How? Go to freerice.com and play the vocabulary game: the site asks you to pick, from a number of choices, what is the correct definition of a word. For every correct answer, the U.N. donates 10 grains of rice.

Kiva

You don’t always have to give away money to help other people. At kiva.org, you can lend your money instead for entrepreneurs in developing countries to use. You get paid back and you help somebody!

I am giving you a rest from my current series of posts (How different is Mexico from USA? click here for part one and two) to talk about the present state of technology. Why? well, I found that more and more people ask me 2 questions:

What type of computer/software/hardware should I buy?

How do I need to setup them up?

Everytime I get asked these, I wonder “Isn’t technology to be easier nowdays?”, personal computers are more powerful today but they are not easier to setup or maintain. Just answering the question, what computer should I get? is incredible difficult with so many options on the market. But options are good right? Well for most people, they are not. I see most users follow in these categories

1. Internet user: This user only does three things in her/his computer, browse the internet (regardless whether is facebook, youtube, news sites or blogs), check their e-mails either on the computer with an off-line program or in the browser and chats either by using a web client or a local client (skype, msn, yahoo messenger, etc). Their biggest worries are viruses and malware. For these users a netbook will be ideal (10 or 12 inches) and maybe a printer.

2. Office/school user: This user can be part internet user but the main difference is the use of the computer to work in documents (homework, work reports, etc) and the need to type extensevely and to have a local productivity package install in their computer (Microsoft office or OpenOffice). For these users either a high-end netbook or a cheap laptop will do (no more than 500 dollars).

3. Media user: The main difference between this user and the first two is their media comsumption. They take loads of digital pictures and edit them in their computer (unlike the first two that only take pictures and save them or print them), watch high quality video streams (hulu or a paid service) as well as DVDs. Their need for high quality video (not youtube quality) will qualify them to buy a more expensive computer but here is the point, CPU is not what they looking for, they want a computer with a separate video card with its own memory. This range anywhere from 700 to 1,000 dollars.

4. Professional user: Very few qualify as professional users, graphics designers, progressional photographers or programmers. They need a powerful computer with a separare video card. These range from 700 to 1,500 dollars.

5. Geek: They just love playing with computers, they have no preference for operating system, hardware or software. They will never be happy with just one computer.

6. Gamer: Raw power, that’s what a gamer computer should represent. Now, I am not talking about the sims or solitaire games, I am talking about on-line, high quality graphics games.These computers cost at least 1,500 and can go as high as 5,000.

90% of people buying a computer falls in the first 3 categories. The problem is that 99% of people believe they fall in the last 3 and buy a computer that is far more than what they really need. In another post i’ll talk about specifics hardware/software configurations for each of these categories.

Note: This is my personal opinion, I know that a lot of people will disagree, if you do, please use the comments!

Just in time:

We are developers and come across this term frequently. This is a concept which makes the compiler to get the code just in time so that it speeds up the process. I just want to take this concept and apply to our real life situation. Let’s see if I make you understand this.

Human body is combination of many parts and driven by the most powerful processor, brain. Brain, in my view is the compiler and make your body move. Thoughts are the code blocks and brain compiles them when its needed, just in time, and the out comes are the actions that we do.

If the code is perfect or close to perfect, you will produce a better system. If you add Just-In-Time technique to your compiler, the system is much faster.  On the same grounds better thoughts make your actions better and if you add just-in-time technique then your actions become much better and accurate.

Let me admit that I personally have this time problem. In my case it is putting my thoughts out in a group of people just in time. Some times its really embarrassing and annoying. What I have learned so far is, if you cultivate a habit of waiting for a sec before processing your thoughts, results will be under control. This is so true when I want to talk funny or crack a joke in a very wrong time. I used to make this a lot of times before but now I think I am getting better at it.

Small tips in this regards,

1. Take just one second pause when you want to talk funny.
2. Observer the mood of the opposite person(s) before you proceed.
3. Carefully choose your words when you are trying to translate some thing from your language.

Hope I made my self clear, let me know your comments.