Just Another Dang Blog

Over the past few months I’ve changed my working environment(IDE) for PHP from Dreamweaver, which I have been using for the last past years with occasional use of PHP Designer 2007, 2008. It did the work but I wanted more features and tools. Then I switched to ZendStudio built on Eclipse. It was complete and powerful but I find it not close to the Eclipse IDE which I loved on Flex Builder 3 built on Eclipse. So that ended me up in using a more familiar IDE which is Eclipse PDT for PHP.

So far it has been working great and I have all the tools I need. Just one feature missing though is the word wrapping which I rely cause its just a hassle to scroll sideways just to view the codes. Fortunately there is a workaround to this missing functionality.

Found this alpha plugin if you are interested with getting this feature on Eclipse.

http://ahtik.com/blog/2006/06/18/first-alpha-of-eclipse-word-wrap-released/

Seems like I’m not the only one experiencing this issue with running a new ad on Google Adwords. Previously when I run an ad it would get approved in less than 5 minutes. Now it’s more than 24 hours and my ad is still not running. The ad is even a simple one, we just wanted to run an ad so we can quickly get feedback for a survey we are conducting.

Here is a link to other users affected by this “approval system” for new ads on Google.

http://www.google.de/support/forum/p/AdWords/thread?tid=2ca794df25bdd38f&hl=en

I wonder why Google is actively promoting Google Adwords, I even get emails for free 2K to start using the ad system and I see banners everywhere, but they are soo missing a lot more potential clients on the delay on their approval system.

It’s almost close to 48 hours. I hope Google sees there is a big issue with their ad approval system.

With my line of work I need consistent internet connection. My Comclark cable plan of 512kbps has been disappointing lately and worst instead of the trend of plans/bandwidth to get cheaper, Comclark thinks otherwise their 512Kbps plan is now 1350 pesos for new subscribers while old subscribers are retained to 888 pesos a month. Their 1mb plan is tagged ridiculously on 4000 pesos a month.

So I shopped around for a new ISP. Here in Angeles, Pampanga my options in priority are PLDT DSL, Globe Broadband and Digitel. I already tried Smartbro a couple of years ago and I discontinued their service, it was unbearable before and their customer service is almost none existent though it has been almost 2 years, I still wouldn’t risk it even if they say they have better service now.

PLDT though on the other hand is loosing alot of potential customers in our area for they always have full slots. So I opted for the next option which is Globelines for 995 pesos a month you get 1MB. I subscribed a couple of days ago, processing is 5-7 days and hopefully I would be connected by next week, plus there is a seems to be an existing promo unannounced wherein you save 200 pesos from the 1mb you only pay 795 for a month, don’t know when the promo will end but its limited time.

Now I’m thinking if I should drop my comclark plan or just keep it for backup. I already have Globe Tattoo prepaid when there is no free wifi when not at home as I can use that for backup too.

Well this is sort of a short review and a tutorial on how to capture from a minDV Sony handycam to your PC.

But before that here are some background. I still have this Sony DCR-HC48 camcorder that I bought couple of years ago back when HD camcorder were still pretty expensive about $800-$1500. With the Sony DCR HC series you can transfer video only with a i.LINK cable to firewire. The USB cable is only used to transfer still images. Firewire offers the best quality video transfer unlike USB methods for capturing from still tapes.

To get started on a PC you need to an i.LINK cable, a good capture card and a good capture software, I suggest you go for the PCI-Express capture cards and not the PCI version as it would soon be obsolete, plus PCI-E is more faster.

The one I bought is a Belkin 3-Port firewire PCI-E. So just open up your pc and install it on the PCI-E slot. It’s plug and play so no required drivers when you start your PC.

Belkin 3 Port Firewire PCI-E Card

Belkin 3 Port Firewire PCI-E Card

Installation

i.LINK Cable

For the capture software I used the software that came with the Sony DCR, I found that it offers better depth than Windows Movie Maker. I didn’t try it yet on commercially sold video editors which has built in capture features.

Below is a sample video captured then I re-saved the file using Windows Media Player to reduce filesize but with a bit of quality loss. (btw the one with fairy costume is my daughter)

Overall that is how to get started. The firewire PCI-E is amazingly fast and produced no drop frames. Windows Media Player capture quality is kinda poor so go look into other capture software.

On a different note I used to use an MacBook Pro before for capturing videos. Another reason why I love a Mac which by review comes with almost the complete ports which includes the i.LINK firewire port plus comes with a free powerful software iMovie for capturing and editing movies.

Finally the first ever Sony Ericsson to run on the open source Andriod OS is here. Codenamed Rachel, Xperia X10 is here.

With a wide array of features with bells and whistles some of them are

1. Built in camera for photo and video recording. What is a Sony Ericsson without the camera.
   • 8.1 Megapix
   • Autofocus
   • Digital Zoom up to 16x
   • Face recognition
   • video recording
   • Image stabiliser and alot more
2. MP3 Player with Bluetooth stereo
3. Video Streaming and Entertainment
4. Connectivity GPRS/EDGE/HSPA/WIFI
5. And ofcourse touchscreen
6. Amazing Email and SMS UI.

This is just one of the slew of mobile phones release this part of the quarter of 2009.  First phone to grace the Andriod OS is the HTC Dream last year.

I need to get one of these phone and start the trip on mobile development. I wanted to get an iPhone but due to lack of resources to get an Apple hardware so I can learn xCode. Developing apps on Andriod seems to be the most realistic approach and not too much investments on hardware.