Month: January 2010

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Broadcom’s Crystal HD mini-PCI-E Decoder Review

News Release from Braodcom

Anyone that follows computer and tech industry should’ve heard about Broadcom’s mini-PCI-E based HD decoder called Crystal HD last year.  I decided to try it out.  I mean, how can you say no to HD hardware-decoding for $20?!  My Acer Aspire One netbook has been great except in that department.  If I threw anything 720p or higher, it played like a slow slideshow!  Currently, only HP offers this Crystal HD decoder as an option in a netbook, HP Mini 110 as a $35 option.

So I got one off eBay for $24 or so and decided to find out for myself if this really does wonders! Before you proceed, since you won’t have Internet for a bit, download latest Crystal HD drivers (ver. 3.1.0 as of this writing) and drivers for your WLAN USB adapter (for Airlink AWLL607, get it from here)

1. First thing first, I had to take the netbook apart.  Youtube is awesome for that.

This Youtube video above shows you how to take apart the Acer Aspire One to upgrade memory.  You don’t have to go through all the way to the end, but just to get to the WLAN mini-PCIE adapter.

2. Remove power connectors to WLAN adapter and replace it with the Broadcom’s Crystal HD decoder.  This means that you won’t have WLAN.  I got a mini-WLAN USB adapter for $16 (Airlink101 Wireless 11N) from Meritline.  Close it up.

3. Upon closing it up and booting, once you are in Windows (I have XP Home on the netbook), it will ask to install drivers for the Crystal HD.   Click Cancel!  Install the drivers via the setup msi file.

4. (Optional) Install WLAN USB adapter like I did with Airlink 101.

5. I have been using CCCP codec pack so it uses Media Player Classic Home Cinema Edition and Crystal HD supports that!  Also GOM player, KM Player, Windows Media Player 12, Arcsoft TotalMedia Theatre, Cyberlink PowerDVD, and Adobe Flash 10.1 are supported!  Also, on that Broacom’s driver page, Linux drivers are listed and supported.

Performance

Did it work?!!  Heck yeah!  For 95+% of the time, it played things just fine.  That 5% of slight delay/skip may be due to the fact that I was playing the HD files off another PC on my network (and not on the netbook itself).  Airlink101 did drop signals couple of times over the past two days so you get what you paid for but I am happy with it overall.  I didn’t have any 1080p source files to play but all my 720p videos played just fine.  Just don’t forget that you do have to configure your softwares to use hardware-decoding.

Summary

For any video watcher out there that wants portability at its best, this is a no brainer!  Sure you may lose your PCI-E WLAN card (some like Samsung has second available mini PCI-E slot), but for video enthusiasts like myself, it’s all worth it!  Note however, that the palm rest area on the right side (where the Crystal HD lies underneath) gets really hot when it is working… but I won’t be typing when I am watching HD video so I don’t see this as an issue…

EDIT: It seems that newer Media Player has to be installed and/or re-configure it as instructed here.

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Hooray for Red Eyes!

Well, it’s the end of January… and though it’s technically winter, here in the warm state of Texas, it’s ripe season for allergies! >.<  Erg… how I dread these next two months…

I have tried, Zyrtec, Claritin, Allegra, and Xyzal.  None seem to work well.  Right now, my eyes are irritated and inflamed.  And because of that, my eyes are hot, red, and puffy.  Oh the glory and joy of enduring this time of the year… I am pretty much allergic to more or less all the tree pollens out there as well as severe allergies to cats and dust.  Yeah… It’s a good thing that people don’t make food out of tree pollens!  LOL

I have tried Neti pot which is very temporary relief.  My co-worker/mom-at-work, June keeps telling me to just get the allergy shot and be done with it.  However, I have HUGE fear of needles… and this shot is the mother of them all!

What is this post about?  Just my ranting and hoping for some sympathy…  back to life… but if you have another medication for me to try, don’t hesitate to suggest it!

EDIT: Friend of mine, Jon Park, an optometrist suggested I give Lotemax (by Bausch & Lomb) a try to relieve my inflamed and irritated eyes.  And it works!!  Mixing that with Claritin and Neti pot is making this allergy season much more endurable!

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How to Spread the Non-profit Goodness Around the World

In the past year, I have become more and more involved in helping promoting non-profit groups.  And in this days of digital age, a group has to do some strong promotion through online mediums…

I will discuss 3 groups that I have been helping with and some of the key things that any non-profit groups should have (and are easy to do).

This is my home church in Houston.  We are by definition a non-profit 501(c)3 and to promote communication and growth, website is a must, and have since moved onto the likes of popular social networking sites including Xanga and Facebook.  It has helped garner support and spreading the word around.  Facebook is especially helpful as you can “suggest” to your friends and what not.

OURS stands for “Organizing and Uniting to Restore Shalom” and is a Christian non-profit 501 (c)(3) organization dedicated to empowering at-risk youth to bring about holistic change in their communities through creative partnerships with individuals and institutions.

I came across Danny through mutual friends and he needed someone to help promote the organization.  Having learned of the group and its purpose, I jumped in.  In both cases of OURS, Inc. and Pathways, both needed a means to accept donations online.  PayPal, as much as some may criticize it, is naturally the best ways to do that.  Most would be shocked that they take 1.9 to 2.9 % of the transaction plus 30 cents per transaction.    However, for non-profits, PayPal limits it at 2.2 % (for under $100,000/month volume).  Read more Nonprofit Resources FAQs here.

Do keep in mind that when you do sign up as a non-profit status group, you need to provide PayPal such proofs.  3 typical proofs required are:

  • Bank statement and/or cancelled checks
  • Non-profit status proof from appropriate state governing body
  • Statement of purpose

When you send them, they will only allow picture formats so you would need to do some combinations of the following.

For bank statements, most banks allow you to download PDF version of the monthly statement.  You can then convert it to some sort of picture format using “File” -> “Export” -> “Image” and then choose any of the picture formats.

For non-profit status proof letters and statement of purpose, you can scan it and save it as a picture file.

PayPal then allows you to simply upload those picture files in the 3 categories.  Just remember that when exporting a PDF file into picture files, it saves each PAGE as a picture file so be sure to include them all.  Another limitation is the file size of each picture.  I don’t think they can be bigger than 1 MB.

In addition to PayPal, Facebook also has a Cause application that is good for accepting small donation amounts (remember that Paypal has minimum of 30 cents transaction fee so if you do $1 donation drives or something similar, you lose at least 30%!  Cause application also has similar proofing process like PayPal but once you are through and accept donations, they also have fees but at least you won’t lose as much if you are doing something like “Donate a dollar” drives.

Another huge incentive in using Facebook is in presence.  One Day’s Wage has become huge since launching on Facebook and has now several hundred thousands of followers!  In the end, one has to be creative.  To help word across, Danny from OURS launched what he calls “Penny Campaign“.  Since he does most of his work with the youth, he decided to challenge them to sign up sponsors who would give a penny for each peson that joined the Facebook Fan page.  It’s a simple but effective at two fronts.  One, it gives the kids a chance to really see the difference they can make.  Since the launch about 10 days ago, more than 1400 people have joined!  That means $14 per person that have signed onto the campaign, but more importantly, it gives visibility to the cause and brings the people in.

I know this wasn’t exactly well-laid out attack plan but I hope other non-profit groups will take advantage of all the help that is out there… Some day, maybe I will become a consultant of sorts on this… Oh wait, I am already one.  😀

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Democrats (and Republicans) and Prejudice

If you had asked me which political party I belong to about 10 years ago, I’d have said Republican w/o a doubt.  However, since then, I have had my share of doubts about the party and have now become a moderate.  But don’t party now just because you are a democrat.  I still have bones to pick with you yet.

You see, 10 years ago, I’d have said that it is just the republicans that are prejudiced.  Against everything and everyone.  Be the issues of abortion or gay rights or death penalty or “War against Terror”, I’d definitely agree with you on that the Republicans are prejudiced.  However, it seems that the Democrats are not that different.  You see, among my list of friends, many who are younger tend to be democrats.  However, I was just as surprised to find out that they are still prejudiced against me.

For what you ask?  Simply for being me.  I’m going to be taking lots of flak for this, I’m sure.  What I mean is that my democratic friends are prejudiced against things that are not cool.  Take Star Trek for example.  During our retreat, the speaker used the Star Trek reference and she misused the reference to which she meant “Starfleet Academy”.  Upon my correction, slew of people reacted as if it’s a taboo.  So it’s a crime to be a geek and a nerd?

I am a die-hard PC gamer.  And people ridicule me for being one.  They use lines like “Why don’t you grow up?”  So picking up other expensive habits are better?  And take sports as another example.  In my 2 cents worth of opinion, sports is a waste of time unless you are playing it.  So my not watching it becomes another point of ridicule.  I can go on and on.

My point is thus a simple one.  Prejudice runs in both republicans and democrats.  I wish everyone would stop using it as an excuse.  Just for being different, it is a (bad) human nature to pick on someone else, be it color of skin, economic status, political status, how nerdy you are, or if you suck at sports and make them look bad so that you look better.  Just admit it.  We all should belong to “Prejudiced Anonymous” and we all need to repent of it…  I know I do.

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No Tech Gadgets for My Kids

Gizmodo Article

Gizmodo reported that 1/3 of 11-year-olds in the US own a cell phone!!  What kind of crazy world is this?!  Sure technology has advanced but I for one do NOT plan on introducing/indulging my kids in tech stuff, be it cell phones or Nintendo DS.

We try to limit the amount of TV that the kids watch.  Heck, we stopped showing them Bakugan TV shows after it seemed to make them more agitated and rude!  Video games?  As much as I love them, I don’t plan on introducing them to DS or Wii until they are well over 10 years old!

Why?  Can you say ADD?!  I blame much of TV and all these tech gadgets and toys for making our children lose focus and develop very short attention span!  Heck, it seems to affect even us adults!  I think playing with old school but proven stuff like Lego and reading is better way to go…

Even the TV commercials don’t help.  So we minimize on these 30-second-slot ADD-inducing hysteria.

Since not watching Bakugan, my kids’ sense of aggression has decreased significantly.  I kid you not.  They have difficult time as it is staying focused so I don’t need other gadgets to detract them from focusing.  Learning to do one thing for a long time seems to be a lost art.  In my mind, that’s a danger to our society.  Being able to dedicate to one needed activity for an extended period of time is a must in my opinion.

Do I seem a bit extreme?  I was concerned about that at first but don’t care anymore.  I am focusing on my kids’ long-term development.  What say you, other parents and teachers?  Am I really that crazy?!

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Father’s Wishes for His Son

Animated JJ

JJ has been… energetic to say the least.  He’s anything but like me when I was a kid.  He’s very outgoing, highly energetic, and very sociable.  I was nothing like that when I was little.  I was a huge introvert, shy, and definitely not full of energy.

So when he was born, I wanted him to have a life that I failed to live.  I wanted him to enjoy life even from the young days.  I wanted him to be playful and enjoy each day, even if it meant him being … loud.  The picture above captures the essence of how I want my son to be… playful, enjoying being himself.

My days of childhood was too quiet.  Not sure what prompted me to be so shy but I was.  In some extreme years, I became a bookworm and stayed home all day reading books.  These days, I don’t think it’s enough to be just smart and intelligent.  As much as I’d love my kids to be smart, Soojin and I agree, that given the choices, we would prefer them to be sociable over smart any day.

I’ve come across many intelligent people in my life, both personally and professionally.  And my only conclusion thus far is that intelligent people are hard to work with, way too finicky, and are not open minded.  In this world, I want JJ to grow up expressing himself openly, no matter how the world treats him for it.  At the same time, being sociable to work with others and get along with others.

In short, I want him to enjoy life on a day to day basis.  Sure learning is important.  In fact, one should never stop learning.  However, beyond that step, living the day to its fullest potential (carpe diem) and being full of life is how I want him to be.  I would rather have him be bit more mischievous and hyper than shy and reclusive.  Perhaps that’s more due to the fact that that’s how I was and didn’t like it, but that’s what I would want for JJ.

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Full-length Movie on Youtube – Born of Hope

It’s rare to see anything longer than 5 minutes on Youtube but here’s a good exception! A full 70-minute movie inspired by the likes of J.R.R. Tolkien’s masterpiece, “The Lord of the Rings” Though it may not be an award-winning title, this should be the direction of future movie releases…