Thoughts and Non Thoughts

I used to buy a 14-day SIM from T-Mobile when I travel to the US. It provides a US number with practically unlimited calls/texts and data (within the US). Useful when calling US numbers or using phone apps on the go. I did encounter spotty signals for both calls and data, depending on the location. Last September I opted to avail of the Globe roaming service instead - the Roam Surf 399 valid for 24 hours. Then before it expired, I subscribed to the ‘Roam Surf Longer Stay’ for a lower daily rate over a longer period. It comes out to almost the same cost as a US traveller SIM and you don't have to switch mobile numbers or SIMs. This is for data surfing only, not for cellular calls or messages -- but I found it more useful since I use messaging apps (ie, Viber or Messenger) for communicating with both US-based and Philippine contacts. It is also a must-have for mobile apps like Uber, Waze, or for surfing the net. No problems at all with connectivity. At home or in the hotel, one can s...

I recently upgraded the WiFi adapter on my PC to a Realtek 8812BU. Setting it up was a breeze, it's plug and play (Windows 10). However I experienced intermittent speed.  I use a TP-Link Deco-5 mesh WiFi and was getting quite strong WiFi on my other devices.  I finally noticed (via Settings/WiFi/Hardware Properties) that the adapter sometimes shifts to a 2.4 GHz band and that's when it slows down. The simple fix: manually set it to 802.11ac on Device Manager. Then it stays on the 5 GHz band. Now I'm getting the speed I want!

It's been a while since I posted about my Internet connection. As it happens, this post about solving my PLDT myDSL problem has the highest views of all my posts. It basically gives a tip about changing DNS settings, which seems to be the weakest point of the PLDT service. I have since moved to PLDT's Fibr service. It is definitely faster (I got the unlimited data with 20MBPS plan). It has allowed watching Netflix or YouTube uninterrupted while someone else is streaming Spotify or browsing. I am quite happy with it. Nevertheless, I found that using the DNS settings in my original post still applies. In short, set it manually, and use opendns (208.67.222.222 or 208.67.220.220) or google dns (8.8.8.8 or 8.8.4.4). I find my connection more stable this way. Some things change and some things stay the same.

Recently changed my wifi router from a TP-Link to a Linksys E1200. All my mobile devices linked to it immediately with no problem. All desktops on Windows and laptops on Windows and Mac OS had no problems -- except an old Macbook with Mac OS 10.5.8 (Leopard). Browsing was glacial, if not, frozen. Tried changing DNS settings to no avail. Whether Safari or Google Chrome, the web pages won’t load and the browser just hung. Finally found the solution. Under System Preferences > Network, click on the TCP/IP tab. Then set “Configure IPv6” to “Off”. Voila! Now the Mac is surfing!

It looks like the (selective browsing) problem with PLDT myDSL happens when you set your DNS to automatic. There's a couple of solutions: 1. Set the DNS manually at the TCP/IP Connection setting. Here are some of PLDT's DNS servers: 58.69.254.3 58.69.254.4 58.69.254.8 58.69.254.9 58.69.254.43 58.69.254.46 58.69.254.70 58.69.254.72 58.69.254.103 58.69.254.104 58.69.254.106 58.69.254.133 58.69.254.134 58,69.254.135 58.69.254.137 202.57.96.4 203.87.128.3 203.172.11.21 203.172.11.25 203.172.11.26 2. Use Opendns servers: simply use the ff in the DNS setting 208.67.222.222 208.67.220.220 Just be aware that there have been reported cases of Opendns blocking some google pages. I used the first PLDT DNS server listed above and it has solved my problem completely. I also noticed webpages loading faster than before. Hope this fix is going to hold up. 3. Update >>> You can now use Google DNS 8.8.8.8 8.8.4.4 Hope this helps.

It's been a week now. Some websites won't load. This sucks.

Or Con whimper ?

This downloading business brought to mind the “stickiness factor” mentioned in the book “The Tipping Point” by Malcolm Gladwell. Gladwell explained how simple things move people from “knowing” to “acting”; for example, increasing the number of students who got vaccination shots by simply including a map to the clinic and vaccination hours in the handouts. In the Canon site, it was the very clear and step-by-step instructions (illustrated with photos) of the downloading process that made me think “I can do this.” And so I did. It was really a piece of cake. You download the file, save it to a formatted CF card (using a card reader), then put this CF card into the 10D. You don’t need to be a geek to feel like one. Maybe the Canon guys read the book?

Last night I downloaded two files from Canon’s download site. The first one is a firmware upgrade for my Canon EOS 10D. I was an early adopter of the 10D so it came with firmware v1.0.0. The latest firmware v2.0.1 added pictbridge compatibility and, more importantly, shorter “microdrive release time lag”. I don't really know what that means but I tried it anyway since I am using a 4 GB microdrive extracted from a Muvo2 . I found that with firmware v2.0.1 the waiting time to shift from shooting mode to view mode on the 10D is significantly shorter. There are other subtle improvements as well, such as the battery power indicating “full charge” on newly charged batteries (BP 511); before the upgrade it indicated “partial charge” on the same batteries. The other download was a free software called Digital Photo Professional (DPP), useful for converting RAW files taken with a Canon EOS camera. I played a little bit with it but still have to learn all the features. Shooting RAW is suppo...