Having a Personal Area Network (PAN) with the help of a Bluetooth dongle is not enough for me. I need to have access access to the internet anywhere within the house.

Tonight, I paid CD-R King a visit and grabbed the cheapest Wireless Broadband Router they have. I was given with the LP-8186.

The LP-8186 is a wireless broadband router that support 802.11b/g, as well as WiFi a & n classifications. What made me bought the unit was the fact that it also supports up to 4 wired network connections, as a regular 4-port hub will do.

From the time I opened its box, attach the Smart Bro UTP cable to the router, turned on my PC, and launched the setup program, I just took me around 7 minutes. Fired up my desktop’s internet browser and it connects to the internet. Fired up the internet browser in my HP Mini 2133, which is around 10 feet away from the router, and bobreyes.com loads.

To ultimately test its capabilities, I went up to the second floor of our house, tried to surf, and it worked!

Here are some specs of the LP-8186 as printed in its box:

• Supports Gateway modes
• WEP, WPA Encryption - 64/128bit (WEP), WPA TKIP
• TCP/UDP/ICMP/ARP protocol stack
• Dynamic DNS
• DHCP Client and Server
• PPPoE PPTP
• UPnP

Tomorrow, I’ll test on how far can the AP reach — car port? sidewalk? sari-sari store?

Popularity: 3% [?]

Just acquired a secondhand Roland E-16 synthesizer last Saturday. The moment Robyn woke-up Sunday morning, and saw the keyboard, he immediately sampled the great sounds it produces.

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Roland E-16 synth, baby!

Robyn was the first to try the keyboard

And he loves the sound produced by the E-16

Popularity: 5% [?]

An experiment if I can setup a home network for less than PHP500 proved to be a success. I just needed to shell out around PHP300 and some minutes falling in line, and wallah! I can surf the net wirelessly thru my HP Mini 2133 anywhere within the range of our Home Network.

Here’s how I did it:

1. Go to the nearest CDR King branch and buy a Bluetooth Dongle. I went to CDR King Park Square earlier today, and was able to get the smallest bluetooth dongle (the size of a USB stick cap) at PHP300.
2. Head back home, attach the USB Bluetooth Dongle to your Desktop PC (mine is running Windows XP) and install the drivers.
3. In your Desktop PC, open your Network Connections and open the Properties for your Internet Connection, or simply double-click on the Network icon from your Task Bar.
4. Click on the Advanced tab of your Local Area Connection Properties, and make sure that the Internet Connection Sharing checkboxes are ticked. Click on OK and close the Properties window.
5. Open a Command Prompt window (the shortcut is by Running the CMD command at the Start Menu). Check on what is the IP address of your bluetooth network by executing the IPCONFIG /ALL command. Take note of this IP address.
6. Now, fireup your bluetooth enabled device, say a laptop. Connect to your PC using the bluetooth connection. In my HP Mini, I simply right-click on the Bluetooth icon from the Task Bar of Windows Vista, and click onJoin a Personal Area Network. Now you are connected to your Desktop PC.
7. To verify that your are indeed connected to your Desktop PC, execute a PING of the IP address that you had seen earlier. If you will encounter a “Request time out” error, it simply means that your laptop is not able to connect to your desktop.
8. On your laptop, launch the Connection Properties and supply an IP address for your mobile machine. This IP address must be different to the one that we had seen from our desktop.
9. The IP address that you got from your desktop PC will be the Gateway in your mobile device or laptop’s Connection Properties.
10. Now, launch your favorite internet browser and you should be able to surf from your mobile device or laptop, utilizing the connection from your desktop PC.

Popularity: 6% [?]

Attended the briefing about Sky Cable’s Digibox this afternoon at the Hotel Intercontinental Makati. It was hosted by TJ Manotoc. The Sky Cable people, led by their VP made a demo of the Digibox — really kewl features like channel preview, a full week lineup with preview, lots of channels, and channel lock.

People from Sky Broadband was there, too. And as TJ describes it: insanely fast! How fast was it, 12Mbps for a residential broadband.

All bloggers went home with gift certificates from Sky Cable — free installation and rental of Digibox, plus a quarter subscription to Sky Cable Gold at zero cost. Kewl, isn’t it?

(Some pics grabbed from Az — thanks Az!)

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With fellow bloggers testing Sky Broadband

During the presentation of Digibox

Az listening to a fellow blogger (TJ at the foreground)

TJ Manotoc, a Digibox subscriber, himself.

The Vice-President of Sky Cable addressing the attendees.

Popularity: 9% [?]

Though it does not run on Intel, still this toy is an HP. Clad in aluminum shell, packed with 120GB of harddisk space and 2GB of ample RAM, I was able to install Microsoft Office 2007, Visual Studio Express 2008, and Adobe CS3 Web Premium on top of Microsoft Windows Vista.

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HP Mini + Wireless Mouse

HP Mini + PalmOne Treo

BobReyes.com on HP Mini

Kewl Pocoyo Wallpaper

Popularity: 10% [?]

Today, as we celebrate five (05) fruitful years of blogging, I am writing this article using my HP Mini 2133 — first post using the HP Mini. Indeed, a very portable device for bloggers, like me.

Happy anniversary to TurfSite Manila!

Popularity: 7% [?]

I knew it! John McCain is gay! Do not vote for him — not because he is gay, I just don’t like him to become the President of the United States.

Popularity: 10% [?]

I had just received a Google Alert about my site, and one of the links in the notification was http://digitalfilipinowebawards.blogspot.com/2008/10/judging-blogs-professional-category.html

TurfSite Manila (my blog site at http://bobreyes.com) has been nominated in the 2008 DigitalFilipino.com Web Awards under the category Blog - Professional. Being nominated is such an honor, but being a co-nominee with Abe Olandres (YugaTech.com) is another thing. I had been reading his blog long before BobReyes.com had been established to a real web log

Announcement of winners will be on the 5th of next month.

Popularity: 10% [?]

Esnips.com is a social sharing website that allows users to share content, promote and sell creations, and form social niche communities around their specific areas of interests. This is also my favorite website when I am looking for music files, also known as MP3 files.

Type a title of a song in Esnips.com and you will find tons of versions of the same song, in different formats. Clicking on a link will load the Flash-based media player of the website. Now, if you want to download a copy of the file, you can, but your will be needing iMesh.

Now, here’s a technique that I am using to download the MP3 files, without having to use (and install) iMesh:

1. Let’s say, the URL of the song I wish to download is
   http://www.esnips.com/doc/a56a0906-0f7f-4e6a-a241-1f3cdfaf7cb1/kundiman_ni_paraluman
2. Change the word ‘doc’ in the URL to ‘nsdoc‘.
3. Replace the song title or name with /ts_id/1205795172796/ns_flash/file88.mp3, in my example URL, I will have to remove ‘kundiman_ni_paraluman‘ and replace it with ‘/ts_id/1205795172796/ns_flash/file88.mp3′
4. Hit the {Enter} key, and you will be prompted to save the MP3 file. That easy.

Popularity: 13% [?]

Flying to Basco, Boracay, Caticlan, Borongan, Busuanga, Coron, or Tablas soon? I can give you the best deal with SEAir. Simply use the Promotional Code RRBR35EE at http://www.flyseair.com and get 15% discount on your airfare. No kidding!

Just book a flight online at http://www.flyseair.com and use the PROMO CODE RRBR35EE to avail of the 15% discount. The discount is valid only if you will buy the ticket online.

For inquiries and other concern with regards to this promo, please do not hesitate to leave a comment on this post. Thank you!

Popularity: 10% [?]

It is now official! San Miguel Corp. (SMC) will buy the 27% stake of the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) at MERALCO, price of which is PHP90.00 per share — payable in three years. This was confirmed based on Disclosure 7393-2008 (October 27, 2008) received by the Philippine Stock Exchange Commission.

Why did Winston Garcia and his cohorts, este co-directors suddenly changed their minds and sold their share to SMC? Does this verify the rumor that the GSIS is really bankrupt? Nagtatanong lang po!

PS: What happened to our complaint two years ago? Cover up! Cover up!

Popularity: 16% [?]

Last week, we began experiencing an odd on and off connection of our Smart Broadband (SmartBro). Thursday, they advised us that their technical crew will visit us on Friday morning. Came Friday morning, the technical crew arrived, but there was a power interruption in our area, so I asked them to comeback the next day at around 1500H (since I have a class in the morning).

Saturday came, and at around 1300H, my wife sent me an SMS advising that the SmartBro technical crew are already there — too early for the 1500H schedule. So I sent instructions to my wife, based on what the CSR and I had agreed upon — to replace the LAN cable and AC adaptor of the Motorola Canopy antenna. To my surprised, my wife sent me an SMS again saying that the SmartBro technical team advised her that the LAN cards (01 onboard the mother board, 01 PCI, and 01 USB) are all NOT WORKING. What?! I immediately called home, and advised the technical crew to wait for me til 1400H (that was 1335H already).

When I arrived home, some 15 minutes later, the SmartBro technical crew were nowhere to be found. Apparently, they had lunch while waiting for me — that’s OK! So, when their team leader finally came face-to-face with me, I asked him what is their findings, and he said that my LAN cards are all defective. WTF?! Is that a coincidence or what?! I told him that it is impossible, since the PCI LAN card came from a workstation, that is in tip-top condition, plus the USB LAN card is working 100%. As I see it, it’s the Motorola Canopy antenna or the LAN cable from the Canopy to my LAN cards which is defective.

So, he brought a new (still sealed) Motorola Canopy antenna, attached a new LAN cable to it and the other end to my LAN cards (testing each of the network adapters), and still the error is “A network cable is disconnected.” He then insisted that my LAN cards are all defective. But, I told him, during the installation of the service two years ago, the technical crew had to change the Motorola Canopy antenna four (04) times, before we were able to connect to their base station. So, with a grin in his face, he went back outside and returned with another set of sealed Motorola Canopy antenna. He said, if this one will not work, it is really my LAN cards which are damned. But, before I let him attach the new antenna to my PC, I showed him that the onboard LAN card (Intel) is indeed working, as reported by the diagnostic tools software.

So, the cables were all changed, the new Motorola Canopy antenna attached, and wallah! SmartBro is back online in my PC. Now I firmly believe that their technical crew are NOT that technical at all. You see, troubleshooting needs some analytical thinking, and I do not know if they have it.

Popularity: 12% [?]

Christmas season is fast approaching (officially starts on 02 NOV 2008 here in Manila), and if you are in the process of shopping for domain name registration and website hosting (webhosting), TurfSite Computing, Inc. (http://www.turfsiteph.net) offers the following promotional discount coupons:

• TURFSITE5 — to celebrate five (05) fruitful years of TurfSitePH.net operations, get 15% off your total purchases at http://www.turfsiteph.net
• CSBMMA2008 — 15% discount that current and former CSB students & faculty members can enjoy at http://www.turfsiteph.net
• PWAG — members of the Philippine Web Accessibility Group or webmasters of websites certified by PWAG can avail of 20% discount (website hosting services) from http://www.turfsiteph.net
• MULTIPLY — Multiply.com members within my network can enjoy a 10% discount on all TurfSitePH.net services

What are you waiting for? Subscribe to TurfSitePH.net services now!

Popularity: 12% [?]

As of this writing, both websites of Banco De Oro (BDO) and Union Bank of the Philippines are down. Damn!

Popularity: 14% [?]

Two days ago, my wife noticed that the Smart Bro connection in our Windows XP machine is off and on. The network connection icon at the Windows XP task bar keeps on changing from “Connected 100Mbps” to “A cable is unplugged.” As someone who understands how computers work, I checked on the lan cable (that is connected to the Motorola Canopy antenna): it’s secured; checked on the LAN card thru the Intel diagnostics tool: it’s working properly; then I just noticed that when you move the AC adaptor cable, the connection is UP but when you drop it, the connection is DOWN. Could it be that the AC adaptor that powers the Motorola Canopy antenna is malfunctioning?

That very same night, I called Smart Bro Customer Support, and after talking to someone by the name of Jason for almost 30 minutes using a GlobePH mobile phone, the line was disconnected. It was almost 2300H already that night, so I didn’t bother to make another call to them.

Last night, the same problem is being experienced. I made call to the Smart Bro Customer Support again, and after being on hold for more than 15 minutes — using my GlobePH mobile phone (I did advised the CSR that I am using a mobile phone), the CSR instructed me to replace the UTP cable of the Smart Bro. WTF?! All I am asking was for a technician to drop by our place and check the cable connections, and now you are asking me to change the UTP cable by myself?

Popularity: 13% [?]