Personal

Samsung Galaxy Ace

It has been 50 days since I bought my first “Smartphone”, an Android phone – Samsung Galaxy Ace. I preferred Samsung Galaxy Ace since it has everything I need for a smartphone (except for a Flash Player – no support for adobe flash). Here are five reasons why I choose the Ace:

First, its price, its not that expensive yet it is packed with almost everything that a smartphone user may experience.
Second, its 5MP camera with LED flash, well I hate bringing a camera wherever I go, so I preferred a phone with a good one (I know SGA camera is not that good, I have compared it with other expensive cellphone cams, it takes time to take photos (using auto focus) compared to others, and not really good in night/indoor shots).
Third, its screen size, its not that big yet not that small too, in short just enough ..
Fourth, the looks, I don’t know, but I love the overall appearance of Samsung Galaxy Ace , the design is very simple, yet elegant.
Fifth, well its Android OS, since Android is “app-centric” (IMO) I can do almost anything I want, and well, it has a huge apps available, and best of all, many are free .

Some problems I encountered using my Samsung Galaxy Ace:

Before I bought my Samsung Galaxy Ace, I have already heard about the SOD (sleep of death) issue. After around 3 days of having my SGA, yes I experience the what they call SOD, my phone just sleeps and it wont wake up, the battery is around 50%, and its turned on, it just hang-up while its sleeping. Since I am already aware with the problem, I tried experimenting using the tips I read online and i guess the best solution is turning off your WiFi if your going to an area without a WiFi signal or has a very poor signal. Well, that solves my problem temporarily. Until Samsung Kies tells me that an update is available (after a month) from froyo to gingerbread. Update takes about 30 minutes (I have a slow internet connection – Globe Broadband 1mbps !peace!) and after that I have never experienced SOD even I turned my WiFi on the whole day and while travelling. (Note: My WiFi policy is “Always On”) Continue reading →

Posted in Cellphones/Telecom Networks, Personal | 2 Comments

Long Weekend this August (August 29-30 are Holidays! :D)

By Jeffric

I have never thought this would happen in P-Noys term (a long weekend) since it seems P-Noy hates holidays. (just my wild opinion ). But my thoughts were wrong, ‘coz its going to happen, since August 29, Monday – National Heroes Day is a Regular Holiday, as per Proclamation No. 84, s. 2010 and August 30, Tuesday – Eid’l Fitr is also a Regular Holiday, as per Proclamation No. 234, s. 2011 in short we will have an extended weekend at the end of August. Perfect for outing and well, perfect also to have good rest to remove stress! :D

Have a happy loooonnng weekend this August 27 (Saturday), 28 (Sunday), 29 (Monday-Holiday) and 30 (Tuesday-Holiday)!

Posted in Personal | Tagged Eid’l Fitr, Holiday, National Heroes Day | 2 Comments

eGrades – an online grades viewing system

By Jeffric

eGrades is now availabe, students with subject/s under me, may check their grades online by clicking this link http://www.egrades.co.nr. Login instruction is available in LST-Cadiz Facebook Page.

Development Notes:

This is not a web-based gradebook, it only accepts data from my personalized MS Excel gradebook through uploading. Thus grades in this system is only updated when necessary and/or on my discretion. It can also be used for parallel checking with the local gradebook since this system also computes the final grade using its own algorithm based on the points posted.

The concept of having a system which only accepts grades from a local gradebook is from Online Grades. I have used OG for 1 year, but since I wanted flexibility with my gradebook (because OG needs gradebook software which supports OG/basmati), I have migrated to MS Excel from a commercial gradebook since in my work environment, it is the most portable. Generally, I can open my gradebook anywhere even without my laptop if I’m using MS Excel since all PC’s in my workplace has MS Excel or equivalent. So I designed a gradebook using MS Excel based on my needs and preference. But of course I always wanted to provide a way for my students to check their grades online (well it takes time when they all come to me one by one checking their grades ), and since my personalized gradebook using MS Excel does not support OG/Basmati, I decided to create my personalized online software for grades checking online and named it eGrades. Like OG, it uses xml file in accepting data, but it does not support basmati format. Its xml file is directly link to my gradebook getting all necessary data for uploading. This is still in infant stage, the whole system concept is not yet complete, but the most basic part which is grades uploading and checking is already up.

V1.2

Fixed bug in determining grades
Modified the process in determining passed/fail status
Added student registration form (to allow students with grades to register by their own)
Added additional security by encrypting login information & preventing sql injection
Some minor bug fixes

V1.1