There you have it. For those still on older versions of your service packs, it is time for you to update your operating systems.

For more information: http://blogs.technet.com/lifecycle/archive/2010/02/24/end-of-support-for-windows-xp-sp2-and-windows-vista-with-no-service-packs-installed.aspx

Resources:
Service Pack 3 for Windows XP: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=68C48DAD-BC34-40BE-8D85-6BB4F56F5110&displaylang=en

Service Pack 2 for Windows Vista: http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-vista/default.aspx

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Dr. Don Syme is a principal researcher in MSR Cambridge. He has a rich history in programming language research, design, and implementation (C# generics being one of his most recognized implementations), and is the principle creator of F#. Who better to lecture on the topic than Don? This three part series will serve as an introduction to F#, including insights into the rationale behind the history and creation of Microsoft’s newest language.

C9 Lectures: Dr. Don Syme – Introduction to F#, 1 of 3

C9 Lectures: Dr. Don Syme – Introduction to F#, 2 of 3

C9 Lectures: Dr. Don Syme – Introduction to F#, 3 of 3

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Video from: http://www.CS5.org

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And here’s what kind of activity you should set for each mode:

Frankly, I don’t know when I will use singleTop mode. If anyone knows a type of activity that suits singleTop, please put a comment and tell me when you will use singleTop mode.

Here’s a common scenario though. What happens if you want to float an existing instance of Activity to the top of the stack? For example, your current stack is (bottom)A-B-C-D(top) and you want to float B to the top of the stack like this (bottom)A-C-D-B(top). You “start” the activity with an intent with the flag FLAG_ACTIVITY_REORDER_TO_FRONT like the following:

intent.addFlags(Intent.FLAG_ACTIVITY_REORDER_TO_FRONT);
startActivity(intent);

I think that covers most of the usages of Activity Launch Modes for Android. Hopefully more Android titbits to come in future.

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Here’s a screenshot of it from my RSS reader.

Anyway, here are the descriptions of those 2 downloads:

Microsoft® Silverlight™ for Symbian – Beta

The installable executable enables user to run Silverlight applications on the Nokia S60 5th Edition platform.

Microsoft® Silverlight™ for Symbian – Beta Developer Tools

The installable executable file enables users to run Silverlight applications on the Nokia S60 5th Edition platform. The executable file includes the Silverlight runtime for Nokia S60 5th Edition devices, the Silverlight runtime for Nokia S60 5th Edition emulator, sample applications, and developer documentation.

And there we have it. Anyone excited? All the more reason to learn Silverlight now!

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He recently gave up his iPhone for a Droid, and joined the whole twitter-sphere. You can follow him on twitter @martymobile: http://twitter.com/martymobile

Just listen to his intellectual and wise words regarding how to solve the increasing use of the limited resources of wireless spectrum on The Communicators. I think he handled the tough questions very objectively and held his position on improving the efficiency of usage.

Respect. Enjoy the video.

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// Convert the number into a short - you can make this a little more safe by using short.TryParse instead
ushort mycode = Convert.ToUInt16("27941");

// Now convert that integer into a byte array
byte[] mybytes = BitConverter.GetBytes(mycode);

// We have our byte array, convert to a string! Tada!
string mystring = Encoding.Unicode.GetString(mybytes);

And there we have it. In order to parse all the unicode encoded numbers out, you just need a simple regular expression which I’m sure you can figure out.

I hope that helps someone out there, because it took me some time inspecting variables in order to get it right.

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Cambodian Comics & Web Comic
Mon, Mar 8 7:30 pm Mon, Mar 8 8:30 pm

John Weeks, comic researcher and an entrepreneur living in Cambodia is visiting us at hackerspace.sg this Monday. He will be talking about Cambodian comics. John is also keen on discussing the future comics. John is a member of ‘think tank’ Sang Salapak, co-founder of House 32 Web Design, and advisor to nonprofit publisher Our Books as well as numerous other organisations. He enjoys sharing his interests via blogging, drawing and varied writings. John’s opinions on art, culture, and technology have been cited in publications ranging from Time and USA Today to Punk Planet. Web: http://www.jweeks.net

ABAF Cocktails
Tue, Mar 9 7:00 pm Wed, Mar 10 1:00 am

We are hosting the Asian Business Angel Forum Cocktails and After Party for them. ABAF brings together for the first time early-stage venture players and participants: angel networks, investors, startup companies, policy makers, fund managers, and investment professionals from across Asia, Europe and the US.

Book Club Meetup
Wed, Mar 10 7:30 pm Wed, Mar 10 10:30 pm

We’ll be reading and discussing The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde – we’re a small but open group – all who’ve read the book or are interested literature are welcome.

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2 months ago, Mariko from LG approached me to do a review of their latest LCD monitor, the LG W2486L. I thought, “Hey, why not?” not quite knowing what I was getting myself into. Among all my other friends that got a unit to review, it seems like not everyone had an idea how to review this. It is a little tough to review a monitor, but hey, I’m going to try and I hope you find this useful.

Table of Contents

Specifications
Notables
My Take
Summary
Photos

Specifications

Notables

The LG W2486L is surprisingly thin and light, weighing in only at 3kg (4kg with weighted stand) and 2 cm thick. The blacks are really black due to the high contrast ratio at 2,000,000:1. Essentially what LG has done with the LG W2486L is to scale down their already great TVs into a 24″. When I first got this monitor, it was marketed to me as being a slim and light monitor. To me, I don’t think that’s a huge plus point except for the fact that it will be easier to carry it home and set it up. But once you’re done with it, you don’t really bother about the weight or the slimness. Oh well, that’s just me.

There are 2 HDMI ports available for any HDMI capable devices to use this as your monitor/TV. This means you can plug in your Sony PS3, DVD player, or even your laptop/computer that supports HDMI and use this monitor for your other devices too. You can switch which input to display on your monitor from the menu, which is pretty similar to how you would switch the input for your TV. See what I mean when I say it’s a miniature TV?

Beside the 2 HDMI ports are the DVI and standard VGA ports. If you notice that blue hole there, that is for your speakers. There isn’t any internal speakers in this monitor, and for those who wants to plug in your HDMI device that outputs audio too, this is where you have to plug in your speakers in order to have sound.

Notice the Cinema Mode? Yes. I love the Cinema Mode, especially when watching any videos. You have to see it to believe the difference it makes. Need I repeat again? This is not a monitor but a miniature TV. It has a time control that allows you to turn off the monitor after certain hours. This is good for falling asleep in front of your monitor/TV. It also has a SMART eco-friendly setting that somehow reduces your power usage.

There is a zooming tool (EZ Zooming) inbuilt into the monitor, but I don’t quite see the point in doing that when there are tools out there for your computers to do the same. However, if it is for your HDMI device, then I do see some point in having that feature. Similarly with the photo effects. Maybe one of the things you can do with this monitor/TV is to display your pictures directly from some HDMI device and add special photo effects. I don’t know, it puzzles me.

My Take

So here’s my take on this monitor. As a developer, I require the amount of space, and I stare at the screen very regularly. I’ve used many monitors in my lifetime and I can safely say that this monitor does not strain my eyes after staring at it for long hours. The reason is simply the intelligent auto back light adjustment with the light sensor located just below the power touch key (shown above). This light sensor detects your ambient surroundings and adjusts the brightness of your monitor based on the amount of light available in the room. However, remember not to cover that sensor with papers or other accessories as it really screws up the adjustment. I did that, and that’s how I found out where the light sensor was. You can turn on and off this feature from the menu.

I didn’t really like the fact that I wasn’t able to tilt and adjust the angle of the monitor due to the fact that it is locked down to a specific angle, much like their TVs. You have to adjust the height with some books to lift the screen up to a proper height lest you’ll strain your neck. Also, the inability to rotate the monitor makes it difficult for me as a developer to fully utilize the monitor’s real estate to its full potential, that is to display as many lines of code in 1 screen as possible. However, with that said, these points are not really a big deal and it is a “good to have”. This will not stop me from purchasing this monitor for its brilliant display.

Summary

If you’re looking for a monitor that is essentially a miniature TV with a stunning display for your computer, this is the monitor for you. LG has taken what they’ve done so well with their TVs (I own an LG TV and I really love it) and shrunk it down to a consumable 24″ size for daily PC usage. Not only that, it provides HDMI ports for you to plug in any HDMI capable device and directly display it on this monitor. It doubles up nicely as a TV. I would recommend this monitor for home consumers who wants both a TV and a monitor. But if you want a TV, this is not for you. I would recommend you to fork out another SGD$300 and purchase one of the LG TVs instead.

However, if you’re like myself who require the full real estate of the screen and works on it for a long period of time, I do not recommend this monitor simply because of the inability to adjust the angle of the screen and rotate the screen. This monitor is not geared towards normal work related usage, but more gaming, multimedia, and graphics.

If I had 1 quotable line to say about this monitor, it will be this: “The LG W2486L is a 24″ TV with a DVI, VGA output and no speakers.”

+ TV capabilities
- Adjusting the angle and tilt of the monitor

Well, I hope you find this review useful. Do post any comments or ask any questions and I’ll do my best to answer all of them. Till the next time, cheers!

Photos

Other Reviews

TechieLobang – LG 24-Inch LED Monitor W2486L Review
Nanyate – Review: LG Monitor W2486L
Lester Chan – LG Monitor W2486L Review

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Hackerspace Hack Time
Mon, Mar 1 6:00 pm Mon, Mar 1 11:59 pm

We currently have the following projects being worked on – Sucktionator, Water Rocket, Stop Motion Animation, and many other miscellaneous projects currently worked on by our members. So come join in and hack on any of your projects!

Singapore Ruby Brigade Meetup
Wed, Mar 3 7:00 pm Wed, Mar 3 10:00 pm

This month, the topic for our regular Ruby meetup will be on Rails 3. That’s right! Rails 3 Beta was released last month, and we’re meeting up to discuss about what’s new with Rails 3, and possibly how it impacts your current Rails code. I always love a good Ruby discussion.

Introduction to Programming for Beginners Workshop (1/2)
Thu, Mar 4 7:30 pm Thr, Mar 4 10:00 pm

Please note this event is by registration only.

If you have always wondered how computer programs are written and whether you can write a program yourself here is your chance to find out! Over a 2-session workshop you will learn some of the fundamentals of programming and start writing your first programs almost at once! The workshop is designed to be hands-on and fun for complete beginners. We will be using the Python programming language. If you have always wondered how computer programs are written andwhether you can write a program yourself here is your chance to findout! Over a 2-session workshop you will learn some of the fundamentals of programming and start writing your first programs almost at once! The workshop is designed to be hands-on and fun for complete beginners. We will be using the Python programming language.

Online and Tech culture in Cambodia
Fri, Mar 5 7.30 pm Fri, Mar 5 8.30 pm

We will have two popular Cambodian bloggers visiting us on Friday, 5th March. Nearirath is a lawyer and one of the  Barcamp Phnom Penh organizers. Kounila is a writer and is currently planning her first documentary film. They will be talking about the adoption of technology and online culture in Cambodia and tech events in Cambodia.

GenJuice Meetup
Sat, Mar 6 6:00 pm Sat, Mar 6 9:00 pm

It’s basically a meet-up for young people to “get together to discuss their goals and how they market themselves to reach those goals.” (from the site). A personal branding meetup for young people, if you will. RSVP here.

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