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Is it difficult to text in Motorola RAZR V3t?

Published at August 23, 2007 in Simple Tips and How-To and Technology/Gadgets. 0 Comments

 

Pic from www.letstalk.comAlmost everybody has a RAZR. So when I TEXTed my friend who has the same phone, it took a long while before I got a reply. He confessed he’s having a hard time texting. He didn’t need to explain because I agreed with him right away. So if you just got a new V3t, the next few paragraphs are for you….

Integrated with this sleek phone is an iTAP English feature. If you have ever used a computer or internet, you are probably aware of “intellisense”. You know, the cool feature that autocompletes a word when you type a letter. RAZR has the same feature, but unfortunately, the keypad was not modeled after a computer keyboard unlike the Blackberry. In the RAZR, just like any regular cellphones, a single key consists of a number and few letters. For example, you want to enter the letter “S”. You have to tap the “7″ key four times to do it. But with the iTAP feature, pressing “7″ just once autocompletes letter “P”. Pressing it couple more times will lead to undesirable result and a massive hair loss. The iTAP becomes an annoyance instead of a comfort for old-time texters.

Fortunately, you can turn it off. Here’s how:

  1. Press the Menu Button
  2. Click on the envelope icon and create a NEW Text Message
  3. While on the Blank Messagebox, press the Menu Button again to see more options
  4. Press arrow down then select the commad “ENTRY SETUP”
  5. You’ll notice that the Primary Setup is the “iTAP Engish” and the Secondary Setup is “TAP English” (The old-fashioned way of texting). Change the setup to your preference.

That’s it and you’re done! If for some reason you decided to use the iTAP again, do the same procedure and switch back the Primary Setup to iTAP. Hope this helps all new owners of Motorola RAZR V3t.

Happy Texting!

 

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Cooking: Getting Rid Of The Bad Smell

Published at August 22, 2007 in Cooking and Food and Simple Tips and How-To. 5 Comments

Stick CinnamonWhen I first started cooking, the first problem I encountered was the smelly food, like the fish. Fortunately, there’s a lot of way of getting rid of the bad smell even while you are cooking, thanks to STICK CINNAMON. You can buy it from 99c store or any grocery store and a bottle contains an average of 10-12 sticks. A stick measures approximately 3 inches long, it looks like a tiny and thin tobacco.

So how does the sticks get rid of the smell?

 

The trick is to pre-heat 4 cups of water in a small pot before you cook (or fry) the fish. Drop two cinnamon sticks (or three, depends on you) and then you can start cooking as you let the water boil. As simple as that. The aroma of cinnamon will neutralize the bad odor. Even when you’re done cooking, you can leave the cinnamon and simmer it for few more minutes to enjoy its sweet smell.

Good luck and please let us know if this works for you. You can also post some tips here if you want.

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The Wedding Ring and The Fourth Finger

Published at August 22, 2007 in Observations and Opinions and Random Ramblings. 2 Comments

The Chinese are known to always have interesting thoughts about something. Below is an email forwarded to me by my sister. The email has also been forwarded to her so the main source is unknown to me:

Why should the wedding ring be worn on the fourth finger?
There is a beautiful and convincing explanation given by the Chinese…..

Thumb represents your Parents
Second (Index) finger represents your Siblings
Middle finger represents your-Self
Fourth (Ring) finger represents your Life Partner
& the Last (Little) finger represents your children.

Firstly, open your palms (face to face), bend the middle fingers and hold them together – back to back.

Secondly, open and hold the remaining three fingers and the thumb – tip to tip
(As shown in the figure below):

Hand together

Now, try to separate your thumbs (representing the parents)…, they will open, because your parents are not destined to live with you lifelong, and have to leave you sooner or later.
Please join your thumbs as before and separate your Index fingers (representing siblings)…., they will also open, because your brothers and sisters will have their own families and will have to lead their own separate lives.

Now join the Index fingers and separate your Little fingers (representing your children)…., they will open too, because the children also will get married and settle down on their own some day.

Finally, join your Little fingers, and try to separate your Ring fingers (representing your spouse).
You will be surprised to see that you just CANNOT….., because Husband & Wife have to remain together all their lives – through thick and thin!!

Please try this out………….
ISN’T THIS A LOVELY THEORY?

I did try it out, and I tried real hard but both the fourth fingers won’t separate. They’re like the north pole and south pole magnets, they won’t repel. Whoever managed to separate the two, please do post in the comment and yes, pictures are welcome!

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AutoCool – Infomercial

Published at August 21, 2007 in Observations and Opinions, Simple Tips and How-To and Technology/Gadgets. 0 Comments

AutoCool - picture from http://www.bestofasseenontv.com/The Auto Cool infomercial looks convincing, and I’m pretty sure you’ve seen it, too. That’s why you are here reading a short review about it.

In the commercial, they showed that if you park your car under the sun, chances are when you get inside it, it feels you are sitting in a 100 degrees oven. The commercial even shows an egg getting cooked on the dashboard.

With AutoCool, you won’t have to worry about the heat anymore. Just slide it on one of your windows and voila the fan will spin letting cool breeze in and hot air out. For a small amount of approximately $20, you have a portable car aircon. But I don’t want to pay $20 for that. So I bought mine from ebay for half the price.

I’m going straight to the point here: The item doesn’t live to the expectation.

1. The fan spins only when it is under direct sunlight.

2. The fan spins not hard enough. It won’t even move a paper.

3. The case is fragile. Mishandling will break it apart.

The item is a good “thesis” idea for a college student. And the end product is a combination of pile of select plastic junk encasing an electrical wiring attached to a small fan with the hope that it would cool something as big as a car.

It wouldn’t. I used it in my Honda Accord, parked it under the sun. I checked it after couple of hours, I couldn’t feel any difference. I can cook a bacon inside my car. I’m almost positive that AutoCool will melt if left under the sun unattended.

So my suggestion to keep your car cool is to block the sun by putting shades in your windshield. Leaving the front windows a little bit open will somehow let the hot air out.

Keep your $20. Buy a good book or watch a movie instead.

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Honda Accord LX 1990

Published at August 21, 2007 in My Old Honda, Observations and Opinions and Simple Tips and How-To. 9 Comments

I got my first car in April this year (2007). An old one actually. The title says it — built 1990. So why did I buy it in the first place? Here’s the story: I commute when I go to work (I’m a computer teacher in a Private Catholic School), and my father thought it was tiring for me so he volunteered to drive me in the morning before he goes to work, eventhough it is out of his way. I was getting embarrassed. I didn’t want him to drive from point A (our apartment) to point B (my school) then go back to point A then drive to point C (his work).

So when I learned that a family friend’s brother is getting rid of his car due to limited parking space, I took the offer. Who could resist a $600 second-hand car? It was a good deal, I thought.

The car is older than ALL of my students, but whenever they see me driving or getting in or out of the car, they’ll say: “Nice car, Mr. P!” and I can’t help but chuckle by their innocence.

Honda-Accord-LX-1990
Here’s the pic.

A week later, one afternoon when all students were all gone and most teachers had left, my car wouldn’t start! After numerous attempts, it simply won’t go alive. It was almost 5pm, I don’t want to be stuck in traffic. I admit, I’m a computer doctor, but I know nothing about a car’s anatomy. So I phoned my father for tips. He said maybe it’s the battery, and he asked me to push the gas a couple of times while starting the car. Won’t start. Press the brake, then start again. Ugly sound.

Then I remembered my favorite movie: Back To The Future. If you have seen it, you probably knew what I’m going to tell you. Do you remember when Marty was about to go back to the future but all of a sudden, the DeLorean “died”? When he ran out of time he simply banged his head on the stirring wheel then surprisingly, the car started!

But I didn’t do that. I’m not yet nuts to hurt my own head, it is my life. What I did was, I hit the wheel (and the horn) with my forearm and then click the key simultaneously. Boy, it worked! Thank you, Marty!

Eversince, it happened few times, and my solution worked most of the time. So I made a theory that maybe, the battery needed an electrical catalyst (in this case, the wheel and the horn) to somehow jumpstart it. I told you I’m not good at cars. :) I can’t support my theory with strong facts but a sci-fi movie. If you’re a car expert, is my theory correct?

My students, especially the little children, still like my Accord, they still say “Nice car, Mr. P!” and I still chuckle. Kids.

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