Category: Brain Dumps

SSS Number, ID, and Online Account

PARA SA MGA TAMAD MAGBASA: HINDI AKO TAGA SSS! HINDI NINYO RIN MALALAMAN SSS # NINYO DITO SA SITE NA ITO!

Takte, nakasulat na nga sa unang linya na pumila ako para kunin SSS ID ko, tinatanong ninyo pa ako kung tiungkol sa SSS number ninyo.

Isa kayo sa mga rason kung bakit hindi umuunlad bansa natin.

Philippine Social Security System

Spent a good part of the day waiting in line for SSS ID processing. Realized later that I could make a short yet informative post about it.

I don’t want to insult my reader’s intelligence (which is what, averaging 140? :P ) so I’ll minimize repeating stuff found in the official website.

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Spanish ADSL modem/router kit

Lately, I’ve been exhausting all of the possibilities why I’m constantly getting disconnected in my expensive DSL connection. The main problem it seems is that I’m getting a low signal noise margin and high attenuation from my DSL line (noise margin downstream: 6 db – normal > 12; attenuation downstream: 57 db – normal < 42). I've installed microfilters on all of our phones and the attenuation is still high. I've already called tech support and they've sent in a technician to check the line: the guy didn't see any problem with our wiring. This leaves only a few possibilities, one of which is a faulty modem. Continue reading “Spanish ADSL modem/router kit”

Quick Review of the Best SE Books

Code Complete 2

The most annoying part about passing by the Computer section of bookstores is when you realize that all of the books in the bookshelves will be obsolete in 5-10 years. This is why serious software engineers prioritize books on processes and methodologies over books on tools.

One guy (Jurgen Appelo) compiled a list of the best of SE books based on “1) number of Amazon reviews, 2) average Amazon rating, 3) number of Google hits and 4) Jolt awards”. Think SE version of Personal MBA.

Below the cut is the top ten. I’ve included my own mini-reviews for the books that I’ve already read.

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Graphics Card Hierarchy Chart

Aside from PSUs another source of confusion for normal consumers buying PCs is the graphics card. For normal desktop use, any cheap graphics card will do as long as the card fits in the motherboard (AGP or PCIe) and monitor (VGA or DVI-I or both). For gaming however, the graphics card spells the difference between smooth and choppy gameplay.

Aside from PSUs another source of confusion for normal consumers buying PCs is the graphics card. For normal desktop use, any cheap graphics card will do as long as the card fits in the motherboard (AGP or PCIe) and monitor (VGA or DVI-I or both). For gaming however, the graphics card spells the difference between smooth and choppy gameplay.

When I try to explain in the past how to buy graphics cards, I’d mention the naming scheme used by both nVidia and ATI/AMD: the final 3 digits determine the intended market of the card (e.g. an nVida 8200 will be for entry level machines while an 8800 will be for gaming) while the rest of the numbers determine the generation of the card (e.g. an ATI HD4850 is 5 generations higher than an ATI 9800). While simple, I find that this is still confusing to many.

So for this post, I’ll just point you to Tom’s Hardware‘s Graphics Card Hierarchy Chart.

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