Ever since I’ve switched to Windows Vista, I’ve been curious as to how blogging would be like if I were to try Windows Live Writer. This desktop app that will allow me to blog without ever logging in and using this blog’s dashboard.

So, after having enough rest from a grueling weekend, I’m writing this post using Live Writer. So far, so good. Everything seems to be working well, the interface is nice and comfortable. Though I will need to take some time to get used to this environment as I’ve never really used the WYSIWYG interface or visual editor of WordPress.

The immediate problems I see with writing posts with Live Writer is that I’m unable to tag my blog posts using WordPress’ native tagging system and insert images using the Lightbox plugin for that added ‘oomph’ to it. Then again there could be some workaround to this somewhere in the interwubs or I’ll just write my blog posts offline and then save the drafts to the blog and then edit it online before hitting the good ‘ol publish button.

Writer spice-ups

I’ve heard that there are plugins for Writer that will allow me to add more elements that would enhance my blog posts, will be spending the rest of the week looking into those as well as reviews by other bloggers about those plugins and Writer itself.

What I’m really curious is how to add tables to a blog post. I’m too lazy right now to look it up on Google or Cuil, whichever search engine captures my fancy, but it’s a feature here in Writer so I might as well give it a try.

Hope that doesn’t break my blog or anything. Next up would be to put in some neat photos and I really hope it will work well with the custom image tags I’ve incorporated into the CSS file of this theme. If not, I’ll just insert such photos on line thus allowing me to add the light box effect to it.

Tags and more tags

Aha! So there’s a tagging plugin in Writer, but it doesn’t support WordPress’ own tagging system and so lo and behold, the return of Technorati tags on my blog. Well for this test post only, that is.

So what else could Writer offer or allow me to do? I guess that’s all for now. I’ll just publish this post so to break my blogging hiatus and to jump start my blogging cycle for the good of us all.

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Why so?

Vanity is no where in my list of reasons but here are the few that immediately pops in my mind:

• I need a netbook for purely writing drafts for all my writing needs from blog posts to school work to freelance writing work. The IdeaPad S9 is perfect for this but it’s compact size and it’s light weight won’t kill my back.
• Mobility is the key factor and since my work and lifestyle has now become more mobile yet more data-intensive (lugging around a clip book, pen and notebook and a regular laptop is really killing me), the IdeaPad S9 is once more a perfect solution.
• Besides, I could always bring along my Compaq c765TU whenever the need arises, like doing presentations, graphics and video editing, but more regular days that I just need something to write on without a pen and paper, a netbook would be sweet.

And why the Lenovo IdeaPad S9?

It really appeals to me and since it’s from Lenovo, it’s really something worth the buck. No offense to Eee users and Asus itself, by my eyes and ears are just bleeding because of all the stuff already written and said about it. It’s time for something new.

Last I read, the IdeaPad S9 will be released this October and the IdeaPad S9 will come with 80GB HD and Linux for its OS and will sell for roughly Php22,000.00. For a preview of the IdeaPad S9 here’s a video from notebook.com

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What finally made me decide to upgrade to Windows Vista?

Windows XP has been crapping out on me lately, for some strange reasons, my laptop suddenly lost the ability to detect any Wi-Fi signal it was exposed to, my home network, Burger King’s free WiFi and DLSUD’s own WiFi network, were all of a sudden undetectable by my laptop.

I tried out everything short of taking it to the service center because I knew it had nothing to do with any hardware damage, hence it was something related to a driver issue and knowing that this Compaq c756TU laptop wasn’t optimized for Windows XP that could be very well the culprit.

Rather than prolonging my disrupted work flow by taking my laptop for service, which could take a week or a month, I decided to take the plunge and had Windows Vista installed and up to now, it has been quite smooth though without some annoyances that makes me miss Windows XP.

I opted to purchase and install a licensed copy of Windows Vista Home Basic edition since I’m not really interested in getting the fancy-shmancy graphics of Windows Aero and all the other unique features of Vista Premium, I just need to get the Compaq c765TU’s full hardware features working smoothly. Right now, I control WinAmp via the keyboard with shortcuts and the notebook’s sound levels using the hotkeys. Plus, the I/O ports and jack for the audio components are also now fully functioning saving me from strenuous mice movements. Lastly, I’m beginning to appreciate the Sidebar were some gadgets are indeed useful and worth the strains on the system resources.

Speaking of which, I also upgraded the laptop’s memory from the standard 1GB to full 2GB of RAM. The performance has been so satisfactory for the last three days. What’s more amazing is that most of the software tools and productivity apps have been working fine on Windows Vista. Then again, this is a good opportunity to learn new things and discover and compile all the neat apps we could find that makes using Windows Vista a little bit easier.

That’s it for now, I’ll back once things have settled down and I get to fully get the hang of using Windows Vista.

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The late Heath Ledger’s performance as the Joker was just perfect and awesome. If ever the the Joker would return in the Batman 3, who ever takes over Ledger’s role will definitely have big shoes to fill in.

Speaking of Batman 3, anticipation has already started to brew about this next installment in the Batman series. As with any anticipation for another sequel to a kick-ass film, rumors and speculations have already circulated and generated buzz in the internet.

One of the latest rumors to grab the headlines is the possibility of another great actor, Johnny Depp will be cast to play the nefarious super-criminal “The Riddler”. I know some rumors about the Batman films have been proven to be just rumors but I hope this one about Johnny Depp gracing the next Batman film is true. I’m a Johnny Depp fan and his performance on “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street” is proof that he is up to the job of giving fresh breath of life to “The Riddler”.

I don’t know how many would agree with me, but I’m sure there are lots who would.

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This takes time, causes some compatibility issues and each program takes up hard drive space, bloats both my system registry and the programs menu. So the search for the “one program to convert them all” continued until last night.

I stumbled upon FormatFactory after hours of searching the web via Google. What is FormatFactory?

FormatFactory is a multifunctional media converter.
Provides functions below:
All to MP4/3GP/MPG/AVI/WMV/FLV/SWF.
All to MP3//WMA/MMF/AMR/OGG/M4A/WAV.
All to JPG/BMP/PNG/TIF/ICO/.…
Rip DVD to video file.
MP4 files support iPod/iPhone/PSP/BlackBerry format.
Source files support RMVB.

FormatFactory’s Feature:
1 support converting all popular video,audio,picture formats to others.
2 Repair damaged video and audio file.
3 Reducing Multimedia file size.
4 Support iphone,ipod multimedia file formats.
5 Picture converting supports Zoom,Rotate/Flip,tags.
6 DVD Ripper.

The best thing about this awesome, Swiss knife of media format converters is that it’s free! Yes, what else could beat that price tag? Nothing, because it is free. Go ahead and give it a download and I’m sure you’d love it.

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