The Lady Programmer

I really wish that that I had known this earlier, because my dad had just gone down to meet a friend in Manila, which is around 5 hours away from our place. He has to claim the distance measuring instrument that he will use for his part-time surveying job.

Would you believe that this instrument was ordered off from the internet? He figured out that to save on shipping fees, he’d rather have someone from the US buy the instrument for him then claim it from someone who will be visiting our country.

He enlisted my help in finding the cheapest seller. We discovered that most US-based sites offer the cheapest deals for the same model. However, these deals are not available for non-US customers. There are those other sites, but we found out that shipment costs a lot. He could end up paying a hundred dollars more!

He’d rather wait for his friend to come into the country and meet him. This had taken several weeks, but to him, the huge savings was worth the wait.

Now I’ve learned about MyUS.com website, I really wished we had bought stuff that way. At least we did not have to do this special arrangement. We could have that instrument without paying a lot on shipment. We could even order that instrument even if the particular site only ships within the US.

Not long ago I had been some sort of shopping spree. Not for the clothes that women like me would have. I was simply looking for the best web host that I could get for one of my blogs. Instead of hopping from one web host site to another I simply looked for web hosting sites that provide ratings for the different web hosts around the web.

Ratings by Category

Web Hosting Rating had performed well to my expectations. One very useful thing  that I’ve noticed is that I can get the top ten best web hosts at a glance, or choose to see the best web hosts in every category. Every web hosts are made to be different which answers to the differing customer need. Do you want the best dedicated web hosting providers? Then look for the list under dedicated hosting. How about a Unix web host? Web Hosting Rating provides a good top ten list.

Get the Best

photo credit: kikashi (SXC)

Web Hosting Rating also maintains a web hosting awards system where one can find web hosts in every category. The Hosting Awards 2008 features a particular web host that is suited best in each type. The cheapest web host is indicated by the Best Budget Hosting, while the Best Blog Hosting indicates the host that works well with blogs.

The Web Hosting Rating’s directory should lead you to more hosting providers, if you want more options to choose from. Each web host has its own detailed description and review as well.

Manage Your Site Well with Some Useful Tutorials

Web Hosting Rating offers more than helping customers choose the right web host: their articles section is a huge compilation useful web host tutorials. Are you finally moving your site to a dedicated server? Learn from Managed Dedicated Hosting and see if you really need it for your website.

Have you chosen a good domain name?

I believe women who love shopping would be delighted to hear this.

Shopping is now made easier using a virtual mirror developed by Fraunhofer Institute. This new womanly-gadget would help shoppers pick their set of clothes without the hassle of undressing numerous times.

photo credit: bjearwicke (SXC)

People who get to visit the IFA electronics show in Berlin should be able to glimpse a demo of somebody trying out new clothes without the need to take off clothes.

The entire setup consists of a flat panel display with touch screen, a camera mounted above it and lighting to evenly illuminate users. A shopper is required to stand in front of the equipment in green T-shirt. Once a camera has shot the image, the resulting picture is subjected to some algorithm where the shopper can just change the green T-shirt into some other funky style in various colors, logos and textures.

If I happen to be that shopper then I would not get tired hunting for an outfit from several wardrobes, then get into the fitting room, and then doing the outfit selection again.

The idea simply started out on superimposing shoes for a Paris-based Adidas store. Back then, changing clothes through this method was difficult because of the differing texture qualities of clothes. This time the scientists got it right.

I think this is where geeks and fashionistas finally agreed on this one thing.

It turns out that not only Microsoft is having loads of rants about their operating system. But at least they are now on their way to Windows 7 after they had learned their lessons in launching their Windows Vista.

The same is true with Adobe. Adobe users had even launched their own gripe system. Web designer Erik Frick put up this simple Dear Adobe site for Adobe software users to list down their gripes on the software. The gripe system is not simply a list of complaints – other Adobe users can come to vote for or against the gripe that another person had listed.

Screaming by ralaenin (SXC)

What’s good about this gripe is that Adobe learned about this whole affair and listened. Photoshop Principal Product Manager John Nack participated in these gripes by responding to these.

Are you thinking what I’m thinking? I have the same set of gripes with its users; here’s some that I like, most of these gripes came from the top 50 list:

• (Number 1) “Why does the Acrobat Reader take two minutes to launch, and require updates twice a month, just to display PDF pages?” # 289
• (Number 4) “Please create an installer that puts your software on my computer in less time than it takes to install an operating system.” # 403
• (Number 19) “Why does Photoshop cost as much as a pre-owned small car? Drop the price please!!” # 215
• (Number 33) “Please don’t copy Microsoft’s naming and bundling conventions. I want CS3 not CS3 pro, CS3 pro advantage, CS3 pro plus, CS3 no frills, CS3 pro max, CS3 pro extra pro max…” # 366
• (New) NO NEW FEATURES. That’s the last thing your bloated, convoluted, poorly-defined, and crash-prone products need. This is the design industry. Refine and simplify. # 644

Now this is the perfect opportunity to launch a gripe against Adobe, isn’t it?

Sometimes I wish I were one famous superhero that can soar above the skies to save lives. Unfortunately flying superheroes are far from happening in the real world. Eventually I realized that the true superheroes are the people I often interact with each day.

Perhaps a superhero can be that of a woman who plans ahead in saving lives. C’elle captures this miracle of saving lives; their kits are provided as a means for women to help save lives in their own superhero way – by simply saving some adult stem cells for future use.

I learned more about the science of this technology in C’elle. I never imagined that the stem-cell research would eventually come to the point where taking out healthy adult stem cells is made easily through a woman’s mentrual period. After all, this womanly bodily fluid is simply washed off to waste each month.

The C’elle Client Testimonial helps give an understanding the benefits of stem cell technology. I think this method goes beyond the limitations of medicines and surgery. By using stored stem cells diseases like Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s diseases gets to have a good future with this treatment. A good chance of success is seen when the person with the disease happens to be a relative of the donor.

In a way, a woman who decides to keep her stem cells to C’elle for future use becomes a superhero in her right.