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I have the Intel U2500 (2x 1,2 Ghz) in my notebook (Toshiba R400), which is simply to slow for developing heavy Javascript applications (like my WordPress plugin qTranslate). Most of the time I was sitting in front of my computer and waiting for it to react. this made me realize that I need a faster computer. But what to do if I don’t have much money left? Luckily, I still had a case and 2 harddisk left from somwhere, so I only needed a CPU, Mainboard, Power Supply, RAM and a CPU Cooler. So I started looking for pieces to put together for a really cheap computer, yet really silent and fast.

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Merry Christmas and Happy New Year everyone! I have released qTranslate 2.0.2 for you all as my little Christmas present. Thank you all for supporting me, especially those who bought me really nice gifts, send me greetings cards or donated some money! Thanks a lot! I really appreciate it!

I’ll be playing “Junta” and “Siedler” over my holidays all day long.

Temporal masking describes the effect of your ears missing quiet sounds after hearing a loud sound. This effect is probably known by most of you (temporal post-masking), but did you know that this also happens before you hear a loud sound (temporal pre-masking)? How can your brain know when hearing a quiet sound that there will be a loud one coming and dismiss it beforehand? Magic? Can our brains peek into the future?

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When I opened my mailbox today, I was quite astonished when I found a greeting card from Italy there. It is from “Daniele” (did I spell it right? If not, mail me). Thank you a lot for the card, I was really happy today when I received it. The same goes to “Andrea”, who bought me something from my Amazon.de wish list today. I’ve been developing qTranslate 2 these days, which got pretty frustating because my notebook is way to slow when I try to debug javascript, so I am saving up for a desktop PC. But I will keep doing my best, thank you for your support!

To survive the ongoing price war in Germany, almost all big companies have reduced their service level to a minimum. What used to be free has become quite pricey. Service numbers are a good example. They used to be free or on a 0180-2 basis (€ 0.06/call). But lately, they were swapped against expensive 0180-5 (€0.14/min) or even 0900 (usually above €1.00/minute) numbers. It wouldn’t be so bad if the service would actually improve as expected if you pay money to talk to the service personnel, but in reality, they get even worse. Long waiting lines and user unfriendly interfaces make you pay for wasting your time. Luckily, there usually is a way to get rid of the pricey part.

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Is it possible to upgrade a notebook? Until a few days ago, I’d say only hard disk and memory. But guess what, there is more! I’m not talking about PCMCIA cards here, no, real upgerades just like in your desktop pc.

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Good sound systems have a subwoofer, that’s why I needed one for my little car. Because my car’s trunk is extremely small, I needed a special subwoofer case to fit it in without robbing space or removing the spare wheel. So I constructed one myself. Read more for some more pictures.

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Scratches are the one thing you definitely don’t want to have when you get a new PDA. A screen protector is a must have. There a 2 kinds of screen protectors in general. One kind are the cheap ones, €1 for 10 protectors. The other kind, the kind that actually protect your screen, costs €10 for 1.

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All my friends know that I am a huge Logitech fan. I own 9 mouses, 4 keyboards, 2 Bluetooth headsets, 2 remotes and 1 Bluetooth music receiver made by Logitech, which almost all are still in use (just for the record: MouseMan iFeel, MX 700, MouseMan Traveller, LX5, V500, MX 1000, MX 1000 Bluetooth, MX Revolution, MX Revolution Bluetooth, S510, 2x diNovo Desktop, MX 5500 Desktop, Mobile Freedom, Mobile Traveller, Wireless Music, 2x Harmony 885).
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I got a new phone! Well… it really is more of a mobile computer than a phone. Lately, I find myself more and more addicted to the internet. I used to do so much stuff offline, now everything I do on my computer has to do with the internet. Right now I’m blogging, online, of course. It’s not hard to see that my addiction had to be satisfied when I’m not home or in front of a computer. That’s why I bought myself the O2 Xda Diamond, which is the branded version of the HTC Touch Diamond P3700.

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