My First Day on Academic Activities at NTU

Hi Readers,

Today (30/08/2010) is the first day of my MSc in Embedded System Program at Nanyang Technological University (NTU), as well, first day of all academic activities after Youth Olympic Games 2010. Moreover, it is my first time to enter Lee Wee Nam (LWN) Library, the library for Engineering and Science at NTU. All of those is very impressive and exciting for me.

First, I have had a discussion with A/Prof Suhaib about the topic of my dissertation project. I enjoyed the discussion and I have selected one topic from him for my dissertation. Tomorrow, I will register that topic to the School of Computer Engineering (SCE) System before I start to work on my dissertation.

Second, in LWN Library, there are so many journal that are "out of reached" by me when I was in Indonesia, most of them are IEEE society journal, on printed books, such as journal from Computational Intelligence Society, Computer Society, Robotics and Automation Society, Circuit and System Society, Education Society, Signal Processing Society, Systems, Man, and Cybernetics Society, and so on. In addition, there are some magazines that I am interested in, such as, Scientific American, Scientific American Minds, Discover Magazine, etc. It is awesome for me. From now, I can "waste" my time in LWN Library to read fascinating topics on those journals and magazines, especially those are related to my dissertation.

In conclusion, I really enjoy my activities today.

That's all that I can share with you. Thank's for being my readers.

PROLiNK PML501: Nano Wireless 2.4GHz Laser Mouse with 5-Button

Hari ini (16/08/2010), saya membeli sebuah mouse PROLiNK PML501 untuk menggantikan mouse saya yang lama. Saya memilih produk ini karena beberapa alasan utama, yaitu: USB bluetooth WiFi receiver adapter yang kecil (karena itu nama produk ini ada kata "Nano"), dapat digunakan pada berbagai tempat karena sensornya menggunakan laser, ergonomis, hemat daya (menurut spesifikasinya, dapat digunakan sampai 6 bulan hanya dengan 1 baterai ukuran AA), dan tertulis bahwa produk ini dapat dioperasikan pada sistem operasi Linux. Mouse ini beroperasi pada frekuensi WiFi 2.4GHz dengan modulasi GFSK dan mempunyai resolusi max 1600 cpi. Untuk tombolnya, mouse ini mempunyai 5 tombol, yaitu: left-click, right-click, middle-click (scroll wheel), dan 2 tombol untuk prev - next (letaknya di samping kiri, dioperasikan dengan ibu jari tangan kanan untuk right-handed person). Uniknya, scroll wheel pada mouse ini dapat digunakan untuk vertical scroll dan horizontal scroll (biasanya, scroll wheel mouse hanya untuk vertical scroll saja), sehingga pengguna dapat dengan mudah melihat dokumen atau halaman web yang membutuhkan geser atas-bawah dan kanan-kiri. Untuk geser ke kanan-kiri, pengguna tinggal "bend" scroll wheel tersebut ke kanan atau ke kiri. Sangat mengasyikkan. Selain itu, ada tombol untuk memilih resolusi mouse; apakah 800 cpi atau 1600cpi. Pada bagian bawah mouse, ada switch untuk ON/OFF, serta tempat untuk menyimpan USB bluetooth WiFi receiver adapter saat tidak digunakan. Ada bonusnya, yaitu pouch untuk menyimpan mouse.

Sewaktu dicoba pada laptop saya dengan Slackware64 13.1 -current, mouse ini dapat terdeteksi tanpa ada masalah. Kelima tombol berfungsi dengan baik, bahkan tombol untuk memilih resolusi juga dapat berfungsi (saya yakin pasti dapat juga digunakan dengan baik pada Slackware 13.1). Vertical scroll dan horizontal scroll juga berfungsi dengan mulus. Amat menyenangkan. Sekarang, jika saya ingin melakukan PREV ataupun NEXT pada firefox, saya cukup menekan tombol prev - next yang ada pada mouse ini. Juga, ketika saya ingin melakukan geser horisontal ke kanan atau ke kiri, saya tinggal membengkokkan (bend) scroll wheel dari mouse ini ke kanan atau ke kiri.

Summary:
Today (16/08/2010), I have just bought a wireless laser mouse, i.e., PROLiNK PML501, that is a nano wireless 2.4GHz laser mouse with 5-buttons manufactured by PROLiNK. I chose this product because it has a small USB bluetooth WiFi receiver adapter on frequency of 2.4GHz using GFSK modulation, it is a laser mouse, ergonomic, low power consumption (based on its specification, 1 AA-battery can power it for 6 months), and, the important thing, it can be operated in Linux Operating System. This mouse has resolution up to 1600 cpi and there is a button for changing resolution from 800 cpi to 1600 cpi, vice versa. The 5 buttons are left-click, right-click, middle-click (scroll wheel), and 2 buttons for selecting PREV or NEXT on the browser. For scroll wheel, it can handle vertical scroll, as usual, and the new function: horizontal scroll, so that, if we want to scroll the document or browser horizontally, just bend the scroll wheel to the left or right. Awesome! On the bottom of the mouse, there are an ON/OFF switch and a place for keeping USB bluetooth WiFi receiver adapter when it is not used. The last, there is a bonus: a pouch for keeping the mouse when we are on travelling.

When I tried the mouse on my laptop with Slackware64 13.1 -current, the USB bluetooth WiFi receiver adapter can be detected perfectly (see picture above) so that the mouse can be used smoothly (I am sure it can also be used smoothly on Slackware 13.1). All of buttons are functionally working. Very nice. Therefore, if I want to go PREV or NEXT on firefox browser, I just click the prev or next button on my mouse. Also, I can make horizontally scroll easily from my mouse by bending the scroll wheel to the left or right.

I'm now in Singapore

Dear Readers,

From the date of 12 August 2010, I will live in Singapore for 1 year (I hope and try to make it true) in order to take my Master of Science in Embedded System at Dept. of Computer Engineering, Nanyang Technological University (NTU). I will always write that I think it is valuable to be shared to all my readers.

Thank you for being my readers.