Meantime, I had put on hold for a month already Rom’s feedback on my wireless experiences.  Rom is my neighbor here in TechNews.  Part of his feedback goes:

I find it rather weird that you cannot access the Net whilst connected to your wi-fi enabled projector.  The only time that this happens is if the projector and your computer is connected via Ad-Hoc mode and not Infrastructure mode.

He was referring to the story I wrote on my experiment with a wireless projector using a wireless-enabled notebook.  What I wanted to do was access the Internet using a wireless access card and show a website during a lecture-workshop.  But the technician operating the wireless projector told me that the projector could receive only one wireless signal at a time.  I took the technician’s word for it at that time because I thought he knew what he was saying until Rom’s email.

When Ron brought this up, I realized that there really would have been no conflict in signals because the wireless devices – the access card and the projector – where on different frequencies.  Going back to that time, I recalled I didn’t have time to think anymore because I was helping participants with their online exercises.  Moral of the story is don’t take a technician’s word hook, line, and sinker; and think before you act.

In that same email, Rom pointed out some corrections on Firewire and USB ports that I also discussed:

Firewire ports are not necessarily smaller than USB ports.  There are 2 types of FW ports, the 6 pin and the 4 pin.  The 6 pin is almost the same size as the USB.

Firewire ports are normally used for digital cameras.  And from his feedback, it only goes to show that I’ve only encountered the 4 pin to have made a statement that Firewires are smaller than a USB port. 

He adds:

USB ports also come in 2 sizes.  The larger of the two is the most common size.  Also, USB and Firewire are two different beasts and should not be treated as the same (hence, no issues in compatibility).

Well, I guess that clears up a lot.  At first look these ports may look alike but a closer look at them will reveal the difference.  Thanks Rom.  You know I always appreciate your feedback.

I’d like to add a bit more trivia on USB ports.  I just read that devices with USB ports can be daisy-chained using the extra USB ports of a device if available.  If a device only has one USB port, a USB hub can be attached to it and then several USB ports can be plugged into the hub.  Neat, isn’t it?

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I also got an update on the Innovations Expo 2005 held last October 13-14 at Iba, Zambales and October 17-18 in Cabanatuan City.  Melvin Ferrer, Chief Executive of ConvergeX  Asia Expositions Management that put up the event, wrote me and said that close to 17,000 students attended the expo.  The Filipino Inventors Society, Level-Up, DOST-Philvocs, and Smart were in both venues while various DOST attached agencies where in Iba and Polytechnic University of the Philippines and University of the Philippines were in Cabanatuan City.

The next exhibit will be held tomorrow until Thursday at the Olongapo Convention Center, on November 21-25 at Robinsons Starmills in San Fernando, Pampanga, and on December 8-9 at the Hiyas Convention Center in Malolos City, Bulacan.

Still on ICT events, the Development Academy of the Philippines with support from the European Commission’s Small Projects Facility is organizing a 3-day LeGov Conference at the Heritage Hotel this coming Wednesday until Friday.  I will be attending the conference as a guest and will hopefully get to write about the proceedings.  Participants are expected to draw up an “Action Agenda for Local eGovernance”.  Watch out for the series on this.

(For feedback, comments, suggestions email me at openingpagemb@yahoo.com)