Homeless Boy Steals The Talent Show

Really impressive

Bmobile(TSTT) vs Digicel

Update Jan 2018 - Both providers are about on par. In my experience and the people around me experience about the same level of service from both providers.

Update Feb 2015- The quality of Digicel calls suffers sometimes with an echo or static, but if you hang up and call again it is usually better. They are still the winner.


July 2014 - Digicel has blocked some VOIP apps including Fring, Viber, WhatsApp. The issue is currently being discussed and I expect it to allowed very soon because of the public pressure to allow it. http://www.digiceltrinidadandtobago.com/en/about/news/public-advisory-digicel-tt-to-block-unlicenced-voip-providers
As a work around, there are other apps like Skype and Google chat which still work or using wifi allows the blocked apps to work. This has now been reverted.

(Update March 2014 - Digicel is still the winner. The promotions are continuously changing but reception and reliability beat more money to spend and no reception to use it.)

Lower rates, more promotions, and best of all better reception and fewer dropped calls!

Bmobile now advertises some of their plans as unlimited but as with all plans there actually are limits. 

Per second billing applies for both providers. The cheapest postpaid plan from Digicel is $350 per month which is ridiculous. While the plan itself may be good, it does not cater for users with light monthly usage who want to be postpaid. Some are now forced to switch to Bmobile or go prepaid with Digicel. 

The cheapest Bmobile plan is $111.38 per month. 

Prepaid

       Bmobile                                                          Digicel

$1.24/min VAT incl (link)                                           $1.29/min VAT incl (link)

Postpaid

Bmobile (link)                

$111.38 VAT incl (Everything Lite $99.00)

Unlimited Local Text Messages with our Everything Lite Plan
250 local minutes
250 MB
Unlimited local Text Messages
Out of Plan Rate (VAT Exclusive):
Rate Per Local Minute $0.65

                                           

$336.38 VAT incl (Everything $299)

4GB Data
Unlimited bmobile nights & weekends, local landline & 500 local minutes
50 minutes international calls
Unlimited text messages
25 minutes voice roaming
25MB data roaming

Digicel (link)

$336.38 VAT incl (cheapest plan)

6GB Data

Unlimited Digicel, 300 anywhere mins

Unlimited WhatsApp messaging and worldwide SMS

D'Music subscription

You can compare the rates yourself at www.bmobile.co.tt and www.digiceltt.com. There are various promotions so a certain promotion may suit you more, but consider all aspects of the plans before choosing. The free after 3 promotion in Digi is no longer available. quite outstanding as it gives you up to 30 minutes for the price of 3 to any local number other TnT Digicel number at any time. Bmobile gives free calls to 5 numbers you have to request to be put on a list.

Digicel uses the 850/1900 mhz GSM bands while Bmobile uses the 1800 mhz band exclusively  has switched to 850 mhz also mid 2012. The lower frequency used means signals can penetrate solid objects better and provide reception in more areas than the higher frequencies. 

Both offer you the ability to check your usage details easily. 

DIGICEL
There are free checks you can make via *120# for your total credit/usage for prepaid/postpaid,

*120*1# OR *120*10# remaining minutes depending on your plan(postpaid)

*120*2# for your bundled text messages remaining (postpaid)

*129# to get your own phone number of the sim card currently in the handset.

There are others but the only one Bmobile offers is to check the total credit on prepaid phones. It is ridiculous when you go to buy a new phone and sim in Bmobile and they have to call another phone and check the caller ID to confirm your phone number.  

Digicel lets you check your voice mail for free.
Prepaid credit expires 6 months after topping up.
 

BMOBILE
Dial *121# to check your remaining postpaid pricing plan minutes and rollover minutes.

Bmobile charges you each time you check voice mail on prepaid. Prepaid credit expires 4 months after topping up.

There are fewer dropped calls on Digicel and you do not have the very common problem of placing a call and hearing it ringing although the handset itself is really not. Bmobile has had this problem since at least 2010 and it has not improved. I have attended one of their road shows early 2012 and they tried calling a cell number of a person in the room and only the third number called got the handset ringing! This happened in both the morning and evening sessions of the roadshow. I am not sure why they did not just announce the winning cell number by mouth. When I mentioned this problem of handsets not actually ringing I was answered with laughs and head shaking by Bmobile officials. 

There are more dead spots with zero reception on the Bmobile network as the cell towers were initially being placed where communities were instead of optimized locations for proper coverage. They have filled in a lot of the gaps as you now see two cell towers very close to each other, one for each provider in many areas as they refuse to share towers. Ask any regular hiker what network they use. The city/town areas do have good reception but with crowded areas you get more network contention and in my experience Digicel is not overwhelmed as easily.

Only Digicel give you a free SMS with the phone number and time that called you if your handset is switched off or you were out of reception. You would not know you have any missed calls on Bmobile. Bmobile offered this service for a very short time at the end of 2012.


You can unsubscribe from Digicel info texts (their various promos and contests, spam) that is sent out to everyone. By default everyone is registered to receive it from both providers but you can choose to stop it by calling in to 100 and making the request on Digicel. You do not have this option on Bmobile.

By default you get a detailed Digicel bill showing every call made for postpaid on Digicel. You can even have paper bills stopped and view bills online only. This saves paper and gas for transport. You have to go in to a Bmobile branch and request a detailed bill that will be emailed to you for free in 24-48 hours on Bmobile and you cannot sign up for e-bills only.

One useful feature from Bmobile is their 'Bligh' feature that gives you $10 credit if your prepaid total goes below $2 and you repay the $10 plus a $1 service charge the next time you top up.Take note that you are only allowed one Bligh at a time and you are charged for each request you make. If you are using a Bligh and you make a second request you will have to pay back $10+$1+$1 now.

Comparison of 4g plans

Do not take my word for it, for all the info go to www.digiceltt.com and www.bmobile.co.tt

Please click an ad to support this blog if this was helpful.

Updated: 6 Jan 2018

Powerful photos from 2011, (USA)

For me the top 3 in descending order are 31, 30, 18.
(The pics are USA centric, so there are allot of stories missing, but still intense)
http://www.buzzfeed.com/mjs538/the-most-powerful-photos-of-2011

Online Shopping Site reviews

I am looking around for a new laptop and I came across a great price on quindo.com, but reviews here say the site is a scam. Of you want to verify other e-retailers you come across go to http://www.resellerratings.com/ and look up their reviews.

Gaming laptops

An interesting link
http://www.powernotebooks.com/

Fring on nokia 5800

I recently had the problem of not being able to sign into fring on my nokia 5800. I could connect to wifi in the network connection manager of the phone but the fring connection manager that pops up when fring starts was not seeing the right spelling on my wifi network. To fix it first I tried to soft reset and then hard reset the phone and I discovered fring worked if I did not insert the memory card back into the phone. When I inserted the memory card back into the phone, some settings or files were installed for fring and the files were corrupt.To get around this I put all the files from the memory card into a subfolder on the card. I did this file relocation by plugging the phone on to my PC via the USB cable and selecting the mass storage mode on the phone. I am now using the fring install file I got from m.fring.com and which is automatically saved to the memory card - Downloads folder. Also now, the Applications screen is scrolling smoothly, which it was not doing before the format.


I got info on how to hard/soft reset the phone from
http://discussions.europe.nokia.com/t5/Nseries-and-Symbian-Smartphones/How-to-hard-reset-Nokia-5800-Xpress-Music/td-p/490969/page/2
Please make backup before applying this type of reset, since it will restore the phone's settings to factory default as well as erasing all the data in the phone memory.
 1st option
Soft Reset (when you CAN still use the phone's touchscreen)
 You need to use the touchscreen dialer to enter these codes:

1. *#7780# if you want to restore factory settings only and it will NOT delete data.
2.  *#7370# if you want to reformat your phone and delete all the data in it.
3.  Press Select.
4.  Voila, your phone is back to normal.
5.  Congratulations.

Last option
Hard Reset (if you CANNOT use anymore the phone's touchscreen)

1. You need to use the phone's buttons and your 4 fingers to do this trick. 
2. Switch off the phone. (Remove the battery if you cannot turn it off)
3. Press the buttons: GREEN + RED + CAMERA + ON simultaneously (DO NOT LET GO OF THE BUTTONS) until you see the "Select Country" option after the Nokia's Handshake Welcome Logo appear.
4. Choose your country, enter the date and time.
5. Voila, your phone is back to normal.
6. Congratulations.

Note:

If you were asked for a security/lock code, just type: 12345 (unless you changed it)

Panasonic FZ40 Review

Panasonic fz40 usb data cable for avout/digital port

This is the data cable end that goes into the camera. As you can see it is rectangular but with two bumps on one side , making a 'C' or 'U' shape. The other end of the cable is the standard rectangle USB.

You miss 100% of the shots you never take

Go for it

Top Windows utilities I cannot go without

In no particular order:

Space Sniffer
This tells you what is using the space on your hard drive in a visual form. Tiny and free! One of the most useful utilities ever made!
http://www.uderzo.it/main_products/space_sniffer/index.html

Crystal Disk Info
According to wikipedia, there is no official standard used by all manufacturers to interpret S.M.A.R.T. data and notify users about dying hard drives. With Crystal Disk Info, you can read the data yourself and get the exact values reported by the drive yourself.
http://crystalmark.info/software/CrystalDiskInfo/index-e.html
*NOTE: the 'Reallocated Sectors Count' is read via the 'Raw Values' column, so don't panic when you see a high value in other columns.

Crystal Disk Mark
You can use this to specify your sector size or test for all sizes. There are many other similar apps like it but this is simple and pain free.
http://crystalmark.info/software/CrystalDiskMark/index-e.html

Irfan View
One of the most efficient utilities you will come across, it opens in a blink to show almost any picture format known to man. It even plays some videos and you can make simple edits to images also. It is regularly updated and  even supports plugins and skins. I regularly use it to resize/shrink pictures to email or to post to this blog.
http://www.irfanview.com/

Easeus Partition Magic
I have been using this for years and there is still a free version for home use. The software is  practically child's play for doing a very serious task of creating, resizing, deleting etc. of partitions.
http://www.partition-tool.com/
*NOTE: Please ensure you have a proper backup of your data from the hard drive to be worked on before modifying partitions. It is best to have a UPS or properly working laptop battery while partitioning as power loss during any of the operations could result in data loss.

Easeus Disk Copy
If you want to migrate to a bigger/faster/more efficient hard drive you can just clone all your data to a new hard drive and sktip over reinstalling all your programs and settings!
http://www.easeus.com/disk-copy/

Another disk cloner is Reflect by Macrium:
http://www.macrium.com


VLC Media Player
It's portable, and plays almost anything video or audio. A worthy mention is Combined Community Codec Pack, which is a codec pack that boosts Windows Media Player's capabilities. Between the two of these you can play almost anything under the sun.

http:/www.videolan.org/vlc

For anything VLC cannot play I use the Community Codec Pack at:
http://www.cccp-project.net/

23 wickets falling in a day in a test match... wow

http://www.cricketworld.com/23-wickets-fall-on-incredible-day-in-cape-town/29854.htm
amazing

* corrected, I titled this wrongly.

The Lotus Temple, India

Beautiful isn't it?
http://www.bahaihouseofworship.in/virtual-tour

Windows XP support

For anybody who wants the official MS approved Windows XP End of Support countdown clock!
http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/enterprise/products-and-technologies/windows-7/end-of-support.aspx
Go to the middle right of the page and click the widget to download. I think having it is so funny.

Tiny techie

Kids these days...
http://tinytechie.com/

SPY EYES: MONEY AS DEBT | Two Part Documentary

Interesting...

SPY EYES: MONEY AS DEBT | Two Part Documentary: The former president of the United States of America said Some of the biggest men in the United States, in the field of commerce and ...

Xonar_DG auto sense not working, no sound in firefox

I have a new Xonar_DG card I installed in my PC and I have a couple issues. I uninstalled the drivers for my onboard audio and installed the latest drivers from the Asus website. I tried watching youtube in firefox 7 but it had no sound. Youtube played ok in IE so I reinstalled firefox and the problem was solved.
Next I was trying to figure out how to get auto sensing on the front panel of my tower to work for my headphones. I had to manually put the sound to the front panel through the Asus control center. I restarted the PC and took off "Azelia Codec" for my Gigabyte board's bios and then in windows I put the "Analog Out" option to 5.1 Speakers. Now the auto sensing works  (when I plug headphones on the front of my tower, front panel sense) and the 5.1 speakers are automatically muted, and unplugging the headphones makes the 5.1 speakers play again. I have the HD audio cable for my front panel and the same option is chosen in the Xonar DG Audio Centre (under Front Panel options, a blue button next to 'Analog Out'). Under 'HP Advance Seting' I am using 'Exciter Mode of for more than 64ohms headsets'. This gives the highest output from front panel, my Sony MDR-XD200 is only now being stressed. The sound is much louder than the onboard card and I am happy with the purchase.

Sting - Desert Rose

:-)

This week...

This week has been quite eventful

I went to a seminar at one of the high end waterfront hotels we have and was late for a couple sessions. One of these sessions was lunch being served, so I had to find space on a table outside the lunch room and make do. While figuring out what I could or could not do I had to go look for drink and utensils.. While looking for a fork one waitress said she had one but I needed a second for a friend. She wanted to go back to the kitchen to get a full setup of a fork and knife wrapped in a napkin even though there was a pile of clean forks in the tray she was holding. Apparently the protocol was not to hand out cutlery unless it was in a napkin! Thinking quickly, I convinced her to put the a second fork in the single napkin so I could get two.


I collected a certificate for a course I completed a few weeks ago, I feel accomplised.

Here is a pic of one of the best views in the city in Toronto!

Also, this is my 200th post! yaye me!

How to reprogram Flow remote gdrc-86xt, Synergy V RT-U64CD-35F, Motorola DRC800, Gdi gdrc-86x

Gdrc-86xt

If you have a remote and it is not working there are a number of reasons that can cause this.

1. If you are pressing buttons and the blue led (light) on top of it is not blinking when you press a button the battery is dead or not making proper contact. You may be lucky and just have to spin the battery a couple times to get the remote to work. If not you will have to replace the battery.

2. The remote may has lost its programming, due to dead batteries or on its own. To reprogram it:
Press the Green CBL button
Press and Hold(4 seconds) the Red POWER and Blue MUTE buttons until the blue led stays on
Press 001
Press the Blue MUTE button
The cable box should now work
NOTE: You can also program the remote to control your TV. The details for this is in full manual below.

3. The remote is faulty. Flow will replace a faulty remote for free at any of their main offices.

The full manual for Gdrc-86xt (pictured at top) can be found here:https://www.scribd.com/doc/147435246/Manual-de-Usuario-Control-Remoto-Intercable-GDI-GDRC-86XT

Synergy V RT-U64CD-35F

The manual for the bigger colourful remote, Synergy V RT-U64CD-35F (pictured above), can be found here http://help.rcn.com/pf/12/webfiles/files/ONNET6907/remotes/RC-U63CDR/RC-U63CDR.pdf
In the manual you will find all the codes for programming this universal remote and instructions on using it.

The manual for another large black/grey with blue button (no picture shown) RT-U50 remote is here http://help.rcn.com/pf/12/webfiles/files/ONNET6907/remotes/RT-U50-redesign/index.htm

1. Press [OK / SEL], then [MUTE] together - hold both buttons down until the mode (power) buttons start blinking in sequence
2. Enter the three digit code 001 or 002 or 003. 
3. Press [MUTE]. If your CABLE converter (box) turns back on, press [OK / SEL] to lock in the code. The mode (power) buttons will blink 3 times and go out.
4. If your CABLE converter (box) does not turn back on, repeat steps 2 and 3 with a different code until you can turn your CABLE converter (box) off and on.

Motorola DRC800

The manual for the other big remote, Motorola DRC800 4-in-1 Universal Remote Control (pictured above) is found here:
http://www.manualslib.com/manual/107028/Motorola-Drc800.html

GDI gdrc-86x

Analog Flow cable boxes use the GDI Gdrc-86x. This does not have codes to be programmed as it is a single purpose remote. If it is not working, the batteries are bad or the remote itself is bad.


Flow's website: https://discoverflow.co/trinidad/ for office locations and contact numbers. Take the remote in to their office and they replace it for free.

Disclaimer: I am in no way associated with Flow, I am just trying to be helpful.

Please click an ad to support this blog if this was helpful.
Updated January 24th 2017.

Topics: How to set up Flow Trinidad and Tobago cable tv remote
Instructions to configure Flow cable tv remote
Cable box lost settings to change channels
How to make cable remote control television also
How to fix Flow remote
Directions to reset Flow remote
How to programme Flow Remote

NASA Satellite Falling Faster Due to Solar Activity

So.... i'm going to be on a plane while this is happening... but what are the chances of it hitting the plane, RIGHT? :-|
NASA Satellite Falling Faster Due to Solar Activity

Augmented reality in use today

Two impressive examples of augmented reality -in marketing applications- that anybody can see are here:
http://www.tissot.ch/reality/
http://www.getolympus.com/pen/pen3d_start.asp

There are apps for various smartphones that do the similar feats, but obviously require having the phone at hand. I saw these in the article on http://mashable.com/2011/09/18/future-technology

Comcast's $9.99 Internet for low-income families goes nationwide

I remember when a few years ago there was unlimited dial up for $10usd being advertised... and now a few years later the USA is getting 1.5mbps for under $10usd. wow. Interesting comments after the article also...
Comcast's $9.99 Internet for low-income families goes nationwide

TMB Panyee FC short film

WEll done gents

Isang Litrong Liwanag ADVERTISEMENT

Well done!

BP at fault for 21 of 35 factors in Gulf spill, panel finds

It's about time we heard some news about this.

BP at fault for 21 of 35 factors in Gulf spill, panel finds

Civil Twilight - Letters From The Sky (Video)

Aerial tour of Trinidad and Tobago

I was lucky enough to get a front seat ride in a Cessna 172, here are some pics and video!

My Captain was Mr. John Gedeon (john.gedeon@gmail.com), http://www.johngedeon.com/
He is available for trips of your own. It is definitely affordable and a fraction of the price compared to a helicopter ride which is upward of $500USD an hour.

The tour lasted about an hour and was very enjoyable. It was from Piarco, to Port of Spain, to San Fernando, then Princes Town and finally back to Piarco.

We flew at 1500 feet above sea level, close enough for me! I could see people walking below without using much zoom.

We were going over 100 knots and I had the window open for part of it!

This is a short clip heading east next to Port of Spain.





You may also like:
Ziplining
Top things to know about TnT
Playdium
Bird sanctuary tour

Michael Jackson Man In The Mirror HD

Fido's Great Trini Escape....

WOW, is this real!? This dog climbs up the corner of a kennel and through the roof!

So you want to leave Trinidad and Tobago?

Some advice from someone who did it

http://thetravellingtrini.com/2010/04/17/escape-from-the-island/

Also, not a bad blog to follow

The future with Samsung

The future with Samsung from IFA 2011

Svante Paabo: DNA clues to our inner neanderthal | Video on TED.com

We are all Africans

Sweet timelapse of TnT

Well done man!

Timelapsing Through Trinidad from Kevin Huggins on Vimeo.

Yoshida Brothers - Rising from Best Of Yoshida Brothers 吉田兄弟

Rocking Japanese style! nice

Super or Premium for nissan car?

Info from Neal and Massy on the link below.

http://www.trinituner.com/v3/forums/viewtopic.php?t=211575

Curfew in hotspot areas; Limited State of Emergency in Trinidad and Tobago declared

UPDATE
NOV 7th, the State of Emergency Remains, but the Curfew has been ended.

A limited state of emergency and curfew in hotspots has been declared in Trinidad and Tobago by the Prime Minister. There is now a 9pm to 5am 11pm to 4am curfew in the following hotspots:

Arima, Arouca,Beetham, Caranage Cunuipia, Diego Martin, Enterprise, Felicity, Gasparillo, Grand Couva,Hermitage, Icacos, Laventille, Maloney,Morvant,Sea lots,Trincity. Pigeon point, Crown point.

The City of Port of Spain

• St. James East• St. James West• Woodbrook• Northern Port of Spain• Belmont East• Belmont North & West• Southern Port of Spain• East Dry River• St. Ann’s River South• St. Ann’s River Central• St. Ann’s River North• Belmont South

The City of San Fernando

• Cocoyea/Tarouba• Les Efforts East/Cipero• Les Efforts West/La Romain• Marabella East• Marabella South/Vistabella• Marabella West• Mon Repos/Navet• Pleasantville• Spring Vale/Paradise

The Borough of Arima

• Calvary• Arima North East• Arima West• Arima Central• Malabar• Tumpuna• O’Meara

 The Borough of Chaguanas

• Charlieville• Edinburgh/Longdonville• Enterprise North• Enterprise South• Cunupia• Montrose• Felicity/Endevour• Munroe Road/Caroni Savannah

The San Juan/Laventille Regional Corporation

• Maracus Bay/Santa Cruz/La Fillette• Febeau/Bourg Mulatresse• Morvant/Upper Malick• San Juan West/Caledonia• St. Ann’s/Cascade/Mon Repos West• St. Barb’s Chinapoo• Beetham/Picton• Success/Trou Macaque• Aranguez/Warner Village• Barataria• Petit Bourg/Champ Fleurs/Mt. Lambert• San Juan East  The Diego Martin Regional Corporation

• Chaguaramas/Glencoe• Goodwood/La Puerta• Covinge/Richplain• Diamond Vale• Morne Coco/Alyce Glen• Petit Valley/Cocorite• St. Lucien/cameron Hill• Belle Vue/Bossiere #1• Moka/Bossiere #2

Announced September 12th: Carli Bay, Maloney, Moruga, Cedros, Claxton Bay, Toco, Dow Village in California, La Horquetta, Windy Hill in Arouca, McBean in Couva and Chase Village in Carapichaima.


What this means is all members of the defence forces have the same authority as police officers to detain and search people. This puts an additional 5000 officers on the streets along with the police force.
The curfew is for the areas named, but the state of emergency is for the nation, so army etc can stop you at any time and search with no warrant and detain you with no charges for 24 hrs at least. You are advised to stay inside your homes inside the curfew areas. If you need to travel during the curfew hours through hotspot areas go to your nearest police station for more info on applying for a permit or pass to be there. People with flights leaving Trinidad have to apply for a permit, info in the first link below. If you land in Trinidad during the curfew hours you are given a curfew pass to use on your way home, or ofcourse you can wait it out.


Curfew ENDS: http://www.trinidadexpress.com/news/CURFEW_ENDS_-133412783.html

New Hotspots:  http://www.news.gov.tt/index.php?news=9309
http://www.trinidadexpress.com/news/NEW_CURFEW_HOT_SPOTS-129777078.html

Guidelines for curfew permits: http://www.news.gov.tt/index.php?news=9032
Press release: http://www.news.gov.tt/index.php?news=9020
http://www.guardian.co.tt/news/2011/08/22/pm-declares-limited-state-emergency 
http://www.trinidadexpress.com/news/State-of-Emergency-update-128197553.html

Also these international advisories:
Canadian http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/finneyfamily/1/1314036526/tpod.html 
UK (England) http://www.fco.gov.uk/en/travel-and-living-abroad/travel-advice-by-country/north-central-america/trinidad-tobago
Australian http://smartraveller.gov.au/zw-cgi/view/Advice/Trinidad_and_Tobago#Safety_and_Security
USA http://trinidad.usembassy.gov/public_announcements2/public-announcements-2011/august-22-2011-limited-state-of-emergency-in-trinidad.html

Photoshop work

I am learning to use Photoshop and here is what I can do :-)

Dinosaur t-shirt by Nachomamatees

so funny!

Dinosaur t-shirt by Nachomamatees

Top of the line PC audio

*DROOLS*
http://www.amazon.com/Asus-Xonar-Xense-Acoustics-Sennheiser/dp/B0040YJNSW/ref=sr_1_5?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1313454667&sr=1-5

Misery Bear - Trip to London

ah boye

Till The World Ends (Jump Smokers Remix) (DJ Z Video Edit)

Hmmm seems familiar...



ooohhh yeeaaahhh... if it ain't broke...

Zip lining and ropes course in Trinidad and Tobago

There are 2 options.

1. Victory Heights, Arouca

If you want a fun afternoon and a unique experience then you definitely have to try this. Victory Heights in Arouca has been open to the public since 2010 and they have a zip line and ropes obstacle course. The experience was originally closed to people who attended the summer camp but now it is open to the public. You should wear jeans, t-shirt (no baggy clothes-for your own safety) and sneakers for this... and remember to empty your pockets... you have been warned! There is ample parking and the vehicles are close to where you will be, although not in direct view due to trees and corners.

It is about $35 per person for an afternoon session. You pay on the day when you arrive and before you gear up. Ideally you should carry a group of 10-15 so that everyone gets to have 3 or maybe 4 trips down the line for the normal time allotted for the zip line. Also, there are approx 15 harnesses so with any more people, some would have to switch out harnesses to give to others. The fear of walking off a cliff is not easy to overcome, but when you do you will wonder why you were worried in the first place! The ride on the line itself is approx. 20-25 seconds depending on how fast you start off. The line is slant enough so you would not get stuck in the middle of it. The equipment is well scrutinized before each use. There is a self imposed limit of 300 lbs per person for the harness which is below the real rating. The only tough part is the end where you are caught by the guy on the end of the line.... and having to walk back up the road after the ride down! You walk back up on the same paved road you drive up on so no mud/bush involved.

The zip line was just a little more fun that the obstacle course session. On the course the group is split into teams and you go through a web of ropes or over logs in a certain way and before the other team to win. If I give any more details I would spoil the surprises! Call to book your session about a week before or longer if you have a special date in mind.

I definitely recommend this to any tourists to Trinidad, old and young. The view from the hill is nice too. This is one of the little treasures around the island and well worth the price! In fact it would not hurt to tip! The group who runs it are great people and are running this very well.

More details here
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Victory-Heights-Zipline-and-Ropes-Course/153223981408393

2. Macqueripe Beach Facility.

There is also now a zip line facility in the Chaguaramas area at the Macqueripe Beach Facility.
Opening hours and contact info is found on their Facebook page below.
https://www.facebook.com/Trinidadzipitt?fref=ts 

There is a $20 parking fee on entrance at the guard booth to the beach facility compound whether you are going to zip line or not. You can pay cash for the zip line at this same gate or card at another office inside the compound.

After parking you start by walking past the beginning of the course to go to the office up a small hill on the right of the stairs going down to Macqueripe. You have to sign a release form and get geared up there. The equipment was cleaned with Lysol and you everyone gets a new hair net before putting on the helmet. Back down the hill is an intro the technique you have to use, then the fun begins.

It has 7 cables and 5 bridges on the course. You go on each of the lines along the course once. Between most zip lines are bridges made of planks inside netting which is shaky and exciting to walk on. There are also a couple flights of stairs in between. One important thing to note is that you are given thick construction gloves to wear because you use your hands as brakes by grasping the cable you are sliding on to slow down at the end of the lines. There were three guides with my group of six people taking the tour. One guy was bare footed for the tour and it was not a problem although there was a risk of splinters from the wooden platforms we were on. A couple of the platforms were hard to manoeuvre on because they are only a few feet across and you have to duck and bend around and through the cables used to hold the platform up and the zip lines themselves.

 I felt completely safe during the course and enjoyed it much more than the Victory Heights course. This is the one to go to. I will not be going again very soon because I think I will get too accustomed to it and not enjoy it as much.

The name of the company managing this facility is ZIP-TT and it is being done in conjunction with a St Lucian zipline company and a team of Trinidad and Tobago investors.

Here is a video of the whole thing:

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/commotion-tv/theater

You may also like:
Caroni Bird Sanctuary Tour
Top things to know about Trinidad
Playdium
Aerial Tours

Final exam

I have a final exam tomorrow! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
I didn't think I was going to be saying that any time soon but here it is.

Tracking a stolen smartphone.

Interesting story, thieves beware!

How Plan B found the Droid I was looking for

Art Pepper－You'd Be So Nice to Come Home To

I like it

Fifth Gear - The Ultimate Smart Car

add my name to the list of buyers!

Denise Richards in now 40

... I must be getting old...

Zokkomon - An Adventurous Journey

A typical Disney production with typical hindi slant.. nice

Singham - FULL Trailer HD - Feat. Ajay Devgan

ACTIONN!!!

Drifting at QPS, POS

SKILLZZZZ!!!!

Blink 4g

4G is now being pushed out in order to uphold the mandate given by TATT to TSTT to stop their 3G service. This means in many more areas across both islands you will get better reception and new coverage for your BOTG (usb) and IYP devices. 1.8mbps here we come!

About me

Name: Vextrini
Age: Unknown
Height: 6' 3"
Hair color: Black
Eye color: Brown
Blood type: Lasagne

:-D ...i should probably start cutting back on the lasagne intake

Apture

An interesting tool, add a search box for all content in your page without leaving the page

http://www.apture.com/

Nebula868 - Amped Up

Nice tune

Vextrini visitor map

 I am impressed with how far this reaches! This is just for the past couple days. I am seeing names of countries I never heard before.

NLCB results (play whe, pick two, cash pot, lotto plus, classic)

Click the link below for the latest results for Play Whe, Pick 2, Cash Pot, Lotto Plus, and Classic for all draws, morning/afternoon and evening.

http://www.nlcb.co.tt

2CELLOS (Sulic & Hauser) - Smooth Criminal

CELLOS FTW!!!!

Country with a single coloured flag

Libya is the only country in the world that has a flag with only one colour, solid green, no pattern.
Find a listing of all the flags here http://www.photius.com/flags/alphabetic_list.html

Ghost Hunter In Trinidad

Season 3 Episode 1, funny stuff! The full episode is here.

Microsoft Lifecam Studio vs Logitech c910 side by side comparison

Logitech c910 vs Microsoft Lifecam Studio side by side video comparison in the video review on this link

http://www.engadget.com/2010/09/13/microsofts-1080p-lifecam-studio-review/

Update:
I have bought the C910 and I am very pleased with the purchase. The low light sensitivity is excellent and the image and sound is sharp. I am glad I bought it.

I have also installed a Logitech C260 for my aunt and I was impressed by it. The clarity was really good and the low light sensitivity was just as good also. I recommend getting at least the C260 if you are looking at the price, definitely aim for an HD cam!

ADVENTURE

!!!

Traffic Management In Trinidad

Incase anybody was under a rock in the last few days, there was a massive gridlock in the north western corner of Trinidad on Sunday 3rd June.. The stream of cars started as early as 4am and did not end until around midnight Sunday. People spent up to 6 hours in traffic- on the way in, and depending on the time they chose to leave, some spent 6 hours on the way back out. The attraction to the area was for a couple of reasons . One was the inaugural Redbull Flugtag event in the Caribbean. The event was free to the public and held at Williams Bay Chaguaramas. This was scheduled to start at 10am and go until the night time with a concert happening in the evening. The second was the annual St Peter's Day event in Carenage.

There was little the police could do with the man power assigned on the day and they had no excuse to say they were caught off guard as the event was publicised months and the police themselves did try to help with a plan to stop parking from Glencoe to Pier 1.  Days before the event it was well known there would be people camping on the beach to see the Redbull event. I am wondering if an extra patrol put out to safeguard the campers. The reason why the campers went up the night before was to avoid the traffic jam on the morning of the event. Days before the event on the two main facebook events created there was an unquestionable indication of the scale of the crowd that would be attending, one page with 16,000+ and one with 31,000+ people saying they were attending the event. I imagine more than a couple high ranking police officers with the power to act on the situation, or to inform the right people were aware of these numbers.

On the day of the event were the dozens of cameras throughout Port of Spain and the highways monitored to see the volume of cars passing in the early morning? If it was being monitored and an alert was raised I think by 8 or 9 am the police would have stopped any more cars from going past West Mall. Whether or not anybody at the top posts were on duty or not and whether or not they had enough manpower to do something about the situation is irrelevant. The point of having the cameras and supporting software is to have a small team on duty 24 hours monitoring it and passing on the necessary alerts. Man power was not needed to call a few media houses and put out a bulletin on the tv and radio advising of the gridlock and to turn back. Manpower was not needed to put up a warning on the electronic billboards at the Aranguez overpass advising people to turn back.

The organisers of the Flugtag event have called it a great success because they did accomplish what they set out to do, have a large turn out and a safe event. The problem though was the participants and organisers themselves were in the traffic and could not get to the venue. Boat owners made trips from the foreshore from as far out as Movie Towne POS to pick up people to go to the Flugtag. The organisers for the St. Patrick's Day event were not happy about the traffic jam either as it stopped people who really wanted to see just that. Two boys drowned due to an overturned pirogue which was over loaded. Thousands of accumulative hours were spent in the gridlock and a lot of people were frustrated and angry for something that could have been avoided. The residents as far east as St. James suffered the most because they could not get to or from their homes.

It took a few weeks but the cable barriers along the Solomon Hochoy highway has been tested a few times in recent days. One happened on a Tuesday and was repaired by that Friday, so well done to the repair crew. This was a blink of an eye relative to typical Trini timing. For the others there have been a couple posts replaced or new wires installed, but not tensioned. These barriers are designed for up to a maximum speed after which they are useless and only if they are repaired after a hit. A section of a few hundred feet is disable when one spot is cut. The grass between the barriers is cut with a tractor and the section under the barrier itself is sprayed with poison as the tractor cannot cut there. I hope the crew who is doing repairs keeps up the quick response to accidents involving the cable barriers. The guard rails are only replaced or installed perhaps once a year, almost never when an accident takes a piece out.

Each exit along all the highways should have an electronic billboard before it that is able to advise motorists of an accident and delays after that exit and to exit here if possible. The east-west corridor already has cameras but they are not used for traffic advisory to the public. Not all destinations have a second route but for people who have a choice they should be advised to use it. I have seen it myself and heard stories of people making u-turns on the new 'Police Monitoring' points that connect the north/south highway.

There is a woman I see almost everyday to and from work driving in the opposite direction. She has one hand with her phone to her ear and one hand on the steering wheel and happily chatting. When the law for not using cell phones while driving was passed she got a bluetooth headset and used it for almost 3 weeks. Now she is back to one hand on her phone to her ear, morning and evening. Maybe she lost her headset? It must be. I think I saw her just driving (not on the phone) only twice for the year so far.  I see people struggling to make corners because they cannot turn the steering wheel properly with one hand. This includes drivers of SUVs and trucks, which are more dangerous and should have higher fines for using a phone while driving them.

I still see small children standing inside cars. The cars range from a 120y to Corolla, b14, Alteeza, 5 Series, to X-Trail, CRV, X5, Range Rovers. The drivers (parents??) are ofcourse wearing their seatbelts (I would not doubt only because modern cars have buzzers if they do not wear them). It is a little over a year now since we had a few accidents with children being ejected through windows and windscreens, not that it needed that long for people to forget the issue. Even while they were happening I remember seeing it and it has not let up. The safety features of cars are meant to work all assuming your seat belt is on. Even if you are the world's greatest driver the world's worst driver can hit you. If not a car, a new pothole might be around the next corner, a twitch of the wrist and out flies Billy...

The breathalyser test has allowed dozens of drunk drivers to be charged/fined/jailed, but look at the people coming out of the parking lot of any restaurant or bar... With the volume of cars on the road, their power, the high availability of alcohol, little to no enforcement or respect for laws, the lack of foresight from those in government for intelligent infrastructure or for using what is already in place,  we have a grim picture for the future of our roadways.

Linkin Park - Iridescent [HD] - from Transformers: Dark of the Moon

Makes my hairs raise

The Lyrebird imitating sounds - Adelaide Zoo

The Lyrebird can reproduce almost any sound it hears. Amazing!

Bad food

We don't have strict laws here and much less so for detection and enforcement. I am sure we have interesting stories going on here too.

http://www.deathandtaxesmag.com/110788/glow-in-the-dark-pork-is-a-new-low-for-chinese-food/

The Sedins

Serious skills here

How to send money to another Bmobile(TSTT) phone

To send a Credit Transfer from your existing credit to another phone dial *131*868Person'sNumber*DollarAmount# 
The service is free and the transfer is instant. The receiver can have any amount of credit, no minimum or maximum is required for this to work.

Note: You can use 'Credit Me' request if your phone is low and you want someone else to give you a top up/credit.
Dial *130*868Friend'sNumber*DollarAmount# , and your friend has to confirm the request.


For the above methods the sender must be on the local network but the receiver can be roaming. The receiver must have less than $2.00 TTD or else the transfer fails. When using a topup card while roaming remember to dial 800-1234 first. When transferring from prepaid to postpaid you will lose any prepaid money you have if it is not transferred out.

To put credit from a phone card(voucher) directly into someone else's phone:

1. Type *135*Voucher PIN*Receiving mobile Phone Number#
   Example: * 1 3 5 * 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 * 8 6 8 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 #  (no spaces)
2. Press SEND

  
Please note that the 'Bligh' feature takes $0.50 every time you send a request. For example if you have $1 credit remaining and send a Bligh request you will get the $10 top up, but if you send the request again you will receive a message saying you have not repaid the previous Bligh but you will be charged another $0.50 for the second request. The total you have to repay is now $11.

To send money from Debit and Credit Cards: Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Discover or PayPal  - https://bmobiletopup.com/

Official site https://bmobile.co.tt/mobile/

If this was helpful, please click an ad to support this blog.

Topics:
cellphone
GPS tracker car alarm money topup
send money to car tracker system
how to topup car alarm credit
topup tstt cell phone

send money to friend mobile phone

How to send money to another Digicel phone

OPTION 1

If you have a prepaid OR postpaid  Digicel phone and want to send your own existing credit to another Digicel prepaid phone use the following code from the sender handset:

*128*ElevenDigits*Dollars#

where 'ElevenDigits' is the number you are sending TO (eg. 1868xxxyyyy) and 'Dollars' is the amount you want to send.
Wait for the confirmation message then dial *128*1# and press send to confirm or dial *128*2# and press send to cancel.

The transfer is instant and costs $0.45 per transfer. The sender must be on the local network but the receiver can be roaming. This works for Digicel phones from any country

OPTION 2

If you want to send a topup card directly to another phone, without first putting it into your account:
Step1 - 

Dial *125#

Step 2 - 
*125*ElevenDigits# press send\dial

(eg. *125*1868xxxyyyy# ) where 'ElevenDigits' is the number you are sending TO 

Step 3 - 

You will get a popup saying to type
*125*VoucherNumber# press send\dial

Voucher number is the code from the card you bought. 

Step 4 - 

You will see a message saying 'Voucher number stored. Recharge in progress...' then you will then get a popup and an SMS confirmation. 

Be careful with this because if you send to the wrong number, you will lose your credit. The receiving number does not have to confirm to accept the credit. This is useful for sim cards in stand alone devices, like sensors or GPS trackers.

You can now check the remaining balance of your GPS by using a digicel phone and calling 100, then press 1 and listen, then enter the 7 digit phone number and listen, then press option 1 and listen. If the sim is not available in a phone then you must call in to Digicel to check the balance.

Official page here: https://support-jm.digicelgroup.com/hc/en-us/articles/115016056787-How-to-top-up-with-a-voucher-card

Note that you can also check the balance for any prepaid phone by calling digicel on 100 from a Digicel phone, then pressing 1, than typing in the number, then pressing 1 again.

Please click an ad to support this blog if this was helpful.

Topics:
cellphone
GPS car alarm money topup
send money to car tracker system
topup car tracker alarm credit

send a new phone card to another digicel phone

send money to another Digicel phone number

Send top up to another cell phone