Game for chess?

If you play International Chess, check out Gameknot.

Games on Gameknot typically take a while to complete as its focus is not on immediate/interactive games. Time controls defaults to 3 days a move. However, if both players are online at the same time, things can move much faster.

Gameknot has a nice interface and features, and usually is easy to join or start a game.

Paid membership subscription is available with extra features but non-paying members, like me, have lots of features available as well, I don’t even make use of all of them!

My user id there is zhiqian, challenge me to a game today!

Filed under: Games, Internet, Notes

Tracking finances

Some do it often for everything
Some do it sometimes for something
Some do it rarely for certain things
Some do it only when dreaming

Well, I am no financial guru and don’t intend to give out financial advice. But I played around with Microsoft Money a few years back and found it rather informative (after you fed it sufficient information, of course).

Tracking finances do take discipline but as the amount of information you capture increases, you will make interesting discoveries about your finances (and hopefully better manage it!).

There are a range of software available that can do the job: from the generic spreadsheet applications with custom macros and formulas (like Microsoft Excel etc) to specialized software (like Microsoft Money). But commercial software means forking out money every now and then to get upgrades.

A few days ago, I came across this software: GnuCash - an open source and free personal finance software package. As of 15th July 2007, GnuCash is now available on Microsoft Windows for the first time. And it still runs on GNU/Linux, BSD, Solaris and Mac OSX.

Here’s an extract from the help manual:

“It is versatile enough to keep track of all your financial information, from the simple to the very complex. It is one of the few financial software packages that supports global currencies, and it is the only open-source program of its kind. Best of all, GnuCash is easy to learn and use!

So, what can GnuCash do for you? It can keep track of your personal finances in as much detail as you prefer. If you are just starting out, use GnuCash to keep track of your checkbook. You may then decide to track cash as well as credit card purchases to better determine where your money is being spent. When you start investing, you can use GnuCash to help monitor your portfolio. Buying a vehicle or a home? GnuCash will help you plan the investment and track loan payments. If your financial records span the globe, GnuCash provides all the multiple-currency support you need”

So a perfect opportunity to start doing some financial tracking at no cost! I personally intend to start… sometime.

By the way, if you are comfortable with sending your financial information over the web and storing it online, there are also web sites (like Expensr and  Wesabe) that allow you to track your finances for free.

So how do you track your finances? And let me know how you find GnuCash if you try it.

You can download GnuCash here.

Filed under: Notes, Software

Feel the difference – Java 6

Java version 6 update 2 (internally 1.6.0.2) is now available. What version of the Java Runtime Environment (JRE) are you running in your browser? Does it matter?

To find out your JRE version, just click here. So does it matter what version you are running?

Typically the newer versions contain more features, bug and security fixes, and improvements.

As the newer versions are usually better, you should upgrade when possible. And version 6 boosts quite a significant performance improvement over version 5. I was quite surprised by how much faster it is.

The only thing to stop you is that some site that you need to use does not work with the new version. In that case, you may want to send them some feedback to upgrade their site.

However, do note that installing/upgrading to the new version does not usually remove the older versions. Therefore, it is possible for attackers to exploit known bugs in older versions. So unless you need the older versions, uninstall them. In addition to avoiding the attacks, you also save on disk space!

So what are you waiting for? Run along and now and experience the difference! By the way, unless you do java development, you only need to install the JRE and not the JDK – it’s a much smaller download. Have fun!

Filed under: Internet, Software

My Favourite White

I used to not like wine that much, and I still don’t like many.

Two years ago, one of my friends (Alan) recommended I start with the whites and introduced me to the Brown Brother’s Flora and Muscat. Ever since then, this has been my favourite – refreshingly light, fragrant, sweet and not overly cloying or dry.

There are a couple of others which I like but none that resonates with me so. Do you have any to recommend?

Filed under: Notes, Wine