Month: October 2010

Categories
Action & Thriller Movie Reviews

The Town – Glorified Bank Robbers

Time passes by so quickly!  One week has passed.  We watched “The Town” last weekend.  And tomorrow is Friday.  The beginning of yet another weekend.  This week is a happy week.  The haze has been lifted.  However, in the mist of finally getting a breath of fresh air, let’s not forget that our neighbor has gone through some terrible natural disasters this very week.  So, my prayers are with them.

I hate to agree with Cynthia.  But she is right.  Ben Affleck cannot act.  Having said that, I still think that he is one cool dude.  I don’t mind to look like him, as tall as him.  Ben Affleck is the director for “The Town” and he has co-written the script.  He has done a good job in both departments.  I enjoy watching the Ben Afflect – Rebecca Hall pair.  More so when Ben pairs up with “The Hurt Locker” star Jeremy Lee Renner.  I ought to catch up on “The Hurt Locker”.  Jeremy Renner is on fire.  That rage, that emotion on screen!  I believe he is also one of the reasons why “The Town” is a success.

In this movie, Ben Affleck plays the role of a robbery architect.  And he has a team of robbers to work with him, including Jeremy Renner.  Rebecca Hall plays the role of a bank manager who first meets Ben Affleck as a masked robber.  And then meeting him as an acquaintance.  Because of that, Ben Affleck – I think – requires to speak in two different accents.  I must say some of what he says can be really hard to catch, if English is not your first language.  But that adds authenticity to the story, which is good.

The plot, I must say, is pretty smart.  The action sequence is thrilling to watch.  I enjoy the fluidity of the plot.  If there is one thing to take home with, it is this thought that although one may have changed to be better, he or she still needs to bear the consequences of the past.  Initially I wondered: Do we need another bank robbery film?  I suppose another good one doesn’t harm.

Categories
I See I Write

Building A Smarter Planet

This evening, we discovered a new stall inside Thomson Plaza food court selling Thai food, advertised as “Gourmet Thai food”.  Gourmet-ness is relative.  But inside a food court that sells hopelessly tasteless food, this new stall has way exceeded my expectation.  Over dinner, towards the end of a sumptuous gourmet meal , I recalled that I had a gourmet Penang food in the office’s canteen this afternoon.  It was a one day only food festival.  In a suburb like where I work, variety in food is a rarity.  Many in my office complain about eating the same food every day.  I am OK with that.  I have high endurance.  Whenever I look at the same dish every afternoon, I think about my dog in Hong Kong.  He too eats the same food every day.  He never complains.  And he eats with unparalleled enthusiasm.

Cynthia and I are both working in the banking industry.  Naturally, many assume that we talk about work, after work.  The answer is quite the opposite.  I hardly know what she does and she certainly has no clue what I do at work.  Over dinner, I shared with her my lunch story with my usual healthy dose of enthusiasm, “I had Penang Laksa, Penang Char Kway Teow, one Penang dessert, and a glass of pineapple juice.  And it only costs $6!”  $6 is a lot of money, especially when you are working in the suburb.  I often pay below $4 for lunch, which includes a main course, a serving of fresh fruit, a cup of yogurt, and at times, a bowl of soup (depending on special promotion).  But today was special.  It was suburban Penang food festival.

Of course, my meal today did not come from Thailand or Penang (Malaysia).  Nor did my food produced entirely locally, if at all.  Where does my food come from?  Shall I care?  Does Singapore inspect all the foods that enter our border?

I think not.

That brings me to the intend of this post: Building A Smart Planet.  Last week, I have attended a blogger event hosted by IBM.  Building A Smart Planet is a global initiative on how to build a smarter planet by instrumenting the world’s systems, interconnecting them, and making them intelligent.  IBM has shared many ideas and case studies with us.  And I am sharing a highlight of some of the materials that speak to me.  If you wish to know more, head over to the IBM Smarter Planet Website.

  • The world’s electrical grids today are incredibly wasteful, due to inefficiencies of managing a dynamic global network of energy supply and demand.  Because of the lack of intelligence in balancing or monitoring power flows, the annual wastage is enough to power India, Germany, and Canada for the entire year.  The solution?  Introduce an intelligent utility system that can be linked to the global power sources.  Use the power of analytics to produce insights that empower individuals and businesses, utility companies, governments and societies to make informed decisions on how energy should be supplied and consumed.
  • Due to accelerated urbanization, in 2007 and for the first time in history, the majority of our population lived in cities.  That places strain to the world’s traffic.  In US, 3.7 billion hours are lost every year to people sitting in traffic, 2.3 billion gallons of fuel are burned needlessly.  That translates to $78 billion per year.  Piecewise improvement to the road system no longer works.  We have to look at the relationship across the entire system and all the touch points, including how the people and the cities live and work.  In Stockholm, a dynamic toll system based on the flow of vehicles into and out of the city has reduced traffic by 20%, deceased wait time by 25%, and cut emissions by 12%.  In Singapore, controllers receive real time information through sensors to model and predict traffic scenarios with 90% accuracy.
  • In the past, food on our tables came from the local farmers.  Today, we depend on a global web of growers, fisheries, packers, and entities that process our food, distribute our food.  How can we ensure that the standards for quality are consistent when only a tiny percentage of those foods are inspected when they cross our borders?  Did you know sixty years ago, we could create a calorie of food with less than half a calorie of fossil fuel?  Today, a single calorie of food bought from a supermarket requires 10 calories of fossil fuel to produce.  Hence, supply chain efficiency is important.  In Norway, one of the largest food suppliers uses RFID technology to trace meat and poultry from the farm through the supply chain to the store shelf.
  • Imagine a smarter healthcare system with better interconnectivity and sharing of quality data between the doctors, patients, and insurers.  Real-time information such as patient records is analyzed and turned into actionable knowledge.  We should be able to own our medical records.  Moving away from paper records translates to reduced medical errors and improved efficiencies.  A public healthcare service in Spain has built a regionally integrated system that allows patients to visit any health centers knowing that the doctors will have their up-to-date medical record.  The result?  Lower healthcare cost and better care to the patients and the community.
  • Did you know that it takes 700 gallons of water to make a cotton T-shirt, 2,000 gallons to make one gallon of milk, and 39,000 gallons to make a car?  In the last 100 years, global water usage has outpaced the rate of population growth by double.  Global agriculture wastes 60% of the 2,500 trillion liters it uses each year.  Municipalities lose 50% of water through leaky infrastructure.  One in five people today still lacks access to clean and safe drinking water.  United Nation predicts that nearly half of the world’s population will experience critical water shortages by the year 2080.  The solution?  Use technology to monitor, measure, and analyze the entire water ecosystem – from rivers and reservoirs to the pumps and pipes in our homes.  Smart metering for the individuals and the businesses helps to raise awareness and empower demand management.
  • What about urban crimes? Instead of merely responding to crimes and emergencies after the fact, what if we could analyze, anticipate, and working to prevent them?  Sounds like a science fiction?  Here are some examples.  New York police commanders use analytics and visualization tools to see crime patterns as they are forming.  The city’s Real Time Crime Center system is capable of querying pieces of information to uncover previously unknown data relationships and points of connection.  The result?  A 27% drop in crime since 2001.  New York is now ranked as the safest large city in the US.  In Chicago today, 911 dispatchers have access to video from surveillance cameras citywide with advanced analytics built to assist the operator with potential “eyes-on-the-scene” in the vicinity.  Right services can be dispatched in time.

To bring us back to local context, what does a smarter planet mean to you?  What can be done to your country in that regard?

External Link: IBM Smarter Planet Website

Categories
Book Reviews Fiction

UFO In Her Eyes By Xiaolu Guo – An Original Work Examining China’s Past (And Future) In Guo’s Eyes

“UFO In Her Eyes” is one strange novel, and I am liking it.  I don’t think I have read something quite like this before.  The storyline is strange.  But even more so is the format and the way this book is written.

The story begins in year 2012, in a small Chinese village called Silver Hill.  A 37 years old illiterate female peasant Kwok Yun sights a UFO over the rice field.  Not only that.  She has revived an alien too (who disappears shortly while she gathers herbs with the intend to treat its wound).  This single event has triggered off two things.  First, an investigation by the National Security and Intelligence Hunan Bureau led by a Beijing Agent 1919 and a Hunan Agent 1989.  Second, new funding finds its way into the village now that Silver Hill has made herself known to the central government (and more).

The investigation leaves no stone unturned.  Key figures in the village are interviewed and cross-examined.  From the Chief of Silver Hall to the headmaster of the only school in this poor village, from the farm and stall owners to the butcher and bicycle mender.  The book is written in the formats of minutes of meetings, reports, crude drawings, email messages, and transcripts.  And because of the way this story is told, there are little words to describe the physical appearance of most of the characters within the book.  This bit is unique.  I can’t possibly visualize how “UFO In Her Eyes” can be made into a movie.  What makes the characters memorable is the tone of voice, how they carry out themselves, their unique opinions towards the same thing, and their choice of words that hints how educated or illiterate they are.  If you have Chinese background, the literal translation of some of the Chinese phrases is humorous.  Most I can relate.  Such as “Five Metals” (similar to a Western DIY store?), “Flying Pigeon” bicycle, “Rich and Strong” as a Chinese name, “Five-Pace” snake, “Hundred Arm” tree, and “eat the bitterness”.  There are some strange swearing words too.  Till today, I am still unable to work out what “Dog Sun” means.  All of these to me are unique expressions that add colors to the writing.

In a deeper level, “UFO In Her Eyes” examines the snapshots of modern Chinese history and relive them casually through the characters: from the socialistic revolution in 1949, the Korean War and the liberation of Tibet, China’s First Five Year Plan (1953-57), the Great Leap Forward, the disasters and famine that follows, the 10 years of cultural revolution, Deng Xiaoping, One Child Policy, to the millions of peasants remain in rural China today.  Those who are aware of these key historical events would be able to better appreciate a hint of sarcasm within (or rather a realistic illustration depending on your perspective).  Silver Hill, too, is undergoing a Five Year Plan, amidst 60 years late.  A UFO museum is built, among many other things.  And with modernization and easy accessibility to the neighboring major cities in such an accelerated pace, many are not able to adjust to the change.  When someone commits suicide in this age of advancement, the residents cannot help but to think: We may have lived a harsh life previously (or eating the bitterness so as to speak), may have even eaten grass and roots to stay alive, now that our city is getting better, why do people want to die?

In essence, what the author attempts to do is to relive the modern history of China through a fictitious village called Silver Hill.  For a novel that is merely 200 pages thick, such economic use of words in accomplishing so much is hard to imagine.   And the author has done it well.

Categories
Book Reviews Fiction

Dial M For Merde By Stephen Clarke – A Funny Read Especially If You Know A Little Bit Of French

Some say that the correct way of reading this series is to start with “A Year In the Merde”, then continue with “Merde Actually” and “Merde Happens”.  And then this one, “Dial M For Merde”.  The similar thing I would have said about Kinsella‘s shopaholic series.  But you know how it is like when you step into a library, holding and feeling a rather newish looking book, comparing to the book condition of “A Year In the Merde” that happens to be a lot more … merde, I picked the newer looking book instead.

If you have lived or traveled to France, merde is a pretty common word used, which means sh!t in English.  If the title of his first book is alluded to the bestselling autobiographical novel “A Year in Provence” and the second one is a reference to the romantic comedy “Love Actually”, “Dial M For Merde” is pretty much a James Bond inspired novel in a humorous and non-extraordinary way.  In this installment, Paul West is being invited to South of France by a beautiful blonde, M, whom he has spent a night with.  M has a mission in France.  She – together with a bunch of scientists – is set to uncover the caviar counterfeiting operation.  Meanwhile, Paul – whom the French often mispronounces his name as Pol – is requested by his old friend (or ex-girlfriend?) Elodie to cater for her wedding dinner.  But helping Elodie to gain acceptance into her fiancée’s rich family is going to be a mission on its own.  On top of that, Paul has volunteered to assist M in her mission starting by locating a type of fish called sturgeon and infiltrating the … French commando unit.  The story gets more bizarrely hilarious as it unfolds.

Knowing a little bit of French and understanding a little bit of French culture would further enhance the reading experience.  Because this book is set in France, with Paul being mistaken in all sorts of ways, got himself stuck in all sorts of situations.  Having said that, it is not a must.  The author has done a pretty good job to translate most of the French phrases.  A perfect book if you are traveling or you want to read something light and entertaining.  I found the following paragraph taken from the book pretty funny.  Let’s see if you can guess the name of the saint the author is referring to.

Filling an ante-room was a gilt-framed painting of a semi-naked young saint getting arrowed, his attacker shooting at him from no more than half a yard away.  The archer was a pretty bad shot, too, because most of the arrows were embedded in the legs and arms, with only one hitting the torso, provoking a faint trickle of blood on the porcelain-white skin.  Amazingly, the saint was looking only mildly pissed off with the guy taking pot-shots at him.  I would have been furious myself.  But I guessed that was why he was a saint.

Categories
Foreign Movie Reviews Romance

I Give My First Love To You – Cry Baby, Cry!

One lesson I learned: Try not to bring your partner to watch a Japanese (or Korean for that matter) romance movie after her makeup workshop.  Cynthia was weeping profusely throughout the movie, like the rest of the girls around us in the theater.  I had no idea it was that emotional.  The title sounds harmless.  Based on a Japanese manga, “I Give My First Love To You (僕の初恋をキミに捧ぐ)” centers around two young lovers engaged in a love relationship that has a time limit.  This is not a spoiler.  Within the very first few seconds into the show, the narrator said so.  Cynthia and I exchanged a look and we mouthed: Uh oh.  Throughout the movie, I tried to ask Cynthia to be strong, don’t cry.   Poor girl, the new make-up was still fresh from the workshop.  That did not work.

Takuma has a rare heart disease.  And the doctor said that he will not live beyond the age of 20.  Mayu, the daughter of the doctor, is Takuma’s childhood sweetheart.  On screen, they look like the cutest couple on earth – both the pair of the child actors (when the story was rewound) and the adult actors (in present time).  In fact, the four of them are so adorable to look at.  As far as the story goes, it is the classic Japanese / Korean tragic romance formula that some if not many subscribe to and keep subscribing to – like I!.

Because Takuma has a very weak heart, there is not much he can do but to stay relatively inactive trying to live life to the fullest.  His approach to love , I would say, is reckless bravery.  Mayu, on the other hand, is one interesting character.  How far would she go to keep this love going knowing that this love has a time limit?  Does she love Takuma out of pity?  Or deeper than that?  Her approach to love, I would say, is relentless loyalty.  Putting these two characters together, you would expect some interesting fireworks.  Meanwhile, the parents of Takuma and the father of Mayu have played excellent supporting roles.  One would cry seeing them act.  My heart ached.

I think, in a more reflective level, “I Give My First Love To You” got me pondering upon loving someone in our temporal existence.  How long does love last?  Knowing the fact that love has a time limit, would you still give that love to someone?  And knowing, by that I mean consciously knowing that no love last forever (in a non-poetic sense), what would you do differently each day?  I recently read a book.  The author joked that the best love ends in death.  In a morbid sense, I cannot agree more.  Better than ending in a breakup or a divorce paper, eh?

To end this post, I would like to make a noteworthy mention of the young Japanese actress Mao Inoue.  Japan has plenty of photogenic actresses but not many can act in a multitude of dimensions, which this film has plenty of opportunities for Mao Inoueto to shine.  I am not entirely certain if she is a kyūdōka.  But the way she handles the Japanese archery looks authentic to me.

Categories
Action & Thriller Movie Reviews

The American – I Watched It As A George Clooney Fan (And That Only)

We practice democracy within Movie Review Squad, most of the time.  Last weekend, I wanted to watch a European foreign film.  Cynthia said OK.  TK said OK.  I then spotted a George Clooney film and I thought, time for a second round of vote?  Cynthia said American.  TK said American.  Two against one, so “The American” it was.

That evening, both TK and Cynthia were exceptionally hungry.  Over dinner, while I was logging the expenses (I am the movie scouter, the accountant, the review writer as well as the ticket booker within Movie Review Squad – hence a.k.a. “The Secretory”), they were busy attacking the dishes.  By the time I looked up, half of the food on the table was gone!  After our meal, TK showed us one of the free apps he downloaded for his Apple phone.  It is pretty hilarious.  You talk to the animated cat inside the phone and it repeats what you say with a very cute voice and a little delay.  And when Cynthia laughed hearing that, the cat paused and laughed too.  That triggered another round of laughter and so on.  People around us must have thought that she was crazy laughing at / with / on the phone.

“The American” is a slow pace movie, very slow.  So slow that I thought I would have my vindication against Cynthia and TK for choosing the film after all these months and years of laughing at me for making a bad decision in picking that Spanish movie (which I still think it was a good pick) or that Thai movie.  My vindication was very short lived.  In no time, they joined forces singing praises for “The American” and gave me that look of I-thought-this-is-the-sort-of-slow-movie-you-love-a-lot?

OK, to rewind, those who enjoy watching classic thriller would love “The American”.  And that is one aspect I enjoy, a thriller that is different from what we have in the market today.  Not many make films like “The American” these days.  A simple plot, emotionally gripped, and a constant sense of danger.  George Clooney has done a good job in playing the rather serious role.  I am not going to spoil you from enjoying the film as I walked into the theater with absolutely no clue on what the story is about.  Much time, you would wonder where the story is going.  It is especially slow in the first half of the movie.  But it does get better when the pieces of puzzle – not many by the way – are put together.  There is a lot of space within the plot, that is my own reservation of classifying “The American” as a classic.  I love the part of having two sinners falling in love.  But I was hoping that there is a deeper resolution, a redemption perhaps.  “The American” is a beautifully made movie.  You would feel for the characters.  If the plot was not as shallow, I would have loved it more.  After all, “The American” does have the sure win ingredients of money, sex, and blood.  Shot entirely in Europe with European actors and actresses, it does feel like watching a European film.  So, looking back, I did watch a European movie, in a strange sense.

Categories
I See I Write

Dear SBY – Indonesia On Fire And Singapore In Smoke

Dear SBY: I am a huge fan of you.  I voted for you to be the next Indonesia president – in my heart.  The same thing I did for Obama years later.  Guess what?  Both of you have won.  I knew somehow, by the power of the invisible universal linkages, my vote counts.  Anyway, back to the purpose of this letter.  As you may know by now that Indonesia is again on fire.  And Singapore is hence in smoke.  In Spanish, there is a saying: no hay mal que por bien no venga.  That roughly translates to without bad things, good things won’t come.  Or in English, every haze has a silver lining.  It is true.  The other day, my wife and I got into our car, drove out of our condo, and under a thick blanket of haze I pointed at the sky and exclaimed, “Look at that orange salted egg yolk in the sky!”  It was beautiful.  National Geography should visit Singapore for a special tour.  Just like what they did for Australia when the sandstorm appeared not too long ago.  We debated what it could be.  Cynthia said it was the sun.  I said it was the moon and later on corrected myself that it should be the planet Mars.

I read with great interest that in your world, your people set fire on land in order to create land space for agriculture and what not.  I turned to my wife from Indonesia one evening and asked, “Why not chop the trees and sell the wood instead of burning them away?”  I am a big fan of deforestation.  I think we have way passed the point of no return as far as global warming is concerned.  Cynthia’s immediate reaction was that it is much effective and efficient to use fire.  In normal days, if Singapore was 10,000 km away from your country like we to Spain, I would not even care the why and the how.  Like Madagascar that has lost 90% of the original forest due to human activities such as slash-and-burn farming.  Do you care?  Do I care?

I cannot argue with the fact that this haze that lingers despite the heavy downpour we have in Singapore has created some of the most romantic atmosphere.  This dusk, while I was driving on the highway, under the orange color street lamps, I could see rows and rows of orange spheres floating meters above the ground diffused onto each other.  What a beautiful yet unusual sight!  Some cars turned on the fog light, which in normal days I would have cursed upon their inconsiderate act of hurting my eyes while trying to look cool.  But today, I felt the necessity, for better road safety.  Still, there was a terrible accident on the highway.  One car was sandwiched by two taxis.  Was it something to do with the haze?  Nobody knows.  When will the haze disappear?  Nobody knows.  Will your people finally try other ways to create fields?  You tell me.  Nobody knows.

On a lighter topic, I am often intrigued by Indonesia politics.  I like the president who could not see.  I also like the president who was a housewife.  Out of all the presidents you have, the picture of Habibie holding a shoe inside his car is my favorite.  It was featured on the newspapers around the world.  If I remember correctly, he had visited a local market, bought himself a pair of Indonesian made shoes, and the message he was trying to convey was: buy local.  I wish Singaporean could do the same.  The other day, I was eying on the World of Warcraft Headset proudly produced by a Singaporean based manufacturer called Creative.  It features a – allow me to quote from the brochure – professional grade microphone, ensuring everyone can hear your shout of “Heal Me! Heal Me!” in all of its resonant glory.  I want it bad.  But when I compare the price in Singapore with the same headset that is sold in America, it is still cheaper to import from US than to buy local.  Imagine the carbon footprint involved!  Whenever I ponder upon this, the imagine of Habibie pops up in my head, with him holding out his shoe inside his car mouthing: buy local.  What do you think?  Shall I import the headset from US, save some money, and screw the environment?

Where was I?  Oh, I remember.  I am writing to petition on behalf of all the residents including my mother-in-law and my relatives who live next to Bandung Supermal.  Ever since the arrival of a mall – which I must say, it looks grand and suiting to the most beautiful city in Indonesia – the residents have been under severe water shortage problem.  I sincerely hope that you could personally look into this matter and have it resolved asap.  Because Cynthia and I are planning to visit Bandung later this year.  I still wish to shower with water, twice a day.

Categories
For the Geeks

Time To Choose A Powerful Security Suite – Norton Internet Security 2011

After installing the new Norton Internet Security 2011 into one of my computers at home, I opened up my web browser to rearrange my toolbars.  The moment I stacked one of the toolbars onto the Google toolbar, I have received a notification from Norton saying that the downloaded file is likely to be safe.  But wait.  I did not download a file, did I? It turns out that Google toolbar has behind the scene downloaded an executable.  If not for Norton, I would not have known.  Another time, I was downloading a video driver from a trusted source.  After the download is completed, I have received a warning message from Norton saying that the file may not be safe.  Very few people have downloaded and used the file, it said.  That was strange.  I went ahead and started the installation.  True enough, the file was corrupted and could not be used.  Norton knew it before I did.

You may be able to relate to this.  Every now and then, one of my friends would pop me an instant message with some suspicious links, and then go offline.  Or those emails I have received from my friends with dubious subjects.  These are the signs of accounts being hacked.  I would, of course, contact my friends by phone and ask them to do something about it.

I suppose what I am trying to share is that the threats are real and there are many things that happen behind the scene when we are connected to the Internet.  Through casual chats with my friends as well as a survey hosted in my website, I learn that all of us have had negative online experience one form or another.  And one of the greatest fear is to have our online identify stolen.  When asked how then to prevent ourselves from being the victims of the cyber-criminals, some think that having a firewall is good enough.  Or when a padlock icon that indicates a secured website is shown, it is safe (it is certainly not so, please remember that).  One told me that by avoiding to connect to the Internet unless absolutely needs to, the risk is mitigated (which is not, because the operating system and applications need to be updated regularly).  Some feel that they can judge whether or not a website is safe to open (well, even reputed websites can be hijacked).  And etc.

My question back to some of you would be: Why go through so much hassle trying to be safe?  Why not get the best protection out there to safeguard your online identity and personal digital assets?

The Facts and Data

With so many products in the market today, which one should you have?  I would recommend Norton Internet Security.  But don’t just take my word for it.  Have a look at the Passmark Consumer Antivirus Performance Benchmark (2011) dated 30 Sep 2010 and decide for yourself.

I have always enjoy attending Norton’s blogger events, hearing all the juicy stories and the behind-the-scene actions as Norton battles with the works of the cyber-criminals.  David Hall, the regional product and marketing manager from Norton was present in the event.  And I have always admired his enthusiasm and he being able to talk for hours and hours in the topic of cyber-protection.  This time, he brought along a briefcase full of credit cards acquired in one of the illegal underground circles in Europe.  You will be amazed by how easy and cheap to buy a credit cards of stolen identities, he said to us with a huge grin.  In Singapore, the top 5 cyber-crimes are: computer viruses or malware, online scams, phishing, social network profile hacking, and online credit card fraud.  71% of Singaporeans do not expect cyber-criminals to be brought to justice.  It takes an average of 24 days to resolve a cyber-crime and the costs on overage is S$1,660.  It is up to us to change this.  Get ourselves protected is one.  Report to authority is another.

Norton Internet Security 2011

If you are an active subscriber for the 2010 version, all you need to do is to right click onto the Norton icon on your system track, and select “Check for New Version”.  You should be able to update to the new 2011 version free.

So, what are the differences between the 2010 and 2011 version?  To be totally honest with you, I have computers that run on different editions of Internet Security, 360, and Gaming Edition so much so that I got a little bit disoriented on the subtle differences.  The 2011 version still progressively scans my computer when I am away from keyboard, still receives pulse updates constantly behind the scene, and checks the files against a reputation mechanism built by the Norton community (see below).  It still consumes very little computing power and when I run my games, Norton enters into silence mode.

What I do find therapeutic to look at is the new world map that blinks (see below for a cropped screenshot).  When I click onto a region in the map, a ticker appears underneath to show live data on the number of threats blocked by Norton.  I can also switch the ticker into the detail mode and look at those strangely named viruses and malwares.  This world map is so wonderful that next time when I get to meet David Hall, I would suggest to have it expanded into a full screen to see all the actions in glory.  They should have Norton TV too, as part of the awareness program.

Additional Useful FREE Tools

OK.  If you have read this far, you deserve to have some rewards.  During the blogger event, David Hall has shared with us some of the free tools out there for the online community.  And here they are for sharing.

  1. Norton Power Eraser – If you think that you (or one of your friends) have become a victim of a cyber-crime and the security suite of your choice is not able to remove it, you can download the Norton Power Eraser from here.  It will help you to solve the problem.  This is a reactive measure.  I still recommend you to have a good protection all the time.
  2. Norton Safe Web (for Facebook) – If you are a Facebook user, it is worthwhile to install this application.  What it does is to scan all the links posted by your friends on your wall and news feed and protect you from accidentally clicking onto any unsafe sites.  You can enable auto-scan too.  I do just that.  You can search for this application within Facebook.
  3. Norton DNS – If you wish to protect your home network at the router level, you may consider using the Norton DNS.  Although I have two computers at home, I have a lot more home devices that are connected to the Internet.  What Norton DNS does is to protect all the home devices.  You may download the tool from here.  There is a FAQ section to answer your queries.

As always, drop me a comment here if you have any question.  I am happy to help.

Categories
For the Geeks I See I Write

Nokia N8 – A Promising First Look

Some of you have asked if I have had the opportunity to touch and feel the upcoming Noka N8.  I would have, had I not missed the last few Nokia blogger events.  Some personal commitments still take priority.  And thanks to your inquiries, I have gathered enough courage to give Text100 a ring to see if a demo can be arranged with the Nokia team.  This post is a brief write-up based on my hands on experience with a Nokia N8.  There will be a follow-up article after I have received the review unit, within this week or so.

Before you continue reading this post, I would like to share a stop-motion animation video with you, shot on a Nokia N8 by Sumo Science at Aardman.  I was skeptical initially because there are many mobile or handheld recording devices that claim to produce amazing video quality.  But this one is special.  On top of that, it is an entertaining short clip.  Watch it on HD if you can.

N8 comes with a new design.  Slimmer, as you can see.  The casing is made of high quality aluminium.  During the demo, the Nokia product manager took out his keys and made some insane scratches onto the phone.  My heart sank as I saw the scratch marks.  And then he used his hand to rub them off.  The phone was good as new.  I probably would not try that on my phones.  But I think the point is made.  Onto the glass surface, I am told that N8 uses gorilla glass – something of a higher spec.  Fortunately, he did not smash the phone in order to show me how durable it is.  Nothing that dramatic.  I am willing to take his words for it.

The crown jewel of the N8, perhaps is the high quality camera, the vibrant screen display, and the HD capability.  The lens is Carl Zeiss Tessar optics with a xenon flash.  The sensor is 12 megapixels.  Video capturing up to HD 720p.  I have seen some of the scenic photos on the Nokia product manager’s personal phone and the details look promising, even when zoomed in.  I love the new and slick photo browser.  I was tempted to ask him to show me photos of those girls he took in a party but I resisted.  Not too professional eh?  Back to the phone, image quality does come with a trade-off on the overall design.  The lens mounting area at the back does not appear to flow with the overall slim design of the phone as the package requires a certain minimal thickness.  However, if the phone does capture images as good as those I have seen (and videos like the one showcased above), I can happily live with that.

New to the Nokia suite of phones is the USB on the go.  It is one nifty functionality.  There is a dongle provided to connect the N8 to a USB thumb drive, even to another phone for data transfer.  Taking about connectivity, there is another dongle that connects the N8 to a flat panel TV via HDMI cable for HD video playback of a good range of formats.  The N8 plays Web TV too.  Installed with the phone are some of the more popular channels such as CNN, National Geography, and E! Entertainment.  There are local channels like Channel News Asia.  If Cynthia gets to read this, she would likely to further monopolize our home TV to watch YouTube and web TV online via the phone on our TV.  Nightmare!

Nokia N8 is powered by the new Symbian^3 operating system.  The phone supports the popular “pinch-to-zoom” function like other mobile and laptop devices these days.  There are three home screens, each comes with 6 widgets.  The capacitive touch (by heat) seems OK in terms of responsiveness.  Probably need a bit of getting used to.  It is precise enough to recognize the Chinese character input by strokes.  Rotating the phone seems responsive in switching between landscape and portrait modes.  There is auto-switching between a full size virtual keyboard and a virtual traditional phone pad depending on orientation.  Nokia N8 comes with the free OVI Maps too.  I have always enjoy using their free navigation service.  Note that Nokia N8’s battery is now concealed by the casing.  Whether this is a wise move or not, perhaps too early to say (so long as I don’t need to pull out the battery to switch off the phone should it hangs due to unstable apps that I install, I am OK with that because batteries these days last).  5 colors are available here in Singapore.  They are dark grey, silver white, green, blue, and orange.

Nokia N8 is now available for pre-order in Singapore. If you have queries, write to me or drop me a comment here.  To pre-order, you can visit the SingTel site at www.singtel.com/n8 or the Nokia pre-order site at www.nokia.com.sg/n8 and click on the “pre-order” tab.

Categories
Photography Travel Blog

A Productive Day At St-Tropez, St-Paul-de-Vence, And More

Although I do enjoy writing travel journals, as the chapter draws towards the end, it often gets more tedious.  Historically, Cynthia and I become more productive towards the end of a holiday.  Perhaps we are more used to the holiday rhythm.  Or perhaps since we often cover the cultural aspect of the trip before the scenic aspect, I end up having more photos to work on in the later part of the journey.  I do not make a lot of micro adjustments to the photos, mainly to apply digital filters if necessary.  White balancing is taken care of by the grey card we use in almost every composition, fortunately.  The most time consuming activity is the addition of captions to each and every photo that I have selected for the album of the day.  I have to cross reference my notes with the printed materials I have as well as the information available online.  Also, as the days go by, the camera sensor and lens begin to get dirtier.  And it takes time to zoom into each and every photo and to comb through the image (the sky especially) and remove those spots.  Not that I am complaining.  The end result is worth it, to the two of us that is.

Day 8, we have visited St-Tropez, a town by the sea.  Ramatuelle. an ancient town with strange life size figures everywhere (see photo above).  Cannes, another town by the sea and no, we did not manage to meet any celebrity.  And St-Paul-de-Vence, another ancient town that has a very special personal memory: Never ever try to drive into an ancient town again.

As always, below are the options to read more.