Categories
For the Geeks

Targus Laptop Bag And Mouse!

Has it come across to you that some brands are there but you are not noticing them and when you start looking, they are everywhere?  Out of the blue, I have received a request to try out the Targus products.  I seldom try out anything without knowing if it is good.  Coincidentally I was in the Funan IT Mall and all of a sudden, I saw Targus brand everywhere!  The laptop bags look stylish and of good quality.  So I replied: Sure, hit me with a backpack please!

And inside the bag, there is a mouse.  What a nice surprise!

Now, back to the laptop bag.  I have recently used it for our Fraser’s Hill trip (more photos to share, I promise).  It is surprisingly light, soft, comfortable to the shoulders, and it is built with water resistance materials too.  Don’t take my words for it.  Visit a store and check out the bags.  It is great for everyday use.  And if something more formal is what you would prefer, they have other ranges for just that.  I have quite a few formal laptop bags.  So I picked the casual sporty one instead.

It is said that Targus is the world’s top-selling laptop computer cases and accessories maker, renowned for quality and style.  I have to admit that the mouse (picture above) does look stylish, small enough to carry around, and its battery life is supposed to last for 15 months.  What impress me most is the tiny USB receiver.  I can practically leave it attached to my laptop all the time.

The recommended retail price of the backpack is S$119.90 and as for the mouse, S$49.90.  You may wish to check out its range of products here.

Categories
For the Geeks

Norton 360 Version 4.0 – Are You Well Protected? Need A Little Tuneup?

Avid readers may recall that not too long ago, I have written an article on Norton Internet Security 2010.  I am happy to hear that Norton continues to be light and secure, does not require much tweaking (“set and forget” is their design philosophy), and in this new Norton 360, it has a new reputation service, improved anti-phishing, improved scanning performance, a new download insight, web-based access to backup files, as well as improved startup manager.  To be honest, my previous Norton installation seems very fast and safe in my book.  I can hardly feel the difference for this new product, which is great of course.  Still fast, still safe.  It better be!

What are improved, I observe, are the PC tuneup function and the online backup option.  For the technologically inclined, PC tuneup may not be crucial.  But for someone like me who is a regular PC user, PC tuneup is a great place for me to (1) decide which are the programs I wish to run at start-up and in what priority, (2) clean up my file system including registry, (3) optimize my hard disk (defragmentation), and (4) run a diagnostic report on everything I wish to know about my computer – from hardware to software.  And I can say it with conviction PC tuneup has helped me a great deal.  My computer startup time has improved.  Seems to run faster too.

Online backup is an interesting feature.  Norton 360 v4.0 comes with a 2 GB online storage.  You can back up your Document directory or any directory in your file system securely online.  And restore if need to.  It does take some time for the first backup to complete, especially if you have a large backup set.  At home, I have a Network-attached Storage and an external backup device permanently attached to my computer so, this online backup service may not be something that I rely solely on (no harm having extra backup, having said that).  I can imagine that if you do not have a regular backup, this online backup can be useful.

Of the many great features that Norton products have, one of my favorite ones is Norton file insight (see below with file name masked).  Whenever I download an executable from the Internet, Norton prompts me on how trusted this file could be.  And based on the insight, I can make an informed decision on whether or not I shall risk running it.  One time, while I was downloading the latest video driver from ATI website, Norton warned me that the file may not be trusted as not many users have downloaded that and it was very new.  It turns out that that version of the file was corrupted.

I have got asked a lot how much the Norton products that featured in my website cost.  For this particular one, the suggested retail price is SGD 129 for the three PC license.

Categories
I See I Write

Realism in Asian Art – Singapore Art Museum – Don’t Miss It

Cynthia and I love to visit museums.  There is always something to learn from these exhibitions.  Last week, we were invited for an exhibition opening at National Art Gallery, Singapore – “Realism in Asian Art”.  And we had the opportunity to hear from the experts in this field talking about the art, the process of setting up the exhibition in Singapore, and the collaboration with our Korean counterpart.

What struck me as distinctly different from most of the exhibitions we have seen overseas is this Asian theme.  As one of the Korean presenters has mentioned that in many ways, we – the Asians – are connected and what one nation has experienced can be related by people of another nation, even if we are living in different locations.  To that extend, realism – an attempt to represent things as they are in real life – is the main theme of this exhibition in walking us through our last century of rural era, worker movement, the war, nationalism, and more.

Cynthia got really excited to see some of the famous Indonesian artists, whom she has studied when she was in Indonesia, featured (see picture above).  It has been an eye opening experience for me to admire the 80 significant artworks from eight Asian countries.  Unlike Cynthia, I don’t have the knowledge of who is who.  Nevertheless, I have enjoyed the event and below are some of the photos I have taken.

If you have time, from now till July 4, do visit our Singapore Art Museum for “Realism in Asian Art”. Admission is free on Fridays, 6pm to 9pm. More details can be found in the official website here.

Categories
For the Geeks Game Reviews

Kasumi Goto From The New Mass Effect 2 DLC – A Brief Review

Does this digital game copy of the new Mass Effect 2 mini-expansion worth US$7?  Read on to find out.

I am a big fan of BioWare’s DLC (downloadable contents).  They are often of the right length (read: not too time consuming) and are rewarding to play.  Recently, BioWare has run into quality issue with the Dragon Age franchise and hence, I have stopped buying.  Not until they get their acts together and patch up the game.  Mass Effect, is another story.

“Kasumi – Stolen Memory” is the first DLC (with a file size of close to 1 GB!) outside the Cerberus Network.  The Cerberus Network licence worth US$15 in value and most retail copies I believe come with it.  Does it mean that this is the end for “free” downloads?  I don’t know.  Back to this new DLC, for the price of a movie ticket, it took me about 2 ½ hours to complete.  That includes reading the new codex, going through the conversation options, and admiring all aspects of the game including standing by the hillside looking at the breathtaking scenery of the sea.

For those who have started or planning to start a new game, Kasumi the enigmatic master thief can be a good squad member option.  Kasumi is distinctly different from the existing members because she can go in stealth and near one-shot the enemies from their backs.  Almost like a rogue class in some role playing games.  Because of that, most of the time I have no clue where she is when we are in combat and I have to pay attention to her voice cues.  My character is a Vanguard so that seems to complement the play style (up close and personal).  Too bad, I have already completed the game.  It would be fun to continue grouping with her to develop the synergy.

Half of “Kasumi – Stolen Memory” is non-combat in nature, which is a breath of fresh air from the majority of the loyalty missions.  My only slight grievance is that this DLC does not seem to be challenging enough and I have encountered a bug in the final boss fight (the boss despawned and the mission got stuck).  Also, conversations with Kasumi inside the Normandy is similar to Zaeed (from the Cerberus Network), very one-way in nature.  Other than that, “Kasumi – Stolen Memory” is a beautiful DLC – both in graphics and storyline.  And if you are like me, who are just one level under the cap, completing “Kasumi – Stolen” will shoot you all the way to the level cap of 30.

Categories
Foreign Horror Movie Reviews

[●REC]² The Spanish Horror Continues, Not As Shocking As The First One

One of the many good reasons to keep a diary is that you can relive a fragment of your past emotion on any given day.  Like today.  Reading what I wrote after watching [●REC] gives me chill.  I did not remember that the first episode was that scary.  Comparatively speaking, the sequel is less scary, the camera still shakes but not that much, and for sure, my face did not turn pale and my hands did not turn cold after watching [●REC]², alone.

When I watched [●REC] one and a half years ago, I have just started learning Spanish.  Just completed the first 10 lessons as my online diary says (another good reason to keep a diary – for future reference).  Back then, I could only recognize a very few basic Spanish words spoken on screen.  Now that I am three months short of reaching a two years of Spanish learning journey, I could recognize a few more words when watching [●REC]².  The feeling is exhilarating as I have a low expectation on what I can gain from this linguistic journey.  Language, is not my strength.  A few more words and phrases I can make out?  I am happy.  Happy to see progress.

Perhaps this time I am smarter.  I chosen a seat not too close to the screen.  The camera still shakes, but it was not as bad.  Perhaps the camera did not shake as bad to start with.  This sequel starts from where the previous episode has left off.  Instead of a team of firemen and a TV presenter, we have the SWAT team and a health officer entering the same building to investigate the situation.  First episode is rich in suspense while in this episode, more focus is on the story development.  After all, the audience more or less knows what is going to happen, when and where the abomination is going to jump at the team.

While I would not necessarily classified this as a true horror – no one jumped or screamed inside the theater, fans of [●REC] should not give this a miss.  The way the story is told is different.  Timeline is shifted back and fro and the focus of the group gets alternated as well.  More than one camera is used to tell the story.  And there are some nice twists to the overarching story too.

For sure, there will be a third episode.  And I am waiting with anticipation.

Categories
Diary

We Love To Play Scrabble

Board games, do people play these any more these days?  Computer games, console games, Facebook games – it seems to me that board games have faded into things of the past.  We watch movies more often than watching plays on stage; listen to music from our sound system more than attending live performances.  Think about how often we play board games these days.  And how often would someone born today play board games as they grow up.

As often as we watch plays on stage, attend live performances, I guess.

In a way, looking at the generation I come from, I am straddled between a world of board games and a world of electronic games.  When I was young, there was no such thing as computer games.  I had boxes of board games and I love playing them.  With whom?  My dad seldom played games with me, except the Chinese strategy ones that I was no match to him.  Still do not.  My mother at times played dice throwing type of games with me, mainly because my sister was often too young to play with me.  Four years of age gap, it means a lot in the realm of board gaming.  To me that is.  My sister was not buying it.  Still does not I reckon.

Electronic game has its rich entertainment value.  And in many instances, it is more convenience to play, has better variety, and can be played alone.  Those seem to be what we value today.  Even more so than not so many years ago.

Maybe it is not electronic games versus board games any more.  Passive entertainments such as television channel surfing, YouTube surfing, Facebook surfing, have become favorite pastime for perhaps you and me?

Cynthia and I love road trips to destinations that have no or little television and Internet access.  We often bring along Scrabble with us, something that can easily fit into the car.  And we keep a score sheet for all the games we have played.  With whom and where.

Speaking of games, over the weekend, I have attempted to design a game that is education in nature.  Something to do with learning Spanish.  I have tried to dig deep into my dusty closet where I have abandoned my computing skill not too long ago (I think one technology year is ten physical years).  Creating an electronic game, something I could have done quite easily years ago, is a no go.  Instead, I am thinking of creating a simple board game.

What would that look like?  Nothing elaborate or ground breaking.  I am badly in need of some motivation, something fun to practice my Spanish.  Keeping it simple, so as to speak.

PS. Photos are taken on a 5 minutes interval while we were playing Scrabble inside one of the living rooms of Smokehouse hotel at Fraser’s Hill, Malaysia.

Categories
For the Geeks

Nokia N900 – Revamped, Simplified, With The Power To Deliver

This Nokia N900 I am using means real business and I am not kidding you.  The improvement on responsiveness and overall user interface, the power of multitasking and the ability to open multiple full website simultaneously, this beast is everything that a Nseries user would hope for.  I have read a good number of positive testimonies for this phone.  Is this for you?  Read on to find out more on what this phone is and is not.

Overview

On the evening when I received my unit, I vividly remembered one line the Nokia presenter said: Why use a mobile site [with limited functionalities] when you can open up a full site?  It is so true.  Mobile sites or mobile applications that are there because full websites are too taxing for most of today’s smart phones are things of the past.  N900 is one big step towards what mobile computing is to be.  With 1GB application memory (256MB RAM, the rest is virtual) and up to 10Mbps 3G data connection, I can open up multiple websites and applications at ease, and at the same time.  Tired of waiting for a site to load?  Toggle to another site or do something else, just like what you would do in your desktop environment.

N900 comes with 4 desktops that are fully customizable (see below slides for screenshots).  It has a full QWERTY keyboard and a CTRL key that the Nokia community has been asking for.  You can now do copy, paste, undo and more!  N900 has the same touch screen size as N97 (3.5″) but with an even better resolution (800 x 480 pixel).  It plays video beautifully (all my friends love it).  Its touch screen is resistive.  It works well with your nails or the supplied stylus for precise navigation.  If you come from a cold country, you don’t need to take off your gloves to use the touch phone.

N900 is built using a new operating system: Maemo – a Linux based open source platform.  Improvements can be made by the passionate developers – for profit or not, without the wait for Nokia to make it happen.  The MSN plug-in for the Instant Messaging function is a good example.  Developed by the community, available free for the N900 users.


Screenshots taken by me (feel free to mouse over and pause)

First Look

What Nokia has done – from what I observe after first week of usage – is to revamp the product offering by focusing on what the majority needs.  Functionalities such as dictionary, Chinese character input, message reader, audio recorder, content search, converter, and podcasting seem to have dropped.  If you have not heard or seldom use any of these functions, it probably does not matter to you.  What we have gained in return comparing to previous Nseries models are:

  • A sleek full web browser powered by Mozilla technology (we can now open new window!).
  • Innovative zone in and out of a web page by touching any part of the screen and circulate in clockwise or anticlockwise direction (no, you don’t need to use two fingers on the screen like some other phones).  For existing Nokia users, double tapping on the screen not only toggle between normal view, zone in view, but also page-width view.
  • Internet Radio has returned (missing in N97)!
  • Easy management of Internet connection (oh yes, no more trying to configure destinations and different modes of connection in different applications).
  • Integrated chat and voice-over-IP (Skype, Google Talk, Jabber, SIP, and Ovi by default, MSN by community and more to come I bet).
  • Improved user interface with animation (OK, that is more for perception management on waiting time but hey, since every other smart phone is doing that …).
  • Much improved Media Player with (finally) an analog volume control.
  • Enriched notes function with style formatting.
  • Thumbing through the contacts by groups of ABC, DEF, GHI, and etc. (in portrait mode only).  If your hands are free to pull out the keyboard, you can still type the name of the contact, as in N97 etc.
  • Control over 3G, GSM, and dual network mode (see later section as it comes quite useful for me).
  • A data counter to track network usage.
  • Simplified profile setting – General and Silence profiles with the option to turn on or off vibration, ring tone selection and volume.
  • RSS Feed.
  • Control-Z, C, X, V  for undo, copy, cut, and paste.  Control-O and S to open and save items.  And … Control-Shift-P for taking screenshots!  I bet there are more shortcuts beside these.  Somewhere.
  • 4 fully customizable desktop areas.

While I truly love these enhancements made by Nokia, I have the following observations to share.  Again, some may matter to you, some may not.

  • N900 operates in the 3G frequency bands of 900/1700/2100 instead of 900/1800/2100 like N97.  And because 1700 is not supported by SingTel (I have called to confirm that they only support 900/1800/2100), there may be locations that the 3G connection is not as good as your old Nokia phone (note: to be fair, not all smart phones in Singapore supports all three bands).  For me to get a more stable data connection, I manually select the network mode of 3G and GSM if need to.  Having said that, most of the time I leave the setting to 3G.  When the 3G works (which is often), the speed is fast.
  • Music that you have purchased and downloaded from Nokia Music Store cannot be played in N900.  It is not a Comes With Music device either.  Nokia has to implement the DRM on the new operating system.  I am unsure when, if ever, this will happen.
  • Maps in N900 does not have voice navigation, like the current Nseries phones.  We have to wait for Nokia to port that over to the new phone, if and when.
  • While much of the improvement made to the Media Player is good, working with playlist seems tedious.  And there is no repeat track function nor equalizer as well.  No way to send the tracks via Bluetooth.  Can I live with that?  Sure I can.
  • MMS is currently not supported.  I sure hope that it is in the road map for the upcoming patches.
  • N900 is relatively bulky, and heavy (181g).  But that does not bother me as I need the computing power.
  • N900 is power hungry.  There has been discussions that in the next patch, power consumption will be improved.  As of now, for heavy users like I, it is best to keep it charging whenever possible.  Again, that does not bother me for what N900 is capable in doing.

In Summary

N900 is one great phone that Nokia users (especially Nseries users) would love.  And it is growing on me.  It is clear that Nokia has taken the suggestions from the user community and implemented them into this new phone.  Because N900 is built on an open platform, I have high hope that the developer community will help to take this phone and the future Maemo (or MeeGo?) devices forward.

Perhaps I am the minority here.  I truly hope that Nokia will one day give us the option to activate any of our Nokia phones to be a Comes With Music phone (surprisingly not many of my friends know about this unlimited music download service).  Quite possibly the best service Nokia has provided for the selected models.  I wish that N900 has a Comes With Music option, something I miss most from my N97.

Note: Recommended retail price for N900 is S$999.

Categories
Book Reviews Fiction

Sputnik Sweetheart by Haruki Murakami – That Sense of Loneliness, That Unattainable Love

I have come to the realisation that perhaps there is no such thing as which is my favorite Haruki Murakami novel (my 6th so far).  Even though my familiarity to his style has led me to half-expecting what “Sputnik Sweetheart” would become, there is still this element of freshness that kept me from putting the book down.  And I finished reading it in one day, wanting more.  The opening paragraph would be the best way to introduce the story.

In the spring of her twenty-second year, Sumire fell in love for the first time in her life.  An intense love, a veritable tornado sweeping across the plains – flattening everything in its path, tossing things up in the air, ripping them to shreds, crushing them to bits … In short, a love of truly monumental proportions.  The person she fell in love with happened to be 17 years older than Sumire.  And was married.  And, I should add, was a woman.  This is where it all began, and where it all ended.  Almost.

The theme of “Sputnik Sweetheart”, from what I observe, is loneliness, riding onto the framework of unattainable love.  That strong sense of loneliness!  The narrator – a man – falls in love with a lesbian who falls in love with a married woman.  True to Murakami’s style, this book is full of metaphors (“did you see anyone shot by a gun without bleeding?“), dualism that leads to surrealism, and characters that come alive in their very own unique style.

What stands out in “Sputnik Sweetheart” is the way the story is narrated and told.  Timeline is shifted to and fro to suit the narration.  Focus is shifted from one character to another and back to the narrator without the readers noticing the change, encouraging us to want to learn more about the characters’ way of thinking and their way of life.  And then, something strange happens to these characters.  The author spends the second part of the book pasting bits and pieces of information together – some from interview, some from his observation, and some from the journals left behind.  Distinguishing what is real from what is not is often not easy, as it is with all of Marakami’s works.  Even as I devoured the very last paragraph of the book, these thoughts lingered: Could this be real?  What happened next?  And in my dreamy state, inside an English cottage at Fraser’s Hill, the follow paragraph from the book has made the most impact to me.

Lying there, I close my eyes for a while, then open them.  I silently breathe in, then out.  A thought begins to form in my mind, but in the end I think of nothing.  Not that there was much difference between the two, thinking and not thinking.  I find I can no longer distinguish between one thing and another, between things that existed and things that did not.  I look out of the window.  Until the sky turns white, clouds float by, birds chirp, and a new day lumbers up, gathering together the sleepy minds of the people who inhabit this planet.

The rate this is going, Haruki Murakami could well be one of my most read author, after Milan Kundera and Italo Calvino.

Categories
Book Reviews Non-Fiction

Numbers Rule Your World By Kaiser Fung – With Depth, And Figures To Support

It is hard not to make the comparison between “Numbers Rule Your World” and “Freakonomics”.  Even the book has made a reference once.  Ten real life case studies are used, paired up in five chapters, to illustrate how different aspects of statistics affect our lives.  Blogger statistician Kaiser Fung has made the topic surprisingly accessible, narrated in an engaging manner.  Each chapter, the author picks two contrasting statistically related topics, juxtaposes them by taking turn to have the story told, and arrives at a conclusion.  The narration is honest, impartially inquired from different angles.  One of the author’s objectives – besides convincing us that like it or not, numbers play a major role in our world today – I believe, is to expand our mind and horizon when interpreting certain situations as numbers are presented.  And to appreciate what goes on behind the scene in your everyday life.

To impart the various aspects of statistical thinking upon his readers, the author uses the case studies of highway engineers versus Disney ‘Imagineers’, epidemiologists versus credit modelers, insurers versus test developer (education), anti-doping agencies (sport) versus polygraph (lie detector), and the chances of jet crashes versus jackpots.  Each case study – unlike Freakonomics – is backed up sufficiently by figures and facts.  At times, I have to slow down my reading and think through the numbers, which I do greatly appreciate.

In practical term, how would reading “Numbers Rule Your World” help your work and life?  For one, when you take in the news around you, you may wish to see things in a different perspective.  Should you take in the reported figures on the papers as they are?  Why are things or processes made that way?  Some see an imminent risk, others do not.  Should you follow the crowd?  At the end of the book, the author has made a bold statement that if you know how to use numbers in making everyday decisions, you rule the world.  While I am unsure if most of us has the ability and even access to a reliable data-set in using numbers in making decisions, this book does change the way how I see this world operates when it comes down to numbers.

External Links: Purchase This Book from Amazon.com, the Author Kaiser Fung’s Website.

Categories
Animation Movie Reviews

How To Train Your Dragon (3D) – So Darn Cute!

And so my obsession with the dragons continues.

Knowing that we are having a road trip heading north the next day and when we are back, we will probably pick that Titan show to watch, we have got to catch this animation ths week.  So we did.  Again, in 3D.  Seems like a trend these days.  Honestly speaking, I have no clue which version is better: 3D or non-3D.  But I enjoy “How To Train Your Dragon” in 3D a lot.  Perhaps because it is a full animation, unlike Avatar and Alice In Wonderland.  Very likely I would invest the Blu-Ray format of this movie for the keeping.

Just about 100 minutes, “Dragon” grips me from the beginning till the end.  Gosh, I want more!  Cynthia and I are both big fans of “Lilo & Stitch”.  That dragon in the poster reminds us of Stitch.  Little did we know that Dreamwork has hired the directors of “Lilo & Stitch” for this children book adaption.  No wonder, eh?

I once met someone in the military service who likes to derive “morale of the story” for all the well-known animations.  I wonder what he would say about “Dragon”.  If I may, I would say that endless violence can be evaded by seeing the same you in another person’s eyes.  And together, we may eliminate the root of violence that is not us or them but something else.  Something we have not thought of.