demonick.tv™

OMG! It seems I’ve been neglecting this blog for a very long while. This time for real, it’s not because I was too lazy to update, but I seriously hadn’t the time. It’s been a long 3 weeks or so with so many things happening at the office. It was a really crucial week last week, as there were some multi-million ringgit sign-offs which we required from the client, so a lot of preparation and convincing was needed to get the client’s signature. It can be really dramatic I tell you. But alas, it was done. Then again, that’s only the tip of the iceberg as there are more stuff in the pipeline in the coming months. With the World Cup fast approaching in June and July, a lot of my projects need to start soon. Everyone wants to cash in on the World Cup, and with my client saying things like “We want to do BIG THINGS” and “We want to DOMINATE” would give you an idea as to why I said it’s only the beginning. So if you don’t hear from me cum May to July, chances are you can find me pitching up a tent in my office.

Ok, since I’ve been out of touch with you guys for awhile, I’ll just summarized a few things of what happened

A New Love
In case you didn’t know, I finally bought a new Nokia N97 Mini and retired my 4 year old dinosaur N80. Yea, 4 years is the longest I ever hold on to a phone. I remember I used to always switch to the latest model every time something new came out. I once only owned a phone for 6 months before selling it off to get an upgraded version. I was that gung-ho back then.

baby I love you…

Anyway, this phone is a real gem. It does everything I want it too and can do everything any other phone can too. Why not a Blackberry or an iPhone you ask? Well, I was contemplating this phone and the Blackberry Bold 9700. I guess I made my choice under the assumption that everyone will get the Blackberry and I wanted to be different. iPhone? It was never in my list to begin with…don’t let me start about how I’m on the anti Apple camp. :)

A Goodbye
Goodbyes are always hard. Especially if it’s someone so close and dear who you have known for ages. My dear friend Sylvia is finally moving to the States with her husband Jason. I’ve known Sylvia since we were both in secondary school, together with her twin sister Sheila. We go to the same church, gone for camps together and we’ve kept in touch even after all these years. 

Sylvia, Jason and I @ WIP, Bangsar

Can you believe it’s been 16 years? Even when she is working in Penang, she never fails to call me and go out every time she comes back here for a visit. You can say she is one of my BFFs. Sylvia, I will definitely miss you loads…heck I already miss you now!! All the best to ya! *hugs*

A Goal
YES! I’ve finally paid for my flight tickets and accommodation to Sabah in July to conquer Mount Kinabalu. There is NO TURNING BACK already! Die die also must climb and get that cert. I’ve been wanting to do this for sometime now, but didn’t really take the initiative until my ex-colleague Mike decided to gather a few people to go. It will be my first ever visit to East Malaysia.

Mount Kinabalu, Sabah

Some people who have climbed up told me that you require to train for endurance in order for you to make it to the top. Then again, there are some who said you don’t really have to train and that even old aunties can climb. I would like to believe it’s the latter. It’s all in the mind I tell you. But anyway, my “training regime” has already begun. But let’s see what happens on a closer date.

Coming up next..

There are a few things coming up, later half of the year. Since I know I might be pretty busy in the coming months (and might not update this blog), maybe I’ll just let you guys know some of my travel plans and in case any of you want to tag along.

May
Weekend over Singapore (tentative) - I always go down Singapore for annual visits every year…so we’ll see

July
Mount Kinabalu (confirmed)

August
Bali, Indonesia (Dates confirmed. Yet to book flights and accommodation) - The whole purpose for this trip is because we’re celebrating a few birthdays together since they are a week apart from each other. So rather than having a birthday party every week, we decided to go big and have one massive birthday party. Brilliant isn’t it?

October
Melbourne, Australia (Dates confirmed. Yet to book flights and accommodation)- My pet sis Zara is having a garden wedding by the Yarra River on 10-10-10 (that’s 10th October 2010) after 10 years with her boyfriend. Now to have the wedding ceremony at 10:10AM with 10 bridesmaid. How can I not go for this??

Nov-Dec
A short shopping trip to Hong Kong or Dubai since my cousin keeps insisting I come visit. Let’s see if I still have left over funding for the year to pull off this trip.

Ok, there you go…some updates on the things that has been going on. I really hope I don’t have to keep doing these mass update posts and find more time to update this blog to keep you entertained…haha…until then..

Last Thursday, a bunch of Tweeple (people from Twitter), got together for a meet up at Bangsar Village to take a look at Poken. So what the hell is a Poken? It’s a RF-based device which transmits and receives data. It looks kinda like the Tamagotchi a few years back. Poken stores contact information of yourself, and links the social media networks you’re on (Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, etc) together in a contact card.

So imagine this: You’re out on a social event and assuming everyone has a Poken, you simply touch 2 Poken devices together, and your contact card is transmitted to the other Poken device and vice versa. Sort of like exchanging business cards, except that you don’t have to carry a stack of cards, and that it can hold more information.

Once you get back home, simply logon to the website, and upload the contacts that you have gotten. Sounds fun right? Actually there are a lot of other applications that you can use Poken for. The video below illustrates some of other applications that can be used with the Poken device which can cater to manage events and also links to Google Maps! How cool is that?

Now you must be thinking…since all my information is in there…isn’t it dangerous if I lose it? Well, yes and no. You can actually set how much information you want to send out from the website settings which will configure your Poken device. Setting the “discrete” option will only send limited details and in “normal” mode, it will send everything in your Poken profile.

My Poken…cute no?

Thanks to Eric (@kenloo) who brought the Pokens all the way from Japan. It costs about USD25 per device and will work with any machine that has a USB port. I got mine from Eric at RM60, which I thought was a really good deal. We’re probably the first batch of people who are using these Poken devices, and hopefully..with more awareness and promotions from us, Poken will be the next “big” thing in KL. So don’t be surprise next time when someone comes up to you and asks: “Do you Poken?”

In case you haven’t heard, I’m helping a friend to sell her Nintendo Wii. The console is in excellent condition and is only about a month old and hardly used. The unit is a cracked Korean unit but with a Japan chipset (with Softchip Loader R55 + Gamma Loader) and works fine with most (or all) games. The unit is going for RM1,100. It also includes 1 extra controller, 1 extra numchuck controller + 14 games. Below are some photos of the unit. Click on picture for larger view..

the unit is still in a box and plastic wrap

extra controller (total 2) and extra numchuck (total 2)

the 14 games that are included

So if you know of anyone who is interested, do let me know. Please spread the word around… :)

A new sexy babe is coming soon. The Palm Pre. I predict iPhone users/owners will be so envious, they might even cry when they see what this baby can do. Running on the new Palm WebOS, basically…it can do everything an iPhone can…but more, LOADS more! Now I won’t do like a full review, because I haven’t seen or tested the actual device yet as it’s suppose to be released only during the first half of 2009. Meaning, for it to reach our shores…it would probably be 3rd or 4th quarter of the year. But let me tell you about some of the KILLER features that will put iPhone to shame..

“Cards” to represent Applications
See the picture above? There are 3 “Cards” that represent 3 individual applications running at the same time. You can scroll through the “cards” and stop when you want to access an application. And if you want to close an application, simply “flick” the “card” upwards and it will close that particular application. How cool is that? The idea is somewhat similar to holding playing cards in your hand.

Full QWERTY keypad
As you can see, there is a full QWERTY keypad that slides right out for typing. This saves "real estate" space on your screen unlike the iPhone that requires an on screen keyboard for text inputs.

3 Megapixel Camera with Flash
While the iPhone’s camera is only 2.0MP, this one comes with a 3.0MP camera with flash that also utilises an installed software that allows you to tweak contrast, color balance and many more.

Synchronization with Facebook & Google Mail
This phone allows you to save a person’s details like Facebook, GMail addresses and more into one contact setting. So say one of your contact changes his/her phone number or even picture on Facebook, it will automatically update your address book with the new contact number the next time a connection is made. Not only that, with the integration of GMail, it also allows you to chat via Google Talk if the person is online. So you won’t have to worry about people changing numbers and not informing you already.

Wireless charging
This is probably the coolest feature. You charge the phone wirelessly using their Touchstone charging dock. Magnets in the dock align your phone in the correct position for charging, whether in portrait or landscape mode. No wires involved! Pretty nifty don’t you think?

This video is a full demo of all the Pre’s features and capabilities. If you’re a true geek (like myself) or are into gadgets, take time to view it…it’s about 26 mins long but trust me…it’s worth watching. You’ll be left drooling and probably throw your iPhone away if you already own one.

How much do think it would cost once it’s available here? I’m thinking around the RM2xxx range. So…3 guesses what’s next on my wish list? Hehe

This is really something to think about…

Some people believe we are living in the digital dark ages because most of what we are currently preserving will be unreadable by future generations. I know of some people who still have a stack of floppy discs from the early 90s that cannot be access due to the fact that they don’t manufacture the drives that allows you to read those things anymore. It’s also entirely possible that the photos of your children won’t be readable or printable in 20 years’ time due to ‘digital evaporation’ and the rapid changing media. You think I’m kidding? NASA can’t read some of the records of its 1976 Viking Mars space landing…doesn’t that tell you something?

When will all this happen? It’s already happening! Some old VCDs (and DVDs) are already unusable! Therefore it is best to keep your pictures online so that you can retrieve it in future.

Source: FHM Magazine issue #122