Almost daily I face the need to highlight the benefits of current mode of communications which is meant for the better. Both for the clients and also the service provider.

A typical business has the similar keyword – ‘reduce expenses’ in their budget. I noticed operators cutting down on energy cost – namely electricity by switching off air-conditioning partially, switching off lighting in stages and to my surprise by shutting down partial operation. Management may just want to have good figures on paper but by visiting on site spells disaster. Yesterday, I was at T*S*O branch in Station 18, Ipoh. It was 3.15pm and only routine staff were seen to be loitering around. Customers were nowhere to be seen except for students with their uniform around the sitting area. The ambient temperature was humid. Air-conditioning has been shut down, more than adequate for minimum cooling. Patrons having their quick bite at KFC had tissues wiping off sweat from their foreheads. I could not find a comfortable spot to settle down. On my way out of the humid building at about 3.25pm, I noticed a group in uniform was seeking fresher air by the exit door. Phew, I sincerely hope that was not their daily ordeal. Back to topic…

Every time I frown whenever I am being told to quote a ‘super efficient’ fax machine. Heck, is email so difficult to be implemented? The usual drill, fax machine must be cheap in consumables, refillable ink or refurbished toner, thermal paper a no-no and always being requested is also the lightning isolator. Known to most of us, a simple email solution is ideal. Yet, the management has difficulty to adjust to the nature. Why?

Fax Machine
+ easy, buy off the shelf
+ press the numbers and hit start
+ can also function as photocopier (yea right)
+ look more office-gadget (oh my!)

- waste of space
- waste of another redundant phone line (although can be shared with voice)
- waste paper/toner/ink (even refurbished ones do not come free)
- risk being strucked by lightning via phone line (isolator is not full proof by the way)
- junk fax as a result will add to waste of paper/toner/ink (expensive models have junk filter?)
- maintenance (fax machines do get paper stuck, staples/paper clips , hair??)
- line busy syndrome (yea, auto redial)
- P&C syndrome (yea, put the machine next to management then)
- out-of-paper (on-board memory function is not free)
- dark tones, re-fax and re-fax

Email
+ type and send
+ need copies, reprint (for hardcopy)
+ need to cc (cc in email)
+ need to bcc (bcc in email – something a fax machine cannot emulate)
+ cost of sending / receiving (bundled with your internet connectivity)
+ read and archieve/delete (no waste of paper/ink)
+ able to access anywhere – smartphone / PC / Cybercafes
+ ability to send documents in actual form – (colour is a yes)

- spam (can be rectified by spam filter)
- clients do not have email to receive (your clients need to get a life!)
- need to scan forms that are hand-filled (al-cheapo 3-in-1 printer settles it RM200) or rather get the form eletronically and filled up electronically
- attachments are applications specified (use pdf for portability)
- attachments can be modified and manipulated (use pdf )

Sigh, most of the time I ended up supplying the email solution and a ‘back-up’ fax machine to be bundled with, for good old times, the legacy remains…

Should there be a time when a supplier/client without a proper ‘working’ email be regarded as a supplier/client without a banking account?? It’s year 2010…

Those who have birth dates ranging from late 1970s to late 1990s are the current trendsetters inclusive of IT world of gadgets and internet. Without them, iPhones, Blackberries and Androids would not be today’s smartphones. Facebook, tweeter, blogs and emails would never be mainstream. Let’s face it, either join them or get lost failing to trail them.

Business and communications today are vital and have embraced a new world. Phone calls and paper documents are not essential and at times seem to be a burden to all. A generic Gen-Y working model would have a new dimension and failure to adhere to it will spell inefficiency.

Gen-Y does not use snail mail any longer. Email is a the bare minimum. Direct messaging via YM, MSN, etc was favoured, now it has turned to tweeter and facebook. Contact bearing phone numnbers are considered legacy as instant messaging via email, facebook, tweeter is essential for communication.

Paper documents – invoices, bills and quoatations are no longer as hard copies. Regardless of applications being used, pdf is being used. Google’s doc is being utilised for document sharing. I still remember one of my clients requires me to send him invoices with a rubber stamp for legality. I shipped him a piece so that he can print my invoices received via email and had it stamped at his disposal. So much for legality.

I have not seen any Gen-Y queueing to pay up bills anymore. It is done either via online banking or auto-debit from their plastic cards. Bills that being posted could even be opted as electronic bill via email for safekeeping. Infact most bankers nowadays have savings accounts that no longer come with savings booklet.

Seems to me the current world of IT has brought a lot of change. Efficiency is the key. Conveniency is imminent. However, traffic jam and long queues at banks and agencies puzzles me. Does anyone know why and where is everyone rushing to?

Smartphones have been running on WinMo and Symbian all this while where I have been using NK5800 with Symbian overshadowed by iPhone 3.0. Android was not my cup of tea then as it was too greenhorn and lack of local support @ popular among non-technical users. HTC was having smartphones running on WinMo, Nokia using Symbian and Sony Ericsson using either WinMo or Symbian as its own proprietary OS has nothing to shout about.

Not until I tried out Nokia X6 where I finally had enough of Symbian. Multi touch is imminent and addictive. Kinetic scrolling on Nokia lacks fluidity as compared to iPhone. Even with capacitive screen, Symbian was never designed for touch enabled devices. The OS need to revamped and not just ‘touch’ enabled. I knew the time has come for me to make a decision, to ditch the Symbian X6 and followed the crowd to join the already aged iPhone 3GS running iPhone 3.0 – as I have not much of a choice.

HTC – I gave another look and found out that the HTC Hero running Android – weird bottom chin design, white plastic all around and notice Google Phone has been launched with the trackball that I never grow to like since the era of using mouse/trackball those years. Being a MacBookPro user, aluminum unibody housing is something I adore and never grow bored of it. Show me any laptop and I still prefer the unibody aluminum MacBookPro has. iPhone should have use the same unibody – iPhone 4 perhaps?

HTC Legend – aluminum unibody akin to MacBookPro caught my attention. Is Android stable? Is it popular? Is it reliable? I made a quick research and found more pros vs cons on that matter. I knew by ignoring iPhone would be my best time now. Yes, I got myself a HTC Legend and boy am I delighted to discover its potential.

The chin is no longer so pronounced as in HTC Hero. In short, HTC Legend is HTC Hero replacement done right. Not only having the executive look, it is also a very capable all rounder smartphone. Thanks to Android 2.1, being a Mac user and also a non-supporter for Microsoft Office bound apps, I have been using Google Apps for the last 6 months. In short, using Android is a walk in the park as all my content, apps and data is already off the laptop. Give me a browser and my office comes online. HTC Legend with Android 2.1 complements my daily tasks and lesser dependent to laptop usage.

Imagine, forego switching on laptop, hook up to wifi or mobile broadband, launch browser, check mail, download pdf, reply mails, check calendar tasks and events, etc… all I need is hit the HTC Legend built-in apps which is Google enabled, touch-touch-touch and voila! Similar job accomplished! Try it out – you will be amazed how things could be simplified when all unite.

Cons – well, there is nothing that comes prefect. For one, battery life suffers. Solution – requires more charging in within, using microUSB solves my concern as I can charge off my laptop and USB in-car charger. Second, reception signal is at least 10% weaker compared to good old Nokia. Similar spot, similar time but places where I can still talk and access sms/mails with Nokia, HTC gave up and shows no coverage. Sigh, looks like I need to highlight telco to give better coverage at places that I frequent. For your information, places that I experienced no reception is actually quite remote and nothing to be concerned. However, Nokia shows its advantages in terms of reception quality. The HTC antenna is built-in on the lower chin plastic and hence should one wraps your palm around it, the reception is reduced. Nothing to worry if your location is city bound and may not even notice the degradation of signal.

User friendly is definitely  with HTC Sense. No lag whatsoever and Android’s apps download center aka Market has plenty to offer. How about being free for a start? Unlike iTunes of iPhone where little cost is involved, market is free for download and I have been a busy downloader.

More on HTC Legend later

No matter how I am attracted to iPhone 3GS, I still cannot deny the fact that I need daily hands-on operation of a smartphone put into good use. My nature of work requires push emails and about 250 text messages a day, at peak times of 20 text messages a minute. I need quick immediate forwarding messages in alphanumeric and mutiple copy and paste to outgoing messaging. A touchscreen makes an easy point n click without a mouse, nothing a joypad, touchpad or joytick can emulate. Of course nothing beats the alphanumeric actual physical keypad where i can deliberately type without actually looking at it. On the 5800 I can select a layout with alphanumeric layout similar to the physical design and when my the other hand is free from other tasks, i will switch to full qwerty layout and touch type away with almost zero error. That is my main concern and 5800 delivers!

Have you guys ever encounter windows explorer keep crashing whenever windows booting up.

Appcrash.exe due to clmedia.dll error.

Cause

CLMedia.dll will try to display the video thumbnails on your operating system. The returned video thumbnail size is incorrect and CLMedia.dll fails to display a video thumbnail, causing a crash.

Solution

Download a patch from Cyberlink “CLMediaRemover.exe” and run it. Here.

Were you expecting more steps? Well, that’s all you need to do… done!

Never once would I ever believe myself that I would be so indulged with Apple let alone MacBookPro. Ever since iPhone was launched, I never really get myself attached to it then. Perhaps, learning it would have made me to yearn for it then. Ignorance was the menu of that day perhaps. Or rather due to the fact that I am a Microsoft Intel devoter then. Apple and iPhone were just a fad to me… how silly one could be eh?

Years went on and I somehow did manage to avoid being distracted to Apple products. iPhone was somehow out of my top-ten-list for no apparent reason. Perhaps the fact that Nokia and Sony Ericsson came to me as phones successors had made Apple’s iPhone being shadowed in my choices then. I had several laptops to my disposal, Dell, Toshiba, Sony, HP, Compaq, Asus, Acer and even Lenovo to date but somehow the feeling of satisfaction and yearning for design and quality has not much of appeal any longer. At least not from these manufactures with a budget at around RM5K. My last gadget is the Mini HP 1001TU and though it comes pretty much handy, it does lack of oomph of processing power. I actually find it useful for quick mobile banking and can be snucked under the driver’s seat. Dirt cheap is also a bonus. However good it may be, I find myself sneaking back to larger screen and the quest for better quality with something to show kept on coming. It’s like having a compact car that brings you around town for daily chores as a very convenient transport but somehow, at times, the need  to have something that reflects a part of yourself, well, it does matter. At least for me, especially in meetings and client discussions. Not that I bring laptops to everywhere I go, infact I do not bring laptops anywhere. I used them mainly ONLY in my ride. Only when I need to catch a drink and the need to be online, the laptop would be put to use.  Well, I find using HP Mini a little lacking in feel and it does feel kind of using glossy plastic. Of course, the cousin HP2140 may just be the answer but deep inside I do realise that I need no more Atom processor powering my list of chores. I did consider the AMD Neo for a while. However, the idea did not blossom into reality. AMD has also been a second choice after Intel, at least in my mind.

I came across Sony VAIO and I find myself especially drawn to the Z series that has carbon fibre which I find it amazingly light for a 13in. Tagging at RM8K is just way out of my budget for portable notebooks that have resale values of 50% within the first year is just bizzare! That also does not excite me as much as it has before. Somehow the same hype from  Microsoft and Intel gave not much of glory and excitement compared to those early years. Apple with the new MacBookPro with 13in fits my bill. Unibody made from aluminium and the smooth elegant design became an envy to my peers. The Mac OS X is a gem to use. Perhaps the wallpaper can be copied to Windows. Perhaps the overall look of the OS can be duplicated onto Windows. But the stability and the feel of the entire OS, the experience of using the MBP is just simply beyond my words, try it. The keyboard, the mouse tapping, the overall feel. Nothing compares to it! As I said, the timing is right!

Now, do yourself a favour. Go check out one! You will regret how much you have missed out,at least in the computing world!

Now can anyone poison me to get iPhone? Hehe…

I never ever thought I would be involved with a Mac or anything to do with Apple ever since I could remember. Heck, iPhone and iPod have taken the world by storm and not noticing them is as though I was living under the rock all these years! And how I have been ignorant on the fact!

Enough is enough! I finally took the courage to do a quick survey. Budget to get a lappy within RM10K and below. Screen size and weight is utmost as I am always on the move – that is on the road with mileage of 8000km every month. And yes, that does not include flying or sailing.

I was tempted to Sony Z series that starts at RM8K. No matter how inclined I am towards carbon fibre, no thanks to my automotive craze on that matter, I cannot make myself to lug around a Sony Z series though it is light at 1.5kg, well, it is still a normal Ms Windows based system that shouts nothing fresh nor new. I guess I am in need of some new to be learned skills. Toshiba, Acer, HP, Compaq, Fujitsu may have some state or the art models but when my filter goes to 13in screen sizes,  I ended up with not much of a choice. I need something unique, not too mini like the ones I had before, namely netbooks from HP, Toshiba, Acer and Asus.

I am never being able to tuck or carry something with 14in and above as I patronise Starbucks and the likes. Anyone would have noticed how limited the availability of table space with your cup of coffee and the lappy on it. Sony P series would make my day if not for the extra small screen!

And it all happened.  I was walking pass an Apple reseller store yesterday. Just couldn’t help myself for not noticing that simple, swift, perfect classy look of the new MacBook Pro namely the 13in model.   The screen quality is simply breathtaking. And it is not bulky unlike others. Unibody made of aluminium is just my soup of the day I presume. And to add more poison, there is currently no available stock! Selling like hot cakes…and I want ONE!

Today, my order is placed online and pending delivery by DHL within two working days. 48 hours is not too much to wait. Google is my best friend today in search for all mac related knowledge.

To Windows users and believers, I am one of them and still very much adore and swear by it, as I daily use them. I know and come to an understanding that MacBook Pro runs Windows under bootcamp. Whatever camp that is. I am now into both worlds. Just like automotive, never hurt to have turbocharged and also normally aspirated engines. Petrol and diesel. Infact, hybrid would be next.

Now I wish I could turn forward the clock with a click of the mouse.
It has been transported from Singapore and now in DHL KL.

Reading up the apple.com is making me admiring more of it. 64 bit and OpenCL. Read them up here.

4 July 2009 1038hrs would be a date to remember where the actual unit arrived via DHL.
It’s updated on DHL tracking system too. No time to post  now, busy time ahead.. Adios!

To all computer users,

New virus jwgkvsq.vmx is attacking all computer users all around the world as of now.

INFECTION :

It spreads through removable disc and also NETWORK.

CAUSE OF EFFECT:

Locking down all antivirus websites and shutting down software one-by-one.

Once a computer is infected, there is no easy way to remove by only using antivirus software. It will reappeared each time one logs into Windows. It also cannot be manually deleted because the file is marked as hidden & system file.

PREVENTION :

Scan all removable drives everytime before plugging into the computer.

Do regular scan and update your virus definitions. (this is utmost important)!

BETTER BE SAFE THAN SORRY!

Have you guys ever encounter problems changing video resolution although Windows have been reinstalled numerous times, the video driver has been reinstalled over and over again but yo no avail ?

Whenever you change the display resolution, the Windows screen flickers and goes back to 640 x 480?

There is an easy fix. Do not spend hours cracking your head.

Everyone must be thinking of DOING A CLEAN FORMAT of your hardisk right? What about your existing data and programs? Backup?

SOLUTION is here, scroll down.

one..

two..

JUST UNINSTALL SPYWARE DOCTOR!

Tada! Done…

Kingsoft Office is a compact, Microsoft Office Compatible, no cross training required office suite with Writer, Spreadsheets and Presentation. It has all of the features you have come to expect from your modern office software and a familiar layout allowing you to implement it at home, work or anywhere.

I have downloaded and using them now. 100 days trial, worth a try.
Best of all, it is green software – that is can be easily completely removed. Good design!