codestone@gmail.com

Ubin Cycling Trip | 17Oct 2pm+

2009-10-24T15:32:00.014+08:00

Trip to Ubin after so many years. Nice photos in exchange for a littel sun burn. Hightlight of this trip is the CHEK JAVA WETLANDS. Wonder when's my next trip to Ubin. Seems that Nordin's a bit different, with some fence-like structure around the beach area.

SEA HORSE Memory Neck Pillow | 75% Discount

2009-09-13T17:55:00.001+08:00

While many of us went to Commex on thursday, I went to Suntec on that Thursday to grab the pillow at 20 bucks. Prior to that, I heard advertisement on radio for a few weeks already. Anyway it was already time for me to change one...

I gave a call to the outlet before heading down. Since the nearest outlet from my place has no stock, I headed to the another outlet that has one. It took me time to look for the outlet due to the shop front was covered by a pillar a distance away.

I was pretty shock when the U.P. was around 80 bucks. I was pretty sure there is still some nice margin selling this pillow @ 20 bucks. This is my first so called "Memory Neck Pillow", odd shape, with the memory effect. Hope this was a good deal. I feel about the same when I wake up the following morning. Just an ordinary pillow for me.

What is a Wordle? It creates beautiful word cloud

2009-08-28T19:27:00.015+08:00

Created from blog: http://aboutanythingonline.blogspot.com

Wordle is a toy for generating “word clouds” from text that you provide. The clouds give greater prominence to words that appear more frequently in the source text. You can tweak your clouds with different fonts, layouts, and color schemes. The images you create with Wordle are yours to use however you like. You can print them out, or save them to the Wordle gallery to share with your friends.

LINK:
www.wordle.net

Caffè Latte @ Oriole Cafe & Bar

2009-08-11T19:50:00.003+08:00

Nice strong taste, just after dinner.

NIKE Knee Sleeve | Hoping To Jog Further.

2009-08-09T14:16:00.012+08:00

For some reason, I feel pain at my knee after about 1km of light jogging. Has been a problem for months, and I suspect that my knee was gonner. Got a Nike Knee Sleeve as recommended by a friend for outdoor activities. Cost about 27 bucks. Will need some training before going back to my usual 2.4km jogs and runs. Can't wait till the horrible HAZE is over.

G2000 Shirt | End Season Sales - up to 70%

2009-08-03T21:56:00.005+08:00

Post GSS sales from G2000. Liked the faint light pink stripes. Got it for 29 bucks, quite a good deal. Only left 1 piece for my size 15 | 32.

Note: No exchange & No further discount

50x to 500x Telescope | June Holiday Spree.

2009-06-20T15:37:00.002+08:00

[ commmming.. wait a while]

My Book, Essential Edition | 3.5" Ext. Hard Drive

2009-06-20T15:14:00.007+08:00

At the IT Show'09, for 150 bucks, you get 1 TeraByte of stroage space. It was a hard choice between WD (Western Digital) and Seagate. Seagate has 5 years limited warranty VS 3 years from WD. About 10 bucks different, seagate throws in free backup software but WD's only 30 day trial. Friends say Seagate HDD not recommanded, I wonder why. Anyway, enjoy the pictures.

FYI:

It comes default Fat32 formated. For pure windows users, I recommand to format using a NTFS system. The advantage is to able to store files larger than 4GB. But as for me, sometimes a mac / windows user, leaving it as Fat32 is still preferred. I kept it un-partition, hopes nothing goes wrong.

Why did Google's logo there?

Wow, the box comes with RFID, beware

[WD] logo, can you see?

Seems no cooling fan required.

Selling in the Weak Economy | Dilbert

2009-06-14T23:47:00.008+08:00

Check out the comments HERE.

New Samsung Phone Advert | Launch Event (15Jun'09)

2009-06-12T22:25:00.007+08:00

Not sure if you guys know, Samsung is launching a NEW phone. Launching cities are London, Dubai & Singapore. This event starts on the 10th Jun and ends on the 15th Jun. Every day from 10th to 15th, they will have one person from each city to open up a black box. By the end of the 5th day, hopefully, the phone will be reveled.

I liked the way the phone is being market to the mass, with a fancy webpage, a count down timer and some interesting videos of the reactions of people opening the black box. It kinda have the "Matrix" feel to it.

Hope that this phone is as what it says "Full technical specifications is top-secret until launch". I'm pretty sure there are some leak photo circulating somewhere in the Internet. Enjoy.

SURFboard SB6120-CN | Gadgets

2009-06-10T20:50:00.005+08:00

I was able to get my hand on the latest approved cable modem for Starhub. Exterior design is simple, squarish and black. Personally, I like this design mainly because of the ventilation through out the entire unit. I guess heating is an issue for cable modems

I think it would be interesting to cramp atom-based mainboard and processor into this case. This might take some time before another modem replaces this.

Rubik's Mirror Blocks | Toy

2009-06-10T14:36:00.007+08:00

With GSS round the corner, it's not difficult to get have discount brochures stuffed in your mailbox. This is yet another doodad that I acquire for 2009 from Toys'R'us @ $29.90/- Well, this toy only kept me busy for a day or so till I figure out how to go about solving it. Uses the same concept to solve a basic 3x3x3 cube. Click Here to see me solve it.

It definitely looks better un-solved, maybe to use as a Futuristic Paperweight.

New Posts After Almost 1 Year

2009-06-10T14:25:00.005+08:00

I have been too lazy to update this blog. Now, I back again... Cheers.

Puma Polo-T & Mizuno T-shirt | GSS Spree

2008-07-20T22:40:00.000+08:00

I got both the shirts at different 'World of Sports' shops. These were at 50% discount, I'm sure these are old models but still like the design. For the Puma one, there is also another color in blue avaliable.

Size (M)

Shirt Fit My Shoulders Perfectly

Made In China

'Fading' Puma Logo - Nice!

Turtle-Neck T-Shirt (Large)

Shadow Casted By My Camera

Quite Sure I Won't Be Hitting These Timings

Just Love The Logo At The Back

LOJEL Hardcase (Generation VI) | Travel Kit

2008-07-18T21:53:00.001+08:00

This is my second luggage. Got this from Mustafa @ $170. I hope this 26" will last me for about 5 years. Initially, I wanted to get a smaller 20" cabin size luggage, but at the end of the day, I got this. These photos are taken after my trip to Penang, with some scratches already.

2 Number Locks At The Sides

Rear View

Bottom View, I recommend this kind of hinge for your hard case luggage

Pull Handle

'Secret' Compartment With Lock

Handle Extended All The Way

1 Key Lock At The Center

Brand Logo

Interior With Zip Case

2 Standard Hangers

Close Up

Dr. Martens - Lenny Series | Doodads

2008-06-25T18:53:00.008+08:00

Got this shoe from OG, with some 15% discounts during the GSS (Great Singapore Sale). A darker tone of this brown would definitely be much nicer in my view. However, the next darker tone was black with high contrast stitch lines.

Gillette "Gel" | Weird

2008-06-24T22:31:00.000+08:00

I'm not too sure if this product was already out in the market for some time, but it was the first time to try it out. Don't think that I really need the standard size, so I bought the smallest available at that time, also not too much shaving for required for me.

The first time I tried the "Gel" version, didn't think it was too bad. The 'Gel' that comes out of the nozzle slowly expands into the usual foam type with a nice smell after shave.

It is usually the next day, I would discover some residue ~ all over the 'shop', at the cap and the edge area. So I did an experiment by not capping it after use. The next day, you will see the remaining pictures below, it just look weird.

If you would really like to see this wierd problem,

East Sheen Cube 5x5x5 | Toy

2008-06-11T21:20:00.004+08:00

For all cube puzzle fans out there, you can get this 5x5x5 cube from Action City. After clearing the 3x3x3 cube, its time to up the level. I have cleared the 4x4x4 cube, but it very seasoned to be shown here. I have checked the Internet for the solution and it will be avaliable by "Google(ing)".

This particular brand is not the original Rubik's Cube, bit it's definitely smaller, more expensive and handy to bring around. Note that this sheet does not tell you the solution to the puzzle. It only explain how to dismantle and assemble the cube.

GATSBY Moving Rubber Mini | Travel Kit

2008-06-07T21:03:00.002+08:00

I got this little GATSBY wax from Penang while on a business trip. This is small and handy especially useful when you are on the move. Of course, this is not the only color available. For all different types of this GATSBY series, there is also the mini version. It's good for people who would like to try more types without paying for the full size.

Above shows the actual of the wax in comparison to a 50 Japanese Yen.

MSN Avatar Collection

2008-03-26T21:31:00.004+08:00

This is a collection of all the MSN avatar that was placed my my friends. See if you can spot your own avatars. The reason that I have all these pictures was because Miranda saves all the contact pictures in a folder which is easily accessible. With the help of the collage function of Picasa, this is much easily created. I had thought of forming a picture by rearranging the order of the avatars, but it did not quite worked. For anonymity reason, I have Gaussian Blurred the entire photo.

Official Dilbert Widget | Management Comics

2008-03-19T21:12:00.004+08:00

To all Dilbert fans out there, Dilbert Comic now comes in color! Previously, only Sunday strip is in color.
Below you will see how it look like...

In my opinion, this widget load faster than the previous (without color) and you get to browse back much further.

If you would like to have a different size, just visit on the links below. The link on the FAQ should provide more information.

Meanwhile, enjoy the comics.

LINKS:
Get Official Dilbert Widget: Here
Official Dilbert Widget FAQs: Here
Original Website: Here

TransMemory 4GB | Toshiba

2008-03-11T00:06:00.004+08:00

Got this at the IT Show last weekend. It way too crowded, but I still went there to get the last minute deal for S$27. I suppose the read speed is faster as its Vista ReadyBoost compatible.

Submarine Cable Network | Tata Communications

2008-03-01T22:07:00.006+08:00

[Screen shot: www.tatacommunications.com]

Recent news on submarine cables was damaged, and suddenly the Internet connection to your favorite sites slows down. Now, we do know that submarine cables for communication purposes do exist, but how exactly which countries are link to another?

Tata Communication provide this cool Interactive Flash Map to see how these cables are connected around the world. Not to mention their website interface is quite interesting.

You will get to see how we are very much connected to rest of the world.

LINKS:
Tata Communications: Home Page
More Interactive Flash Maps: Click here

How To Boot From USB Flash Drive | PC FAQs

2008-02-28T23:24:00.006+08:00

There must be some people out there searching the Internet for this kinds of things.

You could have heard of booting from the CD, just like inserting the Win XP or Vista disc for installation. With the flash drive getting popular, these days, PCs can boot into a nice Linux environment with just using a flash drive, still allowing you to surf the Internet and do some decent work.

Now that people are done with the 1.44" floppy disk and using USB thumb/flash drive. It can really be helpful to have a USB boot to repair your computer when your operating system corrupts, your CD-ROM is on the verge of failing, or your CD-ROM is not IDE but SATA so there is no way for any Boot CD to work.

There is this wonderful website that explains "How to create a bootable USB Memory Key" I think you should download the files provided and keep them safe some where reliable as I don't think this is quite legal to provide download links this manner.

So, what next? There is not point to have a bootable USB that does nothing. This is where you will need to have other software to help you to repair and recover. You don't need to have lots of knowledge, just some search the Internet. Here's a link to Hiren's BootCD. Download this bootCD in ISO format and burn it onto a CD by following the instructions found here.

** under construction ** in the following days, I will update this entry.

Sketch Uni Again? | The Laboratory

2008-02-13T18:49:00.002+08:00

This time round, it turned back to Sketch again.

Copyright 2000-2007 Neopets, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Used With Permission

Invisible Uni | The Laboratory

2008-02-10T21:01:00.000+08:00

You might be thinking that this is lame, my neopet this time is INVISIBLE in color
Copyright 2000-2007 Neopets, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Used With Permission

Miint 1.0 | Firefox Themes

2008-02-10T02:44:00.002+08:00

Guess I'm crazy over green color. To fellow Firefox users, this could be an alternative to your current theme. It clean, simple and ...Green.

Installation is easy. Click the link below. In the new page, click on the green "Install Now" button.

LINKS:
Download Miint 1.0: Click here

Flash Game | BEJEWELED

2008-02-05T21:12:00.001+08:00

Yet another addictive flash game. The first time I started playing this game was around 8 years ago. It seems that this simple game is still not too boring after all these years.

If you would like to save this game onto your desktop, download the following files and put them in the same folder (right-click | save file as). Drag the swf file into your Internet Explorer or Firefox to start the game. Enjoy

Bejeweled.swf
bejeweled.xml

New Trophy | Jhudoras Cloud

2008-02-03T23:11:00.000+08:00

Currently at Third place...
Part of the games category of neopets. Basically, you need to find the items that the dark faerie (Jhudoras) need. In return, she will give you some nice items. The way tip to get the trophy is as follows:

#1 Hi score resets in the beginning of each month, so you stand a higher chance!
#2 Two games each day, 12 hour interval each, complete both of them!
#3 The faster you can give the item, the higher the scoring!
#4 Start from a low level, items are more affordable!

Copyright 2000-2007 Neopets, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Used With Permission

Ranger & Izaeel | Wedding @ Conrad Singapore

2008-01-30T21:41:00.000+08:00

My course-mate (MCC) during my NS held his wedding at Conrad Centennial Singapore. Just to share some nice pictures of the place, food and the events. Enjoy.

Solving Rubik's Cube | iSight Recording

2008-01-19T17:04:00.000+08:00

Ok, this post could be quite boring. I have posted a 3 minute video of me solving the 3 x 3 rubik's cube. I had to stand while recording the video with iSight.
Enjoy

Sketch Uni | The Laboratory

2008-01-18T20:04:00.000+08:00

Just Color Change This Time.
Copyright 2000-2007 Neopets, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Used With Permission

7 Days Fabulous Kyushu Trip

2008-01-05T17:28:00.000+08:00

Second trip to Japan, this time by SA Tours. View using the Picasa Web Albums, Or click below

Alternative | dfGallery: For Better Sized Photos

Rubik's Cube 3x3x3 | New Toy 2008

2008-01-04T23:53:00.000+08:00

I have wanted to buy myself a original Rubik's Cube, fed up with turning those old cubes that will only turn in one direction or the pieces keep falling out. This cost below $11. Was able to solve it, but this time trying another method, hoping to hit a better time record. Stilling trying very hard...

@SEND | Book

2007-12-12T21:43:00.000+08:00

It doesn't mean that you are born in this Internet era, you are born to write emails. If you got no idea why you always end up writing the wrong things in your daily emails to your bosses, colleagues, customers, suppliers and etc., you should probably get this book. The best part of the book for me "The Eight Deadly Sins of Email".

AppleCare Protection Plan | Warrenty Extension

2007-12-12T21:04:00.000+08:00

Addition to the iMac, I extended the complementary coverage to 3 years for both service and telephone technical support. There was a 15% discount at SITEX'07. I had to wait for a week after my purchase and go down to Wheelock Place to collect it personally. I think its kinda of cool, as you can just buy it separately for another Mac owner. Nice packaging. The CD provided contains the TechTool Deluxe. Just a application that allow you to perform some test to check that your Mac is in good conditon.

Dilbert - The Complete Series | DVD

2007-12-10T20:05:00.000+08:00

I got to know of the Dilbert comic strip from one of my university's management courses. Soon after, I searched there is a free online comic strip daily, plus a full color version on Sundays. There was a TV animated series since 1999, now on DVD.

I would recommend reading the introduction of the characters www.dilbert.com then the DVD, then the daily comics. This will help you understand the comic better. So, please get a copy of the DVD and start watching. Enjoy.

[Screen shots]

LINKS
Dilbert.com | The Characters: Click Here
Wikipedia | Episodes List: Click Here

20" Aluminum iMac | Christmas Toy 2007

2007-12-08T13:21:00.000+08:00

I have bought myself the new 20" aluminum iMac that comes with the new leopard OSX 10.5 from SITEX'07. It seems that for some reason, it was difficult to take nice photos on the mac. Must be because its all white, I am not using a professional camera and I am just an noob . Some how the auto color mess up.

Mutant Kacheek | The Laboratory

2007-12-02T22:00:00.001+08:00

Its been long time since there are changes to my pet type and species. Basically, almost every day, I will visit this particular place called "The Laboratory" zapp my pet.

Quoted: "So you have found your way to my lab, have you? I'm working on a new experiment, a ray that will give any pet super powers, and great strength. Of course it's not finished yet, but if you are willing to take the risk then I may let you have a go."

After that there are few possibilities, you might increases/decrease your status, change pet species, or pet color. In my case, I have color change from Blue Kacheek to Mutant Kacheek.
Copyright 2000-2007 Neopets, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Used With Permission

New Trophy | Games Master Challenge 2007

2007-11-27T19:45:00.000+08:00

Level 8 | Games Master
35 challenges completed!

To all Neopets fans out there, there is a new trophy for you. Its not as difficult as the individual games' trophy. So, please spend some time to complete all 35 challenges to get up to the level 8. Below are the different trophies for different challenges completed.

Copyright 2000-2007 Neopets, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Used With Permission

Out Of Office

2007-11-22T22:34:00.000+08:00

The past two weeks are just too busy for me. Two weeks out overseas for business trip, training, good food but not too much time for shopping. Just some photos to share. I have decided to only have the slide show instead of putting up photos one by one. So,

Inner Ear Headphone | Audio-Technica ATH-CK1

2007-11-02T22:48:00.000+08:00

Got a pair of audio earPhone below S$35. Hope it blocks out most of the ambient noises on the plane. I intend to use that on the place to get better sleep and I think this is more comfortable than those headphones provided on the flight. It will be another long flight... Oh ya, I have left the RFID sticker tag on the box. FYI, it was covered by the price tag.

New Blog Site

2007-10-29T23:00:00.000+08:00

I have created a new blog to test new things in the Internet. So this is my playground before I implement into this one.

LINKS:
betaplayground: source

Stripe Generator 2.0 | Beta

2007-10-25T23:12:00.000+08:00

Thanks to the Stripe Generator 2.0, I now have a more interesting background.

Below briefly describes how I have done it:

Create your favorite stripes with color combination of your choice
Download the PNG file to your computer
Upload the file to any of those free hosting servers, Picasaweb, Flickr, etc
Grab the link of the file "http://......png"
Make a backup of your XML file, just in case
Make some changes to the XML template, replacing your existing background file with the grabbed link
Save changes
Done

[Screenshot]

LINKS:
Stripe Generator 2.0 beta: Click here

Along Singapore River | dfGallery

2007-10-25T00:55:00.000+08:00

Took me some time to get the dfGallery half working. If you are not able to see, Click Here, wait a while and hit the back button. Below the flash based gallery link the available photos which are shared in your Flickr account. It also works with popular photo sharing sites like Picasa, Photobucket, Fotki and custom images. I think this is one of the easiest to use as compared to others. You might need to host some PHP files to be using this type of gallery. If you need help, drop me a message using the comments.

LINKS:
dfGallery: Flash-Based Gallery
Freehostia: This one works with dfGallery, please change the PHP version to 5+
For more Flash based gallery, drop me a message at the comments section...

Wireless Notebook Mouse 6000 | Doodad

2007-10-21T14:41:00.000+08:00

For those who are members of Challenger, I found that there is a particular model of the MS mouse which is slightly cheaper than usual. Usual price was around $74, for members, it was just below $60. I find it rather strange, as there was another similar mouse, just with a different color and language packaging, it was around $69 (after membership discount). The mouse comes with an installation disc and a free battery.

I don't really need a wireless mouse, but since its was cheaper and I been hoping to get one, I just bought it.

Business Trip to Hanoi, Vietnam | October 2007

2007-10-20T15:48:00.000+08:00

This trip to Hanoi was to prepare and setup a booth for an exhibition. Mainly for products that I am responsible. The exhibition was from 11th to 13th Oct. Mostly the pictures are taken during my free time, it has everything I see except for my work.It was a nice experience to the way people live in Hanoi.

For people who want get away from city life, this might be a good place to see a totally different things.

And here is the rest of it.

IPPT 2007 | PASS

2007-10-17T21:01:00.000+08:00

Yes !!!
After one month of controlling my diet, less supper, less beer, less alcohol, less chilli, it had paid off. Got a pass with incentive S$100 for my IPPT. Of course, this would include regular training to get the above results.

For those who have got no idea what IPPT (Individual Physical Proficiency Test), it is a physical test that most of us need to pass every year till the age of around 35+, or else suffer the RT (Remedial Training).

RT Session
RT is an 8-week non-residential training program. It provides differentiated training packages for individual NSmen to help them overcome their weak areas in physical fitness. It is conducted over two phases:

Phase 1.
This will be a 4-week Conditioning Phase of 2 sessions weekly, 1 weekday and 1weekend. It will build up the basic fitness of the NSmen.

Phase 2.
This phase applies the principle of 'overloading and increased intensity'. It is the 'toughening' phase, conducted thrice weekly (twice on weekday and once on a weekend).

Each RT session is 4 hours in duration with the following activities:
>>In-processing/Safety Briefing - 15 mins
>>Physical Training / IPPT Training - 3 to 3 1/2 hrs (include 15 mins of break after each hour of training)
>>Out-processing - 15 mins

Nice Fonts | Smashing Magazine

2007-10-08T23:47:00.000+08:00

Sick and tired of scrolling through all the fonts available in those free font search web pages, to realize that:

1. Font library is not complete
2. Not high quality
3. Just browsing through takes too much time
4. Sick of advertisement along while browsing
5. So much more..

This is a site where you can get free, high quality font. Although there are not much of them to download, but I couple of them, nice and free should do the trick. For those who has time, browse through Smashing Magazine. There you might just find just the right things that you are looking for... Enjoy...

Below are nice pictures way to portray the fonts.

[Picture by Smashing Magazine]

Miranda IM Ver 0.7 | Instant Messenger

2007-10-06T14:06:00.000+08:00

Latest version of Miranda IM v0.7

I have tested for MSN protocol only, it seems quite stable for me, but have to change to new plugins for Tabsrmm and Modern Contact List. I like the new Modern Contact List whereby the icons can be directly customised without editing the contact skin file. Now, all the icons can be changed, I think a good improvement.

For the illustration above, I have used icons from [Tango], [Silk Icon], and the contact skin from [SONE04 for Miranda IM by ~aakio]

LINKS:
SONE04 Skin: deviantART
Tango Icon: Gallery
Silk Icon [famfamfam]: Download

Hotel Phoenix | Closure

2007-10-02T22:49:00.000+08:00

There has been much property frenzy for residential and commercial building around the town. Suddenly had the urge to take photos of building, as I happen to pass by town the other day and saw that Hotel Phoenix is about to be refurbished. I think just beside the hotel, 2 more new building/mall are in the process of construction. Must be due to the integrated resort that are up and coming. It was taken in the evening, and was kinda cloudy.

"While we are sad to do so after 35 years of operations, we believe the refurbishment of Hotel Phoenix will add value to the rejuvenation of Orchard Road and contribute to the Government's vision of strengthening Orchard Road's appeal as a major retail, commercial and entertainment belt.", Quoted

LINK:
Hotel Phoenix Singapore: Website

Moon Cake | The Ritz-Carlton

2007-10-02T00:33:00.000+08:00

Its the time of the year where Mooncakes are in the greatest demand. We Chinese elebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival together and enjoying one of these Chinese pastry. Every year, my company buys many boxes for our customers as gifts during this Chinese festival. This year, they have chosen the "branded" one from Ritz-Carlton.

I like the design and think its presentable as compared to some others. I have been to Takashimaya to see all sorts of mooncakes that are on display and for sale. For those who have missed the chance, you might have to wait for another year.

You do not see the cross-section of the mooncake as it is already in my stomach... Yum...

Gerald & Kristie | Flickr

2007-09-26T19:26:00.000+08:00

For my nuspolyian2003 group, my personal photo on the wedding is up on flickr. For those people who want access to these photos, please register a flickr account, send me a email to my yahoo account. Not all the thumbnail are shown below.

Sphere | Escape From The Locked Room

2007-09-24T20:37:00.000+08:00

[Screen cap from n e u t r a l ]

This is another "Escape from the room" game. At the link below the game, there is a hint section to help solving the puzzle. I too, used the hint to complete the game. I like the rendering of the game, please set the color to 32-bit for best viewing.

The game has some variation, so it might be different in terms of maybe the password, color coding and etc. So, it could be different every time you use a different computer or laptop.

Enjoy the game !!!

Famous Buildings | Lightbox 2

2007-09-22T10:15:00.000+08:00

Using Lightbox 2 to display the following pictures. To see the visual effect, please wait for your browser to load completely before clicking on the images. It works on Javascript.

I have seen this effect a couple of times in the Internet, but have got no idea how it is being done. For you people who too seen this effect but not sure of the name of this script or how to do it, lucky you to come to this blog then.

Due to some issues, using Lightbox 2 on blogger has taken me quite some time(half a day) to fix the problem, or rather going round the problem. This is just because I want to have the pictures stored in picasaweb album. I will wait a few days and test the pictures again.

If you use wordpress instead of blogger, there is a plugin for Lightbox 2

Updated 31.Oct.07:
Not too sure why it is not working. My guess would be that there are changes to the link

LINKS:
Lightbox 2: How to use

Vodka | Absolut Pears

2007-09-17T23:07:00.000+08:00

Vodka got a new flavor, I got one from DFS, Changi Airport

Absolute Pears - Commercial

LINKS:
Absolut Pear Cocktail: Drink Recipe

X Craft 250 Lite | Cooler Master

2007-09-15T22:19:00.000+08:00

It time of the year to do some backing up of my data from my T43 Thinkpad and my bro's desktop. I should get my laptop for a overhaul, formating, vacuming, etc.. Got a Western Digital 2.5", 120GB hardisk. Walked around in Sim Lim Square to find a nice case from Cooler Master. This is the lite version, meaning it does not have the full set of accessories. Cost below S$30, not too expensive, no backup button, good enough for me.

Note: For those who does this on your own, please go online go register your WD hardisk. Oh, I got to admit that the photo taken are not too nice. Better to look up the official website.

LINKS:
Cooler Master: X Craft 250 Lite
Western Digital: Product Registration

The IT Crowd | Anti-Piracy Commercial

2007-09-13T22:04:00.000+08:00

Are you a "pirate"? Check out below for the anti-piracy commercial clip (YouTube)

If you are interested in comedy from UK, please check out the official site and maybe buy the first series of the show. For people who are in the IT department or industry, it will be great if the events in the show happen in real life. 6 episodes in the first season and for the second season, it is still at episode 3.

Its funny, hilarious, makes you exercise much of your lungs and some stomach muscle. Enjoy.

LINKS:
Official Website: The IT Crowd
YouTube Search: Here

Flash Game | Gateway II

2007-09-12T19:00:00.001+08:00

This an interesting game for people who loves to solve puzzles. This is the second game in the Gateway series! Its kinda like "Escape Room" game but, there is a story line in this game that will all known after you have solved all the the puzzles.

LINKS:
Original Website: Gateway 2

Spoiler Alert Below !!!

I have completed the this puzzle. If you are stuck post it in the message box on the right.

Web 2.0 | Tag Cloud

2007-09-11T20:00:00.000+08:00

[Image from wiki]
I am still making small changes to this plain simple blog, which uses standard templates from blogger. Added a Tag Cloud on the bottom right column. Clicking on it will bring you to the labeled posts. You noticed that the texts come with different sizes and colors. The larger the size mean that there are more posts on that particular tag or label.

For people who uses Gmail often, should be familiar to the term "Tag" or "Label". I think this is a good idea of tagging or labeling information that surround us everyday. This is definitely more flexible then storing Email into folders, where we have to start thinking what is the best way to sort them into into more sub-folders.

LINKS:
Wikipedia: Tag Cloud
Tag/Label Cloud: How to create for blogger
Intro to Web 2.0 in 5 minute: YouTube clip
Web 2.0 explanation: YouTube clip

Business Trip to Taichung, Taiwan

2007-09-05T21:12:00.000+08:00

For almost the whole of last week, I was in Taiwan for product tranining. The implication would be that I will be more busy in the subsequent months to come and I should not get kick out of the company any time soon. It was an intensive of full 4 days of lectures with some hands on. Apparently, some key personal who was in-charge of mostly Aisa region for a certain product left the post. Thus, that market was split to the rest of the subsideries.

I reach Taichung on Sunday, 11pm and check into a hotel. The hotel was nice. It was built slightly more than 1 year ago. I loved it. It has almost everything that you could have asked for. It has amble walking space, LCD tv (plus a small one in toilet), coffee maker, water dispenser, laptop, printer, internet connection...

[Hotel on the left]

On the wednesday evening after a dinner (buffet style), we went to the nearby night market with some korean collegues.

[Dog hogging on the middle of road]

[ladies paradise?]

[nothing but bikes]

[Cooling ventitaion system]

[Helmets, retro style]

After all the training, we left for Taipei on thurday evening. Our flight was on friday afternoon, thus we only the night and the next morning to explore Taipei. On the way to Howard Plaza Hotel, taffic was still ok. It seems like bike is the more popular mode of transport here. Full of bikes everywhere. We were lucky, we got a free upgrade to a suite, nice!!!

[More bikes]

[No place to squeeze liao]

[Mini-living room]

["Take Me Home" it says"]

[Deco in the Toilet]

As recommanded by the Taxi driver, we went to one of the largest night market in Taipei. We skipped dinner for some street side food.

[Yummy]

The next morning, we took a walk to 101, still the tallest building in the world. We had wanted to take a lift up, but it only start at 10am and we had to leave hotel by 11am. We did not have the chance. We took a break

[Advertise]

[Citylink, Longer version]

[What is the monk doing?]

[Sun yat-sen memorial hall]

[Taipei 101]

[Close up]

[Familar?]

[Lobby, inside the building]

[Design Concept of Taipei 101]

Overall, the training trip was successful, but we did not have much time to do more shopping for clothes. Maybe the next holiday trip would be to Taipei...

My Picasa Web Album

2007-09-04T12:45:00.000+08:00

I have recently started to use Picasa to manage my online photos. I have kinda stop using www.multiply.com and moved to Picasa web album instead. It allows basic tweaking of your photos like croping, some basic visual effects, removing red eye effect, straighting, export, creating disc as gifts, upload to an online album and most importantly, you dont really have to be a professional to use it.

Google also have lots of online stuffs you could try to use. Check out more of Google's products.

LINK:
My Picasa Web Album
Download Picasa
More Google Products

Paprika (2006 Film)

2007-09-02T16:49:00.000+08:00

Because of the embed video, it took me some time to publish this post in the way that I wanted. This movie could only be caught at the Cathay cinema locally. For those people who have missed the movie, you probably have to wait till the DVD release. It is definitely worth all your time and effort to catch this show, especially for all anime lovers. In terms of the plot, it has a new and interesting concept, it felt like when I first caught the show "Ghost in the Shell" and all the series, but even better. It seems like in the world of animation, anything is possible.

Synopsis :
In the near future, a revolutionary new psychotherapy treatment called PT has been invented. Through a device called the "DC Mini" it is able to act as a "dream detective" to enter into people's dreams and explore their unconscious thoughts. Before the government can pass a bill authorizing the use of such advanced psychiatric technology, one of the prototypes is stolen, sending the research facility into an uproar. In the wrong hands, the potential misuse of the device could be devastating, allowing the user to completely annihilate a dreamer's personality while they are asleep. Renowned scientist, Dr. Atsuko Chiba, enters the dream world under her exotic alter-ego, code name "PAPRIKA," in an attempt to discover who is behind the plot to undermine the new invention.

LINK:
Official U.S. Website: Paprika
Official Japan Website: パプリカ
MySpace Profile: Paprika Movie

TRAILER:

TigerLIVE @ St. James Power Station

2007-08-19T16:00:00.000+08:00

I am quite sure most of you know that St. James is one of the newest clubbing places. But during the day, it is also a museum for Tiger Beer.

We went there on National day, 8th Aug'07. There happen to be a promotion, entry tickets were at S$4.20 each pax. Basically, its kinda of like a Tiger Beer museum where it shows the history of Tiger beer, when it was founded and the usual things like the ingredients, the processes, the awards and other stuffs.

I think the best part of the tour would be the 3D show on the beer making process. You will get to sit on a moving platform with those clear 3D goggles. (its not like those with red and green goggles) It is a nice place for visit for anyone especially tourist who likes beer, there is a free complementary glass of Tiger beer. For ladies and kids, they do offer soft drinks instead. There are also a range of souvenirs like t-shits, cups, mugs, key chains and other stuffs.

[Mugs of Tiger Beer Sold - impressive]

[Tiger Beer Truck outside St. James]

LINKS
TigerLIVE

FILTERING ADS IN IE7

2007-08-14T21:56:00.000+08:00

Previously, we have AdBlock (a plugin that filters away unwanted advertisements) for Firefox, now we have AdBrick for Internet Explorer 7.

Basically, it allow you to block selected advertisements. Currently, the help manual is only avaliable in English. This could be very helpful to remove those website that are infested with advertisement that make your web browsing experience aweful.

Visit the link below on AdBrick, and download the installer.

Upon installing, you will require to restart IE7.

To list blockable items: perform a right click on IE7 and choose "List Blockable Items..."

To view the settings: press the ALT key, on the menu bar choose "Tools" | "Adbrick Settings"

Screenshot:

[Lists of blockable items]

[AdBrick settings]

LINKS:

AdBrick Blog

Fate-Stay Night | Anime

2007-07-18T18:51:00.000+08:00

Nice anime that I watched over a span of 2 weeks. It is a total of 24 episodes in and the it falls into the category of (Magic, Harem, Action, Fantasy, Romance). It is licenced by "Geneon Entertainment (USA), Inc." Please try not to get it through P2P software or you might get into trouble.

The overall storyline and the effects are good, might be worth the time to take a look.

Synopsis :
Emiya Shirou is the son of a magician long dead. Dabbling with little magic, he has managed to survive so far without a problem, until one day he witnesses a combat between two men with mystical powers. Shirou gets chased by one of them, who is attempting to eliminate him, but the sudden appearance of a swordswoman stops the attacker. Now he is part of the quest for the holy grail, a magical artifact sought by magicians and their magical servants.

Links:

Original Website: www.fatestaynightdvd.com

Try to catch these videos on youtube.com or veoh.com while it is still there.

MSN | Blocker

2007-07-01T20:20:00.000+08:00

Not sure if all the MSN messenger users know about the following information...

Block your annoying friends

It may be bad to "block" your friends, anyway this is the way to do it. Double click on your friend's contact to open up the chat window. Click on the icon in the red box as shown in the picture below. Done for now.

But there is still a flaw with method as these days, there are sites that check if your friends are online without with just their Email address. There is no requirement for you to login. Just perform a search on google lets you know these sites.

So now you may think what what is the point of this blocking feature when your "friend" still knows that you are online? The following instructions will totally prevent these sites from knowing. Open your MSN messenger where you can see all your online contacts.

Go to your MSN Messenger options by pressing key. The menu appears on the top, then choosing "Tools" | "Options". You will find a options windows appearing. Next choose on the left hand side "Privacy". Check the item in the bold red box. Once you are done, click apply followed by Ok.

To verify if it had work. Visit the MSN status checker any try your Email out. That all for now.

Crashed My Dad's Toyota VIOS

2007-06-10T22:02:00.000+08:00

It was just another Sunday, whereby I was told by my dad to drive using his vehicle. The idea was that he wanted me to send him to his friend's place. Also, he wanted me to have more actual driving experience on the road.

Scenario:
The stationary taxi was in front of me. I was driving at around 30~40 km/h, when I saw the taxi, I signaled left, wanting to filter to my left. I glance my left mirror, saw a black car driving to the lane that I wanted to filter. Without slowing down. I turned to look at my blind spot, saw the car drive past, look back to the front, I was already so near to the taxi in front. Although I stepped brake, damage was already done.

In the end, I settled everything without claiming insurance. I paid around $1k plus for repairs of both car. Anyway, it would have cost the same if I claimed insurance.

Lesson learn: Do not think that there is a experience driver beside you, you can drive with less attention. Drive safely and keep alert at all times.

Driving Licence

2007-04-30T20:35:00.000+08:00

Passed my Class 3 driving test after on the third try. Had a hard time to reach to this stage. For all we know, there are more people out there who passed the driving test on the first try, also there are many people who are trying very hard, going for re-test. To all those still trying out there.... "your turn to pass will come if you persevere"

History of driving test:
05/11/04 - Class 3 Practical Test (1st)

05/11/04 - Book FTT
21/12/04 - Final Theory Test (2nd)
28/07/06 - Book Pratical
05/12/06 - Class 3 Practical Test (2nd)

05/12/06 - Book FTT
22/01/07 - Final Theory Test (3rd)
23/01/07 - Book Pratical
26/04/07 - Class 3 Practical Test (3rd) .... PASS !!!

Picture Taken On Bus

2007-04-16T21:54:00.000+08:00

On my way home on a Saturday afternoon, I caught this scene and I though it might be nice to share this. I saw this taxi driver maximising all the time there is available to the fullest. While waiting for the traffic light, this uncle was playing Sudoku !!! the book version.

I don't really think it is a good idea. I would never agree the driver to do that if I was the passenger. Anyway this picture is taken using Sony Ericsson W700i.

I Am Back

2007-04-16T10:17:00.000+08:00

Its about time to start posting some thing. Been either busy with work or just too lazy to have any updates this blog. Hope I have not disappoint people who drop by once in a while to check up my blog. If anyone reading my blogs have any computer related queries or request, drop me a mail codestone@gmail.com and I will try my best to get the problem fixed.

Also for those who know me in person, I will be changing to a new mobile line/number (not sure if it is a good idea to leave the number here), rest assure you can still get to me using the old number, I have got the porting of old number to the new line (should be ready by the end of this week).

SUDOKU HELPER (EXCEL)

2007-02-10T21:24:00.000+08:00

Frustrated over solving Sudoku that you find on newspaper like (My Paper, Today)?

I created a helper that helps you while solving the puzzle. So far, it is still unable to solve those hardcore puzzles, but at least it helps for those you can find on newspapers. It is made purely by excel and does not have complex algorithm.

For people who would like to have a copy of the unprotected copy, drop me a e-mail or drop some comments.

LINKS:
ZIP FILE

Remove Singnet Spam Mail [ For Free ]

2007-02-03T23:26:00.000+08:00

Problem: There are just too many spam mail coming into my mail account, and everyday I spend half hour to go thru the e-mails to delete them. Is there anyway to get rid of the spam mails?

Solution 1:
If you think you have the extra money to spend, go apply for Singnet's spam mail filtering services for a subscription of $2.10 per month. So if you are on a 24-month contract, you will have to pay around $50.00 more. Whether you think it is affordable, its your choice. But the problem is that these days, Hotmail, Yahoo! and Google are providing free spam mail filtering services. I am not sure why Singnet still charge a small fee for it.

Solution 2:
If you think its not worth it, follow the instructions below.

1. Apply for another free Email account / ID (Hotmail, Gmail, Yahoo!, etc).

2. Use Singnet's mail forwarding services, forward all your mail to another e-mail account like Gmail, Hotmail, or Yahoo! mail. Click HERE to get to Singnet Email forwarding page. Fill in your User ID, Password, Forwarding address and Keep Forward Message. Click on the enable button once done. You should see another screen showing that the mail forwarding services is enabled, with the new Email account.

(Note: you might want to try if the spam mail filter works to your liking, so I suggest that you check the "Keep Forward Message" in the first few days of testing before unchecking it. If you do not uncheck it, it will take up the space in the Singnet Email account. Soon it will start to reject further mails.)

What actually happens:

Receive mail from other people
Mail will be forwarded to your new account upon activating the mail forwarding services.
All mail in your new account will be filtered. Filtered mail are not deleted, but are stored in a "spam" folder where you might take a look at a later time.
There you go, now you will have filtered mail without actually paying more.

3. For those people who are using Email client such as outlook express, Mozilla Thunderbird, you need some more configuration to be done.

4. Assuming that you are using Gmail, login to your new Gmail account. Click the setting link on the top right hand corner. Choose "Forwarding and POP". Choose your preferred settings. If you are not sure, follow the image below. Once done remember to click "Save Changes".

5. To configure your Email client, click Here to view the instructions by Gmail. Since the instructions is being explained, I don't think I need to elaborate again.

LINKS:
Singnet's Anti-Spam Services
Switching to Gmail

Preview: Miranda Skin - [Red]Theme

2007-01-27T00:31:00.000+08:00

With the help of Quelb and some inspriation from benjamino, after weeks of going through SkinGuide.doc of the modern contact list, I have created my own personal version of the skin. I have not thought of the name for this theme, so I will call it [Red]Theme because of the red buttons used on the top. Currently, I am using MSN, ICQ, QQ, Weather and POP3 Notifier protocol on Miranda IM. I will also design a few layout for this design, so I guess it will take some time again. For those who are using miranda and want this skin, drop comments to let me know, and I will try to get it done ASAP. As soon it is done, I will post some links to be available for download.

Details of the Skin not done by me:
icons from Buuf Set,
avatar from alien moods|2

For those who want to know what Miranda is, please refer to one of my previous entries.

Links:
Miranda Instant Messenger
Guide to Create Skin

Looking For Jobs?

2007-01-15T22:22:00.000+08:00

This is just a message to anyone out there looking for a new job. I have friends who happen to have job vacancy for some jobs. I will post the job on the side of my blog.
Interested parties, please send me a e-mail indicating which job you are interested. I will then give you the e-mail address where you can send your resume to.
Thanks.

Disclaimer: I am doing my friends a favor and I do not get commission in anyway.

The Qee Collection

2007-01-10T20:11:00.000+08:00

Muahaha.... Finally, I found the origin of these Designer's Toy. I came upon these toys from the deviantArt website under the avatar category about a year ago. Since then, I sometimes search the Internet for these toys till now (maybe I did not try hard enough). During the time when I was in Japan, I saw people selling some look-alike ones on the streets. It seemed to have defect and some was dirty and yes you might have guessed it: I did not buy any.

It belongs to this Hong Kong based toy company Toy2R, it has over 1000 different types of design. Basically, the Qee has a body that resembles an extremely simplified human form similar in appearance to LEGO toy some of us used to play. It as a few basic characters such as head of a bear with asymmetrical ears, a cat, a dog, a monkey, a rabbit ans some other more. It comes with different sized such as 2.5-inch (standard), 1.5", 8", 16", 36", and 60" or sold as a key chain. If you want to customize with your own design, you could get a one without any design on top.

I think its a very nice collection of toys, most of the design looks good. I hope I could have some for my next birthday. Anyway, below shows some nice looking ones in my opinion. If anyone would like to buy, please scroll to the end of the blog for the link.
Enjoy some of the collections that I have selected below, for more, visit the link also found at the end of the blog.

*if any one know places that sells these, please drop me a comment. Thanks in advance.

Links:
Original Site (www.toy2r.com)
Buy Qee Online

"New!" Picture Of The Week

2007-01-08T23:33:00.000+08:00

It has been a long time since I change the 'Picture of the Week'. Initially, I wanted to change it once in a week, but have been busy and did not complete other designs on time. Anyway, I found a picture of my dad working in the year of 1983.

It was wicked, as I have never seen it before in my past 25 years. So I thought it might nice to show. The time the photo was taken was at Feb 1982, by this company TheSingaporeMonitor. What I heard is that this photography company has closed down.

The man in the middle of the picture, was my dad helping his father (My Grandfather) selling Beef Noodle at the PUB building. I think he looks handsome. For those who has been there these few days, you won't able to see the stall, as my dad stopped the business since 2001. For those who have tasted the beef noodle, thanks for all your support.

RocketDock 1.3 Final

2007-01-06T22:02:00.000+08:00

*Updated On 4 Feb '07

The beta version is over and they have released the final 1.3 version.
For details, click Here.

*Updated on 11 Jan '07

Change from Beta 1 to Beta 3. Check out the video preview on Vista!

*Original post
Just added this Dock Software on my lappie. From the website, it seems to be compatible with every dock skin format in the market. Currently this software is still in beta stage, so there might be some bugs here and there. For example, sometimes the icon of the recycle bin does not correspond to your system's recycle bin status. Like every other Docks, you can have docklets like a analog clock or a weather docklet. I think the animation effects are quite smooth, unlike some previous docks that I have installed, there seems to be a lag time or delay. It takes around 10MB of the system memory. Most importantly, its a Freeware!!! For dock icon lovers, try exploring deviantART for more.

Links:
RocketDock Download
Buuf Icon Set Download

"Flaw" in Game (QuadraPop)

2007-01-03T20:25:00.000+08:00

First of all, a very Happy New Year to all people who has decided to drop by my blog. Back to the main topic.

For owners who own a Sony W700i mobile phone, there is a game, QuadraPop that comes with the phone. For the past few months, I have been playing with this game and I realized that there is actually a minor "Flaw" in this game. It seems that the programmer of this game has decided to set the maximum score at 99999 and it does not enable me to have a high score of above 99999. So, I have decided to max out the high score table. Check out my High Score.

Local File Sharing Website

2006-12-29T09:29:00.000+08:00

Some of you people might have already know this file sharing website. For the rest who have got no idea what it is actually, let me explain you.

The actual term used to describe this type of web services in the Internet is "One-Click Hosters". Basically, it allows Internet users to easily upload any type of file onto the hoster's server free of charge. To access to the uploaded file at a later time, users have just to click onto the URL given after the uploading is complete.

The one thing special that I liked this site is that it allows users to encrypt the file with passwords (ZIP file), so other users would not be able to open the file easily without a password. This site is useful if for example you like to share some photos or video with friends, but do not wish to flood their mail. Most importantly, this is a local site, thus the speed should be faster compared to the rest. So, to start using, click here.

Currently, there are many file sharing websites all around the world, with different maximum upload sizes and limitation of bandwidth. To see the comparison chart from wikipedia click here.

Below are the list of one-click hosters that I have used before.

Depositfiles
Filefactory
Megashares
Megaupload
RapidShare
Sendspace
Storeandserve
YouSendIt

Christmas's Eve's Eve

2006-12-24T22:45:00.000+08:00

Hey its Christmas's Eve today, but I am boringly blogging at home. I already had a gathering at my friend's house yesterday. Its was initially suppose to be a BBQ at East Coast, but due to bad weather, it had changed to a buffet.

It was quite nice to see my polytechnic friends and to chat with them. Like to say thanks to Jean, who spend time to make this gathering happen and also Aaron, who help to organize some games to make it an interesting gathering.

There was a gift exchange session and I've got a toy calendar. Basically it's like a logo toy where you need to arrange the blocks so that it matches the particular month of the calender (Refer to photo). It was quite nice, but I don't think I will change the blocks every month. Will be displayed in a cabinet at my living room.

Click here for more photos.

7 Days Hokkaido Winter Trip

2006-12-24T21:07:00.000+08:00

Back from the CTC's Package (7 Day Hokkaido Winter Special). For those who might be going to Hokkaido in the near future, you might want to check out my online photo album.

I have not been to overseas too often, I would give this trip a rating of 8/10. This is a nice trip for people who loves nice food, sight seeing and snow activities. The photos that I have posted are not the complete, so if you would like to see more, drop me a comment or an email.

Below are the highlights of this trip.

HAKODATE
(Morning Market, Goryokaku, Trappistine Convent, Cable Car ride to Mount Hakodate)
LAKE TOYA
(Mount Showa, Bear Ranch)
RUSUTSU
(Snow Activities)
OTARU
(Kitaichi Glass, Otaru Orgel Doh)
NOBORIBETSU
(Hell Valey, Shiraoi Ainu Village)
SAPPORO
(SapporoTV Tower, Tokeidai Clock Tower, Asahi Beer Factory, Ishiya Chocolate Factory)
YOHOHAMA
(China Town, Ramen Museum)

Free Online File Conversion

2006-12-20T22:30:00.000+08:00

Hi people, it has been a long time since my last post. I was enjoying my holidays in Hokkaido, Japan.

Anyway, my brother accidentally found this free online file conversion site. As the name suggest, it convert file format from one type to another without the need of installing any additional software.

I think its pretty cool to use it if you are not using your own computer or if you are using a Internet terminal at those Internet Cafes.

The main types of files able to convert are Document, Image, Music, Video formats. Below are the lists of files that you are able to convert from.

Documents
(csv, doc, odp, ods, odt, pdf, ppt, xls)
Image
(bmp, gif, jpg, tiff, ps)
Music
(ac3, au, flac, m4a, mp3, wav, wma)
Video
(avi, flv, gvi, mov, mp4, mpg, wmv)

For more information, click http://www.zamzar.com/

How fast is your Internet connection?

2006-12-08T14:17:00.000+08:00

For those who carry your laptop around, there is good news. For the next 2 years or more, we can all surf the Internet for free at "hotspots" all around Singapore. I think there is a catch somewhere, remember, "there is no free lunch in this world".

Anyway these days, we get to see advertisement from our local ISP (Internet Service Provider) telling how fast the Internet connection can go. So, there have been many people complaining; I changed to a faster speed or broader bandwidth, how come the speed is still the same or even slower at times??? The truth is that there are many factors that will determine your internet connection speed. I will not elaborate on the details, but I think you could "Google" the answers out.
Instead, to see your average Internet connection speed across the world, click Here.

With this, you are able to see connection speed to various countries across the world. Currently, there are around 50+ servers to test from. While using the speedtest, please do not think that you are actually connected directly to the destination directly, but it passes thru lots of nodes. It is just for illustration purposes only. You might want to use this site to benchmark the connection speed of our local ISP(s) before deciding if you want to sign a 1-2year contract for a better connection.

Personally, I think this site is nicely done. So far out of so many sites that checks your Internet connection speed, this is one of the bests.

New Miranda Skin

2006-12-06T22:16:00.000+08:00

Check out my Miranda IM Skin that I just applied. For those who got no idea what Miranda is, let me explain you. Miranda IM is an open-source multi protocol instant messenger client for Microsoft Windows. It's smaller, faster, easier! More about Miranda IM.
Basically, it allows many different protocol to be combined into one program (eg. MSN, Yahoo, ICQ, QQ, Weather, and many more...) For those who are tired with how MSN Messenger looks, this could be the one for you. It is highly customize and you can even know what version of MSN Messenger your friends are using. Below are the plugins that I installed.

Modern Contact List (Unicode) 0.4.3.55
Database Editor++ 3.1.3.6
Fingerprint 0.1.0.0
FontService 0.1.4.4
History++(2in1) 1.5.0.109
Icon Library Manager (Unicode) 0.0.1.6
IEView 1.0.9.4
Avatar service (Unicode) 0.0.2.5
My Details 0.0.1.2
SmileyAdd (Unicode) 0.1.12.9
Contacts Status Notification 0.1.2.2
tabSRMsgW (Unicode) 1.0.0.1
Tipper 0.2.4.3
Weather Protocol 0.3.5.14
YAMN tweety 0.0.1.8
YAPP 0.1.2.1

Tweaking your MSN Messenger

2006-12-01T16:24:00.000+08:00

Ever thought of customizing your very own MSN messenger? Not sure if you know that you can remove away all those pesky advertisements appearing on your MSN messenger? I have the solution for you.

Listed below are the few different groups coming out with these patches

A-Patch | Mess Patch (Generation 5)

With these patches, you are able to run two instance of messenger at the sametime (different accounts of course). You get to remove any buttons that you do no use often. The best part is the you can revert back to the original simply un-installing the patch.The image shows how your Messenger could look like after applying the patch.

Everything is nice about the patch but there are some issues:
It takes a while to try out which options are the actual items that you want to remove. So, customization takes some time.

Mozilla Firefox

2006-12-01T14:57:00.000+08:00

Like many other users, I prefer Firefox over the "legendary" Internet Explorer. I personally feel that it better because you are able to choose from over a thousand useful add-ons that enhance Firefox. So, in additional to a personal computer, you are able to customize your "Personal Firefox". The following list are the current add-on that I am using.

Adblock Plus - Block out all the advertisements while visiting your favourite sites.
Adblock Filterset.G Update - database of advertisements that you do not want to see.
CuteMenu - adds icons to all your menu to beautify your browser
DownThemAll! - A substitute to an external download manager. Increases your average download speed.
Fasterfox - allow you to tweak your Firefox to increase your speed / experience in the
Internet Showcase - a good plug-in to see all you tabs that you have opened.
[Recommended to hardcore neopets players]
Gmail Space - Use your gmail account for file storage - upload / download.
[Recommended for fast upload speed]
PDF Download - Allow you to choose to view or download PDF files
[Helps if PDF files takes too long to display on your browser, hanging your system]
ReloadEvery - Refresh the particular web page every time interval.
[Recommended to hardcore neopets players]
VideoDownloader - Download videos from Youtube, Google, Metacafe, iFilm, Dailymotion...
[You need a FLV player to view the downloaded files]

In additional to the above plug-in(s), there are many more to explore.
For those interested in anonymous browsing the Internet, check TORPARK out.

Interested in Firefox and want to know more, click here.

New FREE Firewall - Comodo Firewall

2006-11-29T22:19:00.000+08:00

Not sure if you people has the same problem as me. I was not able to re-install the free ZoneAlarm firewall after accidentally clicking the button that changes it into a 15-day trial version. Nevertheless, I found another one. I thought it was much better than the free version of ZoneAlarm. I liked the catch phrase.

"Its Free. Forever. No Catch. No Kidding"

For those more advance computer users, you may want to try out this firewall, or maybe check the firewall out at www.personalfirewall.comodo.com. I have been using it for a couple of days already and so far so good. I have done a search of the ratings of this firewall throughout out various websites, it seems to be good one considering the fact that you don't have to pay for it.
This company also has lifetime free antivirus, so if you are looking for one, you may want to try it out.

FIRST POST

2006-11-27T16:34:00.000+08:00

This is my favourite font... nice...

After a long long time, I have finally decided to start a blog. I hope that I will continue to update this site with interesting links and information.

In the near future, I hope to lean CSS to replace the current view from the template.