DavidTan.org http://www.davidtan.org Personal Tech, How To, Tips and Making Money Online Wed, 08 Jul 2009 16:39:17 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8 en hourly 1 Davidtanhttp://feedburner.google.com Watch Out Microsoft Windows, Here Comes Google Chrome OS http://www.davidtan.org/watch-out-microsoft-windows-here-comes-google-chrome-os/ http://www.davidtan.org/watch-out-microsoft-windows-here-comes-google-chrome-os/#comments Wed, 08 Jul 2009 16:35:37 +0000 David http://www.davidtan.org/watch-out-microsoft-windows-here-comes-google-chrome-os/ Google announced Google Chrome Operating System, an open source, lightweight operating system that will initially be targeted at netbooks and is expected to be available for consumers in the second half of 2010.

From Google Blog:

Speed, simplicity and security are the key aspects of Google Chrome OS. We’re designing the OS to be fast and lightweight, to start up and get you onto the web in a few seconds. The user interface is minimal to stay out of your way, and most of the user experience takes place on the web. And as we did for the Google Chrome browser, we are going back to the basics and completely redesigning the underlying security architecture of the OS so that users don’t have to deal with viruses, malware and security updates. It should just work.

Google Chrome OS will run on both x86 as well as ARM chips and we are working with multiple OEMs to bring a number of netbooks to market next year. The software architecture is simple — Google Chrome running within a new windowing system on top of a Linux kernel. For application developers, the web is the platform. All web-based applications will automatically work and new applications can be written using your favorite web technologies. And of course, these apps will run not only on Google Chrome OS, but on any standards-based browser on Windows, Mac and Linux thereby giving developers the largest user base of any platform.

Windows and Office are two of the most popular cash cow and stronghold of Microsoft. Google Docs shown the world how a free online office suite can be easier choice to use, share and collaborate your documents. Google started looking into building operating systems for mobile phones to set-top boxes to netbooks with Google Android. And earlier this year, Google announced their own internet browser known as Google Chrome which competes directly with Internet Explorer, Firefox, Opera and Safari.

But what makes Google Chrome OS different is that it will be competing directly with Microsoft on the operating system market. Google Chrome OS is being created for people who spend most of their time on the web, and is being designed to power computers ranging from small netbooks to full-size desktop systems I bet some people will hold on their horses and be reluctant to upgrade to Windows 7 just because of this since this essentially means that people can have more choice in choosing what operating system to run on their machine.

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]]> http://www.davidtan.org/watch-out-microsoft-windows-here-comes-google-chrome-os/feed/ 0 Roger Federer’s 15th Grand Slam Title Could Have Been Andy Roddick’s Second http://www.davidtan.org/roger-federers-15th-grand-slam-title-could-have-been-andy-roddicks-second/ http://www.davidtan.org/roger-federers-15th-grand-slam-title-could-have-been-andy-roddicks-second/#comments Mon, 06 Jul 2009 14:40:00 +0000 David http://www.davidtan.org/roger-federers-15th-grand-slam-title-could-have-been-andy-roddicks-second/ The Wimbledon 2009 finals will go down as one of best tennis match I’ve ever seen and here are a couple of facts which I find interesting.

1. It was a really close match which seems like it would never end with a final result of 5-7, 7-6 (6), 7-6 (5), 3-6, 16-14— the longest match and longest fifth set in Grand Slam final history in terms of games.

2. The match could have gone either way. If only Andy Roddick had capitalized on his 6-2 lead during the second set tiebreak, he would have a very good chance of winning the tournament judging by the way that he was playing that day. Andy held all his serves for the entire game and only miss one which made Roger earned his 15th grand slam title.

3. It’s their third meeting in a Wimbledon finals and it’s the closest Andy came to winning Roger in Wimbledon. Andy might have played his best tennis I’ve seen so far and has really improved in his volleys, net play and backhand.

4. Both players were serving huge first serves with Roger making 50 aces and Roddick 27 aces. Roger was sort of getting accustomed to Andy’s serve during the 5th set and returning serves more cosistently. Comparitively, Roger kept on serving huge and Andy didn’t quite read where the serves were gonna drop during the 5th set. Match statistics summary can be found here.

5. Being a Roger fan all this while, I switched my stance and wanted Andy to win this finals. It would have been great to see an ex-world number 1 working hard, flying under the radar and fighting as hard as he can to win against someone who has a record of 18-2 against him (now 19-2 after wimbledon 2009) to win the game. Seeing Roger lifting the cup each time seems a little bit boring nowadays and hopefully someone (hopefully Roddick) from the top 10 can bring him down in US Open 2009.

6. Roger is back to Number 1 in world rankings! 15th grand slams title and a couple of other records and achievements. Rafa fans must be really pissed :)

If you’ve watched it, you must know how it feels like. It was simply an unforgettable match.

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]]> http://www.davidtan.org/roger-federers-15th-grand-slam-title-could-have-been-andy-roddicks-second/feed/ 0 Real Estate Property Research With Google Maps http://www.davidtan.org/real-estate-property-research-with-google-maps/ http://www.davidtan.org/real-estate-property-research-with-google-maps/#comments Mon, 06 Jul 2009 13:59:15 +0000 David http://www.davidtan.org/?p=2372 Google Maps Real Estate Search allows you to search an area for a rental or for sale property and allows you to filter down to criterias such as property price, type, number of bedrooms, bathrooms, parkings and land area. While property search engines ain’t new on the web, google maps is now even better with the introduction of real estate property search functionality.

It must be a coincidence that I’ve just published a post about the world’s most expensive places to buy a property and the fact that I’m looking for a new place to settle. The first home buyer grant stimulus by the Australian government to help new homebuyers is coming to an end on September 2009 and this google maps property search comes in just in time to help in doing my property research.

Previously, my workflow of researching an area/property online would be:

1. Goto realestate.com.au or domain.com.au (2 of the main real estate search engines in Australia) and search for a property.

2. Find a property I like, open up google maps street view and see what the area/neighborhood/property looks like.

But now thanks to this Google Maps Real Estate Search, I can see all the properties that matches my criterias all on the map which saves me quite a lot of time.
google-maps-real-estate-property-search

It’s interesting to see how Google is currently getting these listed properties onto Google maps though. For some reason, I’m currently not seeing any properties listed in realestate.com.au or domain.com.au being listed in Google Maps Real Estate Search yet. The majority of these listings which I’ve noticed were coming from myhome.com.au (surprise!) which had better permalink/slug structure in their links.

It’s really good timing and hopefully Google will keep on indexing more properties onto Google Maps Real Estate Search. Here’s a video introducing real estate search on Google Maps.

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Real Estate Property Research With Google Maps

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]]> http://www.davidtan.org/real-estate-property-research-with-google-maps/feed/ 0 Most Expensive Real Estate Markets In The World 2009 http://www.davidtan.org/most-expensive-real-estate-markets-in-the-world-2009/ http://www.davidtan.org/most-expensive-real-estate-markets-in-the-world-2009/#comments Sun, 05 Jul 2009 13:14:23 +0000 David http://www.davidtan.org/?p=2368 Are you house hunting or looking for an investment property? How much are property prices in other countries? Chances are you haven’t seen the most expensive ones yet.

According to this investment analysis done by Global Property Guide, the top 10 most expensive places to buy properties in 2009 are:

Most expensive property markets

(based on 120 sq. m. apartment in city-centre )
RANK COUNTRY CITY/REGION AVE PRICE (US$/sq. m.)
1 Monaco Monte Carlo

47,578
2 Russia Moscow

20,853
3 UK London

20,756
4 Japan Tokyo

17,998
5 Hong Kong Hong Kong

16,125
6 USA New York

14,898
7 France Paris

12,122
8 Singapore Singapore

9,701
9 Italy Rome

9,166
10 India Mumbai

9,163

1. Monte Carlo $US47,578 per square metre.
Tax haven for the rich and famous but not enough land to go around.

2. Moscow $US20,853 per square metre.
The communism pendulum has swung back the other way with a vengence on the back of high oil prices and economic growth.

3. London $US20,756 per square metre.
Everyone wants to be in the capital of the British Empire.

4. Tokyo $US17,998 per square metre.
Once again, the capitalism capital of Japan with not much land and too much business. My barber from Tokyo said it’s too streesful to live in that place.

5. Hong Kong $US16,125 per square metre.
Hong Kong is China’s gateway to the Western world and is a mix of ex-pats and new Chinese millionaires.

6. New York $US14,898 per square metre.
This is where New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and wall street is, what do you expect?

8. Singapore $US9,701 per square metre.
Low tax. Good job opportunites and competitive job market. Smart government plus the busiest harbor in whole south east asia.

You can find the complete list here.

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]]> http://www.davidtan.org/most-expensive-real-estate-markets-in-the-world-2009/feed/ 1 How To Tidy Up and Reindent XML http://www.davidtan.org/how-to-tidy-up-and-reindent-xml/ http://www.davidtan.org/how-to-tidy-up-and-reindent-xml/#comments Sat, 04 Jul 2009 18:07:27 +0000 David http://www.davidtan.org/how-to-tidy-up-and-reindent-xml/ I’ve been testing a few REST and SOAP web services API and all of them were returning XML in raw and unformated form. These data, while correct, were hard for any normal human to go through and make sense out of it. Instead of just reading this raw data, what I did was copy and paste it into another application so that I can read it properly.

There are a few application that reindents XML for you but I will only introduce 2 of them that I’ve found the easiest to use.

1. Notepad++
Notepad++ is free and comes with a built in plugin that helps you reindent xml data. Copy and paste any raw xml data into Notepad++, goto TextFX > TextFX HTML Tidy > Tidy: Reindent XML and that’s it!

2. XMLMarker
XMLMarker is free and deals specifically with XML. I think the application view is simply brilliant and allows you to glance at all the nodes and data in a easy to understand way. Simply copy and paste any raw xml data into XMLMarker and press the box highlighted in the picture below and your xml data will be reindented and formated perfectly.

Some people might say that you can see all those xml nodes by setting up the debugger and breaking after the REST request or SOAP request. That’s doable but still, that would mean going through the code and setting a breakpoint everytime you want to examine a similar request. Why don’t just save a copy and investigate the xml anytime you want? For me, that’s a no-brainer.

So there you have it. I find that Notepad++ reindent ain’t perfect and XMLMarker does a better job in reindenting the xml that I’ve passed in for it to format. These two application is free and if you’re considering getting a more advance level xml editor such as Oxygen XML, you can at least start from here before committing into something costly.

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How To Tidy Up and Reindent XML

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]]> http://www.davidtan.org/how-to-tidy-up-and-reindent-xml/feed/ 0 How To Jailbreak/Unlock iPhone and iPod Touch Step By Step Guide http://www.davidtan.org/how-to-jailbreakunlock-iphone-and-ipod-touch-step-by-step-guide/ http://www.davidtan.org/how-to-jailbreakunlock-iphone-and-ipod-touch-step-by-step-guide/#comments Thu, 02 Jul 2009 12:53:47 +0000 David http://www.davidtan.org/how-to-jailbreakunlock-iphone-and-ipod-touch-step-by-step-guide/ Jailbreaking/unlocking allows you to load non-iTunes and third party apps onto your iPhone or iPod Touch. Gizmodo published this easy to follow guide (with pictures!) so that even a novice user will know how to unlock their iPhone now. Save yourself the money of asking phone sellers or so called pros to help you in unlocking as you can now DIY! And it’s really simple anyway!

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How To Jailbreak/Unlock iPhone and iPod Touch Step By Step Guide

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]]> http://www.davidtan.org/how-to-jailbreakunlock-iphone-and-ipod-touch-step-by-step-guide/feed/ 0 Free Microsoft Office 2007 and Office 2003 Training Courses http://www.davidtan.org/free-microsoft-office-2007-and-office-2003-training-courses/ http://www.davidtan.org/free-microsoft-office-2007-and-office-2003-training-courses/#comments Thu, 02 Jul 2009 10:36:38 +0000 David http://www.davidtan.org/free-microsoft-office-2007-and-office-2003-training-courses/ Did you know that Microsoft offers free training courses for both office 2007 and office 2003? With this kind of resources available, it’s really just an excuse when you hear people saying that getting trained in Microsoft Office cost too much money and time. Hey, it’s free but it covers lots of ground. All it takes is just some initiative and discipline to sit down, focus and learn.

The training course covers the following products
Access 2007
Communicator 2007
Excel 2007
Live Meeting 2007
OneNote 2007
Outlook 2007
PowerPoint 2007
PerformancePoint Server 2007
Project 2007
Publisher 2007
SharePoint Server 2007
Visio 2007
Word 2007

Access 2003
Excel 2003
FrontPage 2003
InfoPath 2003
OneNote 2003
Outlook 2003
PowerPoint 2003
Project 2003
Publisher 2003
Visio 2003
Word 2003

which is basically everything found in the office 2007 and 2003 suite!

These self-paced training courses can be found here.

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Free Microsoft Office 2007 and Office 2003 Training Courses

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]]> http://www.davidtan.org/free-microsoft-office-2007-and-office-2003-training-courses/feed/ 0 Preorder Windows 7 Home Premium and Professional Upgrade, Save 50%! http://www.davidtan.org/preorder-windows-7-home-premium-and-professional-upgrade-save-50/ http://www.davidtan.org/preorder-windows-7-home-premium-and-professional-upgrade-save-50/#comments Thu, 02 Jul 2009 10:09:39 +0000 David http://www.davidtan.org/preorder-windows-7-home-premium-and-professional-upgrade-save-50/ Both Windows7 Home Premium Upgrade and Windows7 Professional Upgrade are available at a 50% discount only if you preorder it today. The offer last up till July 11, 2009 or while supplies last, whichever comes first. The official release date for Windows 7 is October 22. If you’re a technology forefunner and want to save money while upgrading to Windows 7, getting the upgrade package today at its cheapest price is a smart move nevertheless. Don’t miss out!

Windows7 Home Premium Upgrade

Windows7 Professional Upgrade

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]]> http://www.davidtan.org/preorder-windows-7-home-premium-and-professional-upgrade-save-50/feed/ 0 Real Time World Wide Firefox Downloads Stats http://www.davidtan.org/real-time-world-wide-firefox-downloads-stats/ http://www.davidtan.org/real-time-world-wide-firefox-downloads-stats/#comments Wed, 01 Jul 2009 05:06:44 +0000 David http://www.davidtan.org/real-time-world-wide-firefox-downloads-stats/ Firefox 3.5 has just been released today. I still remember back when firefox 3 was released for public download, there was a huge marketing push behind it. Download counters, press release and even a firefox 3 download completion certificate (no kidding!).

It’s a little bit more quiet these days with the release of firefox 3.5 partly due to the fact that an automatic upgrade functionality is already built into firefox meaning that your firefox will automatically update to the newest version if you were already using firefox 3.

Nevertheless, if you’re a stats junky and curious about how many people are downloading firefox 3.5 at the same time, you will find this interesting.

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Real Time World Wide Firefox Downloads Stats

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]]> http://www.davidtan.org/real-time-world-wide-firefox-downloads-stats/feed/ 0 Money As Debt http://www.davidtan.org/money-as-debt/ http://www.davidtan.org/money-as-debt/#comments Wed, 01 Jul 2009 02:33:07 +0000 David http://www.davidtan.org/money-as-debt/ What is money? And how is money created? Most of the word’s population work for money and yet some don’t really understand where it came from and how it’s really created.

This video discusses why debt is the real money and why that if everyone in the planet pay off their debt, there will be no more money left. The next time you walk into a bank and ask for a loan or mortgage, give yourself a pat on your back since you’re essentially doing a really important thing – creating money!

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Money As Debt

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