Velvety Tech Gallery

Corntoz, Express Yourself!

2009-12-08T22:33:00.000+08:00

Always after back from work, I will watch TV for an hour or so while getting some rest. Then I come across this ads of a snack. This guy will sniff hardly from the packaging before eating - for me, it looks kinda disgusting for a food commercial. This is the ads if you never seen it before. All videos are uploaded by 8dgeSolutions.

Not long after, there is a newer version of the ads but this time with another disgusting act which we might do back at home. Finger licking good action!

And the last act is to chew like a squirrel and enjoy yourself to max.

Without noticing, I start to remember the name Corntoz because of these 3 ads. Basically, it's hell of a good job from Corntoz marketing department. The next thing I know, my sister got ourself a pack of Chilli Cheese Flavored Corntoz Mini only to find out that Corntoz is from Mamee. The taste is alright and would be a great snack for movies round. So, go get yourself a Corntoz and express yourself with some flavor!

Listen, if you never heard of Mirusia Louwerse!

2009-12-06T12:09:00.002+08:00

As usual, I love to browse around my hard drive looking for anything to entertain me. Sometimes, I will stump into something like 'Whose Line Is It Anyway?' or Russell Peter's that can make me ROFL. This time round, while porting my files to another machine, I saw Mirusia's videos.

You definitely heard of Phantom of the Opera by Andrew Lloyd Webber, right? One of the song that I love is 'Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again' which meant to be performed by the character, Christine. Since then a lot of versions have been heard.

Definitely the original Christine is Sarah Brightman but her version is not for everyone.
Check this YouTube's link for her 1987 version since embedding disabled.

A lot of people love Emmy Rossum's version which I thought it was kinda dull, no offence.

Uploaded by carolynroxsox

Hollie Steel shock the world not long ago in Britain got Talents. Credit for her since she is so young!

Uploaded by BritainsGotTalent09

And then...I found the version I really love. Mirusia's Version. Uploaded by musicinoz. No point for me to re-upload.

The Lyrics

Click me to reveal

You were once my one companion
You were all that mattered
You were once a friend and father
Then my world was shattered

Wishing you were somehow here again
Wishing you were somehow near
Sometimes it seemed if I just dreamed
Somehow you would be here

Wishing I could hear your voice again
Knowing that I never would
Dreaming of you won't help me to do
All that you dreamed I could

Passing bells and sculpted angels
Cold and monumental
Seem for you the wrong companions
You were warm and gentle

Too many years fighting back tears
Why can't the past just die?

Wishing you were somehow here again
Knowing we must say goodbye
Try to forgive, teach me to live
Give me the strength to try

No more memories, no more silent tears
No more gazing across the wasted years
Help me say goodbye
Help me say goodbye

Now that you have listened, please proceed reading only if you think she is good. LOL.

Mirusia Louwerse was born in Brisbane, Australia in 1985 which make her just 24 by today. She was graduated with a High Distinction in Bachelor of Music and become the youngest ever to win the highly acclaimed Dame Joan Sutherland Opera Award. Now she is a soprano soloist performing alongside with Dutch conductor Andre Rieu. Well, the second song that I love from her is Ave Maria. Definitely the best rendition would be from Barbara Bonney.

That's all for this round guys. Check her out yourself for more! Me, out~

Streamyx Upgrade..Failure!

2009-12-05T15:33:00.001+08:00

Two weeks ago, I asked my sister to call up this Mr. Chew from TM Marketing. I wanted to upgrade our Streamyx combo 1Mbps to 4Mbps. Well, this guy promised it will take like a week or so and then, I waited and waited... until the end of first week. So, I checked on the net and found out my application is processed with error. Huh?

Don't trust the free 4 months when you can't even get the upgrade!

Proceed with calling TM 100 and they say the application status is 'normal' so I let it be. Now is the end of second week and I called TM again. This time round, they asked me to go TM Point. Since it's Saturday and having half business day, I rushed immediately to Taipan and waited there for close to 2hrs. In the end I found out that they didn't process my application because Subang Jaya ran out of ports. Can't they tell me much earlier?

I think TM meant itself as the beginner! Well done!

Seriously, if my usage is low, I definitely 'potong' right away! Wonder how you want to sell your things when you sell without stock. TM definitely need to redefine their business.

Busy Busy Busy

2009-11-29T15:19:00.005+08:00

Damn...I left this blog die out here by not updating it. Really sorry for it but it's been hell busy with work.

Anyway to fill up emptiness of the blog, I put up two CPU set for sale. In case you helping someone to find downloading machine or what, maybe you can have a look =D.

CPU 1 (Black Color Casing) - SOLD!
Intel Core 2 Duo E7200 (2.53GHz)
Gigabyte G31M-S2L
Seagate 250GB Sata HDD
2GB AENEON DDR2 667
Generic 350W power supply
Samsung DVDRW
Original Windows XP Pro OEM, only COA on the casing provided. (Updated with SP3 and Windows Security Essentials)
Samsung mouse and keyboard.

CPU 2 (White Color Casing)
Intel Pentium 4 1.8GHz (Socket478)
HP Motherboard
512+256MB PC133 SDRAM. 512MB is Kingston and upgraded recently (RM130).
Asus Geforce MX440 64MB AGP
80GB+80GB HDD
2 x PCI USB card (Total of 10 USB Port. 2 from motherboard, 8 from card)
HEC 300W Powersupply
GMC Hotswap Card Reader
Acer 17" CRT monitor + Sonic Gear USB Speaker
52X CDROM
Genius multimedia keyboard
Optical mouse

Contact me about the price. BTW, I'm looking for a NAS. Preferred to have 1TB and support FTP, print server, USB port, Gigalan etc you know. Let me know if any of you are selling.

Online Banking with RHB!

2009-11-14T14:10:00.001+08:00

Good news to all RHB users because the system had improvised for your better online banking experience.
It is a great news for me too as it is one of the bank that I use. In my recent login, I saw the website got a new face. So here is my short adventure with it.

The first page will never confuse you - consumer or business.

I skip the second page and straight click on 'login'

The third page or the login page was awesome. It's because now it is integrated with it's own virtual keyboard. You can refer my post here where I suggested people in using Kaspersky Virtual Keyboard when banking online. Nice.

The next page requested me to re-enter my password because it is my initial login since the website revamped. It even has a secret phase so that I know that I'm on a genuine website. Standard and nice security.

Hello Me!

RHB even changed the security method to One-Time Password (OTP) which will be sent to your mobile instead of using the card that was troublesome. The only downside is the receipt as it will show my bank balance as well. Sometimes receipt is a proof of payment and we won't want to show people how much in our bank right? Just hope RHB notice on that. Anyway kudos to RHB and to whoever designed the webpage. =)

Contributing to the green!

2009-11-08T23:13:00.001+08:00

We know that green is the word today but yet people still love to throw rubbish everywhere, wasting energy, open burning and so on. Obviously, I might forgot to turn off switches and left my charger plugged once in a while but I always try to avoid them and take some small initiative on my own.

You know I like IKEA . Click to see IKEA's green way =)

I switched off my main during Earth Hour, use both pages of paper, use low power PC to download, avoid littering (except drunk) and I even got a pot of plant in my room (although it's dying). I know it looks simple but at least something, right? If you not doing any, why don't start today? Go and plant a tree!

Here is a great DIY project if you got the time - Window Farms

Brought alive by artists Britta Riley and Rebecca Bray. You can download their tutorial here on how to make one OR just head to their website.

This might sounds philosophical but I believe in cumulative effect. If everyone do their parts, I believe the world can be a better place. Everyone is doing their best to boost the economy but why not put a little effort here? I don't mean to do something radical like going for nude protest with plants and banner, but you get what I mean.

Vampire Energy! Yes, that's what we are wasting.

Seriously, sometimes I feel that even kids are more responsible than the adults. Here is a checklist that you can find in 'Saving Energy with Tinkerbell' LOL!

So, tell me what have you done lately and maybe we can share the knowledge.

Next up, I might post a small tutorial that shows how to clean your greasy and dusty PC! Don't always worry of spoiling them. Experimenting is a way of learning =D

JeeJa is back with Raging Phoenix!

2009-11-06T15:16:00.002+08:00

Flipping through the newspaper today, I found a new film in the theater (Malaysia) called Raging Phoenix from Thailand. The poster was this girl with short hair and tomboyish look. She looks cool but I thought this might be another low grade movie. Somehow, I looked at the cast and to my surprise, she is Yanin Vismistananda or better known as JeeJa!

Raging Phoenix (2009) Theater Poster

If you are not sure who is JeeJa, then be sure to google her out cause she is your next martial art superstar! At just 25, this girl can definitely kick your ass back to your mama LOL.

When she about to kick ass in Chocolate

Her current look. Cool =D

Can't blame me if I couldn't recognize her in the first place. Especially when she has a new hairdo as above =P

Chocolate (2008) Theater Poster

In her first movie 'Chocolate' last year, she played an autistic girl with extraordinary fighting talent which she learned by watching people's practice and fighting movies. Genius kid you may say. As her mother getting sicker, she tried to collect her mother's debt and eventually broke into the gangster zone. Leaving her with no choice, she needs to continue fighting.

Chocolate trailer from kungfucinema

What I love about JeeJa is that she is exactly the female version of Tony Jaa (Ong Bak) and Jackie Chan. She is flexible, talented and able to do all the stunt herself. She also able to display a wide range of martial arts. No discrimination here but definitely the power and impact is seemingly lesser than the guys. So, in her latest movie 'Raging Phoenix', hope she will show us even fiercer moves as this movie comes with the concept of combining dance and martial art.

Raging Phoenix trailer from SahaMongkolMedia

Although, this is only her second movie, I really look forward into it and definitely hope it is a good one =D

V (TV Series, 2009) - Visitors are here and with Peace!

2009-11-05T20:39:00.000+08:00

* The images might contain spoiler *

The promotional logo - source : Wiki

When I first saw the title, I thought that this is a TV series based on V for Vendetta. I was totally wrong and it got nothing to do with revolution or the mask. In fact, it's a science fiction remade from a 1983 version of V where alien arrived on earth with their conspiracy theory. Interesting story but nothing fresh.

The cast of V - source : Wiki

Basically, the story starts with the 'visitors' arrived at our world with peace and glad that they found other beings in the galaxy. Of course it's not that simple, as a small group of human believe that the visitor's true intention is to take control of the world from the human race.

There are 29 of those spaceships around the globe!

The projection of their beautiful and charming leader, Anna - but is she evil..or not?

The human group believe this is not the first encounter and the visitors are already been on earth for some ages, disguised under human skin. So, we need to gather real human and fight with this disguised human. The tough part is that the visitors are smart - they offered healing and salvation to the dying in earning human's beliefs and devotions.

Technology is part of their offering too. How tempting!

One thing that annoyed me is the similarity with Fringe.

Fringe main actress (Olivia Dunham) is an FBI agent and so is Erica Evans in V.
In Fringe, people from other dimension want to take over this world and in V, it is aliens wanting to take over the world.
Both actresses betrayed by their partners in the first episode.

If given the choice, I would prefer to watch Fringe since it involves a lot of weird and radical science theories and the development of the story is rather fascinating. I just hope that V will give out more and show us some unpredictable storyline. However, so far, the first episode is rather good and tempted me to continue watching. Kudos!

Overall, 7/10..so far.

How to stay in a relationship without a fight?

2009-11-05T16:31:00.001+08:00

How I Met Your Mother is one of my favorite comedy series and I definitely recommend you to catch up if you haven't.

Anyway, back to the title - here is a clip I extracted from the latest episode (Episode 6 of Season 5), where Barney Stinson (Neil Patrick Harris) explained how he avoided any fight in his relationship with Robin Scherbatsky (Cobie Smulders). Enjoy!

'Can't fight if ya not there' - that's what Gandhi taught us. LMAO
So, if you got the guts to try it out, please let me know how effective it is but I won't hold any liability for your failure =P

Shoot your screen with Yahoo! Widgets

2009-11-04T23:16:00.003+08:00

Put a smile on your screen =D

It will be kinda frustrating sometimes, especially when you need to face the PC all day long during your work. Some might feel wanna bash the monitor or burn the spreadsheet right away.

Well, at least by using one of Yahoo! Widgets called ShootIt, it can virtually let you 'shoot' your screen, be it using mg or bomb. P/S: Other type of weapons and ammunition are available to be downloaded as well.

Get your Yahoo! Widgets from its website now OR download from FileHippo AND install ShootIt

Image from CNET

Although I only utilized ShootIt, Yahoo! Widgets actually got a lot of other usages such as clock, map, monitoring widgets etc, so be sure to explore it! Who knows you might find something useful =)

Sony Ericsson K770i =)

2009-11-04T14:09:00.002+08:00

First, forgive the pictures as they are shot with no tripod and under low lightning condition.

A lovely low-budget phone!

Every month, I read a lot of gadget and hardware magazines just to catch up with the latest technology - that doesn't mean I own all the cool stuff. One of the heavily evolving gadget is the mobile phone. Today, mobile phone is more than a need and even the primary school kids have one.

When we say best phone, two things come into my mind - the Apple iPhone and top of the line of Blackberry.

However, if we don't utilize the phone, getting them is simply overkill and waste of money especially the price in Malaysia is 'awesome'.

LYAO, but I've been using an ancestor of the Sony Ericsson Walkman series - the W800i for 3 years now (depreciated more than a thousand). So, when I decided to change a new phone, I make a list and check with SE K770i -

Cheap! Spent less than half a grand.
A so so camera to snap on the go - 3.15MP, not half as bad.
Able to make call clearly and snappy SMS (duh!) - Checked.
Big keypad. No QWERTY, No touchscreen - the only good touchscreen I've touch is iPhone capacitive touchscreen - Checked.
D-Pad instead of trackball or joystick navigation. Checked.
Optional Wi-Fi and 3G - looking info online with puny screen is a mess - 3G capable.
Look good and I don't need fancy coloring..getting older =P - Checked.

Seems like Sony Ericsson K770i is the right deal for me. This model has been around for 2 years, so it's definitely not a big deal.

I got myself a black one. It seems the brown is more expensive according to the dealer. Heck, whatever! Upgraded to 2GB M2 memory and started to use it as soon it fully charged. So far so good. I can even chat in messenger using it. Well, it is good for a budgeted phone overall so no long winded review here. You might just go to GSMArena for full specs and review.

Boo, cheap plastic feeling!

Why not say the bad thing about it? It's totally finger print magnet and the back cover feels like total cheap plastic. The LED flash for a Cyber-shot is a disgrace, but why complain with such a price tag?

Poor man's Cyber-shot?

Overall, I'm quite satisfied with this phone and until I got my moolah to buy something Awesome, hope this can last me for some time! If you consider to change a phone but on a tight budget, this is a nice try but PLEASE don't get black like mine =P

IKEA HAJDEBY swivel chair, RM99 only!

2009-11-03T12:07:00.002+08:00

Every Ikea workers I've seen are well-trained and provide good services - maybe this is the reason!

I'm a huge fan of IKEA - my bed, my mattress, my wardrobe, my table, my lamps and even my dying flower are from Ikea. If you not sure what is Ikea or never been there, have a look at their website and follow the map below (click to enlarge)

What I like about them? - Value. I know some people consider things from Ikea are fairly expensive but if you look careful enough, they are actually not, when putting the quality into consideration. It's much better than spending for the furniture in Chinese shops that actually might break down and cause some accidents. Anyway, that's every personal preferences and no brainwashing here. My family brainwashed by me =)

If you are fan too, you should know that every month, there will be a fixed promotional item. November is here and this month, Hajdeby chair is yours for just RM99 (originally RM169). It's kinda tempting but I'm yet to try this chair out having not visited Ikea lately. Spending a lot of times playing games and doing work while sitting, comfort and ergonomic are important.

So, for a RM99, I'm actually not sure whether this thing can do the job. Yet, I'm not in a status to spend a thousand for a good chair. Come and share your experience if you own the chair OR plan to buy it OR even got an opinion about it!

OR maybe someone can donate me the RM99 chair =)

Borderlands Review!

2009-11-01T00:07:00.002+08:00

Developer : Gearbox Software
Publisher : 2K Games

I know today is Halloween (by the time of writing) and maybe I should say something that is related to it but I can't help myself from reviewing this game. "Borderlands is simply Awesome!!" That is what in my mind before I want to rant anything about it. Nowadays, it's not easy to find a game that I feel awesome.

So, what make this game so special?

It's simply because this game is a combination of Diablo and Return to Castle Wolfenstein! How's that for a starter?

No typo there. This game is a new hybrid called RPS, simply from the combination of RPG and FPS.

Beside the whole new genre, another great thing about Borderlands is players can play in co-op mode and be it online or offline, it features up to four players. Sounds familiar? Maybe.. this?

Although I'm yet to get the chance to experience the multiplayer, the single player mode already enough to awe me at the moment. Now, let's move on by the introduction of the four characters that we can choose :

Master of sniper, revolver and with pet - Bloodwing

The beauty with Phasewalk ability!

Deal heavy damage while able to heal teammates!

Anything a Tank can do?

The story

In the future, people will travel to a planet called Pandora to collect resources in search of a better life. Legend exist that there is a valuable treasure that consist of highly valuable alien technology and secrets stored in a vault. Therefore, we will set foot as one of the character that believe in the story and off to find the vault! Right after we start, we will be guided by a woman by the alias 'Guardian Angel' and assisted by a little robot called Claptrap.

'Guardian Angel' telling you that the Vault is not just a legend.

Hi, you can call me Claptrap!

Playing this game is like playing a fast pace modern Diablo. I get to level up, choose my skill while spamming the enemy with bullets.

Tutorials are straightforward. Excellent.

The control is excellent and easily get adapted to. Even the control is chosen to be some of the best. Right click for aiming, left to shoot and middle to scroll through weapon - the basic is there. Press tab and a nice compact control screen for you to configure your skill tree or simply to look at your map. Basically, everything practical is there.

My character is actually laughing when she kills!

Looting is part of the game, even the postbox!

'Level Up' is something you rarely see in FPS

Besides, this game is not limited to killing monsters and enemies as there is a PVP (Player vs. Player) mode, which is another feature I yet to try. There are dozens of monsters and weapons in this game too, making each and every player unique and different with their own capabilities. Pick the gun you work best with!

Ah..Weapons!

Watch this exciting review from IGNentertainment

Simply put, there is nothing bad that I can say about the game.

Meet Dr. Zed!

LOL, he's just the person that gives you mission on the first map.

Borderlands is definitely a very recommended game and with 160 quests available, this is definitely not another short and worthless game. 8.5/10 Awesome!

Seram - Tower 13..not bad for a Malaysian horror!

2009-10-30T14:45:00.003+08:00

Yesterday night was hell boring so I went downstairs and flipped through the local TV channel when I saw this movie called Incredible Tales from Singapore. Being a horror film lover, of course I did watch it. The story was 'okay'..sort of like Russell Lee's True Singapore Ghost Story, but the acting was horrible. While watching there's this short ad saying this movie 'Seram - Tower 13' or translated as 'Spooky - Tower 13' will be up next. I thought why not give it a shot.

Segala adegan dalam cerita ini adalah rekaan semata-mata dan tiada kaitan dengan yang hidup ataupun yang sudah mati. =P

After watching, I should say this movie is quite good! I'm not actually sure which episode it was yesterday but it gave me a quick catch up. The story is all about this haunted place (duh!) at floor 13 (Friday 13?) of Emerald Tower. Strange incidents and deaths have been occurring with no explanation except the only explanation by the manager, Adam Bakhtiar - the murders are done by mystery entities a.k.a ghost. So, we are actually listening to the stories told by Adam and other witnesses when they are being interrogated by Detective Malik.

There are some scenes that actually looks like from other movies such as The Exorcist or some Japanese horror like Ju-On but in the end, this movie by Kabir Bhatia is actually a good combination of them. This is not a comedy and the actors are serious in their roles to make this film looks good and scary. I hope the rest of the episodes are actually not bad as well. Tower 13 also combines actors from all races and therefore, I would say this movie is a very good try from the local movie industry. Originality : 4/10, Overall : 7.5/10

You can watch this on TV3 every Thursday, 9.30 p.m. OR go to TV3 website (Registration required)

Paranormal Activity - A Short Review

2009-10-29T16:45:00.002+08:00

So, what actually happens when you sleep? - Hope this is not what it looks like in our daily life.

While hunting for horror movies everywhere, I came across this movie called Paranormal Activity. Although it was completed back in 2007 for Screamfest Film Festival, it was screened for the first time on September 25, 2009 in the United States. What caught my interest is that the film budget is just US$15,000 and it managed to gross out a revenue of around US$65m in US and Canada by October 28. This is gonna be another Blair Witch Project!

The storyline is simple - a couple get disturbed by demonic presence in their house during the night. So, the boyfriend record their daily life and even their sleep, trying to capture some paranormal activities. He did and eventually things got stranger and finally - you go watch the movie, okay? No spoiler here.

The story sounds fairly normal but the key of this movie is the night video. The night videos are intense as everyone will keep silent and prepare for any thing that might jump out from the screen *particularly around 3a.m. as suggested to be a demonic hour - made famous by The Exorcism of Emily Rose*. The acting of the couple are rather good. They are very natural and able to suggest that they are actually facing this in their normal daily life. Kudos to Micah and Katie!

This is the official trailer uploaded by hollywoodstreams

One thing that got me bored is that the movie is actually overhyped. Despite being a good movie, I found it no different from any episodes of Ghost Adventures. Furthermore, I would say Ghost Adventures is even more real considering the places they are shooting are well-known haunted places. That's said, although it's not the freshest thing I've seen, I still think Paranormal Activity able to creep you out even you might not be a faint of heart. 7/10.

If you are a fan of horror movies, make sure you find and watch Ghost Adventures series as well!

Dilbert.com and Comic.com Widget

2009-10-29T03:02:00.008+08:00

Guys, if you notice, Dilbert widget is not at the sidebar anymore. I'm not sure how many of you are actually reading it but I am. I had to remove it to improve the loading speed of the main page as now it's getting crowded. However, I will provide a link for you to come back here to read the widget. Additionally, I added Comic.com widget. Press read more to see the comic strips. Enjoys =D.

It might take a while to load. Please wait.
Patience is a virtue.

Dilbert

Comic.com - My choice 'Pickles'

Saw : The Video Game Review

2009-10-28T13:55:00.003+08:00

Developer : Zombie Studios

Publisher : Konami

"Hello detective, I want to play a game" - if you are a fan of the Saw series, bet you have heard this an infinite times. Well, it seems we gonna hear it again but this time not in the movie but in the game. That's right, Jigsaw want to play a game with you in a game! LOL.

If you know me long enough, you should know that I'm a big fan of horror games and movies. I always wonder why they never release a Saw game as it should be brilliant! Thanks to Konami, we have it after the 6th installment of Saw movies - refer to my previous post.

If you follow Silent Hill (SH) series - one of the game that put Konami on top, you will notice that the series always retain some features like the grainy setting, slower combat system, creepy noises and complex story line. Well, that's what made it great. When I saw 'Saw' published by Konami, I thought it would be not much of a difference. I was right except the storyline is from Saw movies of course.

Urgh, my head my head! Wait, it looks like some robotic helmet, cool!

In the game you will start as one of the very first character in Saw, Detective David Tapp who pursued Jigsaw from the very first. After having shot, he was brought by Jigsaw to an asylum to heal and to test his will of survival. There, you will have dozens of traps and puzzles awaiting. The thing I like about this game is the control. In some puzzles, you need to rotate the mouse and click at the same time to unlock which is a bit refreshing and not that dull. As always, puzzles in game like Resident Evil (RE) and SH is part of the fun. Saw is no exception.

Close the toilet doors and look into the mirror. Tadaa! 437!

Now we know the key is in Mr. Adam Faulkner. Time to cut him up!

However, the combat system is not that good. Well, like the normal battle in earlier SH or RE, you press a button to enter battle stance and another click to attack. I'm not sure if it's just me or what, but my attack commence rather slowly if I hold down the stance button. I need to re-press the stance button for every hit. As a result from my first battle.

I'm so dead!

There are also traps everywhere so you need to stay focus in the game or else you would end up like him.

What happen when a shotgun blast through your head?

Do I have a choice?

That's all for my review on Saw : The Video Game. Here is a preview from IGN before I dismiss the class.

If you agree with John's idea to appreciate life, or you might be a big fan of Saw, then this is the game for you!

It could have been a better game IMO with quality graphic engine like Resident Evil 5, but at least there is a Saw game. 6.5/10.

Btw, Resident Evil 5 is awesome, try if you haven't!

Online Banking with Kaspersky Virtual Keyboard

2009-10-27T20:20:00.002+08:00

On Kaspersky IS 2010 - How to add trusted application?, I did express why I like this suite of internet security. Although the future development of it is uncertain, it is undeniable that Kaspersky Internet Security (KIS) is one of the better option at the moment to defend your computer or to be more precise - to defend your privacy and data.

Today, paying a bill or transferring a fund is just a mouse click away. Online banking is becoming a major service as people will choose not to queue in the bank just for a mere transaction. Myself is not an exclusion, having to deal with buying and selling online, online banking service is essential.

Due to the large number of users, banks always try to put much efforts in enhancing the security of online banking. Encrypted website and Transaction Authorization Code (TAC) are some of the many layers of the security option implemented. However, some people might still be paranoid to use the system. What if your PC is vulnerable? for instance, having a keylogger installed in your system. In order to prevent that, I will let you aware on one of the function that KIS offers - virtual keyboard.

Basically, by using virtual keyboard, there will be no keystroke when keying in username and password as all been done with mouse click. This way, your password will not be recorded even if it's infected with malicious software. If you have your KIS installed, it is advisable to use this feature everytime you log in into a website - any website.

In Firefox, you need to enable the Kaspersky add-on and press the 'K' button on the top right to display the virtual keyboard, as indicated in my screenshot.

Alternatively, you can right click on the Kaspersky icon on the system tray and choose 'virtual keyboard'.

The tips is short and simple but it might be very useful. So, that is all for this time and happy banking online, safely! =D
I will post up anything worth to be shared. Subscribe if you may and stay reading~

Using Proper Language - The F Word

2009-10-27T09:36:00.000+08:00

Well guys, while organizing the stuff in my hard drive, I found this funny flash animation. I know it is old and most probably a lot of you seen this before but if you haven't, then enjoy and have a laugh. I will just link it from youtube uploaded by koolv2 instead of re-uploading the whole thing. Educational stuff! LOL!

My Top 10 Windows Utilities (Part 2)

2009-10-26T19:06:00.006+08:00

Alright, now it's time to complete my previous post by naming the next 5 applications. This time the programs will be more on data management such as downloading, recovering, compressing and so on. So stay with me and you might find something useful!

Reminder again: All links are clean with no ads whatsoever.

6. File Sharing - Thunder MOD (Modded Xunlei) - Many Thanks to HeHeHunter!

Talking about torrent can really make me type non-stop since this is a master of P2P. As usual, piracy and illegal stuff will be put aside and we will be discussing torrenting as a mean for file sharing. The history of file sharing was crazy from Napster to KaZaA to LimeWire and suddenly there come the biggest contender - BitTorrent.

BitTorrent created by Bram Cohen was such a hit back then. It was sheer genius. However, the interface and usability of the original BitTorrent was kinda limited. Hence, I put on my shining armor and rode across the web to find the the best performing BitTorrent . The adventure - BitTorrent > BitLord > Azureus > BitComet > uTorrent > Thunder MOD.

Before this, I need to tweak almost every application to make them perform optimally, no thanks to Streamyx's throttling and tortoise speed. Then, I stumble across this program called Xunlei. Despite able to speak Chinese rather fluently, I can't read Chinese and Xunlei happen to be in Chinese. However, big thanks to our friend, HeHeHunter, I was granted something more than a translated Xunlei - a tweaked version that works like charm straight out of the box. This is where I stop my adventure and found the Unicorn of BitTorrent =D. Even further, the ads, banners and all those trivia features have been removed, making this program nothing but awesome. Kudos to our dear Malaysian!

Updated: Suggested by Melti Gloo, I hereby include a screenshot of the program. On my 1Mbps connection, the download speed is maxed at 122KBps. So getting around 100KBps is quite good for me.

Please visit HeHeHunter's website to get the file. You need to be registered in order to gain access to the file but it will be worthwhile. Click - HeHeHunter's Thunder MOD!

7. Download Manager - Flashget

Today, a download manager is totally an optional program rather than an essential one. Before this, a good download manager is important considering the old dial up speed. It will totally break you heart if you get disconnected when downloading. Things changed when we have broadband and browsers equipped with their own download manager.

However, an external download manager like Flashget has its advantages as well such as by splitting the download to few connections simultaneously to fully utilize your connection. Besides, Flashget also bundled with other features such as FTP Transfer, BitTorrent, eMule, download resuming and so on. Having a download manager will also lessen the burden on your browser to avoid crashing. In case you are a user of Firefox, you can also download Flashgot - an extension that integrates Flashget well. Have a try as it is totally free and you might love it!

Download the latest Flashget 1.9.6 from FileHippo

8. Cleaning Tool - CCleaner

I believe that maintenance is always a key for fast and clean PC but however, a lot of people tend to skip ahead and use their PC until it was all crawled up with temporary files and invalid registry keys. This will finally make the system slow and problematic. Besides, it is always advisable to flush your cache to increase your privacy online. Therefore, if you not sure what program is suitable for this cleaning job, let me introduce to you, the popular CCleaner by Piriform.

CCleaner - it's free, it cleans and it's clean. However, you definitely need to put some effort by checking what you want to delete to prevent deleting something you want. CCleaner even covered some external applications such as Firefox, Safari, Chrome, Java and so on. Integrated is a registry cleaner that optimizes your registry and remove any invalid entry that can possibly cause error.

Anyway, please know what you are doing and read the support files at the official website before proceeding with cleaning. It is also advisable if you do backup frequently as I will not be responsible for any error you made. As for me, this program works like charm and clean all the 'junks' from my machine =D

Download the latest CCleaner 2.24 from FileHippo

9. Data recovering - Recuva

A lot of times that I heard someone will say "Oh no! I deleted my important data permanently and I'm DEAD!"

No, life is not that fragile and even you emptied your recycle bin, don't do anything else except head to my link and download Recuva. There was once I was stoned and deleted my document for good. In order to recover the data, I almost buy a recovery software but then I found this needle in a haystack.

Recuva is a small tool that can do the big job. Well of course it might not be able to retrieve your 10 years old deleted files but it definitely able to recover most if not all the data you deleted recently. So, as data recovery made simple and free, there is no need to seek for professional data recovery service. Try Recuva first and you might be surprised.

Download the latest Recuva 1.31 from FileHippo

10. Compression Tool - 7-Zip

It actually took me a while to figure what is best suited as the final piece considering programs like Rainlendar, Process Explorer, Defraggler, PPS and a lot more are equally useful. However, to be fair to everyone, compression tool is the best bet. Therefore, 7-Zip is my best recommendation as it is an opensource project (full feature for free), supports popular extension like zip and rar, user friendly and having a very good windows shell integration. So now it is time to ditch your trial version of WinZip or WinRAR!

Download the latest 7-Zip 4.65 at the official website

That's all for this time folks. Please don't forget to comment or even click some ads (LOL!) if you like what I have written =D Thanks and I will be back with more useful stuff until next time. Time for a nap!

My Top 10 Windows Utilities (Part 1)

2009-10-25T13:32:00.007+08:00

Reminder : All my links contain no ads whatsoever, feel safe to click.

Waking up 8 something on a Sunday morning is a weird thing to do. However, it is even worse of an idea to get back to sleep as it will totally induce a comatose state on me. So, to fill up my time after breakfast, I thought to share with you guys the applications that are free and best to get my daily job done.

The current OS I'm running on is Windows Vista Ultimate SP2. Actually, it is pretty good for me after some tweaking. I never actually turn back to Windows XP after using it.

The rest of my machine specs are:
Click me to reveal

Processor : Intel Core Duo E2180 M0 - running at 3.1GHz.
Memory : OCZ DDR800 Reaper 2x1GB - running at 950MHz
Motherboard : Gigabyte 965P-DS3 rev3.3 F13x
Graphic : XFX 9600GT - XXX Edition (750/1750/1000)
Primary HDD : Western Digital Caviar 16 SE 640GB

I might not be the geekiest techie around but my experience should be sufficed to tell what is good and what is bad for my machine. So let us start with

1. Internet Browser - Mozilla Firefox

I believe the internet icon is the first thing that you will click after turning on the PC, so you can start your day by googling, tweeting, downloading, blogging or even playing some flash game in Facebook. Therefore, having to be the major application, the battle heat between the developers is getting higher. Most of the browsers if not all had already packed with the essential features - speedy, low on resources, tab browsing and simple!

Sorry for Internet Explorer - it is not a good choice. How about Google Chrome or even Safari from Apple? Both of them are excellent if you don't like Firefox, but the point is, I'm used to Firefox and able to get things right with it. Even there is a missing feature, there is no worry as there are plentiful of addons to fill in the slot. There's even Personas to instantly change the appearance to fit into my theme. After a Firefox crash, it able to recover all my lost tabs. Speed is still good for me. Actually, there is not much to be complaint since the very starting of Firefox.

Get your latest stable version of Firefox 3.5.3 from the official website by Clicking Here

2. Music Player - iTunes

First, sorry for the picture if it's too large since it's a print screen of mine. Secondly, I don't own an iPhone and already sold off my iPod but that doesn't stop me from using iTunes as my music player. Why I like it? Easy, I just love the interface - simple, practical and the cover flow is sweet.

It is easy to organize, categorize and edit my albums considering most of my songs are in full album. My previous favorite was Foobar2000 but to suit my taste, there is a lot of customization work to be done. So for ease of use and out of the box tastiness, iTunes is my best choice.

Get your latest stable version of iTunes 9.0.1 from the official website by Clicking Here

3. Movie Player - MPC & K-Lite Mega Codec

Putting illegal or pirating issues aside, we definitely have to admit that a lot of movies we are watching are in the form of digital content such as AVI format that is preferred everywhere in the world, RMVB that is adopted by most asian movies or MKV for higher definition content. Although, players like Windows Media Player, VLC Player, Power DVD, Nero Media Player and so on are putting effort by integrating more codecs and making the player look sleek and beautiful but IMO, nothing beats Media Player Classic (MPC).

It is low on resources and the interface is easy to use such as adjusting display size, volume control, configuring filters etc. However, codecs are required to make it fully functionable and so by installing K-Lite Mega Codec, you will get MPC together with set of codecs that needed to play almost all your movies with functions like displaying subtitle, adjusting AC3 filter and even playing HD content. Having tried several other codec packs, this is still the best for me.

Download the latest K-Lite Mega Codec Pack 5.20 from FileHippo

4. Photo Viewer & Organizer - Picasa

If you are a user of Blogger, maybe you are already familiar with Picasa. This software piece created by Idealab and soon bought over to be developed by Google is definitely a lover. Furthermore, we are talking about freeware now. While not being an advanced photo editor like Corel or Photoshop, it does have its own distinct functions.

If you never try this before, it is fun to play with Picasa. As you can see in the screenshot, we can make photo album based on face recognition. It is even idiot-proofed where you just have to let the software do the scanning and you put the name accordingly. Picasa also runs very smoothly even I scrolled violently across my pictures. Besides, it features offering like geo-tagging, where you can tag your photo to Google Maps from within Picasa. Even better, you can make a collage by selecting the photos you want. Some basic editing are available incase you need to correct a photo. Double thumbs up for this software.

Visit Picasa official website to download it!

5. Antivirus - Avira Antivir Personal Edition

Normally I would have recommended anyone to get Kaspersky Internet Security 2010 but then when it comes to freeware, I found that Avira is excellent. Before this, I left my PC open and vulnerable to attacks 24/7 because for me, most of the virus infection is self-inflicted. However, as the price of antivirus is too affordable, there is no reason not to get one. Due to the heavy usage of external storage nowadays for sharing, it is advisable for you to atleast install an antivirus and scan the drive before use. That's said, the detection rate of Avira is rather high and the scanning is split seconds fast. Okay, maybe not split second but it is definitely a fast scanner without using much of your precious memory. Best of all, it's free so why not. =D

Download the latest Avira Antivir Personal Edition from CNET download

Alright, I'm already half way through now. Time to grab some lunch! Be back with Part 2 when I'm free. Please comment if you like it. Thanks.

Windows 7 Promotions - not in Malaysia..yet!

2009-10-24T04:15:00.001+08:00

Well, here is an update from my last post on 'Windows 7 Coming Soon!'. As by now, a lot of people should already be harnessing the power of Windows 7 and adapting to its fresh interface over their previous operating system. All I can see from the customers are happy twittering and blogging, making it sounds almost like a doughnut from the heaven.

In stirring things even hotter, Microsoft made various offers such as the '7 Days of Windows 7 Savings', family pack which cost just US$ 149.99 or getting discounted price when purchasing a new PC. All these should be available with most major participating dealers such as Amazon, Best Buy, Staple, Dell and so on.

However, one of the deal that really caught my attention is the student buying program. US$ 29.99 is a bargain to own Windows 7.

If you not aware of this deal, you don't have to check your eyes, okay? You can check out Microsoft's website by Clicking Here! or check out http://www.win741.com/ which The Rice Company hosted on behalf of Microsoft. The offer applies to several countries as well which includes :

Australia
Canada, English
Canada, French
France
France
Germany
Korea
Mexico
United States
United States
United Kingdom

It's just too bad that the offer is not here for Malaysia. So, if you happen to be a student in a participating school in one of the country, consider yourself lucky to be able to grab it at such a low price. Now go and share the words around! Cheers =)

Streamyx VS WiMAX (non-technical)

2009-10-23T16:27:00.000+08:00

Flipping through today's The Star, I found a rather funny advertisement :

Why I think this is funny? First, because somehow for me, that person in the ad looks quite like the current CEO of Packet One Networks (Malaysia) - the company that brings us P1 WiMAX.

Here is a picture of the CEO, Mr. Michael Lai.

FYI, Michael Lai was the CEO of TM Net before he resigned in Nov 2006. Coincidence eh? I don't think so =P

Below is the ad that triggers TM to retaliate

Actually the 'Potong now!' campaign is very tempting for me to jump wagon from Streamyx but due to the quota implied, it's a no go for me. I cannot 'potong =P' since my average download per month is around 80gb. Although it's hard to admit but seems like Streamyx is still my best choice right now. Don't boo!

Mystery Google?

2009-10-22T20:57:00.001+08:00

Just in case you wake up one day and got nothing better to do, you might as well play around with Mystery Google. I think the site is harmless except some ads. This search engine is not like your ordinary search engine. Your search result will become the result of what the person before you searched for.

However, there are few things that I tested:

If you search hello, it will reply with a 'Hi'.
Type 'mystery google' and 'That is the site you are on.'
Of course, if you type 'google', the reply would be 'No. Mystery Google.'

Who knows you might end up with something that you will never search. Just make sure you don't get addicted and keep searching for nothingness. Enjoy~

Saw VI !

2009-10-22T19:09:00.001+08:00

Yes, the latest installment of the Saw series will be in US theater tomorrow - October 23, 2009. However, we in Malaysia might not ever get the chance to watch this on the big screen - thanks to the censorship board. Nevertheless, we always get to watch it in our own way.

John Kramer or better known as Jigsaw is finally back again... and again. Seriously, I got no idea how many episodes they want to produce, they might even make up to 20 and complete a whole season! Okay, sorry for the sarcasm. The fact is I'm always a fan of Saw for their horrifying, gruesome and 'smart' art of killing where you can even feel the pain when watching this movie. I love the first three episodes the best but when the movie start to drag, it just feel kinda boring. So, just hope Saw VI comes up with brilliant finishing this time.

Halloween Blooddrive poster? Nice.

This Halloween - Give 'Til it Hurts!

Anyway, the media promoting Saw is awesome as ever. Everything from the official website, the trailer and even the poster (above) is nice and neat. I don't mean the blood sprawling all over is nice, but you get what I meant. There is even a mini game on the official website.

Now, here is a trailer from saw6film

Briefly, the story will pick up from where it left Lieutenant Mark Hoffman to takeover Jigsaw's place in 'teaching life value'. Although Jigsaw is dead for some time but yet the plan he devised is not over. It seems that this episode, John/Jigsaw overall scheme will be understood - sounds familiar? Anyway, hope we all get to watch it soon without getting any disappointment.

Other movies on my current watch list :

Pandorum
Law Abiding Citizen
Inglorious Basterds

What's yours?