Cedric Chee

The 2 Most-wanted Features of iPhone OS 3.0

2009-06-18T03:37:00.011+08:00

The much long-awaited official iPhone OS 3.0 software update has released. I started my download at 18 Jun 2009, 1:10AM local date and time (http://twitter.com/cedric_chee/status/2209247111)

The following are the 2 most-wanted features of iPhone OS 3.0 that really works for Singapore iPhone 3G owners who have upgraded the OS to version 3.0 based on my own personal testings:

1. MMS
The iPhone 3G can finally send picture messages like any phone. It is confirmed Singtel carrier supporting MMS for iPhone 3G (http://twitter.com/cedric_chee/status/2210382720)

2. Internet Tethering
Tethering is sharing your 3G Internet connection with your computer via your iPhone 3G Bluetooth or USB connection. Tethering works like a charm with Singtel carrier! To enable 3G tethering on your iPhone 3G, go to Settings > General > Network. Look for the option "Internet Tethering". Set this option to "On". Next, choose tethering over USB or Bluetooth. Done. Now connect your iPhone to the computer. The computer will automatically detect a network connection on the USB port. It just works :)

Turn off your Wi-Fi or unplug your Ethernet to check how it works.

Singapore: Ang Mo Kio MRT Chaos

2009-05-13T23:51:00.003+08:00

amkmrtchaos_130509,
originally uploaded by gurms.

Train services on the North-South line heading northbound between Ang Mo Kio and Yishun stations were delayed earlier due to yet to known cause.

This disruption had caused trains taking commuters like me heading back to home from work were delayed by one to two hours. Normal train service resumed at around 9:00 pm.

We were kept informed through on-train and in-station announcements.

Comptine d'un autre été L'après midi

2008-08-16T11:52:00.001+08:00

This masterpiece is beautiful and sad at the same time. A little touching too.

TuneWiki Demo

2008-08-16T11:44:00.001+08:00

TuneWiki demo on the Android emulator. Cool!

Amazing Robot Man

2008-08-16T09:47:00.003+08:00

Robert Murraine performing in the "So You Think You Can Dance" audition. This guy is so good. He got flexible moves. Awesome "Robot Man".

SingTel has confirmed to launch iPhone 3G on 22 Aug

2008-08-12T17:14:00.008+08:00

Singapore Telecommunications (SingTel), Southeast Asia's largest telecoms firm has confirmed will launch Apple third-generation (3G) iPhone in Singapore on 22 Aug 2008 (next Friday). I just received an email from SingTel with the subject "It's coming on 22 August 2008!". Here is an excerpt of the email:

Get ready, the Apple iPhone 3G hits our shores on 22 August!

Thanks for your patience; we will be bringing in both the 8 and 16GB versions with your choice of black or white.

At this stage we have not announced pricing, I will share it with you very shortly...

From blog: I.Z. Reloaded: Online Refreshments

This is an update to a post I did two days ago. According to 3 sources that I talked to yesterday, the iPhone 3G will be available in Singapore on August 22. There's more! Singtel customers can get the 8GB or the 16GB iPhone 3G for $0 upfront on one of the more expensive data plans (only on a 2 yr contract) while customers choosing the cheaper plans will have to pay a monthly fee for their data plans in addition to a monthly fee for the handset. Singtel may also be planning to give away free browsing (unlimited data) on all its iPhone 3G plans for the first month.

Singtel will reveal its iPhone 3G data plans and will make its August 22 launch date announcement next week and those of you who had made your iPhone reservations on the Singtel website will also receive more details via email sometime next week.

Just for your info, out of the three sources mentioned above, two of them revealed the date as August 22. The other simply say that Singtel customers will be among the first in Asia to get the iPhone 3G while interestingly pointing out that Bharti Airtel in India and Globe Telecom in Philippines, both invested by Singtel, have announced that they will sell the iPhone on August 22.

Update: It's confirmed and that means I was spot on! Singtel says it will launch iPhone on August 22!

According to The Straits Times:

SingTel will continue taking online reservations till 17 Aug 2008 (this Sunday). Those who have already made online reservations at SingTel's website will get first dibs on the iPhone. SingTel CEO, declined to say how much the device will cost or associated price plans customers will have to sign up for in order to get the iPhone, but customers can expect the iPhone's price to be 'subsidised'.

MediaCorp RAWclipx Beta Launch

2008-07-28T21:08:00.001+08:00

Finally, MediaCorp RAWclipx moved into public Beta testing on podcast.sg. RAWclipx is a new online service to showcase never-before-seen videos of Singapore celebrities like Fiona Xie and Joanne Peh. RAWclipx is powered by ASP.NET 2.0, SQL Server 2005 database and Silverlight 1.1 for rich media streaming experience. RAWclipx is utilizing the User Generated Content (UGC) platform which is the same as the one being used in several other MediaCorp TV microsites such as SuperMummy, BeatBox 2007, Campus Yummy Hunt, SuperBand, The Showdown and so on. RAWclipx is developed by the web team in MediaCorp Pte Ltd (formerly known as MediaCorp Technologies). With just only 2 front-end developers, 2 back-end CMS developers and a web designer, it took them just less than 2 months to turn the idea to a real service. Congrats and good job to my fellow co-workers there. I am really proud of the team there.

This site unique feature is those videos can be downloaded to mobile devices. This site provide three different video download formats. Furthermore, this service allow members of the public to upload their videos. For your information, MediaCorp will upload up to 15 new videos on this site every week.

Here is an excerpt from the official media release issued by MediaCorp Corporate Communications:

Ever wondered what goes on behind the scenes at Caldecott Broadcast Centre? Where do you go for downloads of cool clips, or to upload your own to share with other Singaporeans?

Well, look no further than RAWclipx on podcast.sg which will be launched on July 28th to feature a smorgasbord of video offerings.

RAWclipx on podcast.sg will feature juicy off-air content, backed by MediaCorp’s immense star and media power.

Here’s a sampling of offerings:
i. Photo shoot images from MediaCorp’s wide variety of magazines
ii. Your favourite radio DJs in their studios and celebrity interviews
iii. Out-takes from your favourite TV shows
iv. Newscasters and reporters off camera
v. Unreleased footage of exclusive events such as the FHM Girl Next Door party

“We will have our own paparazzi; a spycam roving reporter sussing out what happens in between takes; what the stars wear and don’t wear; what they do; all the saucy details never before seen or heard,” said Timothy Goh, Vice President New Media Business and Customer Relationship Management.

The content will be refreshed every week and it promises surprises and the unexpected. But that is not all. Everyone can be part of the action and upload their “Aha” moments onto RAWclipx on podcast.sg.

"We embrace user generated content and want as many people as possible to upload and share...your fun, wacky moments... your singing debut...your school concert; upload and be part of this new exciting community” added Timothy Goh.

RAWclipx on podcast.sg will be different from most other UGC sites in that it allows for easy downloads onto mobile devices. It also offers RSS feeds and enables the public to comment on, and forward the clips. more.

In my own opinion, this is going to change the game in Singapore media scene forever. Forget about the Odex case. Check out why by referring to an analysis done by HubPages "Downloading unedited RAW videos in Singapore".

First Facebook User Fined for Creating Fake Profile

2008-07-27T05:31:00.004+08:00

The Financial Times reported that “a British businessman has been awarded £22,000 in damages from a former school friend who created a fake profile of him on the website.”

It is very common to see user creating fake profiles of other people on Facebook since the platform is open out to public four years ago. From now on, users may want to think twice before doing so as this could result in a large fine.

Singapore Announces Ported Creative Commons Licenses

2008-07-27T05:14:00.003+08:00

Excerpt from the official press release, slated for July 27, 2008 release:

San Francisco, CA, USA and Singapore City, Singapore — July 27, 2008

Today Creative Commons Singapore announces the completion of the locally ported Creative Commons licensing suite. In close collaboration with Centre for Asia Pacific Technology Law & Policy (CAPTEL), the Creative Commons team in Singapore, led by Associate Professor Samtani Anil and Assistant Professor Giorgos Cheliotis, adapted the licenses both linguistically and legally to Singaporean national law. The Creative Commons licenses, now ported to 47 jurisdictions, enable authors, artists, scientists, and educators the choice of a flexible range of protections and freedoms in efforts to promote a voluntary “some rights reserved” approach to copyright.

The Singaporean Creative Commons licenses, available soon online, will be celebrated today in Singapore City at the International Symposium on Electronic Art. The event will also feature a panel, organized by CAPTEL and Creative Commons Singapore, to introduce the audience to key copyright issues in the digital age and also share tips for creators and users to avoid common pitfalls in the field of copyright law.

The panel will, in addition, explain the aims and philosophy of the Creative Commons initiative and the specific nature and uses of the Creative Commons licensing suite in Singapore. Stanford law professor and Creative Commons founder Lawrence Lessig will address the audience to commemorate the completion of the licenses.

Following the event, the CC Singapore team hopes to initiate a series of educational talks to explain the philosophy of Creative Commons and the practical ways in which users can implement the licenses.

Project Lead Samtani Anil adds, “We also believe the launch of the Singapore CC licenses will lead to a better appreciation of the ambit, contours, and limits of the existing copyright regime in Singapore in relation to the sharing and dissemination of culture and the advancement of innovation. This, we believe, will sensitize various stakeholders to the avenues that are open to them to share their works in accordance with their wishes and needs.”

The CC Singapore team is supported by team members Assistant Professor Warren Chik, Vinod Sabnani, Tham Kok Leong, Lam Chung Nian, Harish Pillay and Ankit Guglani.

Facebook is rolling out the new profile design

2008-07-14T00:13:00.006+08:00

According to the Facebook Developers blog, this week, Facebook will begin rolling out the new profile design to users on an opt-in basis. Every user may not see it at first, but they’ll keep extending the rollout to more users.

All Facebook apps developers should update their applications, and have them ready before the preview launch, because users will want to see the application within their new profile experience.

Facebook currently plan to launch the new design to all users one to two weeks after the rollout begins. Facebook will give developers at least 24 hours notice before the final switch occurs.

To get a quick-look at the new layout, log in to your page and then go to http://www.new.facebook.com/profile.php. Not only does it look different, it also works differently. Check out this post on how Facebook's platform changes will affect you.

Nice Short Film: Comptine d'un autre été L'après midi

2008-07-13T14:49:00.000+08:00

Google's Second Life killer?

2008-07-09T19:24:00.003+08:00

Google has BETA launched a new service today called Lively, a browser based virtual world add-on that lets users create and customize avatars and worlds, interact with other users, and generally have a richer social interaction than is offered by GTalk.

This isn’t yet a full Second Life competitor. There’s no single world, for example, where users can move around. But it’s easy to see Google evolving this into a single online world. And then, of course, selling advertising into it.

Xcerion Internet OS/3 (XIOS/3)

2008-07-05T13:16:00.004+08:00

This is one of the possible model of web based desktop/OS derived from cloud/utility computing and Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) concepts.

Xcerion called it the world's next free operating system! The video is a demo of new revolutionary collaborative Internet operating system that is delivered as a free service over Internet, capable of synchronizing data between different clients and building real applications in a web browser that works on- and offline. Using XIOS/3 applications can be built in XML in weeks instead of years compared to traditional desktop technologies. Limited beta program started on 30th September 2007. Cool marketplace for finding and publishing applications will follow as well as many applications. See http://xcerion.com for more information and signing up for a beta account. Xcerion slogan is "Software should be free".

This is really cool technology which I think it could be the next big thing in the market.

Metal Gear Solid Theme - Eminence Orchestra

2008-07-03T22:51:00.003+08:00

This is intense! They turned an amazing techno/military style song into an equally amazing epic orchestra performance with a chorus 2 boot. Hail to this performance.

Crude Oil Price Up Again?

2008-07-02T23:56:00.001+08:00

Is this a matter of market pundits selling US dollars to buy oil to hedge risks?

At last check, crude for July delivery traded as high as $139.12 a barrel in electronic trading on Globex Friday (US time), the highest intraday price for a front-month futures contract on record.

Contributing factors: Talks about a potential Israeli attack on Iran combined with a slide in the U.S. dollar.

And here's how Abdullah will handle the oil problems in the country, the so-called 4 Quick Fix..

BY THE WAY... TV Smith has a friend who points to MakeMoney.com that makes the rebates-by-engine-cc scheme so sweet.

15 ways to reduce fuel spendings

2008-07-02T15:25:00.000+08:00

BY THE WAY... Are biofuels, like corn-based ethanol, new villains that drive food prices up and exacerbate world food shortages? Food for thought.

BY THE WAY... Spiralling fuel cost hikes are plunging airlines into a tailspin. Route cuts, aircraft redundancy and job losses are imminent.

BY THE WAY... In the East, Qantas says sayonara to Melbourne-Tokyo route.

BY THE WAY... Budget carrier Jetstar will end its service from Cairns to Osaka and Nagoya.

BY THE WAY... In the West, Continental Airlines is to shrink to survive record fuel prices.

BY THE WAY... After the kneejerk responses -- and the temporary blip -- how are Malaysians back home reacting to and coping with the latest fuel hikes?

BY THE WAY... The Abdullah Administration is launched into damage control mode, trying to justify why the fuel price should be immediate and not psyche-prepared for August as hyped previously.

BY THE WAY... Inflation, stagflation, then global recession? Not really in that particular order nowadays.

BY THE WAY... Here's a survival kit from TV Smith... of course your driving habits will end with differing mileage.

BY THE WAY BY THE WAY... New iPhone will launch in Singapore partnered with Singtel. The Real Cost of the iPhone 3G according to Singtel http://tinyurl.com/6y844l

Pink - Dear Mr Bush

2008-06-18T01:24:00.002+08:00

I love this song. It really tells what's going on!

4 months of continuously rollercoaster ride

2008-06-13T23:19:00.003+08:00

It's been a rollercoaster ride for the past 4 months. Finally I got some free time to follow-up all my social networks. I have not touch any of these networks due to my other higher work & life priorities. Sometimes, I wish I have the time to spare for this. I have tried my best to manage myself & my time but it's difficult when you have several projects up to 3 running concurrently at the same point of time. Now, with all these had settled down, I could finally spend some time on every little things I have on hands. I am really tired but satisfied. Phew!

Firefox 3 sets to release on 17 June

2008-06-13T22:17:00.004+08:00

Mozilla will release the next version of its Firefox browser, Firefox 3 on next Tuesday, 17 June and attempt to set a Guinness World Record for software downloads. This attempt is part of a campaign "Download Day" asking users to download Firefox 3 on the first day it is released to set world record for the largest number of software downloads in 24 hours.

Currently, Mozilla make available online Release Candidate 3 (RC3) of Firefox 3 for free download. To web developers outside there like me who is working on compatibility testing, you can follow this guide on how to have Firefox 3 and Firefox 2 running at the same time

Long holiday break

2008-06-13T14:39:00.000+08:00

I am currently having my long holiday break. Today is my 7th day in Malaysia. Though it is only my 7th day here, I felt so sick with so many things going on in this country. Everyone here is talking about the RM2.70 oil price hike, living cost up, etc. What the heck is going on with the government? Really pity those low income group of people. How can I help duh...

Melacca trip with my colleagues

2008-06-13T14:20:00.001+08:00

I spent 3 days in Melacca (a state in Malaysia well know with its pre-historic charm) with my colleagues. This is my fourth time visiting Melacca. We started our journey on Saturday morning from Johore Bharu (JB). Joining us is one of my colleague from Batu Pahat which is a district not far from JB. He is our so-called car "driver". There are all together 5 of us out of which 2 are originated from Melacca. We reached Ayer Keroh Toll Plaza around 10.30am. Then, we drop off the ladies in Batu Berendam & we proceed to Cheng to drop off our stuffs in my friend's house.

Where do we visited? Saturday, afternoon: We went to Jonker Street to sample the best laksa & chendol in Melacca for our lunch. After lunch, we walk & shop around Jonker Street. Then, we went to Mahkota Parade & the new Dataran Pahlawan mall.

Saturday, night: We went to the old Newton hawker center to take our dinner. After dinner, we went to MBO cinema planning to watch Superhero movie only to found out all screens & seats fully booked. Sigh! Wrong timing due to Malaysia's supreme ruler (YDP Agong) birthday & school holidays. We changed our plan to Mori Cafe in Bukit Beruang (opposite of Multimedia University). Over there, we hangout & had several rounds of card games. Guess what type of card game. Hihihi...

Sunday, morning: Sleep zzzZZZ.

Sunday, afternoon: Joined my friend's family for Ba-Chang (Dumpling) festival lunch. After lunch, I go over to my sister's house near MITC & Universiti Teknikal Malaysia while the rest of my friends heading back to Singapore.

So, I stayed overnight in my sister's place. The next day morning, I took the domestic bus heading back to my hometown in Shah Alam.

Merry Christmas

2007-12-25T10:39:00.001+08:00

Wish you & your family a Merry Christmas & Happy New Year.
Enjoy this video greeting card. If you want, you can view the full version here.

Leadership through Innovation & People - An executive conversation with Steve Ballmer

2007-12-20T16:39:00.000+08:00

How can your company unlock the potential and power of human imagination for greater success? On May 23 2007, Steve Ballmer, CEO of Microsoft was in Singapore to address this timely topic of leadership through innovation and people at the IDA Distinguished InfoComm Speaker Series.

During the event, Mr. Ballmer shared his insights on how Singapore can compete in a digital economy and retain talents, as well as create a foundation for innovation to drive long term success. View the video coverage of the event below.

Updated Yesterday Microsoft Singapore Invitation

2007-12-12T00:08:00.000+08:00

Yesterday invitation has updated to be known as "Heroes Happen Here Party". It's a party to celebrate the pre-launch of 3 new Microsoft products early next year including Windows Server 2008, Visual Studio 2008 & SQL Server 2008. Not forgotten is the new .NET 3.5 Framework. I guess this party would be pretty exciting judging on the event details below. Don't forget, register now ASAP (http://mseventsasia.com/heroes/party.asp). For those who will be joining, leave me a comment below. Woohoo!

Exclusive Invitation From Microsoft Singapore

2007-12-11T00:51:00.001+08:00

I received an invitation from Microsoft Singapore last Thursday, Dec 6 for Visual Studio & .NET Framework Birthday Bash. For those of you who are interested, below are the details. To those who will be attending this bash, hope to see you there. Hope this help. Thanks.

Adobe, Yahoo test running ads inside PDF documents

2007-12-01T12:46:00.002+08:00

Adobe and Yahoo said they will offer a service to let publishers run advertisements inside Adobe's popular document reading software format. Ads for Adobe PDF Powered by Yahoo, as the new service is known, presents publishers with an alternative to conventional subscriptions, which, if widely adopted, could open up a new model based on free, ad-supported publishing.

The service allows publishers to generate revenue by including text-based ads linked to the specific content of an Adobe PDF page. The advertisements can only run in a side panel separated from the publication's actual content.

The service is set to begin public testing, the two companies said on Wednesday. An earlier private test included technology and professional publishers IDG InfoWorld, Wired, Pearson's Pearson Education unit, Meredith Corp and Reed Elsevier NV. The free service requires no special software and is open to United States publishers of English language content, initially.

Publishers who join Yahoo's online advertising network get access to the Internet company's extensive network of advertisers based on the subject matter of their content.

Advertisers gain a distribution channel that can reach highly specific audiences based on their reading interests while allowing them to track how specific ads perform. The approach is akin to how Web-based, pay-per-click ads now work.

From an advertiser point of view this looks like an extension of our existing marketplace. For consumers, the text-based ads are discreetly displayed in a panel adjacent to the published content with no moving or flashing elements so that they do not distract the reader as some Web advertising is known to do. Each time the PDF content is viewed, targeted ads are dynamically matched by Yahoo to the content of the document.

The publisher receives anonymised reports about which ads ran alongside which published content.

In terms of relevance to advertisers, such ads could rank above conventional Web-page banner ads in terms of targeting capacity, but somewhere short of highly specific keyword-based Web ads.

Publishers who register for the service simply need to upload their Adobe PDF-ready materials so that they can be ad-enabled. The content owner then distributes the PDF in any of a variety of ways, including over e-mail or via the Web.

Facebook Received Financial Boost

2007-11-30T23:36:00.000+08:00

Hong Kong tycoon Li Ka Shing has invested US$60 million in US-originated Facebook, Kara of the Wall Street Journal’s All Things Digital reported yesterday.

Will this bring joy to Asia’s Facebook users?

M'soft Visual Studio 2008 and .NET 3.5 Released

2007-11-22T08:10:00.000+08:00

Great news! Just found out that M'soft Visual Studio 2008 is released on MSDN. Woohoo! Congrats M'soft for yet another milestone.

The wait is finally over! No wonder over the past 2 months, the folks at Redmond are so quite. Now I understand. On Monday, Nov. 19 2007, M'soft announced that Visual Studio 2008 and the .NET Framework 3.5 were released to manufacturing (RTM). With more than 250 new features, Visual Studio 2008 includes significant enhancements in every edition, including Visual Studio Express and Visual Studio Team System. Developers of all levels – from hobbyists to enterprise development teams – now have a consistent, secure and reliable solution for developing applications for the latest platforms: the Web, Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008, the 2007 Office system, and beyond. (source: http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/vstudio/default.aspx)

For the final release download links, check it out in ScottGu's blog (http://weblogs.asp.net/scottgu/archive/2007/11/19/visual-studio-2008-and-net-3-5-released.aspx). In conjunction with the release, here is a summary of the new features:

Multi-targeting support for multiple versions of the .NET Framework
ASP.NET AJAX and JavaScript support
Web Designer and CSS Support
New ListView/DataPager controls
Language Improvements and LINQ
Data Access Improvements with LINQ to SQL
Browsing the .NET Framework Library Source using Visual Studio (just get to know this additional feature)
WPF designer and project support
ClickOnce and WPF XBAPs for FireFox
WinForms and WPF projects can use the ASP.NET Application Services
Richer Office development and Visual Studio Tools for Office support is built-into Visual Studio
WCF and Workflow projects and designers
Faster unit testing support
AJAX web testing (unit and load)
Much more...

Unfortunately, there are two popular add-ins to VS not yet available to download for the final VS 2008 release. These are the Silverlight 1.1 Tools Alpha and the Web Deployment Project add-in. If you are doing Silverlight 1.1 development using VS 2008 Beta2 you'll want to stick with with VS 2008 Beta2 until this updated Silverlight Tools Add-In is available. More info at Scott Gu's blog (as usual). Also, the ASP.NET MVC Framework will come later. According to Scott, this framework will work with VS 2008 as well as VS Web Developer 2008 Express. In addition, ADO.NET Entity Framework is not ready for RTM.

There are few breaking changes between the RTM version and the beta 2 including .dbml files created with the LINQ to SQL designer, LINQ to SQL OnValidate partial method now takes an enum as an argument, instead of DataContext.Add you'll now use DataContext.InsertOnSubmit() with LINQ to SQL, and the ListView control's item placeholder is now called "ItemContainer". Upgrading projects built with Beta2 should be pretty straightforward and only take a few minutes.

There is also a new release of AJAX Control Toolkit version 3.5.11119.0 (2007-11-19) that targets the above official release of .NET Framework 3.5 and VS 2008 at http://www.codeplex.com/AtlasControlToolkit/Release/ProjectReleases.aspx?ReleaseId=8513.

M'soft will publish in future the feature list per SKU.

Just finished downloading a 90-day free trial edition of VS 2008 Team Suite. Proceed with the installation now. I keep my finger cross the installation will goes smooth.

Work-Life UnBalance

2007-11-18T18:36:00.000+08:00

Year 2007 is ending soon & year 2008 is fast coming. Here, it's raining heavily now. Feeling so slumber. It would be nice if I can take a short nap now. Instead of doing that, I move on to listen to some music & one of the song that struck me is "How Far We've Come" by Matchbox Twenty. This song has inspired me to look back at my life to know how far I've come & how can I improve my life. Furthermore, I find it a good time & day to proceed.

Well, I know it has been almost a year if I remember correctly that I do not have a proper life. What is a proper life to me is the ability for me to have a peaceful sleep (not necessary 8 hours a day), to enjoy every meals I have, to spend some quality time after working hour doing what I love to do & to have more time to socialize. I notice this is happening to me lately when I keep breaking promises. A simple example is my parents called me for almost 5 times where in every calls, they ask me when I will be going back to Malaysia & I just replied "I will plan out & will inform them". When I first came here to Singapore, I will go back to Malaysia once every 3 months even though for whatever reasons I can't do so. After more than a year in Singapore, that frequency changed when I only only go back to Malaysia after 6 months. As an example of this is after Chinese New Year holiday this year, I was in Singapore untill before Hari Raya 2007. So, the gap is almost 8 months. This simply reflect my unproper life which I think it is. I just felt so guilty & sorry for my actions.

I know I can't blame it on the same common reason to this problem that is busy with work because I have friends who is also working but they are able to achieve work & life balance. Therefore, I think the consequences of all these come from my work lifestyle. I have to learn to take a break & relax sometimes from work. In my opinion & experience, I have to say my working life in Singapore is difference than in Malaysia due to the fact its fast pace, work culture & people behaviour. Somehow, these has affected my life & I have to learn how to overcome this challenge or else adapt to it. I really miss out many happy, enjoyable, exciting, sad or memorable moments in my life.

I really need to start taking actions focusing at how to manage my time & how to survive in the "rats race" while it's not too late to get back my proper life I wish to. Last, to any of my family members & my friends who I can't keep in touch or I neglected, I hope you all can still bear with me. I am still trying my best to cope up with the burden now. TQ for the understanding.

MediaCorp StarAwards MS Silverlight Video Gallery Launched

2007-11-17T16:08:00.000+08:00

Finally the waiting is over. We here at MediaCorp Technologies Web Team are pretty excited to launch StarAwards Video Gallery (http://starawards.mediacorptv.sg/videogallery.htm) developed using Microsoft Silverlight 1.0. To add to the excitements, this application has been showcased in Microsoft Silverlight Showcase site at www.silverlight.net/showcase. Look under Singapore category. Indeed, it is one of the first two Silverlight examples from Singapore. Congrats folks! Keep up the good job.

Backtrack a little, most of us here have been playing with Silverlight since the release candidate versions. Well, I have to say it's a good learning experience to me and to most of us who are part of it. Nevertheless, many bumps along the journey to bring us this far.

Also, not to forget under our belt, we have another web application, Campus Yummy Hunt develop using Silverlight 1.0 which is a online user-generated video gallery for a TV programme audition at http://yummyhunt.mediacorptv.sg/yummy/audition.htm. Moving forward, we are expecting more Silverlight Rich Internet Applications (RIA) will be released from our pipeline.

Therefore, keep following the light! ;-)

EZlink Card Customer Beware

2007-11-09T03:55:00.000+08:00

Out of curiosity, I called the Translink enquiry line 1800-225-5663. It seems the undermentioned fact is absolutely true. Read on.

Translink charge one full fare plus 63 cents for second deduction if you tap (flash) at the bus front entrance door, but Translink willing to refund if complaint is lodged at the above number within 5 working days, regretably who is so free to go through the process. Therefore, it's better to avoid such a catch.

Helpful tips for those using EZlink card. To those who always use EZlink card, I would like to bring to your attention on local bus service provider. Usually, when you board the bus, you flash your EZlink card and move in towards the rear. Then, when you get down the bus, you flash your card again at the exit door (located at the middle of the bus). We all know that if we forget to flash the card, full fare will be deducted from the card.

Below is what the public does not know:

If you alight the bus from the front door (the entrance) and you flash your card while exiting without informing the bus driver, the card will capture another entrance fare instead of exit fare. What this means is that two full fares will be deducted from the card as no exit was being captured for the two entrances.

Here's the solution:

Go to the "big" machine (i.e machine for you to top up the card) located at the MRT stations.

1) Insert your EZlink card.

2) Press the function key "Check card".

3) Press the "more" button.

Doing these steps will show you your last 20 transactions. Included in each transaction is the information on the fare deducted, bus no, boarding time and the boarding and alighting point will be reflected on the screen.

I hope the above information does help you all. Please spread this information to people you know to prevent them from paying extra charges for nothing and burn a big hole in their pockets.

Last but not the least, call the hotline line: 1800-767-4333 when the incorrect fares are deducted. Thanks. :)

So Many Topic To Post

2007-11-09T03:30:00.000+08:00

I have so many topics to share in this blog after a while since I never post due to hectic work schedule & family issues. I'll try to update this blog as much as I can given the little time I can spare on just blogging. Anyway, thank you you my readers for the interest in my blog. In the next few months, I'll try to post better quality content. Cheers! :)

World Internet Summit

2007-11-09T03:12:00.001+08:00

The world's Biggest Internet Business Event is Back to Malaysia - 10-12 Nov 2007 at Wisma MCA, Kuala Lumpur (http://my.srpl.net/wis/wis2007.htm). I can't join this year as I am still in Singapore. Let's see whether my bro will grab this opportunity so that I can view the recordings instead. ;-) Our affliate guy, Ewen Chia also 1 of the panelist. This gotta be damn kewl!

Facebook Gaining Popularity in Asia

2007-11-09T02:28:00.000+08:00

I get to know about Facebook while poking around the web for health care 2.0 ideas. That was early this year. That time, Facebook & mySpace is damn popular to the westerners especially Americans & Europeans. Then, finally around Aug this year, I find some time to actually test out Facebook platform capabilities from the developer & business stand point of view. And today, I notice the Facebook disease spreaded to Asia as I received more & more invitations from my existing contacts. From this, I could say that the Asians are not far left behind in the web 2 oh wave or in a simpler term, the next generation of websites centered around consumers.

Burnout

2007-11-09T02:12:00.000+08:00

Woke up yesterday morning feeling drowsy. Very abnormal to me. I think its the compounded lack of sleep plus the high brain cell burn rate over the last couple of weeks. Each and every single thing i have to think about will bug me badly. Notice how busy am I from the gap between this post & the last post. I hope matters will eventually low down. I think only time can prove it as of now. I have give my very best shot at all the undertakings.

Singapore Fireworks 2007 @ Marina Bay

2007-08-19T00:24:00.000+08:00

Exciting & tiring day for yesterday & today. Yesterday, I went to the fireworks show by the Spain team with my co-workers. We met at CityLink mall in City Hall. My friends from KL, Malaysia who are here for vacation also joined us. IMO, this year fireworks show by the Spain team is much better than all the 4 team shows from Singapore, New Caledonia, Italy & France. Check out my flickr for the photos.

Today show from China is not that impressive compare to yesterday show. For yesterday show, we watched from the center of the Esplanade bridge. Today, we watch from Marina Bay while enjoying steamboat there. For today show, I think it is not that good. Could be because we are watching it from far.

Impressive Facebook Platform

2007-08-13T21:18:00.000+08:00

I've been playing with Facebook for a few days and am impressed. What I am more impressed with is Facebook has transformed itself into a platform after a couple of months opened to application developers. There is a mind-boggling momentum at play, not only in terms of user signups, but in the excitement around developing for the platform. A lot of web startups are adding a Facebook experience, and at the same time, a number of new applications are popping up (every day... literally!) that are leveraging the power of the social network in creative ways. It will be interesting to see how Facebook holds up over time compared to other networks such as MySpace.

Jumping to the Facebook Wagon

2007-08-12T18:54:00.000+08:00

I get to know Facebook (www.facebook.com) for sometime back due to its popularity while I was learning about web two-oh. Early this morning, I decided to try it out. First impression, it has a professional and simple design with plenty of AJAX techniques applied appropriately to the area which IMO right usage. Frankly, it's an excellent platform for social networking. Beter keep an eye on it.

Day 0: Silverlight Knowledge Sharing

2007-08-12T01:23:00.000+08:00

This will be my first post of a series of the same post focusing on sharing my real work experience using Silverlight to prototype rich web application in my current company. As of now, I have prototyped for a video player with playlist for a video gallery for use in several microwebsites. Besides this, I have also did a prototype for a draggable multi-video streaming views for Singapore National Day Parade live web cast website. I will post the details in the next post.

First Taste of Visual Studio 2008

2007-08-12T00:54:00.000+08:00

Getting my first taste of Visual Studio 2008. This will play a part in my decision whether to use it for my next project or stick with Visual Studio 2005 until the actual final release. I am focusing on the features that will improve productivity such as new language features, new intellisense for javascript and so on.

Looking Into User-Generated Content Model

2007-08-12T00:35:00.000+08:00

Today marks the beginning for me to look seriously into the User-Generated Content Model for the upcoming business model I am putting in to work for a website. IMO, this is one of the area in Web 2.0 (or may be Web 3.0) we can't left without. There are several key questions I am still finding the answer for it. I will post an update to this post with the questions and answers once I found the answers to all of the questions.

Hello Webverse!

2007-08-11T12:56:00.000+08:00

Finally, I could spare a fraction of my time doing what I wish & love to do long time ago. I just keep my fingers cross that I can blog regularly after this & I hope you viewers can bear with me. As of now, I am still trying to come out a tagline for this blog. How about "personal ramblings of web developer in Singapore", "incidental thoughts", "a pile of insignificant posts" & so on. Okay, enough. I will simply set it to "Observing Web 2.0 and Beyond".