Dear Readers,
I told you all that I was exploring the use of Firefound , especially for Malaysian users. Well I have used it at 2 different locations to help track my laptop's whereabouts and so far, from the 2 locations it was relatively close in 1 location while in another, it was quite far off.
The 1st location was in an office, so could that have an effect on tracking the laptop? Overall, the location given in the website was 15km off the actual location of the laptop being tested.
The 2nd location was in a residential area, and also used a wireless connection, and firefound was able to name the strongest WiFi signal in proximity to the laptop! This time, the location could be said to be quite accurate, in fact, the street shown in the website was the street that the laptop was actually on at the time.
Please try to understand, I can only give the above example as I do not wish to divulge my locations (for safety and privacy reasons) but hopefully, all of you are able to understand the points that I am trying to make. :)
Of course, I am only 1 person, so if others in Malaysia wish to give this a try, please do so, and you may leave your feedback regarding this service in my comments section.
Thank you very much for reading!
Monday, December 7, 2009
Sunday, December 6, 2009
Comparison between Google's DNS and Streamyx's DNS
Dear Readers,
With thanks to manu-j and one contributor there: Stevan Bajić, below you will find a very rough table giving us a comparative performance difference between Streamyx's DNS (202.188.0.133) and Google's DNS (8.8.8.8).
__________________________________
|Domain |Streamyx | Google|
+------------------------+--------------+--------------|
| lifehacker.com | 16 msec | 65 msec |
+-------------------------+------------+------------+
| facebook.com | 11 msec | 69 msec |
+-------------------------+------------+------------+
| manu-j.com | 630 msec | 67 msec |
+-------------------------+------------+------------+
| reddit.com | 6 msec | 67 msec |
+-------------------------+------------+------------+
| tb4.fr | 408 msec | 69 msec |
+-------------------------+------------+------------+
| bbc.co.uk | 13 msec | 71 msec |
So what can we say about this result? We have a competent DNS? Unbelievable, right! But as you can see, Streamyx's is a little inconsistent (look at manu-j.com and tb4.fr) while Google's DNS consistently posts results in the 60-70ms range. Access to facebook.com is very fast though. :) Also, I took the liberty to test 2 websites that maybe most Malaysians find close to their hearts: thestar.com.my and Maybank2u.com.my The results are as follows:
8.8.8.8 “thestar.com.my” 70 msec
202.188.0.133 “maybank2u.com.my” 109 msec
8.8.8.8 “maybank2u.com.my” 72 msec
As you can see, Google's DNS is slightly faster in resolving the websites. Please note these are best performance numbers and your own performance may vary. If you wanna try Google's Public DNS out, please visit http://code.google.com/speed/public-dns/
Have a great time surfing faster!
Friday, December 4, 2009
Surfing the web too slow for you?
Dear Readers,
I've not posted anything for months and today suddenly 2 posts in a row! W00t~
I recently found another interesting development to look into for web surfers. An alternative DNS. Do read more about it here: http://lifehacker.com/5418211/google-public-dns-aims-to-speed-up-your-browsing
I am not sure about the actual effect for us Malaysian surfers but I have the intention to test this out and provide some concrete numbers for reference purposes.
Stay tuned~!
I've not posted anything for months and today suddenly 2 posts in a row! W00t~
I recently found another interesting development to look into for web surfers. An alternative DNS. Do read more about it here: http://lifehacker.com/5418211/google-public-dns-aims-to-speed-up-your-browsing
I am not sure about the actual effect for us Malaysian surfers but I have the intention to test this out and provide some concrete numbers for reference purposes.
Stay tuned~!
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Currently looking into FireFound
Dear Readers!
Firefound is a Firefox add-on which:
Firefound is a Firefox add-on which:
helps you find your computer (or mobile phone, in the case of Fennec) if it is lost or stolen. Every time your computer's location changes, FireFound sends a secure message to a central server with its current location. You can then log into the server and see your computer's current location.Neat, huh? But, bear in mind that most of these add-ons were built with American/European users in mind, so I am currently looking into it for Malaysian use. It might be very useful for us, or it could be not so useful :)
Saturday, August 1, 2009
Public Enemies screening at TGV Suria KLCC
Dear Readers,
Hope you are all fine. Just a short post to spread some news about my latest gripe regarding another cinema; TGV Suria KLCC. Below is what I wrote on their online feedback page.
"My family and I watched a movie at KLCC last night (31.07.09); a 920pm screening of "Public Enemies" at Hall 8. It was terrible by my standards and I am sure by TGV's as well. The audio was woefully substandard, it was equivalent to mumbling! It's good that we understand B.Malaysia otherwise the movie would have been unwatchable. Other people in the cinema were complaining too! After some minutes, the sound improved but towards the end, it went back to being muffled again. And we paid RM12/ticket for this? It is not worth the price. I suggest TGV should buck-up. I will be spreading my opinion through word of mouth as well. I used to frequently watch movies at KLCC, but after this, I will need to think twice.
Do improve for your own good."
Yup, another bad review I'm afraid. Well, I have complained through the website, and I've blogged about it now, so by right, we can expect an improvement..but as we know, sometimes in life, things do not work out as planned, or to a certain extent, things don't happen as we believe they logically should ;-)
TGV did really well before "the rise of GSC" (:p). I remember queing up one week in advance in front of Suria KLCC just to make sure I got some good tickets for Star Wars Episode I. Yeah, it was THE place to watch blockbusters then, with its THX cinemas. It is sad to see this happen. Perhaps if any of you have anything to add, either for or against TGV, you are most welcome. Do share. :-)
Thanks for reading and have a great rest of the weekend!
Hope you are all fine. Just a short post to spread some news about my latest gripe regarding another cinema; TGV Suria KLCC. Below is what I wrote on their online feedback page.
"My family and I watched a movie at KLCC last night (31.07.09); a 920pm screening of "Public Enemies" at Hall 8. It was terrible by my standards and I am sure by TGV's as well. The audio was woefully substandard, it was equivalent to mumbling! It's good that we understand B.Malaysia otherwise the movie would have been unwatchable. Other people in the cinema were complaining too! After some minutes, the sound improved but towards the end, it went back to being muffled again. And we paid RM12/ticket for this? It is not worth the price. I suggest TGV should buck-up. I will be spreading my opinion through word of mouth as well. I used to frequently watch movies at KLCC, but after this, I will need to think twice.
Do improve for your own good."
Yup, another bad review I'm afraid. Well, I have complained through the website, and I've blogged about it now, so by right, we can expect an improvement..but as we know, sometimes in life, things do not work out as planned, or to a certain extent, things don't happen as we believe they logically should ;-)
TGV did really well before "the rise of GSC" (:p). I remember queing up one week in advance in front of Suria KLCC just to make sure I got some good tickets for Star Wars Episode I. Yeah, it was THE place to watch blockbusters then, with its THX cinemas. It is sad to see this happen. Perhaps if any of you have anything to add, either for or against TGV, you are most welcome. Do share. :-)
Thanks for reading and have a great rest of the weekend!
Monday, June 29, 2009
Email to IMAX and their reply regarding Malaysia's IMAX theatre
Hey readers! I actually read my 1st comment on my blog today, so kudos to bewok kabo! Anyways, my intention for blogging about the defunct IMAX theatre was just that; to shed light on what happened to it and to make others aware too. I scoured the internet for news about what happened to that theatre, but I could only find an article in The Star Online (look under the "Cost Factor" heading). And a couple of weeks ago, I decided I would have to email IMAX to get some kind of answer. Below is the correspondence:
-------
Yup, that's pretty much it, folks. Perhaps contacting DiGi wouldn't be a bad idea either..anyone out there up for it? ;) Of course, finding out what happened is one thing, but trying to get IMAX to come back to Malaysia is another. We should also look into whether the IMAX experience is really worth the trouble? Was it really ALL THAT? What do you all think? Are we better off with the current 3D direction that the Malaysian cinema companies have undertaken (e.g.3D movies, digital projection for select titles like Angels & Demons)? Sound off below!
Have a great day!
Thanks for reading!
Thank you for your email to info@imax.com. The IMAX theatre in Kuala Lumpur is not longer operating as an IMAX theatre and has been removed from our website. Each IMAX theatre is individually owned and operated. At this time, we do not have a client interested in opening a theatre in Malaysia.
Best regards,
Sarah Armstrong
IMAX Corporation
From: Abdul Hayy Zulkifli
To: Info at IMAX
Subject: IMAX Theatre in Malaysia
To whom it may concern,
I am an avid IMAX fan, and I was really hoping to catch the Transformers 2 movie in IMAX this June in my country, Malaysia. However, when I went to the theatre in Kuala Lumpur, the lady at the counter said that it is no longer an IMAX theatre, since 2008. I looked up Malaysia on the IMAX website and you still list that Malaysia has a 3D IMAX theatre. What gives? Is there any way you can guarantee a decent experience for me when I watch Transformers at this 'ex-IMAX' theatre come June 24th? What happened to IMAX in Malaysia? So sad to see it go. Perhaps you will consider opening an IMAX theatre elsewhere in Malaysia? There are lots of enthusiastic movie fans in Malaysia, I assure you. Especially in the Kuala Lumpur and Selangor area.
Looking forward to receiving a response from you soon.
Thank you for your time.
Regards,
A disappointed Malaysian IMAX fan
Yup, that's pretty much it, folks. Perhaps contacting DiGi wouldn't be a bad idea either..anyone out there up for it? ;) Of course, finding out what happened is one thing, but trying to get IMAX to come back to Malaysia is another. We should also look into whether the IMAX experience is really worth the trouble? Was it really ALL THAT? What do you all think? Are we better off with the current 3D direction that the Malaysian cinema companies have undertaken (e.g.3D movies, digital projection for select titles like Angels & Demons)? Sound off below!
Have a great day!
Thanks for reading!
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Transformers: Revenge of The Fallen @ GSC Signature, The Gardens
Hello again readers!
Yea, the experience at Cosmo's World Theater (formerly known as the IMAX theatre) in BTS was a let down. I came in there not expecting much, so it was not too bad, but to know that all Malaysia has right now are the regular theatres is a bit of a let down, don't you think?
Anyways, caught my second viewing of ROTF at GSC Signature recently, and it was definitely a better experience, but was it just my imagination, or was the surround more discrete in BTS? Meaning if the sound was supposed to come from the rear left, it sounded like the rear left in my first viewing, but at GSC, it seemed to just blend in...
The audio, video were pretty good otherwise. Now if only we could get a digital screening of ROTF, (much like Monsters vs Aliens or..Angels and Demons) but I doubt it. I looked around for the nearest IMAX available to us deprieved Malaysians, and I came up with Bangkok at the Krungsri IMAX Theatre. Expect to pay ~RM25 for the cheapest ticket and maximum about RM40 though. Yeah, they have ticket classes..strange. Of course, you'd have to get to Bangkok first, so...Bangkok anyone? ;-)
In summary: I'd recommend heading to GSC Signature for your ROTF fix, but if anyone out there knows of a place better than that in sunny ol' Malaysia, please leave your comment. :-)
Thanks for reading!
Yea, the experience at Cosmo's World Theater (formerly known as the IMAX theatre) in BTS was a let down. I came in there not expecting much, so it was not too bad, but to know that all Malaysia has right now are the regular theatres is a bit of a let down, don't you think?
Anyways, caught my second viewing of ROTF at GSC Signature recently, and it was definitely a better experience, but was it just my imagination, or was the surround more discrete in BTS? Meaning if the sound was supposed to come from the rear left, it sounded like the rear left in my first viewing, but at GSC, it seemed to just blend in...
The audio, video were pretty good otherwise. Now if only we could get a digital screening of ROTF, (much like Monsters vs Aliens or..Angels and Demons) but I doubt it. I looked around for the nearest IMAX available to us deprieved Malaysians, and I came up with Bangkok at the Krungsri IMAX Theatre. Expect to pay ~RM25 for the cheapest ticket and maximum about RM40 though. Yeah, they have ticket classes..strange. Of course, you'd have to get to Bangkok first, so...Bangkok anyone? ;-)
In summary: I'd recommend heading to GSC Signature for your ROTF fix, but if anyone out there knows of a place better than that in sunny ol' Malaysia, please leave your comment. :-)
Thanks for reading!
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Transformers 2: Revenge of The Fallen @ Defunct IMAX Theatre, Berjaya Times Square
Hello readers!
I don't really blog a lot but here goes. Last night, 23rd June 2009, 2000hrs GMT+8 Malaysian time, I managed to watch Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen (ROTF) at the former IMAX Theatre in Berjaya Times Square. Yup, for those of you not in the know, Malaysians can no longer claim to have an IMAX theatre. So let me enlighten you about that first.
Around May, I started to feel the Transformers fever, so I decided, what better place to catch ROTF than in an IMAX theatre, rite? And our beloved Malaysia happens to have 1 such theatre in the heart of the Golden Triangle in Kuala Lumpur. As "gempaq" as the IMAX theatre is, it never did have an online booking system (despite it being owned by DiGi? hmm) so we had to call to book the tickets.
When I called them up, they told me that this is a "2D show sir, not 3D", to which I said "Fine, no problem". Definitely, there are no 3D versions of ROTF out there. But she also used the words, IMAX closed already, which got me thinking.."What? No IMAX?" Since my lovely wife and I had yet to confirm the number of people we wanted to watch the movie with, and with my having doubts about there still being an IMAX theatre to go to, we put off buying any tickets on that day.
The Friday that week, I did go to Berjaya Times Sq (BTS) and (wow, 10th floor really is far up if you walked all the way from KLCC to BTS!) as I was arriving at the cinema, the signs weren't good. I didn't see many people hanging around there, there wasn't a single IMAX written anywhere, be it on the walls or on the posters, and sure enough, right above the ticket counter, the words IMAX were also removed. There was a comparatively small "Pawagam" wording instead. What pawagam? I have no idea.
Upon chatting with the ticket-seller, I discovered that the IMAX contract had ended in Sept. 2008 and was not renewed (she didn't know why). Curiousity got the better of me, so I still went ahead and bought 8 tickets for ROTF on the 23rd of June. I realised, I may get disappointed come 23rd, but I just had to know whether the cinema is still worth going to, or whether we should just leave the old 'relic' alone. As a small bonus/compensation rather, depends on how you look at it, I got 8 vouchers for free Coca-Cola from the snack bar!
And came the 23rd did. There was a good crowd, but not as many as during the IMAX era. As we entered the cinema, it was still as awesomely huge as it was before, that has not changed. They started showing some trailers but the picture was somewhat squashed, and the audio quality was not great! It was like watching a very big video presentation but with tiny sound. The audio could be heard from the front and the rear but not necessarily from the sides. In short, no immersion. The bass was good though. I hoped that when the feature presentation was played back, it would be different. Unfortunately, only the video got bigger (so yes, I saw Optimus real huge like) but the audio quality was still the same lame thing. Having said that, though the video was huge, it was perhaps a bit blurry. Perhaps it is the result of projecting the video presentation onto a surface larger than intended? To understand what I mean, try playing back an average quality Youtube clip in full screen. Doesn't look so sharp now, does it? Then multiply that by a 5 storey sized screen and you can imagine what we experienced that night.
To summarize: It is simply NOT worth paying RM11 for an "overstretched" movie with muffled, non-immersive audio, especially when we have 1 GSC theatre just couple of floors downstairs in the same building!
Oops..have to blog about the movie later then... ;) thanks for reading!
I don't really blog a lot but here goes. Last night, 23rd June 2009, 2000hrs GMT+8 Malaysian time, I managed to watch Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen (ROTF) at the former IMAX Theatre in Berjaya Times Square. Yup, for those of you not in the know, Malaysians can no longer claim to have an IMAX theatre. So let me enlighten you about that first.
Around May, I started to feel the Transformers fever, so I decided, what better place to catch ROTF than in an IMAX theatre, rite? And our beloved Malaysia happens to have 1 such theatre in the heart of the Golden Triangle in Kuala Lumpur. As "gempaq" as the IMAX theatre is, it never did have an online booking system (despite it being owned by DiGi? hmm) so we had to call to book the tickets.
When I called them up, they told me that this is a "2D show sir, not 3D", to which I said "Fine, no problem". Definitely, there are no 3D versions of ROTF out there. But she also used the words, IMAX closed already, which got me thinking.."What? No IMAX?" Since my lovely wife and I had yet to confirm the number of people we wanted to watch the movie with, and with my having doubts about there still being an IMAX theatre to go to, we put off buying any tickets on that day.
The Friday that week, I did go to Berjaya Times Sq (BTS) and (wow, 10th floor really is far up if you walked all the way from KLCC to BTS!) as I was arriving at the cinema, the signs weren't good. I didn't see many people hanging around there, there wasn't a single IMAX written anywhere, be it on the walls or on the posters, and sure enough, right above the ticket counter, the words IMAX were also removed. There was a comparatively small "Pawagam" wording instead. What pawagam? I have no idea.
Upon chatting with the ticket-seller, I discovered that the IMAX contract had ended in Sept. 2008 and was not renewed (she didn't know why). Curiousity got the better of me, so I still went ahead and bought 8 tickets for ROTF on the 23rd of June. I realised, I may get disappointed come 23rd, but I just had to know whether the cinema is still worth going to, or whether we should just leave the old 'relic' alone. As a small bonus/compensation rather, depends on how you look at it, I got 8 vouchers for free Coca-Cola from the snack bar!
And came the 23rd did. There was a good crowd, but not as many as during the IMAX era. As we entered the cinema, it was still as awesomely huge as it was before, that has not changed. They started showing some trailers but the picture was somewhat squashed, and the audio quality was not great! It was like watching a very big video presentation but with tiny sound. The audio could be heard from the front and the rear but not necessarily from the sides. In short, no immersion. The bass was good though. I hoped that when the feature presentation was played back, it would be different. Unfortunately, only the video got bigger (so yes, I saw Optimus real huge like) but the audio quality was still the same lame thing. Having said that, though the video was huge, it was perhaps a bit blurry. Perhaps it is the result of projecting the video presentation onto a surface larger than intended? To understand what I mean, try playing back an average quality Youtube clip in full screen. Doesn't look so sharp now, does it? Then multiply that by a 5 storey sized screen and you can imagine what we experienced that night.
To summarize: It is simply NOT worth paying RM11 for an "overstretched" movie with muffled, non-immersive audio, especially when we have 1 GSC theatre just couple of floors downstairs in the same building!
Oops..have to blog about the movie later then... ;) thanks for reading!
Saturday, June 13, 2009
Monday, January 12, 2009
Purchase your Men's Name Brand watches, shirts, etc right now!
http://scentsnsecrets4men.ecrater.com/index.php
We've finally come up (found I should say) with an interface that makes purchasing easier for you! Please use the above website for a more seamless and trouble-free approach to purchasing your favourite name brand accessories at fantastically affordable prices! Don't delay, click today! :D
You will be able to browse the products that are for sale, search for your desired products, make inquiries, place orders and checkout using PayPal (don't worry, other payment methods also available).
See you there!
Thank you.
We've finally come up (found I should say) with an interface that makes purchasing easier for you! Please use the above website for a more seamless and trouble-free approach to purchasing your favourite name brand accessories at fantastically affordable prices! Don't delay, click today! :D
You will be able to browse the products that are for sale, search for your desired products, make inquiries, place orders and checkout using PayPal (don't worry, other payment methods also available).
See you there!
Thank you.
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