What Is Happening To Malaysia?

Recently there is turmoil here and there... in fact everywhere, in Malaysia's political arena. Today is Merdeka Day. But reading what Uncle Lim has to write in his blog, as well as all those comments by the blog readers, makes me go into deep thoughts -- What is going on in my motherland? Of all the comments there, I think the funniest (making me LOLROTF!) but probably true to a certain extent, is a comment made by the one who calls him/herself "ahbeng-in-malaysia"...

wah lau, i can cheat my gf 1 time hor, she don’t know, i cheat her 2nd time hor, she know a little bit, then hor cheat 3rd time, she slapped me and break-up. Now hor already 49 year, unmo and gang fool us for 49 years, we still like never wake up like that.. WE SO STUPID leh.. u vote your gomen and let him in charge for 5 years, then you kao-peh, koa-bu this no good, this not correct for 5 year, lau.. after 5 years later, you vote him back again. Then go another cycle for 10 times, STUPID right?

“Happy brithday, Malaysia.”

My wish for Malaysia is hor.. may his people wake up one day lor..

Well, sometimes it is really sad to know that Malaysia has arrived in this shape, after 49 years freed from the British empire. Where have all the prinsip-prinsip moral that we learned during the primary and secondary school days gone to? Aren't we supposed to have learned about equality (so that all races will live in harmony), honesty (especially admitting to hurting statements made, hence to apologise!) etc...

Whatever it is now, for this day of the year -- Happy Birthday Malaysia!

My New Toy -- Holux GPSlim236!

I got a call from the office yesterday, and was told that I have a parcel from Poslaju! Rushed down to the office, and whoalah... it's the GPS receiver Holux GPSlim236! I ordered it thru Practical Solutions on Tuesday @7am, and it arrived on Friday @11am! Pretty fast and smooth I must say! Thumbs-up for Practical Solutions! Bought it for USD99, inclusive of worldwide free delivery (a limited offer now still on)! I think that's a good bargain though! No problem with the Malaysian Custom Dept, coz the sender declared it as a gift of USD20! And so I think it went thru the custom check easily! Another thumbs-up for PS! :)

After reading thru the steps and info found at MalSingMaps, I have no problem setting up the Pocket PC, pairing it with the GPSr using bluetooth. A cold start of the Holux unit takes about 30-40 secs, and a hot start less than 10sec! That's pretty awesome! The pairing is swift and painless! I decided to use my ol' faithful iPaq 2210 for the pairing, becoz of two reasons: 1) i can install everything in the RAM, and this PDA will solely be "tested" for the GPS feature! And 2) my Dell x50v bluetooth is lately unstable... giving lots of "Bluetooth Expired" lame excuse... fed up!

I also got myself a cheap PDA holder for my car, and although it looks simple, it is rather solid and has a sturdy built (well, for a beginner like me, a cheap one will do lah!)... later maybe I will go for those branded ones like Arkon etc.

Today, I have been driving around town, and realise that many roads and POI are not updated in the maps provided by Malsingmaps. Probably there are not many (or in fact none?) people using GPS here in Sibu! Frankly no one needs a GPS here... nobody ever gets lost driving here in this town! ;) But nevertheless, it's cool to have such a gadget in-car, and drive around a non-busy town here, testing out the GPS features; so that in time to come, when I am back in KL, I will be familiar with this gadget, and the navigational system, and won't be distracted by the on-going heavy traffics there in KL while testing out the GPS!

This is a new hobby I am venturing in, and hope that in near future, after I have mastered it, I can contribute to the Malsingmaps for a more accurate Sibu map!

Bluetooth Keyboard For PDA

Have been rather quiet for a while. Today I thought of sharing with you guys my experience in using the bluetooth keyboard pairing with my PDAs. I have both the Brando Smart Bluetooth KB, as well as the Thinkoutside Stowaway BT KB! And I have both the Palm TX and Dell x50v. I did some research before buying my first KB, which is the Smart KB. That time, my decision to get the Smart KB was mainly influenced by a few reviews, and on top of that -- the price (cheaper than the Thinkoutside KB). After using it for a couple of months, I finally gave up!

I started searching for Thinkoutside KB online, and found a good deal at Gadgetino. And I bought it.

Both the KB have their pros and cons. But just a few obvious ones:

Pros of Smart KB:
-- light weight
-- easy to open up
-- on/off button
-- 5 rows of keys

Cons of Smart KB
-- flimsy design (at times cannot lay flat on table)
-- smaller keys (causing many errors while typing)
-- noticable delay in words appearing on screen after pressing the keys (more obvious in PPC, but better in Palm)

Pros of Thinkoutside KB
-- very well built, sturdy design
-- excellent keys (good tactile feel, and full sized keys)
-- lay flat and firm on table (can even be placed on my lap)
-- no delay in transmission (u see words appear as u type along)
-- many customizable function keys, minimizing the use of stylus

Cons of Thinkoutside KB
-- more expensive
-- no on/off button
-- 4 rows of keys only (but one can get used to it pretty fast)
-- difficult driver installation (esp in PPC: error message while installing)

In short, after using both the keyboards, I still think the Thinkoutside KB is the overall winner!

So for those of you who want to use bluetooth keyboard with the PPC, just go for Thinkoutside. Otherwise for Palm, either one can do! But if u really type a lot (i mean A LOT!) then its better off using the laptop/desktop to do that task -- still the best, IMO.

PDA at Lelong Site

Recently, I have been rather busy browsing through potential items to buy at lelong.com.my site. I have even influenced my colleagues into this spending spree -- And I am eyeing on either a Palm TX or a treo 650; as for my colleague, he is probably getting himself a Palm TX tonight! As a newbie, he sought advice from me, and I told him to get a Palm OS based PDA as it is more user-friendly and swift. No hassle! And I hope he will enjoy his new gadget once he gets it!