It’s amazing how fast technology has advanced. I still remember the days when only the very rich owned mobile phones but now, even pre-teens own mobile devices.

Similarly, video conferencing also has advanced by leaps and bounds. There was once when talking to the opposite party on a tiny flickering screen IS video conferencing. There was also plenty of “dead air” which in actual fact, the time lapse needed for the sound to travel from one party to the other.

If you look at the Video Conference System offered by LifeSize, I am sure you will be amazed that not only can we video conference now, we can do it with up for five other participants thanks to LifeSize Room. The high definition quality means that we no longer talk to a blur “image” but a real life looking person.

This means that we could be more efficient in bring across our ideas even if we are in different parts of the world and separated by an ocean!

What a weekend it has been. I had to meet up with friends to show off my iPhone. All of them “booked” me as soon as they found out that I won an iPhone and waiting along with me for its arrival.

Now that I have gotten it to work fully and I have learnt to use all of the features, they wanted to play with it and take pictures of it too. I also had to explain the features and stuff as if I was selling it and they were my potential buyers! LOL

Every where that I went to shoot photos to test the camera to see how well the colours will captured, people will go like, “WAH, that is that?” They could not decide if it’s a phone or camera. I had to tell them that it’s an iPhone but I am not sure if they get it but I’d still offer to let them check it out before I could continue shooting.

I think I would need to buy insurance for it! LOL

Earlier this week, my Streamyx broadband connection was down for 24 hours. Actually, it was not Streamyx that was down, my hardware was fine but the problem was from the telephony exchange. The weird thing was that I could still use my phone line to receive and make outgoing calls. That was why I did not suspect that the issue was from there until I called up Streamyx customer service to check my line condition and had my hardware checked at the computer repair shop.

Anyway, everything was fine after 24 hours. A day later, the admin staff from TM called me up and asked me if everything is OK at my end and if I still had issues with my connection. I told her that all is well now so that she could close my report.

I think that is a good way to follow up on a report. Let’s not talk about the 24 hours when I supposedly do not have access to the internet or how much money I supposedly earn less but then sometimes shit happens and I was never as glad to have my 3G connection as back up.

A good friend told me that given my obsession with Poker, he would have to get me custom ceramic poker chips for Christmas. I have been obsessed (I admit) and trying to learn the game but nobody would teach me, since watching a Korean drama about a professional gambler. I think that life is a gamble, anyway!

I told him not to bother and that it’s the thought that count when it comes to gift giving but his idea got me all curious and I wondered if there is a company who could make custom poker chips. Can you imagine playing Poker with chips that you have designed yourself or carry your special “trademark”?

I was told to check out this URL http://www.e-pokerchips.com/custom-ceramic-poker-chips.html where this company, ePokerChips offers two types of “true casino” ceramic poker chips, one is a full custom design while the other is a semi-custom design. Both will come in full color graphic.

I find it a very innovative idea to custom design Poker chips and the reason they are able to accommodate just about any design that we can come up with is because these ceramic chips are handmade. WOW I am impressed and I think that if someone takes the trouble to design a Poker chip as a gift and not for commercial reasons it would make a very meaningful gift.

My friend, Sitt, who works in London and rides a bicycle, told me that owning a car is very expensive in London. My cousin, Jasmine, tells me the same too. According to them, most of Londoners live in homes that do not have a driveway, thus, they would have to spend extra to rent space to park their cars! Space in a metropolitan city in London is really scarce and expensive. Somehow, I have taken for granted the space I have to park more than ten cars in my compound.

Sitt tells me that for people who are lucky enough to own a car in Britain, most of them would rent a garage for parking. This is cheaper than renting space from a storage company or parking at a public parking lot with a season ticket.

Also, renting a garage, which you can see one of the many being offered by Park Let which has a website at http://www.parklet.co.uk, is not only more economical but also more secure. No longer does the owner have to worry about vandalism, theft, pranks and other unfortunate incidents if the vehicle is exposed.

A friend of mine, who parked his car outside his home every night, had his car stolen right under his nose while he was asleep in the middle of the night. If he had rented a garage, he would not have to go through this ordeal.

Last evening, I was at a cafe with my friend and he asked me to look at a website that sells car accessories. I have no interest in cars only because I don’t own one yet but I obliged him because I did not want to offend him. He is the kind of guy who treats his truck even better than treating his girlfriend.

My friend says that he wants to change the billet grille of his truck and that this company carries the most comprehensive selection of billet grilles at reasonable prices.

Well, I don’t know what makes a good billet grille but I did tell him not to get those that look like fly traps. Those are ugly!! Luckily, Buy Auto Truck Accessories has so many more billet grilles and grille inserts to choose from, from major brand names at very attractive prices.

A blogger friend who went to those blogging conventions about a month ago sent me a bunch of photos of this trip there. Wow, I was impressed with the activities that were planned for them BUT I was more impressed with the sights and shots of the various Las Vegas Hotels, restaurants, the lights and glitz.

I used to think that it would cost an arm and a leg to visit Vegas but this friend told me that there are many things that could be done for free in Vegas and those who are lucky in gambling might even win enough to supplement their vacation expenses.

This friend told me that he does not have time to blog about his Vegas trip at the moment since he has to prepare for the holidays. I can’t wait to read about his experience in Vegas. Just viewing his photos is not enough!