General

Banned Books

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I was telling my cousin how I did not have time to read anymore since I discovered the internet. She said that, she on the other hand, has been reading more because living in London is so expensive, she tries to stay indoors as much as possible so reading has been her new hobby. She told me that she buys UK books. It’s convenient to shop online plus she gets huge savings as well.

I know of Borders but have never shopped with them but out of curiosity, since it was mentioned, I checked what they have. I am so delighted to know that they carry a range of banned books! You know, these are books that have been banned in the country when they were first published but Borders not only sell them, but sell them at up to 40% discount too!

In this list of banned books, I don’t deny that I have already read quite a few, including The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck, which I have to say, is a very good book, Flowers in the Attic by Virginia Andrews and Animal Farm by George Orwell.

However, one book that I have always wanted to read but could not find it in local stores so far and available now on Borders UK is Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov. I really should read it to see why it has been banned in the first place. Curious here!

*** This post was brought to you by Borders UK ***

Computing & Internet

StatCounter Glitch

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Last night, I was checking my traffic statistics (I use StatCounter), when to my horror, I could not view any of my projects. Everything returned a zero. It was like a new account without any project name, traffic numbers or visitor paths.

I was shocked, obviously, because I thought that I was too sleepy and may have somehow pressed the “delete all” button. In fact, I think there is no such button, except for deleting individual projects.

Anyway, I was still a little perturbed and logged in and out of my account only to see the same blank page. I checked the blog but it was still the same old post without an update on the glitch. I HOPED that it was a glitch.

Luckily I had the sense to check the forum and someone had already posted on the issue. Thankfully, I was not alone and I felt better. Our accounts were restored about ten minutes later. Well, it could have been quicker but it felt like ten minutes I did not check the time.

Computing & Internet

Trusted Internet

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While blog hopping last night, I came across Melih Abdulhayoglu’s blog which talks about Trusted Internet. As a blogger, webmaster and ecommerce owner, I am all for trusted internet.

If you have read my recent blog post about how an email was misdirected to me even though the email address was actually another legitimate address, all the more I strive for a trusted and secure environment in my own sites, particularly my ecommerce site because if something like that could happen to a large email provider, which, by the way, they did not acknowledge, I could only ensure that I have Trusted Internet in my own sites where I have direct control.

I think that right now, not many people realize how important Trusted Internet is. By the way, I believe that as responsible webmasters, we must all make our own sites secure so that web browsers and users will be accorded the safety and security, the right of every web user.

However, I think that as we move forward, advancing in technology and being more mature and responsible web users, Trusted Internet what we expect to have in every site, keeping our personal or financial information safe and secure, particularly when we shop online. Commercial website owners should take the lead. For more information, visit http://www.comodo.com/corporate/manifesto.html

Computing & Internet

Streamyx Combo Promotion

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I received a call from Streamyx yesterday because they are having a Streamyx Combo promotion. Right now, I am only subscribed to their 512kbps package, paying RM66 per month but comes with lifetime warranty for the modem.

This new promotion that was offered to me is their 1MB package PLUS phone line rental. I will have to pay RM110 per month and enjoy lifetime warranty of modem too. Phone calls made will be charged the normal (existing) rates.

Actually, I have wanted to upgrade my speed for a long time since my package was subscribed such a long time ago that this was the fastest they had. Recently, I enquired about the 4MB package but was told that my area does not support that speed. It’s cheap, though. Only RM160 per month, compared to 1MB at RM110, a difference of RM50 per month only but with four times the speed. Bah, so this is what we get for living outside of Kuala Lumpur.

Anyway, I did not upgrade as the difference between 512kbps and 1MB isn’t all that great and I did not want to void my lifetime warranty of modem but since their new promo comes with lifetime warranty for modem as well, I might as well upgrade. Anyway, subscribing to a Combo package at 1Mb speed would only save me about RM14 monthly, compared to subscribing to a 1MB Streamyx package and pay for a phone line separately.

Computing & Internet

SiteMeter New Code

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I was telling my friend about the extra work I had to do in completing the NuffNang survey and changing the new codes on my blogs over the weekend. I am just glad that I did not submit more blogs in my account.

My friend asked if I already know of SiteMeter’s revamp. Errrr nobody told me anything about it! Come to think of it, it has been months since I received their newsletter. One would have thought that information would be sent out for something as major as changing of code and adding new features. Or did Hotmail eat my newsletter AGAIN?

Anyway, I logged into my SiteMeter account and true enough, we are required to implement the new code. SIGH!!!! Extra work again. Although I do not use SiteMeter for my blogs, I use StatCounter for that, I use SiteMeter on my ecommerce store.

Gosh, imagine the hundreds of pages where I have to change the code for each and every page. Geee and I thought that there was a lot of work changing my NuffNang codes. Why can’t they continuing using the same code, or magically change the codes that have already been implemented in our websites or blogs?

Yerrrrrr lazy, really lazy to make the switch!

ETA: My friend just informed me that SiteMeter has decided to retain the old code after an uproar by users. Phew, luckily I did not start changing yet!

Technology

Watch Videos & Movie Downloads On Your TV

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Last night, I went to PC Fair in Ipoh and I saw this really smart device that I would love to have, if only I have the time to watch movies. This is like a video player, except that you can just hook up your external drive to it and connect it to the TV and play whatever video or movie in any format that you have collected or downloaded from the web.

I remember a long time ago, when peer-to-peer was still new, we were all so amazed with the technology of sharing videos and movies over the internet. I am sure, whether legally or illegally, all of us have downloaded movies or large video files over the net before.

I still remember how we all struggled to convert these files; convert them into files that could be read by our DVD players and burn them into disks so that everyone in the family could enjoy the movies by watching on TV and not on the small computer screen.

But that’s all history already. Last night, I saw this device which is selling at only MYR317 which saves all the trouble and time of converting and burning. I love it that it could also render subtitle files and that is wonderful since I love watching Korean dramas and must watch with subtitles!

This smart device is something that I surely will buy when I have a little more time to spare to enjoy movies on TV. I think by then, the price would have dropped a little too! Goodie!

General, Technology

Jazz® Elite HI-Definition Digital Video Camera

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If you have been following my blog, I am sure you would remember how I lament at the poor quality of my videos, made worse after uploading to YouTube. My friend discovered my videos on YouTube and asked me why I did not share them on my blog. How to share when the videos looked like they were shot underwater?

I have been thinking of buying a digital video camera for myself this Christmas. The one I am using, after all, is on loan and I should really return it to the owner which I will only do after buying one because I am quite addicted to video recording now, though the poor quality of my video recorder is disheartening and I am sure it is NOT user problem!

A couple of days ago, I came to know of this relatively cheap Jazz® Elite HI-Definition Digital Video Camera. I think that of all the digital video cameras that I have checked out these last two months, this is the most compact. I really love its design because I plan to take it everywhere I go so I really do not need something bulky. I already carry too many things as it is!

And yes, this will make a great Christmas present for me! And an opportune time to shoot some wonderful family Christmas moments too!

Random Thoughts Off My Mind