Bermain Main Bersama HTC Baruku

Translation: playing around with my new HTC. I was in OU, waiting for my haircut appointment when I decided to attempt blogging using my new gadget. After a few lines of typing, I've decided not to continue. Typing on a touch screen phone definitely needs getting used to. At the moment I think i type faster with a stylus than using my fingers. But it's an awesome gadget! I have begun to fell in love with it. As for typing SMSes, I think I'll be using the non-qwerty version of keyboard. It's beeter suited to my style at the moment. You guys will have to wait for a few more posts before seeing me blogging on the move. Later!

Update: You know what,i'm updating my blog using the non-qwerty keyboard and i can type rather fast.So the future look promising,hihi

Update: I'm now trying to use the stylus.It's pretty ok,so yeah,now I have options if i don't like the qwerty keyboard.yeayyy!

You're Not Gonna Believe What I Just Bought!

Hahaha, guess what. I bought something, and this could be the most spontaneous purchase of the year! Over the past few posts (I think) I have been babbling about getting a new phone for my birthday. I thought it would be a good..you know, birthday present. My top choice would be getting a Blackberry Bold. I'm still over the fence about it and all, and I'm still browsing to some options (I have HTC on my list), also the fact that I am checking my requirements (emailing and stuff).

So anyway, there's this handphone fair at Seksyen 14 PJ. So my mum, my sister and I went there to check it out. We then stopped at this booth having HTC phones. I tried the Touch HD just for the sake of trying. Then suddenly it strikes me and I asked 'Itu Touch Diamond 2 ada ka?' And suddenly there it is. Fresh from the oven, the newly released TD2 (and I was just reading about it in the Internet!), waiting to be played around and tested by a potential customer.

After about 20 mins of playing around, I then made the final decision; I am buying it! Hahaha, talk about being super spontaneous! Talk about buying Blackberry la apa la, last2 beli HTC! Haha. Asked him to equip the gadget with some softwares and all, and got myself a 4GB MicroSD. Price is about 2.6K, which is OK (considering it's new and it's an original unit, coming from an authorised dealer). So, there you go! I got back a happier person (and a huge hole in my pocket) having a new mobile phone!

I haven't actually explored the capabilities yet (just had it fully charged). But so far, I'm impressed by it. There's Opera Mini which allows fantastic Internet browsing, Office Mobile apps, GPS. Indeed a fancy gadget i must say. The only issue is that it's fingerprint magnet. Anyway, I'm so looking forward to exploring its true ability. Can't wait to start blogging, twittering and emailing on te go!

More on HTC TD2 later!

Seen And Heard: Kris Allen - Falling Slowly

Well peeps, Idol may be over, but the heat is still on. I am enjoying some of the best tunes performed by the contestants, and one of the performances that stood out was Kris Allen's take on 'Falling Slowly' during the Movie Week. Kris Allen truly brought his soul near to the audience's listening pleasure. He somehow managed to connect with emotions way up high. Listening to it makes me high! Check it out!

Download

Falling Slowly lyrics:

I don't know you
But I want you
All the more for that
Words fall through me
And always fool me
And I can't react
And games that never amount
To more than they're meant
Will play themselves out

Take this sinking boat and point it home
We've still got time
Raise your hopeful voice you have a choice
You'll make it now

Falling slowly, eyes that know me
And I can't go back
Moods that take me and erase me
And I'm painted black
You have suffered enough
And warred with yourself
It's time that you won

Take this sinking boat and point it home
We've still got time
Raise your hopeful voice you had a choice
You've made it now
Falling slowly sing your melody
I'll sing along

There's No Such Thing As 'Deleted' On The Internet

I stumbled across an article, which found to be worthy of reading. It concerns your privacy issues, and what can happen if things got ugly. Article is courtesy of Yahoo! Tech.

It's always fun to write about research that you can actually try out for yourself.

Try this: Take a photo and upload it to Facebook, then after a day or so, note what the URL to the picture is (the actual photo, not the page on which the photo resides), and then delete it. Come back a month later and see if the link works. Chances are: It will.

Facebook isn't alone here. Researchers at Cambridge University (so you know this is legit, people!) have found that nearly half of the social networking sites don't immediately delete pictures when a user requests they be removed. In general, photo-centric websites like Flickr were found to be better at quickly removing deleted photos upon request.

Why do "deleted" photos stick around so long? The problem relates to the way data is stored on large websites: While your personal computer only keeps one copy of a file, large-scale services like Facebook rely on what are called content delivery networks to manage data and distribution. It's a complex system wherein data is copied to multiple intermediate devices, usually to speed up access to files when millions of people are trying to access the service simultaneously. (Yahoo! Tech is served by dozens of servers, for example.) But because changes aren't reflected across the CDN immediately, ghost copies of files tend to linger for days or weeks.

In the case of Facebook, the company says data may hang around until the URL in question is reused, which is usually "after a short period of time." Though obviously that time can vary considerably.

Of course, once a photo escapes from the walled garden of a social network like Facebook, the chances of deleting it permanently fall even further. Google's caching system is remarkably efficient at archiving copies of web content, long after it's removed from the web. Anyone who's ever used Google Image Search can likely tell you a story about clicking on a thumbnail image, only to find that the image has been deleted from the website in question -- yet the thumbnail remains on Google for months. And then there are services like the Wayback Machine, which copy entire websites for posterity, archiving data and pictures forever.

The lesson: Those drunken party photos you don't want people to see? Simply don't upload them to the web, ever, because trying to delete them after you sober up is a tough proposition.

In other words, don't be stupid. The internet is specifically made for sharing large and varied amounts of data across the world . Once you put something out there, it doesn't belong to you anymore. If it's something you created, you can attribute it to yourself, but there's no controlling where it ends up. I'm reminding everyone and myself, to be really, really, really, really careful when uploading anything in the Internet. The Internet is such a HUGE closet, you never know what sort of ugly skeletons hidden underneath. Don't say you have not been warned!

The Coronation Of The New American Idol

And much a surprise to many people, the underdog beats the favourite. Kris Allen has been crowned the winner for Season 8, beating the judges' favourite, Adam Lambert. Even I was surprised of this result. The radio airwaves have witnessed a lot of listeners and fans of Idol to show dissatisfaction over the results. Many thought Adam is a more deserving winner, considering the fact that the flamboyant contestant displayed originality at its best, together with its amazing vocal talent and showmanship. I actually have considered a few theories regarding the results. Check this out.

1) One factor which might steer the result to Kris's favour is the voters allegiance. To be more specific, Danny Gokey's. All of us are expecting a showdown between Adam and Danny. So what happened is, when Danny didnt make the cut to the final 2, Danny's fans switches their support to Kris, as obviously they won't support Adam (d'uhhh). So Danny has got massive fans and voters, and Kris certainly has captured the hearts of his fans. Together combined, their votes have overcomed Adam's.

2) Another factor (and an interesting one that is) which contributes to the losing (result wise) of Adam Lambert, is of course lies within Adam's character itself. As all of us are well aware of, American Idol is a family-oriented show. The big chunk of the audiences are of course the conservatives. What I am trying to say is that, perhaps America is not ready to have a flamboyant, mascara-wearing, over the top theatrics displayed by Adam throughout the show. And of course, there's the sexuality factor too. It has been rumoured that Adam is in fact...gay. There has been pictures surrounding this rumour (I've seen it btw). No offence to Adam (not that I'm against your sexual preference of whatever), but I think America still loves an original, talented act which also displays honesty and down to earth character, which Kris is.

So there you go, some of my rantings on the Idol results. There's an article about the so-called upset which can be found here. Anyway, I would like to congratulate both contestants for displaying such a top notch performance throughout the season. In my eyes (am the rest of the people out there), both of you are winners, and this will be an exciting beginning for both of you. To Adam, winning Idol isn't everything and definitelt is not the end. Look at Jennifer Hudson and Chris Daughtry. They certainly have made it big time in the scene despite not winning.

All and all a great season if Idol, and hope to see you again next year!

American Idol Season 8: The Final Showdown

So, the moment has now arrived; the season finale of Idol is approaching. With one last performance to go, we’ll be seeing a showdown from two different spectrums; the glam-rock prodigy against the acoustic dark horse. The guy-liner against the guy next door. Nobody could have predicted on how this season turned out to be. The contestants, each and every single of them have displayed true vocal quality, showmanship talent and sheer genius in bringing up their A game. But I mean, I’m sure everybody have predicted the final to be a Gokey-Lambert battle, but Kris Allen, truly being a dark horse in this competition, has displayed the very reason why America loves him and find him deserving a spot in the final.

In my opinion, both have been a worthy candidate as the new American Idol. They have their own swagger in what they do best. Adam Lambert is…remarkably Adam Lambert. He brought a truly unique flavour in his singing since the beginning of the season, not to mention his vocal is…wowww. He can scream all he wants and can still talk like nothing has happened. A very consistent contender indeed. He’s got game; with panache, theatrics and mad vocal skills. Kris, on the other hand, is a music genius in my opinion. At first I was like ‘who the heck is Kris?’, and now I was voting for him like crazy (and apparently my sister is rooting for him too!). Did you guys checked out his performance last week? He turned out a Kanye West song (a rap song mind you) into some sick acoustic version, which I thought (and Randy does too) was wayyy better than Kanye’s version! His version of ‘Ain’t No Sunshine’ brought him into the realization that he is a dark horse of this competition. He has always remained true to his roots, never pretentious to be something he’s not, and that’s what I like about him.

Now comes the question; who will I root for? Well, Adam is magnificent, but his style is just not my cup of tea. So there you go, I’m rooting for Kris all the way. Kris, I still think you’ve got a shot battling it out with Adam (although I think it’s gonna be a long shot; there I’ve said it, I think Adam will win this battle). Regardless of what’s going to happen, I’ll still be a fan of you, and realize that not winning Idol is not the end for you. Just look at Chris Daughtry, Jennifer Hudson and David Archuletta, they’ve turned out good. I mean real goooood.

I’m heading back home at 5 sharp today to watch it, and so should you. I am expecting a great show, so don’t you ever disappoint me Seacrest!

A Friend Of Mine Who Studies Insects For A Living

Now this is new. I recently received news from a colleague of mine back in KL, that a friend of mine from the university years appeared in The Star. Apparently the scoop was on nature studies. Little that I know that he, an Aerospace Engineering grad, decided to pursue his interests in...biological creatures which can fly. Never knew that he was so keen into this sort of field. Maybe perhaps someday he will become a host in National Geographic Channel programme, or the one among us Malaysians to create some sort of miniature, micro mini sized planes (which can fly on its own!). Anyway, this entry is entered as a tribute to those who dare to pursue their own dreams. I salute you!

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