Flash of the titans

May 10th, 2010 at 13:22 · Filed Under Business, Mac OS X, Software Development, Technology, Web, iPhone · Comment 

Apple’s decision for not to implement Adobe’s Flash into iPhone OS has turned Adobe-Apple relationship sour. In an open letter from Steve Job, he has written clearly about Flash’s weaknesses and a firm stance against Adobe’s Flash. I absolutely agree with Steve based on my experience with Flash. I would say: “Flash is nice to look at, but is a nightmare to have it!”

A week or two before Apple published Job’s open letter, I learned about an open source Flash project called Gnash from Twit. You can listen to the podcast here.

I really don’t believe in develop-once-deploy-everywhere development concept. I am more a native application guy because I only believe in native performance without relying on third party software components to run the applications. My experience with Tweedeck served as a wonderful example.

Tweetdeck was developed using Adobe’s AIR and Flash technology and is a develop-once-deploy-everywhere kind of application. Its user interface on the Mac really sucks. It looks more like a Windows application rather than Mac’s native Cocoa application. One thing annoyed me was that I had to upgrade Adobe’s AIR whenever it became available. I feel happier for not running Tweetdeck now.

A Java application has its downsides as well. It too depends on Sun’s JVM (Java Virtual Machine). Java has never become an implementation language in my software development career. Only recently when I began to involve in web application development, I have to work with JavaScript. The experience is awful, in my experience.

It is understood why Adobe is so furious about Apple’s decision not to allow Flash on its mobile platform. The reason is obvious: Adobe loses its grip on Apple’s mobile devices and has been discounted in Apple’s mobile computing gameplay. But Apple is not an easy-to-squeeze apple, it is huge and capable.

Apple has been working on an open web standard HTML5 and Apple’s own version of Flash, Gianduia. With HTML5, Apple’s computing platform becomes even more open, unlike otherwise as Adobe claimed. Both are exciting new technologies which I would like to implement to the web application I am developing.

I will write more about HTML5 and Gianduia when I have found time to research more about these two.

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When data is lost

April 10th, 2009 at 20:14 · Filed Under Blogging, Business, Computing, Marketing · Comment 

Almost all computer users have experienced data lost on their computers at least once in their life time. It is most frustrating when it happens while you are working on your project. You have so much data on your hard disk and worst, the project deadline is approaching. You suddenly plunge into despair. You lose your appetite and sleep. It is like the end of the world.

If you are running a business, your data lost can cause you a fortune. Data is the most valuable byproduct of any business. For example, customer database, sales and invoicing, stock inventory, etc.

There are numeral factors that can cause data lost. The most common are hard drive failure (electronic or mechanical), accidental deletion of file(s) or partition(s), accidental reformat of hard drive and OS failure. Fire and flood can also damage your hard disks. On advanced computing hardware, data lost can cause by the reasons mentioned earlier as well as RAID controller failure, rebuild RAID configuration failure, damaged or lost RAID configuration, corrupt or damaged partition table, etc. If you lose your data due to any of this or other reasons, you will need data recovery service.

If you are using a Mac, you need not to worry at all. The DataRecoveryGroup also provides Mac data recovery service to Mac users. They also provide server data recovery service to recover data from RAID disk arrays on servers.

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iPhone is in Malaysia!

March 14th, 2009 at 10:35 · Filed Under Blogging, Business, Computing, Phones, iPhone · 7 Comments 

The long awaited Apple iPhone 3G has finally arrived in Malaysia. Apple’s website announced its arrival today and Maxis has begun informing its customers via SMS a few days ago. I was in joy receiving the SMS and quickly went to Maxis website to check out the details.

 

iPhone 3G

The iPhone 3G that makes you drool...

I was truly disappointed after reading the details on Maxis’ website. The selling price is very high and apart of this, Maxis locks you in with either 24 months or 6 months contract. The worst thing is that if you breach the service contract or choose to opt out before the contract matured, there is a huge penalty awaiting you ahead.

We have paid so much for the iPhone with our own pocket, why is there still hefty monthly service fees and contract commitment?

Is that another dirty Apple‘s trick?

Read more

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Is Apple dirty?

March 13th, 2009 at 2:00 · Filed Under Blogging, Business, Computing, Mac OS X, Marketing · 1 Comment 

I have been Apple Mac user since 2003 after ditching Microsoft Windows in 1998. Mac OS X is real UNIX operating system comparing to Linux which is UNIX-like. Thanks to Apple for spending quite a substantially huge amount of money to license the UNIX operating system. Ever since I had an iBook, I am getting more entangled with Mac. I shifted all my web browsing, emails, calendar, contact, photos, video, and even software development to Mac platform. Although I am still running Linux on Intel boxes and SPARC Solaris, I have become totally dependent and obsessed with Mac. I would crave for a Mac if I were to work on non-Mac.

Why?

Read more

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Looking for a digital camera?

February 3rd, 2009 at 11:22 · Filed Under Blogging, Business, Marketing, Photography · Comment 

I have friends who are looking for digital cameras for their casual uses or hobbies. They ask a lot of questions spanning across many brands and models. The problem is, I don’t use every brand and model. Although I am quite good with my Canon 350D, my experience based on this model does not apply to others.

User review is one thing. When come to pricing and offering, it is impossible to recommend a good shop offering good price. ShopWiki is a good site to shop for a digital camera. At ShopWiki, there are links to online shops offering wide range of digital cameras with good price.

At its Canon Digital Cameras page, you can select from Canon’s compact digital cameras to digital SLR cameras and a wide range of accessories, like the lenses, flashes and more. You can also browse other major brands such as Sony, Nikon and more.

With ShopWiki, shopping for a digital camera is so easy in the comfort of your home.

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Apple TV playlist

January 24th, 2009 at 19:59 · Filed Under At Work, Blogging, Business, Computing, Days in My Life, Education, Mac OS X, Medical · 2 Comments 

I have installed an Apple TV at my client’s office waiting area. His purpose is to educate his patients while they are waiting for their consultation. That is a brilliant idea as we had long and boring waiting experience when LA was consulting him.

The idea is to design different programs with advertisements and messages interleaved among documentary and his own educational videos for playback on different days of the week. And the most important thing is to allow the doctor himself to easily update his educational videos and advertisements anytime as he wishes from his new 24″ iMac.

After I installed Apple TV a few days ago, I realized it did not have movie playlist. After Googling for a while, I wasn’t alone. Here is a blog entry with the same problem. And I found out the Apple TV Software Update 2.3 allows movie playlist in iTunes to be seen on Apple TV. I downloaded the 2.3 update this afternoon, and after I activated the movie playlist in Apple TV settings, it is now able to play the movies in the playlist as desired.

I pondered why Apple did not ship Apple TV with new software update 2.3. It was released in November 2008. About the Apple TV software update can be found here.

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The most profitable business

July 31st, 2008 at 21:08 · Filed Under Blogging, Business, Critiques, Politics, Social · Comment 

As we, including the kids, know that a profitable business is when we purchase at low price and sell at higher price to make a profit. But the “law of profitability” in economics has been broken. I read a piece of news with mouth wide opened. Am I reading correctly? Here is the repost of the news from “The Malaysian Insiders“:

KUALA LUMPUR, July 15 — American motorcycle giant Harley-Davidson has, according to the Associated Press, agreed to buy MV Agusta for US$109 million (RM360 million), in sharp contrast to the one euro Italian company Gevi paid when it bought the Italian bike-maker from Proton Holdings in 2006.

Harley-Davidson said in a statement out of Milwaukee last Friday that it was likely to seal the deal in weeks but the news is likely to unleash a firestorm of criticism against Proton, which was savagely assailed for the 2006 sale by no less a person than former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who conceived Proton back in 1984, according to the SingaporeBusiness Times.

Proton, then under the leadership of Dr Mahathir protege Tengku Mahaleel Ariff, bought a 57.75 per cent interest in MV Agusta in December 2004 for 70 million euros (RM357 million). Dr Mahathir had stepped down as premier a month earlier but had been appointed Proton adviser by his successor Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi at the time.

By 2005, Proton was floundering amid intense competition from better-quality Japanese models and relations between Tengku Mahaleel and the new Proton board, all appointed by Abdullah, were tense. These culminated in the chief executive’s contract not being renewed. Barely a year later, the company sold MV Agusta, with its debt of 107 million euros, for one euro.

Dr Mahathir took it personally, asking for an investigation of the sale decision and its beneficiaries, and questioning the urgency of the deal.

Proton defended itself by saying there were “no operational, engineering or technological synergies” between the two companies, a conclusion that it said had “been independently confirmed by its appointed advisers”.

When Tengku Mahaleel and Dr Mahathir decided on the buy earlier, it was precisely because of the deal’s so-called “technological synergies”.

Even so, the Harley deal would appear to vindicate both men and is likely to rebound upon Proton and, by extension, Abdullah and his administration, which has stoutly defended Proton’s new management against the criticism of Dr Mahathir.

MV Agusta makes a line of premium sports motorcycles under its own name and another line of lightweight bikes under the Cagiva brand.

Meanwhile, the deal will help Harley-Davidson expand into the European market as sales slump in the US where consumers are pulling back on spending. Performance biking accounts for almost 80 per cent of sales in Europe, where Harley’s sales have been growing in double digits over the past three years. The US bike-maker now has a 10 per cent share of the European market.

Meanwhile Bernama reports that Deputy Finance Minister Datuk Ahmad Husni Hanadzlah told the Dewan Rakyat today that the sale of MV Agusta for one euro was profitable to Proton as there was no synergy between the Italian motorcycle maker and Proton as a car manufacturer.

He said Proton made the decision after taking into account the financial liabilities of Agusta which had debts of 107 million euros.

Under the agreement, the shareholder must be responsible for the company’s debts, he said.

“As there was no synergy between car and motorcycle and instead of shouldering the debt, Proton decided to sell Agusta,” he said in reply to a supplementary question from Nga Kor Ming (DAP-Taiping) during Question Time.

Take a look at the last fourth paragraph carefully. The speaker was really lack of intelligence. How can a business be profitable if it spends 70 millions Euros to buy a company and then sells it for 1 Euro? But in the first place, will you buy a company with 107 millions Euros of debts?

Hello? Is this a typo? I don’t think so. But the person who made such statement in Dewan Rakyat must be thinking the Malaysians are mentally retarded.

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Air purifier

June 2nd, 2008 at 22:25 · Filed Under Blogging, Business, Environment, Health, Marketing · Comment 

The use of air purifier at home can improve the air we breathe. An air purifier with asthma air filter will help to improve condition by reducing allergens in the air. Although it cannot 100% removed the dust or allergens, it decreases the chances of developing asthma in children. Learn about the different type of air filters including HEPA, ultraviolet and ionic.

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Let your modeling dream comes through

June 1st, 2008 at 12:38 · Filed Under Blogging, Business, Fashion, Marketing · Comment 


If you think you have got the look and dreamed of becoming a model working in Milan, New York or Paris; now you have got the chance to realize your dream. Look of The Year is seeking beautiful people from all over the world to join. Send in your best pictures to become the next model working in Milan, New York or Paris. Plus you can win a US$10,000 price. So, what are you waiting for? Visit http://www.lookoftheyear.com for more information.

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Welcome to BloggerWave

May 26th, 2008 at 10:08 · Filed Under Blogging, Business, Marketing · Comment 

BloggerWave is aiming to be Europe largest advertising media on blogs. Europe is one large potential market after U.S. If you own a blog and wish to make money with your blog, BloggerWave is the right place to start. I have just become a fan of BloggerWave and starting to make more money by writing posts for it. Why not join me to blog your way to some extra income?


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Another happy new Mac user

May 21st, 2008 at 16:19 · Filed Under Blogging, Business, Mac OS X · Comment 

To follow up my article, “Am I a Mac advocate?”

Just came back from a business meeting which I delivered an Apple MacBook to a customer. She is a mutual fund manager and is totally new to Apple. The moment she took out her new MacBook from the box, her impression was “Wow! It is so beautiful, sleek and … “, something words could not describe.

I spent some hours to guide her using a Mac and she caught on quite well. She was most impressed when I showed her how I could help her using her Mac via iChat. Totally amazed, how iChat could allow her to share her screen to me and I could guide her to use her Mac and some applications over the Internet.

Another happy Mac user.

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Am I a Mac advocate?

May 21st, 2008 at 0:33 · Filed Under Business, Computing, Mac OS X · 1 Comment 

Yes, I am!

I started to use an Apple iBook with Mac OS X five years ago. And ever since then, I do my daily works like emailing, web browsing, IM/Skype, appointment, todo, word processing, spreadsheet and almost everything on Mac. Today, I am a total Mac advocate and I also develop software for Mac. Most of the Mac applications I worked on are easily ported to any UNIX systems such as Linux and Solaris or vice versa.

I have switched many people from Windows to Mac. I have helped businesses to switch from Windows to Mac. And the result? They are happy Mac users and I am a happy Mac advocate. Supporting customers in Mac is ever easier and hassle free compare to Windows. Supporting Linux and Solaris mostly as a server together with server applications cannot be compared in that way because the application area and environment are totally different.

Although the initial investment is higher comparing to any other Wintel (Windows and Intel) PC, Mac gives you awesome user experience you can never enjoy with Wintel. The end result, ROI or Return of Investment is higher.

Read my other article about Mac in business here.

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Sugar from Brazil

May 13th, 2008 at 10:43 · Filed Under Blogging, Business, General, Marketing · Comment 

Brazil is the world largest producer and exporter of sugar, particularly ICUMSA 45. Sugar from Brazil is highly sought after by buyers around the world. ICUMSA 45, the highly refined sparkling white sugar which is used in manufacturing food stuffs, is even sold off before it is produced. At one time, Brazilian sugar production has sent the world sugar price to plummet to five cents a pound.

More than half of the sugar produced in Brazil is supplied to domestic foodstuffs manufacturers, for domestic consumption and ethanol production. Brazil has increased her annual sugar production because export has outweighed domestic consumption.

High Sea Sugar supplies sugar and molasses directly from the mills.

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Looking for a web hosting provider?

May 3rd, 2008 at 11:05 · Filed Under Blogging, Business, Marketing, Web · Comment 

Alright, you need to find a web hosting company which provides web hosting services at a price ranging from $4 to $8. And you want a detailed review of their web hosting service to ensure reliable service. Look no further, visit webhostingchoice.com for a list of web hosting providers. It is easy, quick and hassle free.

At webhostingchoice.com, you have a comparison chart of pricing, fees, disk space, transfer and rating to help you choose a web host of your choice. Click on every links to checkout the web hosts’ websites to learn more about their products and services before you jump in.

This site also includes a learning center to help you through the web hosting jargon words, hosting scams, marketing gimmicks used by web hosting providers to lure and lock in customers. The site provides comprehensive advice and FAQs to guide you selecting a web host and to avoid pitfalls and tricks.

A list of useful links and resources is also included for your convenience. You may want to sign up their newsletter for monthly updates of hosting tips, offers, coupons, interviews and etc. to keep you abreast of the web hosting business and to enjoy discounts from coupons.

Take a look before you jump!

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PayPal Withdrawal

April 23rd, 2008 at 12:39 · Filed Under Blogging, Business, Finance · Comment 

My credit card statement came in this morning. I was happy to see the withdrawal from my PayPal account had been successful and reflected in the statement. Withdrawal to credit cards is a new service provided by PayPal to allow account holders in countries like Malaysia to be able to withdraw their funds. I recently decided to try this service.

This withdrawal paid off some of my credit card balance for this month. I am motivated to write more posts and also looking for new opportunities to setup online business.

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