Archive for November, 2007

SingTel Offers 50GB of Data

Friday, November 30th, 2007

N95 8GBI just received a message today from SingTel informing that they are now upgrading the bundled data in our mobile broadband plans from 10GB to 50GB.

M1 recently had also sent their subscribers a somewhat similar message. In M1’s case, they were actually increasing the monthly cap of 10GB to 50GB. This means that they can now charge subscribers for up to 50GB of data usage. Their message, however, was easily misinterpreted by some subscribers as saying the bundled data has been increased to 50GB.

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Cup Cakes

Wednesday, November 28th, 2007

LifeblogimageSome yummy cup cakes make by wifey from cup cake class.
— Posted from my N95 Lifeblog.

Vanessa Visits Mt Alvernia

Sunday, November 25th, 2007

Baby sharing a laugh with daddyFirst, the GP said it it was Chicken Pox. Most likely jumped to conclusion on hearing that she was exposed to two cousins who had just come down with Chicken Pox. On the 2nd visit, the GP said it was throat infection. Hmm. We eventually sought attention from her regular PD clinic when the fever returned, and subsequently brought her to hospital because her fever remained high for 3 days and she started to vomit too.

The A&E doctor decided to admit her for observation and to run tests. So, we spent the next two nights in Mt Alvernia. Despite my protests, we practically shipped a car-load of barang barang to the hospital.

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New Firmware for N95 8GB

Saturday, November 24th, 2007

N95 8GBNokia just released a new firmware for the N95 8GB, updating the version 10.0.021 that came originally with the phone to version 11.0.026. According to the brief change information provided, the update reportedly includes performance and stability improvements to the browser and Nokia maps applications.

I’m quite pleased that the update is already available for my SingTel branded phone, just about 2 days after the news of the update became generally known. In the past, I had to wait for over a month or two for updates to my M1 branded N73 to be available. It looks like SingTel is more responsive in so far as Nokia software updates are concerned.

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Nokia N82 vs N95 8GB

Thursday, November 22nd, 2007

Nokia N82How does the N82 compare with the N95 8GB? Both are fantastic phones. The N95 8GB is basically an improved version of the original N95. The N82, on the other hand, is rather interesting: It takes the functions of the N95 (including some of the improvements in the N95 8GB) and put them into the form factor of the N73 candy bar phone.

Both phones were released recently, the N82 came closely after the N95 8GB. I was actually eyeing the N82, but ended up with the N95 8GB in part because I thought the N82 wouldn’t arrive so soon (I think it still hasn’t hit the stores in Singapore yet).

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A Credit Card What?

Sunday, November 18th, 2007

Xircom PCMCIA ModemI was just clearing out some junk from my cupboard when I chanced upon a bunch of technology relics such as this Xircom “CreditCard Modem”. I’m sure kids a few years down the road are going to find this amusing. What is a modem? Why would you want to use a modem? Notebooks used not to come with modems, so you needed a PCMCIA card like this one. Then, all notebooks started to come with modems built-in. Ah, and then now, modems are disappearing from notebooks again, because no one uses them anymore. My PowerBook G4 had a built-in modem, but now the newer MacBooks don’t.

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The Nokia N82 is Out Now

Sunday, November 18th, 2007

Nokia N82I have heard about the rumoured N82 some time ago from various sources. The speculation was that it would be available next year. Well, it seems Nokia is in the season to push out tons of new Nseries models lately. First the N81 8GB, the N95 8GB, and now we have the N82.

I was originally eyeing the N82. Why? Because I wanted everything in the N95, and the N82 has everything the N95 has, except that it had an N73 form factor. Cool. Everything you’d want in a compact candy bar phone.

You can check out the N82 at www.nseries.com, a review from gsmarena, and some high resolution images from Nokia.

Mac OS X vs Windows Updates Versioning

Sunday, November 18th, 2007

Mac PowerBook G4Apple posts updates to their Mac OS X operating system from time to time, much like what Microsoft does for Windows XP, Vista, etc. As I was installing the latest update, 10.4.11, I was just thinking how simple this version numbering is. Mac OS X “Tiger” is version 10.4, and updates to Tiger are numbered 10.4.x, such as 10.4.1, 10.4.2, … 10.4.11. It’s simple, and it lets users easily tell if they are up-to-date.

Apple lives up to their reputation to keep simple things simple, even when it comes to updates versioning. If there is any way to do something in a more complicated and confusing way, Microsoft will do it. I cannot even think how to begin explaining to ordinary users how Microsoft Windows XP updates are versioned. Sure, you have the rare Service Pack 1 and Service Pack 2, but that’s about it. The rest of the time, your Windows XP updates are but complicated nomenclature.

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Vanessa’s Back to Hospital

Saturday, November 17th, 2007

The day before, Vanessa started getting a high fever and didn’t seem to respond well to medication. That was good enough reason to get me the afternoon off from my ICT yesterday. Vanessa actually seemed to be doing ok at mid day, but unfortunately, her high fever returned and she started to vomit.

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First Day of ICT

Monday, November 12th, 2007

I am back in camp doing my ICT. After a break of a few years, I thought they’d forgotten about me. Just like after my ORD, they forgot about me for many years. Sometimes it is really nice to be forgotten.

Every time I go back for ICT, I try to think of the positive things to psyche myself to be happy with going back. Time passes faster when you’re happy.

But every time, once I put on the dreaded green uniform… I recall why I hate NS. The uniform is so uncomfortable. Just 10 – 15 minutes in it, even while indoors, I start to feel hot and sweaty. Aircon is a necessary accessory to these uniforms.

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