It’s amazing what wonders you can do with a device with one single navigation button. Let me share with you 10 more cool tips and tricks for your iPhone. At the end of this, please let us know whether you found them useful or if you have any other cool tips – share with us.

1. Send Full Definition Photo in Your Message

Do you know that iPhone scaled down the resolution of your photo when you attach it in your email? – typically you do it by hitting the “Share” button on the lower left corner and then press the “Email Photo” button.

To send full resolution photos via email, open the photo in your iPhone’s camera roll, tap on it and hold until the “Copy” button appears.

Copy the photo, then compose a new email. Press and hold somewhere within the content section, let go and the contextual menu will appear. Press Paste to insert your full resolution photo. Whalla! No more skimping on quality when sharing…

2. How to take a screenshot

Sometimes you just want to take a screenshot of your cool apps collection on the home display. Here’s how you do that.

Hold the “home” button, then hit the “power/sleep” button, the screen will momentarily flash, and the iPhone’s current screen contents will be saved to the Camera Roll.

3. Make your own iPhone ringtones

I know… getting cool ring tones for iPhone is such a pain in the $%%. But fret not. Here’s a way to make your own custom ringtones using nothing but the iTunes.

Step 1. Choose the song you want in iTunes and right-click on the track and hit “Get Info.”

Select “Options” from the menu along the top, then change the “Stop Time” of the song to 15 – 30 seconds.
Now, in the “Advanced” iTunes menu, select “Create AAC version.”

You will now see a second version of the song. Be sure to go back into the original song’s “Get Info” options and delete your “Stop Time” setting, or else the song won’t play past this point in the future.

Step 2. Convert the song to ringtone format

Once you’ve got the AAC version of the song, you need to find it on your computer. (typically: My Documents, My Music, iTunes, iTunes Media, Music and then the relevant artist’s folder.)

Change the file extension from .m4a to .m4r by clicking on it and overtyping. If you can’t see the file extension type (just the name) then you need to enable that functionality first. Go to your control panel and click “Folder Options.” Then, untick the option that says “Hide extensions for known file types.” Going back into the iTunes folder and you will now be able to see the extension to change it.

Once it’s changed, you need to import the renamed file back into iTunes through the “Add to Library” option in the “File” menu.

p.s. this if for PC users. Mac users have to use their peculiar method to rename the file.

Step 3. Get the ringtone to your iPhone

Now, both Mac and PC users will see the file under the “Ringtones” category on the left of your iTunes display. To get the ringtone where it needs to be — on your phone — sync your iPhone to iTunes. If this is the first time you’ve added a ringtone in this way, make sure that the “Ringtones” tab is set to sync.

To change the ringtone on your iPhone to your chosen song, go to “Settings,” then “Sounds,” then “Ringtone” and you should now have a “Custom” list above the pre-loaded “Standard” list. Just touch the song you want and you can be free of that pre-loaded “Marimba” forever!

4. Get to the top fast

Scrolling a long document is a hassle right. Here’s a shortcut in to get to the top of the page fast.

In Safari, Mail, Contacts, and many other apps, simply tap the status bar at the top of the screen — which displays the carrier information, time, and battery level — to scroll quickly to the top.

5. Get the character count in SMS

iPhone, by default, does not show the number of characters that you’re typing – such as in composing SMS or Twitter messages. This is an annoying oversight right?

You can easily turn this facility on. Just go to the “Settings” menu, select “Messages,” then slide the “Character Count” toggle to “On.” Now when you are composing a text message — after you get to the end of the first line — you’ll see a running count of how many characters you’re sending on the right of the display, above the send button.

6. Sentence stopping shortcut

If you’re not already using this trick, you most certainly should, as it can seriously speed up your typing. It is enabled by default, but to confirm it’s active, go to “Settings,” then “General,” then “Keyboard,” then make sure the toggles next to the “Auto-Capitalization” option and the fourth option down — “.” Shortcut — are set to the “On” position.

Now when you’re typing away, a double tap of the space-bar will add a period/full-stop and automatically capitalize the very next letter you type.

7. Setup Hotmail Using Exchange ActiveSync On Your iPhone For Push Email, Calendar & Contacts

If you are still a loyal user of Hotmail, you’ll be pleased to know that you can now sync your email, calendar, and contacts to iPhone using Exchange ActiveSync. So any changes made on the iPhone will be reflected on the web interface, and vice versa.

Here are the steps:

1. Launch the Settings App. Under Settings, tap on “Mail, Contacts, Calendar”.
2. Then tap on “Add Account”.
3. Tap on “Microsoft Exchange” to configure Hotmail ActiveSync.
4. Enter your full Hotmail email address in both Email and Username fields. Leave Domain blank. Enter your password. In the Description field, enter a name, e.g Hotmail.
5. Then tap on the Next button.
6. After the details entered above are successfully verified. You will get another screen where you need to enter m.hotmail.com for the Server name. Then tap on the Next button.
   
7. If the verification is successful, you will see the screen where you can select the data (Mail, Contacts, Calendar) to sync and then tap on Save.

Now you’re all set.

8. Sleep The iPod After A Certain Period Of Time

If you frequently listen to music on your iPhone before going to sleep, this is a pretty cool tip. You can set the iPod function to sleep after a desired period of time.

To set the sleep timer, launch the Clock. Select the Timer function. Set the amount of time you’d like to listen to your music before the iPod goes to sleep.

Tap on the “When Timer Ends” menu and you’ll be brought to a page where you’re able to select a particular alarm that is played when the timer ends. Scroll up and tap on “Sleep iPod”.

Sweet dreams listening to Justin Bieber!

9. Open link in a new page

There have been a lot of tips regarding Safari. A popular tip, if you didn’t already know, is to tap and hold a link then tap on “Open in New Page” to browse the link in a separate browser page.

When you’re done reading, just close it and you’ll be brought back to the main webpage. I find this tip very useful when reading blogs with multiple entries — I avoid pressing on the Back button and the need to reload the page each time.

10. To Silent A Call

The last tip is a simple but very useful to ignore annoying callers.

To silent a call, press the Sleep button once. It will continue to ring without any indications (no ringtone, no vibration) until you answer or the caller hangs up. To reject a call, press the Sleep button twice.

Hope you will find these tips useful. Don’t forget to let us know which one that you used and how do you find it.

Since when classroom get lit by the white fruit?

Anna Chapman, femme-fatale Russian spy that's part of the spy ring.

I bet you too, during your younger days, dreamt of being a spy with all those cool James Bond gadgets. Yours truly not excluded of course.

One of the observations of the 11 named Russian spies is that they all appear to live the usual middle-income life. Anna have a LinkedIn page and also Facebook. They live in decent suburbs. Just like you and me.

So it came to me – with all these state-of-the-art technologies available today, surely I too can have the necessary spying tools to be Malaysia’s newest secret agent. Or at least to spy on my boss . In fact an Associated Press article said that the Russian spy suspects use just ordinary gadgets.

Let’s do a quick search and see what can we find on the good ole World Wide Web, eh.

SPY CAMERA

What is a spy without one of those spy camera? Obviously, almost every mobile phone has a built in camera – so is a very capable spy camera. But what if I want to take picture discreetly? A quick search online presents a myriad of spy camera variations, from Coca-Cola cans to the improbable guise of a toy camera.

Notice that all spies have cool shades. So I might as well pick a Sun Glasses Spy Camera for RM426 from Digitalzone2u. Appearance counts and I’m sure it will blend well with my alter-ego persona.

LISTENING DEVICE

Another must have equipment for a spy wannabe

We found this parabolic microphone that will allow you to eavesdrop your target’s conversation at a Mamak stall of up to 100 meters away from the safety of your car. So that you can see the action as well, it comes with a monocular with 8x magnification.

Pretty cheap as well – only AU$46 from Chinavasion.

But being in KL, more likely I’ll want to do my spying actions in air-cond comfort indoors.

. From the same place, I can get this Inspector Gadget Audio Listening Device. Simply put it on the wall and listen to what’s being said next door. This audio gadget works by amplifying the vibrations of audio. When people are talking in a room their voices are simply a waveband, and depending on how loud they are talking, the waveband travels short and long distances which are picked up and amplified by this device.

Hah … no juicy office gossips can escape me any more.

Computer Key Logger

Not content with looking at who they’re meeting or eavesdropping, how can one up the ante and snoop into their computer habit? Using simply a small plug-in device, between a person’s keyboard (even a wireless one) and their computer, you can see hundreds of pages of text that they type no matter what it is. You can monitor every single button they press on their keyboard.

When it has been recording a good deal of time you can take it out and plug it into your own computer enter the password and Viola! You can see all their chats and everything they’ve typed.

Recover deleted data

It is so easy nowadays to snoop inside a computer and find out the information. If the target has deleted crucial files, many software are now available to let you search for the deleted pictures or documents. Try Diskinternals for free.

The Word or Excel documents are password protected? Just download a Password Recovery Tools that will help you to discover Microsoft Office and OpenOffice passwords with maximum speed. The software cracks simple passwords instantly and uses the latest GPU technology to get the job done.

Lock Pick

I also noticed that all good detectives and spies in the movies can pick locks with ease. I was told that it is a skill that can be mastered, but I certainly have no time for all that.

So I was glad when I came across this Lock Pick Gun which does the job automatically. It can quickly pick pin tumbler locks and cost only US$79.00.

X-Ray Spray

This gadget make a dodgy claim but it sure sounds exciting. Use this X-Ray Spray turns opaque paper temporarily translucent, allowing the user to view the contents of an envelope without ever opening.

30 seconds after application, the envelope will return to its’ original state, leaving absolutely no markings, discoloration or other indications of use.

It had better be more effective than the X-Ray glasses, of my earlier days, that promised to let one see through clothes and skirts. The advert looked very convincing in my Marvel comic pages but, damn, what a waste of Hari Raya money it was.

Tracker

Admit it. You’ve watched a lot of Hollywood in your lifetime and from 007 to StarWars films have had many scenes where people trace each other with small gadgets they slipped onto each other.

Thanks to Global Positioning Satellites (GPS) this is now no large feat to do. As a beginner spy, your budget may not be as deep as MI5. But fret not, what UK can do China can do it cheaper. This personal tracker from ShenZhen will get the position’s longitude and latitude coordinates using GPS and then send SMS to your phone. You can then use Google map or your Nokia’s navigational app to track the exact location.

Spy Vehicle

Ideally, I would like to have one of these James Bond’s Aston Martin fully gadget-equipped. But unless I can come up with $125,000 spare change… that will remain a dream lah.

But this is an area where reality is increasingly imitate fiction. In this case, the Governments are spying on its people. Here we have the Sky Drone that is used by the US police force.

These Honeywell Micro Air Vehicles have forward and downward looking cameras and can set 100 different way points. The Spy Drone that looks as if it has come direct from a Star Wars movie can travel at 57mph and can reach an altitude of 10,500 feet. Watch out, Big Brother is watching.

The U.S. government, through NSA, has engaged in a massive program of dragnet surveillance of domestic communications and communications records of millions of ordinary Americans since at least 2001. News reports in December 2005 first revealed that the National Security Agency (NSA) has been intercepting Americans’ phone calls and Internet communications. The Bush Administration said that this is part of its war on terror program. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales confirmed the existence of the program, first reported in a 16 Dec 2005 article in The New York Times. Many has opposed this move and consider it illegal. In a recent development, on January 2009, the administration of President Barack Obama adopted the same position as his predecessor when it urged U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker to set aside a ruling in Al-Haramain Islamic Foundation et al. v. Obama, et al.

Realistically, I will settle for one of these remote control vehicles. What we have here is called Remotely Operated Mobile Platform (ROMP) that will allow the operator to “drive” the vehicle and shoot weapon even though it is out of sight. The platform has been designed for any use, “including remote surveillance, security patrolling and bomb investigation.” and uses an audio/video system linked to an VR headset for control, aiming, and firing.

I can go on and on… but it is evident that there are more than enough toys available in the open market that can be used effectively to spy on somebody. In fact, my keyboard appeared to be laggy today. Maybe my rival has installed a spy software in my PC and as I typed this article, somewhere out there some one is reading and watching.

I guess I’ll find out the next time I land on JF Kennedy airport eh.

Who? you might say. Not many of us here in Malaysia has heard his name, but apparently AT&T is a huge telco in USA. So huge it seems that the CEO does not like to receive emails from the customers. Or else you will be served with a cease or desist letter from their lawyer.

That’s what happened to Giorgio Galante. He wrote two emails in two weeks to Mr Stephenson and voila.. there come a phone call from AT&T Executive Response Team (must be something like the corporate commando unit for them) that warned that further emails will result in a cease and desist letter. (listen to audio here)

We all know the US of A is a birth place and heaven for the suing culture and the hordes of lawyers there. But this? Maybe Mr Galante sent threatening emails that scared the juice off the CEO. Apparently, the first email was a request to bump up his iPhone eligibility date and a request for a tethering option, and the second one outlined his displeasure with AT&T’s new data rates and ultimate decision to switch to their competitor Sprint. Threatening? Yes, he did threatened to leave their service. And after that call from the ERT, you can bet that AT&T has lost a customer for sure that day.

Any of you who is a CEO or aspires to be one – please put this at the top of the ‘No No’ list. Oh ya.. can someone please send this guy some info on ‘Customer Service 101′.

Just to emphasise my first sentence just now, Galante had sent the email about offering tethering to both Randall Stephenson and Steve Job. Steve Job actually responded to that email. How cool is that?

To read Galante’s email to Stephenson, and to hear the resulting voicemail, click here.

Banner picture courtesy of geekrage.net

Now, that’s what you call a popular birthday boy.

A mind boggling achievement that underlined its huge global popularity. As a measure of how popular it is, that number is nearly double the number of people who tune into the US’s three prime time TV stations combined, according to the site’s owner Google.

Google should be pleased as the number is 50 times higher than the 100 million daily hits that was on record when Google decided to buy YouTube in Oct 2006 for US$1.65 billion. This will not turn into a AOL-TimeWarner-like acquisition nor is it likely to burst into premature closure like the Google phone.

Technically, I believe the performance of YouTube is nothing short than amazing. Anyone who has tried to stream a video on internet will know how difficult it is to get a fast-smooth-good quality viewing experience. Once your video have more than 10 concurrent viewers – it’s even worse. Yet, with 5 billion viewers using the site – the video experience is consistently satisfactory. Considering our consistently reliable broadband service, they are still good enough to watch.

Come to think of it, YouTube videos from across the Pacific Ocean is much easier to watch than the videos from local video streaming sites like Gua.com.my, TV3 etc. Why is that? Logically speaking, these local sites should be faster as they are within local network and not burdened by international gateway bottleneck.

Anyway, here’s a big thank you for YouTube for changing the the web forever and for enabling us to Broadcast Yourself.

To finish, here are a few videos that are noteworthy to watch:

• Me at the zoo the first ever video uploaded to YouTube on April 2005 by its co-founder Jawed Karim.
• Susan Boyle the audition for Britain Got Talent that has been watched 92 million times. p.s. Watch Simon Cowell at 1:51 and then his cheeky remark at 5:29
• Obama’s You Tube interview Barack Obama, then a U.S. Senator and Democratic presidential candidate, answer questions from YouTube in 2007.
• Lady Gaga: Bad Romance the most watched video on YouTube
• Charlie bit my finger

An old social networking service that was established in 2002, Friendster had grown to become one of the most popular networks in Asia Pacific today.  In a worldwide analysis, it was found that the top 15 countries accessing Friendster are: Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, The US, Singapore, Canada, India, Australia, UK, Hong Kong, Japan, United Arab Emirates, China, Taiwan and Korea.

With all these scenario, it attracted business opportunities but the owners decided to decline buyout offers, even that from Internet heavyweights such as Google.  In 2003, it was reported that Friendster’s management received a USD$30 million buyout offer from Google but declined it.  No reasons were highlighted.

Then in the Fall of 2003, The Wall Street Journal reported that Friendster received investments from former executives of Internet companies, including Yahoo Inc., and raised a whopping USD13 million financing round led by Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and Benchmark Capital.  Since then, the company has worked to develop a profitable business model.

That year, Friendster’s expansion included a package for Scott Sassa, a former NBC executive, as the new chief executive. With the hire, Friendster appears to be trying to shed its online dating image and to evolve into a media company.  Ideas about new interactive programming on Friendster based on the networking taking place on the site was speculated but the new management at the time, kept mum.  Friendster was also seen defining its initial business model: advertising-backed programming rather than dating-service fees.

Within that era, analysts were not too thrilled with the online scenario as it sounds like a journey back to the good old dot-com days. Despite all the restructure and a new strategy kicking in, in those early years, analysts were skeptical about most social networking firms ever becoming profitable. Social networking is very exciting as a concept but not as a business, was the main feeling towards this sort of ventures.

In today’s day and age, it has been proven that social media is huge and it is definitely not going away.  As the global race heats up, one of it’s closest competitor, Facebook soared at more than 400 million active users worldwide.  There are more than 100 million active users currently accessing Facebook through their mobile devices.  There are more than one million developers and entrepreneurs from more than 180 countries for Facebook. There is no question that people continue to gravitate in droves towards social networking and blog sites.

In the U.S. alone, total minutes spent on social networking sites has increased 83 percent year-over-year. In fact, total minutes spent on Facebook increased nearly 700 percent year-over-year, growing from 1.7 billion minutes in April 2008 to 13.9 billion in April 2009, making it the No. 1 social networking site when ranked by total minutes for the month. Analysts recently placed Facebook’s worth at USD$10 billion.

In Malaysia, 80% of affluent Malaysians (those with a household income above RM5,000) use social networking sites.  Report shows strong engagements in the Social Media Malaysia (nearly 3.8 hours per visitor and 22 visits per visitor).  Facebook is however the clear leader in social networking sites in Malaysia with 77% reach of Malaysian web population.

For Friendster, there are more than 115 million members worldwide making it one of the leading global online social network but not the top 5 spots. More than 60 million users visit the Friendster website per month making it one of the most visited websites on the Internet these days.

Then, it attracted the attention of a local home grown Malaysian company, MOL.  The company was founded in February 2000 and later listed on the MESDAQ Market of Bursa Malaysia Securities Berhad under the Technology Sector in December 2003.  It went through privatization by its controlling shareholders in February 2008.

In October 2009, Friendster and MOL entered a global partnership where MOL was appointed to provide an integrated payments platform, as a foundation for The Friendster Wallet and The Friendster Gift Shop, for Friendster’s users.

Friendster’s move was to have access to MOL’s 500,000 payment channels across more than 75 countries worldwide.  Apart from that, MOL is linked to 88 banks in 9 countries worldwide making MOL one of Asia’s fastest growing payment systems in developing nations with over 5,000,000 transactions per month. It’s no easy feat but it also processes more than USD200 Million worth of transactions in a year.  Most importantly, more than 2.9 billion people around the world can easily access their online, virtual and physical payment channels.  With this distribution capability and vast market potential that Friendster could tap on, it makes perfect business sense, …… for Friendster.

Following the acquisition, the operations of MOL and Friendster was combined to create Asia’s largest end-to-end content, distribution and commerce network, pairing MOL’s offline retail channel partners and payment platform with Friendster’s large online footprint, social network and user community in Asia.

Jon Gibs, vice president, media and agency insights, Nielsen Online said, “We have seen some very exciting growth in Facebook during the past year, and a subsequent decline in MySpace. Twitter has come on the scene in an explosive way perhaps changing the outlook for the entire space. The one thing that is clear about social networking is that regardless of how fast a site is growing, or a how big it is, it can quickly fall out of favor with consumers.” He also remarked  “Remember Friendster? Remember when MySpace was an unbeatable force? Neither Facebook nor Twitter are immune. Consumers have shown that they are willing to pick up their networks and move them to another platform, seemingly at a moment’s notice.”  Friendster needs to be relevant to what the market needs.

If Friendster wants to stay relevant and would like to create an evolution in advertising that would create a two-way conversation with the consumers, Friendster needs to be a part of the user experience and foster social interaction with their target audience.  The challenge is of course, had always been, how to monetize the huge database and build up ARPU.

Ganesh Kumar Bangah, president and chief executive officer of MOL at the announcement of the merger said “The merger with Friendster will continue to transform the social networking industry, combining a highly intuitive and successful social media site and online marketing channel with an integrated payment platform and content network which includes games, goods, gifts, music and video. We are creating a unique company that will be well positioned to provide content to a huge, regional user base, here in Southeast Asia,” said

He also said, “The new combined entity gives Friendster the kind of financial backing, retail distribution, and e-commerce infrastructure that will enable us to accelerate our strategy and create a locally relevant, fun experience for our users in Asia, both on and offline.”

We would like to know how far has this plan gone?  What are the achievements thus far and what are the marketing effort that has been put in place to ensure the success of this merger.

So, have you got Friendster?

“One million iPads in 28 days — that’s less than half of the 74 days it took to achieve this milestone with iPhone,” said Steve Jobs in a prepared statement. “Demand continues to exceed supply and we’re working hard to get this magical product into the hands of even more customers.”

That’s not all. It was also announced that

• 5,000 apps have been developed for the iPad
• iPad owners have downloaded more than 12 millions apps
• and more than 1.5 million books downloaded from Apple’s online bookstore.

That is supremely impressive – even for Apple standard.

Some people are quick to point out that this is not as impressive as the iPhone 3G and 3Gs that was sold a million unit per day. But – bear in mind that we’re talking about a new type of product that most people have never seen before and not even sure how it actually work.

In comparison, remember that in January this year, Microsoft’s Steve Ballmer proudly unveiled the slate PC from HP during CES but the latest rumor has it that HP will shelve that project.

Let me take out my calculator. That will be about US$500million (minimum) from sale of iPad units. Assuming the average downloaded apps in US$0.99 – that will be US$12 million from sale of apps. And at the average price of US$10 for popular ebooks, that will US$15 million from sale of ebooks. Grand total of US$527 million – all within 28 days. Kachinggg!!

Now Mr Job… when can you let the good people in CHIP in KL lay their hands on your shining magical device? I’m quite happy to have the WiFi version only for now – I’ll be using it at home and office only and BTW – my phone bill already hefty for now.

Nokia’s favoured OS – the Symbian is an established and stable workhorse but it is not able to provide the functionality and power needed to run a proper smartphone. The N8 is the first to adopt Symbian’s latest ^3 operating system and will be available in the third quarter in “select markets”. Symbian ^3 represents the Nokia-favoured OS catching up with the Android and iPhone competition with multi-touch, multi-tasking, Flash-compatibility, widgets, social address books and a more sophisticated look to the interface.

Some other cool features of the N8:

• 12 megapixel camera with 28mm wide-angle optics from Carl Zeiss, Xenon flash and face-detection software.
• Capability to play HD video, with editing features and check this out: an HDMI output for playing on your 36 inch LCD TV.
• a 3.5-inch OLED touchscreen
• 16Gb of internal memory
• Bluetooth and WiFi including 802.11n.
• Location based services with AGPS and comes with free global Ovi Maps walk and drive navigation

True to its reputation as a solid reliable phone, Nokia N8 is carved from a single piece of anodised aluminium and looks catchy in one of five eye-catching colours.

On the downside, it’s processing power at 680mhz is short of the now familiar 1Ghz processor used by other smartphones. Then there is the question of ^3 OS – how polished it is and whether is has done enough to catch up with Android capabilities – many critics feared that it may not have done enough.

In Europe it’s priced at €370 when it comes out in 3Q 2010. So when it reached Malaysia later – we can expect the price to be around RM1,700+.

Checkout the details at Nokia website.

Related articles:

• Let’s See What Symbian^3 Can Do: Nokia N8 Goes Official (mashable.com)
• Nokia unveils digicam-beating cameraphone (go.theregister.com)
• The Nokia N8, Nokia’s Most Advanced Smartphone (prweb.com)

Just to be clear, yours truly is not the subject matter. Instead it is a volcano that lies under the Eyjafjallajokull glacier in Iceland that have erupted on 14 April 2010 – the second time in less than a month.

Whilst usually volcanic plumes can be easily avoided by planes, the cloud of ash, and glass by this volcano has spread across an area thousands of square miles at the airplane-level-altitude of 20,000 to 36,000 feet high. The ash is dangerous for planes and as reported by Associate Press:

“The highly abrasive, microscopic particles that make up volcanic ash pose a threat to aircraft because they can affect visibility and get sucked into airplane engines, causing them to shut down. The ash can also block pitot tubes, which supply vital instruments such as air speed indicators, or latch onto engine blades, forming a glassy substance that may cause engines to surge or stall. Ash will also damage all forward-facing surfaces on an aircraft, such as the cockpit windshields, the wings’ leading edges, the landing lights and air filters for the passenger cabin.”

Satellite image: the ash cloud is brownish-black as ice particles mingle with ash.

The UK, Irish Republic, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Belgium and the Netherlands closed their airspace on Thursday. France shut down 24 airports in the north of the country, including the main hub of Paris-Charles de Gaulle, while Germany’s Berlin and Hamburg airports were also closed on Thursday evening. Frankfurt closed on Friday morning.

Malaysia Airlines, Qantas, Japan Airlines, Korean Air, Singapore Airlines and Cathay Pacific were among long-haul airlines who have cancelled flights to Europe. My friend who is due to fly to London via MAS this morning is sitting nervously by the phone to check the status of his flight as he has a very important presentation to make over there.

The volcanic eruption is not as massive in size to, say, Indonesia’s Krakatoa eruption in 1883 that blacked out the sky all over the world, the eruption of which can be heard 3,000 miles away. The energy released by the eruption is equivalent to 200 megatons of TNT (Hiroshima atom bomb is equivalent to only 20 kiloton) Yet, the effect of this natural phenomena is still dangerous and affects lives across the other side of the globe.

True… this post is nothing to do with technology or gadgets. But it is nice to be awed once in a while and keep our head level. For all our technology advancements and our constant bickering among us, Mother Nature just has to cough a bit to remind us – how small we are.

Fikir fikir kan

If Hollywood can deem Malaysian market to be important enough to hold simultaneous launch with the US release, why can’t the techdom? Is that the reward for good behaviour – because there is less piracy issues in hardware compared to movies?

There are 5 notebooks in this household and in this WiFi enabled world – we browse the web and do work in the toilet, in the living room and also in bed (it’s not what you think, guys). This was not the situation 5 years ago. But today, the clamshell design with trailing wires are just too much hassle. That for me (and my household combined) is why we’re waiting for Apple’s magical iPad tablet.

in my vision, I had a iPad in my hands

Oh ya.. we’ve started practising the pinch and open routine with the glistening new iPhone – courtesy of Digi’s newly launched RM108 per month bundle.