I am heavy music listener. I listen to music practically almost everywhere, every time (except when I’m sleeping or poo-ing). Other than that, most of the time, I am hooked up either to my iPhone or my iPod. Thus, I need a good piece of earphone.  I don’t mind spending for a good one.

I am also quite an active guy; there is no other time that I love to listen to music than when I am running, or during my workout. It is really motivating and a time killer (especially when I’m on the treadmill or stationary bike). Thus I really need a durable kind of a headphone.

I’m a Monster Beats user. I love the Solo HD, really love the shit out of that headphone. I never regret buying that ridiculously expensive headphone. I LOVE IT!

But I hate the Monster Power Beat, lucky for the one year warranty; I have replaced the unit four (I lost count, whether is it four or more) times. Sweat Proof my ass! The control talk failed me one too many times.

The sound is good, not top notch, but good.

The price tag? Too Expensive. I put a high expectation on this product.

Durability? Not Good. Changed the unit four or more times. The remote control is too exposed, I have doubts when I saw the design of the remote control. NOT SWEAT PROOF!

I advice on anybody who wanted to buy any Monster Beats product, do buy it here in Malaysia, and make sure the warranty is by Hwee Seng, they are the only distributor here in Malaysia, beware of fake seller online. They change the earphone one to one, on the spot, after they verified that the unit is faulty. On that part, I have no complaint. They have a good customer service. Just make sure that you have the warranty card, with your receipt.

I saw at Machines Midvalley just now, a new Monster iSport earphone. The Control Talk design is quite promising, kinda look sealed. But knowing Monster Beats, I am not sure how good is this new earphone.

TM Wifi

TM Wifi is a prepaid internet service by Telekom Malaysia (TM), before this it was named Streamyx Zone. I am not sure what was the name before it. Anyway, I just want to share this one small not so important tips with all of you, particularly Unifi users.

As a Unifi users, you will get a StreamyxZone username and password. If you didn’t get one or you don’t know that you get one, check the email that TM sent to you when you first sign up for the Unifi, it should come with your Unifi username And password.

It should be like this username@Streamyxzone.

I’m having hard time using it last time as nobody guide me, not even the Customer Service knows how to key in the username and password for Unifi users that wanted to use the TM Wifi.

1. When you reach the landing page of the TM Wifi (when you are connected to TM Wifi), choose the dropdown to Unifi.
2. Key in your username as per your what you received from TM. Key it in without @Streamyxzone, and I believe the username should be in lower capital.
3. Key in your password.

If everything is ok, you should get a Successful notification, if not, you will get a Invalid User notification. Don’t bother call the customer service as they don’t know on how to key in the username and password, you will wasting yourself being hold.



New iPad

iPad 3 or as per the official name “New iPad” has been released on 16 of March 2012. Singapore is among the earliest 10 country that release this device officially, rumor is that the new iPad will be released here on Malaysia at 4th of May (cross your finger you guys).

I wanted to be among the early adopters of this device. I am able to buy a 32 GB white version (although I preferred black) from a Lowyat.net forum user, with some extra price of course.

The soon to be price for this version of this iPad is RM 1800, but he is selling it at RM2200, RM400 extra. To me, the price is still ok, just to go back and forth to Singapore already cost me RM200, to go there and spend more money on foods and drinks, plus the energy and time that I will use up to queue, I guess it is worth the price.

Lucky me I manage to sell off my iPad 2 for the price of RM1800, I just top up a bit for it.

What is the difference between iPad 2 and the new iPad?

1. The Display – Apple finally upgrade the display. The increase of resolution from 1024-by-768-pixel resolution at 132 pixels per inch (ppi) to 2048-by-1536-pixel resolution at 264 pixels per inch (ppi). Apple called it the Retina Display.
2. Rear Camera – the new iPad is equipped with 5 megapixel camera and can support video recording up to 1080p.
3. The Processor – iPad 2 is using a dual core A5 while New iPad is using A5x quad core processor.
4. RAM – Increase in RAM from 512MB (iPad2) to 1GB(New iPad).
5. Dictation – it’s like Siri for iPad. It writes for you.

Design wise, it’s the same. Except for the slight thickness and weight, which I am sure that many people won’t realize it.

Many people would say it is not wise to buy this iPad if you have iPad 2. What would you say? To me, this is the real iPad 2, which upgrades the display (mainly) and the processor. It’s a bargain for a powerful tablet.

Bored with your same old WhatsApp tones? This is how you can customized it.

You will need 2 apps.
1. Ifunbox (http://www.i-funbox.com/)
2. Plist editor (http://www.softpedia.com/progDownload/plist-Editor-for-Windows-Download-121084.html)

Instructions
1. Open up iPhone Explorer (ifunbox)
2. Browse User Applications/whatsapp/whatsapp.app/
3. Browse into User Applications/whatsapp/whatsapp.app/English.lproj (picture)

4. Edit PushSounds.plist by using Plist editor.
4.1. Download the PushSounds.plist to desktop.
4.2. Open PushSounds.plist using Plist Editor. We need to add/modify the highlighted area.

Among default tones in Whatsapp

A new tones that I have added - Mario Dead

4.3. Save then upload and overwrite the old file.
4.4. Copy the sound file to User Applications/whatsapp/whatsapp.app/

new tones added

Rename audio files.

These steps only tested on mp3 files. Simply rename the .mp3 extension to .caf.

As bonus, I have uploaded few Mario Bros tones into my server, feel free to download. I also did a template of the lines that you need to add into the PushSounds.plist.

Template (Remember to change what is necessary)

<dict>
<key>file</key>
<string>Boing.caf</string>
<key>name</key>
<string>Boing</string>
</dict>

Tones
Right click and choose Save As / Save Link As

mario_tones.zip

Durian

Now is the season of Durian in Malaysia. Everywhere I go, there’s Durian. I love eating them, but it’s my wife who can’t stand the smell, some more if the smell comes out from my breath.

Well, what do we know about Durian? It is thorny, the husk’s color is green, and sometimes it is yellowish to brownish. The flesh’s color however is golden yellow (good quality) to whitish (so-so quality).

Not many people can stand the smell, especially those who have sensitive nose and foreigners. In Wikipedia stated that “also because it has a distinct fragrance that some people describe as “old gym socks” or “rotting flesh” and that has gotten the fruit officially banned from many public places in Asia”

Health Benefits of Durian.

- Rich in energy, revitalize the body instantly.
- Rich in dietary fiber.
- Good source of Vitamin C – promotes healthy skin.
- Excellent source of vitamins;
o niacin
o riboflavin – helps in relieve Migraines
o pantothenic acid (vitamin B5)
o pyridoxine (vitamin B-6) – helps in fight depression and helps in PMS (Premenstrual Syndrome)
o thiamin (vitamin B-1)
- Contain good amount of minerals such as manganese (helps in regulate blood sugar levels), copper, iron and magnesium.
- Contains tryptophan – Nature sleeping pill.
- Good source of Potassium – helps in maintain healthy bones.
- Boost brain power.
- The vitamins in Durian (B6, B12), help people who are trying to give up smoking – by helping the body recover from the effects of nicotine withdrawal.

I have been trying recently to get free apps from App Store, but I failed at a point when it ask for verification. I keyed in the 3 digit security code for the credit card, but it will prompt me to select the correct county/province, keep saying that the user at least need to put at least 3 letter or number. Well, this is Malaysia, the county is pre programmed and maximum letter is 2.

Been stuck at the app store for days up until today where I found a solution in this one blog. Turns out after the credit card verification, I need to choose JH(Johor) for my county/province. Problem solved, no more popups.

I recently did a backup and restore of an iPhone. It was supposed to be a simple IOS upgrade, from version 4.3 to version 5.0.1. But something went wrong an error –code 14, and I have to do an IOS restore rather than update. I thought that I would be safe as my data has been backed up, but I was wrong, big time!

It turns out to be that it backs up everything, but it only restores personal data which consist of photo, calendars, messages, emails and notes. No applications were restored. You are needed to install the software by yourself and if you are lucky, the data will be there but in my case, I am not that lucky, I lost the data of one of my crucial data application. Well, in this case, the application is iBearsoft Money Free 4.0.

I screwed up.

Lucky for me that I did the backup, I tried to restore it again. It still fails; the best thing is that in AppStore, the latest version of that application is 6.0.2. Totally new GUI!

After few hours of trial and errors, this is the solution to my problem, and we need a jailbroken phone.

Like I said earlier, I manage to back up the data. And so, I used an IOS backup data extractor (ReincubatBackup Data Extractor), select the backup – then select expert mode – I extract the data files of the applications.

Choose Expert Mode

IOS Application Directory

Extract Needed Application

Then you need a jail broken iPhone.

Why? Because you need to reinstall that software with the right version, lucky for us, we have Installous.

In my case, I need back the iBearsoft Money version 4.0.1.

After you reinstall the software, you need software to explore the iPhone. It is called iFunBox. There you will need to search for the application directory and overwrite the files.

Overwrite Necessary Data using iFunBox

Before you know it, you got the data back again.

Note to everybody – Backup, backup and backup your data!

Hazelin is a friend of my wife, they used to work together back in iPerintis. Now my wife is still doing her usual photography business( she only work there for 5 months) and Hazelin is currently working in CIMB. Wenearly missed the wedding reception as both of us totally forgot aboutit. I went to the gym, and my wife she was resting after shooting at Klang.
 
She called me at the gym telling that Hazel’s wedding is today. She accidentally found the wedding card. 
 
And so, we met at the nearest gas station, I need to change my shirt anyway. Lucky for us the traffic is not bad. We reached Dewan Seri Kayangan, earlier than we expected though.
 
All and all, it was a good moment to see Hazel with her husband. The food and crowd was nice. I did met my uncle’s golf buddy, what a small world.
 
Anyway, Selamat Pengantin Baru Hazel!!

8.30 in the morning, I received emails from Letuang mailing list, stated that a friend of ours Kharis Idris / Tuan Senang Besar has passed away. He were found unconcious at Kelana Jaya Sport Center, from what I heard he went out for a jog. I didn’t know any details yet for now and I also still don’t know what is his cause of death.

I quickly dialed another friend of mine (Nik Fahusnaza) to confirmed this tragic news, after that I keep on messaging all my friends who knew Kharis. Nik updated me again regarding the post mortem that will be held at PPUM. Ishal and Zee already on their way when I informed them about the location.

Many familiar faces we met at PPUM, some old friends, some new friends. AJ Yahya, Folizan, Azly Anwar, Nik Fahusnaza, Irwan, Syanaz, Ishsal, Zee, is among the friends that are there.

TSB is a great loss to all of us.

Death is indeed a strange thing. Everyone will experience it, yet everyone goes in disbelief when it happens to one close to us.

I pray that Allah grants Kharis the highest paradise (jannatul firdaus) and raise him with the Ansaar of Madinah, and reunites us in Jannah. I pray that Allah give his family patience and gives them the fortitude to raise his three girls to become lights for the ummah.

If you are reading this and knew Kharis, you are welcome to leave your thoughts. Regardless, whether you knew him or not, please take a moment right now to make a quick prayer for Kharis and his family. I am going to miss you my friend!

I’m off to Masjid Bulat Petaling Jaya, the Solat Al-Janaza will be held there.

Another tribute from Tristupe.com

Kharis Idris by Jason Hue

Have you ever have a problem where in certain area at your house you can’t get a good signal, some more if you live in a 2 storey house, you can’t get a good or no signal at the ground floor. Well, these is some hardware that you can use to rectify the problem.

1.Wireless Repeater/Wireless Extender.
This documentation is to set up TP-LINK WA901N (RM140) as a Universal Repeater: http://bit.ly/nwxCro . Other product that can be used is Aztech Wireless Extender – WL556E (RM150).

2.Homeplug.
Network over power line, read more at this website: http://bit.ly/qBRj63 . Aztech is one famous product for Homeplug networking here in Malaysia. There are risks with this method, where by if the user’s house wiring is quite old; the chances of getting good signal are low. A lot of circuit breakers also contribute to low quality signal. It’s an expensive and risky solution.

3.Wireless Bridge.
This is a method where you connect to wireless connection together. It is complicated as you need to some configuration on the device. Nowadays, company such as TP-Link made their router Wireless Bridge/WDS enable, which makes it easier to configure.
If you have extra cash, you can always buy a gadget such as D-Link DAP 1562 Media Streaming Kit (250USD in EBay – Makes it around RM781 excluding shipping).
More reading - http://bit.ly/1355vk
Video reference – http://bit.ly/p5AzFV

There you go, some solution for your networking issues. Happy Networking!!