有舍才有得。

退后原来是向前。

放开双手，得到的是整个世界。

与天下受挫失意人共勉之。

Nokia 5800 XpressMusic in Red

It’s been a while since I am thinking to replace my good old Sony Ericsson W810, which has certainly served me well for the last 2.5 years. It was a brick – literally. I have dropped it to ground unintentionally gazillion of times, and submerged it fully into a small pool of water once (also unintentionally), the phone just refused to stop working.

3 weeks ago I met out with a friend (you know who you are!). He showed me his wife’s new Nokia 5800 XpressMusic (nickname “Tube”) in black with red linings. It is a 3G touch screen phone (Nokia’s 1st?), no physical keypad, and the screen resolution is really good. I played around with it, but really just checking the menu system and figure out how to navigate it – I haven’t used a Nokia phone before! I was told there is GPS too but I wasn’t impressed by then as I haven’t tried out any previously (yea yea I know I am outdated).

Did some online research when i was back home. The phone has everything that I need, and more. Price is not really cheap but not prohibitively expensive. I went to Digital Mall @ SS14, Petaling Jaya after a few days of consideration, and purchased the phone within 15 minutes.

The Good

• the screen is superb, 3.2″ @ 640×360 resolution
• It runs on Symbian S60 and not Windows Mobile. I hate Windows Mobile. The Symbian OS is responsive enough, and very easy to get used to. The only thing I missed from Windows Mobile is the game Bubble Breaker.
• WLAN, Bluetooth, 3.5G HSDPA – all these connectivities become necessity once I start using this phone. The only drawback is my phone bill will be more expensive due to higher data usage via packet data network. In places where WLAN hotspot is available, most of the applications will be able to use WLAN connect to the Internet rather than using packet data network.
• It comes with 8GB of micro-SD. Big enough for me. At least for now.
• supports Java, Flash, and have “copy & paste” function – the latest iPhone firmware is catching up on this regard!
• GPS. Once I get the hang of it, it is really fun using it. Forget about Nokia Maps and Google Maps. Garmin Mobile XT is the way to go. GPS is my least-care-about feature before I got the phone, but it become indispensable now.

The Not-So-Good

• The phone is thick.
• The screen looks oily 99% of the time on mine. Not sure about yours.
• 3.2M pixel camera with Carl Zeiss lens? The photos taken by the phone turned out to be just so-so, nothing to shout about. The night shots are so noisy that I am thinking to throw away the phone immediately. On top of that, the lens is not wide enough, maybe at 38mm equivalent or so. The only consolation is that the latest firmware supports native geotagging, which needs to turn on under “Camera – > Settings -> Show GPS info “On”.
• can’t SMS while driving due no physical keypad, and thus need to have an eye or 2 on the touch screen in order to type correctly.
• Most of the applications did not take advantage of a long-press to show context-sensitive menu.

The Ugly

• OS hangup after some software installation, that require reboots, and at one time, needs a hard reset (see below). Symbian S60 5th edition still needs some polishing, so expectantly the first few phone model users, like myself, are guinea pigs.

My Top 10 Applications on the Nokia 5800

Nokia 5800 Application menu screenshot (with iPhone theme)

• Garmin Mobile XT, with free and very good Malaysian maps from http://malfreemaps.com/
• Phone Torch: turn the phone into a super-bright torch!
  
• Gmail
• Screen Snap: Capture screenshots, but doesn’t work well in landscape mode though
  
• Y Browser: good replacement for the built-in file manager
  
• Sudoku
• Talking Dictionary (English to Chinese or vise verse, pronunciation at both languages): 80MB!
• World Mate: Have resources like weather, maps and currency rates at your fingertips. Handy while travel.
  
• Fring : talk and chat on the go to most of the social networks like Yahoo!, MSN Messenger, Skype, Facebook, Google Talk etc
• Opera Mini: Good alternative web browser for the built-in one
• Converter, Calendar, Calculator (built-in)

Mac and the Tube

• iSync works after installing a plug-in that can be downloaded here at Nokia website. However there is no option to select the sync direction for both contacts and calendar items.
• BluePhoneElite 2 works after installing ‘BPEnabler’ into the Tube. This is done automatically once the software detected the phone is connected thru bluetooth. Works flawlessly. My previous Sony Ericsson W810 sent SMS’s lose their timestamp once transfered into BluePhone Elite2. No such problem for the Tube.
• Nokia Multimedia Transfer is kind of like PC Suite but not nearly as much features. It allows automatic media transfers from iTunes (songs and movies), iPhotos and Safari Bookmarks. Useful for me to download playlists from iTunes. Works with either Bluetooth or the USB data cable.
• Nokia Map Loader for Mac: Found this in Nokia Beta Labs, but it didn’t work with the Tube! Luckily I am not using Nokia Maps.

A-GPS, Garmin Mobile XT, Nokia Maps, Google Maps

I will leave this to another blog post – this post is long enough to bore everybody! Screen shot of my home location in Garmin Mobile XT with maps from http://malfreemaps.com/

My Home! Garmin Mobile XT screenshot

Hard Reset

I have had one encounter, that after upgrading Gamin Mobile XT from 5.00.30 to 5.00.40, the home screen’s 4 shortcut button icons gone missing. Clicking on the now-empty area will not launch the applications anymore. On top of that, the DIaler and Contacts button icons at the bottom of the home screen are not working anymore. Even the Green button won’t work now. After rebooting the phone multiple times, removing the battery for extended hours, it remains the same.

I tried to reset to Factory Settings (Settings -> Phone -> Phone mgmt, or type *#7780#) but lock codes found online (12345, 0000) didn’t work. Typing *#7370# for hard reset will also require the same lock code that I don’t have. After some Googles, I finally found a way:

• Turn off the phone.
• Press on Green, Red and Camera buttons simultaneously.
• Turn on the phone, with the 3 buttons still depressed until the Nokia touching hands appear. It takes a while, maybe 10s or so.

After this process, the lock code screen will still come out, but I just need to click Cancel. I was asked to select my Region, after that the phone boots up but with everything wiped out in the C: drive, including all the contacts, calendar items, user files etc. So make sure you have backed up all the important items before doing this! The phone works like a charm now!

Last But Not Least…

I love the Tube – it can’t make coffee or do laundry for me, but other than that, it fits my daily needs perfectly:

• Sync: I sync the contacts, bookmarks and calendar items from my home iMac to the Tube, and to the company Dell laptop. Everything in sync. Yea I know Google Calendar can sync with iMac and the Dell, but I have since ceased to use it once I have the Tube.
• Calendar: I had it show up on the phone’s home screen – I will be on time to go to the boring meetings.
• Gmail, Fring, Web connectivity on the go. Very handy when I need it, like in those boring meetings…
• Weather forecast – AccuWeather.com widget: great for local destinations as well as the places that I plan to go – 7-day forecast
• GPS Navigation: Garmin Mobile XT is great, coupled with free maps from http://www.malfreemaps.com, getting lost in town is never again easy! With Assisted GPS turned on, time-to-first-fix (TTFF) is as short as 10~20s. Of course it will incur some packet data cost, normally <5kB, which is equivalent to RM0.05 for Maxis network. A very small price to pay, indeed.
  
• Music on the go: the Tube becomes my iPod in my car. I am connecting the Tube to the Aux input of my car to listen to songs I transferred from my iMac via Nokia Multimedia Transfer software. No need to burn the MP3s into CDs.
  

As much as I love the Tube, the timing of my purchase is really bad. The Apple iPhone is officially launched in Malaysia (with Maxis mobile service package) just 2 weeks after I got my Tube. Tube is great but it ain’t iPhone killer, and the iPhone will work so much better with my iMac. But then iPhone is not perfect, yet.

Maybe the next time I blog about handphones, it is about iPhone.

2008: Personal Expense Breakdown

Had some time on hand during the weekend, and thought I would go through my last year’s spending to see how I can do better in year 2009. Well, the numbers are staggering – I wouldn’t have imagined I spent that much! Not ready to disclose the actual amount, but here are some numbers:

Top 5 expense categories in year 2008:

1. Auto (28.4%)
2. Dining (8.8%)
3. Travel (7.9%)
4. Insurance (7.3%)
5. Misc (6.4%)

Not much trips last year –  only Pulau Perhentian on April, Sipadan on August (yea, watching the Beijing Olympics Opening Ceremony at Semporna!), and the Bangkok/Pattaya trip on December, but it already took up almost 8% of the total yearly spending. This will only become worse this year, with a few planned trips (Redang, Bali, Manila and Manado).

Dining is something I can look into. Probably will have to come home for dinner more often…

Automobile spending is the biggest chunk at 28.4%, mostly from the hire purchase repayment:

• Hire Purchase: RM 13.9k
• Fuel: RM 4.1k
• Service: RM 1.7k
• Toll: RM 1.54k

Toll spending will be reduced a bit this year, with the NPE toll gate at PJS2 Kuala Lumpur-bound direction being abolished just few days ago. Fuel spending really depends on the crude oil price, which I hope can stay at sub-USD40, or least not higher than USD60 per barrel. Hire purchase repayment will remain the same for this year – I still have 15 months of repayment to clear the loan.

By the way, the pie chart is generated by iBank, the financial manager software that I am using religiously almost everyday to keep track of expenses and income. It fits my need perfectly, and I like it because of its simplicity but yet powerful. Can’t say the same for Quicken, which I used to be using when I was still using MS Windows based personal computer – the software is loaded with so many features that I don’t need. Most things under Mac are simple, and more importantly, they just work.

Probably no upgrade of my iMac this year :-p … Need to save as much cash as possible to weather the storm!

“Our lives are defined by opportunities.”

“… It’s never too late… to be whoever you want to be. There is no time limit, start whenever you want. You can change or stay the same. There are no rules to this thing.”

It might be true that nothing lasts in life, but true love will last forever. As Benjamin puts it: “I never stopped loving you.”

A highly recommended movie – go watch it before it scores in Oscar!

地球行星的旅者

终于读完了这本书，间中停顿了有好几个月。趁着这几天的假期，一口气把剩余的看完了，也重看了首几篇散文。有些书是连第一遍都难以读完，有些书则是读完后还想重读, 因为每次都会有新的感触。《地》肯定属于后者。韩国诗人作者柳时和把行旅印度神秘之旅的经历写成了三十余篇散文，同时也把他行旅印度的目的－探索人生意义以及探讨幸福快乐的本质－精彩的描述出来。

对于最近发生了一些状况的我来说，这本书无疑像是当头棒喝。失去了一些本不应得到的，却庸人自扰的失落了好一阵子。像此书所写，

“我们在人生中并没有失去什么，什么都没有失去。不管在任何情况之下，不应说 ‘我失去了什么。。。’，而当说‘啊！那东西回到原位了！‘ ”

这句话和 “本来无一物，何处惹尘埃” 似乎有异曲同工之妙。

当拥有时并不快乐，那时的我为何还要执着的不肯放手？

真正的幸福不是拥有，而是快乐。这是我读这本书得到的启示。看起来很简单，真正面对时却不容易放下。

作者在书中也提到印度人的口头禅：”No Problem！“。 两三年前我去印度旅行时也面对同样的问题 －总之什么东西他们都 “No Problem“，虽然很多时候是”Big Problem“。

失去人生方向的人，强烈建议读读这本书。或许你可以找到一些答案。

“活在世界而让你今日拥有这些东西，所以当他们在你身边时更要珍惜，如同旅者珍惜可住一晚的旅馆一样。”

“珍惜活着的自己，热爱人生。”

书讯

ISBN：978-986-6759-15-4

作者：柳时和 （韩）

翻译：陈香华

出版：天下杂志

初版：2007/08/29

Just Say No to No Integrity

I was spent and tired, just got back from LCCT Sepang by the Skybus after my Bangkok trip. The Skybus – with its ever strong and cold aircond – took 1 hour to the dot to reach KL Sentral. It was just over midnight. A Malay guy came by to the bus door, supposedly a taxi driver.

“OUG?” – I asked. this is where I stay.

“Yea… erm… 25 Ringgit!”

“Mahalnya, kurang sikit boleh?”

“Tak boleh la boss, dah lepas 12″

“Takpe la!” – RM25 is just too expensive for a trip less than 10km.

I went over to the side of the bus to retrieve my backpack while the taxi driver walked over to chat to other passengers. My trip buddy Boon was already waiting. Just beside the bus lane, taxis are abound and all parked nicely but without drivers. We walked further down and were surrounded by a legion of taxt drivers.

“Nak pi mana?” One of the taxi drivers asked me.

“Takpe la, mesti mahal”

“Tak la, tanya dulu, mai sini tanya!” He led us to a small table with a manila card written “taxi”. A guy sits in a chair, surrounded by taxi drivers. He probably is the “managing director” here.

OK, since we are here already, I will just ask.

“OUG berapa?”

“OUG? OUG ke Bukit OUG? Lain tau!” One of the taxi drivers asked.

I was like, OK, “OUG!”

“Pasti ke OUG? Bukan Bukit OUG? Harga lain-lain!”

I was a bit pissed. “OUG! Kalau Bukit OUG, I dah cakap Bukit OUG!” I raised my voice.

“OK OK!” The MD said. He then starts to write down some numbers on a piece of paper, looks like a tear-off from a cigarette carton box. “Erm.. OUG… erm”. It took him like 10 seconds or so. “21 Ringgit!”

“Ooi mahal la!”

“Macam tu la, mana mahal?”

Boon too asked for the taxi cost to go back to his place at Dataran Prima at near Kelana Jaya, and he got “RM29!”. He worried that there is no other cabs and he gave way. We said Goodbye and parted.

As I started to walk off, one of the taxi drives asked: “You pergi mana? Tak nak naik taxi macam mana balik?’

“Ada lah”, and I crossed the bus lane and walked towards the monorail station at the main road at Brickfield, just less than 2 minutes away. It was my lucky night – there was a taxi stationed right at the bus stop beside the main road. I walked up and asked “OUG? Use meter?”

“Yes!” The Indian driver replied.

In less than 15 minutes, I reached home with the meter reading of RM8. With the extra 50% premium for over midnight ride (applicable for 12am to 6am rides), I paid RM12. Not that I will become a rich person immediately by saving RM9, but I don’t want to be ripped off by unethical taxi drivers that conquer Sentral at night times as if they are the landlords there. And it is illegal for taxis to not use meter too!

Of course, they behave this way because of the lax in enforcement by the related government departments. Not all the taxi drivers are like this, there are only a handful of bad apples. Do something, Government! This is not the way you want your own citizens or foreign tourists to be treated just hours after they arrived in Kuala Lumpur!

And to everybody else: Let’s start boycott all taxi drivers that are not using meter. It may cause some inconveniences, but together we can make a difference! Probably one day, the enforcement department will wake up too. Zzz…