afif plc

Afif PLC turns 5

noreply@blogger.com (Afif Rais) — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 15:27:00 +0000

Today Afif PLC turns 5 years old. If it was a human, it'll still be a toddler. In term of quantity, I should be ashamed that I have blogged a lot less than last year. But you know what they say, it's quality not quantity that matters. I can post a boring story about what I did at work every now and then but I chose not to. If possible, I'd like every post to be interesting or at least beneficial to my readers.

Actually, it's not that I haven't blogged much. It's just that my posts now are spread between 3 different blogs. This one and then Afif Chronicles and Afif 365. Although I only have like 3-4 posts a month here, I blog regularly at least 6 to 7 times a month on Chronicles and almost every day on my Posterous blog. I like the fact that I can just email my posts to Posterous or click the share button to share some interesting news there. Afifcr meanwhile chronicles things that happened in my life that I find memorable enough and worthwhile to share.

Apart from that I also have a few more blogs, photo galleries, not to mention 5 social networking sites that I religiously update every single day. Therefore it's no surprise if I seemed to neglect this blog or blog less on the rest. Twitter especially took much of my free time during the day. Twitter pretty much killed the blogger star (really?).

So from the chart above, you can see that I'm involved in about 18 different social networking sites. On Blogger there is Afif PLC, Afif Chronicles and Serdang Evening News. I have two sites on Posterous namely Afif 365 (now just Afif) and Afif TV where I collect some really cool music videos. I have one Tumblr blog but I use it mainly to store my Instagram pictures. Then there is the social networks. Facebook, Foursquare, Path and Google+. At the moment I store most of my pictures on SkyDrive and Instagram but my older collections are still kept on Picasa & Flickr. Finally there's Twitter. @afifplc is my main Twitter account where I keep abreast with all the latest development in the world. The main channel for expressing my thoughts and also interacting with some of the coolest strangers on the Internet. @afifrais is more like a personal Twitter account for me. I don't tweet much here and I only follow a handful of people. Still they contain some of my more private thoughts that I don't feel comfortable sharing with much of the world which is also ironic because I do have 78 followers there (including bots). My third Twitter account is kinda private and secret and also my alter-ego where I feel free and liberated to let out whatever thoughts I have on my mind to just about anybody without worrying about the repercussions.

As you can see there seems to be a lot of square little tiles on this blog today. They were inspired by the Windows Phone 7 Metro UI which I find really fascinating. Apart from iOS, I think the Metro UI is one of the prettiest user interface ever made out there. Naturally I'm planning of getting one of those WP7 phones, someday, once I can afford it.

Finally, some time last month I have launched my little online shopping site on Facebook. It's called Afif Store and apart from refurbished computers and notebooks, I also have some computer accessories there and about a dozen new smartphones and tablets, most of them Android. For now business is a little bit slow because I haven't done much marketing on it but I plan to, soon, once I can make time. Feel free to visit and like my Afif Store page on Facebook. Who knows you might just find something interesting there which suits your need.

Oh if you haven't noticed, this blog also have a domain of it's own too right now. About time. I got this domain from Exabytes for 12 ringgit during a promotion there last week.

Happy New Year from all of us here at Afif PLC.com.

That would be just me myself and I :)
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The Best Apps of 2011

noreply@blogger.com (Afif Rais) — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 03:03:00 +0000

As always, this is that time of the year that I list down some of the best apps or software that I have used every day in the past 365 days. Obviously 'best' is very subjective. Something that is awesome for me might not be so for others. Anyway here are what I think is the best Apps of 2011 (in alphabetical order).

7Zip

When it comes to file compression, I prefer 7Zip because it's lightweight, fast and open-source. 7Zip supports many popular archive formats such as ZIP, TAR, RAR, ISO, DMG and of course their very own 7z format. 7Zip is available for Windows only while for Mac OS I would recommend the open-source equivalent - The Unarchiver.

Audacity

Audacity® is free, open source software for recording and editing sounds. It is available for Mac OS X, Microsoft Windows, GNU/Linux, and other operating systems. Cross-platform, free and comes with a multitude of features. What more could you ask?

Boxee

Boxee is a cross-platform freeware HTPC (Home Theater PC) software application with a user interface and social networking features designed for the living-room TV. Boxee was originally a fork of the free and open source XBMC media center software however I prefer Boxee to XBMC because of it's lighter hardware minimum requirement. Boxee let's you play just about any media format on your TV and with the apps feature you can also surf the web, access Facebook & Twitter and watch streaming video right from your Boxee PC.

Google Chrome

I used to be a loyal Mozilla Firefox browser user for the past 5 years or so before it started to slow down and hogs so much computer memory that I had to switch to Google Chrome. Unlike Firefox, Chrome is much faster, lighter and with the ever-increasing extensions and web applications available, it's a no brainer. I still use Firefox occasionally though, to download videos from YouTube and access my university's online forum which seems to have problem with Chrome.

Dropbox.

There is no shortage of online cloud storage to choose from today but ultimately I still prefer Dropbox as my main cloud storage app. Dropbox is available on Windows, Mac & Linux and also accessible from most modern smartphone OS like iOS & Android not to mention the web interface. Although the initial 2GB space is tiny compared to others, I managed to rack up a cool 8GB of free space through its referral program. Of course I do use many different types of cloud storage providers along with Dropbox. Box.net offers free 50GB of space for iOS users and Microsoft's Skydrive gives you 25GB free. Apart from that I also use 4Shared, Mediafire, Pogoplug, Adrive, Wuala and also Google Docs to store my files.

Evernote

Evernote is hands down the ultimate notetaking and archiving app for me. This app can save formatted text, a full webpage or webpage excerpt, a photograph, a voice memo, or a handwritten "ink" note. Notes can also have file attachments and sorted into folders, then tagged, annotated, edited, given comments, searched and exported as part of a notebook. Evernote supports a number of operating system platforms (including Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, Chrome OS, Android, iOS and WebOS), and also offers online synchronization and backup services.

FastStone Photo Resizer

The reason this app made it to this list is because I capture a lot of photos and all of my photos are stored on my hard drive and also on one of the many free cloud-based storage that I subscribe. Since digital photos are usually big in size (2MB and above) I usually trim them down to a couple of kilobytes so that they upload faster. That's where FastStone comes in handy. This little app lets me resize hundreds of photos at the same time with just a few clicks.

GIMP

If you can't afford (a genuine) Adobe Photoshop software, GIMP is the next best thing you can use to manipulate your photos and images. Cross-platform and open-source, GIMP can do pretty much everything Photoshop can, for free.

Gmail

It's fast, have excellent spam filter and comes with a myriad of features that blows the competitors away. I have been using Gmail from the first day it becomes available and it have become my primary email service of choice since then. I now use Gmail to access and send emails from all my other free and paid email services which means I only need to open Gmail to read and write all my different email accounts today.

ImgBurn

ImgBurn is a freeware program that allows the recording of many types of CD/DVD images to recordable media. Burn a file or folder, create image file from CD/DVD, it's the only app you'll ever need. ImgBurn is for Windows only. Mac users can try Burn.

Instapaper

Instapaper is a web service that saves articles for later reading on web browsers, iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch, and Amazon Kindle. After registering a free account, the service saves articles that users select with its "Read Later" bookmarklet and presents them in a minimal, readable text layout. If you're too busy to read an interesting article on your phone or browser, just send it to Instapaper for reading later.

MagicISO

MagicISO is a very helpful utility designed for creating and managing virtual CD drives and CD/DVD discs. If your PC or notebook doesn't have a physical CD drive, MagicISO let's you mount a virtual drive from your ISO image and use it like a real CD. Very useful for playing PC games.

Microsoft Security Essential

Never pay for antivirus software again. Free Microsoft Security Essential is good enough to protect your genuine Windows PC from viruses and malwares. For serious virus problems though, I still recommend McAfee alongside Malwarebyte Antimalware.

OmmWriter

OmmWriter is a beautiful writing environment that helps you concentrate and create. It has the necessary tools you need to write and manage files, without the distracting elements that you normally find in conventional writing applications. OmmWriter opens in fullscreen mode, and has a number of backgrounds and audio tracks to increase your concentration, and to create an open space where your creativity can roam freely. Available for PC, Mac and iPad.

Springpad

Springpad is just like Evernote except that it's prettier and the web version loads much faster. I use Springpad mainly to jot down important and regularly accessed to-do list and I especially love the offline access function. Springpad is available from your web browser, iOS and also your Android device.

Sumatra PDF

How would you like to use a PDF application that is light, fast and doesn't bug you with perpetual automatic update like Adobe Reader? Sumatra PDF is just the app you need for opening your PDF files.

Tweetdeck

I have half about a dozen social networking accounts like Twitter, Facebook & Foursquare so an app like Tweetdeck which allows me to read and post to all of them at once is very useful. Although I am reluctant to use the Adobe-air based desktop app, the Tweetdeck Chrome web app works just as well minus the memory hog. Tweetdeck is also available on iOS and Android.

Unlocker

Unlocker let you avoid that WTF moment when you'd like to delete a file or remove an external drive but can't because some evil program is still accessing it. Windows only.

Winamp

I've been using Winamp to listen to my favorite music since my teenage years. It's fast, small and doesn't make duplicate copies like iTunes.

XMedia Recode

XMedia Recode is the best multimedia file converter there is. It lets you convert just about any media file format into another easily. You can choose from a preset of settings according to your device like iPhone to Android to most popular multimedia players in the market. XMedia Recode is made for Windows only but for Mac and Linux users there's always Handbrake.

As you can see, most of the apps and software featured here is either open-source or free. I'm a strong advocate of free and awesome software and I do believe that the best things in life should be free. As a matter of fact, the only proprietary software installed on my computers is Microsoft Office. Sure there's LibreOffice & OpenOffice.org as alternatives but since they usually screw up my Word documents formatting, I'm forced to stick with trusty ole Microsoft Office. They day they're 100% fully compatible with Office is the day I'll start using them.

I hope you will find this list of apps useful to your everyday computing.
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How to send & receive POP3 emails from Gmail

noreply@blogger.com (Afif Rais) — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 09:24:00 +0000

How would you like to access all your personal or company POP3 email right inside your Gmail account? Well you can. Gmail has been providing this feature for some time now and you can consolidate all your different POP3 accounts inside Gmail. Plus it's very easy to set up too. All you need to do is follow the following 27 steps carefully.

Okay, just kidding. It's actually just 7 easy steps. All you need is to enter is your POP3 username and password. First step login to Gmail and click on Mail settings on the top right corner.

Go to Accounts and Import > Check mail using POP3 > Add POP3 mail account you own. Enter your POP3 email address.

Usually Gmail will automatically detect your POP3 setting and fill in your POP server and port setting. In case it doesn't, ask your network administrator for the POP3 server and port setting. They are usually mail.yourdomain.com with the port number 110. Key in your POP3 email password. By now you can already receive external POP3 emails using Gmail.

This next step allows you to send email using your external POP3 account using Gmail.

Enter a name to identify yourself.

You have the option to let Gmail handle all your outgoing email or you can enter your own SMTP server setting yourself. Obviously the first option is much easier and more reliable because Gmail rarely (if ever) experience any down time. If you insist of sending emails through your own SMTP server, ask your network administrator for the right server name and SMTP port (usually 587 or 25).

Next Gmail is going to verify that you really own that POP3 email address. Click Send Verification.

Check your POP3 email for the verification code and link. Just clicking the link will finish the verification process.

That's it! You can now send and receive email form any of your POP3 accounts using Gmail. It's very handy when you have multiple POP3 accounts or you would like to consolidate all your email accounts inside Gmail. Other than your personal POP3 account, you can also access Hotmail using this method. Yahoo however doesn't allow this because they suck ~~and nobody uses them anymore these days~~. In fact you have to upgrade to Yahoo Mail Premium to be able to use their POP3 service.

Good luck Jim.
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Backup your online services with Backupify

noreply@blogger.com (Afif Rais) — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 07:02:00 +0000

Backupify is a new service that offers archiving, search and restore service for the most popular online services including Google Apps, Facebook, Twitter and more. Although it is unlikely that an established online service will lose your data but once in a while unfortunate things like that do happen. If not that, you may lose your data due to hacker intrusion, viruses or simply user errors such as forgotten password or accidental account deletion.

All online services that are backed up through Backupify are stored on the Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3) which provide excellent security and good data duplication policies. Currently Backupify supports many popular online services such as Gmail, Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin, Flicker, Blogger, Zoho, Picasa and several others. The free account allows you to backup up to 3 services and 1GB of online space while the paid subscription offers 5 to unlimited online services backup.

After using Backupify for a month, I'm happy to report that this backup service works exactly as advertised. My emails from my Gmail account were restored successfully, my old tweets were exported to a PDF file and my Facebook status and data were duly exported to a json (javascript object notation) format. Restoration service works differently for different services. For example my emails are restored back into Gmail but my Flickr pictures are returned back to my Flickr photostream. Apart from that, you can also opt to download your online backup to your local hard drive for further safekeeping.

For a free service, Backupify can prove to be priceless when you consider how valuable your emails or social networking data could be. Backup are done automatically and once you have configured the initial setup, the only time you have to bother about Backupify is when something goes wrong with your online services. Sign up for Backupify for free at their website.
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Spilt & merge PDF files with PDFsam

noreply@blogger.com (Afif Rais) — Fri, 25 Nov 2011 07:22:00 +0000

Have you ever like wanted to merge a few PDF files into one? Or split multiple-page PDF file into separate pages? You can either use the ridiculously expensive (and unecessary) Acrobat® software or you can use the free & open source friendly neighborhood super hero app PDFsam!

Free PDF editing apps are a dime a dozen out there, just try Google. But PDFsam sets itself apart from the competitors by being free, open-source, light and most importantly free of crapware/shareware. PDFsam allows you to rotate, split, reorder and yeah, merge individual PDF files easily within a single application. The result comes out exactly as you wanted without any of those silly watermarks of any kind.

Seriously, if there is such thing as super heroes for PDF files editing, PDFsam would be my hero. Download the latest version from the official website or simply get my personal copy here which already include Java™ Runtime environment required for the app.

Keep track of your phone & laptop with Prey

noreply@blogger.com (Afif Rais) — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 07:57:00 +0000

Have you ever had the unfortunate experience of getting your precious phone or laptop stolen, ever? Once that happen you can only weep in silence and pray that somehow you will see your missing device again or you can attempt to locate them using Prey!

Prey is an open-source and lightweight anti-theft solution that installs a tiny agent in your PC or phone, which silently waits for a remote signal to wake up and work its magic. This signal is sent either from the Internet or through an SMS message, allowing you to gather information regarding the device's location, hardware and network status. Additionally you can instruct the program to trigger specific actions like taking a snapshot using the device's camera, connect it to the Internet or lock your device remotely.

Prey currently supports Windows, Mac, iOS and Android devices. The free account let's you track up to 3 devices and send 10 reports daily. After using it for a couple of months, I found this program actually works! It successfully tracked down my phone's exact geo-location and also managed to capture a snapshot using my laptop's webcam (not that they're really missing).

So avoid that hopeless and tragic feeling whenever you lost your important gadgets. Install Prey now in case something bad happen. Once your precious computer/phone ever gets stolen you can assist the police to locate the missing device and even help to nab the culprit. If your local police is useless in this kind of scenarios, you can always ask for help from your preferred local gangster/along/Pekida branch members. Just to be safe, put a BIOS password for your computer or pray the thief is not smart enough as to reset your phone.

Register & download Prey for free on their website.
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Dell Inspiron Zino HD

noreply@blogger.com (Afif Rais) — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 08:58:00 +0000

My old IBM-compatible clone PC had gone bonkers last month so it's about time I go shopping for a new computer again. It's not often really that I go shopping around for computers. Apart from the fact that they are expensive, I usually salvage computer parts thrown away by my clients or their companies and build my own PC from scratch.

This time around however, I can actually afford to buy a new one (hey!). I only got 2 models in mind, the cool Mac Mini or this square box from Dell. Since the Mac Mini is still rather expensive to me at RM1,899, I had to settle for the Inspiron Zino HD instead which costs half of the cheapest Mac out there.

Compared to the Mac Mini, the Zino is quite thick, dimension-wise. The 8 by 8 inch compact PC can easily fit 2 regular CD-ROM drives stacked together. Plus, the DVD-drive is still tray loading instead of a slot loading.

Specifications: the Zino is powered by a decent AMD Athlon II P360 Dual-core processor which is comparable to a standard Core 2 Duo Intel processor. RAM is only 2GB DDR3 while the hard drive is standard 320GB 7200RPM SATA. Altogether it has 4 USB 2.0 ports, 2 up front and 2 at the back. It also comes with 2 eSATA ports which I find totally unnecessary because whoever uses eSATA anymore today? Other than that, the remaining ports are pretty standard like VGA, Ethernet and 4 in 1 card reader. The HDMI port however makes the Zino an ideal HTPC you know, to watch and stream movies to your living room TV. Just add Boxee or XBMC and you're good to go.

The top case is easily opened with one click and after unscrewing a couple of screws, you can effortlessly change the hard drive or RAM by yourself. The default operating system is Windows 7 Home Basic 64 bit which has some of the standard features in Windows 7 (like Aero & remote desktop) stripped off. But for home use, I think it's still acceptable. Of course I'm sure you geeks out there can change that in an hour. While your at it, maybe you can turn it into a Hackintosh as well although I heard the network or sound won't work with this one.

Here's a tip: order a different color for your Zino lid and you'll get the default black top for free! To purchase the Zino, you can only do it online at Dell's official website. As far as I know, you can't get this one from any regular brick and mortar shop, including Low Yat Plaza or the sole Dell store at Mid Valley. Maybe that's how they keep the price down - direct selling. Anyhow, the Zino starts from only RM999 up to RM2,100 depending on specs and accessories. If you buy this computer now, they'll throw in a free keyboard and mouse as well (how thoughtful). And no, they don't provide a monitor with this PC. Have to get your own.

Some of the main reasons I bought this particular model from Dell is the price, size and power consumption. I use the computer mainly in our master bedroom back home so since the Zino is so small, I can easily hide it on top of my drawer and the machine only uses 75 watts of power which is quite energy efficient. The Zino is also very quiet too and performance-wise, I think it's comparable to any standard entry-level PCs out there. To get yourself one, head on to Dell's website. Shipping time is about 4 days after confirmed order.
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Save web pages for reading later with Instapaper

noreply@blogger.com (Afif Rais) — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 06:40:00 +0000

We discover good content everyday whether through websites, on Twitter or on our RSS feeds. Sometimes these content are to long to read on the spot but you simply must read them because they're that good.

That's where Instapaper comes in. This little bookmarking tool allows you to save or bookmark any web content that you find interesting for reading later, whether using your regular web browser, smartphone, tablet or e-book reader like Kindle. After registering at Instapaper, just drag the Read Later shortcut to your browser's bookmark bar and whenever you find something interesting to read later just press Read Later. The link to that website will be saved in your Instapaper account.

Another cool feature of Instapaper is the Text only mode where it transforms your saved links into a beautifully reformatted versions that strip out ads and other distractions.

Many popular apps and devices supports saving to Instapaper such as Google Reader, Twitter or you can even email the link to an article to your private Instapaper email address.

After you're done reading the link, you can either delete it or archive them in folders for safekeeping. Of course there are similar tools for reading later like Read It Later or Delicious but only Instapaper does it beautifully and right. That's why Instapaper deservingly made it to Time's 50 Best Websites of 2011. Get your free Instapaper account now.

My Supplement

noreply@blogger.com (Afif Rais) — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 02:27:00 +0000

Dieting & weight loss is a huge industry. People spent billions every year on weight loss products, diet food and exercise machines to get that ideal weight. For me personally, I don't believe in supplements and expensive exercise machines. I like to do it the natural and least expensive way. Yes supplements might work for some people, even if the product is totally BS, at least the placebo effect will make them think that they have lost weight. At least for a while. Me, I have never taken any forms of so-called diet food or supplements. I watch what I eat. I eat small portions of food, avoid snacks and junk/fatty food and exercise regularly, every day whenever possible. People nowadays have it easy. They eat too much and didn't do anything remotely physical let alone exercise. They drive everywhere, park in front of the door step and take elevators. And you wonder so many people become obese every year. I don't want to become part of the statistic.

That's why every morning, I will get up at 6:15 am and jog for 2 miles around my neighbourhood. At least I try my best to when it doesn't rain or my alarm clock doesn't fail me. It's tough to wake up that early, especially for working people. But tough is just another excuse. Excuse is just a state of mind. Excuses are for weak people. You want to change how you look then do something about it. Don't let anything get in your way. Eat healthy food, exercise and a huge dose of will power are everything you need to succeed in your weight loss program. Forget about those expensive supplements or diet food or exercise machines. Most of them won't last for long if you don't have the willpower to change.

So here are my supplements. One small Sony Walkman and a pair of cheap Power running shoes which has been abused mercilessly every day and not very sightly to post here. My wife bought that running shoes for 170 ringgit for my birthday 2 years ago. Of course if you can afford Nike or Adidas then by all means buy it. I bought the 1GB Walkman for about 150 ringgit 3 years ago and it had gone through the washing machine once, dried up in the sun for a month and yet survived to this very day. I have also replaced the broken earphone twice, with the latest being this awesome one from Senheiser. In addition to that I also like to listen to great music while I run. Music that makes you want to rock your head back and forth, jiggle your body or run a little bit faster. It may be pop, hip-hop or rock & roll, evergreen, doesn't matter. As long as it sounds great to you. If you like you can download all the music that is currently in my Walkman right now below.

So altogether I spent about 280 ringgit for the Walkman and replacement earphones over 3 years to lose 20 kilos. Not so bad I think. The rest is about stopping yourself from indulging in the good things in life like fast food and that second helping during dinner. And don't eat rice. The fastest way to look slimmer is by avoiding rice, trust me. You can see the difference in a month. Yes your friends or family might not be very helpful seeing you eat so little during lunch or dinner, just ignore them. If they love you they will understand and support you. In the end if you succeed, you have everything to gain and nothing to lose. Success, it's a state of mind.

Afif's awesome running playlist

Ahmad Dhani & The Rock - Munajat cinta

Alexandra Stan - Mr Saxobeat

Alif Satar - Lelaki seperti aku

Altimet feat Dj Fuzz - Ikrar

Bruno Mars - Count on me

Couple - Lagu cinta untukmu

Dj Fuzz feat Malique - I get the paper

Eminem feat Dr Dre & Skylar Grey - I need a doctor

Fall Out Boys - Dance,dance

Fall Out Boys - Sugar we're going down

Garbage - Push it

Gigi - Ya ya ya

Green Day - Know your enemy

Green Day - Misery

Green Day - Warning

Gym Class Heroes feat Adam Levine - Stereo heart

Jay Z - Dirt off your shoulder

Jimmy Soul - If you want to be happy

Katy Perry - Last Friday night (TGIF)

Lady Gaga - Edge of glory

One Buck Short - 10:04

One Buck Short - Fast times

One Buck Short - Kerana tiada pilihan lain

One Buck Short - That day

One Republic - Good life

Otis Day & The Knights - Shout

Selena Gomez - Who says

Sha-na-na - Those magic changes

The Script - The man who can't be moved

Tilu - Jangan jangan cuba

Undilah

XPDC - Apa lagi nak di kenang

Zivilia - Aishiteru
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For Sale: HTC Wildfire Android [Sold]

noreply@blogger.com (Afif Rais) — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 03:03:00 +0000

Dear friends. Today we have one very fine HTC Wildfire Android smartphone for sale. This phone is only 2 months old and is currently owned by yours truly, me. As with any of my gadgets, I take a really good care of this phone. Never dropped it or let Adam or Mia plays with it. This phone comes with a screen protector film, 2GB SD card, charger, sync cable, handsfree kit and a free unused pouch.

The HTC Wildfire is a decent entry level Android smartphone. It's installed with the latest Android 2.2 software with HTC Sense from HTC. Yes Android 2.3 is the latest but you'll have to root the phone to get that one which I haven't done to this phone yet. Other specs include 3.2" capacitive touchscreen, 5 Megapixel autofocus camera and weighs only 118 grams. Hardly noticeable in your pocket.

What I like most about this phone is the complete Google Accounts integration. You can send emails with attachments straight from the Gmail app and it will sync all your Gmail contacts with the phone's contact. The camera is pretty awesome too, well, certainly a lot better than my old 3 Megapixel iPhone 3GS camera. The reason I'm selling this one is simply because I'm moving on with a bigger, better phone. This phone is selling for only RM550.00 which is far below the RM700.00 market price for a new phone. If you are interested, feel free to contact me via email, Facebook or Twitter or call me direct at +6 019 2245907. Delivery is by post or cash on delivery.

Update:
Phone has just been sold. Thank you.

Rest in peace Steve

noreply@blogger.com (Afif Rais) — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 04:53:00 +0000

"The only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle. As with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it"

Bumbu Bali, Puchong

noreply@blogger.com (Afif Rais) — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 08:28:00 +0000

Bumbu Bali is a world famous Balinese cooking school on the island of Bali, Indonesia. You can find cookbooks at many book store featuring recipes from that school.

This Bumbu Bali place that I went to today is a Balinese themed restaurant in Bandar Puteri Puchong which has no connection whatsoever with the school in Bali. For your info, bumbu in Malay means herbs.

Actually I followed a colleague and a few clients for lunch today and we were looking for a good place to eat nearby. So I casually suggested Secret Recipe and then suddenly everybody started to laugh. They thought I was kidding. Apparently Secret Recipe is not expensive enough to treat your very important clients.

My drink for today is this delicious banana milkshake. RM9.00.

I have never been to this place so I have no clue what's good here. To be safe I decided to try a little bit of everything hence this Bali Trio meal which is basically barbecue chicken wings with fried calamari and sate lilit (satay wrapped around lemongrass). The chilli dipping is extra spicy just the way I like and they also serve mayonaise and that other dipping which I didn't try. RM45.00.

My friend had this nasi campur Bali which is Bali style fried chicken and rice and that thing at the bottom. RM28.00.

This is siap mepanggang (I think) which is really roasted lamb with rice. RM24.00.

Having western food like this chicken pasta in a Balinese restaurant is a crime really. RM16.50.

For desserts, we had this pisang bakar which is basically banana caramel with ice cream. No idea where that 'bakar' part came from. RM13.00.

Bumbu Bali opens everyday from 11:00 am till late. The two-storey restaurant has a really nice Balinese style deco and the ambience is quite cool & relaxing. No air-conditioner in here and yet you don't feel the heat from outside.

However the Balinese background music can sound a little bit mundane after a while.

If you don't get a heart attack from all the sinfully delicious and cholesterol-laden food, perhaps the bill would. Lunch for four will cost you something around RM215.00. That's an average of RM50.00 per person for an average meal set. ~~Even having a cute manager who looked like Fazura couldn't help ease the pain~~. Bumbu Bali is located in Bandar Puteri Puchong, Selangor. This place is run by Eddy and his wife from Bali (so they say).
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Taman Putra Perdana

noreply@blogger.com (Afif Rais) — Sun, 25 Sep 2011 03:01:00 +0000

Right in the middle of Putrajaya, the administrative capital of Malaysia is a little park located on top of the hill just next to Putrajaya Shangri-La Hotel.

Like every other parks in Putrajaya, Taman Putra Perdana is free and open to public with plenty of parking space.

This place is great if you'd like to take your family for a stroll or go jogging around the 158 acres park.

In the middle of the park, there is the Mercu Tanda plaza which is a 78 metres tall structure designed in the shape of pyramid and is a proud symbol of Mahathir's iron-fist rule of Malaysia for the past 4 decades or so.

There is a time capsule in front of this monument that contained a number of official documents on the history and development of Putrajaya.

People with children would definitely welcome this little playground next to the parking lot.

For people whose trying to be fit, there's two exercise facilities provided in the park where you can exercise to your heart's desire. It's like a gym but free.

Since it's located on top of a hill, this park is an excellent spot to view the gorgeous and panoramic view of the surrounding area, especially during sunset. If you're lucky, you might just see @bikmama2u hanging her laundry on the clothes line.

At the other end of the park is the Megalith park which was built by the native Batak people of Putrajaya centuries ago.

High five anyone?

A good park would not be complete without a free (and clean) public toilet like the one they got here.

If you're staying at the Shangri-La hotel (you lucky basterd), the park is just a short stroll away across your hotel room.

Taman Putra Perdana is great and stuff but my only complaint is the big, hairy mosquitoes feasting on the visitors who came. Maybe the should fog the area twice a week or something before somebody dies of dengue (@najibrazak are you reading this?). Apart from that, this park is an excellent place to go in the evening or weekends. Putrajaya folks are a lucky lot. They just don't realize it.

Taman Putra Perdana is open daily from 7:00 am to 8:00 pm on weekdays and 10:00 pm on weekends. You can find it in the middle of Putrajaya in Precint 1.
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Get rewarded with MySurvey

noreply@blogger.com (Afif Rais) — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 03:58:00 +0000

Other than putting ads on your blog/website, another great way to get rewarded online is by doing surveys. Now there are a few hundred different online surveys out there but to find one that is relevant and not a scam is another matter.

One trustworthy online survey that I have been doing for the past 2 years or so is MySurvey by Lightspeed Research. Unlike some other market research companies, Lightspeed focuses on the local market so the survey questions are for local brands that are already familiar to you.

What I like about MySurvey is that they will not inundate your inbox with news/survey/spam everyday just one or two online surveys every month which usually take anywhere from 5 to 10 minutes to answer.

Every survey comes with different points and after you have accumulated enough points, you can redeem them for vouchers. At the moment you can already trade your points for vouchers from KFC, Pizza Hut, Ayamas, McDonald's. Jusco and MPH just to name a few. Once redeemed, the will send you the vouchers (for real) in less than a week's time.

So next time you have a couple of minutes to kill online, why not do a survey from MySurvey and get rewarded for your little effort. Sure beats becoming mayors for a million different venues on Foursquare or playing Sims Social all day.

Here's a tip. Some of the surveys will screen out unsuitable candidates like people who doesn't fit their target demographic. You don't have to be an honest abe every time. Once in a while it's okay to say you earn more than 5K in your household or claim that you live in PJ :) Visit MySurvey website to join now.
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Miza's engagement

noreply@blogger.com (Afif Rais) — Sun, 11 Sep 2011 05:09:00 +0000

Today I went to my cousin Miza's engagement at her home in Kota Damansara.

She is incidentally the first of my cousin to be engaged to anybody, unlike my siblings that is all married already with kids or at least expecting one.

Being the only girl within her siblings of six, her marriage is highly anticipated.

So the family of the man who won her heart came to request my uncle's daughter hand's in marriage in full Malay ceremony and custom.

After the customary discussion and terms was negotiated and agreed upon, my cousin is now officially engaged to her fiancé.

And this is the lucky guy, Shahril Fauzi. Of course, money, title & wealth is no guarantee to a long and blissful marriage but it won't hurt either.

But I'm sure Wan Noor Miza knows her man better than anybody else and she would not have picked him if he was not Mr Right.

My cousin looked gorgeous in her purple dress, thanks to the make up artist's awesome touch.

The engagement planner (is there such person?) did a splendid job for this ceremony, from the simple yet elegant dais to her make up and hantaran. I heard they also charge a pretty reasonable price for all that.

Lunch was provided by a caterer who certainly impressed me with their excellent service delicious food.

One of the dish however was made by the best cook in the family, my aunt Yati who were specially flown in from Pasir Mas. Her ayam percik is the best in the world (even better than Kak Na's). She cooked 12 big birds and they were all gone in less than 2 hours. I myself had no less than 5 pieces.

So congratulations to Wan Nor Miza and her fiancé. I look forward to going to your wedding next year.

Shopping Rantau Panjang

noreply@blogger.com (Afif Rais) — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 14:25:00 +0000

Rantau Panjang is one of the many popular shopping destinations in Kelantan apart from the state capital Kota Bharu, Wakaf Che Yeh or Pengkalan Kubor just to name a few.

Situated up north right on the border to Sungai Golok in Thailand, Rantau Panjang has been a shopping haven for visitors local or foreign especially for its duty free status. Believe it or not it's been 20 long years since I have last been here. It's not that I don't want to, it's just I don't feel the urge to come here before. Obviously, many things has changed since I last visited like there are many more shops and parking space are even harder to come by here.

However the one thing that didn't change much is the eateries here. The food is still cheap here and if you are not very particular with the hygiene here then this is the place to fill your tummy before doing some serious shopping.

The main attraction here are clothes and dresses of all shape, types and budget although most of them are still relatively cheap compared to say, KL or other major cities. Apart from that you can also find all kinds of household items on sale here including crockery, kitchenware, home furnishings, shoes and so much more.

If you're looking for cheap replica football jerseys then this is the right place to go. You'll be in jersey heaven looking at those jerseys of many of the top football clubs in the world like Liverpool F.C and Liverpool F.C reserves team. The price are basically fixed from RM28.00 onwards no matter how much you try to haggle.

I came looking for this particular track top. The original merchandise from Nike would cost me a cool 250 ringgit or more. This one starts from RM35.00. A bargain would be an understatement. Even in KL they would easily cost 10 ringgit more.

Being only the 3rd day from Raya, many of the shops here are still closed. Else the streets here would be packed with tourists and you'd had plenty more places to choose from and the price would be even cheaper during non-peak season.

Getting out of the duty free zone requires you to pass through this customs checkpoint. If you didn't buy a car-load of goods or merchandise then going home should be a breeze. Else you need to declare all your purchases and pay 15% tax on everything you bought. Getting a receipt for everything you bought would be a great help for you and the customs officer. Then again if you just bought a few things just for you yourself and your family then it should not be a problem.

Rantau Panjang is situated about 21 kilometers from Pasir Mas or about 40 kilometers from the state capital, Kota Bharu. Your visit to Kelantan will not be complete if you don't visit this place. Click on the Foursquare link below for exact location.

Eid 2011

noreply@blogger.com (Afif Rais) — Sat, 27 Aug 2011 21:56:00 +0000

This Hari Raya (Eid) I drove home in our brand new Perodua Alza. Since we departed one day after the balik kampung rush, traffic was smooth sailing all the way from KL. Plus driving with automatic transmission made it so much less tiring.

The first 2 days were spent at my in laws' place in Tanah Merah. The day before Raya only we drove home to my home town in Pasir Mas.

First thing first, gotta pay one's zakat (tithe). This year's sum is RM7.00 per person so altogether it's RM35.00 for me to pay for 5 person (instead of 4 last year). Yes I always wait until the last day before Raya.

Buka puasa or break of fast today was a little feast with all my favorite food like ayam percik, onde-onde and sugar cane drink. It's nice to be able eat together with all my grandma, uncles, aunts and cousins again. It's not often we can do that. Sometimes only once a year if we're lucky.

Eid morning my family and I went to the local town mosque to pray as usual. This year I didn't see any familiar faces like my old friends from school.

Then we went to the local cemetery to read prayers to our dear departed, especially my late great grandparents, as usual.

Back home we get to eat all the delicious food prepared by the women of the house. This year my yearly duty of cooking the satay has been taken over by my cousins. I have retired from this service permanently.

Then it is time for merry-making, giving out money to our kids, parent and basically everybody who is still unemployed. This is not compulsory in Islam but more of a Malay tradition.

Unlike last year, this year I am well-prepared and actually have money to give away to everybody. So everybody got one including my grandma and parent. It's not much but as always it's the thought that counts. Alhamdulillah.

Our Raya clothes theme for this year is cream which is coincidentally the same color as our curtains. It was yellow initially but we can't find one that is not ugly. This is my family portrait for Raya. Yes, little Hana Alisha there is a new addition to the family album. Salam Eid and have a great Hari Raya to everyone!

HTC Wildfire

noreply@blogger.com (Afif Rais) — Sat, 27 Aug 2011 10:24:00 +0000

I have been an iPhone using for the past 4 years or so. Starting from the 1st generation iPhone to iPhone 3G and finally the 3GS. Lately my 3GS was having problems with the touchscreen when it decided to fail on me. Sometimes the screen will type by itself. Most of the time I can't type anything on the right or left side.

So I went to Low Yat Plaza meaning to get the screen fixed. That will cost me about RM150 (if I'm lucky). Bear in mind that it was only 2 weeks ago I got the home button replaced for RM80. That was the 2nd time too. Suddenly I thought instead of fixing the phone again for the umpteenth time, why don't I just swap the damn thing for a new one?

That's when I decided to throw caution to the wind and bought this HTC Wildfire Android phone. I actually only had a few phone in mind (and my budget), this one, the Samsung Galaxy Ace or a Blackberry. Sony Ericsson makes good phones too but the Xperia Mini is simply out of the question. In the end I decided to go with the Wildfire.

First impression I find this Android phone is not as intuitive or easy to use as the iPhone. I mean if a kindergarten kid can take just a day to master the iPhone, this Android phone will take a college graduate another whole day to fully utilize. The overall interface is quite okay but the transition and touch could feel rather sluggish at times. Physically, the Wildfire is smaller than the iPhone (obviously) and it felt lighter and fits more comfortably in my palm. The optical tracker button makes it convenient for you to scroll through items on the screen but used to take pictures can make them a little bit blurry since you need to actually press the button.

This entry-level smartphone from HTC comes with a small 3.2" QVGA screen with capacitive touch screen (thank God), Android 2.2 "Froyo" and a bunch of other standard specs like WiFi, Bluetooth, 5 mega-pixel camera with flash and HTC Sense. The onboard ROM is only 512MB but you can get up to 32GB of extra space with an external micro SD card. Application wise, the Android market got almost everything the App Store offers with a few exceptions like Instagram and similar iOS specific apps. Pictures and videos taken with this camera looks just okay, nothing spectacular but generally acceptable. The camera flash would come handy when you need to use a flashlight.

The Wildfire is available in the local market from RM600 to RM700 depending on where you bought them. This little smartphone is definitely no iPhone but at least its new and fully working unlike my old iPhone. Of course I can always save up and wait till I can afford a new iPhone but I really need to use a smartphone right now so this HTC Wildfire would do for now. Yes I have to admit that I have been an ardent fan of anything Apple before but that doesn't mean I won't pick another smartphone brand. I have always had a soft spot for Android since its inception years ago so now that I had the chance to use it, it didn't take me long to choose it over say Blackberry or Windows Phone 7. Now how do you root an Android phone?

Car 2

noreply@blogger.com (Afif Rais) — Mon, 22 Aug 2011 13:55:00 +0000

When your old Proton car power window started to act up that can only mean one thing: time to get a new car.

Which I did, yesterday. Actually after changing jobs earlier this month, I've been coming home late a few times. Which means my entire family will also be late as well since there's nobody to pick them up at the nursery and from work and they had to wait for me to get back. There's only so many time you can depend on your office mate to give you a lift home. Sometimes, your friends would want to go elsewhere too and we don't really want to be a burden to anybody.

Furthermore, being a salesman now I guess I would be travelling more, you know, plying my trade. When that happens, how my wife supposed to get to work? Take a bus? So we thought it's time that we get a second car.

We had only one car in mind, the Perodua Alza. And it has to be automatic so that my wife can drive with ease. All my life I've been driving exclusively Proton cars, starting with my Mom's old Saga and then our first car the Proton Savvy. It is fitting that our second car comes from Perodua. At least the power window should last more than 5 years.

Being in the auto finance business has its advantages. My wife wasted no time calling his favourite car salesman and within a week, we got our car loan approved. From Maybank some more. And we didn't even had to pay any deposit, it's 100% loan. Let's say the price of this car is 60K (Alza Premium model) but you need to pay 10% down payment which is 6K. So the salesman applied for a 70K (Alza Advanced model)loan which the bank would approve only 60K so in the end we got 100% loan, get it?

2 weeks later I went to pick up our brand new car in Pandan Indah. I would highly recommend the salesman En Syed Ahmad. Very friendly, fast and efficient. You can reach him at 017 3130078. He can get you a very good deal for any Perodua cars for every budget.

In my opinion, the 1.5 liter Perodua Alza is the right car for my family. Being a 7-seater, it would fit my 5 family members just right. The price is not to expensive and quality wise, it is comparable to similar cars in its category. The front seat is large and roomy and you can easily adjust the middle seat to fit the passenger. The 3rd row however could be rather narrow depending on the mercy of the passenger in the middle row. Once you fold all the back seats, the back of the Alza can be quite spacious. Can fit an IKEA wardrobe ar two there.

Apart from the classy auto gear stick in the front panel, this baby also comes with SRS Airbag, CD player with USB input and Bluetooth control and also a conveniently place foot brake at the driver side. We chose solid white because it's slightly cheaper and we don't like pearl white and we're tired of the color black.

Actually I didn't get to drive this new car much yet. My wife would be driving it to work everyday and I will still be driving the old faithful Savvy. My wife is not too fond of driving the Savvy because it's manual so the auto transmission is God send. She practiced for weeks to be able to drive a stick again but with the Alza, all she needed was 2 hours of practice. Despite all the happiness and delight of getting a new car, I will have to work double hard to pay for this. And since some of my income will come from my commissions, I better work extra hard, like for real this time.

Okay being in time for Hari Raya is just one lucky coincidence :)

Au Revoir B3-G-22

noreply@blogger.com (Afif Rais) — Fri, 29 Jul 2011 09:30:00 +0000

There comes a time in your life when you are presented with an opportunity to move on to new and better things, in your career for example. I'm having that moment right now. A few months ago, somebody approached me and made me an offer I can't refuse. Yes, it's that good. Add that to the current status of my present company, I was hard-pressed to say no to that offer. Besides, these past few months I hardly did anything at work on most days. While some people wouldn't mind taking home their pay at the end of the month doing nothing, I for once couldn't live like that. For one thing, there would be one less person to pay and worry about in the company's pay roll. Also, I felt quite dispensable unlike some other people in some department. Me leaving won't be noticed much I'm sure.

After tendering my resignation letter last month, I have now come to my last day of work here. I do hope my soon to be former employer and colleagues would understand my decision. This is not about loyalty or abandoning the ship when times are hard. It's about taking my life to greater heights, exploring new opportunities in my career and providing my family with better things in life. I'm sure you would understand and would do pretty much the same thing if you're in my position.

To be honest, if I could have it my way I would rather stay here than start afresh at a different and foreign place. I like the familiarity and I'm already comfortable with my current line of work. The new job that I'll be starting next week is a whole new field for me. But that's life. Sometimes you had to make difficult and tough decisions. Sometimes you had to come out of your comfort zone and brave yourself for new challenges. I'm sure there will be risks and who knows I might not even make it at the new place. Or I would do so much better there. Well, everything in life has it pros and cons. Everybody fails sometimes but not even trying is even worse than failing. I want to give this a try.

B3-G-22 is where I spent close to 5 years of my life working at and making the decision to leave this place for somewhere new was never going to be easy. I started out from almost zero here and over the years I had learned so much about work, friendship and life in general. The good, the bad times and all the unforgettable memories, I shall cherish forever in my heart.

Forgive me for all my mistakes and if I had ever purposely or inadvertently hurt you guys. I am only human. Au revoir B3-G-22, goodbye morning briefings, goodbye Mickey in the pantry, goodbye friends, goodbye Boss, goodbye miss secretary, I will miss you all.

Ampang Look Out Point

noreply@blogger.com (Afif Rais) — Sun, 24 Jul 2011 03:06:00 +0000

Although I have lived in the Klang Valley for the past 12 years, there's still a lot of interesting places that I have never been to or known about. Case in point is the Ampang Look Out point near Ampang. I stumbled upon this scenic lookout point while browsing through people's blog and quickly made up my mind to visit it like, right away.

So last Saturday I brought my family 30 minutes south down the MRR2, into the Taman Kencana exit and got lost once (into Taman Bukit Permai) before finally locating the lookout point near Taman Lembah Jaya to find this lookout point place. This place is not really that far from the city center but if you are not familiar with the area, finding it may prove to be a challenge. For your convenience, have Google Maps ready on your smartphone and search for Haven Restaurant. Another way is to follow the Foursquare link I have provided below.

From a free for all, dirt road, this place is now fully transformed and privatized with half a dozen restaurant and eateries surrounding the landscape and a proper driveway going up. The parking lot near the watch tower can easily accommodate 40 cars or so and if that one is full, you can always park near the entrance below. Parking rate starts from RM3.00 onwards.

The watchtower where you can see a beautiful and scenic view of Kuala Lumpur is free of charge. The restaurants in the vicinity however serves meals that range from astronomical to cutthroat. Drinks start from RM5.00 and food, RM10.00 onwards not including service and government taxes. Yes it is literally pay per view here. You pay to eat with that gorgeous view in the background.

This 3 scoops of ice cream costs 6 bucks at Panorama Restaurant below the watchtower. Let's not talk about the food price. I heard Haven restaurant down below serves some really good food. Maybe I'll come back when I'm a millionaire someday.

That said, if you're cheap, I mean thrifty, you can always bring your own food and just lepak on the 3 storey watchtower.

If it wasn't for the haze, the view here would be really breathtaking.

Commercialism aside, the view from here is simply awesome. Most suitable to bring your loved one/date for dinner, anniversary or whatever. Just don't bring your kids and come with a thick wallet/credit card.

How to dress like an ePJJ student

noreply@blogger.com (Afif Rais) — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 02:54:00 +0000

Most public universities in the country are not cool. They have a rather strict dress code where you dress like you're going to work at an office. Shirt, slacks, shoes and sometimes ties should make you a darling to the university, lecturers or security guards but also a total nerd too in my opinion. That said, there is an exception if you happens to be an ePJJ student, meaning people who study part time during weekends doing distance learning like me. We can pretty much wear anything we like. Here's how you dress like an ePJJ student.

A. Apart from the usual shirts, t-shirts whether collared or not are commonly worn by us along with jeans.

B. A bag pack is essential to carry our books and also our laptops which we use to do some last minute assignments.

C. Shoes are optional and sandals are perfectly acceptable.

D. Student ID is not compulsory. We just bring them once during final exams.

E. Sweaters or jackets are highly recommended to bring to class because most of them are fricking north pole.

F. It doesn't matter if you want to sport your hair like Mawi or Lenny Krevitz. Any fashion is okay.

G. You can come to class on time, an hour late or not at all. It's totally up to you. The important thing is to submit your assignments, projects and come to the finals.

How to set up mobile template for Blogger blogs

noreply@blogger.com (Afif Rais) — Fri, 13 May 2011 14:19:00 +0000

More and more people are using their smartphones to surf the Internet and read news and blogs. Most of these sites however may be difficult to see on the small screen of the mobile phone and you will likely have to pinch, zoom and scroll many times to see the entire site.

That is why creating an alternative mobile template of your site or blog for smartphones is increasingly important especially for serious bloggers. The good news is, bloggers who uses Google's Blogger platform can now easily setup new mobile templates for their Blogger blogs in two easy steps.

First you have to sign in to Blogger in Draft by going to http://draft.blogger.com. Blogger in Draft is a special version of Blogger where they try out new features before they release them to everyone. After signing in, you will see a special version of Blogger Dashboard which is slightly different what your normally see.

After that select your blog, go to Settings and click on Email & Mobile. Next click yes on Show mobile template, click Save and then you're done. Now when anyone goes to your blog using their smartphones, they will see the compressed and specialized mobile template of your Blogger blog instead of the regular desktop version. For now the template only support 6 variants of the Simple template and also 6 more for the Awesome template.

If you'd like to explore more of the experimental but cool features of Blogger in Draft, feel free to do so. Amongst the graduates from Blogger in Draft include features like embedded comment form, reactions, Google gadgets, video upload and polls. Just sign in at the usual www.blogger.com to revert back to the usual dashboard. Check out the official Blogger in Draft blog for more info.

Play Angry Birds in your web browser

noreply@blogger.com (Afif Rais) — Thu, 12 May 2011 01:33:00 +0000

The world's most popular multi-platform, grumpy avian game is set to invade web browsers near you with the release of Angry Birds for Chrome yesterday (much to the horror of bosses and employers everywhere).

This web client is built in WebGL so it is playable on most modern web browsers like Firefox, Internet Explorer, Safari apart from Chrome of course. Google Chrome users however get special Chrome-specific levels featuring Chrome graphics for blocks and bombs. You can choose to play either the SD or HD version with the former tailored for low-end PCs with slow graphics.

The good news is, this game is playable offline once you bookmarked the website and played it once.

Hurry and bookmark Angry Birds for Chrome today before they're blocked by your Network Administrators soon! :-)

Postbox Express - free email client for Mac & Windows

noreply@blogger.com (Afif Rais) — Thu, 12 May 2011 01:16:00 +0000

For those who are tired of using Microsoft Outlook or its free counterpart - Mozilla Thunderbird, Postbox Express is another great desktop email client for your Mac or PC.

Postbox Express is based on the premium version of Postbox but with a lot less features. Some of them include:
search history suggestions
conversation view
simplified account & folder views
status update to Facebook & Twitter
support for POP, IMAP & RSS
easy account setup wizard
anti-phishing & malware services
add-ons

Bear in mind though, Postbox Express is no longer under active development and the last shipping version is 1.01. Apart from that this software does use some major CPU resources when sending or receiving emails so it's no good for low-end systems.That said, if you'd like to use a different, sexy yet functional email client, Postbox Express is worth a try. This software looks awesome on Mac OS and not too shabby in Windows. Get Postbox Express here.
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