I’m beginning to lose my patience over my internet provider, P1. Their service is excellent in the beginning (when I first subscribed to P1 almost a year ago), but it seems the service deteriorated over the months, probably because of oversubscribing or simply due to poor service maintenance. As I was writing this entry, it has been 2 days since their service outage (it means, no service at all).

A few days ago, I decided to do some speed tests using P1′s own speedtest site – P1 Speed Test.

I took the test on 4 consecutive days and four different times. Bear in mind that that P1 once said that even if you subscribed to the 1Mb line, you will normally gets higher speed than that, which is true a few months ago, when I can get about 1.3Mb constantly. I can’t say the same today. Check out the results below:

Test on 28 July 2010, 3pm

Test on 29 July 2010, 7.26pm

Test on 30 July 2010, 3.42am

Test on 1 August 2010, 2.46am

Based on the four-day tests, my download speed averages 695.8 kbps, while my upload speed averages 341.8 kbps. This is a far cry from the quoted speed of 1Mb as promised, let alone the “unofficial” promised 1.3Mb.

Recently, Telekom Malaysia (TM) installed a server and router at the MDF room in my apartment building. Probably later this month, they will offer a fiber optic broadband service to all residents with a monthly payment of below RM100 a month. I’m still an advocate of a line-based broadband services, as it offers a consistent and stable internet service. So, should I terminate my P1 ( I still got another year into my contract) and join TM? I’m seriously thinking that way now.

BTW, I wrote this entry using my backup Celcom broadband. It may be slower than P1, but it offers minimal interruptions.

UPDATE (10 August 2010): Suddenly at 3.00pm today, my internet connection is restored, after no connection at all for 3 solid days!. P1 technical support informed me that P1 is doing some system maintenance & upgrades on 9 August 2010. Whatever the reasons, I stand by the test I’ve conducted as above.

Liverpool's 08/10 Jerseys

At last, I managed to complete my Liverpool 08/10 jerseys (thanks to the final requisition of the white 3rd jersey a few weeks ago). Since I’m only collecting authentic jerseys, this hobby is mine is definitely costly in a long run. Therefore, I’ve decided to collect only Liverpool jerseys and black jerseys of other teams. I’m a sucker for black jerseys!

Talking about jerseys, the authentic ones are normally cost up to RM260 a piece, regardless of brands and teams. Because of that, the jerseys are out of reach to most people, and they are the REAL fans of the football teams.

I was wondering. Since the majority of the jerseys are made in Thailand and Indonesia, if we buy them there, would it be cheaper?

Newcastle United's 09/10 Home Jersey

Since we’re in the topic of jerseys, I would like to introduce my latest catch: The Newcastle United’s 2009/2010 Home jersey. This jersey has been on my radar for quite some time, and I’ve decided to buy it during the annual off-season sale in the UK. And it’s my size too!

I’ve been waiting some time for this. See, I’m trying to kick-start my old hobby, which is photography, and what’s the next best thing to do rather than buy a new equipment? Therefore, after much thinking, soul-finding and calculating (budget daa), I’m finally settled on the Nikon D5000 DSLR camera. And after skipping some meals and some “ngeteh” sessions, I managed to buy one a few months ago.

Nikon D5000 with kitlens

Since I’ve been away from using any SLR camera, it takes some time for me to get used to it again. How to hold it properly, how to view your image (which is through the viewfinder) and importantly, how to get used to having some manual controls on the camera. You see, I have been using a normal point-and-shoot digital compact camera (my first one is a Panasonic Lumix) since 8 years ago. It’s so easy to use one, even my 3 year old nephew is a master at it. But you can compose so much on the digital photo, you want something more. I want something artistic on my photos. Hence, the DSLR camera, where you have more options in composing your shots.

KLCC skyline

In order to be good in something, you have to practice. So, practice I am. KLCC sounds like a good place to practice my first few shots. The photo above is one of the first. Stunning, isn’t it?

The garden at KLCC

Check out how green are the trees! And the orange colour of the palm trees! Magnificent!

Mr Kekura on my balcony

I began to experiment with composing long, short and macro shots. The camera is quite versatile in every department, and behaves more like its older sibling, the D90 (can’t afford the D90 due to my inconsistent salary).

Night scene

I won’t be explaining about the functions of the camera, as you can googled it yourself. I’m just sharing with y’all my newfound (or is it old-found?) hobby. Photography is great! I feels like I’m a painter facing a blank canvas. What I shoot is what I actually painted.

Have fun, guys!

Teman ada terbaca dalam mstar online arini, dalam banyak2 berita mengenai dunia, tertumpu plak pandangan teman pada satu tajuk berita “Cetak Rompak Masih Berleluasa – RIM“. Sudah sekian lama RIM senyap, tup3x keluar plak statement menyatakan bahawa:

KUALA LUMPUR: Jumlah pendapatan industri muzik tempatan menurun 50 peratus kepada RM150 juta setahun sejak 15 tahun lepas akibat gejala cetak rompak, menurut Persatuan Industri Rakaman Malaysia (RIM).

Naib Presidennya, Norman Abdul Halim berkata cetak rompak terus berleluasa selagi orang ramai tidak sedar tanggungjawab mereka untuk membantu menangani isu tersebut. “Lima belas tahun dulu pendapatan industri ini kira-kira RM300 juta tetapi kegiatan cetak rompak telah membantutkan pertumbuhannya,” katanya dalam temuramah rancangan ‘Kerusi Panas’ terbitan Bernama Radio24.

Pada pendapat teman, sudah tiba masanya artis2 Malaysia (termasuk RIM sendiri) membuka mata2 mereka dan sedar dari tidur yang enak selama ini. Sampai bilakah artis2 semua masih menyalahkan cetak rompak sebagai alasan album2 dan konsert2 mereka tidak laku? Masih menyalahkan artis2 barat (dan Indonesia) yang datang membanjiri tanahair kita untuk melancarkan album2 ataupun konsert2 jelajah dunia mereka?

Patutkan artis2 Malaysia sedar bahawa sekarang ini sudah tahun 2010, zaman sains dan teknologi, internet, digital dan sebagainya? Dari menyalahkan cetak rompak ataupun masalah2 lain, kenapa tidak mereka ini menerima teknologi2 baru yang terdapat sekarang, dari masih berada ditakuk lama?

Kenapa agaknya penerimaan peminat2 terhadap artis2 kita sekarang ini makin berkurangan? Adakah sebab2 yang nyata di bawah ini?

• Kualiti nyanyian yang tidak berubah dari dulu sampai sekarang?;
• Persembahan yang sama macam dulu (tengok ajer la konsert2 di RTM)?;
• Album yang tidak bermutu? Kalau ada 1-2 lagu yang cas2 malatop, sudah cukup?;
• Tiada kreativiti di pihak artis? Balik2 nyanyi berdiri tercegat kat tengah pentas. Pastu pakai minus one;
• Takut untuk mengeluarkan belanja yang tinggi sebab takut tak laku? Atau nak makan banyak?;
• Hanya syok sendiri, tanpa memikirkan hiburan untuk peminat?;
• Nak menyanyi atau main muzik sebab semata2 nak cari makan, bukan sebab minat;
• Terlalu banyak artis2 realiti TV yang tidak berkualiti sekarang?

Cuba kome2 semua renung2kan lah. Teman kat sini bukannya nak menghentam artis2, sebaliknya nak bukak mata dema2 nih supaya JANGAN semata2 nak salahkan cetak rompak. Cermin diri sendiri dulu sebelum buat kenyataan. Kami sebagai pembeli kepada segala apa produk yang ditawarkan oleh artis2 berhak membuat penilaian sebelum membeli. Bukannya asalkan nama artis, dah tentu boleh jual. Kalau tak laku, salahkan cetak rompak, ataupun peminat2 yang tidak sofistikated.

Teman kat sini nak mencadangkan supaya artis2 yang berkenaan melakukan perubahan:

• Menerima teknologi baru didalam bidang mereka, termasuklah internet (Facebook, Twitter, MySpace dll). Medium2 ini mampu membantu mengembangkan lagi karier mereka, disamping menambahkan lagi mutu pasaran;
• Mengkaji dengan lebih lanjut dan teliti akan trend pasaran di Malaysia. Peminat2 sekarang sudah bertambah arif tentang dunia muzik dan mempunyai beberapa cabang untuk mencapai minat mereka itu;
• Mengubah cara persembahan dan nyanyian bersesuaian dengan zaman ini. Kalau dulu, penyanyi2 hanya mampu menyanyi di radio dan peminat hanya boleh mendengar suara penyanyi kegemaran mereka sahaja. Sekarang penggiat seni boleh menggunakan teknologi suara (CD/DVD/internet), gambar (youtube/realplayer, DivX) dan kertas (suratkhabar/majalah/flyers) untuk sampai kepada peminat2. Oleh itu, penting untuk seseorang artis itu untuk kelihatan menarik (selain dari berbakat) pada pandangan peminat2;
• Mengeluarkan kerja2 yang lebih kualiti dan bukan hanya menyogok hasil karya yang tak seberapa tetapi kalau tak laku, menyalahkan peminat2;
• Belajar dari artis2 luar negeri, dan bukannya mengeji atau dengki pada mereka. Mereka berjaya kerana menawarkan pakej yang sangat menarik pada peminat mereka. Anda bagaimana?
• Hormati para peminat anda kerana jikalau tiada kami, tiada lah anda.

Later.

I went to 1Utama shopping centre (new wing) last week to look for some books, when I noticed that the cafe inside the MPH bookstore sells soups with cups made from bread. This sounds weird, but take a look at the photo below.

Soup in a bread? What's next?

The cafe called it the “express soup” or expressSOUP. They have designed the cup to be made wholly from bread (well, probably they have a toaster that shaped like a cup). There’s a choice of vege soup, chicken soup, mushroom soup and some others. There’s a pitfall of having bread as a cup though. You have to quickly eats the soup before the bread turns soft. The trick is to consume the soup together with the bread. It might be messy in the process, but hey, you can’t have soup in bread everyday, isn’t it?

espresSoup

Seriously, I think it’s a novel idea. Serving soups in a bread cup. Well done!

Colorful fridge magnets from the land of the rising sun...

I managed to get some fridge magnets from Japan recently.  As you can see from the pic above, Japan  produces colorful fridge magnets and some are based from comic characters. They indeed will stand out among my other fridge magnets collection.

Please choose...

Speaking about the mamak restaurants, my local mamak recently have its own way of packing the food (aka tapau). Now they will ask you whether you want to “tapau” it using paper or polystyrene (which happens to be CFC-free now).

Wow! Even the mamaks are already embarking on the save-the-earth campaign? Or is it just a way of saving the polystyrene, thus saving cost by using the normally discarded newspaper?

You tell me.

Colorful straws

I don’t know about you, but lately I noticed that the drinking straws at my local drinking holes are getting shorter and shorter. And the tip looks like it have been cut off. This can only be one thing: They recycled their drinking straws. WTF?

I personally saw, on some occasions, that the straws are way too short and nearly as tall as the glasses itself. It was sooooo unhygienic!

Therefore, to eliminates this issue, I’ve decided to buy my own straws.

Done.

I was waiting for this shirt like ages! The last Liverpool’s 3rd jersey is a beauty of its own. Like my post previously, the jersey is still black while having different color accents for the logos, stripes and so on.

Liverpool 3rd jersey, circa 2010/2011

The new jersey is still largely draped in black, but the minority color is now yellow, instead of last season’s gold. The shirt itself is almost an exact replica of the new 10/12 home jersey, except for the color, gold pipings and less stripes on the sleeves. The material looks the same with thick jacquard fabric, unlike the new Chelsea shirts.

The 3rd jersey looks almost the same with the leaked photo of it earlier this year, although the home jersey is spot-on.

Leaked jerseys photo, January 2010

I will do a proper review once I got my hands on it next month. In the meantime, please enjoy the countdown widget for the official launch date of the said jersey/shirt (it’s on the top right of this page). Cheers!

The new champion, Spain!

Congratulation to Spain for a well-deserved win! Now the World Cup’s over, let’s get on with our life and concentrate on the new BPL season coming in 2 months!