Malaysian artist’s TIME of fame

Malaysian artist’s TIME of fame

Merry Christmas!

Hi Everyone,

Merry Christmas! to all. Enjoy the holidays. Below is an e-card for you. Please click the DaySpring E-Card to go the e-card. Thanks.

DaySpring E-Card

Here's another e-card that I would like to share:

Another e-card that I would like to share below. Please click the link below"

DaySpring E-Card

Cheers,

Teng Joon

Zondervan Daily Inspiration - 23rd December 2010

Zondervan Daily Inspiration

Chris Tomlin - Unfailing Love

Hi Everyone,

It's been long since I posted a new post on my blog. I would like to share this song, Unfailing Love by Chris Tomlin. I like the chorus and it is as below:

Praise you God of earth and sky
how beautiful is your unfailing love,
And you never change,
God you remain my unfailing love
Unfailing love

Indeed, God's love is unfailing. It is agape love which means sacrificial love. It is unconditional love. Like our parents, God loves us unconditionally regardless of who we are. If we repent of our sins and accept Jesus as our Lord and Saviour, we will experience the full extent of His love.

This song is from Chris Tomlin's Arriving album. The 5th song in the album. I have the original album. The video below is 3 minutes long. The album version is 4 minutes long.



Cheers,

Rogerkoo

Monteiro kicks the habit and offers peer support to drug-hooked individuals

Monteiro kicks the habit and offers peer support to drug-hooked individuals

Something No One Else Did ... Zondervan

Something No One Else Did ... Zondervan

Pros and Cons of Forgiveness ... Zondervan

Pros and Cons of Forgiveness ... Zondervan

Maxis first to offer phone with WP7

Maxis first to offer phone with WP7

Indomie safe to consume

Indomie safe to consume

Macaque abducts, bites and drops baby from roof

Macaque abducts, bites and drops baby from roof

Stop, I Say!

Stop, I Say!

McD Concept Restaurant is coming soon at 1 Utama

Hi Everyone,

1 Utama is having several renovations and upgrading of stores currently. One of the upgrading will be the McDonalds Concept Restaurant located opposite Melaka Corner. They are moving to this new location with the new KFC just opposite the corner.

Mozilla Concept Phone Is a Glimpse of the Future

This story was originally posted at PCWorld.com.

Mozilla Labs is showing off a cutting-edge concept mobile phone developed by a designer in his free time.

The complete story can be found here:

http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,206109/article.html

We hope you will find this story interesting and informative. PCWorld, an IDG publication, has been providing independent, unbiased, reviews, news, and information about technology since 1983.

Cheers,

Rogerkoo

Govt keeping tabs on Internet users

Govt keeping tabs on Internet users

Tears flow for orphaned girl

Tears flow for orphaned girl

Stupid Malaysian Drivers: Penang Bridge Railing vs Nissan Grand Livina

Stupid Malaysian Drivers: Penang Bridge Railing vs Nissan Grand Livina: "Read in the newspaper today regarding a fatal accident on the Penang Bridge (http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/9/21/nation/707..."

Penang may have No-car Zone Day too

Penang may have No-car Zone Day too

More may have died at hands of Sosilawati killers

More may have died at hands of Sosilawati killers

School head under probe over racist remarks

School head under probe over racist remarks

Phua Chu Kang: The Movie

Hi Everyone,

Are you a fan of Phua Chu Kang? The hit television series that starred Gurmit Singh, Irene Ang and Pierre Png is a Singaporean production. Gurmit Singh starred as Phua Chu Kang in which he is portrayed as an Ah Beng which is a Singlish slang for a stereotypical, uneducated Chinese gangster.¹ The show's sequel Phua Chu Kang Malaysia Sdn Bhd was aired  in 2009.  The show is famous with the Don't Play Play phrase.

This year, Phua Chu Kang: The Movie is coming to cinemas next month in August. In Malaysia, the movie will be released on 26th August 2010.

Below is the PCK: The Movie No-HP Teaser:

PCK: The Movie No-HP Teaser

Please visit the Phua Chu Kang: The Movie website and the Phua Chu Kang: The Movie Facebook page for more details on the movie.

<sup>1 Source: Phua Chu Kang - Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phua_Chu_Kang 

Cheers,

Rogerkoo</sup>

My World Cup Moments

Hi Everyone,

South Africa has hosted the World Cup 2010 successfully. We saw upsets and suprising moments and also victory for Spain! These are some of my World Cup 2010 @ South Africa moments:

1. Spain won the World Cup 2010 @ South Africa for the first time by beating Netherlands 1-0
2. Germany won 3rd place by beating Uruguay, 3-2. Uruguay has did well in this World Cup although they were placed 4th. They were the best South American nation to reach the 3rd place / 4th place finish stage. 4 South American teams qualified for the Quarter Finals stage. The 4 countries were Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay.
3. Spain beat Germany 1-0 at the Semi Finals.
4. Netherlands beat Uruguay 3-2 at the Semi Finals.
5. Argentina was eliminated at the Round of 16 stage by Germany. They received a 4-0 thrashing
6. Brazil was also knocked out 1-2 by the Netherlands at the Round of 16 stage. A goal from Netherlands saw the Brazillian goalkeeper slightly touching the ball together with another Brazillian player. The ball then deflected to the net. It was an own goal. This goal allowed Netherlands to equalise 1-1 after Brazil scored the 1st goal after 10 minutes.
7. Germany thrashed England 4-1 at the Round of 16 stage. England did not quality for the finals of the World Cup again. England was denied a goal in this match. The ball went inside the goal and bounced up and down. It did not touched the net at the back. According to the rules, it was supposed to be a goal but it was not given.
8. Italy, the 2006 World Cup winner was knocked out of the World Cup @ South Africa at the last match of the group stage by Slovakia. They beat Italy 3-2. Italy only managed to score at he 81st and 92 minutes. Slovakia was leading Italy 3-1 after 90 minutes of play.
9. Robert Green, England's goalkeeper made a blunder which made U.S.A to score one goal against them at their opening game. The game ended 1-1
10. France also was knocked out at the group stage. At the last game between France and South Africa, the host nation beat France 2-1.
11. Portugal thrashed North Korea 7-0 at the 2nd group game. North Korea was beaten 2-1 by Brazil at their 1st game. It was a nice moment to know that North Korea scored a goal against Brazil
12. It is also good to see that Asian countries especially Korea and Japan made it to the Round of 16. Japan beat Denmark 3-1 in the group stage. Korea also scored 2 goals against Greece.
13. Spain lost to Switzerland at the opening group game 1-0. Spain then went on to win the World Cup and created history.
14. There were a few disputed calls made by the umpire. One of those was the Germany vs England game as explained above. Harry Kewell was sent off in one of Australia's matches. Argentina seemed to score a goal at an offside position. Some umpires or linesman were suspended temporarily as a result of this.

Cheers,

Rogerkoo

Music Players

Hi Everyone,

iPod, media players or imitation IPod? iPodhas 3 models to choose from namely iPod Shuffle, iPod Nano and iPod Touch. The latter is bundled with Wifi and touch screen.

After saving and considering other MP3 players, I still choose the IPod Nano 4G personally. Bought it a year and a half ago on January 2009. I considered the Sony and Creative MP3 players by researching on the web and comparing all the features. Also I researched the features of the iPod Nano 4G. 

Creative and Sony may offer more features including FM Radio and support other media formats such as midi and wav files but overall the IPod seems to attract me personally.     

 

 

Now the iPod Nano 5G, the current generation comes with a FM radio and a video camera. For the previous generation, a radio connectivity set costs more than RM100. Prices of the iPod in Malaysia remains the same at RM599 and RM799 for the 8GB and 16GB models respectively. Even though the price is the same, it has more features.

Sony, Creative and Samsung also have their models to compete directly with the iPhone. The Creative Zen MX is one example. It offers the capabilities to play more music formats including the Windows Media Audio (WMA), Midi and WAV files. It also offers radio. This is the same for Sony and Samsung. Radio is a standard for MP3 players nowadays. Only the IPod did not offer any radio features at that time. iPhone can only support MP3 and AAC3 (MP4) files. To play a WMA file on the iPod, you need to use iTunes to convert it to MP4 format first or other softwares to convert it to a MP3 file.

Sony, Creative and other brands also offer better battery life on the MP3 players. My iPod Nano can last about 3 days or so. The claimed battery life for the Nano 4G is 24 hours.

At the end, it is all up to you to choose.

For more information, please visit these websites:

Apple - Play music and more on iPod.
Creative MP3 Players and Accessories - ZEN and MuVo Series: 
Portable Audio : Consumer Products : Sony Malaysia:
MP3 Player | SAMSUNG:
Products | Zune.net:

Cheers,

Rogerkoo

Matt Redman Heart Of Worship (When the music fades)

Hi Everyone,

For the past two weeks including this week, I always thought of this song in my mind. Whether it's during work or at home after work, it comes to my mind. I can sing the chorus to myself. I do not know why. Below is the video for the Matt Redman's version of the song.

The pre-chorus and chorus goes like this:

I bring you more than a song

For a song in itself

Is not what you have required

You search much deeper within

Through the way things appear

You're looking into my heart

Chorus:

I'm coming back to the heart of worship

And it's all about you, it's all about you, Jesus

I'm sorry, Lord for the thing I've made it

When it's all about you, it's all about you, Jesus

Indeed, worship is not only singing praises and songs of worship to our Lord Jesus and God. Worship encompasses every part of our Christian life. It includes  our church life, our life at home, our career,  and our relationship with family, relatives, friends and colleagues. No matter what we do, we do it to please God. It's all about our God who sent his son to die for our sins. We should always focus on God in our everyday lives wherever we are.

An example of an obligation is this:

When we are asked to do something that we do not want to do , we are forced to do it. 

This should not be the way. We should change our mindset to that of a service pleasing to God.

May we consider our everyday lives as a service pleasing to God and not thinking it as an obligation.  When we serve at church especially, it is a service to God and not an obligation.

This is worship. Worship is our everyday life. 

Cheers,

Rogerkoo

Justin Bieber - Baby ft. Ludacris

Hi Everyone,

This is the Justin Bieber song, Baby ft Ludacris. He is only 16 years old and yet he's successful for his age. This video is viewed over 230 million times on YouTube VEVO.

I do not know if you like this song but it's kind of catchy. When I went back home from work and this song is played on Hitz.FM, it's kind of a feel good song. I do listen to Hitz.FM sometimes. Songs that Hitz.FM are more current than Mix.FM, my favourite radio station.

Hate or like this song? It's quite subjective. Some of you may listen to this song until you hate that song. 

I kind of like this song. Catchy tune. :P. Lol.

Cheers,

Teng Joon

The Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader

Chronicles Of Narnia 3

The 3rd installment of the Chronicles of Narnia, The Voyage of Dawn Treader is coming in December 9th in Malaysia. It will be shown in 3D. 

Even though this is the 3rd Narnia movie, it is actually the 4th book of 7 books in the series. The 2nd book, The Horse and The Boy is not made into a movie. Instead, Prince Caspian, the 3rd book was made as the 2nd Narnia movie.

Follow the adventures of Lucy, Edmund and their cousin, Eustace on a journey on board the Dawn Treader.  Lucy and Edmund met their friend, Prince Caspian back and Eustace has his first appearance here. Experience more magic and some dragon scenes in this movie.

Enjoy the trailer. For more information, please visit The Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader official website.

Cheers,

Rogerkoo

Inception

Inception is a movie starring Leonardo Dicaprio, Ken Watanabe, Marion Cotillard and Ellen Page. It also starts Michael Caine.

Leonardo Dicaprio stars as a skilled thief, the best in skillful art of attraction, who steals valuable secrets from people's minds. It made him a professional in corporate espionage and also a fugitive and cost him everything he loved. His skill is called Inception.

Now, it's time for redemption. Leonardo Dicaprio needs to accomplish the impossible, inception using his own ideas instead of stealing from people's minds to get his life back. The successful planning of this with his team of specialists could result in the perfect crime. However, they could expect the unexpected because of an enemy who could read their plan.

Coming soon in Malaysian cinemas on 15th July, I believe this is also a good movie to watch. Good action and entertainment are awaiting us. May plan to watch this movie on 21st July 2010.

http://wwws.warnerbros.co.uk/inception/mainsite/img/posters/01.jpg 

You can also visit Inception offical website and the Inception's page on Facebook for more details. 

Cheers,

Rogerkoo

Smartphones

What comes to mind when you think of smartphones? Phones are getting more advanced nowadays combining phone, entertainment, games and business into one device.

The IPhone 4 and its predecessors, Android, Blackberry, Nokia E-Series and Windows Mobile 7 are some of the most common terms that we heard. I am using IPhone 3G(S) myself. Basically, I can do anything with the IPhone 3G(S) from productivy applications to multimedia applications which include games, music, movies, bibles, news, e-books, flashlight and photo uploading and enhacement applications. I can also use the IPhone as a GPS and as a universal remote control as well.

Which is the best of all of these? IPhone seems to be the benchmark now. Followed closely is the Android, the mobile operating system by Google.  Brands such as HTC, Motorola and Samsung has models using the Android operating system. When I was at Mid Valley yesterday, I tested the HTC Touch Diamond at the Digi Smartphones Fair in front of MPH / Coffee Bean. It has one of the smoothest touch screen UI after the IPhone. It is closely competing with the IPhone. Blackberry Storm or the Nokia X series touch screen phones does not come close. The models do not have a very smooth touch screen UI. It uses a different technology then the IPhone / Android. 

Blackberry is now the leader in smartphones for businessmen and businesswomen. With its push e-mail technology, you will receive office and personal e-mails on the go anywhere and anytime. It will definitely keep you busy. There are less applications compared with IPhone. Applications such as Facebook, Twitter, bibles and others are available but still are limited. IPhone and Nokia E-series may have push e-mail technology also but Blackberry are still th best in push e-mail. For IPhone, I have to launch the Mail application to view my e-mails but for the Blackberry, it is pushed to the phone immediately similar to a sms.

The Nokia E-Series is also good for business users. It has push e-mail, calendar and other productivity features. Samsung Omnia 2 is also a very good phone with vivid images and very good UI. It uses the Windows Mobile 6.5 operating system. It is one of the most powerful operating systems of the mobile world and can support a lot of features. The only thing is that the speed may be slow and Windows Mobile may hang or crashes similar to Windows crashes.  HTC also has Windows Mobile based phones. It used to be very cool.

Other phones that you can consider are the Samsung Corby and LG Cookie. These phones have less features but still features touch screen and other features.

What would you choose between these phones?

Let's talkback.

Here are the selections / choices:

1. IPhone 4 (also IPhone 3G(S) etc)
2. Samsung Omnia
3. Samsung Corby 
   
4. HTC Touch Diamond
5. HTC Magic
6. Other HTC Phones
7. Nexus One
8. Blackberry Storm
9. Blackberry Bold
10. Blackberry Pearl
11. Nokia X-series (X6, X3)
12. Nokia E-series (E61, E65, E71, E72 etc)
13. Nokia N-series (N95, N99, N85, N86, N81)
14. Motorola Q9h
15. Motorola Droid
16. Motorola Aura / Dext
17. Other Motorola smartphones
18. LG Chocolat
19. LG Smartphones
20. Sony Ericsson Xperia
21. Sony Ericsson Satio, Aino...
22. Sony Ericsson P9i
23. Just the normal phones (Nokia, Sony Ericsson, Motorola, LG, Samsung...)

Cheers,

Rogerkoo

Nine Dragons and I, Alex Cross

I just bought Nine Dragons written by Michael Connelly and I, Alex Cross written by James Patterson yesterday. I bought it at the MPH Members' Day Sale which will end today. 20% off for every book. Savings of RM13.16.

Nine Dragons is the latest book by Michael Connelly. Harry Bosch, the main detective in the story has visited Fortune Liquors before. It guided him through his darkest days. There is a murder at Fortune Liquors, where the owner, a Mr Li was shot dead. With the help of his assistant, they uncover a link with a crime ring. Then Harry Bosch's daughter was taken from him. Read more in the book. It costs RM32.90 (original price).

James Patterson has written another Alex Cross novel entitled I, Alex Cross. He also wrote the novel, Alex Cross's Trial which talks about his family's history and discovered more about his family.

In the book, I, Alex Cross, Alex Cross discovered that one of his nieces that he hasn't met for a long time were found murdered during his birthday celebrations. He was informed by his leader. He then paired up with his girlfriend, a detective, Bree Stone to find out the murderer and solve the case. He also found that his niece was mixed up in one of Washington's wildest scenes. The paperback of I, Alex Cross costs RM32.90.

By the way, if you buy I, Alex Cross from MPH Online, you can get 30% off. Of course, add the RM7 delivery fee, it is RM31.43 unless you buy over RM150 to get free delivery.

Going to start reading these books soon. 

Cheers,

Rogerkoo

Humble ... Zondervan

Humble ... Zondervan

If We Ever Meet Again (Timbaland featruing Katy Perry)

This is one of my favourite songs at the moment. The title of the song is If We Ever Meet by Timbaland featuring Katy Perry. The tune is very catchy. There is this chorus:

I'll never be the same, if we ever meet again

Won't let you get away..

Cheers,

Rogerkoo

Glee Soundtracks

Hi Everyone,


I bought the Glee Season One Volume 1 soundtrack @ Rock Corner, The Gardens a few weeks ago.


Glee, the hit television series, currently showing @ Star World, Channel 711 Astro. It is a musical comedy series about a teacher trying to give his students a hope. It is a hope to succeed in music where no one would look down on them.


The Glee Volume 1 soundtrack contains songs that they sang during the show. It covers the Glee theme song, Don't Stop Believing and hits such as Can't Fight the Feeling, Take A Bow (Rihanna), Alone, Golddigger, Bust Your Windows, No One, Dancing With Myself, Taking Chances, Sweet Caroline (Neil Diamond), Maybe This Time and Keeping Holding On. Personally I quite like 12 songs out of 17 songs from this album. The 5 that I do not like are No Air, You Keep Me Hangin' On, Bust A Move, Defying Gravity and Hate On Me. These songs will keep me entertained or relaxed after a day @ work or just for pleasure.


When I bought the Volume 1, the Glee Soundtrack Volume 2 came out. It contains covers of Endless Love, I'll Stand By You, My Life Would Suck Without You (Kelly Clarkson), Crush, True Colours, Lean On Me and Smile. 


While I was looking around at Speedy Video yesterday at Cheras Leisure Mall, Glee Volume 2 comes with a Glee mug. These two volumes do not come cheap though. RM46.90 for each one. 










I also noticed the Glee: The Music: The Power of Madonna album and also Glee, The Music, Volume 3, Showstoppers also out on the market. However, I did not see the Volume 3, Showstoppers album @ Speedy Video.


The second part of Glee: Season 1 is now showing on Star World at 2100 (GMT +8.00). For Malaysian Astro viewers, that's Astro Channel 711. It is used to be after American Idol Season 9, but it has crowned Lee Dewyze as the American Idol 2010. Enjoy the show.


Cheers,


Rogerkoo

Pirate Latitudes

I bought the latest novel by Michael Crichton, Pirate Latitudes last week. This is a full manuscript novel that was discovered after he passed away 2 years ago.

Michael Crichton was the producer of the hit television series, E.R and author of many bestseller books such as Prey, Jurassic Park, Congo, The Andromeda Strain, The Great Train Robbery, Next and The Lost World. Some of these books were adapted into movies such as Jurassic Park and The Lost World.

The image displayed on the left is the U.K paperback cover. The U.S paperback mass market version is also available which I bought.

The story starts in the island of Jamaica under the ruler, Sir James Almont. Jamaica was a remote colony of the English but the area around it was under the Spanish empire. Port Royal, the first scene of the book , there are taverns, grog shops and bawdy houses. Besides these, another source of income of Port Royal is through piracy. 

Pirate Latitudes talks about how a merchant ship which also brought the governor's (Sir James)  secretary has discovered a galleon of treasure at an island under the Spanish rule by its captain. And so, Sir James Almont then appointed Captain Hunter to find and loot the galleon of treasure. This begins the adventures of Captain Hunter who embarked on a journey to the island with risks of being attacked or spotted by the Spanish guards. He recruited some people from Port Royal who sailed with him to the island. 

I have read more than half way through the book already. I have reached Chapter 27 which is also Part 4 of the book. Follow the adventures of Captain Hunter and his crew to find and loot the treasure and the dangers they faced during the trip to the island. 

This is a thrilling book to read. It does not disappoint. Once you started, you will keep on reading it. MPH is currently having 20% discount on this book until 30th June. You will paying RM27.92 instead of RM34.90 for this book now. 30% if you buy it @ MPH online but you will incur the delivery fee of RM7. Borders also offers this book at 20% off if you bought this book together with another book. It's the Borders Buy 1, Get 1 at 20% off offer.

Cheers,

Rogerkoo

The Purpose Driven Life

Want to find out the purpose of your life? Been asking this question for quite some time? What on earth am I here for?  This book will enable to know what Christianity is all about. Want to know more about a Christian's lifestyle or how we ought to live? Read this book. It is one of the books which will change the way you live.  Let's explore what Christianity is all about through a 40-day journey.


The Purpose Driven Life, written by Rick Warren is a great book to read. Learn and understand the five main sections detailed in the book which consists of worship, fellowship, discipleship, service to God and missions. You can explore and find out the meaning of life here and God's plan for you and me. After understanding the book, you can live your life according to what God's plan. You can live your life with purpose.




There are 40 chapters in total. After each day, there are questions for you to think and answer. there is also the 40 Days Of Purpose campaign run by churches here. You can join in the program if you are interested to find out more. 


I definitely recommend this book.


Cheers,


Rogerkoo

Duma Key and Lisey's Story

Hi Everyone,


Let me introduce Duma Key and Lisey Story, two books written by Stephen King.


Duma Key is a book written by Stephen King. t is a very good book. Highly recommended. The genre of this book is Mystery / Thriller. Duma Key is a fiction novel, which tells the life of Edgar Freemantle who was involved in a freak accident. His suffered some brain damage and lost his right arm. His psychologists suggested to him to go to Duma Key to recuperate and a place which may give him a fresh new start. When he is at Duma Key, he discovers that he has the ability of painting pictures which later proved to be true. There is also a mystery surrounding the remote Duma Key island which he will slowly discover later. The painting of the pictures reminds me of the Heroes series. The character, Issac in the first season is able to paint pictures when he is high on drugs which can predict the future. We found out the events does happen. The novel has the elements which allows me to keep on reading further until the end. It has the thrill and a suspense which lets me to want to find out more about the island's mystery. Stephen King has a done a good job in this novel. 


Lisey waas married to her author husband, Scott Landon. Now he's dead. She has knew Scott for 25 years. She had been his light all the time. After his death, people were after his works. It is a story about Lisey's journey after her husband's death. During her journey, a fan threatened her to give him Scott's works as an author. He kept on coming for her and even resort to trying to kill her. Follow Lisey's journey on how she keeps the memories of her and her husband and how she overcome the sinister threats from the man who is going all the way to get her to pass Scott's works to him.


Another great book from Stephen King.








If you like Stephen King, these are some of the books to look for. 


Cheers,


Rogerkoo

What Every Family Really Needs to be Really Strong...

What Every Family Really Needs to be Really Strong...

Happy Mothers' Day

Hi,

I would like to wish all mothers a Happy Mothers' Day.

Some thoughts on Mother's Day:

• A mother care for her children when they were small
• She loves us unconditionally
• She give good advice for us in life
• She looks out for us when we are in situations
• She takes care of the household needs of the family
• She helps in making decisions
• She knows what's good for us in our life
• She shares her experiences of life with her family
• She accepts her family for being who they are
• She cares for the family even when she is tired
• She helps her children and family in every way she could
• She fetches her children to school and from school everyday with joy
• She cooks nice meals for the family
• She will care for us when we are sick or ill
• She teaches important lessons to us just as our fathers teaches us
• She recommends good things to us
• etc.

Once again, Happy Mothers' Day. You will be remembered not only on Mother's day but also everyday. Thank you for everything that you have given us.

Cheers,

Rogerkoo

Unfailing and Unending ... Zondervan

Unfailing and Unending ... Zondervan

Posted using ShareThis

Worship ... Zondervan

Worship ... Zondervan

Posted using ShareThis

Balance of Faith ... Zondervan

Balance of Faith ... Zondervan

Posted using ShareThis

Learning to Love ... Zondervan

Learning to Love ... Zondervan

Posted using ShareThis

Willing to Forgive ... Zondervan

Willing to Forgive ... Zondervan

Posted using ShareThis

Outstanding IPhone Apps

Productivity / Management Apps

1. Awesome Note (BRID)

• Great note taking, to do lists and diary application
• Cool interface and very easy to use
• Group notes into categories and colours
• Insert pictures
• Free version has limited features (7 notes) but for $3.99, you can get unlimited notes and features
• It is really worth it to buy

2. Intuition (Icon Apps)

• Adapted from mother's intuition, it is an awesome to do list application 
• Great interface and easy to use 
• It has reminder alerts that can remind you twice for the to do items of the day
• Ability to group and filter to do items by locations and categories
• Find out what is happening in the community and the locations near you
• Recipes for you to try out andlifestyle tips provided in the app
• This app is free

3. Sticky (Tap Factory)

• This is a Sticky Note application
• Recently upgraded to the full version at 1/2 price
• Create sticky notes and badges will be displayed to indicate how many notes are there
• Various fonts are available
• Opt to export the note as a wallpaper (photos) and show it as a wallpaper

4. Spending (AppCheer)

• Keep track your expenses and income easily 
• Password protected (Full version) 
• Group expenses and income with categories. Can create your own as well.
• Charts and average spent 
• Comes with calculator 
• Available in a lot of currencies 
• Free to try the Lite version 
• $2.99 for full version

5. Convert Units for Free (FreeTheApps), Calc0Currency(Uplake Media LLC), GlobeConvert (GlobeMaster)

• Apps to convert units and currencies
• Covers units like cm, m, inches, km/h, miles per hour etc
• Calc0Currency supports a lot of currencies including $USD, $AUD, Euro, pounds, Indonesian Rupiah and RM

Games

1. Tap Tap Revenge 3 (Tapulous)

• Awesome game
• Great gameplay. Tap the music beat balls on when they land on the targets
• Need to be fast when playing at higher difficulties
• Free songs for downloads are available for downloads. Song packs from popular artists are also available at a cost
• One of the best games

2. Zombie Farm (The Play Forge)

• Grow zombies in your own zombie farm from normal zombies to girl zombies and mini zombies 
• Invade other farms to earn more coins

3. Tap Fish (Bayview Labs)

• A fish aquarium game
• Grow and feed all your fishes 
• Cleaning the aquarium daily would prevent your fishes from dying 
• Can also decorate your aquarium 
• Breeding is also available. I have two new species now after breeding namely green clown and sammy clown fish

4. Parachute Ninja (Freeverse and Zeptolab)

• Another great game. Keeps me playing more and more
  Full version has 30 levels and survival mode 
• Be a ninja and complete all the 30 story modes. The levels get harder each time 
• Try out the survival mode too with all the challenges and difficulties of all the levels

5. Magic Ludo (GameFront Singapore)

• A ludo game made for the IPhone 
• New ludo challenges. Can kill or knocked off your opponents Ludo pieces if you rolled your dice to their position and vice versa 
• Addictive

6. Tap Farm (Streetview Labs)

• Similar to Farmville in Facebook where you can grow and maintain crops on your farm. 
• Harvest the crops when it is fully grown to earn more income. 
• Build the most beautiful farm of all.

7. Traffic Rush (Donut Games)

• Control the traffic at a intersection. 
• Move the cars to the left and right quickly when there are no cars. The same going straight and the opposite. 
• Be careful though when there are more cars coming from all directions.
• Game over when a car or lorry or motorcycle crashes onto each other.
• Very addictive game.

8. Sentinel (Origin 8)

• Guard your towers and bases from enemy attacks with weapons
• 60 waves of attack each round. More difficult enemies each wave
• Open Feint

9. Sudoku (Mighty Mighty Good Games)

• Sudoku game for the IPhone
• Ability to make numbering notes during the game
• There are a few levels of difficulties
• Full version contains more than 700 puzzles with the same features ($2.99)
• Free version is available with plenty of puzzles of well but less than the 700 puzzles in the full version (I downloaded this)

10. 28 in 1 Game Box (Triniti Interactive Limited)

• 28 top Games in one app
• Open Feint compatible

11. Fingerzilla (Inert Soap)

• Godzilla like game. Try to destroy as many buildings as possible and earn money through it. There are additional game packs for you to download too.

12. Millionnaire (Savy Soda)

• Monopoly game for the IPhone

13. World Championship Table Tennis(Skyworks)

• Great table tennis game
• Tournament, Arcade, Head to Head and Practice modes available in Full version ($0.99)
• Addictive

14. Bubble Tap, Tap Tap Free, Speed Tapping, Tap Tap Ants, Tap Tap Ants 2 (RiseUp Labs)

• Great tapping games
• Bubble Tap - Tap to break all the bubbles as fast as you can, great gameplay, stress reliever
• Tap Tap Free - Tap all the balls as fast as you can
• Speed Tapping - Tap as fast as you can
• Tap Tap Ants and Tap Tap Ants 2 - Tap as many ants as possible as you can. For Tap Tap Ants, you can only tap at the highlighted area. For Tap Tap Ants 2, you can tap it anywhere

15. Space Deadbeef (I.D.P)

• Shoot at all the planes coming to you by tapping where the planes are
• Another great game
• Each level increase is more difficult than the previous levels

16. Action Bowl Free (Kronos), Shrek Kart (Gameloft)

• Action Bowl Free is a bowling game for the IPhone. 
• You can use the sensor controls on the IPhone to play the game
• Like Nintendo Wii, u race by tiliting the IPhone left and right in Shrek Racing. 
• Race using Shrek characters in the game
• These two games have great game play too

17. Can Shooter (NC Japan K.K)

• Shoot the cans into the dustbin within the time limit
• Wind free mode will appear in the game
• Time limit for higher levels decreases

Other notable IPhone games include Mafia Wars, Street Racing and Scramble from Zynga. Of course, there are plenty of great games available for the IPhone. I also downloaded Solitaire, Payload, Monkey Party, You Vs Wall, Air Assault, iChess and Water Slide among others. These are only a subset of the total number of games.

Dictionaries & Encyclopedias

• Dian Hua Dictionary (Powered by CC-CEDICT)
• Wikipedia
• Dictionary.com

News

•   Channel News Asia, Thomson News Pro Bloomberg, MSNBC, Bernama, MKini2, Time Mobile, ESPN Score Centre, Eurosport, F1 Racing, Engadget among others
  

Christianity

• YouVersion Bible (YouVersion) - Free app
• Logos - Free App
• Our Daily Bread Inspirational - Free App (not related to RBC's Our Daily Bread)

Social

• Facebook, Twitterific (IconFactory), Skype

E-Books  

• The Valley of Fear (BeamItDown)
• Classics (Andrew Kaz and Phill Ryu)
• 101 Classics (Sun Scroll)
• IPhone Tips and Tricks, Battery Tips

There are many more apps available for the IPhone. You can measure things or check out information on space when you download the NASA app. You can also find hotels and book air tickets (MAS has an app) as well. Google and Yahoo also provides apps for their mail services, weather, photos, news, Google Earth, Google Calendar, Google Earth and other information and services. Apps for the IPhone camera such as providing flash effects and other camera features and effects such as A+ Camera Flash and 10xCamera Tools are also available. Photoshop Mobile is an another app to manage your photos. There are also apps to download for the IPhone such as wallpapers, check BMI app, health tips and check music lyrics. The list of apps for the IPhone goes on and on.

In the nutshell, you can do anything with the IPhone.

Cheers,

Rogerkoo

Don't Look Twice (Andrew Gross)

Hi Everyone,

I bought this book last year, Don't Look Twice written by Andrew Gross. Andrew Gross was co-author with James Patterson in some of James' books before writing on his own. This is his 3rd book. The paperback came out this year. I saw this at MPH 1 Utama where it is offering 20% discount to members and non-members (purchase of RM5 to quality for offer) until 31st July 2009. Because I am a MPH Readers' Club Member, I bought this at 20% off instantly without the need to buy at least RM5 of items for MPH. It is a savings of RM7.20. I bought this for only RM28.70 instead of the usual price at RM35.90.

It talks about a police detective, Ty Hauck who had a good life. He had a waterfront house, a new girlfriend and even a hero after unconvering a Wall Street scandal. Then during a day trip with his daughter, they encountered a shooting that an innocent man got killed. Now he has a new investigation to follow. It is just a normal shooting? Is it because of revenge? Ty suspects things go deeper and everyone, from the FBI to his own family wants him to stop finding out the answers. He could not turn away from the case for his estranged brother, Warren is also in danger. Here we will see how Ty continue to find out more about case despite the devastating consequences that he will be facing. I've finished reading this book.

Cheers,

Rogerkoo

A Good Day ... Zondervan

A Good Day ... Zondervan

Posted using ShareThis

The Associate

The Associate is another impressive and great book by John Grisham. I bought this book around September last year.


Kyle McAvoy was studying to become at lawyer at Yale. His future is very bright and promising until some men approached him regarding his dark secret which would ruin his career and future. They have a compromising video that can be used against him unless he cooperates with them.


The deal is for Kyle to work at a law firm as a law associate. The catch is that he is not working for the law firm, but against it in a dispute between two powerful defense contractors worth billions.


Can Kyle outsmart the men and find his way out of this situation with his intellectual mind? Will he survive this? Find out by reading this book! 


John Grisham is superb at legal stories. The Associate is another example of why he is so good. His other books include The Last Juror, The Appeal, The King of Torts and The Firm. These are also very good books to read.


Next post: Outstanding apps for the IPhone. From to do list to games...

Cheers,

Rogerkoo

Fruit of the Spirit

Galatians 5:22-23

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

As Christians, we need to bear good fruit and live a life worthy of God. These are some of the qualities and virtues of Christians as in Galatians 5:22-23

Love
We should love one another. We are called to love our neighbours as ourselves and also to love our enemies. God so loved us that he sent his Son, Jesus Christ to die on the cross for our sins. His resurrection 3 days later symbolises the victory our sin and death. Our sins have been forgiven and we are made right with God as a result of the resurrection.

Mark 12:30-31
Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: Love your neighbour as yourself. There is no greater commandment than this.

Matthew 5:43-44

Love here means being Christians who forgives or ask for forgiveness when we hurt others, caring for one another and being accountable to one another. Another way to love is to pray for one another. It also means being warm and friendly to one another without discrimination.

1 John 4:19
We love because He first loved us. (NIV)

Joy
We should be happy for we received the gift of life from God.

Romans 6:23b
For the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life. (NIV)

Everyone of us is a sinner. The penalty of sin is death. However Jesus has paid the price of sin for us ad gave us eternal life.

We should rejoice because of that. We should be happy because God is with us and he gave us the Holy Spirit.

Peace
We are feeling the peace from God in every situation. Can pray when we are having issues or troubles. God will be with us.

In Phillipians 4:7-8:
And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (NIV)

Patience
We should be patient in our daily life. Not getting angry for no reason. Just as God patiently loves us, we should also be patient.

In Colossians 3:8, it says:
But now you must rid yourselves of all such tings as these: anger, rage, malice, slander and filthy language from your lips (NIV)

Kindness and Goodness

We are called to be kind and good to others. This comes as a response of our love of God because of what he has done for us. He has forgave our sins. We need to show kindness to others in situations as Jesus did without discrimination. Anyone can receive our kindness no matter who we are or where we are from.

Gentleness
Gentle in speech. Not hurting and insulting each other. We do not speak vulgar and obscene languages. We also need to be humble in the way we conduct ourselves.

Faithfulness
We are faithful to our God. We will not succumb to sin and temptations. It is our faithfulness that brings us closer to God each day. We should have faith even we are facing challenges and difficulties in our lives. God is always here with us no matter where we are. As we walk with God closely in our lives, our faithfulness will also grow. Then we are facing the most difficult time even during serious illnesses, we still trust God is always with us and he is still in control of our lives. We will have faith in him no matter what happens in our lives.

Self Control
We will face a lot of temptations in our daily life. For Christians, we need to have self control so that we are not too obsessed with certain things. We need to have a balanced life. I pray that the Holy Spirit will guide our hearts and minds so that we do not fall into temptations easily. We also need to think of what we are doing before we do the things that we are supposed or called to do. Our conscience will tell us if it is right wrong. There are people who do the things they know it is wrong but they blinded the eyes for that.

As Christians, we need to know that it is wrong to do such things and therefore be able to refrain ourselves from doing it. If we are called to do what is wrong in our eyes, we should not do it. We should stand firm in our decision not to do it because it does not glorify God.

These temptations include drinking alcoholic drinks, pornography and other sins. By having self control, we will not fall into those tempations easily.

I may not cover everything here but this is my summary of the fruit of the Spirit. It is my current understanding of the fruit of the Spirit. I hope that as Christians, our character will be like that of Jesus who is perfect. I pray that we will bear the fruit of the Spirit thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times more than when we first believed him. This part of the sentence is extracted from Mark 4:20 (The Parable of the Sower):

Others like seed sown on good soil, hear the word, accept it and produce a crop - thirty, sixty or even a hundred times what was sown. (NIV)


Cheers,

Rogerkoo

Perodua Alza Advanced

The new Perodua Alza Advanced has just been launched. Perodua Alza has
received over 22,000 since it's launch a few months ago. Sales has
exceeded that of Proton Exora.
Proton Exora is also a successful MPV from Proton. Proton has been
revamping its brand and Exora is one of the models which receives a
good feedback. Other than that, Persona and the Saga also did very
well in their respective car segments.
The Perodua Alza Advanced comes with leather seats, reverse camera, in-
built GPS navigation system located in front of the driver, tinted
film and spoilers. It is priced around RM67K for the manual
transmission and RM70K for the auto. (Source: New Sunday Times - CARS,
BIKES, TRUCKS pullout, Page 12, March 28 2010)
With these advanced features, it will further boost the Perodua Alza
sales. I also expect that for families or people who want a larger
space, they would prefer the Proton Exora.
Proton Exora is having the Campro CPS engine and the Alza is getting
the same engine as Toyota Avanza. Whichever that anyone chooses, it
will be a good choice.
Both the Exora and Alza will face tough competition. Alza may have a
slight advantage over Exora because of people's perception on Perodua
cars. In general, people are more confident of the quality of Perodua
cars. At the same time, Proton has improved it's quality and
reputation with Exora, Persona and Saga models. I can see more Proton
cars on the road again. I am also driving a Persona.
Please feel free to comment on this. Thanks.
Cheers,
Rogerkoo

My Proton Persona

Hi,


I recently bought a Proton Persona H-Line last month. Collected the car on 11th February 2010. Mileage now is 2087 km in total. Before the Proton Persona Elegance was launched, I didn't know this facelift model is coming out this year. We were not informed about it until we saw it in the news few weeks ago. To me, my Proton Persona is good. Sometimes we can't catch it.


Specifications of Proton Persona H-Line:


Engine Capcacity: 1597cc
 
Engine Type: CAMPRO IAFM 1.6
 
Power: 82kW @ 6000rpm or 112 bhp
 
Radio: Blaupunkt 2-din Radio with 10 preset stations and a single CD player


Seating: 5


Safety Features: ABS, EBD, Front Driver and Passenger SRS Airbags


Security: Immobilizer


Transmission: 4 Speed Automatic


Extra Features:

• Power Auto Windows
• Electronically Controlled Side Mirrors
• Multi Information Display (Clock, Odometer, Tripmeter, Average Fuel Consumption, Distance to finish before refuelling and Engine Running Time)
• Steering Wheel with radio controls
• Remote Trunk Lid Opening
• Front Fog Lamps
• Proton Emergency First Aid Kit
• Lockatoo GPS (External)
• Proton Car Tools
• Vanity Mirror
• Cup holders

This car is definitely a good buy. With 82kW, the car moves forward when the accelearator is softly pressed. Engine is very smooth and with the Lotus handling, it provies a very good driving experience. It handles corners well too. The height of the car is also higher which provides a better rear view of the traffic. However, during reversing, you may not see the back clearly without the help of the reverse sensor. So far, the reverse sensor has provided me with quite accurate reverse distance. It beeps at the right time. I get used to it already. Been driving the car for nearly a month now. Overtaking is also easy as well. The engine repsonds with just a small tap on the accelerator.


Braking is also good. You'll need to press more though to stop completely. Other cars have differnt braking systems. Some with a gentle tap on the brake, it will stop quite fast, but for Proton Persona, it provides a gradual braking. Therefore, the brake need to be pressed more. It also brakes smoothly. However, it does have the braking sounds that automatic transmissions have for local cars. Hehe. Intially, when braking harder, I can hear a low screeching noise when pressed completely. After my first car service @ 1000km, there is no more sound unless I break in short distances (jam and carpark). But still it does not happen frequently now. I should brake further away and stop the car gradually. 


The auto transmission has a smooth gear change. It is the smoothest compared with other Proton models with the exception of maybe the Proton Perdana. I almost can't feel the usual jerk when shifting from P to R. The orange dashboard lights at night has a very cool effect and does not strain the eyes.


Aircond is functioning well and exceeds expectations. It is very cold. Probably the car is still new. Without low fan speed, the aircond can fills the entire car well. Mid temperature is around 25 degrees. I normally put it between 21 to 25 degrees.


Generally, the Blaupunkt 2 din radio provides me with a reasonable sound quality with CD. Radio controls can be adjusted at the steering wheel. The only thing missing now is the USB / MP3 support for the radio. This is provided in the new Persona Elegance.


It has now a fuel consumption of 7.6l per 100km. At my last refuel, I pumped RM64 after travelling a total distance of 331.1 km. Last week, I was caught in the jam at East West Link for about 1  1/2 hours. Usually, the jam is 30 minutes to 1 hour on the way to work. With that in mind, a fuel efficiency of 9.31 km/l is considered alright. Please let me know if you agree or disagree with this. The week before, the fuel effiency was 9.95km/l. I think if the traffic is good, the fuel efficiency can be improved with around 11km/l. Honda City is better than this with around 12.5km/l to 14km/l. From the NST Cars, Bikes and Trucks pullout, Toyota Vios has the best fuel efficiency in this class.


The exterior of the car and the interior of the car are nice. The interior sits 5 people comfortably withouht any issues. Leg space may not be the best but it's ample after hearing the feedback from some of my family and colleagues. Honda City, Vios and the Sentra may have a larger space there. The cushion is also comfortable and soft. The quality of the interior has improved. It is not hard compared to the ones in the Proton Wira Aeroback that my mother drives. Exterior is the same as the Gen2 except that this is a sedan instead of a hatchback. The way to differentiate the Gen2 with the Persona is the the silver decorative piece in the rear on the Persona.


It doesn't come with a seat belt indicator. My colleague told me about it and I verified it myself. Anyway, I have no problems wearing my seatbelt. It is what I normally do after I before I reverse or drive the car.


It has a very big boot too. Over 421 litres.


Here are some photos of my car (Car number has been taken out to protect privacy) :

The New Proton Persona H-Line (Full Spec). Comes with a 1.6L Campro IAFM engine generating 82KW of power, 2 front air bags, GPS, ABS, EBD, electronically controlled side mirrors and power steering among others. Big and spacious boot too.

Proton Persona was voted the 2008 Best Model of the Year by Frost and Sullivan

Right side view of the car

Front grille and teardrop lamps. Once again, the number plate also comes with the 2008 Best Model of the Year by Frost and Sullivan caption at the bottom.

The dashboard. It will be illuminated with orange colour (same as the colour that you see P and the multi function display) at night when I turn on the lights

Front of the car. Steering wheel comes with radio controls. Can adjust the volume (louder, softer, mute) and go to the next / previous tracks when playing CDs while driving

Closer view of the middle of the front of the car.

The automatic gear (P,R,N,D,3,2,L) and the fan and aircond controls

 Back seats

Side door controls

The Lockatoo A903 GPS given by Proton for H-Line and Special Edition models. Brand is Lockatoo. Powered by TM. Accurate but voice output is not so great.

The Lockatoo GPS also comes with this casing to carry around or leave at home when the GPS is not in used (to prevent theft).

For those who know me, please don't hesitate to contact me to share the photo album

So far I have no problems with the car with the exception of the brake sounds earlier but it has now been resolved. May ask them to check again @ my 5000km service. I can control the car well now. I would recommend to buy a Proton Persona Elegance now. The H-Line in the Persona Elegance variant is now RM59,999 (similar to the Proton Persona SE specifications) which comes with leather seats, cruise controls and body kit as standard. Proton has change the lineup of its Persona models a few weeks ago. I am satisfied with this car. The cost of this car is a few thousand less than the Persona Elegance H-Line.

Rating: 8/10

Cheers,


Rogerkoo