EDsight

When I received a call the other day about another long-lasting IT publication folding, I was greatly saddened. It seems that at least one major IT media company/title fold each year.

Are electronic media, blogs and other social network sites really taking over from mainstream print media? While these have proven to be interesting sources of news, thesse should supplement but not kill off traditional media.

What’s happening to journalism? In today’s world, practically anybody can be a media person. Sigh…

What does it mean to be 44? To a 44-year-old, it’s about taking the first steps in the second half of his life.

But what about a nation? When we think of countries, 44 years old is considered very young. China has thousands of years of history, the US has more than 200 years. At 44, Singapore has accomplished much and as a citizen, I an proud to be a Singaporean.

I thank God for what He has blessed our nation with so far and look forward to continued growth and achievements in the days ahead.

Happy 44th birthday, Singapore!

All electronics and computing gadgets are dependent on one thing — battery. And battery life — or rather its limitation — is a bane for many.

While computers are getting faster and mobile phones are sporting more fancy features, battery technology does not seem to be flowing with the time.

The typical battery life of a notebook was about two to three hours in the 1990s and it is still the same today. Even netbooks come with battery life of around three hours — unless of course, an extended battery is added — but that adds up to the weight and size.

Oh, what I would give to enjoy longer battery life without having to deal with bulky batteries.

Engligh Premier League club West Ham United has placed a white patch with the player’s number on the front of jerseys ever since its sponsor XL collapsed due to the economic meltdown.

The club has chosen this course of action to replace its sponsor’s exit. This is a precious space and company’s pay top dollars in order to get their brand name recognised.

While West Ham searches for another sponsor, one can help but wonder if replacing that logo with a patched up number is the best alternative. The club could have turned this situation into something positive by letting a non-profit organisation, say SPCA or UNICEF, place their logos on the front of the jerseys. This would not only position West Ham as a socially responsible club but also create lots of positive vibs in the process.

English soccer matches are watched the world over and such a move would score more points with football fans than the club is accruing on the field.

How about it, West Ham? Go for it!

A little of everything adds up to a lot — that’s what I felt while having a buffet dinner at Feast@East, Grand Mercure Hotel (opposite Parkway Parade).

The buffet spread was delightful — from the salad bar to the bread, and chili crab to laksa. Just when I thought that I was done, I took a walk to the desset counter and was amazed at the range of offerings. The durian paste is worth trying — like the kind used for durian strudels. There’s also ice cream, fruits, cakes, and old provision shop type of biscuits too!

I must commend the service staff for their excellent service. Our plates were cleared on time and water topped up regularly. The waiter even offered to take our photo for us — as my daughter was cutting her birthday cake. Oh, did I mention that they provided the birthday cake as well?

As if that was not enought, I received another surprise when paying. The restaurant had a one-for-one student promotion, meaning that for each paying adult, a student gets to eat free. I only needed to pay for two instead of four persons — that’s a much better deal than the credit card promotion (3+1 free) that I was thinking of leveraging.

What a splendid evening!

The ball hit the defender’s head but the referee awarded a goal kick. Despite protests from the opposing team, the referee stood his ground and play continued.

Every weekend, I stay glued to the cable channels watching English Premier League games and almost without fail, such incidents prevail. This begets me to wonder — where’s the sportmanship? When will a player own up that he was the last person to touch the ball and that the decision should be awarded to his opponent? When will the striker who tripped himself tell the referee that a penalty should not be given?

It looks like honesty is not a word to be associated with professional soccer. More often than not, highly-paid stars seem to play as though they belong on Broadway or in Hollywood rather than on the football pitch. They are such great actors that they may just give the likes of Tom Hanks and Al Pacino a run for the Best Actor award.

It’s a pity that professional sportsmen have become so professional that honesty is no longer in their vocabulary.

In the telecommunications industry, a one-year delay is the launch of a product is a very long time. One must wonder why Garmin is postponing the launch of the nuviphone, which was first announced this January.

Garmin’s first mobile phone was supposed to be available in Q3 this year but the date has slided into Q3 of 2009. Just what is it that’s causing this delay? According to reports, Garmin is customising the product according to telcos’ requirements. But, surely one year is a long time to do so.

Its competitors may launch other products during this time frame and leave very little space for Garmin to play with.

I must say I was excited when I first read about the phone. While others are phone makers adding the GPS feature, Garmin is a GPS specialist moving into the mobile phone arena. Initial rantings on various sites even rate the nuviphone as a potential iPhone killer.

However, whether it can do so will not be known for another year.

Two things I never thought I would do — work on an under 10-inch screen on a notebook and using Unix. I’ve got nothing against either. It’s just that ultra lightweight notebooks are so expensive while Unix is not even on my radar — such is my bondage to Microsoft.

However, this changed three months ago when I laid my hands on the Acer Aspire One. Drawn by its affordability and an aching shoulder from my travels, I decided to venture into the netbook arena. After studying the specifications and price of various models, I picked the Acer Aspire One for its value.

Having used it for three months, I rate its most impressive attributes as screen resolution, light weight and speed of booting up and shutting down. The screen is bright and clear, making it a joy to work under most lighting conditions. My only peeve about the screen is that it is very loyal to finger prints — touch it and you can easily leave an impression.

The netbook is so light — about 1kg — that it makes my Dell notebook feel like a ton of bricks. I’m looking forward to bringing it with me on my trips.

Running on Linux, the Acer Aspire One took under 30 seconds — 27 to be precise — to book up. That’s very fast and impressed this Microsoft Vista user greatly. Shutting down is just as fast.

While some may consider the keyboard (about 95% the normal size) small, it is touch typable and firm.

On the downside, the battery life is short (just over two hours) and the applications are limited — what you have are what you get.

Bottomline: The Acer Aspire One offers great value and is one of the better options available now. For frequent travellers, you can bring this netbook around and stay connected without straining your shoulders — and at a low price to boot!

Watching a football match on TV the other day reminded me of the 1970s when the sport first caught my attention.

Back then, matches on Star Soccer were shown in black and white and it was very difficult to make out the opposing teams, especially if they were wearing similar shades — such as while Wolverhampton Wanderers played Coventry City. Sometimes, it was also a chore differentiating the referee.

The first TV match I watched in colour was when Holland played then West Germany in the 1974 World Cup final. Besides the dazzling colour, the Dutch played a vibrant brand of total footfall that made them exciting and a joy to watch. It broke my heart that they lost 1-2 even though that was the first time I was watching Holland in action.

Colour TV is definitely better.

When my Jabra Bluetooth headset ran out of battery life, I decided to switch to the wired headset that cam with my Treo 750v. That was until I received a Motorola H12 as a present recently.

If first impressions count, then this headset wins hands-down. Besides looking stylish and light, the Motopure H12 comes with a delightful casing that can be used to store it when not in use, as well as for charging.

I must say that besides looks, the headset is easy to use and performs very well. It’s definitely lighter than the Jabra and a clip holds in securely in either ear. The big button at the side enables easy pick up and hang up of calls, while the buttons at the top enables easy volume control.

Battery time is good, providing standby time of about a week and usage time of around five hours.

On the flipside, the much hyped-about CrystalTalk technology with its noise-reduction and adaptive-speaker capabilities wasn’t quite what it was claimed to be. On many occasions, in particular when I am outdoor, either my recipient or I struggled to hear each other clearly. Another pain is that this headset was just like to Jabra and needs to be re-paired from time to time as sometimes, no amount of powering up and down seem to work.

Bottomline: The Motopure H12’s lightweight and style is sure to turn heads and more than compensates for the little challenges associated with Bluetooth technology.