Gadget

While cleaning up my laptop files and checking for new windows vista side bar gadgets I found this usefull and compact gadget by the name of DeskEssentials_2.1, which is a 3 in one gadget, it has a todo list, a notes and a calculator. Nice and compact.

Multimedia Speakers

Just purchase a set of 2 multimedia speakers from Hyundai, small little thingi with a very large volume control at the back, for RM33. Use at 3.5mm plug and usb for power. While it say that its for various gadgets such as mp3 player, i phone the fact is that using the USB for power you will need to have a computer or at the very least a usb plug to power it.

Its ok, not fantastic even to my non hifi ears, but it does boost the volume.

Speed Test II

Not bad today, when it work properly it works. ;-)

Speed Test

Testing the Streamyx line speed. just about as good as wireless broadband i am using.


on Nov 28th 2009 in the morning

on Nov 29th 2009 in the afternoon

Pasar Pagi / Morning Market

Pasar Pagi / Morning Market @ snapshots

Coordinates: N 05.13.471 E 100.29.897

Pasar Malam is the supermarket for low income earners and for the village (Kampong) Folks, what do the traders do in the day time?

Well there is also pasar pagi, and every Thuesday morning at Sungai Bakap, some of the traders set up shop at the compound of Sungai Bakap Temple (at the Laksa Shack location - http://malaysiansnapshots2.blogspot.com/2009/01/sg-bakap-temple-laksa-shack.html)

It’s not so busy, smaller, thus easier to find things, but you do not get the large amount of traders, but I do find it better then heading into Valdor Pasar Malam to purchase items.

you will find all the usual things at a Pasar malam, Groceries, cloths, toys and many more



Photo taken just before the Moon Cake Festival.

Good Eats at Taiping, Wan Tan Mee

to conclude my series of blog post on my trip to Taiping,

My memories of Taiping for food is a Kai Si Koey Teow Thng,( Chicken Meat Flat Rice Noodle in Soup) located some where in town. I thought i knew where it was but this trip i cannot find it.

So for food after the long walk at the Zoo, I when food hunting, What funny is that there is no food court over looking the Taiping Lakes, the closest is this Restaurant Taman Tasik, a food court located a little a away from the lake but with no view of the lake.,

It has a car park over looking the lake though. and it look like it cater for a evening and late nite business. There were a lot of stalls offering thypical Hawkers food, but most were close at around 4pm.

GPS Location : N04.51.059 E100.44.764

Food Court Interior .

Wan Tan Mee

The Wan Tan mee was surpricingly nice, done exactly to my specification. So nice that the whole family ended up having Wan Tan Mee. The Char Siew could do with a improvement though.

Rojak

Well not bad for Taiping.

One of the Best Curry Mee in Penang, New Cathay Coffee Shop at Pulau Tikus

One of the Best Curry Mee in Penang, New Cathay Coffee Shop at Pulau Tikus

@ snapshots

This off day we decided not to have our usual breakfast but head towards Pulau Tikus for the New Cathay Coffee Shop which is located just opposite belle view plaza and the Pulau Tikus Church (Catholic - Immaculate Conception built in1810? )

Curry Mee

I have been feeling the need of a spot of Good Curry Mee, and frankly I feel that the best curry mee in Penang is located at this coffee shop which is located at the junction of Jalan Kuching and Jalan Burma.

Wat Tan Hor Fun

What good in particular at this coffee house here is the Curry Mee (of course Penang Style), Wan Tan Mee (one of those seller who will only want to sell only to their specification, but its good, Hor fun, Chee Chong Fun. Most of the stalls offer better food then most other places.

Chee Cheong Fun

Banana Pan Cake

Open for Breakfast.....

Church of Immaculate Conception

Church of Immaculate Conception @ snapshopts

One of Penang, Pulau Tikus Tourist Sites, a Catholic Church with a 1810 date on it.

Monkeys

The Botanical Garden Monkeys have move. They can also be found now at the nearby Youth Park. Why, I have no idea but they seem to be having a fun time here playing with motobikes, go in to dust bin and so on. Now you do not have to go to the botanical gardens to see the monkeys.

Streamyx connection is not so good today, it was fine in the morning till around noon, and it started to act up after that cutting in and out with limited service. Celcome broadband is limited to GPRS, not so good

Valdor Run

Public Information Service, FOC

I saw this at the youth park, so if any one wans to go for a run in seberang prai on the 20/12

Celcom Broadband Installation and First Impression.

The neighbourhood computer man gave me a call at 4 pm this Monday evening as promise informing me that the Modem (Huawei E1550) have arrive, I drop by after work at 6pm, and he was kind enough to install the Broadband for me.

The Modem (Huawei E 1550) come with a short extension cable, a very simple manual in good English.... (see picture)



We connected at the computer shop which have HSPDA speed but as my subscription is only RM68 a month I am basically limited to 3G speed any way. Not much problem there.

I headed home and after my bath, started to play around with it. The software say that I have HSPDA connection at home, even though the celcom map (on line) say I will only get 3G signal. So I will have the option of upgrading to RM 98 package fro faster speed.

I did a speed test – Result see picture

As today at the office we have some problems with streamyx connection, I log on to gmail and started surfing.

First Impression - Well at 3G speed it’s definitely not as fast as wifi or with fix line connection, my surfing style will have to change, and I have to be more patient for the pages to download especially with the pages with photos. Overall it ok.

Secondly down load speed is Ok at around 30 to 50 kbs per sec on my down load, which is almost as good as the wifi / fix line I use.

However I do get dropoff / cut off starting at around 8.30pm at night, and have some problems in downloading some web page at that time, congestion I believe .

Overall on this first day, satisfactory, i feel that it is no worst then fix line in terms of broadband service in Malaysia.

I am now going to post this on my post using celcom broadband.

Idea!

People seems to get similar idea at the same time, you get similar movies, and in this case similar restaurants.

This is a New Restaurant in Nibong Tebal, Seberang Prai Selatan, Penang


This is a New Restaurant in George Town, Penang Island

Very similar name, and I believe concept.

Registeration for Celcom Broadband.

I pop into the Neighborhood Computer store to register for the Celcom Broadband, Unfortunately they are out of modems! Details take, payment made, they say the modems will be in on Monday.

Ok Let see how it goes! With this I will have use digi, maxis and celcom services.

Is this the future?

Penang Road Chendol

Penang Road Chendol @ snapshots

One of Penang Heritage Food Icons is the Chendol found at Penang Road. Chendol is basically Pandan “Jelly” with coconut milk and gula Melaka (dark suger) with shaven ice. So it usually eaten to cool you down after a hot day and hard day of work. There is one specific stall at an alley of Penang Road that every one make a bee line to for their chendol fix.

Chendol

Nasi Lemak - tasty

Well this post is on a branch of that stall, which is located at atrium A of Prangin Mall and funny enough it’s also located an alley off the atrium. Look for a spec shop, and there is an alley there, walk in and you will see the stall.

Ice Kacang

Penang Laksa

This stall offers more then just the famous chendol, but it’s without the ambiance of eating at the road side just like the original, hot exhaust smoke, standing and pack to the brim. Here it’s not that busy, but has consistent customers coming in for a bite, there tables and chairs and its almost air con. So this place is for those who want the comfort, the appearance of hygiene and so on.

When we stop by, we almost tried everything on the menu. :-)

Pegaga Juice

Replicas of Olden Shop House

Replicas of Olden Shop House @snapshots

Prangin Mall art department came out with a nice mall deco this time, Life Size Replicas of Olden Day Shop House in Penang. D@#$ Nice.

Saman

@snsapshots

Frankly I have not seen motorbikes get saman for parking in a no parking zone, until now that is. Keep up the good work MPPP.

Celcom Broad Band some usefull information

Am doing some research on Celcom Broadband , the amount of complaints, rants you find on mobile broad band is astonishing, complains of drop line, slow speed is all over the internet especially forums, for all the various ISP's. I do have to note that comments on Celcom services is that it indeed has the widest coverage as well as in general most do agree that celcom provide is better then the rest in general.

From all the comments, I gather that speed and connection have to do with "congestion" ie the number of persons connecting to the same transmission tower at the same time, that is with more ppl try to connect and use broadband service at the same area, drop line, slow speed, time out will crop up at least till they upgrade the tower concern to cope.

P2P usage like down loading torrent is a no no, either it will be very slow, ie speed cap or not allowed (maxis I think), but then with my current download speed of around generally 10kbs to 20 kbs with the occasion speed of sub 50Kbs, who knows it may actually end up to be faster ;-) i hope. There is also a comment that if you keep your brouser active (actuall surffing instead of leaving the computer switch on to download only) you will get faster speed.

Other then that here are some usefull tips and some special fixes..... which may or may not work, and some very mix signals as well

I also found various tips like from this tread ..... http://forum.lowyat.net/topic/1136512

To increase modern speed

“For severe connections, I also learned of a way to boost the modem signal. Of course probably most of you guys here already heard or tried such method. This method is physical modification to your modem stick, but unlike the more extreme method (astro dish, wok, etc), it uses the concept of electromagnetic.

Basically, what you need is a string of insulated copper wire (like phone cable) and a 9 volt battery (the square type). Wrap around your usb modem with the copper wire 12 times to look like a coil and then connect both ends to each of the battery's pole.”

“althou the coil is a valid trick but connect directly the wires to the battery confirm direct shorting of your battery... be warned that the battery may broken due to high current flow due to direct shorting”

“Thx for the early warning. Will try and circumvent that problem. Probably would be safer to use a thicker copper wire. Something like a power cable.”

Celcom Humber to call

Number to call to complain 03-36308888

Broadband Number

Ask for it when registration or check on Bill

Open DNS

“Set to Open DNS to get better speed “

“I used OpenDNS before but nowadays it seems to block so many websites ?”

Getting mix signals!

Which Modem?

“E220 can detect signal stronger than E160...E160 need xtra antenna in order to have strong signal detection as E220...”

“i got 2 modem, e220 n e160 , tested on thm, e160 signal is stronger n stable lol”

Getting mix signals here!

And on this tread

http://www.bloganything.net/1166/celcom-broadband-review

“if you experiance problem using Celcom Broadband, this is my tips. always use usb 3g to usb cable using supply usb cable or buy usb cable extention.Put it near window to get the outdoor coverage. Locked your signal to 3G only or UMTS only or WCDMA only. Even your 3g signal is low, as long as you in 3g couverage area you still can received good internet access. even the download speed can’t reach 384 kbps it’s better then 64kbps GPRS service. This is what I learn from my 2 years research and experiance studying 3G Broadband”

http://www.bloganything.net/1157/optimize-celcom-broadband-connection

further tips

1) Improve the signal

Assuming that your modem and laptop is located inside a building, the transmission of the 3G/HSDPA signals will be affected. You will need to get a long 15m/3m usb cable so that you can put your USB 3G modem near the roof in order to improve the signal that the device receives from telco’s transmitter. I bought one during Pikom PC Fair and the 3m USB cable costed me an affordable RM15 (USD 4.2) with a life-time warranty.

2) Optimize your modem setting

This is the setting that is often left unoptimized. Here’s a quick fix to it.

1. Right click on My Computer then click on Manage.
2. Go to Device Manager -> Modem ->
3. Right click on your 3G USB Modem and choose Properties
4. Go to Modem tab, adjust maximum Port Speed to the max. Save the new setting by clicking OK.

3) Upgrade your modem firmware

This can be done by referring to the instructions by the modem manufacture. Go to your respective modem manufacture website to find out how to do it.

One of the benefit is you might be able to uplift the download speed limit for your modem, for example 7.2Mbps instead of the conventional 3.6Mbps (Huawei E220). Upgrading the firmware also often improve the overall performance of your device.

Sungai Bakap Tim Sum

in a renovated cinema, there is a hybird complex by the name of BK complex, a black and red building along Federal Route 1 from Butterworth to Ipoh. You cannot miss it as you pass by Sungai Bakap, Seberang Prai Selatan. Penang.

It's was renovated to be a the largest pub in Seberang Prai Selatan, however due to lisencing issures, it is now a kopi tiam, a snooker center, a phone shopee, a boutique, and a bird hotel.

In effort to make this place work, the owners have brought in a decent tim sum chef, the result is the best tim sum in town....... Speciality here are the egg tart and the siew long pau.









All the above plus 3 more baskets came up to RM27.00 .....

Wireless Broadband ISP

Am hunting around for a Wireless Broadband ISP, as due the the mobile factor in my career choice, having a wire broadband will give the telecom contractors much of my hard earn money ever time I move.

As such with the current state of wireless broadband (wimax or others), we have currently 4 suppliers ie Mr Potong (P1), Celcom, Maxis, and new boy on the block Digi. 3 others have the lisence but have not roll out anything yet.

All the service provider is not having a contract period......... espeically if you purchase the modem.

Service area.

I did not take P1 in to consideration, as there are many places it do not have coverage....... (ie out of major towns .......... my career path may take me to smaller towns ....... like currently even if I want to take P1, there is no service in my area. other then that Celcom has the best coverage, Maxis is 2nd and in last place is Digi.

Score is Celcom = 10, Maxis = 8, Digi = 6

Type of Service and Pricing

I am only looking at Basic service for the Post Paid Wireless broad band, (to qualify the the Income tax relief) and all 3 service providers have it.

Celcom is price at RM68, Maxis is price at RM78 with a RM 10 rebate for the 1st years, and Digi is at RM58.

Score is Celcom = 18, Maxis = 14, Digi = 14

Speed

Speed is not that inportant for me for this package as my main LSP is atmy work place, and this broadband service is mainly for the my family usage, and for my off day.

For the Basic Package

Celcom - 384 kbs
Maxis - no speed mention / no cap mention
Digi - 700kbs

Score is Celcom = 24, Maxis = 24, Digi = 26

Cap in Usage Volume

Celcom - 5mbs per month
Maxis - 2mbs per month
Digi - 3mbs additional charges if use more then this limit

This is bad!

Final Score is Celcom = 34, Maxis = 28, Digi = 28

Conclusion

In other words, Celcom is the best choice of me in terms of Mobility, highest usage volume, at the 2nd highest price basic package, and the lowest promise speed. I am targeting if i have the spare funds, to get the package in a few months time.....

Just wondering Lowest promise speed, but the highest cap in usage volume, what will it mean it with a higher promise speed but a lower usage cap?