My finished Citadel Gameboard

Just finished the final touches of my most recent miniature hobby project. With all the things that's been happening, I've had almost no time at all to do anything hobby-related. So what's the secret?

Nights. One coat of paint a night. 10 minutes of drybrushing here. 10 minutes of overbrushing there. And in the space of one month - Wah lah! Enjoy the pics below. I'll come back to this post and do a how-to later.

Malaysia's most avid mobile data user?

Ladies and gentlemen, I've an announcement to make... I've reached the big 10.

That's right, just 4 months after starting to use my Nokia N96, the data packet indicator has now rolled over to a whopping 10 Gigabytes of downloaded data over the course of those 4 months.

See for yourself:



Personally, I attribute all this to the huge amount of podcast listening I do, web-surfing and of course, online-gaming on N-Gage (you have to love Reset Generation). Now, I wonder if these numbers are the reason why I've been getting relatively lousy service on my 3G connection recently?

Debunking the FUD on Mobile Number Portability

Yes, you can now switch to DiGi and still keep your 012 (Maxis) number. Or vice-versa. And no, it will not incur extra charges or hidden cost to your subscription package.

I'm writing this because so many people have asked me and come to me with the impression that switching from your DiGi line to Maxis will make all your calls out and receiving calls more expensive.



Well, here's the good news. No it doesn't. Mobile Number Portability in the simplest terms means that mobile phone number prefixes (012, 016, 019 etc.) are no longer tied to specific telcos. So, you could subscribe to Maxis and keep your 019 number for example. Similarly, you can be on DiGi with a 012 number.

Then why do people say, or you read in the newspapers, that it may cost your friends more to call you if you switch telcos using MNP?

Here's the scenario to explain:

Let's say you and your friend are both currently on Maxis. Calls between Maxis numbers are RM 0.12 per minute (for ValuePlus50) so that's the rate you currently enjoy. One day, you decided to switch to DiGi but through MNP, keep your 012XXXXXXX number. After you've switched, your friend who's still on Maxis calls you and starts getting charged RM 0.18 per minute because you are no longer a Maxis subscriber even though you have a 012 number. This is exactly the same as if you had switched to DiGi, taken a 016 number and he was calling you.

Likewise, if you had switched to DiGi but maintained your 012 number, you will get the better rate for calling other DiGi subscribers (not necessarily 016 only anymore) but will no longer get the lower rate for calling Maxis customers even though you have a "012" number.

Makes sense?

I guess for some time, there will be some fear, uncertainty and doubt over this whole MNP thing, but it really doesn't cost you more to switch providers. And that's the important part, because it means we have that little bit more of power to choose the better service provider without fear of losing our cherished mobile numbers.

So, I say, go forth and let the switching begin!

New Yahoo! CEO suspects too much

I think I may have learned a new line for those long Q&As I occassionally have to write as part of the job.

Carol Bartz when introduced as the new Yahoo! CEO today said (and I predict these words will come back to famously haunt her):

"I suspect I have the brainpower to understand media. I also suspect there are people here that can help jump-start my education."

That's right. "I suspect". Almost as good as last year's quote of the year: "looks like me, sounds like me." Somewhere between saying "I don't really know what I'm getting into" without admitting that "I'm possibly out of my league."

I've always liked Yahoo! as a company. I make it a point to search with Yahoo! almost as often as I search with Google - if only to equally contribute to both company's coffers with my eyeball. However, Ms. Bartz's reply to the journalist's question does not my confidence invoke.

Yahoo!'s not really in bad shape. It's still got a huge share of eyeballs and a couple of really top notch properties (like Flickr) and services (like Delicious). And Yahoo! Pipes is amazing too.

What the company needs is a gameplan. Something to tie everything together and make people love the company again. And I suspect that suspecting will not be good enough. It's time to deal with the facts and the reality of the situation, and get the game going, Yahoo!

Nutty Obama conspiracy theory continues online.

Was browsing Boing-Boing when I stumbled on this. My reaction? At first glance, the screen cap of the video below almost makes it plausible. (Doesn't he look the least bit...?)




On a more serious note, though, I'd have to agree with Michael Platt that "I'm reassured that the Web is facilitating a freedom of the press that didn't quite exist before." Just look at the amount of conspiracy theories we have locally! That's the beauty of internet.