One laptop to solve the world's problems

And now... for a completely hilarious piece of tech views.

If you've not heard about the OLPC project (One Laptop Per Child), it's a project where if you purchase a low-cost laptop for US$399 and one laptop of the same type is given to a child in a developing country.


Of course, this is the famed US$200 laptop that's been going around the web and it actually looks kind of cute (see above). Runs on Linux, developed by an NGO...hmm... doesn't it sound charitable.

But, like the hilarious comic above... is a US$200 laptop just what the developing world needs?

Christmas Events +1 more gift on wishlist

Hello everybody, Yo Ho Ho!

As Christmas is around the corner and you may or may not be sure of where you wanna do during Christmas, how about checkin' out some activites at my Church - Petra Gospel Centre in Taman Kencana, Ampang?

We've got jam-packed activities...here goes...

22nd December 2007 (Saturday)

This is THE Christmas party. It's held every year at the same time 3:00 p.m. and you can expect a great music, entertaining performances and to meet lots and lots of people who could one day be your best friends.

24th December 2007 (Monday)

So every Christmas eve, I spend a lot of time tramping from house to house and joining a bunch of people singing songs. Would you like to be one of them this year?

25th December 2007 (Tuesday)

This is our annual Gospel outreach event. This year, we're putting up a LIVE sketch telling a story set in ancient China. There'll also be a special Christmas dinner at 6:00 p.m. for youth (err...if you're around my age, then you're youth lah). Come and join us for something meaningful and worth your time.

And now...by popular demand... the sixth item on my Christmas wishlist...

Not too long ago i picked up this hobby called cycling. Granted, i've not been able to do much cycling actually, but there are pieces of gear that I need to pick up. So...

6. Full fingered Cycling gloves (RM 110 or thereabouts)

Things to look out for when buying one... don't buy one. Buy a pair! LOL. Oh, and make sure got good ventilation and made from tough material. :) Can share, share and buy also can.

New Nokia N95 Firmware update!

Lol. This piece of news makes me so happy, because I've always guessed a firmware update was waiting to happen, and when this finally happened...it feels great.

Check out: http://www.allaboutsymbian.com/news/item/6308_The_N95_classic_hits_v20_firmw.php

For the uniniated, the update helps:

1. Faster camera-time between shots
2. Gallery loads up faster
3. Built-in Search 4.0 feature, right in your front-screen
4. Demand Paging with 30 MB free RAM after booting (sounds like a computer? This means more memory to play around with apps)
5. N-Gage Preview and Nokia Music Store applications (yeah...Ovi...mmm...)

*Disclaimer, yes, Nokia is my client, but I also own an N95 (denying the temptation to upgrade to 8GB) and I can surely blog about my own devices and my excitement over a release that affects me most as a consumer. SO there. :)

So when can we finally march?

All this coverage of illegal marches and gatherings have made me remnisce on my good ol' days back in Perth where I was right in the centre of one such march.

It wasn't violent. It wasn't illegal. It wasn't pro-the-current-government. In fact, it was a protest against the government. But, it was ALLOWED.

See, I'm not a big supporter of either side when it comes to the two recent marches. I certainly won't vote for KEADILAN and PAS because my political views don't go with them. I'm sympathetic towards DAP. I think MCA is misunderstood.

But the question I'd really like to ask the authorities is "Why weren't these organisations, who applied for the right to march, given the right to march?"

From a public relations perspective, I think the whole sequence of events was so meta-PR. First, you deny the opposition / NGO the right to march. Then, knowing that they will defy the orders, you prepare a press blitz to call the march illegal. On Monday, capitalise on that blitz and you'll have turned around the media-play into a huge advantage for yourself.

I figured that the BERSIH or Hindraf people should have maybe left the bait and called off the march(es). And then, in an open letter, challenge the decision to not allow the march. By doing what was essentially illegal (although the denial of the right to march could be challenged) you're playing right into the other party's court.

Anyway, I'm not here to provide an analysis of the turn of events that have recently happened. I'm here to remnisce about the march I was a part of... :) Check out these pics. LOL!


People of all walks of life came to protest.


More protesters.


This old uncle got creative and brought his little scooter along.


Stilts were part of the day's stunts.


It was so peaceful, the protesters even marched past people getting married.


There were many, many anti-prime minister messages.


The cops followed behind to just make sure nothing got out of hand.


Left one blur guy right behind. :) Yup, I was right there.

I want a name with *phlgem* too...

If you haven't watched it yet, click on this link and please watch.

Yup, it's still stuck in my head..."A-C-*phlegm...I KILL YOU!" But isn't that the coolest thing ever to have in your name? Imagine "D-A*phlegm*-V-I-D". Try pronouncing that.

Da*phlegm*vid. LOL.

Set your heart...

Listen up. It's time to pay attention. You can't have everything you want. You gotta choose.

1 Cor 10:6 Now there things occurred as examples to keep us from setting our hearts on evil things as they did.

Jonah 2:8 Those who cling to worthless idols forfeit the grace that could be theirs.

Luke 12:34 For where your treasure is, there your heart is also.

Matthew 6:33 But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

The problem, my brother, is because you have your heart on something other than God's righteousness.

The problem is because we've set our hearts on evil things. Something we don't get rid of though we know we must.

The problem is because you see your treasure on earth and forget that you can't have both that and a bank account in heaven.

The problem is, we made the wrong choice today, when we should have made the right one.

It's Christmas time...

So yesterday, Lydia asked me an interesting question: "Should we start shopping for Christmas this now?"

"Yeah, I guess."

"What are you going to get your guys this year ah?"

"Dunno, haven't thought of it yet. Maybe a pot of paint for Dillon and Ernest."

Then it struck me. It's pretty difficult to choose stuff for people that they actually use instead of consigning to a box sitting in a corner and collecting dust. I get a lot of stuff that I don't use from people. Stuff like candles, jigsaw puzzles, photo frames... (I have so many candles, I can light up my house just with candles for three days)

So, to help my friends out, here's a list of stuff I'm looking at for Christmas :) here goes:

1. Wood Elf Spellsinger from Games Workshop (about RM 50). I need a mage for my wood elf army, so... this is something I'll probably need. Of course, any other miniatures from the Wood Elf or Orcs & Goblin ranges are welcome. :)



2. Absolute Sandman Volume 2 (About RM 300++). This is a whopper, but darn good read. I have Volume 1 and have spent some time staring longingly at Volume 2. Sigh, cannot afford to buy. And I tell Lydia it's too expensive to buy for me (coz she ain't got no cash either).
3. Random Stylish Kitchenware (RMXX). I'm gonna move into my new house soon and we'll need to get some new kitchenware when that happens. Preferably black / white dishes or metal fork / spoon sets. :)

4. Listerine (RM 14). I use mouthwash religiously and some people suspect I drink mouthwash like coke. Haha... glad you think I have the power to metabolise so much alcohol, but I don't. Listerine Tartar Control is something I'd use.


5. Sports Shorts (RM 20 - 40). Size M, Waist about 32. Elastic type preferred. This is really what I need when I go to gym because I only have two pairs now and if I don't get more, a bit the hard lah - have to wash everyday. Most "Dai" if you buy from Jusco when Holiday sale starts.So there you have it, davidlian's top 5 most wanted Christmas gifts. :) Some aspirational stuff. Some practical stuff. What'dya waitin' for? Get crackin'!

Achmed the Dead Terrorist, lol

Okay, warning - really crude jokes here - but awesomely funny nonetheless. Thanks to KY for pinging me with this.

Please take the video with a pinch of salt. It's meant to be comedy and plays heavily on stereotypes - but funny nonetheless. :)



This Jeff Dunham guy is really funny.

My favourite parts were:
1. "It's a flesh wound" - from Monty Python.
2. "Where do you get your recruits? The Suicide Hotline" - ROFL!
3. "Knock, Knock. Who's there? Me. I Kill You!" - I Kill You seems like a motto for these stereotyped Terrorists.

Enjoy.

Heave a sigh of relief

It's fixed. :)



Took my trusty N95 to the Bangsar store today. The fella had nice look at it and said, "Cracked screen? How did that happen?"

I fumbled, and muttered something about clumsily swinging my hips to the edge of my desk, whilst smartly removing the protective cover of my N95 and facing the screen outwards.

He smiled and said "We get a lot of this. I'll check if we have a screen in stock."

(At this point, I was pretty relieved that it wasn't just me that was nicely smashing up nice N95 screens. Apparently there are other clumsy people out there too)

The service chap popped back, and said there was a screen and he could get it done in the half hour. Yippee!

Anyway, to cut the long story short, lesson learnt: I'll never remove my N95 from its protective case ever again. It's going to stay wrapped in protective padding forever.

The worst feeling in the world...

...is when you accidentally slam into a table and hear a sickening crunch.


There went the screen of my Nokia N95. :( I'm sad. Console me.

Nice Hamper or not?

Today, what a pleasant surprise!

So, the story goes I was out for the better part of this afternoon for meetings and helping to manage a TV interview (actually pitched and setup by Vicky). Not really in the mood for work because of yesterday's long night, then when, just 15 minutes after I stepped into the office, a nice yellow hamper came in.

Vicky actually picked up the buzzer first and muttered to me over the divider "Some package for you..."

The delivery guy stepped through the door, and Libby rushed to sign the delivery order. We were all working quite a bit (I was drafting some email) and then Beatrice decided to rush over and check it out...

She yelped.

"David! It's from Nokia!"

"Uh, phone?"

Okay, that wasn't how I responded. I checked out the package and the cool card attached to it and it made me think - "Wah....first present from client liao..."

So, check out these pics:



Yup, there was Famous Amos, Esprit (fruit drink), some Macademian chocolate and oooh... Coffex Turkist coffee.

I was actually a bit puzzled, because clients always tell me to lay off the coffee...so....coffex? Anyway, just wanted to say a big THANK YOU! You really know my taste.

Project Wood Elf Lord: Nearly Complete

I've been blogging very sporadically lately, and here's why:

He's one mean elf...

Even from the back.

Less blogging means more painting. Nice or not?

So I got back at 9:30 p.m. on Wednesday...

It was already pretty late and I was all tired out - was sick, you see.

But then, I got a little bit of cheer in my mail:

Yup! The box of glade guard I won from listening to podhammer! I guess listening to podcasts does pay off. :)

thanks Jeff!

Bestest Podcast Ever!

Hello!

You know I like listening to podcasts right? Well, aside from the regular lot's o' tech podcasts that I listen to...like Buzz Out Loud and This Week in Tech, I just discovered what could be the most awesome video podcast ever.

Actually discovered about 2 weeks ago but didn't have time to write lah.

So, guess what podcast this is? Give you a clue: big yellow feathers, brown hairy trunk and red furry blob with orange nose. :)






You guessed it - it's the Sesame Street podcast! I used to watch Sesame Street virtually everyday as a kid (that's part of the reason why I have at least a decent command of English...I think) and its a blast to watch.

Now, you can get Sesame Street on your own Mobile Device® and bring little episodes wherever you go. Or just download them to your PC. I really like what Sesame Workshop has done with the podcast, making mini-segments focusing on one word. Like "Ballet" or "Tricycle."

It's great seeing how a very traditional company has embraced Web 2.0 and the way we view our content now by responding with something like this. Now, if only we could get more interesting podcasts with mini episodes of Ninja Turtles or the like... :)

Enjoy!

We're training.... seriously

So we had our Text 100 training yesterday, and unlike Suan's training-to-the-death, I figured ours was pretty fun in comparison.

Okay, the location wasn'tthe best - Bukit Tinggi is a bit too wannabe for my liking - but hey, it's the content and the people that really matter right? We had a fantastic time learning (throught presentation) but the killer was going out for orienteering.

Here's some excerpts:

Bukit Tinggi has this French-Wannabe theme which I found to be a bit..er.. muak. (Malay for 'Overly- Satiated')

Guess what these icons represent? It took me a while. Maybe my IQ just not as high as I thought.

Local wildlife in their natural habitat abound in Bukit Tinggi - like this leaf insect.

One day, someone is gonna give me one of these for my Birthday present... (shameless hint)

Finally, picture with some people. We were all pretty happy to be going outdoors for orienteering.

Until the guide dumped us here...

Gave us a compass...

And told us to find our way out.

Of course, Lee did extremely well...I might say. :)

See more here.