I had the opportunity over the weekend to have close look on Galaxy Tab and Desire HD. I will be blogging about these two wonderful gadgets separately, but I did a quick video playback comparison, together with my trusty over-clocked Galaxy S. Here’s the video. Enjoyed!
PS: Please let me know if there is anything else you want to see as comparison between the phones. I will try to incorporate your request where possible.
Year end holiday season is here finally, and I am already imagining a Christmas tree in my house with all the interesting gadgets nicely packed as presents surrounding it. More on that in subsequent blog posts. In the spirit of sharing joy of holiday season, I would begin by sharing my peep on Creative ZiiO 7″ — Creative first attempt in the Android tablet space.
ZiiO 7" Tablet
Earlier this week, I was privileged to have my hands on Creative ZiiO 7″ tablet, even though it was just a development unit. Given that (that it was just a development unit), the exterior finishing was not expected to be polished. The tablet was however loaded with the latest firmware that would supposedly shipped for production, so the hands on experience will still be close to that of a retail unit.
For a tablet, what draws to one’s attention is usually its form factor and its screen display. Admittedly, the first impression was a mixed feeling. The size of the tablet, defined by a 7″ wide screen, coupled with its all-white outfit, would definitely catch an enthusiast’s attention. This is especially so for somone like me who had already experienced a 6″ Kindle and a 10″ iPad, the two extreme end of a tablet-type devices. Of course, Kindle belongs to a different league altogether, given that it is a dedicated e-reading device. However, the size and weight of these devices should give a tablet-shopping buyer a good reference of what he needs to look out for, for there is no one perfect tablet in the market that fits all the needs.
Holding ZiiO 7" with one hand is convenient
Once ZiiO 7″ catches your attention, the screen display might possibly drops yours. I was definitely disappointed by the screen display, especially after having used to colour vibrancy that Super AMOLED display offers, in my Galaxy S and recently Galaxy Tab. The colour is a little flat, and further impacted by the viewing angle. If there is anyway to describe the visual impact, it feels like a 3M privacy screen filter fitted on it, albeit a little exaggerated. Ziio sports a resistive screen. While it is probably one of the most sensitive resistive screen in the market today, Creative’s decision to stick with it sets me scratching my head given that capacitive screen has becoming a norm these days. But I was quickly reminded that Ziio 7″ is Creative’s entry model for their Android tablet product line, and costs just 1/3 of Samsung Galaxy Tab’s price tag. Fair enough, but unless you are a budget-conscious shopper, or one who is about to buy the China-made i-Pad lookalikes, wow will be the last thing you would say when you power on the Creative’s ZiiO.
Usability wise, Creative ZiiO is very capable, despite having to navigate over the resistive screen. The screen was responsive, so were the applications. I was told that ZiiO uses its own processor, ZiiLABS ZMS-08 HD Media-Rich Applications Processor. While I have not benchmarked its processor in the 7″, I tried on ZiiO 10″ which uses the same processor, and the result was astonishingly good, scoring a 3000 over points in CPU. To give some context, my over-clocked Galaxy S could only manage half of what ZiiO has achieved. ZiiO has a stereo speaker, but I could not make out its quality given that I was in a cafeteria at the point of testing ; Just not a conducive environment to test sound quality.
Creative Zii applications
ZiiO is still running the older Android Eclair (2.1) as we speak, even for the retail units. However, I was told that Froyo (2.2) should be released for upgrade very soon. As I unlocked ZiiO 7″ tablet, I was greeted by Creative’s own simplified lock screen and home launcher. Neat, I told myself. At least the company is going to the right direction in developing its own DNA. On the application front, Creative have a few customised applications, ZiiMusic, ZiiVideo and ZiiPhoto. Given Creative’s specialty, I have no complaints with their multimedia playback software, although ZiiMusic did hang on me once before I had to reboot the tablet to solve it.
ZiiO's Kindle
Having used Kindle for a while, I naturally tend to compare ZiiO with the former, as an e-reader. ZiiO, with its weight almost twice that of the Kindle 3 (400g vs 241g), definitely feels heavy if one were to read over a prolong period of time. For a quick read, I would think it is definitely capable. What I was impressed is ZiiO’s night mode feature, which not only dim the backlit display, but also also toggle the display foreground and background color, so that the screen would not be too glaring. Although it can’t beat e-ink technology, the night mode feature is the most welcome feature, if you always like to read at night.
In a nut shell, for $359 SGD, I think it gives the China-made A-Pad a run for their money (go support Singapore products!). Looking from another perspective, if you are planning to spend $200-300 for a digital photo frame, grab this Creative ZiiO for its value for money, since it could do what a digital photo frame does, and more. But when pitted side by side with the bigger brothers, I could sense that Creative ZiiO 7″ is shouting out for his super-brother (not ZiiO 10″! fwiw) for reinforcement. I heard it will be coming …
Snap shot video of the hands-on (in a noisy cafeteria)
I had wanted to blog about how my latest new toy has re-kindled my reading habit, but in retrospect, I have never really been a serious bookworm. I do read, especially the Chinese novels, but I would hardly read a book non stop for hours. Now that I am in the working society, the chances of me touching a book is as slim as me striking a lottery. The only time I would read, is probably when I am very bored and need a sleeping pill.
So I know it is time for me to rekindle my reading hobby (if there was one in the first place ;)), and Amazon Kindle did that very well for me. As I glance through the range of ebook reader options in the market today, it boils down to whether I would get a dedicated ebook reader, or a computing device with an ebook reader software. The latter has to be a tablet, as I could not imagine anybody reading a book on a laptop or even a netbook, for more than 15 minutes, let alone for an hour.
At the time when I was scouting for a ebook reader, Apple iPad was the only noticeable tablet in the market that got into my eReader shortlist. Unfortunately, it’s a tad too big (10″ screen), consequently too heavy, to be really relaxing for long reading. The much hype “retina” backlit display, no matter how alluring it is, is just not conducive to my pair of old flowery eyes for reading. Samsung Galaxy Tab, an Android-based tablet, was not available at the point of consideration. Pity as it could make a good eReader option given its light weight and 7″ screen (am going to blog about that soon anyway, so more on that later) Plus, I thought having an iPad or Galaxy Tab, would probably end up me getting distracted into games and net surfing. I don’t need such distraction.
On the other hand, what draws me to dedicated ebook reader, is the adoption of e-ink technology (watch this video for the feature of e-ink). It is probably the best invention on earth, next to paper and ink. It enables display to look more like printed, physical ink and paper, and easily readable even in direct sunlight. Apart from the missing act of physically flipping a page, reading through a e-ink based digital reader provides the exact same, if not better, experience than reading a hard copy book. The experience is further enhanced by the convenience to shop and read a book anytime, anywhere instantaneously and the ability to annotate, bookmark or share your reading insight through the social networking sites.
With some advice from friends, I eventually bought Amazon Kindle. The first impression I had when I unboxed the Kindle, was how could the screen change as I switched it on. It turned out that I had mistaken the screen display as a sticker label, those overlaying screen cover you would normally see on brand new electronic displays. Very deceiving indeed!
After using it for a few days, I can only say the Kindle lives up to its reputation very well! As a matter of fact, I finish 8 chapters of book leisurely while I was in the plane earlier this week. Kindle is so light and with the e-ink display , you don’t feel tired physically (for holding the book) or visually (for staring at the digital screen). I love the bookmark and note feature, as I could highlight section of text, add my comments, and share it via Twitter or Facebook! Very useful feature for me, because sometimes when you read a book or a news article, you want to share your thoughts with your friends and family members quickly without losing your thoughts. Kindle makes it so simple since everything is in digital form. I also love the ease of looking up the dictionary for meaning of a word, as I read. It is like carrying and holding two books at one go; one big Oxford dictionary and one reading book.
Yesterday, I dropped by Staple, to have a closer look at other ebook readers. I laid my hands on the new Nook (by Barnes & Noble) and Sony eReader. All I can say I am glad I have made the right choice with Kindle. Nook has a very nice touch colored display at the bottom of the e-ink screen, for navigation control. I find that distracting to be honest and the e-ink display looks wash out when compared side by side with Kindle. On Sony eReader, it has a touch e-ink screen which is nice but the overall navigation experience feels short of something. In both digital readers, I found the bookmark/notes and dictionary look up features less integrated than the Kindle. Otherwise, it is hard for me to comment any further since my usage on Kindle is preliminary in the first place. I also tried the Kindle DX briefly, a bigger version of Kindle with 9.7″ e-ink screen. The screen proves to be too big for me, although reading a book or magazine with very complicated chart or diagram would be less taxing on the eyes.
In a nutshell, for $139, Kindle is one of the best, if not the best value for money toy I got. And to wrap it all, the buying and customer support experience with Amazon is just simply amazing. More on that later as well. For now, it’s back to reading time 😉
Recent conversations had rekindled my interest in Confucius study. I come across this article, which I thought is a good summary of the core values of Confucius teaching.
儒家文化的细解
儒家文化具体包括“仁、义、礼、智、信、忠、孝、悌、节、恕、勇、让”十二个字，这12个字就是儒家的核心，能真正做到这些就足够了。儒家文化不但不应该被抛弃的，而且应该与时俱进，发展光大。
仁
仁：爱人。孔子思想体系的理论核心。它是孔子社会政治、伦理道德的最高理想和标准，也反映他的哲学观点，对后世影响亦甚深远。仁体现在教育思想和实践上是”有教无类”，春秋时代学在官府，孔子首开私学，弟子不问出身贵贱敏钝，均可来受教。仁体现在政治上是强调”德冶”，德冶的基本精神实质是泛爱众和博施济众，孔子把仁引入礼中，变传统” 礼治”为”德治”，他并没有否定”礼治”，他的”德治”无疑是对”礼治”的继承和改造。爱人既为仁的实质和基本内容，而此种爱人又是推己及人，由亲亲而扩大到泛众。义
义：原指”宜”，即行为适合于”礼”。孔子以”义”作为评判人们的思想、行为的道德原则。礼
礼：孔子及儒家的政治与伦理范畴。在长期的历史发展中，”礼”作为中国封建社会的道德规范和生活准则，对中华民族精神素质的培养起了重要作用，但随着社会的变革和发展，特别是封建社会后期，它越来越成为束缚人们思想、行为的绳索，影响了社会的进步和发展。智
智：同”知”，孔子的认识论和伦理学的基本范畴。指知道、了解、见解、知识、聪明、智慧等。内涵主要涉及知的性质、知的来源、知的内容、知的效果等几方面。关于知的性质，孔子认为，知是一个道德范畴，是一种人的行为规范知识。信
信：指待人处事的诚实不欺，言行一致的态度。为儒家的”五常”之一。孔子将”信”作为”仁”的重要体现，是贤者必备的品德，凡在言论和行为上做到真实无妄，便能取得他人的信任，当权者讲信用，百姓也会以真情相待而不欺上。恕
恕：己所不欲，勿施于人，包含有宽恕、容人之意。忠忠：己欲立而立人，己欲达而达人。孔子认为忠乃表现于与人交往中的忠诚老实。
孝
孝：孔子认为孝悌是仁的基础，孝不仅限于对父母的赡养，而应着重对父母和长辈的尊重，认为如缺乏孝敬之心，赡养父母也就视同于饲养犬，乃大逆不孝。孔子还认为父母可能有过失，儿女应该婉言规劝，力求其改正，并非对父母绝对服从。这些思想正是中国古代道德文明的体现。然而孔子论孝，还讲”父母在，不远游”， “三年无改于父之道，可谓孝矣”，表现了其时代的局限性。孝被后世之儒定为繁琐仪式，《礼记》中规定父母死后”水浆不入口，三日不举火”，”哭泣无数”以至”身病体羸”变成精神和肉体的自我摧残。宋明时代把孝道作为道德论中最重要的范畴之一，理学家朱熹提倡父权绝对化。孝观念，在不同历史时期的演变中，剔除宣扬封建主义糟粕外，也有一些合理因素，提倡子女对父母的”尊”、”敬”、”养老”，将孝亲与忠于民族大义相结合，主张死后薄葬节用等。悌
悌：指对兄长的敬爱之情。孔子非常重视悌的品德，其弟子有若根据他的思想，把悌与孝并称，视之”为仁之本”。节
气节和节操。1、社会指一个人在政治上、道德上的坚定性。对内，气节表示对一定的政治制度、政治理想和道德理想的坚定信仰。对外，气节则指在国家和民族遭到外敌侵犯时，能挺身而出，以国家民族利益为重，坚持斗争。乃至献出个人生命。《荀子.君子》：“节者，死生此者也。”2、又称“贞节”。为封建时代约束妇女的道德规范。即要求妇女谨守闺门，不与男子接触，婚后要“从一而终”，夫死不得再嫁，要为丈夫终身守节，甚至殉夫。《二程遗书》卷二二下：“然饿死事极小，失节事极大。”鲁迅《坟.我之节烈观》：“我依据以上的事实和理由，要断定节烈这事是：极难，极苦，不愿身受。然而不利自他，无益社会国家，于人生将来又毫无意义的行为，现在已经失了存在的生命和价值。”恕
中国古代的伦理道德观念。“恕”要求推己及人，自己不想做的事，不强加给别人。在孔子的有关伦理学说中，“忠”与“恕”是并列的。因“恕”而得 “忠”，为“忠”以行“恕”。“忠恕”是实行“仁”的方法，是“仁”的内容。同时又是孔子思想的一贯之道。《论语.里仁》：“子曰：‘参乎！吾道一以贯之。’曾子曰：‘唯！’子出，门人问曰：‘何谓也？’曾子曰：‘夫子之道，忠恕而已矣。’”朱熹集注：“尽己之谓忠，推己之谓恕。而已矣者，竭尽而无余之辞也。”又《卫灵公》：“子贡问曰：‘有”一言而可以终身行之者乎？’子曰：‘其恕乎。己所不欲，勿施于人。’”勇
儒家的伦理范畴。指果断、勇敢。孔子把“勇”作为施“仁”的条件之一。“勇”必须符合“仁、义、礼、智”，而且不能“疾贫”，才能成其为勇。《论语.宪问》：“仁者必有勇。”又《阳货》：“君子有勇而无义为乱。”又《子罕》：“知者不惑，仁者不忧，勇者不惧。”让
指谦让、礼让。对人的谦让是中华民族的一种传统美德。《孟子.公孙丑上》：“无恻隐之心，非人也；无羞恶之心，非人也；无辞让之心，非人也；无是非之心，非人也。恻隐之心，仁之端也；羞恶之心，义之端也；辞让之心，礼之端也；是非之心，智之端也。
The article exerpt is taken from this site
I had previously encountered problems syncing calendar appointments from exchange server to my Android phone. I had brushed them off because I could resolved them somehow, though most of the time it’s through factory reset (which in retrospect, is a silly resolution mechanism)
It got worsen recently. Despite umpteen times of factory reset and exchange account settings, I just could not get the calendar appointments to download into my phone. I noted that the sync did occur, albeit just one-way; Appointments created in the phone are synchronised automatically into Exchange server, but not the other way round.
Googling for help was not easy. For most part of the google search results, it was more of an affirmation that there are people around that experienced the same problem as I did, than a resolution to the problem itself.
Just as when I almost wanted to give up, I came across a post in xda-developers.com, about how the sync issue could be attributed by a corrupted calendar entry.
It sounded silly to me, but I recalled it did happen to me before, back then when I was using Windows Mobile phones. The Windows Mobile Activesync would however highlight the cause of the problem, whereas in the case of Android, nothing is reported and the sync process just start and stop within second, quietly.
Given that I have already exhausted all possible solutions, I figured out there is no harm looking at this possibility. So I moved all my calendar entries in exchange server to a temporary offline folder, before copy them back in batches to narrow down the offending entry that causes the whole synchronisation to fail. Lo and behold! I managed to find the offending entry, deleted it and the calendar synchronisation process resumed back to normal!
Hopefully this blog would provide some help to folks who encounter similar problem. At least doing google search would yield some results that offer resolution rather than just problem reporting.
Cheers!
I blogged about how our Singapore boys lost to Haiti in the semi final of Youth Olympic Football game, a few days ago.
Young Lion Cubs celebrating their goal - taken by unknown reporter
Earlier this evening, I went down to Jalan Besar stadium, to witness an exhilarating 3rd/4th playoff match between Singapore and Montenegro. The boys had earlier beaten Montenegro during the group stage, so like the Haiti match, they walked onto the pitch as a favourite. But I believe they have learnt the lesson of humility by now, given how they remained focus this time round to give a convincing 4-1 win over Montenegro boys. Their opponents are physically stronger and taller than them, but the Young Lion Cubs were unfazed with their trademark slick passing and technical skills.
What rolled my eye this time round is not Montenegro team, not the match officials, and definitely not the fans that were present in the stadium, who were great by the way. It is how some of our fellow Singaporeans think about the game. and I hope they are just minorities. Here are some excerpts from the Yahoo! YOG Blog
Just what are we celebrating? Where’s Germany? Spain? Holland? Korea? Japan? The cubs line up against Papua New Guinea, Montenegro, Haiti…are these power houses of soccer? I think not. Yet, they choke against Haiti.
Give yourselves a pat on the back, for Haiti lost 9-0 to Bolivia and yet you couldn’t contain them. It could’ve been a blessing in disguise. Had you triumphed over Haiti, who knows what sort of trashing awaits you against Bolivia?
Lets hope you keep your feet on the ground. This medal means nothing given that soccer-strong nations were noticably missing to begin with.“
and then there’s another one
… Anywhere, there is nothing to shout about. There are only six teams in the Youth Olympic and Bolivia is the only outstandinng team with their good technical passes. There are no Brazil, no Argentina, no England, no Italy, no Germany, no France, no Spain, no Holland, no Uruguay, no Mexico, no Portugal and even Asian giant Korea and Japan are no in the line up. If all these team are in the Youth Olympic, where would Singapore stand???
Having read some of the criticisms about Singapore Youth Olympic, to be honest, I was expecting cynics and pessimists to spoil the party. But I can’t help thinking that some of these comments are a tad too much to stomach, let alone to be digested by a team of spirited boys. There seems to be a group of Singaporeans who would only complain and criticize at every opportunity they can find, and appear to gain joy just by doing so.
To “critics” who want to compare us with the likes of England, Brazil or Spain;
The fact is, we are a young nation. When England won their first (and only) world cup (in 1966 fwiw), we were just barely few days away from celebrating our first independence day. When we think Spain as a powerhouse today, think about the struggle and challenges they faced in the last few decades (up till 2008).
If the boys had the same mentality as some of these “critics”, i.e.there’s no powerhouse (and therefore there’s no pride in winning the tournament), where would they be today? They would probably just “go through the motion” with a half hearted belief, and ended up crashing out at the group stage. They might then do all the self-pity consoling stuffs, giving all sort of reasons why they cannot win.
But I’m glad the boys did not, and hold on to the positive mindset, which the party-poopers are clearly not capable of. That they managed to overcome the Haiti setback to have a convincing win against Montenegro tonight, is even more commendable.
My parting words to the Young Lion Cubs, never stop believing and dreaming, as long as you work hard for it. If they do, we should applaud them for their sacrifice and determination, no matter whether they are successful in the end or not at the international level.
Majulah Singapura!
I watched the 1st Youth Olympic Football semi final yesterday night, where Singapore, my home country, faced Haiti, a team that was thrashed 9-0 by Bolivia in the group qualifying round. Naturally, Singapore was a favorite coming into the match.
As the saying goes, in football, anything can happen. And true enough, Singapore was stunned with a 2-0 defeat, thanks to a goalkeeping blunder, and a controversial penalty converted in the last minute of playing time.
Well, the Young cubs, as the Singapore boys are better known as, should hold their chin up despite the defeat, for they have come so far, and had proven their worth with the skills and grits they have displayed in their journey to the semi final. They had earlier beaten Zimbabwe 3-1 despite the latter boasting a prediction of 5-0 thrashing during a pre-game interview. They managed to overcome Montenegro 3-2 after falling from behind in the game, to eventually top the group.
Perhaps the young cubs are not used to the media attention that was showered on them, after their amazing run in the qualifying round. They struggled against a very physical team in Haiti, whom I rate to be even more physical than Montenegro.
Surely the credits have to be given to the Haiti team for their ability to take the opportunity where it counts, taking advantage of the goal keeper mistake, and protect the slim 1 goal lead very well until the very last minute.
What I dislike, and do not want to give credit for, is the manner on how they protect their lead. Every single touch on their players, always end up with the player falling on the field, grasping in pain only to get up when the medical team and their stretcher rushed to them. Of course, one can say this is part and parcel of the football practice today, with professional players like Ronaldo and Robben doing all sort of play diving acts on the fields. One cannot fault the kids, having these professional players as their idols, to follow suite.
But to do it on every other minute, is a tad too much. The Haiti goalkeeper even had the audacity to showboat while preparing for goal kick. He was seen sarcastically clapping his hands when the Hungarian referee showed him a yellow card for time wasting. In the spirit of Olympic, which is about friendship, solidarity and fair play, surely what the Haiti boys had done should not be condoned. But if the adults (in this case, the professional footballers) do not show a good role example, what can and should we expect boys that’s under 15 year of age to behave?
The team manager of Haiti brushed away any accusation of his team’s play-acting, claiming that they are just kids. However, I hope he would instill the right value to his boys in the dressing room, for its inconceivable to imagine these boys will grow up to be professional players only to resort to such dirty tricks to get their goals.
Realised that the previous 2 video samples that I took using Galaxy S is only 480p, so here’s one that’s 720p.
zen online journal 
