March 10, 2010

PIC: I heard that the Ritz-Carlton is different. It is.

The standard set-up for a seat in a meeting room. Apple, mint box, blue glass goblet (covered for your protection), private label water.

And that fancy shmancy pen is from the hotel.
(I didn't use it, though. It's just a ball pen. I stuck to my trusty Pilot G-2 ;). )

And you know what? The concierge-like person that I bumped into at the end of the corridor linking from Starhill Gallery actually walked me up to the meeting room, personally.

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Filed under // Kuala Lumpur recommendation Ritz-Carlton service industry

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December 27, 2009

Mac? Windows? Nay. iPhone.

The iPhone is the computer I use the most now day in and day out.

via techcrunch.com

More quotables:

"If a media and web-centric computer were being designed today with no thought to what the computing norms of the past were, it would be a tablet."

"The iPhone *is* a tablet computer, just smaller."

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Filed under // Apple iPhone OS operating systems recommendation software

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December 24, 2009

AirAsia's @tonyfernandes responds directly to a customer issue, promising to rectify it (after Christmas).

Compare and contrast Steve Jobs'

"Change your apps name. Not that big of a deal."

;D.

http://www.theiphoneblog.com/2009/11/20/steve-jobs-tells-ipodrip-change-big-deal/

Well done, Tony Fernandes.

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Filed under // AirAsia customer service doing the right thing kudos marketing Project Hope recommendation Tony Fernandes

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December 22, 2009

Spammy PCs. Or, buy your friend a Mac, @thisissethsblog.

I just set up a friend's PC. I haven't done that in a while.
Wow.
Apparently, a computer is now not a computer, it's an opportunity to upsell you.
First, the setup insisted (for my own safety) that I sign up for an eternal subscription to Norton. Then it defaulted (opt out) to sending me promotional emails. Then there were the dozens (at least it felt like dozens) of buttons and searches I had to endure to switch the search box from Bing to Google. And the icons on the desktop that had been paid for by various partners and the this-comes-with-that of just about everything.

via sethgodin.typepad.com

You get none of that crap when you switch on your Mac for the first time.
(Which is what the "installation process" consists of.)

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Filed under // funny Mac marketing PC recommendation spam trust

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December 21, 2009

As Christmas approaches: How much of this is Christianity and how much "American folk religion"? @sivinkit

On Feb 27, I asked of my fellow Christians, "How much of what we believe is Christianity, and how much of it is 'American folk religion'"?

Thanks to Sivin [http://sivinkit.net], I've discovered an American professor who's asked this question (and written a book about it, with one of the awesomest titles I've ever heard).

I've skimmed the book and recommend it: Questions to All Your Answers by Roger E. Olson.

Here's my original blog post ;).

...

A good Christian would never say, "balls"!

http://blog.soulcare.net/2009/02/good-christian-would-never-say-balls.html

In Galatians, Paul uses some strong language, my favourite of which is where he muses that people obsessed with circumcision should go ahead and cut it all off (Gal 5:12).

Googling Galatians, I found this guy (no link love for him) who argues that the KJV (which I love) is superior, because it says, with typical English manners, "I would they were even cut off which trouble you." Contrasted with the NIV which says, "I wish they would go the whole way and emasculate themselves!"

This guy complains that the "great apostle" would never use such "bloody" language. Well! Tut-tut. Have you ever?

He opined, "Which one do you think the great apostle Paul said? Is wishing someone would cut off their genitals consistent with a godly, sold-out Christian like Paul?"

The problem is, Paul did say the C-word (castrate). It is the KJV that phrases it more politely.

Years back, reading Galatians as Paul wrote it (instead of how I thought "sold-out Christians" should speak) really opened my eyes.

Interestingly, for this Lent, I decided to give up denial and pretense.

Ash Wednesday service, my friend and I were talking and I remarked that the Bible is not G-rated. Ever realise that? Watching kids' Bible DVDs with my baby boy, I noticed how many things are stripped out, haha!

Why are some people (who are presumably *not* babies) so afraid of real life?

If anything, I would argue that "godly, sold-out Christians like Paul" need to speak *more* earthy.

We are Christians; we are not 1950s suburban Americans.

"Chinese folk religion" is a mix of Buddhism, Daoism, Confucianism and ancestral worship. When a Chinese Malaysian says, "I'm a Buddhist," you really need to dig a little deeper to find out what he means. In like manner, my question to my fellow Christians is - how much of what we believe is Christianity, and how much of it is "American folk religion"?

...

btw, I love my American friends ;).

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Filed under // American folk religion books false religion recommendation religion Roger Olson truth

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December 8, 2009

"It's finally here: Google Chrome for Mac. Available today in beta!"

Google Chrome

It's finally here: Google Chrome for Mac. Available today in beta!

Hi there,

Thanks for signing up to hear from us regarding Google Chrome for Mac! We're excited to let you know that Google Chrome is now available in beta for Mac OS X.

Here are a few fun facts from us on the Google Chrome for Mac team:

73,804 lines of Mac-specific code written
29 developer builds
1,177 Mac-specific bugs fixed
12 external committers and bug editors to the Google Chrome for Mac code base, 48 external code contributors
64 Mac Minis doing continuous builds and tests
8,760 cups of soft drinks and coffee consumed
4,380 frosted mini-wheats eaten

Thanks for waiting and we hope you'll give Google Chrome for Mac a whirl.

Google Chrome Team
www.google.com/chrome

--------

Google is a trademark of Google Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks of the respective companies with which they are associated.

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Filed under // apps browser Google Chrome Google internet recommendation software web

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November 30, 2009

A wise man once said that you WILL experience data loss. Backup! 10% off now.

I actually recommend Mozy to everyone I talk to, about backup.

1. You need an external hard disk backup.

2. You need an offsite backup - in case something happens onsite, like a natural disaster that might wipe out both your primary and backup hard drives.

MozyHome is an unlimited offsite backup that works behind the scenes over the internet. Mozy works in the background; it's totally mindless.

Which is something I value a lot ;).

Disclosure: I'm a Mozy customer. You'll get 10% off if you sign up during this promo, and I'll get a cash voucher if two or more of my friends sign up.

Back up your data with Mozy and save 10%!

Just type in SHAREMOZY at checkout and save 10% on a MozyHome Unlimited annual or biennial subscription!

Get Started

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Filed under // apps backup Mozy offsite online recommendation software

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November 17, 2009

Screen-grab like a Mac with Digeus SnapIt! (Sort of.)

In a previous post, I wrote:

It's super smooth to do a screen capture in Mac:

1. command + shift + 3 to capture the whole screen.
2. command + shift + 4 > click + drag to capture part of the screen.
3. command + shift + 4 > spacebar > click to capture a window.

In all cases, a png image will appear on your Desktop.

The people at Digeus provided me with a copy of SnapIt Screen Capture Software to review. This is what I learned.

1. SnapIt is snappy. It starts up quickly (after a hassle-free typical install). It doesn't slow down my machine. It runs in a little Taskbar icon.

2. It can be set up to mimic behaviour 2 above:

2.1.Press Prt Scrn and your mouse pointer will change to crosshairs. Click and drag the portion of the screen that you want to capture.

2.2. Right-click the SnapIt icon in the Taskbar and click Save As.

2.2.1. Or, set up the Preferences to autosave the image wherever you want - I save mine as pngs on my Desktop, mimicking my Mac.

3. And that's about it. SnapIt doesn't do 1 and 3 like the Mac does.

3.1. But I'm happy - SnapIt allows me to capture my Twitter Serendipities well enough! Give it a go - it's free to try.

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Filed under // app Mac recommendation screen capture software Windows

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November 16, 2009

iPhone-to-iPhone chat for free anywhere in the world (it's not Ping!)

The dream: Free SMS-like chat with your iPhone peeps.

The fulfilment:

1. Get WhatsApp.

2. Watch WhatsApp automatically find other WhatsApp users in your
Contacts.

2.1. (Make sure your contacts' phone numbers are present.)

3. Click on your WhatsApp-enabled friends' names to instant-message
them for free!

This beats Ping! because:

1. It's free. Ping! isn't, though the Lite version is (but it's ad-
supported).
2. You don't have to create and publicise another username. WhatsApp
uses your phone number.
3. Autodiscovery is the killer feature. You don't have to publish that
you're on WhatsApp. Any user with your number will find out
automatically.

Go get WhatsApp from the App Store now! Go, go! (Especially if you're
an iPhone-toting friend of mine!)

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Filed under // app chat instant messaging iPhone Ping! recommendation SMS software WhatsApp

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November 14, 2009