Digital Fugue - Random Thots

Migrating email clients

I just found out that migrating emails from one client to another not quite as easy as a click of a button.
I am a very satisfied user of Mozilla Thunderbird and im using it for both business email and personal. The fact that it doesnt have all the nitty gritty function makes it a very efficient email client.

Previously, i used Microsoft Outlook. While it gobble up huge resources, it has all the integrated stuff that's useful for business users such as the calendar function, task bar and so on. I liked the features... it sort of makes life a wee bit easier at work.

Since i just got a laptop from the company, and workload has been enormous, I decided to migrate my business email to Outlook. Practically it is easier for me to integrate my schedule etc. without having to install another third party software.

Simple, I thought. Just a few clicks through the menu tab, and voila!
How i wish.

Decaying CDs

It seemed that CDs and DVDs are not so long lasting anyway. According to Associated Press, CDs might not last 100 years as claimed by the manufacturers.

If branded CDs cant even last a few decades, imagine the one dollar brandless CDR you get at Low Yat/Imbi. Perhaps it is a conspiracy among the CD manufacturers?

I guess you can forget about putting data on CDs and store them in a time capsule.

Flashmob computing

Anyone here interested to organize flashmob computing?
Or maybe a few hundred of us could flashmob wifi... we could burn a few Access Points... or even down the data network for a while? :p

Streamyx in the house

Finally, after putting off broadband (by Malaysian standard) to the home for about a year I decided to apply for streamyx. Preety quick, I applied online Thursday night and by today (Tuesday afternoon), streamyx is up and running! Preety wicked eh?
Is Telekom Malaysia getting more efficient?
Currently they are deploying hundreds of thousand ADSL lines... based on the multimillion dollar ADSL tender they awared last year. Efficient in a way... they just need to patch your line to be ADSL enabled.

You got Spam...

I got 70 mails in my Jaring account in 24 hours. 99.5% of them are junk. Yesterday Najah blogged about a legitimate looking spam luring unsuspecting victims to reveal their account numbers and PIN. Oddly enough, i recieved a mail in my yahoo account which was addressed to najah... but this was purely spam.
Greater forces at work? I dont know... but the net is getting spookier by the day.

My PC have been acting funny lately. Connect to the internet, be it via Jaring or Celcom.net or time.net, the PC seemed to be sending packets to some unknown destination. Anyone got any idea? Virus perhaps? And Windows XP sometimes reboots itself, RPC error or something like that... (at least they give 60 seconds to save everything before it reboots itself)
I dont have the tools to analyse where the packet were being sent to... perhaps i should install some of them... perhaps one of those personal firewall thinggy. Hmmm.. I see a trip to Low Yat coming very soon...

They should make a parody of the romantic comedy "You got mail" and call it "You Got Spam"... Oh it would not be a romantic comedy. A horror flick would be more like it. Perhaps along the lines of Kill Bill... or even better Ichi The Killer.

Oh, remember that song by R.E.M that goes something like;
SPAM in the place where you live
Now face North
Think about direction
Wonder why you haven't before
Now SPAM in the place where you work
Now face West
Think about the place where you live
Wonder why you haven't before
...

Gadget Gear Sale

SCOTTeVEST is moving and they are having a clearance sale of their previous releases. The current eVEST is version THREE.0, and its way off my budget, but the discounted version 2.5 could be within reach. Hurry up folks, stocks limited and they are going fast! And if that does not entice you perhaps the images of Playboy's Miss August 1999 in a SCOTTeVEST would change your mind. :)

Top 100 Innovators

Again, Technology Review publishes the esteemed TR100 list, where it keep track of 100 Top Young Innovators Who Will Change The World. The list is segmented into four disciplines; Computing, Biotech & Medicine, Internet, NanoTech etc.
Okay, I have approximately 7 years to think of something brilliant, bizzare and out of this world to be eligible to get myself in that list. Quick, think of something!

Perhaps TechnoLAHgist could come out with a similar list for Malaysia? :)

ISP Merger - Greater forces at work

The PM's annoucement on the merger of Malaysia's top two ISPs seemed to have stirred the Malaysian internet users nest. Here are some response to the issue:
Jeff's response
Alphaque's initial shock
Alphaque trying to make sense out of it
Haxa's Dismay
NoorHidayat snubs the monopoly
Alphaque giving it back

But not all are angry with the merger, at least some one is happy with the merger.

Now, my thots on the issue:

No such thing as free lunch

Update 20030916: Alphaque's Thots on Micropayment

It has been quite some time since i wrote about tech stuff. Well, it's about time. There's more to Digital Fugue than just... cigars and lyrics :) Right now I'm at the office juggling between completing a tender, blog hopping and some tech update (hence this post)... Need a little getting used to but, i can manage it... i hope... Anyway, here's a little tech scoop.

Knowledge and wisdom i seek

This month, Massachusetts Institute of Technology officially launched its MIT OpenCourseWare (OCW), a free, open publication of MIT Course materials that were used in teaching undergraduates and graduates at MIT. All course materials featured on the OCW are licensed under the Creative Commons License.

The initial OCW are limited to a few hundred courses, even then most of them just display the course's highlights and description. However, there are a few courses that include complete lecture notes, assignments and exam papers as well. MIT plans to publish all courses by 2007.

I believe this is a wonderful move by MIT. Hopefully the Harvards and the Yales of the world would follow MIT's footsteps in implementing similar platform for sharing knowledge and become more open towards the society and the world. Students would be happy to have extra notes and study materials at their fingertips for free!

Perhaps I can now indulge in other mind boggling subjects such as:
Aeronautics and Astronautics
Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences
Brain and Cognitive Sciences
Linguistics and Philosophy
Nuclear Engineering

If i fail to update this blog, you know where to find me. :)