THE BATTERY MYTH

Well, I finally bought my handphone. It is not Nokia N73 as I wanted it to be. I was also considering MOTOROKR Z6 and Sony Ericsson K800i. I bought the Nokia 6300 instead. The salesman told me Samsung is focusing on slimness, Nokia is focusing on functions and Sony Ericsson is focusing on music. He told me Nokia N73 software sucks and is hanging all the time. It reminds me of my Sony Ericsson K700i. What the heck you use your handphone if it can hang or take ages sometimes to start-up or from one application to the other? He also highly not recommend Motorola for the complexity of usage. I understand him because it took me 1 hour perhaps to help my auntie send in MP3s into her Motorola handphone. However, I love the design of the MOTOROKR Z6 but I keep telling myself to think of what is really important to myself.

I bought the Nokia 6300 because I wanted a light and slim phone. I don't need all the other rubbish add-ons if they are slow. My dream was to get the N73 but after hearing another customer also coincidently wanted to find a new phone because he had a nightmare with N73, I gave up. My experience of the previous phone reminded me not to suffer one more time. Sony Ericsson K800i is just too damn bulky. It is so thick and the cover of the lens of the camera just pissed me off! I hope I will be loving the Nokia 6300, so far having no problems with it!

This post supposes to be a battery post. Guys, I heard handphones are created with more and more functions and getting more slim. Therefore, if you charge your phone directly, the high voltage will easily spoil your handphone if over-charged. I also heard you must wait for your battery to fully drain off all the power before you charge it because the leftover power will go wild if you charge in the new power. I don't know it is the excuse for them to sell you one more battery or it is truly a fact. They said if you do it constantly, your battery life will shorten more and more as time goes by. They also ask you to purchase a separate battery charger because you won't charge directly through your phone, which is safer and also those chargers will cut off automatically once your battery is fully charged.

Same with laptops, I still am searching for the real answer today. Some technicians told me that the battery will automatically stop charging if it is fully charged. Some told me it will keep on charging regardless and hence will shorten its life if you continue to charge it. Therefore, you are recommended to run your laptop without battery if you have the direct power connection. Fact or fiction? Any smart ass can clarify with me?

FOOTBALL: LJUNGBERG TO WEST HAM

After Vieira, it was Henry and now Ljungberg. His reason? Well.....let's see what he said.

'Two years ago when I signed my last contract we talked a lot about the future and about bringing great players to the club. Despite building the new stadium we wanted to stay top in England and do well in Europe.'

'For me that didn't really happen.'

Ljungberg is one of the footballers I like in Arsenal apart from Bergkamp. Both play interesting football, do great things with the football in their control and have unique identities. Now, what will happen to Arsenal this coming season? The whole old spine is completely gone.

'I felt like all the unbeaten players (from Arsenal's `invincibles' of 2003/04) had left. I wanted to be loyal but I felt like it was the right time.'

The question I always want to ask is how long Arsenal need to wait before a new generation of Vieira, Henry,Ljungberg, Bergkamp and Pires be grown mature enough to win the league? 3 years? 5 years?

FOOTBALL: bwin.com IS INVADING INTO FOOTBALL

They are the sponsorship partner for F.C. Barcelona, A.C.Milan, Real Madrid C.F. and F.C.Slovan Liberec. They can be seen on A.C.Milan's jersey and the upcoming new season jersey of Real Madrid. I am happy finally that Real Madrid got rid of the sponsor brand I hate.

Benq is related to Acer which I had very bad past nightmare repairing their desktops and laptops. The computers were so unrepairable/irreparable that the local technical support office had to give up and wanted to send to the headquarter in Kuala Lumpur to repair or exchange! Incredible! I had brought it earlier over to a local computer store where my sifu was to repair. When I arrived in the store, I saw more than 5 Acer computers waiting to be fixed. He failed to fix the problem, which forced me to bring to Acer technical support office in Sibu.

The faults I faced were never seen before in all my computer repairing experience I have gained all these years. Therefore, I never have a good impression on them. Benq Mobile went bankrupt in September 2006. If not for that, it could still appear in the new season's jersey! Phew! Luckily for that!

Don't get me wrong, Acer and Benq could have improved drastically through the years. I just don't want to be involved with them for as long as I can. There are many more far reliable brands in the market or even building your own computer is much more reliable.

By the way, rumours have it that the engineers working for Acer in Penang don't even want to use or buy Acer products. How true is that rumour?

FOOTBALL: MALAYSIA 0-2 IRAN

I watched the match!

MALAYSIA SUNGGUH BOLEH!

I AM 'PROUD' TO BE MALAYSIAN!

At least we lost with a MUCH, MUCH LOWER scoreline! It's the culture in Malaysia, always like to compare with the worst! (*This sentence is meant to be constructed of small fonts because of the state of shamefulness - like an ostrich hiding its head in the hole)

By the way, do you guys know the FIFA World Ranking of Malaysia as of June 2007? It is 154th! We could reach 200th after the calculations from this tournament. Oh, forgive me, they only have 199 places, so it should be 199th. You know who ranks higher than us? Let's see now, Myanmar at 151, Seychelles at 150, New Zealand at 148, Bahamas at 148, Swaziland at 147, Palestine at 141, Kenya at 137, Singapore at 132, Hong Kong at 128, Indonesia at 127, Vietnam at 117, Thailand at 107, United Arab Emirates at 106, Kuwait at 94, Bahrain at 88, Iraq at 80, China at 73, South Africa at 64 and South Korea at 58.

FOOTBALL: BRAZIL 3-0 ARGENTINA

I know this a little bit late but nobody expects a smooth demolition of Argentina in the final.

Who would have thought that the final will be in Brazil's favour and with a thrashing? Brazil came to play in the tournament without Kaka and Ronaldinho while losing to Mexico in the group stage and required a penalty shootout to overcome Uruguay in the semis. Argentina in contrast went smoothly into the final with 16 goals. A more efficient Brazil won the match with goals from Baptista, Ayala (own goal) and Alves. Now, Will Baptista be back playing with Real Madrid next season? Actually, the season before he was loaned to Arsenal, he was the most consistent player in the squad. Now, the Reyes and Baptista issue is still entangled there at the moment.

Meanwhile in the AFC Asian Cup, Malaysia were thrashed another time. This time it is by Uzbekistan with 5 goals demolition! MALAYSIA BOLEH!

Finally, I heard Thierry Henry has split with his wife of four years, Claire, or also known as Nicole Merry. I don't really recall much of how his wife looks like but many speculated it has to do with his transfer to Barcelona. Henry denied it though.

HANDPHONES NIGHTMARE

It's that time of the year where I have a choice to buy a new handphone to renew my handphone line contract. I only trust 3 brands - Nokia, Sony Ericsson and Motorola. I don't trust South Korean brands so Samsung and LG are totally out. Here are the choices which are within my budget as I am given a S$100 free voucher:

Nokia 6110 Navigator
Nokia 6288
Nokia 6300
Nokia E65
Nokia N73
Sony Ericsson W880i
Sony Ericsson K800i
Sony Ericsson K810i
Sony Ericsson W850i

I am a simple user. As long as I can call, sms and it can provide me with reasonable battery life which don't require stupid charging, I am satisfied. A slimmer and lighter phone will be even better since it will not overload my pockets. I know about the Apple iPhone. I don't think it will fit my budget anyway!

So far, I have my eyes on the Nokia N73 or Nokia 6110 Navigator. The Sony Ericsson W880i is a super slim phone! Yummy! Unfortunately, it is designed specifically for music lovers. It is not general enough for me. Seriously, I had bad experience with Sony Ericsson because of lousy short battery lifespan issue in the past. My brain is telling me to get function over design, which means Nokia over Sony Ericsson.

TRANSFORMERS WAS A BLAST!

The Transformers should be given more air time than the humans. Optimus Prime and Megatron should be given the leads! The way the robots look in the movies with so many body parts makes fight scenes extremely confusing. With the fast movements, you don't even know whether it is the arms or the legs or the body that is hitting on which parts. It is very confusing and misleading especially when the shots are done close-up. I just cannot even figure out what is hitting what! This is the result of re-designing the robots into so many small pieces of kit of parts. The difference and the identification of evil or good robots was confusing also because of the metal colouring. Sometimes I cannot even tell whether a robot is good or evil.

I do love the designs eventhough they are so far different from the cartoon designs. I do love the transformation process very much. It was very well done. The humans given bigger major roles to play is so different of how it is in the cartoon versions. Well, I guess it is extremely too expensive to make a movie on fully the robots alone. I am looking forward to the next sequal! There are many robots which are not featured in this film. BumbleBee who is one of the most lousiest Autobots is given a lead role instead in the movie! I cannot stand it! They also make it into such a cool sportscar!

The explosions, the destructions, the battle scenes (eventhough too short) and the humour did make the movie a worthy one to watch at the cinemas. What are you guys waiting for? Hit it! Oh, with the hot Megan Fox in the movie too, it is another must watch for you guys! You won't disappoint!

FOOTBALL: TRANSFERS SEASON

As the new season is coming soon, clubs are purchasing a lot. The biggest buyers are probably Barcelona, with Liverpool and Manchester United to be the next big buyers. Real Madrid buy more defenders which is started to look like a joke. They got a striker, Saviola, probably just to make Barcelona angry. They are always famous in reinforcing in areas that are not required. This is the difference between Madrid and Barcelona. While Barcelona are making all the best signings in weak positions which they need to strengthen. Pure logic and absolutely smart football tactical decisions.

The Madrid decisions are always without sense. The fans are left clueless. When you need a goalie, they go sign lotsa defenders. When you need defenders, they go sign lotsa midfielders. When you need a midfielder, they go and sign lotsa strikers. They always love to sign the opposite and in excess overload in one position, making many good players become bench warmers, then they are unhappy and want to leave. It is a trend that is popular in Madrid. Clueless indeed.

The big surprise is the quietness of Chelsea at the moment. They are so quiet you are guessing what they are hiding or waiting for a giant surprise to shock the football world? It is still too early to write off any incredible transfers up to this point. We can just sit back and enjoy the dramas while we look at the pathetic Malaysia football team being blasted by China and maybe all the other teams as well as the Copa America coming to the final! I can't wait for all the transfers to finalize and the new season to come!

DIEHARD 4.0 KICKS ASSES!

Move over James Bond and Mission Impossible. This is the God of all action movies. DieHard 4.0 did not disappoint me. I watched it last night and it was a blast! They sent everything possible to attack John McClane, to the most outrageous one on one fight scenes from helicopters to fighter jets! Incredible shit! If they are gonna make the 5th version, I think they need to send some ballastic missiles, nuclear bombs or UFOs chasing him.

The action is non-stop. Minus the censorship of Malaysian cinemas, the rest are just damn cool! I just missed him saying the phrase Yippee Kayee, Motherfuc*ker! as he stopped halfway! Damn! I won't reveal much here, no spoilers dude!

Highly recommend it dudes! Must watch especially for DieHard fans! Worth every single cent of your money to hit the cinemas!

You know what makes DieHard different from any other action movies? Other action movies come out with all kinds of high-tech gadgets and super cool devices to help the heroes. This John McClane dude only uses his brain and his strength with some simple weapons he has with him, going into the missions as a one man show. He doesn't have all those sophisticated and complicated intelligence and shit. Just go in and finish his job without much crap organization backing him! That's what I love about DieHard. It is so raw and straight to the point. It does not need all those great vehicles and incredible weapons to impress the audience. Just plain simple go in and finish business as a normal cop with lots of loans to pay and very close to normal citizens on the street problems!

07.07.07

We have the chance to go through 01.01.01 all the way to 12.12.12 and that's about it for this lifetime. Hahaha! We still have 08.08.08, 09.09.09, 10.10.10, 11.11.11, 12.12.12 to 'celebrate' after this. It is a pity that 07.07.07 does not fall on a Sunday. It will be much cooler then. Instead of a NBA equivalent of triple double, we will have a quadruple double! OK, it is not a double but wait till it reaches 10.10.10.

If 07.07.07 falls on a Sunday, it will be interesting! It could have been 07.07.07.07.

FOOTBALL: ANYBODY WATCHING THE COPA AMERICA?

I have not watched a single match! I don't even know who is playing well. All I know is the quarterfinals are already here.

Venezuela VS. Uruguay
Chile VS. Brazil
Mexico VS. Paraguay
Argentina VS. Peru

Seems like Robinho, Crespo, Gago, Santa Cruz and Cabañas are the leading scorers so far. Argentina are looking great! They may have the chance to win!

Let's look at the Formula 1 for a while now that the season starts to bring back the good old days of McLaren-Mercedes VS. Ferrari. Remember the Mika Hakkinen VS. Michael Schumacher days? Yes, the current battle starts to look like that, but the difference is it is doubled! We are talking about two McLaren-Mercedes drivers against two Ferrari drivers!

Lewis Hamilton is the surprise of the season so far leading the table, followed by team mate Fernando Alonso. Felipe Massa is doing well for Ferrari at third and finally chasing behind is team mate Kimi Raikkonen. With four racers chasing each other till the end, this could be the most exciting season for a long time. I wish the competition goes till the last race in Brazil on 21 October 2007!

NICOLE VAIDISOVA

Nicole Vaidišová caught my attention during the French Open just recently when I was following all her matches live. She is HOT! Since the days of Steffi Graf, I have not been watching much tennis because there is not a single babe after that which caught my attention. I know after that you have sexy babes like Anna Kournikova and now Maria Sharapova. Still, those two don't appeal me much! Nicole could be the reason I will start watching tennis regularly again! Haha! She still has a lot to learn before becoming a great player. Her backhand requires more improvement.

Here are some info of her from a website of her but I don't know whether it is official.



First name: Nicole
Last name: Vaidisova
Nationality: Czech republic
Birthdate: 23 Apr 1989
Birthplace: Nurnberg, Germany
Residence: Prague, Czech Republic
Studying: Commercial Academy
Height: 1,83m
Weight: 63kg
Plays: Right-handed(two-handed backhand)
Coach: Stepfather Alex Kodat

WTA Tour titles - singles(6):
2006 - Strasbourg
2005 - Seoul, Tokyo, Bangkog
2004 - Vancouver, Tashkent

ITF titles - singles(2):
2004 - Columbus
2003 - Plzen

Win - Loss record - singles: 139-45
Win - Loss record - doubles: 7-19

Prize Money: $1,771,696
Current WTA Tour rank - singles: 10th
Current WTA Tour rank - singles race: 11th
Current WTA Tour rank - doubles: 194th

Nicole Vaidisova

THE GREAT SINGAPORE SALES 2007

I would say I did buy some stuffs during the current THE GREAT SINGAPORE SALES 2007.

I am one of the those who are so kiasu to go out shopping before the July deadline for the increase in GST from 5% to 7%. I bought two groups of things.

The first group is audio CD. I went to HMV and bought 2 singles and 3 albums for the price of 1 album. I bought two singles of Kumi Koda and BoA for the price of S$0.95 each. Cheap shit and very new singles. I bought 1 compilation of 2 discs of classical music, 1 compilation of 3 discs of funk divas (singers in the genre of Whitney Houston) and 1 compilation of 1 disc of Broadway music. All for S$17++.

The second group is Dockers. I was lucky to spot some great bargains with 2 K1 pants, 1 D5 pants and a formal long sleeves shirt for the price of one K1 pants. I bought one of the K1 pants which is the original K1 khakis which is the buttonfly version (S$110++), the next version K1 which is having zip instead of buttons (S$130++), the D5 pants (I forgot how much it costs) and the long sleeves formal shirt (S$70++) and I paid just S$110++ for everything.

I also managed to get Shevy his SOUL'dOUT album, To All Tha Dreamers. These dudes are great Japanese rappers indeed. I love their cool music much! Sorry dude for not looking hard enough as the crowd was just crazy. I need to play rugby to grab this album from the crowded scene! I will grab more albums when I have the energy to charge in more! The original imported ones from Japan priced at S$66++ is too ridiculous and I am sure you won't be ready to pay so much for an album!

Great bargains do come by if you look hard enough and lucky to spot them! That's the shopping I did for the sales.

FOOTBALL: THE SPANISH CLUB OF THE ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE

With the signing of Fernando Torres, Liverpool look more and more like a Spanish club in the English Premier League. This will definitely give them an added firepower upfront which they greatly needed. The previous Champions League final demonstrasted how toothless they were upfront. So much so that they required their midfielder, Gerrard to play as a forward.

Real Madrid are getting more and more clueless in the transfer market. They want Saviola (just to get Barcelona angry?), Toldo or Dudek (just to replace Diego Lopez), Robben (good player but so easily getting injured like Ronaldo - fragile), Fabregas (wild dream), Kaka (wilder dream - I am tired of the link already!!!!!), Adriano (getting another lazy bastard?), Chivu, Malouda, Milito and Cassano, Emerson, Diarra (stupid if they sell him), Soldado (always love to sell their youth team assets) and finally probably getting an unknown over-rated coach named Schuster to replace the superb Capello. I don't know anymore logic. Sometimes it is hard to support a club when the decisions are totally unrelated to football tactics or needs. Many players and even the coach are signed based on the preferences of the board and the president and for the sake of fulfilling his stupid promises. Politics.....all politics. Please bring back the sporting logics and decisions made based on team tactics, not politics!

What ever happens to Woodgate? What about other loaned players? There is only complete silence so far. I hope the Reyes and Baptista issue will be solved real soon too. There are just too many entangled webs in Real Madrid!

FOOTBALL: I HATE REAL MADRID'S BOARD!

I extremely hate the board of Real Madrid, especially the sporting director, Pedja Mijatovic and the president, Ramón Calderón. I hope Fabio Capello becomes the coach in another club which will beat Real Madrid out of the Champions League 10-0 season after season until both of them are sacked! They are destroying the club. If Capello joins a La Liga club, I hope he beats the hell out of Madrid too. Full stop. I lost all my faith in the pathetic decisions of the club. If playing boring football, selling Ronaldo and Beckham were the reasons behind the sacking, I am telling both of them to get a life each!