new media, mobile lifestyles, and other thoughts by Azizi Jennis
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| Mike Rohde, a designer/artist/writer, talks about his unusual work life.
He works at home in the US, and communicates with colleagues in Germany, Spain, Ireland and France. In the article he explains his background and his current work practices. It's good to hear that individuals and small companies can make a living (and thriving!) working on projects at distributed locations worldwide. |
 John Siracusa of Arstechnica has posted a huge, detailed 21-page review of Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger. It covers a whole range of topics including the background and history of Mac OS X, and the new features - Spotlight, Core Image and more. |
 Once a year the BBC hosts the Reith Lectures, named for BBC's first director-general. They invite a distinguished speaker to deliver a series of lectures on radio, with the aim of advancing public understanding and debate about significant issues of contemporary interest. This year, the guest speaker is the distinguished engineer, Lord Broers who is President of the Royal Academy of Engineering and Chairman of the House of Lords Science and Technology Committee. The current lecture series is on "The Triumph of Technology" and each lecture so far has given much food for thought. Each lecture is followed by a lively Q&A discussion with participation from industry figures. For the first time, you can listen live on the Internet (RealAudio) and each lecture is made available on MP3 for seven days after broadcast, perfect for your iPod or other MP3 player. If you're really interested, there's even a selection of past lectures that you can listen to, for example Bertrand Russell's lecture from 1948! |
 Joss Whedon's new movie, Serenity is due out in the fall (September 30th) and the first official trailer is now out. If the name sounds familiar, Joss Whedon is the creator of Buffy (the Vampire Slayer) and Angel. The TV series Firefly was cancelled halfway into its first season. With encouraging DVD sales, the story is being retold/continued as a movie. With the same excellent cast, more time, and more money for CGI, the movie is sure to be a hit - especially with the loyal fan base. I just recently got my wife hooked on the show - she can't wait to finish all the epiodes. If you are a latecomer to the Firefly universe, there's a DVD boxed set with all 15 episodes and extras. |
| So you just bought a Treo 650 - what's next? Welcome to the neverending accessories trap. First you buy the phone, then a case, then ... Anyway, here are my recommendations 1. Leather Case   You spent HOW MUCH on your treo? Anything above $400-500 would require some protection for your investment, so don't get stingy with a case. This slim case fits perfectly for Treo 650 and it has comes with detachable belt clip. There's direct access to all buttons of your device without removing it from this case, including a cutout at the back for the camera. 2. Sandisk Ultra II 1GB SD card   It will take about a day to realise that the Treo 650's meager 22MB available memory is just too small for comfort. Luckily Secure Digital (SD) cards are getting more affordable these days. A 1GB card is ideal - enough for a movie, your documents, photos and your music. The Sandisk Ultra II 1GB SD card is fast : minimum sustained write speed of 9MB per second and a read speed of 10MB per second. 2GB cards are already in the market (and 4GB coming soon!) but at the moment they are still too expensive for the casual user. 3. Treo 1800mAh Spare battery   The Treo 650 can last approximately 2 days of heavy usage. If you don't want to get caught with your battery dead (it is, of course, now your phone as well), then invest in a spare battery. With the new NVFS memory, you won't lose any data on your Treo while changing batteries. 4. Docking Cradle Kit   Once upon a time, all Palm PDAs came with cradles as a standard accessory. In these days of cost-cutting, the cradle became a casualty. You can still buy one, of course - PalmOne offers one for the Treo 650 that charges your Treo and a spare battery at the same time. This three-in-one kit includes a stylish cradle, spare battery charging drawer, cable, and 110-240 volt charger with international adapters (US, UK, Europe, Australia). |
 Apple's versatile Mac mini has been turned into media servers, file servers, web servers, dashboard MP3/video players, and who knows what else. The Mac mini accessories market has been blossoming lately. MicroNet Technology just introduced the miniMate, which is a combination port replicator and external hard drive. Starting from US$149, it features an integrated Firewire (3 ports) and USB 2.0 (4 ports) and up to 400GB 7200 RPM external hard drive. |
| Everyone has a blog nowadays, even Darth Vader. While not as funny as The Hulk's blog, it's good for a chuckle. Timely, too - considering that Episode III is scheduled for next month. |
 Viewers of the now-defunct TechTV would remember a show called The Screen Savers (TSS), which was usually jam-packed with tech news, tips, and interviews. Gaming channel G4 bought over TechTV and gradually phased out most of the original shows. The gang from TSS recently got together, and as the trend is nowadays, made a podcast. Check out Revenge of The Screen Savers, featuring Leo Laporte, Patrick Norton, Kevin Rose and Robert Heron in this 34-minute, 14MB MP3. |
 The folks at KVPUG have uncovered another ROM update for the palmOne Treo 650 GSM smartphone. This firmware version, 1.21, is supposed to be the long-awaited equivalent to the Sprint Treo update, which is the one that resolved the memory bloat issue. Download your copy from here. You have an option of updating via Hotsync or via SD card. The SD card method looks simpler at this point. I just tried the upgrade on my own Treo, and it worked flawlessly. The firmware was updated to v1.21 while the software version remained at 1.06 (as seen in the screenshot above). Palm OS Garnet has also been updated from version 5.4.5 to 5.4.7, which is the same as the Sprint Treo 650 (after firmware update) and the just-released Tungsten E2  .After a complete restore from backup, my free memory increased from 5MB to 11MB. The update seems quite stable so far. Please note that this firmware update is supposed to be still in beta status, so try at your own risk. |
 Just got back from the island of Langkawi for a brief break. We stayed at Mutiara Burau Bay, which had individual cabana-style hotel rooms. Nothing much to do except swim, eat, and swim. The kids certainly had a lot of fun. The last time I went to Langkawi was in 2000. New development : there's a Russian restaurant called USSR, a cigar bar called Cuba Libre (which is interesting, because I have just finished reading Elmore Leonard's book of the same name). We also got to see first hand homes that were demolished by the December 26 tsunami. More photos on Flickr. |
 Watching TV shows and movies on the Palm just got a whole lot easier. This is what I do: 1. Download my file from the "usual sources" somewhere on the Internet, or rip from my DVDs. 2. Send the file to my SD card. 3. Play with TCPMP on my palmOne Treo650 smartphone. The key is TCPMP (The Core Pocket Media Player). TCPMP is currently in unstable beta status, is free (under the GNU General Public License), and yet is already way better than any other media player currently available for the Palm platform. The program around 1MB is size, and can handle MP3, Ogg, DivX, XviD, MPEG1, MPEG4, and M-JPEG files. So far everything is just "plug and play" and I haven't faced any problems with the software. The TCPMP website is very unstable at the moment, so if you need the file, just send me an email. I will have to get myself a new, larger Secure Digital (SD) card. A 1GB SD card will comfortably fit 6 25-minute sitcoms, 3 45-minute TV shows or a 2-hour movie. The Internet has totally changed the way I watch TV, but that's the subject of another post. |
 Larry Becker at MobileTracker has a Top 10 list of accessories for the palmOne Treo650 smartphone. Be sure to check out No 1. In other news, palmOne has announced that they have sold 1 million Treos. It's an impressive amount, but compared to Nokia and Sony Ericsson, that's tiny. |
 Bluetake has come up with a guide for connecting your Mac to various Bluetooth devices. Bluetooth is largely a snap to configure and use on Macs, but it's good to see a comprehensive (and free) guide available. There are various sections including mouse&keyboard, wireless printing, Internet sharing, file transfer and synchronisation. All the guides are in PDF format. Bluetake itself is a manufacturer of several Bluetooth devices. |
| I no longer have the stamina to read like I did when I was a teenager. Back then I could go through 3 thick hardcover books each weekend. These days, I usually juggle between 3-6 books; it's rare that a book can keep my attention enough for me to finish it in one sitting. Here's what I'm reading right now Dead tree (paper): Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity Productivity guru David Allen's book emphasises a zen-like "mind over water" approach - ie the less you have at the back of your mind, the more you can concentrate on the things at hand. This book is getting increasingly popular with hackers. Cuba Libre I have enjoyed a couple of Elmore Leonard's books (Be Cool, Pagan Babies) and this one looks to be just as good. Set in the beginning of the Spanish-American war, it has the usual cast of con-men and ne'er do wells. Audiobook : House of Bush, House of Saud A fascinating, well researched book on the relationship between the Bush, Saud and bin Laden families. They are closer than you think. Ebook: American Gods Currently re-reading this Gaiman's last book in anticipating of the release of his latest effort, Anansi Boys this summer. Answers the question, if there are gods on earth, where are they? |
| Three years ago, I set a personal target of 100 books to be read each year. So far, my tally looks like this : 2003 - 80 2004 - 74 This year my target is still 100, but I'm lagging way behind - only 16 to date. My main reading tool is my PDA. My current PDA, the treo 650 smartphone has a smaller screen than any of my previous PDAs, but with the same resolution. That makes the screen sharper but not any harder to read on. I love ebooks for the flexibility : they weigh nothing and you can read literally anywhere, anytime. There's a growing number of books licenced under the Creative Commons, and aside from the traditional public domain books you can get at Project Gutenberg (and in PDA-friendly formats, from Memoware).  My main eBook reader software is Mobipocket Reader. The reader software is free.  You can get dictionaries and other add-ons (aside from ebooks, of course) from Mobipocket's site.  I use Mobipocket Reader primarily because it works with the Knowbetter Lending Library (KLL). KLL offers thousands of commercial ebooks on a lending basis. There's a good selection of SF and Fantasy books, from the classics by Heinlein and Asimov to more recent authors like Lois McMaster Bujold and Mike Resnick. You can "borrow" 3 books at a time, for up to three weeks per book. All for only $20 a year. If you really like an ebook from KLL, you can purchase it via Fictionwise. Fictionwise has ebooks in many formats, including Palm DOC, HTML, Mobipocket, and eReader. Amazon also has ebooks but currently limited to only Adobe and MS Reader formats. |
 One of the things I mentioned in my "big picture" on mobile knowledge workers was the ability to search through any type of media, either from traditional sources (i.e. TV networks) or personal sources. Well, Google has just launched a beta of their Google Video Upload Program. You can upload videos of any size, and make money out of it, too. I imagine this time next year we'll be able to do a video keyword search, look through previews, and purchase the rights to that video for our own use. |
 Well, looks like the Tungsten E2 is definitely coming. It's supposed to be announced today, but yeapch of KVPUG is already offering it for sale at RM988 (US$260). As rumoured, it will have a brighter screen, improved battery life, an Intel 200MHz XScale processor, 32MB non-volatile flash memory, Bluetooth, and will use the Palm OS Garnet (5.4). It will still feature a 320x320 screen like the Tungsten E. Edit : The Tungsten E2 is out now. [Photo courtesy Mobile Review] |
Both Mac OS X v10.4 Tiger and Mac OS X v10.4 Server have been officially announced, with "200 new features". The bad news is, we have to wait until 29th April for them to ship. The good news is, you can still take advantage of the Amazon pre-order now. Only US$95 vs published price of US$130. Oh, and check out Apple's new front page in black. |
 Best known as the creator of the original Palm Pilot (and the Treo), Jeff Hawkins in 2002 founded Redwood Neuroscience Institute, a scientific research institute focused on understanding how the human neocortex works. His book, On Intelligence, further discusses the inner workings of the brain. I just listened to this 20-minute NPR interview (MP3) and immediately got hooked. Hawkins explains that artificial intelligence (AI) mechanisms have largely failed because they were essentially modelled after the wrong concept - human intelligence relies on pattern-based prediction rather than logic. What I find fascinating is how books are promoted these days. In the case of On Intelligence, other than the interview above, you can find Powerpoint presentations and MP3 clips of his talks. There's also a companion website that has a discussion forum, expanded bibliography, source code for simulations and more. Overall there's a lot more information that can be discovered and digested before making the purchase decision. To top it all, you can have your choice of ebook, audiobook or plain dead-tree (i.e. hardcover) editions. |
 For those who have a Treo650, the forums at TreoCentral.com are a great resource. You'll find plenty of tips, tricks and user feedback. As with most forums you'll also get a lot of whining and complaining, but of course that's sometimes a good thing ;-) |
 I have been listening to a lot of podcasts lately over my Treo 650. It makes my drive to and from work a bit more productive. Realplayer is a serviceable (and free) MP3 player, however it's not really suitable for audiobooks as it doesn't have bookmarks and doesn't keep the last track position. So it gets frustrating when I'm at the 23rd minute of a 30-minute podcast, and I get a phone call call from my Treo. Scott Sigler's EarthCore is one of the podcasts that I'm currently listening to. It's described as "a cross between episodic modern-action fare like "24" and classic sci-fi movies like Predator and Starship Troopers". The podcast is free. You can't download the whole book, but chapters are made available weekly. Right now it's up to chapter 7, so there's plenty of time to catch up. |
 While pondering over the 24-hour work life, I started to recall a half-abandoned project of mine. I started almost six years ago, and the concept was a child of the times : booming Internet and dot-com industries, free agents, and unlimited possibilities. The concept is called Office Express, and it was initially developed to be a "drop-in" business centre for smaller hotels and serviced apartments. The concept evolved to become a network of "business clubs" - probably best described as a combination Starbucks and Kinko's. Starbucks (and other similar coffee/tea chains) is increasingly becoming the regular "office" for a whole lot of people - free agents, corporate employees, salespeople, network marketing professionals, writers, etc. There are times when Starbucks is great - you can get a wireless Internet connection while enjoying your cup of coffee. There are times when it gets awkward - when you absolutely have to send this urgent email, or write a proposal, and it's packed with the lunchtime crowd and the soccer moms and the crying babies. So the plan was to offer a relatively quiet place, with similar ambiance to cafes but with all the facilities that you can get at Kinko's - printing, copying, etc. Occasionally customers would like to sit at a desk and just work. Or get a meeting room to hold a meeting with colleagues, or do an interview. Add concierge services so they don't have to worry about standing in line to pay bills, to drop off their dry cleaning, etc. Provide a lounge and business library with magazines, newspapers, books and good coffee. Offer the same facilities to corporations who want to support more flexible work practices for their employees - the telecommuters and the road warriors. And the best thing, place Office Express outlets in the suburbs, so that customers don't have to fight through traffic to get to their first productive moment of the day. I firmly believe that this is still a viable, and attractive business proposition as it was when I first considered it in 1999. To be realistic, I'm not ever going to turn this into a commercial venture on my own. I have neither time nor resources to do this right. So I am turning this over to you to do what you will with it. How do I do this? While the Creative Commons licences were developed for pure creative works (ie. text, images, videos), I really see business today is an exercise in creativity, too. Thus Office Express is licenced under the Creative Commons, "By Attribution". This means that you can freely distribute, display, modify, and make tons of money out of this, as long as you attribute the original concept to me. This is probably the first ever Creative Commons business concept. I am reluctant to call it a business plan because a lot of the work I did on this is now outdated. Here's the 28-slide Keynote presentation (in PDF) and financial projections (in Excel) zipped together (616kb). I'd love to get feedback and comments on this. And maybe one day become a customer of Office Express. Tag: Creative Commons Knowledge Worker Free Agents |
 This is an excellent article extolling the virtues of the iBook. It starts : " This is an iBook. It's an Apple low end laptop. It sells for $999. It requires no additional software to run and run securely on the Internet." And continues in that way, point by point. Definitely a recommended read. I once wrote an Epinions review on my iBook G3, and a lot of what I said still applies today. This is an excellent great notebook computer for work or play. |
 Aside from being an unpronounceable mouthful, YaGoohoo!gle is an interesting concept in aggregating Search Engine results. At the moment it just takes your search query and shows the result split vertically in half - Google results on the left frame and Yahoo on the right. Also try a search at Gizoogle. You'll be amazed at the results. |
 PalmOne has received a lot of flack for their lack of innovation in their recent PDA offerings. The only really exciting "new" feature was the sliding form factor of the Tungsten T, which was introduced years ago. More recent devices such as the Zire72, Tungsten T5 and Treo650 are also more evolutionary in nature, with small tweaks in features. This trend looks to continue for a while, with the Tungsten E2. Other than Bluetooth, NVFS RAM, and the new connector, it remains the same as the Tungsten E. Mobile Review has details and photos of the new PDA. We'll have to wait a week or so before confirming this, as the expected date of launching is 13th April 2005. The more interesting device is the rumoured LifeDrive/LiveDrive, which is supposed to feature a 4GB hard drive (ala iPod minis), Bluetooth, and WiFi. PalmAddicts has more details. [via Mobile Review] |
 Originally mooted by Nicholas Negroponte, the MIT Media Lab has taken up the challenge to deliver a USD$100 laptop. Their target it to have units ready for shipment end 2006/early 2007, which is quite ambitious. Especially considering that the laptop is supposed to have WiFi, USB, and a camera. The idea of providing computers to children and schools in under-developed remote areas is not new. In Malaysia, there have been many failed projects, even with big budgets and top-down push from the government. Part of the blame falls on incompetent execution - we've seen computers, TVs and satellite dishes sent to schools with no electricity supply, and numerous computer labs have been declared structurally unsafe. Perhaps the most important hurdle would be training the teachers. I believe that the kids, left alone, would learn to use the laptops in no time flat. Rather than dictating a strict official curriculum, the teachers must be bold enough to take a step back and gently guide the kids to the right resources. |
 Yahoo 360 - the new social networking/blogging/photo sharing platform is on their closed beta run right now. You need an invite to participate, and MobileRead has 2,000 invites to give away. MobileRead is a great resource for PDA information and ebooks. |
 They used to say that technology and automation will set us free, shorten our work hours, and give us more time to do the things that we want. Well, just like the paperless office, it's not happening anytime soon. What I find personally is that my time is more fluid and flexible, and that the typical 8-hour day no longer applies. It has a bit to do with my current role, industry and also my work style. With my tools (Treo 650, iBook G4) I am obsessively in near-constant communications 20 hours a day, anywhere I go. SMS is on 24 hours a day, of course. My email downloads automatically once an hour, 16 hours a day. Aside from this, I check email at home first thing in the morning. I check email when getting home and before sleeping. Check email when I wake up in the middle of the night. The trend is I work 16-20 hours a day, spread out in smaller chunks of time - as little as 30 seconds to send an SMS or as much as 4 hours for a management meeting. As such, I have more time to do personal errands and projects. At the same time, this means that I am almost always "switched on", including weekends. For a pure block of uninterrupted "leisure time", I schedule an appointment with myself. In Kuala Lumpur and the Klang Valley, petrol stations (gas stations to Americans) are rapidly being equipped with WiFi access, and are open 24 hours. Aside from the issue of safety (bringing an expensive notebook to a near-deserted public place in the middle of the night) this means that high speed, semi-reliable Internet access is available just about everywhere. GPRS is finally getting affordable, with unlimited access packages, and of course SMS is getting cheaper all the time (now typically 5 sen per SMS - roughly US1.3 cents). So yes, in a way, technology is setting me free - to do more work! |
| My Gmail prayers have been answered. According to CNET, Google will soon double Gmail capacity to 2GB, and eventually "offer a bottomless cup of storage". And sure enough, this is what I found in my mailbox today : "You are currently using 958 MB (85%) of your 1123 MB." Incidently, today is the first anniversary of the original announcement for Gmail. A year ago, nobody imagined giving away 1GB for free. |
