tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1270026030529639262012-02-17T10:55:39.337+08:00Ashrafhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17054522456036792178noreply@blogger.comBlogger1011100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-127002603052963926.post-62577904722097540082010-12-31T23:48:00.003+08:002011-01-01T00:11:13.956+08:00

Bam! Quite a lot happened since my previous post. In brief, I resigned from my VoIP network job, got a new car had a small operation, and going through some cost cutting measures. So firstly, I've ended my tenure as a VoIP Network engineer after one year, will be joining a telco equipment maker next week (won't be hard to guess who considering there are only a few here in Malaysia). Been an

Ashrafhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17054522456036792178noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-127002603052963926.post-1161420665069714292010-10-17T00:33:00.005+08:002010-10-17T10:31:45.436+08:00

Earlier this year my friend Zuhaili suggested purchasing a cheap GPS USB receiver that went for under RM 100, which he saw online. I couldn't believe one would actually exist with that price point, but after searching in Lelong, it was quite a deal (got it for under RM 90) . You can check it here for more details I thought of trying it out on the way home from work back in March, with the laptop

Ashrafhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17054522456036792178noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-127002603052963926.post-91475629452186209722010-10-15T18:51:00.002+08:002010-10-17T00:43:25.945+08:00

Ah, I might finally decide to close this blog soon, and shift to another site. I'm running out of reasons on maintaining this type of blog, considering the lack of posts ;) Anyhow, we were discussing about Google's robot car at CrazyEngineers (click here), and Durga posted a neat video about on of DARPA Grand Challenge robot car race:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uoiJeIb0wBA Its great stuff,

Ashrafhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17054522456036792178noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-127002603052963926.post-67535815211164208102010-09-20T02:41:00.000+08:002010-09-20T02:41:30.866+08:00

Come on now won't youEase my mindReasons for me to find youPeace of mindWhat can I doTo get me to you

Ashrafhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17054522456036792178noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-127002603052963926.post-31024391305747870502010-09-13T22:38:00.005+08:002010-09-13T23:44:24.078+08:00

Its just past half way through my vacation, and I'm trying to chillax on every minute of it before going back to work =( Time flies too fast when you don't want it to. Dad had a golfing hangout with his buddies to Hua Hin (some 200 km south of Bangkok), so I tagged along since I've never been there. Despite their attempts to convert me to play golf (though I might consider having a go once in

Ashrafhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17054522456036792178noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-127002603052963926.post-48749036331944428102010-09-11T02:58:00.000+08:002010-09-11T02:58:58.225+08:00

Wishing my Muslim brothers and sisters around the world a blessed Eid Mubarak! Hari Raya at Bangkok was good, a lot of guests came for the open house. Food was awesome as usual, though I need to practice some prudence on eating moderately. Hope I can spend the rest of my time in Thailand productively =) I think I need to get a new mp3 player. I do try to be a miser when it comes to electronic

Ashrafhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17054522456036792178noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-127002603052963926.post-18825781518013386622010-09-08T01:47:00.000+08:002010-09-08T01:47:14.104+08:00

*sigh* Ya know, as much as I like the ashytized name (come on, its unique!), its just far too long.. or perhaps a little conceited ;) Just thinking of a new name that's shorter. The new site its definitely going to be more informative (engineering wise) and at least a little less-boring side content. I'm definitely going to use the Wordpress platform on it. Perhaps subdomains will have

Ashrafhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17054522456036792178noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-127002603052963926.post-31360914068984057702010-09-08T00:39:00.001+08:002010-09-08T00:41:01.659+08:00

I knew I should have paid more attention in ITC (Information, Theory and Coding) class last year. One of my friends had presented a class project on a novel way of removing redundant frames (or at least frames void of humans) in surveillance videos using some algorithms. The compression result was remarkable, and now after 40+ hours of recording footage from the IP camera, I realize how super

Ashrafhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17054522456036792178noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-127002603052963926.post-68452036758416372242010-09-06T03:27:00.000+08:002010-09-06T03:27:15.396+08:00

After long periods of procrastination (and brief periods of intense stressing out), I've finally got the DCS-2102 IP camera to be able to be accessed remotely AND record on the DNS-323 network storage device. The latter took only 5 mins, but the first issue was the higher priority and needed to be resolved ASAP. Surprisingly there wasn't much guidance on the DSL-520B router on the net to

Ashrafhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17054522456036792178noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-127002603052963926.post-13830897260411025252010-09-02T03:27:00.002+08:002010-09-06T03:28:45.495+08:00

Yep, two more days.. then I'm on the long awaited vacation from work! =) Gotta trudge through the week as usual.. really lost my mood to do work. Evening shifts are a little difficult during Ramadan for me, because I usually don't eat much when I break fast at the office. Seemed to be lots of pending work to do.  Today was an exception though. It was one of my college's Bday, so we headed off to

Ashrafhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17054522456036792178noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-127002603052963926.post-7368044132521743532010-08-28T00:37:00.002+08:002010-08-28T00:45:15.589+08:00

And no weekend shift =) The last day of my shift week always seems like the last day of semester before the break. Such a huge relief from the workload. Anyhow, I was pretty bored out of my mind and somehow started watching Starcraft 2 gamecasts on youtube. The commentaries were just hilarious man.. even though I have no clue how to play the game ;) Got to know that Starcraft 2 is taken quite

Ashrafhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17054522456036792178noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-127002603052963926.post-48731425156467478242010-08-25T23:06:00.000+08:002010-08-25T23:06:46.630+08:00

Yep. Its only Wednesday, but work has been so hectic. Its so frustrating not being able to analyze SIP traces and prolonging the troubleshooting process. I really can't wait till the Raya break before heading of to Bangkok! Need a serious break.. probably the first time in years that I'll have a decent one. Of course, I still gotta fix the DDNS issues of the IP camera before going. Inshallah

Ashrafhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17054522456036792178noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-127002603052963926.post-36273105731344708312010-08-03T06:39:00.000+08:002010-08-03T06:39:14.923+08:00

*sigh* Am back in night shift now. I thought it would be a bit relaxing, but turns out there were many pending issues ;) The census guy dropped by the house earlier with the survey. I looked at the pages of question, but he just asked some basic ones (probably saw my sour face).  Our population growth has been quite consistent really in absolute terms.. an additional million or so more every

Ashrafhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17054522456036792178noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-127002603052963926.post-54932211184138707582010-07-26T22:59:00.000+08:002010-07-26T22:59:37.069+08:00

The thing about having shifts in odd hours and weekends is losing track of time. Its Monday, and my "weekend" has just started. Instead of hanging out though, had to clear a backlog of laundry that piled up. Got a host of housework pending as well.. *sigh*

Ashrafhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17054522456036792178noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-127002603052963926.post-87823301916177609012010-07-13T00:58:00.000+08:002010-07-13T00:58:10.109+08:00

It was great to see Spain lifting the trophy.. quite reminiscent of the Euro 2008 finals. Even though I supported Argentina, Spain was also a joy to watch with their dynamic ball possession and passing. Its only a shame that Torres didn't perform as well as he could. Match ended around 5am Malaysian Time.. and I was supposed to be at the office at 8am ;) Only managed to catch up on sleep after

Ashrafhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17054522456036792178noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-127002603052963926.post-42820468869694754802010-07-05T01:15:00.000+08:002010-07-05T01:15:27.010+08:00

Alright, so I guess I'm staying on Blogger for a while longer. The 110mb host doesn't seem that stable, so I'll need to find an alternative. I will post on the Wordpress blog once in a while, though most probably regarding things like wordpress plugins and whatnot. The new theme is gonna take a while to customize for sure. Anyways.. watching World Cup is quite depressing. Argentina getting

Ashrafhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17054522456036792178noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-127002603052963926.post-62289299235575449372010-06-26T23:58:00.000+08:002010-06-26T23:58:39.333+08:00

Yep, I've somehow managed to export all the blogger posts into the Wordpress platform at ashytized.net. The wordpress blogger plugin kept on failing, so another way is to export posts from Blogger, convert to Wordpress format and import that instead. Steps On Blogger: Settings > Basic > Blog Tools > Export Blog > Download Blog Once you save the xml file on computer, go to: http://

Ashrafhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17054522456036792178noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-127002603052963926.post-23917326706115688542010-06-05T08:16:00.002+08:002010-06-05T08:23:21.632+08:00

[warning: this post is done during my night shift, so I might not make any sense] Well, time flew by pretty quick. When I first started my job, I was a little apprehensive about the amount of info I needed to grasp  to do my tasks well. I remember one of the senior engineers telling me that "6 months" would be a rough estimate to learn all the basics. Throughout the months of learning and

Ashrafhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17054522456036792178noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-127002603052963926.post-19116356528841506612010-05-16T03:50:00.001+08:002010-05-16T03:51:16.169+08:00

A few weeks back my company organized an all department hangout at 1-Utama to eat and catch a movie. The evening NOC shift was excused from work, unfortunately I still had to do the night shift right after the movie. Anyhow, heres group photo of the NOC department taken at Kenny Rogers: The Network Operation Center team    From left: Back: Helmy, Noman, Sabry, Me, Umair, Imran and Omer. Front:

Ashrafhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17054522456036792178noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-127002603052963926.post-2208641657963440182010-05-11T20:59:00.002+08:002010-05-11T21:21:08.784+08:00

Yes, finally received my serial output DMM! Took about two weeks to ship from Hong Kong, but I'm cool with the wait. Tested it on some batteries and got some decent graphs on the computer. The software itself is a little basic, but its sufficient. I could try diving into C# and creating my own one *grin* Its a big upgrade from my previous RM25 multimeter for sure. Now all that's left to wait for

Ashrafhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17054522456036792178noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-127002603052963926.post-5977250453593926062010-05-07T23:54:00.001+08:002010-05-08T02:05:15.797+08:00

Ok, now I regretted the 3 piece KFC meal. Stuffed to the max! Was super hungry earlier when I rushed back from office, and sis sms'ed me about getting KFC that exact moment.. so yeah, bad idea. Looks like I need some work on the treadmill tomorrow. It rained heavily right after friday prayers today. Me and my collegues could not make it to my car in time, so we just stood under the walkway

Ashrafhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17054522456036792178noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-127002603052963926.post-35341124298361687222010-05-01T03:21:00.004+08:002010-05-01T12:30:24.735+08:00

.. when you decide to sleep overnight at the office to save on toll and petrol =P I've done my evening shift and will have morning shift tomorrow. Instead of going back and forth, I thought might as well sleep over at the office. Lets see, total costs of journey to home and back to office: Toll: RM10 Petrol: RM 13 Total: RM 23 Lets see.. by staying overnight, I probably just need to buy

Ashrafhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17054522456036792178noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-127002603052963926.post-9260500403271885582010-04-29T03:55:00.000+08:002010-04-29T03:55:02.029+08:00

What a day. Did so much house work in the morning that I almost wanted to skip evening shift so I could sleep more, haha. I kept reminding myself that I'm not in university anymore! The garden is no longer a forest, installed a small shelf to hold up my networking equipment (and free up the table), and finally installed the IP camera at the right place (with a UTP cable pulled all the way

Ashrafhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17054522456036792178noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-127002603052963926.post-91047927019398597602010-04-18T00:39:00.000+08:002010-04-18T00:39:29.262+08:00

Yeps! Well, I haven't personally seen the AMD Phenom II X6, but the local computer stores have them listed on their pricelist and selling them from about $200 (1055T). Good news is the motherboard I'm targeting for EXRRIG is X6 ready, so I can upgrade it later on. Anyhow, PC Fair 2010 is on  this weekend.. though I'm totally outta cash to get anything. My mini Linux server is still caseless too,

Ashrafhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17054522456036792178noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-127002603052963926.post-54027863431162311692010-04-12T00:13:00.000+08:002010-04-12T00:13:57.564+08:00

Well, after Biggie announced a beta version of Wordpress on CE, I thought of finally giving a stable version a try. Having enabled .htaccess and MySQL on my host a while back, it'll be a waste to not utilize them (other than the dormant Drupal CMS). Setting it up was a breeze, and after a few tweaks I manage to get it running. Check it out! http://ashytized.net It is tempting to completely move

Ashrafhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17054522456036792178noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-127002603052963926.post-65607091447194396332010-03-17T15:41:00.002+08:002010-03-17T15:42:30.098+08:00

Remember this post? http://blog.ashytized.net/2009/04/yawns.html Apparently my area is under one of the selected places for the High Speed Broadband initiative, and at present they've installed some of the infrastructure already. I think at earliest I could subscribe by August, getting speeds of around 10mbps. This will coincide nicely with my plans to set up a mini Linux server (as in, ITX size

Ashrafhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17054522456036792178noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-127002603052963926.post-7538460365278690002010-02-28T04:40:00.000+08:002010-02-28T04:40:34.670+08:00

My boss told us that we upgraded our Internet connection speed. So as usual, I decided to test the throughput for a metro connection: DUDE! Pure awesomeness. To make comparisons fair with my previous speed test (http://blog.ashytized.net/2009/06/out-of-curiousity.html), I tried with the same server location in California, USA: Still quite impressive. Though its clear the bottleneck is with the

Ashrafhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17054522456036792178noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-127002603052963926.post-16238358002672529582010-02-11T21:13:00.002+08:002010-02-12T07:17:31.898+08:00

Actually, more like RM 390 (or $114). I've managed to procure the D-Link DCS 2102 IP camera. Its larger than I thought! Did a few tests and image quality was alright, though I probably need a lot more tweaking before setting it up properly. The video frame rate over the local LAN and WiFi was also decent and I realized I should have picked up a NAS storage for the continuous recording feature.

Ashrafhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17054522456036792178noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-127002603052963926.post-5343045307004317852010-02-06T00:41:00.010+08:002010-02-06T14:19:41.326+08:00

Well, I've been planning this build for so long, continuously changing its specs as time goes by. Check out my initial post in 2008: http://blog.ashytized.net/2008/09/need-new-engineering-rig-enter-exrrig.html The next PC Fair in KL for 2010 is from 16 - 18 April. That would probably be the time I'll start buying the components. So far, I'm leaning towards the AMD Athlon II X4 620, considering

Ashrafhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17054522456036792178noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-127002603052963926.post-40704208963985344232010-02-05T19:19:00.004+08:002010-02-06T14:20:04.569+08:00

Finally, my night shift week is over for now. I'll be off for the weekend and back to work on morning shifts for next week. Its weird to reach the office at the dark of the night, then be blinded by the morning light as you leave and drive (or try driving sanely) in brightness. I've come to realise I was a little naive when it came to income. Before starting work, I meticulously budgeted based

Ashrafhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17054522456036792178noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-127002603052963926.post-39093205114474135642010-02-01T07:05:00.002+08:002010-02-06T14:15:32.142+08:00

Its 7am, and I still hear these weird shuffles in my office. Not sure if I'm hallucinating, but given I'm on my third straight night shift (2am-10am), who knows what the heck I'm experiencing. Anyway, since starting work, I've begin the great project of clearing old stuff from my room in the family house. I'm quite a sentimentalist, so I tend to hoard so many  things over the years that I'll

Ashrafhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17054522456036792178noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-127002603052963926.post-80819545735630466532010-01-23T11:27:00.001+08:002010-02-06T14:15:12.393+08:00

In Malay language, we have a popular word, merajuk, which means sulking.Usually when someone received some scathing scolding and goes off to sulk with a bad mood, we say "dia merajuk". Any attempts to converse with them results in a silent response. But funnily enough.. when we claim someone is sulking, they deny it and become more sulked. So its better to leave them be rather than to escalate

Ashrafhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17054522456036792178noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-127002603052963926.post-2288282981840032822010-01-20T08:37:00.003+08:002010-02-06T14:14:48.979+08:00

For someone employed in a netcentric workplace, I don't seem to find time to blog often. Am on the evening shift this week, but today there will be a final training session in the afternoon. As expected, work is getting tough. It was probably unintended hindsight that I went from one stressful period (of uni projects) into another, making it somewhat of an easy transition. Then again, humans do

Ashrafhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17054522456036792178noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-127002603052963926.post-37321985329552387312010-01-01T15:12:00.001+08:002010-01-01T15:12:12.852+08:00

The New Year came and went it seems. As we monitored and configured the VoIP systems at work, the phase into 2010 was just like any other night. Perhaps it was my mistake to have missed the significance of Awal Muharram a few weeks back, which would have place a more important meaning. Oh well, I'd like to think 2010 would have been the arbitrary new chapter for me. 2000-2009 was sort of the

Ashrafhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17054522456036792178noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-127002603052963926.post-90747014005183081092009-12-24T23:23:00.007+08:002009-12-24T23:51:55.177+08:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=scgusZ1AuYM Great to see DigitalPiece releasing a new track. Worth the long wait! Week 2 of work went alright. Still learning the ropes of QA monitoring. Seems somewhat routine, but there are just too many nuances.The main issues can be cascaded from multiple reasons and patterns that I still can't phantom properly. Now I understood why they said it'll take

Ashrafhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17054522456036792178noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-127002603052963926.post-3465068010547108592009-12-15T22:19:00.007+08:002009-12-16T15:10:21.491+08:00

I guess the first few days of work feels just like internship. Though I shouldn't be as complacent :p The amount of info that we have to learn is quite a lot. I've just printed out a 200 page manual for just one of the monitoring tools we'll be using, the NexTone RSM. VoIP technology was merely a footnote in my Data Comm class, so being specialized in it is going to take a bit of time. I think

Ashrafhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17054522456036792178noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-127002603052963926.post-83667632606917797382009-12-13T17:52:00.003+08:002009-12-20T20:09:05.869+08:00

Work will start tomorrow, though I'm not feeling that excited yet. What are graduates supposed to feel anyway? I feel part lucky to have gotten a job, and part weary to start work so soon. Perhaps the last year of uni was horrendous for me, that I haven't fully recovered yet. I had expected to cruise my way till graduation, yet my uni projects proved to be a bane for me ;) I won't be officially

Ashrafhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17054522456036792178noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-127002603052963926.post-44113217671005451062009-12-11T22:03:00.004+08:002009-12-16T15:46:31.812+08:00

Its great to see bilateral relations between Malaysia and Thailand improving. As a result, dad's been busy these days. The Malaysian PM's recent visit to Thailand was quite a landmark, with a pretty large delegation from the ministries too. Source: http://nst.com.my/Current_News/NST/articles/20lmb/Article/index_html KAMAL AHMAD: Going in a big way to boost KL-Bangkok ties 2009/12/06 MALAYSIA

Ashrafhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17054522456036792178noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-127002603052963926.post-17005541252281767522009-12-05T20:13:00.003+08:002009-12-20T20:09:47.000+08:00

.. barely. The passing score of 720/900 (I'm still not sure if its a linear weightage of all the 100 questions, or whether some questions are worth more than others) felt quite a high obstacle to beat, considering my study schedule was chaotic with all the FYP stuff going on. Staring at the questions on the screen, trying to choose the best answers, and glancing frequently at the countdown timer.

Ashrafhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17054522456036792178noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-127002603052963926.post-12357899585603744272009-11-16T19:08:00.003+08:002009-12-20T20:10:37.925+08:00

For those catching the NFL action (yes, Im actually a recent Colts fan), the Patriots match was insane. I couldn't watch it live, but looking at the online gamecast was pretty intense right up to the last few minutes. Peyton Manning didn't have a particularly great match, but it looks like the team grudged it all the way till the end. Took a coaching mistake to win it, but still was a sweet win

Ashrafhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17054522456036792178noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-127002603052963926.post-86808566500252018092009-11-11T18:10:00.006+08:002009-12-20T20:12:50.696+08:00

Today I just had my first job interview at a start up VoIP company. As usual, I came unprepared ;) Only performed moderately well. The interviewer was a nice guy, but he was quizzing me on concepts from my early uni years that laid dormant. See, I just had five final (and horrendous) exams the last six days, so my mind was kind fuzzed up. Quite a bad impression. I should have at least revised

Ashrafhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17054522456036792178noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-127002603052963926.post-25638368819022704052009-10-22T02:17:00.006+08:002009-10-22T02:36:24.345+08:00

Just a quarter past 2am here. Been running a Viterbi Matlab script that took half an hour to simulate. Had to do it a couple of times because of erroneous results. Probably not the last time I'll face long compile times. I heard horror stories of scripts that took 10 hours to run *gulp*Anyway, I promised to upload some APICTA pictures taken by one of my team mates. Unfortunately I haven't got

Ashrafhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17054522456036792178noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-127002603052963926.post-35129153908359753092009-10-10T00:32:00.010+08:002009-12-20T20:13:30.510+08:00

Had a blast at the ceremony on Thursday night, held at PWTC. It was like the "Oscars" for the Malaysian ICT industry, which also included entries from educational institutes. Everyone looking dashing in their suits and gowns. There were some interesting performances, celebrities (like Chef Wan) and prominent business leaders announcing the finalists and winners. Pictures will be uploaded as soon

Ashrafhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17054522456036792178noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-127002603052963926.post-29570333443032755242009-09-22T21:59:00.002+08:002009-09-22T22:18:42.048+08:00

Just arrived back in Malaysia, after a short Raya break in Bangkok.The cat is fine. Looks like I overestimated the amount of food he needed for the 4 days. Seems to be fine with just dried food. Water was half the level though, need to put more next time.Alright, thats it for now!

Ashrafhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17054522456036792178noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-127002603052963926.post-45452485729654049762009-09-16T18:49:00.002+08:002009-09-16T19:39:26.517+08:00

Hm, been nearly two months since my last update ;)As usual, busy with uni projects. Though this time I'm observing the month of Ramadan.To be frank, this Ramadan wasn't as good as before for me, so far. I thought I could feel the paradigm shift during this period. But alas, I feel even more pressured with uni projects, my upcoming graduation and job hunting. Maybe I'm supposed to go through a bit

Ashrafhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17054522456036792178noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-127002603052963926.post-78347457970374152932009-07-18T22:41:00.004+08:002009-07-19T00:34:00.920+08:00

I'm not sure yet,about life,about love...But in time,I'm sure it'll all be fine.---Yo! Been a while. Had a hectic week! Industrial training had ended on the 8th of july, then the next day I flew off to Bangkok with two friends of mine. Had a blast.. watched muay thai bouts, elephants, river cruises, theater performances, climbed ruins, shopping.. all within 4 days. Will dedicate a post later

Ashrafhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17054522456036792178noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-127002603052963926.post-64873387035133369402009-07-04T22:31:00.004+08:002009-07-04T23:05:59.558+08:00

.. with my industrial training. A few more days, then I'm on a short break before my last semester at uni commences.My original plans are to go to Bangkok to visit my parents, with some buddies of mine tagging along. Now with this H1N1 virus, travel plans seem to be in a flux. Even if we come back without being infected, we could still be placed under home quarantine for 7 days, which means

Ashrafhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17054522456036792178noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-127002603052963926.post-61360138248527027662009-06-24T09:52:00.004+08:002009-06-24T10:09:30.575+08:00

... one posts a blog entry ;)Right, probably the only time I'm able to post during office (training) hours. Nothing much to do at the moment. I've done my bit for a tender, a portion thats worth nearly $200,000. Networking equipment is pretty expensive eh? Could by a bungalow house here or something.The IP phone project at the lab is not completed yet, so my two training colleagues are still

Ashrafhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17054522456036792178noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-127002603052963926.post-18969183350118702232009-06-21T02:18:00.004+08:002009-06-21T02:54:38.074+08:00

Went to my uni to visit a close friend of mine, Mustafa, which I havent met for a while. We had some discussions, and I always like to listen to him since his wisdom and knowledge transcends his age.. and his words are always contemplative, whether its about religion or life in general (but often, the two are the same).He told me something that could potentially cause the paradigm shift that I've

Ashrafhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17054522456036792178noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-127002603052963926.post-5950098663719270862009-06-12T23:34:00.011+08:002009-06-13T00:57:30.503+08:00

.. lamely abbreviates to Where The Heck Was Ash ;) Though, I'd probably use that whenever I'm MIA at times in the future.Anyhow, this week was a pretty intense week. I tagged along with fellow office mate to assist Cisco demo some products at the National ICT 2009 conference held at the Putrajaya International Convention Centre (NICT 2009, PICC). The equipment we were assigned to, an IP Command

Ashrafhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17054522456036792178noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-127002603052963926.post-50720691666402225912009-06-06T15:35:00.004+08:002009-06-06T15:50:36.446+08:00

... I tested the complimentary "high speed connection" at a hotel room in JW Marriot.Now thats more like it! ;) 16 Mbps is great, but the fact that the upload speed is even faster... impressive. Even for a metropolitan region.A test to a US server:Thats not bad at all. Still faster than my home connection's MAN speeds!I usually don't use the LAN connections in hotels because they charge

Ashrafhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17054522456036792178noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-127002603052963926.post-45410844502479572382009-05-30T04:45:00.005+08:002009-05-30T04:51:41.556+08:00

Its nearly 5am, and I've been looping awesome techno songs created and synthesized by DigitalPiece. He's a maestro!Another masterpiece here:Both are absolutely epic. Enjoy folks :) *bobs head up and down*

Ashrafhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17054522456036792178noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-127002603052963926.post-5384839675562686682009-05-30T01:39:00.006+08:002009-05-30T04:43:34.164+08:00

.. ever? Yeah, I don't remember ever recommending a specific freeware. Maybe mentioned Inkscape a couple of times, but everyone knows about that awesome piece of vector art software.However, I found another vector art software called Creative Docs. NET (http://www.creativedocs.net/). Its a great vector art software used for documentation, illustration, posters, manuals, and so on. The interface

Ashrafhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17054522456036792178noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-127002603052963926.post-22434962916931909362009-05-27T19:48:00.011+08:002009-05-31T02:24:19.114+08:00

Like owner like pet eh? Actually, thats not true. My cat loves to have his pic taken! Was going through a lot of old pics I found on the comp. Some of them were of me and my ex, and since we have both moved on, I removed them.. without any bitter of course. I doubt she'd want them back either ;)

Ashrafhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17054522456036792178noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-127002603052963926.post-74387421047592451792009-05-24T01:35:00.009+08:002009-05-31T02:24:47.786+08:00

- Light propagates a distance of 300,000 km- Four babies are born somewhere in this world.- LeBron shoots to win Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Finals.I was tracking the game online. The ESPN channel was actually broadcasting an MLB game at this timeslot as usual. The heck? Malaysians do not play any baseball at all! I could have witnessed this shot live on TV =(LeBron is spectacular. After

Ashrafhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17054522456036792178noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-127002603052963926.post-22336414418525313672009-05-23T01:46:00.006+08:002009-05-31T02:25:21.864+08:00

... well, not exactly, but close. Today was another typical day at the training workplace. Me and two other practical students are working on designing a WAN VLAN network with Cisco products. We've been working on it from scratch for two weeks. Some concepts were new for me (like Frame relays), and I basically slept through the VLANs lessons in Data Network class.Anyhow, that typical day ended

Ashrafhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17054522456036792178noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-127002603052963926.post-66072936061592230242009-04-29T08:46:00.005+08:002010-03-17T15:50:41.286+08:00

Now and again we try To just stay alive Maybe we'll turn it all around 'Cause it's not too late It's never too late --- I guess I'm lucky to be doing my training in Subang. Even with the insane rush hour, a 40 min trip is still quite good... enough time to grab a parking space and relax a little before work starts. Went to the R&D office of Telekom Malaysia yesterday with my supervisor. Our

Ashrafhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17054522456036792178noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-127002603052963926.post-46350467315845330842009-04-27T13:26:00.005+08:002009-05-31T02:26:05.627+08:00

No lyrics this time---Ah crap.. I totally messed up this semester. In fact, even one of my lecturers told me I messed up the final exam. Others have also expressed concerned with my performances. Now I feel totally demotivated about graduating with high grades.I only blame myself. As usual, I did not prioritize my studies properly. Too much focus on FYP made me neglect everything else..

Ashrafhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17054522456036792178noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-127002603052963926.post-90790074411290879892009-04-03T10:10:00.005+08:002009-05-31T02:26:41.004+08:00

With broken wingsI can't flyI'm gonna need you to save me, angel of mine---What was the most unexpected sms reply you can think of?Last week, I messaged my project supervisor to ask if he was free to meet up later in the afternoon, at his office. After a few moments he replied saying he can't.. cause he's in the middle of the sea ;)He's involved in Naval engineering contracts, representing our

Ashrafhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17054522456036792178noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-127002603052963926.post-77061842089857492002009-03-22T22:25:00.006+08:002009-05-31T02:27:11.996+08:00

But in the end everyone ends up alone.---No.. not the NCAA college bball series (though its nice to see the Blue Devils in the sweet 16).I thought last month was bad. But never in my wildest dreams could it get any worse! Exams are coming up so soon, assignments are pilling up, projects are overdue.. and the utmost pressure lies in my FYP1 report.Hmm.. any crazy felines over there?And, my sis is

Ashrafhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17054522456036792178noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-127002603052963926.post-57497770518771056102009-03-01T22:42:00.005+08:002009-05-31T02:27:34.742+08:00

I try to see the good in life,But good things in life are hard to find.---I've never been so glad of a new month before. But when you've been through absolute crap in February, you're just wishing that it'll be done by turning over a new leaf.Weekend is spent home alone with my cat. My sis is on a shopping vacation at Jakarta, so I've been juggling between some activities at uni and housework. I

Ashrafhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17054522456036792178noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-127002603052963926.post-77266420198398150002009-02-22T11:14:00.005+08:002009-05-31T02:28:13.166+08:00

Got a fist of pure emotion,Got a head of shattered dreamsGotta leave it, gotta leave it all behind now.---Yo folks! Been a while eh. To those who are actually still following this blog, thanks for that ;)Alrighty.. some mandatory (read: boring) updates. My FYP is somewhat back on track. I had Customs trouble at one point, in which the AC4424 transceivers needed special permits to be imported and

Ashrafhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17054522456036792178noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-127002603052963926.post-69540098744049858942009-01-26T00:50:00.005+08:002009-05-31T02:28:45.220+08:00

But somehow I'm still alive insideYou took my breath, but I survivedI don't know how, but I don't even care--- Ah shucks, looks like my CubeSat has already faced huge issues. Some infighting between our supervisors seem to affect the status of our grant funding :( Might need to revise our component selections after all.I dont get it. CubeSat is a very important program to pursue. If my uni can

Ashrafhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17054522456036792178noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-127002603052963926.post-76863682815315527092009-01-17T19:16:00.003+08:002009-01-18T01:58:14.921+08:00

I'm strong on the surfaceNot all the way throughI've never been perfectBut neither have you..---Ah, its weekend again.Just came back from seeing my grandpa in hospital. He had surgery on his left leg joint, and is recovering for now. InshAllah he'll be up and walking again next week.My CubeSat team visited Astronautic Technology Sdn Bhd yesterday, to discuss some issues resgarding our project.

Ashrafhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17054522456036792178noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-127002603052963926.post-87649686644929643742009-01-10T00:07:00.003+08:002009-01-10T00:38:29.919+08:00

My fall will be for youMy love will be in you You were the one to cut me So I`ll bleed forever..---3rd week of sem. My FYP is already heating up :( The CubeSat team I'm collaborating with is trying to get some research grant funding. I pray that things would work out!With the amount of work I'd need to face for the FYP, I fear I'm going deep into the pits again really soon.Things are also not so

Ashrafhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17054522456036792178noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-127002603052963926.post-24784549161829464772009-01-04T19:57:00.006+08:002009-01-04T21:01:38.903+08:00

The numbness is fading away, and the feeling of pain from my heart's erosion is trickling in.Stumbling on the road, alone without a guide. Searching for the path of light once again.---Still trying to absorb the fact I'm in my final year.The final push to graduation... then to employment... then to family?I used to have this "Life Plan"I created seven years ago. I was an ambitious teenager who

Ashrafhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17054522456036792178noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-127002603052963926.post-44782618068681522592009-01-01T23:25:00.004+08:002009-01-21T00:14:30.213+08:00

First post of 2009!---Some post thoughts on the CanSat competition, called SiswaSat 2008 here in Malaysia. As requested by Bob Twiggs (wait.. could it be THE Professor Bob Twiggs?), here's some of our CanSat features:1) Weather board module2) GPS assisted navigation module3) Accelerometer4) Imaging moduleThe weatherboard module is made up of Sparkfun's SEN-08311 and a long range modem. Using

Ashrafhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17054522456036792178noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-127002603052963926.post-2994812030694079352008-12-29T00:15:00.004+08:002008-12-29T00:44:28.755+08:00

So, it begins. A new chapter in life (so soon?), coinciding with the New Years (both Islamic and nearly Georgian)---Watched Ip Man with some friends a few days back.FRAKKING AWESOME.Donnie Yen showing his Wing Chun moves beautifully in an action packed (with some humour in between) body breaking and snapping kung fu movie. Looking forward for Ip Man 2.---New semester has commenced, marking the

Ashrafhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17054522456036792178noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-127002603052963926.post-18262657901308980532008-12-13T22:49:00.004+08:002009-06-13T00:52:42.582+08:00

[Warning, a rant-fested post]My life's been a battlefield these days. I've set the date of 17th Dec to be Armageddon, yet my one and only princess already dropped a nuke on my head last week.*sigh*So, breaking up right before the 17th Dec hell just vapourizes my soul. I just want to sit back and contemplate on life, but the IRO 2008, CanSat competitions and the RAE examination has been biting (or

Ashrafhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17054522456036792178noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-127002603052963926.post-77202827726759208562008-10-27T23:53:00.000+08:002008-10-27T23:54:13.929+08:00

Ashrafhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17054522456036792178noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-127002603052963926.post-22962217302337729592008-10-26T15:59:00.004+08:002008-10-26T16:05:25.793+08:00

From the Angkasa SiswatSat website:Critical Design Review for SiswatSat is on 31st October! Right in the middle of exams! Its even held at Banting, which is damn far away. NOOOOOO :(Also, my Radio Amateur Exam is on 17th Dec, dab smack in between the launching dates of the SiswaSat. Crap.I'm still stuck with my MATLAB equalizer project I was supposed to sumbit last friday. I'm getting a worser

Ashrafhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17054522456036792178noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-127002603052963926.post-71285048069858050852008-10-24T02:33:00.006+08:002008-10-24T14:34:40.113+08:00

Step 1: Go to the Layouts tabStep 2: Make sure you are on the Page Elements pageStep 3: Click on Add a GadgetStep 4: A new window will pop up. Scroll down to add a pictureStep 5: Fill out details, and add the source link of the picture of your choice:Example:To select the CE Badge you want, please check this post:http://www.crazyengineers.com/forum/announcements/6906-

Ashrafhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17054522456036792178noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-127002603052963926.post-85917436030323393492008-10-24T01:44:00.002+08:002008-10-24T02:11:15.179+08:00

Gosh, I feel so stretched, stressed and sleepy. Too many things to do! Finished my part of the CDR report for our CanSat (Communications and Power subsystems), and I think we are submitting it to Angkasa tomorrow. My video transmitter is performing flawlessly :) Now to tackle things at the MATLAB front. Hopefully I can implement the video processing features as close to specs as possible, lest we

Ashrafhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17054522456036792178noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-127002603052963926.post-51373408996465896732008-09-28T01:00:00.002+08:002008-09-28T01:10:27.818+08:00

Yes, finally! Am back home, far away from assignments, projects and presentations :) But will still need to prepare for final exams after the Eid break finishes :(I sent an e-mail earlier to my buddy Abr, and was reminded on this kid named Ricky Rubio, spain's young bball star sensation. He played pretty well during the olympics, and held his ground well against the USA Team. I decided to check

Ashrafhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17054522456036792178noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-127002603052963926.post-21311903549759215902008-09-10T12:25:00.008+08:002010-02-06T14:19:23.634+08:00

Man, my family's Dell computer is not cutting it. Its performs alright for normal applications, but running games or engineering software would just make the Dual Core (not Core 2 Duo) CPU go through the roof and the fan go on overdrive! It's also not upgrade-friendly. My last major purchases were on HDD's and Memory RAM. I think by the end of this year, I need my very own rig at home (my laptop

Ashrafhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17054522456036792178noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-127002603052963926.post-20961635946327600892008-08-31T08:37:00.004+08:002008-08-31T10:02:21.617+08:00

Am on my midsem break now (consisting of only few days), yet I still got lots of work to do :(CANSAT progressThe IIUM CanSat team will submit the Preliminary Design Review report to Angkasa by next Saturday, so we are busy finalizing the document. My video recorder module has arrived, and I've done some basic testing. Works pretty well, but plan to hack the module so it can save telemetry data

Ashrafhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17054522456036792178noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-127002603052963926.post-69947989321549254532008-08-16T09:33:00.003+08:002008-08-16T10:23:20.019+08:00

"BOOM!" is usually my exclamation whenever I swish my jumpers (in basketball). Unfortunately, there wasn't much boom for me in the recent matches of Engineering Games this week. Goes to show how totally unfit and out of sync with my basketball shots.The ECE department lost all games, and I think I take most of the blame because everyone on my team stepped up except me. Too all my department

Ashrafhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17054522456036792178noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-127002603052963926.post-70127944887537221112008-07-05T00:52:00.007+08:002008-07-05T16:03:31.937+08:00

Vroom! Vroom! Gonna catch that mouse.. Zzzz..Whats cool in the July issue of TGM?Well, the VW R32 (one of my fav hot hatches) was given a spin on Malaysian soil. Unfortunately, its price will spin your head too: RM300,000. Oh woe to the import taxes!Ferrari showcases their new "California", a luxury convertible with a front-engined V8. Not much of a fan of supercars, but its nice to see Ferrari

Ashrafhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17054522456036792178noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-127002603052963926.post-70432521196077731312008-06-29T20:58:00.005+08:002008-06-29T22:48:09.753+08:00

Fig 1. Dr Backbone back support. Hm, I wonder why he's hiding the price? ;)(picture from http://www.drbackbone.com)I'll be using it for a while to recover from lower back pain. Its been going on for the past few years, and only confirmed the extent of the damage from an X-ray a couple of weeks back.Now for a little background.I believe the cause of my lower back problems was the long periods of

Ashrafhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17054522456036792178noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-127002603052963926.post-89640300906076791912008-06-28T17:21:00.004+08:002008-06-29T22:48:42.673+08:00

Hey guys, a little late in posting the interview. Here goes!CEans,He joined us in July '07, and put CE on the fast track. You'll find him everywhere on CE - helping new members, answering technical queries, developing CE Bot, discussing kick-ass ideas with fellow CEans and most importantly - fighting the evil spammers. Yes, he is CEan Ashraf aka 'Ash' from Malaysia.Our editor, CEan Patty had a

Ashrafhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17054522456036792178noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-127002603052963926.post-60771093584104104952008-06-28T17:12:00.005+08:002008-06-29T22:49:17.850+08:00

1. First off, log into your Blogger account, and access the Layout screen. To display the RSS feed, we need to add the Feed module. Select "Add A Page Element".2. A pop-up window will open, showing you the various elements you can add. Scroll down until you can see the Feed module. Click on "Add to Blog".3. You now need to add the CE Feed address. You can find this by selecting the RSS icon as

Ashrafhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17054522456036792178noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-127002603052963926.post-51202427654912101922008-06-07T18:21:00.006+08:002008-06-29T22:49:50.433+08:00

Finally got a new domain!For quick access to it, type http://ashytized.net/ (notice there is no 'WWW". You can add it if you want to, but it'll take a while before the page loads). Of course, theres hardly anything there. There is a blog link going to my test blog, in which you'll find out what I've been up to in regards of setting up my domain.I've configured Google Apps as well, which provides

Ashrafhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17054522456036792178noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-127002603052963926.post-2364354091684816372008-05-29T15:55:00.004+08:002008-06-29T22:50:54.053+08:00

Remember the Open Hardware idea I talked about a few months back (http://ashytized.blogspot.com/2008/01/boom.html)? Looks like its being actively pursued! Via has released their OpenBook hardware designs under a open source license. Hopefully more companies will follow its lead.I might have peek at the CAD files :) This initiative has a GREAT potential for something big.A snippet from the

Ashrafhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17054522456036792178noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-127002603052963926.post-55424607862511251682008-04-28T19:32:00.009+08:002008-05-18T00:06:05.998+08:00

Earlier last March I mentioned about as a possible research topic for my final year, but haven't elaborated much on it. For those who don't know, MEMS stands for Micro Electro Mechanical Systems, which is quite an amazing technology. We all know microchips, yes? Intel processing chips, Kingston RAM memory modules, and any of those little black squares that have tiny metal legs poking out of them

Ashrafhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17054522456036792178noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-127002603052963926.post-45853955758452207312008-04-25T23:34:00.003+08:002008-06-29T22:51:32.262+08:00

I realised this "technology" blog is pretty lacking in actual technology content. At the moment I'm just absorbing information from EngineerLive, IEE's Communication's Mag, Lightreading, and Crazy Engineers as well. I havent been so opinionated about it. That goes the same for basketball! Maybe I should officially join clutchfans and get into the discussions. As for techno, it's barely anything,

Ashrafhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17054522456036792178noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-127002603052963926.post-78740128234414576172008-04-25T14:31:00.004+08:002008-05-18T00:07:14.627+08:00

Yes, the two T's are back in action!After a dissmal first two games against Jazz, Rockets got one back at Salt lake city. T-mac & co fought hard till the end to grab the win, 94-92 =)http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/recap?gameId=280424026Its going to be a loooong series, for sure. I watched the Cav getting drubbed by the Wizards game on TV earlier, 108-72. Wizards now think they can rub the "over

Ashrafhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17054522456036792178noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-127002603052963926.post-20657308035510697722008-04-22T22:38:00.006+08:002008-06-29T22:52:08.839+08:00

YAHOOOO! Finally got the Saitek Cyborg Evo joystick! My long search has ended. Last week I checked out the Harvey Norman store in Midvalley (yes, theres actually one there, next to Carrefour) for fun, and amazingly the joystick was there on sale for 50% (from RM154). It was the only one in stock.. it seems they wanted to clear the items out. Other stuff on sale was the wireless version of the

Ashrafhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17054522456036792178noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-127002603052963926.post-49935090957801724002008-04-15T15:06:00.004+08:002008-06-29T22:54:10.516+08:00

Sup folks? Haven't updated this blog in aaaages. Anyhow, did some quick changes to the layout of the blog. I'm just experimenting with different colours and stuff. I need to change the pic at the top too. Should be easy, now that I'm using Inkscape ;)I recently went to the PC Fair, finally got most of the upgrade components I needed: 2 GB RAM, 160 GB HDD, 120 GB notebook HDD and a 1 GB microSD

Ashrafhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17054522456036792178noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-127002603052963926.post-70016233192438840172008-03-07T10:34:00.003+08:002008-06-29T22:54:50.118+08:00

Chilling at the computer lab on campus, one of those rare times I get on friday morning =)Been relatively busy with studies, research, assignments, etc etc.. typical of engineering students!Anyhow, good news is I got phone upgrade! Not the SE w810 I aimed for, but my dad's classic Samsung D600. I guess there ARE good "pass me downs" after all ;) He wanted a 3G phone, so we seeked out the Nokia

Ashrafhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17054522456036792178noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-127002603052963926.post-87733167688175984482008-01-21T17:51:00.001+08:002008-06-29T22:55:18.218+08:00

AP price for SE w810i is RM595.. awesome.But then again, I already blew most of my savings on buying books and attending a conference. I guess I gotta wait longer =( By that time, more SE (or Nokia) models that fit my needs would come out. Perhaps patience is virtue? I wonder how well that applies to technological trends.. *rubs chin*My Nokia 6610i's battery seems to drain pretty quick these days

Ashrafhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17054522456036792178noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-127002603052963926.post-11221473356396178082007-12-16T00:44:00.001+08:002008-06-29T22:53:06.308+08:00

You all should visit the Sony Style store @ KLCC. Trying out the products live was a cool experience, especially the phones and laptops.I also saw a 70inch plasma TV, costing at a mindblowing 200,000 bucks.Went to PC Fair last week, it was alright. Damn crowded, but pretty vibrant. Maxis went full out selling their wireless broadband service.. had like a hundred plus staff in bright green shirts

Ashrafhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17054522456036792178noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-127002603052963926.post-26442136572209351352007-10-26T14:12:00.000+08:002007-10-26T14:30:52.462+08:00

Exams are coming up soon, but I can;t resist a quick update on prices:Colorful 7300GT 256MB DDR3 RM 225Colorful 7600GT 256M DDR3 RM 325Colorful X1650XT 256 DDR3 RM 299MSI 8600GT (OC) 256MB DDR3 RM 445Sony Erricsson w810i RM 680They are based on pricelists on the net, however. I've yet had the time to go to shops to see how much cheaper I

Ashrafhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17054522456036792178noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-127002603052963926.post-21865461366444896122007-07-14T16:08:00.000+08:002007-07-14T16:13:36.526+08:00

Alright, time to blog!First up, NBA. Houston Rockets looks pretty good in the Summer League, having beaten the Wizards 74-69. The drafting of Aaron Brooks (who was top scorer in the wizards game) and Landry and aquisition of Mike Harris was a darn smart move by the Rockets FO. Morey, the GM of Rockets, engineered the trading of the problematic Vassilis Spanoulis, cash and a future draft pick for

Ashrafhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17054522456036792178noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-127002603052963926.post-14251715136916829042007-05-13T20:35:00.000+08:002007-05-13T23:31:02.100+08:00

Heh, can't be bothered with a more creative title.Anyway, old news but.. Rockets are OUT of the playoffs. So unfortunate ='( I wonder how T-mac's feeling man. A superstar who's been in the NBA for so many years and yet has never passed the 1st round... he must be like SUPER frustrated. It was the best chance he got!He'll be back, for sure. Now that Battier and Head have settled in their roles,

Ashrafhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17054522456036792178noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-127002603052963926.post-45213040001652339382007-05-04T23:15:00.000+08:002007-05-04T23:36:17.804+08:00

wait.. NBA first. Jazz evened the series against Rockets 3-3 ='( Noooooo!Now it lies in the final 7th game back at houston. It's going to either be an emphatic first round victory for Rockets (especially for T-mac) or one frustrating campaign, in which the Rockets franchise would seriously reconsider trading players or JVG's contract *gulp*Good news is.. Mavericks are OUT!! lol.. the BEST NBA

Ashrafhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17054522456036792178noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-127002603052963926.post-16469100302234140942007-04-26T01:10:00.000+08:002007-04-26T02:02:03.678+08:00

Alrighty.. I already professed my love for Open Source software.. time to extend that to Portable Freeware too! =DWhats a portable freeware? Its simple a free software that you can run off your USB flash disk. A freeware (or software in general) that has been fully portablized would mean it would never write settings onto the host computer (eg. registry settings etc).. great for people plugging

Ashrafhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17054522456036792178noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-127002603052963926.post-35276100515686592202007-04-17T22:20:00.000+08:002008-06-29T22:56:24.157+08:00

Alrite.. finally have time to update this blog. Its quite unfortunate that I didnt get to go to the PIKOM Pc Fair on sunday *sigh* But its cool.. the stuff I wanna get can wait for a while.I was checking out Vista on my friend's comp. Looks neat.. but there were some probs with program compatibility and also the heavy comp specifications needed. XP will suffice for now.. Will prolly only shift to

Ashrafhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17054522456036792178noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-127002603052963926.post-67079295339662756062007-04-07T12:33:00.000+08:002008-06-29T22:59:53.470+08:00

Alright.. this blog is sorta shaping up. I plan to add a "price watch" module that will show the latest prices of some gadgets.. mainly mobile phones and computer peripherals. I'll rely heavily on lowyat.Net, which is a great site to check prices up. But I'll also check out prices at 1-Utama, Midvalley, KLCC, Lowyat, Imbi plaza and local shops, Would prolly ask some friends to check out prices

Ashrafhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17054522456036792178noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-127002603052963926.post-90530125020061697122007-04-05T01:30:00.000+08:002008-06-29T22:57:37.650+08:00

ehehe.. added lots of links to the right. Discovered this cool site:http://www.osalt.com/It lists open source alternatives to well known commercial software! Its good cause at times Im overwelmed with the thousands of open source projects listed at sourceforge.net. I've been looking for a site like this =)I just downloaded BCL CAD (Link: http://sourceforge.net/projects/brlcad/). Still got an

Ashrafhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17054522456036792178noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-127002603052963926.post-78985304554583953242007-03-31T18:20:00.000+08:002008-06-29T22:57:59.616+08:00

not much progress on this blog. Added a header pic, but still a long way to go. look at it! its such.. low quality.. argh. damn JPEGs.I just played around with the "layouts" feature.. kinda like the customization in Live Spaces. Just drag the page elements around where ever you wish. But thats for basic stuff.. I still have to dig through the actual template coding to design a nice layout. The

Ashrafhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17054522456036792178noreply@blogger.com0