Thursday, September 30, 2010

Maher Zain - The Chosen One



The Chosen One

by Maher Zain (Awakening Records)

In a time of darkness and greed
It is your light that we need
You came to teach us how to live
Muhammad yaa Rasoolallah

You were so caring and kind
Your soul was full of light
You are the best of mankind
Muhammad khairu khalqillah

Sallu 'alaa Rasoolillah
Habeeb el Mustaafa
Peace be upon the Messenger
The Chosen One

From luxury you turned away
And all night you would pray
Truthful in every word you say
Muhammad yaa Rasoolallah

Your face was brighter than the sun
Your beauty equalled by none
You are Allah's Chosen One
Muhammad khairu khalqillah


Sallu 'alaa Rasoolillah
Habeeb el Mustaafa
Peace be upon the Messenger
The Chosen One

I'll try to follow your way
And do my best to live my life
As you taught me
I pray to be close to you
On that day and see you smile
When you see me

Sallu 'alaa Rasoolillah
Habeeb el Mustaafa
Peace be upon the Messenger
The Chosen One

Sallu 'alaa Rasoolillah
Habeeb el Mustaafa
Peace be upon the Messenger
The Chosen One

Sallu 'alaa Rasoolillah
Peace be upon
The Chosen One





...

This is one of my favorite songs from Maher Zain's album Thank You Allah, produced by Awakening Records.

He's coming to Malaysia inshaAllah for Save the Soul Showcase on October 14 and 15. Too bad the tickets have been fully booked. I know he has a large following of fans in Malaysia and a city council auditorium is just not large enough to house his fans. I hope the next time Maher Zain tours Malaysia, we would have a stadium as a venue instead. I am sure that even then, the seats will be full.

Image from Maher Zain's Facebook page


p/s: I wonder if I can get a press pass for this event...

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

iPhone 4 Play



My sister Kim has an iPod Touch. She got it a few weeks ago, for 'educational' purposes. For the few moments I had my hands on the iPod Touch, which is the closest I can get to holding an iPhone, I found myself glued to one particular app: Chicktionary.

Image from ifreeware.net
It's a vocabulary game, the kind you commonly see on the net, like Text Twist on Yahoo! Games. Call me a nerd but if I wasn't glued to the iPod Touch or iPhone for photos or videos or a math analysis and equation app, it'd be this kind of app - something to do with spelling and vocab.

Image from appshunt.com
If you've played Yahoo! Games' Text Twist, the game will seem familiar to you. The main difference though, is that the time limit is only for finding certain number of words, after the time limit is over you still have to finish the puzzle. There are no levels so getting a high score is not easy since the game ends once you spelt all the required words. My highest score is I think around 39000, which to date has not been broken by any member of my family, not by a long shot.

Anyway, if I ever get myself an iPhone, I'd definitely have this app in the front page!

For a review of this app, click here.

Anyways, to the big bosses of the Yellow Fellow:




Please?


Friday, September 24, 2010

DiGi iPhone 4 Me





Last midnight, as I was driving myself home from a prayer session in Taman Melawati, I tuned in to the radio and heard the announcement:

iPhone 4 has finally arrived in Malaysia.



iPhone 4 with FaceTime. Image from boygeniusreport.com

I've read about it in numerous news sites, watched Steve Jobs talk about it in an online video of his keynote, rode the viral wave of the humdrum about the mysterious iPhone that was 'accidentally' lost by an Apple employee. The Gizmodo video was my first glimpse of this device, and the Jobs' keynote soon after confirmed it. iPhone 4 shall succeed the iPhone 3Gs.

Ever since the first generation iPhone came out, I've always wanted a smartphone, especially one made by Apple, since I am a proponent of Apple products. I have two iPods: The first generation iPod Shuffle and first generation iPod Nano. I also own the first generation iMac G5, which, after 6 years, still works wonderfully well. It's been awhile since my last Apple gadget procurement, and with the coming of the iPhone 4 to Malaysian shores via DiGi, I think it's high time that a new member joins my Apple family.

Ok, let me make this clear, plain and simple.

I WANT AN iPHONE 4 FROM DiGi.



There is said it.

Why?

Because I need it. I need a phone that can do more than just make and receive calls and text messages.

Because my phone recently died and I want it to be replaced by a better more capable communications device. Missed the news? Read all about it here.

Or better yet, I'll repost the whole thing below.

----

Suicidal Phone Leaves Owner Disconnected


The Sony Ericsson K530i – 3G mobile phone.Not photo of actual dead phone. Image via Wikipedia
by Ihsan Khairir


Kota Damansara, 4 September - A 2 year old Sony Ericsson K530i hung itself to death in front of its owner, taking all the owner's contacts list with it to cellphone afterlife.


The successful suicide attempt, the third after two unsuccessful ones earlier the same day, happened as the owner tried to make a phone call to his sister who's studying in University of Malaya. The said sister, who used to own a Sony Ericsson W-series phone, also lost her communications device to the same fate a few months back.


The K530i earlier had hung itself and died twice before the owner managed to resuscitate and reanimate the phone from electronic death by doing a hard restart.


"Removing the battery and instantly replacing it worked the first two times," said the owner, as he explained the problems suffered by the dead phone to the worker at the cellphone stall where he sent the phone for repair. "But this last time, the phone just refused to turn on again after it died. It was as if the phone really wanted me to let it go. Like, for real, this time."


Motorola V3xx Platinum ClosedImage by craig1black via Flickr
Also not photo of owner's actual phone.
The sudden departure of the K530i came as a sudden shock to the owner, as with it went all the phone numbers the owner has collected over the years. "I didn't make a hardcopy nor softcopy backup of the contact data," said the owner regretfully, despite suffering the second cellphone suicide in three years. About two years ago, the owner's Motorola RAZR V3xx also hung itself to death in one single attempt. "I should've learnt my lesson from the previous death of my old RAZR and my sister's W-series."


The late K530i was sent to Subang Jaya Digital Mall for an all-or-nothing reanimation attempt, but all was futile, as it never woke up from its eternal slumber. Cause of death was determined to be internal component failure. The motherboard was not functional, causing all other components to cease function as well.


The owner claimed the dead body of the K530i back from the cellphone morgue and immediately sought for a replacement. "Initially I thought of immediately replacing the K530i with an Apple iPhone 3Gs," he explained. "But considering my current financial obligations and situation, I decided on a temporary solution, and procured a Nokia 1616 as a temporary replacement."
The Nokia 1616. Image from mobiles.sulekha.com
This new appointment may come as a surprise to some, as it was clearly a downgrade to the basics from the previous 3G cameraphone. The Nokia 1616 is only able to make and receive calls, and send and receive messages. It has none of the capabilities of its predecessors, like taking photos with an inbuilt camera, surfing the net using 3G or WAP, recording and playing videos, and sending and receiving multimedia messages (MMS), among others.


"I'll probably be using this basic phone for a few months, until I feel the time is right for me to acquire a more capable phone to fully replace the late K530i," said the owner. "There are other matters more important right now other than getting a smartphone." And that, according to the owner, is rebuilding some part of if not most of the contact list that the K530i took away to the grave with its sudden suicide death. "This will be a daunting task, seeing as I had more than just phone numbers in the list, and it was a 2 years' worth of contact information. But I can't be disconnected now. I need my contact list. And I will need everyone's help to get it back."


-ihsankhairir-

---

See? The death of my phone took a heavy toll on me. I can't lose my contacts anymore. That's why I want the iPhone 4. I can sync my contacts into my computer thru iTunes and my contact list will be safe. And backed up. I don't have to worry about collecting numbers all over again if a phone incident left me disconnected.

So, what do you think? Should DiGi give me an iPhone 4? Say 'aye' in the comments if you do! Thanks!





Thursday, September 16, 2010

Nikon Released a New DSLR (D7000) and Speedlight (SB-700)

Just when I thought my wishlist would include the unattainable Nikkor AF-S 70-200mm f/2.8 VR and Nikon D90, Nikon announced the release of a new DSLR in the prosumer line, the D7000, and a speedlight with features that I really wanted, the SB-700.
Nikon D7000 image courtesy of Nikon and photofocus.com

Nikon Speedlight SB-700 image courtesy of Nikon and dpreview.com

For many months and even possibly years I have been searching for a Nikon flash cheaper and smaller than the gigantic SB-900 but more capable than my current basic SB-600. In short, I was looking for a reasonably priced SB-800, which had become rarer than a Mew Pokemon trading card with the release of the flagship speedlight SB-900 quite a while ago.

Now that the SB-700 is out, I might have to change my ever impossible wishlist, or add to it.

Now, all I need is a fairly oddparent, and I can cross off the wishlist and make a new one.

News of the release of Nikon D7000 was found on photofocus.com.

News of the release of Nikon Speedlight SB-700 was found on dpreview.com.

Please head on to those websites and Nikon's official website for more details.


Wednesday, September 08, 2010

Suicidal Phone Leaves Owner Disconnected

The Sony Ericsson K530i – 3G mobile phone.Not photo of actual dead phone. Image via Wikipedia
by Ihsan Khairir

Kota Damansara, 4 September - A 2 year old Sony Ericsson K530i hung itself to death in front of its owner, taking all the owner's contacts list with it to cellphone afterlife.

The successful suicide attempt, the third after two unsuccessful ones earlier the same day, happened as the owner tried to make a phone call to his sister who's studying in University of Malaya. The said sister, who used to own a Sony Ericsson W-series phone, also lost her communications device to the same fate a few months back.

The K530i earlier had hung itself and died twice before the owner managed to resuscitate and reanimate the phone from electronic death by doing a hard restart.

"Removing the battery and instantly replacing it worked the first two times," said the owner, as he explained the problems suffered by the dead phone to the worker at the cellphone stall where he sent the phone for repair. "But this last time, the phone just refused to turn on again after it died. It was as if the phone really wanted me to let it go. Like, for real, this time."

Motorola V3xx Platinum ClosedImage by craig1black via Flickr
Also not photo of owner's actual phone.

The sudden departure of the K530i came as a sudden shock to the owner, as with it went all the phone numbers the owner has collected over the years. "I didn't make a hardcopy nor softcopy backup of the contact data," said the owner regretfully, despite suffering the second cellphone suicide in three years. About two years ago, the owner's Motorola RAZR V3xx also hung itself to death in one single attempt. "I should've learnt my lesson from the previous death of my old RAZR and my sister's W-series."

The late K530i was sent to Subang Jaya Digital Mall for an all-or-nothing reanimation attempt, but all was futile, as it never woke up from its eternal slumber. Cause of death was determined to be internal component failure. The motherboard was not functional, causing all other components to cease function as well.

The owner claimed the dead body of the K530i back from the cellphone morgue and immediately sought for a replacement. "Initially I thought of immediately replacing the K530i with an Apple iPhone 3Gs," he explained. "But considering my current financial obligations and situation, I decided on a temporary solution, and procured a Nokia 1616 as a temporary replacement."
The Nokia 1616. Image from mobiles.sulekha.com

This new appointment may come as a surprise to some, as it was clearly a downgrade to the basics from the previous 3G cameraphone. The Nokia 1616 is only able to make and receive calls, and send and receive messages. It has none of the capabilities of its predecessors, like taking photos with an inbuilt camera, surfing the net using 3G or WAP, recording and playing videos, and sending and receiving multimedia messages (MMS), among others.

"I'll probably be using this basic phone for a few months, until I feel the time is right for me to acquire a more capable phone to fully replace the late K530i," said the owner. "There are other matters more important right now other than getting a smartphone." And that, according to the owner, is rebuilding some part of if not most of the contact list that the K530i took away to the grave with its sudden suicide death. "This will be a daunting task, seeing as I had more than just phone numbers in the list, and it was a 2 years' worth of contact information. But I can't be disconnected now. I need my contact list. And I will need everyone's help to get it back."

-ihsankhairir-



Friday, September 03, 2010

Suggestion Needed: Looking for a New Ride

My 9-year old Proton Waja have recently checked out of the workshop, after spending three weeks under the knife (or rather, spanners and wrenches and power tools and such).


The front of a first generation Proton Waja, i...Image via Wikipedia. Disclaimer: Not picture of my car. But it's a first-generation Waja nonetheless. A true Malaysian car, pictured here in its true Malaysian glory: double-parked behind legally parked cars. 


The family Waja is such an old car. In fact, it is the oldest car we currently have to date.

Therefore, gremlins have been living in the car for almost a decade and have caused lots of minor malfunctions.

The malfunctions to date:

- Power windows for the rear doors not working properly.

- Transmission is faulty. Car stuck at third gear most of the time. Therefore, driving long distance on the highway causes the car to guzzle gallons of gasoline faster than a thirsty camel.

- Radio changes station randomly. Used to freak me out at first because it reminded me of some ghost stories/movies I've heard/watched in the past. But no more, because I know the radio is faulty, and the car's not really haunted. I think.

- Front tyres are balding. I spun my car a few times already this year. Too fast too furious on that last turn.

- Front suspension groans every time I do a hard brake. I recently changed the rear suspension, which cost a lot. The front suspension might be due for a change now.

- Cooling fans for the radiator and the air conditioner failed sometimes. But, since I slammed into a taxicab earlier this month, they have been replaced with new ones since the failed ones were completely destroyed in the accident.

- All 12V power points (or cigarette lighter socket) don't work. I can't use anything that requires electricity in the car (such as car vacuum cleaners, GPS device, in-car phone chargers, etc.)

- Rear left door can't be opened from the outside.

- Car can only be unlocked from the passenger's side. If I unlock it from the driver's side, the car locks itself back instantly.

- There's a snapping/breaking sound every time the front passenger power window is engaged.

- Occasionally and randomly, the viper system activates. Glad I know how to start the engine despite the viper being in effect.

- The 'door ajar' alert is always on.

- Dents and scratches on the body.

Et cetera et cetera.

I guess it's time for a new car.


EDIT: 


Hawa and Zidni suggested that I list the criteria of the car that I would like to procure and my budget range, which I think is a great idea. Here goes:


Must be above 1000 cc.


Must be able to carry 5 people comfortably.


Significant luggage space in the boot.


High fuel efficiency for both city and highway driving.


Manual transmission, not automatic nor AMT.


Budget: less than 50k preferably.

What car would you suggest me get to replace the old Waja?

p/s: please suggest an affordable and reliable car. Feedback is so much appreciated!





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