Google Account is No Longer a Must to Use Google Talk

I talk, you talk, Google talks; I talk with Google Talk :p

Now, everyone can use Google Talk without the need for an activated Google account.

If you prefer to use a non-Gmail email account to sign in, you have to first sign-up for Google Talk at here.

Besides, you can also use Google Talk on BlackBerry. Well, no difference to me at this moment though, till I own a BlackBerry hhaha.

Improve Font Sharpness on Windows XP with ClearType

Font Rendering with ClearType


Font Rendering without ClearType

With reference to the above 2 images, which font rendering do you prefer? Which set of fonts appears smoother and sharper in edges? No doubt, the one with ClearType rendering is more readable, more appealing, and looks almost like those printed on paper.

Just as you might wonder if the 2 sample sets of fonts shown above are of different font type, but they are actually the exact same sample displayed on the same machine running on genuine Windows XP SP2 with identical hardware configuration. The magic happens simply with the activation of ClearType font rendering.

LCD Can Benefit From ClearType

ClearType is a Microsoft’s typography technology designed to improve readability of text on color LCDs (Liquid Crystal Displays). Yes, LCD is the beneficiary. Though Microsoft claims that ClearType can somewhat improves readability on CRT monitors too; but according to reported user experience, the improvement on CRT is either not noticeably significant or resulted in worse rendering.

How Does ClearType Work on LCD?

As quoted from Microsoft’s article titled "What is ClearType?":

Traditional computer font rendering assumes that each pixel is either 'on' or 'off', appearing as tiny black squares. Letters appear jagged on the computer screen because they are formed from many of these tiny squares or pixels.

Most if not all, of the font types exists in this world, is designed based on the above reasoning as well. Curvy and rounded edges are simply made up of black squares or pixels of varying tones.



However, each pixel in a LCD is actually more than merely a plain square! In contrast, each pixel is actually made up of 3 sub-pixels or 3 stripes – one red, one green, one blue. These colored sub-pixels can actually be appropriately utilized to represent more variations of brightness values, to make the fonts appear smoother in edges.

ClearType uses a model of the human visual system to choose the brightness values of the sub-pixels.

This is a comparison between font displayed with ClearType and non-ClearType rendering, at 9.6x magnification.

If you’re very hardcore into the technical details, you may refer to Technical Overview of ClearType Filtering.

Configurations of ClearType on Windows XP

Actually, as pointed out by dJ phuturecybersonique, ClearType is available since Windows XP. ClearType rendering engine is also enabled by default in IE7, with an additional option in Internet Options (Advanced > Multimedia) to turn it on and off.

In Windows XP, ClearType can be enabled/disabled as follows:
1. Right click on Desktop, and select Properties.
2. Click on Appearance tab, and click the Effects button.
3. Check/Uncheck the box for 'Use the following method to smooth edges of screen fonts'.
4. Close the Effects dialog by clicking 'OK' and click 'Apply' to complete the process

However, the steps as mentioned above are only to enable/disable ClearType, and there's no way to tune the appearance. Further controls in tuning can be obtained via the ClearType Web Interface or downloadable PowerToy Tuner. The ClearType Web Interface is a Web wizard which allows you to enable and tune ClearType using Internet Explorer and an ActiveX control. On the other hand, the PowerToy Tuner is a downloadable install which lets you to configure the settings via Windows Control Panel.

During the tuning process, the wizard will present you with a few varying samples of fonts rendered with ClearType at differing brightness values. Depending on the type and configuration of LCD monitor you are using, each individual could choose his/her most-preferred look.

Click here for ClearType FAQs

The New iPod Shuffle is Cool, But Not Suitable to Be Clipped in Kuala Lumpur

By now, I believe you have most probably heard about the new clip-on design of iPod shuffle. Though it’s not as comprehensive as the iPod nano in terms of storage capacity and controls, but the fact that it is an iPod family member and yet at relatively cheaper price has made it one of the most popular budget choices for portable audio player as well.

The new innovative and lightweight clip-on design, which goes along with the saying of "...wear up to 240 songs(1) on your sleeve. Or your lapel. Or your belt. Clip on iPod shuffle and wear it as a badge of musical devotion", is definitely a trendy one.

But, if you are a regular commuter in places like Kuala Lumpur, would you really clip the iPod shuffle on your sleeve, on your lapel, or on your belt?



The first thought might give you a "why not? It’s cool isn’t it?", but I’m sure your second thought will return something along this line:
"Better not. Snatch thefts and pick pockets are so actively happening in public trains and buses."

Instead of taking the risk of theft by trendily clipping on your clothes, I think most of the KL commuters will choose to slip the iPod shuffle inside a zipped bag or a tight pocket.

There are simply too many cases happening around us discouraging the thought for trendy clipping. My friend’s Blackberry was stolen in the train, my compact digital camera was stolen at LRT station, and lots of other similar examples we’ve heard of from people around us, mostly happened in crowded public places. At times in a crowd, we might find shoulder rubbing and arm bumping to be something normal, but a theft has actually took place within a few seconds. Nowadays, after losing my compact digital camera, I will feel pressured carrying the Lumix FZ30 on my shoulder; not worrying of pick-pockets, but snatch thief.

Sometime, it’s quite depressing for the need to stay exceptionally alerted with our personal belongings while commuting in the modernized city.

Apple Saves USD18 Production Cost on Each Redesigned iPod Nano

Something irrelevant to the focus of this post, but interesting to be shared.

According to iSuppli Corp.’s Teardown Analysis service, the redesigned iPod nano is now cheaper to be produced, saving an estimated cost of USD18 on each new device. Detailed information about the facts and findings are available here.

Due to smart changes in manufacturing design and the declining electronic component prices, Apple has successfully rolled out the second generation of iPod nano of smaller form-factor, and most important cheaper cost.

The main contributing factor to the saving of cost is by replacing the central processor, from the previous PortalPlayer’s semi-custom PP5021 SoC (System-on-Chip) to the new Samsung-made SoC featuring built-in flash disk controller.

Vacation at Siem Reap of Cambodia – Day 3 and 4

Continue from travelogue of day 1, and day 2.

In the first 2 days of the trip, we have basically visited most of the highlights in Siem Reap. We witnessed the fine craftsmanship in wood and sandstone carving, and most important, we’ve already left our foot print at the ancient Angkor heritage.

So, what else we have for the 3rd day? Well, you might notice that I’ve not written anything on souvenir shopping yet. Besides, the largest freshwater lake in Southeast Asia was still waiting for our arrival *winks*

On the 3rd day, we got to wake up a little bit later than the day before, as our plan-of-the-day was scheduled to be started at 9am.

Tonle Sap Lake

Have you heard of Tonle Sap Lake in Cambodia?

Maybe you don’t, but so did I *hahaha*. In fact, before this Siem Reap trip, the name Tonle Sap Lake doesn’t exist in my short-term or long-term memory. Maybe I’ve read about it before, but I simply didn’t have any fresh recognition for this place :p

Okay, I little bit of geographical facts here. Tonle Sap Lake is actually the largest freshwater lake in Southeast Asia (SEA)!



Satellite imagery of Tonle Sap Lake as seen in Google Earth.

During monsoon or rainy season, Tonle Sap Lake will be blessed with reversed flow of water from the connected Mekong river system, and its size will increase almost tenfold, with an area up to 16,000 square km and depth up to nine meters.

However, for most of the year, the lake is fairly small.

In the first day travelogue, I’ve actually posted a bird view picture for part of the scene of Tonle Sap Lake as seen from the plane. Due to the recent rainy season in Cambodia, the Tonle Sap Lake was seen like a flooded forest.

The Tonle Sap Lake is also featuring its uniqueness in terms of ecosystem. During the monsoon season when waters are flooding into the nearby jungles and bushes, it has naturally created an encouraging breeding ground for fish, and created a cycle of sustainable fishery industry.

August and September is the best time to visit Tonle Sap Lake, as the perimeter reaches the largest size, and depth reaches the maximum height, just nice for a boat excursion to enjoy the scenic view. However, during dry season, the Tonle Sap Lake has a differing attraction for birdwatchers where thousands of birds and fish-eating waterfowl are flocking to the wetland.

The Tonle Sap Lake is not far away from Siem Reap town. Traveling on bus, the journey between Angkor Star Hotel and jetty of Tonle Sap Lake only took us about 25 minutes.



Due to its tourism value, there were a number of boats aligning at the jetty waiting for arrival of tourists. We had our boat excursion on motor boats as shown above.



According to our tour guide, the community at Tonle Sap Lake is not staying at a specific location on the lake throughout the year. But instead, houses and public facilities like schools are changing place according to the rise of water and the season. Thus, most of the houses are assembled on floats or flat boats.



As shown, a number of the floating houses at Tonle Sap Lake are equipped with tall antennas. So, I’m pretty sure that they are not isolated from entertainment channels.

Yeah, have I told you that the TVs in our hotel rooms were accessible to 82 channels? Yes, a total of 82, ranging from local to Thai, Korean and Taiwanese.



A lady rowing a boat on Tonle Sap Lake



Kids rowing a boat on Tonle Sap Lake.



Take a look at this picture, the horizon of Tonle Sap Lake is meeting the sky. Can you tell if this is a lake or sea?



Notice what the kids were doing? Well, they were rowing on a pail! Since they have grown up in lake villages, they have also mastered some unusual survival skills at small age.

Mind you, these kids were not just merely rowing on Tonle Sap Lake for fun. The moment they spotted a nearby tourist boat, they will strive with all their energy and try to reach the boat at the fastest pace possible. For what?



Yes, you might have guessed it right. They begged for cash :)



During the journey, we have also made a stop at a floating restaurant, which is obviously targeted at tourists. In addition to serving foods and beverages, it also has a small corner selling handicrafts and silk products. However, at slightly higher price though.



This floating restaurant was feeding crocodiles too.



A floating church on Tonle Sap Lake.

In order to take pictures of the scenic environment, you better climb up and sit on the roof of the boat. Firstly, your view is not obstructed, and secondly, the non sheltered roof means sufficient light from surrounding.



My girlfriend posing on the boat



Ee Lin, my girlfriend, and Kit Yee

Shopping Time

Finally, the most waited hour for girls has arrived. It’s shopping time.

In the afternoon, we went to the Siem Reap Center Market (Phsar Kandal), which is located within walking distance down the street from Angkor Star Hotel (the place we were staying). Specifically, the Center Market is located at the corner of Sivatha Blvd and Achamean Street

Em em... Did I say shopping??

"What? You mean shopping in a market?"

Hehe.. yup exactly. Else what kind of classy places do you expect there? The Siem Reap Center Market is just a simple sheltered building, with a number of shops selling clothes, silk products, wood and sandstone statues, as well as bags. It’s more like a bargaining place instead of a fixed price shopping.

So, people with good bargaining skills will definitely gain an advantageous deal. This is the place where you could witness how amazing the bargaining skills born within a girl (well, not every girl la).

On the night earlier, my girlfriend and I have discussed and listed down a name list, of whom we will be buying souvenirs for. (Hey, the practice of smart consumers ma) My task was just to list down the names, and hand over the entire wonderful and superb bargaining task to my girlfriend hehe.



A shop selling sculptures and statues in Siem Reap Center Market



Silk products sold in Siem Reap Center Market



Genuine hand-drawn paintings sold in Siem Reap Center Market



Sculptures of King Jayavarman VII sold in Siem Reap Center Market

Seriously, the Cambodia silk scarf is freaking cheap! The cheapest quote we got was USD 1.40 for each silk scarf (not 100% silk, but partially), this is only approximately MYR 5.20 each. How can you get it at such a price in Malaysia? Even though the scarf made of 100% silk are slightly more expensive, but after conversion, the price is still relatively cheaper.

Of course, you need to bargain, and almost everyshop is selling the same range of identical or similar products. The price can be discounted from the initially quoted USD 5, to finally closing the deal at USD 1.40. The pricing is quite scary isn’t it?

Not only the scarf is cheap, but sandstone and wood sculptures as well. I bet you can easily get in Cambodia, most of the so-called antique items that you’ve seen at Jonker Street of Melaka, and yet at much cheaper price. Too cheap in deed. Now I’m wondering if those antique shops in Jonker Street of Melaka are sourcing their supplies from countries like Cambodia. I’m quite sure they do.

Things like Buddha’s head and statue are all over the place, in varying sizes. However, take a careful note on the quality of craftsmanship though. Some of the statues are crafted by trainees at Artisans D’Angkor, instead of the experienced professionals. Thus, though some of the prices might be slightly lower, but the evaluation lies on quality. Not every shop is genuinely selling crafted statues made by the professionals.

Besides, a number of my colleagues have also bought The North Face traveller's backpacks, at only the price of USD 10 (approximately MYR 37) each! These backpacks are counterfeited ones of course, but frankly, they are of satisfying quality, and even designed with proper back-support. Tell me if this is not how you define cheap. I'm sure you can't get it in Malaysia, even from the Petaling Street.

I’m quite surprised that most of the Chinese Cambodian sellers understand simple conversation in Mandarin, and some could speak at fundamental level as well. Well, this is not something too good for group bargaining hehe. You ought to communicate among your group of friends in languages other than English and Chinese, in order for them not to understand your conversation hehe.

If you are looking for decorative items for your house, you are at the right place. Not only the sandstone and wood sculptures are attractive, the genuine hand-drawn paintings are nice as well.

However, personally, I find it not a good place buying souvenirs for boy friends, sigh. While it is easy to look for affordable souvenirs for girl friends, as silk products are easily available; but, what can you buy for a guy then??? Seriously, I had a problem in buying souvenirs for guys. Don't tell me you are going to buy them each a sandstone sculpture haha. I did not even buy anything for myself, but the non-fungible sweet memories.

Though we were paying the purchases in USD, but the balance of less than 1 dollar was returned in Cambodia Riel. This had given us some “good time” converting between USD and Cambodia Riel to make sure that the merchants were giving us the right amount of return in balance.



After spending 3 hours at the Siem Reap Center Market, we left the place and walked for 5 minutes to reach a place called Siem Reap old market. We were curious of how the old market looks like, but found that it wasn’t suitable for us. The old market is kind of like a wet market for the local residents.



These are the outputs from the 3-hour shopping. My girlfriend and I have bought a few types of silk scarf, cushion covers, wooden chopsticks, key chains and fridge magnets, as souvenirs and for self-collection. I’ve also bought a wood crafted Garuda for my mum.





The Last Night in Siem Reap

We had our last dinner of the Siem Reap trip in a classy place called Siem Reap Shopping Centre. Yup, finally I saw a real classy shopping centre in Cambodia. But, the scale of this shopping centre is nothing to be compared with what we have in Malaysia of course.



I like a 3D Angkor Wat wall sculpture seen in the shopping centre.

In Cambodia, the residents are generally very well controlling and preserving the use of electricity. In most of the shops that we’ve visited during day time, the merchants will only switch on the fan and florescent light when there’s customer. Even in our hotel, most of the exterior lighting facilities were switched off after 8pm. Needless to mention that, the street lighting wasn’t sufficient at night as well.



After walking back from the dinner, 3 couples of us (Ken Wei’s, Khai Foo’s and mine) went to a nearby café called Dream Coffee, to hang out for a chit chat session. After all, we are not used to the life of going to bed as early as 9 or 10pm.

Day 4 – Back to Malaysia

There wasn’t anything special on the 4th day of our Siem Reap trip, as our flight was scheduled at 11.30am. It was just a day waiting for the returning flight :)

Though our AirAsia flight departing from Kuala Lumpur to Siem Reap was delayed for an hour, but our returning one was thankfully on time. No delay at all.

Well, that’s my entire travelogue for the recent Siem Reap trip. Due to my busy workload, it took me 3 weeks to compose this series of 3 posts. Hope my writing has given you a better picture on the insight of Siem Reap.

Java is Currently The Most Used Language for AJAX Development

According to a research concluded by BZ Research – a division of BZ Media, on 578 respondents of SD Times subscribers, Java is currently the most used (50.5%) programming language for AJAX development, along with XML and JavaScript.



Microsoft's technology, C#, is crowned the second choice by the samplers, with percentage of 40.5%.

Does it mean that Java technology is preferred over Microsoft's language?

Well, being a J2EE fan I am, of course I'm happy to read this research result. However, being non-biased, I don't think the 10% gap between Java and C# will be lasted long. Even if C# is falling behind Java as the preferred language in AJAX development, the gap will be very minor as well. Yes, I think.

Why? 'Cos we can't really generalized Microsoft's technology based on C# alone. Note that, there's still a huge portion of Microsoft .NET community adapting VB.NET.

As quoted from the source article published at SD Times, on the platform-specific comparison:

Interestingly, development is evenly split when it comes to platforms for deploying AJAX-based server applications, with 52.1 percent saying they’ll use Java or J2EE, and 51.9 percent saying Microsoft’s ASP.NET or Atlas—a statistical tie.

Based on my personal observation, it is true that Java developers are relatively more up-to-date with the AJAX development. The moment when web applications like Gmail is getting on as a hype, there are already tons of open source frameworks to ease AJAX development on Java platform. However, it shouldn't take too long for the general .NET community to be adapting with the AJAX train. Once Atlas (a framework from Microsoft that can be seen as Microsoft's answer to AJAX) is getting matured, I'm sure we will begin to see more .NET web applications being AJAX-ified.

My New ADSL Modem Router – D-Link 504T

The Aztech DSL 600EU Ethernet USB combo ADSL model router that I’ve been using for 2 years in Melaka home, has reported to be malfunctioning 2 weeks ago. At first I thought the AC adapter was at fault. But, trying an alternative AC adapter didn’t seem to revive the modem router, and I knew it is time for the networking device to retire, even though the lifespan is relatively short.

So, immediately when I went back hometown, I got a new replacement the day after. Well, I can’t really survive without an Internet connection. Though the current status of Streamyx connection is quite suck at my Melaka home, but still better than none.

The new candidate which has successfully been assigned to guard and control my home network, is D-Link DSL-504T ADSL model with built-in router and 4-port Fast Ethernet switch. Wow, what a long name. In short, it’s an ADSL model, it’s a simple network router, and it’s a 4-port network switch. Kinda 3-in-1, which is popular in home or small office network.

This is the picture for my new D-Link ADSL modem router. Quite a nice shot isn’t it :p Yup at least I think it’s nice haha.



Click here for the general descriptions (or sales pitch) about DSL-504T, and here for the technical specifications if you’re the techie one.

For your information, I bought this modem router in Melaka at RM 165.00.

In my opinion, the built-in router in this DSL-504T is actually quite comprehensive. The web-based management tool allows some advanced settings such as to setup inbound and outbound filtering, enable DMZ (Demilitarized Zone) for a specific server, configure the hardware firewall mechanism for DoS and port-scanning protection, as well as to enable RIP routing protocol.

The firmware is also upgradeable to newer standards like ADSL2, ADSL2+ and reach extended ADSL2 (RE-ADSL2).

Vacation at Siem Reap of Cambodia – Day 2

Continue from travelogue of day 1.

Due to variation of longitude between Malaysia and Cambodia, the day turned bright as early as 6am. When I woke up at 6.10am, for a second I thought I’ve gone overslept, as the windows were revealing a clear day view. Why did I wake up so early? Well, our itinerary of the day was scheduled to be started at 7.30am. I have to choose whether to sacrifice breakfast or sleeping hour. Obviously, to me, breakfast supersedes the priority for a slightly longer sleep. On the first day, our tour guide said he will be arranging for a morning call to wake us up at 6.30am, I thought he was joking but he actually did.

Before coming to Siem Reap, we have checked with a number of weather forecasting channels, and all revealed that Siem Reap will be poured with rains during our vacation. I was quite disappointed to hear the forecasted weather condition. How could we comfortably enjoy our visit during the wild-wow-wet rainy days? So, I said to myself: “well, you may rain, but please don’t rain on the second day (2nd Sept) of our trip, please give us a sunny Angkor day”

Surprisingly, during our vacation in Siem Reap, we didn’t experience any rainfall, except a short rain shower on the evening of 1st Sept. By contrast, we had to bear with the hot sun. The moral of the story is, don’t trust too much on weather forecast hahaha.

Ancient Angkor Heritage

The main focus of second day itinerary was the legendary ancient Angkor heritage. In fact, we have already stepped into the land of Angkor heritage on the first day evening by visiting the Phnom Bakheng for sunset. However, on the second day, we actually left our physical footprint on the prestigious symbol of Khmer empire – Angkor Wat.

For your further information, the hotel we were staying - Angkor Star Hotel (13°21'44.70"N, 103°51'20.51"E) in the modern town of Siem Reap, is considerably near to the Angkor heritage centre. At my rough estimation, the journey between these 2 ends is just about 6 km.

As shown in the following screen shot from Google Earth, is part of the paths we’ve traveled in Siem Reap. The yellow square is where Angkor Star Hotel located.



Before this trip, I thought the Angkor Wat means the whole ancient Angkor heritage; but apparently, I was wrong. In fact, the Angkor Wat is just one of the tens of hundreds of temples available in the heritage site. The heritage site is huge jungle, so huge that it’s practically tough and dangerous to travel within the site by foot. Most of the visitors will travel within the site by bus or hiring tuk-tuk (motorcycle taxi). All the temples in the Angkor heritage site are unique – they have combination of varying influences and civilization of architecture.

Angkor Wat

The Angkor Wat (13°24'44.82"N, 103°52'0.42"E), one of the seven wonders during the Middle Ages, was constructed during the reign of Suryavarman II in 12th century. Angkor Wat is the largest, best preserved, and southernmost temple at the Angkor heritage site, and presents a highly classical Khmer architecture design. Its status as the prime attraction of Cambodia is even depicted in the Cambodia national flag. The Angkor Wat was first dedicated to Vishnu of Hinduism.

The Angkor Wat is surrounded by moat, and we went into the central structure from the west via causeway, passing through the western gopura. Each side of the 350m causeway connecting the western gopura to the temple proper is featuring a library.







Yo, I was getting closer to the main enclosure of Angkor Wat. Our aimed and highlighted destination, is of course the central tower featured in every of the Angkor Wat pictures.



One of the architecture characteristic of Angkor Wat, is the redented towers shaped like lotus buds.



Motif of Apsaras at Angkor Wat.

Part of the Angkor Wat architecture is still under restoration by Sophia University of Japan and German Apsara Conservation Project. All the major temples in the Angkor heritage are currently under-going intensive restoration works. They are financially and technologically sponsored by supporting countries. The restoration work is not an easy task, and it takes time. The restoration team has to identify the broken bricks and stones from the puzzled pieces by using archeological facts, and put them back to where they were originated.



OK, after getting sweats from the distant walk, we finally came to one of the 5 towers of the central quincunx. The Angkor Wat is a representation of Mount Meru, the home of gods; and these towers symbolize the five peaks of the mountain.



Coming to the lower gallery of this tower is simple. But, a lot people will be stoned at the steep stairway leading up to the tower, and some will even consider skipping the climb and sacrificing the spectacular view on top of the tower.

However, to me, this is the part I love the most in the trip. I love climbing, but at watchfulness of course, as I had to carry my camera and tripod at my back. Climbing up to the tower made me refresh my naughty childhood of getting my leg twisted resulted from flying like superman from a stairway :p



Viewing from the top, the climbers are like spiderman.



The view of western gopura and Naga Causeway from Angkor Wat central tower.



Going down from Angkor Wat central tower is safer as one of the stairways is fitted with handle on the side. But people with fright for height might find it especially challenging.





Ta Prohm

Next, we went back to the bus, and continue our journey to Ta Prohm temple (13°26'5.70"N, 103°53'22.79"E) – the place where Tomb Raider movie featuring Lara Croft was filmed.



The moment we reached at the entrance of Ta Prohm, tens of Cambodians, majority were kids, have surrounded our bus. Each of them was carrying their items offering for sale, ranging from beads, scarf, travel books, and postcards to wooden crafts.

“Sir, 1 dollar for 10 postcards, nice nice cheap cheap, Sir 1 dollar Sir.”



Though the crowd is irritating at times, but at least they were not begging. They were trying to make a living by selling souvenirs; they had something to offer instead of begging with a bowl or vessel.

Ta Phrom was built in late 12th century and early 13th century, later than Angkor Wat. It was built by King Jayavarman VII as a Mahayana Buddhist monastery and university.

The most distinctive scene of Ta Phrom, is the atmospheric combination of huge trees growing out of the ruins and bold roots running along the galleries. The types of tree growing wild here are mainly the strangler figs and silk-cotton tree.

Though Ta Phrom wasn’t initially designed to have trees growing along the ruins, but this feature is the most significant attraction associated to Ta Phrom in modern days.



How small I was comparing to the roots of silk-cotton tree at Ta Phrom.



Bayon Temple in Angkor Thom

After visiting Ta Phrom which is especially known for its record as the Tomb Raider filming site, we headed to another wonder found in the Angkor heritage – Bayon (13°26'28.56"N, 103°51'31.99"E).

Bayon is a state temple situated at the centre of Angkor Thom, the capital city developed under the reign of King Jayavarman VII (the same king who had constructed Ta Phrom). Angkor Thom, which literally means great city, is geometrically oriented and covers am area which is an exact quadrangle. A gate opens exactly in the middle of each wall.

Among all the Khmer empire kings, Jayavarman VII is one of the most respected kings, until today. Highly regarded and prided as a good king, Jayavarman VII had initiated to lay down extensive network of streets connecting every town of the empire, built 121 rest-houses for traders, and established 102 hospitals. Besides, Jayavarman VII is also the king who led Khmer to defeat Champa. The sign of Jayavarman VII as a potent symbol of national pride is easily spotted everywhere – crafted statue of Jayavarman VII is practically available in any souvenir shop.

During the reign of Jayavarman VII, Bayon was built in 13th century and dedicated to Mahayana Buddhist.



You know you have reached Bayon, if you see a number of towers with multitude smiling faces surrounding you. Visitors are surrounded by face towers, each with two, three or (most commonly) four of the famous smiling faces.



This statue is claimed to have the best smile among all the multitude smiling faces in Bayon.

Besides the Bayon state temple, Angkor Thom is also housing the Terrace of Elephants and Terrace of Leper King.

Common Images found In Khmer Heritage

Though the Angkor temples are generally influenced by Hinduism or Buddhism, but there are a few auspicious images commonly found in the temple wall carving. The most common one is motif of apsaras.

Mythological and mythical animals like naga (five or seven headed serpent) and garuda (looks like a giant bird) are commonly spotted as well.

Massaging

After taking a rest and a short nap, we went to City Spa for massaging. I have no idea how many the massaging costs, as this is part of the paid-for package. We got to choose either body massaging or foot reflexology. I worried of pain in foot reflexology, and thus I went for the body massaging.

Impressively, City Spa actually has sufficient staffing and facilities to cater all the 50 of us and other tourists at the same time.

Street Strolling

It is very easy to navigate around the Siem Reap town. There are only a few aligned main streets, and most of the attractions were easily reachable within walking distance from Angkor Star Hotel.

In oppose to Malaysia traffic, Cambodian residents drives on the right. In most of the streets, there wasn’t any clear divider or line separating the lanes. Due to the fact that most of the vehicles used in the town were motorcycles, the traffic is Siem Reap town was quite messy – they were riding motorcycles like no one was on the street. However, comparing to Malaysia, the traffic in Siem Reap was relatively slow pace. According to the tour guide, the rate of road accidents is quite low in Siem Reap.



In Cambodia, I found that practically all the ladies or women at the motorcycle back seat were sitting sideway. I thought this kind of scene could only be seen in olden days, but apparently I witnessed it in Cambodia. Isn’t it unstable to sit sideway?



Based on my personal observation, there were quite a number of international schools in Siem Reap, easily spotted everywhere.



Tuk-tuk or motorcycle taxi, is a motorcycle with a cabin attached to the rear. For a tourist, this is most likely the preferred transportation mode to travel around. The rate is quoted in USD, and as usual, negotiable.

Siem Reap town is developing at rapid rate. Wherever I went, constructions were going on around. I believe, 2 to 5 years down the road, Siem Reap town will have another new dress. However, due to the constructions, I have to say that Siem Reap was quite dusty in general. No matter how clean your feet are, after strolling in the town, your feet will surely get quite dirty. Not only that, the lens on my camera easily got dusty as well.

Gasoline in Cambodia is expensive; in fact, one of the highest rate in Southeast Asia. Considering the low average income made by the local residents, they surely have a hard time. Thus, in your next trip to Cambodia, don't bargain too much on the tuk-tuk hiring price. Well, of course you should bargain for a lower rate than the one first quoted, but not too much la. They need to make their living too :)



In Cambodia, liqueurs are cheap and readily available. This picture was taken in a 7eleven-like convenient store in Siem Reap called Mastermart.



In Siem Reap, the price of beer was like the price of mineral water in Malaysia! It’s freaking cheap. A can of Angkor Beer was only priced at USD0.50. As shown in the following picture, the Germany OeTTINGER beer was only sold at USD0.35. Again, I have to say, this is too cheap. Well, perhaps the liqueurs and beers in Malaysia are way too expensive. Too bad the vehicles can't be powered by beer, or else I think the residents might choose to pump in beer instead of gasoline haha.

Won USD50 in a Night

One of the most trilling moment experienced in the trip, was winning USD50 cash in a few hours of a night. How was it possible? *winks*

Well, partly from the trivia quiz organized by my company; and another portion was contributed by casino :p

On the second night, we have held the monthly company gathering during our dinner. This time, the highlight was a pool of cash in USD up for grab. Each time 5 persons were called upon to participate in a trivia quiz. 2 our of 5 fastest respondents with the correct answer will win USD10 each.

From this game, my girlfriend and I have won USD10 each, contributed to a pool of USD20 hehe.

Next, after returning back to the hotel, we went into the small casino located within the hotel to try our luck. Instead of betting on roulette, my girlfriend headed to the rows of jackpot machine. She told me she wanted to look for the jackpot machine with the cutest cartoon, and she got clicked with a machine called Happy Seal.

I learned that getting clicked with a jackpot machine could really help your bet. She likes the graphic of sea seals so much, and happily pushing the big button to trigger her bet. Surprisingly, the seals are quite rich, kept on giving bonus spins and seal slides to my girlfriend. With investment of USD1, her fund suddenly got accumulated to USD30.

“ok la, satisfy already, it's enough for tomorrow's shopping hohoho”

So we quickly called for payout and happily laughing at the USD50 that we've just won for the night. Though this amount is not really a huge sum, but definitely enough for our next day shopping.

Continue reading travelogue of day 3..

Google Toolbar Could Safe You from Identity Theft

Early last year, when I wrote the word "phishing", a lot people (obviously people who are not aware of phishing scam) will shout and say I've made a spelling mistake. “No, wrong spelling. You don't know how to spell fishing meh”

Today, phishing is no longer a strange term, and I'm glad that increasing number of Internet users are aware of the existence of phishing attempts and its associative threats.

I've just came across Wingz's post titled "SCAM ALERT! - Public Bank PBeBANK Identity Theft", highlighting a recent phishing scam in attempts to steal login accounts from the existing PBeBank users. Well done Wingz for the detailed descriptions on differentiating between a genuine and a fraud site.

I've tried to access the honey-pot fraud site www.pbebank-my.com (warning: this is the phishing site), and the Google Safe Browsing mechanism bundled in Google Toolbar has promptly alerted me about the high possibility of this site being a web forgery. See, Google is doing a nice job in this aspect.



For your information, the Google Safe Browsing mechanism bundled in Google Toolbar is not foolproof. However, with the implementation of intelligent algorithm and collaboration of public reports, it is very likely to help identifying a phishing site.

If you are not tech savvy enough to identify a phishing site, I strongly recommend you to install the Google Toolbar as an additional course of prevention.

For your information, the new Internet Explorer 7 is featuring a similar safe browsing mechanism as well, which is designed to alert users on potential phishing or spoofing attempts.

How to Develop Windows Sidebar Gadgets?

Sidebar Introduced in Windows Vista

With Windows Vista getting near to its planned product release road map (latest release during this writing is RC1), it is now time to discover a little bit more about Windows Sidebar, one of the most useful user interface improvements made in Windows Vista.

Windows Sidebar is a pane on the side of the Windows Vista desktop that organizes gadgets and makes them easy to access. As shown in the following screen shot, the pane on the right of the desktop housing some small nice looking applets, is called the Windows Sidebar.



The Sidebar can be hidden or shown, depending on personal preference. Unless you are still using resolution of 800 x 600 pixels, I don't see any reason why the useful Windows Sidebar should be hidden.

Sidebar Gadgets

Well, the Windows Sidebar is not simply there for fun or decorative purpose. The Windows Sidebar is designed to house mini-applications called Sidebar Gadgets. Well, the Gadgets concept is nothing new. It is similar in purpose to Apple's Dashboard Widgets and Yahoo Widgets.

Instead of going to Windows Start > All Programs > Accessories > Calculator or Windows Run > calc to launch the calculator, you can have it always displaying on your desktop Sidebar. Instead of checking the RSS feeds by launching the feeds reader, you can have gadget of RSS Feed Viewer sitting on the Sidebar to present the updated feeds at a quick glance.

In the perspective of sales force automation, your company can even develop your own Sidebar Gadget to retrieve and display updated sales and inventory information. Basically, the imagination can get wild to ease your life.

Microsoft Gadgets has a gallery to showcase collection of downloadable gadgets.

What Technical Knowledge Needed to Develop Sidebar Gadgets?

I'm sure a lot people are interested to develop his or her very own Sidebar Gadgets, but on the other side doubting about his/her technical capability. What if I tell you that all you need to develop a simple gadget are HTML, CSS, Javascript and a little bit of XML? Yes, simple isn't it?

The Windows Sidebar is using IE7 rendering engine. Thus, whatever visual presentations renderable by IE7 are supported in Sidebar.

Visit Sidebar Gadget Development Overview to learn more about how you can develop a simple Sidebar Gadget.

At first, you will need to know the exact location where the sidebar gadget files are residing, either for individual user or all registered users in the Windows.

Then, create appropriate files and folders according to the defined format, and write your HTML files to display the gadget in docked mode, undocked mode, and even personalization or setting page. You are free to put in your own icon if you wish to.

Each and every gadget must be registered in the gadget manifest XML file. Please note that, Microsoft might still be changing the XML schema, till Windows Vista is finally rolled out into commercialization.

Gadgets with Advanced Capability

Well, HTML and Javascript are pretty much limited to present complicated processing. If you need more advanced and dynamic capabilities for your Sidebar Gadgets, you can always create a COM component and have your gadget talking to the COM installed. Yup, I agree COM is pretty old now.

To me, I'll prefer using asynchronous call (AJAX) instead of COM to access business logics and processing from the server.

Please note that, WPF gadgets is not available in the first version of Sidebar Gadgets.

Packaging Sidebar Gadget

The gadget can be simply packaged as ZIP or CAB file. The advantage of CAB packaging is that, your gadget can be digitally signed to increase the level of trust. You can create a CAB packaging by using Cabinet SDK.

Possible Security Threats

Security, security, and security. Sword has 2 edges. Good thing usually comes at the price for security threat. Since Sidebar Gadget can potentially be leveraged to perform complex processing, it can potentially harm your computer as well.

Only download and install gadget if you are sure of what it's doing :)

Vacation at Siem Reap of Cambodia – Day 1

Continue reading travelogue of day 2, and day 3.

Who doesn’t love traveling? Better still, a totally free and paid for vacation *winks* As some of you might be aware of, I’ve recently visited the land of ancient Angkor – Siem Reap of Cambodia, from 1st to 4th of Sept 2006, by participating in the annual company trip. I also brought my girlfriend along by paying a subsidized rate of RM1000.

Despite the fact that Siem Reap is blessed with one of the world’s most valuable ancient architecture – Angkor Wat, a lot people are still hesitating to visit Cambodia, even today. Some people tend to equate Cambodia with negative perceptions like fatal landmine, political instability and disgusting skulls. While some of these perceptions are still remaining partially true, but it is definitely not as bad as what you could have thought. In fact, due to the leaping growth in Siem Reap’s tourism industry, it is now very much a tourist-friendly place. The town depends so much on tourists that, the hotels and restaurants were once forced to be ceased from business during the political instability period.

AirAsia Delay the Flight Again



These are the all the documents needed by Malaysian to enter Cambodia. As part of the ASEAN collaboration initiative, no visa is required for Malaysia Passport holders.





We were flying with the most popular low cost air carrier in Malaysia – AirAsia. Our flight was AK 846, scheduled to depart at 10.30AM. Though I wish our flight could be departed on time, but history told me to be emotionally ready for slight delay. As expected, our flight was delayed for an hour, and departed at 11.40AM.

On The Plane

There weren’t many passengers in the flight. The plane was significantly occupied by my company.



I was glad that the weather was very good during our fly. The sky was clear, and the cloud formations were just nice. This condition gave me ample opportunities to take some nice shots on the sky.

Due to the flight delay, most of passengers were feeling hungry on the flight. After all, it was already lunch time when the place was taking off. Though the meals offered by AirAsia are quite pricey, but still selling like a hot cake. The nasi lemak priced at RM9 even tagged out-of-stock in just a short while.



Since the most worthy nasi lemak (most worthy in comparison to other instant noodles served) was sold out, my girlfriend ordered the Maggi Tom Yam Seafood Noodles priced at RM7 each. Well, meals served high in the sky on a plane flying at speed of 350MPH are given a privileged price tag.

The flight from LCC Terminal to Siem Reap International Airport is taking 2 hours and 5 minutes.



When the plane was approaching the Siem Reap International Airport, we have caught a spectacular sight on the largest lake in Southeast Asia – Tonle Sap Lake.

Siem Reap Town is Much Better than Expectation



Finally, the plane has landed at Siem Reap International Airport at 12.45PM GMT+07:00. Cambodian time is an hour in advance of Malaysian time zone.



The travel agent has arranged 2 Korean buses to cater for 50 participants of the trip. Each bus can fetch about 30 adults.



We have got quite a good tour guide for Bus A. Introducing himself as Mr. Wong, he can fluently convey his messages and converse with us in English, at minimal and ignorable grammar mistakes.

According to Mr. Wong, most of the workforces in Cambodia are working in agricultural field. However, due to deployment of inefficient farming methods and discouraging climate, the agricultural deliverables are only sufficient to supply for internal consumption, and no exporting capability is possible. Contrasting enough, most of the Cambodians prefer to buy products imported from Thailand instead of those produced locally, as the price of imported goods are cheaper. A major portion of the Cambodians are still remaining uneducated. Thus, the industrial engineering and methods are outdated, leading to economically inefficient productivity.

We learned that the only export that Cambodia has tapped is crickets. Yes, not agricultural goods but crickets. Luckily we were not served with crickets as dishes during our stay in Cambodia.

Siem Reap, blessed with the Cambodia’s most attractive tourism highlights, is highly dependent on economic growth from tourism sector. Hotels and accommodation facilities are blooming everywhere in the town, cozy restaurants are easily found, and constructions or expansions are easily spotted. Though the buildings in Siem Reap are not standing tall in general, but a number of classy hotels are boosting attractive architectural designs without the sky-touching glasses. Due to the rapid and healthy constructions going in Siem Reap town, I’m sure this place will look different in 2 years time.



Though motorcycle is one of the most commonly seen transportation mode in Siem Reap, but luxury cars like Mercedes-Benz were also spotted.

Angkor Star Hotel



During our vacation in Siem Reap, we were staying in the Angkor Star Hotel. Though it is not as classy as other 5 or 6 stars rated hotels, but its location is strategic. Located right in the middle of the busy town, it is very easy and convenient for us to travel around.

Convenient stores, internet cafes, dining places, laundries, Center Market and old market are all located within walking distance from the Angkor Star Hotel. Besides, a small-scale casino equipped with electronic roulette and swamp machines is also available in the ground floor.

Artisans d’Angkor

Quality craftsmanship is one of the main attractions of Cambodia. The first tourism spot we visited was Artisans d’Angkor, the Chantiers-Ecoles de Formation Professionnelle (CEFP) founded in 1992. The CEFP in Siem Reap is a place where the well trained artisans who received little education in rural areas are practicing their skills in economically viable environment. The CEFP has a number of workshops in rural areas to provide vocational training via apprenticeship to the uneducated youngsters.



The Chantiers-Encoles is composed of 2 training centres – the craftsmanship training centre in Siem Reap handling stone and wood carving, lacquering and gilding; and the national silk centre in Puok focusing on mulberry tree growing, silkworm breeding and treatment of the thread and its weaving. The one we visited was craftsmanship training centre.



The artisans and craftsmen in Chantiers-Encoles are showcasing excellent and impressive skills. Could you imagine how stone carving is done with hand?







The Chantiers-Encoles also has a retailing shop called Artisans d’Angkor World, which sells and promotes sculptures and statues. It highlights wood and stone carving crafts, lacquering and gilding crafts.

Phnom Bakheng

Next, we headed to the Phnom Bakheng, also known as Bakheng Hill or Bakheng Temple. The Phnom Bakheng is recognized as one of the best place in Siem Reap to enjoy the fantastic sunset view.

True to its recognition, there was a crowd at the top of Phnom Bakheng waiting to witness the spectacular sunset.



The path reaching to the top of Bakheng Hill is about 1 kilometer long. But, that’s not all. In order to enjoy the best view, you ought to climb up to the highest peak, which is the Bakheng Temple. The steps leading to the temple are narrow and relatively steep.





At the Bakheng Temple, think and dark clouds arrived before the sunset. The sky was so dark and it seems that a heavy storm is coming shortly. However, the cloud formation adds special effect to the sunset view as well, which presents an unordinary beauty of the nature.



The Phnom Bakheng is not only a place to enjoy sunset view, but a place to see the mysterious Angkor Wat from far as well. This shot is captured with the power of 12x (288mm equivalent) optical zoom.

The First Night in Siem Reap

Our first dinner in Siem Reap was a buffet at Jasmine Restaurant. In addition to the buffet with wide selection of delicious foods and local delicacies, we were also presented with the well-known Apsara dance show, which is a Khmer tradition in Cambodia.



The dim light at the dining area has posses some challenge to my camera. With dancers continuously moving around, exposure time or shutter speed of 1/2 second without the usage of flash is tough to get a shot of freeze moment. Then, I tried going to the stage front exposed with brighter lighting and turned on the slow-sync flash mode. Now only I could capture better and steadier pictures.



The Siem Reap town wasn’t bustling at night. To people like us who got used to staying up late to 12 midnight, it’s quite a challenge to find activities for filling up your time at night in Siem Reap, except going to the pubs.



There’s no fast food like Mc Donald’s and KFC in Siem Reap. Needless to mention any of the franchised café familiar to you. However, I’ve spotted the bottled Starbucks Frappuccino at a convenient store known as Mastermart.

Take a note at the currency shown on the price label of this bottled Starbucks Frappuccino. It is traded in USD instead of Cambodia Riel. In Siem Reap, most if not all, of the items and products on trade are quoted in USD. The Cambodia Riel is not in used, except for returning small changes as replacement for cents.





Continue reading travelogue of day 2, and day 3.

I'm Back

Hohoho…. Here I am, back from my vacation at Siem Reap of Cambodia and knowledge recharge at Microsoft Tech Ed SEA 2006.

I shall update a series of experiences I’ve gained in the past 2 weeks, in a number of sequenced posts.

I shall begin my updates with the short vacation at Cambodia. Stay tuned.