Wow, time really does fly. I am going to be 21 soon. An adult, too quick. During birthdays we are supposedly entitled to one wish, and this is my wish (request or whatever nicer words that fits in) :

i) Don’t buy me any presents. Instead, donate the money to a worthy cause.
ii) Wish me and pray for the less fortunate too.
iii) Do something nice for a loved one.

I dedicate my 21st birthday in hope of a better world.

It is about time. I have always been wanting/waiting for an app which would enable users to call via the internet (3G, WiFi). Reason being international calls is not cheap and I have contacts overseas which I would like to call. Recently, an app called Viber has been making a name for itself – it boasts free calls to any number using Wifi or 3G. I am only able to confirm the existence of the iPhone App for it.

To download the app, click here. Oh, did I mention that the app is free?

Once you have downloaded the app, launch it and it will request for your phone number. Type in your phone number correctly and you should receive a confirmation with an access code in it. I have heard reports of people not receiving their codes though I received mine seconds after confirming my phone number. Weird. Let me know your experience!

Get your family and friends on Viber!

Stereo Mix is enabled by default in Windows 7 though I am not sure whether it is the case for every other PC.

First, locate the speaker icon on the right of your taskbar. It should be located next to the time/date display. Right click it and select recording devices.

Then, a window should pop up. You should be seeing something like the image above. If you are able to see the “Rec. Playback” icon, you are set to go. To send audio from your computer directly, just select the “Rec. Playback” input as your microphone.

If you do not see the “Rec. Playback” icon, right click anywhere on the window and hit “Show Disabled Devices”. The “Rec. Playback” icon should appear in grey. Right click it and click enable. You’re done!

Fresh off the 8 hour long flight from Negaraku, you probably would want to establish a communication link between you and your contacts (family, friends, banks, university, etc). If you require a contact number as quick as possible I would suggest purchasing a prepaid plan at the airport. Be sure to make it clear to the salesperson that you intend to buy a prepaid plan (SIM card) or they might sell you a reload instead. However, if you do make the mistake, do not worry as they will not hesitate to give you a refund on the spot. Yay to good business ethics!

Purchasing a prepaid plan
Purchasing a prepaid plan would not bind you to a contract. You use the amount of credit your have purchase in a certain period of time and reload at your pleasure. However, prepaid plans are generally more expensive than the postpaid plans (depending on your usage and how you look at it). There are a variety of prepaid plans in the market. Some even throw in a hand phone (possibly requiring you to dump in some extra cash) for your geeky desires though the phones are often not the latest models.

Where can I purchase a prepaid plan?
As mentioned above, you might only be interested to buy a prepaid plan for short term and immediately after your flight touches down. Look around the arrival hall. There would be shops with notable telco provider logos on signboards. However, do note that some shops might only sell reloads. I repeat, some shops might only sell reloads! But don’t worry if you made a wrong purchase, they will refund you on the spot (as mentioned previously).

What would I need?
To purchase a prepaid plan you would need your passport (for identification purposes) and cash or any other form of accepted payment. You will also be required to fill up a form which asks for your personal details such as passport number and address in Australia. Nothing to worry here. Standard procedure.

Which Telco should I subscribe to?
I would not be too picky with the telco providers when purchasing a prepaid plan. Reason being you can change allegiance at any time. Do some research on the extra features these companies toss in for you i.e. free calls to numbers of the same provider etc. Besides that, you might want to pick a telco provider with good coverage and service. The only prepaid plan I was ever on was from Vodafone. I had no complains with their service.

How much would it cost?
There are many prepaid plans available for purchase. If I am not mistaken, the cheapest I could locate at the airport was 50 AUD. That lasted me for about a month before I decided to sign a postpaid plan. If you think you would need more time before deciding on a postpaid plan, by all means go for another prepaid plan or simply just reload your credit!

What next?
Once you have purchased your prepaid plan, you will be given further instructions by the salesperson on how to activate the SIM Card. I cannot remember exactly what I was told other than to wait for an hour or so before being able to use my SIM card. Once your SIM Card is activated, congratulations! You are now connected in Australia!

Purchasing a postpaid plan
So you have settled in, opened a bank account and finally are ready to take the plunge. Oh yes, postpaid plans have the most attractive phones to lure you in too! Before you bind yourself to any plan, make sure to do a thorough research on available offers. Most importantly, it is probably a good time to examine your hand phone habits. How much do you message per day, how long to you spend on calls and how much 3G data you would require (if applicable). Or simply you want that particular plan because of the phone it offers. I have to admit I chose my current plan because it bundled the iPhone 3GS. No regrets though, it is serving me well.

Where can I purchase a postpaid plan?
You can purchase a plan at any reseller. They are commonly located in shopping malls such as the Toowong shopping village along Sherwood road or the Central Business District (CBD). Just be prepared to receive bad news that the phone you are vying for is out of stock at that particular branch! I would suggest purchasing your plan at the CBD as even if one shop is out of stock, there probably another reseller just down the road. I got my plan at the CBD too (because the reseller at Toowong did not have the phone I wanted for quite some time till I got fed up).

What would I need?
Purchasing a postpaid plan is a little bit tricky. That is because the giant corporations would like proof of your residency and financial capability before signing the contract. You would need a bank certified account statement, your passport and perhaps another document which I cannot recall. I don’t think it would the lease to your room/house/. However, bring it just in case.

Which Telco should I subscribe to?
The telco you subscribe to is VERY important. Remember, you are subscribing for at least a year (depending on your plan). And if you discovered that you prefer another provider, you will have to pay a fee to break the current contract you are signed on. I am currently a Three user and I would have to say although they have one of the best postpaid plans out there, the coverage and reception is poor. You would get very low to no signal indoors. Yes, even on a single floor house, you might not get any service at all! Besides that, even outdoors, there are some spots with no coverage. In my opinion, Telstra and Optus has the best coverage but their plans may be slightly more expensive than Three. Also don’t forget to lookout for promotions such as incentives for referring friends and free calls to numbers on the same telco provider.

How much would it cost?
There are many plans to choose from. Analyze your habits and pick the plan which best suits you. You WILL be charged for any excess usage and they are usually astronomical! As for me, I am currently on a $49 + 5 + 6 plan. $49 is what I am paying for to use on calls and messaging, the $5 just because I choose to have the iPhone 3GS and the $6 for the extra 500 MB of data. My contract would span 24 months. Currently, I am only using 1/3 of my allocated spending credits. What a waste. All that waste just for the iPhone 3GS. (It has served me very well though). Alternatively, just buy the phone you want elsewhere and subscribe to a plan without a phone.

What next?
Go nuts, show your friends your new phone! Go call someone. Message your friends. Make use of your free call credits too!

Maybe the image below will enlighten you

The website is not affiliated to the organisers of the CWG2010. They are independent and are a collaboration of writers just like this website! http://www.commonwealthdelhi.com/?s=hockey&submit=Go

Oh, just spotted another typo. Pints instead of points. :]

What you want to do is create a “Map” folder in your starcraft 2 folder located at C:\Users\USER\Documents\StarCraft II (replace USER with your windows username). I don’t think that you have to necessarily place the “Map” folder at the specified directory. You will see why later. Go online and download your favourite maps or any maps that interests you. Extract/Save it into the “Map” folder you have just created.

Then, what you do is right click the map you would like to play and open it with the starcraft2.exe. The game should load you are ready to go!

So how do customize my gameplay i.e. select race? Double click the map to start up Starcraft 2 Map Editor. Then, look at the top toolbar for “Map”. Click it to find “Player Properties” and then click it.

You will get a pop-up window similar to the one shown below. You can then select of each player (even yourself of course) and possibly many more options are available. I haven’t had the time to explore them yet. Once satisfied, save the map (or save it as a separate map file) and launch it with the steps prescribed above.

PS – I don’t know how to set the AI difficulty. If anyone has any idea, care to share? Cheers!

EDIT

I think I might have found a way to set the difficulty of gameplay. Load any map you want to play with starcraft 2 editor, then click File->Preferences. Then, find the “Test Document”, click it. You will be able to set game speed and difficulty. Run the game by clicking CTRL + F9. Enjoy!

EDIT 2

Seems that if you’ve logged into your Battle.net account and played a match or two on a computer, the next time you choose to play as guest, the maps will be there. Cheers!

Wow, I really lost my Midas Touch (stared at wordpress for an hour before finally writing). Not turning whatever I touch into gold, silly! But my writing skills. Bla bla bla, you might want to contest the usage of Midas Touch too. I just can’t pen my thought as good as Jian Wei! Should probably read more books and get a feel of how one should professionally express him/herself Or perhaps I should read more Shakespeare-ish novels…. Oh right, in the first place I don’t even like to read novels. No wonder my writing style is very dry. Just like what you would get from an informative article. Get straight to the point and bash the reader with whatever points you are wanting to bring forth! Guess my habit of not reading books is only to my disadvantage, though I can’t force myself to like reading books, can I? Maybe I shouldn’t even be writing.. kekekeke

Finally been to Melbourne after about 6 months in Australia. Usually, Melbourne would be most Malaysians’ first destination in Australia. I’d propose a saying, “You gotta be kidding me if you haven’t step foot into Melbourne and call yourself a Malaysian!”. Yeah lame saying. But don’t stab yourselves in the chest when it catches on. Comparing Melbourne and Brisbane, I would prefer Brisbane more! Maybe its because I have settled down in Brisbane or perhaps my inner kampung boy just likes a slower pace of life. Was brought up in a small town for 7 years before moving to Subang Jaya mind you. Enjoyed climbing trees, collecting bugs, fishing and playing with fire. Bet you city kids never had the experience huh?

Being twenty and nearing working life (Nicholas is already getting waped everyday), life definitely has changed. For those twenty and above, just look at yourself and the situation around you. You’ll see the difference.

PS : I actually find this pot redundant!!!

That almost sounded like a marriage ceremony eh..? Well, it is depending on how you look at it. So on this very day, Sabah, Sarawak and Singapore joined the Malaysian Federation to become one kick-ass nation. Though Singapore pulled out 2 years later for whatever reasons we cannot be sure (due to a bias historical view from both side). It makes me think how things would have been different if Brunei did join the Malaysian Federation… more oil for the masses???

I would like to take this opportunity to assure our East Malaysian (Sabahans and Sarawakians) brothers and sisters that there are West Malaysians that cherish/celebrate/remember this day as much as you do!

I have on numerous occasions been to Sabah (unfortunately I haven’t been to Sarawak) for a month or two for vacation. That was also during my dad’s work obligations over there. What I like about Sabah is the seafood! I can recall the amazing seafood I enjoyed as a kid … and most importantly…. for a cheap price! Places I remember going to are Tawau, Lahad Datu, Sandakan, Semporna, Kota Kinabalu, Labuan and…… Sipadan Island (just beautiful!). Could recall the roadside stops to purchase “Udang Galah” from “fishermen” and also playing snooker/watching TV in the middle of nowhere (in the oil palm plantation). Also saw a wild hornbill.

Okay I seem to just been bashing out sentences instead of writing as awesome as Jian Wei… that’s what happens to you when you study Engineering … ahha jk jk

Also climbed the Kinabalu Mountains till the 3rd station.. my sister went on to the peak a year ago… UNFAIR!

So I saw a video of Wei Ling’s birthday celebration by her Kampar mates popping up on Facebook recently. It is a 18 minute clip! Good if you want to fill your time with something to watch. Was looking through the clip and I saw something in particular that caught my eye. Did you see the Coffeestops! crew picture (from the about page) used in one of the presentation!? Thanks to the peeps who included us into Wei Ling’s birthday wish. Ha ha… We’ll I guess now that close to a hundred people have seen our faces, we gotta be extra careful where we go. Perhaps there are some Wei Ling fans who are just itching to seek “justice” for her after some authors, ( I’m sure I have) embarrassed her via videos and blog posts (sometimes).. Ha ha…

Why la didn’t put more embarrassing pictures of Wei Ling up for the whole class to see?!?!

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=7035661&id=656660827&ref=fbx_album#!/video/video.php?v=441553279456&ref=mf