First review of LG G5

Remember last month I talked about my new LG G5? That was while I had just got it, and did not managed to use it much yet. So far the phone has basically been "functioning well", why I said that? Well, after using it for about a month, it's true of my believe that the technology in G5 is not as advanced as Samsung, not really on par with S7.

Although it came with the AOD, but I don't really find it useful, especially at night, when it's dark and you are trying to sleep, there you go, some faint light coming from the phone. So, it's good to use it as a night light for you to find the phone in the dark. If you want to sleep, turn the phone upside down or turn off AOD. One more thing, although it was advertised to use little battery power, but I think it's really not so. I found that if you switch it off, the phone's battery can last longer, hey, that's me saying, you don't have to agree, do you own experiment!

It's much easier to do screen captures, instead of pressing both phone rear's power button and volume down button together for G2, you use the Capture button on the top menu.

Yes, the camera is good, take good picture, the wide angle camera is very useful for capturing more. Do you notice that there's a flashlight icon on the 'top menu' (tell me the name if you know this)? Hit it to enable the flashlight. Cool! Now I don't have to install 3rd part apps to have that.

Now, one thing I don't like, they took away the 'Smart Stay' and 'Smart Pause' functions! I have it in my old G2. It was such a good functions, now I have to place my finger on the screen just to stop the screen from turning off when I'm reading something on the phone! Unless, I try to find another app to have these functions. LG, please bring the functions back!!!

My new LG G5

After months of thinking and considering whether to get a Note5, S7 or G5, it finally came the time to make a decision. Yes, it's official! LG G5, that is.

There are a couple of reasons why I got the G5. One reason was that it was cheaper, and got cheaper after the Corporate discount sets in, and cost less than the other two. The second reason was because I'm used to the G series, my previous was a G2, so is the previous, previous one, though, its 3 generations apart, I still went for it.

True enough, LG has been lagging behind Samsung in terms of technology and offering surprising phone features, well, they still have followers like me. From what I know, the G5 don't come with wireless charging, with not so incredible screen or features and the battery capacity was pathetic at 2800mAh, not huge like its cousins, I just hope that I can last long. But, the one thing I'm used is the Knock-knock to bring up the screen. I hope that the newer phone's knock code is still working flawless, plus, it came with Always-On, so it would save some battery power, don't have to keep knocking on it to activate the full screen to check SMS, WhatsApp message or time.

The G5 camera came with 2 back cameras, one for near shots, and other with the wide angle, looks good, but well, nothing really special. Camera settings and features are bare basic, like what other camera phones offer too!

Back from a trip

Been out of action from work since last Friday till today, I had taken time-off from work on a trip up north to visit some relatives and going on a R&R. The weather had been hot lately, same goes when we were driving hundreds of KM up north. However, it rained when we were on our way there, it was raining so heavily that we had to slow down driving and switched on the hazard lights just so that cars behind can see us.

After settled at our relatives house, we went on to stay at a retreat called Valley Agro Park (http://www.valleyagropark.com/about.html). Things there were quite basic, no phone (and no mobile signals sometimes), no TV and aircon. Water wise is straight from the tapes, and no heater. Food wise consist of Chinese style cooking, with no pork. A simple dinner of 3 veges and 2 meat cost around RM250. Accommodation wise are wooden floored houses, some over a pond. It would be good for city people who wants get away from the hectic city life and to stay in kampung style place for a while to relax.

Next, we went off to Genting Highlands! The highlight of our trip. It was really a contrast living there at 6000ft in the hotel resort. The amenities are better of course. The weather is also cooler. Too bad the theme park was not ready yet, so it was still very much a casino place.The last time I was there was more than 20 years ago, things looked different.

Tomorrow is back to work day, holiday is over, but I'm look forward to the next one...

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

This is the "in" thing these days in the Net. Someone wanting to start an online ebiz or companies trying to increase their Net presence could spend couple of hundreds or thousands to raise their websites to the top of search websites like Google by apply SEO concepts.

There are even courses in Youtube teaching people how to do SEO. I have even heard about companies training people to be SEO gurus. Why haven't I thought of doing it on my blog site? Maybe I should read up on SEO, and improve on my site search, so that more people can find it. 

I wish to have more time

I wish to have more time for many things. More time to spend with my little one, more time to read, more time to sleep...

Everyone gets the same amount of time everyday, but if you are working, there's a general feeling that time is not enough! How many of us spend time reading and replying emails everyday? Work emails, private emails? Let's not forget Whatsapp and other messaging. Virtually, we could be spending 24x7 waiting for something. Quality of life is lost.

I wish it was like many years ago, no hp, no messaging, no emails, no internet. At most, a pager, I just want to rest more, I need more time for my family, really that simple.

To do list for Feb 2016

Now in the mid of February, there are already tons of things waiting to be done. My team To Do list is almost 50 nos. long, and there are still many tasks coming up.

Having to spend hours and hours in meeting, it took away my time to do useful things. Getting calls during the meetings are common, that simply means I shouldn't be in the meeting! Yes, get out and do something else more fruitful.

Nowadays, security is the main focus, day in, day out, almost 60-70% of the time we are dealing with security audit RFIs, interviews, fixes, implementation, patching, etc. No longer are IDS good enough, now we have IPS (HIPS, NIPS), ArcSight Logger, syslog servers, Web defacement monitor and restorer appliances, SIEMS, WAF, Tripwire, the list goes one. The interesting thing is that the customers wants what others have, and yet, they didn't realised all these things cost heaps!

Happy 2016!

Another year has passed, that reminds me that I have grown another year older! I'm no longer that young kid with full of energy, working 7 days a week, more that 15hours a day.

Just a few years ago, I was still able to clock a decent timing for 10KM, 21KM or Marathon, but now having stopped for a while, don't think I can even complete one without having to walk most of the time. The other significant thing is that my weight has gone up! I hate it, but ever since the little one came, I haven't been able to go on a regular exercise routine. Well, cannot blame anyone, maybe I was too lazy, HA!

This new year started off with more work to be done, in fact, there are two concurrent audits going on, and internally, there are VA and PT on systems those results that we have to follow-up. So few people in the team has the bandwidth to do the follow-up, because they are already so tied to the day to day work.

How's the robotic vacuum cleaner doing?

Remember I bought that Robotic vacuum cleaner last month?

Fantastic! Although it can only manage to clean up about 80% of the area, it is good, really. Well, since it's round, it is not good at cleaning corners, a minus point. One thing that it does well is to clean up all the hair on the floor in its path. It does make noise due to the brushes and motor, but it is still acceptable.

It only vacuum, but not mop. The power of the vacuum is not that strong, but imagine once it completes a full charged vacuum cycle (~90mins), the dust collector bin were full of dust and hair to be cleared.

It's also smart, once it almost run out of battery power, yes, it's on chargeable batteries, it automatically navigate back to the base station to re-charge. So far, it has been able to "go home" itself, even if it's in the bedroom, out of sight of the base station!

The other thing is that it talks too, e.g. greets you before it starts work, inform you when it's running out of power, tell you when it's stuck, or the best one, when you pick it up, it will tell you to put it down!

Robotic Vacuum Cleaner

I have been looking around for a good robotic vacuum cleaner. Can't really find it in electric or electronics stores, it seems that it's still not a popular item in households here. But, when I tried to search for them in the Net or from online shops like Qoo10, there are plenty of models to choose from. There are brands such as LG and Samsung to those from China and Hong Kong. The Korean brands are more expensive, some could cost more that $1K. For those not so well known brands, they are in the range of $100 to $400.

I'm still looking for one that can suck up hairs and dust, with battery lasting many hours, auto-homing to charging base and has the capability to run on scheduled times. If you find one, do let me know.

My lovely one

Oh my, how the little one has grown. Although still not able to say a proper sentence, I can tell that she trying. 'Da..da...", she called. I think she's calling for me.

From a small baby to a toddler, seeing her learning to turn over, crawl, stand-up, walk and run, it's an experience as a parent goes through and it's always so joyful one.

Soon, she will learn how to say a sentence. She knows what we are trying to say, obviously, we need to give her the encouragement to speak up. Time will come.

Haze and F1

So, here comes the haze, at times climbing beyond PSI 200, pretty bad with that burning smell lingering in the air. People here are snatching masks till they are sold out. Haze is something that came from our neighbour and we have no control over.

So, will the F1 be cancelled or postponed due to the haze? Some F1 drivers said they are staying indoors most of the time, yes, it's a serious health hazard. Billions of dollars are at stake. There is nothing much that we can do. It's annoying and hurting, but life still have to go on.

How are you today?

I'm fine, thank you.

A simple good question to ask when you meet someone be it in the office or on the go. The weather is getting hotter, and the haze seems to be back, although not as serious compared to years ago.

Few days back something bad happened in Bangkok, a disaster struck, some people were hurt. This is not good. Why would there people who wants to hurt other people? There are many questions that need to be answered. Life is short, we must learn to treasure it, especially if you have your own family with children. Nothing is more important than caring for your loved ones.

The sign

There seems to have some tell-tale signs that something is coming, the ministers are coming out talking, the opposition are talking. The MPs are getting busier. There are also new faces visiting the neighbourhoods. There's rumour saying the GE is coming on 12 or 19 Sept. I'm not sure about that, unless it's confirm by the ACE of SPADE.

Somewhere up north, things are not doing well for the top ACE, too many bad rumours and stories spreading around, are they true or not, no one dare to confirm. Hopefully one day, things will be clear.

Politics are complex, involved many people, no one can totally trust anyone, not even if he or she is close to you. In a work office, it's not uncommon to hear about people back stabbing each other. Everyone knows about office politics, but most are just playing along, no big deal. Keeping an open eye, be vigilant, remain focus with your job, that's the key to survive in the hectic and sometimes chaotic and cruel corporate world.

Try to bake something

Recently, I tried to bake some bread and cheesecake, well how difficult can it be? just follow the manuals and instructions, and then do it.

Ha ha...it's not easy, really. My first 2 tries on making baguette didn't work as expected, they look like one, but they are just too hard to be eaten. I also tried to make cheesecakes, just the normal ones, nothing fanciful. The first one tasted more like baked cheese, the second one, which I tried last night, look more like one, but it was flatten out, it didn't "rise" up like that kind of cheesecake you get from a bakery.

Something just seems to be not right, is it the flour that I'm using? The temperature? The Oven? I don't understand. I just hope that someone can enlighten me on this.

Expect heavier workload

Coming to the end of June, almost half year 2015 gone. This Sunday, there will be 2 major upgrade activities, one would be front by another of our senior Unix admin, and the other by me. Interestingly, the overall OIC is staying home, waiting for our updates, while we are working hard over the midnight and afternoon.

This month was also quite disappointing, while we got our bonus, but one thing I had expected didn't come, a promotion which would have uplifted my moral. Sadly, after so many years, it seems the bosses don't see me fit for one. It's ok, life moves on. Maybe if there's a better opportunity, I will grab it.

David Letterman's late night show

It has been quite sometime since I last watched the Late show with David Letterman. I remember many, many years ago, it was one of the rare late night American shows that I used to watch, so do my friends, when we were much younger. Sometimes, I may not understand American's humour well, but, it was still funny, you know? It finally ended, David will no longer appeared on his show anymore, he will be missed, definitely.

http://www.thewrap.com/david-letterman-last-show-social-media/

If time can roll-back

If ever time can roll-back, I wish I had got married earlier and live happily in a family with many kids. Most of my friends and peers were married younger than me, and their kids were already older.

Work had always been my priority when I started working. I was ambitious and don't care less about my other well-being, but not to the point of bulldozing my way out of any situations and hurt people. I have always been nice, I guess too nice, trying to help people when they come to me.

Time passes fast, I remember the time on 11/9/2001, I was in the office's pantry checking at the CNA TV news telecast on the Sep-11's WTC strike. Then it was in 26/12/2004, the Indian Ocean Earth quake and Tsunami that destroyed lives of many people. The SARS from 2003 to 2004. The global economy crisis of year 2008, pay freeze,...and may other things happened in the last 15 or so years.

Recently, a news article touched many people's heart, including me, it's about a young toddler becoming the youngest person to be cryogenically frozen - http://yourhealth.asiaone.com/content/thai-toddler-becomes-youngest-person-be-cryogenically-frozen

As human, we always try to look at the bright side of things, hearing nice things, eating good food  and wear pretty clothes, but we know the world is not perfect. Sometimes, there are sad and unhappy things that we have to live with. Remember this, if you are still alone now, go get yourself a partner fast, don't wait till you are old and rotten, lonely gets lonely, and when you start to regret, it may be too late.

Let's live life to the fullest!

Don't look back

The whole city was sadden by the loss of the founding Father. A week of mourning attracted millions of people here to pay their last respect to Him either at the Parliament House, where a queue could last 10 hours, or at the other tribute sites located around the neighbourhoods centres.

Rain or shine, hungry or thirsty, it doesn't matter, the important things in the mind of people was that everyone gathered as a united nation, you help me, I help you, that was the time when you truly see the spirits of the one people, one nation, one Singapore.

While the founding Father had left, there is no looking back, we will survive, so let's move on...

Growing up

Able to see the LO growing day by day is an experience someone who is not a parent would not go through. Watching the LO taking the first step, fall and come back up again, and continue to walk, the determination to do better every time can be felt.

Now, LO has so many things to do and to play, so busy walking and running around the house. LO is now able to slowly climb down from the bed, clap hands, fingers pointing and smile at people, these make my day! Especially, after a day of hectic, tiring work, priceless, nothing to compare!

The little one's first step

I wasn't home early yesterday, worked late as usual. Then I saw this video of the LO walking without any assist for the first time. Yes, I got very emotional and excited at the same time. By the time I got home, the LO had already gone to bed. I hardly slept for the night, and on the next morning, I went to LO's bed and gave hugs. This is the time in life where you will get so uplifted, I have waited long for this to happen. So happy...