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This is another example of my engineer-ness. I was thinking about adding a computer to my car, what is known as a CarPC. Such a computer is typically used to provide music and videos for entertainment (it could also possibly be used to build a mobile WiFi hotspot if configured correctly).

Anyway, I was thinking about doing it. A CarPC could be installed in the boot of the car with little problem. I was thinking that an Atom based mini-itx board could be used, coupled with a small amount of memory and a solid state harddisk. Because the car will experience bumps and shocks, it is important to use a solid state drive. So, I was calculating the cost of doing this – about RM300 or so.

Then, the only trouble was with building a user interface to the computer. It has to be something that can be accessed from within the car. So, I thought of building my own little device with a screen and some buttons. Then, I suddenly realised that I could just use a PDA to control the CarPC. That was when the though hit me.

I could just use a PDA as the CarPC!

I have two old PDAs lying around, a Sharp Zaurus SL-5500 and an Acer Palm S10. The choice was evident on which to use. The Zaurus is infinitely hackable and had more computing power than the Palm. It has a 200MHz ARM processor, 64Mb RAM, 320×240 LCD display, keyboard, SD card slot, CF card slot. I plan to use the SD card slot for adding storage while using the CF card for peripherals (I have a wifi card for this device).

So, I dug up my old trusty Zaurus from my box of old stuff and plugged in the power cable. Nothing happened. Then, I shook the power socket a bit and the power-LED came on. That is a good sign. Then, I tried to turn it on and again nothing happened. I kept tapping away at the different buttons until something came on screen. However, the screen was dark because the back light did not want to come on. But after more fidgeting, the entire unit came to life! The batteries were just weak.

So, I logged onto the Internet and downloaded the latest version of OpenZaurus, a Linux operating system designed for the Zaurus. I flashed the internal firmware to the latest version and everything worked. This made me infinitely happy as I now have a semi-powerful computing device that I can install in my car. It runs on a 5V power supply which is easy to tap into, in a car.

So, the plan is to install a media player onto the Zaurus and test it to see if it can play MP3s and OGGs. If that works, the next thing to do would be to find a nice way to interface the Zaurus’ headphone socket to the car radio and provide a suitable 5V power supply. If that works, then it’s done!

In addition to playing media, I can install the wifi card onto the Zaurus and use it as a mobile way to say, check emails and such at public hotspots like at McDonalds or some other cafe. Now, that would be a real accomplishment. Wardriving is also a potential plus!
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I had the chance to visit The Mines shopping fair yesterday. It has been years since I have been there and the place has grown a lot in recent times. In addition to a new wing, where the top floor was once a mini theme park with rides and games for kids, it is now an entire floor dedicated to technology products and houses Malaysia’s largest IT retail store (with a lowest price guarantee!).

I had the chance to visually examine the picture quality of an LCD TV versus a plasma TV. It was clearly evident that the Plasma TV had a superiour image quality, with vivid colours. In contrast, LCD image quality seems to be perpetually screened with a layer of grey. This does not just apply to the blacks but also to the other colours. Blue oceans look blue on a plasma while they look a little dull on an LCD screen.

There is currently a promotion for a 32″ plasma from Haier, which is going for RM1588 (£300). This is a rather tempting buy as the RM1299 LCD does not come with any warranty while this Haier comes with a 3 year warranty. The main drawback is that the screen resolution for plasma TVs (852×480) are typically lower than LCDs (1366×768), which was visible on closer inspection.

Nonetheless, this 852×480 resolution is perfectly sufficient for watching DVD quality videos, which are typically 720×480 (NTSC). In this case, the video would have to be down-sampled instead of up-sampled for an LCD TV.

I also had the opportunity of viewing DLP projectors used for home entertainment. While these projectors can project images at any size, the contrast ratio is the worst of the lot. Everything looks like the colours had been drained out of them. They are also a little more expensive than the 32″ screens. So, it would be unwise to actually use a projector for a home theatre system (unless you planned to build a 20 seater mini-theatre at home).

Toshiba is doing a promotion and selling its AV500E 32″ LCD for RM1599 only. If I only plan to use the screen for watching videos, then 854×480 is a sufficiently high resolution. However, if I plan to use it as a living room PC as well, then the 1366×768 resolution would be better appreciated. I have a feeling that I may actually end up getting the Tosh instead.

While I was out shopping, I found the perfect keyboard for a HTPC – Genius Luxmate 810. It was designed for use with Windows Media Center Edition (Windows HTPC). It has a keyboard, remote and mouse pointer built into a wireless keyboard. It was retailing for RM99 at the computer store. This is one wicked keyboard for any HTPC.

http://picasaweb.google.com/s/c/bin/slideshow.swf

Since I was in Bandar Utama yesterday, I decided to pop by 1U just for the heck of it. Since it’s just days before Chinese New Year, the whole place was decorated for the festive season and I was even lucky enough to be there for the lion dance performance. This actually brought back some memories of my days with the CULDT. I could actually identify about half of the music.

Before that, when I first arrived, I bumped into someone whom I’ve not seen in 6 years or so. She’s two years my senior at university and we were friends and group mates at one time. It took me a few moments before realising whom it was. So, I then went up to her and called, “CC!”. Turns out that she’s actually working around the area and hangs out in 1U quite a bit. Even so, it’s still quite lucky for me to bump into her like that.

Then, I went off to watch the lion dance performance by our national lion dance champions. I ran back to my car (in the parking lot) to get my camera to take some photos. So, I was watching most of the performance through my camera lens. It was a rather dramatic performance. At one point, one of the poles that the lion was jumping on was felled by the act. As a result, the lion was trapped at the highest end of the poles and was ‘trembling’ there from fear. Then, after contemplating the wide chasm, the lion jumped and landed on the poles on the other side. That brought a rousing applause from the audience.

After the show, I went off to see another show – of Honda Citys! They had a number of the new Honda cars on display at their 1U roadshow. I got into one just to see how spacious the new model was – it was surprisingly very spacious. I sometimes wonder how these Honda engineers did it – built a car that looks so small from the outside but is so spacious inside. Honda cars have always been engineered well and it shows.

Randomness@1U. I think that I will probably hang out there a bit more in the near future.

Oh my frakkin’ gods! The final episodes of Battlestar Galactica are finally here and they are starting tonight. I am so psyched up by this and I cannot wait to find out who the final Cylon is. I have some suspicions and I am also in denial. A friend and I did a quick run down on who was left and why they could or could not possibly be the final Cylon. Let’s start from the left of the photograph of the main cast (the ones whom are non-Cylons already).

1. President Roslin (extreme left)
   It is very unlikely that she’s The One as she was dying from cancer earlier and had to be saved by a treatment of Cylon blood. If she was already a Cylon, she wouldn’t have needed the Cylon blood transfusion. Therefore, it is unlikely that she’s The One unless the script writers can explain that discrepancy away.
2. Lee Adama (fourth from left)
   He is a dark horse in this race. There are no indicators that he is a Cylon and the script writers could just spring a surprise. However, they would have to explain his entire life away and show how a baby Cylon was sneaked into the Adama’s family in the past. This could tie in nicely with the launch of a new series “Caprica”, which revolves around the Adama family 50 years ago. So, I think that this would be a very likely commercial probability.
3. Kara Thrace(sixth from right)
   She is a possibility as there is the case of her “coming back from the dead” under mysterious circumstances. The script writers have yet to satisfactorily explain the situation away. Furthermore, she’s had Cylonic visions and can hear ‘the song’ too. However, she hates Cylons too much and would be devastated to be one. Furthermore, I love her and I would be devastated if she was a Cylon. Therefore, she cannot be one! (I’m in denial)
4. Karl Agathon(second from right)
   While he is not a confirmed Cylon, he is unlikely to be one. He was chosen to father a half human-Cylon baby precisely because Cylons cannot reproduce (they only replicate). So, if he turns out to be a Cylon, the script writers would have a hard time explaining two whole seasons away on his relationship with Sharon. But then again, Saul Tigh supposedly impregnated a #6 (though we’ve not seen the baby yet).
5. Bill Adama(extreme right)
   “If I’m a Cylon then you’re all screwed” – Bill. Bill is the leading contender for the final Cylon. However, he is too obvious a choice. I believe that most fans would be let down if he was the best that the script writers could come up with. Therefore, I do not believe that he is The One (even with the obvious scene of him being spaced in the trailer below).

Anyway, everything is pure conjecture at the moment. We will find out soon enough as there are only 10 episodes left to go. From the trailer below, things look extremely exciting and I am looking forward to watching them at some point (and so is my mom).

Just when I thought it was going to be safe to buy a budget laptop, here comes a luxury laptop that will knock your socks off! I will let the photos speak for themselves. There isn’t much to say about it except that it is designed to be an AirBook killer. Anything else is pure speculation at this point. Enjoy!

Photos are (CC) BrianSolis.

The more I consider it, the less likely it is that I will ever buy myself a NetBook PC. A NetBook PC is basically a stripped down laptop that usually weighs less than 1kg and comes with a 10″ screen or so – basically a small and light laptop that you can carry around in your handbag. The main component that makes all this possible is the use of low power microprocessors, which reduce the need for an expensive and bulky cooling system.

However, due to price reasons, it is making less and less sense to actually get a NetBook. For example, consider the following devices from Lenovo (single unit dealer prices are quoted):

• Lenovo S10 (NetBook) – Atom 270/1.6GHz/512kb/533FSB/10.2″/1GB RAM/160GB HDD/GMA950 (RM1619)
• Lenovo G410 (Laptop) – CoreDuo T2390/1.86GHz/1Mb/533FSB/14.1″/1GB RAM/160GB HDD/X3100 (RM1489)

It is plainly obvious that the G410 is a better computer than the S10. It has a better graphics chip, a faster processor and a larger screen. The G410 is a real machine that can be used to do real work while the S10 is more a toy that is useful for checking email than running simulations. Moreover, if the devices are further scrutinised, there will be further advantages for the G410 including the cheaper price tag of RM130.

The only advantage that the S10 has is size. It is sufficiently small to be mistaken for an organiser while the G410 is a real laptop. Therefore, netbooks are pretty much only useful for yuppies and teenagers with rich daddies. For a price conscious student or a serious worker, an older model laptop is definitely a better buy.

However, I am quite interested to see a Atom based server system though. These babies would work very well in the data centre. Some early benchmarks have shown that an Atom 330 with two cores at 1.6GHz and capable of running two threads each, has excellent MySQL performance, easily beating a Pentium 4 2.8GHz machine by 265% (and consuming less than 5% of the electrical power).

I am now considering buying a Atom based system to power my back-end file server. I plan to set up a file server for storing all the encoded videos that I will be encoding for my HTPC. Having a dedicated file system would allow me to grow my storage according to my requirements. That way, I can just get a HTPC system without any built in storage (or remove any bundled storage), which will further reduce the noise levels of the system.

PS: As for the claims of being ‘energy efficient’, this does not translate into real world advantages. While the NetBook uses less power than a normal laptop, it also comes with smaller batteries. In effect, you still only get 2-3 hours of effective use before the thing dies on you. Less so, if you’re using wireless or 3G Internet.

Our dearest former PM has recently suggested that Malaysians should show our disgust at the events happening in Gaza by boycotting American companies and products. I guess that he meant that we should stop doing things like buying our Frappucinos from Starbucks. This had many of our local franchisees up in arms as they feared for their businesses (never mind the fact that our dearest former PM was the one who encouraged local bumiputera businessmen to engage in franchise businesses).

The fact that our country is so small, means that any boycott that we engage in, would inadvertently only harm ourselves. If we wish to use economic power as a way to send a message to certain super powers, it needs to be coordinated internationally. Farish Noor mentioned in his recent blog, some previous examples where such tactics were successfully employed in applying economic pressure on political regimes.

In addition, the boycotts would need to be directed at very specific entities. A blanket ban on all American products is stupid as we will ultimately feel the problems ourselves. So, the boycotts should be targeted at specific companies that invest heavily in Israel and be coordinated globally to have any sort of affect on them. Now, that is the difficult bit to achieve.

As for myself, I have been doing a quick mental inventory of things that I buy. Surprisingly, I have already been avoiding many American made products, particularly those with investments in Israel. For example, I typically buy either AMD or VIA based computer systems and not Intel ones. As for software, I have avoided Microsoft products like the plague and they have investments in Israel too. So, even though I have not been actively trying to boycott US companies with investments in Israel, I have been doing it anyway.

I cannot avoid using Google though.

PS: I like the fact that our government had convened a special session of parliament to discuss the war perpetrated by a state that our country does not recognise. I wonder how does one send a message to an entity that does not exist.