Zestful One

Cut the Rope now FREE on IE9!

Posted by IcedNyior on February 8, 2012  |  No Comments

Cut the Rope is one of my favourite games on the iPhone. Its a puzzle game where candy is tied on strings and you will have to manipulate and cut the strings to feed a green blob called "Om Nom". Apparently it has been downloaded over 60 MILLION times to date!

The great news today is that, instead of paying $0.99 (approx RM3~) at the AppStore (US link), you can now get it for FREE on PCs with Internet Explorer 9 installed.

Now I know that many people especially designers and web developers, may cringe at the mention of IE but as I wrote during the launch of IE9 beta back in Oct 2010, Microsoft has overhauled IE9 from the ground up and integrated it beautifully with Win 7.

Cut The Rope is playable directly from the web at www.cuttherope.ie, showcases the advanced and powerful HTML5 capabilities of Microsoft’s latest and most powerful web browser, Internet Explorer 9 (IE9).

ZeptoLab, the creators of Cut the Rope, collaborated with technology specialists at Pixel Lab and with Microsoft’s Internet Explorer Team, to deliver the game to online audiences with HTML5 technology and JavaScript. The developers discussed their technical approach to this project, and the challenges that they faced, in a short blog post including a video interview, which can be found at www.cuttherope.ie/dev/.

Eighteen (18) levels of the game are playable with most modern web browsers but seven (7) bonus levels are available exclusively to users who pin the game to their Windows taskbar with IE9.

Gamers that pin Cut the Rope to their Windows 7 taskbar, will find that IE9 takes on the look and feel of the game and unlocks unique levels not found in any previous versions of Cut the Rope. For further improvements, with the hardware acceleration enabled in IE9 and Windows 7, the game looks and feels just as rich and immersive as developers intended the game to be. This is the first of many games that Microsoft’s will be bringing to the web via IE9. Hot gaming titles such as Pirates Love Daisies, Disney’s Tron, and The World’s Biggest Pacman are all currently in the pipeline toward release with Windows 7 and IE9.

Microsoft’s IE9 can be downloaded at www.beautyoftheweb.com.

Cheap roaming calls while overseas? (Flexiroam Giveaway!)

Posted by IcedNyior on December 27, 2011  |  4 Comments

I’ve been blessed in 2011 to have travelled to many places throughout the year – Kota Kinabalu, Singapore, Penang, Hong Kong for a work trip, Malacca for my birthday trip and most recently, my first Euro trip to Venice, Rome and London.

The hustle and bustle of the Hong Kong streets

As a “seasoned traveller”, my habit is to usually research on the best prepaid multisim telco provider in the destination I was planning to travel. Now there are two problems with that :

1. I will not be able to receive incoming calls/texts to my Malaysia number (because I’ve swapped out the simcard).
2. But, if I don’t get a local sim, then I’m faced with a second problem, the ROAMING CHARGES!

When I was in Hong Kong, I bought a local sim for my personal number but I still had to use my work number and keep it active. And of course, it being a weekday, I received calls from clients and the office regarding work. Calls which I had to keep short and sweet.

The damage?

Yes, RM18.90 for 4 MINUTES of calls. That amounts to RM4.61/minute! How crazy is that? Not to mention that the credit limit you set on your phone bill is not applicable when you’re overseas? That means that you will continue racking up bills even though your credit limit is say, RM100. (Note: this applies to Maxis as of May 2011. I’m not sure if its still the case at the time you’re reading this or for other telcos).

Well unluckily for me (coz I found out too late), but luckily for you, there’s a service to solve that problem!

FlexiRoam (www.flexiroam.com) is a service that allows you to receive and make unlimited amount of calls to Malaysia without changing to a new international mobile number.

While you are overseas, calls made to your Malaysian mobile number will be forwarded by FlexiRoam to your foreign mobile SIM card which you can purchase locally at your destination country. This means Malaysian users do not need to inform their contacts of any new international mobile numbers.

Also, unlike services like Skype and the like *coughyeslifecough*, FlexiRoam does NOT require internet access, but leverages on the GSM network and is available in more than 200 countries such as China, Australia, Taiwan, Hong Kong (!), Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore, United Kingdom and India.

And how much is this service? A mere RM10 a DAY for UNLIMITED incoming/outgoing calls!

(Can you tell how unfortunate I feel for paying RM18 for 4 friggin minutes?)

Signing up is FREE! Which means you can sign up, login and explore what FlexiRoam has to offer before committing some moolah. They also have helpful tips on the countries you are travelling to, for instance, did you know that Prepaid SIMs are not widely avaiable in Japan? Yea, I read that from their FAQ.

Also their service is quite flexible based on where and when you are travelling, you can buy passes for the whole duration of your travel, or just 1-2 days when you need it.

Updates: Flexiroam is now available for Singaporean users for SGD10 per day!

======GIVEAWAY======

Now the best part!

FlexiRoam has generously offered to giveaway 10 x RM50 FlexiRoam credit to you, my dear readers. That’s FIVE whole days of unlimited calling while overseas! Call your loved ones while you’re away, call your best friends to make them jealous, call your clients to settle work, call your hotel to make arrangements, call whomever you want.

Good luck!

How to avoid bad body odour

Posted by IcedNyior on October 2, 2011  |  No Comments

I had this friend who had bad body odour. It was so bad that we wouldn’t sit near him when we went out because we couldn’t really stand his smell. I spotted him wearing the same shirt two days in a row and so I asked him about it. He said “I only change shirts if I wear it for more than 5 hours or I do sports. Its still clean what”. I was speechless.

FUN FACT: The No Sweat Survey commissioned by Rexona has showed that 65% of Malaysians often joke about their friends’ body odour but the brutal truth is that they are actually serious about it. In addition, a staggering 60% of people would hold their breath rather than confronting one’s unpleasant smell.

I think that is quite true. We did joke to that friend of ours about him being smelly but we sort of laughed it off as well. Thankfully, he finally realized and changed. Perhaps someone actually had the guts to tell straight up to him. Haha!

In an effort to improve the public’s understanding about sweat and it’s consequences, Rexona organized a “Don’t Sweat It with Rexona” event where the FIVE main causes of sweat were explained in 5 different stations.

*note: for some reason I lost my photos in my phone and don’t have the photos I took at the event :(  Will try to get some pics up soon* Got the pics below. Enjoy!

(1) Sweat : The first station was a Kinect games station. We could play against our friends in a game by moving around. Light movement such as this is one of the causes of sweat.

(2) Heat : Next was a setup of two beach chairs and some props – floppy hat, shades, beach ball, umbrella – with spotlights. We played dress up and pretended we were at a hot beach while the crew took photos of us using polaroids. I really do like the idea of polaroids at events, it gives a tangible souvenir of your experience.

(3) Stress : Stress is one of the causes of sweat and two inflatable dolls were in place for us to punch and release our stress.

(4) Humidity : This station is one popular station. You could get a hand massage in a closed humid corner. The bad thing is, there was only one person doing the massaging so the line was rather long.

(5) Emotions : This is a little known fact but changes in emotions can also be a trigger for sweat. Rexona treated us to the thriller Dream House starring Daniel Craig, Rachel Weisz and Naomi Watts. There were twists and turns to this story.

Short Movie review on “Dream House”: My warning is, don’t watch the trailer. It gives quite a lot of the movie. I expected a horror, but its actually more of a drama. The movie was just ok for me and I won’t really recommend to watch it in the cinema but a friend who watched really did like it so you’d have to make the decision yourself.

I’ve actually been using for Rexona for some time now. I currently like their ‘”Powder Dry” from their Rexona Woman range (left pic). It smells like talc which I think is really fresh. At the event we were given Rexona Women Shower Clean which “has an uplifting scent that keeps you feeling shower fresh and is proven to keep you fresher and drier longer” in both the roll-on and spray type (right pic). The scent seems nice so I’ll probably use it after my current one finishes.

Microsoft’s Mango (Windows Phone 7.5) is here!

Posted by IcedNyior on September 28, 2011  |  No Comments

Microsoft made (tech) news last week when Joe Marini, program manager for Windows Phone at Microsoft was fired for tweeting “I just got a chance to try out one of the slickest looking #Nokia phones I have ever seen. Soon, you will too! #wp7.” While this was against company policy, I believe that it excited many a Nokia fan about the great possibilities of the Nokia-Microsoft partnership.

I’ve played with a Windows Phone 7 device and I must say that the interface is pretty slick. Also having everything online “in the cloud” is something I quite like. I know some people are less trusting of that, but I really like the convenience of having everything on the go.

And now, the much talked about Windows Phone 7.5 (codenamed “Mango”) is rolling out all over the world starting today.

“Windows Phone 7 broke new ground when it was first announced last year. We brought innovation to mobile platforms and delivered a refreshing smartphone experience that puts people first. Windows Phone is unlike anything the market has to offer. With Windows Phone 7.5, we’re taking this innovation a step further to offer an immersive and rich social experience that is sophisticated, intuitive and a joy to use.” said Danny Ong, Chief Marketing and Operations Officer, Microsoft Malaysia.

The Windows Phone 7.5 update offers innovative features like built-in group chat and deep integration with social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, along with smarter access to applications, and a sophisticated web browsing experience that delivers a fast and beautiful web pages with Internet Explorer 9.

I couldn’t find an official video online but this page has some interesting videos about the new features in Windows Phone 7.5 (all images in this post is also obtained from that page). Some additional features :

Modern Communication Built In
Putting people first is the overarching theme behind Windows Phone 7.5. The latest Windows Phone update has essential social networking features built into the platform, making sharing important and special moments with loved ones and friends intuitive and easy. Through the unique People feature, users can now be more connected to friends, family and loved ones with a one touch access to Windows Live, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. Another innovative feature in Windows Phone 7.5 is Groups, where users may group their favourite contacts and pin them to the Start screen in order to get live updates, from text, email and IM at a glance without the need to open any application. Facebook chat, Messenger, check-ins and photo tagging are also built into Windows Phone 7.5 to provide users with a more connected experience.

In addition, Windows Phone 7.5 also features Internet Sharing for users to keep their various devices connected anywhere, anytime, offering users a seamless and continuous rich browsing experience across platforms and devices.

A Smarter Way to App
Apps are key to a smartphone experience, Windows Phone 7.5 takes this part of the user experience a step further. Apps pinned to the Start screen will be able to showcase live updates and allow users to be updated on the latest with just a single glance. The built-in search function in Window Phone 7.5 is also connected to apps to make searches easier and richer, allowing users to discover more, faster.

Internet Beyond the Browser
Users will be able to easily find shops, restaurants, entertaining public events, localized amenities, and desirables through the Local Scout app. Windows Phone 7.5 takes the internet beyond the browser with the inclusion of Internet Explorer 9 with takes advantage of hardware acceleration to deliver rich and beautiful web pages. Windows Phone 7.5 will also feature SkyDrive, a cloud-based storage for Windows Live users to upload, share and edit Microsoft Office documents and files, photos and videos, allowing for true mobility in collaboration.

Local Scout app – What to do around your area?

I guess the big question is, When can I get it?

Well, there’s a table of update status for customers outside the United States HERE but Malaysia is not in the list. Our friends down south on SingTel  & Starhub has the status “Delivering update” so we shouldn’t be too far behind.

IMO, Windows Phone 7 is really shaping up to be a pretty solid mobile OS. Granted its first attempt seemed ‘half baked’ to some people but I think this update introduces more useful features. Can’t wait to see how the Nokia device would look like powered by it.

@Wholah Badges

Posted by IcedNyior on September 21, 2011  |  No Comments

Guess your friends, get rewarded – http://bit.ly/getwholah

How to get Invites/ Tickets to Arthur’s Day 2011 in Kuala Lumpur Malaysia!

Posted by IcedNyior on September 12, 2011  |  No Comments

Yay! Its that time of the year again! Arthur’s Day is upon us!

If you have not heard of Arthur’s Day, seriously, where have you been? Arthur’s Day started off in 2009 as a music event to celebrate 250th anniversary of the Guinness brewing company. The Arthur’s Day celebrations will begin in Dublin, Ireland at exactly 17:59 on 22 September 2011. The concert in Kuala Lumpur will close the 24 hour global Arthur’s Day celebration worldwide. More than 15,000 people are expected to attend the concert this year.

In 2009, we had Black Eyed Peas came to perform and that party was controversial (due to Muslims being forbidden to attend). Last year in 2010, we had international and local acts like Timbaland Sean Kingston, Flo Rida, Colby O Donis, Pop Shuvit, Thaitanium, Mizz Nina & DJ Fuzz.

This year, be entertained by the “Dynamite” who might “Break Your Heart” – TAIO CRUZ!

Along with Local acts – Mizz Nina, SonaOne, Joe Flizzow, Take-T, Dandee, Soler & DJ Skeletor – Taio Cruz will “take  you higher” on 23 September 2011 at Speed City KL @ Selangor Turf Club. Party starts at 7pm onwards and the dress code is Black Party Chic!

Last year, you had to pay something like RM98 to RM350 to get to party! This year, tickets are COMPLETELY FREE! The only catch is, you would have to look for those exclusive invites!

There are FOUR ways to get your hands on those tickets…

Option 1: Guinness Malaysia Facebook Page

1. Like “Guinness Malaysia” on Facebook. Heck follow them on Twitter too @GuinnessMY
2. Check out their Wall posts for ways on how to win it. It could be answering a question, or emailing a photo.
3. Better yet, email them contest@arthursday.com.my and you will be sent instructions! (say you got to know about it from me la :P)

Option 2 : Radio Stations

1. Starting 12 – 21 September 2011, fans can win exclusive invites to the Arthur’s Day concert featuring Taio Cruz from the following stations.
2. Hitz.FM, MixFM, MY FM and THR Raaga will run On-air and online Contests throughout this period for fans to get their hands on these money-cant-buy invites! So tune in and log on to win invites for you and your friends to the EPIC celebration of the year!

Option 3 : Rock Corner and Speedy Video

1. Purchase Taio Cruz’s album at the following outlets and get 2 exclusive invites to the Arthur’s Day concert 2011! Promotion starts from 15 September till 23 September 2011.
2. Participating outlets :Rock Corner: 1 Utama, Suria KLCC, Mid Valley Megamall, Subang Parade, The Curve, The Gardens Mall, Bangsar Village, Ampang PointSpeedy: Mid Valley, Pavilion, Movie Magic – Bandar Utama, Sunway Pyramid, Bangsar Village

(thx TianChad for the tips!)

Option 4: arTHURSDAY Events!

Every Thurs is arTHURSDAY and Guinness has events to celebrate the man who gave us the iconic black brew. Not only do you get happy hour rates all night long, you can also win Guinness premiums and those exclusive invites to the Arthur’s Day celebration! So, head on down to your nearest one this Thursday!

• 15 Sept – Backyard Pub, Hartamas AND Delaney’s Irish Pub, Federal Hotel KL
• 22 Sept – Sids Pub, Taman Tun Dr Ismail

See you guys there!!

*This is NOT a sponsored post.Tho I won’t mind getting paid in Guinness for promoting this.
Ya hear me Guinness Malaysia? LOL*

NKOTBSB Karaoke Night

Posted by IcedNyior on July 14, 2011  |  No Comments

So what do you do when a new album is launched? Press release? Party? Well, if you have an album combining two of the biggest boybands in history, put a unique twist to it and throw a Karaoke night! That’s what Sony Music Malaysia did together with Monster Beats (yeap, those awesome headphones!) at Red Box Gardens!

It was held last Thursday at Red Box, Gardens. Did you know they have an area at the back where you can hold events or karaoke parties. Quite cool actually. We were served with nibbles – nuggets, some tomato and chicken wrap (very yummy) and sandwiches.

To be honest, I didnt really know NKOTB – they were kind of ‘before’ my time – but I did grow up with BSB and later N’SYNC and much later Westlife. Backstreet Boys always had this place in my heart where I knew the words to all their songs and had debates with girl friends on who was the handsome-est BSB. In secondary school I had this rather weird eccentric classmate who was head over heels over BSB, especially Nick Carter. I heard she wanted to become a nun as well but……well, that’s a story for another time.

Anyway, the night started off with two enthusiastic MCs from FlyFM – the official radio station for the NKOTBSB Karaoke Night then all the media and fans were invited to participate in karaoke competition either in Group of Solo category. In fact the FlyFM boys themselves (I think they are part of the Troopers) even sang a BSB song, and quite well at that.

Besides the Karaoke contest, there was also a lucky draw. Prizes that can be won are Red Box vouchers, perfumes, a Blackberry (I can’t remember which model) and, most importantly two iBeats headphones to be given away (pictured on right). Some info about iBeats after the jump

The Karaoke was quite fun but I think that it we ended up having to wait a bit long. So perhaps limiting the groups or cutting the songs shorter would be best. By the way did you know that BSB songs have really LONG intros and/or middle parts, before the bridge. Also, “As Long as You Love Me” was the favourite for the night. For the lucky draw I won a CK perfume and lucky Daphne got herself the iBeats headphones. She also won 2nd place in the Solo singing competition – lucky girl.

Anyway it was a fun night thanks to all the sponsors, especially Monster & Sony Music!

And now..here’s a performance of NKOTBSB at the AMA 2010

My opinion on the 1.8Mil spent by the Tourism Ministry on Facebook

Posted by IcedNyior on June 15, 2011  |  5 Comments

Everyone is talking about the MYR 1.8Mil spent by the Tourism Ministry on Facebook. There are many who seem to be jumping to conclusions and running around like a headless chicken, panicking that 1.8mil of the rakyat’s money is used to setup a free Facebook Page. I’m not on anyone’s side, but consider this:

According to Msian Insider, the contract includes : costs for designing, flash programming and coding, testing and debugging, uploading and launching the application, system server deployment and campaign management.

The 1.8 million is for 6 Facebook pages, not one, SIX. That amounts to an average of MYR300k per page. Which includes what seems to be a Facebook app created in Flash. Creating an app can range from a couple of hundreds to thousands. Not to mention perhaps they have not rolled out all of their plans yet – which is why the page looks rather empty.

Someone asked me, do you need a server with Facebook? Well you need to host your app somewhere don’t you? And depending on how elaborate and complicated it is, the cost will be different.

Note that in this case, we’re not told the exact details

1. How long is the contract? Is it 3 years? 1 year? is it 6 months? is it 3 months?
2. Does it include contest prizes cost?
3. Does it include Facebook ads cost? Or other network advertising? Says.My? Nuffnang? Advertlets?

These are all the questions that should be answered.

Personally, I think the price is quite high, but it’s Reasonable IF they do actually fulfill everything in the scope above. (p/s: dont forget to factor in any misc expenses like under tables,etc).

Again, not being on anyone’s side here. Just stating facts. What’s your opinion?

Edit 18:00 15 June 2011 – Tourism Malaysia released an Media Statement on their Social Media Campaign here

Day 5 : I Want to go Sky Diving!

Posted by IcedNyior on June 5, 2011  |  2 Comments

In my About Me page, I have a list of things I want to do before I die. One of those things is to go Sky Diving.

To be honest, I have this slight fear of heights. Even standing on the 4-5th floor of a shopping mall makes my feet tingle when I look down. However contrary to this fear, I like riding on roller coasters. I guess its my way of beating this fear.

I wonder if we can do it here in Malaysia though. Has anyone done it before?

*This is part of the 30 Things in 30 Days Challenge*

Hurts Live in KL

Posted by IcedNyior on May 11, 2011  |  No Comments

As what I wrote in Hurts is coming to Kuala Lumpur! and I’m going to Hurts concert this Friday!, I managed to get tickets thanks to Sony Music Malaysia to the TOPMAN and Junk By Demand presents Hurts live in Mist Club KL!

Its been a while since I went to a concert. I think the last time was Jason Derulo in Dragonfly club (formerly Orange) in KL. Was at Mist slightly before 8pm and bumped into Yatz inside the club with some friends.  A DJ was warming up the crowd and people were slowly trickling in.

I can’t remember what time it started exactly but it seemed like suddenly the club was extremely full, I was standing behind a whole bunch of people and the crowd suddenly erupted to cheers as the Hurts duo – Theo Hutchcraft and Adam Anderson – walked on the stage.

Theo talked about how its their first time in Malaysia, and they visited Batu Caves (according to his Twitter @theohurts they visited KLCC as well so not so sure why he didn’t mention that) and that “we would never be here if it weren’t for you”. The crowd was predominantly female and I could understand why. In person, Theo really is hot! With his calm and stylish debonair, its no surprise why you feel attracted to him.

Just had to show a close up photo of him. Credit to daphneliciouz

Also, he’s a great performer, commanding the crowd and making you feel that he looks straight at you as he sang, giving you a piercing gaze. And to add to that, he also occasionally threw white roses into the crowd, causing girls to scream as they grabbed wildly for it.

Not to be forgotten, Adam Anderson was also amazing on the synthesizer , his fingers flying across the keyboard with full concentration on his face. At one point, he picked up the electric guitar, took a step into the spotlight and showed us what he was truly capable of – making amazing music.

Throughout the night, it seemed like Hurts performed song after song without stopping. From favorites such as Stay (complete with the music video playing in the background) and Lonely Sunday, to a cover of Kylie Minogue’s “Confide in me” – of whom they confessed they are big fans of – they took to the stage like a duck in water. I forgot to note the first few songs but in total, Hurts performed the following songs : Evelyn, Lonely Sunday, Verona, Devotion, Confide in Me (cover), Illumination, Stay and closed with an encore of Better than Love. I managed to record a short snippet of Better than Love with my iPhone below.

You know how some musicians sound great on their CD but fail to bring it when they perform Live? For Hurts, this wasn’t the case. They were nothing short of AMAZING. It was one of the most entertaining concerts/showcases I’ve been too in a long time (not that I’ve been to many). Even the friend I brought along who knew nothing about them until the day before, became a fan.

Thanks Hurts, for a great night!

For more photos and videos taken from better cameras than an iPhone, check out daphneliciouz & dustyhawk blogs.