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Let’s build a smarter planet.

April 4, 2010 By View Comments

Have you ever wondered “why the traffic lights on my side of the road, red and the lights on the other 2 sides with no cars at all, green? Jam over here, wei.”

How about the time when the transit authority had to shut down all trains due to some technical problem. You only found out after schlepping down to the station and you wonder why the transit authority couldn’t find some way to tell commuters ahead of time. So many electronic billboards around the city. Can’t they interrupt the commercial messages to deliver a public service announcement?

Whatever you have come across in your daily lives, I’m sure you have wondered if there could be a better, easier or smarter way to do things. I  wondered why Brazilian wax can’t be painless. The answer could be laughing gas but lugging a tank around isn’t my idea of fun. Well, what about a laughing gas inhaler?

If I spend more time thinking and let my imagination go wild my laughing gas inhaler might actually have real commercial and medical use. Imagine how much more control flight attendants will have if they could administer this gaseous substance to hysterical passengers in a crashing plane. It would also give real meaning to die laughing. It could be a morphine substitute to convalescing patients or a temporary relief for the stressed out Japanese businessmen prone to leaping off tall buildings. It might even be a standard issue to all postal workers.

We also have real problems. Ones that affect all life on earth. Climate change, depletion of our natural resources, food shortage, access to clean water, epic-scale disasters, pandemics etc. There are many questions and many possibilities.

In a recent blogger event hosted by IBM, we were asked this exact question “what pains you and what do you think could be done to make things better?” IBM challenges us to start thinking because this is the start towards a smarter planet and a smarter Malaysia. Resist the urge to complain.. oh alright, go ahead and release the steam first. Need a laughing gas inhaler?

For more info or if you have an idea, big or small, IBM wants to hear it and if they can do anything about it, they will. Let’s build a smarter planet, start here. They are on Facebook and Twitter too.

And by the way, laughter is proven not to be the best medicine in a recent article from Discovery News. Read it from the Discovery News app which is available for free from the App Store. Loads of interesting stuff. Discovery channel videos can also be found on YouTube. Way to go Discovery!

Filed Under: Business, Eco Tagged With: , ,

Targus, Cat-approved.

March 9, 2010 By View Comments

I was recently given a laptop bag courtesy of Targus from their latest Spruce EcoSmart(tm) range. I was delighted with the gift. My first laptop bag was a Targus too – years ago.

I checked on the Targus website and they do have some pretty nice feminine designs but the bags in the new range were all masculine models. No market for feminine designs? I wonder. Are women not concerned about the bags they carry their laptops in? I asked on twitter and Eevon responded, “the bags either make us (women) look like a messenger or a turtle.” LOL. I do have “turtle” bags and I agree that they will destroy any business image we try to maintain.

Anyways, I had an upcoming trip overseas and I chose one with a simple top-load design to take with me. Actually, I chose the one that looked least masculine. Function-wise, it passes. My laptop and all the other gadgets came home safely. It went through getting tossed around in the overhead compartment and kicked under the seat on a plane. The ergonomically designed strap padding was very comfortable. I have no idea what material was used to make it but it felt like shock absorbers which was great. This is important because a lousy strap padding can make a bag feel twice as heavy. The bag’s material is  soft to the touch and the inside is well padded. So cushy that when I laid it on the floor, my cat hopped on and went to sleep.

Targus didn’t disappoint in quality but maybe one day we will see more stylish and feminine looking bags in various colours other than black.

Hear it from the ladies, do any of you wish there were more feminine laptop bag designs? Example here: http://goo.gl/SKvw (Targus for her).

Filed Under: Eco, Marketing Tagged With: ,

How to get Kindle books for your iPhone, iPod Touch or PC

March 1, 2010 By

Want to get Kindle books on your iPhone/iPod Touch or PC? Here’s a hack, ok, call it a tip. This is not illegal, you still have to pay for the book. It’s just a way around the restrictions Amazon has in place to stop non-residents of the US from buying Kindle books. Let’s get to it.

What you need:
1. A PC (not on Mac yet) or an Apple iPhone/iPod Touch.
2. A credit card
3. An Amazon account. If you don’t have one, register for one. Some Amazon shopping experience will help too. Now who hasn’t shopped at Amazon.com these days?
4. A US address

1. INSTALL THE KINDLE READER SOFTWARE/APP

Installing for the PC:
Download and install the Kindle for PC software.

Installing for the iPhone/iPod Touch:
This is a little trickier. You can only download the Kindle for iPhone app from the US app store. Don’t mess with the account you have right now. Set up another app store account with a different email, a US address and don’t enter your credit card info.

If your app store is in the Malaysian app store, you can easily change that by clicking on the Malaysian flag icon at the bottom right and change it to “United States”.

Now, download Kindle for iPhone app and sync. You shouldn’t lose your information. Once you see the app on your phone, you can log out of the US app store and login to your usual one.

2. Set up your Amazon account to go shopping.

First, use your credit card to buy a gift card that you will send to yourself. The books I buy usually cost around $10-15 so I bought a $50 gift card which should get me 3-4 Kindle books. Don’t log out yet, wait for email. Once the email with the gift card claim code arrives, click on “Start shopping”. This will credit the amount into your Amazon account.

Remain logged in. Go into your account and remove all credit card information. This is what’s making Amazon stop you from getting into the Kindle store. Also change the region or country of origin to the US. If you’re asked to enter a US address, you can use the one above.

Now you’re all set. Click on “Kindle Store” and go shopping.

3. When you’re ready to buy.

Click on “Buy now with 1-click” and tell Amazon where you want the book sent – to your iPhone/iPod Touch or to your PC.

It will come with instructions on how to retrieve the book from the app on your PC / iPhone / iPod Touch.

Enjoy!

BTW, you can leave your second App Store account alone, it may come in handy in the future. I use mine to download other apps that are not available to Malaysians just so I can drool at what I can’t have.

Filed Under: Apps, Eco, Tech Tagged With: , , , ,