The following is a guide a promoting harmony between fighting Windows Live Mail 2009 beta and Windows Live Messenger 2009 beta.

1. Press Ctrl+Shift+Esc on your keyboard.
2. Under processes, find WLLProxy.exe.
3. End it.
4. Voila, now WLMail and WLMessenger can be used at the same time!

Adults, who are always thought to be mature and wise are not as it seems after all. Though with more experience in life, they frequently make the same mistakes as we – the youngsters make.

They discriminate people who are different from them. They force their thoughts to people. They push their words into people’s mouth. They actually like to create conflicts. They make a fuss over small matters. They push away responsibilities. They talk like some diligent you met during high school. They don’t have ‘mutual respect’ in their vocabulary. They shout like animals. They tend to run away from problems rather than solve them. They’re plain arrogant and full of themselves. They don’t admit their mistakes and expect you to admit your own mistakes. They’re darn stubborn and complains you’re stubborn instead.

Things get worse when you are expected to obey their orders just because they are older than you. Stuck in between the shit war they start in their family. Get flamed from doing something stupid. Get flamed just because they did something stupid and you didn’t prevent them from doing so. Get flamed because you prevented them from doing something stupid, but in an inappropriate tone. Put up a mask when confronted with them even though you should have really, really point out their errors.

The worst thing is: they are your (our) role models – you (we) have to treat them with highest respect.

Well, I hope I don’t grow up to be like them, seriously.

I’ve lost my direction, my aim, yet again. Wandering off in darkness, searching for a light that guides me. Will there be light at the end of this tunnel?

The KBU Talent Fashion Outbreak event hosted by KBU International College Student Council (and perhaps Modelling Club), participated by International Medical University (IMU), Kolej Damansara Utama (KDU), Limkokwing University College, Sunway University College (combination of KBU and Monash University - LOL), Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR), SEGI, and Taylors University College.

It is an event featuring the battle between college students in three categories - Talent, Fashion and Outbreak. The following is a comprehensive review on the event hosted yesterday. Your Simon Cowell for the day, yours truly.

Overture
When you first step into the 2nd floor, you will immediately notice the area is quite packed with booths of the event and sponsors cluttering the lobby - it's pretty normal occurence for an event such as this I guess. However, one thing I have to suggest is the use of proper indicators for important booths such as the ticket counter/registration counter, coupon redeeming counter and voting counter. Additionally, the proper procedures before entering the hall should be clearly indicated on the ticket or the location as well. The current situation is a mess - guests get kicked from the main entrance to the counter and from the counter to another counter.

The free glowing tattoo service should be more visible as well - what it is now is just the location is full of advertisement buntings - you don't know what were they doing and you don't know you can get the tatoo for free.

I can't help but to comment on the missing directional indicators to the main entrance - I wonder where did the organizers put them, and also the choice of coupons and freebies, it's highly notable they're more oriented to femme than homme (in fact, it is 100% certain the target is femme).

The event schedule follows the infamous Malaysian Standard Time. No, you wise guy, it's not GMT+0800. You've completely forgotten the Malaysian Offset of +0045, so it's accurately referenced to Greenwich Mean Time as GMT +0845. So, when the opening is at 1830 hours, the actual opening is at 1915 hours.

First Movement
Kudos to the organizers for a really decent setup in the hall, the atmosphere is being set just right - with cool ambience (decent laser, spotlight and mist setup) and pumping music at proper sound pressures. There're welcoming drinks at the back of the hall (non-alcoholic Kampai) though I would prefer if the drinks are chilled.

(The hall the moment entrance is permitted)

Minutes later is the start of the first part of the event, the 'Talent' competition. The first group of performers supposedly from Sunway University College were in a disadvantage due to the speakers and equalizers setup are optimized for deep bass techno, R&B et. al. instead of clear voice output (another group that chose singing were also affected). The nth performer performed street magic on stage, plus on low light conditions also gives him a tremendous disadvantage. If these performances were auditioned and selected, they should be adjusted to the evironment to ensure proper presentation.

Other performances include cheerleading and the usual breakdancing. One notable performance though, the ethnic dance performed by a group of Africans (?) from Limkokwing University College is worth watching.

  
(A short clip on the performace of the first group)

Second Movement
The second part of the event is dubbed 'Fashion'. I don't know much about fashion, but I have a person in my family that works in a modelling recruitment company, so my comments on this portion of the event might be slghtly biased. Don't mind the fashion, the contestants for this category should be trained to perform catwalks (only circa two of them were observed to have prior experience in catwalking, both females ).

Third Movement
The third part, the 'Outbreak' was really anticipated. Putting aside the joke made by the magician wearing shorts (that's not an Outbreak, sorry). The performance done by one of the groups (from IMU, I suppose) that made use of lighting effects and rapid costume changing was quite interesting - though the execution has room for improvement, with problems with the distance between the person and the light (oversized silhouette) et. al. The martial-art-dancing-thing is quite disappointing without the martial art.

Final Movement
For the lucky draw ceremony, despite having to register before entering, the voting box is suprisingly filled with 90% phantom numbers. It is rather embarassing for the emcee and presenter, this issue should not be repeated in the future.

Finale
The 'Glow Light Dance Party', where everybody mingles around, dance and enjoy the music... I think. Our African friends are obviously enjoying on the dance floor, but the hall is kind of empty, contributing to the loss of mood. Most importantly, the 'Glow Light Dance Party' seems to be lacking the 'Glow Light' factor. The glowing tattoos were not glowing, probably due to lack of UV source to charge up the glowing chemical substance. So far I saw only two glowing bracelets and... maybe... my glowing WiFi shirt. I would expect the DJ to show-off some skills, but in the end there were just music.

  
(The glow light party)

Verdict
From the set up and from word of mouth from one of the organizers, I can see tremendous effort put onto making this event succesful. However, the lack of paying attention to the small details were the source of some disappointments in this event. Ultimately, the main problem is the lack of participants, both as competitors, and as audience - it was really a pity the effort is washed off just because of this. To the organizers of T.F.O, great attempt and kudos, there are much room for improvements and I sincerely hope the next event will be ten times more successful.

With this, I rate T.F.O organized by KBU a 6/10.

So why build bus stands when the condition inside the bus stand is exactly the condition outside the bus stand?

Malaysia BOLEH! Apa pun BOLEH!

(Edited with latest input after listening for a month)

Alast, my much anticipated Denon AH-C551 has arrived safely. This time Philips SHE9850 has set the bar with 7.5/10, we'll see how Denon performs.

Form Factor
The packaging and body of the Denon AH-C551 are not very spectacular compared to the Philips SHE9850. However, it does came with a hard fabric case (SHE9850 came with a metal case). It is stated that the AH-C551 is made out of machined aluminum - it feels like plastic and it is very light (and some off the paint got scrapped off after a month of usage). The earbud design of the AH-C551 is unlike the SHE9850, it doesn't fit as tightly as the latter and does not feature a memory foam option, therefore has poorer noise isolation capabilities. 3 pairs of silicon tips are provided.

From the form factor department, Philips SHE9850 beats Denon AH-C551 hands down.

Sound Quality
Now for the interesting part. The AH-C551 uses a more 'traditional' driver with an enhancement dubbed the 'Acoustic Optimizer' that adjusts the sound pressure balance in front of and behind the diaphragm. However, due to the single driver design, 60% volume from my Nokia is required to be set for adequate power output.

For this review, I will use back the same songs I used to review the SHE9850. The first impression was - if the volume is set louder than normal, instead of having the overall volume pressure jacked up, the high pitch sounds from the music will be screeching to your ears - I guess this is the effect of the Acoustic Optimizer. When playing  '星間飛行', the AH-C551 a bit over-highlighted the bells and the voice of the singer, but the bass guitar is brought out very well along with balance in mid-ranges well maintained - overall the song sounded drier (sharper). In the overture of 'JOINT', the drums and guitar are really brought out till you can almost feel them, the cymbals are sharp; In a nutshell, the character and mood in 'JOINT' are all brought out. 'What ’bout my star (Sheryl On Stage)' feels much fuller with the pumping bass and additional details in the synthesizers.

'トライアングラー' is (again) rendered sharper and deeper than SHE9850, some might prefer a warmer tone but this is all up to the preference of the listener. 'ニンジーン Loves you yeah!' is performed splendidly by the AH-C551, the lows of the retro instruments are pumping adequately while the crisp and cute voice are highlighted and staccato-ed properly.

Overall, the soundstage of music is narrowed in the AH-C551, music tend to sound slightly like being sung inside a glass bottle for female vocal tracks. Other genres like techno and classical music sound fine though. The most disappointing part of the AH-C551 is the slightly crazy treble response of the AH-C551 - at volume any higher than 60%, the high-pitched voice and instruments in 'JOINT' are really ear-piercing. As Nokia's audio volume could not be fine tuned, this phenomenon might cause some irritation.

Verdict
The AH-C551 is able to deliver the low-ends and the high-ends, with the high-ends frequently going extra crazy if the volume is not controlled properly - this contributes to a drier (crisper) sound that some people might not prefer. It would be really great if the treble is toned down slightly and if Denon pays more attention to the outlook of the AH-C551 to match its high-end-ness. With that, I give the Denon AH-C551 a 7/10.

(Photo taken a few days ago after a thunderstorm.)

Originally, I should be happily reviewing my Denon AH-C551 which should have safely arrive in my hands right now. But no, KBU had other plans and in result totally ruined my schedule to reach home before the postman arrive to get my package. "So how did KBU do it?", I hear you ask. Well, as "professional" as they can be, they planned to jack up their publicity by organizing a talk-show thing by inviting an Austrian "storyteller" to give a... err... speech (as well as His Excellency the Austrian Ambassador as the Guest of Honor). Fearing nobody will attend it, the administrators kept it a secret from us and summoned us out of the blue to the multi-purpose hall for "an exciting and anticipated" speech.

(Quality loss is all due to Micro$oft's own Live Spaces image compressor.)

Well, I would appreciate the speech if I were to not literally tricked to listen to it - these kinds of speeches are only enjoyed if you are ready to listen. By forcing everybody to come without advanced notice, you can only expect the audience either not paying attention, fishing or leaving. I really felt sorry for the foreign speaker working so hard to deliver his speech, but the blame should all be shoved to the KBU administrators.

So I left early (during the momento giving ceremony), hoping to be able to catch up with the postman. Unfortunately, there's a note hung on my door as soon as I reached home. Mr. KBU's actions has increased my carbon footprint by forcing me to travel to Postlaju at Cheras to collect a shipment that was supposed to be arriving at my doorsteps.

However, the conned audio controller I ordered did arrive, they've used Pos Express - a faster service, but does not require receiver's signature and imposes a weight limit. As anyone would do, I figured "well, at least there's something waiting for me at home" and happilly opened the package.

The first thing I noticed was it is packaged (branded) as "AP Cellular - Original AP Accessories". Technically an AP is usually an imported product with the importer being an unauthorized distributor, so "Original AP" should mean the product is an original product from Nokia, as far as I am concerned. Additionlly, the amount of cash I paid is expected to be for an original product, not a counterfeit. But something is fishy - "Made in Hungary", Nokia is a Finnish company, but the products are usually manufactured in China, something is definitely wrong here.

I opened up the package and played with the buttons. Indeed, something is definitely wrong - the buttons felt stiffer than my original AD-54. Immediately I took my original AD-54 and placed it side by side with the new AD-54 I got.

The difference of the "NOKIA" logo is immediately observed (Original: Left; Bootleg: Right). This is definitely a counterfeit product and guess what, the back of the unit stated "Made in China". I placed my last hopes on the audio quality and plugged it into my phone.

Surprise! Surprise! The quality is worse than a bastard singing in the bathroom. Even with my SHE9850 hooked onto it, the sound is total rubbish - I can't hear the lyrics in "Northen Star" - virtually everything is muffled and distorted. I can't believe a counterfeit product can be so diabolically disastrous. This piece of junk should be less than RM5.40 instead of RM54.

Feeling really upset, I opened up the unit, trying to savage usable parts to repair my original unit. Yes, I don't give a damn about the warranty - I don't even think the warranty is useful for this piece of garbage. The original unit could not be opened but this bootleg shit happily coughed up the insides with just a fine screwdriver.

From there, I began my Ihebi: Karte 2 operation. By cutting off the 3.5mm plug from both the units, I planned to stitch up the bootleg plug to the main unit of the original unit. The wires are really thin - but if I don't do something, the RM54 is down the drain. It took me quite a bit of effort to extract the almost-as-thin-as-hair wires from the stiff jacket using a pocket knife (it's difficult if you don't plan to accidentally cut off the wires).

From my experience, audio wires are coated by a thin insulator that is impossible to strip off without proper equipment. So I placed my bets on the power of soldering - hopefully the solder touches the conductor, and began soldering the wires. I was on luck - when touched by the soldering iron, the insulators immediately melted and shrinked to reveal the conductor (excellent!).

On the first try, (when plugged into the phone) the unit is detected as a TV-out cable with one of the audio channels making a buzzing noise - something was wrong, it turns out I soldered the blue wire (from the bootleg) to the green wire (from the original).

On the second try, I noticed the bootleg has 5 wires (ground, brown, red, green, blue) while the original only has 4 (ground, brown, red, green) but I soldered them anyway. The results turned out as the unit not recognized as an audio controller (have to choose the mode of the device on the phone). I tested it anyway in headphone mode and the familiar audio quality came back to my ears - I am close to success. Now what's left is the "missing" audio controller functions.

Taking out the original (damaged) plug and played around with it - I observed something really interesting - the ground wires that is wrapping up a white wire-looking thingy is actually the "missing" wire! Because it was so thin (and it was wrapped by the ground wire), I didn't think it is a wire as I was looking for the blue wire all along. On the third try, I soldered the blue (bootleg) to the white (original) and tried it once more on my phone.

Voila! It worked as good as new! (*spits at the bootleg unit*)

(Red/Green = Left/Right Channel, Blue OR White = Digital Signal/Buttons, Brown = Mic, Copper = Ground)

Moral: Never buy from Malaysian online sellers.

(By the way, I'm able to play .hack//G.U. Vol. 2 :D)

Dear Gates Software,

Thank you for forcing me to launch Windows Live Mail from Windows Live Messenger 2009 Beta by crashing it each time I start it from my quick launch bar or start menu.

Further investigations revealed that apparently Windows Live Mail does not exit properly when closed (it must be forcefully ended from the task manager), and due to the process still in memory, new instances of Windows Live Mail crashes each time it is launched.

(Launching Windows Live Mail from the quick launch bar/start menu still displays the error message - but you can ignore it and continue using Windows Live Mail. Confirming the error message closes Windows Live Mail immediately.)

(Launching Windows Live Mail from Windows Live Messenger displays the error message too. But this time, if you confirm the error message, Windows Live Mail will not close itself, in fact, you have to confirm the error message to use Windows Live Mail.)

(More investigation yields interesting results. Windows Live Mail does not pop up the error message when Windows Live Messenger is not running. Guess Gates Software are friendly firing... They might be fighting over control for Windows Live Contacts...)

Sincerely,
Your die hard fan