The Zone

Kontron, a maker of tough computing devices that could possibly take a direct hit from a hydrogen bomb has released its latest tough portable computer - the NotePAC.  To quote from the site:

 "NotePAC™ is completely sealed from intrusion by water, salt laden air, and blowing dust and dirt. It combines a high-strength cast-magnesium case and shock mounted components to form a portable platform that can withstand a 15g ¬operating shock load–as might be experienced during rough transportation. For example, NotePAC can operate continuously in high vibration environments, such as found in rotary winged aircraft and off-road vehicles."

Now, before you people come to the conclusion that this is just another notebook that offers maximum security but has minimal performance advantages over, lets just say, a Sony VAIO ultra-ultra portable, you're wrong.

Maximum specs include a dual-core Intel processor, Wireless-G, up to 2GB of DDR2 memory, super-shock resistant hard drives up to 160B, 3D audio and even a touch screen! If only it wasnt so thick and heavy at 16 pounds. *sigh* 

When faced with slow-loading web pages, do you suffer from quickening heartbeats, profuse sweating, and furious clicking and bashing of the mouse? If so, you might be suffering from Mouse Rage Syndrome. According to a study done by Social Issues Research Centre in the UK of 2,500 test subjects, it's an ailment that's serious enough to affect one's cardio functions, as well as the immune and nervous systems.

Personally, I think the name Mouse Rage Syndrome is inappropriate since the name implies that the mouse play a large part in being part of the affliction. Maybe Crappy Web Page Syndrome would be a better name? Or the Keep It Simple, Stupid syndrome? (KISS syndrome has a nice ring to it ;3)

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The answer to the above question? A real, robotic seal! Just compare these two =

This is Toshiba's Pala-chan, a MP3-playing seal

and this....is Paro

While we don't really know why both companies have chosen names that are strikingly similar, what we do know is we want a Paro - thingy anyday! *hint to parents* In actual fact, the Paro seal is a special 'mental commit' robot that helps the elderly in nursing homes forget all about their children and lead a life of blissful happiness.  (We're joking)

Check it out here (opens in a new window)

The Nintendo Wii killed a woman in her late 20s last weekend when we were having our siesta on an island somewhere down south, and usually Wii-related injuries and deaths isn't really of an eyebrow raiser, but in this case, its interesting because the aforementioned lady, Jennifer Strange, 28 (who was participating in a 'hold your wee for a Wii' contest) died when she ingested too much water which resulted in a 'bodily electrolyte instability thingy'. She was trying to win the Wii for her three kids. Sauce taken from MSNBC, which was from AP

Another death which intrigued us when we did a simple Wii death search on Google was the death of former US President Gerald Ford whom (from NewsBlog 5000) "had just finished playing a round of golf and thought he would give Tennis a try. He went for the initial serve and banged his knuckles on a ceiling fan. The strap from the controller caught in the fan blades, and the President was pulled off his feet, spun around the room three times, and finally hurled into the wall at high velocity. He emerged from the incident unharmed, but then held the controller too close to his chest and pushed the A and B buttons at the same time, killing him stone dead."

So much for the Wii trying to be a casual console LOL

Tired of being limited to bringing reading material into the toilet to pass away the time when you're doing your business? An American company is planning to a "next-generation" toilet that has all the needs a guy can ever need without ever leaving the toilet: an Xbox 360, HDTV, iPod and Dock, DVD Player, Laptop, and even a fridge.   

I'm not quite sure I understand the appeal of playing videogames or watching movies while in the john, especially when you're in the same room smelling your own crap. I mean, I can probably stand a max of 20 minutes with a good magazine before I've to exit the loo; it's not like my faeces smell like a bouquet of roses. And sitting your bum on the toilet seat for extended periods of time can get pretty sore.

Of course I foresee a problem with accommodating Xbox 360s and HDTVs with  Malaysian houses with squatting toilets. If they ever do make one, pray that you don't ever drop your joystick or remote into the crapper hole.

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Hello guys, missed me? If you were wondering why I didn't blogged any entries for the week, it was because I was down in Korea for the HP regional PSG consumer launch. Lots of nifty stuff was on showcase, including their new HP TouchSmart PC and "Touch & Twist" TX-1000 notebook. I'll cover more on the event in the March issue of HWM Malaysia. Mucho thanks to my colleague kev for covering my share! I'll treat ya to yum cha one day. :D

What you see above is the free original DVD copies of Windows Vista Ultimate 32-bit and 64-bit edition that was given out to all the members of the media who attended the Microsoft Corporate Vista launch this morning at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre. Don't you just love the holographic imagery captured by our studio lights? Too bad this Vista is for office-use only. I wish they had given away free copies of Office 2007 though...I could really use it, heheheh...

Look forward to our March issue for more pictures and coverage of the Malaysian Vista launch! For now, here's some pictures of what went down this morning down at the KLCC. 

Windows Vista and Office 2007 was finally launched last weekend at LowYat Plaza in Malaysia and we were there to capture all of the excitement! We'll have a full report in the next issue of HWM so in the mean time, enjoy this batch of photos! :3

Head over to this new PICTAPS site to draw a character, any character, even some mixtures of lines and random parts, and later star it in its own music video! While the dancing characters are quite simple, and the background shows clones of the dude you;ve just created, its simply fascinating to watch them dance and do thier stuff; if only those retards whould stop drawing dancing phallic images!

While everyone's attention may be directed towards the upcoming PS3 launch in Australia and Europe, Sony Singapore is planning a party of their own. On the 7th of March, the PS3 will officially debut in the country, retailing for SG$799 for the 60GB unit. There's even going to be a launch party! Look, details!

Date: March 7, 2007 (Wednesday)
Time: 6 pm to 9.30 pm
Venue: The Clinic
Address: The Cannery, Clarke Quay 

200 free invites will be open to members of the public on a first-come-first-serve basis, so come early. There's going to be a mini tourney where you stand a chance to pick up a limited edition Champagne Gold PSP. Not only that, you'll be able to pick up either Genji or Mobile Suit Gundam: Target in Sight for only SG$1 each. Cheap! Click the jump for more details.

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Engadget Chinese has captured a couple pictures of the Lantern Festival in Taiwan, where the Taiwanese district of Jiayi put up a massive 1:2.5 scale model of a Gundam in lantern form. Awesome! Since Malaysia likes making breaking records, maybe we should make a giant Zeon Lantern or something to counter it. ;)    

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We seriously had a fun time today poking about with the Samsung PPM63M6HBX, an upmarket coffee table that suspiciously looks like a plasma display. Of course, being a fine piece of furniture that it is, it cost us more than this table you can buy from a fine manufacturer somewhere in Indiana like the one above.  But then again, you can't possibly play chess on something like that, wouldn't you? its too boring, and too plain, eventhough it is hadmade by craftsmen. No, we're technocrats and we used this intead;

Fancy a game of chess on my plasma screen, anyone?

This is a shot with our other writer, FatCatLim, for size comparision 

Maxis is holding an Anime & Games Festival down in Sungei Wang Plaza, which will last till tomorrow. So if you're around the area, go check it out: there're a few activities and promotions going on. In the meantime, enjoy the rest of the pics. :)

We admit that sometimes we have a tendency to be on the ecowarrior side, but then again, things like Steorn and that so-called free energy movement made little or no impact on us due to their vaporware status. If its not available yet, or its still lurking in the pages of PopSci, then we're not buying in. What we're buying in though, is this -

(images are copyright of Digital Chosunilbo)

Those look like gears, no? The basic principle is that wind pushes the paddles on the gears, and each gear is connected to the other, meaning that if a single gear moves, the whole apparatus moves, and that allows for an almost 24 hours charging cycle, provided you've got winds of over 2MPH blowing. Since our office is always buffeted by strong winds, and 20 of them gearwheels cost only US$25 (but of course, we'll still need the capacitors and the batteries and the electronics to keep the charge as electrically 'clean' as possible), prices will sure drop once it reaches mass-production (which is coming sooner than 2009). 

Talk about geeks going green!!! XD

full sauce here = Digital Chosunilbo 

Hitachi Data Systems just announced the appointment of Johnson Khoo as its new managing director for Malaysia, and to commemorate the event they held a drifting session!

Yeah, I know what you're thinking. Like WTF does data systems have to do with drifting??? But it was undeniably cool and getting a light taste of drifting felt great! The only drifting I've ever done was in racing video games, and the experience was both nerve-racking and cool at the same time.

They got an experienced drifter, Sean Khoo, from drift.com.my to be our driver. He was pretty cool, since he took us on a wild spin a number of times. Halfway through the session they had to switch tyres as bits and pieces of the tyres were already being spat out by the harsh tarmac.

Check out the video of the drifting session after the pics below! :D 

It's back! The MSC Malaysia IP Creators Challenge Series 2007 is now on for local budding animators, artists, and game developers! Last year IP Creators Challenge saw up to nearly RM900,000 in grants given away to 25 winners. If you missed out last year, now's your chance to win grants to expand your creative idea into a marketable product!

The closing dates for the proposals (just the proposals, not the finished product) is 28 June 2007, so get cracking! During this time, MDEC will be holding a number of workshops for people new to pitching ideas and proposals to interested publishers, as well as talks on IP.

For more info, check out the following link.

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