How much?

he Canon EF 24-105mm f/4 L IS USM Lens is, more expensive than the camera kit itself, RM3900.

The lens is still considered cheap because the retail price is around RM4500! I got it for RM3900 because it is the “kit lens” of Canon 5D kit. The shop sells Canon 5D and the lens separately…

Free gift?

There is NO free gift. No cheapskate tripod. No memory card. No cleaning kit. No card reader. You get what you pay for, that’s all.

Where did I buy them?

Tarita or Boeing Photo, both in Sungai Wang Plaza, Kuala Lumpur. I got the 450D kit at Tarita but the lens at Boeing Photo (because Tarita sold the last lens at the last minute…).

Gallery

Canon 450D with Canon 24-105mm F/4 L IS USM Lens attached

Canon 24-105mm F/4 L IS USM Lens in my hand

auto focus & stabilizer switch

The “L” lens comes with free lens hood!

Canon 24-105mm F/4 L IS USM Lens at maximum focal length, 105mm

Click here for more pics of Canon 450D & 24-105mm F/4 L IS USM Lens.

Sample photos

I am not pro photographer. I am still learning how to handle the RM6K toy in my hands. Here are the pics that I can show for the reasons to have a DSLR.

notice the “bokeh” at the background of the boy. you can’t easily get this with your point-and-shoot camera.

Click the photo to check the photo sharpness in its original size.

To buy

I have got my DSLR and a general purpose lens (Canon EF 24-105mm f/4 L IS USM) but I still lack of some important photography equpments:

• external flash
• tripod
• ball head (to be attached on tripod)
• dry box
• good camera bag
• SDHC memory card reader
• cleaning kit / blower

An external flash is about RM1000. A good, lightweight tripod can cost up to a few K! And, few hundred bucks for each the tripod ball head, dry box, and camera bag.

Lenses wishlist

Although I have 2 lenses now (18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS, 24-105mm f/4 L IS USM), but they are not enough! Here are the lenses in my wishlist. Each of them will cost my another arm or leg…

1. Canon EF 70-200mm f/4.0 L IS USM — Canon EF 70-200mm f/4.0 L USM Lens with up-to-4-stop Image Stabilizer (IS). (review)
2. Canon EF 100mm F/2.8 USM Macro — Excellent macro lens. The 100mm focal length along with great bokeh (foreground/background blur quality) makes this a great portrait lens as well. (review)
3. Canon EF-S 17-55mm F/2.8 IS USM lens — Wide angle lens. Very high image quality, one of the best general/multi-purpose lenses available. (review)

I would buy the Canon EF 70-200mm f/4.0 L IS USM first for my spy street shooting, as well as portraits, wildlife, and many other general-purpose tele-zoom needs.

My two cents

Frankly, it costs a lot for all the photography equipments. I have been poisoned by the image quality! Of course, equipment is not everything. I am learning and practicing photography skills.

What are your best sources of photography skills/tutorials/knowledge?

OK, this might not interest every AdSense publishers, but it is a good news for AdSense publishers who were not able to receive AdSense payment via Western Union due to the payment exceeds the maximum Western Union payment amount in our countries.

For Malaysia, the maximum Western Union payment amount is USD$2800.

My AdSense payment exceeded the maximum amount and I received AdSense cheque by DHL Express Mail, which cost ME USD$24 for the delivery.

I had updated my payment method back to “check” wait for several weeks for my handsome AdSense check. Then, the check would take a month to be cleared by the local bank…

I miss Western Union payment method so much!

With the new Western Union payment update, I have switched back to Western Union payment method because, if your payment exceeds the maximum payment amount, Google AdSense will split the payment and send multiple Western Union payments to you.

If you’re sent multiple Western Union payments, you’ll see multiple ‘Payment issued’ lines on your Payment history page, each with the corresponding MTCN associated with it.

Now, AdSense publishers like me can switch back to the FAST and FREE Western Union payment method!

Muacks! I love Google AdSense!

(Too bad, my Google AdSense’s December 2008 payment has been issued as “check”…)

I had swiped RM9,324.78 out of RM10,000 credit line of my credit card in December 2008! New record!

How did I spend the money?

I went to Kuala Lumpur for the PIKOM PC Fair 2008 (III) and stayed for 7 days. Some money was spent on meals, clothes, and gifts.

I helped my brother bought a netbook, ASUS Eee PC 1000H (~RM1900) at the PC Fair.

And, I bought Canon EOS 450D kits (RM2400, cash) + Canon EF 24-105mm f/4 L IS USM lens (RM3900, credit card) at Sungei Wang.

As soon as I back from KL, I signed and confirmed the purchase of the new Honda City 2009, which cost RM89,980. Plus, a special number plate — RM1,000. I decided to pay more on down payment and it is most of the cash in my primary bank account.

I got new camera, new car… what’s now?”Now you have new camera and new car, you should have a new look too!”, my friend suggested to change my hairstyle. I have never changed it since I know how to comb my hair!

This is my new look.

What do you think?

5 - 7 December 2008 (11:00am - 9:00pm)

• Penang International Sports Arena, Penang
• Sabah Trade Centre, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah
• Central Square, Sungai Petani, Kedah
• Dewan SJK(C) Yuk Choy, Ipoh, Perak
• Berjaya Megamall, Kuantan, Pahang

12 - 14 December 2008 (11:00am - 9:00pm)

• KL Convention Centre, Kuala Lumpur
• Mahkota Parade Melaka, Melaka
• Dewan Suarah, Bintulu, Sarawak
• Batu Pahat (BP) Mall, Batu Pahat, Johor

19 - 21 December 2008 (11:00am - 9:00pm)

• Persada Johor International Convention Centre, Johor Bahru
• Dewan 2020, Kangar, Perlis
• Dewan Tunku Ibrahim Ismail, Kluang, Johor

Since it is year-end sales, I don’t expect many new IT products in this PC Fair. Instead, try to get the hardware/gadgets you want at cheaper price before they release new products for 2009.

However, I hope to see more netbooks this time. I can’t get the ideal netbook in last PC Fair. There have been a number of new netbooks released during last few months. My elder brother asked me to look for one for him, and I might get one more for myself too!

Oh! I haven’t got my Canon 450D and lenses! I will check PC Fair for good deals.

What do you want to buy at PC Fair?

Update: I got my Canon 450D and 24-105mm F/4 L IS USM Lens!

My current twitter grade (@liewcf) is 97.4%. I have 459 followers and following 212 users. I just hit the 4,500 twitter updates!

Beside your Twitter Grade, the site also shows a Tweet Cloud and allows you to check if any Twitter user following you or not. The Tweet Cloud seems to be only takes keywords from your latest updates.

What’s your Twitter Grade? Also, follow my Twitter updates, @liewcf.

Open Web Awards is the only multilingual international online voting competition that covers major innovations in web technology. Through an online nominating and voting process, the Open Web Awards recognizes and honors the top achievements in 26 categories.

The first and final voting rounds will be held from November 19th till December 15th. Winners will be announced at December 16th, 2008.

Place your votes now!

Voting is one vote per Category per Email Address Per Day. Vote in up to 26 Categories for every 24 Hours.

Honda City 2009 (blue) (image: PaulTan.org)

The Honda City 2009 priced at around RM90,000. The car’s refundable booking fee is RM2,000. There are 5 colors available, if I remember correctly: gold, silver, black, blue, and “polished metal metalic” (like gray).

I picked blue because it is special and unique. Honda City 2009 is the first Honda car with the color. For your information, there is NO red color Honda City 2009 in Malaysia.

I have a driving license 10 years ago, but I never drive a car since then. I will need some practices of driving before receiving my Honda City 2009.

For the past years, my friends and family have been fetching me here and there. I owe them too much. It is my turn to be their driver to pay them back. Also, many friends are looking forward to sit in my car.

You may read more about Honda City 2009 at PaulTan.org.

You’ll find the new language link in the upper right corner of most pages to select your preferred language. Though large part of PayPal site has been translated, there are still some pages that remain in English.

No Bahasa Melayu?

PayPal Malaysia website in Bahasa Indonesia

Though PayPal stated users in Malaysia can choose their local language, which is Bahasa Melayu, but I don’t see the language option in the drop down list. There is only English or Bahasa Indonesia on PayPal Malaysia website (as shown in image above).

Hey, Malaysians do not speak Bahasa Indonesia! Bahasa Indonesia and Bahasa Melayu are 2 different languages! Now I don’t think PayPal really understands Malaysia.

More Information:

• "PayPal For Dummies” listing at Amazon.com
• "Pro PayPal E-Commerce (Expert’s Voice)" listing at Amazon.com

The LG holiday survey contains only 8 questions cover topics such as which person would you most likely to spend the holidays with and what would be the ultimate gift you’d like to receive.

Other questions probe are what you dream as a perfect holiday and what creates the most stress during the holiday season.

LG is offering the hottest and most attractive trio of mobile phones launched in 2008 to 3 lucky Malaysians as prizes: the stylish LG Secret, the ultimate 8-megapixel LG Renoir camera phone and the just-released LG Cookie.

Take LG holiday survey. The survey result will be released at the end of November 2008.

[hat tip: Cheryl Yab]

Why buy from Apple Online Store?

Beside the general advantages of online shopping, there are some reasons why one want to buy Apple products on Apple Online Store, instead of Apple Resellers.

• Mac customization — ability to order your customized Mac system online, reduce the waiting time.
• Personal engraving and gift wrap — Add your personal laser-engraved message at the back of iPod. Give as a gift? Apple will ship it in a signature gift box with a personal greeting card.
• Student and teacher discounts — eligible student, faculty, or staff member can get discounts on Apple products.
• Speak to Mac and iPod experts — Call 1800-80-6419 to talk with Apple experts to answer your questions and get advice you need.
• Free shipping — get free shipping with orders over RM250.

Why still buy from Apple Resellers in Malaysia?

There are few reasons why one will still buy Apple products from Apple Reseller in Malaysia, even after the Apple Online Store has opened.

• Play before you buy — you get to try the Apple product first before you buy.
• Pay and Go — pay and walk off with your Apple product immediately (Apple Online Store takes 1-2 business day to deliver your order).
• Free gifts — Though no discount, most Apple Reseller will give free gifts along purchase of Apple products.

My two cents

It is a great news that finally Apple opens the online store in Malaysia! Now I can shop for Apple products at home without traveling to Kuala Lumpur or Singapore!

Plus, the engraving and gift wrap services make it a perfect choice as a present for your family/love/friends.

I am tempting to get myself an Apple iPod Touch…

1. Login your Frindster home page.
2. Click “View All” at the upper right hand side (next to “My Friends”).
3. List of your friends will be loaded. Find your friend ex-friend.
4. Click on the X button in your ex-friend’s box.
   
5. Click “Yes” to confirm delete the friend.
6. Done. No more friend!

That’s easy! So far there is no way to do “batch friends delete” on Friendster yet.

Well, I think it’s time to clean up my Friendster profile…

According to my account’s order information, the item has been dispatched on the next day of order (June 18th, 2008). But I received no news of my order until today.

I contacted the related parties, Mozilla Foundation and Merchandize Mania by emails but did not receive any reply!

The Mozilla Store contact page’s title is “Customer First” and stated that:

At the Mozilla Store the customer always comes first. It is our goal to make your shopping experience easy and pleasant.

Now I have a very unpleasant experience! I love Mozilla Firefox but I will not shopping at Mozilla Store anymore!

By the way, congrats to Mozilla Firefox’s 4th birthday!

How does Twitterank work?

According to ZDNet interview with the author, Twitterank secret algorithm takes incoming twitter replies in the formula. The more people talk to you the higher you score in Twitterank.

What’s your Twitterank?

While some got ZERO twitterank, my twitter (@liewcf) scored a nice 98.84, which is higher than around 90% of other people.

Here is the Twitterank Top 50. Apparently, 100 is not the full mark. The Top 50 are the people with over 200 twitterank. I wonder what’s the “perfect score”?

So, what’s your Twitterank?

More Information:

• "Twitter Revolution: How Social Media and Mobile Marketing is Changing the Way We Do Business & Market Online" listing at Amazon.com
• "Twitter: How Short Messages Can Make A Big Difference To Your Business" listing at Amazon.com

(image: Mickphoto/flickr)

It looks good, I must say! The fake MacBook Nano has the same glowing Apple logo as other Apple notebooks. It has 320GB hardisk space with hacked OSX installation.

The photos of the fake Apple MacBook Nano can be found on Flickr, as well as the process to mod MSI Wind to Apple MacBook Nano.

Will you buy the official Apple MacBook Nano, if available? I will. I wanted to get a MSI Wind netbook but a Apple version would be much better!

Of course, have to take the price tag into consideration too.

More Information:

• "ASUS Eee PC 901 8.9-Inch Netbook listing at Amazon.com
• "MSI Wind U100-016US 10-Inch Mini Laptop listing at Amazon.com

(image: life in technicolortype[a]/flickr)

Due to the free seats promotion, the AirAsia website is having heavy load. You will get a much faster response time by using AirAsia mobile site.

My two cents

This is a good news for my friends and me, as we are planning for holiday trips next year. We haven’t decided where to visit yet, probably Thailand or Vietnam.

I like Taiwan and Japan but they are not reachable by AirAsia (yet?).

Where do you plan to fly to in 2009?

On the showcase listing page are the thumbnails of the site, description, rating (based on implementation and use of WordPress), flavor (wordpress.org/com/com VIP/MU), and tags.

If you would like to showcase your WordPress powered site, you can submit yours too!

By listing on WordPress Showcase, your site will get more exposure as well as some SEO points from the direct links of WordPress.org.

More Information:

• "WordPress For Dummies listing at Amazon.com
• "WordPress Theme Design" listing at Amazon.com
• "WordPress for Business Bloggers: Promote and grow your WordPress blog with advanced plug-ins, analytics, advertising, and SEO" listing at Amazon.com

Will you take the job? Personally, I think $1 USD is under paid. If you are willing to blog for $1 USD per post, please let me know.

Writing paid blog posts is a fast way to make money online. The more you write, the more money you get.

For me, it is not an ideal way. If you are able to write many blog posts, you would better setup your own blog and start making money from your blog.

You will need to take some time to learn about setting up a blog, blog marketing and promotion, and some tips and tricks on blogging. Here are some books that might help:

• ProBlogger: Secrets for Blogging Your Way to a Six-Figure Income
• Blogging For Dummies
• WordPress For Dummies

The story? I don’t quite understand it until I read the synopsis after I was home. This is normal for me. I rarely understand 007 story line by watching the movies.

IMDB has summarized Quantum of Solace story in a sentence “Seeking revenge for the death of his love, secret agent James Bond sets out to stop an environmentalist from taking control of a country’s water supply.”

For the technology in the movie, none has surprised me. However, I like the “touchscreen table” (looks like Microsoft Surface) and the interactive glass when Bond is calling “M”.

I like the cute car (Ford Ka) drove by Camille (Olga Kurylenko), the bond girl. The phone is Sony Ericsson with fancy phone source tracking and GPS. By the way, Bond uses no gadget this time.

More Information:

• James Bond 007: Quantum of Solace (Xbox 360) listing at Amazon.com
• Quantum of Solace (Soundtrack) listing at Amazon.com
• Quantum of Solace [Theatrical Release] listing at Amazon.com

Users can change the Facebook interface language via language menu at the bottom of the page.

I am not sure how many Malaysians will use the Bahasa Melayu translations. I myself don’t use it. The Bahasa Melayu translation looks weird and confuses me.

Something similar are the Friendster in Malay and Windows XP in Bahasa Melayu.

Do you use Malay interface of the social networking sites?

Canned responses

If you received a lot of emails everyday asking about some common questions, you will find Gmail “canned responses” very useful.

It allows you to compose your reply once and saved the message as “canned responses” then later you can open and send the same message again and again. You can also create Gmail filter to automatically reply incoming emails with your canned responses.

Emoticons for Gmail

After Gmail added group chat and emoticons in Gmail Chat, now Gmail added emoticons to email message. The emoticons sets are available when you are composing email messages on Gmail.

Calendar and Docs gadgets

Google Calendar and Google Docs are useful online tools to organize your schedule and documents but both are not well embedded with Gmail.

The Calendar gadget allow users to show Google Calendar agenda and receive calendar alerts. The Docs gadgets show a list of recently accessed Google Docs and allows you to search documents right from Gmail.