Yay! It's official... I finally own an N97! Digital Compass, GPS, 3.5G, 32GB on-board memory, expandable memory slot, QWERTY keyboard, USB charging, touchscreen, stereo speakers, 3.5mm audio jack, video out, bluetooth, 3G video call... there's a truck load of features packed onto this little device...

Question is why 'officially'?

So here's the story, I've had a Nokia N97 for the past 1-2 weeks thanks to a friend of mine who has access to the phones and VERY kind heartedly 'lend' me the product... it's nice to have friends like that... :)

Today, I officially own one and I must say, it's a GREAT feeling... gone is the nagging feeling that the phone actually belonged to someone...

iPhone OS 3.0 a passe?

For the past few months, we've heard of nothing but iPhones... iPhone 3GS, iPhone software version 3.0 - it's endless... the hype is over. Let's for once replace that with a little Nokia hype :P

A lil' history

I've had the N97 for sometime now. For a first consumer release revision of the software, it's really not too bad. Admittedly, there are bugs... quite a number of them too... and the experience at one point came to a complete halt... when the phone kept restarting for no apparent reason and taking pictures would hang the phone... The only way to resolve it was to completely hard reset the phone by punching in the magic numbers :

*#7370#

A lil' patience

The N97 is a super awesome phone that's let down by early firmware revision bugs... but no fret, according to Nokia themselves, July 1st 2009 (that's in just a few hours), a brand new firmware revision will be released and feature loads of bug fixes, new product features including some below...

• The locking of the device doesn't really sync with the backlight display - FIXED
• Kinetic scrolling for Phonebook now available (very iPhone like)
• More use of gestures to control applications
• Speed whereby GPS coordinates are acquired is greatly improved - under 8 seconds
• Nokia Maps has a lil' facelift
• Smoother transition between WiFi, 3G, EDGE connections - FIXED
• Text messaging automatically detects 'empty' messages prior to sending
• H264 video decoding now supported
• Multitouch support! Like the pinch, expand effect using the iPhone when playing with photos? It's now possible on the N97!
• and lots lots more...

So was it worth the wait? Heck YEAH! I'll keep you posted once I've upgraded the phone to the latest firmware...

N97, welcome to my gadget collection...!

So the weekend came and went... weekend for me was filled with activities up Genting Highlands for the BHPetrol Race Ace 2 - Go Kart Challenge... if you were following my twitter account - http://www.twitter.com/benjern, you would have seen links to my LIVE broadcast from the mobile phone! It was all possible via a little gadget called the Nokia N97 and a software called QIK!

Checkout the video here or click play below...

Oh btw, if you didn't hear it this morning, Nadia was part of the race as well. She was the 'cone' and 'stripe' counter for the event... :) She was SOOOOOOOOO SLOWWWWWW...

Anyway, on to my discoveries... was at e@Curve to checkout Fly FM's Playa Got Game on Sunday morning - 24 hours of non-stop gaming with 10,000 ringgit up for grabs. It's all good... and then it was time to eat - when I found this at the wash basin...

What the HECK is the WHITE STUFF??? I did a little squeeze, the soap felt ok, it smelled ok... but it just looked WRONG... VERY VERY VERY WRONG... irk...

Then it was Sunday night... after 2 whole days of events back to back, I got lazy, put on some 'house' clothes, put on my slippers and checked out the neighbourhood... took a short drive... and there I was... Kepong Baru... then this store stood out from the rest - Nasi Lemak with a MASSSIIIVVVE line!

I didn't try it then but tried it for dinner just now... it was pretty good. Not the best but hey, it's still a pretty good discovery! Lesson? You never know when you'll find a lil' gem in your neighbourhood :)

4am... alarm rang, woke up, what started like an ordinary day was not ordinary at all... 6am the show began... 15 minutes into the show and a call came in... one of our listeners asked if we knew that Michael Jackson has indeed passed on... we just laughed it off... then everything became a standstill... Nadia checked online and it was true - Michael Jackson has indeed passed on... at the age of 50 of a cardiac arrest. The studio was in complete shock - the entire show was changed to a Tribute to Michael Jackson...

 

Unlike popular belief, cardiac arrest is very different from a regular heart attack. A heart attack is usually caused by blocked arteries while a cardiac arrest is caused by stress - the heart couldn't take it so it prematurely stops.

Honestly, it could be the stress of his comeback concert, his new album, his monetary problems, the bad flack he's been getting from the media... it's all of that... lesson here is - take things easy. Life is short. Make the most of it because you never know when the end is. Michael, may you rest in peace and thank you for all the great music and good deeds you've done to this world...

On a lighter note... someone tried to beat the CR*P out of the Radio DJ...
and I've got proof...  

We all have neighbour stories. I'm no exception. You probably have heard it over the radio a few weeks back when I spoke about it... but this time, I've got proof...

You see, my neighbour - let's call this person... well more like a neighbour who is a few doors away has his / her home perched right at the end of the road - therefore he / she thinks that the ENTIRE stretch of road at the end belongs to him / her.

This person has placed cones to cordon off the area and has irritated lots of other neighbours - some claim that their cars have been scratched when parked in this 'area' - it's all an assumption of course with no solid evidence.

It doesn't really affect me as I've got my own lot and I'm quite a number of houses away from him / her. What you see above is what happened recently, someone decided to topple the cones... just for the heck of it!

This must irritate the sh*t out of him / her :)

And no... it's not me :P

Monday is here... Time for another recap of the weekend... So here's what happened, first I checked out a tank!



It's the Hummer baby! You would have seen this car in episodes of CSI. This thing is huge but you'd be surprised by the way it handles! It's bathed with all the luxuries of a modern vehicle, automatic lights, some funky munky sound system that'll blow your mind, truck loads of safety features and best of all, all these things come standard! It's one of those cars that shout out loud - look at me! look at me!

Apart from driving a tank, I also checked out the latest, greatest Nokia N97! I'll leave my review, rants and raves to one of my future entries - but one thing I really really enjoyed about the phone was the camera. More on the technical details later but what I want to really show off are the shots...




One of my dogs named "Garfield" why? He's got a bit of a personality issue... he thinks he's a cat since young



Father's day lunch! It was almost like a 'see how much food you can put on your table' competition!

Then...from the same N97 photoshot collection I caught this...




An S240... really? Here's a car trying to be a Mercedes Benz. Why try? You should be proud of your car! Your time will come... Stay true to yourself man... Plus, it's not a bad car you're driving! :)

Oh by the way, another free plug for my twitter :) follow me on twitter, lookup "benjern".

Till my next blog update!

The weekend came and gone and this weekend, Fabes and I left for our most favourite place in the whole of Malaysia - PENANG! Yay! Nadia on the other hand decided to stay back (ok fine, we actually left her behind :P)...

So anyway, the trip started on Flyday itself... left around 12-ish - 1... after a 3 hour ride, we arrived in the Pearl of the Orient...

This trip wasn't like any other trip I've had in the past... this one was different... see, it was for BHPetrol's Race Ace 2 - Go Kart Challenge... we went for that... I won in one of the rounds... Fabes lost... haha... he's a sore loser - trust me, you'll hear about it tomorrow morning. Anyway, that's not the point... the race was awesome... then there was the clubbing scene...

Then there was my first attemp at one of the most famous nasi kandar stalls in Penang - Nasi Kandar Line Clear! Why is it called so? I have no idea - apparently whenever you ask "how much?" the boss says "line clear"... I tried but he just said "duduk"... should be Nasi Kandar Duduk - fooiyoh...

A trip to Penang wouldn't be complete without a visit to Fly FM Pagi Show's official "Best Char Kuey Teow" in Malaysia - Ah Leng Char Kuey Teow!

We also checked out the BEST ASAM LAKSA in the Malaysia if not the world!!! Trust me, it's worth EVERY cent, EVERY slurp, EVERY chomp... you get the idea - the soup is just SOOOOO GOOOD...

Sorry, could only take picture of the shop... :) just take my word for it... it's worth visiting...

Strange thing is, food wasn't the only thing Fabes and I checked out - it was this place - almost like a hidden gem for tourists... the place is called sunset cafe @ Batu Ferringhi - and man, the moment you arrive, you'll feel like you've left Malaysia and entered some exotic seaside location... it's gorgeous... very very in touch with nature...

After all that, we got back late yesterday evening... it was a tiring but extremely satisfying trip... oh just more thing before I end this blog... here's a picture I took with a VERY STRANGE looking 'woman'... 'she' claims to be snow white... honestly, there's nothing very snowy or whitey about this human being...

Oh btw, if you want more strange happenings around me... :) ... follow me on twitter! Just add "benjern" or visit me at www.twitter.com/benjern

Strange phenomenon
So this is what happened to me this morning. It started off like a regular day... entered the studio, show started then it started happening... I started talking - then I couldn't seem to find words!

Strange thing is, I knew what I wanted to say, how I wanted to say it but the words just couldn't come out - my tongue was all over the place... but thank goodness, this thing only lasted in spurts from 6-7am... everything became normal... maybe I need to scrub my tongue, maybe I need to sleep more, maybe I need better breakfast, maybe I need a nicer - softer chair to be on, maybe it's because I accidentally stepped on my dog's furry tail... maybe I'm just me...?

Unbelievable? Believe it! - fooiyoh, like Ripleys...

Toilet speak

I'm sorry but I've go to talk about this. You see, at Sri Pentas - on Fly FM's floor, the toilet is designed in a rather peculiar manner - the male toilet's main entrance is directly opposite the female toilet's main entrance and often times, both toilet's main doors are WIIIIDDDEEE open...

So today I dropped by to deposit some items... while depositing, I heard this massive conversation going on... two women gossiping about what to sell, what to buy... so after I was done, they were STILL GOSSIPING... but the strange thing was, I only saw 1 woman - and NO, I was not peeping... it was right infront of me.

The only logical explanation I think is that the other woman is in the comfortable locked up environment of the cubical while having a MASSIVE GOSSIPING session with her friend who is standing outside... why was she in there for SOOOO long? I don't know... why was she gossiping while doing whatever she was doing in the cubicle with her friend who is standing right outside the cubicle's door, I don't know... what do you think? :)

Yay! The weekend has arrived once again! This time around, I don't want to talk about what's going to happen over the weekend and blah blah blah...

BUT, I'd like to talk about a REAL long forgotten gift. A gift that was once given to us, some of us might have used it eons and eons ago, some might be completely new to it....

It's called the Real Player!

I still remember the days where Real Player was like the de facto player for all things streaming. They were the first few people in the world to have “audio streaming” – trust me, that was revolutionary about 8-10 years ago. Then they had “video streaming” – which we are all used to today. Almost every Internet crazed ‘dude’ / ‘dudette’ had a real player installed.

10 years later, the ‘Real’ brand is going strong – now, not so much focusing on streaming but focusing on being the COOLEST, most COMPLETE media player EVER!

This thing is AMAZING! It’s almost like one of my dogs – it eats everything you throw at it…

• Flash Videos, no problem!
• DivX Video files, no problem!
• DVD movies, no problem!
• Windows Media Player files, no problem!
• Strange video formats, no problem!
• Any audio file type, no problem!
• The list just goes on and on…

One feature I ABSOLUTELY love is the ability to DOWNLOAD FLASH VIDEO files on websites – whether you are watching a YouTube Video or videos from MetaCafe, Yahoo Video – just ‘mouse over’ the video and immediately… you’ll see something like this…

The possibilities are ENDLESS! – can’t wait to finish watching a particular flash video, no problem, download it and keep it!

Then there’s the ability to record streaming video or audio. I was listening to Fly FM and guess what? I could pause, record, rewind – LIVE RADIO!

 

Got an mp3 player? iPod? This player hooks up literally anything and everything. Plug-it-in, Real Player recognizes the device instantly and you’re ready to transfer your movies and music!

Have I said that I love this player? Go grab Real Player v11, it’s FREE – www.real.com! :) Ahhh… some GREAT things in life ARE indeed free…

Have a super massive awesome weekend!