yauhui’s garbage barn

Yes, you read that right. I’m shutting down my highly unsuccessful file hosting service FileCube.net within the next month.

A collaboration between a friend and me, FileCube was and is still in beta. The underlying framework, built upon CodeIgniter, is incredibly buggy and it had actually disabled my complete access to the Admin Control Panel.

With that in mind, I decided to just shut it down. Who needs another file host anyways? With 3Kbps speeds, far less than the 500Mbps promised speed, I don’t foresee anyone being a fan of FileCube in its current state.

By “shutting down”, I don’t mean completely erasing it from history. I actually have plans to resurrect it in the not-too-distant future with a completely different framework. I’ve been in contact with the founders of the currently-unavailable WillHostForFood file hosting service, and I sincerely hope they would cooperate with me to relaunch a “FileCube.net: Powered by WillHostForFood” service that actually appeals to the mass market.

As to those who currently have files hosted on FileCube.net, I request that you retrieve a copy within one month of this blog post. Any unfortunate incidents and inconveniences arising is greatly regretted and I sincerely apologize.

I wish to thank everyone who had participated in the public beta of FileCube.net, your support had been very much appreciated.

This question has often been posed to me: Half full, or half empty?

As the clock struck 12, there are two things that would happen: The old decade ended, or the new decade started. Which would you choose?

For me, it’s neither the end nor the beginning but a going on, with all the wisdom that experience can instil in us.

It’s the dawn of the new year; what hides in store for us today? Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, even Sunday; there’s always something new everyday!

Read the rest of this entry »

(Click for full size)

As of late, I noticed more and more local businesses jumping onto the social media bandwagon, primarily targeting Facebook and Twitter.

I believe online social media is the forward step for all corporations, organisations and businesses, regardless of size. There are many ways to ensure that your business can make a strong presence on social networks, and here are a few tips.

Read the rest of this entry »

I was kindly invited by Bryan to Hannah Tan’s charity concert live at The Gardens Midvalley!

Read the rest of this entry »

So, for the past month, I had the chance to test out the HTC Touch Pro2 but I was just damned lazy to do a complete write-up on it. So, right now, I’ll just post some of my quick thoughts on the phone.

At first glance, the phone looks intimidating. It looks big, bulky, and solid - you’ll feel like holding a brick in your hand. HTC has done an extremely great job at making metal-lookalike parts that are actually made of plastic.

On the front are the standard Windows button layouts (Call, Windows, Back, End Call). On the top is the power button, the left is the volume rocker and the right is clear except for the stylus compartment towards the lower corner. On the bottom is the semi-proprietary HTC ExtUSB connection which happens to work with standard mini USB ports too. This ExtUSB port assumes the role of charging, sync and audio out ports. The lack of a standard 3.5mm jack is rather disappointing.

On the back is a design that looks like it’s dominated with a huge speaker output, but in reality the speakers are just at two tiny holes towards the top.

As a business-oriented phone, the Pro2 is of course optimized for conference calls, and HTC does a great job at this. There’s a small mute talk button below the camera, for obvious purposes during a teleconference.

The 5MP camera does a pretty decent job at very basic photographing. Nothing outstanding to expect here, but as usual, the camera on the Pro2 continues HTC’s tradition of wrestling (or attempting to wrestle) the “lousiest camera award” with the iPhone.

The slide-out five-row QWERTY keyboard is roomy and spacious, enough to make any iPhone users drool over their phone’s physical disabilities. Each keys are big and well-spaced, making them difficult to miss.

An added feature with the Pro2 is the screen that can be “folded” up when the keyboard is slid open, making table-top typing so much a joy. This totally beats the Nokia N97s’ keyboard approach.

Pro2 runs on Windows Mobile 6.1 which, at time of post, can readily be upgraded to Windows Mobile 6.5 by downloading the ROM from HTC’s website.

HTC’s TouchFLO 3D tried and did a relatively good job at hiding WinMo, but not completely; I had rather plentiful encounters with the monster under the mask and they are not pretty.

For example, clicking on Reply at the Messages tab brings us to the HTC-designed SMS thread, but clicking on All Messages would bring us to the fugly WinMo standard Messages window.

All-in-all, the Pro2 is a worthy phone for a businessman’s use, although the rather slow CPU and RAM coupled with Windows Mobile does make you want to think twice about the phone’s reliability. The screen is quite ineligible under direct sunlight, and the loudspeakers did not perform to my expectations, turning out quite soft and humble. And, like all HTC phones, the GPS on the Pro2 takes FOREVER to get a lock-on.

Starbucks is treating you to a FREE tall brewed coffee at all outlets nationwide from 11am to 1pm today, in conjunction with their 11th anniversary celebration!

So hurry! Pick your favourite camp spot outside your nearest Starbucks outlet and SPAMZOR TEH COUNTAR for your absolutely free tall brewed coffee sense-stimulatingly rich in antioxidants for your totally guilt-free hydration pleasure!

(Coffee well-being information shamelessly outsourced from Nescafé’s website)

Also, watch out for Starbucks Malaysia’s official Facebook fanpage, scheduled to go live at 9pm today! Stay tuned on the www.facebook.com/StarbucksMalaysia address, because the first 11 fans would receive a special Starbucks merchandise!

On the 6th Dec, I was among the lucky 30 people to join sports photography guru Ruddiee Khaw at Sepang International Circuit to catch the Malaysian Super Series live!

Read the rest of this entry »

Recently I’ve worked on a new project, called Retweet!.

It’s basically a Greasemonkey Javascript code that lets users RT a tweet the old-fashion way that we all grew to love.

Why Retweet!? Why not the official Twitter implementation?

You see, the official retweet implementation isn’t anything like what the users wanted it to be. All you get is a tiny footer below the tweet that says “Retweeted by you [and X others]“. You can’t add your own note to it, you can’t give yourself any credit, you can’t have the flexibility of the old retweet method.

That’s why I bring upon to your feet, my little code called Retweet!

Retweet! basically adds the tweet to your Twitter textbox, in the RT @username tweet format. You can have a positive liking for a tweet, and you can dislike the tweet - all by adding a small note.

For example, Hey, nice one! RT @yauhui Caught the cops speeding on the highway! [LINK HERE] or Dude, that is so not cool. RT @yauhui I'm the awesomest guy EVER!

This is the biggest advantage of the traditional RT method over the official Twitter implementation.

Retweet! brings the traditional RT method to a small, simple button:

Head over to the project page for more information on Retweet!.

I practically grew up with my favourite file host. It had some of the cheapest rates and some of the biggest file size limits. And plus, I paid for a year’s premium and I got mine till 2036.

But on November 20, WillHostForFood.com has announced their end-of-service due to lack of funds. This is very much out of my bounds, and I can just watch helplessly as WHFF falls into oblivion, along with my hundreds of files hosted with WHFF.

RIP WillHostForFood. Many thanks to Ryan and Derek, the two men who runs WHFF wholeheartedly. It is saddening to see the death of a great file host with much potential.