ChanKelwin.com

This song, I feel the earth move by Carole King has been stuck in my head the whole evening yesterday.

Finally, there are signs that things are beginning to happen. However, I am approaching it with cautious optimism. As the saying goes, “it ain’t over ‘til the fat lady sings”.

I hate to say this but it is true. In some scenarios, Streamyx (love it or hate it) offers the best package compared to the other Internet broadband providers in Malaysia. You will disagree if you are not experiencing the optimum speed for the package you have signed up for. In that case, check out these tips on how to diagnose and solve common Streamyx problems.

I am sharing my broadband Internet access together with a few others in my rented place. Watching Youtube, networking and playing games on Facebook, downloading files from file sharing sites like Rapidshare, Megaupload, Hotfile, etc, and whatnots happen around the clock. If you are in my situation, Streamyx is the perfect choice, if not, the only choice – provided you get to enjoy the optimum bandwidth speed you subscribed for.

Today, I was asked if I agreed to convert the existing Streamyx line to Digi broadband. I was told that the Digi broadband package offers a download bandwidth of 7mbps and costs around RM188. A quick check on Digi’s website revealed that the package could be the Digi Extreme Plan. The 7 times increased bandwidth was very tempting and I did not mind the slight increase in cost. I have to admit that it all sounded too good to be true.

After reading the fine prints and FAQ, the “catch” was found. Q17 in the FAQ reads:

Question: What is the usage limit for these broadband packages?
Answer: The Extreme package comes with a data quota/usage limit of 20GB. Usage beyond 20GB will be free although the speed will be throttled to 128kbps.

The 20GB limit may be more than enough for some but definitely not in my place. I doubt it would last a week. If the guys do not mind “enjoying” a mere 128kbps bandwidth (which is equivalent to twice the speed of conventional dialup), I say go ahead. I am staying out.

 If you are in my situation, where you enjoy a stable Streamyx connection and speed but would need more bandwidth, check out their Super Upgrade Deals page. In short, you get to upgrade to the next package for free the first 4 months, and need only pay an extra RM5 to RM11 each month thereafter. The catch is that there is a 24 months minimum contract.

If I get to choose, I’d go for the Super Upgrade Deal promotion or at least an upgrade to a true unlimited 2mbps package for the same price. Never any mobile broadband packages if I am sharing my Internet connection with other heavy broadband users.

So, is Streamyx the only choice for a heavy broadband user? Worse, a group of heavy broadband users? Or did I miss some new broadband providers or promotions?

The air conditioner in my rented room has been giving me problems for quite some time now. Even with the temperature set low (22 degrees) and fan at full speed, it takes quite a long time to cool down the room.

Weekends are the worst time as I might be in while the scorching sun is just right outside my window. If the weather is really hot, the air conditioner will completely cease to operate, blowing nothing but hot air. It can be very unpleasant when that happens.

That is why I was glad when my landlord said she had called the service man to service the air conditioners in the house. My excitement was short-lived when I was told that I have to pay the service man myself. RM40 for a normal service sounded okay to me though. However, I was then told that my unit also needed a gas recharge and the bill increased to RM60.

The air conditioner is working perfectly now. There is a new problem though — it is a little too cold in my room now. Freezing cold!

If there was a law persecuting blog owners of “blog negligence”, I would have been thrown into jail and/or fined.

Two weeks ago, I went to the PC Fair at KLCC to get myself some tech gadgets — RAMs, external hard disks (one for myself and another for my brother) and a mouse. The RAMs were for office use. The external hard disk is because I can no longer tolerate the lack of space of my existing drive and constantly repeating these 6 steps to increase hard disk space. Lastly, the scroll wheel on my mouse stopped functioning just days before the event.

Add that all up and I had a perfect excuse to go for the event. After my girlfriend found out that I have been to the PC Fair and back without even mentioning it to her, she asked me jokingly if I was there to check out the booth babes.

Now, this is a trap question. Whatever answer I give can and would be used against me. If I answered “No, I was not there to check out the PC Fair booth babes”, she would never believe me. If I answered “Yes”, well…

I ended up choosing to act stupid and answered, “What booth babes? I was there to get some tech gadgets and did not see any of them. Must have been the economy.” Of course, that was not a correct answer. Just do a quick image search on Google for the term PC Fair and you will see more pretty (judgmental) booth girls than tech gadgets.

What would you have answered?

After 14-emotion-packed days filled with excitement, hope, expectation, anger, disappointment and whatnot, the day to pick up the keys to my first set of wheels has arrived. I wonder if this is how PMS would have felt like. I really do not know.

If this situation were to prolong, there may not be any hair left on my head. The stress from my work and the “fight” to get that number plate is becoming too much a burden for me. The line separating sanity and insanity seems almost nonexistent. I was afraid I might not even make it through.

Thankfully, I did.

15-01-2009 will be the last day I walk. Ok, that sounded really wrong.

From now onwards, any real walking and exercise will be done on the treadmill at the True Fitness gym. I have been skipping gym a lot recently. If I allow myself to procrastinate any further, I can kiss my ass goodbye. Like literally.