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There is a chance that most of our digital media (music, video, photos) are stored in our home desktops, therein lies the usefulness of being able to access it on the go with Orb. Orb, currently in version 2.0 requires you to complete a server side installation that will then run as an Orb windows service on your system tray. The only main setting allows you to set up the folder location for the files you wish Orb to index. The other settings are minimal and are mostly around connectivity and proxies to get around your home firewall if any.

Once this is done the fun starts. You can now access the Orb MyCasting site by logging in for all the goodies that’s on your beloved media store back home. The page loads up with a default homepage with an “Open Application” link on top that gives you access to the selected media category. To be honest, i use Orb mainly for accessing my music so i will choose exactly that -

Once you get into the Audio page, it will list the indexed music and thumbnails of the folders you decide to allow Orb to access on the server side. A media player friendly interface shows all the music that you have as well as allowing you to search for your music.

Double clicking on file will stream the file and play it, my home pc doing all the hard work of transcoding it. You can also perform shift-select / ctrl-select to select files and drag and drop to build a playlist. There is a download button that can zip up the files for download it you decide to play it locally on your on-the-move machine. Since it is open source, the advantages are it does nearly every popular media standards, including using flash to stream so all modern browsers will definitely work, and that’s what i use -

Orb is versatile enough for other forms of media and devices but if there is anything going for it – it’s to be a portable jukebox at work with any decent net connection. Highly recommended when good things do come free.

How does Orb Work?

Orb WIKI

Today i was on my way back from a weekend treasure hunt in Bangsar and chilled out at Bangsar Village for a while. Piano melodies caught my ear at the concourse and immediately spotting the impassioned playing, i stopped and found – a blind man on the piano. I took my seat and listened for over an hour. This is definitely not your typical road side blind musician at play. Playing without sheet music (obviously) and entirely from the heart, i was enchanted for the entire period.

Later a lady approached me, and she introduced herself to be Colin’s mom – Janet. Curious of his condition and his training, i asked her how did he discover his musical talent. It seems he is visually impaired from young but was surrounded by music, and was found tapping music on a calculator at 3 years old. Realizing his potential, Janet tried to gain support for practical training for her son, but was turned down by various blind and disabled support organizations. Frustrated, she took things into her own hands and guided him through formal education, finally enrolling him into a local musical college. Initially at lost at how to teach a blind, they later relented when she convinced them to verbalize as much as possible in class, as well as personally translating materials into braille for him.

Janet is obviously extremely proud of Colin, but not without going through much tribulations and discrimination in education for the impaired. It seems “Malaysia Boleh” breaks down quite easily for the officials when mounted with exceptional challenges. She feels that the disabled can contribute much, but only if given sufficient guidance as she has done for colin, as well as given a chance in society to shine. She says that there are also passer-bys with similiar conditions, in which she is extremely supportive of them picking up music. She feels that Colin can do much for them by teaching them music and sharing his experience.

Colin used to play in Kuala Lumpur Performing Arts Centre (KLPAC) as a foyer pianist, but didn’t quite like the timing. He know performs in Bangsar Village II everyday around lunch time. Too bad i don’t work around there any longer, but for those who’s reading – do check him out. Close your eyes and enjoy it – like he does.

End Note - conincidentally Janet told me he is featured in thestar today – so i picked up a copy of the bulkiest paper on planet earth, here’s the link – as well as NSTs’ -

Colin Ng dreams of becoming a piano teacher

A very special piano player

Stayed up to 2am this morning and and went to sleep at 46 seats for the opposition, with >74 needed to win 2/3rds to break the Parliamentary majority. Waking up to that reality for most of us used to BN winning year-after-year-after-ye… it feels almost unreal. I gathered with all the collective angst ( read: hindraf, snob ministers, rice-sweet potatoes ) againts the government recently, can’t help but feel it’s a vote against BN more than a vote for the opposition. Interesting days ahead as we for once have a real opposition force. Buck up.

AP – Malaysia’s Ruling Party Suffers Losses

thestar election results

ANALYSTS’ VIEW – Malaysia’s ruling coalition suffers upset

Azmi Sharom on the 12th General Election

Spotted these cartoonish BN election posters in chinese along pasar road. One depicts DAP breaking promises and the other for baseless accusations. Jalan Pasar is in the Bukit Bintang constituency, a DAP stronghold for many years. Election is a mere week away and the checks/cheques will decide the balances.

My last MP3 player was a 3G Ipod. I am rather particular about the sound quality of players, esp. after experiencing the ipods’ deterioration through the generations, i looked around – and stumbled onto anythingbutipod.com. The usual suspects was named, cowon and iriver. But these aren’t that readily available in these parts of the world, so i looked around a bit more for one to match my 3 year-old etymotics ER-6i headphones. My search was narrowed down to Sony A805 or the Sansa Clip. So if you see further it’s obvious i opted for the clip.

To start with, i was a tad dissapointed that they sold only the 1gig variety here, albeit for a very reasonable price of RM160. But then again at that price, it wouldn’t hurt much if it didn’t turn out great. But after a few hours on it i’m hooked, the sound is very muscular despite it’s miniscule size and drove my etymotics well. It is also quite well build and shouldn’t dissapoint if you, are like me, and spot the following characteristics in your music experience :

1. Can tell between a 320kbps LAME encoded mp3 and a CD/FLAC.
2. BUT is not anal about having lossless music as long as it’s decently ripped/encoded.
3. Cares about how the music sounds and owns a pair of decent headphones
4. Don’t bother much about album covers, nor the ability to store millions of tracks.
5. Cannot understand how video can be enjoyed on a small screen.
6. Is practical and would like to just drag and drop music. Hates DRM.
7. Carries around a USB cable in the notebook bag as required for other devices -or- “just in case”

Then you’ll love the CLIP !

My only problem was i had to get my PC to recognize the CLIP by overriding to MSC mode by pressing the center button + player on hold when connecting to the USB port. Follow the instructions here to upgrade the firmware here to gain some control over the connection mode for the player.

If you are still not convinced get more reviews and feedbacks here -
Anythingbutipod
CNET
geardiary
pc magazine

Folded this design from/in a book store with jon over a 12-year cycle ago, and have never forgotten it since. Happy Year of the Rat 2008 !

We started with 4 pieces of foil cardboard in silver and green, some wires, a base and a rod.

we then bended the paper and cut off one corners to form a curve, the peak of the tree. The cutout pieces are preserved for later.

The pieces are glued together tightly leaving some gaps in the middle.

The gap in the center of the fully glued tree is inserted over the top of the rod. Some green tape is used to hold the base of the tree from sliding down.

Some holes are punched to string the wires to circle the tree. This is repeated freely down the tree. The cutout remnants are cut into different shapes and glued to the tree in contrasted colors.


I thought it would have been nice hanging some cutouts made from transparent slides, outlined with glitter glue. But couldn’t find any so frances used some scrap transparent wrapping paper to soften the tree.

Even a paper tree didn’t look quite right without lights, so i circled some supported by the wireframe. The reflective foil gives it a cool modern feel. Alternatively, it would have worked just as well with self made ornaments hanging on the wireframe.

Whether you end up making your own tree or buying one, have a smashing Christmas !

I’ve been a great fan of Derren Brown. For a taste of, in my opinion, his most powerful work to date, watch the full episode of “The Heist” :

An added bonus leading to the climax is the reenactment and confirmation of the Milgram experiment, the often quoted experiment by Stanley Milgram on figures of authority and how it evokes the darker side of humanity. If educated white collar men and women can be “indoctrinated” to rob a bank, what more suicide bombers in states of desperation. The human mind – is weaker than we all think.

WIKI of Derren Brown
Derren Brown on youtube

De-stressing on a saturday – i’m making a christmas angel -

Too bad i’m out of glitter glue – Pop-up Angel Instructions

OK – this is nuts. i have no idea how a guy can produce a voice like this :

a few more “duets” here -

The first is his entry for broadwayworld.com’s give us your voice contest.
For singing better than most girls, i think you should vote for him.