2 Factor Authentication

I think most of us will have a bank account the only differences - bank, type of account and the amount inside =D.

Online shopping, fund transfer, bills payment, bank statement etc are services which combine the power of Internet and banking function.

Do you use Internet banking ? And what are the measures you took to ensure that personal information like Internet ID and pin are safe ? Some of the things I take note,
1)only use Internet banking on my personal PC/laptop.
2)Manually type in the Internet banking link on browser
3)clear history and cache of browser after usage.
4)ensure that your PC are spy ware and virus free
5)have a up-to-date antivirus program running

Here's another layer of security, ever hear of 2nd Factor Authentication ?
What's that ? and how it works ? Questions like these might pop and here's the answer.

Normally, you just need your ID and pin to access the Internet banking services from your bank's website. If anyone get to know about your personal information through some means, he would be able to gain access to your account.

With 2nd factor authentication, Internet banking user are require to provide a additional pin aka the OTP (one-time password, which is generate from a personal device you owned and it stays valid only for a few minutes after it has been generated, and it cannot be used more than once.)

Every One-Time Password (OTP) is unique and can only be used in conjunction with a user's Internet Banking Access Code and PIN. So even if a hacker gains access to your Access Code and PIN, the 2nd level of authentication prevents further entry because the OTP can only be obtained via a personal device (2FA Token) owned by you.

If someone manage to get your OTP device without the account information, he won't be able to do anything too.

With all the above, it bring me back to what I learnt during my Uni days, Security comes with complexity. But users does not want too complex stuff and want the maximum security.

As a DBS user, I m issued with a OTP device 1 month back. Not much hassle getting use to a additional device. But here's a problem for those who use Internet banking outside eg office. You will need to carry the OTP device around even though it about a USB thumb drive size.

As OCBC user, I m given an option to pick 3 method of 2nd factor authentication.



1) a hardware token
2) a token application which can be downloaded and install into your mobile phone.
3) SMS token - I think this will be the most convenient way.

Mini Vaccum

Do you get dusty keyboard easily ? Usually I will just wipe it with tissue paper. Wonder if someone would actually buy this product. How can a person be that LAZY!!!!!

Hoooo!

Guess who used that the most often.... maybe staffs in yahoo but I think he's the champion, Hard Gay.

Well comment on his video, if you are looking for a good laugh for whatever reason, he's video will be one of the best solution.

Kurohgie Kiki Ippatsu - Hard Gay version

Someone got it from Japan for Roger. If you stabbed the knife into the special hole, the Hard Gay figure on top will Hooooo! and SPRING OUT!!!

Here's the video on he's will to launch the product and marketing strategy! Bow! Hail!

Part 1

Part 2

New IPOD shuffle

Oh my it's near to BUTTON SIZEeeeee........



Technology is cool shrinking the size of gadets, what if it get too small? will you misplace it ?

(Orange!)What comes to your mind ?

In Japan, if you saw someone walking or running with orange spots or large orange patches on them ALERT!!! they aren't entertainer trying to amuse you. They indicate something ......



Yeah the 'Bad people' eg. robbers, thief or maybe rapist

In my opinion, if it's against armed robbers/thief it kinda of dangerous to throw the ball against them. Under the extreme fear and stressful environment, the offender might lose their mind and hurt you after or even before you tried to throw the ball.

But if it's against rapists, I think it's more effective, the victims can aim for the offender face and it create a instance impact on the offender's mind (fear of being recongise after he committed the crime) But 2 considerations,
a) Accuracy require - must land offender's face/prominent body parts
b) The orange stain must be stay for over 3 weeks.

A laptop owner ?

Are you a laptop owner ? I guess more and more people are getting laptop for school stuffs and work related with the competitive prices.

Have you discover that after 6 - 12 months your battery online ability reduce ? From 3-4hrs(newly purchase) to 1.5 - 2hrs (after 6 - 12 months) online time.

Here's some guidelines of improve your battery lifespans

• Avoid frequent full discharges because this puts additional strain on the battery. Several partial discharges with frequent recharges are better for lithium-ion than one deep one. Recharging a partially charged lithium-ion does not cause harm because there is no memory. (In this respect, lithium-ion differs from nickel-based batteries.) Short battery life in a laptop is mainly cause by heat rather than charge / discharge patterns.
  
  
• Batteries with fuel gauge (laptops) should be calibrated by applying a deliberate full discharge once every 30 charges. Running the pack down in the equipment does this. If ignored, the fuel gauge will become increasingly less accurate and in some cases cut off the device prematurely.
  
  
• Keep the lithium-ion battery cool. Avoid a hot car. For prolonged storage, keep the battery at a 40% charge level.
  
  
• Consider removing the battery from a laptop when running on fixed power. (Some laptop manufacturers are concerned about dust and moisture accumulating inside the battery casing.)
  
  
• Avoid purchasing spare lithium-ion batteries for later use. Observe manufacturing dates. Do not buy old stock, even if sold at clearance prices.
  
  
• If you have a spare lithium-ion battery, use one to the fullest and keep the other cool by placing it in the refrigerator. Do not freeze the battery. For best results, store the battery at 40% state-of-charge.

Killer Network Card

Saw this web advertisement awhile ago - introduction this product -

Killer Network Interface Card.

It's a word advertisement with no picture, the marketing line that caught my attention was "41% increase FPS in World of Warcraft" FPS - Frame Per Second. If 41% is real, that a awesome performance improvement.

Their Marketing paragraph,
Kill or Be Killed!

Whether you have an hour to play at night or you are a dedicated pro gamer: the Killer NIC is for anyone that cherishes their online gaming time. The Killer™ Network Interface Card (NIC) is the world’s first Network Card designed specifically for Online Gaming. Powered by Lag and Latency Reduction (LLR™) Technology, Killer gives your computer superior speed and performance. More Frames Per Second and lower Pings when they matter most: during intense online gaming action.

About the LLR technology,

Lag and Latency Reduction (LLR) Technology is the power behind the Killer NIC. It has two modes of operation: LLR Game Mode and LLR App Mode.

During your Gaming hours change to LLR Game Mode - It completely changes the way networking works in your computer: fully tweaking it out for Games.

LLR Technology is 400Mhz Network Processing chipset that allows the Killer NIC to completely bypass the Windows Network Stack, and implement it’s own interrupt driven stack technology.
Bypassing Windows reduces your latency (Ping), and shortens game frame loops: boosting FPS.

The Killer’s NPU is also designed specifically for online gaming, and handles gaming network traffic much more quickly and efficiently than standard networking products, including packet prioritization, gaming interrupt modeling, and FNA.

The best part is that LLR is plug’n’play, and requires no software changes by game developers. This means that you can just plug the Killer in, and get the benefits right away in your favorite online game.

FANTASTIC for Gamers!! The killer NIC cost - $279.99
With the above info, I see a potential of this NIC but the price is holding me back. =\

Check out Killer NIC
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OV-Watch

Do you know this ?
Researchers in the late 50s and early 60s noted that numerous salts (chloride, sodium, potassium) in a woman's sweat fluctuated in relation to the menstrual cycle.

Chloride levels are low at the start of the menstrual cycle and peak three times during the cycle (see graph below).



Using a patented biosensor, "OV-Watch" detects a baseline chloride ion level for each woman and then accurately predicts ovulation based on the timing of the first peak.

The OV-Watch detects the chloride surge 5 days prior to ovulation, making it an earlier predictor of ovulation than any other chemical surge during the month.

During the clinical trials result, approximately 3 out of 4 women received the full 5 day notice of ovulation

For women trying to conceive, knowing the days before ovulation not only lowers the stress level for her and her partner , but it increases her chances of getting pregnant.

Find more about OV-Watch

Nokia Aeon concept phone

Concept ideas are simply attractive man!! Remember the black box, PISM, now Nokia Aeon. A concept phone by Nokia (I m a nokia supporter, ever since I start using cell phones mainly because of the user-friendlyness), it's design had already do most of the marketing. Not much information on the specification of the phone, ops it's a concept phone lol. Wonder how much you gonna pay for this>

P-ISM

Got to know about this concept gadget from '我报'a chinese version of today.

A Pen-style Personal Networking Gadget Package
It seems that information terminals are infinitely getting smaller.
P-ISM is a gadget package including five functions: a pen-style cellular phone with a handwriting data input function, virtual keyboard, a very small projector, camera scanner, and personal ID key with cashless pass function.

P-ISMs are connected with one another through short-range wireless technology. The whole set is also connected to the Internet through the cellular phone function.

Carrying 5 pens feel funny too, why not make it all into 1 single pen right ?

Find out more about P-ISM

Mosquito suck Me blood, I suck them in

Have you ever been 'sucked' by a mosquito? I get it pretty often in the past, some told me that O+ blood attracts mosquito(not sure how true it is) but doing spring cleaning once in awhile does help. Recalls those out field days during BMT(Basic military training) at Pulau Tekong, those mosquitoes living in the forest area perhaps went through some form of training too that earn them a the name, "Commandos Mosquitoes". Why? Even with the long sleeves and pants, they were able to pentrate through and get their share on ya.

Some WoWs, source from How mosquito works:

Mosquitoes are insects that have been around for over 30 million years.

Mosquitoes are equipped with the following,

1)Chemical sensors - mosquitoes can sense carbon dioxide and lactic acid up to 100 feet (36 meters) away. Certain chemicals in sweat also seem to attract mosquitoes (people who don't sweat much don't get nearly as many mosquito bites). (haha getting too much bites from mosquitoes? swipe your sweat frequently)

2)Visual sensors - if you are wearing clothing that contrasts with the background, and especially if you move while wearing that clothing, mosquitoes can see you and zero in on you. It's a good bet that anything moving is "alive", and therefore full of blood, so this is a good strategy. ( Hmm wear black pyjamas helps?)

3)Heat sensors - Mosquitoes can detect heat, so they can find warm-blooded mammals and birds very easily once they get close enough. (put a heater nearby while sleeping)

Here's an interesting tools to pay them back or maybe sell them to researcher for some cash,

Skeeter BagTM

There's actually some statistic on the efficiency of this product.

'LooK' Slim

Can your camera or rather digital camera help you look better instantly ? Maybe the picture quality, focus, colour, bightness which can be easily achieve by anyone, credits to the Artifical Intelligence of the chips. It just got better, on selected HP digital camera, there's a slimming feature which help you to 'look' slim.

Bingo!

Nah it isn't the Bingo game this time, was posting on the kukuclock a few posts back. Now something related to time again, the Bingo Watch


How do I read it ?
Here's the instruction,
The outer dots are numbered 1-12 for the hours and the inner dots for minutes - there's a small red marker on the inner track which points to the minutes in a traditional manner.

Alarm

RINGggggGGGG!!!!!DU DU DU DU!!!! Time to wake up. How many of ya actually wake up immediately upon the alarm alert ? That's a tough task for me 5 times a week man. My bad habit, tendency to hit the snoozes button. Since University days, I have been using my mobile phone alarm function till now.

Gotten my worst record today, pre-set the alarm at 0800hrs and snoozed it for an HOUR (held my mobile phone in my palm and keep pressing the snooze =\). I purposely set the interval of the snoozing alarm to 1 minutes prevent myself from getting too deep into dreamland again. It used to work but somehow today it failed terribly. Unwillingly, I drag myself off bed with a half-awake brain and get a wash up which help alittle.

Experience the above ? Any personal tips working together with one of the human best friend "ALARM" devices ? Came across this awhile ago, "kukualarm"

It base on the theory of waking up the mind first.

Kuku Alarm ClockHow about collecting eggs then? That is after all what they do on the farm. This funky, but highly practical Kuku Alarm Clock forces you to do just that.

Set its alarm and then be greeted every morning by your Kuku Alarm Clock laying eggs...and because it won't stop chirping until you've returned its eggs(0.o what if you couldnt find the last egg =D), this clock will not only wake you up, but keep you up. Just imagine how difficult it’d be trying to return to your slumber after crawling around the floor and looking under your bed, sheets or pillows for each and every last egg.

A whole lot more effective than tropical waterfall sounds or cute chirping birds, the Kuku Alarm Clock makes it difficult, if not impossible to go back to sleep. In fact, after this clock's five eggs and crowing sounds, you'll probably have to restrain yourself from throwing it against the wall.

Waking up is always hard to do, but this alarm clock actually makes it fun to get out of bed.

Drink/Drive? Drink&drive

If you belongs to the second catergory, Drink&Drive, Japanese automakers are accelerating their efforts to develop cars that will not start if the driver has taken alcohol.

Nissan Motor Co. is considering developing a car that will not start unless the driver correctly inputs a long pin number, a difficult task for a person under the influence of alcohol.

The automaker is also considering developing a car, equipped with an alcohol detector, that would not start if there is alcohol on the driver's breath.

Industry leader Toyota Motor Corp. is also developing cars that will not move if the driver has taken alcohol.

In the United States and Europe, a system that locks the engine if alcohol is detected on the driver's breath is already in use, and a Japanese nonprofit organization is promoting such a system in Japan.

With all the above said, they miss out one point, there are lots of other automotor makers around. Consumers could easily switch to a "non-alcoholbuster"friendly car.

Read the full article

MP3 Fighter

ROUND 1! Fight !
There's lot of MP3 manufacturers around and this is a big consumer market. Thus everyone is trying to grab a share of it. The more well known ones are IPOD (by Apply), Zen(by creative). With the ending of lawsuit between these two major players, the software gaint, Microsoft pop and rolling out their brand of MP3 player, 'Zune'. Here's some of the features of the player,
The Zune MP3 player will feature wireless technology;
1)A built-in FM tuner
2)A three-inch (7.6-centimeter) screen designed for displaying music, pictures and video.
3)Colour, available in black, brown and white.
4)Zune devices were also designed to connect wirelessly with each other so users could share music or play "DJ," according to Microsoft.
Shared songs would automatically erase from borrowers' Zunes after three days or being played three times, Microsoft said.

Well as a consumer, which MP3 player do you prefer? How about a poll ? (arghhh how do I create a poll)

Carrot for rabbit

How's this gadget? Samsung YP-Z5F



A guy from starhub called this afternoon and I got to know that my resident maxonline contract has ended. He tried to induce me with the gadget aka carrot =D in order to tie us as their client for another 24mths (hey that’s 2 YEARs). I told him that I will be checking out the freebie online and reply him later. Reason? I remember seeing promotion offers like networking package which worth a few hundreds and Xbox 360 why pick this lower value item.

Just done with my research, the higher value freebies are tied to Maxonline ultimate or 6500 =\, I belongs to the 4000 category. Well I did a check on their competitor, singnet, hmmm nothing interesting on their broadband package.

Do you have digital voice? Free incoming and outgoing call FOC until Dec 2007 but you need to get a digital voice enable modem and register for the service. I got this digital voice a few months back, my only house line now and it require the modem to work. With the above notes, plus my current satisfaction level of their service is still good. I shall be a rabbit one more time haha.

PS : Strong Competition coming from our neighbour , good news Minister for International Trade and Industry Rafidah mentioned that the recent proposal to levy a RM20 tax on foreign cars entering Johor has been scrapped.