Blog of Christopher Chouputra
All about me, myself and Everything
Apple iPad – Giant iPod Touch
Jan 28th
Have you ever wished that iPod is available in large size so that you can browse the internet better? Well, the wait is over! Steve Jobs from Apple has announced the iPad recently with a price tag starting from $499 but the availability is still in the air.
iPad from the side
One of the first things you’ll notice about the iPad is how thin and light it is. With only just 1.5 lbs and 0.5 inches thin, it’s slightly smaller than a magazine and it’s easy to carry and use anywhere. There’s also a slight curve to the back. Which makes it easy to pick up and comfortable to hold.
iPad has a large 9.7 inch, measured diagonally, high resolution LED-Backlit IPS display that makes it perfect for web browsing, watching movies, or showing off photos. Just like iPod Touch and iPhone, the iPad can operate in any orientation – portrait or landscape. The IPS technology allows an amazing 17.8° viewing angle that allows you to hold it at any angle and yet still able to view the display with excellent color and contrast.
iPad from the front
The Multi-Touch screen is something that is to be expected and it uses the same technology as the iPod Touch or iPhone. The only difference is that it has been customized for a larger screen and much precise and responsive. My finger is now itch to flick photos and Google Maps on it.
Battery is what concerns me the most when the iPad was announced as it has a huge screen that will likely consume a lot of power. However the iPad is packed with a lithium polymer battery just like on the Macbook and Apple says that this thing will operate up to 10 hours while web surfing on Wi-Fi, watching videos or listening to music.
As this is a connected device, iPad will come with built-in 802.11n Wi-Fi and also Bluetooth 2.1 with EDR so that you can listen to music wirelessly with your stereo bluetooth headset or headphones. In addition, some iPad models will also has an integrated 3G modem that supports up to 7.2 Mbps.
Can’t wait for this device to be available on the Apple Store. Should I pick this up or should I just wait for the next Macbook Pro with Intel Core i7? 
Pieter Tanuri and the Tire Industry
Jan 17th
Indonesia as I look at it has a great economic potential with giant companies such as Grup Orang Tua, Indofood, Garudafood, Siantar Top and many others are rising to the top. PT Multistrada Arah Sarana Tbk. (MASA), with Pieter Tanuri served as the President Director, is heading towards the same direction.
What is interesting about this business is that Multistrada as local manufacturer had to deal with global brands such as Bridgestone, Goodyear, Michelin, Dunlop, Toyo Tire and Pirelli. However, Multistrada had caused quite a stir and grab the market. Achilles, Multistrada ’s flagship product, like the ancient Greek mythology, “muscle” Achilles was so strong. In fact, Achilles has been successful in foreign countries. Not surprisingly, the manufacturer, PT Multistrada Arah Sarana Tbk., smiles broadly as to record net sales of Rp. 1.3 trillion in 2008 and maybe another surprise for 2009 when the financial result is released.
One of the key success factor for Multistrada is from its low price as compared to the “Big Boy” such as Michellin, Bridgestone, Continental, Pirelli and Goodyear. The price for Achilles is way down there. “If the Big Boy sells 17 inch for US$ 150, then I will sell for $50. But, I am already satisfied because the margin is big enough,” J. Sukarman, Operational Director of PT Multistrada Arah Sarana Tbk. said. Pricing is only one of the strategy and as in Achilles’s case, Multistrada has created a number of innovation by providing fashionable tire concept with size that is larger than that is available in the market.
This is only the begining of Multistrada’s success story as they continue to improve their product to strive not only to produce world class product but also to be globally recognized brand.
Ngintip Desain Baru Facebook 2010
Jan 4th
Desain baru Facebook 2010
Facebook tampaknya mulai menggelarkan desain situs baru ke beberapa orang walaupun saya sendiri masih belum dapat menikmatinya. Desain baru ini juga pernah ditampilkan oleh GigaOM pada tanggal 27 Desember 2009.
Facebook pernah mengumumkan pada bulan Oktober bahwa applikasi Facebook memiliki hit paling tinggi. Panel pencarian telah dipindahkan dari kanan ke kiri-tengah dan bar navigasi disederhanakan. Khususnya Facebook telah menghapus link ke profil Anda yang saat ini ada dua . Setting dan login/logout telah digabungkan menjadi satu “account” drop-down.
Tidak ada yang patut dibenci pada perubahan ini tapi biasanya pengguna sering mencemari perubahan apapun pada situs ini. Kita nantikan saja =).
New Facebook Privacy Settings
Dec 9th
Facebook New Privacy Announcement
Today, Facebook has rolled out privacy setting upgrade which they claim to give more control to the users of how their information is shared. With the new features:
Facebook Share Control
- You can now control who can see every post you share, from status updates to photo albums.
- Regional networks (like London or Australia) have been removed.
- A common set of information for all users is now publicly available.
- Facebook-enhanced applications and websites now have access to a limited set of information when you use and interact with them: your publicly available information and information you’ve made visible to Everyone.
- No changes whatsoever to ads on Facebook. We do not give—and have never given—anyone’s data or personally identifiable information to advertisers.
Facebook Levels of Privacy
The facebook level of privacy has been divided into three levels: Friends, Friends of Friends and Everyone. All Users will be guided to the Facebook Security Upgrade Wizard to ensure that everyone has update their own security setting.. However, Facebook users should check their privacy setting once again and make sure that no sensitive information such as email and phone number to be published to everyone. More information about the new privacy setting can be read here.
Facebook Privacy Update Wizard
My new Canon G11 CameraHot Pixel is Fixed
Nov 18th
If you have read my previous post about me finding hot pixel on my brand new Canon PowerShot G11 then I am glad to tell you that it is officially gone. All that I do is to go to one of the local Canon service center in Jakarta and tell them about the issue and they are all happy to get it adjusted or as many called it as pixel mapping. The pixel mapping procedure is quick and mine was stated to have the service completed within two hours, as stated on the work order, after I have brought it in. So if you have a Canon digital camera which is still under warranty then don’t hesitate to send them in to your local Canon Service Center to get your hot pixels mapped.
Below are some of example pictures after the hot pixel is mapped (click on the image to find the original version):
Wayang Semarang
Pool at Cansebu Resort
Introduction to Open Hack Day
Nov 5th
Went to Wetiga yesterday after work to meet some of the guys from Yahoo USA and Yahoo South East Asia. Michael Jr is one of them and he is presenting the new Yahoo front page design with codename M…. (okay I forgot what he called it but it starts with an M lol). By the way, not everyone will be able to access the front page as they are rolling out slowly and probably by the end of the year.
Michael Smith giving a talk on internet trend
Michael then goes on talking about the what’s available on the Yahoo Developer Network. Some of the examples that he mentioned was Yahoo Blueprint for mobile, Yahoo Query Language or YQL in short Yahoo User Interface best known as YUI. I have personally used the Yahoo Blueprint and YUI for my development and I can say that they are awesome.
Anyway I’ve also talked to them about an issue that have been occurring to legal websites whereby emails sent to Yahoo emails are being marked as a spam. Indonesia is one of the country where email spamming is the norm and they do take that seriously. The easiest and hardest thing to do is to get into their “white list”, just like Facebook and many others, to ensure that all emails are being delivered.
Michael Smith showing an online demo on Indonesian's slow internet connection.
There is a network guy as well, his name is Adam, and he came all the way from Sunnyvale to Indonesia to meet some of the major players in international networks to talk about how to improve Yahoo services to Indonesia. There are a lot of challenges that he mentioned such as hardware issues, languages, technology and list goes on. For me I just hope they have a mirroring or at least direct peering with most major players in the network.
Not to forget I also met guys from WayToDeal.com, OgahRugi.com, Urbanesia.com, AdaDiskon.com & CariPromo.com
For those who are interested in joining Open Hack Day can register here
Bubur Barito
Oh, and after the event my colleague and I went to Bubur Barito for dinner as it was 9 at night we have not eaten yet. Yummmmmyyyyyy…..
KPK POLRI Voice Recording (Rekaman KPK POLRI)
Nov 4th
Most of the people in Indonesia should know about the conflict between KPK (Komisi Pemberantasan Korupsi) which an English translation will be Corruption Eradication Commission and POLRI (Kepolision Negara Republik Indonesia). The effect of the conflict causes disruption in the ecnomic and can be felt by the stock market indexes and depreciation of Indonesian Rupiahs. While I am not that much into politics but I just hope that this will be brought under control and hopefully the Government will stop putting themselves into shame.
Anyway here are the voice recordings for those who are interested:
KPK Polri Voice Recording Version 1 – kpk-polri-versi1.mp3
KPK Polri Voice Recording Version 2 – kpk-polri-versi2.mp3
KPK Polri Voice Recording Version 3 – kpk-polri-versi3.mp3
KPK Polri Voice Recording Version 4 – kpk-polri-versi4.mp3
KPK Polri Voice Recording Version 5 – kpk-polri-versi5.mp3
KPK Polri Voice Recording Version 6 – kpk-polri-versi6.mp3
KPK Polri Voice Recording Version 7 – kpk-polri-versi7.mp3
KPK Polri Voice Recording Version 8 – kpk-polri-versi8.mp3
KPK Polri Voice Recording Version 9 – kpk-polri-versi9.mp3
KPK Polri Voice Recording Version 10 – kpk-polri-versi10.mp3
KPK Polri Voice Recording Version 11 – kpk-polri-versi11.mp3
PS: I do not guarantee the accuracy or quality of the recording
Mobile Monday – BlackBerry Application, Service & Content Development
Nov 3rd
I was so excited when I went to the Mobile Monday event yesterday as the topic of the presentation is Blackberry. There were more than 150 people came to this event and there aren’t enough seat available for all. Blackberry has been very well accepted by the community in Indonesia, myself included, and especially in Jakarta. The growth of the data traffic by now has been growing more than 842% relative to January 2009 and that is just from a minority of mobile phone users here.
Indonesia Monthly Blackberry Traffic Growth
I have actually seen BlackBerry since 2003 and it is being used widely by enterprises in Canada back when it was only has black & white screen. It was a popular device among enterprise users as they have their email pushed to their mobile device rather than having to check their inboxes using a PC or laptop which decreases response time. Advanced by the highly secured RSA encryption makes it a natural choice for company that do not want to be eavesdropped by packet sniffers.
In the event I had the chance to hear the experience, thoughts, insights sharing from people like:
- Agung Wijanarko (Indosat) – A self proclaimed BlackBerry evangelist, one of a few people following BlackBerry steps in Indonesia since its infancy. He shows us how the BlackBerry has been growing in Indonesia and there are a lot of potential as the price of such device is dropping rapidly
- Willson Cuaca (Foyage) – Founder of XSago.com which has developed Foyage, the Location Based Service (LBS) application. Willson and the team developed an application that works like a radar where it shows information that is in close proximity to the device.
- Fahmi Gustiawan (Pravina) – whose company help the implementation of BlackBerry-based m-Gov in DKI… also featuring our special guest from Bappeda DKI. His company developed an application that helps government officials to monitor progress and updates through BlackBerry handset in real time.
- Deddy Avianto (id-berry) – experience businessman in BlackBerry specific content & applications…. “Theme” is his middle name. Deddy have made many out-of-the-box themes which many have been reviewed globally and seems to be profitable.
- Ronald Ishak (Domikado) – cool and popular lifestyle apps – Indonesian made. The thing I like about Domikado is that it has a very sleek user interface which also works on my BlackBerry Storm 9530. It has a bunch of information and features such news, foreign exchange and stock index. The only concern I have about this is it is very general and it seems to be another Viigo.
- Mark Hanusz (Jakarta Globe) – Founder Equinox Publishing. Mark Hanusz team has developed a news application that works on BlackBerry and can be downloaded on http://www.globedm.com/ as of yesterday.
- Michael Smith (Yahoo!) – Michael appearance was a surprise as I wasn’t informed that anyone from Yahoo! will be coming to the event. He is the Director of the Yahoo Developer Network for South East Asia and he is coming to launch the first Open Hack Day in South East Asia on November 21st and 22nd, 2009. Those who are interested can register for Open Hack Day here.
Hot Pixel on my new Canon G11 Camera
Nov 2nd
Okay, I have received my new camera, Canon PowerShot G11, last Thursday and I was thrilled before I found hot pixel on the focus rectangle. Below is a small image from a test I did to locate the dead pixel.
There are two types on non-functioning pixels:
- Dead Pixels: A pixel that reads zero or is always off on all exposures. This state produces a black pixel in the final image.
- Stuck Pixels or Hot Pixels: A pixel that always reads high or is always on to maximum on all exposures. This produces a white or other color pixel in the final image.
Below is a small image of how I locate the hot pixel. Click on the image to read my notes and find original size of the image to find out where the hot pixel resides.
Click on the image to see notes and find original size of the image
A little panicked I tried googling for the solution and have found dead pixels do form on newly fabricated sensors as well. Dead pixels will also develop over time on a perfectly manufactured sensor and it is inevitable on today’s technology. To resolve this issue, there is a workaround technique called pixel mapping and what it does is to locate and mark the location of the dead pixel. When these bad pixels are marked the camera will then compute their approximate color using the neighboring pixels. This technique is also applied to new camera as well as part of the manufacturing Quality Check procedure.
Learning that this is a natural occurrence with an acceptable cure I went to the local Canon service center to get my camera fix. I simply told the customer service representative about my camera condition and they immediately told me that they will have to calibrate, pixel mapping, my camera and the procedure will take approximately an hour. After waiting for about 15 minutes of waiting they returned my camera back saying that they do not have the software to calibrate my mine since the G11 is a new product and have yet downloaded the software from Japan. A little bit dissapointed but at least they know what is supposed to be done. I’ll probably go back to the service center this coming weekend to see if they have obtained the latest software and post the result.
Ordered Canon PowerShot G11
Oct 28th
Back in 2004 I bought Sony DSC-T1 which have five megapixel sensors. It was a trendy camera that has high pixel count and yet easily fit into the pocket but I do often encounter where most of the images shot indoors or low light will yield into a noisy image which are unacceptable for me.
Since then I have longed since to own a digital camera with a good built, perform well in low light condition and produce good image quality, IQ as some people call it, as my next camera. But knowing that I am just an amateur buying a D-SLR is definitely overkill and therefore I’ve decided to purchased Canon PowerShot G11 as my next camera after seeing many great sample images from Flickr and forums.
To give you a highlight of the camera, it is built with the following specifications:
- 10.4 Megapixels 1/1.7-inch type Charge Coupled Device (CCD)
- 6.1 (W) – 30.5mm (35mm film equivalent: 28 (W) – 140 (T) mm) Lens
- 461,000 pixels 2.8-inch TFT color, with wide viewing angle
- Maximum Aperture of f/2.8 (W) – f/4.5 (T)
- Shutter Speed of 15-1/4000 sec
- ISO 80/100/200/400/800/1600/3200 and 6400
- 640 x 480 Video Recording