I bought these fabrics at Nagoya and I’m never going back there. Why? The Chinese guy there are so stingy. I wanted canvas material, but the cloth was a bit dirty. Generally, textile stores will give you an additional 1/2 meter to compensate for the dirty part. This guy told me to go home and wash it. Fuck you man. So we walked away.

Anyway, I got the tiny polka dotted and some rough cotton. My advise, buy non-slippery fabric because you wouldn’t want to let your laptop slips off your hand.

1. Cutting the fabric. I prefer mine snugged so it’s a hard to slip off the sleeve. I left at least an inch for every side so it’ll be easier for beginners like me to sew. (That’s my wife’s hand btw)

2. Sew a “U” shape for both fabric, except one, sew double “L” shape leaving holes at the bottom, so you can flip it once you’re done.

3. Cut the edges so that it’ll form a sharp corner.

4. Flip “U” shape so that the right side faces each other.

5. Slip the flipped one into the other.

6. Sew the end together. Make sure you don’t overlap, otherwise you’ll have to do all over again. I assure you that can be frustrating.

7. Remember the hole of the “L” shape? Carefully pull the inside fabric out.

8. The last part, sew the holes using the ladder stitch. (Such manly arm! Hahhaa)

9. Flip the inside out to make sure the reversible sleeve works.

Now it fits well into my bag along with my other red stuff. The possibility of getting a scratch from keys is reduced. Job well done.

The story begins last night, I got home at 12 am and told my sleepy wife, “I want to learn to sew a laptop sleeve”. She helped me through the process and showed me how to operate a sewing machine. The rest was history. I made one complete sleeve in one hour. Not bad for a noob eh?

If you feel cheated by Apple or any other laptop accessories, share this post, we all might benefit from a thing or two

1. Get married. I know initially I wanted to get married to a doctor but God has better plan in store for me. I married a girl who’s ambition is to become an architect, something I’ve always wanted to be but never had the courage to pursue. My parents thought I’d be better off as an engineer.

Who would have thought I’d marry a blogger whom I followed. I guess it’s true what they say, follow your passion and the rest will fill in. I have to say, it was the best decision in 2011.

2. Have kids. Not yet. We think, the best way was to allow my wife to finish her study first. That will always be the priority, at least for now. But seeing her happy face while playing with A’zeem (my nephew) has kinda sped that up. At least after she gets her first job, inysa Allah it will be next year.

3. Financial freedom. Well, I still have a car to pay and my credit card debt is very manageable. I guess we’ll have to push this in years to come.

4. Finish what I started. Not there yet. I have a problem reading a book cover to cover. I got bored halfway through. Maybe I’m meant for this. As for projects,.. hmm still many pending at the moment. Got to get it done by this year! Puhleezzz ed!

5. Do wonders to Malaysia. Nil, but I do pay tax and zakat. That sure helps a bit, though not significant.

6. Solidify Existence. Hmm, still not taking up tertiary degree. It has a lot to do with finance. I have to free up something or get a scholar to pursue this dream of mine.

7. Be a good family member. I can control my temper now, except on the road. I try not to miss any family gathering. Maybe ought to pay extra attention to my in laws. I don’t talk to them often because I’m shy.. kot?

I guess that’s it

I got married! I don’t know how I managed to pull in the funds, anyway, I’m glad I did. It’s true what they say, God will help you in mysterious ways if you want to get married. Picture, thanks to FarisFakri. I got him on Groupon

Work wise, well, I did achieve my yearly quota by August. From there on, it was smooth sailing till year end. All I had to do was focused on 2012 items.

Part Time work. I managed to complete a few projects. Antaragrafik, TeddyTods, Toshiba and some internal dashboard for the company. It’s too bad I didn’t complete my company’s website. I have it in my head, just never threw them out in the open.

I’ve also learned what’s it like to be an Apple user. I got the iPad 2 and MacBook Air. I don’t really think they live up to their expectation. I’m more of a windows user, shortcut is my thing and on Mac, you just have to press an additional key. However, I doubt anyone can beat them at built quality. It’s an astonishing feat (provided you take good care of them)… and the love-hate relationship continues. But if I have to recommend, I’d definitely be against it.

This year (ahem, mind you that it’s already 2012), my deary wife will pursue her studies in Australia. After much contemplating, we decided that it’s best I remain here. After all, it’ll be really tough to find a job like mine in Aussie. A job like mine is best for locals. It’s like how mat salleh comes here and tell me that they understand this country’s economy better, yeah, doubt so.

Also, this year’s resolution, I guess I’ll have to revisit my 2011 and blog about it later. Till then

So I bought a cheap alternative, the RAPOO 3200. It’s a fifth of my last Logitech mouse price, which has served me well (and still do). The biggest problem I had was, it does not support Mac. There goes another ‘meRAPOO’ investment. Yeah, Mac was a lousy bet but I’m kinda stuck to it. Anyway, all the buttons weren’t functioning, the back and the forward especially.

After ogling  the web, I found one app that could enhance the lightweight mouse, it’s called SteerMouse. After setting the app, I can configure what each button does (Windows is plug and play). Another one not to be missed, is the MagicPrefs, it’s specifically for Magic mouse but can also work for trackpad etc.

ps: Clearing up my holiday balance.. wee~

Aku pon tak paham la, kenapa korang nak kecoh pasal Ariff Alfian yg gay kahwin lelaki di geraja pakai baju Melayu. Apa yang sensasi sangat? Korang seronok nak mengutuk dan mengeji ke? Perlu ke semua ini? Asal cerita seks, perempuan-lelaki atau lelaki-lelaki, Melayu cepat je nak ambil port. Biarlah dia dengan hidup dia.

Aku taulah hangpa gila trafik, tapi tak payah la tulis omong kosong pasal benda yang kau sendiri pon tak tahu apa kejadah nate bewok tu. Kalau ko nak sangat duit, pergilah join MLM, jual gelang ke, sabun ke. Kan mudah!

Orang Melayu ni, pantang tok nenek kalau kena tegur. Ego besar paus biru, semangat tak nak kalah. Bila puji lebih-lebih dia reply “eh takde laah”, “eh mana ada, biasa-biasa je”. Pehal plak? Orang puji, ko tanak. Orang tegur, pon tanak. Mungkin penampar barangkali lebih digemari. Aduyai..

You all know that starting from next year, the expiry of your license falls on your birthday. In some ways, I do think that’s a bad birthday present, but in many, it surely helps you to remember when your license will expire.

As far as I know, the charge incurred to renew your driving license is RM 30 per year. Since they need to contra the remaining days to your birthday, I was slapped with RM 70 plus for 2 years. Now my driving license will expire on my 31st birthday (Damn I’m old!), and that’s 2014. Long way to go.

Note: Did you know you can get locked up if your license expires?

Then it evolved as we discussed about the layout etc.

It evolved to many series actually, but unfortunately, I forgot to screen capture the various versions of the design.

When we arrived the day before the official launch, we had to agree on something. By then, it was too late to vet through the design and other impending tasks were already lined up; porting server, migrate db etc . Either way, they had to stick their necks and pray that it wouldn’t be a mess. They just had to trust me.

Thank God everything went well. Now to do UAT.. so boring!

ps: Web design used to be my work, now my hobby

There is something magical about warm water.

First, it never arrives. Go to any dining place and order it. It’ll probably be last order to arrive on the table. It’s as if we were being punished for having bad taste in drinks. The process of boiling water and serving it is a very tedious if not perplexing task. It’s actually easier to make Caramel Macchiato than warm water.

Second, perceived as cheap. Every time you say the magic word, they’ll look deeply in your eyes, begging you to change your mind. I’m pretty dead sure  their commission for the night depends on what their customer ordered or maybe penalized by taking any orders of warm water.

Third, not served everywhere. I’ve been told off by many fast food franchise when I ordered warm water including KFC, McDonalds and Old Town (now they charge you for it). “I’m sorry sir, we only have mineral water.” Like hell I’m going to pay RM3 for a small bottle of mineral water.

I guess I have to live with this stupidity over an insipid drink, oh well..

ps: My batchmate got stabbed twice yesterday, he’s alive and kicking. It wasn’t a robbery, just some psychopath. Live well and prosper Amin!

“The AMS comes with SPOC, specially tailored for BOD. The license can be purchased based on CI. This reduces the HW/SW costs and ROI within 6 months.”

My God, what have I gotten myself into? I hate abbr. Buat pecah otak je.

I guess she is right. I am insensitive (very often), when I joke, I hurt people. I can’t tell whether people are being sarcastic or plain straightforward. I lack social quality and understanding. And most blogging friends I know, thought I was one hell of an ASS HOLE before they met me. Maybe my writing suggests so.

High IQ or EQ, which is better? Personally, I believe everyone was created equal. High or low, it doesn’t really matter as long as you respect and treat each other right.

Today, marked my 28th birthday. I have a beautiful and wonderful wife. My in-laws are great people. My family are awesome. I have all the gadget a geek wants. Financial freedom and most important of all, very good in health. I don’t know what to ask more other than lower housing price (beyond my control), a new car (Honda CRZ yo!) and my families fit as a fiddle.

My wife got me an iPad2 cover, so thoughtful! All this while, I was using an iPad1 casing a gift from a friend. To buy a new one, it’ll probably cost RM 150-RM 250 (I don’t get iPad 2 case, it costs an arm and leg!), it always appears non-sense to me. Anyway, she got me a red leather, we got it at Subang Parade for RM 128. I have to say, it’s a STEAL, normal price RM238. I know, because I wanted to distribute the brand in Malaysia. Here’s the screen capture from Lelong Malaysia.

28 years old is not the years of being awesome, it’s the years filled with sins, vengeance, hatred or enviousness. I am sure I have done plentiful sins directly or indirectly to you. With this, I would like to apologize for my bad behavior. I am sorry if I ever was an asshole, I hope you forgive me before it’s too late.

As always, thank you for your wonderful wishes. I hope God blesses you what you wished me.

So anyone reading this, please suggest your blog or any blog that you think it’ll be  a good read.

Thanks so much!

Now the real preparation begins. I need to clear my room, making way for the bride to move in. There’s always that discomfort feeling when throwing old stuff, it’s like breaking away from the fondest memories left behind. I guess its necessary to pave the future. Let’s just hope everything is fine and I don’t accidentally throw my brothers belonging.

With both my brothers (and their family) celebrating the festive Raya at their in-laws, looks I’ll be celebrating alone. Oh well, part of the gist of life.

ps: Writing review for Galaxy Tab 10.1 is pretty demanding.

Using Pixelmator. Almost similar to Photoshop.

There’s a few thing missing in the Macbook Air;

1. “End” and “Home” button. These are really useful for me.
2. There’s no real delete. In Windows, you have Back Space and Delete, both different function.
3. Getting used to multi touch scrolling. Still teaching myself.
4. Very small fonts. It’s kinda straining to the eyes despite the resolution.
5. Disorientation of storing and accessing files.
6. Small 128Gb hard disk space.
7. Fan is loud if you put it on your lap.
8. There are way… toooo… many short cuts.

I think I’ll write more when I can fully gather my thoughts. For now, let’s think about how to pay for this baby. Hahaha

ps: I’ve got a review unit of Galaxy Tab 10.1, who wants to touch? LOL

In the second sleep I had a nightmare that was scarier than any ghost, Freddy Krueger, Zombies, or Joker combined. I dreamed the passing of my mother.

There she was, laid on the floor covered in white cloth. The room was packed with people yet so silent. The four of us brothers comforted our wives and dad was left standing by door. I wanted to cry but I couldn’t, I had to be strong for dad. I’m sure my brothers felt the same way too.

The death was too sudden, she had no illness, no accident, it was just her time.

It was the gloomiest nightmare ever. I woke up covered in sweat and tears. I didn’t want to call mom immediately, I was still traumatized. I took some time to digest, “ok Ed, this is the real world. Mama is still alive.”

Two days passed, that nightmare left quite a scar. It got me thinking, if she passed away, what would be the thing I would miss most? The constant nagging? The long winded conversation? The advises? No. None of that really matters anymore. If any, the easiest for me to remember is her serene smile.

So today I went out and got her something that isn’t exactly within my reach, it’s more like a pain in the neck. But I’d prefer to suffer now than later.

As I walked into the house, she asks, I thought you already got a handbag for your wedding prep? I smiled. She could tell easily tell from the labels of the paper bag. Slowly I walked to her and handed her the bag. Is this a shoe? She asked? Mom, I have no idea what’s your size.

Carefully she opened the paper bag. Layers upon layers of wrappers laid a bag. She lifted it up, panning it side to side, rotating it to make sure it’s the real thing. She smiled from ear to ear. It was exactly what I wanted to see and I felt so relieved knowing that my mom is still here with me.

My mom is very careful when it comes to spending. No matter how much money I gave her, she’d never buy a designer’s bag. She’d probably keep the money for our future sake. She’s such a traditional woman.

Tonight, someone will sleep dreaming of when to use the bag, while the other thinks of how he’s going to fund for it. It doesn’t matter, as long as I saw my mom’s smile and I loved it very dearly.

I guess it’s about time you pick up your phone and give your mom a call. It doesn’t have to be Mother’s Day or her birthday, just pick up the phone and call your mom before it’s too late.

I LOVE YOU Ma, please don’t give me creepy nightmares again.

- Love Your Son, NH.

So to start off, they hosted a Blogger Sports Carnival. Which is awesome! It promotes health and explores new activities.

I’m not the type that really likes to suck up to NN or any organization, but credit given to where it’s due. They did an excellent job at managing it. The turn out was really a friendly bunch, more like the usual people (since they’re casual amongst themselves).

They also have pool table, but pool for me is like meh. I like golf

Driving range mode. I am amazed at the golf simulator actually. It uses IR sensors to detect the flight of the ball. I even tried throwing the ball at the screen and it did calculate the distance. Was seriously flabbergast!

The briefing for the games. They have 4 games in total, pool, darts, longest drive and nearest to pin. Longest drive is hitting the ball as far as you could while nearest to pin is anyone closes to the hole.

I did my longest drive. For the closes to pin, I did initially trump the crowd but as the game progressed someone beat me to it. Guess I’m just not that lucky. I kinda felt disoriented, playing on the green is way different than hitting a screen.

This girl flirt with me! She even bought me dinner *Don’t tell my fiance ok? *

The flirty girl also gave it a try. Honestly, she looked like a makcik trying to mow her garden with a scythe but in heels.

My office floor also has a pool table, but I suck at it so bad it makes me puke!

The ranking for longest drive. I wasn’t kidding when I told people I could hit 270m.

The prize is an hour lesson with that guy I was trying to slap.

Rizman won the closest to the pin. I think we used to play rugby together. His prize is test drive any BMW from the dealer for the weekend! Matilah bayar minyak bro hahaha.

Just in case you want to know the price per hour. Not that expensive really.

On the way back we (me and ‘aheem’, the flirty girl) bumped into my MD and his wife. He asked, so this is your fiance? Hahaha I guess I had to nod in agreement. Yes the girl is my fiance who’s been flirting ever since I got the longest drive

My MD is one cool guy, he’s insanely smart, tall like a pillar and takes interest to know people. It’s the reason why I don’t leave my company despite offered twice my salary.

Back to NuffNang sports event, next up. Let’s do wall climbing! It’s damn fun and a real test of manhood. They should categorize man/woman and weight. I think I fit in heavy weight, I have huge ass!

ps: Thanks B for accompanying me