Today is a sad day for Malaysia. We are currently witnessing a deterioration of our government on many fronts, and this has now extended to the freedom that we Malaysians enjoy on the Internet.

The problem - the government now selectively limits what site we are allowed to access and directs the Internet service providers (ISPs) to abide accordingly. As of the 27th of August 2008, access to a prominent and controversial blogger’s website - Raja Petra’s Malaysia-Today.net was blocked.

An initial investigation showed that the DNS servers for our national ISP ceased to point to the right location, which was puzzling as it has never happened before.

Soon after, MalaysiaKini reported the following snippet.

What does the MCMC really stand for anyway? I decided to take a peek at their manifesto, which is extracted from their website.

So… which part of “promoting access to communications and multimedia services” do I enjoy? Perhaps I should reword it to “promoting access to SELECTED communications and multimedia services”. And also, “Ensuring consumers enjoy THE GOVERNMENT’S choice and a satisfactory level of services”.

Or even better, read the MSC Malaysia Bill of Guarantees (which my company Integricity has obtained) which the government is promoting. Point number SEVEN specifically says, “Ensure no Internet censorship”. What then does this mean for us? We can endorse one thing and yet do another? Malaysia tentu boleh (Malaysia surely can).

What will be next? Blocking of freedom to Michael Backman’s website because he condemned Malaysia in his article “While Malaysia fiddles, its opportunities are running dry“? Are we afraid that Malaysians will wake up and realise, “crikey, this country is horrible!”? Too late - those who do, already DO!

Rather, should we not focus our time and energy on improving the nation, rather than wasting precious time and energy on fictitious story-telling in the press, as we have witnessed lately (which are a lot better than some fairy tales I heard as a kid)?

“Selamat pagi, Malaysia” and “sila bangun dari lena” (good morning, and please awaken) - let’s realise that blocking Internet access is not going to work.

After all, it doesn’t take a genius to figure out how to circumvent this amateur block by using the following methods as listed on Integricity’s blog.

Apple & Intel inside

As part of my exposure to the world of Macs, I decided to try a project that is fairly publicized on the Internet - to build a Hackintosh. This is essentially building a computer system with regular PC parts that you can pick up from your local computer store, but installing the Mac operating system on it.

This effectively provides you with a full functioning Mac that could even be more powerful than their native Macs, and most importantly… AT A LOWER COST! (I paid less than USD600 for this Core 2 Quad machine - not including the monitor)

Stay tuned for the next part of this series that details the operating system software installation process.

Summary of computer components used

• ASUS P5K Pro motherboard
• Core 2 Quad 2.4 GHz (Q6600)
• NVIDIA GeForce 8500GT graphics card
• 2x 2GB DDR2-800MHz Kingston RAM
• Pioneer SATA DVD-ROM
• 250GB SATA hard drive
• A regular casing with a good power supply

Music credit: Sunset (Ken Verheecke), Farranos no Frevo (Camerata Brasileira)

Yesterday, a few of us trooped over to Taman Mayang to give of ourselves. I heard of a blood donation drive happening in my housing area at a local church, and started a Facebook event to try and help them promote it.

As a result, The Backpacker and seven friends trooped over to be sucked dry. Here are some photos… (I’ll have a video out soon!)

Huge sign that states eligibility…

I thought the colours of the blood type test were so cool! (Oh, I did saturate the photo slightly, though…)

Here’s my blood donor card getting checked by the nurse. It was my 11th time doing it.
I desaturated the colours on the next few photos for dramatic effect. (Not that it’s a sad and dreary activity, though!)

You are put through a series of questions and tests before you are permitted to donate blood. I guess they have to weed out those who have mad cow disease! (I hid it well)

Here’s a close-up of the needle going in after passing the 101 tests. It really doesn’t hurt - they had already given me a small dose of local anaesthetic by then.

And me conducting an interview with some of the other donors. Here’s Chui being disturbed while giving blood.

And Katy K’ng who just finished - she’s done it quite a few times already.

And here is Ronnie who is flanked by the nurses who are just about to prod him with the needle. On the side is Grace, my wonderful assistant (and wife) who helps me out with filming at times.

Alright, that’s it for now - back to the edit room I go. I’ve gotta churn out some programmes soon!

Alright, you’ve done your research and you’ve decided to start a blog - either for corporate use, or personal. Both ways, you want to drive traffic (aka visitors, for the uninitiated) to your site. Watch this short 3 min clip that explains one of the first things you must do to get going.

Ruhani Rabin, Senior Developer at Integricity and Alex Lam, The Backpackr having a chat

Summary:

• Generate content - related to your purpose
• Socialize with other bloggers (virtual socializing is fine)
• Leave pertinent comments on blogs that are similar to your own
• Ask questions to garner a response

I was sharing the idea and concept behind TheBackpackr.com with Cheng Leng, a good serial blogger friend of mine who hails from Malacca but who has now gone across the border to kiasuland. She’s one girl who is very much in the blogging scene and perhaps even spends more time online than I do!

One video blogger she told me about who has been really successful is Luria Petrucci (or better known by her screen name - Cali Lewis) from GeekBrief.tv - she’s a real inspiration, as she releases 3-5 minute video programmes online 4 times a week. She started 2 days before Christmas in 2005 and in 3 weeks, amassed 3,000 viewers. After 5 months, she started podcasting full-time!

GeekBrief.tv

Interesting information about GeekBrief for production geeks…

• They produce the show using a Mac Pro and Macbook Pro
• Their video camera is a Canon XH-A1
• Yup, they use lights - Kino Flos and Lightpanels
• Man, they use a countryman mic! I want one!
• Wireless sound transmission happens via the Sennheiser EW100 G2
• Aside from that, they’ve got a bunch of other mics, headphones and a mixer
• Finally, beat this - they even use a teleprompter!!!

Wow, impressive set up, Cali! At present, I’ve got a Macbook Pro, a hackintosh, a bunch of mics, a Panasonic DVX video camera, a compact JVC for covert filming, Sony HDV Walkman (no it’s not for music! It plays and records DV tapes), Canon 40D & 30D DSLR and friends with lotsa gear - thank you Lord for good friends!

Watch this casual chat video as Alex spends some time with Jacqueline Ann Surin and Cindy Tham of The Nut Graph, 12 hours before Malaysia’s latest new media news website launches. They hang out at Integricity’s office warming party before heading off to a sleepless night!

Get to know the 2 dynamic women behind The Nut Graph and their love for ice cream! Check out www.thenutgraph.com - making sense of politics and pop culture.

What do you think of The Nut Graph? Is there enough space for yet another new media player? Let me know your thoughts.

Screenshot of thenutgraph.com

Music credit: Papo Ross - Mi Camioncito (Beatpick)

After weeks of planning, I’m now live with the first-firstest video. Do bear with me as I improve myself as this project unravels.

Imagine - I still don’t have a logo, but yet, we’re gungho enough to start up this site. I feel it’s absolutely crucial to have a community aspect to this video project.

For those who are totally not into watching YouTube, have crappy Internet connections or are seemingly too busy to even visit the WC, here’s the gist of the video - in bullet form.

• thebackpackr.com is a site that will talk about the latest technological innovations
• I’ll try to present a 2 minute clip slated for busy business-persons who need a quick fix of what is out there on the Internet
• Tutorials on how to do things - DIY style and otherwise
• Interviews with interesting personalities and celebrities (I hope!)
• What you want me to cover - the ball is in your court. This project is a community driven one, and you can pose suggestions on the type of videos I will create.

This project will run for 4 weeks, starting today and I’ll attempt 2 video clips per week. So, stay tuned!

Music credit: Les Choses (Stephane Rathqueber)