Technology

BOOTH 1.03

/ Alan Atkinson / Leave a comment

We will be at:

1st Floor, Amcorp Shopping Mall,
Booth 1.03, Level 1
Amcorp Shopping Mall,
8, Jalan, Persiaran Barat, Seksyen 52 Petaling Jaya, 46050 Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia
Date: July 29 and July 30, 2023
Time: 10.00am to 4.00pm (can be extended to 7.00pm)

It is the weekend again. Yay? Don’t sound too excited? I am. I am grateful and excited for each new moment.

Listening to Dave Cox – “The Dance” with my Bose QuietComfort II

At the end of last month; the batik influencer, Jeannie and I were at Amcorp Shopping Mall. We ran a booth on the first floor. It did not take us long to realize that each floor of the bazaar (I prefer this word than “flea market”, though this is what it is more commonly known or referred as, or recognized as) seemed to have a character on its own.

When we had our first couple of experiences in running a booth at the bazaar weekend; we were on level 3 or the 3rd Floor. We had our booth on level 2 in May and for the first time, we ran our booth on Level 1 on the last weekend of June.

Level 1 was the most active with visitors. Levels 2 and 3 were quieter seeing less visitors. However, many of the visitors on these floors seem to know what they were looking for. They were quite specific in their search for specific items.

Jeannie started off the booth sales very well. She has as usual, a strong following for her batik ideas. Many people come looking for her.

With our new friends.

Jeannie had a great time over that weekend. In fact both of us did. I believe that the customers did, too. There were lots of fun, jokes, laughter, people modelling in the batik capes they had just acquired though their purchases from the batik influencer.

There was a lot of browsing, which followed with finalising purchases of many of the other things on offer, too.

A very keep supporter and buyer

There was a man who from what we hear, had a booth at the entrance of the mall, selling tapioca chips made from tapioca (of course). He sold only a one size large packet @RM10 each. The chips were simply delicious. We saw many people with the bag of chips in their hands, munching away. Jeannie could not resist and had to get a packet for ourselves. Once we started eating….Yum! There was no stopping us from finishing the packet…not so much “us”…more like Jeannie.

“Don’t I look fab?” This is the best picture over the weekend. She has indicated that she will be back for more batik capes from the batik influencer.

The Hotwheels car collection was another crowd puller. The ones I had on sale were from another era, an earlier one at that; of at least 15 – 20 years old. Many of them are rare or not easily obtainable from stores near by or from other sellers. They were easily distinguishable by their blue blister packaging. People of all ages stopped by to browse the models I had on sale.

“I like it. I will wear it straight away”, this lady seems to be saying in her thoughts.

Deep concentration

That’s the one I want, hoo, hoo, hoo, Hotwheels!

The main topic of cars was on BMW. I had put up quite a few items of the BMW brand for sale: rare BMW F1 keyholders / keychains, BMW 3-series coasters, a beautifully crafted BMW computer laptop bag… Many, many people shared with me their passion for BMWs, their BMW hobby club memberships, what they have done with their cars and their lookout for more BMW items.

The biggest conversational piece was on the Fujimi BMW 535i unbuilt model kit pic below) that I had on sale. I purchased this kit somewhere in 1989. However, I never got to build it. This e34 BMW was the build up of my interest in BMW. This kit is very rare in this region at least. It will definitely find a new owner very soon.

BMW 535I 3.5L 12 VALVE SOHC 6-IN-LINE Fujimi kit.

There were many readers and supporters of leatherpotato.com who visited us to get first hand news as to where we are charting the website’s course for the future. A few of the supporters are budding writers themselves. They sought advice mainly as to what to write, why they should write “that way” and how to stay focused. Good questions. I hope I have helped them somewhat with some insights as to how they should answer these questions themselves.

We are looking forward to seeing all of you tomorrow and Sunday at Amcorp Shopping Mall. We will be the usual crazy fun bunch as usual. We are putting more new items on sale. Come and look for “a” or many bargains as we should have something for almost everybody. See you there.

1st Floor, Amcorp Shopping Mall,
Booth 1.03, Level 1
Amcorp Shopping Mall,
8, Jalan, Persiaran Barat, Seksyen 52 Petaling Jaya, 46050 Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia
Date: July 29 and July 30, 2023
Time: 10.00am to 4.00pm (can be extended to 7.00pm)

SAMSUNG GALAXY BUDS LIVE

/ Alan Atkinson / Leave a comment

Terrible, terrible terrible!

These earbuds came as a free gift bundled with one of the Samsung items I purchased. The retail price on the box was RM699. With this price, I expected this to be of some good.

The earbuds came in a nice box. Box opened, there were the earbuds, charging cable, 1 set of thin covers and the usual reading  material with any new item.

The earbuds looked pretty nice, sort of a pearl grey – black. Samsung calls this “Mystic black”. The other colors offered were Mystic Bronze, Mystic white and Mystic Onyx. So, expectations were high that the sound coming out of it would be good.

I am not going to go into its specifications. The general users which are most users aren’t really going to delve into the speaker cone size, how many mics each earbud has, etc. All they want to know is how long can the battery charge last, does it look good and the price.

Everything good so far.

Pairing the Buds Live to my phone was quick and easy.

Using them. From here on, it was downhill all the way.

I am an above average user, meaning I enjoy good quality sound. OK. More than good quality sound. Great sound.

These Buds Live were a let down.

The first issue I had was placing them in my ears. They did not fit snugly in. The size of the buds size is reasonable. You would think that they will then fit in snugly. But I was not confident that they would. I kept on worrying that these things may just fall out of my ears at any moment.

All it was capable of was pumping out sound. Terrible sound. Some sort of sound. It’s range was flat all the way. You would keep the bass and treble settings at 0 if this was a class A amp. However, this was not a class A amp or earbuds. My RM100 Redmi earbuds was way better on all fronts.

Its volume at the loudest level sounded like they were around 75% loud when compared with the Redmi.

To be fair, I did not test these buds with incoming calls or outgoing calls. I cannot comment on its performance in this area.

I also cannot on how this pair would have sounded if they were connected to the Samsung Buds app. I guess I was peeved by the fact that they sounded terrible right out of the box. The EQ settings on the Buds app is nil. You just choose between normal, bass boost, soft, dynamic, clear, and treble boost.

Noise cancelling? That seems cancelled.

Overall, I think these buds’ price is quite steep for what they have to offer. As I mentioned before, a fraction of the Buds Live’s price, Redmi, seems to offer more for bang for its buck.

However, if you want to have a “branded” set of earbuds and you are not expecting too much or are not too concerned on how these stack up against others; if you like them; then go for them.

Maybe, just maybe the set I had was faulty and not living to its image. Seems to have many caveats.

Final note is what does not work well for me may work well for you. My choice of music may differ from yours or your primary purpose to have a set is to be handsfree; sending and receiving phone calls, then, once again, this may be ok.

If you are looking to be seen with snazzy earbuds on, this Samsung Buds Live shiny earbuds may be the set that fits in your style of dressing.

Workin’ n Chillin’

/ Alan Atkinson / Leave a comment

Here, at Starbucks; with my Bose QuietComfort II earbuds; putting an article together. So far, bits and pieces only. In fact, I have just got another idea for an essay.

I intend to write on my thoughts and experince with this earbuds. Should you get it? Keep an eye out for this upcoming write-up soon.

If any of you are in Empire Gallery Shopping Mall now, you can join me at Starbucks.

WORK, AMERICANO AND MAJOR CRUNCH COOKIE

/ Alan Atkinson / Leave a comment

New, yet not so new surroundings.

At Tedboy Bakery in Bangsar South for a tall, iced, Americano. Not bad. It is slightly better than “o.k.”

Got some work done on the Fold 3. Having used it for over a year, I would like to see huge improvements, more so in the area of its software, hopefully; in the upcoming Fold 5, which will be launched in about 2 months. And the camera. And the battery life. The battery life was not that great to begin with. But now, it seems to drain faster than it should.

However, to me; the Samsung Fold is still the best in the market for the work I do. When I have a bit of free time (what is that in today’s day and age?), I fiddle around with what this larger than a phablet, folding tablet, can do; especially with Android apps.

The nutty cookie was well packed…so well packed that it was quite difficult to open the plastic packing. The nutty cookie was quite nice.

When I got home, I realised that the cashier did not give me a bill. Probably they practice giving a bill only when it is requested for.

Over all, I like the setting and ambience of this cafe / bakery. It is worth checking out if you are in Bangsar South.

NOTE:
Bangsar South, a development on the former Kampung Kerinchi (Kerinchi Village) site, borders between Kuala Lumpur and Petaling Jaya.
Kuala Lumpur and Petaling Jaya are cities in Malaysia.

WIFELIKE : WHO CONTROLS WHO?

/ Alan Atkinson / Leave a comment

I watched this movie on my flight, coming to the U.S. a few days ago. A bit slow in th beginning, but great movie all the same.

It begins in the mind. From a thought..

When artificial human Meredith gets assigned as a companion to grieving widower William, it’s designed to behave like his late wife. However, in the fight to end AI exploitation, an underground organization attempts to sabotage Meredith’s programming. It soon begins to question reality as memories of a past life begin to resurface in a world where nothing is as it seems.

A well produced and entertaining thriller with great performances that build a human/AI world where everything blurs between what is real and what isn’t.

NOTES:
I am totally for technology advancement. I believe it can and will advance the standards of living for mankind.

On the flip side:

I am an advocator of strict regulation and control on the use and production of A.I. and its uses to prevent the complete destruction and extinction of mankind. You don’t need nuclear warfare to bring mankind to an end..

THE INVASION BY ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (A.I.)

/ Alan Atkinson / Leave a comment

The invasion of nuts and bolts powered by Artificial Intelligence (A.I.) has begun….we, knowingly, allowed it. The invasion has begun in our homes.

Attempts to control our minds, too; have started. For instance, one of the gadgets is dictating to us that the things we see, are in the colors it projects. Yet, when you put the picture against the actual object that you took the picture of, the colors are not as per what your eyes tell you. Yet, these artificial intelligence powered gadgets are insisting that they are, and that what your eyes actually see, aren’t.

The danger is that this technology under the disguise of making life easier for you; is removing whatever exercise you may have while doing your house chores for instance, thus making you weak and possibly prone to illnesses.

Are you,…yes, you reading this article; ready to regain control of your life?

More on this coming your way soon.

Ai-Da, the world’s first AI artist.

A. I. OR MANKIND

/ Alan Atkinson / Leave a comment

Self- repairing, self-reproducing robots with Artificial Intelligence (A.I.) are set to conquer the world and control mankind in the not so distant future; if we do not get out of pre-conditioned, set minds, that we are to retire upon reaching the age of 60, 62, 65, 67 years, or whatever age that we have been subjected to retire at.

We have to re-take our minds from the follies that have been set upon us.

~ ALAN IAN ATKINSON
Writer, Author, Storyteller

Videohive

Wafers and Chips – Best of Both Worlds

/ Alan Atkinson / Leave a comment

The drive back home to Subang Jaya after dropping my wife, Jeannie; off to work this morning, was as usual, pleasant. I had BFM 89.9 – the business station, tuned in on radio – my usual catch up on what’s happening in and around the region. The traffic on the road was heavy but moving smoothly. Enjoyable drive, really.

The topic in the 15 minute slot just before the 8.00am news was about a new law passed in the US; prohibiting US chip and wafer semiconductor businesses from selling their products to China, well; at least those that seem or may seem to be a security threat to the U.S.. This law encompasses the transfer of knowledge as well. It now looks that U.S. and non-U.S. companies, together with Chinese companies are impacted with this ruling. The U.S. and non-U.S. companies will then probably re-locate out of China. Natural thing to do.

Many companies, most of which are smaller businesses that supply component parts and other products to these large companies, may have to close. These large companies are those that build on and around technologies which may seem a threat; All this is fine, but…

The tone or the underlying tone that seemed to be portrayed from the radio presenters was that the move is not fair to China. Really? When companies moved out of Malaysia 20 – 25 – 30 years ago and relocated to China due to cheaper cost offerings, were sentiments the same for companies in Malaysia that had to close due to the move?

The radio presenters went on to say that China will then find resolve to create and come up with their own. Who says that China has not already come up with their own by now? Let’s say that they have but they aren’t telling. They, become the one-stop mega center for this technology and the whole world would have to depend on them.

What happens if they get cranky, and cut off or starve supply? Do we want to be in a situation where they say, “Jump!”. We ask, “how high, master?”

China, is currently believed to be in a lockdown due to the Covid-19 “0” tolerance level policy in place. News, on BFM 89.9 ” the business station” radio a few days ago, stated that the LRT public transportation system in Kuala Lumpur was fast becoming unreliable due to constant train breakdowns. The operator was reported as saying that they are unable to get replacement parts and trains from the Chinese manufacturer.

During the 2020 – 2021 Covid-19 pandemic, the whole world, including Mars, Jupiter and Saturn (just kidding 😉), went into lockdown. All but China, which seemed to have found the answer – a cure or way of handling the situation; that left it nearly unscathed.

Is China now playing coy and masking themselves with a Covid-19 mask? (I want to use another rephrased question but I will skip it.) Many countries whose supply chains are dependent on raw, semi-produced or finished goods from China, are hugely affected.

Coming back to the statement made by the radio presenters: China will find resolve or create a “China + 1”, meaning Chinese companies will re-locate to countries like Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and others. Great for countries like Malaysia that will benefit from a move like this.

I think this is a short term move because the new U.S. law could extend to include prohibiting US chip and wafer businesses from selling their products to China or Chinese linked corporations in and outside of China.

The way forward for China is for them to come up with their own products systems. And, China is more than capable of doing so. They are a technological marvel in may fields.

The U.S. knows that China is more than capable of coming up with their own systems and products. The U.S. is a very competitive nation. They welcome competition and the challenge.

And we, the rest of the world; will benefit from the best of “both worlds”.

“Chips” worth craving for.

LOVE FLYING

/ Alan Atkinson / Leave a comment

When I hear what seems to sound like a Cessna 502 fly overhead, I tend to look up and search for the plane in the sky and fix my gaze on it until it disappears from sight. It brings back memories of the fun flight I had travelling from Decatur to Chicago in Illinois. My first prop flight, first flight sitting next to the “ceiling fan” on the right. Well, yeah. Don’t the props look like ceiling fans. They are about the same size anyway (without the “s”😉).

Cessna 502. Absolutely a fun plane to fly in.

Truth be told is I always look up when any plane flies overhead. I just need to hear the sound of the engines. I still remember the time when I was about 7 years old. I stayed with Uncle Al and Aunty Leen (Albert & Aileen Atkinson). The year – 1965. It was probably the school holidays at that time. Uncle Al was the headmaster of Kampung Pandan School in KL (Kuala Lumpur).

They had a big house on the school grounds. Draw open the hall sliding doors, leads you to the school field. Nearby, was the then Kuala Lumpur International Airport. The Malaysian Air Force used the airport for some of it’s transport aircraft as well.

Every morning, when I was there; I would eagerly wait by the opened sliding door for planes that would fly very low overhead, when they were about to land. I still remember a de Havilland Caribou flying overhead making its decent. It looked like it was going to land on the school field. Well, it did look like that; to a 7-year old boy.

The dinosaur, literally in terms of size; the Airbus A380 super whambo (combination of whale and jumbo elephant); is fast becoming extinct as airlines find it too expensive to maintain. More airlines are pulling it out of service as days go by. Malaysia Airlines was gung-ho about it in the early 2000s, having ordered 6 of them. This may have been one too many. From news reports; 2 of these planes did not have any routes assigned to it.

This also may have been “you got. you think you so great? I oso got” (local slang). Buy first. Plan routes later. It was also timing as the 747 fleet were beginning to age. So, there is good reason. But was MAS, like many other airlines that acquired these beauties; out of sync with the times?

These big birds could pack up to 800 passengers without bulging at the seams. Most airlines may have custom-fitted their A-380s to seat 600 passengers.

Now, to fill 600 seats per flight. That would have been a challenge, as these seats would have had to be filled quickly. Business Development, Marketing and Sales teams would have had their work cut out for them. They had to compete against other airlines offering A380 flights, pricing, optimum flight departure and arrival times, days and date; the list not being exhaustive. These teams had to be on their toes at all times as situations changed faster than a heartbeat.

The next big challenge and the one which eventually signed the retirement of the A-380 and other large 4-engined jets was that two-engined jets were getting the same job done, with two engines less than four, which translated to a huge cost reduction as the average base price of these jets just under-cut the prices of the 4-engined jets.

I think airlines must have seen the writing on the wall (another “on the wall” quote) when they purchased these super-whambos but chose to ignore it as keeping up with the Joneses (other airlines) blinded their long-term judgement.

I had a sense of pride that Malaysia Airlines had the A380s in their stable. To a greater extent, it showed that the airline was modern and forward thinking. From the latest news gathered, Malaysia Airlines had no takers to the 6 A380s from them. They returned them to Airbus in exchange for new long-range twin-engine jets.

A380 super whambo. Isn’t she a beaut?

The Cessna 502 I think, with its swaying from left to right or vice versa when making the approach to Chicago’s O’Hare Airport will remain a fond memory for me. I sat just behind the co-pilot, I had a good view of the instrument panel and its workings. Looking out of the plane, I had excellent all round visibility. Nice!

Looking forward to my next flights.

NOTES:
1. Bilqis Bahari, “No buyers, Malaysia Airlines to return six A380 to Airbus?”; New Straits Times, September 26, 2022