What’s all the big hella-be-lu about Artificial Intelligence? Why are the tech guys thumping their chests with great pride that they have the answer today for the future of tomorrow, with the world of Artificial Intelligence?
The politicians in government have displayed and are the artificial intelligence since the longest time. So, what is the big deal?
William Goddard, itChronicles
What really is artificial intelligence? According to Wikipedia, artificial intelligence is the theory and development of computer systems able to perform tasks normally requiring human intelligence, such as visual perception, speech recognition, decision-making, and translation between languages. Most people will argue that this is completely wrong.
Another definition is artificial intelligence (AI) is the ability of a computer or a robot controlled by a computer to do tasks that are usually done by humans because they require human intelligence and discernment.
The correct answer is: artificial intelligence is the fact that politicians are able to perform tasks normally requiring human intelligence, such as visual perception, speech recognition, decision-making, and translation between languages. And the politicians still get it wrong. (1)
In the case of robots versus human beings, the question may not be, “Will it ever be a time when Artificial Intelligence will not refer to robots, but to men? The question is “when?”
The answer to that could be staring right at us today, but can we recognize it?
Or could the answer be: “Artificial Intelligence is the transferring of rights (for that moment) to something else, be it a person, computer or a robot; to make a decision or decisions for you.” In this instance, it could be momentarily or for a specific task.
I would like to think, believe and hope that Artificial Intelligence is the help to improving life for mankind. Let’s take current issues for example. Due to the recent Covid-19 pandemic and the current war in Europe; supply chains for all types of products from wheat, gas and semiconductor manufacturing among many others; were disrupted.
Let’s take wheat. Since supplies of wheat from Ukraine were disrupted; Artificial Intelligent computers should have swung into action to identify other wheat-growing countries around the world and tap into their resources with as little downtime as possible to make up for short supply from Ukraine.
The same goes for any other products. Animal feed is another affected area that is affected by a short supply of a byproduct for this feed.
Semiconductor manufacturing was disrupted by the pandemic. But here, in this case; demand outstrips supply. Almost everything or the other, from smartphones to electric cars to air-conditioners to computers to toys… the list goes on, has some form of chip included in its manufacturing process.
betterimagesofai
Didn’t the semiconductor manufacturers see this coming? Could they not have ramped up production to meet demand? Maybe, just maybe, raw materials for these semiconductors are short in supply. Will this short supply affect the industry of “Artificial Intelligence”?
Or is this a blessing in disguise to slow down and maybe prevent, the takeover of mankind by these intelligent “artificial beings”? These “beings” that can self repair, self charge or even self replicate? And these things will see mankind as of being artificial intelligent, inferior at the very most to their abilities?
When we look at the whole picture, we can’t help but feel that this “whole scene” is orchestrated. Artificially created…by artificial intelligence perhaps? Shortages mean price increase and larger profits for those that produce.
Naïve as it may seem, I would like to believe that people will come together, to help each other out to make the world a better place to live in.
NOTES: (1)Taking the mickey out on them. Haha. Having fun. There are many, many highly educated politicians.
Then again, maybe intelligence should not just be equated to the level of higher education. Common sense and intuition have to be included in the equation, too.
I was coming off the ramp near Jalan (1) Timur, Petaling Jaya, (2) onto the Federal Highway, heading towards Klang. When I was half off the ramp – half on the Federal Highway itself; I saw in my rear-view mirror, a mid-size van / lorry / truck about the 3-ton category, at a distance.
The mid-size van / lorry / truck similar to this.
Within seconds, it was right up to my car’s rear bumper, with all 4 headlamps flashing at me. Probably trying to get me out of his way, by forcing me off the road and use the emergency lane. When I saw that vehicle so close that I could only see its headlights flashing; I was not about to drive on the emergency lane, and moved into the middle lane on my right.
The vehicle followed me to this middle lane, continued to tailgate me. Then, he overtook me on the right, came into the lane that I was in, braked and stopped right there, with his hazard lights blinking.
The next I knew was, the driver got out of his vehicle and came towards me, shouting. I, on the other hand; knew that it was a dangerous spot to be at with a heavy flow of traffic coming up from the rear, and had the presence of mind to want to get out of that spot. It was like being a sitting duck, waiting for an accident to happen. I saw through the rear view mirror, that cars were beginning to bunch up in the rear.
I managed to squeeze out of the tight situation on the left and continue on my journey as there was no real spot to stop and have a conversation / argument with this guy. I was thinking of the safety of other vehicles on the road, mine and his, too.
While I was driving off, I thought to myself. Would he have pulled off the same stunt if he was driving a smaller vehicle than mine? He was going at quite a speed as he was about 250 meters to 300 meters away behind when I got onto the Federal Highway. This means he was speeding on the far left lane. The driver was probably in his early to mid-30s, casually and decently dressed. His vehicle looked new.
The vehicle passed me by after sometime, moving at a respectable speed; with no fanfare. It looked like that the driver had a bad start to his day earlier on. Something else could have been on his mind at that time.
A smartwatch with a stress level monitoring function.
There might be a solution for all drivers. They should wear a smartwatch with a stress level function that would monitor their stress levels. If for instance, the moment the stress level reaches a “high” or “very high” level, a buzzer would vibrate on their watch indicating to them to take a few deep breaths, to bring down their stress levels to a more manageable level. At the same time, these high levels are recorded automatically on their smartphone health apps. If ever a legal dispute was to arise; the health app on their smartphones could be called up to prove that their stress levels at that point of time was at a healthy level.
A stress monitoring app on the smartwatch syncing detailed up to-the-minute data and graph recording on the smartphone.
Stay cool and have a KitKat. Or any other chocolate. And coffee, of course. And get that smartwatch.
NOTES 1. The Malay word, “jalan” in this context, means road. It also means “go”. 2. Petaling Jaya is a city in the state of Selangor, Malaysia.
We live amongst the most exciting times when high tech is virtually in our hands. The smartphone era has never been more smarter than it is now. Almost everything we want to do, say, think, connect to or stay connected with, is all within our fingertips, thanks to the smartphone. It has all but forced people to have one or be “disconnected from society and perhaps the world”. If it has not done so already, it is heading that way.
“Exciting times” for those techy people are during new tech product launches such as the event by Samsung on August 10th when they unveil their “new” Galaxy Z-Fold 4 and Z-Flip 4 smartphones; Watch 5 and Watch 5 Pro; and Buds.
Fold 4 and Flip 4 renditions. Filepost. These are possibly the “3 series” models but the 4 will be similar. Firstpost
Buds 3. The Borneo Post
The Galaxy Z-Fold series commands not just premium prices, but top-of-the-scale premium prices. I met a friend during his work tea break yesterday who has a Z-Fold 3. He does not have a clue on how to wring the very best out of his smartphone. He bought it just to show off to people that he is in a different league from most other people who use “ordinary” smartphones.
2021 was right in the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic, worldwide. Yet Samsung shipped over 10 million of their Z-Fold and Z-Flip models. (1) Premium priced models.
Youtube
In the earlier part of this year, with the run-up to the launch of these new models; there was big (loud?) talk that prices of these new models were expected to come down further than when they launched the “3 series”. This talk has evaporated as latest leaks of news show that there will be a price increase, instead.
That seems to make perfect sense. News of chip shortages worldwide and supply chain disruption due to the Russia-Ukraine war and transport worker strikes are the main reason. This is masking the fact that since people are clamouring for these folderable smartphones and demand for them are at record highs, why reduce price? It only makes perfect sense to increase it, instead. A great reason to further increase profits.
I think the Z-Fold 3 is a great phone. Having used it for over 4 months, I would recommend a “buy” for the upcoming Z-Fold 4. What I would like to see is a ribbed edge next to the sim card slot for easier opening of the Fold. I find the Fold 3 as it is, a tad slippery on the spot next to the sim card slot, more so if your thumb has some moisture or naturally secreted oil on your thumb when it comes to a good grip to open the phone. Some of the apps like Facebook, Instagram and others are still disappointing. They need to configure these apps to run fullscreen on the open widescreen.
The Z-Fold 4 will come with an incremental improvement over the Z-Fold 3, not compelling enough for most existing Foldie owners to trade what they have now for the new model. Samsung’s two main prospecting grounds are owners from the Galaxy S line up and other brands of folderable phones. They will also have to work on their “suspect” market – educate smartphone owners to move to the realm of the folderables.
Should you cross over into this whole new (not so new since the first folderables were out in 2019) world of fold smartphones? Again, these are not cheap phones so you would have to think about it: 1. Will it meet your needs or will most functions on the phone be left dormant? 2. You have to consider that these folderable phones are susceptible to damage than the normal candybar type smartphones.
On the other hand, if you want to get it because that is the direction you want to take, you most probably will not be disappointed.
The Watch 5 and Watch 5 Pro from the looks of it, are going to be incremental increments in specs, too. The rotating bezels on the Classic and earlier models have been dropped (figuratively speaking). The 45mm Watch 4 will be dubbed the Watch 5 Pro.
Youtube
The Watch 5 should come with a write up on how exactly to read the Body composition results: What is the good? What is the bad? In reading the results and graphs. In fact, an explanation can be included with a software upgrade on the Watch 4 so that owners of the Watch 4 series, too; can understand the results that are displayed.
Existing Watch 4 Android OS and earlier Tizen OS model owners don’t really need to trade-in their existing watches they have as any changes, even physical changes; will be hardly noticeable.
Therefore, Samsung will have to actively canvass for new customers and entice them to become Samsung customers. This really is not a problem for them as they have a reputation for producing top-notch products.
To buy or not to buy, that is the question (?)
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NOTES 1. Saiful Ridzaimi, “Samsung continues to dominate the foldable market, Galaxy Z Flip 3 5G crowned 2021’s best-selling foldable”, Mar 22nd, 2022; http://www.technave.com/gadget/.
As I arrived at the bank, it was almost bursting at its seams through the doors, with customers. There were business people, various levels of office management people, people from partnership companies and sole proprietorships, the elderly uncles and aunties, housewives (many who tagged their young children along and students. This list of people is not exhaustive. It was sort of claustrophobic.
There were two wait-for-your-turn line-up systems. One was: you lined up in a line of people at each teller counter. Here, you had to gauge which was the faster moving line and queue up there. I have had experiences where this was not always the right choice as one or more people in front of me would strike up “friendly chats” with the teller that would take like(huh?! How did this word sneak in this sentence) forever.
The other system was having to line up in a single line. Once you reached the front of the line, you go to whichever teller in the row of tellers that was available, to have your transaction attended to.
The endless line. How long more?The Rio Times
So, once you scrambled to fill up the necessary forms and looked for what seemed like the fastest moving, line; go for it. I thought I nailed it by grabbing the necessary forms needed, rushed to the shortest queue and start filling up the forms while waiting to get to the teller. It was quite the task – holding the form in one hand in the air and the pen in the other, filling in that form or forms. They were definitely “works of art” instantly being created, each one uniquely differently from the other; as the writing would get into shapes of pictures. I rarely ever could managed to write on the printed lines. Not to mention that I could barely make out my handwriting even on a good day.
All this were common scenes back then, in the old days of 2010 and before; before internet banking, more commonly known as online bank; became the “in thing”.
Internet or online banking – 24 x 7, anywhere, in your pocket or bag (on your smartphone). How cool is that?
Most of the common banking transactions went “online” some years back. Think of it – no more having to go through traffic jams, parking, waiting in long lines as we used to do before internet banking. What more can we ask for? We should be happy, right? What else did internet banking take away? The biggest loss was that people would no longer be interacting in person with other people. People would only be interacting with their computers.
There were still some transactions that had to be done over the counter, which would require us to be at the banks, physically. Then, came the Covid-19 pandemic which saw a total disruption of performing physical transactions at the banks. After some months, the banks put in place some standard operating procedures to allow for physical transactions to recommence.
In April 2022, the pandemic became the endemic which allowed for procedures to go back to as per pre-Covid-19 pandemic days. One would think that was the case. Well, not so for some banks.
The one in particular that I bank with, has a procedure that we must make an online appointment, that one cannot just walk-in or show up unannounced, to perform transactions. Registering online for an appointment, means answering a litany of questions.
But get this: This may have been good during the pandemic period. Now, that the pandemic is over, why continue with this procedure? Upon checking with the bank; some of their officers stated that it was necessary to pre-register for an appointment for customers to perform transactions at the bank in person. The bank’s intention is to eliminate long waiting queues.
I thought that this appointment registration system was an absolute inconvenience and put customers at a security risk in letting people know when they were going to be at the bank and for what purpose.
I was punctual for my first online registered appointment. I was asked to fill up all the necessary forms, take a number and wait. Yes, WAIT. There were one or two other customers in front of me. No other people. The bank has 7 counters with about 30 staff present.
On my second visit, I was made to wait, even though I was half hour early. I had to wait nearly half an hour though the bank had only 1 customer ahead of me and none after me. The bank had its counters fully staffed. What crowds? If I brought this matter up to the bank staff, they would have said this is proof that the online registration for appointment was working.
Can you imagine the rest of the staff, stationed at their work stations and pretending to look busy? What morale would these employees have when they sit at their workstations each day, with rarely any work to do? This would be ideal for the very few who are aimless or clueless in life.
But for the majority of these employees, especially for those who were used to serving a high customer patronage, daily, before the Covid-19 pandemic; it would be tough for them to keep their spirits up. They would still have to stick to their jobs. They need their income to meet their financial commitments. I am sure they would like to see the crowds of customers back in the bank.
As for the customers, many of whom have built a wonderful relationship with the bank staff; they most probably would like to visit the banks once in a while to strike up chats with the staff (real people) instead of dealing with computers and websites and having to confirm and reconfirm that they are not robots.
It’s a heartache! Nothing but a heartache! Oh the pain!
The lights were off. It was near total darkness, with the exception of the tv set which was on. I had turned off everything at my workstation, got up from my chair; took one step towards the living room to watch a bit of tv.
I heard a loud thud! I turned around and looked on the floor. There was my Samsung Fold 3, in a galaxy of its own. I did not see the charging cable that was plugged into it to charge it, of course. It fell from a side table, 15 inches high. My foot got entangled in the loop of the cable and tugged at it, bringing the Folding Fold Folded 3, crashing to the floor.
It landed on it’s spine, which is the mainframe of the phone. I felt the $$$ pain.
The first thing that went into my mind before I checked it to see if it was alright, was a conversation I had with the Samsung representative during the launch at the 1st generation Fold in 2019. He said the cost of replacing each of the two inner panels would be RM2,500 (US$550), excluding service charge.
I picked it up, inspected it, gingerly. Of course, by this time; I switched on all the lights for maximum brightness. First glance, it looked ok. Inspected the inner “glass” panels, and then, the outer panels. All was ok. Phew! You can say that again. Phew!
The Fold 3 still has to be handled with more care than the standard, ordinary, everyday run-of-the-mill smartphone because of it’s movable parts.
I would still advocate you to switch to the Samsung Galaxy Fold 3 if you are in the market for a new, premium, top-of-the-line, flagship smartphone. Unless, you decide to go for a new fruit phone that promises you two year old technology at the very most. In the folderable smartphone category; the bite-in-the-fruit brand promises you technology of at least 4 years or older.
Bonnie Tyler – It’s a Heartache.
This article was totally unplanned for, on the spur-of-the-moment when I had to do while on a banking errand. Don’t get me started with that. I mean I had to go online, book an appointment, was punctual on my arrival and still had to do the usual process that I normally would do without having to book for an appointment. That meant I had to wait which I did not mind. So much for booking an appointment.
I know that I should have more wireless charging pads placed all over the house for easy convenience of wireless charging. The catch is that the wireless charging pads are connected to the power sockets with cables!
“It’s A Heartache” by Bonnie Tyler came to mind when I started writing (“keytapping”) this article. Adding her “apt” video here, it is the first time I have seen her. She is stunningly beautiful. I knew of her popular songs from the 1980s and 1990s, but I have never seen even a picture of her as far as I can remember.
I hope that you the reader, viewer, listener have enjoyed this article. Perhaps, providing you a short break from your heavy day, even to stop for a few moments to live in the present. Leave a comment in the comment section.
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Salute.
NOTES Salute is another really common way to ‘cheers’ in Italy. It literally means ‘health’ as in ‘here’s to good health.’ This way to ‘cheers’ is used in many different languages, including French (santé), Spanish (salud) and Portuguese (saúde). https://mominitaly.com/cheers-in-italian/
Bits of plastic coming off my Fold…Actually it’s just bits of the plastic wrap around the Fold, that is often overlooked, coming off the Fold. These bits are peeling off the sides of the Fold.
Plastic peeling off the sides.
I still believe this is the way smartphones are heading towards. Folderables and the prototype roll-out screen gets bigger / roll-in scroll becomes smaller.
I’ve had the Samsung Galaxy Fold 3 for about 3 and a half months. now. (If you notice that in my past few articles I have been using “and a half” instead of “.5” or “0.5”. “And a half” sounds nicer, don’t you think?) Mine is the Phanthom Silver colour. Whether it offers the same high standards as the Rolls Royce because it shares the same spelling of its”Phanthom” model or not; that is up to the individual owner to judge.😉
A bit of a fumble to open and close it.
Though the fold phones / folderables or foldies (terms used mainly for folding bicycles) have had resistance to being accepted just like the phablets (Samsung Note) smartphones experienced initially, the tide has changed with Samsung’s 3rd iteration of its Samsung Fold and Flip phones. There will be the group of those “diehards” who won’t jump the sinking ship of the “standard” smartphone. I believe the plug has been pulled out and the ship is actually sinking…slowly but still sinking.
In this respect, I could be considered a “Benedict Arnold” as I was not and am still not loyal to any brand or type of smartphone. So, I, the captain of the ship; “abandons ship” by switching to the latest phone, more like the latest technology and specifications a smartphone has to offer.😂 (I’ve got to do something about getting better emojis instead of these worn out smiley faces).
The Fold 3, when folded shut, feels compact and comfortable to hold in my hand because it is much narrower in width than most other flagship smartphones. My phone has been in its original Samsung flip cover Fold case, with a nifty S-Pen Silo that holds the S-Pen on the fold of the case. The Silo sits in a groove on the spine of the case. The silo can be removed by sliding it off when you don’t need to have the S-Pen around. I leave it on all the time. The narrow width advantage is lost with the additional thickness coming from the S-Pen. I can leave with it.
The flip seems to have lost its stiffness when it is closed. It does not close fully over the screen now, as it did when I first had it.
When I removed the phone from the case; I noticed that it did not collect as much dirt as phones with other cases would.
The flip cover as it is now.
The flip cover: Almost perfect close
There are times when the phone becomes more than I care to handle. The cover seems to be in the way when a call comes in. Generally, we have to flip the cover open to use the phone. I should not be complaining about this as I should expect this of a cover. Yes. It can become more than I care to handle when I am trying to type answer a message in a car or a tight space. It is fiddly. Now, that I am on a roll….let’s see.
When I want to open the phone, I usually have the phone in both hands, using my left hand and mainly my thumb, to grab the side of the Fold 3 (next to the on / off button) and pry open. The huge pain here is that it can be quite slippery. My thumb has slipped on more than one occasion and hit the edge of the screen protector, forcing it to partially lift off from the screen. An improvement could be this thumb grip area, adding a sort of rough ridge. Definitely a grip improvement.
The solid spine or backbone of the Fold 3.
The camera housing bump.
The camera bump looks a bit rough around the edges.
The Sportify music coming from the Google Home Mini: Australian Crawl’s “Downhearted”. Love this group for their unusual, yet entertaining music. They made Australia unique. The Voice (Whitney Houston’s nickname) “I Want To Dance with Somebody” and “One Moment In Time”
Coming back to the camera. The “island bump” does not look all that great now. Looking at the picture on the left, it seems the camera slab is fused on to the phone back. This slab does not allow the phone to lay flat on when it is put down. There is a bit of a rocking motion. I guess we can live with that.
As for the cameras themselves, they perform pretty well. Unfortunately, not the latest which means it is not the greatest. But they do take pretty good shots. Really,…how many people out there are gonna demand Leica “R” or “M” series or Hasselblad’s famed large format quality shots? How many are going to be able to frame, set aperture, shutter speed, light exposure for every picture they take with their smartphone. Admittedly, it would be nice to have, though.
AS for the UDC (Under Display Camera) on the main open screen, the pictures, the video…ok la. I mainly used this camera for my video calls on Whatsapp or Messenger. As long as people don’t say, “Looks like you, sounds like you, but is it you?”
When folded, this front / top screen looks sharp and crisp. I think the apps look kinda cute in its miniature size. Though it seems relatively easy using the apps on this screen; I found myself automatically opening the phone to the big screen, which means I hardly every use this front screen. Not that I don’t want or need it there, nice to know that it is there when you need it.
This is the inner screen, opened, though not fully. The fingerprints and other stuff – this I have to live with. I wipe the screen once in a while – a sense of achievement. Note that the original screen protector film by Samsung is still on.
I have not ventured into peeling off the original Samsung screen protector film on the main display. Samsung does warn that doing so would void the warranty. I think that peeling the screen protector film off or replacing it with something else or just leaving the screen without one, is not going to drastically reduce fingerprints, etc.. Just have the practice of wiping the screen once in a while.
The edges of the screen protector looks like it is beginning to peel.
Picture taken with a Samsung Galaxy S-21 Ultra 16gb ram 512gb
When opened, the flip case sticks out on the left. This entails a lot of fumbling to get a good grip of the phone. When The S-Pen silo is removed, the cash opens with the same width of the phone.Picture taken with an Apple iPhone 11 Pro
Now, we come to the reason for the Fold 3. We have gotten past the unfolding of the phone in public and they say, “What is that?” Yes…well, no. No one really has exclaimed in such excitement. But many people do like the screen, the bright pictures that come on and all the functions that you can’t even do with the Samsung S22.
Getting past all that, I simply love using this device. Wherever I am at, and have a few minutes between appointments. I whip out the Fold 3 and get down to work. Some people who know me as a writer, think that I am taking notes of them and become concious of what they say and do. Maybe.
I love the 3 screen split.
The ability to have 3 screens on at anytime is a real boon for me. As I write an article; I may have an idea for another article and maybe an additional idea or two for the article I am working on. My hot idea or train of thought may get lost when I swap from one screen to another if I was using a less versatile device. Did I just find an excuse for having this Fold 3?😁😂. It has happened many times before. I must get into the habit of writing down these ideas on my idea Sketchpad💡mini.
90º angle looks good but serves little purpose. When you pull up the keyboard, the article text does not show.
I don’t find much use when the screen is at an angle. When I pull up the keyboard, the text does not show. The angled screen is good for taking pictures. What you take immediately shows in the bottom of the screen. And probably when you are having video-conferencing. You can view and work on the split screen apps, too.
Is this Samsung Galaxy Fold 3 a great phone? Absolutely! It needs a rough surface patch at the “thumb pull open section” side. There also has to be a wider range of cases with an S-Pen slot than just the flip case.
Should you get one? If you have the use for multiple screens, absolutely! Or if you just have the money and still only use this device for making phone calls, sending text messages and taking good photos.
Samsung is expected to launch the Fold 4 somewhere next month – it’s usual annual August event. So, expect strides of improvement from already great device.
The pictures shown were taken without the usual fanfare of a studio-styled setup. The idea is for readers to relate as ordinary non-tech users or testers. The Samsung GalaxyS21 Ultra 16gb 512gb and Apple iPhone 11 Pro were used to take the pictures..
Do leave your comments or questions in the comments section below.
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Don’t think, just do! Go by instinct, by gut feeling.
What a show! Thrilling for guys like me who love aeroplanes or in American English – “airplanes”. I love cars, well almost everything in motion…”love in emotion, que sera que sera”. Wait a sec… that’s “Lost in Emotion”.
Watching “Top Gun” (1?) in the later part of the 1980s was super thrilling. The movie was on a rented (we used to rent movies those days) VHS video-cassette tape. I watched it in my bedroom on a 20″ tube tv (with the big box at the back of it). The tv set and the video tape player (that plays the VHS video-cassettes) were my brother, Terence’s. We used to shar the bedroom back then. He and my late brother, Nigel; used to rent these videos from the shop nearby. As for me, if there was a movie on that interested me, I’d watch it. I wasn’t really a movie buff, still am not. But I was glad that I had the opportunity to watch this movie, “Top Gun.
Watching it with the sound turned up loud in a small room with the lights off, gave it some effects of a cinema. Watching the F-14 Tomcats in action, take off and land on a short runaway. it’s tactical maneuvers was amazing. It was to me, especially since I used to assemble airplane (American spelling) kits. I had quite a collection.
My dad was the one who inspired me to build / assemble aircraft because he used to build / assemble and paint (yes, paint) these kits. He is so artistic. He painted especially the camouflage colours to scale. I was not and still am not artistic. The paint jobs I did on some of my kits were disasters.
When you watch the short video clips below, make sure to turn up the sound and hopefuilly you will be watching them on a big screen, maybe with a Sensurround sound bar to enjoy the clips to their fullest potential.
By Vudu
There was a lot of hype in the promotion of “Topgun Maverick” over the last two years. Its release was delayed by two years mainly due to the worldwide sufferings of the Covid-19 outbreaks. Nonetheless, with all the tease short burst video clips, media interviews and promotions; the hyperbole intertest was kept hot with excitement.
All that hyperbole has paid off. It sure got the attention that they wanted, probably more. Every second of it!
Phoenix’s (Monica Barbaro) 2-finger “It’s a go”, take off signal; will be, if it has not already become; a worldwide iconic signal used by many people for “it’s a go”. That is for sure.
DANNY RAMIREZ, GLEN POWELL, MONICA BARBARO (PHOENIX), DIRECTOR JOSEPH KOSINKI AND LEWIS PULLMAN ON THE SET OF TOP GUN: MAVERICK FROM PARAMOUNT PICTURES, SKYDANCE AND JERRY BRUCKHEIMER FILMS.People.com
“Captain, what is that?” “It is one of life’s mysteries, sir.”“The end is inevitable. Your kind is heading for extinction.” “Maybe so, sir. But not today.”
The smart a*s quips are just as spicy as the action. The video above shows the abrupt 90 degree climb.
Jeannie and I sat under the sky of Malaysia’s hosting of its inaugural Formula 1 in 1999. We were treated to a short aerial show by the Royal Malaysian Air Force featuring the F-18 Hornet and the Russian made Mig-29s. The guys flying the F-18s did the abrupt vertical climb, directly above us. Maybe, not as dramatic as Maverick and the rest, but us being there at that time and watching this live did the trick. We were thrilled.
Maverick with the P-51 Mustang. Impawards.com
HOW A P-51 MUSTANG WORKS: The plane that Maverick tinkered with in his spare time. Animagraffs by Jacob O’Neal
This aircraft used for the Mach 10 flight is designed by Skunk Works, a division of Lockheed Martin. It looks similar to the SR-71; which itself is a prize winner of any standard in aircraft aviation. The SR-71 was also built by Lockheed-Martin.The SR-71, unofficially known as the “Blackbird,” is a long-range, advanced, strategic reconnaissance aircraft developed from the Lockheed A-12 and YF-12A aircraft. The first flight of an SR-71 took place on December 22, 1964, and the first SR-71 to enter service was delivered to the 4200th (later, 9th) Strategic Reconnaissance Wing at Beale AFB, California, in January 1966. The U.S. Air Force retired its fleet of SR-71s on January 26, 1990, because of a decreasing defense budget and high costs of operation. The USAF returned the SR-71 to the active Air Force inventory in 1995 and began flying operational missions in January 1997. Throughout its nearly 24-year career, the SR-71 remained the world’s fastest and highest-flying operational aircraft. An air-to-air overhead front view of an SR-71A strategic reconnaissance aircraft. The SR-71 is unofficially known as the “Blackbird.”
@Tom Cruise: It would be great that theaters can be built with screens all round 360 degrees, meaning all round the walls, ceiling, floor; so that viewers can be so much more immersed in the movie, with near real-like experiences. For instance, the viewers can experience the 2 minute 30 seconds run to the target, seeing what you the actor / pilot is seeing. The whole cinema room is one big cinema. This brings the Sensurround sound and viewing to the next level. “Don’t think. Just do!” Wishful thinking… or is it?
ACTORS AND ACTRESSES: Tom Cruise Val Kilmer Miles Teller Jennifer Connelly Monica Barbaro Glenn Powell Jon Hamn Ed Harris Jean Louisa Kelly Lewis Pullman LyLiana Wray Manny Jacinto India Everett Chelsea Harris Kara Wang
NOTES
Tom Cruise follows me on Twitter @AlanIanAtkinson. I am honoured.
1. Video Cassette tape is about the size of a paperback novel and about half the thickness of an average novel. A paperback novel is a story (hence novel), usually fiction; printed in book form. This is for the uninitiated – the millennials. Hopefully, they have an inkling of what a book is, what with almost everything you read today is read from a screen.
A must have in any big, large or for that matter, any business. So, it seems. Have we really thought about it in today’s context? Is customer service to serve the customer or the customer to serve the business?
Let us take Hisbiscuit (not its real name, but true incident), for example. It was Friday, May 29th, 2022; mid-morning. We called Customer Service on their toll free line to make a complaint about a scam, well… duped half way into it. After half an hour, we were still waiting on hold for a representative to speak with us. Maybe, we’d still be on hold today, if we kept waiting.
One of the most common phases you will hear on the phone, or see on a website 24 hour online live chat of the business is, “We are experiencing a high volume of calls, you may have to wait longer than expected”. In this case, the message was, “We are experiencing an extremely high volume of calls, you may have to wait longer than expected”. Another message follows, “Do sign up for our online service or download our app, so as to enable us to chat with you “live“”.
The thing is, you can call any time of the day or on any day and guess what? You are going to receive the same message.
So, you go to their website. One of the most “hip,” “I gotta have that on my website” functions you will see on a website, usually tucked away somewhere until you become inquisitive and hit a button on the menu, pops up. Suddenly, it springs out of nowhere: “Chat with us. Live Chat.” Most don’t mention… “Live chat with real robots”. But guess what…again? Go on…guess. Awww!…give it a go… An instant reply comes on from “Eva”, “We are receiving a high volume of chat messages, you may have to wait longer than expected”.
Then out of frustration, you decide to chat with the “Chat with us. Come on, give us a go!” chat. You ask a question. Eva replies, “I am sorry, I don’t quite understand the question”. Or a completely unrelated answer comes out based on keywords in the question. This reminds me of the old television series, “Mind Your Language”.
How do you think the business establishment can address this almost any time of the day, almost every day of the year problem? You are right! Hire more people to handle Customer Service. Not more “Eva” and “Ken” robots (a.k.a. automated “customer service representatives) with their “I am sorry, I don’t quite understand the question” replies.
To be fair, there are some, only some…companies that state the live chat on their website is automated.
There are some with actual, real people to chat with you. There was one who sent me his cell phone number and asked if we could communicate directly, offline; because he could offer a better deal than what was stated on the website that he was linked to. How’s that for customer service?
Have you ever thought about it? You are filling up an online form and come to the end of the form. You have to prove to the computer, which is a robot; that you are not a robot! You have to tick a “I’m not a robot” check box. Think about it.
It is different if you are inter-acting with a real person, a human being on the other end of the communication you are having, and that person wants to know if he or she is dealing with you a real person or robot. It baffles me as to what is stopping a robot or autobot or botbotbot from ticking that checkbox. Not that it is going to disintegrate,…or is it?
~ More to come on “Customer Service”.
Tell us your experience or thoughts of Customer Service and how you would like it to be.
As for Hisbiscuit, we still have not managed to get through to them.
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It’s my usual siesta time…whenever I get a chance. Which is rarely…which is usual. So how does it become my “usual” siesta time? Does more than once constitute it as “Usual?”
So, what am I (“was”, since I am reporting this hours after) doing at my usual siesta time? For one, Malaysia has public holidays aplenty. Great breaks for those who work really hard. Tough for those guys who look forward to going to work to get a break from all the holidays.
Anyway, in the wee hours of Sunday morning (after 10.00am); we (Jeannie my wife, and I) were looking for a joint we have not been to before for our coffee fix. Over the last two weeks; we were sipping coffee, having lunch and eating cake at cafes that were leafy green decorated – surrounded by plants and such (an article on this topic is on my ideaSketchpad).
Our plan was to chill, while our time away and do almost nothing. This is near impossible for either of us. I would whip out my Fold 3 and get on with writing something…anything…or working on any of the topics on my ideaSketchpad. Jeannie would be on her usual, “Business development market survey”.
I said, “We have two main choices: one was to look for a cafe we have not been to, which could be in a shoplot on its own, where we could sit and relax for a few hours…drinking coffee and eating cake or pastries.
The other choice was to have coffee in a cafe located in a shopping mall. We could drink coffee, eat cake and pastries. Then, walk around all the stores and shop…..then, to another cafe…drink more coffee, eat more cake and more pastries. Generally, we still do keep watch on our calorie and sugar intake. Which means, working off the extra calories on my daily 15 kilometer walks.
Of course, we all know the outcome of this. Though I love my coffee fix, I am not one who can sit for hours in one place, then get up and go home. This is so (so? Like, like so not “English” English?) not me. Ok ok. Throw the brickbats, coffee, mugs, kitchen sink, an S22 Ultra 18gb ram with 1 Terrorbite of storage, all your boxes of unopened chocolate (just had some milk chocolate from Germany. It was sssooooo ss-mmm-ooo-th and divine) at me. As for the chocolate, I like the ones with hazel or mixed nuts, better (hint, hint).
Oh yeah… the outcome was: we went to a shopping mall – Mid-Valley shopping mall. We drove to the carpark and parked our car; finding an empty space fairly easily without having to loop the carpark several times. Ours is not one of those self-drive, electric vehicles. From the looks of things, the upcoming new models may be able to “twit” as well.
When we got in the shopping area, it hit us like the “matrix”. There were like (like?) a kezillion people. It was crowded. It was like this on all the shopping floor levels. I did not see people carrying their portable printing presses to print cash if they ran short. I suppose now is the day of plastic. But that’s on its way out, too. It is pay by scan.
Jeannie and I headed to KFC for a quick bite as I had not had lunch yet. The meal was good. Then, we braved our way through the crowds again. This was not what we had envisioned for a nice Sunday afternoon… coffee, cake, pastries, relaxation, shopping, coffee, cake, pastries. When I say, “relaxation”; I’m with my fold 3, in my ideaSketchpad💡; “writing” / tapping / swiping / keying – working on my articles.
We spent about an hour window-shopping. Jeannie went to her favourite – “Zara” store. She spent a bit of time at Metrojaya, too. I popped in to the various IT shops – TMT, Logitech and Samsung. Samsung’s premium store does not promote many of their accessories like watchbands for the Watch 4 & 4Classic, cases for the Fold 3, etc. It would be good if they do as they will be able to reach out to a broader base of customers.
I went to Skechers, too. Skechers is Jeannie’s and my favourite brand of footwear. They are the most comfortable to wear, especially for long periods of time. We find their “air-cooled, Goga Mat” inner soles the most comfortable. The soft outer soles completes the comfort. I was looking for a casual, sort-of-formal pair – dark tan leather top, with a white or off-white outer sole. They did not have such a pair.
We left within an hour to an hour and a half after arriving at the mall because the crowds did not make it comfortable for us to shop. I had a couple of rough “bump-offs” by two oversized (and I mean oversized) people who may believe they are God’s gift to mankind, because they did not even apologise.
So, making our way back home was a capital idea. When we got home, I made a “Super” Rich 3-in-1 kopi ice. Very nice. Not too sweet, not too weak, either. This is my new “try-out”. After a cup of this coffee, I go back to my usual all-black coffee, strictly plain and rather “kau”, too.
There are helpful instructions on the back of the packet, for you to follow to make this coffee. That’s if you can read them. It’s in 0.0001pt font size.
The thing about being back home is I have all my creature comforts, big screen monitor, laptops, tablets and phones and I am back working.
