Vinko's Thoughts On...

Matter of Privacy

vinko — Thu, 08 May 2008 14:48:06 +0000

Today there was a report that a staff of the Hong Kong Immigration department accidentally allowed a highly sensitive confidential document to be uploaded onto the P2P network, Foxy. Reportedly, the documented uploaded to the P2P network is a document that contains personal information of individuals who were refused entry into Hong Kong, including the [...]

Precaution Censorship

vinko — Wed, 07 May 2008 17:58:50 +0000

Last evening (May 7) my hosting provider (HP) informed me that my site has been assigned a new IP address (May 7, 2008, 20:00). I then found out the IP address assigned is a dedicated IP for my site. This is so that my HP can isolate my site from the rest of the sites [...]

Vodafone releasing iPhone Press Release

vinko — Tue, 06 May 2008 13:43:21 +0000

The reaction to the Vodafone announcement that it has strike a deal with Apple to release the iPhone in 10 countries: Australia, the Czech Republic, Egypt, Greece, Italy, India, Portugal, New Zealand, South Africa and Turkey, was a mix bag of haters, be-littler and fan-boy. The iPhone arriving in Asia had been anticipated for some time. [...]

Do We Have It Backwards?

vinko — Tue, 06 May 2008 12:27:55 +0000

Being a technologist I have the following principal and believe: One needs to give a great deal of effort into the development of a technology, if one wants to ensure a good, effortless, intuitive interface for the end-user. So when they say a technology is a metaphor for a real life process, I expect a lot from [...]

Movie Review: Iron Man (2008)

Admin — Thu, 01 May 2008 15:30:27 +0000

My Rating: This evening I saw the movie “Iron Man” at UA Cinema, Time Square, Hong Kong. Presently surprised! I am not sure it was the relatively low expectation I had for the movie or because it was good. I had thought, that since it is the first time this comic book character, Iron Man, is made into a [...]

Another Chinese Decision

vinko — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 10:36:12 +0000

China’s going to launch their own mobile TV technology in time for the Olympic games’ opening ceremony on August 8, 2008. Mobile TV standards have been largely incompatible, with systems in the North America, South America, South Korea, Italy and Japan. Now we see yet another incompatible system to be introduced in one of the largest [...]

China’s Olympic Torch Relay 2008

vinko — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 16:00:32 +0000

This Olympic torch relay around the world has now become such a controversy that the International Olympic Asscociation is considering terminating the relay. If this decision is final, it will become the first world record obtained by China in this year’s Olympic. The people at “Torch Relay Beijing 2008” has created an animation to show their [...]

Movie Review: Step Up 2 the Streets

vinko — Sat, 05 Apr 2008 15:35:42 +0000

My Rating: This evening I saw the movie “Step Up 2 the Streets” at UA Cinema, Time Square, Hong Kong. I was a bit disappointed to say the least. The dance moves were not that spectacular; at least to me. May be a true dancer will find them amazing. The soundtrack was boring, I find each track to [...]

Smartone-Vodafone Dropping POP3

Admin — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 15:08:38 +0000

Well not exactly… that are dropping POP3 in the list of protocol that comes free with their “Internet Browsing” plan. For those iPhone users in Hong Kong who followed my advice and subscribed to the Smartone-Vodafone’s “Internet Browsing” and the GSM 2G/3G Data plans, you should have received a SMS from Smartone-Vodafone to inform you that [...]

Movie Review: Vantage Point

vinko — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 15:56:23 +0000

My Rating: This evening I saw the movie “Vantage Point” at Broadway Theater, Cyberport, Hong Kong. It was a movie with a very different approach. The director attempted to show several different points of view by replaying 30 minutes of the story over and over; 8 times in all. Each time he reviews a bit more of [...]

What is Your Most Desired Native iPhone Application?

vinko — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 15:02:00 +0000

Now that the iPhone has been officially released for over four months, in four different countries. What is the most desired native application you wish someone, other than Apple, will release? By “native” I mean application that runs on the iPhone without Safari (MobileSafari). Before anyone say it, I do know about the vast number of 3rd [...]

Hong Kong Standard Chartered Marathon Disgrace

vinko — Sun, 17 Feb 2008 04:37:05 +0000

Each year on the third Sunday of Feburary there is a marathon in Hong Kong. Several years ago Standard Chartered Bank took over as the primary sponsor of this marathon. Such that it is now called the “Standard Chartered Marathon”. Like any other marathon this is a charity event, but to which charity it is raising [...]

Movie Review: Jumper

vinko — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 15:16:08 +0000

My Rating: This evening I saw the movie “Jumper” at Time Square, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong. This movie has the feel of the Bourne series. This is not surprising, since it is also directed by the same director, Doug Liman as the Bourne series: “The Bourne Identity“, “The Bourne Supremacy” and “The Bourne Ultimatum“. You really need to [...]

Auspicious First Day of Work for 2008

vinko — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 16:35:58 +0000

I am not the superstitious type, but if someone informs me I will be conscientious of it. Today someone sent me the following chart. It shows the most auspicious day to start the first work day for the new Lunar New Year 2008 (Year of the Rat).Note that you must first figure out which Chinese zodiac [...]

Effects of Winter Storm in China

vinko — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 13:12:48 +0000

The effects of severe weather can be much more detrimental to some, as you can see from the statistics below. 77.86 million people affected, according to official figures 53 people killed, including 29 in bus crashes in Guizhou and Gansu 89 coal-fired power plants have coal supplies down to alarm level; 18million kW of power generation capacity down [...]

Refabricating City 2008

vinko — Sun, 27 Jan 2008 15:03:42 +0000

Refabricating City 2008 Originally uploaded by Vinko T. Today I went to visit the “Refabricating City 2008” exhibition at the Hollywood Police Station, 10 Hollywood Road, Central, Hong Kong. It showed off some of the urban development concepts from both the Hong Kong and Shenzhen city urban development. You can check out some of the photos from my Flickr [...]

Michael Wong Big Band Debut Album

vinko — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 02:58:21 +0000

It has been a long time coming. The highly anticipated launch of the Michael Wong Big Band’s debut album, “Cool Rhythm”, will be released through a celebration party tonight at the “Academy of Performing Arts” in Wan Chai, Hong Kong. Check out the promo video to get a glimpsed of what to expect on the album.

Helmsley Park Lane Hotel

vinko — Sun, 09 Dec 2007 04:55:10 +0000

I was informed today that my photo was chosen for inclusion in the newly released fourth edition of the “Schmap New York Guide”. Although, this is not the first time one of my photos had been chosen for publication, it is always nice to know that someone appreciate my visual expression. Helmsley Park Lane Hotel Originally uploaded by [...]

iPhone Hacked in Hong Kong on Smartone-Vodafone [Dec. 1 Update]

vinko — Sat, 01 Dec 2007 05:08:44 +0000

Sorry for the late posting of my findings regarding the most appropriate package(s) to subscribe to from Smartine-Vodafone. After one and a half month of use, I have a fairly good idea whether my original proposed “Internet Browsing” and “2G/3G Data” plans are sufficient to allow for the freedom of using the iPhone, without worrying about [...]

Movie Review: The Heartbreak Kid (2007)

vinko — Sat, 24 Nov 2007 15:44:14 +0000

My Rating: This evening I saw the movie “The Heartbreak Kid” at Time Square, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong. Ben Stiller always plays a character in his movies: “Meet the Parents“, “Meet the Fockers“, “Along Came Polly” and alike. Where his character is the underdog, started out a good nature hero and then forced into situations that makes [...]

Movie Review: The Kingdom (2007)

Admin — Sat, 24 Nov 2007 07:59:15 +0000

My Rating: This evening I saw the movie “The Kingdom” at JP Theater, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong. Jamie Foxx was his usual self, playing the good guy he had in the past, with just a mediocre performance. The other members of the cast, Jennifer Garner and Jason Bateman did not help either. The story of the movie is [...]

iPhone Hacked in Hong Kong on Smartone-Vodafone [Nov. 21 Update]

vinko — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 15:07:58 +0000

On November 12, the German courts ruled against T-Mobile and issued an injunction preventing T-Mobile from selling Apple iPhones requiring a 2 years contract. The injunction also prevents T-Mobile from selling Apple iPhones with the so called “SIM lock” that prevents users from switching the Apple iPhone to any other carriers. This evening T-Mobile announced that [...]

Movie Review: Beowulf (2007 - 3D Version)

vinko — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 07:51:26 +0000

My Rating: This evening I saw the movie “Beowulf” at Ocean Terminal Theater, Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong. I was not certain that this was an animated movie until I arrived at the theater. I chose to watch the 3D version of the movie, at an almost 100% premium, which I later found out to be worth [...]

Movie Review: Shoot’em Up

Admin — Sun, 11 Nov 2007 12:01:01 +0000

My Rating: This evening I saw the movie “Shoot ‘Em Up” at JP Theater, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong. If you like blatant blood and gore you will like this movie. It reminds me of the typical movies Chow Yun Fat makes in the old days (in Hong Kong). The story for the movie is typical and the dialogs [...]

Movie Review: Lions for Lambs

vinko — Sat, 10 Nov 2007 15:34:27 +0000

My Rating: This evening I saw the movie “Lions for Lambs” at Time Square, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong. If you consider the movie’s attempt to show multiple (three) points of view of a subject at the same time, it is brilliantly executed, but unfortunately the topic is the war in Iraq and the point of views are [...]

iPhone Hacked in Hong Kong on Smartone-Vodafone [Oct. 24 Update]

vinko — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 05:42:54 +0000

Instead of my readers having to scroll down to the comments in my original article or email me about the following must have knowledge about hacking your iPhone. I will post it here for all: Activate the Voice Mail button so that it calls your carrier’s Voice Mail service. Prior to doing this hack you will need [...]

Great Music Find

Vinko's blog — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 06:19:03 +0000

I was listening to the latest MacCast podcast, and normally I would skin the Podcast Safe music that Adam plays at the end, but this time I was busy with something else.

To my surprise, the song that Adam chose, "Overboard" by Shannon Hurley, from her new album "Ready to Wake Up" (to be released November 5, 2007) was amazing.

Ready to Wake Up

I began my search for the song on iTunes USA Store, but could not find it. So I contacted the artist on her MySpace page.

To my amazement Shannon answered me right away and told me that currently the only place to find the song is on AmieStreet.

Of course I quickly purchased it while it was still at a low price. For those who do not know about AmieStreet, it is a great place to find DRM free music at as low as USD0.00 up to USD0.98 per song.

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Movie Review: Resident Evil - Extinction

vinko — Sat, 06 Oct 2007 15:44:53 +0000

My Rating: This evening I saw the movie “ Resident Evil - Extinction ” at UA Cinema, Windsor House, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong. Again this is another 3rd-movie in a series. May be because of that I did not have much expectation for the movie. Nor did I see the 2nd movie in the series. Even so, I [...]

Problem with Mozy [October 4 Update]

vinko — Thu, 04 Oct 2007 14:27:55 +0000

After 5 months of testing, back and forth with Mozy support and eventually being assigned a Mozy Macintosh developer to resolve my issues encountered I was finally able to backup my selected files to the Mozy server automatically. This was all accomplished with version 0.6.2.4 of Mozy Client for Macintosh. Today Mozy informs me that there [...]

Smartone-Vodafone Really Doesn’t Know

vinko — Wed, 03 Oct 2007 14:44:46 +0000

Over the past 3 months in preparation of my eventual iPhone usage on the Smartone-Vodafone network, I began testing to see which is the best combination Smartone-Vodafone data plan to subscribe to. Prior to August of this year I subscribed to Smartone-Vodafone’s “HKD118.00/month Data Plan”, which gave me 10MB of usage per month and a HKD15.00/MB [...]

Movie Review: The Nanny Diaries

vinko — Sun, 30 Sep 2007 15:42:13 +0000

My Rating: This evening I saw the movie “The Nanny Diaries” at JP Theatre, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong. A present little movie. I really did not like Scarlett Johansson in “Lost in Translation” or “The Island“. I wanted to watch “The Prestige“, but had yet gotten around to it so I could not say if Johansson was [...]

Movie Review: The Brave One (2007)

vinko — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 15:37:13 +0000

My Rating: This evening I saw the movie “The Brave One (2007)” at UA Cinema, Time Square, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong. What can I say, but yet another great performance by Jodie Foster. I had always like Foster’s movies. For some reason she always plays a strong independent female character in her movies. In this movie, when it [...]

iPhone Hacked in Hong Kong on Three

vinko — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 05:26:28 +0000

Last week I unlocked an iPhone and tested it with a SIM card from Smartone-Vodafone. Today I unlocked another iPhone and this time using a SIM Card from Three (2G service without Data plan). Next I will be unlocking my own iPhone on Smartone-Vodafone. I have commented on my article last week, regarding the most appropriate [...]

iPhone Hacked in Hong Kong on Smartone-Vodafone

vinko — Sun, 16 Sep 2007 03:59:17 +0000

Many of you know that I was in North America this past two weeks and was also in New York City. While at NYC I spent some time at the 5th Ave. Apple Store gaining some hands on experience with the iPhone. This was the first time I saw the iPhone in person and played with [...]

iPod Touch Making Its Appearance

vinko — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 20:21:49 +0000

Have been in New York City for the past 3 days. Today, while going into the Apple Store on 5th Ave. for a friend of mine who wants me to help them purchase an iPod nano in Red. I notice something very odd. There were a table of iPod Touch set up for people to play with. [...]

Movie Review: War (2007)

vinko — Wed, 05 Sep 2007 15:30:48 +0000

My Rating: This evening I saw the movie “War (2007) (aka “Rogue Assassin”)” at Cinepex, Market Square, Markham, Ontario, Canada Having been away from North American cinemas for some time. I wanted to watch a movie while I was in Toronto. Unfortunately, due to the amount of time I had, I was not able to find a [...]

China’s Virtual Police

vinko — Sat, 01 Sep 2007 02:54:31 +0000

Beijing, China today introduced the new “Virtual Policeman and Policewoman” cartoon figures who will constantly monitor the web sites Chinese citizen visits. At the moment the Virtual Police is only monitoring 13 Chinese web sites and will eventually covers every domains registered in Beijing, China. These Virtual Police would periodically appear on Internet surfer’s browser [...]

Problem with Mozy [August 28 Update]

vinko — Tue, 28 Aug 2007 07:07:49 +0000

After being assigned a specific contact, Ben, from the Mozy Macintosh Support, the responses from Mozy has become much more efficient and specific. I hope this is something that Mozy has recognized and changed for future Mac users. Anyway, on with my experience on this version of Mozy for Mac (0.6.2.2 (23015)) which Mozy released on [...]

Review: Crown Macau

vinko — Sat, 25 Aug 2007 05:52:50 +0000

This weekend I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to experience Macau’s first “six star” hotel; so they [Crown Macau] claim. I had not heard of Crown hotels in the past. Apparently they have a sister property in Melbourne, Australia. The one in Macau is own and operated by Stanley Ho’s eldest son, Lawrence Ho’s [...]

Battle of Customs

vinko — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 10:51:10 +0000

Repost from: Vinko’s Satellite Blog In recent months many of the products manufactured or grown in China had found to contain poisonous materials or chemicals. This problem was reported in many countries: United States, United Kingdom, France, Australia, etc. With most of the cases reported in the United States. China’s responds to these accusations have been a [...]

Battle of Customs

Vinko's blog — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 10:49:39 +0000

In recent months many of the products manufactured or grown in China had found to contain poisonous materials or chemicals. This problem was reported in many countries: United States, United Kingdom, France, Australia, etc. With most of the cases reported in the United States.

China's responds to these accusations have been a mix of spontaneous defense of China's manufacturing and accusations of American companies not conducting proper quality control and the media for exaggerating the serious of the problem. At one point the Chinese government released the statement, "... over 7 billion units of product was manufactured and exported by China, and only a small amount of these units has problems...". Doesn't the Chinese government realize that a small amount of 7 billion is still a very large number?

Either due to desperation to overcome the bad press, Yesterday China reported that a shipment of medicine "CMO - Cetyl Myristoleate" contains dangerous substance that is harmful to people taking the medicine.

Today the US Customs again refused entry of another shipment of toys from China, claiming that paint on the toys contains too much lead. This is the forth time in a week that US Customs has refused entry of large toy shipments from China. China now responded to this latest US Customs' action blaming these safety violation is the direct result of US government raising the safety standards without consulting Chinese manufactures.

As a by-stander, I am starting to wonder are all these accusation valid? Are they simply political gesturing for ulterior motive?

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Problem with Mozy [August 22 Update]

vinko — Wed, 22 Aug 2007 07:21:50 +0000

Today I received a reply from Moyz Support on my last report of problems with their Mozy for Mac version 0.6.2.0 (1.0). This time it only took 3 days for them to reply. The one thing different about this, is that during the past 3 days, someone from Mozy sent me an email saying that a [...]

VoIP from Your Mobile

vinko — Mon, 13 Aug 2007 01:56:54 +0000

Repost from: Vinko’s Satellite Blog As many of you may have heard of VoIP (Voice over IP). There are some very popular service like: Skype and Gizmo Project. Last year EQO Communications launched the EQO service, which extends these VoIP service back to the mobile phone, and in addition to offering free IM (instant messaging) service to [...]

VoIP from Your Mobile

Vinko's blog — Mon, 13 Aug 2007 01:50:47 +0000

EQO

As many of you may have heard of VoIP (Voice over IP). There are some very popular service like: Skype and Gizmo Project.

Last year EQO Communications launched the EQO service, which extends these VoIP service back to the mobile phone, and in addition to offering free IM (instant messaging) service to popular services like: ICQ, MSN Messenger, Google Talk and Jabber.

You may ask, why do you want to have VoIP on a mobile phone? Why does one just use the mobile phone itself to make the call required. The answer is cost. In most cases, there is a discount of about 95%. Like other VoIP providers, EQO offer free calls to other registered EQO users.

Although it offers this service to 29 countries it does not yet offer its service to Asia and more specifically Hong Kong. I am calling everyone in Asia to help convince EQO to begin offering their service in Hong Kong and rest of Asia. Please go to EQO's country suggestion page to add your respective countries to their list of desired countries.

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The State of Government

vinko — Sun, 12 Aug 2007 12:59:21 +0000

Are our public officials so scare of doing the wrong thing that they forget what is the right thing to do? Today in a press conference held by Mr Tang King-Shing, Commissioner of Police in Hong Kong, with regards to the security procedures of the 2008 Olympic (Hong Kong) test equestrian competition. He commented on yesterday’s [...]

Big Ben Gone Fishing

Vinko's blog — Sat, 11 Aug 2007 15:14:59 +0000

Big Ben, London, UK

The British government is planning a celebration for the 150th anniversary of "Big Ben" in 2008, so they have just began (today) a scheduled 5 - 6 weeks maintenance project.

Therefore, if you are planning a visit to London and specifically "Big Ben", you may want to rethink your plans.

Fortunately, there are many other great tourist spots in London. Take a look at my Flickr photo album for London.

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Labour Unions

vinko — Sat, 11 Aug 2007 11:23:36 +0000

Do you believe in the formation of labour union at work place? This question is not easy to answer. I believe it is not a clear cut “yes” or “no” answer in most cases. I think labour union has its justifications, while it is also one of the most disruptive establishment at a work place. One [...]

Movie Review: The Bourne Ultimatum

vinko — Thu, 09 Aug 2007 18:17:12 +0000

My Rating: This evening I saw the movie “The Bourne Ultimatum” at UA Cinema, Time Square, Causeway Bay. This is now the sixth movie in the row that I was very happy to give my 4 Penguins or above rating. Hopefully sign of even better movies to come. Although, the Summer blockbusters are almost ending. I was a [...]

Choosing a New iMac (August 2007)

vinko — Wed, 08 Aug 2007 12:20:56 +0000

As many of your may have heard Apple Inc. released new versions of the iMac line last night (HK time). It had been an upgrade that was anticipated and over due for the past 12 months. In my opinion, they did not disappoint. They changed the industrial design of the machine but kept the machines the same [...]

Vox Hunt: This Makes Me Cross!

Vinko's blog — Tue, 07 Aug 2007 07:58:59 +0000

Show us something that makes you cross.
Submitted by Rev Stan.

Lights on old billboard

These is an old billboard location in the Causeway Bay district of Hong Kong.

It had one of the longest Nike ad on the side of a building one block long and 3 stories high that also wraps around the building on two faces.

The billboard had long been removed (over a month) and the 36 high power lights (just on one side) still come on each evening shining on an empty space until 23:00 each night.

This is an extreme waste of energy, especially in this day where Hong Kong's pollution is getting worst and worst.

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