Not very sure whether you guys remembered my first home brewed beer? It is the Cooper’s Australian Pale Ale brew I made in February. And a lot of my friends really enjoyed this beer. They say that it tasted very clean, is very easy to drink and have a very nice aroma to it. I myself really enjoy drinking it as well. However, it taste like those commerical beers which doesn’t have much flavours to it. Sort of like commerical lager like Carlsberg. Well, a bit like Carlsberg. Very low alcoholic content it has but with very little aftertaste and a just right level of bitterness, who can complain? Anyway, most of the work I would contribute to Coopers, whom I think did a good job creating this beer kit for us to enjoy.
However, I have some surprising news! I have found one bottle remaining from that batch. One of my friends took 14 bottles and he returned 13. And after wondering what happened to that last bottle, he finally found it hidden in one corner of his house! Yes, that means the beer has been aging in that bottle for 4-5 months! Woooohooooo! And so without any hesitation, we decided to have a drink from this bottle. Guys, I tell you, beer never tasted so good! I am not making this up. Aged beer really taste very very good. The flavour is smooth, there is absolutely no hashness in the beer. Tasted like heaven. Of course, it is still too low in alcohol so it doesn’t give enough kick, but other than that, it tasted just wonderful. We finished that bottle (740ml) in just 10 minutes. We were literally grabbing for the bottle.
So finally after reading what people say about aging beers and so on, I finally had my own experience. And after tasting that Australian Pale Ale, I can only say that in the future, my beers will be aged for very long. Too bad all of my beers are currentled bottled in plastic PET bottles. But now that I have started to use glass, they should be able to be aged even longer without losing carbonation!Â
It may seem to you that I have been spending a lot of my time on this blog complaining about the weather in Singapore. Well, yes I have. The problem is that it is back again – the extremely warm weather in Singapore! And worse of all, it never seems to end. We got some very warm weather just about 2 months ago and now it has come back. Sure, Singapore is a tropical country and it is warm the year throughout. I don’t mind warm, but the weather is terribly hot. After I get out of the shower, I immediately start to sweat like a pig. And if I don’t switch on the air-conditioner, my room feels like an oven and I can’t do any work. Seriously, the weather is starting to get much warmer every year. I am sure I didn’t feel it as warm last year or the year before. Looks like global warming is truly going to get all of us into trouble.
If you go outside, you can certainly feel the oppressive heat everywhere in Singapore. The only escape is the shopping malls and of course the swimming pools and other air-conditioned places. I guess that is why Singaporeans are so hooked on shopping and spending money. They have no other choice to escape the heat! Even if you take our supposedly air-conditioned buses, you can feel that the air-conditioner is blowing warm water. Sitting inside the bus in the afternoon is exactly like sitting inside my room, it’s blazingly hot and unbearable. And it’s going to get worse as the months of July and August will be even warmer.
Well, we are at it again. This time it is extensions for Firefox 3! You should take a look at this post from Mashable – 30+ Must-Have Extensions For Firefox.
I didn’t know that there are so many add-ons for Firefox. And I am pretty sure that as the latest version of the browser has just been released, more extensions will start to work for Firefox 3! If you don’t know what are add-ons, they are actually some little software which adds functionality to the open source browser. For example, you can add mouse gestures to your browser just like Opera. Of course, by default the Firefox browser doesn’t allow you to do that. I currently only have the Stumbleupon toolbar installed which I often use to stumble websites. You know, sort of like what we do on TV when we channel surf, you can channel surf websites with this toolbar and tell others which you like and which you don’t like.
Anyways, you should go to that site and take a look at the various number of extensions available for Firefox. You will be surprised to see what you can find there which will make your browsing experience a more enjoyable one. I found that Colourful Tabs for Firefox is very cool. It sorts of gives you different colours for each tabs so it won’t get too dull when you are using tabs. Firegestures which I have mentioned easier can also make it more convenient when you browse. Just like what you find in Opera, you can “map” various commands to your mouse gestures (you know, right click + move mouse left and so on). If you are a programmer or a website designer, there are also extensions made especially for you as well.
I kind of like software which allows others to help add more features into it. I think that the developers of the actual software should stick to the basics and concentrate on the core produce, while others with different skillset and experience can then work on the other features. This way, we get the best of both worlds with less compromise on quality and worry less about bloated software and bugs. Well, that’s my opinion and it looks like a lot of developers are starting to realize this. Thus, we see starting to see increasing number of programs which allow add-ons.
Yes? Well look no further. We have found the place for you to search for icons. And it is brilliantly named Iconfinder! I have tried using Google’s image search to look for icons and although I done quite a number of images (not icons), I guess there are many ways the search can be improved. Especially if you are specifically looking for icons.However, you can easily convert images to icons as there are software which can do that for you. Iconfinder on the other hand is used only for searching for icons. Sure, the number of listings they have is limited but I still got what I wanted. One of the flaws is that searches sometime gives you the wrong result and most often that not, you will get nothing from your searches. I am also not sure how Iconfinder arranges or displays the results. I am guessing that it is not arranged in any order. In my opinion, this will be a problem as the Iconfinder cache gets bigger with more icons.
All the icons are in PNG format. This should be good news for most of us as this format provides a better quality image. Plus it allows transparency. You can submit icons to the site by sending them an email. I doubt Iconfinder sends out bots to look for icons, unlike other Search Engines. If they only cache images from submissions, then the number of images they have is very limited. It would be better for them to have graphic bots out to look for images and add them automatically to their cache. They shouldn’t wait till people submit icons to their site. With the vastness of the Internet and to be a comprehensive site for icons, that’s the way forward.
Well, after years of trying to figure out what’s the problem with web directories, I finally figured out the problem and the solution. Yes, I have finally solved the old age problem of web directories. However you think carefully, every web directory owner knows what the problem is and what the solution is. The thing is that most of the web directory owners don’t do anything about it. Let’s not be shy about it. You are right, it’s the content!
As a web directory owner myself, what I first started into web directories, I had this feeling that I don’t need to do much work at all. After all, it is supposed to be just a site for users to submit their websites and all I have to do is approve or reject the listings. Nothing to it. Just a few clicks and you are done. Not to mention, you are getting money for users to add content to your site. First of all, it was true when the web directory market was first setup. It was because it was rare and the web directories were of very high quality. Another importance of web directories is that it helps Search Engines to categorized websites. Let’s say for example, a site was is listed under automobiles in the web directory will most likely related to automobiles, as it is human edited. Definitely better than those algothrims used by Search Engines. I am not saying that Search Engines were completely relying on these web directories but let’s say they had some value.
Nowadays, all you have to do is to take a look at the huge number of web directories out there. Especially general web directories. I estimated there are probably more than 5000 or more general web directories on the Internet. Each of them offering the same categories and sadly the same content. That’s a major problem for web directories. What’s there to differentiate them from the rest? None whatsoever. Web directories owners look at this problem and they figure why not make my site more beautiful and stylish than the rest? Some thought they can differentiate their directories by adding some features like RSS feeds, news and what not. Sure those things do help. But let’s think for a moment, what’s the purpose of a web directory? Do the majority of your visitors come to your web directory for looks or for news? No, they visit your site for another reason, to get information on websites to complement Search Engines’ limitations. In fact, that’s the only reason why web directories exist in the first place. And the only way for you to differentiate yourself from the other web directories is more unique content!
Don’t wait for people to submit to your directories. Do it yourself. Add quality sites to your directory. Add more sites to your directory. Best of all, go niche. The Internet is too big for any one web directory to really categorize even a small percent of the websites. So, it’s better for the web directory owner to aim for a market where they are comfortable or have experience in instead of a general directory. It definitely makes it easier and most importantly, you enjoy your work. And you attract like-minded visitors. Don’t worry about making money first. It won’t happen so quickly anyways. Be patient. As your directory gets more traffic, you will find that others are even more eager to sign up to be listed on your site and you can even charge higher for listings.
Wow, barely over a week since it was officially launched and we are already seeing online guides on how to improve the usage of firefox 3 already. Must be a very popular software for it to garter so much support from netizens. I guess because not everyone likes using Microsoft’s IE7 (the most widely used browser) and due to the fact that it is actually challenging the big corporation, netizens will of course be very supportive of the browser. I have only started really using this browser a few days ago, although I did download it during launch day. Anyways, I am always eager to try out new software and see what new features they have.
In my opinion, I feel that the developers have done a good job on the browser. It feels much refined than before. The best part is that I no longer have the memory leak problem which plagued the previous versions. I often have the Firefox browser running in the background for hours, so this memory leak problem is causing me a lot of headaches. However, with that solved (I hope), I will look forward to using it more. Furthermore rendering speeds has improved quite significantly which makes this browser a joy to use. There are of course a lot of other new features for this browser like the new address bar drop down (or called Smart Location Bar) and better phlishing protection.
Anyways, if you are looking for some tips and tricks to improve your experience with our new Firefox 3, then please take a look here.
Take a look here.
This new type of memory is called Programmable Metallization Cell (PMC) and it makes use of nanotechnology for storage. Just imagine you can store 1TB of information on your thumbdrive. And the best thing is that it will come in just a few years. This is definitely good news for people who needs portable storage on the go but worry about the power and fragility of their storage devices. I am of course assuming that this new type of storage will be just like our current thumbdrives which is rather easy to carry, takes up very little space and uses very little power. Currently our latest thumbdrives can only store up to maybe about 32GB of storage and it is very expensive. In fact, I doubt you can find any of such thumbdrives in the customer market.
But what this new Solid State memory promises is that it will not only store massive information, it will also be cheap and easy to produce. Good news for all of us. No need for bulky harddisk even for our laptops and could be on par with the harddisk when we compare the price as well.
Well, I guess we will all have to wait and see whether it will all work out for us. Let’s keep our fingers cross that it does.
Well, it’s that day of the year again when we see a large number of students going back to school after their one month long break. I am sure that there are also a number of students who are not keen on going back to school. But surprisingly, there are also a number who can’t wait to return. During my time, I dreaded going to school. So the holidays were the best time of the school year. No teachers telling you to do this or do that, no school bullies pushing you around, no homework to do, no waking up early to catch the school bus and no time table to follow. In other words, freedom! Yes, we all love freedom. You can do whatever you want. Of course, in Singapore we most likely will see a very different scenario. I am not sure what went wrong and when did it all go wrong, but it seems to me that nowadays Singaporean parents just love to send their children to tuition centres, art classes, drama classes, acting school, computer courses and so on. Worse of all, their school holidays are just spent in these classes! Crazy. Parents should give their children a little break now and then. Overwhelming them just don’t cut it anymore. And it is ultimately counter-productive when your children becomes overwhelmed with information which they cannot handle and start to lose focus. And it also depends on individually how the child handles this kind of stress. If they break down, that’s going to be difficult for someone to walk away from. I have seen a lot of such cases and in a hyper-competitive Singapore, it is just going to get worse.
Probably, In my opinion, the main problem lies with the parents. The truth is Singaporean parents are just full of themselves and they are a selfish lot. Sending their children to so many tuition centres or art classes won’t really help their children, but what it does is gives the parents free time to do what they want. I am very sure that they know that. It is much easier to “pass” their parenting duties to someone else, so why not someone from a tuition centre where they can then claim that it is actually helping them? I know parenting is a very tiring job. It’s still a choice. But if you want to be a parent, then by god, you should do it yourself even if you can’t completely do it. Don’t pass the bucket just because it is convenient.
Yup, it looks like my next two brews will be the Cooper’s Australian Pale Ale by popular demand! Seems that a lot of my friends just love the taste of this kit. I myself thinks that the taste is quite okay but it is nothing spectacular. Sure, it is easy to drink and extremely refreshing but I guess I am a little bit choosy. I like my beers with more flavour and most importantly, body. It is not to say I don’t like light beers, in actual fact I love light beers. I enjoy a glass of Carlsberg as anyone else (in Singapore) but after drinking craft beers, I know that I am missing out on a lot of other great tasting beers.You could say that I have higher taste for beer? Hahahaha!
Anyways, the next brew recipe will be pretty standard. The Cooper’s Australian Pale Ale Beer Ingredient Kit and the Cooper’s Beer Enhancer 2 (BE2) plus a little Pride of Ringwood hops for flavouring. Either that or some Cascade hops. You can never go wrong with Cascades in Ales. The problem with this is that I need to add some malt extract first before I can add the hops. It has something to do with the hops extraction thingy. The Cooper’s Beer Enhancer 2 is a mix of dextrose, Malto-dextrin and Light Dry Malt Extract. So I am afraid that the sugars will darken too much if I add the BE2 in the beginning of the boil. I don’t want a darker colour for my beer if I could help it. Everyone complains and whines when the beer turns up dark and sometimes it really gets on my nerves. Anyways, I think I will just do a 10 minutes boil with about half the BE2 added at the beginning of the boil and the rest at the end of the boil. Something like the late malt extract addition concept.
And one of the other complains of the Australian Pale Ale I had done was that it was weak and lacks the kick. I thought I got a alcohol content of about 3% but apparently it is still quite low for my friends. I am wondering whether to add 2 packs of BE2 into the brew instead of just one. Or I could possibly add in another 500g of light malt extract? However, adding the malt extract could dilute the flavour from the beer ingredient kit, so I am at odds. I am also thinking of topping up with less water so that the alcoholic content would increase without losing any of the flavours or bitterness. Well, we will see how.
Well, officially that the speeds advertized did not change but the overall speeds for the Starhub network seemed to have greatly improved. I am on Starhub MOL Premium, which had a lot of problems previously. Nowadays when surfing the Internet, it feels much faster than before. No more lagging and frustrating waits for the site to download completely. Don’t you just hate it when only the title appears while the rest of the page doesn’t even load when you are surfing? I really hate it especially when you don’t know when the page will actually load finish and you just sit there like a fool waiting.
However, I guess this speed improvement could be due to the PC Show which happened only recently. It seems to me that Starhub speeds improve only before and after such big computer shows. And in between, we get very sluggish network speeds from Starhub. I believe that the purpose is to attract new customers to their broadband plans. Well, I will have to wait and see whether this is true. I will get back to you guys whether the speeds is crappy in just about 2-3 weeks time. I won’t keep my fingers cross if I were you. Starhub has not always been what I would call “forthcoming” with their actions and they do have a lot of tricks up their sleeves. This should be one of them.
I have been complaining about the slow speeds for a while now and there was not a single positive response from them. Everytime you phone them, they claimed that it’s due to the website’s server or that they don’t have any problems from their end. They even claimed that it is due to people downloading and saturating the entire network. That’s just plain dumb since they have advertised their speeds as such, yet cannot fulfil what they had promised.
