Internet service is currently experiencing a degradation in performance
We wish to inform our customers that the Internet service is currently experiencing a degradation in performance caused by several outages at some of the international links. This is attributed to the Richter 7.1 magnitude earthquake that struck off the southern coast of Taiwan at 12.07 a.m. on 27th December 2006, which caused the APCN2 (Asia Pacific Cable Network 2) submarine cable fault between Shantou, China and Tanshui, Taiwan and between Lantau, Hong Kong and Chongming, China. This has caused outages at several TM Net international transit and peering links, mainly to the said countries. As a result, Internet users in Malaysia and other parts of Asia may be experiencing some delay when assessing content and websites hosted outside of Malaysia, especially in U.S., Japan, China, Taiwan, Korea and Europe. TM Net has taken immediate action to divert traffic through other back-up links to reduce the traffic congestion.
The international providers are carrying out immediate restoration works to rectify the problem. We will be making further announcements when the service has resumed.
TM Net Sdn Bhd apologizes for any inconvenience caused whilst at the same time, we would like to assure you that we are doing all that is necessary in order to restore the service as soon as possible.
Customers can call TM Net Customer Interaction Centre at 1-300-88-9515 (24 hours) or 1-300-88-1515 from 8:00 a.m. till midnight or e-mail us at custcare[at]tm.net[dot]my for further enquiries about this matter.
Popularity: 10% [?]
The Graphic Problem
Digital printing has revolutionized the sign industry. Current printers can reproduce an image at 1440 dpi (dots per inch) at virtually any size. But they are worthless if the original image is of low resolution. We define resolution using pixels. A pixel is commonly thought of as the smallest individual unit of an image (tiny dots if you will). If the pixel content is low, the image will look fuzzy. Anyone that has blown up a picture in a popular program like Adobe Photoshop has experienced the pixilation of an image. The most common way to express the resolution of an image is via two integers: the first is the number of pixel columns or width and the second is the number of pixel rows or height. Another common way to express resolution is by giving the total number of pixels in the image (usually expressed as megapixels). It is determined by simply multiplying the pixel columns by the pixel rows.
Most typical file formats such as bmp, jpeg, png, etc. will give the physical image size. This is done through DPI. For raster images (those images in rectangular pixel format), DPI means the number of pixels printed within one inch horizontally and vertically. For example, if you have an image expressed at 600 by 300 (or 1.8 megapixels) and you want to print at 300 dpi, the image would need to be printed within two inches by 1 inch (you divide 600 x 300 by 300 dpi) – a very small image to get the needed resolution. The bigger you print the same image, obviously, the lower the amount of dots per inch. A 20 by 10 inch print of the same image would be only 30 dpi. Try to imagine how bad the quality would be if you had only 30 dots for every inch.
We commonly have customers uploading 600 x 300 jpeg images of the family dog, say, and ask us to put it on a vinyl banner 4 by 2 feet, for example. We refuse to print a sign with less than 300 dpi, because we know our customers will not be happy with the quality. If we enlarged this image to fit the sign, we would get a sign with 12.5 dpi (only about 12 dots per inch).
We need to help educate so you will know that we are not trying to aggravate or, worse yet, price gauge when we ask for a better quality image. Believe me, we only do this so the customer will be happy with the final product. I always feel bad when I have to disturb a customer. I understand the buyer’s position. They want quick results with minimal effort. But customers have to take a proactive role, because once and a while, a sign company will go ahead and print a borderline or low quality image. We won’t do that – we insist on quality – which sometimes makes the customer think we lack some mysterious technology that our competition has. There have been those frustrating times when a customer will tell me they know of a local sign company that will print their sign with the image as is. And then they hang up miffed.
If we cannot get a higher quality image we need to convert the file to vector format. This format allows us to enlarge the image without loss in resolution. In fact, we have a full time graphic person that can do this rather quickly in some cases. We usually try to do it gratis for our customers, but sometimes we have to charge them. It is awkward because the customer does not always understand. Some even suspect we are attempting to add on frivolous charges. We want them to understand why!
But I also have to caution customers. Some sign companies will charge high prices for art work. Converting a diagram or clip art to vector format can be very cheap – about $10. But poor quality photographs require the artist to reproduce the file as a graphic drawing in detail. It takes time and most companies will understandably try to recoup their costs. But you should not be charged more than about $30 an hour and photographs rarely take more than 2 or 3 hours to convert.
by: Tony Nagy
Popularity: 6% [?]
Malaysia ‘s 50th. Independence Day Anniversary
Come 2007, Malaysia will celebrate 50 years of independence. The month of August will be filled with a myriad of parades, cultural performances, street shows and carnivals to commemorate the country’s Independence or Merdeka Day on 31 August.
It was on 31 August 1957 that history was made as the Union Jack was lowered and the Malaysian flag hoisted, with the first Prime Minister, Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra Al-Haj leading the people in the famous shouts of Merdeka! Merdeka! Merdeka! For more than 30 years, Merdeka Day celebrations have been marked by parades involving uniformed personnel, corporate players, school children, cultural dancers, athletes and Malaysians from all walks of life. However, in recent years, the event has grown into a much anticipated and exciting month-long length celebration nationwide.
This forthcoming Golden Jubilee celebration marks a significant milestone in the history of the nation. Join the enthusiastic crowd at the Merdeka Square in Kuala Lumpur on the eve of Merdeka Day for the countdown to the momentous event. Another highlight of the year will be the Citrawarna or Colours and Flavours of Malaysia parade, an annual event showcasing the rich and diverse cultural heritage of the country. The event will be held on its grandest scale yet.
Malaysia invites all visitors to share in the joy and excitement of this momentous occasion. Come and be mesmerized by a unique multicultural populace celebrating 50 years of nationhood in harmony and peaceful co-existance. You will truly be fascinated.
Popularity: 8% [?]
Graphic Creations With Software
A basic understanding of computers is all a person needs to create their own graphics with today’s design software. Even with just small amount of design understanding, people can still use simple design programs to build their own cartoons strips, holiday cards, flyers and invitations. Your business and yourself can save money on special occasions by using one of the several user friendly affordable programs that are out there. The number one choice for design software by both professionals and amateurs is Adobe Photoshop. By cropping, recoloring and adding special effects, Photoshop allows users to change photos anyway they wish. Entirely new pictures can also be created by using special drawing tools, or existing pictures can be modified anyway the user desires. Photoshop uses a system of “layers.” By using layers, separate pieces of a picture can be changed while keeping the changes separate. For example, you can change the color on the bottom layer without affecting the color on the top layer. If you wish to draw more than creating full pictures, Adobe Illustrator may be the choice for you.
Photoshop is a pixel-based program while Adobe Illustrator is vector based. What does this mean your probably asking yourself? When you make a picture in Photoshop, you must use a certain resolution. A computer screen displays 72 pixels per inch for a clear picture, but when you print a 72 dpi picture, it appears blocky and blurred. If you are making a picture for printing in Photoshop, you need to use 300 pixels per inch to get a nice, sharp image. Because Illustrator is vector-based, it uses a system of paths rather than pixels. In simple terms, it uses lines rather than colors. This means that everything you create in Illustrator can be enlarged up to any size you wish without ever becoming blurry or grainy. Designers often use Illustrator software to build logos for a variety of advertisements. The same picture or logo drawing can be used on a small business card or enlarged to fill an entire billboard.
For those wishing to create simple greeting cards or party invitations, there is a variety of user friendly software programs made specifically for these purposes. Many offer templates for several print sizes and folding options. For the more experienced user, the software program Quark is an excellent print layout tool. Adobe InDesign also offers professional quality layout options along with many of the same tools used in Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator. If you are to use these two programs, you will easily be able to create professional quality materials with InDesign.
There is a wide variety of file types used in graphic software programs. Most have their own native formats that can only be read by the parent programs. Photoshop files have a .PSD extension, and Illustrator files are AI, making them only accessible by Photoshop. When you are working with a work in progress, it is a good idea to save files in these formats, as they offer you the greatest flexibility in altering your creation. However, once you have completed your work and are ready to print your materials, you can save them in a variety of ways. Web pictures should saved as JPEGs, GIF or TIFF files. Pictures ready for printing are best saved as EPS files, to preserve color accuracy. If you plan to send graphics via e-mail, PDF offers the greatest flexibility, as most computers have Acrobat Reader, the program needed to read the PDF file type.
No matter what software fits your needs, making digital graphics can be a enjoyable and simple hobby, or even a professional career. It can take some time to get used to the terminology, but once you learn the tools of digital art, you will be on your way to building functional and decorative graphic masterpieces to share with the electronic world.
by: Sintilia Miecevole
Popularity: 11% [?]
Avoid Graphical Overload
When designing a website, it’s easy to start loading it up with graphics. While tempting, you have to resist — otherwise, you’ll end up with graphical overload.
Why is that a bad thing? Here’s why.
It Takes Too Long to Download
The first reason to cut down on graphics is that the more there are, and the larger they are, the longer it will take each of your pages to download. People are impatient when waiting for pages to download — you only have around 5 seconds before your visitor hits the Back button.
What can you do about this? Apart from using fewer pictures, you can also make sure that you resize your images in a graphics editor. This actually makes their file sizes smaller. If you just resize images by specifying a width and height in HTML or CSS, they will still be slow to download because the full file size is being used.
You should consider turning on compression in your image editor. JPEG files can often be compressed by up to 25% before there’s a noticeable difference in quality. Try different formats and compression levels to see what works.
It Gets Too Busy
If you use a site with more than 4 images on the page at once, your eyes are being pulled all over the page. They’re not sure where to focus because the page simply has too much going on.
Look at the front pages of newspapers, and notice how they lead on 1 picture. Putting 2 pictures on a front page is considered to be poor: the reader doesn’t know where to look.
That goes double for websites, where the viewable area is much smaller than a newspaper page. Even if you have more than 1 thing to say, it’s better to ‘go large’ with 1 picture and then explain the other things in text, next to or below it.
It Distracts from the Content
Users visit your site to get information, not to look at your graphics. Too many graphics will distract from your content, or, worse, force readers to search for it. Any time your graphics get in the way of people readily using your site, you’re suffering from graphical overload. And that is a bad thing.
What’s the solution? Simply decide which of all those graphics are really necessary. Remember, don’t add graphics just to look nice, each graphic must have a specific purpose.
An Exception: Photo Galleries
If the purpose of your site is photo presentation, then clearly multiple images are appropriate. However, don’t just stick up several large photographs — provide thumbnails: smaller versions of each image. If interested, the visitor can click on 1 to make it larger.
This fits more pictures on each page, and avoids wasting user download time and your bandwidth.
Keep in mind that in all web design, the images are there strictly to support the content. Even when the content is graphical.
by: Ron King
Popularity: 5% [?]
Graphic Designs Standards
Do you find it hard to create your own graphic design? Before you can come up with a good graphic design you must first understand the basic principles in creating the design, as well as the factors it must contain.
Design is defined as a plan or pattern formed for the purpose of making or doing something. It explains how things are done or how to come up with something. A design must have a purpose, or else it will be useless. It must contain enough information. You can use visual languages, such as chart, table or graph, for it to become more understandable. It should also explain the details. Start from the general idea, then, give the specific details. Make sure that each detail is related to the main idea.
There are many types of design, such as a graphic design. A graphic design results from the features of lines, colors, shape, materials or texture.
What makes a graphic design attractive and lively is the color. Here, you can apply the color theory. Every color has its own characteristics, such as visible spectrum, dimension, inherent and emotive qualities. The primary colors are the red, blue and green. If you mix these colors, new hues are created. You can either have lighter or darker colors or contrasting colors. Take the white color for example—it is the opposite of black. Any color can appear lighter or darker depending on the field it is on. For example, when you put pink beside green, pink is the lighter color. But when you put pink beside white, pink will look darker.
Your graphic design should contain design elements, including line, shape, texture and size. A line is a curved or straight mark that connects two points. Shape is a form that has height and width. The three basic primitive shapes are rectangle, circle and triangle. Texture is measured by the look and feel. It is basically the roughness or smoothness of the surface. Space refers to the area or distance between or around things. The size refers to how large or small the thing is.
The principle of composition and layout includes the emphasis of the elements, the balance or the equal distribution of weight, the pattern or rhythm, and the unity or the relationship between each element.
Decide on what perspective to use. There are four basic perspectives; the one point perspective, the two-point perspective, the three point perspective, and the 3d illusion.
For the text, consider the type of font and the style you have to use. There must be consistency in the height and width of the letters.
Be more creative, make use of the theories. Follow the rules in designing. You will know that a design is effective if you have successfully communicated your idea to your target audience.
by: Blur Loterina
Popularity: 4% [?]
So You Want to be a Freelancer? Here’s How!
Not that long ago, freelancing was something people did mainly in larger metropolitan areas where work for writers, artists, and other creative types was plentiful and easily accessible. Today, however, the freelance landscape has dramatically changed.
For one, you can live practically anywhere in the world and still be able to maintain a successful freelance career. Not to mention that the creative fields aren’t the only areas where freelancing is popular any more. Today, accountants, trainers, computer technicians, etc. are all able to earn a living as freelancers. Regardless of the freelancing field you are interested in, there are some important things you should know that will help you get started and get successful.
Before we discuss those, however, we need to talk briefly about the pros and the cons of being a freelancer. You need to know both sides before you make your decision so you truly understand what you’re getting into.
Freelancer Pros
1. You set your own schedule
As a freelancer, you get to determine what time you get out of bed and what time you turn in at night. You get to decide how much vacation time you can afford to take this year and you can elect to skip work one afternoon to spend time with your children.
2. You don’t work for a boss
Even though you are answerable to your clients, they don’t wield the same power over your life that a boss does. Yes, they can fire you, but you can also quit working for them if things get too difficult.
3. You determine how much you earn
While a conventional job pays a set amount of money regardless of how hard you work (and in some cases how long you work), freelancing allows you to make practically any amount of money that you wish because you determine how much your services cost and how many jobs you take on at one time.
4. You are able to work from your own office
Whether you prefer working in a home office or renting space somewhere to do your business, you are in charge of designing and maintaining your own comfortable office. You get to pick the people you work with. You get to pick the type of computer, post-it notes, and bottled water that you use on a daily basis also.
Freelancers Cons
1. You can become overworked quickly
When you start working steadily as a freelancer, it becomes nearly impossible for you to truly take a vacation. You have projects and clients that need your constant attention, so being gone or getting sick even for a day can put you behind schedule.
2. You have to deal with clients who can be more difficult than bosses
Most of the clients freelancers work with are genuinely good people, but there are others out there that are not. Every freelancer has probably been ripped off by a client at one time or another, even if they take steps to protect themselves.
3. You don’t have a steady income
Unless you have one or two truly constant streams of work, you can expect your income to fluctuate dramatically. Some months you may feel like you struck the lottery while others may make you think you’re heading for the food stamp line, especially when you are starting out.
4. You don’t have a way to separate work from home life
If you have a home office, you may find it difficult to recognize the difference between being at home and being at work which means that while your watching television or eating dinner you may begin to feel like you’re actually still on the job.
As you can see, each positive has a negative aspect as well. However, many of these negatives can be easily handled once you have experience as a freelancer, but to get to that point, you need to know how to get started.
Find Something You Enjoy Doing
This is critical to your success. If you don’t already have something in mind to do as a freelancer, you need to be sure that you pick an activity that you truly love. Remember, you will be doing this type of work every day. Also, the more you enjoy your work, the more passionate you are about it. Potential clients will spot that passion and will be more inclined to work with you.
Save Some Money
Most freelancers actually start out as conventional 9-5 workers. In fact, many of them maintain their full-time jobs in addition to their freelance work for the sake of a stable income, health insurance, or other benefits. If you choose to go freelance full-time, however, you need to be sure to have a comfortable nest egg in the bank. Most experts agree that you should have enough money in your savings to cover six months worth of your basic necessities. If that sounds impossible, then try juggling some freelance work with your regular job for awhile. Save up all of the money you earn from your freelance work and use that as your nest egg.
Start Finding Clients Today
One mistake that freelancers often make is that think they can only start networking and marketing their services after they’ve gotten started. The truth is that if you’re considering becoming a freelancer, now is the time to start networking and marketing. Let people know that you are thinking about going solo and get their reactions. Start building a database of possible job leads. In fact, you may want to line up some work beforehand so you can be sure of having an income initially.
Be Prepared
Most potential clients will want to see references and/or samples of your work before they give you a project. You need to have these prepared in advance. Don’t wait until someone calls to possibly offer you a project to get your portfolio in order or to line up some qualified references. Have those ready to dispatch as soon as you get off the phone or finish the email.
Find an Accountant
The most difficult part of freelancing can be the handling the financial aspects: tracking invoices, staying on top of bills, figuring your yearly taxes, etc. Unless you are already skilled in accounting, you need to find someone to help you out with this from the beginning. It makes it much simpler for you and for the accountant.
Start a Web Site
Use the Internet to your advantage. Create a professional-looking but simple web site advertising your experience and your services, then place it on the Internet. It’s one of the best ways of attracting new clients.
These suggestions will help you start your freelancing career on the right foot, but the most important key to your success will be your perseverance. If you give up easily or don’t follow through with things, you may never truly make it as a freelancer. You must be able to take rejection. You must be self-motivated, and you must be persistent. Only then will you be able to experience firsthand all of the benefits of being a modern freelancer.
Useful sites:
* http://www.elance.com/
* http://www.guru.com/
* http://www.allfreelance.com/
by: Vishal P. Rao
Popularity: 4% [?]
MDC to make Creative Commons common
Malaysia is the first South-East Asian country to embrace the Creative Commons intiative, announced Multimedia Development Corporation Sdn Bhd last week. Datuk Dr Arif Nun, chief executive officer of MDC, said more than 100 local music artistes and creators of digital content have so far licensed their works under the initiative.
MDC, the host of the initiative in this country, is encouraging the 130 MSC-status (Multimedia Super Corridor) companies – as well as all other Malaysian intellectual property owners – to license their products under Creative Commons. The company had on March 29 signed a collaboration agreement with Creative Commons, a San Francisco-based non-profit organisation, to adapt its licences to suit the Malaysian context.
Creative Commons enables copyright holders to grant some of their rights to the public while retaining others through a variety of licensing and contract schemes. Its intention is to avoid the problems that current copyright laws create for the sharing of intellectual property.
This form of intellectual property licensing is suitable for digital works, which can be easily duplicated and modified, especially with today’s remix culture – where someone might rip a CD track and modify it digitally on a computer.
The project will only be officially launched next March, but the MDC has already started a competition to drum up more interest; there are cash prizes of RM10,000, RM5,000 and RM3,000 to be won. Details can be found at www.creativecommons.org.
Creative Commons is more flexible than the traditional “all rights reserved” type of licensing, Arif said. With Creative Commons, intellectual property owners can declare “some rights reserved” or even “no rights reserved.”
“This promotes easier sharing or building upon the creative work of another,” he said, adding that Creative Commons promotes the “cross-fertilisation of ideas, with people you may never meet.”
According to him, you could compare Creative Commons to the software industry’s open-source movement. “Whereas Creative Commons is for (digital) content,” he said.
The MDC announced that audio and audio-visual recordings, music, digital images, video, text and interactive content could be licensed under Creative Commons.
But not software. This is already provided for by the Free Software Foundation and the Open Source Initiative, it said.
In the Creative Commons licence, intellectual property owners are free to stipulate exactly how someone else can use or modify their works. Or how someone can distribute or profit from the works or their adaptations. Or even if someone is allowed to profit from their intellectual property at all.
There is no charge for licensing a piece of work under Creative Commons, said the MDC.
The Creative Commons initiative was started by US cyberlaw and experts in intellectual property laws in 2001.
More than 30 countries have adopted Creative Commons, including Britain, Canada, Australia, Japan, China, France, Germany, Spain, and Taiwan.
For more details, go to www.creativecommons.org.my.
Source : Steven Patrick, The Star In-Tech
Popularity: 3% [?]
Building Web Communities With Free Forums
Looking for somewhere online to meet new people, discuss hobbies, plan events, or just have fun chatting? Internet forums have been around for some time on the web and often are free and easy to setup. Forums are basically online discussion web sites where people share information and chat grouped around a set of topics. One example might be a local photography club. You could setup topics around types of cameras, locations for shooting, local events and meetings, printing tips, etc. Often there are administrators and moderators that help to keep the discussion orderly and on topic. Some items to consider when starting an online forum include…
Cost – Often you can find them for free. There will probably be some advertising on the site, but don’t most sites now a days?
Features – Does the forum support avatars, private messages, user levels, themes, etc.
Security – Is it possible to create forums that only register users can post in? Helps to avoid those spammers.
I cannot stress the last one enough. You should be completely able to control who is in your forums. One bad apple spoils the bunch. On that same note, it is common for a forums to have moderators. These are people that help enforce the rules in the forum. Make sure your choose your help wisely. When it comes to administrators, there should only ever be one. Administrators have the keys to the city and can set your forum ablaze.
Finally to make a forum a success you need to attract people to it to join. Tell your friends, family, club members. If you are starting from scratch, do the same. Tell people, show people, invite people. Check to see if your forum site is listed in search engines like google. Once you get past that initial setup and recruitment your will soon be on your way to having a forum that you and your friends can enjoy.
by: George Hubka
Popularity: 4% [?]
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