This is really nice: Microsoft’s Über-cool Mobile Touch-Surface , it reminded me of the movie Gamer and the interface used there by the kid operating Kable. Earlier on I read Microsoft sold more than 90 million! copies of Windows 7. Pretty impressive, well deserved too as it’s a fantastic product.

Looks to me like Apple is under seige in the innovation space from not just small less powerful competitors but these days also from the big boys like Microsfot (Win7, new technologies like in this video) and Google (Nexus/Android). If Apple hopes to stay in the game it’s going to have to come up with something better than an oversized ipod.

Haha this is hilarious! But a bit NSFW (language mostly) so if you’re at your desk now trying to look busy and important (or maybe that was just me ;-) ) then you might want to wait till you reach home, or better yet just head out and watch it on the iPhone :-)

Good news for ebook readers, Kindle International Edition is now available to overseas customers outside the US (for $20 extra on top of the US price). Well at least to some of us. A brief check of countries in Asia shows you can get it if you live in: Hong Kong, Philippines, Vietnam, Bhutan and Mongolia but not in Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, South Korea or China. Probably has to do with the books delivery method over the phone network and working with local providers to support/allow that. Still, it’s a move in the right direction.

So I finally pulled the trigger on getting the new trading PC. My Macbook Pro which I’ve been using as my main trading machine has served me well and is still my backup and testing platform but it was having a hard time supporting all my applications plus 3 screens (internal + two 20″ Samsungs). I wanted to get a good computer which will serve me for a long time so I invested in an i7 system but without going all crazy on all fronts. I had to compromise a bit on some items as some aren’t common here like the Gigabyte UD5 motherboard I initially wanted (they did have the Extreme) but turned out most shops here carry the Asus P6T Deluxe V2. Anyway here’s what I got:

1. Intel Core i7 920 Nehalem 2.66GHz
2. ASUS P6T Deluxe V2
3. G.SKILL 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600
4. ASUS ENGTX285 GeForce GTX 285 1GB DDR3 (Very long card, runs at 56 degrees in standard Windows usage, my screens are super sharp now that I don’t go via the Matrox box).
5. Western Digital VelociRaptor 150GB 10000 RPM (I was considering the 300GB but it was out of stock everywhere).
6. Thermaltake Toughpower 850W (SLI approved, in case I want to become a professional gamer instead of trader :-) )
7. COOLER MASTER V8 CPU Cooler (At first I didn’t think about buying this but was offered at the shop, which made sense at the price)
8. LG 22X DVD±R DVD Burner
9. COOLER MASTER HAF 932 (This one is a real beast, full tower, with massive fans, yet quiet, and tons of space. Built from steel it feels like the kind of computer you’d put in a tank).

If you want to see the full specs etc. You can check out the components on my newegg list here.

The cost there adds up to $1,713 while I paid $1800 including assembly.

I bought it at Jedicool in Pantip Plaza in Bangkok. They were very professional and easy to deal with and also had a good variety in components. My only complaint would be that the memory they offered in the 1600MHz spec wasn’t compatible with the motherboard and they tried to tweak the BIOS setup for a couple of hours until I asked they change the RAM to another brand.

So I’m writing this post using the new system running Windows 7 Beta x64. Whenever I think about exceptionally good hardware, one of my ex-colleagues, an IT infrastructure guy from Texas, comes to my mind with his exclamation going:” this is one bad-ass machine!”.

I’m almost done installing everything I need and will be spending tomorrow testing pre-market that everything works well. The 64 bit Windows is a bit of a challenge in some cases in terms of drivers but I think I got it all under control with a mix of running in compatibility mode together with finding 64-bit version of drivers. Overall it’s a real pleasure to use this new machine. Should have bought it sooner :-)

So I haven’t updated this blog in ages. But I’m still around, I’ve been using Twitter a lot more lately. At first I couldn’t quite get this twitter thing, despite having discovered it and it’s (now almost dead) competitor Jaiku 2 years ago. It wasn’t clear to me why bother updating it? Why follow other people’s updates? But slowly I started seeing more value in it, maybe as more people started using it, people I am interested to know what they’re doing/thinkin. There are also a plethora of tools now built around twitter, from applicationg like TweetDeck to cool search and discovery tools like TwitterGrid and an integrated Google+Twitter search script. It’s like being able to listen in on various communities chatter. For example, people living in your area, or people in the same job as you or just keeping in touch with interesting people like Tonny Robbins or John Cleese. I’m nowhere near as interesting but in case you want to follow me, I’m here :-)

Amazon’s new Kindle 2 has been announced a couple of days ago. The few details Amazon lists in the main page look pretty standard with the exception of the Read-To-Me feature which is new I think in the eReader scene. It doesn’t say also whether it’s still using the same 2nd gen eInk Vizplex screen which I suspect it does.

Everyone that I know or heard of that bought an eReader (whether the Kindle or Sony one) absolutely loves their device. Nice to see that Amazon releasing this new version and adding to their books selection. Even though I’m a Sony user, it just helps promote competitivenes in the field and the push for better products from all the players.

Amazon.com: Kindle 2: Amazon’s New Wireless Reading Device (Latest Generation): Kindle Store

Slim: Just over 1/3 of an inch, as thin as most magazines

Lightweight: At 10.2 ounces, lighter than a typical paperback

Wireless: 3G wireless lets you download books right from your Kindle, anytime, anywhere; no monthly fees, service plans, or hunting for Wi-Fi hotspots

Books in Under 60 Seconds: Get books delivered in less than 60 seconds; no PC required

Improved Display: Reads like real paper; now boasts 16 shades of gray for clear text and even crisper images

Longer Battery Life: 25% longer battery life; read for days without recharging

More Storage: Take your library with you; holds over 1,500 books

Faster Page Turns: 20% faster page turns

Read-to-Me: With the new Text-to-Speech feature, Kindle can read every book, blog, magazine, and newspaper out loud to you

So I’ve been wanting to upgrade from my MBP to a new PC machine, this time a desktop. My almost 2 year old MBP is still running fine but often feels as if it’s being pushed to the max with all the peripherals and dual monitors I’ve got attached to it.

The guiding philosophy is that I would like to run the new machine for as long as possible and just take care of minor upgrades every now and then as needed. So I’m looking at Intel’s new chip architecture the i7. It received pretty good reviews and benchmarks well against all the other chips out there.

The only thing is, it’s very very new, launched in November last year, which means everything out in the market for the LGA 1366 socket is in sort of a beta status. This is especially true for the motherboards. Here are a couple of examples from two of the main mobo manufaturers, ASUS:

Rx for Asus’ unbearable silence re P6T Deluxe V2 …

The Asus P6T Deluxe V1 is an unusual beast. It’s won RAVE, top dog review awards for being top in x58/i7 class, yet had a minority but very healthy robust percentage of SAVAGE reviews. Then, mysteriously, “V2″ is announced… but little else. Hmmm, V1 a beta board? V2 beta no more? New and improved and even more kick-ass?

and Gigabyte:

Customer Reviews Of GIGABYTE GA-EX58-UD5 LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail

It Broke

Pros: New Technology, works great, when it works.

Cons: Bad layout, SATA ports in terrible spots. After 1 week of running fine, the board goes into a perpetual booting. The cmos reset did not work. Tried reseating everything on the board, still nothing.

My current setup works well enough that I’m not desparate to upgrade so I’d rather wait and stay on the sidelines for a couple more months till I see some of these products mature a bit.