TM Net Internet Streamyx Downgrade

On the 29th September 2010, after much thought and consideration, my family made a decision to downgrade the current package of Streamyx internet. This is to reduce our monthly payment for TM services that we are paying. At the moment we are paying RM149.40 for a rarely used telephone line with 1MBps Streamyx Internet line. The internet line is the busiest because my family has 4 computers connecting using WiFi. My mother is now an avid user of Facebook since she uses the internet to learn new stuff and interact with her old friends whom is also catching up using Facebook as well.

I discovered from my brother and also other people using Streamyx 384Kbps that the speed was sufficient for normal browsing and casual download. So the decision is final, we wanted to downgrade the existing 1MBps Streamyx to 384Kbps. After making calls to 100, the best way to downgrade is to go to the nearest TM Point which is for me located at Kepong. Since the line was still under my father's name and my father passed away last December, I first had to transfer the account to my name first by filling up a form before I can apply for the downgrade (RM10 was charged for the account transfer).



TM Point Kepong design is quite nice and comfortable, as usual the queue required me to wait for almost half an hour before my number turned up.



Here's another view of TM Point Kepong.



The only thing that surprised me was that my internet line would be disconnected for 2 weeks in order for the downgrade to proceed. I then asked when will the line would be cut, the guy at the counter said immediately. So, I was out of internet for 2 weeks. I had to use alternative broadband internet I have which is the DiGi Internet Prepaid that I've bought a while ago but the reception in my house was really slow. I then tried using Daily Unlimited Celcom Xpax Prepaid Internet during last weekend, the speed was acceptable but the budget was a bit steep for me.

I made a call to 100 last week which the operator told me the downgrade request hasn't been processed yet. So yesterday I made another call where I got the same answer with an additional information that I can request for a rebate for the entire stretch of my downtime (that was nice to hear). Last night, when I got back from home, my internet Streamyx was restored. A total downtime of 15 days.

So there you go, that was my experience downgrading TM Net Internet Streamyx.

Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri 2010

Hopefully it's not too late to wish all my readers (if any of them left), a happy Eid Mubarak or Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri. My festive holiday was rather short because my wife and I are saving up our paid leave for a travel project we are planning next year. Hopefully our dreams would come true by then.

My Blog On Mobile

Once in a while, I browse the internet on my HTC Touch PDA. I have no interest yet in owning an iPhone because of the price so I make use of everything that I now own. Recently I've tried out Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 Mini. It's an awesome piece of smartphone with amazing touch features.

There is a drawback when using mobile phone for browsing the net. Apart from having to pay for the data charges (that is assuming if you are not not subscribing to any data plan provided by your mobile carriers), the screen is just to small to look at all those amazing design and features a normal web browser can provide. Nevertheless, when using these tiny little small screens, we only want to read text or maybe some resized pictures or images.

Because of this, it would be best to provide your blog with tools to help people who loves your blog but only have time to read them on their mobiles. There's a solution for this, Onbile.



Whenever a mobile user logs, the javascript provided will detect whether you are browsing using a mobile phone or a normal browser. This would really help your mobile readers and encourage them to visit your blog more often.

The only issue I have is:

• Only 2 pages of your title list will be available (I am guessing this would depend on your feed setting)


• You can't revert back to your original layout once it's loaded on your smartphone

I am still going to try this tool for a while and see if suits my need or else I am going to remove it and search for another tool or Wordpress plugin.

An Intro to Oracle Enterprise Single Sign On (ESSO)

I've been writing a lot about Oracle lately. I'm not really an advocate for Oracle but I am a fan of Oracle's technology and I am supporting applications that is using Oracle's database. Oracle is very well known for it's database market share and also known as the most expensive product in the enterprise database market according to clients that I've dealt with. Expensive is of course a rather subjective matter depending on the perspective you are looking at. For me, as long as it can do the job well enough, that is all that is matter. Of course if you want the best, you'll definitely go for the best available choices. Let say if you want to drive a Mercedes, you'll never go for Proton even though both car can take you from point A to point B safely. It's a matter of preference or distinguish appeal.

Enough of the comparison crap. Last week, I represented my company to attend a brief presentation by Oracle Malaysia about Oracle's Enterprise Single Sign On (ESSO). I was a bit surprised to find that Oracle Malaysia has moved from Citibank building near KLCC to The Garden Midvalley City since my last visit there.



There were a handful of people already arrived when I got there. Had a cup of coffee before the presentation started. The presenter for Oracle Single Sign-On was Peter Rajnak, Solutions Specialist Director, Identity Management Fusion Middleware APAC from Oracle Corporation. What a long title for a job title.



Which Single Sign On (SSO) is right for me? I've heard about single sign on before, simply saying you only need to remember 1 username and password. The presenter did a very good job at explaining how the mechanism work, he somehow manage to balance between the technical aspect and the business aspect.



The next presenter was Swapnil Mehta, Director of Global Access Management Practice of SENA Systems of AurionPro. A winner of the Oracle Titan Award, the firm has taken a lot of identity management jobs for enterprise level of Fortune 500 companies.

Let's look at some brief "About Enterprise Single Sign On":

1. Too many users IDs and Passwords


2. Security Risk


3. Enterprise Single Sign On Must Be Easy to Use

In order to solve the issue above, Oracle has come out with Oracle Enterprise Single Sign-On Suite Plus. As usual, enterprise level product would require an enterprise level of implementation and that would involve some initial investment.

If your organization would like to lighten the IT department hassle in managing IDs and password, this would be a solution to look forward to.

Iron Man 2 featuring Oracle

I watched Iron Man 2 at Cathay Cineplex Damansara yesterday. I have looked forward to the movie ever since I watched the Iron Man 2 promotional trailer on Oracle's website. The creator of Iron Man, a company called Marvel is one of Oracle's client. I didn't see the first Iron Man at the movies, I only watched it on DVD. This time, I had to go and watched Iron Man 2 at the cinema. I even had my desktop with Iron Man 2 and Oracle wallpaper:



The Iron Man 2 storyline for me is quite fast pace. The movie reminded me of Transformer 2 where there were too much action going on at the scene. My wife who watched the movie with me didn't understand the story in the beginning and asked me a lot many questions. I then told her bits and pieces and told her to just enjoy the movie rather than trying to figure out the story. Since one the sponsors of Iron Man 2 is Oracle, I noticed a number of glimpse of Oracle logo. There was also Larry Ellison the CEO of Oracle himself shaking hands with Tony Stark.

Back home, I did some Googling and found out that Oracle and Marvel created a webisode titled "Two Worlds" highlighting the Oracle technology being used at Marvel. It's quite entertaining and contain a lot of information regarding how Oracle is being used in the business world.



Check out the 3D illustration which includes Tony Stark (the animated version) as Iron Man.



Truth to be told, there aren't any ideal environment where everything you need is just at the tip of your finger. There are other efforts and factors to be counted as well. However, having a positive thought is good enough to keep things moving forward.

Back to Iron Man 2 movie. I love the action pack battle between Iron Man and the drones. I love the technology being used by Tony Stark. Overall, its a great movie to watch.