Monday, April 17, 2006
StarHub Smart TV - Review : Home Entertainment : Video recorders - CNET Asia
StarHub Smart TV - Review : Home Entertainment : Video recorders - CNET Asia: "StarHub recently announced its plan to roll out a new Smart TV service centered on a TiVo-styled settop box. The latest offering differs from the company's current cable boxes in two key areas: A built-in hard drive and advanced A/V connectivity.
These additions will enable the telco to entice its cable subscribers with a suite of highly-sought after features. Among them, 60 hours of high-quality digital recording and a Live TV function. The latter enables users to rewind, fast-forward, slow-motion and pause live TV programs.
We got up close and personal with this promising service and its multitalented settop box to bring you a report on the ups and downs lest you need to convince yourself on the benefits of Smart TV.
Upside: It didn't took us long to master the simplified user interface employed by the Smart TV functions. Navigation was easily performed via four color-coded buttons and a set of directional keys. Icons of these controls with relevant descriptions were also available onscreen, eliminating guesswork and further enhancing the intuitativeness of the menu.
The marriage of an electronic program guide and a DVR was a godsend for couch potatoes. Recording TV programs was a fuss-free procedure of browsing the program guide and hitting a series of key strokes as opposed to the time-consuming newspaper scuffle. The picture quality of the recordings was top-notch, thanks to the combination of a digitized TV feed and digital recording technology.
Videophiles and enthusiasts will also be delighted to find a set of component-video and optical audio sockets at the flank of the set. These output 576i PAL-encoded video and uncompressed digital stereo sound for enhanced audio-visual playback pe"
These additions will enable the telco to entice its cable subscribers with a suite of highly-sought after features. Among them, 60 hours of high-quality digital recording and a Live TV function. The latter enables users to rewind, fast-forward, slow-motion and pause live TV programs.
We got up close and personal with this promising service and its multitalented settop box to bring you a report on the ups and downs lest you need to convince yourself on the benefits of Smart TV.
Upside: It didn't took us long to master the simplified user interface employed by the Smart TV functions. Navigation was easily performed via four color-coded buttons and a set of directional keys. Icons of these controls with relevant descriptions were also available onscreen, eliminating guesswork and further enhancing the intuitativeness of the menu.
The marriage of an electronic program guide and a DVR was a godsend for couch potatoes. Recording TV programs was a fuss-free procedure of browsing the program guide and hitting a series of key strokes as opposed to the time-consuming newspaper scuffle. The picture quality of the recordings was top-notch, thanks to the combination of a digitized TV feed and digital recording technology.
Videophiles and enthusiasts will also be delighted to find a set of component-video and optical audio sockets at the flank of the set. These output 576i PAL-encoded video and uncompressed digital stereo sound for enhanced audio-visual playback pe"
Sunday, April 09, 2006
Discover Your Soul
Times Of India ePaper: "Imagine yourself marooned on a vast deserted island. You have been there for years, struggling just to survive, gathering food, using only your hands and makeshift tools to scratch out an existence. Most of your days are fully taken up with satisfying the basic needs of life.
Having proved to yourself that you can survive with just the bare essentials you resign yourself to the fact that you will never be rescued. Anger turns to quiet desperation, then to acceptance as you carry on with your life.
Several years have passed and you have become accustomed to your lifestyle and feel comfortable enough to start exploring your island. You have settled in and your attention lately has been directed towards the mountains and what is beyond.
As you begin to move further inland and away from your comfort zone, you develop a sense of strength for having survived the years on your own. Along the way you are making many discoveries that will enhance your life. You are gathering an abundance of knowledge about the environment that you live in. By this time you have convinced yourself that there is nothing you cannot do, and that there is nothing you really have to do to survive. Everything has been provided for you. You simply reach out and take it as you need it.
After 40 years of wandering the island, you finally reach the top of the mountain and turn away from the direction in which you came. In the distance and time that separates you, you discover a huge modern city with all the amenities that such a place could hold. You discover that your island was not an island and that the city has always been there. As your mind races over the circumstances of the last 40 years, you fall to your knees weeping.
The discovery of your soul is very much the same overwhelming experience. It’s not a religious experience unless you want it to be. It’s natural and simply a discovery of another part of you, that was there all along, that you didn’t know. Think of the possibilities. Where there was one, now there are many. And there is always that one question, “Why?” How could I have not known? How would my life have been different?
The human species is a three part being — mind, body and spirit. The mind is what drives us, the spirit is our personality or ego, and the body is the vehicle that is used to experience the physical world. To experience physicality, one needs to be physical, it’s natural then to be focused on the body and its needs.
Most all of our waking hours are centred on what the body wants to experience. There is nothing wrong with this arrangement, and it works flawlessly and on auto-pilot throughout our lifetimes with or without our awareness of what makes it tick. So why am I bringing this up? If the system works perfectly, then leave it alone. Don’t try to fix that which doesn’t need fixing. Is ignorance not bliss? These notions of being alone and powerless, limit our experience of the physical world and our own personal growth.
With a certain amount of awareness, our lives can be enhanced a thousand fold and more, with the discovery of our souls. Denial of the soul has far reaching ramifications. Awareness of it, augments the quality of our lives. It’s like discovering that city that was always there, and you are given the key to access any part of it. I am not talking about some hypothetical element of our person, rather of something that actually exists. This soul that we are all part of, is only available to you on a conscious level when you recognise that it is there, when you discover it. Acceptance of the knowledge of your soul brings with it all the benefits, amenities and power that is rightfully yours. The soul is self discovery. You do not have to pay penance or get down on your knees to another to bring it into your awakened life. There is no prayer or affirmation that will bring it to you.
Your soul is yours...it always was. The only thing that will deny you access to your soul is your own thoughts. You can walk on water, turn water into wine, perform all kinds of miracles if you desire. Your thoughts are the key to the soul. As you think, so shall your reap.
That which you would call “God,” or anything else, is who you are. You are an individualised piece of that power. You have the power of the whole at your disposal in any given second through your thoughts. Discover your soul and you discover another natural piece of who you are. You are never lost, you just are not there yet. Open the door to discovery and double or more what you think you are.
Having proved to yourself that you can survive with just the bare essentials you resign yourself to the fact that you will never be rescued. Anger turns to quiet desperation, then to acceptance as you carry on with your life.
Several years have passed and you have become accustomed to your lifestyle and feel comfortable enough to start exploring your island. You have settled in and your attention lately has been directed towards the mountains and what is beyond.
As you begin to move further inland and away from your comfort zone, you develop a sense of strength for having survived the years on your own. Along the way you are making many discoveries that will enhance your life. You are gathering an abundance of knowledge about the environment that you live in. By this time you have convinced yourself that there is nothing you cannot do, and that there is nothing you really have to do to survive. Everything has been provided for you. You simply reach out and take it as you need it.
After 40 years of wandering the island, you finally reach the top of the mountain and turn away from the direction in which you came. In the distance and time that separates you, you discover a huge modern city with all the amenities that such a place could hold. You discover that your island was not an island and that the city has always been there. As your mind races over the circumstances of the last 40 years, you fall to your knees weeping.
The discovery of your soul is very much the same overwhelming experience. It’s not a religious experience unless you want it to be. It’s natural and simply a discovery of another part of you, that was there all along, that you didn’t know. Think of the possibilities. Where there was one, now there are many. And there is always that one question, “Why?” How could I have not known? How would my life have been different?
The human species is a three part being — mind, body and spirit. The mind is what drives us, the spirit is our personality or ego, and the body is the vehicle that is used to experience the physical world. To experience physicality, one needs to be physical, it’s natural then to be focused on the body and its needs.
Most all of our waking hours are centred on what the body wants to experience. There is nothing wrong with this arrangement, and it works flawlessly and on auto-pilot throughout our lifetimes with or without our awareness of what makes it tick. So why am I bringing this up? If the system works perfectly, then leave it alone. Don’t try to fix that which doesn’t need fixing. Is ignorance not bliss? These notions of being alone and powerless, limit our experience of the physical world and our own personal growth.
With a certain amount of awareness, our lives can be enhanced a thousand fold and more, with the discovery of our souls. Denial of the soul has far reaching ramifications. Awareness of it, augments the quality of our lives. It’s like discovering that city that was always there, and you are given the key to access any part of it. I am not talking about some hypothetical element of our person, rather of something that actually exists. This soul that we are all part of, is only available to you on a conscious level when you recognise that it is there, when you discover it. Acceptance of the knowledge of your soul brings with it all the benefits, amenities and power that is rightfully yours. The soul is self discovery. You do not have to pay penance or get down on your knees to another to bring it into your awakened life. There is no prayer or affirmation that will bring it to you.
Your soul is yours...it always was. The only thing that will deny you access to your soul is your own thoughts. You can walk on water, turn water into wine, perform all kinds of miracles if you desire. Your thoughts are the key to the soul. As you think, so shall your reap.
That which you would call “God,” or anything else, is who you are. You are an individualised piece of that power. You have the power of the whole at your disposal in any given second through your thoughts. Discover your soul and you discover another natural piece of who you are. You are never lost, you just are not there yet. Open the door to discovery and double or more what you think you are.
Wednesday, April 05, 2006
Wi-Fi Phone with Skype. Looks Cool
SMC-Asia Asia Pacific Portal - WSKP100 EZ Connect™ g 802.11b/g Skype Wi-Fi Phone: "WSKP100 EZ Connect™ g 802.11b/g Skype Wi-Fi Phone
802.11b/g Skype Wi-Fi Phone
The SMC WSKP100 Skype Wi-Fi phone extends the convenience of wireless connection and the voice quality of Skype into one portable device. The WSKP100 is intended to help users make Skype calls at home, workplace and campus without the hassle of turning on computers.
The modulation of WSKP100 is based on the IEEE802.11b/g standard so it is compatible with most standard 802.11b/g Access Point (AP) in the market. With the embedded Skype software, users can have access to both PSTN and Skype networks as long as users have a valid Skype account. With the easy startup user will not have to remember the SSID or security keys; the WSKP100 stores these information and will connect to AP automatically when it boots up.
With embedded Skype software, SMC Networks' Skype Wi-Fi phone provides the users of cost savings, mobility with 802.11b/g WLAN, and hassle free installation with easy startup.
Embedded Skype software
Enhanced Power Saving Design for extended standby and talk time
Industrial standard 802.11b/g networks compatibility
Exceptional QoS function
Wireless Network security"
802.11b/g Skype Wi-Fi Phone
The SMC WSKP100 Skype Wi-Fi phone extends the convenience of wireless connection and the voice quality of Skype into one portable device. The WSKP100 is intended to help users make Skype calls at home, workplace and campus without the hassle of turning on computers.
The modulation of WSKP100 is based on the IEEE802.11b/g standard so it is compatible with most standard 802.11b/g Access Point (AP) in the market. With the embedded Skype software, users can have access to both PSTN and Skype networks as long as users have a valid Skype account. With the easy startup user will not have to remember the SSID or security keys; the WSKP100 stores these information and will connect to AP automatically when it boots up.
With embedded Skype software, SMC Networks' Skype Wi-Fi phone provides the users of cost savings, mobility with 802.11b/g WLAN, and hassle free installation with easy startup.
Embedded Skype software
Enhanced Power Saving Design for extended standby and talk time
Industrial standard 802.11b/g networks compatibility
Exceptional QoS function
Wireless Network security"
