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Some months back, I bought a discounted book on Video making for Dummies. Yes, it was the Dummies range of books that teach you to do lots of other things written by various authors. After reading the book, I managed to create my first video using Microsoft Vista and used DVD ripper to extract some songs from my collection of CDs just for the movie. The DVD ripper was easy to use and comes with my computer. Even the movie maker was part of the package of Windows Vista that I have never explored before. It is part of my hobby to learn new stuffs and this is one of them using the computer.

By using the DVD ripper, I am able to extract out my favorite songs from my CD collection and add them here for visitors to view. It is in one of my old posts and if you have been following my blog, you would have come across it some months ago. I managed to add credits and scrolling text that moves from top to bottom with slide transition.

I am happy with my own achievement as this is self taught – all from reading the Dummies book bought from MPH. At least, after reading, I managed to do the basic necessity to create my very own first movie and uploaded to Youtube for public viewing. I certainly love to explore new tricks and tips on the computer and enhace my IT skills.

Steve Jobs at the Apple Press conference promised all iPhone 4 customers a free iphone Bumper case. Battling the iPhone 4 antenna reception issues, it seems it was the simplest and safest way to fix the antenna issue.

Free iPhone 4 Bumper Case

What is the Apple iPhone Bumper case? It is a frame-like cover sold by Apple store that give style and protection to your iPhone. iPhone 4 Bumper is available in six colors — white, black, blue, green, orange, or pink – and easily slips around the edge of your iPhone 4. With metal buttons for volume and power, two-tone colors, and a combination of rubber and molded plastic, its a popular iPhone accessory.

Does the Iphone 4 Bumper case work? Maybe the bumper case covers the iPhone antenna in the right places and prevents signal strength loss when gripped in certain ways by iPhone users. ConsumerReports which had highlighted the antenna issues earlier, confirmed that the Apple iPhone bumper case indeed works and fixes the issue.

The rain guards on your car come in handy to keep the rain off the window and to prevent the howling of wind when the wind screen is wound down a bit to allow some fresh air into the moving car. Wind and rain deflectors allow you to cruise effortlessly down the highway as you drive long distances to meet up with a client for business or a relative. In my case, I travel often to Kuala Lumpur while sitting and driving in the car for 4 to 5 hours at a stretch with one or two stops to relieve ourselves at rests areas built strategically along the North-South Highway. Most new cars now come with wind and rain guards to give you that added security in all weather conditions are you make your automobile purchase.

I have driven in heavy rain storms before and it was not easy. The view was partially blocked by the heavy downpour raining cats and dogs but with the wind shield wiper, it makes it a little more viewable. I had to slow down the car tremendously while turning on the emergency lights that flick on and off repeatedly during a heavy down pour. The roads may become slippery as well and the brakes may malfunction due to the layer of water on the roads. That is why we tend to see more accidents along the highways during such heavy storm.

Hence, it is better to slow down and not drive to fast to try to reach your destination during a down pour from the skies. It is fine if the rain is just a trickle here and there, but don’t take chances when there is thunder and lightning as well!

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of IZEA. All opinions are 100% mine.

I have been contemplating of getting an iPhone to replace my old clamp shell phone that is 3 years old but still functional. Now with WeReward.com, it makes it even more worthwhile to own an iPhone because you can earn points and cash. You can check out the video above to see how it works. Quite a number of my friends own iPhones and I have seen how to functions. In my opinion, it is a good gadget to own if you can afford to spend the extra RM1,500 or so. Last month Maxis had an iPhone promotion giving you a further RM200 savings if your subscribe at that point in time. Now, I am not sure if the promotion is still on or not.

To earn the rewards and cash, all you need to do is to Download the App to your iPhone and link to Twitter and Facebook. You can also recommend your friends to join to earn more points. This is getting all exciting and I am really tempted to get an iPhone soon. You can do a lot of things with an iPhone like surfing the internet, playing games, send messages, calculate numbers, and many more cool functions not found on the normal phone.

I guess I need to save up more money to buy an iPhone and be one of the proud owners of this nice gadget. But I am sure the internet connectivity charges will also increase as you spend more time web browsing using the iPhone. The good thing is that you can even do it in your car while travelling and today, I will be going back to Penang from Kuala Lumpur which was for business. As usual I will spend at least 4-5 hours in the car and an iPhone will keep me happily occupied on the go.

This will blow your mind away!

So look — you’ve got a plethora of options on the iPhone to keep you connected to the Twitterverse, but if you’re looking for something a touch more official, the wait is nearly over. A few short weeks after Twitter acquired Atebits, the creators of the Tweetie app, the company issued the first official Twitter app for Android; tonight, it looks as if a revamped version of Tweetie (3.0, obviously) will claim that same crown over on iPhone OS. It’s tough to say exactly what changes are coming, but a few sporadic tips are coming in from far-flung corners of the globe saying that it’s already available. Pins and needles, we know.

I love taking photographs just like my father who took wedding photographs for other people and compile them into an album. I have tried camera hire before for DSLR type which is more comprehensive and expensive. It saves me the cost from buying an actual DSLR which is in the region of thousands of dollars. I especially like Sony z1 video camera hire which has so many features that makes photographing a wonderful experience.

I guess I inherited love of photography from my father whose hobby is simply taking photos. He also takes photos for church events in his local church that is near our house. After all, he is the official church photographer plus an assistant that he has roped in. For DSLR, you have to take note of the shutter speed, aperture size, white light compensation, etc. All these can be manually adjusted for optimum shots.

Sony camera hire has saved me money because I only need to use the camera for a short while and the rental for hire is affordable – compared to buying a brand new camera and keep it in your house. But if you use your camera frequently then, it might be useful to invest in one.

When you first lay eyes on the Nexus One, you can almost hear someone at Google say something like, “Make us something as sexy as the iPhone, but let’s not forget what got us here” — “what got us here” being the G1, which Google worked tightly with HTC to create. Whether you love or hate the iPhone, it’s hard to deny its obvious physical attractiveness, and it’s clear that Google and HTC made strides to bring an Android handset into the same realm of base desirability that Apple’s halo device occupies. For the most part, they’ve succeeded. The phone shape finds itself somewhere between the iPhone and Palm Pre — taking the Pre’s curved, stone-like shape and stretching it into something resembling a more standard touchscreen device (a la the Hero or Instinct). The body of the handset is comprised of what appears to the eye as two interlocking pieces, a main, dark gray housing (coated in a soft-touch treatment) which is intersected and wrapped by a lighter gray, smooth, almost metallic band. The overall effect is fluid, though we’re not crazy about the choice of coloring — we would have liked to see something a little more consistent as opposed to the two-tone, particularly when the choice of hues is this drab and familiar. Still, the shape and size of the phone is absolutely fantastic; even though the surface of the device houses a 3.7-inch display, the handset generally feels trimmer and more svelte than an iPhone, Hero, and certainly the Droid.

HTC has managed to get the thickness of the phone down to just 11.5mm, and it measures just 59.8mm and 119mm across and up and down — kind of a feat when you consider the guts of this thing. In the hand it’s a bit lighter than you expect — though it’s not straight-up light — and the curved edges and slightly tapered top and bottom make for a truly comfortable phone to hold. On the glass-covered front of the device there are four “hardware” buttons (just touch-sensitive spots on the display) laid out exactly as the Droid’s four hard keys: back, menu, home, and search. Clearly this is going to be something of a trend with Google-approved devices.

Unlike the Droid, the Nexus One has a trackball just below those buttons that should feel very familiar to Hero users — the placement feels a bit awkward here, and there’s literally nothing in the OS that requires it. Along the left side you’ve got a volume rocker, up top there’s a sleep / wake / power button on one end, and a 3.5mm headphone jack on the other, and along the bottom there’s a micro-USB port, a mic hole, and three gold dots that look destined for some kind of dock (which would jibe with what we’ve seen and heard). Around back you’ll find the strangely pronounced 5 megapixel camera and accompanying LED flash, along with Google’s Android mascot holding up a QR code — a decidedly geeky Google touch that we expect won’t make it to the final retail version. The layout of the phone is solid, though we would have liked a physical camera key (no biggie), and we actually had some real trouble with those four dedicated buttons. Hopefully it was just our review unit, but the target areas seemed to be too high on the row, and we found ourselves consistently accidentally tapping them while composing an email or text message, or missing them when we tapped a little too low. It wasn’t a deal breaker, but it was definitely maddening — especially considering that we don’t have similar issues on the Droid.

Before iPad it was called the Apple Tablet, the Slate, Canvas, and a handful of other guesses — but what was little more than rumor and speculation for nearly ten years is now very much a reality. Announced on January 27th to a middling response, Apple has been readying itself for what could be the most significant product launch in its history; the making (or breaking) of an entirely new class of computer for the company. The iPad is something in between its monumental iPhone and wildly successful MacBook line — a usurper to the netbook throne, and possibly a sign of things to come for the entire personal computer market… if Apple delivers on its promises. And those are some big promises; the company has been tossing around words like “magical” and “revolutionary” to describe what many have dismissed as nothing more than a larger version of its iPod touch. But is that all there is to this device? Is the hope that Apple promises for this new computing experience nothing more than marketing fluff and strategic hyperbole? Or is this a different beast altogether — a true sign that change has come to the world of the PC?

The bulk of its surface is taken up by a 9.7-inch, 1024 x 768, capacitive, multitouch LED-backlit display surrounded by a glossy black bezel that some will say is too wide but, in practice, is an important design consideration that prevents the touchscreen from being inadvertently activated when handled. There’s only Apple’s signature “home” button to interact with, and the back of the device is a dutifully simple piece of curved aluminum. Like most Apple products, it’s a beauty to behold, but it’s not exactly notable for design flourishes; simply put, it’s good looking but not terribly exciting. But if the design of the iPad is an exercise in restraint, it only serves to reinforce how formidable this technology feels once it’s in your hands. The device has some heft, weighing in at 1.5 pounds, but is still comfortable to hang onto at most angles. Considering the computing power of the tablet, a thickness that tops out at half an inch is pretty impressive, too. But how does it feel in your hands? Well, that matte aluminum on the back surprisingly communicates warmth (though we don’t recommend resting this on any bare flesh on a cold morning), and the rest of the design gets out of the way and lets you concentrate on what is really most important: that screen. And that’s kind of the point, isn’t it?

The iPad does house a few other components you should be aware of: a volume rocker and screen position lock (which forces the device to remain in landscape or portrait mode) on the upper right hand side, a power / sleep button and headphone jack on either side of its top edge, and Apple’s famous 30-pin dock connector alongside a single thin speaker on the bottom of the unit. There is nothing outwardly notable about the buttons or layout on the iPad — if you’ve used an iPod touch or iPhone, you’ll find yourself right at home… and that’s exactly how Apple wants it.

The Fastest iPhone Ever
The first thing you’ll notice about iPhone 3GS is how quickly you can launch applications. Web pages render in a fraction of the time, and you can view email attachments faster. Improved performance and updated 3D graphics deliver an incredible gaming experience, too. In fact, everything you do on iPhone 3GS is up to 2x faster and more responsive than iPhone 3G.

Video
Now you can shoot video, edit it, and share it — all on your iPhone 3GS. Shoot high-quality VGA video in portrait or landscape. Trim your footage by adjusting start and end points. Then share your video in an email, post it to your MobileMe gallery, publish it on YouTube, or sync it back to your Mac or PC using iTunes.

3-Megapixel Camera
The new 3-megapixel camera takes great still photos, too, thanks to built-in autofocus and a handy new feature that lets you tap the display to focus on anything (or anyone) you want.

Voice Control
Voice Control recognizes the names in your Contacts and knows the music on your iPod. So if you want to place a call or play a song, all you have to do is ask.

Compass
With a built-in digital compass, iPhone 3GS can point the way. Use the new Compass app, or watch as it automatically reorients maps to match the direction you’re facing.

Cut, Copy & Paste
Quickly cut, copy, and paste words with a tap. You can also copy content from the web, then paste it into an email or text message.

Landscape Keyboard
Want more room to type on the intelligent software keyboard? Rotate iPhone to landscape to use a larger keyboard in Mail, Messages, Notes, and Safari.

Messages
Send messages with text, video, photos, audio, locations, and contact information. You can even forward one or more messages to others.

Search
Find what you’re looking for across your iPhone, all from one convenient place. Spotlight searches all your contacts, email, calendars, and notes, as well as everything in your iPod.

Internet Tethering
Surf the web from practically anywhere. Now you can share the 3G connection on your iPhone with your Mac notebook or PC laptop.

Voice Memos
Capture and share a thought, a memo, a meeting, or any audio recording on the go with the new Voice Memos application.

Nike + iPod
iPhone includes built-in Nike + iPod support. Just slip the Nike + iPod Sensor (available separately) into your Nike+ shoe and start your workout.

Stocks
Stocks on iPhone shows you charts, financial details, and headline news for any stock you choose. Rotate iPhone to see even more detailed information.

YouTube
Watch YouTube videos wherever you are. Log in to your YouTube account to save and sync bookmarks and rate your favorites.

Find My iPhone and Remote Wipe
If you misplace your iPhone, Apple’s MobileMe service can help you find it. Log on to me.com to view a map that shows the approximate location of your iPhone. If it’s nearby, have it play an alert sound to help you find it. If it’s not, you can display a custom message, remotely lock it with a passcode, or initiate a remote wipe and restore it to factory settings.

I am contemplating of getting myself an iPhone 3GS. It is a Phone, iPod, and Internet device in one. iPhone 3GS offers desktop-class email, an amazing Maps application, and Safari — the world’s most advanced mobile web browser. My only concern is that if I accidentally dropped it, the glass may be cracked or worse still, nothing shows up as posted in some of the owners’ blogs. At the moment, my clamp shell handphone is quite hardy and I have dropped it a few times without any damages. Should I upgrade to iPhone 3GS?