Asian Tiger

I’ve got good news and bad news for you. The bad news is - GMail Notifier works on Windows 2000 and Windows XP. This is stated on the main page of GMail Notifier. To be honest, I did not test GMail Notifier on my newly installed Microsoft Windows Vista machine. I love GMail Notifier when I had it on Windows XP; where I can be alerted of incoming emails without the need to login to GMail.

When I moved over to Vista, I lost that functionality for a little while until I found out that…. (this is where I break the good news) Google Talk application acts like GMail Notifier for Vista users. Yes, all you need to do is to install Google Talk and you will be alerted of new emails like the screenshot below.

Actually, Google themselves did mention this on their site:

If you have the Google Talk client installed, you will automatically receive new mail notifications from Google Talk and you do not need to install the Notifier.

Worried about your privacy being encroached? Want to save yourself from potential embarrassment? Worried that public areas such as changing rooms are fixed with spy cameras? We all do not want to be the victim of voyeurism and therefore we must protect ourselves.

If you travel a lot and stay from hotel to hotel, protect yourself by getting one of these spy camera detectors. This gadget is shaped as a pen which makes carrying around easy and help you not to forget. Simply pack the iTeki Wireless Camera Detector Pen in your suitcase and leave it there. This potential “embarrassment-saver” will then be with you whenever you travel. It’s not expensive (USD16), so you can buy one for each suitcase that you own.

This pen is simple to use. Simply point the pen around the hotel room or any private areas or better still, walk along furnitures and walls as well as places where spy cameras can potentially be placed. If a wireless spy camera is detected, the pen’s tip will emit colourful flashes. Now, protect yourself.

I am sure all of us have been to at least one official dinner function this year. I have been to several and there are those who attend these formal dinners more than once a month. I find these functions boring because it is always the same do or agenda every single time. The function always starts off with a cocktail outside the ballroom; they actually lock up the ballroom so as to force you to mingle around strangers. Then it is followed by seatings, speech, speech and more speech. The last speaker always gets a thunderous applause because everyone will be hungry by then. This is followed by food and then some award certificates giveaway, some joker who stands on stage as a stand up comedian giving a couple of laughs, lucky draw and adjourn. Sounds familiar? You bet it is!! So, how do you survive an official dinner function?

Tip #1 - Consume some alcohol. As most functions serve beer and wine, help yourself to some drinks. Somehow, alcohol help kill time and assist in mustering courage to strike a conversation with a total stranger. If you suffer from alcohol intolerance, stay away from it. The least you want to do is embarrass yourself in general public.

Tip #2 - Bring a partner. Yes, most functions can be boring. Companionship eases the atmosphere and if you are having fun, time flies. So, get hold of a partner (if the function permits you to bring them) to accompany you. If you are married, stick to bringing your wife. If you are single, create a list of possible partners.

Tip #3 - Surf the Internet. Get hold of a mobile device that is able to access the Internet. When bored, switch it on and start browsing the web, go FaceBooking or MySpacing, read some real news or simply check your emails. It may look rude to the rest on your table but heck, you are not going to see those guys anytime soon after the dinner, perhaps never, so, who cares?

Tip #4 - Forget the dessert and leave the function early. Your function is most likely to be held in a hotel and if you leave at the same time as the masses, you will find yourself queuing to pay the parking ticket and queuing to drive out of the hotel basement. An easy 30 minutes is wasted. Save yourself by leaving early and avoid that traffic.