Watch Honda ASIMO live in road tours

Honda ASIMO (アシモ), named after "Advanced Step in Innovative Mobility", is an intelligent multifunctional robot of 130cm tall with 54kg weight, made of magnesium alloy covered with plastic resin.

It is an innovative result from 22 years of R&D in Honda, showcasing their determination and belief in the Power of Dreams.

Today, ASIMO can run up to 6km/h and in circular pattern, walk at various speed up to 2.7km/h, climb stairs, and is able to recognise distance, position and details of people with Honda's IC Tag.

ASIMO can also perform the task of a receptionist, information guide or carry out delivery service using a tray or cart. It can also act in sync with people, for example, walking with you while holding your hands.

Eager to watch ASIMO in action? You can meet with him in the upcoming road tours as follow:

• 14-16 Nov 2008 - New Wing, 1 Utama Shopping Centre, Selangor.
• 20-23 Nov 2008 - City Square Shopping Centre, Johor Bahru.
• 27-30 Nov 2008 - Queensbay Mall, Penang.

There will be exciting games, ASIMO prizes and limited edition of ASIMO goodies available during the road tours.

Click here to learn more about the wonders of ASIMO.

Pairing Sony Ericsson P1i with HBH-PV710 bluetooth headset

Sony Ericsson HBH-PV710 is a mid-range bluetooth headset with 3 buttons, one for call handling, another 2 for sound volume control. It does not have fancy features such as automatic sound adjustment, background noise reduction, etc. However, for a retail price of only RM128, it is still a good pick and value for money.

It can share the same charger with my Sony Ericsson P1i handphone, as well as using the CDS-65 Desk Stand that comes along with P1i as its charger. Of course, it also comes with its own charger, which can also be used by P1i.

The printed user guide of HBH-PV710 is written in 4 languages, which the layout is quite inconvenient for the reader. The flow of document is also quite confusing. Therefore, I decided to reproduce the guide here in a more readable way, for my future reference and also for other HBH bluetooth headset users' reference. Here is it:

After purchase, before usage:

• You need to charge up the bluetooth headset for 8 hours before usage.
• In future, when you see the headset's red light is flashing, it is time for it to recharge.

First time usage:

• Turn on the bluetooth function in your handphone.
• Make sure the bluetooth of your handphone is visible to other devices.
  
  
• Press and hold the "call handling" button of your bluetooth headset for 3-5 seconds, until you see the indicator light flashes red and green.
• If the headset only flashes green, press and hold both the "volume control" buttons of your bluetooth headset for 3-5 seconds, until you see the indicator light flashes red and green.
• Your handphone should now find the bluetooth headset, and lists it in its bluetooth device listing. Tap on it and connect to it. When passcode is asked, key in "0000".
• The headset beeps and the indicator light flashes green when the pairing is successful. It is ready to use now.
• To turn off the headset after use, press and hold the "call handling" button of your bluetooth headset for 3-5 seconds, until the flashing indicator light turns off.
  

Subsequent usage:

• Turn on the bluetooth function in your handphone.
• Turn on the bluetooth headset.
• The pairing should occur automatically. Here are the screens of P1i before and after the pairing. Note that the bluetooth icon in the taskbar will change to headset icon when the headset is in use.

        Before pairing                            After pairing


Using the headset:

• Answer incoming call - press the "call handling" button once.
• Reject incoming call - press and hold the "call handling" button for about 2 seconds.
• Making call - use your handphone to dial the number and talk with your headset.
• Using voice command to dial, redial, answer and reject calls - record and enable voice commands in your phone. Say the "magic words" to your headset.
• Transfer audio between headset and handphone - selection can be made on the phone.

Ubuntu Linux 8.10 (Intrepid Ibex) has been released

Ubuntu, the most popular Linux distribution (according to DistroWatch.com ranking) has officially released their stable version 8.10 (code name "Intrepid Ibex") for both Desktop and Server editions.

As you know, Ubuntu is usable in the form of LiveCD (boot from CD and use, no need installation) as well as installable to the harddisk as your computer's operating system (which can be co-exist and multi-boot with other operating systems in the computer). The minimum memory requirement to run Ubuntu 8.10 is only 256MB.

This new 8.10 release features:

• 3G network support.
• It can now also be put into USB thumbdrive which is convenient to carry everywhere, plug and use on any machine.
• It introduces "Guest sessions" feature to allow users to lock down a session easily, so a guest (eg. at conferences, cafes, parties, etc.) can use the full system without interference with programs or data.
• As a bonus, all Ubuntu 8.10 users will be able to enjoy streaming programmes from the BBC multimedia network.

Here are some of the interesting features in the Server Edition of Ubuntu 8.10:

• Virtualization built on the Just Enough Operating System (JeOS). Apache Tomcat 6.0 and OpenJDK are now a fully supported options.
• ClamAV and SpamAssassin are now available from the main repository providing a supported solution for spam detection and virus filtering for mail infrastructures.
• Provides support for SATA "software" RAID controllers via DMRaid.
• Administrators can now easily set-up an Ubuntu system to provide encrypted private directories which are automatically mounted when users login locally or via ssh. Sensitive data is kept secure even if the system is stolen.
• The tool chain used to compile Ubuntu has been updated to include even more security features such as glibc function call fortification. Bugs in applications are even harder to be turned into exploitable vulnerabilities.
• Uncomplicated Firewall makes it easier to manage a host firewall thanks to the addition of application profiles. Common services such as apache, bind9, cups, dovecot, openssh, postfix or samba declare which ports they use so that the administrator only enables a network service rather than a set of ports.
• Bundled Landscape client provides a free reporting function at each login. Landscape is Canonical's lightweight system management tool for Ubuntu systems that allows automated deployment and monitoring.

Version of some commonly used software that comes with Ubuntu 8.10 are: Linux kernel 2.6.27, Compiz 0.78, CUPS 1.3.9, Evolution 2.24.1, Thunderbird 2.0.0.17, Firefox 3.0.3, gcc 4.3.1, GIMP 2.6.1, glibc 2.8, gtk+ 2.14.4, OpenOffice 2.4.1, OpenSSH 5.1p1, Apache 2.2.9, MySQL 5.0.67, postgreSQL 8.3.4, perl 5.10.0, PHP 5.2.6, Python 2.5.2, postfix 2.5.5, samba 3.2.3, xorg-server 1.5.2.

Click here for more information about the features of Ubuntu 8.10.

Ubuntu is downloadable from their website as well as using the BitTorrent P2P. You can also request for free distribution CD (original from Canonical) to be sent to you by postal mail. Click here for more information about how to get Ubuntu.