AnDevCon - the 1st Android developer conference

For your information, BZ Media LLC, the publisher of Software Development Times, is organizing the first AnDevCon for developers, entrepreneurs and IT professionals focusing on the booming Android mobile software market.

This will be a 3 days conference. It will begin with 1 day of intensive workshops, followed by 2 days of technical classes. The conference will include a tabletop exhibit area for companies selling products and services for Android marketers and developers.

Detail as below:

• Date: 7-9 March 2011
• Venue: San Mateo in San Francisco, California, USA
• Admission: non-free, with payment

Classes and workshops at AnDevCon fall into 3 topic areas:

• Android Developer Essentials: These technical classes and workshops are for all Android developers, and cover all programming topics.
• Android Enterprise Essentials: These technical sessions cover topics specific to building and managing apps for employees, business customers and partners, such as back-end integration corporate datacenter communications, ERP or CRM systems.
• Android Business Essentials: These classes and workshops are for entrepreneurs and developers who want to learn the most effective ways of distributing and marketing Android apps, including how to maximize sales through the Android Market.

Click here for more information about the AnDevCon event.

Toyota Avanza enhancement - Titan high-low adjustable performance suspension system

I have upgraded the stock suspension of my Toyota Avanza to Titan high-low adjustable performance suspension system.

Titan is a well-known Malaysian brand of serviceable car shock absorber and suspension components, manufactured by a company called MPd Auto Centre Sdn Bhd founded in 1999 by Richard How, and located at No. 38, Jalan Mewah 3/3, Taman Perindustrian Hata, Pandan Mewah, 68000 Ampang.

Titan is highly recommended by AOCM as a replacement for the stock suspension of Toyota Avanza (either the 1.3 or the 1.5 models). Although its initial cost is higher than normal absorber, it has advantages such as:

• Height is adjustable to tune for the suspension dampening rate
• Can be custom made according to your requirement
• The package includes the whole car suspension system, i.e. absorber, spring, damper, panhard rod modification, etc.
• Serviceable, no need to replace the whole thing in the future, thus lower maintenance cost
• Has second hand resell value

Built upon inverted monotube design, Titan suspension can be adjusted to be stiffer for racing performance, and also adjustable to be softer for comfort driving. With this, the car can be tuned to greatly reduce its bumpiness and bounciness on the ride. In fact, you will be amazed by Titan's performance in handling uneven road conditions, road bumps and road holes.

If Titan is used together with the Ultra Racing bars, Toyota Avanza can have a greatly improved steady and stable ride, as well as safer and better handling for high speed and cornering.

For those who complain about stock suspension system of Toyota Avanza, this could be your solution.

Best antivirus / security suite in 2010

What is the best antivirus and/or security suite for home user now?

I believe a good security solution for home computer:

• should detect most if not all of the virus and malware.
• should be good in protecting from new/unknown virus and malware.
• should not have too much false positive.
• should not diminish the performance of the computer too much. The computer should not be sluggish when the security solution is running.
• should not consume too much CPU and memory resource.
• should be fast in scanning for virus and malware.

After reading the comparison and benchmarking reports in these websites...

• AntivirusWare
• AV-Comparatives
• Passmark Consumer Antivirus Performance Benchmarks (2011) report
• TopTenReviews
• Virus Bulletin

 I found that the best in 2010 is a competition between these 2 vendors:

• ESET
• Symantec

Slovakia company ESET produces the NOD32 Antivirus and the ESET Smart Security suite, while US company Symantec produces the Norton Antivirus and the Norton Internet Security suite.

However, in terms of pricing and availability in retail computer store in Malaysia, Symantec definitely has the upper hand.

Therefore, the best security suite in 2010 for me is Norton Internet Security 2010. I bought a genuine box of it with 1 year subscription to 3 computers at the price of RM100 in Digital Mall recently.

After installing Norton Internet Security 2010, I got free upgrade to Norton Internet Security 2011 with its Norton Update Center.