TypeCanvas Mag

Treat Business Like You Treat Your Friends

Abang Hazrul — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 16:23:00 +0000

I earn on average, $2,700 to $2,900 a month, from business alone after expenses. Considering that I run my business alone, that’s quite a lot of money. I probably never regretted being terminated from my previous employment as a .Net developer, and I’ve since stopped having nightmares about my previous employer. (more…)

Lessons from Marc Goh, Design Prodigy

Abang Hazrul — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 04:53:27 +0000

I’ve met several young and bright entrepreneurs in my time, and I know a lot who are really there. As in, their businesses are really chugging along smoothly. One of them is Marc Goh, an NUS graduate who formed a web consultancy business called Design Prodigy. We met in one of those PHP meetups, and he happened to sit beside me. (more…)

Live Event: Apple introduces thinnest Nanos ever!

Abang Hazrul — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 17:38:36 +0000

The September 9th Apple event in San Francisco is usually about iPods. And Steve Jobs has announced that all the thick iPods will be discontinued. YES. SCRAPPED.

Instead, you’ll get Classics with 120GB at US$249. So they’re all thin Classics with an upgraded size.

But that’s nothing. Jobs is now introducing the thinnest ever Apple iPod Nano! (more…)

Prayer Time Widget for your blog or website

Abang Hazrul — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 09:54:47 +0000

I released a free widget for use with your website or blog. It’s the prayer time widget but it’s for Singapore only at the moment.

It’s not taken from a database. All the prayer time is calculated using the Egyptian method and the Sunrise and Sunset time has been set specifically for Singapore. Please note that you may notice a +1/-1 difference with the published timings.

It’s very easy to use. And you can apply it to your entire domain. Just get the API key and you’re ready to go.

Just go to http://www.typecanvas.com/widgets/prayertime-sg/ for the widget and instructions.


Imsak
Subuh
Syuruk
Zuhur
Asar
Maghrib
Isyak

Story of a sign

Abang Hazrul — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 07:19:04 +0000

Download Video

Beautiful…

Race

Abang Hazrul — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 18:21:00 +0000

YouTube Direct Download video link

While Singapore may be a country which supposedly guarantees equality of race, the mood on the ground may be different. Singaporeans still do discriminate according to race. There are still people who cannot leave Malays alone. Like when we have our void deck weddings, or when we rush to the mosque every Friday, or when we’re required to wear the veil or when we try to have a nice, decent, halal meal. Racial and religious subscriptions still do determine your social status in Singapore. (more…)

DNS exploit writer tastes his own medicine

Abang Hazrul — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 07:10:48 +0000

Never do unto others what you don’t want others to do to you.

HSBC different races ad reflects lack of successful Malay businesses?

Abang Hazrul — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 09:28:03 +0000

Click the picture to reveal the other family

I was walking around Ang Mo Kio yesterday, when I chanced upon this wall ad on HSBC’s Ang Mo Kio Branch. It’s trying to brand itself as a global local bank that knows and understands the different cultures here. But the thing that struck me was the use of generalisations in this ad. For example, on one side, there is a picture of a Chinese family who runs a jewellry shop in where else but Chinatown. It reflects a sense of upper class that seems to suggest that the Chinese are rich. Very rich. Using a jewellry shop as an exemplary Chinese business seem to mean that the Chinese could afford them. (more…)

PHP On Racks Preview

Abang Hazrul — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 07:32:36 +0000

Returned to focus on PHP On Racks. Trying to finish it by end August. Everything seems to be on track.

Take a look at this fascinating work I’m doing.

vimeo Direct Download video link

First Singaporean Certified MySQL Associate

Abang Hazrul — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 17:38:24 +0000

Apparently, I realised I’m the first CMA in Singapore! The Certified MySQL Associate is an entry level certification for MySQL professionals. It’s particularly useful for programmers and developers that work primarily with the XAMP Stack (X Operating System, Apache, MySQL, PHP).

Now that I’m a CMA, this will help me stand out from the crowd. I scored a 90% and got only 5 questions wrong. I scored 100% for 3 component chapters, 85% on 2 of them and 75% on one of them. But I won’t stop here. I’m retaking the CMDEV (Certified MySQL Developer) next year which consists of 2 very long exams. I missed the pass grade by 7 points on Paper 1 and 2 points on Paper 2 a year and a half back. Pass grades are very high. In the case of Certification Exams, a pass grade would mean I have to at least get 75% of the questions right. So noting how close I got to passing the more difficult certifications, I am now going to prepare myself better by spacing out the 2 papers, so I can study the material more thoroughly.

I intend to take the Zend Certified Engineer which certifies me as a competent PHP developer. But the only barrier is the high costs that come with it. I’d have to spend at least $1,380 just for the exam and study material. The A-Dev pack which will get me a 90-day track would set me back $3,795. It’s unfortunate that the government doesn’t seem to consider this a critical certification. My MySQL certification costs are borne out of my own pocket as I can’t use the CITREP grant for this.

I feel that the government should be fair to people who are subscribers of the Open Source movement instead of over-emphasising the Microsoft certifications.