that 80s show ;-)

Halo Sinaran Budi and Sri Garing friends from the 80s and 90s. Hope you guys and gals can remember the amazing times we had there. I cannot forget how our schools in Rawang were really cool, fun and happening then. We really had some nice memories, cool times and awesome experiences to share. I still think kids these days are weirdly raised and have no spirit of friendship or belonging. All they do is study... study... study and maybe play piano after school ;-)

What made me nostalgic? Transformers movie is out!

At a time when TV3 transmission was only for the Klang Valley, we in Rawang by luck... enjoyed shows like MacGyver, Alf, G.I. Joe, M.A.S.K., Saber Rider and the Star Sheriffs, Thundercats, The A-Team, The Centurions, Transformers, Knight Rider, Cheers and much more. I still remember waking up early on Saturdays, cycling as fast as I can to the nearest mamak shop and bungkus roti telur back. Rush back home and watch Japanese cartoons from 8am to 11.30am. Memories of those days are coming back slowly. Transformers were one of my favourites... not the best... but a favourite.

I think cartoons now have more interesting stuff but kids these days are not amazed about it anymore. We in the 80s prob started watching cartoons at age 8 or 9 only. Nowadays, kids from age 1-2 already watching cartoons. So the element of surprise, suspense and thrill is gone. They can get CDs and DVDs these days, we had to wait a week before the next episode is shown. Now you have Astro with 24 hours of cartoon, we had to wait in the morning or evenings for an hour or two of cartoons. The best ones are shown Saturday mornings.

I think the ones who will enjoy Transformers the most are people my age... not the kids or the youngsters. I can't wait.

virtual world...

I read recently Microsoft is funding academic research programs to develop new applications using Virtual Earth and SensorMap. Microsoft is funding a Harvard project called CitySense... sensors that monitor pollution, temperature, rain falls and car traffic in a city. The data collected will be displayed on SensorMap, a technology from Microsoft that lets users publish and share sensor data. That means users can browse this live data on Virtual Earth.

Also Microsoft has acquired Vexcel, a company founded in 1985 that developed the UltraCamD Aerial Camera System that delivers large format aerial imagery.

Why? It seems Microsoft is VERY serious about GIS... and is a direct competitor for GIS Web Services. This is also following the footsteps of Google and Yahoo. Am just thinking out loudly... if ESRI server products will be pushed back in all this GIS Web Services competition. ESRI might just concentrate on GIS data production, imagery editing, survey software tools, field data collection, modelling advaced industry applications, 3D mapping, advance analysis, digitising, storage, data cleaning, map making, charting and cartography etc. Its really very vague now in GIS Web Services.