DiGi iPhone Page Has Wrong Modification Date via HTTP

iPhone 4 has just been launched in Malaysia, and I have also been closely following the progress.

Looking at SoyaCincau’s comparison between Maxis and DiGi, I was attempting to load DiGi’s page again. I have done this before.

Instead of talking about iPhone 4 itself, I am going to see why the page is showing me 3GS instead. Yes, I am a nerdy SysAdmin and it’s hard to change.

The page is here http://www.digi.com.my/iphone/getone_want_iphone_payment.html

Here’s the page in my browser:

digi-iphone-http

I was about to blame it on Maxis Broadband’s transparent proxy when I saw that it was a MISS from Squid. And then I saw the modification date is way in the past (highlighted above).

This is not something serious, but just in case you get the old page, clear your browser’s cache and you should be able to see the new page. Or, access it via HTTPS:

digi-iphone-https

Notice the last modified date makes much more sense now.

The technical explanation to this is because your browser sees that the page has not been modified and decided to show you the cache. It’s as simple as that. This may happen because of misconfiguration or something like that but as I said, this is not something serious.

I just hope those who has been seeing 3GS list can now see the updated 4 list.

Have I decided which provider I am going to choose? Well that’s a secret for now…

Google Instant, Anyone?

I saw quite a significant number of tweets mentioning Google Instant, and decided to check it out. Some people might already be aware of it or heard of it before but I am outdated, that I am willing to admit.

First, I went to the Official Google Blog where I saw Search: now faster than the speed of type.

Next, I tried it myself on Google homepage. It’s really impressive.

google-instant

However, if you use a flaky connection like my Maxis Broadband you might see this:

google-instant-off

It says “Google Instant is off due to connection speed. Press Enter to search”. It’ll behave like normal search.

Which also means that it can be turned off.

The prediction feature is quite nicely programmed too. Notice that its suggestions included the word “mac” because I am on a Mac. Not surprising since this is easily detected by the browser’s user agent string.

I bet the prediction considers many other factors too, including Geo-location.

I find it interesting that I can see this now, since in its tweet Google mentioned that “Google Instant is rolling out to people w/ Instant-capable browsers in France, Germany, Italy, Russia, Spain, U.K. & U.S.

So the next time you see it, don’t be surprised!

… and tell me how you like it!

Does Berjaya HVN Really Have Rights Reproducing Thomas & Friends?

My son’s current favorite series are Special Agent OSO and the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. He sometimes still watches Thomas & Friends. He can recognize Thomas in Toys ‘R’ Us even from the entrance a hundred meters away.

I’ve been looking high and low for high quality, and updated DVDs for him to watch in the car. Yes, it’s how we keep him relaxed inside the car instead of running around dangerously in a moving vehicle.

A few months ago, I bought original DVDs with KPDN & HEP sticker on it. They are made by Berjaya HVN. I was, however very disappointed with the quality. The DVDs contained antique videos.

Take Thomas, for example the videos are from before the intro was changed:

Disappointed, I tried downloading the videos from the Internet but I ended up being warned for downloading copyrighted materials.

For those who are observant, you will see that in the earlier seasons of Thomas & Friends the characters are non-moving dolls (only their eyes move). In newer pictures, the characters are free moving characters. An obvious observation is the kid waving to Thomas on the bridge, with a bicycle next to him.

Very Old:

thomas-kid-bridge-older

Old: (more rounded edges)

thomas-kid-bridge-old

New: (the kid waves, and notice the quality of props)

thomas-kid-bridge-new

For those who are not familiar with Thomas, here’s a newer intro but not the latest (notice the kid on the bridge still doesn’t wave – it’s from Season 8 while current season is 13):

Here is a DVD I bought a few weeks ago, look at the year printed on the sleeve.

thomas-2010

Looking at this you probably think the DVD contains the latest series! But no it doesn’t.

thomas-2010-video

Now, HiT Entertainment’s website contains no email so I have to blog about it and hope someone will be able to discover this post.

With the bad quality of DVDs I am seriously wondering whether Berjaya HVN is really licensed to reproduce the DVDs. They are DVDs, but the quality is VCD quality.

thomas-2010-65years

I am disappointed. And you blame me for downloading pirated videos?

I know that I can tell whether the DVD contains the latest series but right now it’s impossible to bring along the complete printout of the list of production every time I go out. Maybe when I get an iPhone, but that’s a whole different story not for today.

And this problem is not only for Thomas & Friends. It’s the same for Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and Tigger & Pooh. So I haven’t been able to find any Special Agent OSO DVD locally. All of them are by Berjaya HVN – not only their own opening montage looks bad, the whole disc contains blurred videos and some even with embedded subtitles.

Or is it just because Malaysia is just behind in a few years? I find this unacceptable in the information age.

I probably should mention that the videos and images above are all copyright of Gullane (Thomas) Limited.