Update Garmin map on iDevice

Posted: 7th April 2013 by Jacky Yong in Computers

You should update to a legit copy of the Garmin MY-SG map you know. It was only like USD19.99 when I bought it, so that’s like about only RM60. You can afford just RM60 right? Buying a full fledged Garmin GPS machine will cost you hundred of ringgits, so RM60 is a bargain. Besides you already spend thousands of ringgits for your beloved iPhone, what’s RM60?

Since I have come clean, I suppose that the biggest question comes to mind : can I still update the Garmin map? Well let’s find out.

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I’ve come clean!

Posted: 6th April 2013 by Jacky Yong in Computers, Silly me

I have a confession to make. I have been using pirated softwares for the longest time. But it’s not the right thing to do. So now I have decided that it is time to come clean. I will now purchase softwares that I find useful to me. This is only the right thing to do, it helps the developers who worked their asses off producing them. And by purchasing them legally, it will allow them to make even better softwares. The cycle goes on.

And that is why my Garmin SG-MY is now legit. I am no longer using pirated Garmin. In fact, all my apps in my iPhone and iPads are now legit copies!

But that doesn’t stop me from jailbreaking my iDevices. I still can’t live with unjailbroken devices. Besides they unleash a more powerful and useful device that it came stock with. If you haven’t yet jailbroken it, do yourself a big favour and please jailbreak it!

Mount Kinabalu – We did it!

Posted: 31st March 2013 by Jacky Yong in Silly me

Mount Kinabalu is one of the toughest mountains to scale, I am not going to deny that. It involves a lot of preparations, both physically and mentally. I know, because 7 years ago, I attempted to scale this very mountain. I still remember because that was when Kit Yan was just 3 months old. And I failed to climb it then. But there was a lot of mistakes that I learnt from that experience that I can now apply. And so on the morning of 26th March 2013, I have successfully climbed Mount Kinabalu!

The view from Kinabalu Park on a fine clear morning

The view from Kinabalu Park on the fine clear morning that we were supposed to climb to Laban Rata

A Brief History

I need to tell you the brief history before you can appreciate what inspired me to make this trip. As I mentioned, I attempted unsuccessfully to climb the mountain 7 years ago. I was 29 years old, I felt I was good enough. I swam weekly, sometimes twice a week. My stamina was good actually, but I was training the wrong muscle group. The timing was also bad. A quick search on Google says that the best time to climb Mt Kinabalu is February and March of the year. I went there in October! It rained all the way up to Laban Rata! You can see how rainy it is in the graph below:

precipitation for the entire year in Mt Kinabalu

Image courtesy of http://mount-kinabalu-borneo.com shows the precipitation for the entire year in Mt Kinabalu

The group of people that you go with is also a very important deciding factor. 7 years ago I went with a largely untrained group of people. If the group were a bunch of hiking nerds, I am sure that I would have made it to the top. Read the rest of this entry »

Fuji X-E1 – a short intro

Posted: 15th March 2013 by Jacky Yong in Photography, Silly me

My wife’s old S90 is starting to feel old. (It’s an excuse I know :P ) And I needed a break from carrying all those hefty DSLRs around when I travel. So what is a good alternative?

Introducing the Fujifilm X-E1. It has the acclaimed X-Trans CMOS sensor that has a different pixel arrangement compared to the common Bayer sensor arrangement, therefore eliminating the need of an Anti-Alias filter. Translation : the pictures are much sharper.

So is it really that much sharper? I can’t tell yet, I have only had it for only less than a day. But do enjoy these pictures below. The outlook of the camera itself is enough to make me jeez in my pants…… ugghhhhh …. I think I need to clean my underwear now …. Read the rest of this entry »

Windows 8 Pro – Too legit to quit!

Posted: 2nd February 2013 by Jacky Yong in Computers

I’ve decided to come clean. I can’t help it, Windows is so cheap, only USD 39 for a licensed legit copy! So I made the plunge, downloaded the Windows Upgrade Assistant, determined that my PC hardware is good to go, and I clicked buy. And everything else just fell into places.

Windows 8 Pro dual screen goodness!

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How to combine and unlock Garmin maps

Posted: 18th September 2012 by Jacky Yong in Computers
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I have decided to make this a separate post because a lot of people are really blur. I will have to really hold their hands and guide them one step at a time. So here is a post specifically on how to combine two Garmin maps with the extension .img files. There are several reasons why you would want to do that. The majority does that because their Garmin device only support one map. What happens if I were to bring my Garmin with me to travel to other countries? I can’t load two maps in a device, so I combine them. Another reason is to remove a lock on certain maps. This post will talk about how to do them both. Read the rest of this entry »

I am now a middle-aged man

Posted: 15th August 2012 by Jacky Yong in Silly me
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*Sigh* ….. I am now an old fart. If I lived up to 70 years old, I am now already in my wid-way point. This qualifies me to be categorized as middle-aged. That means that I am no longer a young adult. And my health insurance premium just got higher. Thus are the “perks” that comes with old age.

What have I accomplished in my 35 years of living? I am proud of a few things, but I am most proud to be a daddy for 3 beautiful daughters. A big thank you to my lovely wife for making this possible. Although I don’t say it, I really appreciate what she did all these years. What else? Errmmmm ……. everything else is just materialistic value. So yeah, happy birthday to me, and thanks to all who have wished me.

P/S : I don’t have my wifi modem with me at work today, so I can’t really check who has sent me a birthday wish on my Facebook. I will have to see how many notifications I get when I get back tonight.

Does the iPhone’s GPS work solely on satellite signal?

Posted: 5th August 2012 by Jacky Yong in Computers
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This is a question that has been bugging me for a long time, since my Nokia 5800 days. On my Nokia, the GPS function works very well, but that was when it was used as a normal phone. But when I changed to an iPhone, I wanted to keep the 5800 as a GPS device, since I thought that it can work independently from my service provider. The GPS took ages to lock, if it even locks at all. I begin to suspect that normal GSM signal also help in determining your location.

Here using my iPhone, I do a simple test. I turn off wifi and turn on airplane mode (no GSM signal from Maxis). Then I tried to locate myself using my Garmin. Here’s a screenshot:

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Install SG & MY Garmin on your iDevice

Posted: 26th July 2012 by Jacky Yong in Computers
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This is an updated post. There were a lot of questions asked during my previous post that were unanswered, and I shall answer them all here. I will try to be as specific as I can be, so this post will be continuously updated as I get more clarity.

As usual the things that you need:

  1. A copy of Garmin SG & MY, obtained legally or otherwise. ***** ahem :) ******
  2. a jailbroken iDevice + iDevice cable
  3. iFunbox
  4. iFile
  5. Malaysia’s map file (or any country of your choice). I obtain my Malaysia / Singapore map from www.malsingmaps.com
I will skip the part about how to install Garmin SG & MY in your iDevice, as I assume that you know some basic jailbreaking and installation skill.
The difference between this post and my previous post is obviously the choice of Garmin app. My previous post uses Garmin no map, whereas this post uses Garmin SG & MY which has the full map onboard! Yes, that’s a staggering 1.4 gigabyte of goodness that you need to download! Just be patient while installing, good things comes to those who wait! ;)

Major service of my Altis

Posted: 28th April 2012 by Jacky Yong in Cars
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The Altis is four years old now in my hands, but when I bought it, it was already 6 years old. That makes it 10 years old already!

Being a 10-year-old car, all sorts of problems are starting to creep in. As of last year, the car porch has already got patches of oils, indicating that it is leaking already. We were never got round to fixing it, simply because we were always cashless, or didn’t have the time for it. Now the time is right to finally send it to Toyota Puchong to get it done.

Why Toyota Puchong? Because that’s the nearest Toyota Service Centre that has the Early Bird service. We dropped the car on a Monday night and it was fixed by Friday evening. During the duration, Mei Fen has to drive me to the train station to and from work.

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