YiBi's Life|Live Log

There are now more and more people getting IP cameras for their home use in Singapore. One of the most common use is for home monitoring. For this purpose, a lot of people are getting the Foscam Fi8918W from what I observed in the forums.

There are couple of ways you can get your Foscam cameras. I personally ordered mine from an online seller. The website that go to is http://www.ali2.com. I have ordered a couple of times from them and so far the experience has been alright. One thing I would suggest is to get your friends to pool orders because they will deliver the goods via DHL is there are more than 3 items. Delivery via normal registered mail or parcel will take as long as month and the possibility of lost mail is higher.

There are 2 reasons why I choose to get the cameras online. Firstly, they are cheaper than the one’s sold locally. The markup can be up to 100% sometimes. Secondly, there are more models to choose from.

I hope this is helpful. Happy shopping.

I’ll just like to share my 2 recent experiences with Apple’s Service Centre and why they have convinced me to continue using Apple products.

Like many people, I own a couple of Apple devices, from my first Macbook, to my iPhone and iPad. In general, the products have not given me much problems. In August last year, my Magsafe adapter decided to quit on me, after about 2 plus years of very rigorous usage. I bought another adapter from the Apple Store which unfortunately broke down after a couple of months. There’s this Authorized Service Centre near my office so I popped by and checked if they could repair the adapter.

At the Service Centre, the staff went through the usual procedure to check etc. I was expecting them to take in my adapter for repair then. The folks there checked the serial number from the adapter (yes the adapter has a serial ) and managed to verify from their system that the adapter was less than a year old. So, what did they do? They gave me a brand new adapter on the spot. No questions asked. I was impressed.

Just yesterday, I went back to the same service centre to send in my iPad. The iPad screen was not sensitive at times and it would hang intermittently. I was trying hard to replicate the problem before going up to the service centre, but it just wouldn’t hang when I wanted it to do so so badly. The staff again, went through the usual checks for cosmetic damages and took in the iPad. They explained to me that they did not keep spares there and they had to send the iPad to the HQ at Ang Mo Kio for diagnostic. They also told me to expect 3-5 days for troubleshooting and processing.

This afternoon, I got an SMS from Apple. My iPad was ready for collection. Impressive right? 24 hours and they got everything sorted out. No haggling with me on repairs, no holding on to my iPad for weeks. They simply replaced my set. It’s clearly a refurbished set, but there’s no cosmetic damages. From what I understand refurbished units get new batteries.

Frankly speaking, after years of buying gadgets, I have yet to come across such painless experiences with Service Centres. I’m sure many will agree with me. Next Apple product, Macbook Pro. :)

The Service Centre I went to is:

Micro2000

138 Joo Seng Road

#04-03 Trivec House

Singapore 368361

Tel: +65 6295 3998

Fax: +65 6487 3179

This was taken opposite a building with a big StarHub logo on it.

Location:Tai Seng Drive

You have got to be kidding. 3G?!?!

Location:Tampines Street 72,Singapore,Singapore

No surprises.

Location:Simei Ave,Singapore,Singapore

Great performance! But check out the time. Gotta wake up 5am to get this speed.

Location:Tampines Street 83,Singapore,Singapore

It’s my lucky day. 648kbps! Wow!

Location:Tampines Street 91,Singapore,Singapore

Amazing speed. I’m not hiding in a cave by the way. I can see mobile base stations from where I’m at. Might not be StarHub but I’m sure they have one nearby. This is a housing estate.

Location:Tampines Street 83,Singapore,Singapore

This is nothing technical, just some thoughts and rants.

My contract for ADSL is ending soon, in June and I have decided not to continue the service because I have cheaper alternatives. I hate calling call centres and end up waiting for some operator to pick up the phone, so I headed for SingNet’s website to search for online means to terminate my account. And lucky me I thought, SingNet has an online form to terminate their service. Well, spoke too soon. The hyperlink at http://www.singnet.com.sg/customer/termination_broadband_login.html returned 404, page not found. I thought this must be a plot to subtly discourage me from termination.

I was persistent. Sent in a feedback form on the SingTel website indicating my intention to termination and informing them that the link to terminate isn’t working. As usual, the automated reply says they will get back to me etc etc etc. Minutes later, I received a seemingly innocent mailer for an offer to re-contract. Coincidence? No way! It looks like it’s system generated but I suspect it was triggered by a living person. Again another attempt to stop me from termination.

I might be having too wild an imagination, but I thought it makes sense. It’s 6 days (4th working day since I sent the feedback on Friday) since I sent the feedback, so I’m just sent another chaser. Let’s see how long they are going to ignore me. :)

My wife and I developed flu symptoms early this week. Because she’s from the healthcare sector, it’s mandatory for her to take the H1N1 swab test. After that she given MC to wait at home for the results. As for me, I was given a day of MC by my doctor. I took an additional day of leave in case her results were positive. I didn’t want to go back to office and spread the virus to more people.

Results were out 24 hours after taking the test. Unfortunately the result is positive. I immediately accompanied her back to the A&E for follow up and see the doctor take the test for myself.

This is where the idiotic thing occurred. I identified myself as having direct contact with a H1N1 patient ie. my wife. After running through a series of questions and some basic check, I was told that they will not conduct the test for me because my symptoms did not fit the criteria. I reasoned with the doctor that although I don’t have the full blown symptoms, my risk was significantly higher. We got the flu at the same time so it not likely that she has H1N1 and me having a common flu. He agreed with me but said it was protocol that stipulated that the test would not be conducted. According to him, it some MOH guideline. He then suggested I do the test at a polyclinic or a GP. My case was treated as normal flu. Upon my request he gave me MC until the end of the week so that I don’t go around spreading the either flu or H1N1 virus in office.

In my opinion, it’s baffling. The hospital does not have a conclusive diagnosis that it’s not H1N1 but they can’t perform the test due to protocol. So assuming I’m carrying the virus, I would need to travel to another location, in the process possibly spreading the virus. All because of rigid protocol that doesn’t make sense. I’m not blaming the doctor. He’s just doing his job.

Anyway I’m calling my own doctor tomorrow to see what’s his recommendation.

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