As promised, I am giving my first report on the e-cigarette that I bought, with the hope that it can wean me off real cigarettes... and as time passes by, wean me off these e-cigarettes as well. I will show what you basically get when you buy an e-cigarette set, and also comment on the 'taste' of this vaping device.

Ok. The brand that I bought is Smoker Haven (http://www.smokerhaven.com). Mainly, I only see their name when looking for e-cigarettes in Malaysia. I mean, they're like the only brand that's gone 'public' and are opening booths from Queensbay Mall, Penang to Alamanda Putrajaya, Selangor (there are a bunch of other branches on their website). The starter set (starter kit) I bought was the COMPACT one, where the main feature is that the e-cigarette comes in a two piece set:

The BATTERY:

The CARTOMIZER:

The battery of course, acts as the power supply. It's a rechargeable lithium-ion battery if I'm not mistaken. Those two silicone thinggies are not related to the battery. I just put them there so that it holds the battery in place for the logo to be visible :D

The cartomizer is a contraption where inside, there's a heating element, and a cloth-like material that holds the liquid falvor and some propylene glycol. Nicotine is an option, where these cartomizers come from ZERO to HIGH nicotine doses (since I wanna stop, I opted for the LOW dosage. Ada la sikit, but tak rasa sangat). Basically, the heating element heats up the liquid mixture, where an atomizer (within the cartomizer) turns the liquid into WATER VAPOR... Therefore, e-cig 'smokers' aren't called smokers, so to speak. They are referred to as VAPERS :) No burning occurs, so they say it's healthier and has no side effects (they say laaa.) So there's not tar and all those other 4,000++ dangerous chemicals that cause people's lungs to collapse.

Anywayz, to start puffing... connect the (charged) battery to the cartomizer... and voila! You're ready to vape. The way to vape this thing though, is a bit different from normal ciggies. For one thing, you don't have to light up :P The best way to enjoy an e-cig is to sedut slowly, in a controlled fashion. It's like... suck it in for 3-5 seconds... slow and steady. If you inhale too quickly, then U might risk getting the liquid mixture into your mouth! Uwek... Then of course, vape as you would smoke a normal cigarette. But I warn, this also needs practice since ure introducing a new kinda of 'chemical' to your throat. Chances are, if you go too fast, you will batuk terbahak-bahak!!!

Connection through screwing... hmmm... now that doesn't sound entirely 'right'

Front view of the ready to vape e-cigarette

Top view of the ready to vape e-cigarette

The illusion of BARA API!!! This light is actually useful, as it will blink 8-times indicating the battery is almost kaput :) Each time you suck it in, the light will come on. Owh, the ligth also comes on if you scream at the cigarette. It seems to be sensitive to sound as well... [kena blur 'perokok' ni, pasal takut kena saman ke apa ke later on :P]

Smoker Haven provides a variety of flavors with varying amounts of nicotine. I think, the fun flavors all have ZERO nicotine (not sure, but I think so). These fun flavored ones are such as Strawberry, Vanilla, Chocolate and others. Kinda makes me wonder sometimes... why would anyone want to smoke a chocolate bar? Other flavors are such as (inspired by) Marlboro Red, (inspired by) Dunhill, Mint/Menthol and Tobacco. And as I mentioned, the levels of nicotine are HIGH, MEDIUM and LOW. 

Tastewise... Hmmm... Really, if you're not serious about using this device to replace your smokes... you might not use it for long. At first, the taste is not as 'good' as real ciggies. I mean, it's weird! But with tekad dan usaha, I got used to the taste. The Marlboro and Dunhill flavors are kinda ok... but only at the LOW nicotine level. I accidentally got a HIGH-level when I first bought the starter kit, and whoaaaa... it tasted like... NOT MARLBORO!!! The overall taste for the LOW ones are kinda, sweet :) Sweet and weird... but vape-able :) Kinda nice taste. Can't quite describe it... but it's like... artificially nice :P Oh... but the taste gets bad when the cartomizer starts to run out of juice :( This is because the heating element has no more liquid to burn, and ends up burning the soft cloth that held the flavor liquid mixture thinggy. Cartomizer lifetime... 2-5 days... depend on how you vape it.

Okes... that's all I guess for this time. At the moment, I haven't experienced any bad side effects from smoking this personal vaporizer of mine. E-cigarette fanatics say there're no side effects at all. But I doubt it since this product is man made. Sah2 ada side effect :P Maybe more studies need to be done...

Anywayz... I think I'll stop here first. I leave you with the pictures of the other stuff I got in the starter kit. Asalaam aleykom WBT :)

The box... lawa jugak iye? I think this is a re-branded version of the US brand - Smoking Everywhere

Compartments to keep all the stuff

This is the PCC - Portable Charger Case. The upside-down battery you see there is screwed tight into the charging socket located at the base of the case. You need to charge the case in order to charge using the case...

PCC power - shows how much juice your PCC has left

Power socket with USB slot, USB cable, and a PC/Socket USB adapter

This is how you connect to charge the PCC

Another (and faster) way to charge the battery. Direct current input!!!

USB charging can also be done. Another 'healthy' use for you PC :)

Cartomizer box. Design is quite nice. As you can see, there's the label MBR L (Marlboro Low)

Sometimes I really appreciate the tips I get from experts who don't even know me. Last year in July, I was trying to understand this one feature used in audio analysis. The feature ended up being very useful for my overall prototype for soccer event detection. I was just asking a YES/NO question from a reputed expert in the field of low-level audio processing and analysis. Besides just giving a binary reply of 1 or 0 (corresponding to Yes and No of course... respectively)... he gave me some tips that would be useful to my problem :) I really really do appreciate the help given by this smart guy. 

1st. Question:

Hi :)

My name is Alfian, from Malaysia.

I hope U can help me with a basic question regarding the melfcc.m function.

I just wanted confirmation... is the first coefficient (from 13) returned the Energy for the frame? (e.g. I set frame size to 20ms)

Sorry for the basic question, because I am just starting out in audio analysis.

Thank you

Regards: Alfian

1st. Reply:

Alfian

No, it's the average log energy (of the Mel spectral bins). It's highly correlated with (log) energy, but not equal.  For one thing, averaging is done after taking log, whereas an energy calculation would sum first, then take the log

2nd. Question:

thanks Dan for the fast reply... really2 appreciate it :)

I have one final question tho 

does this mean that I can use it (the first row of the returned 13-coeffs) as a means to see whether or not

there is increase in audio energy? I am actually trying to detect excited speech in a soccer match (lots of bground noise... because the audiences are cheering, clapping, screaming etc. for the whole duration of the game) 

Along with energy features, I am also looking at pitch (which I believe I have obtained using a function called shrp.m - which btw, is not his function... it was developed by a guy named Xuejing, Sun).

so my plan is to observe these two features... then try to come up with a model for excited speech.

So in your opinion, can that be used? thanks in advance

Regards: Alfian 

2nd. Reply:

> does this mean that I can use it (the first row of the returned 13-coeffs)
> as a means to see whether or not
> there is increase in audio energy?

Yes.

> I am actually trying to detect excited
> speech in a soccer match (lots of bground noise... because the audiences are
> cheering, clapping, screaming etc. for the whole duration of the game)
> Along with energy features, I am also looking at pitch (which I believe I
> have obtained using a function called shrp.m).
> so my plan is to observe these two features... then try to come up with a
> model for excited speech.
> So in your opinion, can that be used?

It's worth a try.  Along with the pitch, its time derivative, and the pitch strength (subharmonic-to-harmonic ratio, the SHR output of shrp.m) might be useful.

Bagus mamat Dan Ellis ni :) Although I know all of this is unimportant to some people... but to me it's one of the most knowledgeable and useful replies I've ever gotten from any senior academician that I know. Hahaha!!! Another guy is that Xuejing Sun guy. He also gives very2 good replies regarding the shrp.m function he developed.

Some academics, they don't have time to reply to 'stupid' questions. Some even don't reply to higher level questions :P Most don't reply AT ALL!!! And some of them ain't even that expert :P But for these two people... although they can be considered otais in their respective domains, still have time to answer the silly willy questions posed by minnows such as myself. I just wanna say I highly appreciate your time... and may you receive success in this life and there hereafter, insyaAllaah :D

Gambar intro - Alpyan n Mr Malik INTEL

Day and Date: Saturday, 16th October 2010

Place: Various locations within the area of Pulau Aman, Penang

Tekong: Abang Zul
Participants: Alfian Abdul Halin - Akhmal Ikan Senangin INTEL - Malik INTEL - Cikgu Othman

Fish species caught: Merah (or was it Siakap Merah?) Senangin, Jenahak, Kerapu, Kerapu Singa, Glamour (gelamaaa), Subaru (Daun Baru), Duri, Sembilang and that one Baji. 

Alhamdulillaah. Last Saturday, Allah the most gracious the Ar-Razak gave us the opportunity to go fishing @ Pulau Aman (the darat side of Penang) and also to bring back lots of wonderful fishies :) As can be seen from the 'species caught' list above, we were blessed with a variety of bottom dwellers (except for Senangin, who I think is more of a mid-level-water dweller... I think....).

This time around, we also managed to bring up some quite unique and interesting species... to us at least. For myself, this was the first time I laid eyes on the Daun Baru (Subaru) fish... which has quiet an interesting shape! The mouth also is a bit pointy, with some dots at the upper part of its body. Again, count on Malik to bring up these weird lookin' species. Last time it was him who caught the translucent ikan belacak!!!

Ikan Daun Baru @ Subaru (nama glamer dia kot?)

Also caught were some Jenahaks... small and medium-sized ones that is. The interesting thing is that, most of the jenahaks caught have this big black spot at the rear end of their bodies. Might be another species of the jenahak, or could this be their pattern before actually reaching maturity/full-size? ... Hmmm, ntoh le. But anywayz, Cikgu Othman caught quite a lot of them! Cannot lawan otai one... :)

Cikgu Othman with one of his many many many jenahaks :)

There was also this fish. I forget it's name, but it's basically leper (penyet pon maybe). Already remember it's name now.... BAJI kalau tak silap. The head is as hard as titanium (ok, exaggerate la tu...). But if I'm not mistaken, its meat is quite kenyal... quite nice to eat. Anyone who knows this fish's name, please kasik tau iya. TQ :)

Si penyet whos name I have forgotten...

Okes... and for the 'climax'... I present to you the LION FISH!!! Actually, the guys tell me it's called Kerapu Singa. Even though it ain't got no mane, I won't disagree on the name. According to the guys some more... the flesh is actually quite sweet, and this fish has medicinal properties as well. I for one however, am not looking forward to finding out what those properties are, yet :) Okes... we managed to get quite a few of this fish... 3 if I remember correctly.

My attempt to be as brutal as the fish

It's belly is licin :)

This is me again, tak larat dah nak buat muka brutal. Fish wins face-making competition

Anywayz... again, it was a nice trip. The weather was not that hot, and it didn't rain. The overall catch was also quite good. Banyak jugak la for trip mancing relax-relax :) Okes.... itu saja utk kali ini. Thanks for reading iya :D Salaaam aleykom WBT.

Hasil pancingan, Alhamdulillaah

Fishermen's friend... [since we befriend fishermen, and we ourselves are not actually fishermen....]

Akhmal and his first ever SENANGIN!!!

Myself also... first time ever tangkap senangin, Alhamdulillaah :)

Since I have nothing better to write about, I will write about my most recent freebie... well, sort of a freebie. As many of you might know, I am the 'agent' for the arabs @ USM (mostly Jordanians) to buy their flight tickets. Not that I'm an official airline ticket sales rep. or anything, it's just that most of the guys who want to buy their tickets through me are trying to practice the best Islam that they can. One means is to avoid any kind of banking system. This means that they do not put their moneys in the bank. Although there exists 'Islamic Banking' nowadays, some still question the validity of the whole system. Therefore, these people will not have money in the bank, but instead in their homes (or as we Malays would say - duit bawah bantal). 

So, when it comes time to buying the airline tickets, there is no CIMB-clicks, no Maybank2U and also no RHB-2U (weh, RHB ada ke RHB-2U...?), and of course... no credit card. This is where I come in. Since they already have the cash, all I have to do is pay for the ticket using my credit card, and everyone's happy insyaAllaah. Although my card is the conventional type... I try my very best to pay directly after (or a few days after) each transaction. Therefore, insyaAllaah, I will avoid any riba' or interest calculated on any outstanding balance. So I stay riba' free, and my arab friends get to fly with Kuwait Airlines :D Oh... and did I mention that I get to accumulate points also? Thehehehehe.... Anywayz, I do tell them this, and inform them that I thank them for helping me accumulate these points. At the end, Alhamdulillaah, everyone seems happy :D - [By the way, I use Maybank VISA, and unlike CIMB's direct access, they say that no interest will be charged on overseas transaction ON the transaction date itself, which is GOOD!!!!].  

Anywayz, since I've done this for quite many times... and coupled with my own petty transactions... I have managed again to accumulate enough points to redeem a gift :) And yes... I am a boring person, so I redeemed another watch :D This time I took the digital one (since last time I opted for the analogue version). It's a CASIO, and has the writing ILLUMINATOR on it. That's the brand-type name I guess. Anywayz... Alhamdulilllaah, this watch is qutie nice! It's lightweight, doesn't look big like those G-Shock types, and the best thing is that... it has 10-years battery life! Pakai bateri nukelar ke apa??? Anywayz... Alhamdulillaahi Robbil 'Aalameen!!! Okes. Itu aje nak post. TQ for reading this far. Assalaam aleykom WBT.

The world we live in now... even "smokes" you can charge also... As you can see, the lights are still red, so I have to wait until it turns green to start vaping. But itu pun kalau mau :) Most of the time, Alhamdulillaah... buleh tahan. Haven't lit an 'analogue' ciggie for almost 2-weeks now. Hope I can slowly wean myself into breathing normal air one day... insyaAllaah :D Will blog more about this in the future... Salaam aleykom...

Smoker Haven E-Cigarette Portable Charger Case... This is the only 'nicer' brand that I can find in Malaysia :)

Yesterday, it was Arab (Yemeni) and Iranian food galore for me, Alhamdulillaah. Firstly, for lunch, had some Mendi/Mandi Rice with Fahsa at SABA restaurant (at Ivory Plaza, Jalan Bukit Gambir). Normally, the rice is accompanied by either chicken or lamb... but myself, Mozaher and Ehsan (labmates) decided to budget a bit and did not go for the normal package. The rice is cooked with some herbs, spices and oil... making it yellowish in color and super delicious. Furthermore, they use Basmathi rice so the texture is quite smooth and nice :) 

Mendi/Mandi Rice - RM3.00 per set

Includes: Tomato+Chilli (and vinegar I think) semi-hot sauce and some chopped cabbages+carrots

Then there was the Fahsa. From afar (and from a-near :P), it greatly resembles beef curry. The only difference I think is in its taste where... well, it tastes nothing like curry :D Meat was cooked until tender and served in a sizzling clay thinggy (apa nama ek? kuali? mangkuk?)...

Fahsa - RM12.00 ... For me, it's quite expensive, tapi since bahagi 3, so ok la.

Meat quantity was so-so, but can eat la. Tak la kenyang tapi ok :)

Overall... each of us spent RM7.00. Not really a budget meal, but cheaper than eating the whole rice set... (tapi save RM1 je pon sorang... heheheheh). After eating, semua habis la of course... Alhamdulillaah.

Abish

Pon abish... kena penangan Malayu, Bangla dan Pak Iran :D

Night time... I was invited to another makan-makan session, courtesy of my roomate, labmate and good friend Mr. Ehsan Abbasnejad (bukan Ahmadinnejaad iye....). This time it was the Iranians who were cooking. And this time, it was free, Alhamdulillaah. They were doing something called Dholmeh/Dolmeh. Basically, it's stuff wrapped into grape leaves, and then cooked in a rice cooker. The taste was quite interesting and I must say that this was a first for me :) Overall, it was de very2 good. While portion size was not that big, the whole meal was very satisfying (no bloated belly, no angin2 etc.). Below are the pics :)

Pak-pak Iran chit chatting. They were all speaking Persian btw.

But of course, cakap English la dengan saya :)

Dholmeh/Dolmeh 1

Dholmeh/Dolmeh 2

Overall, Alhamdulillaahi Robbil 'Aalameen. I thank God for all the bounties he has bestowed upon me yesterday :) Kenyang perut senang hati..... Ok. Thanks for visiting iya. Assalaam aleykom WBT :D

Today, I will post something about my beloved family. It is meant to show the similarity between our kids and ourselves. I can surely say that my son, Nadeem Farhan has his mother's smile, which is good since my smile can scare away a wagon of wild tigers! But considering the power of the JENDUL... haaaa, it's safe to say that this boy is anak bapak. Skin-wise... Hmmm... Nadeem Farhan is still quite fair, yellowish sawo matang kinda skin. But we can never say as I too was fair when I was a kid. Some people even mistook me for a Chinese boy when I was delivered. Tapi takpe... I blame it on the hot Malaysian sun for what has happened to my complexion nowadays, which is sliiigghhtly on the darker side :) (Betul ke slightly.....?)

Nor Shazwan binti Mohamed and Nadeem Farhan bin Alfian

Nadiah Farhanah on the other hand... has the genetics of mata sepet from her mother's side :) Now that she's getting bigger, it seems like her mata sepet is becoming mata comel n mengancam. Hehehehe... Alhamdulillaah. Her smile, well... that one  think she got it from her mum :) Skin-wise... ok, now she's become a bit cokelat sawo matang... She used to be like Nadeem also, quite fair complexion. Tapi nak buek camno, maybe the dad's genes have taken over. Tapi takpe... hitam manis tetap menawan. Hehehehe. Ok... lastly, perangai-wise.... Hmmm... Jangan lah ikut ayah anak oiiii. Cuba ikut mcm mak kau tu, tertib sikittt... :] 

Alfian bin Abdul Halin and Nadiah Farhanah binti Alfian

Ok. That is all about the similarities that I can think of now. Kalau ada lagi similarities that I can think of, I will post them in another post which is to be posted when I feel like posting it, insyaAllaah :D Assalaam aleykom WBT, n tq for reading.

I went along with a friend (who prefers to remain anonymous) to Jusco Perda a few nights ago to buy a TV for his Mum. I think it was at Sen-Q (or was it Seng Heng?... but surely from one of the Sengs) that we finally found the right TV at the right price and right measurements. You see, my fren's mum's cabinet is exactly 32-inches wide... so the 32-inch TV has to be less than 32-inches in width. Firstly went to TESCO... they had many good offers! But they had no measuring tape. Even kat hardware department dia pon tak jumpa measuring tape nak kebas :P So we couldn't be sure about the measurement. Plus, one of the sales-guy dengan selamba meng-confirmkan to us that it was 30-inches wide! This sorta really2 pissed us off pasal dia ke nak tanggung  kalau measurement salah nanti? Pala HOT betul.... really2 felt like giving the guy a taste of my shoe....tapi sabau.

So we went to Jusco Perda after that. Kat sana we had the tape, and did all the measurements. Ok, puas hati... BELI! :D My fren beli lah. Now he is the proud owner of a 32-inch LCD TV, brand TOSHIBA REGZA... where in the distant future he will disown and give to his mum. Baikkk budak ni :D Ada 4-HDMI slots tuuuu.... (gempak ke tu? hehehe. Saja tulis pasal tu je yg saya ingat pasal TV tu yg lain sket dari TV lain). Anywayz... bawah ini adalah gambar2 nya.

Proud owner of the Toshiba Regza 32" LCD TV

Dalam troli :)

Calibration

Testing with cerita LEGION... gila sesat cerita tuh

HOUSE - S07E02

Siapa ni ek? Matlan Marjan ka? 

Actually, before heading back, we had an Indonesian dinner. RESTOREN AYAM PENYET!!! (Yes, penyet as in penyek!!!). Firstly, TERIMA KASIH kepada tuan ampunya TV kerna lanja saya makan malam tu :D Alhamdulillaah... Anywayz, the restaurant sells ayam penyet, lembu penyet, ikan keli penyet... and other penyet stuff. I have to say, even tho sounding a bit ngok-ngek (the name  I mean)... the food there is quite good, and also a bit expensive lah. The set included rice + 1/4 chicken [with some lettuce, cucumber, some fried tofu and semi-hot sambel]. Each set costs  RM9.50! Maybe cheap for KL standards... but for Seberang Perai.... mcm mahal sikit. Tapi takpe la... sekali sekala :D Okes... below are some pics. 

Poster inside the restaurant

The set from afar... Lupa pulak, ada order SUP RAWON apa ntah... quite nice

This is the chicken set (RM8.00)

Closeup view of de ayam penyet. Nicely fried and the meat is tender. Maybe bcuz it was penyet-ed

Indonesian Iced-Tea

Closeup of the soup... At the end, it got a bit salty... or was that the remnants of AJINOMOTO??? :o